#and I don’t even want to get started on how Lizzie said she only picked MGs side in 3x08 bc he’s always been there for her

[winnie-the-monster]

I still can’t believe I had to sit and watch MG ask Kaleb not to give up on Landon. When MG was the one who pretty much signed Landons death sentence. Watch Hope convince all of them to go save Landon in 3x08 by reminding them that Landon would/has risked his life to save them. Watch Hope ask their permission to save Landons life in 4x01-2. Watch Hope be the only one to care/grieve when they thought Landon was dead and when he actually died. But….. “we all care about Landon.” 😑😑😑

[gingiesworld]

Best Friends Forever

Anon: Hello can I request Elizabeth Olsen x Male Reader?

Where Y/n and Lizzie already divorced for couple years, They stay civil for they daughter (Who around six – ten years old). But when Y/n start dating again Lizzie somehow don’t like Y/n partner even though she already engaged to other man. She keep trying to convince their daughter to telling her that Y/n partner is bad which Y/n daughter end up telling Y/n about Lizzie behaviour. Y/n of course decided to defend his partner from Lizzie but it lead to big argument. I leave to you what happened after the big argument either they make up or that argument just put big wall between them.

Elizabeth Olsen X Male Reader

Warnings : Angst

18+ MINORS DNI

Everyone who knew both Y/N and Elizabeth, knew of their marriage. It seemed like it was a happy marriage from the outside but there was a lot of resentment. Lizzie wasn’t entirely happy about being a teen mother although she was still able to finish college and pursue her dream of becoming an actress.

Even as they divorced, Y/N had also managed to open up his own restaurant, especially since it was always a dream of his. He thought it was always going to be just himself and their daughter, Lila. That was until he met Jennifer, she was also a divorcee with children. Although she was slightly older than Y/N, he always reassured her that he didn’t care.

Although Lizzie had also moved on and was engaged to Robbie Arnett, she had a distaste for Y/N’s relationship with Jennifer. She was always toxic towards her, giving snide comments even when she saw how good she was with Lila.

“Why did you leave her with Jennifer?” Lizzie questioned as Y/N had dropped Lila off.

“I had an emergency at the restaurant.” He told her honestly. “It’s just like you leaving her with Robbie when you have a long day on set.”

“No it isn’t.” Lizzie exclaimed as Y/N followed her through to the kitchen. “Robbie and I are engaged. You and her are just fooling around.”

“No we are not Elizabeth.” Y/N seethed as he glared at the woman he once loved. “We are in a steady relationship. She is amazing with Lila and so are her kids.”

“She is too old for you.” She told him as he just laughed at her.

“You know, if I didn’t know any better I would say that you are jealous.” He laughed as she just took a deep breath.

“Just don’t do it again.” She told him before he left. Heading straight to his restaurant, wondering were the woman he had once fell in love with had disappeared.

“Why do you hate Jenni?” Lila asked Lizzie as she just sighed.

“I don’t know.” Lizzie whispered. “I guess I used to think that he and I would be in it for life.”

“But you’re marrying Robbie and Dad wants to marry Jenni.” Lila told her as Lizzie’s heart dropped.

“What?” She questioned as Lila nodded.

“He’s picked out a ring and everything.” She told her mom. Every one of Lizzie’s dream of her and Y/N being grey and old side by side, all turned to dust.

Over time, Lizzie tried to turn Lila against Jenni, wanting to somehow push her away from Y/N.

“Lizzie, this is getting ridiculous.” Robbie told her in a tired tone.

“What?” She questioned him as he shook his head at her.

“I know you’re trying to push Jenni away so she leaves Y/N.” He told her. “And it is extremely childish.”

“He was never meant to move on.” Lizzie blurted out. “He said he loved me. There was no one like me.”

“You are engaged to me for crying out loud Elizabeth!” He yelled at her as there was a loud knocking on the door. Lizzie sighed as she went to open the door, only to be met by an angry Y/N.

“You have some fucking nerve Elizabeth.” He seethed as Robbie soon moved Lizzie to let him in.

“What happened?” Robbie asked as the three of them entered the living room.

“You have tried to turn Lila against Jenni.” Y/N seethed as Lizzie scoffed.

“Where is Lila?” She asked as Y/N just laughed.

“She is with Jenni.” Y/N told her. “Apologising for what you made her do.”

“I didn’t make her do anything.” Lizzie yelled as Y/N glared at her.

“What do you want from me Elizabeth? Do you want me to be lonely for the rest of my life?” He sighed as Lizzie watched his expression change to one of pain and exhaustion. “We are divorced, I am allowed to find happiness with another.”

“We were meant to be forever.” Lizzie told him as Robbie’s own heart broke.

“You have a fiancé, he is a great guy for both you and Lila. I plan on asking Jenni to marry me because I am in love with her.” Y/N told her. “I didn’t think I would be happy after you but I am. Jenni makes me extremely happy. She is amazing with Lila as is Robbie. Please just stop with this nonsense because I am over this.” Y/N moved to leave. “You have a lot of apologising to do Elizabeth, starting with Robbie, Lila and Jenni.” With that he left the couple alone.

“Robbie.” Lizzie started as he just shook his head at her.

“I think we need a break Liz.” He told her. “I want to be with you, so much but I don’t think you want to be with me.”

“I do.” Lizzie pleaded as he shook his head no.

“If you were certain, you wouldn’t have meddled in your ex husband’s current relationship.” He told her. “I am going to stay with Graham for a week or two and then we can evaluate were we are.” She could only watch as he left to pack a bag.

Over the upcoming weeks, Lizzie found herself missing Robbie and Y/N. Even though the two divorced and raised Lila together in different homes, he was always there for Lizzie too, but since he started a relationship with Jenni she was afraid she was losing him. But she never truly saw how happy she made him, how happy Lila was too, she had step sisters.

“Congratulations.” Lizzie told the two with a genuine smile. “And I am deeply sorry for how I have acted in the past.”

“That’s ok.” Jenni waved her off as she gave her a hug. “I know you worry about him but I love him. He is my savior.”

“He is that.” Lizzie smiled as she watched both Robbie and Y/N talk as they cooked together. A big family coming together. Lizzie and Y/N might not be meant to reach the end of the line together, but they are always meant to be best friends forever.

[juiles]

Scarlett’s Love.

Summary: Y/N is a teen who’s known Scarlett her whole life. Scar asks a life changing question on set one day.

Type: fluff!!!

Triggers: none at all. Just pure fluff

Masterlist here!

Request here!

*not my gif*

————————————-

Scarlett Johansson was always considered calm. Level-headed. The only reason she ever lost her mind was when one of her two babies were being put in any kind of danger or when you were.

Y/N Y/L/N. That’s what your name was and that’s who Scarlett had this constant need to protect. You had met her when you were 2 as you played her on screen daughter in A Good Woman. She had instantly fallen in love with you however after you finished filming she was ripped out of your life by your parents. 3 years went by until she finally got to see you again as you played the younger sister of the family X in Nanny Diaries. Her face when she realized she got to work with you again made her then boyfriend, Ryan, full of joy.

This time she had noticed a difference in you but it was until 2009 when you came on as Natasha Romanoffs adopted daughter in Iron Man 2 at the age of 7 that she really noticed how your parents treated you. Or rather didn’t. You were fiercely independent and your parents just dropped you off and picked you up. After a few months she decided to take over being your onset guardian which made you insanely happy.

The only person you were your age around was her. You were a little less guarded around Chris Evans however you preferred Scarlett. She felt safe. She paid attention to you unlike your parents.

——————————

You guys were now filming Avengers: Infinity War. It was about a month into filming and it was close to your birthday. You were going to be 16.

You had been staying with Scarlett during the filming of this movie and for a few months before filming started. Your parents didn’t care where you were or what happened to you. You had talked in great details with Scarlett and Lizzie about potentially emancipating from your parents. You decided together that if that’s how you still felt in 2 weeks when you turned 16 you would do it. You knew you always had a place to stay with Scar as the woman had declared one of her guests rooms be yours when you were 10 and it slowly became your safe space.

It was mid-day, you were doing your schoolwork with your tutor and Scar was due to show up in a few minutes to give you the lunch you had forgotten to grab from the snack bar earlier. You could hear a soft knock on the door and your tutor chuckled.

“Mama-bear has come. I’ll give you a 30 minute break to eat. I’d give you longer but you still have 2 subjects to go over and only 1.5 hours till filming.” Sarah said with a smile before opening the door to a smiling Scar. “30 minutes Johansson.”

“Yes ma’am.” Scar said giving a small salute making the other woman chuckle. The blonde came over and plopped down in a chair next to you and placed a plate in front of you and one in front of her. “Eat.”

“Yes ma’am.” You mimicked her copying her little salute before you started to eat the sandwich. “I don’t know how you ALWAYS know what I want but it’s magic.” You mumbled through the food in your mouth.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” The blonde chuckled before looking over at you with a small smile. “You know… you are one of the best things to ever happen to me.” She said causing you to blush with a small scoff. “Y/N i’m not kidding. You and Rose are my entire world. Rose may be my first biological child but you were my kid long before she was even thought of.”

“Scar…”

“No… just listen. You have been in my life for so long that you have been with me through both divorces. Rose literally calls you her big sister. When you’re sick or over tired you call me mom. I see you as a daughter.”

“Scar… i just… where are you going with this…?” You asked quietly not wanting to get your hopes up for what you think she may be doing.

“Y/N/N. In two weeks when you get divorced from your parents. Will you want to be adopted by me…?” Scarlett asked with such hesitation you almost laughed. Her green eyes had a layer of tears over them threatening to fall out.

You could feel your body stop before sobs overtook you and you threw yourself into her arms nodding your head profusely. “Yes! yes yes yes!” You sobbed into her chest curled up into her lap.

Scarlett showered you in kisses as tears stream down her face. “Oh my sweet girl. My sweet sweet girl. I love you so much bubs.”

“I love you too Scarly…” You sniffled with a light chuckle.

The two of you both agreed that this was the best day ever except the day you officially became Scarlett’s.

[themultifandomgal]

Shelby Sister/Isaiah- Christmas Baby

Christmas Eve and we have all gathered at aunt Polly's house

"Bloody hell YN your huge" Arthur shouts as Isaiah and I walk in, my hand on my very swollen stomach

"Thank you dear brother" i huff walking into the living room

"Maybe instead of staring at your sister you'd like to offer her your seat?" Polly looks at Arthur and John who are sat next to one another with a whisky in hand

"Here have mine" Tommy gets up from his chair "Lizzie would struggled getting up when she was that big. Those sofas are to low”

"Thanks Tom" I say waddling over to the chair, Isaiah and Tommy helping me down

"I'll get you a cuppa" Ada says smiling at me

"Thanks. He or she was meant to be here last week. I'm fed up, my feet ache my back hurts and to top it all off I've been having pains" I complain to my family

"Pains?" aunt Polly questions

"Just the odd pain, I spoke to my doctor apparently it's normal, braxton hicks they're called"

"Baby will be here before the end of the night, mark my words" Esme chuckles. I roll my eyes at my sister in law.

As the evening goes on the pains start to get worse and worse, still thinking it's braxton hicks I decided to go to bed early. However I wake up only after a few hours of sleep in agonising pain and the bed wet

"Polly!" I shout trying to sit up holding my stomach "Polly!" I shout again. Where the bloody hell is she?

Finally the door the the bedroom opens, my nephew Karl is stoop rubbing his eyes

"What's wrong auntie YN?"

"Go and get Polly or your mum or one of your aunts. Now!" I yell probably scaring the little boy. I hear his feet running downstairs then shouting. Eventually Polly, Esme, Lizzie, Linda and Ada are in my room

"Told you baby was going to be here soon" Esme smiles

"Hush you. If your going to be up here then at least be useful and help" Polly scolds "now you don't all need to be in here, Lizzie go and get hot water and some towels, Linda go pray somewhere"

"I'm going to bloody kill him for this Pol" I shout as the pain increases

"You say that now, but wait till the baby is in your arms, you'll want another" Esme laughs

Downstairs Isaiah is pacing up and down as the kids are now all congregated in the living room

"Is auntie YN dying?" Charlie asks he's dad

"Don't be silly Charlie. She's having a baby" one of Johns kids yells the young boy

“Shelby woman do pick there times don’t they”

"Should I be up there with her?" Isaiah asks

"This is woman's business" Arthur says taking his whiskey off the table in front "last thing she will want is you holding her hand. You put the baby in there"

"Dad how did Isaiah put the baby in auntie YN?"

"Now you've done it" John laughs

"Just sit down and drink your whiskey" Tommy rubs his forehead. Isaiah follows what Tommy asks and sits down with his head in his hands

"How do woman do this? how has your Esme had 4 kids?"

"Always said it's worth it in the end" John replies.

The night drags on until I finally give birth to a baby boy just before midnight, his little cries can be heard from a mile away. Polly wraps him up in a bundle of blankets and places him in my arms

"Shhh Shhh" I bounce him trying to settle the baby

"Got a good set of lungs on him" Ada says sitting next to me

"I'll go and let Isaiah know" Esme smiles walking out of the room

"He's beautiful YN" Ada coos. I then hear someone running up the stairs, Isaiah no doubt. The door swings open and within a second he's by my side

"How are you feeling? is he ok?"

"Yes dear he's fine" I chuckle

"And you?" Isaiah asks again

"Im fine, just tired and in need of a good bath" I yawn

"Get some sleep love, we all need to. He'll be waking us all up" Polly says.

I'm not sure how much sleep any of us actually got that night, but the next day I'm sat downstairs rocking the baby while watching the other kids opening up their presents

"Merry Christmas everyone" Polly smiles holding a glass of whiskey in the air.

[moral-terpitude]

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed - part 5

Word Count: 905

Warnings: mentions of miscarriage/ infant loss.

No readmore because I don’t want to lose paragraphs. It’s still giving me problems. Sorry.

[Masterlist] [Previous Part]

Tommy sat at his desk with his head in his hands. He hadn’t slept the rest of the night, and you not coming to bed had kept him tossing and turning anyway.

He knew he had fucked up as soon as the words left his mouth, knew he said the wrong thing, and felt like shit as soon as he realized it.

He picked up his phone, scrolling through until he clicked on Finn’s name. He thought about calling the florist first, but he knew if you hadn’t come to bed that sending flowers with an apology wouldn’t even begin to fix it.

He would have to truly go to the source of the problem.

“Hello?” Finn answered, voice cracking as he spoke. 10AM and the phone ringing was the only reason he woke up.

Tommy shook his head.

“What the fuck is your problem, Finn?”

“Morning to you too, Tom?”

“Fuck off. You come into my house in the middle of the night, piss off my wife, and then want a warm welcome?”

He groaned, the sound of sheets kicking around before he spoke, “I don’t remember a thing, Tommy. I swear.”

“You don’t remember a thing? How does telling Y/N that she’s not Charlie’s mother sound? Ring any fucking bells? Because I don’t even know what you said, but I know you fucked up.”

Finn grumbled.

“It’s time you start being responsible for your actions, Finn. Everyday I feel like you’re pushing against everything I’ve built trying to fucking topple it over.”

“Tommy, I’m not—“

“Then start fucking acting like it and row the boat in the same direction as the rest of us!”

“Okay, Tommy.”

“I’ve got you going in to the old BSA factory starting this afternoon. 12 hours shift, six days a week. Should keep you out of trouble and help you repay all the money you owe Arthur and I.”

“But—“

“Finn, you talk big and throw our name around like you’re the one that’s made it mean something, but you need to start acting like it, because right now, you’re far from it.”

The line was silent as Tommy waited for another round of protesting but none came.

“Now, think of a good apology for Y/N, and get the fuck out of my house.”

He ended the call, tossing the phone to the far side of the desk.

You hadn’t messaged, hadn’t called, and there hadn’t even been an email sent that he’d been CC’d in on that morning.

He buried his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes until he saw stars. He hadn’t tried to call you either. What was there to say? He had fucked up, he knew it, and he feared one of these days you wouldn’t accept his apologies any more.

Two sharp knocks at the door came before Lizzie peeked in, “Everything okay?”

Tommy shook his head, leaning against the open window before lighting a cigarette, “No, but we’ll manage.”

She hummed, setting a folder down on the desk, “Want me to check on her, I need some papers signed anyway.”

“Don’t make it obvious, yeah?”

Lizzie nodded, departing silently.

Looking down at the people traversing the sidewalk, he just wanted to rewind everything, go back to Sunday and enjoy you and the peace and quiet of the house all over again. Back to normal.

He knew how much the attitude of other people toward you not being Charlie’s biological mother had killed you in the beginning. The school he had been in, before being transferred to a better one, had always given you issues picking him up. Prying mothers asking questions that were none of their business. Letting you know they could never love someone else’s child like their own.

It was supposed to be easier when you got married.

He watched in a somber mood the rain started, as if the world knew how he felt on the inside.

You had never treated Charlie like he wasn’t your own. When he would have a nightmare, when he was still small, you always put him in the middle of the bed to keep him safe. You bandaged cuts and took care of bloody noses.

You had decided when you ended up in the hospital, terrible stomach pain, and the result in the end only being able to look at the 12 week formed baby once before throwing up that the two of you would just tell Charlie it had been a stomach problem that put you there.

No one else in the family needed to know.

(Of course Polly knew; about six weeks along she had told you to take a test, but you had assumed you had missed your week just due to stress.)

You were the one that held everything together for the two of them, now.

You had been the one that warned Tommy that Finn was going to be a bad influence on Charlie long before the issues actually started.

He knew you deserved much more than a proper apology. He needed to listen and start putting his own household first, stop trying to fix everything else.

Tommy rose from the window frame, jaw tense before resigning himself to the fact that calling the florist wouldn’t be a fix, it wouldn’t even be an apology. But it would be a start.

[joekeeryswife]

Supply Teacher - j.q

a part two to my Nursery Teacher series. i’m not to sure if people are even liking this but i am😭. i just wanna say thank you and that i appreciate you all so much. thank you for supporting my writing and enjoy the imagine loves <3 don’t forget to like, comment and repost!

taglist: (add yourself <3) @eddieamoremio @theshireisonfire

Lizzie had been at nursery for three weeks. she had started to become more comfortable and confident when she was there and you loved to see her smile more at home. it was a Wednesday and you had to drop Lizzie off really early due to a meeting with your boss which you couldn't skip.

