#and before we got home we went to my house to do laundry and spent time with my parents

[silhouettecrow]

365 Days of Writing Prompts: Day 365

Adjective: Gentle

Noun: Reaper

Definitions for those who need/want them:

Gentle: having or showing a mild, kind, or tender temperament or character; moderate in action, effect, or degree, or not harsh or severe; (of a slope) gradual; (archaic) (of a person) noble or having the qualities attributed to noble birth, or courteous and chivalrous

Reaper: a person or machine that harvests a crop; short for Grim Reaper

[andypantsx3]

LOADS OF FUN : TODOROKI x READER

SUMMARY: After moving into your first apartment together, Shouto seems more amorous than ever. You're not sure why—but when he comes home to you doing a load of laundry, more than your clothes are about to get tumbled. TAGS/WARNINGS: nsft (18+ only, minors please dni!), pro hero au, gn + afab reader, established relationship, fluff, emotional sex, table sex, cunnilingus, the shouto domesticity kink agenda goes absolutely crazy in this one lol (2.8k) NOTES: This piece is part of my pretty boy summer Shouto x Reader collab! Please go check out the other incredible fics people have written over the course of the summer; you will absolutely die over how good they are. This fic was also made possible through donations to the Fics for Gaza project. I cannot thank everyone who donated to one of the charities enough, as well as those who organized, reblogged, discussed, and got the word out. Lastly, I am so grateful for your immeasurable patience with me as I take time between fics to manage my workload, I hope I'm not too out of practice here lol. In summary: thank you, thank you, a million times thank you.

The sound of the door opening was hidden in the thump and glug of the washing machine starting its spin cycle.

Halfway across the house, you were oblivious—you had the clean laundry spread out on the kitchen table, hunting through the pile trying to match one of Shouto’s socks to another that seemed to have vanished into that mysterious void which opens somewhere between the laundry basket and the dryer. One of his shirts was half-folded over your shoulder, abandoned in favor of the sock search.

The rest of your things were still mostly tangled together on the table, warm and fresh and cottony, the few shirts you’d already folded sagging off the kitchen chairs.

It still gave you a little thrill—even several weeks after you’d moved in together—to see Shouto’s things twined up with yours—his enormous socks dwarfing yours, your sweaters clinging to the occasional piece of his hero suit that hadn’t seen enough action to need his agency’s industrial cleaners.

It all added to your sense of satisfaction with your afternoon—a frosty weekend day you’d spent cozy indoors, moving slowly and leisurely through some chores. A pot of soup simmered on the stove, and your favorite playlist worked itself through in lazy loops. Shouto was due off his rotation soon, and you hummed contentedly to yourself, entertaining pleased little fantasies of curling up with him for the rest of the weekend.

Which of course is when something moved in the corner of your eye. Your hum sawed up into a strangled screech, and you whipped around, flailing. Shouto’s sock launched itself full force at the intruder before you even registered you’d thrown it. In your shock, your leg caught against the table and you went stumbling—

—right into a pair of warm hands that caught you about the waist.

Your hands were on the man’s shoulders to push him off before you realized you recognized the touch—and that you’d caught sight of a distinct mop of scarlet and white hair as you’d whipped around.

“Shouto! Again?” you scolded reflexively, even as your heartbeat stuttered out of its wild kick into high gear. You tipped your head back to stare your boyfriend in the face, shoulders slumping in relief, letting him take some of your weight.

Shouto peered down at you, that tiny scrunch between his brows that indicated concern. “Are you alright, love?”

Your heartbeat pounded thunderously in your chest. “I’m—fine. But my god we need to get you a bell. I almost peed.”

Shouto’s mouth shifted minutely into something that might not have registered in anyone else’s face but was most definitely a regretful downturn on his. He looked even more unfairly beautiful than when he’d left you this morning—a little flushed and windswept from the unseasonable cold, that full mouth pink and pretty.

Your mind flicked momentarily off and back on like a circuit breaker, the way it always did when you had to process Shouto.

You’d understood he was once-in-a-generation levels of beautiful before you’d even met him, his face staring up at you from the glossy pages of various tabloids over the years. But in person, even after years of knowing him and several more dating him, Shouto’s appearance still managed to cross all the wires in a person’s brain. His features were an incomprehensible blend of aloof and elegant, sensual and warm—like a cold masterpiece of a marble sculpture had suddenly found himself with a consciousness and human desires and miles of warm skin.

“I did not mean to startle you,” he said, his voice low and warm. He sounded sincerely regretful.

You knew he hadn’t meant to—you’d long suspected his silent tread was habitually ingrained in him from years of hero work. And, in your most private and ungenerous thoughts, you suspected from years of making himself unobtrusive in his father’s home. The thought sat sour in your mouth, like a slice of pickled lemon.

You resisted making an equally sour face, shoving the thought away to make space for the reflexive flush of pleasure seeing Shouto always brought you.

“Welcome home, Sho,” you said instead, smiling up at him. Shouto’s hands moved on your waist, sliding gently beneath the hem of your tee-shirt to rest on the skin there.

He was still in his hero uniform, and as usual you felt a little goofy in comparison, in nothing but a tee and a well-loved pair of fraying sweatpants, which were this afternoon decorated with little flecks of soup from a brush with the pot.

But Shouto’s eyes were warm where they rested on you, and that perfect mouth crept back into a contented set. His long fingers smoothed over your skin as he watched you, thumb brushing your hip. He did not look like he found you at all goofy.

In fact, as his eyes dropped down to your ankles, slowly dragging back up to your face, you rather thought he looked a little appreciative. He even took a rather ungentlemanly step back, still holding you, to better take in the whole picture. His eyes wandered over the swell of your hip, the lines of the shirt against your chest, before darting to his own shirt, still folded over your shoulder.

His fingers flexed tellingly on your waist, and those heterochromatic eyes were both a little bit darker as they flicked back to yours.

His obvious regard made you feel warm. You shifted on your feet, shuffling.

“I was just—doing laundry,” you said for something to say, your mouth feeling kind of dry. Something about him always made you feel sort of shy and light-headed, even after all this time together. “And I made soup. I was thinking we could eat on the couch and watch one of those horrendous old All Might films?”

Shouto’s eyes darted to the stove, then beside you to the pile of your laundry, lingering for a long minute. His long lashes dipped, almost fluttering as his gaze traced over the tangle of your things together. His eyes flicked back to you. He was still for just a moment, watching you assessingly.

And then all of a sudden the world spun in front of your eyes. The hands at your waist lifted you clean off your feet, and you let out a startled “oof!” as you found yourself laid out in the pile of laundry on the table, sheets and sweaters bunching beneath you.

Shouto moved over you, stepping between your spread thighs, right at the edge of the table.

“You have no idea,” he intoned in a deep, delicious tone that went right down your spine, “what it is to come home to you like this.”

You wondered at that, feeling a strange combination of confusion and flattery, when Shouto’s mouth descended onto yours. His mouth was soft and sweet and insistent and absolutely perfect. The table groaned as he laid some of his weight out over you, pinning you into the laundry as he kissed you.

Your fingers clutched at him immediately, curling in his silky-soft hair, cupping his face to yours. One of Shouto’s own hands shifted to your thigh, holding you against him as he pressed himself harder into you.

You heard yourself making little gasps of appreciation as Shouto’s mouth moved down to your neck, laving hot kisses down your throat. You reveled in the feeling of him over you, broad and strong, his shoulders blocking the glow of the overhead light, casting shadows over you.

He’d been a lot like this lately, ever since you’d moved in together. He’d been adequately amorous before, of course, and blessed with a pro hero’s strength and unflagging stamina. But a few weeks after you’d moved in together you’d actually decided you needed to reactivate your gym membership given the amount of incredibly athletic sex you were suddenly having over almost every surface in the house.

One of the only spots yet to be touched was the table though, which Shouto seemed determined to rectify at this very moment.

He pulled back from you, his mouth flush from your kisses, looking a little entranced as he stepped out from between your thighs. You made a little noise at the loss of weight and heat over you, but Shouto caught the fabric of your sweatpants, gently but determinedly tugging them off of you. Your underwear was tossed right over one broad shoulder as Shouto went to his knees, and then his mouth was right back on you.

A wave of wild heat licked up your stomach at the noise of appreciation he made before sealing his mouth over you, strong fingers clutching your thighs to keep them apart.

“Oh my god!” you said, pleasure zinging right up your spine with the first lave of his tongue over you. “Shouto!”

Shouto let out a deep, pleased hum, two long fingers sinking into you embarrassingly easily as he worked your clit with his mouth. Your back arched and you could feel your clothing shift with you, Shouto’s shirt balling up under your shoulder blade, still half-draped over your shoulder.

“Oh, oh!” you heard yourself saying as your fingers twisted in the clothing, shuddering with every lick and suck of Shouto’s perfect, amazing, talented mouth.

He worked you with the expertise of long, dedicated practice—everything about him calculated to drive you insane. One moment he was excruciatingly soft, mouth slack and the touch of his tongue as fleeting and light as the brush of a butterfly’s wing. Then the next he was sucking relentlessly, teasing firmly with the tip of his tongue as his fingers played with you.

Your first climax hit you mortifyingly quickly, and Shouto seemed to know it before you did. His grip tightened on you, holding you down as you bucked against his mouth. Shouto looked more than a little smug as he got to his feet again, unbelting himself and laying back out over you.

He kissed you some more, the taste of yourself always a sort of shock to your system. But Shouto never seemed to mind, and if anything only seemed hungrier for you, mouth pulling at yours like he meant to devour you.

You felt the touch of his hand between your thighs as he lined himself up, then sank into you easily, groaning appreciatively like he’d just sunk into a hot bath. He bit carefully at your neck, one large hand pressing your stomach down to keep you pinned against the edge of the table where he wanted you.

“I always want to come home to you like this,” he intoned into the skin of your neck, his mouth sucking dizzying patterns into your skin. “Always.”

You could barely think past the slide of him inside you, thick and full and blissfully exquisite. He really was the most perfect man on earth, and he always felt like it too.

You barely managed to blink your eyes open to watch him, trying to catch his meaning in his face. Shouto watched you back, those blue and grey pinned on you like he couldn’t bear to look away from you as he moved inside you.

“You—” you panted out, trying to cling to the thoughts threatening to wiggle out of your grip. “What do you—? Of course you’ll always come home to me.”

Shouto bucked into you harder, the slap of his hip against the bottom of your thigh echoing loudly over the burble of soup on the stove. His eyelashes fluttered, mouth softening, and a realization struck you almost dizzy.

Oh, he really liked that.

You suppressed a wave of giddiness, charmed and helplessly pleased that he seemed to like the idea so much. Was that why he’d been so especially ardent this past month? Was it really because you’d moved in together?

Shouto’s arm hooked under one of your legs, drawing it up firmly over his shoulder so he could press even further inside of you. He looked so good like that that you nearly lost the thread of your thoughts, especially when his next thrust felt like that. Your eyes nearly rolled back in your head.

“Ah!” escaped you. “Fuck, Shouto. Like that, please!”

Shouto’s thumb pressed down on your still-sensitive clit and he had to dig the fingers of his other hand into the flesh of your leg to keep you from bucking him right out of you with the way you squirmed. Sweet fucking gods he was unreal.

Shouto fucked you harder, the sound of your skin slapping together obscene in the quiet of the kitchen.

You tried again, struggling to watch his reaction with the way you wanted to throw your head back and babble nonsense instead.

“You’ll always come home to me,” you repeated, gratified when Shouto’s grip on you tightened, a soft sound escaping him. “You want me right here for you?”

“Ah—yes, love,” Shouto panted, staring down at you again. He looked like he knew what you were doing but didn’t care. “Yes,” he hissed.

“Just like this?” you prompted, trying not to slur the edges of your speech when he gave another particularly mind-bending thrust of his hips. His chest rose and fell heavily and he looked a little wild-eyed, gazing down at you.

“Like this, for me,” he said. “In my home, in our home—”

You could hear the table squeal and groan with the force of his next thrust, and then you had to grip the sides of it to steady yourself as he fucked you, looking blissful. Your nails scrabbled at the edges of the table, caught in between a million sensations—the glorious fullness of Shouto inside you, the gentle grind of his thumb against your clit, the way he looked all flushed and beautiful and panting and wanting—

You squeezed your eyes shut, too overcome with the sight of him to look at him anymore, but it was no use. Your entire body trembled as you came, and Shouto let out a low swear at the way you clenched up around him, hunching over you and pressing himself so impossibly hard against you as he came too.

He slumped down against you, weighing you into the soft-smelling cotton of the laundry you were now definitely going to have to rewash. You could feel his chest rise and fall as he panted, his breath tickling the skin under your ear. He left an unbearably soft, sweet kiss just under the lobe, at odds with the near-wild way he’d just been fucking you.

You warmed, petting through his hair with a helpless affection.

“Well now I know what time I should always do our laundry,” you said.

Shouto huffed into your neck, but you could feel a tiny smile curve his mouth.

“It is not just that,” he said, but did not elaborate for some minutes until you elbowed him gently. He peeled himself off of you just enough to look down into your face. “It is the thought of our life together. Our clothes piled together. You in the home we chose and we made…” he said, trailing off.

But you thought you got the sentiment. It was about how easy it was, how uncomplicated. A safe place to come home to, no expectations, just soup and a pile of sweet-smelling laundry and someone happy to see you. It was something far away from what he'd grown up thinking a home was, possibly something he’d thought he’d never have—something you were determined to make him realize now that he always would.

You let your fingers pull through his hair again, smiling up at him. “I am going to have to do our laundry again, though,” you teased. “In case that interests you.”

And despite what he’d just said, Shouto did in fact look a little too interested. You watched his mismatched gaze trail over to the closet that opened onto the washer and dryer. A contemplative look snuck across his handsome face, carefully curling the corner of that plush mouth.

“There is another place we have not yet broken in,” he said slowly, voice dipping low. He looked down at you with an earnest expression completely in contrast to what he was suggesting.

You couldn’t help but laugh, and that was all the permission he needed to pull you up, gathering you up in his arms and layering a fat handful of laundry on top of you. His belt buckle rattled loosely beneath you where he'd barely done it up in his haste, and you laughed harder when he turned off the stove as you passed it.

Though it turned out to be a needed precaution—as neither of you found yourselves free to sit down to dinner for several hours yet.

[ell-alexanderarnold]

Okay ı have one,trent going f1 with u and he jealous of u for some driver maybe carlos or lewis

Like fluff 💘💘 hope u like it ( i love ur works btw 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼)

I’m yours

Summary: When on the grid, Trent isn’t the only one who’s keeping an eye out for you.

Fluff

Note: Loved this request! And I hope you love this one too, enjoy 🫂 Also I thought about this song :) ⤹

﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋

As a little girl you always sat watching Formula 1 on the tv. It was all so exciting watching the qualifying and of course the race the day after. You were always so blown away by how fast the cars were going and all the things that were going on and off the grid.

