#and if you didn’t read call it even by Anna and Abby!! read that too. omg

[marimbles]

I’m scared of anyone who can maintain a regular update schedule for fics. twice a week. Once a month. It’s all scarily impressive to me. That you could be disciplined enough to make yourself work that fast OR disciplined enough to hold onto it until it’s time. And people who write the entire thing and then release the chapters one at a time on a schedule??? people who have planned enough ahead to do actual promotion for their fic??? do art ahead of time???? good grief. are you even a mortal.

[sidehugsnsideblogs]

#93 A Helping Hand

There was finally peace and quiet in Allie-Jayne’s apartment. Autumn’s departure meant that at long last each remaining child had their own room and not a moment too soon as pre-teen Anna needed her own space and was growing resentful of little sister Avery. The boys were excelling at school and football and were evening taking on weekend shifts in the café to help their mother out. 

AJ had begun a small garden on the roof of her building and it was quickly becoming her happy place. Warm and sunny in the summer and insulated and cozy in the rainy winter, the rooftop greenspace was the perfect place to relax with a cup of tea or practice yoga. It reminded AJ of her first garden out in the Prospect. It seemed like a million years ago she was a young wife desperately trying to find something to ground her.

She had seen the season finale of Higher Prospects and watched her daughter wed Royce's son in some weird mish-mash of an FCSU wedding and a townie one. She wondered how Abby was coping in her new life. She hoped her husband was kind and her sisterwife tolerable. She remembered Nurie as a hyper and excitable child with all of Nina's spark but lacking the conniving edge that made her dangerous. Hopefully she'd matured somewhat.

AJ's phone rang, snapping her out of her thoughts. She didn't recognize the number. Even though she was sure this was a telemarketing call, she answered with a pleasant "Hello?" "Hello um....is this Allie-Jayne's number?" Asked a quiet, almost child-like voice. She almost jumped out of her seat. She'd made sure to keep her phone number the same after her escape in case her family needed to contact her. "Farrah?" She asked, not quite believing it yet.

"Yes, it's me. I no, we got kicked out." She explained her voice shaking with tears. "He took my children, you have to help me!" AJ's stomach dropped. "Who took your children? What's going on?" "LeRoyce" sobbed Farrah "He's taken over everything and he wants to marry my daughters!" "You need to go to the police." Said AJ "I can take you." She knew how terrified her sister must be of the outside world. "Where are you?" Farrah looked around. She read the name of the park off the big sign in the middle. "Okay, that's not too far. Stay there, I'm coming for you. If I leave now I should be there by morning." AJ said before hanging up. She dialed the police in the town the park was located in and Brindleton Bay and relayed all the information Farrah had given her. The there was a dangerous man who’d abducted seven girls for nefarious purposes. She also alerted the cult-specific task force formed after the raid.

AJ was there to greet them early the next morning. Farrah and Vangie were soaked to the skin and filthy but AJ welcomed them all the same. On the ride to Brindleton Bay the girls filled AJ in on the happenings over the few years. The FCSU proper had dwindled to just Royce's remaining family, now led by LeRoyce. His requirements were even worse than his father's and he could tear mothers from their children at will. Farrah felt like everyone's faith had been destroyed and the group was in survival mode rather than true belief.

Once home,  AJ let her newest charges clean up and rest for a bit. She cooked pancakes and made tea for them when they woke up. It had been so long since Farrah drank anything but water. The taste lingered on her palette for a long time. Once they’d slept, cleaned up and eaten it was time to go to the police station. Farrah and Evangeline were nervous being inside the building so the detective took their statements on the sidewalk outside. They desperately explained their situation: their daughters were being held in a truck heading god knows where by their adult half-brother who was either planning to traffic them or harm them himself. He said he’d make it his top priority and keep them updated.

AJ was feeling the walls closing in with two more mouths to feed, once the girls were found there would be twelve again. One morning at breakfast she asked the girls politely “So, what are your plans after this? What’s your plan for after you get your girls back?” Evangeline didn’t know what to say. She could go back to her Father’s house and stay in the church. But that would probably mean getting remarried. Deep down Vangie was a loner. There were only a few people in her life she felt truly comfortable living with, and now they were all gone. She could try to make a life for herself out here. With her two young daughters. Alone. The idea filled her with so much anxiety, her hands started sweating. 

“Well I think I’d like to live in Henford.” Said Farrah, her face flushed. AJ seemed shocked. “Why would you want to live all the way out there?” “I um, I have friends out there.” Farrah mumbled. She couldn’t get the thought of Jonah out of her mind. He was a godly man, so kind, so hardworking. The more she thought of him; the more she realized she liked him-a lot! She was nervous about calling or texting him, she’d been taught for years not to listen to her feelings. Maybe reaching out was a bad idea. 

She nervously broached the subject with AJ while they were watching Higher Prospects one night. “I think I really like this friend of mine, but I’m scared.” AJ was surprised Farrah was moving on so fast but reminded herself that her sister had been living as functionally single since before her youngest daughter was born. “Well,” she said “Is he a good man? I wouldn’t want you to end up with another Royce.” Farrah spent the next while extolling the virtues of her humble farmer neighbor. “He seems like a decent guy. Text him. See what he’s up to.”

[mearcatsreturns]

15 for Abby/Luka

For reasons ;)

Under a cut because it's long.

July 2003

To: Luka Kovac <“croatdoctor65@aol.com”>

From: Abby Lockhart <“nursefirecracker@yahoo.com”>

Subject: I’m drowning and praying ghosts are real

Dear Luka,

Something about knowing that I’ll never talk to you again is just unbearable. I’ll never laugh at your malapropisms, look into your beautiful eyes, feel your strong hands holding mine, or make love to you again. There won’t be any more jokes about jam and cheese on toast, or you teasing me for my weak but constant supply of coffee. I’ll never hear your amazing, deranged laughter after you prank someone again. No more of your hugs—which are somehow the best hugs in the world. Because you’re gone.

It’s been three days since we got the call telling us you died thousands of miles from home, whether that’s here in Chicago or in Croatia. I didn’t know your dad’s name, Luka. We needed to call him, and I didn’t know. How did I not know? And now I can’t. I mean, L’Alliance told us his name, but the fact that I’ll never learn pieces of your history, of the wonderful man you are, FROM you...how am I supposed to go on and live my life?

For years, I’ve thought medicine was my great thwarted love. I’ve wanted to be a doctor for so long, and I thought I was bitter about having to let go of that dream. Now I wonder. I let obstacles get in the way of pursuing medicine, and it’s made me...well, it’s part of why I was so unhappy. But that makes me think about how I also let obstacles get in the way of us. I was happy with you, you know, until I let fear and my mother and Carter get in the way. God, I wish I could do that over again. We could have had everything, and if I hadn’t gotten in my own way, I’d be happy. I think maybe I could have made you happy, too.

It’s funny. I knew things with Carter weren’t working, and he implied you were part of it. I said it wasn’t, but then five minutes later, I found out you were—are—dead. And I realized you were the reason, or one of the big ones. As soon as Chuny told me, I knew I loved you and had loved you for years. Yeah. Great timing, isn’t it? I keep thinking that maybe I could have kept you from going if I had known or if I had told you. I didn’t want you to go when I thought you were my very attractive friend and ex that I still was fond of. Knowing that I love you—how do I move past that? Knowing that I lost you, first to my stupidity and then to death?

I just...I miss you, and I don’t when I’ll stop, or how to. Susan caught me crying on my last shift, and I didn’t even know what to say. I feel like I’ve been crying or standing still, brittle and stuck in time, since I heard the news. I can’t, Luka. I know I have to keep on moving, and I thought maybe writing you would help. I know you’ll never see this, never have a chance to respond. But the idea that some fragments of your soul linger and can maybe sense...I don’t know. That I’m writing? What I’m feeling? Jesus, this is crazy.

All my love,

Abby

Abby angrily swipes the tears from her eyes. God, what’s the point of writing this? He’ll never see hsi email or her again. Just...without Luka, how can the world be anything but grim and sad and pointless?

She laughs mirthlessly. Maybe it doesn’t matter. No, she knows it doesn’t. Because Abby knows the futility of it, aches with the meaninglessness, she presses send without another thought.

&&&

Three days after that, a miracle occurs. Luka, the Lazarus of this new millennium, comes back from the dead. He’s never been dead, and maybe, Abby thinks, there’s a God above after all. So many people wish for this exact boon, and she—they, the world—gets it. Some higher power believes this planet is a better place with Luka Kovac in it, and Abby is ecstatic.

Until she remembers the email and that they can’t be unsent.

It’s fine. She’ll be fine. Luka is coming back, apparently with a French nurse. Maybe he’ll just delete it without reading it. Maybe it didn’t go through—how does email work for the dead, and how quickly is all that processed?

Abby shakes her head. It doesn’t matter; Luka is alive and returning to them. She can handle a little awkwardness in the face of the sheer joy of knowing the world is a brighter, kinder place. He’s coming back, and that’s what’s important.

&&&

August 2003

It takes Luka almost a week after returning to Chicago to convince Kerry and the other staff to let him go back to his apartment. Even so, they only agree when Gillian assures them she’ll see to his every need.

Abby winces when she hears that, and it makes something flutter in Luka’s chest. Which probably isn’t good for his malaria, but the hope...that is.

It’s another two days of lying in bed before he has the energy to ask Gillian to bring him his laptop. At this point, it’s been months since he’s checked his email, and Luka grimaces at the undoubtedly horrible state of his inbox. He briefly considers never checking again and just getting a new one, but he knows his father struggled to add him to his contacts once already. To expect it of him again would be absurd.

With a sigh, Luka opens his email. It’s just as bad as he feared. He snorts at the myriad messages about Viagra, Nigerian princes, and Russian brides, deleting them without thought. He saves a couple from his dad. He slowly whittles down his inbox, but he freezes when he gets to one email in particular, sent about a month ago.

It’s from Abby, during the time everyone thought he was dead.

Luka considers calling and asking her if someone hacked her email or is sending spam from her account, but the subject line...it looks real. And Abby’s been odd around him lately, seeming both deliriously happy to see him and awkwardly nervous.

His heart pounds, and he clicks to open it. If this is a spammer, they’re probably about to get whatever they want.

&&&

Abby pours herself another coffee, internally swearing as she prepares for the last two hours of her shift. Deciding to go back to school is great; having to coordinate all the details is less thrilling and leaves her tired and cranky.

Frank ducks his head into the lounge, beady eyes narrowing on her. “Hey, Abby. The Croat is on the phone for you. Line 2. Try to get back out there as fast as you can, Weaver’s yelling at the med students about IVs.”

“Okay, Frank,” Abby says, though she flushes and her palms start to sweat. It’s fine. She can always hide the panic and butterflies in her stomach with sarcasm. It has yet to fail her.

Frank gives her one last suspicious look, then nods and heads back to Admit.

Abby takes a deep breath, then picks up the phone. “Hey, Luka?”

“It’s me. Glad I could reach you. How are you?” He sounds...ugh. So good. And eager and happy, and her heart could leap right out of her chest.

“Doing all right. I just have a couple hours left on this shift, and it hasn’t been too awful today. Only one MVA. How about you? You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Recovering. Listen, did you want to come over for dinner?”

“Please tell me you’re not trying to cook.”

“What? I’m a good cook, even if you don’t appreciate wonderful, traditional Croatian dishes,” he says with a chuckle.

“Luka, you just got out of the hospital five days ago. You still need to be resting.”

“Abby, don’t worry so much. I was just kidding. I have some sandwiches from Manny’s, and Anna sent me home with lots of matzo ball soup too.”

Abby bites her lip. Of course she wants to go. But the prospect of spending the evening with Gillian cooing over Luka, knowing that she shares a bed with him, is decidedly less appealing. And there’s the email she sent, which Luka hasn’t acknowledged. He might well have deleted it, or he’s giving her a gracious out.

Her conscience twinges as soon as she thinks about bailing, though. Didn’t she promise herself she wouldn’t take life for granted anymore? She’ll go back to med school, she’ll have dinner with Luka when he asks.

“Abby?”

She starts, realizing she needs to respond. “Yeah, sorry. Yeah, I can do that. I can be there an hour after my shift, if that’s okay.”

“Sounds great. Looking forward to seeing you.”

“Me too.” He has no idea how much, even if she wishes she knew for sure that he’d deleted the email.

&&&

Abby rings Luka’s doorbell three and a half hours later. She’d meant to come straight from work, but after a patient vomited on her, she decided to head home, shower, and splurge on a taxi to Luka’s. The poor man is recovering from being deathly ill and doesn’t need County’s fumes making things worse.

There’s the sound of the deadbolt sliding, and Luka answers the door, grinning happily at her. “Good, you made it! Come on in!”

“I did. Sorry it took me longer than expected.” Abby steps into his apartment, looking around. It’s been such a long time since she’s been here, and she notes the subtle changes in the art and decor.

“No worries. I know how it goes.” He places a hand at the small of her back, guiding her inside.

Abby stiffens for a second at how his touch burns even through the layers of her shirt and light jacket, but she relaxes, enjoying the feel while she waits for Gillian to appear and end the fleeting joy.

Luka is unfazed. “Now, of course we can just eat the sandwiches, but if you want to heat up the matzo ball soup, you can. Since you don’t want me standing,” he says with a wink.

Abby smiles back, shaking her head. “Oh, I see how it is. Make the woman who worked all day do more household work when she gets ho—wait, where’s Gillian? Isn’t she supposed to be taking care of you?”

“She’s not here,” he says simply.

Going to the fridge and taking out the containers of soup, Abby places them in the microwave. Is Gillian out for the evening, or is she gone gone? “Shouldn’t you be with her? Or her here with you, whatever.”

Luka is quiet for a long minute, and Abby wonders if he intends to answer. Finally, he breaks the silence. “I asked her to leave.”

Abby’s pulse speeds up. “What? Why?”

Luka takes a deep breath, clearly ready to respond, and—

The microwave dings, and they both jump. Exchanging a sheepish look, they laugh.

“Look, let’s get some food, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Abby dishes up their soup and sandwiches, preparing trays so they can sit on the couch. Luka turns on the television, and Abby’s heart rate comes back under control. They sit together in companionable silence while they eat and watch Thom and Jai and the rest of the Fab 5 whip some hapless lawyer’s life into order. When they finish their meal, Abby cleans up, taking the trays back to the kitchen.

She heads back to the couch at the opposite end from Luka, not daring to get closer when she really has no idea what’s going on.

