#and it was at the part where the guy just snapped and started chasing frankie and everyone that was still alive

[jack-lina]

bathhouse scenario

paired: sabo

wc: 1907

Play Songs While Reading This For Best Experience

ANYWAYSS ENJOY YOU HORNY MOTHA FUCKERSSS!!!

👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

Luffy pulled my arm causing me to almost lose balance. " We should take a bath together! " He exclaimed happily facing the men's side and then back at me. I flushed seconds later at his ridiculous comment, which caused Ace to laugh. " We're not 9 anymore dipshit! " - He grinned widely - " Besides! She's a female and we're both males! Its separated you fucking idiot! " He mocked as usual, and tried to cross his eyes, also resulting me to spit and giggle at his foolish actions.

" Aceeeeee, th eeeeei AaassSSSHOLEEEEE. " I slurred in a silly tone. The two looked over to me. This time it was Luffy's turn to crack up and flash his signature smile. We both laughed until Luffy got yeeted into the men's room by a red faced Ace.

He turned his back and lifted his hand up and waved the back side of his hand with the other in his pocket meaning ' Cya later. '

Fucking lazy bastard.

I rolled my eyes, smiled and walked aswell, going opposite, to the females side.

As I walked to the closest stall, near the big mirrors, shower stalls, and toilet stalls, a voice called out.

" Y/NNNN!!!!! " Nami sounding impatient,

yelled my name from inside the stallroom. " I'm coming! " I replied louder.

With a sigh, and 5 minute self prepare, I changed my usual oversized hoodie and jeans into just a towel. I unlocked the stall and skipped along but then stopped at the huge mirror in front of me.

Wow...

I no longer look like a crazy anime freak, who loves sketching and drinking Pepsi and uses a

fucking

twig as weapon

but a pretty e-looking egirl.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by a slightly higher but rustier voice. " Yeah C'mon Y/n- " BANG! The voice disappeared thinking that it was Luffy on the females side, being hit by, most likely, Nami. I sighed, walked to the entrance, pushed the curtain aside, and entered the bathhouse.

My eyes we're drowned by beautiful waters all around me. Real rock ledges, water pouring down the rock walls, hot steam surrounding every part, and a huge rock wall separating us girls from the boys.

" What did Luff- " I spoke up focusing back to the girls and was cut off from shock - " What the- " I looked up , spotting the 5 familiar male figures poking out, leaning atop the top of the wall. Trying to fucking look at us huh? Perverts.. Wait a minute.. I thought Nami would be pissed off at this, why is she just- I brought my eyes back down to the two females. they we're looking my way. All of them... My face burned as I studied them back trying to think if someone stopped time or if they are playing around. But no, minutes had gone by and all was heard was the loud splashes of water being poured around the bathhouse....

" OIIIIIIII!! Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, Brook, Chopper. Did you all do something that bad enough that Nami's not throwing hands? " Ace yelled over, cackling afterward, glancing at Law, Franky, Sabo, and Zoro, which made them laugh. They didn't care to join up top and stare. Law didn't give a shit, Franky didn't want to hurt Robin's feelings, Sabo also had a similar reason, while Zoro exactly had Law's reason aswell. I shivered at the cold, arms holding up my towel. I decided to join the girls now ignoring the stares. Sanji cursed under his breath as I hopped into the shallow end , bending down in the water to cover my parts, causing my towel to get soggy in an instant. I threw the wet towel to the side, and swam to the two slowly, making sure not to get up. Even though the steam was most places, I didn't want to risk showing anything to those bastards... Sabo th- NO WHY AM I THINKING THIS HOLY SHITTTTTTTTTTTT!!!

Although as my mind started roaming dirty, Nami spoke up, making me jump slightly. " Listen here Y/n... You need to realize, you look like a fucking goddess, and if men are absolutely dead silent looking at you, including face heats up and sweat downs, then its a good sign. " Nami exclaimed with a know-it-all grin. Robin started clapping as Nami sat back down. " Beautiful speech! " Robin said heartwarmingly, giggling afterward. Nami nodded toward me as if she queued in my response. I paused and nodded back hesitantly.

" So.. you're saying, I looked like shit before, but if all my clothes are off, I look great? " I asked her looking down at the water staring at the reflection. Nami frowned and Robin's expression changed from happy to full of regret. " Well Y/n , thats one way of looking at it I guess. " Robin said blankly.

" No Y/n- "

I cut off Nami, elbowing her hard in the shoulder. I started laughing and spit out " I'm kidding. " I heard the men's side was pretty quiet this whole time.. wonder what they're up to... Nami faced me and gave me a crooked smile. " You got me. " She eventually said and gave off her own rave of laughter, making robin shoot some cackles at the sight of us having a stupidly funny moment.

But it was eventually cut off by a huge splash further away, closer to the entrance of the bathhouse on our side. We all jumped letting out a couple high pitched girl screams. Before Nami could yell at the perverted man to get the fuck back to the men's side and Robin and I to scramble to get ourselves something was coming straight at us.

someone was coming right at us. someone was coming right at me.

LUFFY WAS COMING RIGHT AT ME. AND HE WAS BEING CHASED BY ACE. " ACE!!! CHASE LUFFY SOMEWHERE ELSE!! GET YOUR NAKED ASS'S OUTTA HERE! " Nami screamed. I acted in the couple seconds I had left, covering myself the best I could with the thin ass skinny arms and legs I could muster to hide the you know where parts. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I also decided to do that and not run away, because I could expose myself to the boys, well how? Because the 5 boys we're still up there... No wait... All of them are.... So..... I let Luffy fling himself onto me. Sadly, at this moment, Luffy was unaware that he was clutching onto my naked body and so was his. He was also burying his face in my tits... so.... I Shuddered. " Luffy please- " Before I could use some effort in shoving him off of me, Ace was seconds away and looked like he could massacre anyone in his way right about now. " I'M NOT LETTING GO! " Luffy screamed, and so, Ace kicked Luffy back to the men's side, forgetting that I was pinned with him, making us fly back together.

Luffy let go though right away, but since I was so fucking light, I ended up going further towards the deep end. Not so deep that the men ( with devil fruit powers ) had to swim ( because obviously they can't and it would be hard to continue this god damn scenario like that ) but deep enough that a girl like me, short as fuck ( your not short just roll with it ok? ) can barely not even reach the bottom, even with the tips. But it all happened so fast, and the impact... I swear to god ace is on steroids.... anyways, it was so fast, I started freaking out, my back stung, where I landed on, and everything started getting hazy but before things got worse, I felt some hands slid into mine, and before I knew it, I was back above surface. I blinked a few times taking in my surroundings. Chopper, Sanji, Usopp, Franky, Brook, Law, and Zoro we're all around me staring in a circle.

I then realized Sabo was the owner of the hands that he intertwined mine with, and without thinking, he pulled me close. " Are you ok? Are you hurt? Do- " I shoved him away. My face was burning. " S-SABO KUN! " I yelled in reply, not realizing I added kun afterward. Sabo's face went red and everyone else stayed quiet and watched. My neck and below was covered by the water, holding onto him to not sink, but pushing away for space. I need to get away from these naked men. I heard a whistle in the distance. It was the writer, " YEAHHHH GIVE EM SOME! " She yelled in a sexy playful tone. I freaked, I tried letting go of Sabo and risk it in a daze. I'm. On. The. Men's. Side. But instead, Sabo gripped my hands tighter and pulled me in. " SABO! " I exclaimed. The boys suddenly startled at Sabo's uncommon behavior of clinginess and Y/n's sudden nervousness. Some eased the tension by whistling aswell for fun or making cute kissy noises but it just made me sweat more. Obviously Sabo noticed and started to growl at them, whilst a few shut up, some did not.

However the tension was cut off completely because a recent appearance suddenly appeared again. Luffy. He appeared out of nowhere trying to reach out and grab my arm. " MINE! " Luffy screamed once again, making me jump and Sabo sternly staring at him with his doll eyes, which once looked full of adorable cuteness, now looked like a cold dark piercing glare. But after a few seconds, Sabo's expression changed to seriousness, facing the girls side, He yelled " ACE A TOWEL PLEASE! " pulling me behind him , shield like, and put the palm of his hand on Luffy's forehead, " LUFFY!!! STOP!!! NOW!! " He yelled again at Luffy with the most scariest face I've ever seen him make, resulting me to grip my arms around his waist, face buried in his back, causing him to straighten up and flush at my actions. A towel was thrown shortly after and in seconds Sabo picked me up and quickly wrapped the towel around me before the guys saw shit. He turned me around ubruptly and placed me in his arms gently bridal style, and lifted me just over the water so it wouldn't get soggy at the bottom. What a sweetheart.

I let my head lean into the crooked part of his neck while he started walking to the side of the bathhouse, with all the ledges, He leaned his head ,slightly tilted on top of mine, not noticing he had purred at my action and enjoyed having my hot breath against his neck. I liked this. I liked this a lot. Once he reached the edge of the waters, he set me down above, trying not to bend up too high to show his dick, but just enough to place me without doing so. He climbed on the rock beside it and sat. We stood like that for a bit. And then-

Ok guys,

I tried for this one, and I have an announcement!!

You guys can choose a part two, either continue Sabo x reader, change it, or both!

I can do separate ones if you can't decide!

But make sure to also add an idea aswell, like from

bathhouse

to

shower stall ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°) ,

or

hotel room ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)

or

date,

or

sudden confession

or

WHATEVER I JUST WANT TO WRITEEEEEE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH pls give ideas( ͡ಥ ͜ʖ ͡ಥ)

Aka if you want a part two, comment either sabo or another character and the idea or scenario from there!

[wyn-n-tonic]

Golden, Like Daylight -- Part II

Word Count: 1,846 Warnings: References to drug use. PTSD. Ben Affleck. As always, if I forgot anything please message me and I'll amend this warning. A/N: Protect Francisco Morales at all goddamn costs, honestly. 

MASTERLIST | PART: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX

“Fish?”

He cringes inward at his military nickname, it rips at his heart hearing it drip from his best friend’s mouth now. This man he would die for, almost has died for. None of the others had called him that in years, he insisted on Frankie with them. But he’d barely heard from Santiago, had no way of telling him.

He hears the words he’s saying, same shit he always says:

“I need a pilot. I can’t do this thing without you."

Years of that shit pulling him into another tour here. A deployment there. Again and again. Long after he served his sentence and was free to go.

“I don’t know, man. I got the new baby now,” he beams. Santi didn't know Luna and all Frankie wanted to do was tell him about her but he holds back, opting instead for, “And my lady isn’t into my doing this kinda shit anymore.”

He looks back at Will, a knowing look exchanged between the two. He is begging for his brother to step in, say something. Save him. He’s throwing Leah under the bus but, fuck it, it’s true. She isn’t into him doing this kinda shit anymore. And she wasn’t the biggest fan of Santi, always coming up with shit to get the rest of the boys into.

“Wha—what does that mean?”

Frankie lets out a breath he feels like he’s been holding all day and stands, knowing he’ll start shaking if he doesn’t. The knee bouncing is getting out of hand but he was hesitant to seek out anti anxiety medication while detoxing. He’d just sweat it all out anyway. Santiago’s droning on behind him, hell bent on staving off rejection.

“Did you read the text? This can change you and that baby’s life forever.”

Leave it to Santi to exclude Leah, he wasn’t necessarily her biggest fan either. But to just gloss right over her? Didn’t even fucking ask Luna’s name.

He crosses his arms, “What happened to that bullshit about going back to your mother’s homeland and empowering the people to police themselves?”

Santiago stares him down, a power grab of a laugh escaping him.

“Anyway, I lost my license. I can’t even fly right now.” Please just drop it, please just drop it, please just drop it.

Benny’s wrapping his knuckles. William’s looking between the two. And Santiago? Santiago is closing the space between them.

“I don’t need a pilot with a license, I’m in with the army down there,” he says as if that makes things better. It doesn’t. He knows it, Frankie knows it, the Millers know it. But if there’s one thing Santiago Garcia gets, it’s his fucking way.

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Frankie’s firm, he’s not fucking doing it this time. He’s worked too goddamn hard on everything. Built a life out of rubble and was this close to pissing it away, he’s not gonna seal the deal on Leah’s promise to go.

Santi paces, frustrated, “Lorea is destroying that country. So we get to take out a very bad man, and, oh, by the way, there’s a winning lottery ticket stuck to the bottom of your cowboy boot.” He says that last bit with a mock tone and he’s smiling, believing he’s got Frankie now. A bit of a tease to rile his best friend up, get him laughing, get him in it. “Every guy in that gym would jump at this.”

“Come on, focus, guys! It’s fight night.” —————

“Hey!” He catches up with Santi in the hall, “I didn’t mean to call your shit bullshit.”

He didn’t, really. He knows where Santiago’s coming from but he can’t be the one in the thick of it anymore.

Another of those cool, indignant laughs, “It's all right.”

“I got busted,” Frankie says coolly, like he’s letting you know he left the light on, “it’s not a big deal.”

Santi’s head snaps to the right.

“Actually,” the taller of the two continues, “It's a big deal.”

“Coke?” Santiago’s trying not to let Frank’s addiction shock him, scoffing, “Jesus, Frankie.”

“Technically, it’s a suspension, I’m still under review but… it fucked everything up with Leah. I’ve been detoxing in Will’s spare room for weeks.”

“You’re telling me she didn’t know before the suspension? I don’t buy that.” Frankie tried to ignore the venom in his words.

“No, she knew. We’ve been in couple’s counseling while I’ve been getting clean, she said she didn’t know it was as often as it was. Just thought it was a hit here and there.”

“So things are good still?”

Frankie takes a deep breath, “We seem to have gotten back to good but that’s not where I wanna be, Pope. I wanna be great.” He looks to Santi and then Will, “What about you? What are you gonna do?”

There was no doubt in the world where Benny stood. He’d follow Santiago into hell. He pretty much had on more than one occasion but Benny always was a wildcard. Will was too calculated for that bullshit, he needed a plan. He needed foundation under his feet, not just charisma and Frankie would follow him. Frankie owed him his life. Will was the one to convince Frankie to hang it up. The one putting a half dead Frankie in cold showers and pumping his fucking stomach on no sleep. Will was the one Leah called when Frankie got too close to the edge. His brother, Luna’s godfather.

“I said if Redfly’s in, I’m in.”

Fuck! Fucking Tom. Frankie takes his hat off, adjusts his hair. I fucking hate Tom. —————

“Tom is not in our wedding,” Leah glared down the kitchen island at Frankie, arguing again about the goddamn wedding party. She didn’t even want it anymore. Had thrown her hands up, on more than one occasion, and begged to just run down to the courthouse.

And it all circled back to Tom fucking Davis.