And your childhood dream is soon coming true. Trent knows your passion and love for Formula 1, it’s always something you talk about with him. You’ve watched so many races with him and every time you tell him how much you would love to go to one. Little did you know that he planned a big surprise for you in the meantime.

You woke up feeling kisses all over your cheeks and you groaned, annoyed at Trent for waking you up but it was the best thing in the morning.

“Trent I could’ve slept longer!” You complained and put the duvet over your head as Trent chuckled.

“It’s a big day today babe” Trent said as you got up from the bed, half asleep.

“No it isn’t, I have to clean the entire house and then I’ll watch the qualifying until I fall asleep” You chatted and sighed whilst you picked up clothes from the floor to put in the laundry.

“It’s only Saturday Y/n, we can clean when we get home” Trent consoled and you stopped in your tracks, turning around slowly looking at him in confusion.

“Get home from what Trent?” You asked him and he got out of the bed and walked towards you, smiling.

“You know Silverstone is this weekend?” He began.

“Of course I know that..why?” You wondered.

“I have this girl who really likes to watch F1, and I would love to take her to the grand prix with me” Trent revealed and you jumped right into his arms, squealing in excitement.

“Are you taking me to Silverstone!?” You gasped and he nodded watching you being the happiest girl ever, he’d never seen you smile this much.

“We’re leaving tomorrow morning, so you have all day to pack your stuff. Don’t worry about the cleaning, I’ll fix it” Trent assured and you went to find your suitcase, too excited about everything.

You spent the entire day packing and you were in your own little bubble while doing it, making sure you don’t forget anything. The last thing you put in your suitcase is your Mercedes cap, which you know will piss Trent off because he supports Redbull.

He sneeks up behind you and says “Sure you don’t want a Redbull cap?” And you stand up after closing your suitcase, staring at him.

“Yes I’m pretty sure” You answered and he helped you get your suitcase up from the floor.

Later at night you prepared to go to sleep, but it was hard. You were sure that the nerves would keep you awake, and you will only wait until you get to the circuit.

As you were lost in your thoughts while brushing your teeth, you felt his hands around your waist from behind.

“Are you excited for tomorrow, love?” Trent inquired and you laid your hand on his as you nodded, mouth filled with toothpaste.

He carried you to the bed, making you blush with all of his princess treatments. He placed you down and kissed you forehead with his soft pillow lips. Then he slipped into the bed beside you, ran his hands through your hair as you started to feel more tired.

“I love you T, thank you for surprising me. I can’t wait to experience this with you” You said and yawned.

“Anything for my girl, goodnight Y/n” Trent replied and you dozed off, your dream about to come true when you wake in the morning.

-

You slept surprisingly well although you were full of nerves and excitement the night before. You got up from the bed smiling knowing what’s going to happen today. Your first F1 race, it felt surreal to you and you couldn’t believe that in a few hours you’re standing on the grid with your lover.

Trent was already up, preparing the last things before you two leave.

“Hey babe, did you sleep well?” Trent asked and hugged you once you walked down the stairs.

“Yeah” You simply responded and walked past him to get breakfast for yourself but Trent quickly led you away from the kitchen to the table where he had cooked breakfast for you.

You looked at him in awe and kissed his cheek, “You’re the sweetest person ever!” You exclaimed and then sat down at the table, not wanting to waste any time because you were leaving soon.

—

A few hours later you entered the paddock, there were people everywhere wearing their team’s shirts and of course a lot of media staff taking pictures of your well known boyfriend. You walked beside Trent holding his hand tightly as you were walking down the paddock to get to the Redbull garage.

You were proud to be wearing your Mercedes cap in the Redbull garage even though you felt like everyone was watching you. Trent and you were guided around and a few mechanics told you about the car and Trent met up with Max Verstappen to switch shirts. You stood in the corner watching, trying not to freak out because theres a world champion in front of you. But that wasn’t really the world champion you wanted to meet. Your friends and family is aware of your support for Lewis Hamilton and you couldn’t help but try to find him today.

Max wished Trent good luck for the season he has ahead of him and you two went back to the grid.

“Trent… can we please go into the Mercedes garage?” You asked and hold your hand behind your back, hoping he would do it for you.

“Y/n I really want to go with you but I promised Marcell to follow him to the Ferrari’s. I’ll join you later okay?” He answered and you pouted. He gave you one quick peck on your cheek before running off to his brother.

And there you were on the grid, living your actual childhood dream.

You saw the garage, continuing walking towards it as you started to feel more and more nervous. The race didn’t start until one hour so you had some time to spend in the garage of your favourite team.

You got smiles from the mechanics and looked around your surroundings, it was exactly how you imagined it to be. Until you saw him.

You could see Lewis standing not far from you and you thought that you had not come this far just to look at him so you made your way towards him, trying to get the courage to ask for a photo.

You thought about how Trent would react when he sees the photo, you always dreamt about meeting a driver.

Slowly you tap his shoulder and he turns around with a smile on his face.

“Hi Lewis, can I ask for a photo?” You finally say and took a deep breath, trying not to mess anything up.

“Yes of course, what’s your name?” Lewis responds and you search for your phone in your purse, your hands almost shaking.

“Y/n” You said and smiled as you found your phone and took the picture.

“Y/n, lovely to meet you. Enjoy the race!” He expressed and shot a look at your cap.

“Thank you I will! Good luck” You smiled and noticed how he observed your cap, making you smile even more walking out from the garage to join Trent again.

You met up with Trent and you got to your seats to watch the race. You couldn’t wait for the race to start, and you thought it was more exciting watching it because Max didn’t get pole position as usual.

Trent held your hand as everyone on the track were fixing everything in the last minute, and it was only about time until they started the formation lap.

“You’re ready?” Trent whispered in your ear and it sent shivers down your spine. You looked at him and nodded as he leant in for a quick kiss before your attention was focused on the race.

-

The checkered flag was waving and the race was over. You can’t believe that you just saw an Formula 1 race. The crowd was cheering, two British boys on the podium, one of them was Lewis which you were the most happy for. Trent was happy with Max winning again and you could do nothing but to roll your eyes at him mocking you as he always does when Redbull wins.

As you and Trent stood by the exit and were preparing to leave, your eyes catches someone else’s eye. You could see Lewis glancing at you and you glanced back, your heart skipped a beat when your eyes made contact. You know you shouldn’t be doing that when you have a boyfriend, but you saw it as just a fun thing not knowing it will come with consequences. You could never forget how kind Lewis was to you and the way he noticed your cap, your inner child was jumping up and down with excitement for sure.

“Hey bro, is it just me or does your bird seem to have something going on with Mr. Hamilton” Marcell noted and Trent looked over at you, seeing that you’re completely lost in your own world with some other guy.

He felt the side of him come through that he knew you didn’t like, jealousy. You’re his, not some kind of driver’s girlfriend.

“Enjoying the view are we?” Trent spoke up and you jumped out of your little bubble turning your face to him as he placed his hand on your hip, marking you as his visibly infront of Lewis.

“What?” You replied, studying the look on his face.

“Oh nothing, we should get going Y/n” He simply said and you two started to walk and you took one last glance of Lewis Hamilton.

You didn’t know exactly what he meant by that comment but you knew that it couldn’t be good. It was something your mind had to think about but you already knew in fact it was painted all over his face, his jealousy.

-

Because of how far away from home you and Trent were, you decided to stay in a hotel in London for a few days. It was a nice cozy hotel room and a good way to finish your day was to take a shower and then go off to bed.

But as you stood in the bathroom applying your serum you could only think about what Trent said earlier. “Enjoying the view are we?”

Of course you enjoyed the view but what exactly did he meant?

Trent stood beside you and he had just finished brushing his teeth. You watched him in the mirror almost draining himself in his body lotion and you giggled for yourself, but you had to ask him about earlier.

“Hey T” You began as he looked up at you in the mirror.

“Yeah”

“You know when we were about to leave and you said that I was enjoying the view” You mentioned and he hummed in response.

“What did you mean by that?” You continued and met his eyes through the mirror.

“Someone couldn’t take their eyes off of Sir Lewis” He shrugged and you held yourself back from laughing, you found it so funny.

“Trent you’re joking right?” You chuckled and smiled as he rolled his eyes.

“I just didn’t like the way he looked at you” He told you and then walked up behind you, kissing your neck.

“You’re mine and mine only.” He whispered against your neck and it made you forget all about Lewis in one second. You leaned your head back, allowing him to kiss you all over your neck.

“So you were jealous?” You asked and he chuckled because he know you could read him well in those moments.

“I was” He admitted and you two walked out of the bathroom, both tired and just wanted to sleep.

As you laid down with him you thought whatever happens, if you see a cute man on a night out or if a guy comes up to you in the club, or in this case if a Formula 1 driver likes to have some sort of staring contest with you, no matter what you know who you belong to. You know that no one can love you like Trent do and in that way, you’re gonna forget about the little tension you and Lewis had.

“Trent, you know I’m yours right?” You soothed and cupped his face.

“I know you are Y/n” He murmured.

“And you’re mine” You added.

“Is that so?” Trent teased and you started laughing and he flipped you over so that you were lying on top of his chest and you eventually fell asleep, with a head full of dreams and a loving boyfriend who you know is going to stick around for a long time.

[callsign-magnolia]

Undiagnosed // Ch. 10

Mature Content 18+

Jake Seresin x Neurodivergent OC

Summary: Katie Blair grew up trying to be the perfect daughter. She always struggled to be the prim and proper little girl her parents wanted. Big personality as a kid, but now at 25, she's the shy admiral's daughter who just keeps her head down and tries to get through law school. So what happens when she's had enough and with help from a certain Lieutenant, she gets out.

Warnings: Emotional abuse, trauma response, abusive parents.

Word Count: 6.0k

Chapter 9 | Masterlist

A few weeks go by, May is over and we were diving headfirst into June. After my eye appointment Jake took me to the bookstore, where we bought a few books that I had been wanting and then we went home. I immediately got online and started looking for frames for my glasses. I scrolled and scrolled for a few days until I came across those same Kate Spade glasses I saw on display. I went to scroll past them when I saw they were on a massive sale. They were originally two hundred and sixty dollars, but they were marked down to one hundred and ten online. That's the average price for glasses, but I bit my lip looking at them. I couldn't ask Jake for these even if they were on sale. "Find some you like?" I jumped, losing my grip on my phone as Jake startled me from behind. "Jake! God, don't scare me like that." I said, my hand over my heart as I leaned back into the couch. He just laughed, coming around and sitting next to me. Before he was even completely sitting, he snatched my phone, looking at the frames. "These are nice." He said, looking at them.

"Yeah but they're too expensive." I responded and he scoffed. "One ten isn't bad, darlin'. I was doing some research and saw the average was two hundred dollars.” He looked through everything on the glasses before turning to me. “There.” He said as he handed me my phone. I looked down and saw he had ordered them. “What if those weren’t the ones I wanted?” I asked and he laughed. “I saw you lookin’ at them at the doctor’s office darlin’. You wanted them.” With that he disappeared into the kitchen. I sighed, relaxing back into the couch as I looked at my phone. I felt bad because Jake has dropped a lot of money on me in the past few days, I had to figure out a way to pay him back. Of course, with no money that’s near impossible. So I would have to do something else. I thought about it for a while before figuring out a plan. While he was at work that week, I made sure the house was spotless, I did his laundry, made his bed and was prepping dinner by the time he got home. The first day he thanked me and was so pleased. But after a few weeks he came into my room after dinner, leaning on my door frame as he watched me put lotion on my legs. “Can I talk to you?” He asked and immediately my heart started pounding in my chest. “Um, yeah.” I put my lotion down and he came, sitting on my bed, looking at me. 

“Why are you doing all this stuff?” He asked and I furrowed my brows. “The cleaning?” “And the cooking, and doing my laundry, and making my bed.” I frowned, pulling my knees up to my chest. “Do you not want me to do that?” He sighed, flopping back on my bed. “I appreciate it, I really do. But it’s every day. Isn't there something else you'd rather spend your day doing?" He asked. I sighed, looking at the few books he bought me. I was halfway through one and I knew if I read all day I’d have the entire stack finished in two weeks. Then Jake would feel like he had to buy me more books. Television isn’t really doing it for me, and you can only watch so many movies. “Honestly?” He nodded. “Honestly.” I sighed, hugging my knees tighter. “Yeah. But I can’t think of much other than reading and it sucks when you finish a book so fast.” He stared at me and I felt like he could read me as easily as flight patterns. “But… you’ve also spent so much money on me lately and I don’t have money to pay you back so I thought I would do things for you.” He sighed, his eyes turning to look at the ceiling. “Darlin’, you don’t have to pay me back for any of this.” I shook my head. “Jake, you signed up to help me get out, not take care of me.” He chuckled, rolling onto his side and propping his head on his fist. My eyes drifted and I couldn’t help but notice his bulging biceps. “Katie.” He said, my eyes meeting his. “Darlin,” He smiled at me. “I don’t care about taking care of you. I’m happy to do it if it means you don’t have to go back to that house of horrors.” I smiled at him. “Thank you.” I whispered and he smiled at me. “Okay. Well I’m gonna go to bed, I’m exhausted.” I nodded as he stood before leaning over and kissing my head. “Night, darlin’.” He said before walking out. “Night, Jake.” 

A week later my glasses came in and I was excited when Jake pulled the box from the mailbox, and handed it to me. “Oh my god!” I squealed, excited to be able to see clearly again. I rushed inside, setting the box on the counter and searching for the scissors. “Dammit! Where are they?” I called out and I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I turned to see Jake, scissors in hand as he grinned at me. “Ah! Thank you!” I said, yanking the scissors from his hand and practically tearing the box apart. “I’ve never seen someone so excited for glasses.” I laughed at his words. “Well I have pretty shitty eyesight, so I’m excited to see clearly again.” I said, reaching into the box of packing peanuts and pulling out my new glasses. “HA!” I yelled, quickly cleaning the little bits of foam off the lenses. I slid them on and it took my eyes a second to adjust after going a few weeks without glasses but finally I could see. “Well?” He asked and I looked at him. Finally from a distance I could see him so clearly. “They’re great! I can finally see!” I looked out the kitchen window to the backyard. “Nice to know the leaves are still individual and not giant green blobs.” He laughed as he looked out the window with me. “Is your eyesight really that bad?” He asked and I pulled my glasses off, holding them out to him. “It’s not the worst eyesight ever but anything two feet in front of me and past that is blurry.” I told him and he held my glasses up to his face. “Oh my god that is blurry.” He said and I laughed, taking my glasses back. “So you can see why I’m happy to have glasses again.”

Another two weeks after that I had my first therapy session after Jake got off work and I lost track of time again and had to rush to get ready. Once again I tossed on a dress, some sandals, my hair was in a bun and I had no makeup. I grabbed my purse, rushing downstairs as Jake waited for me. “Come on. I can’t be late! God, of course I would make myself late.” I said as I rushed by him. “Katie, hang on.” He said, following me. “Did you not just hear me? I’m running behind, no thanks to my shitty time management skills.” I said, getting in the truck. Jake huffed, getting in beside me. I was a nervous wreck for this. Bradley has tried all week to calm me down and it did in the moment, then the nerves would creep back in. “Katie, can we talk?” I sighed, taking deep breaths and tried not to snap at him. “Jake.” I said as my voice broke and tears filled my eyes. “I am trying not to freak out right now. Could we talk after my session?” I asked and he gave me a small smile, nodding. “Yeah,” His voice was soft as he reached over the console, grabbing my hand and holding our intertwined fingers on it. “We can talk after.”