Luka clears his throat and mutes the TV. “So, yeah. I asked Gillian to leave.”

“Oh. So, um, did you break up?”

“She was never my girlfriend, really. She has a boyfriend back in Montreal, they just…” Luka shrugs and runs a hand through his hair.

Abby is more lost than ever. “Ah.”

Taking a deep breath, Luka continues, finally looking over at her. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful she helped me get here and took care of me, but we were never serious.”

Something starts to tug at Abby’s heart, squeezing and twisting and kicking to get free. Is it...hope? “Well, I’m glad she got you here safe, but you should have someone staying with you while you recover, Luka. Malaria is dangerous.”

He gives her a look. “I know how dangerous malaria is. I’m getting better. And besides, it wouldn’t have been fair for me to ask her to stay when things are over because I’m in love with someone else.”

Her heart leaps into her throat. “Someone else?” she squeaks.

Luka nods, swallowing. “Yeah. And I have a reason to think she might be in love with me too.” He slides over to her side of the couch, reaching for her hand.

Abby meets his eyes—those beautiful green eyes that are the best color in the world—and squeezes his hand, incapable of words. Does he mean…?

With his other hand, Luka reaches up and cups her cheek, running his thumb along the subtle arch of her cheekbone. “Abby, if you’ve changed your mind since you sent that email, please tell me to shut up.”

That stupid, ridiculous email might be the best thing she’s ever done in her life. She leans into his hand, licking her lips as she shakes her head slightly. “I haven’t changed my mind. I didn’t mean for you to see it and hoped I could learn how to hack computers and delete it but—”

Luka cuts her off. “I would never forgive you if you managed to delete it. You wouldn’t believe how much faster I healed after that.”

Abby leans forward, sliding into Luka’s waiting arms. “Then maybe I’ll write you some more emails.”

“Emails aren’t what I want right now,” Luka says.

Funny, Abby doesn’t either. Then his lips brush hers, and all her worries and fears fade away. She knows she has to tell him about med school and he needs to finish recuperating, but when Luka deepens their kiss and pulls her closer, Abby ceases to think at all.

She has Luka back, and now they have each other again.

[babi-correia]

Not-So-Ex-Wife

From Anon:

15 and 52 with jay halstead x depressed/stubborn reader whos also in intelligence please? thanks 👍🏻 

Words: 2057 Warnings: Canon-typical violence Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader A/N: Hope you like it!

“What’s up your ass today, (Y/L/N)?”

Any other day, that sentence would be playful banter that you’d engage and reply at the same level. Any other day, you would be in a good mood, even in the early morning. Any other day, you would not want to murder Adam the moment those words left his lips. But today was not any other day.

“Would you mind ever so kindly minding your own fucking business, Ruzek?” You snap, sitting at your desk and logging into your computer to begin the workday.

“Have you had your coffee yet? You sound like you need a caffeine fix.” Adam continues, continuing to push your nerves. You glare at him over the screen, the murderous intent clear as day in your eyes.

“Adam, either you cut it out or the case we’ll be solving today will be your murder.” You growl, sinking back into the chair and watching the computer screen as it loads. You take a pencil from the mug on your desk and twirl it around your fingers, trying to distract yourself.

You clench your jaw when Jay walks in and it goes unnoticed by precisely no one, Adam raising his brow as the pencil in your hand cracks slightly under your grip. Voight walks out of his office, waving a folder in his hand as Jay sits down.

“Halstead, you’re late.” Voight remarks, opening the folder and sticking some pictures onto the whiteboard. “We have a hot case. Some kids were playing on the trail when they found a woman’s body. Tracy Delaya, 25, choked briefly before being stabbed.”

“I’ve seen this M.O. before, back in Homicide.” You say, pointing at the peculiar stab pattern. “All women, early twenties, and by the pattern of the stabbing, I’d say she’s a Taurus.”

“What?” Adam is the one voicing the collective confusion as you get up and take a closer look at the stab wounds on the victim. You get back to your computer, pulling up the cold case files and printing them.

“Back when I was in Homicide we caught a string of cases like this.” You say, grabbing the freshly printed paper and pinning it to the whiteboard beside Tracy’s picture. “Anna, Clara, Dora, Patricia, and now Tracy. Anna was Capricorn, Clara was Aquarius, Dora was Pisces, Patricia was Aries, Tracy is Taurus. He’s following the star signs calendar with his murders.”

“He?”

“We got some DNA evidence on Clara, she scratched him. The DNA was degraded to the point where we couldn’t get an ID, but we could determine it was male.” You grab the felt pen and begin to write under the pictures, scribbling the women’s names, ages, and star signs. “The stab wounds have the pattern of the star sign’s constellation. He’s going after a Gemini now.”

“Do you still have contact with witnesses and CIs involved in this case?” Voight asks, making you scratch the back of your neck as you think.

“It was a few years ago, but I’ll give it a shot.” You say, grabbing your badge and your gun from the top of your desk and clipping them on your pants’ waist.

“Take someone with you.” Voight calls out after you, and you don’t even stop to call the person.

“Adam, come on.” You say, strutting down the stairs. The rest of the team exchange confused looks before Adam follows you downstairs and into your car, sitting in the passenger seat and facing you with a questioning look on his face.

“It’s always Jay. Jay’s your partner. What the hell is going on, (Y/L/N)?” Adam asks as you start the car, your eyes fixated on the road.

“Well, maybe I want to change it up. Maybe I’m too mad at something to even be able to see Jay. Maybe I’m entitled to have feelings.” You say, getting a confused squeak from Adam right as his phone rings with a text message.

“See. He’s asking me why you’re mad at him.” Adam mumbles. “What happened? Why are you mad?”

“Maybe if he didn’t lie to me, I wouldn’t be mad.” You say, tapping your fingers on the steering wheel when you get to a red stoplight. “Maybe if I hadn’t believed that he was different and that we had something nice going on I wouldn’t be like this. I always get my hopes up and now I’m fucked, as per usual, and I’m fucking angry at it, and at myself for allowing me to believe something good was coming out of this.”

“Stop, freeze frame, rewind, hold on for a second.” Adam says, shaking his head as he tries to make sense of what you just said. “You had something nice going on? He lied to you? Are the two of you dating or something?”

“…It’s complicated.” You grumble, going forward as soon as the sign turns green. “We meet up after work for drinks at either his or my place, we talk for hours, it’s been really nice, you know? Like one of those cliché relationship starts from the movies. It was probably just some normal partner relationship and I read too much into it. Anyway, I got carried away into thinking it was something more, and I saw him with someone else yesterday.”

“This… This is confusing. But this is also grounds for me to win the bet.” Adam says, rubbing his hands as you raise your brow at him. “Who was he with, though?”

“Abby McSweeney.” You snap, your grip on the wheel tightening as Adam’s eyebrows reach his forehead. “His darling ex-who-isn’t-really-ex-wife.”

“Oh wow.”

“Yeah. So I’m pissed. Mostly at myself, but seeing his face definitely does not help.”

You can see Ruzek picking up his phone and typing fervently as you park the car. You shake your head and get out of the car, spotting a hooded man walking towards one of your previous witnesses.

Drawing your gun, you creep up until you see the man just a couple of steps away from your witness, something metallic glinting in his hand.

“Chicago PD!” You shout, aiming your gun and stalking forward, making the man stop in his tracks before turning around and running in the opposite direction. You turn to Adam, nodding with your head towards the witness. “Adam, stay with her!”

You take off running after the man, feeling your muscles burning as you sprint as fast as you can, turning corners and leaping obstacles.

“Goddamn it (Y/L/N), wait up!” Adam shouts, sounding out of breath. “50-21 Ida, requesting back-up, two plain clothed officers pursuing a suspect on foot.”

You cut your path through a narrow alley and will yourself to go faster, tackling the suspect to the ground. You shout when the knife in his hand connects with your arm and then knicks your face, making you wrestle the knife out of his grasp and away from him, landing a few solid punches before Adam catches up and points his gun at the man on the floor, reinforcing the idea that he had nowhere to go.

You get up and get your cuffs, arresting the man and wiping the blood off your face.

“Never mind that, Main. Suspect is in custody.” Adam says into his radio, turning to you. “You know that fighting people, both verbal and physically, isn’t the only solution available for when things don’t go your way, right?”

-

The rest of the day seems to trickle by slowly, annoying you to no end. When the clock finally reaches the clock-out time, all of you get up and gather your things to go home for the day.

“Anyone up to go to Molly’s?” Kevin asks, giving everyone puppy eyes. You shake your head, putting on your jacket.

“Not me, I’m going home.” You say, gathering your house keys and jacket. “Long day, I’m sore, I need a bath and my bed.”

“Oh c’mon (Y/N), please join us!” He begs, hugging you from behind and making you chuckle.

“I’m really not in the mood Kev, I’m sorry. Some other time, ok?” You negotiate, making him let you go.

You wave your goodbyes at everyone before making your way down the stairs, making your way to your car. You exit the precinct’s doors and see the tanned brunette standing by Jay’s car, your blood beginning to boil over once again before you shake your head and briskly walk towards your car.

You unlock the driver’s door and get in, just sitting behind the wheel for a while as you watch the rest of the team leave the precinct through your rear-view mirror. With a clenched jaw, you watch as Jay goes to her. You fire up the engine and put on your seatbelt, pulling out of the parking lot and driving back to your apartment.

You curse internally as you park your car in front of your apartment building and see Jay’s GMC pulling up on the opposite side; before, living across the street from your partner and best friend seemed like a godsend, but now it just seemed like a cruel punishment. You turn off your car and undo your seatbelt, trying to get out of the car and into the apartment building before Jay notices that you’re only just arriving as well, but no such luck.

He crosses the road in a jog, catching up to you as you’re making your way up the stairs and grabbing your arm, turning you around.

“What’s going on?” He asks, his blue eyes pleading as he tries to find the answer on your face. “We’re partners, and today you ditched me for Ruzek? You didn’t even talk to me all day. What did I do?”

“Nothing.” You say, pulling your arm out of his grasp. You hate yourself for how much you’re about to lie, but you can’t let him know the truth. “Just felt like switching it up a bit.”

You unlock the outer door, greeting your downstairs neighbor as you pass by her in the hallway. You can hear Jay hot on your tail and curse internally, hoping he just gets the message and leaves you alone.

“You’re not acting like usual, (Y/N). Please, talk to me.”

“Aren’t we all not acting like usual?” You can’t help yourself but remark, rolling your eyes at him. You can hear a little shocked huff coming from Jay as you unlock the door and take one step inside before turning around and blocking the entrance for him. “Look, Jay, I just want to relax a bit and tend to my cuts and sore muscles, ok? Just leave it.”

“I can’t leave it.” He says, planting his hand firmly on the door as you move to close it. “I want to know what I did wrong.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong; I was the one screwing up.” You say, hating the tremble that presents itself in your voice. “I was the one dumb enough to believe you’d ever see me as anything more than a partner and a friend, I was the one dumb enough to believe anyone could love me. Truth is, I don’t deserve to be loved, and I fooled myself into thinking otherwise. I hope you and Abby are happy.”

You’re sniffling by the end of your little rant, your eyes glued on the floor as silence fills the hallway. You meekly move to close the door, feeling the tears brimming your eyes when Jay bursts inside, nearly tackling you. He holds you up and closes the door with his foot, eyes wide with disbelief.

“You think me and Abby are together?” He asks, his eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not, this is a huge misunderstanding, oh my god. I’ve been meeting her because we’re finally formalizing the divorce. I served her papers a couple weeks ago. And what bullshit it that about not deserving to be loved? You’re one of the most lovable people I know, (Y/N). Hell, I don’t even know how long I fell head over heels with you, but I did, and I fell so fucking hard, you have no idea.”

The tears fall from your face as he gently cups it, leaning his forehead against yours as you start laughing hysterically before he leans in and presses a gentle kiss on your lips.

“Want to stay and watch a movie?”

“Of course.”

[janeyseymour]

Chance Encounter

Prompt: okay hi! i don't know if you still need jane prompts (though it's not really mom!jane) but what if abby!jane and jessie!jenna bumped into each other in new york or something? like jane is in a busy coffee shop and jenna takes the only open seat across from jane while waiting for lulu and jim to meet her and she starts talking to jane. and when jim comes he makes a joke about them looking like sisters :D idk feel free to talk a LOT of creative liberty! hope you're well and had a good day <3 -ay

Here it is! I hope it’s alright! It truly was so fun to write this! Thank you for trusting me with your idea!

They say there are seven people in the whole world who look like you, but it is highly unlikely you’ll never meet them. Highly unlikely means there’s a chance though. You never know if, when, or where you’re going to find your lookalike. For Jane Seymour and Jenna Hunterson, it was about to happen in the smallest of coffee shops. 

“Janey, can you please come and sit in the shop? It’s my first day of work.” Jane stopped herself from rolling her eyes. 

“Why can’t-” 

“Kat’s starting her first day too. Please?” Anne pouted slightly. “I’m just really nervous, having your familiar face around will help.” 

“I suppose I can stick around the shop tomorrow.”

“Thank you so much!” Anne threw herself into Jane’s arms.

“Of course love.”

“And tomorrow after work, I can help you find a job too!” Since SiX closed, the queens were scrambling to find work to support themselves. Staying in New York was expensive, and the six of them were not ready to part with the place they loved to call home. Catherine and Cathy had both ended up working at a journalism office. Anna had found a place looking for athletic models. Katherine was more than happy to work retail while she waited for her first semester of college to begin. That left Jane who, if she was going to be completely honest with herself, wasn’t sure what to do now that the show was over.

-

The tall blonde had settled herself into the corner of the coffee shop at the very beginning of Anne’s shift and was quietly sipping her tea and reading. Every once in a while, Anne would come out from behind the counter with a new cup of warm tea for her friend. 

“Thank you love,” she would say happily before returning to her book. 

“Excuse me?” A voice interrupted her reading. “Is it alright if I sit here?”

Jane looked up, only now realizing that every other seat was taken but the three around her. 

“I suppose,” Jane said curtly before returning to her book. 

“Oh, that’s a really good book,” the woman who she didn’t know whispered. “I should read that again.”

“Carole King really is amazing, isn’t she?” Jane tucked the book away.

“Amazing. My husband and I saw the musical at the end of 2018. The woman who played Carole was stunning.”