“We served together for ten years, Leah! It’s a bit fucked up to have the rest of the boys up there in tuxes, Tess as our flower girl and Tom is,” he flails his hands out, “Three rows back with that one coworker who brings you coffee every Friday.”

“Bold of you to assume I’d let Tom sit that close to the altar, Francisco Morales. And next to Alexa? She is my angel and Tom Davis will be nowhere near her, do you understand me?”

“Then marry Alexa, babe!”

Leah put her hands on her hips, “Bitch, I might.”

He breaks and laughs, lifting his hat to rub at his forehead, “What do you want me to tell him then? You have plenty of friends who could be a fourth bridesmaid.”

“How about you drop Benny too?” She shrugs, “Just keep Will and Santi and I’ll keep my sisters. Two and two.”

He throws the hat on the counter, “YOU LOVE BENNY!”

“You're right, baby,” she laughs, eyes bright. A challenge on the tip of her tongue. "Drop Santi.”

He charges after her, ready for her words, and chases her through the house. Their house. Still nowhere near unpacked after a month and he’s cursing the unintended obstacle course he’s laid out for himself. She’s making quick work of it but, fuck, he’s out of shape.

He runs up the stairs, back screaming with every step as he gains on her. It helps his legs are much longer than hers.

She makes it to the bedroom, spinning to close the door but he grabs her before she can, pinning her down with all his weight. She insisted on the nicest sheets they could find and almost never made the bed, preferring to fall right into the softness without much work.

He ran his hand down her body, drumming his fingers in a soft rhythm until he reached her thigh, hitching it over his hip.

Her heart was still racing from the chase but Frankie felt it tick upwards as he placed his lips on her neck.

“Francisco,” she whined, “we can’t do this right now. We have to do grown up things.”

He smiles into the soft skin, “this is grown up things.”

“You know what I mean.”

He looks up at her, “hmm…” He’s got her right where he wants her, none the wiser as he reaches down to her knee and—

“Frankie, what are you doing?” Her voice comes out an octave higher, panic in her eyes pleading with him not to when the corner of his mouth crooks upwards and—

He digs his fingers into the soft flesh at the bend of her knee, smile blown wide as she screams out like a hyena.

“Stop! Stop!” She laughs through labored breaths, “baby, it was just a joke.”

“You're not funny,” he lulls with a kiss.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” her eyes filled with hurt and conviction, “I'm hilarious so… ya know, jot that down.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“But Tom fucking Davis is not in our wedding or I swear to god, Francisco Morales, I will call the whole goddamn thing off. It is my day and I’m not having his big Irish head in my wedding photos for the rest of my life.”

He laughs again, “Fine. But what should I tell him?”

“Tell him I fucking hate him.”

“You don’t hate anybody, baby, I don’t think you’ve got that in your heart. Be serious with me, please. What do I tell him?”

“Tell him,” she thinks for a second, because she absolutely does have the capacity for hate in her heart, “that I can’t choose amongst my friends for a fourth bridesmaid and so I just want to keep the party small with only my sisters.”

He seems satisfied by that, nodding his head. “But I am keeping Santi.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“But…”

Her stare is like daggers, “I’m not talking about Tom anymore.”

“No. No, it’s not that,” he’s laughing, his life is all laughter now. “I just still think we should set Pope up with Kristyn.”

She’s pushing out from under him, sitting up for the higher ground. Her finger is in his face, her words are measured, “If Santiago Garcia even so much as looks at my little sister, I will do what so many have tried and failed to do before.”

“And what's that, sweetheart?”

“I will kill him.”

The whole bed is shaking with his laughter now, “You're right, baby, you’re hilarious.” —————

Will’s in front of them now, hands on his knees, “What's the verdict?”

Tom looks at Frankie, then to Will, “I'm in for the recce if you guys are.”

The world goes quiet, replaced by a high pitched ringing in Frankie’s ear as he downs the world’s shittiest beer.

Fuck.

“Fish?” Santiago’s voice cuts clear through, always had.

Frankie lowers the plastic cup, “When is it?”

“We leave Thursday.”

Fuck.

Again, he lets go of a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, staring off into the ring. Staring off at nothing and everything.

“Okay.”

This could change his family’s life forever.

Fuck.

TAGLIST: @justanotherblonde23 | @greeneyedblondie44 | @icanbeyourjedi | @notcookiebelle | @princess76179​ | @bbuckysbeardd​

[hkshirayuki]

Weak against Cute

Trafalgar D. Law x Reader

Genre: Fluff and romance

Y/n L/n is one of the Straw hat pirates. The day they first met, was the day when the straw hat pirates were defeated and been send to different unknown places. At the island where she landed. Where the Heart pirates flee. They heard a loud sound of crashing hard to the land.

"What's that sound?"

"what sound?"

"What's with the fuss?" Law asked as he came out from the inside.

"Captain! We heard a loud sound coming from that way" Bepo said.

"I see..." Law said. After they check out, who created the loud noise. They were a bit nervous, Knowing they are currently been chased by a Pacifista.

But they can't help to felt relieved. When they saw its someone else, Law just recognize the face as soon as he saw the unconscious person. They found it odd why his here,

Trafalgar Law being a doctor couldn't ignore the injured person, so he asked Bepo to carry y/n to there ship to treat his wounds.

"Aye aye Captain!" Bepo respond and carry you to there ship.

When they arrived, Law just strip y/n like it's nothing, but only to be surprised to see him having a bandage around it's chest and half way on removing it, To his surprised, y/n were address as He not She.

As a doctor it doesn't matter if they saw the patient naked and they should be open minded about it, But for some reason he can't help but feel a bit weird, as Trafalgar Law know to himself he doesn't mind seeing a naked body. He admit to himself as soon he learn your real gender. Y/n L/n is very attractive but also strong.

Law just question himself for reacting and thinking in this way, So he shake his head and sigh to himself, only to asked assistance to ikkaku the only female member he had in his crew.

"yes captain?" She cheerfully said and notice you half naked and she scream.

"Kyaa! Captain, what are you doing!?" She overreacted. Law just grumble to himself and push back his hair.

"Help me treat her wounds" Law said.

"you shouldn't strip a woman like that!?" Ikkaku said and law just glare at her.

"Look, I thought she was He, so I said, I can handle it Alone, But knowing how you girls act, I just let you do it as the fellow same gender as her" Law said and leaving the Treating room.

"Were Captain, just awhile ago being considerate to y/n-san? That's rare for him" Ikkaku thought to herself as she proceed to tend to your wounds and injury. After that she fetch some new clothes for you to wear. As she bring your clothes to laundry to wash it. After half a day, Y/n finally woke up and sit up to find herself to an unknown place.

"where am I? Where is Luffy and the others?" She thought to herself recalling what happened and remembered the memory, They were all defeated and one by one, They disappear and she only tried to stop the Warlord Named Kuma. And everything went black.

Y/n just remove herself in bed and start to rush outside. Only to meet the Heart pirates crew.

"Your awake!" Penguin said as he look at you, There Expression were wide eyes and gawking upon you, that's when you realized your bind at the chest area is missing.

She just ignore the part, she was stripped as she handle that later. More importantly is to know where is she? and why is she with them. Where is her crewmates.

"Where is this? And Why am I with you people, Where's my crewmates?" She asked and the Heart pirates just look at each other, They just thought who will answer your questions. When there Captain step in.

"Oi y/n-ya! What the hell are you doing! Your not supposed to be out of your bed, your still Injured! " Law scolding said. As a doctor he have a habit to act like that. But your current situation just narrowed your eyes towards him.

"Your Trafalgar Law, why am I? In your ship?" She straight forward asked and still looking at him directly in the eyes.

Law just sigh as he met her eyes and said "First, it's us who should be asking you that, Second, You landed to the island were we are and third your were heavily injured and Bepo carried you here so you get your wounds and injuries treated"

Y/n just look surprised that Law helped her? Even though she was sure that not all pirates will give a care to a wounded stranger, she was sure about that, Much more the one who helped her is one of the worst generation.

"what's your motive?" Y/n said. Law just raise one of his eyebrows in question and frown.

"I have no motive, aren't you being rude to the person who helped you" Law said as he cross arms. Y/n can't help but be wary, As she experience a lot of betrayal and only who pass that earn her trust is Luffy and her crewmates, But she didn't mean to be rude to the person that save her.

Y/n just sigh and bow her head to them. "I apologise for being rude, and I am grateful for you to saving me" she said. While they all look happy and cheer. " Your very welcome! Were glad to have a beauty on board with us" Penguin said and y/n just smile at them. That smile were something that is definitely a killer smile as they all thought. Trafalgar law just clear his throat and they all return to there post.

Leaving you and law alone. Y/n just walk beside him. "So... Trafalgar-san?" Y/n said and law just glare at her with a look of disagree. " Trafalgar-san?! " He said. "Trafalgar-kun?" Y/n uncertain said and Law just feel weird that your calling him like that, but he also thought that it's very strange for him to feel weird about you calling him with honorifics. "Trafalgar" he spoke and y/n just give him a question look.

"pardon?" Y/n said.

"Call me Trafalgar" Law said. 'oh' y/n's expression said and nod.

"So Trafalgar, may I asked you something?" Y/n said while there walking side by side, y/n just follow him.

"what is it?" Law replied as he escorting her to the dining room. She haven't met Bepo and Ikkaku.

"who strip me?" Y/n bluntly said and Law just stop walking, as your image half naked (bind around your chest) reappear in his mind. He just stand stiff as he look at y/n. He doesn't know how to react. Y/n just thought, I murder who the guy is.

"I did" Law calmly said and y/n just look shocked to know. "you what!" She shouted said and Law just cover his ear and playing it cool, he doesn't want her to see him, Blushing and embarrassed, Cause for the first time he act so...not like him to react in that way, he saw a lot of people who are naked due to his work as a doctor he shouldn't mind it. But there something about you that he react so unlike of him.

Y/n just cover her chest part and glare at him. That sight of her pouting and glaring " Cute" Law thought but frown at himself for thinking that way. So he click his tongue.

"I'm a doctor, So seeing a naked patient is nothing to me" Law said and y/n just keep her glare and sigh. What he said is true, To a Doctor they save lives, seeing someone naked is nothing to them. But! He should have atleast considerate that there female Doctor that take care the same gender. Not opposite gender taking care, it just sounded wrong.

"that sight is only for my future husband" Y/n mumble said as she believes on Marriage before giving yourself.

Law just look surprised at how she act and he end up chuckling, to think Y/n the Reaper, who hunt a lot of people in her work is pure and innocent. This is interesting.

"what are you laughing about!? " Y/n frowning said. "It's just funny to think, you are pure and innocent" He bluntly said and compose himself to his stoic demeanor.

She just blush at the compliment. She admitted that When Nami and Robin compliment her, She easily feel embarrassed and they just giggle at her cuteness. Y/n just remembered her days with The Straw hat pirates First they thought you are male before Nami and Robin found out and soon everyone also learn about the truth, but they accept you and didn't question. Sanji treated you better after learning your secret. but then before he isn't treating you well.

Y/n remember that Sanji hates her.

"Oi y/n! Tch... Just looking at your face, annoys me" he said to her and y/n learn that Sanji were jealous of her.

Nami always compliment your looks and call you handsome and cute. Even Robin that's why, Sanji hates you.

Equally to his hatred to Zoro. "Hey y/n, if you crossdress, I'm pretty sure it suits you" Ussop said as he was just messing with you.

"It must be nice to have such a pretty handsome face y/n-san" Brook said.

"Oi, oi Ussop if y/n did that he be a pervert like me, but I'm super! more suited to being pervert than him" Franky said.

"Y/n! I'm bored, Let's play!" Luffy said as he cling around you.

"oi Luffy, don't forget about me" Ussop said while pointing himself.

"Me too, let me join too, y/n! Luffy!" Chopper said, while jumping up, so he be notice by you and Luffy.

Y/n is older than Luffy, Ussop and Chopper but she is very playful. Luffy recruit y/n cause of the prank, she did in her town.

The prank that scares Everyone, Nami was so angry at you, but when she saw you. She soon forgive you for giving her a scare while Luffy find it funny and amazing. That's why you are on board.

"Oi y/n, stop spoiling Luffy" Zoro said as he watch you and the others playing.

" Jealous?" Ussop said. Teasing the serious green haired Swordsman.

"yeah, Zoro is jealous" Chopper said as he follow Ussop.

"Huh!? Like hell I am!" Zoro said. As he snap at them.

"Oi! Zoro join us, No need to be jealous!" Luffy said and Zoro came down to chase them.

While being chase Luffy is laughing, Chopper just cling to y/n. Even Ussop did the same "Protect me y/n! Zoro is trying to kill me" Ussop said as he hide behind you.

"Come out from y/n's back, Your a man right! Let me slice you into two" Zoro threatening said to Ussop. Good timing Nami pass by and smack there heads, your always been an exception. She didn't smack your head.

"Stop that!" Nami said. And Zoro just rub his head and yell at her "Ow that hurts!" Another smack. All just apologise and kneel down infront of Nami. Nami just flick your forehead unlike them.

"y/n don't spoil them too much, okay" she said.

"Nami really is soft when it comes to you, y/n" Robin chuckle said as you just blush at her. Your kinda bashful around them. Remembering your crewmates and what happened to them against the overwhelming enemies. Y/n just miss them, she didn't notice that she was spacing out, and her tearing up. Law were only surprised when y/n start to tear up.

"Oi...Your crying" He said and wipe your tears. Y/n didn't say anything about it, she was speechless by the kind gesture of Trafalgar D. Law. After wiping her tears away, Law just realized what he had done and soon withdraw his hand back to his side. He just said "Let's go" but he just walk fast and try his very best to conceal his red face.

Y/n just notice the red tips of his ears as he pull his fluffy hat to hide it. "That's is so cute" y/n thought as she giggled at the sight of Trafalgar law. She didn't say anything as she just follow him to the dining room. And there they meet Bepo, A polar bear that could talk. Bepo only reminded you of Chopper.

Y/n is quite in dilemma inside her mind.

"Captain!" Bepo happily said before engulfing him into a warm hug. Y/n just look at them with a jealous look.

"Trafalgar law is so lucky, I want a hug too, Bepo is so cute, wait! I can't, betray Chopper's cuteness, Chopper is more Cute, but Bepo look so comfy and warm, Chopper also, Ugh... I want to give him a tight embrace and just cling to his fluffy fur, Chopper is also like that" y/n is currently having a debate inside her mind. While Trafalgar law just tell bepo to let him go. The two just look at you with a confuse look.

"Oi y/n-ya, don't tell me your wounds reopen?!" Law scolding said while y/n just look at him and return to argue inside her thoughts.