The rest of the ride was quiet but as Jake’s thumb rubbed my knuckles I calmed a little. But as soon as he let go and threw the truck in park, the nerves were back as I stared up at the tall building. I managed to get out and walk around the truck, heading for the door but I stopped short. My hand clutched the leather straps of my purse as it sat on my shoulder. Could I really do this? Tell a complete stranger everything that’s happened to me? Especially within the last few months? Well, I guess Jake was a complete stranger once. “Want me to go in with you?” I turned to see Jake leaning out the window of his truck. I sighed defeatedly. “Would you?” He smiled, rolling up the window and getting out. “C’mon.” He said, holding out his hand for me. “Thank you.” I said as I took his hand and walked inside. We took the elevator up to the eighth floor and down the hall to Dr. Davis’ office. We walked in and I smiled at the receptionist. “Hi, my name is Katie Blair. I have an appointment with Dr. Davis.” The lady hummed and typed on her keyboard. “Fill this out and have a seat.” She said in a bland tone. I gave her a small nod and took the clipboard, following Jake to some empty seats. We sat down and I looked at the clipboard. There was so much they needed to know, it was a little overwhelming. I eventually filled out everything I knew but when it came to things like insurance, I was stuck. “What’s wrong?” He asked. “I uh- I don’t have insurance and I don’t really know what to put.” I said and he leaned over, looking. “Here. Self-pay.” I checked the little box and sat back. 

He squinted at the paper that had my name on it. “Why does that name look familiar?” He asked. “Probably because it’s mine.” I sassed and he chuckled, nudging me. “Haha. No, I mean your first and middle name. Katie Scarlett.” I sighed, scrunching my nose at his question. “Ever seen Gone With The Wind?” It was my mother’s favorite movie, and of course. “No!” He gasped. “She didn’t.” I nodded. “If my last name had been O’Hara she would’ve kept me in corsets and hoop skirts.” He chuckled. “Well I like your name.” I nodded. “I do too. I think it’s pretty, just wish she had been more creative.” I said before getting up and walking over to the reception desk. “Here’s this.” She hummed, scowling at me as she looked up at me over the tops of her glasses. “For the record. You were late.” I bit my lip. My appointment was at four-thirty and we got into the office at four-thirty three. “Dr. Davis does not accept late patients.” My heart leapt into my throat. I got lucky with this early opening, they were booked out eight months otherwise. “Leave her alone Kathy.” A voice behind me spoke. “Hi, I’m Dr. Davis.” She held out her hand for me to shake. She was a little shorter than me, long dark brown hair and glasses on her face. She had to be about my mother’s age. And that worried me, what if she didn’t understand? “I-I’m Katie.” She smiled at me. “Well Katie, if you’re ready we can go into my office.” My gaze immediately shifted to Jake and he gave me a small smile. “I’ll be right here waiting for you.” I smiled at him and followed Dr. Davis into her office before she closed the door behind us. “Have a seat. Want some water?” At her question I realized my throat would dry. “Yes, please.” 

I sat in one of the comfy looking chairs she had in her office as she grabbed a bottle from the mini fridge and handed it to me. “You look lovely.” She complimented, sitting across from me. “Oh, uh thank you. I look like a wreck though. No makeup, my hair is pulled up and I just grabbed something from my closet.” I said and she nodded. “You still look beautiful.” My face flushed and she narrowed her eyes at me. “My mother always told me I had to be well put together to be beautiful.” She hummed, writing something down on her notepad. “Why don’t you tell me about your mother.” She asked and I took a deep breath. “She’s not a good person.” She nodded, writing stuff down. “And why is that?” I was a little agitated but I knew she had to ask. “I never remember her being necessarily kind to me. When I was little she had me in beauty pageants, my talent was a gymnastics routine and I was good at it. I would come in first almost every time and she would be so proud.” I said as tears gathered in my eyes. “I was seven and she set up my equipment. I threw a backhandspring on the balance beam, fell off and somehow snapped my femur in half.” She nodded. “That must have been painful.” I pursed my lips. “It was.” My hand fell to my leg, something I haven’t done in years. “I felt it immediately, my thigh was curved medially.” I said, using my hand to curve away from my body all the way down to my knee which pointed inwards. “I cried. God did I cry. Everyone panicked and one father was a medic and rushed over. But just before that I remember my mom telling me to shut up and not grab attention. But as soon as he came over, she was the worried mother, crying over her child's pain.” 

She hummed, passing me a box of tissues. “That makes you mad?” “No shit it makes me mad.” I snapped before taking a deep breath and closing my eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” She shook her head with a smile. “No, that’s good. You should be mad. Tell me more.” I nodded. “Um, I couldn’t make friends. My mother tried to tell me we were better than everyone, but it never stuck. I was a social child, I loved talking to people and making friends but as soon as I would really get to know someone, form a bond we would move. Eventually I just stopped trying and before I knew it, totally isolated.” I said, wanting to pull my knees up to my chest, but I was in a dress and that’s not lady like. “They wanted me to go to law school. So I did.” She hummed. “And how was that?” “Awful. I was the freak of the school. I get excited about things that no one else seems to care about.” She hummed again. “Like what?” I bit my lip, looking down. “Um, I used to have some fish and I would constantly talk to anyone about them that would listen.” I started pulling on my thumbs. “What were their names?” She asked and I couldn’t help the smile on my face. “Um, splish and splash were my two goldfish, Georgie was my guppy, Simon was an angelfish and then Ripley was a neon tetra.” She smiled at me. “Do you have a picture?” I nodded enthusiastically. When I got into my old backup account I saved a few pictures of my fish as well. I just couldn’t go without pictures of them. “Oh my, they’re so pretty.” She said, adjusting her glasses and I grinned. “Thank you.” I said, putting my phone back in my purse.

“What happened to them?” My breath caught in my throat, not expecting her to be so direct. I thought back to how angry my dad was and a chill ran down my spine. “I was supposed to be studying, but I had done it so much I just wanted to read my book.” She raised a brow but nodded. “My dad was already mad and when he saw I wasn’t studying, he got even more angry and swiped all my old pageant trophies off my dresser. He said I was lazy and stupid and told me I would be nothing without him. He tipped over my bookshelf, trashed my CD’s and when I told him I didn’t need him, he ripped my glasses from my face.” Her eyes were wide as she stared at me before writing in her notes. “Go on.” She motioned me to continue. “He told me if I wasn’t going to use my glasses to study, I must not need them. Then he took one of my textbooks and crushed them on my desk.” Her jaw was practically on the floor as I went on. “He threw me into the table that held my fish tank and he said he was sick of them, so he launched the book into the side of the tank. It shattered and they all flooded out onto the floor. They flopped around and I put them in a container of water, but none of them survived.” Tears filled my eyes at the memory. “Then he told me to get the hell over it and to clean up the mess.” 

“Katie. That’s abuse.” I nodded. “I know that now.” She sighed, taking a breath. “Anything else?” I hummed. “Can I just tell you recent stuff?” She nodded. “Not long before my dad killed my fish, my friend Jake, the one out in the waiting room, came over and helped me clean my fish tank and my parents came home early.” I thought back to the angry look on my fathers face. “As soon as the door shut, he grabbed me by my hair, dragged me from where I was standing in the tub, and threw me to the floor. Jake didn’t leave the house, he just closed the door but he was still there.” I said, wiping tears from my eyes. “I managed to get him to leave just as my dad pulled off his belt and started hitting me.” She just seemed shocked by everything I was saying. “That’s not even the worst.” I said and she sighed. “Katie. We don’t have to go over everything today. We can do another session.” I shook my head. “I really wanna get this out.” She nodded again and got comfortable in her chair. “The day after my dad killed my fish, I ran off with Jake to his house. But I panicked and thought my dad would ruin his life so I went back.” She furrowed her brows. “How would your dad ruin Jake’s life?” She asked. “Jake is a Lieutenant in the navy. My dad is his Fleet Commander.” She hummed. “And how high in rank is Fleet Commander?” I chuckled, leaning my head back on the chair. “The highest. It’s the equivalent of an Army General. He is the person with the most control.” She hummed. “What happened when you went back?” 

“They tricked me.” She raised her brows in surprise. “They pretended like they knew they did wrong, and even apologized and told me they loved me.” It was silent for a moment as tears fell down my face. “That’s the first time I remember them saying they loved me… and it was a lie.” My voice broke as I grabbed a tissue. “I woke up the next morning to a lock outside my door. They locked me in and told me I was never coming back out.” She stared at me in shock. “How long were you locked in there?” I sighed. “A week. It was a Saturday when my mom made me get up and put me in the shower for the first time. She did my hair and I did my makeup before she put me in a white dress and locked me in again. She told me I had to look perfect for who they were bringing over.” I said as I wiped my eyes again. “I overheard them when they walked past the door. My mom said she didn’t care what these people did with me once I was out of her house.” She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “How did you get out?” She asked, concern lacing her voice. “They left and I kind of panicked. The door was locked, my windows were nailed shut, and I had no phone. But I sat against my bed and looked over at my desk. There was a curled cord hanging out of one of the drawers.” I chuckled. “It was my old landline, and thankfully my parents still had service running through the house. So I plugged in the phone jack and it worked. I called Jake and him and a few friends came in to get me out.” She gave me a small smile. “Sounds like great friends.” 

“They really are. Jake is letting me live with him now, but I feel so lost. I told him I would get a job but he offered for me to live there and go to nursing school. My mother always controlled my life, now that I got away. I don’t really know what to do.” She slapped her notepad down on the arm of her chair and leaned forward with a wide grin. “Do something for yourself.” I took a deep breath. “I came to therapy.” I gave her a smile and she chuckled. “Do something else.” I pursed my lips, thinking about what I could do. “Can I give a suggestion?” I nodded, feeling like a little guidance would help. “Go to nursing school.” My eyebrows shot up. “Really?” She nodded enthusiastically. “You have someone letting you live in their house rent free. Going to school, and working to pay bills would be so difficult. You are in a very good situation right now and you need to take advantage of it.” I nodded, biting my lip. “I’ll think about it.” She nodded. “Good.” We spoke a little more about our next steps in therapy and my mother’s voice in my head. By the end of my session I felt a little better and we stood. “I would really like to try EMDR with you. I think it could really help you move forward in the healing process.” I nodded. “You think I’ll ever be normal?” I asked and she chuckled. “If there’s anything I’ve learned in my line of work. Normal doesn’t exist. But we will work together to get you in the right headspace and ways to go through your life, without your mother’s voice in your head.” I nodded as she handed me a few pamphlets on EMDR, something she wanted to try with me. I was finally getting help. I felt a wave of emotions washing over me as I stared down at the pamphlets. Tears filled my eyes as I looked over at Dr. Davis. “Thank you, Dr. Davis.” She smiled at me, shaking my hand. “You’re welcome, Katie. Now, what are you going to do after this?” I chuckled, smiling at her. “Seriously consider nursing school.” She nodded and walked me out. “Make another appointment for whatever is convenient to you. We’ll figure out a time frame next time.” I nodded before she called another patient in. 

“You okay?” Jake asked as he walked over. He saw the tears in my eyes and opened his arms, pulling me into a hug. “I will be.” He nodded before releasing me to schedule my next appointment, but his arm never left my shoulder. I made another appointment for a month, thinking that would be a good time. Jake paid, which I felt guilty for, and grabbed my hand, walking us into the elevator then out to the truck. Once we got in, I wiped my eyes and turned to him. “Didn’t you have something to tell me?” He seemed a little surprised. “Oh, yeah. Bu-but it can wait till tomorrow.” I furrowed my brows as I leaned my head on the window. “You sure?” He nodded, giving me a soft smile. “I’m sure.” He asked me if I wanted to go eat somewhere before going home, but I felt so exhausted we just stopped for fast food and ate it on the couch. “You sure you’re okay?” He asked when we cleaned up and sat back down on the couch. “Yeah, I’m just really tired.” He hummed as my head laid back on the couch. It wasn’t long until I passed out on the couch, but the next morning I woke up in my bed. I looked at the clock and saw it said nine a.m. I slept for over twelve hours? I fell asleep before eight last night. I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Jake was already at work. Jake. I thought for a second and realized he had to have carried me to bed. Unless I walked to bed and don’t remember? I’ll ask him when he gets home. With that I flung the covers off of me and grabbed my phone. I had a text from Phoenix asking about a birthday party for Rooster, and one from Jake asking about dinner tonight. “What could he have to say that he needs me and Kelly at dinner?” I asked myself as I went downstairs to make breakfast. I spent the day doing some research on EMDR and found a lot of interesting info on it. Before I could lose track of time, I showered a whole two hours before Jake came home, then tossed a load of towels in the washer. 

I couldn’t figure out what to wear so I texted Kelly and asked what she would be wearing. I had never been to this place but I had heard of it. She finally texted me back when Jake got home, saying she was wearing a navy blue slip dress. It gave me an idea of what to wear so I shifted through my closet as Jake knocked on the door frame. “Hey.” I turned and smiled at him as I pulled out a dress and held it up. “Hi. How was your day?” I asked. “Busy. I spent five out of nine hours in the air.” I poked my bottom lip out at him. “I’m sorry.” I said and he chuckled. “What are you doing?” He asked. “Just trying to find a dress. I’ve never been to this place so I text Kelly and asked what she was wearing.” He hummed, crossing his right leg over his left, hands in his pockets as he leaned on the door frame. The t-shirt showed off his muscular tan arms so well. “And what is she wearing?” He asked and I giggled. “Well she didn’t tell me I couldn’t tell you, but I won’t. All I’ll say is it’s a little navy number.” I said, winking at him. He smiled at me, watching as I held another dress up in front of my body as I looked at myself in the mirror in my room. “And what are you wearing?” I shrugged. “Not sure yet. But when I find out, I’ll get your opinion.” He grinned at me before turning to walk away. “Hey Jake?” I asked and he turned back to me. “Did you…” I froze, feeling weird about asking this question. He walked closer, propping his elbow on the dresser and looking down at me with a grin. His face was so close to mine, his minty breath fanning across my face. “Did I what?” He asked. I opened and closed my mouth a few times before I pushed past the not so pure thoughts crossing my mind. “Did you bring me up to bed last night?” I asked and he smiled at me so widely I thought I would go blind. 