Lizzie was still trying to get used to the early mornings but nevertheless she always woke up and got ready for school. she would come home everyday and say how much fun she had with Charlotte and Abby, her new friends who she adored already. she would also talk about Mr.Quinn. he would always make sure she was okay and didn't feel left out and he didn't pick on her like some teachers would.

you had dropped Lizzie off in the morning and had heard from Charlottes mum that Mr.Quinn would be there for a bit in the morning them he also had a meeting, meaning there would be a supply teacher for a few hours. hearing this made you nervous, it took at least a week for Lizzie to warm up to Mr.Quinn and now having a supply teacher thrown in the mix just didn't sit well with you. you knew how some teachers could be if they didn't understand some students and it just filled you with the worst anxiety.

Lizzie did not like change. well, she wasn't used to it anyway and she didn't actually know that Mr.Quinn wasn't going to be there for two hours out of the eight hours she would be there for that day. you were dropping her off at 8am and would be picking her up at around 4pm meaning she would be there for a lot longer then she had been used to anyway. usually you'd drop her off around 8:30 and finish at 2 but you couldn't. you had meeting after meeting and then had clients who were all looking around new houses.

Lizzie was in the play area with Miss.Adams the teaching assistant who was just the sweetest human, she really understood Lizzie as she used to be just as shy as her and you were so grateful Lizzie had such nice teachers. "Mr.Quinn, where are you going?" Shannon, another student said making Lizzie and Miss Adams look up from the number puzzle they were doing.

"i have to go to a meeting sweetheart. i shouldn't be to long, you will have Miss Adams here and another teacher is coming in to support her" he replied, putting on his blazer and picking up his phone and coffee cup. Lizzie watched intently as most of the kids protested against him leaving, not wanting to even speak as anxiety filled her body. her shyness was coming back as she realised everything was changing.

she was going to have a new teacher and she didn't even know who it was. most of the kids didn't care, they got back to what they were doing and didn't even react when the supply teacher came in. they were all sat at the tables colouring and Lizzie was the only one playing with the numbers puzzle. but Miss Adams watched Lizzie as her whole demeanour change. she looked down at the carpet and started fiddling with her fingers, obviously uncomfortable with the new supply teacher.

"excuse me, why are you playing instead of sitting, drawing like the others young lady?" Mrs.Smith, the supply teacher said, crossing her arms over her chest with a frown on her face. it was apparent that she was mad but for what reason? Lizzie had no idea how to respond. she was only two and was still learning how to talk in full sentences and some words she didn't even know.

"Mr Quinn has allowed me and Lizzie to be here as she's still learning to count to 20, that's why we are here doing a number puzzle-" "i do not appreciate you back talking me Miss Adams. this young lady should be doing what everyone else is and it's very naughty of her to not be doing so" Miss Adams got up from the floor and put her hand out for Lizzie to take.

"what is your name young lady?" Mrs Smith said sternly, Miss Adams looked at the supply teacher with rage. this poor baby had done nothing wrong and this horrible lady was telling her off for it. "Lizzie" she whispered, she didn't want to speak to this lady but she also didn't want to not reply to her.

"speak up" Mrs Smith said loudly, making most of the other kids look up from their drawings. "do you have to speak to her like that? you heard her loud and clear. her name is Lizzie and she's two years old. that is why we are in the play area with the puzzle like i said" Miss Adams said squeezing Lizzie's hand comfortingly. Lizzie kept her eyes on the ground, embarrassment filling her body.

"what you were both doing is wrong. Lizzie you need to learn that you do the same as everyone else and i want you to sit in the time out corner. it was naughty" and with that Lizzie let go of Miss Adams hand and ran straight to the bathroom. she didn't know how to lock the door but she just sat there, sobbing her little heart out. she didn't like being told off and you rarely did, only when she had done something extremely wrong.

but Lizzie knew not to do anything wrong because she didn't want to be on your bad side. getting told off just made her sad and she didn't like being sad. Miss Adams followed Lizzie into the bathroom and stood outside the door. Lizzie would not come out and before she knew it she had been in there for thirty minutes. Miss Adams didn't want to leave the rest of the children out there alone with her but she also couldn't leave a child unattended in the bathroom, so, she stayed with her.

"Lizzie, would you please come out?" Miss Adams said softly, hearing Lizzie's sobbing coming from the other side of the bathroom door. "you haven't done anything wrong Liz. she isn't a very nice teacher and you are doing exactly what you are meant to" she continued, trying to get her out of the bathroom but no luck.

Miss Adams sighed, and just prayed the Joseph's meeting would finish early so she could have some help getting Lizzie out of the bathroom cubicle. Mr Quinn was practically the only person who could calm Lizzie down in the nursery. it took a lot of effort for Miss Adams to calm Lizzie down but with Mr Quinn, he could just hold her and she would calm down. but this was the first time Miss Adams was on her own with Lizzie and she felt like she had already failed.

as if the lord above heard Miss Adams prayers, Mr Quinn walked through the door with a huge smile on his face. he saw the supply teacher approaching him and that's when his smile dropped. "where is Miss Adams?" he asked as he looked around the nursery room not seeing her or Lizzie anywhere.

"there was an incident with a student and Miss Adams. they have been in the bathroom for the past forty minutes. the rest of the students have been extremely well behaved but that student is just naughty" Mrs Smith said making Joseph's eyebrows furrow. Lizzie was never misbehaved and this had completely shocked him.

"okay. i'll see what's going on. thank you for covering me" he replied, brushing past her and walking to his desk. "hi Mr Quinn. urm, that lady was really mean" Daniel, another one of Lizzie's classmates, said after Mrs Smith left the room and Joseph took off his blazer and put down his coffee cup and phone. "thank you for telling me Daniel, i need to see Lizzie but i'll tell Miss Adams to come check on you in a second, why don't you get back to drawing?" and with that Daniel nodded his head and waddled back to his chair and carried on colouring.

Joseph made his way to the bathroom and saw Miss Adams standing there with a worried expression on her face. once she noticed him she went into full panic mode. "i'm really sorry, i tried to calm her down but she was just so horrible to her and she won't-" "hey, it's okay. you tried your best and that's all you could do. why don't you go to see the others, we can't leave them alone" Miss Adams just nodded, disappointed in herself that she couldn't control the situation, and left Joseph with a sobbing Lizzie.

he could hear her sobs and hiccups from the other side of the door. "Lizzie, it's Mr Quinn. do you think you could open the door for me sweetheart?" he said in the softest voice ever. he heard her cries turn into just sniffles and she opened the door for Joseph. Joseph saw her sat on the bathroom cubicle floor and his heart shattered. she had tear stained cheeks and bright red eyes from all the crying she had been doing.

"do you want to come with me sweetheart? i need to speak to you" he smiled sympathetically and put his hand out for her to grab. she sniffles and nodded her head and took ahold of his hand, following him out of the bathroom and to his desk. all the other children had gone outside for playtime and it left just Joseph and Lizzie.

he placed her gently on his lap and wiped his thumb under her eye and across her cheek, wiping the tears away. "do you want to try and tell me what happened?" he asked her, seeing her nod her head before she tried to put together words into a sentence about what happened but it just turned into gibberish.

"i'm sad, she not very nice" what the few things he could make out from the sentences she had said. "she wasn't very nice". she nodded her head, understanding what he was saying. "she shouting and i want mama" she said, her sniffles now turning back into loud sobs as she remembered how mean Mrs Smith was to her. "okay sweetheart, i'll call your mama for you. Mrs Smith will never come back i promise" he said softly, Lizzie wrapped her arms around Joseph's waist and hugged him, her sobs loud and it just shattered his heart.

Joseph had emailed the office to call you and get you to pick Lizzie up and you dropped everything right away. you luckily had an amazing relationship with your boss who always knew if you left it was because of Lizzie and she never made you feel bad for leaving. Joseph cuddled Lizzie until you were at the nursery reception. Joseph told Miss Adams that he was taking Lizzie to the office as he collected all of her belongings (her coat and lunch box) and once he had everything he made his way to the office with Lizzie who was still cuddling him.

as he was waiting for you to arrive at the nursery he had asked Miss Adams what had actually happened and when she told him that she was shouted at for doing what he asked her to he was furious. not only had Mrs Smith lied to him but she shouted at one of his favourite students. she shouted for no reason. Joseph had asked Miss Adams to help Lizzie work on her number skills that morning before he even realised he had a meeting and he just felt like it was all his fault.

he saw you standing in the office, obviously worried as to why you were called to pick her up, and was relieved when you saw she was okay, not injured in anyway, Lizzie just looked tired and sad. Joseph smiled at you as your arms opened so you could take Lizzie into your hold. "mama" Lizzie whispered as she realised it was you she was being passed to you. "hi sweet girl. mama missed you so much" you whispered back, this was the most gentle Joseph had ever seen you with her.

Joseph did have a little crush on you and he knew it was wrong. you were his students mother and it could just never work, but you were breathtakingly beautiful. his crush grew daily when he saw you in the morning for drop off and pick up in the evening. you were just such a loving mum and Lizzie was so lucky to have you.

"what happened, all i was told was that i needed to get her. did something bad happen-" "i had a meeting today and i had to leave the class for an hour. they had a supply teacher and i wasn't there to witness it but she was really horrible to Lizzie. i had asked Miss Adams to help her with numbers as i knew she was a little behind due to her joining after everyone else-" your face turned bright red as you realised this was all your fault, Lizzie was falling behind because you didn't put her into nursery early enough.

Joseph could see you stressing out, he didn't mean for it to come out as if you had done something wrong because you hadn't. you placed Lizzie in the nursery when she was ready and that was how you were supposed to do it. "not that it's a bad thing y/n. Lizzie is doing really well. i just wanted her to get a little bit more help today is all" he sent you a nervous smile but after hearing that the flush on your cheeks toned down.

"anyway, i asked Miss Adams to help Lizzie today and she was absolutely fine when i left them. they were in the play area doing the numbers up to 20 puzzle i think, and when i came back there was no sign of Miss Adams anywhere and i couldn't spot Lizzie either. but, Mrs Smith, the supply teacher, told me there had been an incident where Lizzie had misbehaved and would not come out of the bathroom. Miss Adams had tried to get her to calm down but she had been crying for a while"

your heart dropped. Lizzie had misbehaved? she had never been so naughty that someone had told you, you usually had it under control but hearing this shocked you. "i see you worrying y/n but Lizzie did not misbehave. she did exactly what i told her to do and that supply teacher was just really horrible to Liz. i asked Miss Adams what happened and i will be speaking to the head teacher about her never coming back. it was in fact the supply who was horrible and not Lizzie. i'm really sorry this has happened so early on with you guys being here. it's not a good reflection on us and i'm honestly a little embarrassed that's happened in my classroom-"

"it's not your fault. thank you for calming her down. not many people can and we are very lucky you are her teacher. would it be okay if i kept her home for the next few days? i know it's wrong of me to ask but i know how she can be and she will just want to be with me until she's calmed down" you smiled at him. Joseph was an amazing teacher and he understood Lizzie which you were grateful for.

"of course. she needs a break from here after that. again, i am really sorry that that's happened here. all i want in my classroom is for my students to feel loved and safe and i promise it will never happen again." Joseph said, handing Lizzie's coat and lunch box over to you which you silently thanked him for. "please don't apologise these things happen. have a great weekend Mr Quinn, i'll see you on Monday. thanks again" you said, sending him your best smile before turning around and walking out of the reception door, leaving a few small kisses on Lizzie's head.

he saw Lizzie send him a small wave as you walked away which he returned with a smile. "you have a crush on her" Mrs May, the old lady receptionist who had been working at the school for over 25 years, said, making Joseph jump out of his skin. he and Mrs May, Carol, always got along well. she had been his first friend when he started working at the school 4 years ago, he was 23 when he started and now he was now 27 and loved his job more and more every day.

"i do not. i just wanted to make sure my student was okay is all" he stated, looking at his wrist watch. "i know young love when i see it Joseph. you are falling in love with your students mother. i mean, parents and teachers aren’t really meant to date but you two are cute and she’s pretty” Carol said, sipping her large mug which was filled with coffee.

Joseph sighed. he was being really obvious even Carol could tell. “i can’t ask her out. it’s wrong” he felt sad but also guilty. he’s never felt this way before about anyone, especially not one of his students mothers, and he didn’t know how to react to it. “i say take your time, try to secretly get to know her without being obvious. you’re a good looking man Joseph, she probably likes you too” she explained, looking back over at Joseph who had a bright red blush on his face.

“you’re right” he murmured, scratching the back of his neck. “i know, i always am” she said sarcastically, making Joseph smile at her. “i should get back, i’ve left Miss Adams with 20 kids” he laughed, sending a wave to Carol before turning around to walk back to his classroom. “remember what i said Joseph, play it cool but ask her out” and he would. Joseph always listened to Carol. it was like she was his second mum and her advice was always right. Joseph was definitely going to ask you out, he just needed to think about how.

[lizisinhellwantingcupcakes]

I’ve sold one of my corpses.

I talked a while ago about how I drowned myself in my bathroom to see if I’d die. I didn’t. But, what prompted that experiment was, I was hit by a car on my walk home and when I woke up in my bed, I wasn’t sure if it was real or not.

When I woke up after the bathtub, she was still in there.

It feels to call her “my corpse” or “me” or even just “it.” She looked just like me. Her eyes had rolled back in her head, she was blue and had vomit trickling down her chin. I didn’t know what to do with her. I drained the tub but I left her in it because she was so heavy, I couldn’t pick her up. She only weighed 112 pounds now. I only weigh 112 pounds now.

I sat in my bathroom with her for a few hours. I didn’t know what to do. I started looking up “body disposal methods” on my phone and I remember that being really funny for some reason.

Then Vox called me. He’s never called me before. He asked me if the corpse was mine, and I said it was. He asked if it was mostly intact. I said she was. Then he told me “You can get rid of it easily. I’m putting a new number in your phone. Call it and tell him you need to get rid of your corpse.”

“Who am I calling and what will he do with her?” I remember asking. “Does giving her to him forfeit my soul?”

“Don’t worry about it. Just call the number.”

I shouldn’t have called. I should have found a way to drag her to cannibal town. But I couldn’t lift her. So I called. And he said, “well, hello there, my pretty little kitty.” He was expecting me to call him. He asked me to describe her, he said “what does it look like, Lizzie?” I started to offer to send him my picture but he said no, he wanted to know how I died so he could “see if it was worth anything.” I told him “I took a lot of stuff and drowned her in a bathtub. She’s still in there, I can’t move her.” And he said “you don’t have to move her, baby, just go unlock your front door.” And I did and the whole thing was tingly and fuzzy. He came into my house, he was in my house, in my bathroom, and I was standing there in my pyjamas and she was naked. Of course she was naked. He kept muttering about how beautiful she was. That’s what he said. “Lizzie, honey, she’s beautiful.”

anyway he took her away and told me to call him if I ever had another like her “or if you’d be interested in donating something with a pulse.”

He gave me so much money for just her. I’m trying not to think about what he’s doing with her, but, does he own my soul now? Can he come back here and order me to give up one of my corpses? Can he make one himself?

Am I fucked?

[countrymusiclover]

50 - What Being Left Out Causes

Part 51

Family is More than Blood

@secretdreamlandmentality

Missy’s pov

Grabbing a hold of the football when it hit my chest I smiled in the direction of Ethan and MG. We had gone out here after school since we all agreed we could be friends or date, not worrying about what Dr. Saltzman wanted us to do. "Dang you boys might be giving me trouble.” 

“Don’t worry, Missy. You would be running circles around us both in other situations.” Ethan chuckles standing by MG. 

I smiled, enjoying the feeling that had happened between the three of us. My phone started ringing in my jacket so I placed it up to my ear hearing my father’s name. “Melissa, I need you back at the school immediately!”

“Woah dad. Slow down. What are you yelling about?” I asked him, hearing the panic in his raised voice. 

MG vamped over to my side. “Everything okay?” 

“You’re sisters are bloody idiots for bringing Landon back. Your mother took her magic back but she hasn’t woken up. So I need you back at the school now!” Shrugging my shoulders to my vampire friend while my father declared to me. 

Running my freehand through my hair I attempted to reply the best I could. “I’ll be there as fast as I can. Well save her like always.” 

“Missy, is everything okay?” Ethan walked over picking up the football off the turf that I had dropped focusing on my conversation with my father. 

I paused to find the best response. “My mom is in some trouble because of my sisters.” 

“Then let’s go help her.” Ethan piped up. 

Raising a hand I stopped him before he could say anything more and I knew that MG would agree with me on this. He may know the truth but he doesn’t know how to help my mom, especially when it comes to magic. “Ethan, I think I can handle this. You and MG can just hang out until I get back.”

“Okay, just be careful M & M.” Ethan hugged me and I hugged him. 

“Watch out for him, Milton.” I nodded and MG nodded in agreement watching me vamp off away from them. Skidding my feet on the front doorstep of the Salvatore School I pushed the door opened heading upstairs hearing yelling that could only belong to my father. 

“Do you have any idea of what you have done to your mother? She wasn’t taking her magic for a reason and she probably wouldn’t if you hadn’t been trying to get yourselves killed!” 

Hope began speaking towards him. “You would have done whatever it took to save mom. Screw the consequences for the others around you.”

“And Hope didn’t think it would go as bad. It was mom’s choice to step in.” Alina said behind her sister, even though the werewitch knew that it was mostly her older sister’s fault. 

Our father ran a hand harshly down his face. “You’re mother and I will always react when you kids are getting yourselves in trouble. Dark magic is very dangerous from my experience with your mother. You could’ve died.” 

“Josie and I stepped in so Lizzie and Hope wouldn’t die.” Alina snapped in defense. 

Dad growled. “You shouldn't have even been doing the spell in the first place.” 

“Mom didn't die, dad!” Hope raised her voice at him. 

Our father vamped in front of our sister pushing her into the wall. “She's not woken up! What do you call that, Hope? She is immortal and one of the most powerful creatures in the world but she hasn’t woken up yet!’ 

“Ug dad!” Hope winced under his harsh grip. 

Shifting my gaze around the room I finally landed my focus on our mother. She was laying on the large king size bed in the center of the bedroom.  “Mom! What did you guys do to her?” I gasped vamping over to her bedside. 

“We didn't make her take her magic back!” Hope snapped at my question. 

Alina glared at her sister with golden werewolf eyes. “Shut up Hope!” 

“They brought that Phoenix boy back from the prison world forgetting that it was filled with dark magic. But you’ve sister here refused to stop the spell when it started infecting them and the Saltzman twins. The magic is now inside of your mother including her own which she wasn't comfortable taking back yet.” Our father declared still holding Hope against the hardwood wall in the corner. 