"Hug bepo or not, which one should I choose, I want to cuddle with him, he look so fluffy, I love being a bigger spoon though, Chopper is a small spoon, Which should I choose, I'm not betraying my love for Chopper cuteness overload, But Bepo is also... "

Law just grab her shoulder "Oi, what's wrong?" He asked and Y/n just snap and look down. "To hell whose the cutest, For me there equally Cute and Adorable!" She thought to herself. Bepo just stare at her and realized that it was her who he carried to there ship.

"Ah! Your the person, Captain ordered me to carry that time" Bepo surprised asked. And y/n just smile at Bepo.

"Thank you for carrying me" y/n said controlling herself not to jump at Bepo fluffy fur and comfy warm.

"How is your wounds? Captain is a great doctor, so you in better condition, As expected to Captain, his amazing" Bepo said with enthusiastic tone to y/n who just giggle at his cute behavior.

Law again just frown at Bepo and y/n. He didn't want to hear anymore praises about him.

"Oi, Bepo, Stop talking about some nonsense" Law said and Bepo being the negative bear.

"I'm sorry" Bepo said with a deject look. Y/n just chuckle at how humourous Bepo is. Y/n just open her arms and asked Bepo for a hug. Law and Bepo is of course surprised.

But Bepo who is very friendly, happily accept the gesture. Seeing the two happily embrace and seeing y/n nuzzle herself to bepo. Law can't deny how cute you two are. He is annoyed that you capture his attention so soon.

It's only half a day, and your already to comfortable with them. Aren't you supposed to be wary around them?

"Enough with that, Bepo... Y/n-ya. Don't go acting friendly with each other" Law said and y/n just smile at him not that beautiful enchanting smile she did infront of his crew. It was a cute goofy smile.

"Jealous?" Y/n teasing said as she just learn that Trafalgar Law had a soft spot towards cute Bepo. She was clueless that Law is also looking at her.

"Captain is jealous?" Bepo confused asked.

"I am not!" Law snapped at the two, while she just gasp and hide behind Bepo acting cute.

"his scary Bepo-chan" y/n cutely said. Law tried his best to look annoyed but he can't he thought it's cute even though you were just kidding and messing with him.

He just keep his glare at you, while you just give up and chuckle softly.

"Okay, okay I stop" y/n said as she still chuckle a bit, her laughter is soft and gentle it was nice to hear, Law said to himself and he just turn his back to hide his face that start to get warmer. Is he having a disease? An unknown disease. He should research about his situation, law thought to himself as he feel his heart beat fast.

Around that time Ikkaku entered the dining room to see y/n is already awake. She just had a friendly talk to her. As she never had a girl talk as they are all males on the board. Y/n stayed there two days, When the third day news coo drop a newspaper only to read Luffy's Big bro, Fire fist ace is going to be executed.

She just asked Trafalgar Law to go at the marineford.

"I want to help my Captain, I'm begging you, you don't have to bring me, I just swim and sneak to the war" y/n plead while Law frown.

"what a small fry like you can do in that war, don't act so reckless" Law said.

"I am very aware of that, but... Luffy our captain need us, I don't know where are the others but I am the closest, I begging you Trafalgar Law, just bring me near, just near by" y/n said. While kneeling down and bow her head at him. Her persistent and stubborn attitude just win him over.

As what she said, the heart pirates go to the Marineford war. Only they were late, Ace died infront of luffy, which shock Luffy to the very core, That he let his guard down which cause Luffy got heavily injured along with Jinbei, who Sacrifice himself to shield him from the blow. Y/n just tear up to see her Captain in that state.

"please help him, please..." Y/n cried and beg Trafalgar to treat her Captain. Law just scowl and wipe your teary eyes.

"Stop crying, of course, I help Mugiwara-ya... I'm a doctor" Law said while wiping the tears in your eyes. "I hate seeing you crying" he thought to himself and y/n just nod at him, while they rush to the Operating room to do the surgery for Luffy and Jinbei.

Y/n just stay outside and hope for the success of the operation. When Law came out to announce that they are out of danger. Y/n just hug him as a thank you. Law just tense up but he didn't dislike it the warmth you offer to him. It be out of character to hug you back so he just pat your back. In response,

After that the ship have resurface from the water to only meet by an odd Snake and the pirate empress Boa Hancock asking Luffy's situation. Y/n were very tired watching over Luffy and crying so she end up sleeping.

The ship have no spare room for y/n. She been sharing room with Bepo as her request. Bepo just carry y/n to his Captain room as he rarely used the bed due to his sleeping problems.

Boa Hancock just suggested that they bring Luffy to the Amazon Lily which is a safe place. Where The Marines won't suspect him hiding there. Law just agree and did what Hancock said.

When they arrived at the Amazon Lily, It still forbid men to entered. So they put a Barricade, Which they can’t cross, The Kuja pirates just probid food for them, Just like what Hancock order them. 

Two weeks have passed and Luffy is still unconscious,  Y/n just watch over her captain,she refuse to eat and sleep, Law have to force her to look after herself. Law hate to admit himself that he is very concern about your well being, He asked bepo to look after you sometime to time even Ikkaku. 

Y/n is currently resting to his room as he was looking after you and luffy. Law just drink a wine while sorting his own thoughts about you, He is sure, he caught an unknown disease for him to act like this way, but what is this disease? 

Y/n is still resting in his room, When a loud noise were heard that woken her up, Only to hear that her Captain Luffy is running around and keep on kicking and punching, Screaming “Ace! Where is Ace!” Y/n just follow the noise and tried to call out to him. 

Only her shout were drowned by Luffy scream of desperation and pain as he keep on getting wild,Jinbei only confronted him, Y/n is only frozen to where she watch her captain struggle, She was really shaken to the core. Jinbei just hold him down and tries to stop him. It’s painful to see luffy in this state. After Jinbei beat some senses to luffy, Luffy start to count with his fingers as he recall all of his crewmates name.  When he scream he wished to meet them soon. Y/n just come running and hug him tight.

“Y/n...why are you here?” Luffy asked as he was surprised while y/n just hug him and crying along with luffy. As she comfort him and he cried and cried.

After that emotional moment, Y/n explain how is her situation. They return where Trafalgar law and his crew waits. Only to met Rayleigh, For some reason y/n know what’s rayleigh main purpose. her hunch were right on the spot. When Rayleigh suggest Luffy to go training with him. Luffy just glance at you, "whatever you wish, Captain" y/n said and she just said her temporary farewell and chase the ship of Trafalgar Law.

"Captain, are you sure leaving y/n there?" Bepo question as Law gaze is still at the direction of where you are.

"Yeah, she probably stay with Mugiwara-ya" Law said but his gaze is still stick to where you are as he sigh to himself. At the same time, Y/n just climb from the deck, As she swim from Calm belt to where his ship is.

"what the... Y/n-ya!? What the hell are you doing here?!" Law surprised asked while the soak y/n just scratch her wet cheeks in a bashful way.

"Mind if I tag along with you guys, Longer?" Y/n said and all who is surprised to see a Slice sea king and to see you. They just cheer and happily welcome you.

"Your always welcome!" They all said and y/n just help herself. Law just shake his head, why he didn't go against to his crew mates decision to make you stay, instead he is happy to see you again.

6 months later

Y/n stay for six months, While she is with them, she spar with Law and his crew mates, Law and her just spar with each other.

Until Law said he be joining the shichibukai, means his crew will disband as it's one of the rules to join the shichibukai.

"Are you sure about that?" Y/n said as he just look at her and said yeah. The others just obey there Captain ordered.

Before Law go to the Marineford.

Y/n just hug him and wish him luck. As she also be leaving there ship. Law just return the hug. When he did that, she chuckle at the kind gesture that he did, it was so unlike of him.

"I am actually not expecting for you to return it" y/n said.

"yeah..." Law said still hugging y/n.

Y/n just look at Bepo who is sad but believe and trust his Captain decision for the future.

"You know, I kinda notice how weak you are against cute things" y/n said after letting go from the hug as she gesture towards Bepo.

"Yeah... Especially the one who is infront of me" Law said smoothly and look at you.

"I see... So you admit it, HaHaHa, your pretty honest today, Really, Trafalgar" y/n said until his words sink into her.

"Eh? Infront? You mean me?! Eh!!!?" Y/n said and Law just look at her.

And he just sigh he know your a playful and sharp person, he didn't expect you to react in this way.

"hey we only been together for six months" y/n said. "That sounded wrong and right" Law thought to himself as it sounds like you two had a thing.

Y/n just blush realizing that she used the wrong words. "I mean you only know me for six months" she bashfully said and Law thought " Stop being cute, damn it! "

"But you already caught my attention since first day" Law said. Y/n just turn redder than before. She didn't hate it Law being honest but it's not good for her heart, It's Beating fast.

"Is this confession?" Y/n uncertain asked and Law thought for awhile before answering.

"Perhaps it is"

"Oi! Don't just say it is then! when your not completely sure" Law just pull y/n to his arm and hold her chin as he only give her a peck on the lips.

"I am completely sure though" He whisper said between there lips. That only shut her up. For a moment, until she fuming said "Don't just sudden kiss me!? Asked for permission First!" Law just smirk and she just feel embarrassed at herself, what does she mean about permission?

"It would be nice if you completely join the Heart pirates, I be assured that I can see you there, when I comeback" Law said and y/n shakes her head in disagreement still her face is still warm from the words and kiss.

She tried not to look affected by him.

"No thanks, I am still one of the Straw hats pirates, I just tag along to train and train until the time for our Promise to reunite as a Crew" y/n said with conviction. Law just sigh as he understands.

"Then, maybe I could form an alliance when the Mugiwara pirates reunite" Law said.

Y/n just chuckle as she speak "Luffy will sure agree to it" Law just stare at her intently. And she stop and stare back at Law. "WH-what?"

"you said I should asked permission first, so... Y/n-ya, can I kiss you?" Law said as he still staring at your lips. The subside blush have return to your face, Once again as you try to utter a response only to ziplock your lips. It's not like you don't like it, I mean him, he always been kind to you in his own way that you admire him, So you just nod and Law just enjoyed your struggle of words as he is assured that his not the only one who act so weird around you. But also you. He just carress your cheek and lean down to meet your lips. Y/n just hold onto his chest as he press his lips to hers. The kiss feels like a thousand spark inside of each other. When Law almost lost his control and go further to kissing to making out. Y/n just gently push him. As her face is so warm and Redder and her eyes is spinning.

"don't... If we go further my heart can't take it anymore" y/n said as her Heart beat is deafening her ears,as she weaken by her knees also. Law just chuckle at the sight, he been waiting to do that and his happy to be able to do that and see you all to flustered around him. Your both heart beat in sync as Law just help you up. As he hug you and whisper to your ear.

"See you again next time" Law said, You just cover your ear with your hand after he just breath whisper to it.

"Oi! I said don't do that!" Y/n flustered and fuming said as Law just can't get enough of your adorableness.

As you both finally separate ways.

"Hope to see you after One and half year passed" y/n mumble to herself.

Bonus:

Law just did what he said to you after two years. Where you reunite with him at the Punk Hazard, He asked Luffy to do Alliance with him to bring down one of the yonko, After making an alliance, The Straw hat Pirates just keep on bullying him. Now he's half a bit regretting his decision. As you and the crew just laugh, when Chopper the super cute and Law the super cool combine. It was so adorable and funny.

"Welcome to our crew" y/n happily said and Law just frown at you.

"You should have warn me, y/n-ya" Law said with a scowl as y/n just chuckle.

"I forgot"

"yeah, sure"

"Oh are you pouting Torao?" Y/n said calling him by what Luffy said.

"Don't call me like that!" Law said.

"Traffy?" Y/n said with an adorable look and Law just look away "Screw you"

Y/n didn't find it offensive as she just chuckle "Okay, Law, I'll stop teasing you" Law surprised hearing you call him by his name.

"Hmm?" Y/n question look at Law expression.

"say it again" law said.

"say what?"

"my name"

"Torao-Not that!" Law interrupt and you can't help to tease him.

"okay, okay... Law, Trafalgar D. Law" Shit, why he is so happy just hearing his name from your lips' Law thought to himself as he hide his face from his coat.

Law just thought he can endure your whole crew and your Captain if your with him. After Dressrosa Literally thought he have to get used to all humiliation they do to him. But Luffy did save him and did a lot of selfish stuffs to him. When he said to you, He want to kill Luffy, you just laugh at him and said "Zoro and all other crew said the same thing. You get used to it"

"Just why did I fall in love with you? No Just why are you in his crew? Not in my crew..." Law said. And y/n blush at what Law said as he haven't say that L word to you and now his using it.

"Love you too and I'm sure, you get used to it" y/n said and kiss his cheek.

Law just touch it " He really love you and half hate your crew for being Reckless and doesn't listen even you, but your too cute and beautiful to get mad at" so he sigh in defeat.

"Great, I'm really Weak against Cute" He said to himself.

[lumiolivier]

The Good Old Days Chapter Twelve:  What Happened to Your Face?

A/N:  Hi, friends!  Here we are.  Another week.  After last week’s hard chapter, how about a nicer one?  Kind of.  I mean, it gets violent.  If you didn’t get that from last week’s, then you don’t understand how things work around here.

I hated myself for what I was about to do. I just watched the aftermath of what this asshole did to Veronica and now, I had to go be his best buddy?  I didn’t like it.  This prick didn’t deserve my mercy.  He didn’t deserve Veronica’s body.  He didn’t deserve to be in Vanessa’s worried thoughts.  He sure as fuck didn’t deserve my friendship.  Real or otherwise.  I hope to hell the Old Man had a plan.  Because the water in our building doesn’t get hot enough to scrub this clean.

 “Hey!” I waved him down.

 “Hey…” Cabrón blew me off, “Hey, aren’t you the guy with the prude little sister?”

 “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call her a prude,” I kept my touchy temper in check, “But I actually wanted to talk to you about that.  Look, man…No hard feelings?”

 “No hard feelings?” he scoffed, “Really?”

 “No hard feelings.” I’m under strict orders not to kill you and that’s getting more and more difficult as this conversation goes on, “You know what?  As a sign of my good faith, let me buy you a drink to bury the hatchet. I know this place.  Real hush, hush.  Real underground.  The booze is top shelf.  The girls are gorgeous.  They’re definitely better than my sister.  Best hidden gem in the city.”

 The guy held his skepticism.  Rightfully so.  I was about to bring his sorry, pathetic ass to the Narrows, “Alright!  Thanks man.  We should get a ride.  Do you have a ride?”

 “Yeah,” I flagged down the Old Man’s driver, “That’s not a problem.”

 This guy was either that drunk, that trusting, or that fucking stupid.  Either that or he wasn’t raised right.  Mama would’ve had my ass if I would’ve gotten into some random guy’s car like that.  Still…The ride back to the Narrows was nothing but this moron rambling about how he couldn’t stand his dad, but his dad’s girlfriend was hot, so he tolerated him. Count your blessings, dude.  Yours is still alive.  You got cognitive memories of yours.  I can’t say the same.  But I wasn’t going to tell this asshole my tragic backstory.  Although, when the driver pulled up to the warehouse, I started to feel more at ease.  Because I knew what was coming to this dick.