“I did. I couldn’t let you be all uncomfortable on the couch.” He said. “I’m sorry. I should’ve gotten up.” He shook his head, wrapping his fingers around one of my curls that I coated with finishing spray to keep it intact. “Don’t apologize. It was like lifting a sheet of paper.” He said before leaning in and kissing my forehead. “Thank you.” I said as he turned to walk out. “We have two hours before we have to pick up Kelly and make our reservations.” I nodded as he walked down to his room. It took me a minute to gather my thoughts but once I did I threw myself into my closet. I couldn’t think about him that way. He was a friend, and one that was doing so much for me. Plus, he was in a relationship and he would never be interested in me anyway. Finally I found a dress and hung it on the outside of my closet before going and putting my makeup on. It was soft and simple, light pink eyeshadow to match the flowers on my dress. Once that was done we had half an hour before we left so I put on the dress and grabbed my nude heels. I had no jewelry which felt weird, I almost felt incomplete without it. So I just grabbed my purse and walked downstairs where I put my shoes on. “Woah.” I turned to find Jake standing on the second to last step. “Too much?” I asked and he stared at me for a second before shaking his head. “No. No, not at all.” I smiled, brushing the skirt of my dress. It was a black maxi dress with pink magnolia blooms on it. It had a split on one side of the skirt and the top was a cross halter which left my back completely exposed. 

“You look beautiful.” I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped me. “Thank you.” I said and he smiled at me. “Ready, darlin’?” He asked and I nodded. “Yeah.” He grabbed my hand and led me out to the truck, opening the passenger door for me and helping me in. Once he got in we drove to Kelly’s house and I tried to pry the news out of him. “Oh come on. Please tell me!” I said, leaning across the center console and looking up at him with big doe eyes. “I’m not looking at you.” I sat back in my seat and pouted. “Why not?” I asked, offended. “I’d give in immediately if I did.” I felt a surge of something rush through my chest and I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. Soon we arrived at Kelly’s apartment complex and she walked out her door. I got out of the front seat, leaving the door open for her as I crawled into the back seat. I got in and buckled just as she climbed in. “Gee, your roommate does more for me than you do when getting in the truck.” She joked and he rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of annoyance in her tone. “Hi baby.” He said and they both leaned over the console, kissing each other sweetly. I gave them a small smile as they pulled apart, they intertwined fingers resting on the console. Just like ours were yesterday, and I frowned at the memory. There was a tension in the truck and we rode in silence. When we arrived, Jake handed the truck over to the valet and we walked in. When Jake helped Kelly out of the car, I really got a look at her dress. A navy midi slip dress with thin straps and a split up the thigh. She really looked pretty with her hair curled and pulled into a pretty bun, a few hairs framing her face. She was so pretty and I felt very… plain compared to her. 

I shook my insecurities aside as we walked in and we were led to a table in a back corner, soft lights illuminating the table. Jake pulled out mine and Kelly’s chairs before sitting down himself. He was next to Kelly and I was directly across from him. He rested his forearms on the table and I couldn’t look away from his arms, which had the sleeves rolled up. He looked so good in his navy shirt and black slacks, but I watched as his hand fell to her thigh and I felt a little dejected at the sight. But I had no right to be. I shook the thoughts from my mind and tuned into the conversation. “So, Katie. Jake told me you had therapy yesterday.” Jake’s face fell and I felt a little embarrassed. I didn’t want anyone to know, but I didn’t tell Jake that either so I can’t get mad. “Um, yeah. I did.” Suddenly the waiter came over to take our drink orders. Jake and Kelly ordered some wine and I ordered water. “She’ll also have a glass of chardonnay.” My eyes snapped to Jake and the waiter nodded, walking away. “What if I didn’t want wine?” I asked and he chuckled. “I saw you looking at the wine menu.” Kelly immediately turned to me. “So how did your session go yesterday?” I sighed. “Um, really good actually. I think it’s gonna be good for me.” She nodded and our drinks came. I immediately picked up my glass, taking a large sip. Probably very un-lady-like but I didn’t care. By the time the food arrived I was two glasses in and feeling it. Hardly drinking makes for a low alcohol tolerance and I needed food to fix it. I sat here quietly while we waited and dug in as soon as the pasta sat in front of me. I listened to the conversation and sobered up quite a bit by the end of dinner.

“So… Katie.” He said, catching my attention as the waiter took my plate. He opened his mouth as he looked at me before quickly snatching the dessert menu. “Want some tiramisu?” He asked and I furrowed my brows at him. “Um, no thanks. I think we’ve racked up quite the bill tonight.” I said and he shook his head. “Nope, we're having dessert.” He said and caught our waiter's attention. “Three orders of tiramisu, please.” The waiter nodded and turned away. Kelly smacked his arm and caught his attention. “Tell her.” She practically growled out. My heart immediately sank. He was kicking me out. He’s grown tired of me and can’t stand to have me in his house anymore. He was throwing me out with nowhere to go. My breathing picked up and I felt like I couldn’t get any breath into my lungs. “Katie.” Jake caught my attention as the waiter set the coffee dessert in front of me, as well as another glass of wine. I snatched the glass, downing it as fast as possible. “Are you okay?” Kelly asked and I shook my head. “Not really. I’m so nervous I’m shaking.” I said and Jake furrowed his brows as Kelly squeezed his hand on the table. “Why are you nervous?” I sighed, squeezing my hands between my thighs to ground myself. 

“You’re kicking me out.” He seemed shocked and immediately leaned forward. “Katie. I would never do that. Why would you think that?” He asked and I shrugged, grabbing my spoon and digging in. “I figured you couldn’t stand to have me around anymore.” I said and he shook his head. “Katie no.” I sighed. “Then what is she pushing you to tell me?” I asked and he sighed, looking at Kelly as she took his hand in hers. “Katie. I’m getting deployed.” I looked at him shocked and it felt like everything was crashing down. Without Jake I would really be lost. If my parents found me, they would have no problem dragging me out of that house and back into the room. Hell, they probably wouldn’t feed me for a week. “Wh-what?” I stuttered out, my voice meek and small. “They’re shipping out the entire team at the end of the month. For six weeks.” I sat there as tears filled my eyes, looking down at the dessert in front of me, suddenly no longer enticed by it. “Katie? Are you gonna be okay?” Kelly asked and I looked up at her. “Um, to be honest. I don’t know.” I immediately stood, grabbing my purse. “I need some air.” I said before rushing past them and outside.

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[paddockletters]

We're a team baby, we're in this together // Mason Mount

request: yes thank you for you request ❤ summary: Mason stopped being the hands on dad so when you leave, he started to understand what he lost and what was happened to him. pairing: dadmason! x reader warnings: fights, angst, mention of depression but there's a happy ending words count: 2.01 k author note: My first fic with Mase and im happy with the result -ngl, i'd have liked to make Mason suffer more-, i hope you like it too

" Leave Mason, just leave. You haven't been here for me even less for your daughter when we need you the most. It's not like, if you want to help me or not, it's your fucking job since I got pregnant because you got your fucking dick in me with no protection."

" y/n, please..."

"I'm sorry Mason, but I really need to figure things out."

Several things had happened to get to the point of that fight.

You and Mason had been in a relationship for several years now—you started dating at 17. You had been through many adversities, yet you stayed together. You moved in together, got engaged, and now you were parents to a beautiful baby girl. A baby girl that you had created with so much love.

Since you found out you were going to be parents, you couldn’t help but feel a little insecure about taking care of a little one; however, the happiness was greater. That subject you used to talk about in the evenings had become a reality.

Anyway, Mason was over the moon about it. He was going to have a little princess to take care of. He would fulfill your every whim, and he tried to go to as many doctor’s appointments as possible. Not to mention, during the last few months of your pregnancy, he was practically glued to you the whole time.

The day you welcomed your little baby girl, Riley, Mason was holding her in his arms the whole time. They were attached at the hip.

When you arrived home after leaving the hospital, he was no different. He would change your baby’s nappies while you were breastfeeding. He would sit next to you while holding you around or caressing your little one’s cheek. Also, as you could hardly make much effort, he would do the laundry, cook, etc.

Finally, when he returned to training, he would come home as soon as possible so he could help you with everything related to your baby. However, that lasted a few months before it got to the point mentioned at the beginning.

Mason started hanging out with his friends—not that it bothered you, because, of course, you can’t not let him do that and he deserved a break after the months he’d spent with you—but suddenly, he started going out frequently, sometimes arriving late, and you hardly saw him anymore because when you woke up, he had already left for training.

He didn’t even come home for lunch anymore. You didn’t even get calls from him asking about Riley, about you. It seemed like you were on your own.

Riley was sick. She had caught a cold. All night, she was hot, her nose was stuffy, she was crying a lot, and you really didn’t know what to do. Mason, even though he had heard everything in the early morning, didn’t even stop to ask you what was going on. As a first-time mum, it is sometimes very difficult. You had called your mum to let her know that you were going to stay at your old house for a few days. She had asked you the reasons, but you told her you would explain later.

First, you would take your daughter to the doctor.

You had tried to call Mason, but he didn’t answer, so you decided to call Ben; maybe he could let him know.

To your misfortune, Ben didn’t know where Mason was. He only mentioned that he left the club as soon as training was over. That caught your attention, as he hadn’t even stopped by the house.

You grabbed your house keys and headed to the doctor’s—you’d do it without Mason.

It was 7 p.m. when you returned home. No surprise to you, Mason hadn’t made it home. You took Riley to her room and then went to the kitchen to get some dinner. When you were done, you went to your room and grabbed a couple of changes of clothes for you and Riley and other essential things—nappies, dummies, wet wipes. You’d had enough.

Finally, Mason arrived home around 9 p.m. He left the car in the garage and went into the house. He started checking his phone call log and found a lot of missed calls from you, from Ben, from Kai, from his mother.

Had something happened to you?

Mason ran to his room, and you got up to confront him.

“Where have you been? Have you just been looking at your phone?” you said as you approached him.

“I couldn’t. I’ve been busy. I went to Ben’s, but I just saw that you called me.” You couldn’t believe it; he was lying to your face.

“Don’t lie to me, Mason. I’ve spoken to Ben, and he never mentioned you were with him,” you pointed at him angrily.

“So now you want to control me and watch me...”

“I would never do that, Mason! I was looking for you because I needed you, your daughter needed you, and you didn’t even care! I’m tired.”

“What happened to Riley? Is she okay?” Mason asked, concerned.

“Now apparently you do care,” you laughed as you shook your head. You couldn’t believe it.

“She’s my daughter; of course I care.”

“No, you don’t. If it were true, you wouldn’t have left us alone all this time.”

“But I—”

You cut him off. “You haven’t been here for me, even less for your daughter when we need you the most. It’s not like whether you want to help me or not; it’s your fucking job since I got pregnant because you got your fucking dick in me with no protection.”

“Riley, she caught a cold. Maybe it’s not that bad, but you didn’t even bother to ask about her like you used to every day. I can’t, Mase, not anymore.”

“Y/n, please...”

“I’m sorry, Mason, but I really need to figure things out, and you need to sort things out and be the father that Riley needs.” You told him as you cried. He tried to come closer, but you pulled back.

“Y/n, baby. Please,” Mason said, his voice breaking.

“If you don’t go, I’ll go. I really, really need time. I’ll go to my parents.”

With that, you left the house—your house that held so many memories, but it was a house that was now broken.

A couple of weeks had passed. Mason came home to find the house completely dark and silent, as it had been since you left. He missed you, so he tried calling you, but he regretted it, fearing you wouldn't answer.

He needed to talk to someone, so he called Ben.

“Mase? Everything okay?” Ben answered.

“It’s my damn fault. I’ve been an idiot these last few weeks. I let them down when they needed me. When it was my responsibility to be there,” Mason's voice cracked.

“What are you talking about? Y/n and Riley are okay?” Ben asked, worried. He had noticed Mason acting strange a few weeks ago, but he had observed some improvement recently. He never mentioned it, even when Mason had asked him.

“Mate, mate, calm down,” Ben said, trying to soothe him.

“I’m a fucking prick, argh!” Mason sat down on the ground in frustration.

“Mate, I know it’s none of my business, but is everything alright with you guys?” Ben couldn't help but ask.

“Yeah, well... I don’t know. I’ve been a dick. Y/n probably hates me; I’ve been really absent at home, but I’m working on it.”

“But why—”

“It’s a situation that I had to work on myself,” Mason cut him off.

“Mason, I didn’t know. I hope you’re better,” Ben said sincerely.

“I am.”

“Go to her house. Go and get them. You can’t lose them; they’re your family. Try to fix it or you’ll regret it, believe me. I know you’re better now. Be the father Riley needs, the fiancé that y/n needs.”

“Thanks, mate. I will,” Mason said, and with that, he ended the call and headed to your parents’ home. He would fight for you both; he would fix the mess he had made.

You were lying on the bed in your old room, resting after a hard day. You were exhausted from taking care of a little girl who kept crying and you didn’t know why. She wasn’t sick anymore—you knew because you had taken her to the doctor again, and he said she was healthy. You didn’t know what to do. Maybe she missed her father as much as you did. “Shame he’s an idiot,” you thought.

By now, your little girl was asleep next to you in her co-sleeper. You were about to fall asleep when you heard a knock on your door. It was probably your mother asking if you wanted some dinner.

“Come in,” you replied, sitting up. When the door opened, you expected to find your mother. Instead, Mason stood there.

“Mason, what are you doing here?” you asked in surprise.

“I came to fix the mistakes I made. I don’t want to lose you,” Mason said as he approached you.

“Mason...” You said in disbelief.

“Y/n, baby, let me explain, please,” he said, looking into your eyes. You saw his regret. You nodded.

“Well, since Riley was born, I’ve been the happiest man. But these last few months, I’ve felt like I’m not enough. That you and she deserve better. And I know this has affected our family, our relationship. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you how I felt before. Somehow, I preferred to avoid it and go out with my friends because I thought it was stupid.

I want to tell you that I have worked on myself. I have gone to a psychologist, and he told me that it’s probably depression, although it’s not very common. There is post-partum depression in fathers, and apparently that’s what happened to me. I am better. I understood what was happening to me. It helped me to seek help, to talk to Ben, and I promise you that I will give you the best version of me.” By this time, you were already crying.

“Mase, I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through. I want you to know that you can always tell me anything. We’re a team, baby. We’re in this together.

I’m not going to lie to you—I was angry and disappointed that you acted like that. You left us and left me with all the responsibilities because a mother never has time to take a break, Mason. It hurt. But we miss you. Even Riley has been crying a lot. I think that’s why,” you tearfully told him.

“I apologize too for what I put you through. And it’s true what you say; that was selfish of me. But believe me, I won’t hide anything from you. We’ll tell each other how we feel. We can’t let this happen again.” Mason said, just as Riley began to cry. The two of you went to her.

“Hello, baby. How are you?” Mason said as he held her in his arms. She stopped crying.

“See, she missed you, didn’t she, baby?” you said, looking at them.

“I missed you too. I’m never going to leave you. I promise.”

“You better, Mason,” you said, pointing at him angrily but laughing at the same time.

“We shouldn’t make mommy Ri mad,” Mason said with a sly laugh.

“No, you don’t make me mad,” you said.

“Okay, okay... Let’s go home. We will not be separated again.”

With that, you packed your things and returned home, together and with the whole situation sorted out. Finally, your family was back where you belonged.