“There was a musical about her life?” Jane didn’t know about this. Her and the queens were too busy with their own show at the time in Chicago to really take in all of the other shows around them.

“Yeah, but it closed. 6 years of running, especially now, is great.” Jane hummed in agreement. She knew this firsthand. 

“Yeah. I was actually in a broadway show for a while. It was nice. But it closed, and now we’re all looking for new jobs,” Jane sighed. She really did miss performing, but at least now she was able to take control of her life again. 

“Oh, what show? Maybe I’ve seen it?”

“Uhm,” Jane paused. “SiX?”

“Wait, I knew you looked familiar! You’re Jane Seymour!” the woman whispered.

“That is me.”

“You were amazing. Your song really got me.”

“Thank you,” Jane trailed off when she realized she hadn’t yet learned the woman’s name.

“Jenna. Jenna Hunterson.” Jenna stuck her hand out.

“Nice to meet you Jenna.”

“I mean it, your performance was amazing.”

“Thank you,” the blonde laughed awkwardly. “Sorry, sorry, I’m just not very good at accepting compliments.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem. Neither am I.”

“Enough about me. What brings you to this quiet little coffee shop?”

“I just got off from work, and my husband brings my daughter here after school sometimes. You know, she gets a treat, we get some of the best coffee around. I just wish they would tell me how they make their coffee so I could bring it to my shop,” Jenna muttered the last part mostly to herself. 

“Oh? You work at a restaurant around here?” Jane was always looking for a new place to try.

“Uhm, have you heard of Lulu’s Pies?” The brunette seemed a bit hesitant to reveal the name of her place of work. 

“I’ve never had the chance to go there, but I’ve heard amazing things. People around here say it’s the best pie you’ll ever find and that little Lulu herself is often at the diner with her Mama on the weekends.”

“Well, I can’t promise that it’s the best pie you’ll find, but it’s true that little Lulu is at the diner often. She loves seeing all the friendly faces in New York.”

“Maybe I’ll have to stop in soon. Do you work there often?”

“I’m there everyday baking the pies, waitressing, chatting with the regulars that come in. It’s-”

“Sounds like you’ve been there for quite some time.”

“Well, actually,” the brunette laughed awkwardly. “I’m kind of the owner.”

“That’s wonderful. I’ll for sure have to stop in now.”

“I’ll make sure to have the best slice of pie ready for you,” Jenna offered with a warm smile. 

“So how’d you manage to open up your own business in New York?” 

“Well, before it was Lulu’s Pie, I worked at a small diner out in Kentucky: Old Joe’s. When Joe passed away, he left me the place. That crazy old man, gosh I miss him everyday. He had the faith in me to keep the business running, and with a bit of work, the restaurant started growing. Jim, my husband, convinced me to take the leap and open up a place in New York. Two years later, and here we are, although I do sometimes miss the small town life.” The brunette kept her story short. No point in boring the poor woman. 

“That’s wonderful. I guess sometimes you just have to take that leap.”

“I’m sure glad he told me to do it. New York is full of so many people, and everything is always changing. You never know who you just might meet.” 

“Hi Jenna,” a man’s voice came from behind Jane. 

“Mama!” a little girl squealed as her eyes set on her mother. 

“Hi sweet child of mine,” Jenna opened her arms up for the child to run into.

“Did Daddy let you pick out your treat for today?” Lulu nodded enthusiastically.

“She picked possibly the most sugar-filled thing in the restaurant. The barista behind the counter snuck in two when she heard Lulu’s manners.” Jim chuckled, still not moving from behind Jane.

“Oh Anne,” Jane laughed softly to herself. Anne always had a soft spot for children, especially when they were well behaved.

“Who are you?” Lulu looked at the woman across from her mother. Her tone wasn’t rude, but rather genuinely curious. “I’m Lulu, and I’m 6 and a half!”

“Very nice to meet you Lulu. I’m Jane.” A pang of guilt surged through the blonde. She had to admit, she was a bit jealous Jenna was able to spend all of the time in the world with her daughter. If only Jane had been able to spend time with Edward.

“Take a seat Jim,” Jenna gestured to the chair next to her. “Do you remember that musical we saw a little while ago? SiX?” 

“Oh yeah. It was pretty good. Why?” Jim hadn’t really looked at Jane yet. 

“This-” Jenna gestured to the queen across from her. “is Jane Seymour. The third queen?”

“Jim Pomatter.” The tall and lanky man stuck out his hand as he sat. Only then did he really get a good look at the blonde. “Wow,” was all he could say.

“Pardon?” Jane tilted her head.

“You look just like my wife.” Jim looked at the two women. “You could be sisters.”

“Jim,” Jenna laughed awkwardly. “We look nothing alike. She’s so much prettier.”

“I-” the blonde didn’t know how to respond. “You’re very pretty too.”

“No seriously, you two look so similar. If one of you dyed your hair, you would look exactly the same! This is crazy! I don’t know how I didn’t see it before!” Jim couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Jane? Do you like pie? My mama owns a diner around here, and it’s named after me!” Lulu interrupted.

“Daddy, Jane, and I were having a conversation Lu,” Jenna chided gently.

“Oh, it’s alright,” Jane waved it off as she brought her attention to the small girl in her mother’s lap. “I do like pie! Your mama and I were actually talking about the diner earlier, and I would love to come in one day and try a piece! Do you think you could pick out the best pie for me to try?” 

“If you come in on Satur- tomorrow! Saturday is tomorrow! If you come in tomorrow, I’ll be there! I can even make sure to save you a slice of Mama’s Mermaid Marshmallow Pie! It sells out really fast, but I’ll make sure Mama doesn’t give away the last slice.”

“Sweetie, Jane will come in when she can come in,” Jenna whispered.

“I can come tomorrow.”

“Really?” Lulu’s eyes lit up with excitement. 

“I promise,” Jane giggled. It’s as if her presence was just making this girl’s day, and she didn’t even know she was famous. The little girl liked Jane just for being Jane.

“Yes! I’ll save you a booth, and maybe we can color and it’s going to be so much fun!” Lulu put her hand in the air, to which Jane high fived her.

“That sounds like a lot of fun Lulu. Should I bring my colored pencils?”

“You really don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Jenna tried to ease the pressure off of Jane. She knew her little girl could come on strong- something she no doubt learned from Becky.

“Oh it’s not a problem.” Jane smiled.

“Well Miss Lulu, I think it’s about time we head home. Mama’s gotta make some dinner, and then if you want to be up bright and early to be at the diner tomorrow, we’ve gotta go to bed,” Jim said as he finished off the last of his coffee.

“Can Jane come for dinner?” The little girl looked at her mother for permission. 

“You’ll see Jane tomorrow at the diner.” 

“But mama,” the child began to whine.

“Actually Lulu, I should probably get going too. I’ve got dinner to make for my family too.” Perhaps if Jane told the six year old she also had to go home and make dinner, it would be easier for Jim and Jenna to get her out of the shop. “But I promise you I’ll come in tomorrow with loads of paper and colored pencils for us to color. Does that sound like a plan?”

“You promise?” Lulu gave her a pointed look.

“I promise.” Jane smiled warmly. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Lulu.” Jane waved goodbye at the family who had begun to pack up their things. What the blonde wasn’t expecting was for the sweet girl to embrace her. 

“Thank you for being so nice to me.”

“Thank you for being so nice to me Lulu. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Lulu gave her a thumbs up.

“You know, Lulu isn’t usually that open with adults she’s just met,” Jenna offered casually as she helped Lulu back into her jacket.

“It’s because she looks just like you Jenna!” Jim still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that a broadway star (and a former queen) looked just like his wife.

“Well, she’s a very sweet girl,” Jane complimented. The brunette nodded in acknowledgement.

“Have you found a job since SiX closed?”

“I- I’m afraid not yet.”

“Do you want a job?”

“I don’t think I could. I wouldn’t stand a chance against you in the kitchen, and I’ve never been a waitress, and-”

“Lulu needs a Nanny. The last woman we had watching her moved away.” 

“I-”

“Oh please Jane!” Lulu looked at her with pleading eyes. 

“Lu, why don’t we go outside and wait for Mama while she talks to Jane?” Jim suggested. 

“Oh okay Daddy,” the small girl over-exaggerated her sigh. Bye Jane! See you tomorrow!”

“Looking forward to it sweetheart,” Jane’s voice was honest. The blonde really was looking forward to it.

“It was so nice to meet you Jane.”

“You too Jim.” Jane watched as the father led his daughter out the door.

“She really is a good kid,” Jane thought out loud. 

“Would you be interested in Nannying for us? There’s no pressure. But since you mentioned needing work, and I have work to offer, I figured I would ask. If you don’t want to, then that’s more than fine. It’s just been a while since I’ve seen my little girl speak to another adult other than my husband and me with such excitement.”

“You’re willing to trust me, a stranger you met maybe an hour ago, to watch over your precious angel?”

“I’m pretty sure if you were to do anything immoral, we would’ve heard about it by now. You are kind of in the public eye.”

Jane thought this over. “I suppose you’re right.” 

“So? What do you say?”

“I- I think I’d like that.”

“We can talk about the logistics of it all tomorrow? Over a slice of Mermaid Marshmallow?”

“That sounds wonderful.”

“Well, I better get going. I wasn’t lying when I said I had to cook dinner. But it really was a pleasure meeting you Jane. I think this may just be the start to a beautiful friendship.” Jenna winked playfully and made her way out of the coffee shop. 

-

“How was your first day of work?” Jane grinned at the girl in green.

“It was alright. I saw you talking to that one family for quite some time.”

“Yeah. A sweet family.” Jane smiled as she remembered the chance encounter.

“See? Coming to my first shift wasn’t so bad afterall, was it?”

“I guess you’re right.” 

“Are you ready to head home and start job hunting?”

“Actually Annie, I think I found a job. Nannying for that sweet family.”

Who would’ve known that something Jane didn’t want to do in the first place would lead her to a chance encounter with her lookalike, land her a job, and the beginning of a beautiful friendship?

[heartshappedballoons]

#C4 - Abby

The remaining weeks for the new tour flew by, filled with rehearsals, running, autographs, and Ryan's countless attempts to keep up with Abby without voids and short answers.

Whoever took the phone and opened the conversation would see the amount of expressions like "hm", "ok", "right", "until then" and several others that Abby sent in order to cut chat at any cost. That meeting two Fridays ago didn't even pass the door, Abby had made up the excuse that she was sick and needed to rest, Anna even tried to do something, but nothing worked.

- Come on Abbie, go to that meeting. I never asked you for anything - pleaded Anna pouting and winking

- Anna, no. I don't want a date, I don't want Van, I don't want anything

- But darling, you didn't even give him a chance

- AND?? After he approached me on the street that day and all the conversations we had, I didn't want to see him anymore - said Abbie leaving the bathroom with her face covered in a green mask, wrapped in a bathrobe and towel on her head.

- But, he is so cute, it is not possible. Let me see these conversations - she said taking the phone from the bed and opening in Van's conversation. The contact was saved as "the crazy man on the street", which brought the brunette a good laugh, she continued until he found the beginning that contained that three messages.

- Hi, it's Anna

It's Abby

That's my number, save it.

And then Van's reply.

- Hi

It's the Van

Do you want to go out and see a movie here?

In the cinema, I mean.

What's up?

- Hi

Sorry but I'm stuck with my work, I don't know if it will work

But we can do it another day, right? 

And so it went on, many attempts on the one hand, many refusals on the other, but one thing called attention. As much as Van's lines were extremely bad, Abby seemed having fun, she realized that the more she refused, more he insisted what showed that he was also enjoying it, or at least that was what she thought. "Have fun taking out?? This is new" thought Anna reading the rest of the conversations.

She also noted that the most delayed response times were during office hours, but outside of that, Abby took less than 20 minutes to respond. Well, for those who say they don't want anything, the time of the talks indicates something else. As soon as she finished reading, he left the phone on the bed and sat down again in the chair nearby.

- So, read it? said Abby, now without a green mask with dry hair and wearing pink pajamas.

- Yep, you're right. You better let him go

- Wait, are you serious? - he said, staring at her - You gave up too fast, what's going on?

- Nothing, you said, I read it and now I agree, he doesn't even know how to flirt - he laughed.

Abby stared at the girl in front of her as if searching for the truth in the deepness of her eyes, Anna was not so easy to give up, on the contrary, when she wanted something disturbed it to the point of irritating anyone. "I don't know how her silly boyfriend can handle it," growled Abby.

- Look, they are already traveling because of the shows and there will be one here in the neighboring city, Bob called me but I didn't want to go alone, could you do me a favor with your company? - said winking eyes again.

Abby rolled her eyes and agreed, the girl had the incredible power to convince the other. In that case, Abby was always the part that gave in.

[catherine-parr-1512]

Dramatic Twist Chapter 1

It was Friday which meant that Cathy Parr, Catalina Aragon and Jane Seymour were walking together to their joint drama class with Mr Cromwell. It was their last year in school and they all took that class because of their love for theatre. It was a great class even if their teacher was sometimes creepy. They took their usual seats in the middle of the class, the three of them sitting next to each other. They always came 5 minutes before the class was supposed to start as they didn’t want to be late. As they talked for a few minutes, Mr Thomas Cromwell came into class and started preparing materials for today’s lesson. The other students also started filling in and taking their seats. After 2 minutes, dangerously close to the start of the class, the last people came into class - Anna Cleves, Katherine Howard and the unbelievably annoying Anne Boleyn.

 Anne Boleyn and Cathy Parr didn’t like each other at all, they hated each other. This started in primary school when Boleyn would sometimes pick on Parr for liking to study a lot. As the years went by, the two became even more aggressive towards each other to the point  that even the teachers would make sure that the two would not be sitting close in the classes. It worked but that didn’t change their relationship at all. It was as if they were polar opposites - where Parr was quiet and studious, Boleyn would make herself the centre of attention in any room she walked in and she barely passed her classes. Boleyn would be seen with many boys, all adoring her but Parr would not be seen with any girl around her and she didn’t speak to any of them in a romantic sense. No matter what aspect of their lives someone would look into, they could see the two on opposite sides of a spectrum.

 Boleyn, Howard and Cleves made their way to the 3 free seats at the back of the class, talking quietly and not caring about the class around them. This made Cathy a little bit angry - she didn’t have anything against Howard or Cleves and blamed their bad behaviour on that temptress and gremlin also known as Anne Boleyn. When the three ‘queens’ finally took their places, Mr Cromwell started the class.