 “Come on,” I got out of the car, “It’s this way.”

 “Really?” he took a quick look around, “Isn’t this the Narrows?  I’ve only been here to buy coke.”

 “Don’t worry about it,” I shook him off, “I did say this was a hidden gem.”

 “Ok!” This guy would chase a balloon into traffic.  I had no doubt.  When I got him to the warehouse, he kept looking around, “Hey…You said there’d be more booze and more bitches.  I don’t see either one.”

 He really is a charmer, isn’t he?  Still, I kept my cool, “Hang on a sec.  It’s a one-on-one kind of thing.  She’ll bring you a drink, give you a lap dance, the whole fucking nine.  I just need to go get her.”

 “Alright!” Just when I think I can’t hate the guy enough, he out assholes himself.  Honestly, I’m impressed, but I also wanted his head on a pike.

 Again, strict orders from the Old Man to not kill him.  I’m sure if I broke said orders, I’d be a little more than just out on my ass.  I went to the bar on the corner and knocked on the office door, “Hey, Old Man?”

 “Hi, Frankie,” the Old Man got up from his desk, “Is he here?”

 “Yeah.”

 “Unscathed?”

 “Miraculously.”

 “Good,” he threw an arm around my shoulders, “You really are a good kid, Frankie.  Pure of heart.  I like that about you.  And I know it took great restraint on your part not beating the fuck out of this piece of shit.  I’m proud of you.”

 “Thanks, Old Man.” It did my heart good when I did him proud.  I don’t know why, but it got to me.”

 “And that restraint,” he held the door for me, “should be rewarded, don’t you think?”

 “That’s up to you, boss.”

 “That’s what I like to hear,” the Old Man and I went back to the warehouse, “So, Frankie…Care to do the honors?”

 “The honors of what?” He’s not asking me what I think he is.  I couldn’t get that lucky.

 “I know you want to beat the shit out of him,” he insisted, “If someone hurt my girl’s little sister like that, I’d want to knock his dick in the fucking dirt, too.  Besides, I want to see you go all out on a mother fucker. You’re quiet, seething rage.  I want to see what happens when you cut the wrong wire on that timebomb.  Call me selfish.”

 “Really?” I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit too excited about this.

 “Hold on,” the Old Man settled me, “I see you’re all full of piss and vinegar, kid, but let me have a word with him real quick.  We’ll see if we can sort this out with our words first.”

 “Seriously?” The Old Man was being way too sweet to this guy.  

 “Na,” he giggled to himself, “I just want to fuck with him before I cut the red wire instead of the blue one.”

 “Ok.” Now that sounded like the Old Man I knew and loved.  I didn’t care.  As long as I got a few swings on him, I was in.  

 “Hi there,” the Old Man walked into the main room of the warehouse.

 “If the next person in this room doesn’t have scotch and titties busting out of her shirt,” the dick groaned, “I’m leaving.”

 “No, you’re not, junior,” the Old Man made sure he stayed there.

 “Who the fuck do you think you’re calling junior?”

 “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” And the Old Man said I was quiet, seething rage. Looks like I’m not the only one. He got a little closer, studying every detail of this prick’s face, “Hold on…Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

 “I’ve never met you before, man,” Asshole twitched, “All I know is that there was this guy saying we were getting a drink and his bitch sister was being a tease.”

 “His what?” the Old Man growled, grabbing a fistful of this guy’s hair, “You want to repeat that?”

 “She…” he whimpered, “She was…a fucking…tease.”

 “So,” the Old Man let him go, “You’re the one I heard all about.  You like to fuck with little girls just trying to have a good time, huh?”

 “I would’ve shown her a good time…”

 “I’m sure you would, sport,” the Old Man rolled his eyes, “But I don’t think she’s much for chemicals. Frankie, am I right?”

 “It’s happened before,” I told him, “I don’t know if it was this guy, but it has happened before.”

 “And how is she doing? She alright?”

 “She’s in bed,” I reported, “I took care of her for the most part.  Her sister had a little hand in it, too, but we had it covered.”

 “That’s awfully nice of you,” the Old Man awed.  His demeanors gave me whiplash, “And what about her sister?  The older one.  How’s she doing?  It’s not every day you get the phone call that your youngest sister just got roofied and now, she’s rolling.”

 “She took it surprisingly well,” I never ever wanted to put Vanessa in that position ever again.  She didn’t deserve that.

 “It’s unfortunate it had to happen in the first place,” the Old Man sighed out.  But at the drop of a hat, his voice had a singsong lilt to it again, “So!  That brings me to you.  Because I’m pretty sure you were the one behind it, weren’t you?”

 “I just bought her a drink,” the cocky prick got in the Old Man’s face.  Big mistake, “You can’t prove anything.  And if I seem familiar, you know damn well I’d be able to walk out of any courtroom, smelling like a fucking rose.”

 “That’s your own business,” the Old Man turned back to me, “See, that’s the thing about being me. And about all the people I have working for me.  I know what you come from, but I don’t care.  Where you come from doesn’t have any jurisdiction over me.  Because they trust what I do.  And if that means letting my new favorite loose cannon bat you around for a while, then they know you brought it on yourself.  I mean…Unless you wanted to do something like tell me where you got the junk in the first place.”

 “You’re bluffing.”

 “Am I?” the Old Man smirked, “Because I don’t think I am.  Do you want me to get your daddy on the phone and tell him his piece of shit son tried date raping a girl tonight?”

 “You couldn’t prove it was me.”

 “You’d be amazed at how many people are in my network.” The more I hated the son of a bitch that hurt Veronica tonight, the more I started to love the Old Man.  Watching him fuck with this guy was better than Telemundo, “All it would take is one loyal dealer and I’d be able to find out within the hour. Now, either you tell me or I make a phone call.  I know you want to come off like you got the big, swinging dick here, but you don’t. Because from where I’m standing, I’d be able to mushroom stamp your ass into next week.”

 “Cliff Strickland,” he sang like a fucking canary in a coal mine.  Why am I not surprised?  I wouldn’t trust this guy with a bucket of water if we were in the ocean, “His name is Cliff Strickland.  He works…”

 “42nd Street,” the Old Man nodded, “Yeah.  I know Cliff. I know Cliff real well.  Alright, kid.  You’re free to do what you want.”

 “Thank you…” he did all but lick the Old Man’s boots

 “Get up,” the Old Man snapped, “I wasn’t talking to you.”

 “He was talking to me,” I knew better.

 “That is,” he nudged me, “If you’re still all fired up.”

 “Damn right, I am,” I nodded.

 “Here’s now this is going to go down,” the Old Man kept his voice down, “I’m going to step outside for about ten minutes.  While I’m gone, whatever happens, happens.  When I come back, I want someone to have to scrape this asshole off the floor, got it?”

 “If there’s anything left to him.”

 “Atta boy, kid,” he nudged me forward, “Go on.  Go play nice.”

 “Sorry, boss,” I shook my head, “I’m not giving him nice.”

 “There you go again,” the Old Man gave me a little swat to the shoulder, “Telling me what I want to hear. If you’re not careful, Frankie, I may end up promoting you one day.”

 “Thanks, Old Man.” It’s not that I didn’t appreciate the sentiment.  It’s just that I needed to go beat a mother fucker.  Can’t do that when I’m all warm and fuzzy inside.

 Without any further hesitation, my fist went straight into this asshole’s jaw.  And something in that first punch felt so strangely satisfying.  It’s like everything that happened tonight was laser focused in that punch and if I didn’t bust a tooth, I didn’t do it right. But that means I get to try it again, right?  Although, I was a bit caught by surprise when this fucker had some fight in him. Granted, it’s all booze muscle and if it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t have made a connection with me.  Once I blinked the spots out of my eyes, I jumped on top of the asshole and started beating the ever-living fuck out of him. The Old Man did say to play nice. And by playing nice, I thought about giving him a mercy killing, but he passed out before I could.  Whether it was from me beating him or the alcohol in his system, I don’t know.  All I knew was that my head was killing me and I had a not so pleasant conversation to have with Mama later.  

 “So?” the Old Man walked in and got an eyeful at the broken, battered, and bruised asshole bleeding on the floor, “All in all?  Good playdate?”

 “He’s done,” I caught my breath.

 “Good,” he put a hand to my shoulder, “Go home, kid.  You’ve done enough today.”

 “What?” I stopped him, “Old Man, I got two more collection spots to hit up.”

 “Don’t worry about it,” the Old Man brushed me off, “Don’t get me wrong, Frankie.  I love the enthusiasm, but you’ve done plenty for me tonight.  You can grab them tomorrow.  It’s fine.”

 “Ok…” Who was I to argue? But it got me thinking, “Hey, Old Man…You said you knew who that kid was.”

 “Don’t worry about it, Frankie,” he assured me, “You’re alright.  If this ever gets brought up to a higher place, we’re taken care of. Like I told the little shit, the only one who’s got jurisdiction here is me and anyone I deem necessary.  Which is the umbrella you fall under.  You got nothing to worry about.  Just go home.  Lay low for the rest of the night.  Come back tomorrow bright eyed and bushy tailed, ok?”

 “Ok,” I nodded, “Thanks, Old Man.”

 “Get out of here,” he shoved me off, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 Aspirin and a quick shot of tequila and I’d be alright.  Fuck that guy.  Whoever he is.  I hope the Old Man was right about my protection.  I don’t need to be getting caught up in legal troubles.  I say as I clearly work for one of the top mafia bosses in the city.  Of course, I don’t need to be getting caught up in legal troubles.  But I couldn’t shake the way he was talking to the Old Man out of my head.  He had to come from affluence somehow.  I wasn’t sure where that affluence lies, but it can’t be good.  For now, I just wanted to go home.

 It was pretty late. I’m sure Mama’s home by now, but she doesn’t need to get caught up in this mess.  The more I can keep her out of this, the better.  When I walked in, our apartment was quiet.  That’s a good sign.  That means I get to go right to bed without any questions asked.  But then, on my way to our bedroom, I heard the water in the bathroom turning off.  Shit…And I thought I was here by myself.  Because I knew Tony and César weren’t getting off for another hour, it could only be one other person.

 “Francisco…?” Mama’s voice drifted through the air.

 “Si, Mama?” I wasn’t going to ignore her.  I knew better than that.  I’d pray for the Narrows a million times over before I’d take a beating from Mama.

 “Tu bien, cariño?” she worried.

 “I’m fine, Mama,” I was lying through my teeth, but again, she doesn’t need to get caught up in this, too, “Hard night at the office.  I’m just tired.”

 “Ok,” she wasn’t going to dig deeper.  And gracias a dios for that, “Buenos noches, Francisco…”

 “Buenos noches, Mama,” I kissed her cheek and headed to bed.  She had yet to turn the light on in the hallway, so it’s not like she’d be able to see anything.  However, when I managed to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, that shit was rough. I didn’t think he got me that good. The bruising around my eye was already getting darker.  I quicky wiped the blood from my nose and crawled into bed, throwing a couple aspirin down my throat.  I’ll be alright.  As long as she doesn’t catch it.

 The next morning, I woke up to my brothers both still sleeping like babies.  So far, so good.  I didn’t have any blood on my pillowcase, so there’s another win right there. Now, all I had to do was hope to Christ that Mama’s already left for work.  However, I couldn’t get that lucky.  I heard the TV on in the living room and breakfast sizzling in the kitchen.  I knew it was coming.  Can I just get the Narrows?  Please?  It’d be so much easier.  

 Fortunately, she seemed pretty preoccupied with the stove.  She had milk boiling, so there’s no way she’s looking away from that. Alright.  I’m relatively in the clear, “Morning, Mama.”

 “Good morning, Francisco…” she chimed.  Ok. That did my soul good.  But once that milk was boiled, she noticed I was hiding my face from her.  And for a damn good reason, “Francisco…”

 “Si, Mama?” I hid behind the refrigerator door.  I was just looking for…I don’t know.  Something. Right now, an excuse to not show Mama the sins of last night.

 “Mírame,” she ordered. Fuck, I’m boned.

 I pretended like nothing happened.  And hopefully, she won’t overreact, “Que es, Mama?”

 “Qué diablos le pasó a tu cara?” Mama gasped.  Of course she wouldn’t overreact.  What was I thinking?  

 “It’s nothing, Mama,” I assured her as she reached up to my eye, “I just got into a little scrap last night.”

 “This isn’t a little scrap, Francisco!” she snapped, “This is definitely not a little scrap!  What happened?”

 “He had it coming,” I swore, taking her hand off my face, “Trust me.  He had it coming.”

 “Enough to put you like this?” Oh, yeah.  Mama’s pissed, “I don’t care how much he had it coming, Francisco.  You don’t need to be getting hurt!”

 “Mama…” I hardly spoke above a whisper, “He hurt Vanessa’s little sister Veronica.  I couldn’t let him get away with it.  He spiked her drink and I’m pretty sure he had all intentions of taking her home with him.  She’s practically a baby, Mama.  She’s only seventeen.  I just…I couldn’t let him get away with it.”

 And in that moment, Mama let it go.  I think she realized how bad last night fucked me up.  So did I.  Never did I ever think that when I saw that angel on the dance floor that night, I’d get attached to her family.  Any of them, really.  Granted, I still had yet to meet her parents and her other sister, but something tells me I didn’t need to.  I had Vanessa.  Then, a little shit decided to poke her nose into our potential love life and just like that, I had Veronica.  That’s all I needed.  And I was good with that.  

 “Ok,” Mama gave me a nod. She knew my intentions were pure, “Still…He hurt mi bebe…”

 “You should see him,” I laughed it off, “Don’t worry, Mama.  I took care of him, too.”

 “That doesn’t look very good, Francisco…”

 “I’m alright,” I promised, “It does hurt a little, but nothing I can’t tolerate.  I’ll be home later, ok?”

 “Where are you going?” she wondered.

 “Manhattan.” My shoes were here when I took them off last night…I think…Last night after I came home was kind of a blur.

 “What would you be going to Manhattan for?”

 “I’m going to go check on Veronica.” There they are!  Other side of the couch, “Make sure she’s doing ok.”

 “And?”

 I needed to score brownie points with Mama again.  Pretty sure my shenanigans from last night got me on her shit list, “And I’ll see if Vanessa’s busy tonight.”

 “I make dinner tonight?” Mama figured.

 “No,” I shook my head, “If we’re going to do that, I’m sure I can manage somewhere nice.”

 “Francisco…” Mama always was a stickler for how we spent our money.  Spending it out when we could be using it for groceries and make something ten times better would always be the right choice to her.  But fuck, man.  Sometimes, no one wants to cook.