She attempted to get out of his grasp. “Like I said we didn't tell her to come rescue us!” 

“Just be quiet, Hope.” 

She tried to say something back but I stopped her. “Missy, I-” 

“Silencio.” Snapping my fingers she shut her mouth and tried talking but the spell prevented her. “Dad, who do we call to help us?” 

He released his grip on my older sister turning to face me. “I don't know, sweetheart.” 

“Freya or Davina?” Alina questions. 

Whipping my head around I raised my index finger to the open bedroom door. “Yeah no shit Sherlock. You know what how about you and Hope just leave!” I wasn’t normally angry about things but I was getting pissed with them. 

“Missy, what have we done to you?” My twin asked me. 

Shoving my fangs out of my mouth I snarled at my siblings. Over the top infuriated them for doing this to our mother and also for not telling me. “You didn't tell me what you were up to and like dad said you forced mom to put herself in danger. So just get out of here. I don't want to see you two right now!” Alina and Hope looked at one another before they left the room together. 

Waving my hand the bedroom door slammed shut by my magic with my father lightly chuckling. “I must say I am impressed, Melissa. I knew you had anger in you somewhere.” 

“Thanks I guess. I'm just upset they left me out and now she's in trouble and we don't know how to help her.” 

Dad came over sitting across from me on the bed. “When you're sister was under a coma after fighting Josie she had difficulty facing the fact. It was a battle of the mind.” 

“So what does that mean for mom?” I raised a brow at my father. 

He lifted his gaze to meet mine, answering back. “It means I think we need to give your Uncle Elijah a call.” 

Unknown to either of them MG and Ethan were sitting out in his truck in the Mystic High School parking lot just talking. Ethan pulled out an old radio scanner looking at the vampire. “I found one of my moms old police scanners. I thought we could use this instead of just waiting around not knowing where something bad will happen.” 

“That’s cool, E. But you know we can just hang out.” MG shrugged his shoulders. 

The human sat the scanner box in his lap. “And we are. But we should be ready for when you face off against the ultimate bad guy or girl.” 

“You don’t have to worry about being ready, Ethan.” 

Ethan sighed heavily. “Yeah that's what Missy says…which means to basically sit on the sidelines.” 

“That isn't what I'm saying.” MG raised his hands out in front of him in surrender. “I just mean we can just hang out and be friends. Rather than spending all our time waiting for something serious to happen in Mystic Falls.” 

Ethan shifts in the driver's seat of his truck. “Speaking of Missy could you help me with something regarding her?” 

“Sure. What do you need help with, E?” The vampire perked up seeing the conversation take a different turn. 

Sadly the hops disappeared from his face when the human responded to his offer. “I was hoping you could help me convince her to turn me into a vampire.” MG had nothing to say for he had lost any idea of what to say back in response. He only could sit and think that Missy wouldn't care for the confrontation later on. 

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[feralandmoonstruck]

Moonstruck Ch 4. First Date

18+ only! This WIP contains explicit material

“Thanks for grabbing us a table,” Ezra said as he took the seat across from Apollo. A nervous sigh escaped him.

Apollo, all ease, gave him a smile. “It’s nice to see you somewhere outside of the coffee shop.”

“Couldn’t leave all of our meetings up to fate.” He grinned back and picked up his menu.

“I’m glad you thought so too. How’s the unpacking going?”

“Long. I’ve got another six boxes to get through before I’m done.”

“Moving is always a pain in the ass.”

“Tell me about it,” Ezra sighed. “Actually, don’t. I don’t want to talk about moving.”

Apollo chuckled, “What do you wanna talk about?”

“How was work?”

“It was good. Got to work with one of my favorite clients.”

“Yeah?”

“Lizzie’s great. She’s been a client for about three years now.”

Ezra nodded along. “Three years is a long time. I think?”

“I just supplement her other stuff. She’s a professional burlesque dancer but she comes to me for strength and endurance training.”

“I remember those days. I was a gymnast all the way up through high school.”

“Really? That’s awesome!”

Ezra hid a smile in his menu. “Thanks. I got tired of the constant, grueling schedules. Being told what to eat and do and wear every minute of the day. I gave it up the minute I could.”

“Damn. That sounds like it’s even more of a pain in the ass than moving.”

“It was,” Ezra laughed. “The older I got, the more annoyed I became with the food restrictions. Especially during competition season. I started researching more and more about foods and how it intersected with athletics, and it just grew from there.”

“Do you only work with athletes?”

“Nah. I work with everybody, but my special interest lies in athletes and former athletes.”

“That’s really cool, man.”

Ezra grinned. “Do you work every day?”

Apollo shook his head. “My schedule is really flexible, so I can take off when I need to.”

“Did you-”

“Nope. Lizzie was my only client today. Tomorrow I’m booked solid though.”

“Lucky I asked when I did then.”

The waitress arrived to take their order and their menus. When she left, Apollo picked up the conversation where it had left off.

“I’m glad you did. Going another week without getting to see you would have sucked.”

Ezra’s cheeks grew pink.

“Shit. Did that come out weird?”

“What?” Ezra tipped his head to the side, “Weird how? I don’t think it was weird.”

“That’s good. I haven’t been on a first date in years.”

“That makes two of us then. Tell me something else about you? I know you like to run and see the sunrise.”

“I do search and rescue sometimes.”

“Jesus. And I thought my job kept me busy.”

“I don’t like downtime. I like to keep moving.” Apollo took a drink of his water.

“I like downtime, but when it happens at work it just makes the day drag. That doesn’t happen often though. Busy days can drag too, but not in the same way.”

“That I completely get. Sometimes there’s just too much stuff and not enough hours.”

Ezra chuckled. “Those days are worse than unpacking.”

“My offer still stands to help you unpack.”

“There’s only six boxes left.”

“And how long will they take to get through?”

Ezra dropped his head, “Longer than they should.”

“You have my number.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“What do you like to do for fun?”

“I know what you’re gonna think, but I like going to craft breweries. They have fun flavors you can’t find at a store.”

“I don’t drink, so I’ll take your word for it.”

Ezra gave him a smile, “Your turn.”

Apollo returned it. “You’re one of very few people who haven’t immediately asked why I don’t drink.”

“Lots of people don’t drink for lots of different reasons. It’s like me saying I don’t like watermelon.”

“Thanks for that. I like to play video games.”

“Let me guess, first person shooters?”

Apollo laughed. “That’s what everyone always says, but no. They make me mad motion sick. I like co-op RPGs or fighting games. Something I can play with Ilya.”

“Is Ilya your roommate?”

Fuck. That wasn’t supposed to come up yet. Shit. I wasn’t prepared for this. Goddammit I shouldn’t have said anything.

“You good,” Ezra asked at the worried look on Apollo’s face.

“What? Yeah, I’m fine. What about you? Do you game?”

“I play dating and farming sims. Lame, I know,” Ezra laughed.

“Never played one. But if that’s your jam then that’s your jam.”

“They’re super chill.”

“I bet they would be.”

The waitress brought out their food.

“Fate says you should let me try a bite of that,” Ezra said, pointing to Apollo’s crepes with his fork.

“Fate says so?” Apollo chuckled, “better not tempt it anymore than we already have.” He pushed his plate closer to Ezra so that he could take a bite.

“Fuck that’s good. You want some of mine?” Ezra slid his plate towards the middle of the table, offering up his eggs benedict.

Apollo leaned over, cutting out a bite with the edge of his fork. Egg yolk and hollandaise soaked the english muffin, creamy avocado, and the crisp bite of pickled jalapenos burst with flavor within Apollo’s mouth. He closed his eyes and sat back. “I’m definitely ordering that next time I come here. They didn’t have it last time.”

“We could keep sharing,” Ezra offered.

Apollo’s eyes flickered to him. “Do you think it’s what fate wants?”

“It’s what I want.”

“Should we get extra plates?”

Ezra shrugged, “ I don’t mind eating like this.”

“I don’t either.”

They ate a few more bites in silence.

“I wonder,” Apollo said, “if I could replicate that benedict.”

Ezra blinked at him, “You cook, too?”

“Someone in the house has to. You can only live on takeout and pizza for so long.”

“Is there anything you can’t do?”

Apollo shrugged. “Dunno. I can’t do my taxes. Does that count?”

Ezra shook his head and laughed. “You work out, you cook, you like nature, you’re a personal trainer, you’re funny, you’re a Greek god. How have you not been on a date in years?”

“A few reasons. I mostly haven’t been interested in anyone. How have you not been on a date, Mr. doctor, cutie, gymnast?” He took another bite of his crepe. There was one bite left, which he saved for Ezra.

“My last relationship didn’t end great. I haven’t been interested in anyone else since.”

“Sorry to hear that, Ez.”

“It’s whatever. I’ve moved on.” Ezra shrugged.

“I saved this for you,” Apollo said in an attempt to lighten the mood. He spun his plate so the final bite faced Ezra.

“That’s yours, you should have it!”

“Fate says it’s yours now.”

Ezra laughed. “If fate insists, I guess I should then.” He picked up the last bite with his fork and brought it to his mouth. “Thanks, Apollo.”

“Of course.”

“Here, you can have the rest of mine if you want it. I’m stuffed.”

“You sure?”

“Definitely,” Ezra nodded.

“Thanks.”

After breakfast, Apollo walked Ezra to his car. Ezra leaned against the door, shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand so he could look up at Apollo. Apollo adjusted so that his shadow fell on Ezra’s face.

“Um, Ez?”

“Yeah?”

“I have a confession to make.” Apollo’s fingers began to tap against his thigh.

“You’re secretly married and I’m going to be your mister.”

Apollo laughed. “That’s surprisingly close, but no. Well, I mean, kinda? But not really.”

“Now you really have to tell me.”

Apollo’s hand moved from tapping his thigh to running his thumb over the edges of his nails.“I’m polyamorous.”

Ezra blinked, but Apollo rushed on.

“I know. I’m sorry. I really hope you don’t think I was stringing you along. Because I do really like you.”

“Do you-”

“Have a boyfriend? Yeah. His name is Ilya. I hope that’s okay?” Apollo hung his head, heartbeat throbbing against his chest.

“Wow. That’s uh, I was just joking when I said that.”

“I know, but you were really close to the truth.”

“Closer than I expected.”

“Much closer.”

“Well fuck. Okay. If we’re dropping bombs, I guess I should share mine, too.” Ezra took a deep breath and exhaled. “I’m trans.”

Without hesitation, Apollo’s face split into a grin. “Hell yeah! One of my little sisters is trans, too. Her name is Abigail. Maybe you could meet her someday.”

“You took that surprisingly well.”

“And you took me being poly surprisingly well.”

“About that,” Ezra said.

All of the air went out of Apollo. His smile disappeared, heart falling to his feet. This is it. This is where he leaves. Fuck!

“When would I get to meet your boyfriend?”

Apollo blinked, trying to reign in his hopes. “Whenever you want. If you want, that is.”

Ezra chewed his lip. “The thing is, Apollo. I’ve never been with someone that’s poly. Hell, I’ve never even met someone that’s poly. Or at least not that I know of. But I do like you. I do. Does he even know about me?”

“I told them yesterday. Kendrick, Ilya’s boyfriend, is the one who found your note in the bag. That was clever, by the way.”

“Hold on. Let me see if I’m following along correctly. You’re dating Ilya, who is dating Kendrick?”

“Yeah.”

“But you and Kendrick aren’t together?”

“Not romantically, no.” Apollo scuffed the toe of his shoe against the ground. “Kendrick and I have known each other since we were kids. He’s my best friend. But, we do sleep together.”

Ezra frowned. “Wow.”

“I know,” Apollo mumbled.

“Where do I fit into this?”

Apollo finally looked up. “I like you, Ezra. I want to keep getting to know you. You don’t really need to worry about Kendrick, he’s not interested in anyone that isn’t Ilya.”

“Except when he’s fucking you.”

“Except then.”

“And Ilya?”

“He’s fine with it. We want each other to be happy. That’s the most important thing for us.”

Ezra nodded. “That’s good. Happiness is important.”

“I want you to be happy, too. Whatever that means for you. For us.”

Ezra’s mouth twisted. “I’m going to need some time to process all of this. It’s.. it’s a lot to take in.”

Apollo nodded. Nervous fingers were clenched into fists to steady them. “I understand.”

“I’ll text you in a few days. Is that alright?”

“Yeah. Sorry to drop all of this on you, but I thought now would be a good time to bring it up.”

“It was. I’ll talk to you soon, though.”

“Talk to you soon.”

Apollo stepped back so that Ezra could get in his car. He waited until the engine started before he moved out of the way and crossed the parking lot to his own car.

Alone, he couldn’t breathe anything that wasn’t Ezra’s scent. It clung to his clothes, the inside of his car, his heart. He inhaled deeply. For just a minute he let himself close his eyes and daydream. Let himself get swept up in every little moment of the breakfast they had shared. That, at least, was worth remembering.

Finally, he pulled himself back to the present and started his car.

[lifeofkaze]

A Search for Balance

CHAPTER 25: SKYE'S CONFESSION

Find the masterlist with all chapters of this story here, the previous chapter here, and the next one here.

Tagging: @flareshogwarts

As the Christmas break drew to its end, Orion found himself reluctant to go home. His conversation with Katriona had left him feeling restless, unsure of whether he should feel determined or desperate in the face of his return to Wigtown.

On their first practice day of the new year, Orion woke with nervous anticipation. He had only seen Lizzie briefly since their match in Kenmare and not spoken to her at all, but even so, his heart started beating faster when she walked into the changing room.

The feeling quickly vanished as he took a  closer look at her. There were shadows under her eyes that made her look tired, the face pale and drawn as she took her seat between him and Skye. She didn’t speak, and Orion forced himself to listen to Ethan; it was no use fretting over something that had apparently been only in his head. Lizzie’s stance on the whole thing between them was apparent, that much he could tell.

The training session Ethan had planned for them was hard, and it wasn’t long before every muscle in Orion’s body was screaming. Judging by the subdued mutters of his teammates, they weren’t doing any better. After about half of their routine was done, Skye advocated for a break; Orion couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Skye returned to the team with a burning face and foul mood.

Lizzie was the only one to not mind the drill, performing every exercise fast and without complaint. Watching her, it was hard to believe that she had been too injured to play only a few weeks ago; her shots were hard and her aim precise, and Ethan had more than one appreciative word for her.

Every time her father praised Lizzie, Skye’s face grew darker. When they were done for the day, she lost no time returning to the changing room. Orion himself took his time getting changed; Lizzie had already gone, and he didn’t want to risk running into her when she so obviously didn’t want to talk to him.

He waited until the rest of the team was gone before he picked up his things, ready to leave. As he exited the changing room, a set of voices drifting down the corridor caught his attention. They were Skye’s and Ethan’s, and from what Orion could tell, they were arguing. He turned away, not wanting to listen in, but something made him stop.

“Do I look like I care?” Ethan had just said. “I don’t give a Chizpurfle’s shit about how it got to the press. I want to know if it’s true or not.”

Skye must have answered too quietly for Orion to hear because Ethan’s voice took on a sharper note.

“Have you run into a Beater’s Bat, Skye? Never thought to tell me about any of this, did you? You said there’s no way bringing him back from the dead could bite us in the arse, but what’s this, then? Not exactly a straight shot, is it?”

“So what if Lizzie shagged her ex?” Skye replied, sounding defiant. “That’s their problem, not ours. I really didn’t think this was gonna happen,” she added after a moment. “I thought if only we got the old team together, Lizzie would focus on what matters. I needed to do something before she’d marry herself off, and that’d be the last we’ve seen of her. Couldn’t know she’d get herself into a mess like this, now, could I?”

“I trusted you on this, and you let me down,” Ethan said regardless. “Thought it would do you good, surrounding you with people you can work with - Godric knows there’s little enough of them - but it was a mistake.”

He had lowered his voice, and despite himself, Orion found himself listening more closely.

“Have you any idea of what these articles are doing? Won’t be long until the press asks about Lizzie scoring off the pitch rather than on it. Not exactly the best circumstances to remind her of what she has in Wigtown. I need her to sign this bloody contract, and soon. Or do you want to hand the Cup to the Magpies again?”

“What I want,” Skye said fiercely, “is to win the Cup for the Wanderers, with or without her. One player doesn’t make a team, Dad. If she doesn’t want to play for us, let her go.”

“Careful, lassie,” came Ethan’s reply, sharply and promptly. “Don’t think you can teach me about Quidditch. I need Lizzie Jameson on my team to win, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her there. Now stop the whining and do what I told you. That’s what I made you captain for.”

Skye said something Orion didn’t understand, storming through the door to Ethan’s office a moment later. Ripping her captain’s badge off her jacket, she threw it to the ground and stomped away in the opposite direction to where Orion was standing in the shadows. Once she was gone, he went and picked it up, thoughtfully turning it between his fingers. When he looked up, he saw Ethan standing in the doorway, watching him.

“What do you want now?”

Orion shook his head, closing his hand around Skye’s badge before setting off in the direction where she had vanished. He wasn’t the one in dire need of help right now.

***

He found Skye in the stands surrounding the Quidditch pitch. Upon coming closer, Orion could see that she was furiously scribbling into a red notebook, so focused on her work that she didn’t even seem to mind the cold January wind blowing through the stadium. She suddenly paused, ripped out the half-finished page with an irritated sound, and tossed it to the ground, where several others were lying already. 

Orion picked one up and smoothed it out, surprised to see the beginnings of a match plan.

“Isn’t it the coach’s prerogative to devise the team’s strategy?” he asked as he sat next to her on the cold wood.

Skye glanced up from her notes. “Can’t hurt to put my own two brain cells to it, can it?”

She returned her attention to her notebook but only stared at the pages, her shoulders slumped forward in discouragement. Orion extended his hand.

“May I?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Skye handed him the notebook. “Ain’t got much yet. Hard to say what the right approach’s gonna be with Jameson just being back and all.” Her face darkened. “Not even sure she should play at all, in fact.”

Orion’s eyes fell on the line-up Skye had scribbled in the upper right-hand corner. She had listed four Chasers - Orion and herself, then Lizzie and Morgaine. The latter two had been repeatedly crossed out and written down again.

“As captain, your personal grievances must never cloud your judgement,” Orion said, taking Skye’s quill and underlining Lizzie’s name. “The three of us have helped our team to victory before, and I’m confident we will continue to do so.”