 The whole lesson went smoothly without much interruption from the class as they studied a script before them (except for the chaotic three at the back of the classroom). At the end of the class, Mr Cromwell gave them team homework.

 “Everyone, in pairs that will be chosen at random, you will all play out a simple scene I will give you when we will sort out the pairs. Each pair will have a different scene to act out and you cannot change with whom you are working with - you don’t get that choice in the real world.” He said, looking at everyone in the class closely. Everyone nodded, not having much choice with the whole thing.

 Cromwell took out two pieces of paper from an already prepared bowl with names of people in the class. He looked at them quickly.

 “Abby Hunter and Isabella Stone.” He then took more pieces of paper and read out the pairs, the pieces of paper quickly disappearing from the bowl.

 “Jane Seymour and Catherine Aragon.” Cathy smiled at her two best friends, happy that the two of them would be together.

 “Anna Cleves and Katherine Howard.” Those were the next two names Cathy cared about, two-thirds of the chaotic trio were together. Leaving Boleyn to torment some poor student with her loud ways, thought Parr.

 As more and more students were chosen, Cathy realised that neither she nor Boleyn had a partner yet. A feeling of dread filled her. ‘Please don’t be Boleyn, please don’t be Boleyn’.

 4 names were left in the bowl - Cathy, Boleyn and 2 other boys. Mr Cromwell took two random pieces of paper and read the names that were there, loudly so that a whole class could hear him.

 “Catherine Parr and Anne Boleyn.”

 Cathy felt as if her world was slowly crumbling around her. She was just put into the same pair with the person that she hated the most in the entire world. She couldn't believe her 'luck' - there were 24 people in the class (including her) so she had a 4.3% chance of being paired up with her and yet, here she was. They would have to work together to get a good grade but Cathy knew 2 things - Boleyn had a terrible work ethic and there was no freaking way that they would be able to not fight for even a minute.

 Mr Cromwell gave all the pairs their scenes that they were meant to act out next Friday - giving them a full week to complete their 'project'. When the class finished, Cathy quickly approached Boleyn, wanting to make arrangements for the two of them rehearsing for their scene.

 "Boleyn," She said sharply, getting the attention of the other girl who started making her way out of class to who knows where

 "Parr." Replied the other girl coldly, clearly not happy about being approached by Cathy but Cathy didn't care. They had work to do.

 "Be at my house tonight at 7 o'clock," said Cathy, handing Boleyn a piece of paper with her address on it. " We'll be rehearsing our scene."

 "You don't even care if I have any plans for my Friday night?" Asked Boleyn with a grimace, taking the paper and putting it in her pocket without looking at it.

 “If you call getting drunk and passing out with some guy at a party as plans, then yes - I don’t care if you have any plans.” With that, Cathy turned around to catch up with her friends. Boleyn did the same without a word being said.

 It was 7:15 and yet there was no sign of Boleyn around Cathy’s house and she was getting quite angry about it. She hated it when people were late and it didn’t help that it was Boleyn with her mischievous green eyes that was late. ‘No, Cathy. You are NOT attracted to Boleyn’ she thought to herself, a grimace present on her face when she had to face her thoughts. She jumped when she heard a doorbell ringing. Cathy rushed towards the door and opened it, revealing Boleyn. Boleyn who looked dazzling.

 She wore black jeans and a green shirt which was in the same emerald green as her eyes. She applied some green eyeshadow that made her eyes glimmer and her signature red lipstick was also present. If it would be any other girl, Cathy would surely be attracted to them at that moment but she had to remind herself that it was that Boleyn girl, Anne Boleyn. The one girl whom she hated with a fiery passion.

 “Boleyn,” Started Cathy dryly, not showing the other girl that she liked the way she looked tonight. “You are late.”

 “Well, it’s a good thing that I don’t have to explain myself to you then. We are just project… partners. Nothing more.” Responded Boleyn with a smug smile on her face, clearly enjoying angering Cathy who just shook her head and reluctantly invited her inside.

 “My mother is at work but she will be home at 8.30 so that’s the latest we can do our rehearsals.” She mentioned as she led Boleyn towards the living room.

 “Sure nerd, I’ll let you have your bedtime.” Joked Boleyn as she jumped on the sofa, not bothering to take off her shoes which made Cathy huff but she knew that the fight would be lost there. Cathy always chose which battles she wanted to fight. Boleyn wasn’t finished. “Have you read the script?”

 “I didn’t have time yet.” Replied Cathy, getting her stuff ready.

 “You were busy with your books? Pretty nerdy if you ask me.” Teased girl in green with a sneer.

 “I was with my friends if you really wanted to know but it’s none of your business. Now, I think both of us should read the script by ourselves and then we’ll work on it.” Cathy started full-on school and work mode. Boleyn surprisingly just nodded at that and they both read in silence.

 Cathy read the script quickly, having experience in quick reading from all the books she had read. The whole scene was simple enough except the last part which made her stop breathing for a few seconds. She had to kiss Anne Boleyn at the end. She had to kiss her biggest enemy… The same enemy she might have a small crush on.

 The Parr girl looked at Boleyn, studying her face as she finished reading. She saw her shock as she read the last few lines. Boleyn girl looked at her with an unreadable expression.

 “Well, if we want to have a career with drama, sometimes we have to do things we don’t actually like.” She said simply and Cathy nodded in silent agreement.

 The two started rehearsing and Cathy saw how the two of them worked great together, both knowing what the other would do without the need for words. An instant connection. Sure, they had to work on some things but Cathy had to agree that working with Anne (not Boleyn anymore out of respect) was in some aspects way better than working with either two of her best friends - Jane and Catalina - with whom she worked within the past. Cathy also made sure to not appear too friendly with the other girl (they were supposed to hate each other after all) but she knew that if she were to spend more time with her, she might eventually like her. That was a thought that would make past Cathy gag but present Cathy simply loved it.

 The two of them were nearing the kiss part of the scene and just before they could begin it, Cathy saw that it was almost 8.30. If Boleyn had come those 15 minutes earlier, they would still have time but now they had to finish for today. A part of Cathy was glad, not being ready for this but her other part, the gay one, was whining for missing out on kissing a girl she likes. Yes, she said it. Catherine Parr likes Anne Boleyn. Cathy would do anything to kiss those red lips that were Anne’s trademark.

 “It’s almost 8.30. We should finish for today.” Cathy said softly. Boleyn looked at her phone as if to confirm the time and nodded vigorously.

 “It really is! I have to say you were not as bad as I thought nerd but I think we will have to do another study session. Are you free tomorrow?” Asked the girl in green clothing that made Cathy’s mouth water slightly, just slightly.

 “I am but we will be unable to be in my house for it - my mum is having friends over tomorrow for most of the day.”

 “We can use my house, Parr. My mother and father are away until next Thursday so I’m alone there and have a free reign over it.” Offered Boleyn, packing her stuff into her bag, not organizing them at all.

 “Yes, that would be great. Just give me your address and tell me the time.” Answered Cathy with a small smile, happy to see Boleyn next day.

 “I’ll text you, Parr. Thanks anyway for having me here today. Bye.” Said Boleyn and headed towards the door. Cathy offered her own goodbye and closed the door behind the girl. She cleaned the living room and headed towards her bedroom. She sat on her bed and after a few minutes, she received Boleyn’s address and “be at my house at 6 nerd” after it. She simply smiled, excited for tomorrow.

Note : if you have any idea for prompt and you like my writing style, message me :)

[meltdownwillbeawesomethisweekend]

Obviously she doesn’t know much lmao.

Who’s C exactly ? No this man is not and will never be Chris (far too fun loving and awesome)

Pissed off ? Unability to read facial expression is contagious ? Or has Abby called that pissed off so often she now really think that’s pissed off ? That’s his I’m working face lmao.

Mouarf keep telling yourselves that girls. I wouldn’t take into consideration opinion of people who don’t really know the man (except 3 M&G of 1 min in one case lmaoooo)

No seriously ???? Her drama queen is showing. Lmaooooo. God she’s really desperate today. It’s so awesome to witness. 

It’s just clothes lmao. Poor girl without any life outside of Darren.

Well that certainly didn’t stop you from using the death of basketball star and his daughter to push your agenda ...

Abby the new Anna Wintour has talken ... We all should bow down to her expertise (or lack of) in fashion.

So what should he have worn ? The same boring tux as Finn ? Yeah probably you’d be reminded of Blaine, so you’d have been able to wet your panties, here you’re just reminded you know nothing of the man in front of you. I still can’t believe how some one as chill and cool as Darren ended with such a prude and holier than thou fan lmao.

Oh god seriously so much drama over an outfit she didn’t like. Doesn’t she have other priorities in life ? Doesn’t she have better to do than creating drama ... over an outfit, and the decision not to shave ??? God relax woman. Yeah we know the attention whore wailing over Darren’s lost career over an outfit is here. She doesn’t even understand how ridiculous she looks rn.

As for the contract ANOTHER ONE ? She gets the man works with the biggest stars out there ? She REALLY thinks he needs darren ? I never saw someone understand so little about the whole industry. Olivier is one of the biggest name in the fashion industry. He decides who he works with not the opposite. That’s really pathetic the world they created.

No darren is not on the verge of A-List, why the obsession anyway ? WHo cares ? He works ? He has projects he’s passionate with, he’s happy, so why would shetry to force A List on him ? Why the classism, I’d rather have him continue doing things he’s passionate about rather than big things?

And here we are “Hollywood is defined by gorgeous, well groomed, stunning male stars”, once again we go back to appearances. And why doesn’t she go stan those boring as fuck men who give so little personality. At last they’re not threatening to her, they’re so unaccessible. Brad Pitt lmao. Joaquin Phoenix, Christian Bale. All of them not always perfect, but damn are they great cause they look like human beings, not plastic. I wouldn’t comment on how someone looks if I was her ... just saying.

Who the hell is AF ????????? Is she really calling Ashley WESTON Ashley Fink ? Are you drunk Abs ? You’ve been calling her AF twice now.

That’s 8 posts lmao. Someone will be awfully productive this morning at work lmao.

[catfishandthebottlefan]

#13 - Your Room’s on the First Floor

A/N- Hi! I know I haven’t been posting a lot, I’m sorry about that. But here’s a long-ish one for y’all. It’s nearly midnight here so sorry if there’s typos 😂 i love this one, it’s HELLA fluffy :) ~ Anna xxx

You stepped into the warmth of the B&B, quickly removing your sodden coat and hanging it on the free-standing wooden rack in the large hallway. You wiped your black Doc Martens on the doormat before removing them and placing them on the shoe rack to the left of the front door. Mary and Bernie’s B&B felt homely, with family photos hung on the walls, and their own shoes and coats on the racks as well as those of their guests. For example, next to your relatively new black Docs sat an identical (but larger) pair - old and scuffed, but clearly well-loved and worn. You presumed these belonged to the couple’s son, whom you’d never seen or met, but his parents spoke fondly enough of him for you to know he was a nice boy. 

The B&B felt quiet; nobody seemed to be home, which was unusual. However, you had returned at an unusual time compared to most guests, who would usually appear at about 6 or 7pm after having had their dinner, whereas it was only quarter past 2. You were sick of seeing your mum and new step-dad “canoodling” like a pair of sickeningly loved-up teenagers, and were sick of being told to “cheer up, you’re on holiday”. How did they expect you to be full of joy when they’d brought you to the arse-end of Wales? It was nothing like the holidays you went on with your dad, to exotic places like Morocco or Italy. 

“We’ve been through this, Y/N, Steve and I just don’t have money like your dad-” 

“Well if you’d stayed with Dad instead of fucking off with some old git from your shitty job, and somehow dragging me with you, we’d still be able to go on nice holidays!” 

And that was when you’d stormed off back to the B&B, leaving them to hold hands under the sunset, or eat fish and chips on the beach, or buy cheesy fridge magnets for no other reason than to disguise the complete mundaneness of the absolute shit holiday. Well, that’s what you’d presumed they’d end up doing, although you tried to kid yourself that you didn’t care, and that you didn’t cry yourself to sleep at night wishing that you could go back all those years, to when your parents were together and life was less shit. 

In a way, you were glad you’d had the argument, as it meant you had an excuse to go back and have a smoke. Smoking was your guilty pleasure, and, although you didn’t consider yourself addicted, you loved the sense of relief that came with sitting down and having a cigarette, watching the end light up and fall off as you gently sucked on the filter. There was something therapeutic about watching the embers fall off and create ash at your feet, and watch the patterns created in the cloud of smoke that would surround your face. 

Now wearing just your Oasis t-shirt, ripped jeans and fluffy socks, you walked up the carpeted stairs towards your room. However, once you reached the first floor, you stopped in your tracks. Was that a guitar you could hear?

You followed the melody up another flight, and along the second floor landing, until you reached a tiny room right at the very end of the hallway. The door was ever so slightly ajar, and you could now hear the lyrics of the song more clearly - When You Were Young by The Killers. The mystery guitar player clearly had good taste.

You stood outside the door, on the hinge side so the occupants of the room couldn’t see you, listening to the music. However, you decided you had to burst in when the lyric was changed to “he doesn’t look a thing like Larry”, preceded by a crescendo of laughter, part of which was coming from yourself.

“Um, hi,” you said, rather shyly considering the fact that you were the one who’d interrupted them, “I love this song.”

You looked up from your feet to see a long-haired boy sitting cross-legged on the ground, an acoustic guitar in his lap. Like you, he wore ripped jeans and fluffy socks, however he wore a The Streets hoodie. He was accompanied by another equally long-haired boy, however this one’s hair was pushed back by a headband, and he was barefoot, wearing a black Adidas tracksuit. 

“The Killers, absolutely class band, innit.” said Guitar boy, looking up at you, “You look cold.”

After he said that, you realised exactly how drenched you were. As much as you loved your black calf-length trenchcoat, you realised it wasn’t quite waterproof to Welsh standards.

“I did get a bit soaked actually,” you chuckled, “I should go get changed-”

“No, wait, sit down,” Guitar boy instructed, and you did as he said, “What are you doing back so early anyway? Mum said not to expect any guests till 6.”

“Oh, you’re the son, then!” you burst out.

Headband boy laughed. “He’s the son.”

“Sorry, this isn’t the best of introductions is it?” you laughed, aware of your own apparent rudeness, “I’m Y/N, and you are-?”

Both boys spoke up at the same time.

“I’m Van.” said Guitar boy.