 “It’s alright, Mama,” I promised, “I’ll be back in a little while.  And if we’re lucky, I’ll bring Vanessa by tonight, too.”

 “And the little one,” she ordered, “You’re not the only one who wants to make sure she’s ok.”

 “You don’t even know her, Mama.”

 “That doesn’t stop me from caring.”

 I love this woman.  I love her so much, “We’ll see if she’s feeling up to it.  Vanessa, too. I’m not making any promises here. They both get the final say in it.”

 “Fine,” Mama dropped it, gently kissing my cheek, “Be careful.”

 “I will.” I didn’t think I’d ever have much of a reason to go up to Manhattan.  I wish it were under better circumstances.  But she’s alright and the piece of shit was taken care of. And that’s all that matters.

[harrysgems]

Before Dawn - Part 2

Probably, Leah’s biggest mistake was to assume she didn’t need to stay away from Harry to heal her wounds. After all these years, she still couldn’t understand why he’d kissed her that day. They didn’t party much more after that. Not that his touring schedule allowed it, anyway.

Tears filled her eyes again when she remembered the last time they spoke as true friends. It was already September; her mom was halfway through her chemo treatment and her grandma had just passed away. That left her only with one other grandma, her dad’s mom. It came as a big shock for everyone, especially her mom, who already had enough to struggle with, with all the cancer bullshit.

For some reason, call it luck or call it destiny, whatever you may, Harry texted her that day. He knew what Leah was going through with her mother’s illness and he wasn’t going to let her go through that alone. That was the moment when he found out about Leah’s grandma. At first, she didn’t want him to come, she didn’t want to bother him, but he insisted, so she finally texted him the address. He was there as soon as he could.

The first thing he did when he saw her was embrace her in a tight hug and ask her how she was feeling. To be completely honest, everything felt a little bit better for Leah now that Harry was here. She promised him she was holding up quite well; she hadn’t cried yet and she didn’t feel like doing so for a while. It kind of made her upset, because she felt bad for not being able to cry her grandma, but she had enough on her plate already, and she knew everyone dealt with emotion in a different way.

They were still hugging each other when Frankie, her mom’s Harley biker cousin, approached them. Leah took a step back from Harry and hugged Frankie. They shared a few words, which Harry couldn’t hear and then he left.

She was so grateful Harry was here; he’d managed to pull out the first smile on her face when he told her how scary that guy looked. She reassured him that Frankie might seem scary but deep down he was like a teddy bear, although Harry didn’t look quite convinced.

Leah didn’t know how much she’d needed him to be here until he’d walked through that door. He stayed for way longer than he needed to and, before he left, he checked on her a thousand times, making sure she was going to be okay. She knew he had to leave because he had to pick up his girlfriend on his way home; the information slipped from his own lips before he was even aware of it. The pity look he gave her didn’t help her in trying to hide the sadness she knew her eyes were showing, but she still tried to smile her best.

“Thank you for coming, Harry. I cannot thank you enough.”

When they hugged for the last time, she felt that pull again, that warm, soothing feeling spreading through her body; the safety of being in between his arms.

“I’ll check up on you later, okay?”

“Okay” Leah mumbled.

But the word died at her lips, she recalled, because Harry then kissed her forehead in goodbye, as he’d always done.

That night, when she got home, she cried herself to sleep. Her mom was ill, her grandma was gone, and she realized, after months of thinking she’d gotten over him, that she was still in love with her best friend.

                                       ┅┅━━━━━━━ ۵ ━━━━━━━┅┅

 Harry took a deep breath before knocking at the front door. He knew no one was home, Leah had told him, but it still didn’t soothe his nerves.

He heard footsteps approaching and a soft barking following them.

“Come in,” Leah smiled at him as she opened the door for him, “Sorry, can’t fully open it or Thor’s gonna run outside.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry.”

The puppy had gone quiet, hiding behind his mommy. It still surprised Harry that Leah actually adopted a dog. He knew she’d always loved children, and that one day she’d be such a great mom, but never in a million years would have he pictured her with a dog.

“It’s fine Thor,” she crouched down to scratch the pup’s head, “This is Harry, he’s a good friend.”

Good friend, the words didn’t go unnoticed to Harry. He wished they were really true.

“Hello Thor,” Harry spoke to the pup as if he were talking to a little kid. That made Leah smile.

“Give him some time, I think he’s still trying to get used to the house,” she chuckled, “Do you want something to drink?”

“Whatever you’re having will be fine,” he replied, still looking at the scared puppy.

“Fine, be right back. Do you think you can remember your way to the living room?” she joked.

She obviously knew he could. He’d been here so many times in the past. The soft noise of Thor’s paws against the wooden floor brought him back to the present and he walked to the living room. Everything was still as he remembered it to be.

“Hasn’t changed a bit, huh?” Leah appeared through the other door with a beer on each of her hands.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she offered him a warm smile.

“Why Thor?” he asked, out of the blue.

The pup raised his ears at the sound of his name and cautiously approached them.

“I like it; it’s a powerful name,” she shrugged, “For a very pretty baby,” she added, petting Thor some more.

“It suits him,” Harry mumbled.

“Right?” she smiled.

Leah picked Thor up and sat on the couch, placing the puppy on her lap.

“Come sit here,” she patted the spot next to her and Harry obliged, “Just be gentle and move slowly so he doesn’t get scared,” she whispered, “My cousin’s daughter, Madison, chased him around the house and now I think he’s scared of her,” she chuckled and Harry joined her.

He stretched his arm out to the puppy, letting Thor be the one to approach him. He was very cautious at the beginning, but still curious, just like his mommy. He raised his tiny black head to smell Harry’s hand. He didn’t know this human, he smelled weird.

Thor looked up at his mommy, a little bit scared because there was a human he didn’t know. And he didn’t want this human to take mommy away from him. Then, mommy made that noise that made Thor happy and she scratched him behind his ears, right where he liked it. He wiggled his tail and snuggled closer.

“He’s really cute,” Harry smiled, his arm still stretched out toward the puppy.

“I’m such a proud mommy,” she joked.

“Hello, Thor,” Harry called him.

The pup looked at him again. Why did this human know what mommy called him? He was a pretty human, though.

Thor put one paw in front of his body and stood up to get closer to him. He smelled his hand again. Nope, definitely not one of the humans he’d met that week. He kept sniffling him, the human smelled good. Was that the reason why mommy made the noises Thor liked?

Harry looked at Leah, and she nodded, still smiling at her pup. Harry carefully let his fingers touch the head of the puppy, scratching his black fur. Thor seemed to like it.

“I think he likes you,” Leah whispered, still smiling.

“How do you know?”

Before Leah could answer his question, Thor started licking Harry’s hand.

“Told you,” she laughed.

                                       ┅┅━━━━━━━ ۵ ━━━━━━━┅┅

Leah offered Harry to walk Thor with her. The pup seemed to like him, and Harry couldn’t hide how much he’d enjoyed playing with Thor.

“Harry, could you do me a favour?”

“Tell me.”

“Can you go to my room and bring Thor’s leash?”

“Yeah, sure, no problem. Where is it?”

“Uh, it’s either on my bed or on the desk.”

“Alright, I’m on it.”

“Thank you!”

 Harry couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth as he walked upstairs. The floor still creaked at the same spots it did when he came to visit Leah back in their teen years. He wasn’t surprised to find out her room was still the same it had been. She hadn’t even removed the posters from her favourite singers and bands. To his surprise, there was still one of One Direction hanging on the wall, which he remembered signing for her.

He closed the door halfway as he neared the bed, looking for Thor’s leash. According to Leah, it should be red, but Harry couldn’t see anything red on her bed. He couldn’t find it either on her desk. The wood was painted white, so if there were a read leash somewhere on that desk, he should have been perfectly able to see it.

He put aside her laptop, hoping the leash would be behind it, but there was no luck either.

He took a deep breath, about to call Leah, when he saw something red out of the corner of his eye. He looked down on the chair and realised the leash had been there all along. Either it had fallen from the desk at some point, or Leah had left it there and had completely forgotten about it.

It was only when he’d picked up the red leash that he saw Leah’s laptop screen had lit up. Curiosity took the best of him and, although he tried to resist – not much, all must be said –, he peeked through what seemed her work in progress. She’d always been a good writer, he’d always believed in her and he’d always known one day she’d make it, just as she had always encouraged him to pursue his musical career.

At first, he didn’t understand, but all the pieces fell into place as he kept reading and right when he was about to finish, he heard her voice.

“What are you doing?”

He turned his head around to face her; her skin was pale and her eyes were wide. She’d never planned for him to read this. And although he had pretty much an idea why she didn’t want him to read it, he needed to confirm that he wasn’t wrong, that his thoughts and hopes were not misleading him. He held her gaze, her panicked gaze, and it all seemed to slow down to slow motion. He turned his head back to the screen and read the last sentence that appeared on it.

‘And I have the slight suspicion that’s due to the fact that I’ve never been in love with him.’

“You…?” the words died at his lips when he saw the tears running down her cheeks.

“What have you done? You had no right!” she snapped at him. And he knew, he deserved it.

“Leah, please –“

“Get out!”

“Please, let me –“

“I said get out!” she finally screamed.

For the first time in years, he wanted to apologise, like he should’ve done all along. He crossed the room and, in two steps, he was standing beside her.

“I honestly thought it was your new project. I wouldn’t have –,” he began, but he stopped himself, not really knowing what to say, “You always used to show me what you wrote. If I’d known…”

“You lost that right eight years ago.”

Her voice was barely audible, but her words cut like a knife.

                                      ┅┅━━━━━━━ ۵ ━━━━━━━┅┅

Leah was walking down the street, heading to Thor’s favourite park, just around the corner. The puppy was excited to go out every now and then; everything was new to him. Despite being way past dawn, the morning sun didn’t warm up Leah’s skin enough, but she was grateful for the lightest rays of sun she could get. Thor didn’t seem to care that it wasn’t as warm as Italy, he pranced around sniffling all he could find.  

She was mesmerised staring at her dog. If someone had told her that someday she’d become the mommy of such a beautiful being she wouldn’t have believed them. She’d always dreamed of a perfect family, and she’d always imagined her family with a puppy or a kitten; she didn’t want her children to grow scared of animals like it happened to her when she was younger, because they never had pets. Well, they did have a fish, if that counted.

Thor barked and she looked up immediately. He’d already had all the vaccines he needed before he could step outside the house, but it wasn’t a good idea that he approached a dog the status of whom she didn’t know.

To her surprise, it was only a tall man walking down the street. He was wearing a baseball cap, covered by the hood of his sweatshirt. She frowned at Thor. He didn’t usually bark at people on the street.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” she whispered petting the pup.

But Thor didn’t stop. He wiggled his tail and pulled on his leash to head toward the poor man. Leah sighed and followed the pup; an apology already on her lips.

“Sorry, he doesn’t usually bark at people,” she smiled sheepishly.

“It’s okay,” the man’s raspy voice replied.

Her head shot up immediately. She’d recognise that voice anywhere on Earth. Harry crouched down to scratch the pup’s head. Thor seemed very happy to see him.

“H-Harry,” she babbled.

Harry had always liked the way his name sounded in her lips. That was the reason why he couldn’t resist the urge to look at her. She didn’t seem upset anymore, she was rather surprised to find him here.

“Hi, Leah.”

“What are you –?” she began, “It’s 8 AM –,”

“I went for a run,” he shrugged, standing up from his crouching position.

“Oh, I see,” Leah breathed out.

They stood there in silence, staring at Thor, who still seemed to want Harry’s attention all for himself.

“Leah, I –“

Harry didn’t even know where to begin. He wanted to say only so many things to her. He wanted to explain himself, he wanted to let her know the truth. He wanted to erase the look of pain in her eyes whenever she looked at him.

Leah didn’t say anything. She waited for him to go on. Maybe the tiny bit of good weather she was getting for the first time since she landed in England put her in a good mood. She saw the way he rubbed the back of his neck and she could tell he was nervous about this.

“Can we talk?” he pleaded, his voice almost trailing away.

“Let’s sit down,” she offered.

Harry’s body relaxed instantly and he let out a soft sigh of relief. He hadn’t planned on coming across her, but they lived quite nearby, so it was bound to happen eventually. Might as well sort it out now.

They sat down on a bench bathed by sunlight. Thor found his spot on Leah’s lap, and she silently thanked him for that. She could use a distraction to ease her nerves, and scratching the fur behind his ears seemed perfect to keep her busy enough to remain calm, but still paying attention to what Harry had to say.

“What do you want to talk about?” she asked.

Harry almost flinched at her words. Leah’s voice was sweet and smooth, as if she were talking to any other friend. As if they hadn’t argued like they did a few days ago.

“I believe I owe you an apology.”

Leah’s head turned instantly in his direction. She would have never imagined she’d hear these words coming from him.

“Oh, really? What for?” she began, no longer able to control her anger, “For playing with me? For kissing me completely out of context and then rejecting me? Or was it maybe for all the pity looks you gave me ever since I told you how I really felt? Oh, wait, even better! For the sudden way you stopped talking to me or caring about me!” she snapped at him, her eyes glowing with all these bottled feelings she’d been keeping for so long, “Or are you just sorry that you got caught peeking at my most intimate thoughts?”

“How did this happen?” Harry whispered, more to himself than for her to hear, but she heard him anyway, “How did I let this happen?”

His sad eyes found hers and the image he saw was gut wrenching. An endless amount of tears began falling from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks, and he could tell how much she was struggling not to start sobbing right then and there when he saw the way her lower lip was trembling.

He hesitated whether to wipe her eyes or not, he was scared she’d reject him. He’d seen her cry more times than he would’ve liked her to, but despite her pain, she could always draw a smile for him. This time, it was his fault that Leah felt so broken.

Before he could stretch his arm out to her, she spoke again:

“Did you even know that my mom had a relapse?”

He froze on the spot. He knew she’d been through hell the first time her mom got ill, so he couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would’ve been for her to relive that nightmare.

“I didn’t –“ he began.

“No, of course you didn’t know,” and this time she smiled; but it was not the sweet smile she’d always saved up for him, this one was bitter; broken.

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. It happened two years ago, anyway.”

“I’m so very sorry, Leah.”

“You already said that,” she looked away, “Apologies are never gonna fix this.”

“I wish you would’ve told me, I would’ve been there for you, you know that.”

“Oh, yeah? And what was I supposed to say? Hi Harry, we haven’t talked for years but lend me your shoulder to cry on because my mom’s got cancer again?”

“I would’ve been there for you,” he grabbed her chin between his index and thumb and forced her to look at him.

Leah’s heart broke down a little bit more when her eyes finally found his and she saw the tears. He was crying too. She finally sighed, not being able to be mad at him anymore. Seeing him this way removed something inside her.