Skye looked at him from the corners of her eyes. “You sure you’re qualified to talk about this personal grievance thing?”

Orion paused his writing. “Have I ever led our team astray?”

“No, I suppose not.” She inhaled deeply. “Right, what do you suggest?”

Orion drew lines and circles until they formed a rudimentary diagram. Doing so felt strange to him; he hadn’t worked out a strategy chart since his time at Hogwarts.

“The Wasps lost their first match against us and will be eager for retribution. Their Beaters’ aim is their greatest asset, and our Seeker will be most at risk of being stung. Tell me, Skye, do you know what a hoverfly is?”

Taken aback by the sudden change of topic, Skye blinked. “Those pesky little buggers that look like wasps?”

Orion nodded. “They are harmless but use their brothers’ colours to hide from danger in plain sight.”

Skye’s face lit up as she understood. “You want Sheridan to tag the Wimbourne Chasers, don’t you? Wait a second,” she added with a frown. “That’s one of your old strategies, ain’t it?”

“The past holds all the answers we need.” A smirk stole onto his face. “That is, if you’re not afraid of having to dodge a few extra Bludgers coming our way.”

Skye flashed him a grin. “When have I ever backed down from a Bludger?”

Orion handed her the notebook back, watching as she completed the diagram. “You certainly never shied away from a challenge. But in Quidditch, as in life, the key to victory lies in unity and teamwork, not in the lone fight of a single player.”

Skye tensed. “Not everything’s made easier by holding hands.”

“I find the opposite to be true. It’s when we feel most alone that we’re in need of a friend.” He gave her an encouraging smile. “You don’t have to share what’s burdening you. But if you need someone to lighten the load, I’m here to listen.”

Skye shook her head. “How do you share a legacy?”

She began to tell Orion about her struggles, the daily conversations with her father, and how they would always turn into bitter arguments about how to lead their team. As captain, it was her responsibility to be both the voice of the team and her father’s extended hand on the pitch; her being the only remaining Parkin child in Wigtown didn’t make things any easier, either.

“I thought being captain would be fun,” Skye sighed when she was done, “but it ain’t at all. How did you make it look so easy all these years?”

“There’s an art to making the difficult seem effortless. Having your team place their trust in you is an honour, but living up to their expectations of you is never easy, nor should it be. May I offer a word of advice?”

“Can I stop you?”

“Of course you can.”

“No, go on,” Skye decided. “Just don’t make it a sermon.”

“What do you think were my reasons for doing our moments of vivification before every match?”

“You like to hear yourself talk?”

“To inspire, it doesn’t matter what you say or do,” Orion explained. “To ignite a fire inside the people looking to you for guidance, it’s important how you make them feel. Make them confident in themselves and proud to be part of your team, then you know they will go above and beyond to surpass themselves. If your team isn’t burning for you, no strategy in the world can make up for it.”

Skye made a sceptical sound. “Not sure Dad would agree.”

“The interesting question is, do you agree?”

Skye was silent while she contemplated his words. Eventually, she said, “Don’t think it matters what I believe. He’s the coach, and he’s my dad. His word’s the law, one way or another. It’s up to me to find a way to make everyone happy, though I don’t have a bloody idea on how to do that.”

“If there’s one thing I learned in Montrose, it’s that if success requires giving up on your beliefs, it will always feel empty. I stopped listening to what my heart was trying to tell me, but you can only bend for so long before you break. Ultimately, all you have is one choice - to break or to be broken.”

“But Montrose didn’t break you,” Skye shook her head. “You’re the Captain. Nothing can break you.”

“Because I chose to break away on my own terms, and it cost me dearly.” He smiled at Skye and held her captain’s badge out to her. “And you’re the captain now, not me.”

“In a way, you’re always gonna be the Captain to me.”

They fell silent. Lost in thought, Orion picked up one of Skye’s discarded pages and tore little pieces off it. The wind blew them over the pitch, and he watched them dance in the dwindling light before they slowly sank to the ground.

“Strange, isn’t it?” Skye suddenly spoke up. “Last time I sat on some stands and let pages fly was when Lizzie asked me to train her for the house team. Feels like a lifetime ago.

“A lot has changed since then.”

“I guess so,” Skye hummed, touching the tips of her boots against the railing in a slow rhythm. “I’m sorry everything has gone so wrong. I really only wanted the best for the team when I asked you to come back… and you and Lizzie, of course. That, too.”

“Everything happens for a reason,” Orion said gravely. “It’s futile to ponder over it. The ways of the universe are unfathomable.”

“How do you feel about all of this anyway? The bad press and all?”

Orion picked up another piece of paper, this time smoothing it out and neatly folding it along the edges, over and over again.

“Unsettled,” he answered Skye’s question. “It feels like the walls are closing in on me, and wherever I look, I see things I do not wish to be reminded of. Everything I’ve done has brought pain to both Lizzie’s life and mine. Maybe I should have refused your offer,” he said with a defeated voice. “Maybe all of this was a mistake.”

“Want to know what I think?”

“Of course.”

“I think you need to stop whining and pull yourself together,” Skye told him seriously. “I know you’re heartbroken, I get it, but I meant what I said. Nothing can break you. And for what it’s worth, the Wanderers are glad you’re here, and so am I. As for the rest, I guess you’ll need to swallow your pride and be a man. Make of that what you will.”

She rose to her feet and pocketed both her notebook and the captain’s badge. “I can’t rely on Lizzie anymore to back me up. If you want me to be a leader, I’ll need at least one person on my side. I’m counting on you, Captain. I can’t afford to lose you as well.”

[yacinthemorning]

Mother Hen

Chapter 5 of 6

[First] [Prev] [Next] [Last]

Summary: 5 times Jimmy was almost the mom friend, if not for his other quirks.

Ships: Jimmy & Grian (Siblings)

Warnings: Temporary Death

Grian landed on the completely flat world with a small gust, before being knocked over by a dust cloud kicked up by Jimmy’s wings beside him. “Hey!” He squawked.

Jimmy gave a playful shrug, Joel and Lizzie giggling behind him. “Should’ve gotten here on time!”

Oh, that was it. 

In truth, the two brothers being anywhere in the same world eventually activated Grian’s goblin mode, but this had to be a new record. Either way, Tim was going down. This world was an hour old, but it was already going to be the next site of his lifelong lesson. Don’t start a fight you can’t win.

And to be fair, it had been a bit since Grian got to mess with the other avian in person. Usually he was limited to Watching, whispering while Jimmy played on Empires and the rat house. It was fun, especially when only Jimmy could hear him and the other Watchers – not only teasing him but making him look mad in front of his other friends when he shouted back – but nothing compared to messing with Jimmy in person.

He started by messing up his hair with a wing beat of his own. It got a mild squeak of irritation out of him. All good things start slow.

“Well, this is your world, Tim, lead the way!” Grian declared. “What are we playing?”

“We’re going to defeat the dragon!” He explained, ignoring Grian entirely and following after Joel, who muttered that he knew how to do so in a flat world.

Grian quickly chased after, shouting to Joel, “Nobody help Tim, he has to figure it out on his own.”

“What- no!” Jimmy whined. “I brought you along so you could help. I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s okay, Jimmy, I also don’t know.” Lizzie tried to placate him, her voice echoing through Grian’s communicator. It got a huff in response. Joel slowed down but continued to lead them right to their first village.

The real fun began there. Poking Jimmy every time his back was turned, clearing out resources before he could find them, and only watching with a devious smirk as Jimmy forgot what tool to use to pick up a bell and instead broke the poor thing.

“Oh, Jimmy. You need a pickaxe.” Lizzie shook her head, patting his shoulder. She reached into her inventory to-

“Hey!” Grian landed in front of them, pointing accusingly. “No helping him! He has to do this on his own!”

“Why!” Jimmy pouted.

Grian shrugged. “How are you going to learn if we do everything for you?”

“Well you’ve never done anything for me, and a lot of help that’s been.” 

He just snickered before flying off the find Joel. He’s pretty sure he saw Lizzie pass Jimmy a pickaxe anyways. That wasn’t really the point.

The real fun started when night descended. Jimmy was nowhere to be seen. Actually, none of them were anywhere to be seen, only heard through their communicators.

“Time to sleep.” Jimmy announced. Two other tired agreements joined him.

So, he wanted to time jump through the night, eh?

Well, he wouldn’t learn anything doing that.

Grian put down his bed and sat down on it but did not go to sleep. Minutes passed. He heard grumbling.

“Who isn’t going to sleep?” Jimmy finally asked.

Both others replied. “I’m in bed.” Grian said as well.

Technically it was true.

It didn’t work for a second. “Grian go to bed.”

“I’m in bed!” He insisted, barely containing a snicker. In the distance he could see zombies and spiders crawling out from the earth among the many slimes.

“Well somebody isn’t sleeping!”

“I swear I am, I’ll even come sleep next to you.” Joel tried to assure. It seems he decided to be on Jimmy’s side today. Boo.

“Lizzie?”

“I’m also asleep.”

“Grian?”

He made an exaggerated sigh, even as he pulled out a book to read. He was a few blocks up, none of the mobs could get him. “I swear I’m asleep.” 

“Grian I swear-“

“I’m in bed, Tim!”

“If you’re lying…”

Grian covered his mouth to muffle his laughter. Apparently, it wasn’t enough.

“Grian, go to bed.”

“Yes, mom.” He whined, finally laying down. It was not over though. He waited, right up until he could feel the force of time begin to drag against him, and then sat back up, stopping the world condition. A screech came through the communicator.

“Grian!”

At that he burst out laughing. He picked up his bed and reached through space, Watching where his poor baby brother was. Ah, the church. Not far at all, really. Grian jogged over, finding Joel also there, caught between tired annoyance and amusement. Jimmy’s feathers were thoroughly ruffled.

He groaned. “Grian, please just go to bed.”

“That’s why I’m here!” Grian lied through his teeth, setting his bed up strategically behind Jimmy just out of his line of sight, but Jimmy well within Grian’s. Joel eyed him, clearly aware that the shenanigans would not be ending. If Grian pushed much more then Jimmy would most certainly have the alien on his side of things.

But since when did Grian do anything half-way?

By midnight Jimmy completely gave up. He pulled out his communicator, summoned forth the admin panel, and manually inflicted a time jump on the world. “I’m not dealing with you being a misbehaving child.” He grumbled.

“That’s cheating! You’re a cheater!” Grian shouted as he ran off laughing. Oh, this world would be great fun…

-

Jimmy was sick and tired.

“Tim?”

The last few days made him contemplate his life decisions. Mainly, why did he invite his brother to anything? He always showed up late, he always set to work teasing him and pranking him, he always looked for ways to break things.

“Timmy, you there?”

And, apparently, he always refused to just go to bed.

Well, overall, he found it more fun to have Grian around than not. Once it was over and they all returned home, allowing them to calm down, Grian would second guess himself. He’d message Jimmy, ask if he went too far, if he was alright.

“Tiiim… Timmy!”

Usually the answer was fine and no. Jimmy wasn’t so sure about this time. Grian was being as much of a menace as possible. Maybe it was the lack of stimulation in the flat world, maybe he just had too much coffee.

“Tim? Tim-Jim?” Grian’s voice repeated over the communicator. 

Jimmy let out a beleaguered sigh. “Grian, I know you can hear me. Get over here.”

Lizzie and Joel laughed beside him. Grian’s fluffy blond hair poked out from behind a hallway with a huge grin.

At least he was having fun. 

“Ready to fight the dragon?” Jimmy asked, waiting for everyone to nod. Grian did not. Grian leapt right through the portal, forcing everyone to follow him to the End. Specifically, onto a very precarious island. Almost immediately Jimmy is pushed off, but he manages to keep balance long enough to build a bridge. 

The dragon is already there, resting on her perch. She roars, a stinking cloud emitting from her maw, then takes to the air. With their limited resources bringing her back down would be a pain. Joel tries to shoot at her with their few arrows, but they miss by a country mile. He looks tired. Jimmy felt it in his own bones.

He isn’t sure where Grian heads off. Hopefully he was being helpful. Instead he followed Lizzie. Evidently, she was also in a silly mood, placing blocks beside his pillar for enderman to follow him.

“Lizzie.” He scolded, wings flared. She just giggled and ran off. These gremlins were something else…

He was so caught up with what the others were doing he didn’t see the dragon swooping down behind him until she had already slammed full-body into his pillar. All his strength wasn’t enough to keep in place, and he fell. The spongy yellow ground rapidly approached, and then he was in the overworld, gasping for breath as he shot up out of a bed in the sky. 

Grian’s laughter echoed across worlds from his communicator while the other two shouted questions. Jimmy’s wings slumped in embarrassment, taking a moment to simply stare at the sunset…

The sunset?

Oh god, if they win now Grian was going to come back out into an Overworld halfway through the night.

Right now, though, he was the only one here, and the only one needed to…

“One sec guys, save my stuff!” Jimmy said to his friends before pulling back the covers of the bed and curling up. He could hear the Watchers giggling in his ear but he didn’t care. When he woke up next the world was bright with the rising morning sun and his body much less stiff. He breathed out a sigh of relief. At least they slept through one night...

“Are you coming back? You’re going to miss the whole fight!” An impatient voice asked. Jimmy grumbled to his feet and hopped back through the portal.

He lasted about another minute before he died again. By the time he made it back into the End the others had already defeated the dragon. He sighed.

Later that evening, after they almost fell out of the sky for the umpteenth time, after Joel finally snuck in on the fun and killed Jimmy, and after they all said goodbye and left the temporary world behind, Jimmy decided to jump to his personal world. He needed the breather before heading back home. Just a quick rest…

Purple manifested through the space between spaces just as he sat down on his nest. At first it was eyes, but then a physical form popped through. “Tim?”

Jimmy groaned. “Yes, Grian?”

His brother invaded the world entirely, closing the void behind him. A rare occurrence, one Jimmy assumed had to do with the way he wrung his hands and held his wings low. Or maybe that last one was more to do with the circles under his eyes. Exhaustion always brought about paranoia.

Before Grian could do much more than gape like a cod Jimmy raised a placating hand. “I’m fine, G, don’t worry.”

“You didn’t even get to really fight the dragon, though.”

“It was still fun!”

“You can yell at me if you want to, you big baby…”

Jimmy couldn’t stay mad, not when Grian was swaying on his feet from his own prank. With an exasperated chirp he reached out. There wasn’t much resistance from the shorter when Jimmy guided him over to the nest, flopping down into the wool and hay like a ragdoll.  

Almost immediately Grian curled up at his side. Without Pearl there was more than enough space for both boys to stretch out their wings, worn from the fight and the slimes. Jimmy picked at a few of the more irritatingly out of place feathers.

Grian let out a soft, tired coo. “That was exhausting.”

“That’s what you get for making a game out of not sleeping.” Jimmy flicked his forehead, then scooted over to lay down as well. He began to run his fingers through his brother’s hair. “Go to sleep.”

Grian hummed, eyes already closed. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, Grian, now rest.”

“’Kay.”

There was silence.

“… Hey, Tim?”

“What.”

“You stink like dragon’s breath.”

Jimmy let out a dramatic sigh. “For Void’s sake, Grian, just go to sleep!”

[clairecrive]

Hi could we please get a really angsty fic with nikolai (with a happy ending pls) where reader and he has had a fight so they maintain the facade on the outside bc they're royals but in private it's just ignoring each other/angst?

Young Royals

A/N: ahh, this is angsty alright but it seems I'm only capable of writing hurt/comfort lately. This took a life of its own and it's long af but I hope you like it anyway x

Warnings: miscommunication, angst, fighting, hurt/comfort, Nikolai is a bit absent, you're a bit jealous of his relationship with Zoya

Tags: @jupiterandbutterflies, @agentsofsheilds , @for-bebbanburg , @randomoutsiders , @pansysgirlfriend , @hannaxmaria , @vintagebitc , @story-scribbler , @crowssixof , @odetostep,@lizzie-he4rts, @korol-lantsov, @subjecta13-thefangirl, @gallysonegoodlung, @a-c-lee, @mriddlemethis, @carnationworld,@thanossexual, @luvxginger, @sanna2020,@partiesandblurrypolaroids, @edithsvoice, @wafflesandschemingfaces (tag list form)

SHADOW AND BONE MASTERLIST

"Do not put words into my mouth, Nikolai."

"Please, you already have so many, my love," he scoffed and the use of the term of endearment hurt the most.

"You're making me sound like a brat while I'm providing you with a viable solution," you insisted with a flare of your hands, frustrated by his unwillingness to listen to you.

"No, you're not. What you're doing is being childish."

"I'm your queen, Nikolai. I'm only asking to be more involved."

"You're my wife, y/n, and you know nothing about politics or running a country." He retired, putting emphasis on wife. This felt a lot like being put into place. And the fact that it was your husband doing so, hurt. It was also the most you had seen him this week.

"Neither did Zoya, nor Genya or anyone who's currently running the country."

"That's different and you know it."

"Only because you're making it so," you exclaimed finally exploding. His despondency got on your nerves and this conversation was going nowhere anyway.

Surprised by your raise of voice, Nikolai stood before you just blinking at you.

Sighing, you took a step toward him, holding your hands up, "look, you're right, I don't know about running a country but teach me. I'm not stupid, I'll pick it up."

"Why are you insisting so much? You've never shown any interest in politics before." He gave you a puzzled look like he didn't really believe your intentions.

"I've never wanted to be queen before." before meeting you.

"Ah, I see," he chuckled mirthlessly, "I put you in this situation and now you're taking your revenge."

To insinuate that your marriage with him was you "being put into a situation" rather than a consensual decision you had made out of love was absurd.

Nikolai was right. You had never cared about politics or diplomacy before meeting him. You were a soldier. There was no reason for you to meddle with something that didn't concern you.

But now you were queen and you felt a responsibility towards your people. You wanted to help but so far, Nikolai hadn't allowed you to take part in any meetings. He said that anyone who needed to be there was already involved. What he didn't tell you was that while Grisha made excellent soldiers and even good councillors, one of them being a royal was a very different matter.

He had indulged his love for you by marrying you. You were his vice and he simply couldn't accept the idea of being without you anymore. He had married you, consequently making you queen, going against what his advisors told him.

While he ignored his warnings he was painfully aware, however, how difficult it was going to be for a Grisha on the throne. It was the first time something liked this had ever happened and unfortunately, the country was filled with people who resented Grisha for their powers.

Nikolai feared that the people were never going to accept you. Hence why he'd been keeping you secluded in the palace.