[avastrasposts]

The Pilot and his girl - ch 11

Now we're getting into the fun part! 😋 The metaphorical shit is about to hit the fan as Frankie and our reader get ready for their one year anniversary on September 26, 2013. I had a lot of "fun" writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy it even though I'm now taking a seriously hard left turn with this series, away from the fluffy little bubble I've wrapped us in. The warnings will contain spoilers so I've put them in a separate post and will update them as I go: Warnings

Word count: 6.2 k

Chapter 12

Chapter 1, if you want to catch up from the beginning

Taglist: @pimosworld @i-own-loki @casa-boiardi @littlenosoul @stormseyer @mxtokko  @javicstories

“Cariño! I’ve got to go now, come kiss me!” Frankie calls through the apartment as he pulls on his boots, hastily tying them up before he tugs on his jacket. “Carinooooooo!” he wails, “come kiss me goodbye, I can’t leave if you don’t kiss me!” 

You spit out the toothpaste and rush to rinse your mouth, before opening the bathroom door, looking over at your baby of a boyfriend who’s currently standing by the door, bag in hand, making puppy eyes at you. “Cariñoooooo!" he wails impatiently while you pad over to him on bare feet, shaking your head. 

“You’re such a baby, Francisco Morales,” you wrap your arms around his neck as he bends down and gives you a wet kiss on your lips before trailing more wet kisses down your throat. 

“I can’t leave if you don’t kiss me,” he gives you a fake pout as he stands up. “You’re sure you’re ok to pack everything up on your own? I’ll be back as soon as possible so we can just load into the truck and go.” 

“Yeah, it’s fine, I’ll do some laundry and pack the last of the food. Just ring me when you leave work and I’ll be ready to go when you’re back.” 

“Ok, hermosa, mi amor, my gorgeous cariño, happy anniversary, my love,” Frankie captures your chin between his thumb and fingers and you smile up at him as he gives you another long kiss. 

“Happy anniversary, Frankie, my love,” you mumble against his lips, giggling as he tries to push you up against the door, groping at your ass, “I thought you had to leave.” 

“I do, fuck, but I don’t want to,” Frankie sighs, and plants a final kiss on your mouth before he opens the door and heads out, “I’ll see you this afternoon, hermosa,” he smiles, “te amo.” 

“Love you too, Frankie.” 

You lock up behind him and continue to get ready. The plan is to head out of the city and up to Denny’s cabin as soon as Frankie’s back from work. You’re working from home today to save some time, you’ve set aside manuscripts to read and that’s best done from home anyway. 

Frankie had surprised you a couple of weeks ago by telling you he’d asked Denny if you two could borrow the cabin for your anniversary, have a little holiday together. Today was exactly one year since you met at The Outback Bar and it had been the best year of your life thanks to Frankie. A weekend escape, just the two of you at the cabin, sounded like the perfect way to celebrate. To make matters even better you’d closed on a house just a few days ago, all the paperwork signed, you didn’t even have the keys yet, but you’d still spent the past three days mentally decorating the whole place. Frankie had sent Lucía pictures of the house and her room and she’d been over the moon to see the pictures of the pool outside. Now you were planning on throwing your very first Thanksgiving dinner at your new house together with Frankie and Lucía. 

You allowed yourself to get lost in daydreams for a while as you finished your breakfast and cleared the kitchen, throwing a load of clothes in the washing machine. While it ran its cycle you sat down at your small home office and went over the manuscript. 

Frankie called you just after lunch with bad news. 

“I’m sorry, cariño, I think I’ll probably be later than I thought, things are fucking crazy today,” he sighed over the phone. “One of our choppers crashed, we can’t get hold of the pilot, I’m just fucking praying he’s ok, Denny’s on his way out there now.” You can hear him rub his hand over his face, rough against his scruffy beard, “And I’ve got to fly three doctors to different locations, apparently they’re swamped, all kinds of crazy shit happening, it’s like it’s a full moon night but it’s midday.” 

“It’s fine, Frankie, just fly safe, you’ll get here when you get here and if it’s too late we’ll drive up tomorrow.” 

“Yeah, but I wanted to be with you all weekend,” he huffs, “Fuck, I’ve got to go, Denny’s on the radio. Talk soon, cariño.” He hangs up before you have a chance to say goodbye. 

By the time seven pm rolls around you have everything packed up for the trip to the cabin, you’ve been checking your phone for Frankie’s phone call for the past hour. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he said things were crazy today, you’d gone down to the corner store for some snacks for the road and found it closed, shutters down even though it was only five pm, the streets empty. And on your way back to the apartment you’d seen a police car crash into a small car. You’d started running over to the crash to see if you could help but a police man had stumbled from the cruiser and yelled at you to get back inside, to stay away. Something in his voice had scared you and you’d turned back straight away, running back to your building and up the stairs. 

Once back in the apartment you’d locked the door and tried calling Frankie, but he didn’t pick up. That wasn’t unusual, he usually couldn’t answer when he was flying, if you really needed to get hold of him you’d call Denny and he’d patch you through on the radio. But you tried Denny too and there was no reply there either, not on his cell or the landline to the airfield. 

So now it’s seven pm and you’re getting antsy. There are an extraordinary amount of police sirens outside, the news are talking about riots in the streets downtown, but the footage makes it look more like a warzone and the local news cuts the broadcast when someone attacks the camera man. 

At nine you’re pacing the apartment, back and forth between the big window facing the street and the small window in the kitchen overlooking the parking lot. When your phone rings you jump, and relief floods your chest when you see that it’s Frankie. “Frankie, where are you? Did you see the news?” you ask when you pick up, but you’re interrupted by him straight away. 

“Cariño, where are you? Still at home?” He sounds stressed and he’s breathing hard. 

“Yeah, I’m at home, waiting for you, of course. What’s going on, are you running?” You press your phone to your ear, trying to hear what’s going on around him, you can hear people shouting in the background. 

“I was, I’m trying to get away from Washington Park, I…I got into some trouble,” he stutters, “some guy was beating up another guy and I pulled over to stop him, I had to pull him off the other guy but he was fucking crazy, like high on salts or something, never seen anything like it. He came after me and I had to…I’m sorry cariño, I had to…take him out.” 

You hear the shame in his voice, you’ve only talked a couple of times about the guy in the bar Frankie beat up because he thought he’d hit you. He knew his skill at violence scared you and he’d done his utmost to prove to you that he wasn’t a violent person. But now he’d had to take this guy out, in self defence, and he was trying to explain it to you. 

“Just get home, Frankie,” you say, “we can talk when you get here, just get home.” 

“I’m trying, hermosa, but the police turned up and…fuck…hang on.” 

You hear his heavy boots shuffling over broken glass and hard ground, he grunts as he seems to move through or over a structure, nearly dropping the phone. 

“Ok, I have to keep moving, hermosa,” he pants, “the police turned up and…they thought I’d killed the guy, the didn’t see him beating up the other guy an-” 

“You killed him!?” your eyes are wide, you’ve stopped dead in your tracks in front of the big window. 

“I don’t know, cariño, the police came, they pulled their guns on me, I had to run and-”

“Frankie, why the fuck did you run from the police? You’re gonna get into so much more trouble now!” 

“I couldn’t stay, something isn’t right, some weird shit is happening all over town.” 

“And fucking running from the police after beating someone to death is the way to make it less weird, Frankie?” you spit out, you’ve been worried about him for hours but now your nervous energy shifts into anger at his stupidity. “Just get the fuck home and we’ll deal with this mess in the morning, or just maybe just turn yourself in, it’s gonna look so bad with you running from the scene.” You sigh, pushing your fingers through your hair, “Frankie, why’d you have to be so reckless?”  

Frankie bristles, you can hear his anger, “You don’t understa-” he begins but suddenly your phone goes dead, cutting him off. You look down at the screen and curse, you have no reception, there are no bars, it looks like the service has overloaded or gone down.

“Fuck,” you say out loud, and turn it off, maybe a restart will help, but no luck. Your phone is still dead and when you try calling Frankie on your landline phone it goes straight to voicemail. You leave a message, telling him to just come home as soon as possible. 

After that there’s not much to do except wait, you resume your path between the kitchen window and the living room window, stopping every now and then to flick through the news, all hell seems to be breaking out across the state, even the country. You try calling Frankie a few more times but it still goes straight to voicemail. The knot in your stomach is growing, making you feel nauseous with nerves. 

You call Pope but there’s no reply so you call Will’s landline. Hannah picks up and she’s frantic with worry about Will, he’s not back from work and she can’t get hold of him either. Benny was meant to have dinner with them and he’s taken the car to try and go pick up Will at work but with the cell phone services down she can’t reach him either.  

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on,” she almost cries, “I saw people running down the street just now and I don’t know if I should leave or what?” 

“No, just stay put, Will or Benny will come back there so just lock up and wait,” you say, you can’t stop yourself from biting your nails, you feel panic rising in your throat.

You promise to keep in touch and update each other, when you hang up you feel sick to your stomach. You desperately want Frankie to come back, you need to see him and feel his arms around you, tell you it’ll be alright, but no matter how many times you call, you only get his voicemail. You ring a few extra times just to hear his voice repeat the same message. 

“Hi, this is Francisco Morales, I can’t pick up right now, please leave a message.” 

“Please, please, please, Frankie, come home, come home, baby,” you whisper into the phone as you listen to his voice again. 

Night has fallen outside and it’s even worse, around the city fires have broken out and from your apartment you can see a couple of them burn out of control. Just after midnight the news channel stops broadcasting, suddenly, in the middle of an update. You flick through the channels but there’s only static on all of them. 

You call Will’s place again but there’s no reply, you hope that means Benny has brought back Will to Hannah, and they can’t pick up right now, maybe they’re on their way here. 

Just as you’ve put the phone down it rings again and you snatch it up. 

“Frankie?” you almost cry down the receiver but instead you hear Pope’s worried voice. 

“Is Frankie there?” he asks, you can hear the stress in his voice. 

“No, he called at nine, he…he was in some trouble but I don’t know…he was on his way home, but he’s not here yet,” your words rush out, “Pope, what’s  happening? I can’t get hold of Will or Benny either and I’m freaking out!” 

“I don’t know, it’s a shit show, people are…listen, I’m not too far from you, I’ll try and make it over there. I’m on a military frequency so my phone’s still up, I’ll call you if anything. Just stay put inside, keep the door locked.”

“Yes, yeah, of course, I’m waiting for Frankie, I’m not going anywhere,” you say, double checking the lock and deadbolt on the front door. 

“Do you have a weapon, a gun, baseball bat, knife, anything?” he asks, you can hear him jogging, his shoes drumming along whatever hard surface he is on. 

“I don’t know, I don’t think we have a gun, we have a baseball bat, and the kitchen knives,” you frown, looking out the window again, “Pope, why do I need to arm myself, are people looting?” 

“Yeah, they’re looting and it’s getting violent, so stay inside, and don’t open to anyone except me or Frankie. And don’t talk to anyone but me or Frankie, ok?” 

“Ok, I’ll dig out the baseball bat straight away but…but just get here, please, Pope, I’m really scared.” You leave the window and go to the closet in the guest room where Frankie keeps his old bat. 

“I know, I know, I’ll get there as soon as I can.” 

“Hurry, please, and stay safe, Santi,” you say, you can feel tears gathering on your lashes as your voice starts to wobble. 

“I need you to be strong, ok,” Pope’s voice is firm, as if he’s giving a soldier orders, “I need you to handle yourself, if someone tries to come through that door, you need to defend yourself, do you understand? Even kill them if it comes to that, do not let anyone attack you.”

“Santi…” you stumble, “I can’t..”

“I know, but you have to. This is serious, Frankie’s not around so I need to make sure you’re safe, and for you to be safe, you need to be ruthless now, do you understand?” His voice has a sharp edge, he’s breathing hard, moving fast trying to get to you, and the reality of what he’s saying hits you. 

“I promise, Pope,” you whisper, “I’ll…I’ll try my best to defend myself, I’ll try.” 

“Good, I’m about an hour away on foot, but it’s slow going. Give me two to three hours and I should be there.” 

“Stay safe, Santi, please,” you beg, pressing the receiver of the phone to your ear, as if hearing the voice of your friend will keep him and you safe. 

“I’ll try my best, and stay strong for me, and for Frankie, ok?” 

“I will,” you promise. 

… 

When his phone dies, Frankie hears the click and then nothing. He had a feeling this would happen, it’s mayhem in the city and the system is bound to be overloaded, so the lack of reception is no surprise, but he still curses under his breath. 

He was moving down narrow back alleys, jogging fast, staying off the main streets, avoiding people, especially any police, as he tried to get away from Washington Park. When he’d put some distance between himself and the park, he’d stopped to call home. He’d crouched down just behind a dumpster, keeping out of sight, while he talked to her. Now he stands up carefully, looking up and down the alley and considers his next move. The keys to his truck are in his pocket, it’s still where he left it by the park, he could maybe try to get back to it but the police are sure to be there. 

But something, at the back of his head, tells him he needs to keep moving and get home as fast as possible. Things are not normal, the whole day has been a shit show, but now, now it’s getting out of control. The man he’d tried stopping beating up the other guy had been raging, he’d turned and attacked Frankie so fast he’d barely had time to react. Only his instincts from the army, slower now but still just under the surface, had saved him from getting bit, fucking bit! 

The guy had actually tried biting him when Frankie sidestepped, and tripped him up, making him fall to the ground. He’d been on his feet in a flash and Frankie knew the guy was high on something when he saw his eyes, so he’d sidestepped again and swung an elbow to the guy’s head, hitting him in the temple. It had been harder than he’d intended but the sudden attack had his adrenaline running high, and the man had dropped to the ground and remained motionless. 

As he started running, when the police pulled up, his only thought was to get away as fast as possible. But as he ran, as he put a couple of blocks between him and the park, he saw others starting to act strange. When a city bus crashed into a taxi he dodged into an alley, the passengers on the bus flailing about inside as if they were locked in battle with each other. Frankie’s gut was yelling at him that something was very wrong, this was not just a weird day, this was something else, but he couldn’t wrap his head around what was going on. So he’d stopped to call her, to hear her voice and make sure she was safe, and let her know he was trying to get home. 

The way the call ended, when the phone network died, left a knot in his stomach that had nothing to do with the unfolding mayhem in the city. This weekend was meant to be about them, he wanted everything to be perfect, and now the last words between them had been anger. The small box in his jacket pocket represented everything he wanted for their future, and more than anything he needed to get back to her, to explain what had happened and get them out of the city for their anniversary. Whatever the fuck was going with everyone else, he needed to be with her, at the cabin, and ask her to be his wife. Everything else was secondary. 

Frankie drew a deep breath and started moving back towards Washington Park. He needs his truck, it’s their best chance at getting out of the city. Hopefully the police had been called away on something else, letting paramedics deal with the guy he’d taken down, maybe he hadn’t actually killed him. 