“Look,” she began, “It’s pointless that we keep pointing our fingers at each other. No one’s to blame. We both made mistakes and we can’t turn back time. Let’s leave it at that.”

“No,” he denied, shaking his head. Leah’s brows rose high in surprise, “I am to blame, and I’ve known it for a long time now,” he paused, trying to get his thoughts in order, “I never should’ve kissed you that night, Leah.”

When she thought she was broken beyond repair, he managed to shatter her completely.

“Then why did you?” she was crying uncontrollably now, “Why did you kiss me?” she pushed him, but Harry was faster and grabbed her hand, keeping it pressed against his chest.

“Because I’m an arrogant son of a bitch,” he offered her a sad smile, quoting one of the lyrics on his new album, “And because I was so blinded by losing Hannah, that I couldn’t see who was standing in front of me.”

“I see,” Leah accepted, with a weak voice.

“Funny thing,” he added, not letting go of her hand yet, waiting for her to look up at him again, “I could never forget that kiss, despite telling myself night and day that it had been a mistake.”

“What do you mean?” she frowned, utterly confused.

“I mean that you’ve always been the one, but the timing was wrong.”

His words echoed through her head until they finally settled, until she finally understood. Harry saw the moment she realised. Her eyes opened wide, and they shined just like they used to.

“Harry, don’t get my hopes up if this isn’t going to happen,” she stated bluntly.

“But it is. If you’d take me, of course.”

“This isn’t going to work. Not after all of this, not after all these years and –,”

“Let us try,” he pleaded her.

Her silence was almost killing him, but the truth was, Leah didn’t know what to say. It was too much to process, her emotions, feelings and thoughts were all over the place. Cautiously, she raised a hand to his face. She didn’t remember his stubble; he couldn’t grow anything that resembled a beard back then.

Harry leaned his head against Leah’s hand, still staring at her. Her fingertips tickled his temple when she slowly slid them up to his hair, almost as if she was afraid he’d disappear at any given moment. She took one of the curls that escaped his baseball cap between her fingers and marvelled at its softness. He’d grown into such a wonderful man. There were no traces of the kid he once had been, except for those dimples that had always fascinated her.

He turned his head a bit to kiss her wrist, and Leah knew right then and there that she wouldn’t be able to resist him.

“Okay,” she agreed in a shaky voice.

“Okay?” his eyes shot up to find hers once more and a smile began to draw in his face.

“Yes, okay,” she nodded, still not believing this was actually happening. Harry was now showing his full smile, dimples and all, and she couldn’t help but reciprocate, “Let us try,” she whispered, echoing his words.

                                       ┅┅━━━━━━━ ۵ ━━━━━━━┅┅                                       

“Come on, let me read it. I didn’t really get the chance when you interrupted me last time.”

“The fact that we’re dating now doesn’t give you the right to read that letter, Harry,” she rolled her eyes at him.

“Pretty please?” he insisted, “Thor says he wants to read it too,” Harry took the pup in his arms and pouted exaggeratedly. How was she supposed to say no to that?

“Ugh, fine!” She finally gave in.

Harry offered Leah that shy smile she’d just discovered he could do and that she liked so much, and kissed her lips briefly before he took her laptop from her desk and lay down on her bed, pulling it over his lap and scratching Thor’s fur, who lay down beside him, with his free hand.

Maybe I’m just sensitive today; maybe I've got plenty of time to overthink. Maybe every fucking time I talk to you I fall again into the rabbit hole.

To say I miss you is an understatement, when I put the world around me on hold and I dare stop to think of you. What are eight years of distance when you've been there for me when I've needed you most? Since you came into my life, you've always been there.

And it fucks me over; you cannot even begin to imagine how much it fucks me over that we used to go for a beer with your parents and now I can barely share one with you. I used to tell you everything, EVERYTHING. And now it almost seems as if we were strangers.

Time goes by, people change, relationships cool down. I get that. But not with you, please. Not you.

I don't even know if this is platonic anymore, if what really happens is that I keep doing everything in my power to hold on to the memory of what it was, to hold on to what I wish it would have been.

I didn't lie when I said I would always leave that door open for you. Seems that no matter how many years go by, I feel again like the 16-year-old teenager I was when I met you; like the 18-year-old woman I became with you by my side.

I still remember what my mom's aunt said about you, just a couple of minutes after you'd left the funeral home when my grandma passed away. I told her you were just a friend, which in a way had always been true. But I saw, in the way her eyes shined, she was telling me the truth when her lips dropped the words 'Don't ever let him go, there are very few friendships like the one you have.’

Do you want to know what's worst of it all? That I already knew; I've always known. I was so lucky to find you that I don't know why I let you go.

We might very scarcely see each other, yes; we might scarcely talk to each other nowadays… But I know you'd be lying to me and you'd be lying to yourself if you told me things have not changed.

And this bittersweet feeling provides the perfect balance between feeling hurt and feeling touched. It hurts because I know we're never going back to that place, and it touches me because I wouldn't be where I am today if it were not for you. You were much more than I possibly deserved, you were a shoulder to cry on and an endless source of smiles.

In fact, I can't help but wonder what happened, what changed. I know sometimes there's no explanation, I know there are always a lot of factors and issues, and I know that trying to look for a reason will only become a big headache that's going to lead me nowhere.

I don't blame you, not even me. But you got to know me better than anyone else and you know how my mind works. That hasn't changed a bit.

As of today, both you and me may be different people, but I know deep down still lives the crazy young girl that used to make wrong decisions, the one you always listened to, helped and protected, in your own way.

I am still that stupid girl that writes corny stuff when she's overwhelmed by her own emotions, despite pretending to be tough on the outside. I am still the same stupid girl that gets emotional and cries whenever she writes, and that she doesn't care if it's cheesy, because every single word written here it's the truth.

Although, there are some things that have actually changed, you know? As time passed, I stopped doing it. I write pieces like this plenty of times, I pour out all of these feelings and emotions and lock them away; most of them never see the light. Maybe it's the pile of disappointment I carry on my back.

It's probably the same that's going to happen with these words, just like it happened two years ago for New Year’s Eve. You remember it, don't you? It was the first time we'd seen each other after years of being apart. We promised we'd see each other in no time, we promised it wouldn't happen again, that we wouldn't let so much time pass before we encountered each other again. I guess we were never good at keeping our word.

I once was brave enough to tell you how I really felt. You promised that nothing would change; I promised that I didn't need to stay away from you. I guess we both lied that day.

I imagine that you must have forgotten all of this, but it still haunts me those days when I feel weaker. Especially when we finally speak to each other again and all of the memories fall on me like an iced water bucket and I drown in them.

I've wondered more times than I can recall, whether it was mere whim or if I really felt something else; if I mixed my feelings or it was one of my most clearheaded moments, because up to date, every single time I see you I still feel the same.

If I think it through with a clear head, I've never actually managed to fill the hole you left. Life's guided me through other paths and I found a new best friend, if you want to call it like that. But he could never be like you.

And I have the slight suspicion that's due to the fact I've never been in love with him.

[californiadreaminghq]

Oh good, you made it!

Did you guys know Ky was coming? They brought Vance deLery, The Ghost! And just on time! Grab a drink, find a spot, and make sure you finish everything on the checklist. The band is just getting started – you have 24 hours to send in your account! We’re so glad you’re here!

I. OUT OF THE STUDIO

NAME/ALIAS: Ky

AGE: 28

PRONOUNS: they

                                                 II. ON STAGE

NAME: Vance deLery

FACE CLAIM: Ben Barnes

AGE: 35

TITLE: The Ghost

DREAM: Somebody

OCCUPATION: Guitarist/Vocalist for Indigo Dusk

                                               III. INTERVIEW

Answer the following questions in your character’s voice:

If you could do anything in the world for a living, what would it be?

“Make music. That’s why I’m here, that’s - it’s what I’ve been tryin’ to do all my life. Since I was old enough to know a note, man.” Not an exaggeration; his ma used to laugh, looking at all those polaroids she’d pinned up. Some beaming, black-eyed baby pawing at the keys of the piano in that schoolroom where she did her lessons. This kid perched on the bench, hand-me-down dress shirt tucked in nearly to his knees, crisp white cotton hanging off his skinny shoulders as he played his first something-like a recital. Keep going, sweetheart. Everybody’s gonna listen, you’ll see. Vance sighed, brushed his hair back. “Yeah, just - music. I want to make it, and share it with people. That’s what it’s for.”

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

“It’d be warm, I’ll tell you that. Can’t handle the cold. Bad for playing in.” He flexed his hands, callused - by steel strings, sure, but busting out license plates, too, nowadays. “Warm. But, like… nice, you know?” A kind of heat that wasn’t so brutally bright, so strong that it’d crush the breath from your chest. Not that thick, sticky sort of warmth he’d grown up in. “Somewhere with real beaches. Soft sand for miles… I mean, California’s great and all, but… gets crowded, man.”

What is one thing that makes you different than anyone else?

“Ah… shit, give me a minute, there…” Experience made him sound like an asshole, didn’t it? Everybody was out there experiencing, all the time. Just, maybe, when it came to the sort of experience people sang about - how many of them had lived all of that? Especially these young things, coming up. Young things. Christ almighty, when did he get old? “I, uh - I’ve done this before. All of it, I’m… I’m doing it again, my second go around.” He nodded, took a deep, steadying sort of breath. “That’s the dream, at least, just… this time, I’m gonna do it my way. Like Frankie said.” Just like that.

                                               IV. BACKSTAGE

BEHIND THE MUSIC:

Vance, he could charm the birds from their trees, the girls right out of their bedroom windows - some of the guys as well, even if it was just their eyes saying so. All it took was a few chords off that beat-up guitar, a couple songs, that crooked smile. He had a certain style, and a sound, but… did he have what it took, to make it big? On his own, he might never have had the confidence to go chasing stars. But he had the boys, pulling him along in their twanging, roaring wake: fellow odd-one-outs around their little town, thick as thieves. There was the frontman, The Fortunate Son, howling himself hoarse out where he could strut his stuff and drink in the crowd. The drummer, The Peace Train - he hit things, hit ‘em at the right time, despite the metric shit-ton of weed he burned through. Their bassman, The Hard-core Troubadour, he didn’t have tricky fingers, but he had rhythm. That’d do. At least, when you had Vance handling the fancy slides and such.

They called themselves the Diamondbacks. Sounded badass, and upscale. So the argument went. Vance, he didn’t see much need to be any of that. That frontman had a way of convincing people, though. Vance, especially. Those heady summer days, passing a joint around by the river, made it real easy to see the light. Their music was good, and it was something else, part of that swell of southern rock n’ roll sound. Those songs they knocked around could be in. Just had to make sure the right people heard them.

First, the Diamondbacks had to get the hell out of Pine Bluff. As soon as possible. None of those boys had any real reason to stick around, no roots they weren’t ready to sever. Vance, he was still missing his mother, her car t-boned by a drunk the spring after she got him that third-hand Fender he lugged over to every practice. His father, he kept a closer eye on the beers in his fridge than he did on his son. But Mr. deLery made sure his boy knew how to take a punch. Did he ever. When the band finally rode off into the sunset, Vance was nursing a broken nose in the backseat - God, though, he’d never laughed so hard. Fuck the whole state. They were going to California.

Beyond there, the plan got a bit hazy. The financing, especially. None of them had much more than a crumpled pocketful of savings. That and a few bucks here and there from gigs was enough to squeak by on, but they hadn’t come all that way to squeak. They wanted to shine. That took cash, though; for new shirts, new drumsticks, the occasional haircut. And the drinking. And the dope, which flowed pretty freely in the big city. The Diamondbacks needed cash on their way to the top. As usual, that singer figured out the answer. He’d met a guy who could use some people. A real cool guy, into real cool things. Like acid, pills, heroin. Just needed a hand moving a little something, now and then, here and there. Vance didn’t like it, but. The Fortunate Son, the tightest friend he’d ever had, was telling him how they were going to save their band. So, Vance listened. It’d be okay, he got promised. It’d be better than okay.

And soon, it was. That cool guy had cool friends, as it turned out, and those cool friends had cool parties. After showing up at a few of those, the Diamondbacks were reading over a record deal, signing on the dotted line. The rest, as they say, is history. There was a promising first album, then, quickly, a record-smashing second, and a third that the radio just loved. Then, trouble. That fourth record spun apart as the band got lost in being bigshots. Vance, never as comfortable being the centre of attention as The Fortunate Son, never as incredibly high as The Peace Train, never as cool and collected as The Hardcore Troubadour, could feel himself burning away in the limelight. He drank to sleep, snorted to wake up. Started to find other things to do, in between. The pressure made him jittery, on and off the stage, and it didn’t help any that that cool friend kept calling. The guy didn’t like to hear no. Said he had strings to pull, if he had to. Going on tour was just such a swell method of distribution, and the money didn’t hurt the band any, did it? The Fortunate Son wasn’t worried. So, Vance tried not to be. He really did.

It all went to hell so fast. One day, they were on top of the fuckin’ world. Next, everybody was going down for possession, intent to distribute. Everybody, or somebody. So said the lawyer The Fortunate Son’s panicked parents had called in. They wanted to make an example, here. One would do. A sacrifice, for the rest of the band, but. With good behaviour, out in no time. Vance would do it. Right? Vance could give the judge those big doe eyes, get off easy. A nice cushy stint in county. It’d be nothing, and the rest of them, they’d fix up that album and keep going, for his sake. Then he’d be back, soon, and… The Fortunate Son, he was half-hysterical. All Vance could say was yes. For his best friend, for the band. It’d be nothing.

Only, that lawyer wasn’t so good as he figured he was. Vance was thrown a dime and a half in San Quentin, a week shy of his twenty-second birthday. Example made.

The band visited, for a while. Prison wasn’t kind, but Vance, he’d grown up keeping his head down. Withdrawal didn’t make it easier. Neither did the visits, honestly. Watching the band break down, from the outside - that stung. That was his life, what he took this long, long fall for. Gone. The days blurred together, a smear of grey concrete, grey food, grey sheets, and the odd, red burst of blood. He watched his hands, playing his way through old songs every night, tapping his fingers on nothing. Listened to the radio, when they allowed - catching the chords, guessing at the picking patterns. All he had to do was stick it out, survive. There’d be music on the other side.