To be fair, you were doing a wonderful job. Like he had pointed out, you were not accustomed to politics but you made up for that with empathy and kindness. You started to interest yourself with the problem of poverty and lack of provisions for some parts of the country.

And while no one was aware of it, Nikolai often turned to you for military strategy. You were an apt soldier and had fought bravely alongside him and everyone else in the battle of the Fold. You were the very reason why he was still alive, to be honest.

While this arrangement worked for the first months of your reign, it was starting to feel an inadequate effort. You needed to do more, you wanted to do more. You didn't expect Nikolai to oppose it so vehemently.

"If I didn't want to be here I wouldn't be, Nikolai, you'd do well to remember it," you pointed out coldly, straightening your spine.

"Since you seem so adverse at spending time with me or including me in important matters, I'll find someone else who will." And with that, chin held high, you walked out of the room.

You missed him. It felt absurd to say this but you missed your husband. He was always busy with meetings or official visits to some noble across the country. For most of them, he went alone or with Zoya.

You knew that she was his first in command but you couldn't help but be bothered by it. It was one thing to accept the fact that he hadn't given the role to you "because the queen cannot have that role as well", it was a whole other thing to accept the fact that another woman spent more time with your husband than you did.

Countless were the fights you had with him in this regard. But they were pointless. Nikolai was still set on not bringing you and he and Zoya were always found together.

You didn't know what hurt more. The blow at your pride for being denied a position you deserved because of who you loved, the jealousy or being punished for your identity.

One thing was sure though, it was getting too much. At first, you pulled thought for Nikolai but now that you didn't have him anymore, your efforts seemed to be in vain.

So, like you had told Nikolai, you looked for someone who was willing to teach you. You wanted to help and if Nikolai wasn't going to let you here at the palace, then you'd find somewhere else.

Count Kirigin had always been nice to you and he was a very generous host. You knew that he played a central role in Nikolai's plan so you thought that there was no one better than him.

You reached out to him, wrote him a letter in which you showed interest in his activity and asked him if he was willing to show you. Of course, anything that came from the queen or the king couldn't be denied but you knew that the Count truly enjoyed your company. If your position didn't put so much higher than everybody else, you'd even consider him a friend.

You waited for his reply before putting in motion the preparations for your departure.

In the meantime, you and Nikolai kept conducting your separate lives. Usually, you'd only see him at night when he returned to your chambers if you were still up. Now, you had decided to sleep in separate rooms too.

If he wanted a wife, then a wife he'd get. But kings and queens do not sleep together.

If the new arrangement was bothering him, you didn't know. He hadn't reached out to you nor made any move to rectify your decision.

Turns out that he wasn't even at the Palace. He had left for a mission near the border with Shu Han and wouldn't be back for at least a week. Well, then. Of course, he didn't even bother with telling you. Not even a small note.

Jokes on him though, you thought, since when he was going to come back, he'd finally get what he wanted. You weren't going to be there to bother him anymore.

Differently from him though, you did indeed left him a note. Nikolai found it a week after you had set it on his pillow. Its presence made him furrow his eyebrows since he had already been wondering where you were. You usually came out to meet him at the gates whenever he'd come back from a mission and even though you had fought before he went away, you weren't one for holding grudges. So e guessed there was something holding you.

Unfolding the paper he was met with your familiar chaotic writing.

"I don't know when you're going to find this letter but if I'm not there yet it means that I'm still at Count Kirigin's. Do not bother with writing or visiting, I'll come back when my business with him is done.

Y/n"

What in the name of every sweet loving saint???

The letter wasn't dated, no dear, no yours no nothing. Fuck. You were still mad or worse, hurt.

Asking one of the servants, he learned that you had been away for a week already. But what business could you possibly have with the Count??

Nikolai had nothing against him. Seeing Kirigin get all flustered as he tried to flirt with Zoya amused him to no end but the idea of him and you in the same house? Alone?? Unacceptable.

Not even bothering to change clothes after his long journey, Nikolai headed to the stables to ask for a well-rested horse. Luckily, Count Kirigin's estate was not too far away. A couple of hours ride.

Turns out that the Count had a lot to teach. Despite his aloof reputation and extravagant clothes, he was very observant. He lacked ambition, which was why Nikolai trusted him and had a curious way of behaving in social situations.

But Emil had been born and raised in high society. He knew how things were run even if he had no desire to be in charge of them.

So far, you'd be having a wonderful time. Emil was a wonderful host, as you remembered, but without Nikolai's presence, he was even more extravagant. He had an unexpectedly dry sense of humour and a never-ending list of jokes.

Being in the open and in the company of someone who saw y/n instead of the Queen of Ravka proved to be even more needed than you thought. You felt reinvigorated and much lighter than you'd ever been.

You had also been learning a lot. Emil had been teaching you about diplomacy. About the best ways of formulating a sentence so that you wouldn't offend anyone but still get what you wanted. He had also been talking to you about your husband's ministers. About their weaknesses and vices and what was the best way to approach them to get what you wanted.

So far, it was proving to be a wonderful decision to come here.

Whenever your mind strayed on Nikolai, you willed it to focus on something else. You didn't know if he had already come home or seen the letter. A part of you thought that if he had, he would at least write one back. But the thought felt a lot like hope and seeing as how little he saw you even before you left, you didn't think it safe to harbour it.

When Nikolai reached the estate, he was met with Kirigin's servants. They welcomed him inside and profusely apologised for the Count's absence. They told him that at this time of the day, Kirigin and his guest would usually go out on a ride but that they were also about to return.

So Nikolai waited, sitting in the most comfortable chair the Count owned, fuming at the thought that his wife had felt the need to go away and be in the company of another man.

"If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be Nikolai. You'd do well to remember it."

Your words haunted him. They were the last thing that you told him. How stupid had he been to let you walk away. How utterly careless of him to disregard you like that.

He had promised himself to truly talk to you about it once this pressing matter of state was taken care of. Apparently, he had waited too long.

But Nikolai knew that the problem was at the source. He noticed how hurt you had been when he made Zoya his first in command. Or how sad you seemed everywhere he went somewhere with her and didn't ask you to join.

He was doing so to protect you from the inevitable slander you'd be met with. He should have known though that putting you aside was going to be even worse. You were a fighter just as much as Zoya was, if not stronger.

She hid behind her veil of indifference and superiority while you had never lost that emphatic verve that made everyone love you so much. In his attempt to make you safe, he had only managed to hurt you.

You were a warrior. You had accepted the role of queen only because it was the only way for you to be with Nikolai. And instead of praising you by making you a warrior queen, he had decided to hide you away.

Well, no more.

If his mistakes had not ruined everything already, he was going to make everything better.

Lost in his musing, he didn't hear the sound of hooves approaching but he did indeed hear your laugh. It immediately brought him back to the present and a wave of ugly jealousy hit him.

He couldn't remember the last time he made you laugh.

"I shouldn't even laugh Emil, the joke was terrible," Nikolai hear you giggling from somewhere in the hall. So now he was Emil, huh.

"You know you can't resist my charm, your highness," Emil replied and Nikolai had to call on every bit of his self-control to not barge out of the room and punch him.

"Stop it, you know you can call me y/n."

Before Emil could reply, they had both made it to the sitting room where Nikolai was waiting for them. It looked like no one had warned them of his presence because Kirigin looked surprised then utterly mortified.

"Your majesty, I wasn't aware you were here. Please forgive me for making you wait."

"Don't fret Kirigin, it was an impromptu visit. I came to see how my lovely wife was doing." No matter how green he was feeling right now, he knew that Kirigin was loyal to him and the crown. Whatever was happening here wasn't one of his schemes.

"Of course! I'm going to send for some tea while you two get reunited." Kirigin quickly bowed before hurrying out of the room.

Nikolai met your eyes for the first time since you had arrived. If at first, you were surprised to see him, now you couldn't help but be a bit sceptical about this visit.

"What are you doing here?" you asked breaking the ice.

"You leave with only a few lines on where you're going and you expect me to just accept it?" He scoffed, his hands curling on the armrests of the chair.

"It's more than what you gave me," you quipped, crossing your arms on your chest.

Nikolai sighed while his gloved hands run through his hair. You were right and he knew it. He had been a horrible husband lately.

"I know you're mad at me, honey, but listen-"

"I'm not mad. You didn't want to give me what I wanted so I went looking for it somewhere else." Scrolling your shoulders, you interrupted him without meeting his eyes. A list of excuses was not what you wanted nor what you needed from him.

Nikolai didn't miss the innuendo. His jaw clenched, his hands closed in fists. But he willed himself to stay calm.

"You think Kirigin can give you something that I can't?" Nikolai was a master in diplomacy. Never did he get frustrated or angry or raised his voice, even with the most aggravating people. Here though, with you, he didn't have to keep a façade. He spoke through his teeth barely containing his anger.

"Well, so far, he's been giving me attention and interesting pointers that no, Nikolai, you refused to give me."

"So this is how you solve your problems? Running away in the countryside with Emil?" Nikolai sneered, his tone souring around Kirigin's name.

"Don't you do the same with your precious first in command?" Tired after your ride with Emil, you plopped down on the chair in front of Nikolai's. Completely ignoring his tone, you pointed out calmly. The perfect image of aloofness even when it was the last thing you were in this moment.

"That's different," he snapped trying to meet your eyes that were carefully analyzing your hands.

"Yes," you signed, "it seems that when I'm concerned everything is different."

"There's nothing between me and Zoya, y/n and you know it." Nikolai was getting more frustrated by the second. He came here to apologize, to make things right and so far, the conversation was going in the opposite directions.

"Maybe now, but you spend more time with her than you do with me. It's only a matter of time before it happens and you're sorely mistaken if you think I'll just stand by and watch."

"This is not about Zoya," he insisted but so far, he wasn't getting the reaction out of you he wanted. You seemed... resigned at the situation. And that worried Nikolai to no end.

"It never is."

"Why did you run away?" Opting for a more direct approach, he bit the bullet and went straight to the point.

"I did not run away," you scoffed in contempt at his choice of words, "I told you I wanted to do more and Emil is teaching me. Not everyone is so against spending time with me, you know." You shot him a glance.

It was the first time that you had looked at him since you had been left alone.

"I married you, y/n. How can you possibly believe I don't want to spend time with you?" As desperation slipped through his words, Nikolai leaned towards you in his seat. As if he couldn't bear the distance between you anymore. But you knew it wasn't that. You and he had been distant for months now.

"Because that's what's happening, Nikolai," you clipped back and Nikolai had to refrain from wincing at your tone.

"It's not intentional, my love, I've just been busy." His tone softened. It was a poor excuse of an apology but it was sadly the truth.

"But when I say that I want to join or help you with it you strongly oppose?" Again, there was that suspicious implication in your words that Nikolai just couldn't stand. To think that you believed he'd ever cheat on you with another woman when he had done so much, taken so many risks, to be with you.

"It's not what you think, y/n." He insisted again but immediately realized he had said the wrong thing when he saw you leaning back into your chair shaking your head.

"I don't think anything, anymore. Do whatever you want. You do your thing and I'll do mine. I won't be a bother to you anymore." Holding up your hands, you gestured as you spoke.

A beat. Nikolai froze in his seat at what you were suggesting.

"You're never a bother to me. Never." He leaned even forwards in his chair, basically only propping on it now. The desperation was now clear in his voice. He reached out to you to try and take hold of your hands but you were too distant.

"I love you more than anything in this world and if you think that I'm going to let you go without a fight, you're sorely mistaken." The steel determination of his words caught you off guard. Nikolai was strong-headed, you knew that better than anyone else, but it had been a long while since that determination had been directed to you.

"You already did." It was barely a whisper. The sad truth about your reality, the downfall of your relationship. The wavering of your voice, the pain in your eyes were enough to tip Nikolai off the edge.

"Milaya, please."He fell onto his knees in front of you. Leaning forward he reached for your hands that he could now hold. "I'm sorry. I put you in a difficult position when I married you and I tried my best to protect you."

"I don't need protecting, Nikolai, especially if it's by pushing me away."

"I was keeping you away from danger and I know that you're strong and capable but I hate to think of you as the object of public slander." His eyes darted between yours, frantic, desperate to make you understand.

"I'm Grisha, Nikolai. It's nothing new to me," you pointed out but then it hit you.

"By difficult position, you meant a Grisha Queen, didn't you?" Your eyes hardened at the implications, your hands going slack in his hold. You would have pulled them away if Nikolai didn't tighten his hold.

"Please, do not think I'm regretting my choice or I think you're not worthy of the title because that's not true." Pulling your hands, he tried to get you closer to him. "I fear that there will be repercussions among the people." And there it was, at last, the truth.

"And among your ministers," you added remembering Emil's lessons on the people at court and their role.

You scoffed when he stayed silent. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought I was doing the right thing, my love."

"So Zoya can handle it and I can't?"

"For the millionth time," he groaned, "I don't care about Zoya."

"I only care about you and I know you can handle it. I just didn't want you to. You deserve happiness and peaceful life and I know it's impossible to have in this saints' forsaken country but I can at least try." His eyes lowered in shame and his confession sent a pang through your heart. You took a moment to take in what he said.

Never had you thought about the possibility of Nikolai's distance was a form of protection. You were a soldier of the Second Army, after all. But being a queen, especially a Grisha one, was a delicate thing.

It was the first time in history that something like this happened. Nikolai's worries were not unfounded since even after the destruction of the Fold, anti-Grisha movements were spreading fast.

It was sad to see the General's attempt of assuring safety for Grisha, provoking exactly the opposite thing.

"Oh, Kolya," returning his grip, you leaned towards him, "I just want a life with you by my side."

"As do I. I want you always and forever but above all, I want you safe. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, you know it right?"

"I just ask that you tell me the truth and let me play the role I've been given."

"It's not going to be easy. People at court-"

"I know. That's why I'm here. Emil's been teaching."

"Well, no more. I'm going to take care of it from now on."

"Is this a promise or a threat?"

"Rest assured my love, the difference between the two is almost nonexistent." He flashed you a smirk and you couldn't help but smile at him. Here it was, your beloved Nikolai.

"Things are going to change, aren't they?" you murmured softly as he gently rested his forehead against yours.

"We're going to show everyone what a "power couple" is." Here was his promise. Sealed with the gentlest nudging of his nose to yours. The action made you smile and your heart soar. You missed these little moments of intimacy with him.

One of his hands came to cradle your face as the other kept hold of your left hand. Your rings softly clicked as they touched. A form of reassurance.

"I love you, y/n."

"And I you, Kolya."

You were completely lost in your little bubble, even more so when Nikolai's lips finally met yours, that you had forgotten where you were. And that there was an embarrassed Kirigin outside the door waiting for the right moment to come in with tea.

[moon1ee]

highlights from jimmy’s recent empires stream asdfhjhdgf it was absolutely hilarious to watch. featuring: flower husbands crumbs and wither rose alliance shenanigans, as well as minor explosions. 

warning for many, many suggestive jokes, because it’s scott.

we start the steam and… 

it’s a great start. just. wonderful. (why are they like this my god)

jimmy proudly declares that he has killed 1000 salmon, fwhip in the stream chat asks if it’s really 1000 salmon, jimmy shows off his statistics, then asks fwhip to log on and tell him how many cod he’s killed

fwhip shows up, and says he’s not really into the killing thing, and he’s only killed 130 salmon and 80 cod. he then proceeds to call jimmy a “bad guy”, and also adds that lizzie makes a profit by killing fish and selling their scales, when she rules over the ocean.

jimmy protests, saying that they have done good things. fwhips asks what things those were. jimmy stops and has a mental breakdown. “am i the bad guy?” he asks the chat, which i think is a dsmp reference? maybe? 

basically, we were all rooting for a jimmy villain arc when it was really there all along lmao

also, scott adds this in the chat: “what good things? you don’t even answer my calls. plus, you have a questionable sword. really trying to demonetize us all.” 

to which jimmy asks, “what do you mean?” he throws his sword down on the ground, stares at it for a moment (jimmy i love you but your sword is just…) and then hurriedly picks it back up and moves on

joel shows up, and fwhip, and they are bullying jimmy. then scott appears, heroically defending jimmy from his terrible foes, stating that jimmy is a “poor defenseless fish man, leave him alone,”. also jimmy was really transfixed by scott’s new skin for some reason.

scott and joel get into a fight because scott called joel a short man. he says he and fwhip have the short king vibes. scott also says joel is self-conscious and over-compensating. the entire interaction is gold. 

they get into a fight, joel flies away. jimmy asks scott if he wants to worship in the church of cod with him. scott says after he kills joel, and flies away.

fwhip and jimmy start arguing again, gem shows up to stop the fight, scott dies. jimmy collects his head. scott comes back and says “no head, jimmy. i want it back.” asdajfhjkhfl

they start arguing about their irl and canon heights

jimmy is shorter than scott in canon, now, so rip the headcanon of magical transformation growth spurts. 

the theory of jimmy being the villain is debunked because he’s killed 5 players, most of which were probably the whole alliance drowning thing, and has been killed by players 12 times. meanwhile, fwhip has killed 49 players.

sausage, hearing about death, shows up with a blood sheep for the cod church, which fwhip instantly kills.

they all go worship in the church of cod. scott has stolen joel’s diamond blocks from his throne. there is more chaos.

jimmy asks (demands) that the others all help him build a path from his church to the main streets and stuff, and gem starts helping.

note that i only said gem. fwhip is building floating circles and scott is building dicks everywhere because he is Mature. he insists he is building jimmy’s sword. you know. the one he commented on earlier.

there are just dicks everywhere my god. 

scott comments on the salmon fwhip put in jimmy’s fish tank, which jimmy hadn’t noticed until now. he goes to kill them and lags out and dies.

he comes back at spawn because he never sets his spawnpoint. sausage eventually comes and gives jimmy his stuff on the way there. jimmy asks where his sword is. sausage says that scott has it. he says that “he’s playing with your sword.” i— i wanted flower husbands but Not Like This. never like this. why.

also sausage had the Greatest Song In The World, but he gave it to jimmy. they both joked about flashbacks while i’m sitting here feeling very nostalgic.

jimmy comes back to his empire and kills the salmon in the tank. things are being blown up. there are explosions everywhere. scott is constantly freezing jimmy’s fish tank to mess with him, end crystals are being placed, there are holes everywhere in the ground. the stream title was “CLEANING UP THE COD EMPIRE.”

gem calls her shovel a big spoon. scott says “spooning leads to forking gem, be careful”. i. hm.

scott asks when the last time jimmy watched any of the other’s empires videos. jimmy says he’d just watched scott’s video. there is a collective aww. 

katherine joins the mayhem. everyone makes fun of her for having a diamond helmet. jimmy looks at all his diamond armor and says nothing. 

jimmy leaves to gather materials. he comes back. there is snow everywhere. amethyst blocks. “why is there a snow golem.” 

they welcome him, excitedly talking about their decorations. it’s christmas. fwhip is building something in the background.

jimmy leaves to stand far away from them for a moment. “chat,” he says. “help.”

he comes back to hear scott saying, “he’s not building a penis,” about fwhip’s weird building, with sausage adding “it’s very large.” katherine says he’ll get demonetized, scott says it’s fine because jimmy wasn’t in earshot. jimmy says he definitely was.