“Larry.” said Headband boy.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” you stood up, turning to go back to your own room, “But I actually just came back for a ciggie and I..umm... got a bit lost. I thought this was my room. Anyway, I better get back-”

“Hey, don’t leave so soon!” Van said, seemingly offended, “Look, we have plenty of fags under here!” 

He reached under his bed to pull out a packet of Lambert and Butler Blue. He took one out expertly before handing it to you.

“Got a light?” you asked, “Mine’s in my room, I really don’t mind going and getting my own if you don’t want to share-”

“Just shut up and take the free fag,” Larry interrupted, “What do you smoke anyway?”

“Anything I can get my hands on, but Marlboro Silver at the moment-”

“Marlboro? You’re posh!” Larry teased, “They’re well expensive!”

“I’m not posh!” you laughed, going red in the face.

“She is well posh, have you seen her mum and dad?” Van chipped in.

“Not my dad.” you replied, deftly. The phrase had almost become a reflex now.

“Wait, how do you know my parents? I’ve been here three days and I haven’t seen you once!” 

You leant against Van as he explained how he’d been at Larry’s, which was “just down the road there, then the avenue, opposite the chippy”. You shivered as you puffed the cigarette.

Van put his hand on your arm. “Love, you’re fucking freezing!”

Before you even had time to refuse, Van pulled his hoodie off and put it over your head. You wriggled out of your t-shirt from underneath, and pulled your knees under the cosy jumper. It was still warm from when Van had been wearing it.

You noticed more and more about the boys after you’d warmed up a bit. Van was now wearing a white t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, and used his bare arms as an excuse to sit closer to you, “as you’ve nicked my jumper”. He told you about his band, after you asked about the handwritten lyric sheets strewn across the floor of what you presumed was his bedroom, although the room was tiny.

“Bet your band’s shit,” you teased, Larry joining in.

“Yeah it’s well crap, only sold two tickets and that was to my brother and his mate,” Larry laughed, “And their songs are shite.”

“They’re not!” Van protested, his voice going an octave higher, “Look, I’ll play one to you right now!”

“Go on then, Julian Casablancas.” you retorted.

“Fine, okay, this one’s called ASA-”

“Not that one, it’s proper shit!” Larry objected, “It’s about meeting up to have sex with Ab-”

“Shut the fuck up, Larry.” Van almost growled.

“Who’s Abbie?” you asked, curiously, “Friends with benefits?”

“No!” Van confirmed, “An ex-girlfriend.”

“Basically, all the songs he’s ever written are about her.” Larry whispered in your ear.

“Well, I guess he has someone new to write a song about now.” you said, looking Van in the eyes.

“I guess I do.”

--

The next day, you saw Van helping his parents at breakfast, and he handed you a screwed up piece of paper when he served you. You placed it in your pocket, and, after you’d finished, ran straight up to your room to read it.

Beach, 20 mins, the note read, in scrawled handwriting.

You got dressed hastily, throwing on your black denim skirt, with fishnets underneath, and Van’s hoodie. You told your mum you’d made a friend and could you spend the day with them, so she and Steve could have some alone time. Steve almost looked relieved, nodding his head, and your mum seemed too occupied in reading her Facebook messages to acknowledge the information. 

You took it as a yes.

Just as you put your boots on, Mary appeared from the kitchen.

“Hi, love, where are you off to? Ooh, I like your jumper, our Van has one exactly like that, doesn’t he, Bern?” 

“Just the beach, I’m meeting a friend there for some lunch-”

Bernie appeared from behind her, and patted you on the shoulder reassuringly, “Have fun, love.”

You weren’t too sure if you knew the way to the beach, but you followed the family in front of you and, luckily, they were going there too. You found Van, sitting on the wall separating the gift shops from the sand, acoustic guitar on his lap.

“That’s my fuckin’ jumper!” he greeted you enthusiastically, jumping off the wall to hug you. 

You smiled, pulling the note out of your pocket, “So, explain this.”

Van sat himself back down on the wall.

“Well, I needed a new girl to write a song about, and you were a good excuse.” he smiled, cheekily.

He brushed your blonde fringe out of your eyes.

“Your eyes are well-blue y’know,” he said, dreamily, “like, I dunno, they’re quite delicate, but also brave, like the sea or summit-”

“Shut up,” you chuckled, although your heart felt warm.

“And your hair, I love it,” he continued, “it’s just you. Messy, windswept, but warm and kind - I like the colour.” “My hair isn’t naturally blonde, you know.” you replied quietly, staring at his lips.

He leaned in closer, so your foreheads were almost touching.

“And you have freckles-”

“Shut up and kiss me.” you muttered, pressing your lips against his.

The kiss was a million fireworks, tender yet exciting, lighting up a fire inside your chest that you’d forgotten existed.

As you pulled away, you noticed Van smirking, a glint in his eye.

“That was part of the plan, wasn’t it!” You squealed, outraged, “Compliment her till she kisses you!”

“No!” he replied, his voice once again getting higher in volume and pitch, “I was gonna sing to you first.”

He grabbed your hand, helping you up onto the wall. He strummed the first chord of the song.

I can tell by your grin That you're lying through your fringe again This talk is getting us nowhere Let's set sail for nowhere It was just one night And it was just one time And you looked amazing From what I was taking Keep breathing, keep breathing Settle down in your home It's only rainfall Keep breathing, keep breathing Settle down in your home It's only rainfall You know it's only rainfall

As he strummed the last chord of the somewhat short song, you smiled.

“It’s not finished yet-” 

“Shhh, it was perfect.” you whispered.

“But when exactly did I lie?” you asked, more loudly.

Van chuckled.

“When you said you got lost. Your room’s on the first floor.”

[maddie-grove]

Bi-Monthly Reading Round-Up (July/August)

PLAYLIST

"Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson (The Wonder)

“The Lusty Month of May” from Camelot (Between a Highlander and a Hard Place)

“Blood on My Name” by The Brothers Bright (Vampires in the Lemon Grove)

“Too Good at Goodbyes” by Sam Smith (A Prince on Paper)

“All I See Is You” by Dusty Springfield (The End of Everything)

“Your Song” by Elton John (Patience and Sarah)

“Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” by Diana Ross (Touchy Subjects)

“When You’re Young and in Love” by the Marvelettes (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda)

“No Sleep Tonight” by the Faders (Can’t Escape Love)

“Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)” by Kim Weston (Bury Me Deep)

“Cold Bread” by Johnny Flynn (Fludd)

“Thunder Road” by Bruce Springsteen (The Rest of the Story)

“How Can I Meet Her?” by the Everly Brothers (Someone to Honor)

“A Matter of Trust” by Billy Joel (The Scandalous Secret of Abigail MacGregor)

BEST OF THE BI-MONTH

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue (2016): Lib Wright, an English nurse who worked with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War, is hired to observe Anna O’Donnell, an eleven-year-old Irish girl who claims to have not eaten for four months. Initially exasperated at the everyone’s credulity, Lib gradually realizes that there’s a lot more going on with Anna, her family, and her village than she thought...and that the girl may be in serious danger if she doesn’t intervene. Despite my love of Donoghue’s work, I put off reading this one for a while because the subject looked so grim. Although Donoghue does deal with difficult material, the growing relationship between prickly Lib and bright-but-haunted Anna makes the novel transcendent.

WORST OF THE BI-MONTH

Between a Highlander and Hard Place by Mary Wine (2018): After her highborn suitor shows his true colors, Athena Trappes sets fire to his house in self-defense and flees to Scotland. There she attracts the attention of Symon, Laird Grant, a melancholy widower. This Elizabethan romance has its moments, notably a lovely meet-cute at a May Day celebration, but it’s mostly dull with some irritating tropes.

REST OF THE BI-MONTH

Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell (2013): In this collection, Russell tells the stories of various oddities, including women who turn into silkworms, presidents who are reincarnated as horses, and, yes, vampires in the lemon grove. The collection is remarkably consistent, and Russell shows enormous range in it. My favorites are the utterly chilling prairie horror of “Proving Up,” the hilariously absurd “The Barn at the End of the Term,” and the heartbreaking “The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis.”

A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole (2019): Nya Jerami has existed under a cloud of suspicion and gossip since her abusive father, an adviser to the king of Thesolo, was sent to prison for poisoning his political rivals. Eager to start her life properly but unsure how, Nya finds unexpected help from Johan van Braustein, the seemingly devil-may-care stepson of the king of a European micronation. This is my favorite contemporary romance I’ve ever read, with two dynamic, endearing protagonists and a strong sense of setting. Cole expertly blends realistic modern-day concerns with frothy wish fulfillment (plus a dash of fairy-tale Gothic).

The End of Everything by Megan Abbott (2011): When her best friend Evie disappears, thirteen-year-old Lizzie only has scanty clues regarding where or why. As she becomes more and more consumed with finding the answer, she discovers dark secrets underlying her seemingly placid 1980′s suburb. Of all the Abbott novels I’ve read, this is the simplest and perhaps the most disturbing. I didn’t love it, but it’s very effective.

Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller (1969): In 1810′s Connecticut, educated “spinster” Patience White finds herself intrigued by sweet, rough-hewn Sarah Dowling. Although their families contrive to keep them apart, they eventually make it to New York and start a farm together. Of the five f/f romance novels I’ve read, this is my very favorite. Miller captures the feel of early American literature very well, and the romance has a nice balance of tension and sweetness.

Touchy Subjects by Emma Donoghue (2006): This collection of short stories is, naturally enough, organized around “touchy subjects” like babies, domesticity, strangers, desire, and death. There are some jewels in this collection: the sad/funny “WritOr” (about a struggling author who takes on a resident-writer position at a rural college), the bittersweet “The Welcome” (about a naive young lesbian with a crush on a reserved trans woman), and the strangely uplifting “Enchantment” (about a rivalry between Cajun fishermen). There’s a lot of chaff to separate from the wheat, though; many of the stories are very slight.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (2015): Simon Spier, an upper-middle-class teen in suburban Atlanta, isn’t 100% sure why he hasn’t come out as gay to his liberal family or friends, but for now he prefers to keep his sexuality (and a flirtatious email correspondence with an anonymous boy called Blue) under wraps. When a classmate finds out the truth and blackmails Simon into setting him up with his friend Abby, that task becomes a lot more complicated. Despite the rather disturbing premise, this is a super-cute YA novel that I would have loved when I was a YA. (At twenty-eight, I still liked it a lot; it’s just got a sense of immediacy that was a little lost on me thanks to my relatively advanced age, but would’ve been very appealing to me at sixteen.) 

Can’t Escape Love by Alyssa Cole (2019): Regina Hobbs, highly successful proprietor of a website about nerdy stuff, has it all together, except she’s suffering from a wicked case of insomnia. She’s convinced that only the voice of Gustave Nguyen, a puzzle designer she got to know after tuning into his livestream, can get her to sleep, so she contacts him to see if she can have a recording of his voice. Even though they both think it’s kind of weird, her request gets them talking...and MORE. This is a short but absolutely delightful novella about two neat people hooking up. The stakes are low, but the tensions stemming from Regina’s family keeps things interesting.

Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott (2009): In the depths of the Great Depression, Marion Seeley finds herself alone in Phoenix while her morphine-addict husband chases redemption in Mexico. Working an administrative job at a local hospital, she falls in with party-girl nurse Louise, her TB-afflicted girlfriend Ginny, and (much to her sorrow) corrupt, handsome Joe Lanigan. Abbott’s historical crime novel takes a little while to heat up, but once it does it’s a very satisfying thriller. However, I was never convinced of Joe’s attractiveness even at a surface level, which was kind of an impediment to enjoying the story because Marion sure is.

Fludd by Hilary Mantel (1989): A mysterious stranger comes to a deeply Catholic, determinedly miserable English village in the 1950′s, claiming to be the new curate. While there, he greatly affects the lives of an alcoholic priest, his prim housekeeper, an unhappy young nun, and a pompous bishop. This is a highly peculiar, often enjoyable fable, although it drags quite a bit in the third quarter.

The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen (2019): Emma, an anxious seventeen-year-old who lost her mom to addiction five years ago, ends up spending part of the summer with her seldom-seen maternal relatives, who own a downscale motel in a lake town. While there, she learns about her mother’s secret history, observes the tensions between her family’s working-class community and the upscale resort people across the lake, has a low-key romance with a childhood friend, and practices her driving. This novel isn’t among Sarah Dessen’s best--the ending is a little rushed, and the romance feels perfunctory--but the setting is cool and Emma is an interesting protagonist.

Someone to Honor by Mary Balogh (2019): Years after her dad’s bigamy was revealed, resulting in her de-legitimization, reserved Abigail Westcott shows no interest in trying to re-enter society, instead opting to hang out with her convalescing Napoleonic War veteran brother. Unfortunately, his surly friend, Lieutenant Gilbert Bennington, is also intent on keeping her brother company to avoid his own problems, and he and Abigail don’t exactly get along. They come to understand each other, though, and decide to take a chance on marriage when Gilbert finds himself in trouble. I found this Regency romance to be solid but overly somber (not an infrequent issue with Balogh). I never got a great sense of who Abigail was and, while I sympathized with Gil, I also found him very irritating at times.

The Scandalous Secret of Abigail MacGregor by Paula Quinn (2015): In the late 1700′s, Queen Anne summons Davina MacGregor, secret eldest daughter of James II (and, were she not Catholic, rightful ruler of Great Britain), to court. Because Davina is sickly, her daughter Abigail, who has ambitions of being clan chieftain, goes to court in her place. She’s accompanied by Captain General Daniel Marlow, a Jacobite-hating English soldier and close friend of Anne’s. He’s got some trust issues and a stalker. This romance had a lot of potential, but too much of it is spent on the road and not enough on juicy court drama. The straight-version-of-Rachel-Weisz’s-character-in-The-Favorite villain was also, unfortunately, usurped by her much more boring lover.

[jfpisadearqueerdeer]

So, because of my great love of Becky Albertalli's books, I have two book ideas for additions to her Creekword series.

The first is: Garrett's Take On Love (and Other Things)

Cover: I think this one would either have a green or a gold cover, not sure why, but I learnt towards green when first thinking of it.

Timeline: Summer after their sophomore year of college.

Description: Garrett Laughlin had always been sure about everything. He knew that he would make the soccer team. He knew he would get into Georgia Tech. And he knew he was straight. Or at least, he used to know that.