Turns out that all his good, good behaviour would count for something - a few reductions, then, parole. After he hitch-hiked his way to Los Angeles, Vance started strumming along the boardwalks and street corners to make ends meet. He’d lost a decade, of playing, of living; rusty, roughed up, and altogether alone in the world, he had nowhere to go and nobody to see there. Didn’t even have that old Fender. But he could clean himself up and slip into bars and music stores, pick up a guitar, and earn a few coins. Just a week shy of his last pointless parole meeting, he was pulled aside for a proposal. A band, not just some crew of up and comers but a big deal, needed a guitarist, a singer. A replacement. Maybe they weren’t his style, but - could he do it? For the money to keep himself clean, sure. They didn’t seem to have caught on to that criminal record, but that was years ago; the Diamondbacks, and the scandal that snapped them apart, were just about forgotten. All the better for Vance. For the past two years he’s been doing what Indigo Dusk pays him to do, and not much more. This isn’t his band. It’s not his music. He bears them no ill will - he’s grateful, of course, for the chance - but he doesn’t feel at home with them, doesn’t get too personal. Vance is well aware he’s just filling a space onstage, and if he’s honest with himself, he’s not playing his best for them. But, very, very quietly, over the last few months or so, he’s started to slip out to open mic nights around Los Angeles. Nothing too big. Doesn’t want to trouble that contract, obviously… but he can feel it, the quaking in the foundation of this band he’s hitched himself to. They’re going the same way The Diamondbacks did, or something like it, anyway. And that asides, he misses making music that felt like his. Maybe The Diamondbacks weren’t that, either. But he’s out looking for his own sound, now, and if the audiences are any indication, he’s starting to find it…

                                                   V. ENCORE

Let’s start with a PINTEREST! https://www.pinterest.ca/jraphicpark/vance/

HEADCANON time!

Vance got his musical talent, and then some, from his mother - a music teacher. She realized early that her boy had spectacular pitch, listening to him plink along with radio tunes on her piano. He can do more than that now, but hasn’t let the rest of Indigo Dusk in on the fact. They’ve got somebody on the keys, don’t need him. And it hurts to play, in some ways. Piano was his mom’s music, her sound, and it brings back a hell of a lot of memories. 

He can also pick something pretty out on the banjo, and knows his way around a classic diatonic harmonica. Picked that one up in prison; being able to keep folks entertained has always served Vance well, even in his worst days. 

At this point, he’s mostly playing covers for the cafe and bar crowds; but Vance is slowly, surely, starting to throw in a tune or two of his own. It’s not just his sound that’s drawing people in, either. When he warms up, past a certain natural shyness, Vance has this unpretentious, genuine way about him, a self-deprecating kind of humour that sneaks in between songs. It keeps them listening, even if his music isn’t perhaps the kind of thing that’s hitting it big on the airwaves these days.

Though nobody was throwing those words around in 1973, Vance is what we’d call dyslexic and dysgraphic - meaning, very broadly, that he struggles to read and write. It’s not something he has an explanation for, and the ones given to him by teachers and schoolmates weren’t kind. He’s been treated like he’s not terribly smart, or like he’s lazy, or both, since he was a kid. Neither’s true, but he’s still sensitive about it, and tries to hide this fact as much as possible. People already tend to judge him quickly thanks to the backwoodsy accent. It’s not fair, but Vance knows the world isn’t like that. So he just gets on by, as best he can.

And then, obviously, a PLAYLIST! I’ll just list the songs, because I don’t have a proper Spotify set up (shocking, I know). Hope it’s okay that some of these are modern. Vance typically played electric with the Diamondbacks, in their more rock n’ roll style (think CCR, Lynyrd Skynyrd); left to his own devices, he prefers an acoustic sound heavy on the finger-picking. He’s got a genuine gift for that kind of playing, very much a van Zandt kind of talent. His voice, usually background to The Fortunate Son’s in the Diamondback days, actually has a decent range - soft highs to a bit of old country growl.

Highway Kind - Townes van Zandt Little Boy - Barns Courtney

Feel Alright - Steve Earle

Built to Roam - Shakey Graves

Leaving On A Jet Plane - John Denver

Deep Dark Wells - Joe Pug

Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash

My Poor Heart - The Glorious Sons

Satan and St. Paul - John Fullbright I’m Not a Saint - Billy Raffoul

Wasteland - X Ambassadors

Tearing At the Seams - Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats

And I Love You So - Don McLean

Everything Is Alright - The Glorious Sons

Unknown Legend - Shakey Graves

Bright Beginnings - Joe Pug

Lungs - Townes van Zandt

Don’t Take Your Guns to Town - Johnny Cash

History - X Ambassadors

Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver

Unlucky Skin - Shakey Graves

Meet Me in the Alleyway - Steve Earle

Panic Attack - The Glorious Sons

American Pie - Don McLean

Still Trying - Nathaniel Rateliff

And for a few more things, here’s some tidbits about the (ex)band, so far as wanted connections might go! Names and Titles are flexible. Faceclaims would be totally up to player, probably in the 32-37 age range.  

THE FORTUNATE SON

The oddest one out, back in Pine Bluff and the band, this character grew up as the spoiled and rebellious child of the biggest bigwigs that little town had to offer. Maybe he’s a Somebody, a country crooner or a real rockstar. Maybe he’s become a Power, staring down the kind of up and comer he used to be across a nice, expensive desk. Is he happy, now? Was it worth it? Who’s to say.

THE PEACE TRAIN

The roving spirit of the bunch, the real hippie, off in la-la land, ready to fire up a fat one the moment they left the stage. You could say that for this character - he loved the music, and couldn’t stand to see it compromised. He was a cheerleader, always ready to shove the rest of the band back on their feet and get the show on the road, eternally the sunny, can-do optimist. The weed probably helped with that, but still. Vance wound up moving plenty of product for him alone, back in the day. Now? Who knows he’s up to.

THE HARD-CORE TROUBADOUR

Once the bassist of The Diamondbacks, this character was always a hard-headed, take-no-shit sonofabitch. But he got shit done. While The Fortunate Son dreamed big and tried to smile and schmooze his way to what he wanted, The Hard-core Troubadour put in the thinking and paperwork that made stuff happen. He spent much of the friendship - and the band - frustrated. Vance was often the one who had to try and gentle things out between people, usually this stubborn bastard and their bombastic, self-righteous frontman. He might have moved on to another band, but it’s just as likely that he left music behind for managing or mixing at one of the labels.

[polotiz]

Prometheus Ch38 - Intro

For anyone curious... :)

“Rizzoli!!”

The call echoed across the small quadrangle, and she paused, a smirk already forming on her face. It was unusually bright for late March, and bodies were strewn across what seemed like every spare inch of lawn, eating lunch, studying, or just soaking up the sun. Most of the Boston chill had retreated, saving itself only for early morning frost and the occasional whipping wind.

Today, was glorious.

She could hear the footfalls behind her, and she flipped her sunglasses onto her head, turning around and placing her hands at the utility belt on her hips, raising one eyebrow at the figure jogging towards her.

Smile wide, he pulled his cap from his head and ruffled his curly dark hair. Jane rolled her eyes. Andrew Glover - a third generation Southie, the boy was built like a Staffordshire Terrier; what he didn’t have in height he made up for by being a complete smart-ass. There was a reason she called the guy ‘locks’ when she was feeling particularly uncharitable.

“You’re a dick.” He said, making a show of trying to catch his breath. “The highest firearm qualification score on record? Are you kidding me?”

Jane shrugged, allowing cocky grin spilling onto her face. “Can’t help it if the competition sucks, Glover.”

He shoved her right shoulder playfully. “Fuck you-“ He said, then winked at her, a sly glint in his eye. “-Well, at least I scored fifty bucks out of it.”

“You asshole!” Jane said, laughing. “You bet on me?”

“Hey!” He held up his hands in mock surrender, “-I bet on you winning, slugger. Remember that when you’re becoming some big hot shot Lieutenant by the age of 30.”

Jane jabbed him in the side with her elbow. “Whatever.” She said. “Fifty bucks? you’re buying the beers.”

The local pub was barely that; a veritable hole in the wall of some street off some main road, a total of four stools and a few tables down the back that were only ever frequented by the same six people. Still, the bartender was a decent guy, they served all seasons of Sam Adams and somehow always managed to have extra Octoberfest, well beyond the fall.

Oh, and the beer-battered thick-cut chips…

They had known each other almost ten years. In the plumbing trade, everyone knew everyone, and hers and Andrew’s father had long mixed in the same circles. The two of them and Frankie would regularly sneak out during her father’s backyard gatherings; roaming the backstreets and lanes, finding make-believe clues and pretending they were chasing down criminals. Jane peered at him over her pint of Boston Lager.

“So, that assignment-“ He said, mouth full and a glint in his eye. “-I was thinking Albert DeSalvo.”

Jane rolled her eyes at him again. Andy Glover. So very patriotic. Seeing her reaction Andrew feigned offense with a hand on his heart.

“Oh come on! The Boston Strangler’s got heaps of juicy stuff to work with. Including-” Leaning forward he waggled his eyebrows conspiratorially. “-whether he was acting alone…”

Jane scoffed, grabbing a chip from the bowl in front of them, swirling it through the side of ketchup and stuffing it into her mouth. Andrew leaned back in his chair and mock-scowled.

“Go on then, hot-shot. Who’ve you got your eye on?”

She shrugged, chewing thoughtfully before taking a sip of her beer. “Something more… recent.” She said.

“Recent?” Andrew’s face immediately lit up. “Like Rodney Alcala?”

“No, recent as in- still active.”

In her peripheral vision Jane could see Glover’s eyes widen, his mouth forming a small ‘o’ as he slumped back into his chair, grabbing a handful of chips on his way.

“Holy shitballs, Rizzoli.” He said. “That’s… nobody’s done that.”

Turning toward him she grinned, swiping a chip from between his fingers. “I know.”

He eyed her for several moments, before folding his arms across his chest.

“Okay, spill. How are you going to pull it off?”

Jane only winked and reached for her beer.

“You’ll see.” ---- She started awake to find Chang hovering in her peripheral vision, chewing on her bottom lip as she adjusted the IV.

Jane shifted on the bed, instinctively reaching across her body to scratch at the tape holding her front dressing in place.

…And froze, just as the orderly turned around.

…Because she shouldn’t have been able to do what she just did. Not unless-

Jane’s eyes darted down to her restraints, then to her hand, then to Chang, who was watching her, carefully, the used antibiotic IV bag stilled in her fingers.

“Go ahead.” She said, finally. “I need to check the dressings anyway.”

Jane only nodded, blinking away the confusion as she reached the rest of the way to her shoulder slowly – as if the restraints could snap shut around her limbs any moment – and rubbed at the spot where the dressing was taped to her skin.

“Thank you.” She said, the gentle version of her voice gravelly even to her own ears… sounding almost foreign, she realised, in a room where Maura wasn’t.

Chang shot her a small smile as she dropped the IV bag on her trolley, then reached over and – as if it was the simplest act in the world – slid her hands underneath Jane’s left side, indicating for her to sit up. The action made Jane flinch, but she closed her eyes and held her breath, focusing instead on the warmth at her back, and the orderly’s calm confidence.

“Don’t mention it.” Chang murmured, then she paused and made a show of looking around as she eased Jane into position, before turning back to her, leaning closer and lowering her voice. “-no really… don’t.”

Jane felt the corner of her mouth twitch upward, and held two fingers in the air wordlessly, a tug of familiarity pulling at her, equal parts reassuring and terrifying.

Something.. no -someone she had buried, forgotten.

The person she used to be.

[amtushinfosolutionspage]

The Magic of Marlon Moraes

On Friday night, Marlon Moraes announced himself as the next logical contender for T.J. Dillashaw’s belt as he routed Jimmie Rivera in under a minute. Rivera’s ten year, 20-fight winning streak went out the window with one kick.

One of the reasons that the fight world was so excited to see Marlon Moraes in the Octagon was that he was demolishing anyone World Series of Fighting could find to fight him as their bantamweight champion. It is a story that has repeated itself a dozen times in the last decade or so: a fighter who appears to be genuinely world class, fighting well below his level in a smaller promotion, with it being only a matter of time before he finds his way to the UFC. These fighters are always divisive and even their biggest believers understand that the level of competition becomes significantly more difficult inside the UFC. For every Eddie Alvarez or Luke Rockhold, who go on to win the UFC title, there is a Gilbert Melendez or a Will Brooks who just never gets going. In fact, even Alvarez and Rockhold lost in their UFC debuts. You would think fans would have softened on the idea of the first UFC bout being make-or-break, yet it still has that nature for many.

But despite fighting a whole heap of guys you won’t have heard of and seemingly padding out his record in WSOF, Moraes jumped in at the deep end in the UFC and he hasn’t relented even for a moment. Raphael Assuncao, John Dodson, Aljamain Sterling and Jimmie Rivera—Moraes met them all in the space of 365 days. Dodson is a perennial mid-top-ten man, Sterling is considered a young up-and-comer, and Assuncao and Rivera are the bantamweight nightmare. They are both very good, but rarely finish fights, have small fan followings and—most damningly—they don’t have ready made drama with Team Alpha Male or Dominick Cruz. Those lads will never get title shots. Yet it was Assuncao who welcomed Moraes to the UFC and who put a damper on his opening fanfare, handing Moraes a split decision loss.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to note about Moraes’s two most recent performances is that the knockouts just sort of happened. Aljamain Sterling’s head was where Moraes didn’t expect it to be during a body kick and the knee knocked him out—Moraes declared that he was as surprised by as anyone else in his post fight interview.

Against Rivera, Moraes came out jabbing, feinting, inside low kicking, and tossed a quick step up high kick just to see what would happen. The result was that it clacked off Rivera’s head and folded him like a deck chair, but it didn’t seem to be Moraes’s all-consuming intention or gameplan, it was just something he did while looking for openings. And that sums up Marlon Moraes in a nutshell, he is a very savvy, adaptable striker who continues to look for openings and build off looks throughout a bout, whether the knockout comes or not. As Sugar Ray Robinson pointed out in his memoir, when you stop looking for the knockout and just focus on landing as often and cleanly as possible, the knockout often just comes on its own.

Flustering the Counter Striker

While Moraes’s fights against Assuncao and Dodson were less clean cut affairs, they were better showcases for his dynamic striking chops. Some have drawn comparisons between Moraes and his friend and team mate, Edson Barboza. The key differences are that Moraes can box, is never far from his stance, and doesn’t run backwards onto the fence without prompting. By having other weapons and lacking those enormous flaws in ringcraft, Moraes actually has more success timing the counter switch kick which so often goes wrong for Barboza. Counter kicking is one of the least natural tactics in fighting but learning to draw punches and time kicks under them can be a game changer. Flush body kicks are hard to land against disciplined fighters, but you can’t punch with your elbows flush to your sides.

The Assuncao fight was one which took on distinct phases. In the first round, Moraes flustered Assuncao’s awkward, low-pace counter striking by throwing out dozens of feints and jabs, scrambling the signal with static. By throwing off Assuncao’s timing and sneaking through a few good strikes, Moraes placed pressure on Assuncao to score some points and get back in the fight. Assuncao began coming to Moraes and Moraes was waiting for him with counters of his own.