“it’s FiNe.” scott says. “it’s the AnAtOmICaLly correct term”

sausage is dying in the background. is he okay.

scott is STILL GOING. “we shouldn’t feel uncomfortable or embarrassed for using the correct terms for those parts of the human body. there’s nothing wrong with that.”

why is the entire stream like this. i come back from watching a traumatizing wilbur soot vid, hoping to find a chill stream that’s full of wholesomeness, and i get whatever this is. i can’t. 

“i feel broken right now.” me too, jimmy. me too.

more innuendos oh boy. i feel like i’m in a middle school classroom right now. 

“scott, you need serious help.” asjdhskjdhfjh he’s not wrong. 

he went afk and now they’re all trying to mess with him oh god. they’re trying to move him with water. they’re digging a hole. he’s drowning. HE’S BACK THANK GOD. 

scott is trying to get gem to swear. jimmy leaves to sit in the church and talk to the chat. 

they’re all trying to kill him lol. 

kkjwhefjkwehf they’re all in his salmon sacrifice pit. they’re ruining the pit he’s offended i’m— 

his empire is a mess istg. 

sausage is giving jimmy mini log blocks and saying “have some of my wood.” i— 

more tnt and explosions. lovely.

the entire stream was absolute CHAOS but hilarious to watch asdfgjkhl. these were just some of the parts i found funny, there were a bunch of things i left out, you should check out the stream by yourself too!

[americancowgirl19]

Tommy’s Little Girl

Summary: You’re the most precious thing to Thomas Shelby. So, when a guy comes into your life he isn’t the most supportive.

Warnings: fluff, angst, cursing

Reader: Female Reader

Pairings: Tommy Shelby x Daughter!Reader, Reader x Male Character (H/n = His name, he can be whoever you want)

Word Count: 5,261

A/n: This was a request by an anon - Please can I request that Tommy Shelby’s daughter becomes engaged to a man behind his back and he refuses to acknowledge the engagement while the rest of the family do. After six months, just before the wedding, Tommy finally comes around to the idea... So, I added a few things to this request, I hope you still like it! I was just going to do the scene that the anon requested but I personally love writing who stories and backgrounds and shit so you get to see an entire life at Tommy’s daughter with the request included! Oh, and John doesn’t die cause fuck that.

Masterlist

You were the ultimate daddy’s girl. From the moment you were born you and your father were inseparable. The only thing that tore you apart was the war. You were barely two years old when he went off to serve his country.

When he left he entrusted Polly to look after you. Of course she treated you as if you were her own. She protected you as fiercely as she protected your father, uncles and aunt. Especially when your Aunt Kitty, Kitty Jurossi, showed up demanding that you were to go with her.

Kitty is your mother’s sister. She never approved of Greta being with Tommy. While Tommy taking care of Greta in her final days and loving her as he did was honorable, Kitty knew what kind of man he is. She knew what kind of family he had, what kind of business he partook in. She didn’t want you around them.

Polly always thought it was amusing how Kitty waited until Tommy was out of country to try and collect you. Kitty wrongfully assumed that Polly would just hand you over. Your mother’s sister was lucky she was able to return to her home with her life, especially when she tried to forcefully take you.

You remembered that day very vaguely. You don’t remember what happened but you remembered the yelling, someone grabbing you painfully and how scared you were. Your father had just left you for the longest time in your life and now this woman was trying to take you from the person you considered your mother.

The years without your father were long and unmemorable. When he finally returned home you were five going on six. You waited on the train platform with Polly, Ada and Finn. Polly kept a tight hold on you as the soldiers came off the train and went to their families.

You tried to find him but you were far too short and all of them were wearing the same uniform and cap. You jumped in your spot just itching to run into his arms. It didn’t matter that you didn’t really remember specific details of him. You remembered the feeling you had with him. You remembered being safe and happy with him. You remembered being sad and lonely without him. You’d rather be safe and happy than the other part.

“There they are!” Ada shouts. Your head darts to where she was pointing. When you spotted him not even Polly was able to hold you back.

You remember him shoving his way through the others to get to you. When you were close he dropped to his knees and pulled you into his arms. You clung to him.

Then, just like before he left, the two of you were inseparable once again. The only time you weren’t together was when you were sleeping (although on rough nights you often found your way in his bed) or when he had dangerous Peaky business.

You were the Shelby princess. You were untouchable. You didn’t figure out how much you could get away with until you were older. You could murder his best friend - not that you ever killed anyone - and the longest he’d stay mad at you would be a few hours, a day at most.

Anything you wanted was yours. You were spoiled but you were also kind and generous. You had bratty streaks but who didn’t? You may have been the light of your father’s life but you were John’s partner in crime. Whenever his own kids got too much or he wanted to pick on his brother’s you were the one he came too.

As much as he did truly enjoy spending time with you, John also knew that with you by his side he wouldn’t get into as much trouble as he would without you. All you had to do was give your pretty little smile and bat those eyelashes and Tommy was wrapped around your finger.

Even when your siblings came into the world you were number one. You didn’t exactly like Charlie, not Grace, at first. They stole your father’s attention, something you weren’t used to sharing. Eventually you warmed up to them.

You were sad when Grace died but not nearly to the extreme as your father. His heart break broke your own heart. You felt as if nothing you did eased his pain. In reality, you were the one person keeping him from completely spiraling. He spiraled but just being with you managed to slowly bring him back.

You were a little more welcoming toward Lizzie and then Ruby. By the time Ruby came around you adored Charlie. Ruby quickly wiggled her way into your heart. You became fiercely protective of them. You helped Lizzie with them when Tommy got too busy. When you needed a break you joined your father to the office and he would continue explaining what he did.

To you, life was perfect. You had everything you needed and everything you wanted. Tommy kept you in the business just enough to satisfy you but not enough to put you directly in danger. You didn’t understand a lot of the politics and drama within the family but to you it didn’t matter. You had your family, you had your fun, and life was great.

Then, as you were creeping up on your mid-twenties, you met the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. You were in the market with Lizzie, Polly, and Ruby. You had wandered a bit from the others. There was some jewelry you were looking at when he came over. 

He was tall, muscular, and extremely handsome. He had a boyish smile and a flirtatious personality. It didn’t take you long to also figure out that he was clumsy and adorable. You were instantly hooked.

You two talked (flirted) for longer than you thought. Before you knew it Polly, Lizzie and Ruby were rejoining you. Polly was weary of him but it was obvious that he quickly won Lizzie over.

Much to your displeasure, once the three of them showed up you were quickly whisked away from him. Polly had said it was time to go and not many people were brave enough to argue with her. 

Even on the way home you thought about him. You hoped that you would see him again but you figured it was unlikely.

Word got around about you meeting Mr. Handsome at the market. Your uncles teased you and Ada interrogated you. Your father was oddly quiet on the other hand. He didn’t want to talk about it, so he didn’t. He just hoped that your paths wouldn’t cross again.

Tommy knew you were getting older but that didn’t mean he liked it. He wanted you to stay his little girl for a while longer. He wished you were still small enough to ride on his shoulders and small enough for him to engulf you in his arms. But you were growing into a beautiful young lady. Whether he liked it or not other men were bound to recognize your beauty and seek you out. He had been lucky, for the most part, about your disinterest in dating, but it wasn’t going to last.

Most of the women your age were already married with at least one child. You were content by yourself. You were gaining responsibilities with the business and being your father’s personal helper. Even though you were content you wanted more. You wanted your own family to come home to with your own kids.

Fortunately, for Tommy, you wouldn’t see the boy from the market for quite some time. It had been so long you had forgotten about him. Until suddenly he showed back up.

The Shelby’s were having a night at the fights. You were enjoying yourself. You didn’t get dolled up often but when you did you went all out. You felt beautiful thus making you feel confident. On top of that, everyone knew exactly who you were which meant heads turned in your direction everywhere you went. You felt important, untouchable. 

You sat with your aunt Ada, Aunt Polly, and step mother Lizzie. The three of you were talking amongst yourselves while the boys hollered at the match in front of them. When the fighters changed out you happened to look up and there he was.

Ada had been talking to you but you suddenly stopped listening. He was bigger, more muscular, than you remember. He didn’t seem as clumsy anymore yet he was just as handsome. 

“Y/n,” Ada shouts over the crowd.

“Oh, will you look at that,” Lizzie states looking at who you were staring at.

“Who’s he?” Ada questions. Lizzie reminds her about the guy from the market you had met over a year prior. You continued to ignore them.

Right before the match started his eyes connected with yours. He obviously recognized you. He sent you the same boyish smile he had in the market causing a light blush to come to your cheeks. He bravely sent you a wink before focusing on the fight.

Your eyes remained glued on him with Tommy’s eyes started at you. He had noticed the interaction and didn’t like it in the slightest.

When the match ended, with his unfortunate loss, you excused yourself to the loo. You weren’t fooling anybody. Everyone who paid attention knew where you were going and Tommy had half a mind to stop you when something grabbed his attention. The split second his attention was off of you gave you the time you needed to disappear into the crowd.

“H/n,” You say, standing in the doorway of the locker room. You were slightly nervous - a lot nervous - but you weren’t 100% sober so that helped. His head snapped up at the sound of your voice.

“Y/n,” He says, turning away from his locker and toward you. “Shelby,” He adds. You hadn’t told him who you were. It was obvious he hadn’t known back then and you wanted to keep it that way.

“In the flesh,” You gave him a twirl. “You fought well tonight,”

“I lost,” He deadpanned but didn’t look all that bothered by it..

“Caught me attention,” You told him.

“Guess it wasn’t a complete loss then, aye?” He smirks. “How about you make me a winner tonight and agree to a date?” You blushed.

“I can do that,” You agreed.

From there your relationship blossomed. The two of you fell for each other quickly. He started showing up around the family more. Your uncles hazed him, Ada and Polly constantly interrogated him, and your father silently judged him. No matter how hard you or H/n tried, your father never came around.

H/n didn’t care about Tommy’s disapproval of him. He loved you with all his heart and nobody was going to keep you from him. He may be funny, charismatic and handsome but he knew he was selfish with a side of possessive. In his mind, you were his and he wasn’t letting you go. He would do anything to keep you and to keep you happy.

It honestly was no surprise that less than a year later the two of you were engaged. He had taken you out on a picnic under the stars on a beach. You had dinner, went swimming and had a fire in the sand. While stargazing he proposed with a beautiful ring. You didn’t hesitate to say yes.

The next day, as you two were makin breakfast, you asked how your father handled him asking for permission when H/n told you he never asked. It shocked you that H/n didn’t talk to Tommy first. You knew when it came to your father H/n was a little rebellious but this was different. Honestly, you were a bit upset he didn’t speak with Tommy first. 

It hadn’t even been twenty four hours since your engagement and the two of you were thrown into a fight. A minor one but a fight nonetheless. He didn’t see why it mattered seeing as the two of you were getting married with or without his permission. You argued that it wasn’t his permission you were looking for but your blessing. H/n didn’t understand just how close you and Tommy are but you wished he would at least respect it.

Eventually, he apologized when he finally noticed just how important Tommy’s approval meant to you. You promised H/n that you would marry him no matter what but keeping it from your father was not an option. H/n promised to talk to him.

A few days passed and then a week. H/n still didn’t talk to Tommy. You were fed up and decided to do it yourself. When you arrived at the Arrow House all you found were Lizzie and Ruby. 

Ruby instantly spotted the ring. You desperately wanted to talk to Tommy first but since you weren’t getting passed you sister not Lizzie you conceded.

“So, when did he pop the question?” Ruby asked.

“About two weeks ago,” You answered, a large smile on your face. “He asked me on the beach under the stars,” Ruby swooned but Lizzie didn’t seem to be paying attention anymore. You looked at her. You tensed noticing her looking behind you. Slowly, you turned around and saw your father standing there.

His eyes stare into your eyes and for the first time in your life you can’t figure out what he was thinking. He seemed emotionless but you couldn’t tell if the look in his eyes was anger or disappointment. His eyes glanced down at your hand, at your ring.

“Dad, I-” You didn’t get a chance to explain. He turned around and walked out of the house. You were shocked. He never did that to you. He always let you speak no matter what he was feeling. When you snapped out of it you quickly went after him but he was already in the car driving down the road. “Dad! Wait, please!” But he just keeps driving.

“He’ll come around,” Ruby tries to comfort but her words just go in one ear and right out the other.

For weeks your father avoided you like the plague. You walked into a room, he walked out. You tried to talk, he talked over you. You tried to get his attention, he ignored you. You tried for over a month before deciding to give him some space and focus on planning your wedding.

With the help of Ada, Ruby, Polly, and Esme you planned the wedding. Every day you got a step closer to the date. Every day you got more excited. Yet one thing continued to dampen your mood.

“Y/n, come in,” Esme greets, stepping aside to let you into her home.

“Is John here? I want to talk to him,” You say, fiddling with your fingers nervously. Esme smiles kindly and nods.

“Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll fetch him,” She suggests before disappearing into the house. You walk into the parlor. You smile and play with your cousins for a bit before John finally joins you.

“I wanted to ask you something,” You say after he shoos the kids away. He gives you his attention. You take in a deep breath as tears mist over your eyes. He looks more concerned by the second. “I was wondering if you... would walk me down the aisle,” John frowns his eyebrows.

“You want me?” He asks, shocked. “What about Tom-”

“He hasn’t spoken to me for months,” You snap, struggling to keep your tears from falling. “He can hardly look at me or stand to be in the same room. I think it’s safe to say he’s not coming,” You try to sound angry but curse silently when your voice grows more shaky. John sighs.

“Come here, sweetheart,” He opens his arms and you quickly close the distance between the two of you. He holds you tightly as you cry in his chest. “Tommy’s being a right arse at the moment, everyone knows that,” He mutters. “But nothing in the world is going to stop him from walking you down that aisle,”

“H/n being at the end of it might,” You mutter. John laughs quietly.

“Love, if Tommy really hated H/n, he would be dead by now,” John says truthfully. You see the logic in his statement but it hardly lifts your spirits. 

“The wedding is in two weeks,” You whisper. “He hasn’t budged yet,”

“I want you to do something for me,” John says, pulling back just enough to look at your face and wipe your tears. “I want you to think through your entire life and tell me a time where you didn’t get your way with Tommy,” John challenges. “I’m not even going to wait because it never bloody happened,” You smile a bit. “Now, this has been the longest you’ve had to wait for him to come around but trust me, he is incapable of not doing what you want,”

“Will you still be on standby?” You ask him. He smirks and kisses your forehead.

“Of course,” He whispers. “Bloody hell, has anyone said no to you before?” He asks, smirking as he steps away from you.

“What can I say? I’m everyone’s sweetheart,” You smile. John rolls his eyes and offers for you to stay for dinner, which you accept.

When you returned home you noticed H/n was home as well. You had moved out of Arrow house before the engagement, something your father strongly disagreed with.

When you walked inside, H/n was waiting up for you. You hadn’t meant to be home so late. It’s just when you’re with John and his kids they just make the time fly by. Luckily, H/n didn’t seem upset just tired.

“Come here,” He mutters, opening his arms. You smile and settle in his lap enjoying the feeling of his thick arms wrapped around your body. “Were you at Arrow House?” He asks.

“No, I went to see Uncle John,” You tell him. He hums curiously. “I wanted to ask if he’d walk me down the aisle,” You whisper. H/n holds you tighter.

“I’m sorry, Y/n,” He whispers to you. “I shouldn’t have proposed without asking for his blessing or at least mentioning it to him,”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” You grumbled before sighing. “But this is much more than that. Something else is bothering him,”

“You’re his precious girl, he’ll talk eventually,” He reassures you. You don’t respond, you simply cuddle deeper into his embrace.

A week passed. You had five days until your wedding. You woke up excited as you daydreamed about the day. However, your happiness didn’t last.

BRITIAN     AT    WAR    WITH    GERMANY

Your father and uncles had fought in the first war. The supposed ‘war to end all wars’. Now, only a short few years later there was another war. A war the next generation would fight. A war your H/n volunteered to join.

You were in the kitchen cleaning up. You were doing everything you could to keep buys. Britain was officially at war and you were terrified. You knew everything was going to change. Deep down you knew it would happen but it didn’t register until he was right in front of you.

“When do you leave?” You whisper, desperately trying to stay together as you look at H/n. He was in his uniform with papers in his hand.

“Thursday,” H/n hesitantly whispers. You close your eyes and hang your head. Not only was your soon-to-be husband going off to fight this war but he was leaving before your wedding. On top of that, you only had two more days with him.

“Why do you have to leave?” You whimpered. He doesn’t answer. He just closes the gap between the two of you and pulls you into a tight hug. He hugged you as if he could single handedly keep you from falling apart.

“I will come back to you, Y/n Shelby,” He states firmly. “Heaven nor hell will keep me from you, you have me word,”

“I love you,” You whisper, clinging to him. He pulls back just enough to tilt your head up to his lips. He doesn’t verbally respond but he tries to pour all his love and determination to return to you in the breathtaking kiss.

You cling to him for as long as you can but eventually have to let him go. While he didn’t leave until Thursday he had much to get done before then. He promised he would be back in a few hours but you didn’t want to be alone.

The first thing you did was go to Polly. You froze when you saw her drying her cheeks. Finn had volunteered as well. Together you both cried. 

Finn might have technically been your uncle but he was more of a brother. There was only a few years difference between the two of you. Polly had raised you both. You hated that you could possibly not only lose H/n but Finn as well.

Luckily Charlie was still too young to join but only for another year. You had no doubt that he would join up the first chance he got. He’s Tommy’s son. Neither of them were good at backing down.