He stays on side streets and alleys, keeping low, staying out of sight. When he sees the door to a gun shop wide open, he pauses, considering the risk. A gun would make him feel safer, but looting one now, is pretty shitty behaviour. The thought stays with him for only a second, before he cautiously moves into the shop. The back of the shop is dark but quiet, broken glass crunches under his boots as he moves towards one of the display cases. There’s rifles on the wall but they’re too hard to hide, instead he quickly finds a Glock among the wreckage, the familiar gun feels solid in his hand. 

There’s ammo behind the counter but when he steps around it, he sees the woman, splayed on the floor, face down. He stops in his tracks, staring down at her still form for a beat. She’s wearing a pink t-shirt and he can see the blood where it’s been ripped open over her shoulder. It doesn’t look like a significant amount of blood but he can’t see her face, can’t tell if she’s alive or not. 

There’s a box of ammo near him and he quickly loads the gun, sliding a full magazine into the Glock. He doesn’t know why, maybe the way the day has been, but he keeps his gun trained on the woman, safety off, while he carefully moves towards her. There’s more ammo behind her and he wants to pick it up, but he also doesn’t want to leave her injured or dead without checking on her. 

Gently he nudges the toe of his boot against her hand, shifting it slightly, and he hears a deep growl, inhuman. The sound makes him take a quick step back, more glass breaking under his feet with a loud crackle. The woman lifts her head and turns to look at him for a beat. All Frankie has time to think is that her eyes have the same rage as the man at the park, she scrambles to her feet and launches herself at him. He fires his gun on instinct, the bullet hitting her cheek, the close range making it explode out the back of her head. 

She drops instantly as Frankie holds the gun trained at her. It takes a split second for his training to kick in, but then he moves. Stepping over her, he grabs two more boxes of ammo, stuffing them in his pockets, before he quickly throws himself over the counter and heads out the back door he came through, checking the street before he leaves. Walking fast, but not running, he puts the safety back on the gun and shoves into the back of his trousers, out of sight under his jacket. His breathing is normal but he can feel adrenaline pumping through his system, muscle memory makes him move through the city as if it’s hostile enemy territory. 

What the fuck is going on? What was that? Bad batch of some drug on the streets? 

As he moves back towards the truck he checks his phone, there’s still no reception. There are more people on the streets now, more cars too, all heading for the freeway. He sees a family hastily throw bags into a car, a cat in a travel cage stuffed into the back. Other cars speed past, full of stuff, people are packing up and leaving. The sight makes him anxious, he needs to do the same, get back home, get to her, and get the fuck out. 

Screw the weekend, we need to get the fuck out of the city fast, whatever this is, it’s not gonna be over by Monday.

He finally spots his truck, parked where he left it, the man he’d knocked out nowhere in sight, and no police. Quickly scanning the area for signs of trouble, Frankie crosses the street and gets into the truck. He breathes a sigh of relief when he can lock the door and the engine rumbles to life. He can see traffic lining up on the other side of the park so he takes a side street, mapping the best route back home in his head as he tries to drive as fast as he can, people are running along the streets, cars speeding past and it gets worse the closer to downtown he gets. He tries to skirt around it but as he turns down a side street he finds it blocked by a truck that’s crashed into a building. 

“Fuck,” he breathes under his breath, there’s fire under the truck and he can see people on the other side. Quickly he reverses back onto the main street and turns left, heading a few more blocks down. The traffic’s getting heavy and it’s getting harder to avoid getting stuck, up ahead he sees cars grinding to a halt and in a last second decision he pulls a hard right and turns down a narrow alley, he knows it connects to another big road after a couple of blocks but it will get him closer to home at least, almost all the way there if it’s clear. He barrels through the alley, slowing down only to take the sharp turn onto the main road, and speeding up as he sees the way ahead of him clear. The harsh headlights flooding the cabin of his truck is the only warning he has when the bus slams into the passenger side of the truck. The screech of metal and tyres is the last thing Frankie hears as the world outside the shattered windscreen goes spinning and turns to black. 

…

Your body is telling you to sleep but you can’t, it’s almost three am and you’re on the couch, with a painful knot in your stomach. There’s sirens wailing outside, close by, and you’ve heard screams of terror and pain throughout the night. Frankie’s baseball bat is next to you on the couch, your hand shoots out to grab it whenever you hear a sound, your nerves on edge, the big kitchen knife on the coffee table. You’ve cried yourself dry with worry, Frankie’s not home, Pope hasn’t arrived either, you feel like you’re all alone in the world and every minute you’re fighting to keep the panic down. Pope’s words, keep strong for me and for Frankie, roll through your brain, it’s all you’ve got to keep you from falling over the edge. 

A loud crack rings out somewhere in your building and you shoot up to your feet, it sounded close and it sounded like a gunshot. Straining your ears you try to hear more, but the wailing sirens from outside make it hard to make out anything. Slowly moving closer to the front door, you grip the bat in your hand. You stop in the hall, holding your breath and listen intently in the silence. Suddenly you hear a shoe scuffle against the floor outside your door and you bite down hard on your lip, your heart is thumping so loudly it’s deafening. 

A soft tap on the door startles you enough to make you jump back into Frankie’s sneakers on the shoe rack. 

“It’s me, Pope, open the door,” Santi’s familiar voice filters low through the front door and you almost cry with relief, stumbling forward to unlock it. He comes through it as soon as it’s open enough to let him in and he immediately closes it behind him, locking and sliding the deadbolt in place. When he turns to you, you throw your arms around him, and you feel him grab hold of you, squeezing you tight as he pulls you into the living room. 

“Santi, I’m so scared,” you sob, fighting back tears, as he sets you down on the couch, “what’s happening?” 

“I don’t know yet, Frankie isn’t back?” he asks, looking around the living room. 

“N-No, I haven’t heard from him since the cell network went down,” tears well up in your eyes, “h-he said, he was coming back here. But that was six hours ago, Santi!” The tears spill over as fear overcomes you and he sits down next to you on the couch, wrapping his arm around your shoulders, gently shushing you. 

“Deep breaths, hermana, you need to focus,” he turns you around, putting both hands on your shoulders, squeezing them as his eyes lock onto yours. “Listen, I need you to stay with me now, ok?” 

You nod weakly as Pope wipes your cheek with the back of his hand, “We need to pack essentials and get out of here, there’s a couple of dirt bikes in the garage under your building, I’ve got the keys and-” 

“I’m not leaving without Frankie,” you say immediately, leaning back from Pope instinctively. “I have to stay here until he comes back.” 

“You can’t, it’s not safe, I have to keep you safe while Frankie’s not around,” Pope grabs your shoulders again, as if to press it into you but you baulk. 

“If I leave, with the phones down, he won’t find me. He said he was coming back here and I said I’d stay until he came back,” you pull away from Pope and stand up, moving to the window to look down on the street again. 

“Hermana, you haven’t seen the city, it’s chaos,” he’s stands up and comes after you, grabbing hold of your arm, “I don’t know what’s going on but people are unhinged, losing control and attacking each other,” his grip on your arm loosens a little but he’s turning you to look at him, “I don’t want to scare you more, but it’s bad out there, people are dying.” He falters, hesitating for a few seconds, “I’m sorry, this isn’t going away anytime soon, and Frankie might not make it back.” 

“Don’t say that. Don’t fucking say that!” You feel panic rising in your chest and you push him away.

“I saw a woman…she was…she killed a child, it’s that bad out there,” Santi grabs you again, a pained look on his face, pleading, “I’m sorry, Frankie is a very capable soldier, one of the best, but it took all I had to make it here.” 

You pull your arm from his hand, “He’s coming back here, I’m not leaving without him,” you spit out and step back into the living room, crossing your arms as you turn back to Pope, he’s looking at you from the window. 

“I can’t leave you here, Frankie’s my best friend, my brother, and you’re the love of his life, I’ve got to keep you safe. For him, hermana.” He’s pleading with you but you shake your head even as tears well up in your eyes again. 

“If you want to help Frankie, get to Lucía. Take one of the dirt bikes, get her and we’ll meet you at Denny’s cabin.” You’re staring at him, your jaw set, you know Pope can’t argue with that and he has no choice. As he drops his chin to his chest you know you’ve got your way. 

“Ok,” he sighs, “I’ll go and get Lucía, but you have to promise me that if Frankie’s not back by Sunday morning, you take the other bike and come up to the cabin too,” he’s walked over to you again, looking down at you with dark eyes, “if he’s not back by Sunday morning, he’s not coming back. Take the bike, get to the cabin.” 

“He’s coming back, Santi.” 

“I really want you to be right, hermana,” he sighs as he wraps his arms around you and pulls you to his chest. You slump against him, you can feel your body shaking with the onslaught of nerves and adrenaline. 

“He has to come back,” you whisper into his chest, “he has to, he has to, he has to,” you repeat as a mantra as Pope gently strokes your back. 

You don’t notice when Pope carefully lays you down in your bed, pulling the blanket over you. Your exhausted body and mind shuts down for a few hours and lets you sleep without dreams. When you wake with a start, daylight is starting to creep through your window, and for a second it feels like a normal morning, until you see Frankie’s side of the bed, empty. 

You push back the blanket and make your way out to the living room to find Santi on the couch, two guns and a rifle laid out in front of him. 

“Morning,” he says, looking up at you. “I hope you managed to sleep some.” 

You sit down next to him on the couch, watching his methodical movements with the weapons, “Did you sleep at all?” 

“No, I kept watch, but it’s fine,” he adds as he sees your concerned look, “I’m still running on adrenaline and I’m used to it. Pulled plenty of all nighters in the army.” 

“Did anything happen while I slept?” You move to the kitchen and open the fridge to pull out some breakfast, the inside of the fridge is dark. 

“The electricity and the military phone network cut out about an hour ago,” Pope nods at the fridge. “Eat whatever might go bad first.” He stands up and grabs a backpack, you recognise it as Frankie’s spare one. “I’ve packed enough to keep me going for a few days, and I’ve done the same for you and Frankie,” he points to a bigger backpack, Frankie’s hiking pack. “I’m gonna try to get to Lucía now, you and Frankie head to the cabin as soon as possible. Get out of the city, that’ll be Frankie’s plan too.”

He comes over to you where you’re standing by the kitchen counter, frozen in your movements. “Remember what I said last night, hermana, I’m sorry, but if he’s not back by Sunday morning…” he pauses and grabs hold of your hand, squeezing it tight, “if he’s not back, you have to leave by yourself and get to the cabin. Promise me,” his dark eyes are bearing into you as his fingers wrap around your own. 

“I promise, I’ll leave if he’s not back by Sunday morning,” you say, your voice barely over a whisper. 

“Ok,” he gives your hand another squeeze and goes back to Frankie’s backpack. “I’m leaving a gun with you, and some ammo, it’s in the pack,” he shows you the boxes in an outside pocket. “This is your gun,” he picks up one of the handguns on the coffee table, “it’s easy enough to handle, I’ll show you.”

“Where did you get them?” you ask, “did you just happen to have two guns and a rifle on you yesterday?” 

“No, I didn’t,” Santi looks at you, “I broke into a gunshop and took them.” He sees the way your eyes widen and holds up his hand, “Look out of the window, the world is falling apart, I don’t know what is happening, but looting three guns to protect myself and you, is the least of our worries right now.” He picks up the gun and motions you over and shows you how to hold it, “Grab it like this, both hands, keep it steady.” 

The gun is heavy and cold in your hands, “You really think the world is falling apart?” Your voice is quiet as you adjust your grip as Pope moves your fingers. 

“The first thing I heard yesterday was that something was going on in Indonesia, then Rotterdam. Here, put your thumb like this.” He moves your thumb to cross over your hand, “then there were news reports from all over the US. And if things are as bad there as they are here, then yeah, I think the world is falling apart.” 

He steps back and looks at your grip on the gun, “That’s it, hold it like that and squeeze the trigger when you’re ready.” 

You pull back on the trigger and the gun clicks. “So we get to the cabin and then what?” you ask, looking down the barrel of the gun, feeling the weight. 

“We hold down the fort, wait it out, until it’s under control again.” Pope gently takes the gun from your hands and shows you how to load it, making you go through the motions several times. When he decides you’ve got a hang of it, he takes the gun and gives it to you, “Safety on, keep it within easy reach. I should’ve gotten you a holster but stick it in the back of your pants for now, keep it on you at all times, ok?” 

“Ok,” you nod, doing as he says before looking up at him. “Do you think the others, Will and Benny, will come up to the cabin too?”

“If they can, yeah, it’s the most logical choice.” 

He turns and grabs the smaller backpack and his jacket, “I’m leaving, I’ll get to Lucía, get her and her mom, if I can, back to the cabin. Sunday morning, ok?” 

“Sunday morning I leave if he’s not back, yes, Santi.” You nod, your jaw tight. 

“Ok. And listen, when you do leave, with or without Frankie, don’t trust anyone. People are attacking without warning, like animals.” Pope’s eyes are on you, imploring you to understand, “Anyone moves towards you, shoot them, aim for the torso to bring them down, then head shot, to kill. I know it’s not going to be easy, but if you want to survive, you have to. Get to the cabin, I’ll be there.” He pulls you in for a big hug, squeezing you tight and you hold on to him for as long as you can before he pulls away. 

“Stay safe, Santi.” 

“You too, hermana.”  

You walk him to the front door and watch him as he listens through it for a couple a minute, the landing outside is silent. Carefully he opens the door, gun drawn, and peeks outside. Daylight is filtering through the windows, shining some light into the stairwell. With a final look at you he steps through the door and you close it behind him, locking it securely again. 

Walking back to the living room, you sit down on the couch. Twenty four hours until Sunday morning.

All you can do now is wait.

Chapter 12

[bi-bard]

Households - Karen Sirko Imagine [Daisy Jones & the Six]

Title: Households

Pairing: Karen Sirko X Reader

Based On: Households

Word Count: 647 words

Warning(s): none

Summary: Karen and (Y/n) find themselves at complete peace when Karen comes home from tour for the first time since their bought their first home together.

Author's Note: We all deserve a little bit of softness. This is more an epilogue than anything else.

Part One of "August" [Release Date: 8/11/2023]

Part Two of "August" [Release Date: 8/13/2023]

YEARBOOK - SLEEPING AT LAST WRITING CHALLENGE MASTERLIST

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

I knew that staying home while Karen was off on tour was going to be lonely.

Lonelier than ever before.

Karen being on tour was not a new thing for me. It sometimes felt like she was running from tour to tour while sometimes dropping into bed next to me while she did her laundry. I usually pushed it all away. Being with her was enough.

But now, things were different.

During her last break, Karen and I had finally taken a step forward and found a home together.

It was perfect. It had enough room for us to live, room for her to work on her music, room for me to work on my designs, room for friends to visit. It was a lovely place. One that we had dedicated a lot of turning into a home over that break.

But there was one problem with having all of that space and putting all of that work in... it hurt even more when I was the only one there to enjoy it.

I had no problem with Karen's work. She was happy. Doing exactly what she loved. That's all I wanted for her. However, I would be damned if I tried to claim that I didn't miss having her around throughout the day.

But that may have only made it feel so much better when she came back home.