It's the summer after his sophomore year of college, he's back home until August, and of all the people he could have ran into from high school, it just happened to be Cal Price. And despite his past beliefs of his sexuality, and the fact that he is dating Morgan, Garrett is pretty sure that he's in love.

Important Points In the Novel:

Starts out in the gang's favorite hangout, Waffle House.

Morgan and Garrett are still together at the beginning if the novel, but like halfway through, they break up.

Garrett actually calls Bram Bram instead of Greenfeld when he comes out as pansexual to him.

I'm thinking a trip to Atlanta for Pride Month, involving all our favorite gays: Simon, Bram, Leah, Abby, Garrett, and Cal. Fun short little roadtrip that encompasses like the last week of June, and involves lots of romantic tension between the boys (G and C).

Alice and Theo having a Fourth of July engagement party and it's right after Garrett and Morgan's break up, and Garrett gets super drunk and tries to kiss Cal, but Cal won't let him, and Garrett think it's Cal rejecting him, but no, it's Cal thinking he would be taking advantage of Garrett.

A few days of moping around because both boys think the other doesn't want them.

Bram and Simon "accidently" not telling Garrett and Cal respectively who will be at the movie night they're planning. And then, Bram and Simon lock them in Simon's basement to force them to talk. But they just watch a movie (I'm thinking Netflix Original Alex Strangelove). And like, midway through the movie, Garrett takes Cal's hand, and at the end of the movie, Cal kisses Garrett. And just. Adorableness ensues.

Simon and Bram come busting through the doors with everyone (maybe Morgan, maybe not). But like everyone. Alice and Theo. Nora. Jack and Emily. Leah and Abby. Nick and Taylor. Anna. And they're all just like "Move out of the way ya gay dorks, and let us start movie night already.

They watch reruns of The Bachelor. Because it isn't just a Spier family tradition anymore. Because they're all family at this point. Because family isn't just about blood or last names. It's about the people who will never give up on you.

The second is: Anna's Ace of Hearts

Cover: Absolutely positive that this would have a purple cover, and instead of the word Hearts, it would be 🖤s.

Description: Anna has known she was asexual since the disaster that was her and Simon's relationship. She just doesn't know how to tell anybody. At first, she isn't sure if it's just because her and Simon's relationship was what it was. Then, she didn't know if this was permanent. And now, she's not sure, because she is totally in love with the boy across the hall.What she doesn't know is that the boy across the hall is ace as well.

Isaiah Hayes is a bit of an eccentric person. He loves cooking. He hates social media. He can put on make up like the best of them. But he has no fashion sense. When he talks, his voice sounds like it's coming from the heavens above. His singing on the other hand seems to come from another afterlife. And Anna is completely head over heels with every bit of it.

Now we already know he's asexual. But the question is: Is he aromantic as well?

Important Points in the Novel:

Anna moves into the building her senior year of college. And of course, she meets her neighbor across the hall, Isaiah Hayes, first. And he invites her over for dinner, because she is so not unpacked, and not up for eating greasy pizza off barely durable paper plates.

The thing is, he dances when he cooks. And he sings. And it's sort of terrible, but Anna loves it anyway. He makes vegetarian fettuccine alfredo, and she can't help but devour it, and when she looks up, he's just smiling like a fool. But after, he just walks her out of the apartment with no invitation to come over again. So. Mixed signals.

Anyways. Anna is going to school for nursing. That's an important thing to know for this. Because one day, Isaiah knocks on her door, and asks if she has any frozen food that he could put on his black eye. And she rushes him in, and sits him at the dingy table in her small kitchen, and immediately starts taking care of him. And then she asks what happened. And he takes a deep breath and admits to her than he's trans. And she doesn't even bat an eye. She just starts talking about how she wants to be a nurse so that there will be more queer friendly medical aid in the world, and keeps taking care of him.

That's when they start hanging out more. He cooks and dances and sings in one of their kitchens, and sometimes she joins in, but sometimes she turns something on TV or writes a paper or reads a book, but she always watches him for a bit first. Because she cannot help but love him. She just wishes he could see how much.

Spring Break comes. She invites him back to Georgia with her, because his parents don't want him back home. He takes her up on the offer, and meets the gang.

Then one day at Waffle House, they're eating breakfast and suddenly he gets up and starts dancing. And normally, Anna would be embarrassed as hell, but she can't help but laugh because he's laughing and it's just so contagious. And then he pulls her up and has her start dancing too. And people are staring, but she doesn't care. Because he pulls her close, and even though he's like two feet taller than her, he picks her up a bit and kisses her forehead and admits that he loves her but he's asexual and that he doesn't want her to be with him if she can't accept that and she just laughs because "Isaiah, I'm ace too."

The book ends with them moving her stuff into his apartment cause why not 🤗

Before you comment, read this. Yes. I am making characters queer who are not canonically queer in an already queer series. No. I do not think it is excessive. These are perfect.

[dfnews]

A late episode recap of "A Bachelor No More"

Season 9, Episode 12  March 29, 2019

"John and Abbie's wedding is finally here and everyone is in full wedding-mode as they get ready for the big day. At the altar, the bride and groom share their first kiss in an unexpected way. Later, a family member has a very special announcement."

I'm going to go full Jill Rodrigues on this recap and ALL CAPS random words for your utter confusion. ENJOY!

1. John and Abbie are making UNITY candles in the Duggar guest house that Turdanna now live in. They recall how they met, the engagement, and how they are marrying after only SIX months after they met. And somehow this all led up to them making their own unity candle. Jenni brings old crayons to melt and suggests they use the fragrance of "laundry" in the candles. Would that be the smell of Tide or STAINED tighty whities? The producers give Duggar couples a SMELL challenge. I love how Ben just repeats everything Jessa says and Jed doesn't know what anchovies are and none of them recognizes cinnamon. Now why didn't they DO a pickle scent? They all would have gotten that one. That would also be the perfect smell for Jobbie's unity candle. John uses a BLOW torch to clean crayons out of a pot and Abbie sarcastically refers to John as her "genius fiance" and hopes he doesn't lose his eye BROWS.

2. Jana and Laura, Janaura, lead the packing of the tour bus for the wedding. They are determined to NOT forget anything probably because they fear being fired from the family if they do...hmmmm, good plan. They even packed two scissor lifts. I guess just in case one decides to not lift they have another GASSED up with VIAGRA to go. Jana feels a little in over her DIY head with such a huge hangar to decorate but they all enjoy talking about redneck ENGINEERING. Basically redneck engineering is fixing things with duct tape OR barbed wire or chewing gum, y'all. It's also what drives everyone's medical insurance premiums up.  

3. Lauriah practice singing a song for the wedding at home and then AGAIN talk about the miscarriage. Jessa chimes in as well about the miscarriage and grief. Tears ARE shed again. Are they going to recap this loss on every episode next season? We know it happened. What's the point of bringing it UP repeatedly?

4. At the Ada Baptist Church venue Janaura's cast of REDNECK engineers begin work on the stage. It's wedding rehearsal day. After some bickering about how to assemble the arbor...on stage...Jobbie arrive to check things out. They decide to go through with the wedding anyway.

5. People start arriving at the church. It's go day! Abbie doesn't want a first look THINGY. She wants JOHN to wait until she's walking the aisle til he sees her. Rebel! Jana is still working and looking stressed. Now she's trying to organize the FLOWERS and how to successfully hide Jill and Derick and Josh and Anna from the CAMERAS. This woman needs a vacation after this insanity. Jeremy offers to help and Laura gives him the job of vacuuming the processional aisle carpet. The vacuum leaves grease stains and Jinger tells Jeremy Laura is going to have him on his knees scrubbing that mess. How about Josh LICKS the grease stains off?

6. Renee Bleached Blonde Bridal is there to...I don't know why she's there, but the girls GET ready for photos. The guys have their photos done as well with the TURD kept on the far end so the camera could cut him out. I guess the sun glare effect costs too much to do it again. The photographer tells John to use his best Zoolander look and of course all the Duggars are BAFFLED by that pop culture reference. Jeremy is aware of the movie and Ben Stiller though. I hope he's catching Jinger up on pop culture. Her form of POP "dad" culture has made her ignorant in so many ways.  Some of the guys are preparing the DRONE to fly in during the ceremony as a PRANK. The drone will deliver the ring to best man Joe. They better HOPE God has a sense of humor with all the disrespect they show in a house of God.

7. The wedding begins and you know what happens here. There are songs, lame speeches, candles lit, a drone trying not to DECAPITATE anyone and a very creepy first kiss. The personally written vows were sweet and Abbie ended hers by calling John "SUGAR MUFFIN". The producer asks the other married couple to reenact Jobbie's first multiple kiss and they all seem very embarrassed. Benessa was fun to watch though as Jessa tried to BEAT Ben off of her.

8. The hangar recepTION is next up. They ate cake and breakfast foods and fought off the wind and FALLING decorations. Abbie thanks Jana before they get in the plane to fly away to wherever. Jana BEGS to go with them. That might have only happened in a dream though.

9. Now for the big SURPRISE in which the show has been teasing since the new season started. Actually, it isn't a surprise. Jessa's pregnant again. Wow. Who'd a THUNK. Maybe some people didn't read the headlines about this weeks ago. Anyway, Jessa told Jinger and Jeremy but the producers told the rest of the family. Now that is a surprise to see the announcement done for the family through a PRODUCER. Things are getting impersonal in Duggarland.

10. The Duggar couples are asked what they are looking forward to in the coming year. Joken says building a house and having NUMBER two. I guess they want to get AWAY from Duggarland. Lauriah also wants to expand their family. Joystin wants another one soon and see Gideon start walking. JinJer just wants to watch their current baby grow. In other words, pretty much the same OLD SHIT.  

[artificialqueens]

Royals (A The Selection AU Fanfic) Chapter Six - TheQuartzMermaid

A/N: I’m back with another chapter fully written by she me her and completely beta-ed (is that right) by miss Tiffany. It took a long time and I’M SO SORRY but I like to be at least 2 chapters ahead to the one I’m submitting and with all this relatives visiting, graduation planning, the sims playing and family issues shit I had almost no time to write Lil Miss Chapter Eight.

What can you expect from this chapter? Bianca being sweet, Adore being alone and Katya being… Katya.

If you’re a Royals fan, jump right into the chapter. If you’re new here and not familiar with The Selection, first of all THANK YOU and second of all, I suggest you to check out the prologue for this fanfic. If you like it enough, you can read the original books by Kiera Cass, they’re amazing.

Let’s go, pumpkins!

Royals - Chapter Six (or The one in which they appear on TV)

“I’ll be giving you a tour through the palace and you’ll also be given some more orientations you must follow if you want to have a happy stay here”, Bianca said solemnly. “I must tell you that you’re not meeting Prince Casey today, as he is very busy with his royal duties.” The girls whined. “Oh, but that’s his job, my ladies. Soon it will be the job of one of you girls too.”

Dreamy sighs from 33 girls filled the room. Adore rolled her eyes. Katya was taking the possibility of becoming a royal very seriously. Both of them reacted the same way towards their fellow competitors’ apparent idea of “royal duties”: Do these stupid girls think it will be all dresses, jewelry and crowns?

The tour commenced. Bianca walked them through a bunch of doors and explained where they would take them. Where they were just seconds ago was the Women’s Room, a place where only women could stay. Interesting, Adore thought. She would spend most of her time there. Then another door, leading to the palace’s immense gardens. Katya was planning a visit there, but Bianca crushed her dreams as she told the Selected that the area was forbidden due to security reasons. Another area, the king’s office, was also forbidden.

“This”, Bianca announced as she opened the door, “is the dining hall. As you can see, it’s big enough for the 35 of you and the royal family. If there are any guests, everyone will be moved to the Great Hall, which is used for parties and banquets.” The girls took a look at the disposition of the tables. In the middle, one with three seats: for the king, the queen and the prince. There were two other tables at each side of the main one, forming a U, with marked places for everyone. Katya and Adore would sit across one another. The blonde would be between Linda Gardens and Manila Luzon. The brunette would have Violet Chachki and Tyra Sanchez as neighbors.

Then they met the studios where the Illéa Capital Report was filmed, wrapping up the tour of the first floor – and one floor down.

“Ladies, I have to warn you: the third floor is off limits. It’s where the private rooms of the Royal Family are, and any sort of intrusion will not be tolerated.” Whines were heard again. Bianca must be bored by them, but it didn’t show. Man, she was super professional. “Your rooms are all on the second floor. You will inhabit a large portion of the guest rooms, but don’t worry about it; the palace is quite big, so we still have room for any visitors coming through.”

36 pairs of heels went up a beautiful staircase. Paintings of the previous kings and queens – and some leaders of what used to be North America – were hanging on the walls. Adore quickly remembered what her mother said about Queen Abby as she stared at her portrait. A chill went down her body.

“Everything you have to your name is already in your rooms. If something is wrong or you don’t like the decor, please tell your maids”, Bianca kept giving instructions. “Each of you have three maids, they are already in your room as well. They’re there to help you unpack and get ready to any appointments you may have for the day.

“For tonight, you’re just having a meeting at the Women’s Room before dinner to watch a special screening of the Illéa Capital Report. They’ll be showing some of the footage they’ve taken of you leaving your homes and arriving here. It promises to be emotional.” The woman smiled. Katya started asking herself if Miss Del Rio wasn’t feeling tired of talking yet. “Prince Casey hasn’t seen anything yet, he’ll see what all of Illéa will see tonight, and tomorrow… I guess that’s when the games begin!”

After so many rules, Bianca started dropping off the girls at their rooms. There was a tiny hallway with four doors, the rooms belonging to Joslyn Fox, Nicole Brooks, Yekaterina Zamolodchikova, and Adore Delano.

As Bianca left them with another “welcome, ladies”, they started opening their doors. Joslyn greeted her maids as if they were long-time friends. Nicole seemed less bubbly, but very polite. Adore hadn’t opened her door yet, neither did Katya. Instead, they ended up looking at each other, their twin doors still closed.

Adore didn’t feel intimidated by the blonde anymore, but didn’t feel comfortable with all the staring. She opened her door, finding the three maids stop their sewing to get up, bow, and introduce themselves. Her room neighbor still caught her attention, though, she smiled a “see you at dinner time”. Adore smiled back and entered her room, finally talking to her maids.

“My lady”, a sweet girl greeted Katya as she opened the door. “I’m Anna and these are Clia and Judy, we are here to your service.”

“Do you want any help with your dress, lady…. Lady…” The Selected Lady could tell Clia was trying to read her pin. Oh God, why her parents didn’t give her an easier name like Angelina or Filippa?