When you left Polly you went to Arrow House. You were done. You were done with your father’s stubbornness. You were done with his silence and his judgmental stares. He could be mad about the wedding all he wanted but you needed him to come back to you.

“Did H/n..?” Lizzie’s voice dissipates. She didn’t want to finish the question and she didn’t have too. You just nod and accept her comforting hug. You’ve cried the majority of the day and knew you weren’t done yet. You knew the second you went face to face with Tommy you’d fall apart all over again.

“Where is he?” You ask.

“In his office,” Lizzie says knowing exactly who you were wanting. “Most likely on his second bottle by now,” You sighed, rubbing your face tiredly. “I’ll make some tea,” You send her a smile and a nod.

You don’t even bother to knock, you rarely did. There wasn’t a room you knew about that you weren’t welcome into. Inside you found your father slouched in his chair with a full glass in his hands. He doesn’t bother to look at you. You don’t even know if he registers your presence. 

“I don’t know what you’re so mad at me about,” You began. Your voice sounded strong and you hoped it stayed that way. “Yes, H/n asked me to marry him. No, I didn’t know at the time that he didn’t talk to you but get over it. You haven’t made his time in this family easy, no wonder he doesn’t want to talk to you. 

“When you found out you found out too soon. I was there to talk to you about it but Ruby and Lizzie saw me first. This wasn’t something I wanted to keep from you, I never meant to hurt you. I’m sorry,” You whisper. Hope fills you a bit when he glances at you in the corner of his eye. “I know something else is bothering you but I don’t know what it is and I need you to work it out some how because I need you, dad,” You whimper. 

He finally looks at you. 

“These last few months have been so hard without you and now H/n is going off to war, I’m not sure if I’m even going to get married, and you still won’t fucking talk to me!” You shouted but the tears in your eyes betrays your anger. “I’m scared out of my mind I’m going to lose H/n, that I’m going to lose Finn... That I already lost you,” A few tears fall down your face. “I’m sorry for whatever I did, please forgive me because I need you so fucking back,”

By the end you were close to sobbing and falling to you knees. You sobbed but you never fell. Tommy was out of his seat and was wrapping his arms around you before your knees could give away.

He leads you to the couch and sits down. You curl into his chest like you used to do when you were younger. He hums quietly and rocks you.

“You didn’t lose me, darling girl,” He whispers to you. “I’m so sorry for the way I’ve acted. I should have never treated you like I have. No, I don’t like H/n but not because of who he is but because he’s taking my little girl from me,” You tilt your head to look at him. “For nearly 26 years you have been the center of my world,” He whispers quietly. “Through everything, you have been the most important constant in my life. There were many times you were my only source of happiness, my only will to live,” He admits. “I’m terrified of what I’ll do without you,”

“You’ll never be without me,” You whisper to him. “I live ten minutes away and you’ll still see me daily whether H/n likes it or not,” Tommy smiles a bit. “And maybe when the war is over you’ll have more mini me’s running around,” Tommy scowls at the thought of the process of making children rather than the thought of the actual kids.

“You’re happy with him?” You nod. “You love him and he loves you?” You nod again. “Has he hurt you?” You shake your head. He sighs, slightly frustrated with the lack of reason to murder H/n. Not that he really needed a reason but he knew if he did he would hurt you. He’s already hurt you enough as it is. “Then you have my blessing,” You smile at him.

“He leaves before the wedding,” You whisper. He shrugs.

“So, move the wedding up,” He says nonchalantly. 

“How are we going to set everything up before Thursday?” You ask. He smirks.

“You don’t worry about a thing,” He kisses your forehead. “Let me call Ada, Pol, and Esme. They’ll help you get ready and I’ll worry about the rest,”

“You avoided this wedding the entire time, now you’re going to plan in within a few hours?” You ask.

“I’m Thomas Shelby,” He said as if it were the cure to all diseases. “Up you get,” He gently pushes you out of his lap. “No worrying,” He points at you before kissing your forehead again.

“Who’s going to want to celebrate at a time like this?” You ask before he leaves. He turns toward you and smiles softly.

“Right now is the perfect time to celebrate a moment like this,” Tommy tells you. You can see the honesty in his eyes and can tell he’s briefly reliving the past. You hate that his past is always haunting him and you pray that you’ll be able to help H/s if... when he comes back to you. “Relax, get ready, and I’ll see you in a few hours.”

It didn’t take long for Ada, Polly and Esme to show up. Polly had your dress and Ada had your accessories. The three of them with Lizzie and Ruby helped you get ready for the wedding.

As you got ready, Tommy went to your home where he found H/n just returning. It was obvious that he was surprised to see Tommy but he invited his future in-law inside nonetheless.

“I was a few years younger than you when I was shipped off to France,” Tommy explained to him. “When I returned I wasn’t the same. Nobody who goes through what we went through, what you will go through, returns the same,” Tommy warns. “Y/n was five or six when I got back. She helped give me a reason to keep waking up, to keep moving. When you come back, you’ll need someone that will be able to anchor you into the present. Don’t push people away, especially Y/n... She won’t let you,” Tommy advises with a soft smile as he thinks about you.

“I won’t,” H/s vows.

“You say that now but I promise it’ll be very tempting when you return,” Tommy says. Casually, Tommy walks closer. “Everyone that returns deals with the past differently. I won’t judge you for the drinks you’ll have or even the drugs you may take,” Tommy shrugs. “But if you come back and you turn violent again Y/n at any point. If you so much as hurt her one time, I will personally dig your grave and put you in it,” Tommy promises. “You will come back, you’ll deal with it however you can, and you’ll take care of Y/n and the family you’ll have. If you can’t do that, don’t marry her and walk away now.”

“I love you daughter. I want her happy and I’ll give my life to keep her safe,” H/s vows.

“Good,” Tommy nods. “That’s my little girl. Her happiness is everything to me. You give me one reason to kill you and I promise you and whatever god is out there that I will take that chance,”

“Understood,” H/n slowly nods.

“Good,” Tommy nods again. “Well, let’s get going, you’re getting married in a few hours,” Tommy says walking toward the door. He pulls out a cigarette and begins to light it.

“I am?” H/n calls out confused. Tommy just keeps walking and H/n jogs to catch up.

A few hours later, John and Arthur show up to collect the women.

“Your chariot awaits madam,” Arthur announces loudly. You couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear as he leads you to the car. John winks at you playfully.

“Told you he’d come around,” John teased.

“Should have cried in front of him sooner, that usually does the trick,” You joke back. John grins wider and kisses your head.

“Alright! Let’s get a move on, we’ve got a wedding to get too!” Arthur hollers. When you arrive where the rest of the gypsies and Peaky Blinders are, they cheer for your arrival.

Tommy greets you at the car looking handsome as ever.

“I hope I’m still allowed to walk you down,” He mutters helping you out of the car.

“Of course,” You smile leaning into him. He kisses your head and leads you toward the aisle. At the end you find H/s standing there looking breathtaking. “I’m scared,” You whisper.

“That’s alright,” He promises, slowly walking you toward your future husband. “There’s going to be moment where you’re scared but there will never be a moment where you’re alone,” He tells you. You tighten your arm around his. “These last few months will never happen again,” He vows. “I’ll be there anytime and every time you need me,”

“I know,” You whisper. 

When you reach the end, Tommy turns toward you. You smile up at him. He gently cups the side of your face.

“I love you,” He whispers, gently kissing your forehead. His lips linger as he remembers the day you were born, the day he left and came back from the war. He remembered every moment he shared with you. He hated that future memories would be shared with H/n but as long as you were there he wouldn’t mind.

“I love you too,” You whisper back, basking in the warmth and safety of his embrace for a moment longer. Tommy hesitantly steps back. You both share a smile before he hands you off to your soon-to-be husband.

[skyeet-the-writer]

The Love Among Us

Chapter 1-- I’d Never Snitch On Daddy

so i haven’t seen many corpse husband x reader stories on here, so i decided to upload one myself. i’ve been watching jacksepticeye’s among us videos and when i heard corpse talk for the first time, i was like, “hol up” and now i’ve been obsessed with him. also, go stream his music on spotify, it’s amazing. enjoy! x. 

 corpse husband x female!reader

summary: while playing among us, y/n watches corpse kill felix in o2. when his body is reported, however, she doesn’t tell who killed him. 

 word count: ~3.6k

warnings: swearing, mentions of death (not real death), mentions of murder (not real murder)

EDIT: before i wrote this and after i published it, i did not know that corpse did not like to be referred to as “daddy”. had i known this, i would have not even thought of posting this. and since i know now, i won’t refer to him as such in the future. thank you. (10/19/2020)

EDIT 2: this is the first part to my corpse x reader series. i will be adding chapters as we go!

next>

4 rounds before the incident

“I was in coms with PJ!” Sean exclaims. 

“He is doing the liar voice!” Felix shouts with a laugh. 

“I’m not,” Sean tries to say, but everyone talks over him and the voting time ends. Everyone left alive, though it was only four people, had all voted for him and he yells at them as he gets ejected. 

stinky was not the imposter

2 imposters remain

The round ends and everyone unmutes themselves. 

“Lizzie, you saw Felix kill me and you did nothing!” Roomie yells as soon as the round ends and the imposters are revealed. 

“Yeah, because I was the other imposter.”

“Oh. Okay, well that makes sense.”

Everyone laughs and Ken starts the round again. 

“Wait, can I invite y/n to play? She’s doing her twenty-four-hour stream and she just finished playing Monopoly with Mark, Bob, and Wade,” says Lizzie, looking down at her phone as they all appear back in the waiting room. 

“Yes,” Corpse blurts out and there are a few laughs and chuckles. 

“You were quick to answer, Corpse,” Sean teases. 

“Shut up,” Corpse mumbles and there are even more laughs. 

Lizzie smiles and taps into her phone. “I’m gonna invite her.”

~

“I can’t believe that you actually made that deal, y/n,” Wade is telling you after ending the second round of Monopoly that you’ve played with them. 

You smile and cross your legs on your chair. “Look, I was going bankrupt and it seemed good at the time. Besides, Mark was going to win anyway, he owned half of the board.” Your phone buzzes beside you on your desk and you pick it up. “Lizzie texted me.” There’s a sound effect that plays in your headset and you look up at your screen and smile. “Thanks to _lorieplays _for donating a hundred dollars, that means a lot. Thank you so much.”

“Do you want to play another round?” Marks asks. 

You shake your head, reading the text from your friend in England. “No, I don’t want to lose to you again.” You laugh. “Nah, Lizzie wants me to play Among Us with her and a few others. It was fun playing with you guys.”

“It was even though you took all of my money,” Bob snaps. 

You laugh. “Yeah, yeah. See you guys later.”

“Bye,” says Mark.

“See y--” Wade begins but you cut him off when you disconnect from the call. 

“Oops.” You put a hand over your mouth and laugh. “Sorry, Wade. Okay.” You straighten up and glance over everything, making sure it’s all working properly. “I have to pee and I think my roommate ordered pizza, so we’ll be back after this short break. Enjoy this live feed of my pet rats.” You giggle and switch the stream over to a view of your two rats in their cage where you have a camera set up. You take your headset off and head out of your recording room. 

Every two months, you have a twenty-four-hour livestream where you play games with your friends from all around the world. Despite being only twenty-five, your Youtube channel had grown exponentially in the past three years and you’ve had the chance to meet lots of other Youtubers like Markiplier, PewDiePie, and your close friend, LDShadowLady. 

Currently, you’re on hour twenty of twenty-four and you’re beginning to feel the effects of not sleeping for a whole day. You had been drinking coffee and energy drinks for the past four hours and that seemed to perk you up for two hours max. But your roommate had ordered pizza and that would hopefully wake you up. 

After going to the bathroom and grabbing an entire box of pizza, you return to your recording room and sit down. You put your headset back on and eat a slice of pizza before switching the views back to you. “And we’re back. I hope you guys enjoyed my rats because I don’t. They keep me up at night.”

You read a comment while loading up Among Us and laugh. “No, they’re not dead. They’re sleeping. They do that a lot when they’re not fighting.” 

When you finally get into the game and entire the code, you spawn in. You also quickly join the Discord chat and wince when nearly ten voices hit you at once. 

“y/n!” exclaims Lizzie and the other voices die down for a moment before rising to greet you. 

You wince again but laugh. “Jesus, you guys are loud. Hey, Lizzie.” You move your character to the customize tab and go to try and switch your color. But then you frown and realize that you’re stuck with being dark blue. “Damn, I wanted to be white.”

“Do you want to switch?” Corpse asks. 

Your eyes widen you your stomach flips. You hadn’t noticed Corpse was in this game. Immediately, your chat became flooded with keyboard smashing and lots of “omg my shipp” and “y/n rlly said ‘anna oop-’” 

“Uh, yeah, if you don’t mind,” you manage to stutter out and take a bite of pizza as Corpse’s player comes over and the white option becomes available. You select it and also select the goggles in the hats menu. 

“How’s your stream going?” asks Sean. 

You shrug. “Pretty good. I’m super tired, though. I literally almost fell asleep while playing Monopoly with Mark, Wade, and Bob.”

“You went to college, right?” You’re pretty sure that’s Roomie. 

“Yep,” you affirm with a nod even though they can’t see you. “You’d think that those all-nighters writing papers and studying for finals would make me able to do this.”

There’s a laugh in the group and the round starts.

3 rounds before the incident

You scratch your eyebrow and sigh in relief when you’re the crewmate. You mute yourself and slide up in your chair. 

“I like being the crewmate,” you say, heading towards admin as a habit. “It’s a lot less stressful than being imposter.”

After doing your tasks in admin and fueling the engines, you stumble across a dead body in the lower engine and a vent closing. 

“Oh,” you say, and press the report button. You unmute yourself and begin with, “So I saw a vent close but I didn’t see who went in.”

“Who died?” asks Lizzie. 

“Felix,” says Sean. 

You smirk. “It’s always yellow that dies first.”

“Where was the body?” Ken asks. 

“Lower engine,” you reply. 

“I was in medbay with Corpse doing the scan so it wasn’t him,” PJ says and Corpse makes a noise of confirmation. 

This makes your cheeks heat up and you smack a hand over your mouth. Your chat explodes again but you decide to ignore it. 

“And I was doing wires in cafeteria,” Lizzie says. 

“Sean, where were you?” 

“I was in reactor doing the simon says thing,” he answers. 

You sigh. “I hate that one. What about you, Ken?”

“I was with Roomie in electrical doing the power thing. You know, the one where you have to divert it somewhere else.”

“So do we skip then?” asks Lizzie. 

“No one is super sus, so I’m going to skip,” you answer. 

When no one is ejected, you mute yourself again. “I dunno why, but Sean seems pretty sus. Because I didn’t see him on the way down from upper engine. But I guess he could have gotten there in time.” You shrug and run over to the trash chute in the cafeteria. “RIP to Felix, though.”

After doing the trash there, you head down to storage, running into Corpse doing the wires in there. You wait there to clear him and once you do, you run a few circles around him to get his attention and he follows you over to the trash in storage and watches you do that. After that, the two of you head over to electric together and do wires there. 

Suddenly, there’s a body reported and you unmute yourself. 

“Sean just killed Lizzie in front of me!” exclaims PJ. 

“PJ killed Lizzie,” Sean retorts, flipping the blame. “I watched it, he didn’t realize I was there and murdered her.”

“I watched PJ do the scan in medbay, he’s cleared,” Corpse says and you find yourself smiling for no reason. “Sean, you killed Lizzie.”

“I knew he was sus,” you say, grabbing another piece of pizza. You look at the box and your eyes widen. Had you really already eaten half of it?

“Wait wait, how am I sus?” Sean asks. 

You take a moment to swallow. “Because when I was doing fuel earlier, I was running down from upper engine and didn’t see you in reactor. Sure, maybe you could have gotten there earlier, but it was super weird.” 

The discussion time ends and PJ immediately goes to vote for Sean as well as you, Corpse, and everyone else still alive. Sean ends up getting ejected. 

stinky was an imposter 

1 imposter remains

“You’re such a detective, y/n,” Sean says when he gets ejected. 

You laugh. “I just play this game too much.” You then mute yourself and smile. “I am a genius.” 

You end up finishing your tasks quickly after that and then stand in the cafeteria and eat another piece of pizza and read some of the chat. 

“’ What am I going to do after this?’ I don’t know. I might play some Minecraft. Should I have a poll on Twitter? I’m stuck between public Among Us games, Minecraft, and taking random quizzes on Buzzfeed.” You smile and hear another sound effect and something pops up on the screen. “Thank you to coochie man for donating a hundred dollars, that means a lot.” You laugh at their name. “I love your name, by the way.” 

There’s some rattling in the cage behind you and you turn around to see one of your rats drinking water. You turn back to the chat and read another comment. “’ Do you have a crush on Corpse?’” You blush and smile, biting your lip. “I mean, his voice is hot. I’ve never met him since he lives in San Diego and I live in h/t, but yeah, I guess I do. I’ve been listening to his music for the past few days and it’s really good, you guys should go check it out.”

You look up and unmute yourself when a body is reported. “Who died?” you ask. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Are you already done with your tasks, y/n?” Corpse asks. 

God, even the way he says your name is making you blush. “Yeah, I get them done quick.”

“She does that,” says Lizzie, “She always gets her tasks done quick.”

“Ken is dead by the way,” says Roomie and your snort, smacking a hand over your mouth. “I found him in the hallway by navigation. Where was everyone else?”

“I was in cafeteria doing nothing,” you say, leaning back in your chair and spinning around just a little. “I think I saw PJ downloading while I was in there, but I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Yeah, I was downloading,” says Ken. 

After more discussion, Corpse points out that Jaiden had been following him and it looked like she had been faking tasks. 

“No I haven’t,” she says. 

“That sounds like something the imposter would say,” you hum with a smirk. “That’s pretty sus, Jaiden.”

Everyone else agrees and you all end up voting Jaiden out. 

jaiden was the imposter

0 imposters remain

You cheer as the round ends and a blue victory screen pops up for the crewmates. “Good game, guys,” you say and play again, waiting for the host. 

~

1 round before the incident 

“Oh my god, I’m imposter again?” you groan and sigh when you spawn back in. “I was just imposter, I don’t want to be it again. I’m so bad at it,”

After another short round of you and Felix losing to the crewmates, you all agreed to play two more rounds before Sean had to leave. So you move your character to admin where PJ is and fake the card swipe before moving over to the admin security thing where you could see who was around where. Luckily, no one appeared to be near admin, so you quickly kill PJ and escape through the vent and come out through medbay. 