I had spent all day making sure that everything was just as it was meant to be. I had made dinner and cleaned. I had specifically ensured that I took most of the day off so I could make sure that it was all perfect.

I was just coming back downstairs after showering when I heard the sound of a car outside. I ran out without another thought. Karen was just setting her bags down as I got out there.

"Hey- oh my god!" her greeting was cut off by me almost tackling her with a hug.

"God, I've missed you," I muttered into her ear.

"I've missed you too," she replied, still chuckling at my excitement from a moment ago. "Should we head inside or are we standing in the yard forever?"

"Absolutely, come on," I grabbed some of her stuff and started walking inside as quickly as possible.

After getting her bags put in the bedroom, I let Karen get herself situated while I went to set the table.

I felt like I was buzzing. It had been far too long since we had been lucky enough to share dinner together. It already felt like a miracle to not need to be sitting on the couch with the phone in my hand. Being able to sit at the same table at the same time was just the icing on the cake.

I was just turning around from putting down some glasses when I spotted Karen standing in the doorway.

I jumped a bit. "When did you start moving silently?"

"Sorry," she chuckled. I noticed that her eyes almost looked far away.

"You alright," I asked.

She hummed. "Yeah, yeah, fine. It's just..."

"Just... what?"

"I really like this," she explained. "Seeing you here... in our house. It's just... It feels right."

I set the glasses down and walked over to her. I pressed my lips to hers. Her hands touched my sides and pulled me closer.

I pulled away slowly, staying as close as I could without not being able to talk.

"I love you," I muttered.

I felt a circle being drawn on my side by her thumb. "I love you too."

I let out a quiet, relaxed sigh as I closed my eyes for a moment.

This was everything I wanted. To have these moments of love and care and just... perfection.

If it took those moments of loneliness in order to have these loving moments, then I would happily pay that price.

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What I Write For

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[umichenginabroad]

Week 8: Cost Breakdown!

Okay 8 weeks in let's get down to business, how much money have I spent and where. First of all, there is the tuition which was base of $5,205 which includes housing and tuition for 3 months in addition to various trips that were planned by IPE. Through the trips, they likely spend a decent amount of money. However, I got a scholarship for $3,500 which most people in the program got if not more. The most pricy part of the program was probably the plane tickets which was approximately $2,000 for a round trip. Since coming to China, I’ve spent ~12,000RMB (1,500 USD). Here is a breakdown of my other expenses and how far everything can go.

In the first week, I spent a lot of my money on various dorm necessities like toilet paper, trashbags, and miscellaneous expenses. In total, it added up to approximately $300RMB (40USD) which is fairly cheap for all the little purchases that added up. Here is the rest of the breakdown for the past 8 weeks.

Utilities/Essentials: 504 RMB (68.85USD)

This includes hot water which we need to pay for separately which isn’t too bad since it is so hot I don’t end up using the hot water much and this also includes laundry which I do often because the hot weather makes me sweat through all my clothes at a lighting pace.

Food: 2043.18 RMB (279.12 USD)

This is crazy cheap considering I only eat out and I don’t pay attention to my food budget whatsoever (before I decided this blog was going to be a cost report). However, this is just my actual meals, I summed my snacks/drinks separately.

Snacks/Drinks: 1469 RMB (209.86 USD)

How have I spent almost the same amount on snacks and drinks as real food? I am ashamed but also it is so easy to buy snacks here and there when there is a convenience store everywhere (including in our dorm) and each snack is approximately 1 USD but those costs can add up for sure.

Shopping: 2964.3 RMB (404.92 USD)

It is sooo easy to spend so much on clothes when everything here is so cheap and cute. I also have been buying gifts and souvenirs for friends and family back home but I think I definitely need to reel in my shopping addiction.

Experiences: 1261.56 RMB (180.14 USD)

This includes fees and transportation for miscellaneous activities such as watching Inside Out 2 (which was really good), doing an escape room, going to a gaming cafe, or exploring downtown. This I would say was all 100% worth it.

Solo Trip: 3290 RMB (449.45 USD)

A few weeks ago, I went on a 4-day solo trip around Shanghai to Hangzhou and Nanjing. I ended up spending 449.45 USD for the train tickets which were approximately 120 RMB (17 USD) each and for the hotel rooms which were 340 RMB (48 USD) per night. Although, my friend who took a solo trip to Chongqing only spent 150 RMB on a hotel so it can definitely vary a lot. It was definitely worth the experience and you can definitely solo travel for even less money too!

Hopefully this helps put in perspective what studying abroad means in regards to money. To be honest, I have not been the most careful with money, because my parents have money in RMB that they won’t be using anytime soon. Regardless, hopefully my breakdown was helpful!

See ya next week!

Erin Xia

Mechanical Engineering

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute

[nicistrying]

Sat 31st Dec 23

Ending 2023 on a high after a long, stressful Christmas week. We ended up staying at Matt's parents' from Christmas Eve through to yesterday bc they only live 5 mins from the nursing home where his grandma was dying. So we went to sit with her every day to look through old pictures, talk about her favourite memories, and towards the end just to keep her company and hold her hand because she was too exhausted to do anything or even speak. It was so sad and the one thing she said was that she just wanted to drift away peacefully so it was awful to see her distressed and uncomfortable for almost a week as she deteriorated. But I think it meant a lot to her that we were all there at some point every day just so she wasn't alone. She died the 28th so we spent the 29th with his family and tbh everyone was just so relieved she wasn't in pain any more. And because they knew it was coming they had already come to terms with it. So it kind of felt like a peaceful day rather than grieving. We all just relaxed, I just sat around reading my book all day bc I had been doing as much housework at our house as I could to avoid us coming home to an actual bomb site, and also at his parents' so they didn't have to do it after spending 8 hours at a time at the home. We came home last night to have one night together in our own home with our shiny new TV that all Matt's brothers chipped in for us for Christmas bc our old one was really on its last legs. Matt was working a late shift at the hospital so I spent all night unpacking, doing laundry and cleaning to get the house straightened up a bit.

Today though, we had a lie in together (got up at 8.30!!) and woke up to a gorgeous sunny day so we both took Mags out for a lovely long walk. Had lunch and a cuddle on the couch, then Matt went up to do some uni work before we go to his brother's for NYE tonight with the rest of the family. I did more housework and then finally got to work out - I've been craving exercise all week but had an awful period and walking Mags for 20 minutes at a time was painful enough, and obvs we were spending as much time with family as we could. Despite everything, we did actually have a lovely Christmas Day. Just my dad was a dick both times I saw him over the holidays which is exactly what I expected therefore not worth getting upset about.

Anyway, it felt great to have a more normal day today and to get a proper workout. I did legs - strength followed by 25 mins on the bike which I'm just finishing up as I'm typing bc I need to go get ready for tonight.

Outfit for tonight after about 10 changes

Hope everyone has a great NYE with your loved ones!

[final-girl96]

Broken World: Chapter Thrity-Six

Yn

Rick and Shane left to take Randall eighteen miles out. I made my way upstairs to visit Beth, who was sort of out of her shock. She was sitting up and talking a little but she was depressed. She didn't see the point in living in this world anymore. It was sad to see someone so young; someone as bright as Beth become a shell of themselves. I spent a few minutes with her until Maggie came up, then I walked outside.

I didn't want to just lay in bed all day and get stiff. I knew my limits and when to take it easy. It's not like I plan on running around and doing anything like lifting heavy objects or taking down walkers. I literally just want to take a little walk and get some fresh air. I walked over to the camp and was greeted by everyone outside. “How are you feeling?” Carol asked. I shrugged, “Still in some pain, but it's not too bad. Have you seen Daryl?” I asked. She looked around the farm. “He went out hunting,” Dale said, walking over to us.

“I was going to go for a walk. Thought I'd ask him to come with me so we could talk about his attitude,” I said. Carol hummed, “He cares about you.” I nodded, “Yeah, I know he does. But he's keeps being an ass towards me. He hasn't forgiven me for whatever I did a long time ago.” Carol put done the laundry she was folding. “Well, how about I go for a walk with you and we can talk.” I smiled, “That sound wonderful.”

We decided to walk the down the drive towards the gate, taking it slow and easy. “So you want to talk about what happened between you Daryl?” Carol asked after a few minutes. I sighed and shook my head. “I don't exactly know for sure. We were fine until I graduated from college and decided to go to the police academy. Things got even worse a few years later when Merle became a person of interest in a murder. Eventually, Merle was arrested but on other charges. Daryl, he um, he went off on me. He accused me of arresting his brother when I didn't. I moved after that and left for Atlanta. It's been years since we've talked or seen each other.”

“Were you two together in a romantic sense?” She asked. I shook my head, “No, not really. Daryl stuck up for me when we were kids. A bunch of older boys were picking on me at the park and he took care of them. I kind of clung to him after that. We slowly became best friends. We used to tell each other everything. I thought things were going to be more when I came home my junior year of college for Christmas. He was my first. I thought that after that we would have the talk about moving forward and becoming more than just friends. But the next day…the next day he told me it was all a mistake.”

“Well, it's very clear that he cares about you. Even after all that time of not talking to each other.”

“Yeah, maybe. I don't know. Daryl has always acted differently when it came to Merle. He's not the person he showed at the quarry. I mean, he's prickly, always has been. It's hard for him to trust people. But once he does trust someone and he becomes close to them, they become his family. Family is everything to Daryl. If Merle would ever show back up Daryl would choose him over everyone else, even me.”

Before Carol could say anything she was cut off by a deep gruff voice yelling my name. Carol and I turned around to see Daryl storming over to us. “The hell ya think you're doing?!” I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. “Carol and I are taking a little walk around the farm. I don't want to get stiff from sitting doing nothing, Daryl, so get the fuck off my ass.” Daryl scoffed, “Do what the fuck you want. But don't expect me to come help ya ain't!” He turned around and walked away.

Later in the day Rick and Shane returned with Randall. Turns out Randall went to high school with Maggie. Now we had to figure out what to do with him. We were all in the house discussing what to do with him. “He knows where the farm is so we can't let him go. If he finds his way back to his group…” I trailed off. Everyone came up with ideas on what to do with Randall. In the end it came down to killing him. Dale wasn't very happy about that. He didn't feel right killing an “innocent” man.

But that's what was decided; Rick, Shane, and Daryl were going to take care of him. But it was agreed that Dale had the time between now and then to talk to everyone. Daryl had gotten information from him earlier from Randall. He found out where his group was staying and how many there were. He also found out that the group was a bad bunch. They were all men; men who took advantage of women after killing the men.

I went up to his campsite later that evening to talk to him. We need to clear the air between us, especially since we're in the same group and are going to be spending a lot of time around each other. It would be better for us to get along and work with each other, and try to be friends. “The hell ya doing up here? If this I'd about not kill–” I held up my hand to stop Dsryl from talking and sat beside him. “No, It's not about that. That asshole needs to die.”

I looked down at his hands to see his cut up knuckles. Without even thinking I grabbed his hand. “Jesus, Daryl, how fucking hard did you hit him?” He pulled his hand out of mine, “Not hard enough for what he said about you.” That caught my attention and I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? What did he say about me?”

Before Daryl could answer me on what Randall had said about me, Dale came walking up to us. He tried hard to convince us that killing Randall wasn't the right thing. Dale was a good person but it was too dangerous to keep Randall alive. When we told him we didn't agree, he walked back to camp.

[doveabovetheworld]

My Muse;

Part 1; Welcome

Warnings; language, smoking, drinking

A/N; So this is my first series fanfic so pls be at least a tad nice :,)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Y/N!” My cousin’s voice echoed from the phone speaker.

“Hey Mikey!” I said putting him on speaker so I could fold my laundry, “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been Pretty good! Crystal and I just got back from taking Southy and Moose on a walk. What about you?”

“Eh folding mine and Ian’s laundry right now. Then I am probably going to work out in the garden for a little.”

“Sounds like fun! Anyways I got a quick question before I gotta go.”

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“Would you wanna come here for Christmas? I know you have work at the clinic but maybe for a week you can fly here and stay with us. Plus you can say hi to Luke and Calum! You’ve never met Ash either have you?”

“I don’t think I’ve met him, no. I will say I haven’t seen you in years and it would be great to catch up…”

I finished putting the laundry away and sat on the bed. I haven’t seen Mikey in three years. Of course, we’d call and catch up every week or so but It’s been a while since I’ve spent time with him.

“Would it be cool if Ian could come with? I don’t really want to leave him alone on Christmas.” I asked.

“Of course! I haven’t met this guy yet and I want to know if he treats you well.” Micheal gave a subtle laugh and I couldn’t help but join him.

“We’ve been dating for three whole years Mikey, I think I’d know if he’s a keeper by now. I mean we live together so it couldn’t be that bad.”

“Yeah I guess that’s fair. Anyways just let me know if you and Ian are coming!”

“Will do! Bye, Mikey!”

“Bye!”

I hung up and went to the garden outside. I decided to tell Ian about the invite after he got home from work.

Ian and I met at college four years ago from my friend Ellie. She knew I was stressed about school and family at the time and she decided to help get me out of the house by meeting new people. So by “new people” she meant the dude in the back of her philosophy class who she talked to twice. We did hit ut off though and started dating about a month after meeting each other. I’ve been with him forever and I’m happy! We obviously have our ups and downs but he’s amazing!

When Ian got home, I made dinner for us and as we were eating I told him the conversation I had with Micheal.

“So, you want us to travel across the country to see your cousin, his wife, and his friends who you haven’t seen in years and not to mention even met one of them?”

“Look, Ian, it’d be fun. I mean what else are we going to do? The rest of my family is back in Australia and you don’t even talk to yours anymore so who else are we going to spend it with?”

He gave a sigh and stood up from the table, “I get that you want to go, Y/N, but I have work. And what about your job? Do you think Teresa would let you go to California for a whole week when you already give her hell?”

“Wait a second, Ian. I don’t give her hell. If anything its the other way around! She’s awful! And yes she will give me time, you wanna know why?”

He just stood there leaning on the island counter, “Why?”

“Because I haven’t taken a day off in a while, actually. I’m still able to go. I’ll call her right now and ask if I can. What then?”

“Fine. If you can get the time off and if I can as well, we can go. Deal?”

“Deal.”

I went to give Teresa a call and it surprisingly went really well. I got the whole week, and a couple more days, off. I told Ian and he was able to get the week off as well.

I immeaditly texted Micheal and got the plane tickets. In a couple of days I’ll be across the country spending Christmas with my boyfriend, cousin, and friends I haven’t seen in forever.

God I can’t wait!

[inkycherie]

I have had the most amazing summer. In July, my best friend came to visit. I brought her to Paris (her first time), showed her around my town and other neighbouring cities around Geneva, and we drove to the south of France. I made different meals for everyone to enjoy, danced to the loveliest music, and drank the best wine(s).

The third week of August, I went back to the Philippines. We had a long overdue family reunion. Our uncle from Canada also came to visit with his family, and my cousin who works for months at a cruise ship extended his vacation.