“Katya. You can call me Katya”, she said as she held the maids hand. “And no, thanks. I’m just taking a nap, you can get yourselves some rest too. I’m sure you had a lot of work to do during the past week and I really appreciate it.”

“Do you want us to leave the room, my lady?” Now it was Judy’s time to talk. “If you wish, we can prepare your outfit for dinner or unpack your stuff…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. You can go rest, we all had a tough day today”, Katya was trying to be as polite as she could. The three maids seemed so eager to be helpful and they’re also very sweet, she couldn’t play the bitch with them. The thought that some girl in another room could be rude to her maids left a sour taste in her mouth. “You can call me when it’s time to go downstairs, so we can get ready and know each other better. Deal?”

“As you wish, Lady Katya”, Anna bowed before leaving the room, closely followed by Judy and Clia.

Then Katya was all by herself.

She started studying the room, it was almost three times bigger than the one she had back in Columbia. She also had her own bathroom, with a big bathtub – or was it a mini pool? - inside. A small closet (well, at least it seemed small for the palace’s standards) had some dresses, including the ones she could have chosen earlier at the Women’s Room. She noticed most of them were blue or green – or somewhere in between – and she knew why: these colors kind of make her eyes shine brighter.

After taking a look at the other things the royal family provided her with – jewelry, shoes, the largest mirror she’d ever seen, art materials –, Katya ended up lying on the floor, the lush carpets making her feel as comfy as she would be on her bed back at home.

Home. Even with the palace being miles away from Columbia, her room smelled just like home. Maybe Queen Danica had a touch on it, since she comes from the same province as Katya.

The thought of writing a letter popped in her head, but she was in a nice position down there. Her hands ran over the carpet she was now lying on, feeling the nice work whoever did it through her fingers. It was almost like caressing Polina’s soft fur, but better. Thank God her cat was not near. Katya swears Polina can understand what humans say – and even hear what they think – and likes to plot revenge to anyone who doesn’t think she’s the best creature to ever exist on Earth.

All that thinking about how her life would be in danger if her cat could hear her thoughts got Katya falling asleep on the floor. That’s how her maids found her about an hour later, waking her up with their gasps.

“Lady Katya?” Anna was down on her knees, shaking the girl’s arm. “Is everything right, milady? We can call the doctors if you wish.”

“I’m fine, Anna. I was… I was just sleeping”, Katya got up, hands quickly working on fixing hair and clothes. “This carpet is so good…”

“You could’ve used the bed, my lady.” Judy seemed amused by Katya’s choice on where to take a nap.

“I didn’t want to ruin it”, Katya lied, looking at the perfectly organized bed. She could sense the girls would protest and stopped them before they would even say anything. “It’s time to get ready for dinner, I guess. Let’s do this?”

After a series of bows, the three maids started working. Anna fixed Katya’s hair, Judy chose her outfit and Clia was working on her makeup. Katya asked questions whenever she could. Where are you from? What’s the most difficult part of your job? Is Bianca always that strict? Do you know the prince?

She didn’t stop for a second.

Twenty minutes later, Bianca knocked on the door. She looked impatient, but didn’t say anything. Soon Katya and the other 34 girls were heading to the Women’s Room, the sound of their heels click-clacking on the marble floor. It took a while for her to find Violet, who was talking to a blonde she could recognize from miles: Courtney Act. That’s right, THE Courtney Act.

“So you are the lovely Katya”, the shorter blonde smiled when Violet introduced them both. “Violet said you have, hum… a unique taste for jewelry.”

“Well, don’t we all?” Katya took her hand to the eyeball necklace she decided to wear for dinner. She almost regretted it, but flashed a smile at her favorite singer instead. “And I have to say, I love your last album. It’s my favorite.”

“So you’re a fan, huh?” Courtney’s face lit up. She seemed proud of herself. “Thanks. I worked really hard on it.”

As they arrived at the Women’s Room, the girls started taking places. Violet, Courtney and Katya found a spot right in front of the screen and were joined by Pearl, Ivy and Lineysha. The chat continued across the room, but there was someone who stayed quiet: Adore, alone, the unsure look from earlier still on her face.

The large screen on the room lit up, revealing the coat of arms of Illéa. The Capital Report has just started. An instrumental version of the national anthem was still playing when Carson Kressley appeared on screen, looking over excited. What do people put on his water, huh?

There was a bunch of announcements. Rebel attacks on Honduragua, progress of the war with New Asia, budget updates for projects… By the time the subject was some festival that happened in Labrador earlier this week, Adore felt someone sit by her side. It was Bianca, and she looked concerned.

“Miss Delano, is everything right?” The woman asked, sounding truly worried. “Why are you so distant from the others? I mean, I know all of you are here for the same reasons and only one can win, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to make some friends.”

“I believe they don’t want to be friends with me”, the teenager answered, matter-of-factly.

Katya could hear the conversation even though their voices were low. Adore wasn’t feeling that welcome. Maybe she heard Violet and the others calling her “The Replacement”. This can’t be good.

“We should talk to her”, she told Courtney, totally out of the blue.

“Who? The Replacement?” Violet threw herself into the conversation. “I don’t know, Katya.”

“I don’t get a good vibe from her, it’s almost like she doesn’t even want to be here”, Courtney finally answered. “I don’t want to spend my time around a Debbie Downer.”

“We didn’t even talk to her”, Katya was whisper-screaming now. “Maybe she’s just annoyed to have people talking about her. She could be nice…”

Her friends just rolled their eyes and chuckled, gluing their eyes to the TV before they could answer. The segment of their arrivals has just started.

“Here we can see Illéa’s Sweetheart Courtney Act saying her goodbyes to all her fans in Carolina”, Carson narrated the footage. “It’s the first time a worldwide famous celebrity makes it into The Selection. Isn’t it incredible, Your Majesty?”

“Absolutely” was all the king said.

Once they were done with the Mideast portion of the country, it was time to move closer to Angeles. First up, the northern provinces.

“Miss Yekaterina Zamolodchikova from Columbia was the real star of the day”, Carson did the voice-over as the screen showed Katya’s speech at the send-off ceremony. “She is really nice to watch: beautiful, funny and not afraid to get her hands dirty”, now the airport footage showed, special close-ups on Katya’s doll hands necklace, “NONE of her hands.”

As everybody greeted Katya, it was time for Violet, Ivy and Lineysha to shine on TV. Soon enough they were talking about Fennley’s Phi Phi O'Hara. By the time they were finished, Adore’s picture popped up on screen.

“And we’ve got a big surprise in this Selection. For the first time ever, a contestant was disqualified before the beginning of the competition, giving the chance for another star to shine. This star is, of course, Miss Adore Delano of Sonage, caste Five.”

“Oh, now she’s a star”, Violet started before getting playfully slapped by Katya.

“Miss Delano only knew she was a Selected lady this very morning, but accepted the challenge with grace and poise.” Carson said as the TV showed Adore at her send-off ceremony. She swears she looked like a dummy or something like that, but the editing made her look like a lady: mature, responsible and classy.

Then they showed that one moment in which Adore was holding Charlie for dear life before leaving her. Carson’s voice revealed he was now getting emotional: “Here Miss Delano says her farewells to her mother. I believe it’s the most beautiful scene we’ve got to see today.”

As all eyes were on her, Adore did her best to hold her tears. Bianca noticed and gave her a caring look. She couldn’t be more grateful.

[illuminating-dragons]

Nesting (1/?): New Additions

Summary:  Welcome to the sequel! For people who may be thinking 'well, I didn't read the original, but I will be okay to read this'....this is not one of those sequels. You need ALL the context. Now, let's go to the battlefield...

Read it on AO3

          The armies stood ready, flags flying in the wind. The only sounds were the faint babbling of the judges, sitting close together at a table.

           One side was short two members, but they weren’t afraid. They had the battle plan of the missing Sage, and the Lady, while well-beloved, hadn’t been able to fight for months.

           Besides, the judges were the children of their Handmaiden.

           The Handmaiden stood proud at the head of his troops, waiting for his Queen to give the word. His husband stood beside him, looking every so often towards the judges. There was always trouble when those two were bored.

           Finally, the Queen’s consort raised her hand. The Handmaiden stepped forward, ready to give one of the three speeches he knew (he’d already used the Braveheart speech that month)…

           Then his phone rang.

           “Oh come on, man!” someone yelled from the other side.

           “Shut up!” Queen Charlie said sharply. “We talked about this before, remember?”

           The heckler fell silent. They’d all heard about the possibility of a character break today.

           “Yeah, Sammy?” the Handmaiden was saying. He paled. “Yeah, we’ll be there in a minute.” He hung up. “Sorry, everyone. We’ve got to go. I’m about to be an uncle.”

           Both sides erupted into cheers.

           “Send Lady Sarah our love!”

           “We all want pictures!”

           Dean nodded distractedly as he dashed to the judge’s table and picked up his son.

           “Daddy, what’s going on?”

           Dean glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Cas had their daughter before heading to the Impala. “Aunty Sarah’s having her babies,” he explained. “We’re going to see them.”

           The little boy clapped his hands with delight.

           Sam held Sarah tight as another contraction ripped through her body. “You’re doing so well, honey,” he whispered soothingly.

           Sarah panted and tried to smile. “You have no idea how I’m doing, but I appreciate the trying.” She winced. “Adam, how much longer?”

           “Don’t look at me, I’m only pre-med!” Poor Adam had been home when Sarah went into labour, and once it was clear she wasn’t going to make it to the hospital, he’d been roped into helping. Sam had never appreciated his brother more.

           Kevin was also home. He’d locked himself in his room to pray for Gabriel to “please come quickly!” (poor kid couldn’t stand seeing people in pain). As Gabriel’s prophet, he had the best chance of getting through to the archangel in time. As Sarah screeched in his arms as another contraction hit, Sam worried for the first time that he wouldn’t make it in time.

           Women still die in childbirth.

           But no. It couldn’t be. Not after the last seven years, after their wedding and the art gallery just above the bookstore…

           Please Gabriel. Please hurry.

           Gabriel appeared out of nowhere, looking a bit frazzled. “Sorry, kiddos. Bit of trouble on Asgard.” He put a hand on Sarah’s forehead, and she sighed with relief. “I didn’t think you’d be this fast.”

           “Is something wrong?” Sam asked worriedly.

           “No, everything’s fine,” Gabriel said soothingly, his hand going to Sarah’s stomach. “Kiddos are just excited to be born. They should be, family like this.”

           Sam smiled, but his worry didn’t totally fade. Of course his twins would be lucky to have this family—they had an amazing mother, wonderful aunts and uncles, and two cousins (with another on the way, once Hannah was satisfied with her nest). But…would they want him? He’d had some practice with Mary and Adam, but that was being an uncle, not a dad.

           “Sam. Focus up.”

           Sam looked at Gabriel.

           “You’re going to be just fine,” Gabriel promised, his voice unusually gentle. “Now let’s get your babies born, okay?”  

           The last few moments of the birth were a complete blur. Sarah crying out from pressure, not pain, Adam searching for the blankets Benny and Anna had made, Gabriel chanting quietly in Enochian...

           Then—“Sam, hold your daughter while I get your son turned around.”

           Adam took hold of Sarah as Sam let go, holding his arms out for the baby wrapped in a blanket crocheted with suns. The tiny baby looked up at him, and Sam felt himself start to cry. “Hi baby,” he whispered. “I’m your Daddy. It’s so good to meet you…”

           He heard Sarah gasp and turned to see her reaching for a baby swaddled in stars. “Hi sweetheart,” she crooned. “Oh, you’re beautiful…” She brought their son to her breast and he latched on hungrily. Sam gently lay down beside her, holding their daughter so she could feed too. Sarah looked up at him, and Sam was struck by the love in her eyes, the love he never thought he would have.

           “Our babies,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”

           “I love you too,” Sam whispered back, throat tight. “I love you all…”

           It was awkward like this, but he managed to take her hand.

           “Do you need anything, Sarah?” Adam asked gently. Gabriel was cleaning up, laying a hand on Sarah’s stomach once more.

           “I could sit like this forever,” Sarah replied dreamily. Then she blinked. “Actually, I’d better get covered up a bit before everyone comes in. And…maybe some water?”          

           “Water coming up,” Adam promised. As he opened the door, Kevin poked his head in, his headphones dangling.

           “Is it…is it over? Omigosh, they’re adorable!”

           Sarah laughed. “The screaming’s over, Kevin. Come on in!”

           Kevin came in and cooed over the babies. Their son finished feeding first, and they switched babies. Sam studied his son’s face. He looks like Dean, he realized. And then, he looks like me too.

           Adam had returned with water and some fruit and the twins were both cuddled between them—

           Then a stampede began over their heads.

           Adam glared at the ceiling, and Sarah giggled. “I think our family’s home.”

           Sam could hear Jody and Donna’s voices among the clamor, trying to shush the mob.

           “They seem okay,” Sam noticed. His son actually looked sleepy.

           “They’ve had a while to get used to it,” Gabriel agreed. “Oh, Balthazar called—he and the Braedens are on their way.”

           The door swung wide and the family poured in, Dean leading the way with Adam Gabriel in his arms. Everyone was in Moondoor gear except for Jody and Donna. Charlie’s crown was askew and Benny’s quiver was upside down.

           “Did you guys get any fighting done?” Sam asked. He was smiling—he couldn’t stop smiling.

           “Nah, we got your call just before we started,” Dean said softly, tenderness in his eyes. “Look at you two, huh? As pretty as your mama, thank goodness.”

           “Jerk.”

           For a moment everyone just looked at the babies, all crowded into the small Bunker room he and Sarah had shared for seven years. Seven years leading to two new lives.

           “So,” Meg asked in a would-be casual voice. “What are their names?”

           “We should tell them, shouldn’t we sweetheart?” Sam asked Sarah. “After all, they’re the newest members of our family.”

           “Yes,” Sarah agreed. “And they need to settle their bet that they don’t think we know about.”

           The humans in the room blushed. Benny just shrugged. “Thought I could make some easy money.”

           “Well, we’ll see,” Sarah said. She cradled their daughter closer as she fussed. “This is Abigail Ellen. We’re going to call her Abby, that’s what my—my mom went by.” She blinked hard, and Sam squeezed her hand.

           “And—where are Bobby and Rufus?” Sam asked, distracted. They’d gone out for groceries about two hours before.