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” you whisper over and over, running down to storage. “That was clean.” You fake getting fuel and go back up to the upper engine. 

When PJ’s body is reported, you see that your fellow imposter, Sean, had reported it. You stay silent for most of the round and only say that you were in the fuel area when it was reported. 

“Yeah, I saw her run past electrical earlier,” Corpse says. You blush and glance at your exploding chat and shake your head. 

After everyone skips the round, you mute yourself once more and head towards navigation. “I hate this.” You drag the last syllable and watch Lizzie enter the room. You wait a moment before walking towards her and killing her, jumping into one of the vents. You let out a sigh and flex your fingers. “I’m so stressed.” You exit out of the vent into shields and your heart stops when you see someone else in there but you realize that it’s the other imposter, Sean, and you relax. 

You run past him and go to the trash compartments and pretend to unload those. And that’s how the rest of the round goes. You kill someone, someone reports it and you vote someone off. Eventually, you and Sean do a double kill and end up winning the round.

You unmute yourself. 

“Let’s go!” Sean exclaims and you smile. 

“I can’t believe you killed me, y/n!” shouts Lizzie. “I thought we were friends.”

You laugh. “There are no friends in this game. I’m not loyal to anyone in this game. You could be my best friend and I would fucking murder you.”

“That’s cold,” says Roomie as everyone else spawns back in. 

“Yeah,” you nod. 

“Wait, PJ disconnected,” says Sean, and you all end up waiting for him to rejoin. 

In that time, you look at your chat and say, “Hey, do you guys have any questions for who I’m playing with. I’m asking you, chat.”

“I swear if someone asks about my hands, I’m leaving,” Corpse says and everyone laughs. 

You laugh louder when you read a comment and read it aloud, “_Ironlady _says that you should be a hand model, Corpse.”

“Okay, I’m leaving,” you hear Corpse say over everyone laughing. 

“No, stay!” you exclaim, trying not to laugh. “C’mon, don’t leave.”

He sighs deeply and your brain goes fuzzy. “Fine. I’ll stay for you.”

You beam and your tummy turns. You ignore the whistles and remarks from everyone else and stand beside Corpse. You suddenly wish that the little bean characters could hold hands. 

When PJ joins the server again, Ken starts the round and you cross your fingers, hoping to get crewmate. 

0 rounds before the incident

You mute yourself and sigh when you’re a crewmate. “Thank god.” You let out a breath and go over to admin with everyone else. You swipe your card and go to the cafeteria to do some wires there. 

The game turns out to be rather uneventful. A few people die and two people are voted off before the game gets truly interesting. And that happens when you walk in on Corpse and Felix. 

“I’ve had this song stuck in my head for days,” you’re saying, walking from electrical over to O2. “And I can’t get it out of my head. Maybe singing it will help.” You hum the first part. “Don't go in there, you'll become one. Freaky creatures, monster party. Eyes of yellow, scales and feathers, tails in tethers. Turn the lights off. Bend the nightmare, you control it. Artful dodger, easy does it. Shut the closet, get under the covers. Snakes and lovers. Turn the lights off.” You do a little dance for a moment and continue hum the song, glancing at the chat as you go towards O2 after doing wires in storage. 

“Like, I know the song, it’s just been stuck in my head,” you explain. “And it kind of annoys me--”

But you stop as you enter O2 and watch Corpse murder Felix. Neither one of you move and you don’t know what to do. “Uhhh.” 

Then, without thinking, you turn straight around and make your way away from the scene of the murder. “I didn’t see anything!” you shout to no one. “I suddenly can’t see who murdered Felix.” You smack a hand over your mouth and stand in the middle of a hallway. “Oh my god, what do I do? I don’t want to snitch on Corpse, he’s hot.” You scratch the back of your neck and shrug, continuing on to reactor. “I didn’t see anything.”

You’re in the middle of doing the simon says in reactor when Felix’s body is reported. You unmute yourself and fidget with the sleeve of your hoodie. You know exactly who killed Felix. 

“--was in O2,” says Jaiden and you focus back into the conversation. “And I didn’t see anyone around.”

“I saw you heading that way, y/n, but I know it wasn’t you because I saw you do the trash in storage.”

You look at the screen when Sean talks to you and you chew your lip. “I know who killed Felix.”

“Who?” asks almost everyone at the same time. 

You close your eyes and swallow. It’s just a game, why are you taking this so seriously? Suddenly, a song lyric pops into your head and your stomach flips. You imagine yourself saying it and no one knows who you mean except for him. 

You open your eyes. “I’d never snitch on daddy.”

There’s a laugh in the chat and you blush fiercely, your livestream chat blowing up once again.

“I think we know who it is, then,” says Sean, laughing. 

“Yeah,” agrees Lizzie and your eyes widen. 

“Wait, what?” you ask, watching everyone vote almost as soon as the discussion time ends. “Wait, hang on, who--”

“We know who you’re talking about, y/n,” PJ tells you. 

You vote for yourself and your brain goes blank as you see that everyone voted for Corpse. He even voted for himself. They knew. They all _knew _about your feelings for Corpse. 

The round ends with Corpse being voted out and the crewmates win. There’s some talking, but you stay on the victory screen. You’re trying to decide if your mad or embarrassed or both. 

“I didn’t know you’d say that, y/n,” Corpse says, effectively breaking you out of your trance. “I thought you were gonna snitch on me.”

“You heard her,” teases Lizzie and you can tell she’s grinning. “She’d never snitch on you, Corpse.”

He laughs and you feel something in a certain place. “Oh my god, I’m gonna die of embarrassment.” You put your face in your hands, listening to your friends tease you in the chat. You suddenly want to jump out your window and run into traffic. 

“Don’t die,” comes Corpse’s voice through the onslaught of teasing. “I’ll be sad.”

“Fuck!” you shout and slam your hand on your desk, shaking your equipment and scaring your rats. “I’m so sorry, Corpse, that was really weird, I--”

“Stop.” He interrupts you and the chat goes silent and you look up at the screen even though you can’t see him. “It’s okay. It was funny.”

Your eyes widen and then narrow. Funny? He thought what you said was funny? How could he think it was funny?

But then he speaks again and he sounds oddly flustered. “Uh, I gotta go. Um, it was fun playing with you guys. Bye, y/n.”

“Bye Cor--” but then he disconnects and you’re left talking to no one. “--pse.”

There’s a long moment of silence until Felix breaks it. “I can’t believe you just watched me die and didn’t do anything about it.”

There are some laughs and you smile faintly, rejoining the game. “Yeah, uh, sorry about that.”

“Are you okay, y/n?” asks Lizzie. 

You blush and swallow. “I don’t know. God, I’m so weird.” You run a hand through your hair and adjust your headphones

“No, you’re not,” Roomie assures you. “He has a crush on you, too.”

Your eyes widen and you scoot up in your chair. “He does?”

“I mean, he called you pretty once during a game and said that he watches your videos a lot, so maybe.”

You groan and sink in your chair. “I’m gonna go, I need to run into traffic now.”

A few people laugh or chuckle and Lizzie asks you if you’re actually going to leave. 

“Yeah,” you tell her. “But not to run into traffic. I’m going to go play Minecraft to soothe myself.”

“Aw.” You can practically hear her frown. “Okay. Bye, y/n.”

“Good luck with your stream,” Ken tells you. 

You grin. “Okay, thanks, bye.”

When you exit the game and leave the chat, you scream. You actually scream and it’s loud. Your roommate even knocks on your door, asking if you’re okay. 

You look at them and nod. “Yeah, totally fine. Probably about to have a mental breakdown, but I’m fine.”

“Okay,” they say and lean on the doorframe. “But I’m not cutting bangs for you again.”

You laugh and nod. “Yeah, okay, fine.” They leave and you turn back to your stream, feeling like you’re about to cry. Corpse knows you have a crush on him. And it seems like he has one on you as well, but now you’re embarrassed because you called him ‘daddy’ on stream.

You rub your eyes. “Well, now I know what’ll be streaming on Twitter tonight,” you tell the chat. 

[stagefoureddiediaz]

my insane Buddie theory

Ok so rewatching season 5 and i’ve watched 5x06 and 5x07 and I’ve just come up with a theory - based entirely on 4 costumes. It requires some overlaying of the two episodes but it all works. I need to put it out into the world before we see any more episodes just so I can prove that the costume team are both incredible and insane when it plays out and I can bask in their reflected glory, or laugh at my own stupidity when it doesn’t!!! (you can all laugh at me in the meantime and when and if I’m proven wrong!)

I spoke in my 5x06 meta about it being amusing to me that they had Buck in a jumper that was the same orange as the woman who cheated in the same episode. Well now we have a Buck cheating storyline so hello costume foreshadowing and I feel a little vindicated by my picking up on it!

Although it’s not confirmed its fair to surmise that all three are going to jail and that essentially all three in the love triangle end up single - I’m even more convinced now that Buck and Lucy are not ending up together (if i needed any further confirmation which I don’t). The other interesting part to this is that the two men - meet through their respective jobs and it’s looking increasingly likely that that is how Taylor and Lucy are going to end up meeting. (putting the rest under the cut because she long but it is worth the read I promise!!)

There are several parallels with this storyline that call to other aspects of Bucks storyline and 911 isn’t going to do a direct copy of the story because that would be both lazy and not very creative. If you position Buck as the constant - because the cheating story is his story, and use the costume to determine which person he is in this scenario, you can start to see a few interesting things that could come into play. 

- Buck scrabbling at the earth we’ve all noted how its a call back to Eddie and the well, but if we think about it, Buck finds the buried guy using a tracking device so it could actually be foreshadowing some event where Buck (and the 118) has to rescue Taylor using, as we’ve all been surmising, the GPS bracelet and this making Taylor the husband in the ghost story scenario.

- We also know that Taylor and Lucy are going to meet and Lucy being at the rescue sets that up perfectly, this also then opens up the opportunity for Taylor to be all ‘oh you’re Lucy Donato - I really want to interview you etc etc etc. and  we get Lucy agreeing and that this is the how and when the ‘Lucy is the other woman’ reveal happens for Taylor.

The thing with this scenario as well is that we know that both Edgar and Lizzie want out of their relationship for different reasons and that Tom becomes a (semi) unwilling pawn in their game, much like it feels we’re building towards with Buck Taylor and Lucy. 

Buck, we know doesn’t want to be in the relationship anymore - he might not have directly said the words, but he keeps implying it over and over, he just hasn’t figured out his exit strategy yet. Taylor has essentially said she only came back because she had nowhere else to go - and then there was the whole no more secrets thing - I think we might find that Taylor has a few more secrets of her own up her sleeves. Lucy has inadvertently become the pawn. She, like Tom has become embroiled in the drama of other peoples failing relationship - the fallout from the kiss - at this point - isn’t on her, we’ve actually barely seen anything of her at this point in time in relation to Buck beyond him offering her some supportive advice. I do think we’ll see her moved back into the action at some point, but I actually think it will be Taylor using her to play Buck in some way and brig him down rather than the other way round. I also expect tit to backfire and be the thing that gives Buck the push he needs to end the relationship

I think we’re supposed to view the events of Ghost stories as being about something dying - the idea that the relationship is dead, its a ghost which hasn’t yet been laid to rest and passed on to whatever is next - its clinging (yes Buck I’m looking at you) to the last vestiges of existence. I’ve also been thinking about the cut ghost roommate story and can now see where it would’ve fit and why they chose to cut it and rewrite 5x07. We don’t know exactly what that story involved but, Buck is essentially Taylors ghost room mate right now - he’s been helping Eddie so I can see where the parallels would potentially have been with that story and I think they made a conscious decision to remove the Eddie of it all from the cheating storyline because it would’ve made it confusing and it makes more impact and more sense if he isn’t a contributing factor to Buck and Taylor ending things!

While ghost stories was about the thing dying, Defend in place is about the things worth saving, the things worth fighting for - the things that are very much alive. If we overlay ghost stories with Defend in place - the very next episode, they play out in a similar way to how things are unfolding in 5b and we also have a woman (Julie) wearing the same orange as those two previous jumpers as well as Parkers mother (I think her character name is Renata) who is also in an orange cardigan (although this is a more pinky orange). 

(I just want to point out that in the above picture we see Renata in the light and Cliff in the dark - very like we’ve been seeing with a certain Buck and Eddie!) 

Julie First - her husband (Darren) is having brain surgery - during a massive fire in a season where Eddie is struggling with his mental health and is currently ‘putting his brain back together’ after the explosive breakdown which ignited the fire that is his trauma - a breakdown where the fires are still burning and surrounding him but he’s continuing to put the work in. Darren gives Julie his ring for safe keeping - the symbol of their love, but also the contract and  the vow they made when they got married. 

Well if we put Buck into the same position as the Julie because of the matching jumper and Eddie is both David and Darren (because mental health recovery is something you have to work on yourself even with people around you to support you) and we think of the ring as the will™ the parallels become interesting. Darren is handing over his heart and saying keep it safe for me - you can give it back to me when the work on my brain is done and we see her the return of the ring at the end of the episode and they reaffirm their love and their vows to each other. 

Isn’t this what Eddie has effectively done and what we’ve been seeing play out in 5x13 and 5x14 - he created a contract (the will) connecting him and Buck together - asking Buck to look after his heart - Chris. Now Buck is taking care of Christopher while Eddie isn’t able - while he works on his brain (his mental health) - Buck is stepping in and fulfilling his side of that contract - we’ve literally watched buck parenting Christopher - the symbol of both Eddies love and the contract/ vow that Eddie made with Buck. there is also Bobby to add into all of this - he defends in place so that David could Complete Darrens brain surgery - pulling in the resources (firefam) needed for that to happen. Bobby has effectively done the same thing with Eddie - he’s defending in place so that Eddie can get the help he needs and I think we’ll see the firefam (sans Buck who is already doing what is needed of him) standing alongside Bobby in some capacity in the next couple of episodes while Eddie continues his recovery.

Then there is the story with Renata, Cliff and Parker and the unnamed baby sister. I wrote in my 5x08 meta how I felt the choice of green jumper for Parker was foreshadowing something with Chris and I’m holding to it, but now I have a bit more to add into my thoughts which I’ll come back to at the end.

Renata wearing Orange means we put Buck into her place and it fits with the fact that Cliff is Eddie and Parker is Chris. The way they are seen interacting - Parker and Cliff alone before going to see Renata - much in  the way Eddie and Chris were alone and then they met Buck - who nestled his way into their hearts. 

Renata is holding the baby girl - she needs to be unnamed because she is the physical representation of love - specifically Eddies love - which he has given to Buck but its not yet been given a name. Cliff never actually touches the baby - and Eddie can’t touch what he hasn’t yet named  - what not one of Eddie, Buck or Chris have put a label on yet - but it exists and the implication (because they’re not going to call the baby baby girl or sister her whole life) is that it will be named later on - when Eddie is ready - when they are all ready.

Parker then being the one looking after the baby girl is a representation of Christopher looking after Eddie love while Eddie (and Buck) can’t - while Eddie is working on his mental health and while Buck looks after Eddie and sorts out his ghost story. its no accident that Both Eddie and Cliff don’t directly interact with the baby - that it is Renata and Buck who do. 

I also think there is a reason Linda is the one to connect directly with Eddie in defend in place - for the two of them to figure out where Parker is - we’ve seen that playing out too - she’s connected with him at dispatch and has been helping him with his cooking - which he is doing in part for Chris - to provide better for him but it has me wondering if Linda is actually going to play a role in helping Eddie realise his feelings for Buck are the opposite of platonic- that they are romantic - much in the same way Eddie is the one to figure out that the room number was a reflection - the reverse of what they had all thought and Linda is the one to confirm the actual room - the location of Parker and the baby - is son and his heart. Buck is just a step behind but the the family are all reunited and that suggests that the Buckley Diaz family will be to. That those two stories play out in parallel to each other in the way they do throughout the episode - especially in the final montage - when we cut from the family reuniting to Darren and Julia and the ring being put back where it belongs and then back to the family while Rupert says ‘you changed my perspective, taught me that I could pour myself a taller glass and stay a little while longer if I fought like hell. And we did, I did. We beat it together. I am eternally grateful for you and your faith in me over the last three years.’ Well if that isn’t exactly what we’re seeing play out with Buddie right now then I don’t know what is, because it really is the last 3 years isn’t it - that is when we saw the change in direction of the writers room - the difference between season 2 and 3 onwards in Buddie terms is vast - we haven’t had any of those jokey nods to fandom since season 2 (the Christmas Elf and the botfly instagram live feed). Season 3 was the beginning of the Buddie journey and its been 3 years!

Parker being the one to inadvertently sets of the chain of events that leads to the explosion and he is the one tasked with taking care of his baby sister but he is also the one who takes care of her and then the whole family is reunited at the end of the episode. So my theory is that Christopher is going to inadvertently set off a chain of events that leads to Buck and Eddie having to rescue him. The janitor saying ‘just keep your eyes on the road next time’ feels pointed - he could have said ‘just remember to look where you’re going’ or ‘make sure to pay attention to your surroundings’ but no, he mentioned the road as if there will be a next time and that a road will be involved somehow so I’m thinking that school bus is going to go off the road because the driver isn’t looking at the road. I also think that its going to involved gas leaking from the tank (there has been several references to oil/gas this season - all of which tie in to Buddie - Chloe and Gabi over the oil spurt, then pauline dousing herself at the pump and the spilt flammable substance in defend in place) and water - hence all the water references and the fact that Oliver posted that bts of himself in an outfit that looks uncannily like the one he wore in the tsunami. So I think the accident will have Buck and Eddie racing to the rescue off the job (which is another parallel with the shooting). I also think all this might happen in starting over - it ties up all the threads of Eddie and Bucks story up to now in a way that allows them to come full circle and ‘start over.’

The fact that Taylor Wong wrote both Defend in place and Dumb luck (as well as Jinx which is also full of foreshadowing she knows how to write the good Eddie stuff!!) just adds to convince me I’m on the right tracks because we are literally seeing the groundwork that was laid out in Defend in Place beginning to play out in Dumb Luck - the parallels are just too loud to ignore and they are just too well connected. @kitkatpancakestack​ might have Breaking point as a sleep paralysis demon, well - I’m beginning to think anything Taylor Wong writes for 911 is mine!! I’m no longer sure if any of this makes sense, and its way way longer than I thought it would be - if you’ve read to the end - then I send you forehead kisses, and I’d love to know your thoughts!