We all flew to Zamboanga del Sur to surprise my grandma and our extended family whom we haven't seen in 13 years ! We spent a week there living the simple life, eating pandesal for breakfast, and singing karaoke kahit brownout.

The first few days of September, I spent back in my hometown. I saw Bowie again. I didn't let any minute pass without cuddling him. Whenever I'm in the PH and everyone else is back home, my sisters and I stay in one bedroom with our parents (and Bowie), chatting away until we all fall asleep. These nights were even more special because we were all cooped up in one room while there was a storm outside. Felt just like the good old days when my sisters and I would spend nights holed up in our parents room trying to pass the time until electricity was back on.

I was also sooo happy to walk around the malls with Christmas music already playing in the background ! We bought surprise presents for our parents. My sisters and I chipped in to buy papa his dream TV, and mama a new iPhone. The rest of my money I spent on groceries, more presents for the fam, pasalubongs for Jon, books, Cheetos, Spicy Century Tuna, Vienna sausages, and Spam. lol

We spent my last week in Manila. Took mama, my sisters, and our aunt on a date - brunch in Wildflour and shopping at Rockwell, and then continued to shop in MOA. I wanted to make dinner for everyone, so I made sinigang na baboy which was perfect for the stormy weather. We had drinks with our cousins before bed (red horse, spicy Oishi, and isaw at bbq).

The next day, I brought my parents to IKEA so I can buy them stuff for the house. I could tell mama was so excited to drive back home so she can start using everything we got. Uncle flew back from Zamboanga later than everyone else so the day after he arrived, he went straight to the condo so we can spend more time with him. We asked him to make lola's bistek Tagalog as he is the only one who can make it exactly the way lola does. I am glad to report that I watched him closely as he was making it - even volunteered to be the sous chef - so I will make it for dinner tomorrow.

The day before my flight, the entire family celebrated my aunt and cousin's birthdays. I made some of my specialty meals, and we ordered a bunch of other food. Of course, there was cake.

I flew back to Switzerland on the 7th. I arrived on Friday at 8 in the morning, unpacked my stuff, ate pancit canton, and fell asleep at 16hr. I woke up at 3am still tired, but I managed to clean up and do all the laundry. I was hanging clothes at the balcony even before the sun was out. I found it hilarious. The rest of the day, I spent on the couch still feeling quite sluggish and brushing off the fact that I was having chills, and my nose wouldn't stop running.

Jon and I went on a quick café date and I couldn't taste the coffee nor the pastry I ordered which I found strange but thought nothing of. We did errands and bought groceries but I started feeling sicker as the hours passed. As soon as we got home, I checked to see if I had covid. The test came out positive. Dinner wasn't much fun. I was much sicker so I couldn't enjoy the food Jon prepared for me - he made me the perfect steak which I couldn't taste hahaha and some soup to make me feel better.

This morning, I woke up at 5am and called my family right away. The symptoms are getting worse, and now I have chills, body pains, and constant headache. I will rest more so I can feel better by tomorrow. I just find this to be a silly end to an incredible summer.

[anonsally]

Days 1-4 in Düsseldorf

The final chunk of our vacation was visiting my Father-in-law.

On Wednesday we got up very early, checked out of the hotel, took the train to the airport, paid an extra $90 for having overweight luggage (the only airline that flies nonstop between Rome and Düsseldorf is a "low-cost" airline with cheap tickets but you have to pay for literally everything else, so the flights aren't actually cheap at all, and they have very stringent weight restrictions that are much lower than the limits for our international flights), and got to our gate smoothly. Our flight was a bit delayed, but otherwise uneventful; I had a nice view of the Alps, and a small floofy dog was seated behind me.

Father-in-law picked us up at the airport and we spent the afternoon mainly doing laundry and grocery shopping. I also sat in the beautiful back garden (we were in the suburbs) and did some birdwatching. I saw a few carrion crows, a Eurasian greenfinch, a blue tit, and several very vocal Eurasian blackbirds. There were also several different butterflies and some dragonflies.

After dinner, we watched the evening primroses opening, which was more fun than it sounds like, and then ate redcurrants with sugar and whipped cream.

It was a lovely temperature outside but a little too hot in the house! I also had a lot of foot pain, which seems to have been a major flareup of plantar fasciitis due to not doing my usual daily stretches.

On Day 2 in Germany, we drove to Wuppertal. I was disappointed that we didn't get to ride the Schwebebahn (a hanging monorail train), but we did visit a beautiful sculpture park. It's very large so we didn't see the whole thing, but it was very foresty and the sculptures were well integrated into the environment. I was, however, struggling a bit to walk because of foot pain. It was also rather cooler than I expected; I actually wished I'd brought a neckwarmer and raincoat, particularly since it actually did start raining near the end! On the drive we passed the Pina Bausch Center which I was pleased to see. (She was a really important choreographer.)

In the evening we had an Ineptitude in the Kitchen incident, wherein we tried to make a veggie frittata, but due to inexperience with induction stoves, we had set the heat too high so we had to turn it into a scramble, and even then it was slightly burned. Ah well, it was still edible.

Luckily I was able to use a spiky wooden foot-massage tool thing, which really helped the plantar fasciitis a lot.

On Day 3, my foot was considerably better. I saw a great tit in the backyard! (For non-birdwatchers, that probably sounds weird. In the US, birds in that family are called chickadees, I think. They are very cute.) We spent the late morning/early afternoon in Düsseldorf, where we looked unsuccessfully for shoes but did buy a few other things to take home, as well as birdwatching without binoculars by the canal (apparently Canada geese are everywhere, but we also saw Eurasian coots and moorhens, black-headed gulls, and some mallards) and eating a nice healthy lunch in a cafe.

Then we dropped things off at home, and Father-in-law took us first to a cloister (where I had a glimpse of a rose-ringed parakeet), but the garden was already closed, so then we went to a castle instead: Schloss Dyck. The gardens there were great: flowers, foods, bamboo! There were two moats and a lake, and many birds. Among other things, I saw a white wagtail, a common chaffinch, Eurasian goldfinches, a graylag goose, and common house-martins. We didn't go into the castle itself, which was painted yellow. But we did buy some produce grown there: apricots, plums, and red gooseberries.

Went back home and had another Ineptitude in the Kitchen incident: after frying some leftover potatoes, I forgot to pour out the hot oil before trying to add leftover vegetables to the pan to reheat them, thus spattering hot oil all over the place. Ah well. We ate the gooseberries with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Day 4 was rainy, on and off. We visited Wife's godparents. Her godfather is a hoot and possibly a formative influence on her sense of humor. Wife had to translate everything for me. After that we visited her aunt, who is definitely getting a bit frail, and is now both hearing- and vision-impaired.

Then we went home to pack! And today Father-in-law dropped us off at the airport. We flew our first leg uneventfully, and I've been posting from the airport in Frankfurt, as our second flight is delayed by 3.5 hours.

[pbandjesse]

What an excellent day off. I had a great time just resting. But it was also a productive day.

I was really happy to be home. I had a great weekend in Philly but it's not the same as being home. And waking up with James is always really good.

I actually slept really well. Waking up was hard but it was okay. I felt kind of gross. I am still upset about cutting my bangs to short but I'm trying to not let it upset me. Though it is.

I got washed up and dressed. I had pulled this dress out of my dresser back at my parent's house. Felt nice and colorful. And it helped me feel a little nicer.

James had been doing the laundry. And was finishing up getting the clothes form the dryer. Which allowed up to really jump into our practice packing for the honeymoon.

I was really looking forward to this. I love packing and honestly it went so well. My list I made a few months ago really helped streamline the whole thing.

James would run around and grab everything that was nonclothes. And once that was all gathered we would both pull out clothes. I had made a list of types but I'm still not sure exactly which pieces will be coming with me. But that's alright. I had the size and amount. And so we were able to figure out which packing cubes we each needed. What bag is holding what things. And we did such a good job!! I had so much extra space in my backpack! I'm thrilled.

James said it was really a good idea to do this. Because they didn't know how their clothes were going to fit in the suitcase I gave them and now they have a better idea and really I just had fun.

Once we were done that we both put stuff away. I spent some time picking outfits for the week and then picking outfits for camping with Jess over Easter weekend. Which was hard only because I have so many good fleeces now. But I figured it out and I'm very happy with my choices.

James would go for a bike ride before it started raining. And I just enjoyed my time alone. I decided to finally start my next embroidery project. James got me this white bag last year. And it's just such a good open space to work on. So I'll fill it up. And it will just be a continuous project like my puhtok bag is.

I would do that for a while. And soon James was home. And it started to rain soon after that.

James would have lunch and get a shower. I was just chilling. And then it was time to go get groceries.

Which was a bit demoralizing. Everything is just so expensive. Yogurt was $3. The rice I like was $4! A two pack of peanut butter was $20!! It just felt bad. We both made guess for the total and James guessed only $1 off. But it didn't feel like we got much.

We drove over to the Walgreens to see if they have the magnesium I wanted but no luck. Though James thought it was interesting that they had krill pills.

We made one more stop at the fancy grocery store to get the vegan shrimp I like. And then we went home. After James put the groceries away I would get to work reorganizing our snack basket and the freezer. While James would work on the other room cutting bears out for my workshop this weekend. James is the best.

It was nice just organizing. Making things feel a little less cluttered. And once I was done I would have a snack and start working on my tablet.

James would come and lay with me for a bit. We watched tiktoks and just chilled until they made us dinner. I had a quesadilla and drew for the rest of the night.

Mom asked me to update the bear I made of her. Change the color to more of a periwinkle and give her better bangs. It took a while to get the color right but we got it! And then I spent the next few hours drawing the entire solar system. Which I am absolutely thrilled with. I learned some new stuff about the brushes I have and mixing colors. I was just having a ball.

Making them all on one sheet was also fun and a challenge. Trying to make them relatively in scale took a whole. It's just a really nice project.

I took a shower and washed my hair and now I am chilling in bed with James and Sweetp and I am going to dry my hair a bit and get ready to sleep.

Tomorrow I am at the museum. And it should be a good day. I hope I have good kids. I hope you all have a great night. Sleep well and be safe!!!

[carolsd13]

I didnt forget about you, me.

I was entertaining some family guests. I went into my default prep the house for guests mode and tried to make everything cozy and presentable. It actually felt really nice having people stay with us, have more life in the house and all that.

I was tired, as I usually am when I come home from work, but I sprang up and put my host behavior on, we went out and it was fun!

We spent more money than Ry and I should right now, but it was only a couple times.

The dogs behaved pretty well, I was glad.

This weekend, on the other hand, I gave myself rest. I pretty much slept all day Saturday. And I napped this morning after our workout, I wasn't feeling well I had a splitting headache.

I got angry with Ry at the gym, I asked him three times for help while I was finishing our last exercise and he didn't hear me and didn't help me. I felt unsupported, like I asked for his help in a reasonable situation and he left me hanging, demanding attention and cooperation. It resonated with how we needed to go grocery shopping after the gym and he didn't want to go, he doesn't like it. Its not the first of that situation and it pisses me off when he says that.

Today i did 3 loads of laundry, folded 4, did 3 loads of dishes, cooked dinner and made a tart while home alone taking care of the dogs. And he didn't want to go to the groceries with me. For 4 things. I dont ask for a lot. Then he's getting home and ASKS me if there's anything I'd like him to do before he dissapears into the game room and I give him 1 thing that will take 5 minutes, please clean the stove top. And he says eeeeh ill do it tomorrow when I have more time.

If you're not actually going to do it now then don't ask me or it'll just upset me. I did it before he got home.

[jacepicableme]

ENTRY #2: Way Back Home

Today, (well actually that moment technically resides within the confines of yesterday, but my body clock respects no concept of time sooo...) my very soon to be wife and I went to Tandang Sora Ave. to view the house we would potentially live in together.

It sounds cute amirite? Here we are, starting our lives together before we could even get to know each other for longer than 12 weeks (fuck the 3 month rule) as a testament to how sure and ready we are to obsessively drone around each other until one of us dies. #goals

But...

The road ahead was met with unexpected obstacles, and I was feeling lost in more ways than one. First of all I didn't know exactly how to get to the location. Secondly, a ghost from the past forced me into a negative introspection, which sucked me back into the void —I know this feeling all too well, and I wish I didn't. But the livid emptiness of this void had been a close and persistent acquaintance, like a permanent resident emotion.

I wanted to crack my knuckles with an inherent exasperation, but my dumb masochist of a wife offered hers instead. Blindly indignant, I indulged her request to squeeze her hand to release the tension in mine, but I soon came to my senses when I felt her bones rub against each other under my painfully tight grip — I loosened, despite her protests that it is beneficial as it will jolt her into a waking state. I raised my brow.

There, sat opposite me in McDonalds, watching me eat world famous fries with an angry stare and hot angry sighs was my life partner. I felt like a toddler throwing a tantrum, and she, my mom who waits patiently while simultaneously making me feel like I am wee wee pissy baby (curiously, she never made me feel my feelings were invalid, she makes me feel quite the opposite in fact, yet she has a way to reflect unto me the ridiculousness of my short-wired temper).

"I am hurting you,"

"No, you're not."

"I might crush your hand,"

"Then squeeze with only half of your strength."

"...okay."

I heard what she said but I know the meaning went beyond what her words told me. I knew she meant to ask me to share half of my pain, half of my sorrow, half of my misery, and half of every undesirable emotion. She's always been that way, at least to me. Cryptic yet pellucid that she will carry me, in my bare naked weakeness, if needed be.

Needless to say my anger dissipated like steam out of very efficient steam header as I gripped her hand with just enough force to help me dismiss my anger and at the same time hold her hand with burning passion. In doing so, I felt her pull me back from the void just as the world was starting to look like the tasteless sullen gray color-grade template of every single fucking movie's representation of London.

I spent the next few minutes cogitating about the gift of peace of mind that she has bestowed upon me until we arrived at the potential new house's location. We got busy checking every nook and cranny of the house, while simultaneously imagining how we would be filling up the space with furnitures. I am not sure about her, but I imagined beyond that because I could almost see a holographic playback of our corporeal selves inside that house — lying in bed, cooking together, doing each other's laundry, and having coffee outside the door while it's raining. I've lived half a lifetime with her in my head in that house that I forgot I was supposed to be mad about something. It felt like home in there. It really felt like home, finally.

As soon as we got back to her dorm, I reminisced how her small but meaningful gestures saved me from having another episode with either my depression, or my anger issues. I stared at her face and I could almost mutter a prayer thanking every deity that ever existed for blessing me with the chance to meet her.

I reminisced more how she has made me feel human, and demanded no apology from me when I expose my blunders as one. I felt valid and I felt loved. I felt myself inch away from the proverbial ledge of depression and I am now walking towards a greener grass, one where I could flourish under her nurture and care.

I stared at her, almost memorizing every detail, shadow, and shape of her features screaming "thank you" as loud as my eyes could. And as she beckoned me closer to let me lie on her chest, I felt a pang of nostalgia lift away from my homesick heart just by listening to her heartbeat. From there I understood that home is where the heart is, and I am finally at home with @worthleslie