Unfortunately, Assuncao calmed down a bit and with ten seconds left in the first round landed a crisp inside parry to counter right hand off a Moraes jab. The punch momentarily took Moraes’s legs away and despite all of his solid work up to that point, stole the round for Assuncao on two judges’ scorecards.

While Assuncao won the decision, Moraes’s work was among the best you will see against the awkward Brazilian counter striker. Through three competitive rounds, Moraes showed an understanding of counter striking that is still so lacking in MMA. Not only was he feinting to get Assuncao swinging at air and second guessing himself, he was drawing counters and exploiting them. The following jab-and-duck into the left hook is a perfect example. Not only drawing a counter in order to counter it, but hooking off the jab as well? If more fighters start to show this kind of understanding of the sweet science, Bob Arum might have to accept that MMA isn’t just a place for white skinheads who can’t box.

Punishing the Southpaw Straight

You need only compare the Assuncao fight to Moraes’s next performance against John Dodson to see his versatile and adaptive mind in action. You couldn’t ask for more different strikers than Assuncao and Dodson. Assuncao asks you to come to him, occasionally stabbing in straight punches and push kicks. Dodson throws southpaw high kicks and sprints in, running to the outside of his opponent’s lead foot and doubling up on the left straight. In the opening round, Moraes pushed Dodson to the fence and the American rebounded off the cage with a left hand which dropped Moraes on his rump.

Within a few minutes Moraes had adapted to Dodson’s usual look and his speed, and was finding counters everywhere. Moraes’s left hook—without a doubt his money punch—began to snap in over Dodson’s shoulder as he squared up to throw the southpaw left straight.

When that didn’t find the mark, because Dodson had returned to or remained in a bladed position, the right hook quickly followed and cracked Dodson through the open side.

When Dodson came off the fence exactly the same way in the second round, Moraes crossed his left with the right hand and turned Dodson’s head around.

Moraes even tried to get in body shots with his right hand on the open side—as Jorge Linares recently used to good effect against the great Vasyl Lomachenko. And of course, Moraes would close the door on these body shots with the left hook.

We haven’t discussed “closing the door” in detail here in a while, but it remains an important principle of fighting and particularly the boxing aspect. Most fighters are set up best to defend themselves when they are “half-facing,” their lead shoulder being projected so that they may duck for cover behind it when under fire. A fighter is most vulnerable to right hand counters during and immediately after he has thrown his own right hand, because he must square up and present a target to do so.

In fact, while the angles change slightly for most of the game out at range when one fighter is southpaw, everything opens up just the same the moment they square up, inside of punching range. Dodson eating that counter left hook above is a great example of that. Because squaring up is necessary to accomplish hard hitting offense, but simultaneously offers the opponent far more opportunities, most boxing coaches like their fighters to end combinations with a hook or jab back out to range because both lead handed punching actions put the fighter back behind his lead shoulder and punish the opponent if he pursues. There are other ways to mitigate the danger of squaring up for the right hand (weaving out, clinching, pushing away, ducking in on the hips, reverse shoulder rolling or folding behind the elbow, and on and on) but closing the door is the neatest and most pro-active.

This is where Moraes’s left hook really excels. It is a short range weapon, and he isn’t particularly gangly for the weightclass either, but it plays off his longer weapons. His right kicks square his hips just as the right straight does, albeit reaching a bit further. Opponents try to chase Moraes off these kicks and find themselves eating left hooks as they close the range. The right round kick and left hook seem a lovely pairing in that the hips and shoulders turn one way, and then back the other as the leg is retracted, but one of the neater parts of Moraes’s application is his timing of the left hook.

He doesn’t always whirl straight back into it off the kick, sometimes he’ll set his feet for a split second before timing the left hook for best effect. Moares’s left hook is a killer because of accuracy and anticipation more than because of his power.

That is not to paint the Dodson fight as a one sided blow out: it was a competitive scrap marred by two significant Moraes fouls, a groin kick which had Dodson retching and an eye poke moments later. That fight does, however, show a part of Moraes that you won’t see in the two recent, rapid knockouts. It demonstrates how he adapts through the rounds. Watching Moraes learn and get into the mind of an opponent is really quite something. Similar to his teammate Frankie Edgar in his best performances, Moraes has a remarkable ability to spot his opponent’s habits and predict how they will react the next time he prompts them.

The Dodson and Assuncao fights were full of moments like this, for instance in the above clip Moraes has just missed a wheel kick on the circling Dodson, so he pushes his luck and goes for it a second time in quick succession. This is the kind of madness that you will see Alexander Shlemenko employ to bamboozle opponents. The heel cracks Dodson behind the guard and Moraes capitalizes on a good connection by… feinting. That same stutter step that Moraes showed Rivera has Dodson jumping into the air and swinging wild, expecting a fifth-round Robbie Lawler charge. Dodson finds nothing and eats a quick left hook as his feet are coming down.

The Sterling and Rivera fights didn’t tell fans a lot about Marlon Moraes, but they got him some long overdue attention. After debuting in the UFC on the undercard against one of the trickiest fighters in the division, seemingly set up to lose and be ignored, Moraes ended up making easy work of the number three bantamweight in the world in a main event on Friday night. The casual MMA fan doesn’t give a damn if the 135-pound kickboxer on undercards is showing some slick set ups and combinations, but if anyone is going to break the monotony in matchmaking at the top end of the division and actually get a much deserved title shot, Marlon Moraes, Practicing Knockout Artist is the man to do it.

Jack wrote the hit biography Notorious: The Life and Fights of Conor McGregor and hosts the Fights Gone By Podcast.

The Magic of Marlon Moraes syndicated from https://australiahoverboards.wordpress.com

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The Magic of Marlon Moraes

On Friday night, Marlon Moraes announced himself as the next logical contender for T.J. Dillashaw’s belt as he routed Jimmie Rivera in under a minute. Rivera’s ten year, 20-fight winning streak went out the window with one kick.

One of the reasons that the fight world was so excited to see Marlon Moraes in the Octagon was that he was demolishing anyone World Series of Fighting could find to fight him as their bantamweight champion. It is a story that has repeated itself a dozen times in the last decade or so: a fighter who appears to be genuinely world class, fighting well below his level in a smaller promotion, with it being only a matter of time before he finds his way to the UFC. These fighters are always divisive and even their biggest believers understand that the level of competition becomes significantly more difficult inside the UFC. For every Eddie Alvarez or Luke Rockhold, who go on to win the UFC title, there is a Gilbert Melendez or a Will Brooks who just never gets going. In fact, even Alvarez and Rockhold lost in their UFC debuts. You would think fans would have softened on the idea of the first UFC bout being make-or-break, yet it still has that nature for many.

But despite fighting a whole heap of guys you won’t have heard of and seemingly padding out his record in WSOF, Moraes jumped in at the deep end in the UFC and he hasn’t relented even for a moment. Raphael Assuncao, John Dodson, Aljamain Sterling and Jimmie Rivera—Moraes met them all in the space of 365 days. Dodson is a perennial mid-top-ten man, Sterling is considered a young up-and-comer, and Assuncao and Rivera are the bantamweight nightmare. They are both very good, but rarely finish fights, have small fan followings and—most damningly—they don’t have ready made drama with Team Alpha Male or Dominick Cruz. Those lads will never get title shots. Yet it was Assuncao who welcomed Moraes to the UFC and who put a damper on his opening fanfare, handing Moraes a split decision loss.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to note about Moraes’s two most recent performances is that the knockouts just sort of happened. Aljamain Sterling’s head was where Moraes didn’t expect it to be during a body kick and the knee knocked him out—Moraes declared that he was as surprised by as anyone else in his post fight interview.

Against Rivera, Moraes came out jabbing, feinting, inside low kicking, and tossed a quick step up high kick just to see what would happen. The result was that it clacked off Rivera’s head and folded him like a deck chair, but it didn’t seem to be Moraes’s all-consuming intention or gameplan, it was just something he did while looking for openings. And that sums up Marlon Moraes in a nutshell, he is a very savvy, adaptable striker who continues to look for openings and build off looks throughout a bout, whether the knockout comes or not. As Sugar Ray Robinson pointed out in his memoir, when you stop looking for the knockout and just focus on landing as often and cleanly as possible, the knockout often just comes on its own.

Flustering the Counter Striker

While Moraes’s fights against Assuncao and Dodson were less clean cut affairs, they were better showcases for his dynamic striking chops. Some have drawn comparisons between Moraes and his friend and team mate, Edson Barboza. The key differences are that Moraes can box, is never far from his stance, and doesn’t run backwards onto the fence without prompting. By having other weapons and lacking those enormous flaws in ringcraft, Moraes actually has more success timing the counter switch kick which so often goes wrong for Barboza. Counter kicking is one of the least natural tactics in fighting but learning to draw punches and time kicks under them can be a game changer. Flush body kicks are hard to land against disciplined fighters, but you can’t punch with your elbows flush to your sides.

The Assuncao fight was one which took on distinct phases. In the first round, Moraes flustered Assuncao’s awkward, low-pace counter striking by throwing out dozens of feints and jabs, scrambling the signal with static. By throwing off Assuncao’s timing and sneaking through a few good strikes, Moraes placed pressure on Assuncao to score some points and get back in the fight. Assuncao began coming to Moraes and Moraes was waiting for him with counters of his own.

Unfortunately, Assuncao calmed down a bit and with ten seconds left in the first round landed a crisp inside parry to counter right hand off a Moraes jab. The punch momentarily took Moraes’s legs away and despite all of his solid work up to that point, stole the round for Assuncao on two judges’ scorecards.

While Assuncao won the decision, Moraes’s work was among the best you will see against the awkward Brazilian counter striker. Through three competitive rounds, Moraes showed an understanding of counter striking that is still so lacking in MMA. Not only was he feinting to get Assuncao swinging at air and second guessing himself, he was drawing counters and exploiting them. The following jab-and-duck into the left hook is a perfect example. Not only drawing a counter in order to counter it, but hooking off the jab as well? If more fighters start to show this kind of understanding of the sweet science, Bob Arum might have to accept that MMA isn’t just a place for white skinheads who can’t box.

Punishing the Southpaw Straight

You need only compare the Assuncao fight to Moraes’s next performance against John Dodson to see his versatile and adaptive mind in action. You couldn’t ask for more different strikers than Assuncao and Dodson. Assuncao asks you to come to him, occasionally stabbing in straight punches and push kicks. Dodson throws southpaw high kicks and sprints in, running to the outside of his opponent’s lead foot and doubling up on the left straight. In the opening round, Moraes pushed Dodson to the fence and the American rebounded off the cage with a left hand which dropped Moraes on his rump.

Within a few minutes Moraes had adapted to Dodson’s usual look and his speed, and was finding counters everywhere. Moraes's left hook—without a doubt his money punch—began to snap in over Dodson’s shoulder as he squared up to throw the southpaw left straight.

When that didn’t find the mark, because Dodson had returned to or remained in a bladed position, the right hook quickly followed and cracked Dodson through the open side.

When Dodson came off the fence exactly the same way in the second round, Moraes crossed his left with the right hand and turned Dodson’s head around.

Moraes even tried to get in body shots with his right hand on the open side—as Jorge Linares recently used to good effect against the great Vasyl Lomachenko. And of course, Moraes would close the door on these body shots with the left hook.

We haven't discussed "closing the door" in detail here in a while, but it remains an important principle of fighting and particularly the boxing aspect. Most fighters are set up best to defend themselves when they are "half-facing," their lead shoulder being projected so that they may duck for cover behind it when under fire. A fighter is most vulnerable to right hand counters during and immediately after he has thrown his own right hand, because he must square up and present a target to do so.

In fact, while the angles change slightly for most of the game out at range when one fighter is southpaw, everything opens up just the same the moment they square up, inside of punching range. Dodson eating that counter left hook above is a great example of that. Because squaring up is necessary to accomplish hard hitting offense, but simultaneously offers the opponent far more opportunities, most boxing coaches like their fighters to end combinations with a hook or jab back out to range because both lead handed punching actions put the fighter back behind his lead shoulder and punish the opponent if he pursues. There are other ways to mitigate the danger of squaring up for the right hand (weaving out, clinching, pushing away, ducking in on the hips, reverse shoulder rolling or folding behind the elbow, and on and on) but closing the door is the neatest and most pro-active.

This is where Moraes’s left hook really excels. It is a short range weapon, and he isn’t particularly gangly for the weightclass either, but it plays off his longer weapons. His right kicks square his hips just as the right straight does, albeit reaching a bit further. Opponents try to chase Moraes off these kicks and find themselves eating left hooks as they close the range. The right round kick and left hook seem a lovely pairing in that the hips and shoulders turn one way, and then back the other as the leg is retracted, but one of the neater parts of Moraes’s application is his timing of the left hook.

He doesn’t always whirl straight back into it off the kick, sometimes he’ll set his feet for a split second before timing the left hook for best effect. Moares’s left hook is a killer because of accuracy and anticipation more than because of his power.

That is not to paint the Dodson fight as a one sided blow out: it was a competitive scrap marred by two significant Moraes fouls, a groin kick which had Dodson retching and an eye poke moments later. That fight does, however, show a part of Moraes that you won’t see in the two recent, rapid knockouts. It demonstrates how he adapts through the rounds. Watching Moraes learn and get into the mind of an opponent is really quite something. Similar to his teammate Frankie Edgar in his best performances, Moraes has a remarkable ability to spot his opponent’s habits and predict how they will react the next time he prompts them.

The Dodson and Assuncao fights were full of moments like this, for instance in the above clip Moraes has just missed a wheel kick on the circling Dodson, so he pushes his luck and goes for it a second time in quick succession. This is the kind of madness that you will see Alexander Shlemenko employ to bamboozle opponents. The heel cracks Dodson behind the guard and Moraes capitalizes on a good connection by… feinting. That same stutter step that Moraes showed Rivera has Dodson jumping into the air and swinging wild, expecting a fifth-round Robbie Lawler charge. Dodson finds nothing and eats a quick left hook as his feet are coming down.

The Sterling and Rivera fights didn’t tell fans a lot about Marlon Moraes, but they got him some long overdue attention. After debuting in the UFC on the undercard against one of the trickiest fighters in the division, seemingly set up to lose and be ignored, Moraes ended up making easy work of the number three bantamweight in the world in a main event on Friday night. The casual MMA fan doesn’t give a damn if the 135-pound kickboxer on undercards is showing some slick set ups and combinations, but if anyone is going to break the monotony in matchmaking at the top end of the division and actually get a much deserved title shot, Marlon Moraes, Practicing Knockout Artist is the man to do it.

Jack wrote the hit biography Notorious: The Life and Fights of Conor McGregor and hosts the Fights Gone By Podcast.

The Magic of Marlon Moraes published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/