           “Right here, son.” Bobby pushed his way to the front of the crowd. He beamed at the babies. “You both did good work.”

           “Sarah did most of the work,” Sam said immediately.

           “You did work too,” Sarah corrected him. Sam knew she wasn’t referring to the ecstatic moments of conceiving their children, or even the months where he hovered over her, making sure that she didn’t want for anything (until she told him to go away and let her breathe on her own). No, she was talking about the years before, when he shook in the nights and tried to believe that she could love him. That he could ever love her enough.

           It was the hardest work he’d ever done, but today, holding their children, surrounded by their family, Sam knew it was worth it.

           “Well,” Sam said, coming back to the present, “I wanted to name our first son—”

           “What do you mean first?” Sarah cut in.

           “Sorry,” Sam sputtered. “I thought you wanted more kids; if you changed your mind that’s okay.”

           “I haven’t changed my mind,” Sarah replied. “But why are you so sure our next kid is going to be a boy? Maybe it’s a girl.”

           “I think you might both be right,” Gabriel said casually.

           Sam didn’t press that. “Anyways…I wanted to name our first son after the two men who raised me. Who made me who I am.” He held his son up. “Say hello to Robert Dean, everyone.”

           Dean’s eyes filled with tears. Cas took Adam from him and Dean gently took the baby, cradling him between him and Bobby. “Hey little man,” he whispered. “Welcome to the family.”

[janovec]

putting this below the line bc it’s so long lmao

tagged by @ruinsrebuilt​ who is the sweetest sweet and we are also happily married if you don’t follow ash i pity you

i’m tagging @freyja-sonaan @buckcompton @bullrandleman @webgottrash @georgeluz @dustyjumpwingz @johnhalls

sorry to everyone who was already tagged!!!!!

LAST

1) Drink: water you know i stay #hydrated

2) Phone Call: my mom

3) Text Message: answers to statistics homework lmao

4) Song Listened To: chariot - gavin degraw

5) Time I Cried: sometime this week in my sleep i think ://

HAVE YOU EVER

6) Dated Somebody Twice: nah

7) Been Cheated On: no

8) Been Kissed By Someone And Regretted It: eh kind of

9) Lost Someone Special: i’ve lost my grandfather but we were never especially close so it was hard but for kind of different reasons

10) Been Depressed: :(

11) Gotten Drunk And Puked: oye yes multiple times

THREE FAVORITE COLORS

12) burnt orange

13) indigo

14) grey

IN THE LAST YEAR

15) Made New Friends: yeah

16) Fallen Out Of Love: no

17) Laughed Until You Cried: yes but a lot of those times i was laughing because i was so fucking confused about something so they were also somewhat tears of confusion

18) Found Out Someone Was Gossiping About You: no but i’ve definitely been worried about it

19) Met Someone Who Changed Your Life: i think everyone you meet changes your life in some way, but yes i think i have

20) Found Out Who Your True Friends Are: pretty much yeah. being away from most of my high school friends for a year showed me who really matters and also helped me figure out who i’ve met at college is actually a good friend

21) Kissed Someone On Your Facebook List: not with in the last year  came back to edit this because i realized i did kiss my second ASM for sister act but it was just a peck bc we are friends lmao

HOW MANY/MUCH

22) Facebook Friends: 1,059 sorry i’m trash??

23) Pets: none :((( my parents don’t like pets and i can’t have a pet at school

24) Want To Change Your Name: i don’t like my name a ton but it is a part of what’s made me who i am, because of how i’ve been perceived and also just little things like always growing up w/ people misspelling it and stuff so i don’t think i would ever change it, though i do try to ask people to use my nickname when i can

WHAT

25) Did I Get For My Birthday: my birthday is tomorrow so we’ll find out!!! i did order myself a stage management clipboard that is supposed to come in tomorrow though so that is kind of like my gift to myself lmao

26) Time I Woke Up: i set an alarm every 15 minutes starting at 7 so i could get up for my class at 8:30 this morning but i just turned them all off and decided to sleep through my class and instead got up at 9:30 for my spanish class instead ://

27) Were You Doing At Midnight: working on statistics hw, having a minor breakdown in my res hall’s cafe lmao

28) Can’t You Wait For: sister act!!!, classes to end, transferring to the music school (fingers crossed)

29) Was The Last Time You Saw Your Mom: like 2 weeks ago

30) Was Something You Wish You Could Change About Your Life: I wish I had an easily attainable career goal

31) Are You Listening To Right Now: my “songs i heard and liked” spotify playlist

32) Gets On Your Nerves: people sharing articles they wrote on the odyssey on facebook when they are just... Bad like i’m all for people writing what they want and sharing their opinions but i read these articles and i’m like.......you have so many grammar errors and did no research why do u do this

33) Talked To A Person Named Tom: like in my life i think i have idk the most recent time i have though haha

34) Is Your Most Visited Website: probably facebook and tumblr

35) Elementary School: washington??

36) High School: whs 

37) College: university of michigan

38) Hair Color: like a reddish light brown???

39) Long/Short Hair: short, a bit above shoulder length

40) Crush: eion bailey and kate mckinnon

41) Do You Like About Yourself: my passion and dedicatoin

42) Piercings: 3 in each ear

43) Blood Type: AB

44) Nickname: aj, alafral, zelski, big mama, baby hands

45) Relationship Status: single yall hmu

46) Zodiac: pisces!!!!!!!!!!!

47) Pronouns: she/her/hers

48) Favorite Show: band of brothers has been for years and always will be lmao. but i also love orange is the new black, but that’s not even near the same level as BoB

49) Tattoos: none yet!! i have lots of plans but i want to do the disney college program and you can’t have any visible ones so the only one i may get before my junior year when i plan to do that is on my ribs i plan to get my zodiac sign and my best friend and gonna get hers too

50) Left/Right Handed: right

FIRST

51) Surgery: none!! i’ve had lots of scares though and i’ve gonna lots of stitches before and stuff lmao

52) Piercing: traditional ear piercing

53) Best Friend: anna

54) Sport: soccer and dance

55) Vacation: holy shit no clue?? maybe the bahamas?

56) Pair Of Shoes: also don’t know but i remember having like red ruby slippers i loved

RIGHT NOW

57) Eating: nothing (i probably should tho damn)

58) Drinking: water

59) I Am About To: watch my statistics lecture that i missed 

60) Listening To: ultralight beam by kanye west

61) Waiting For: sam to pick me up for rehearsal

62) Want To See: sleep no more on bway!!

63) Want To Get Married: if i ever find someone :/// but yeah one day

64) Career: i don’t have one rn, hope to have some kind of career in theatre production because i’m planning to get a bachelor in theatre arts but fuck i have no fucking clue yall im jus out here like always

WHICH IS BETTER

65) Hugs/Kisses: honestly i was gonna say hugs but probably kisses, hugs from close friends always top everything but when it’s a hug from someone else i feel far too uncomfortable and kissing is fun lmao

66) Lips/Eyes: eyes

67) Taller/Shorter: i am short so i love anyone taller than me

68) Younger/Older: i feel like i usually like being around people older than me?? but i don’t think one is better

69) Romantic/Spontaneous: i’m a hopeless romantic but definitely spontaneity

70) Nice Arms/Nice Stomach: hm idk i don’t really pay much attention to either?? 

71) Sensitive/Loud: i’m like..both and everyone i like to hang out with are both i don’t think one is better than the other

72) Hookup/Relationship: relationships, i’m okay with like making out with random people but that’s about as far as i’ll go you know

73) Troublemaker/Hesitant: i feel like i lean more towards troublemakers but not necessarily recklesness

HAVE YOU EVER

74) Kissed A Stranger: yea oops

75) Drank Hard Liquor: .....also yes

76) Lost Glasses/Contact Lenses: don’t need them!!

77) Turned Someone Down: yeah 

78) Canoodling On A First Date: nah

79) Broken Someone’s Heart: ...if i have i didn’t know

80) Had Your Own Heart Broken: somewhat

81) Been Arrested: nope

82) Cried When Someone Died: no

83) Fallen For A Friend: yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN

84) Yourself: rarely

85) Miracles: generally no

86) Santa Claus: oye

87) Kisses On A First Date: no

88) Angels: i believe in something like them i think

89) Love At First Sight: not really

OTHER

90) Best Friend’s Name: abbie her url is nebulaempresse but i’m not gonna tag her in this bc she’ll make fun of me lmao

91) Eye Color: hazel/light brown w/ some greenish which i think is p much hazel

92) Favorite Movie: forrest gump!!!!!

[saltysodavevo]

sorry

thanks for nothing. i came because you were my friend, not because i wanted to be lied to and hurt.

vent under the cut

I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. You ruined my life. I never want to see you again. It’s your fault. I hate you.

Yet I still choose to remember you.

Your name was Anna. You loved bananas. Rarity was your favorite pony. Neeky was your best friend. And I like to think that, at one point, I was too. You had a sister. Her name was Abby. She loved Disney. She loved Disney movies. Her life revolved around them. She loved to roleplay. She was your best friend, and you were hers.

We were so happy. There wasn’t a single moment when you weren’t happy and excited for something. Except-

When we had a fight. Yes, I remember. Exactly how it went.

I called myself a night owl. You got mad. That was Abby’s spirit animal. You told Abby, she got mad at me too. The rest is fuzzy, but you- You called me a whore. And you hurt me. You made me cry, for the first time. Though it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

We broke apart.

Later, we- we came back. When I told the truth about my name and age. You seemed to take it well. That was good. We were all friends again. We were happy. It was nice.

I was happy.

Until one day, you texted me out of the blue.

You told me that Abby died.

I was heartbroken, at a loss for words. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t find the right words. I didn’t know what to do. I cried, again. I was 9, 10 maybe. Naive. I believed it. You told me her friend would be on her account. I talked to “her friend”. I asked if they would sue.

“No, it wasn’t anyone’s fault, and besides, the camp was fun anyway.”

And I believed you.

I trusted you.

I was naive.

Last year, I reread the story Abby had wrote for you. For your birthday. The last words written were “maybe we should wake up,” spoken by one of two characters laying in bed, contemplating their next actions. I won’t lie. I teared up.

I spoke to you for the first time in years.

“hey

anna

uh

do you know where abby was going in her fanfiction for you?”

“Hm? Oh that! Sorry, I forgot all about it but.. no I.. actually have no idea.. I don't know if she's continuing it :c”

“ak

that sucks

i just finished reading it and

i was actually the one she trusted to proofread it

i feel like i should be the one to continue it

idk but

aaa

i wanna continue it but i don't know where she was going with it”

“She's busy right now, idk if she wants to continue it.. but I can see if she really really wants to, if not she'll probably just give it up to us! :D”

Color me confused.

I didn’t understand. I thought she had died.

I asked Neeky if she remembered.

“hey uh

idk if you talk to anna anymore but dont tell her i said this

didn't abby..die ??? i was asking her about the fnaf fanfiction and

hold on ill just send a transcript ig”

“she keeps saying it as if it never happened

and i just

im getting mixed messages

like

was she lying? is she talking about someone else who 'took abby's place'??? im honestly so fuck ing c o nf us ed

and im too much of a fucking wimp to ask her

there was such a huge boom about it when it happened

i remember she messaged me after it, she was upset as fuck and i mean i understood, i still do, her sister died and she got her phone and it was almost her birthday and i just aaa

but i dont

whats going on anymore im fu ckign”

“When did she supposedly die? Like a month or something?”

“wh

i

when we used to be the odd squad?”

“Lmao I worded that weird sorry like was it when school was still going”

“it was

camp

i think

yeah

and there was supposedly a big zipline over a waterfall with sharp rocks and abby wasn't secured properly

thats how i know it

i remember it like yesterday even, anna was so upset but im starting to think it was a lie i dont even fucking know anymore”

“Um,,,,, p sure she's not dead if Anna went to school as her normal self. Knowing anna, she would be so upset that she most likely wouldn't step out of her house?

That's when we still talked so she would've told me if she died and I don't recall she ever did?”

“have you seen abby around though?

she told me, i remember it, goddamn it

i think i still have the screenshot, even

im fucked up dude like what the fuck even

i,

he lp”

“Wait,,, idk if you remember but her dad was the vice principal of our middle school at the time. even he didn't take time off or something to mourn or attend a funeral or something of the sort.

Unless I somehow missed an entire period of my life”

“i have the screenshot but anna's wording it like it never happened and i dont understand i”

“Well I mean my point still stands. She didn't look any different while at school and when she texted me, she sounded as enthusiastic as she was before. Perhaps she lied?

And adding what you've said about how she talks, it doesn't really seem like something this tragic happened.”

So we confronted Anna about it.

“Hey anna”

“Ya?”

“uh

so

about abby”

“Ya..”

“didnt she...die? when i was talking to you about the fanfic you worded it all as if it never happened

‘ Hm? Oh that! Sorry, I forgot all about it but.. no I.. actually have no idea.. I don't know if she's continuing it :c’

‘ She's busy right now, idk if she wants to continue it.. but I can see if she really really wants to, if not she'll probably just give it up to us! :D’ “

“OH YEAAAAAAA

I thought I didn't tell you..

Sorry..

SHORT TERM MEMORY LOSS SUCKS”

“but”

“..?

Her friend took over her accounts, yah.”

“but neeky said when you went to school you seemed happy and chipper as usual and- wasnt your dad the vice principal or something

?

neeky said there wasnt any funeral or anything and i do nt

e ve ne

i mf ucke d u p”

“I.. really don't like talking about this”

So then Neeky asked:

“Like I wasn't even told about this until not too long ago,,,,

Um can you at least give me some info if this is real bc I didn't even know,,.,.,..,”

So then you left. And I tried to get in touch with you and ask what happened. Just- for any answer. Any smidge of an answer you had for me.

Nothing.

You were quiet.

Until you finally answered.

And tore my heart in pieces.

“I.. alright, yes, I did lie to you.. anyways.. I.. I'm really sorry but.. no, I'm not sorry.. let's just get this over with.

I can't be your friend.

You've lied to me and told me the truth but..

I really hate that because I gave so much of my friendship to you.

One of my good friends on Kik is going to talk to you, goodbye.”

I got a message.

I talked to your friend.

I was told to kill myself, that I hurt you, you’ll never forgive me, you hate me, you don’t want to be my friend, you don’t want to see me ever again.

I cried.

Again.

And now here we are.

Present day.

And I’m writing about you.

I guess there’s a reason we remember our most traumatizing moments.

I hate you.