#and take pictures of somebody's backyard without permission

[piglii]

one thing that has been nice about not being a 24/7 homebody cave dweller is getting to see people's houses while I walk around. like there are so many just really well put together little gardens and neat little bits of architecture that I kind of really enjoy looking at with my eyeballs. it's pleasant.

[mrsamaroevans]

NOT A THIRD CHANCE | MIGUEL GALINDO

Fandom: Mayans M.C.

Pairing: Miguel Galindo x Female Reader.

Words: 3,844.

Warnings: Spoilers of season 3 of Mayans MC. English is not my first language, so, sorry if there are grammar mistakes or if the redaction is poor.

A/N: I always try to keep this short and I end up writing more than 3k words :c Sorry! *GIF NOT MINE*

|| MY MASTERLIST ||

You knew him so well that you knew when he was lying and when he was telling the truth.

You already suspected it for weeks. All those trips to Mexico... he had never made as many as in the past months, and, it came to a point where he didn't hide the reasons for his trips from you, he no longer hid anything that had to do with the cartel, why would he have started doing it again?

But when those pictures arrived… you hadn't realized until then that you were praying for your suspicions not to be true. But there were no longer any doubts. You already had the facts and although it broke your heart, you took your things, you took your son, and you left the house without giving any prior sign.

Miguel hadn't even realized it and that was probably what hurt you the most. That first night you were away from home, he was away too. He was in México. The next afternoon when he arrived and didn't find you, that's when he started calling you but all he got was your voicemail. And then he saw the pictures you left on the bed and understood everything.

He had no idea where you could have gone. You stopped talking to your family a year ago, your best friend hadn't heard from you in days. Two days after thinking and looking at your statements for some signs, he knew where you went.

It was the only place you could have gone for support. You always told him that.

“Why did you disappear like that?” Was the first thing he asked when you opened the door “I was worried”

“In the arms of Palomo, sure” you nodded and crossed your arms in your chest as you leaned against the front door frame “What happened? She got tired of sharing?”

“Amor…”

“Don’t call me that” You interrupted him. Your voice came out more aggressive than you thought it would, but hearing him call you that way when he could have been calling another woman the same, caught you off guard and made you angry in just a second. “You have no right to call me that”

Miguel looked hurt and regretful, but you couldn't let that distract you. You couldn't fall that fast again.

“It’s not what you think,” he said and from the way he sounded, you knew he also thought it was a weak excuse.

“So it’s photoshopped? Really? That’s your defense?” You asked with a bitter laugh.

“Let me explain—”

“No… listen, Miguel, I’m too tired,” you said sighing. Your head was spinning around because, although you knew you had to face him sometime, you were not ready to do it so quickly “I’m so tired of your excuses. I’ve been hearing them for months, I’m done”

“Don’t say that… (Y/n), please let me fix it” he insisted, but you shook your head to cut him off.

“I talked to my lawyer,” You said and now the one who was taken by surprise was him “The papers will be home tomorrow, so please sign them”

“What?” Miguel shook his head, your request seemed to make him angry “No… I’m not gonna sign anything without trying to fix what I did first”

You were about to say something when a few steps coming from the kitchen made you look back.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Felipe said when he saw you two at the door. You have never been so grateful for an interruption before.

“It’s okay, Felipe, Miguel is leaving now,” you said turning back to the man in front of you. He knew exactly what you were doing, but he didn't want to leave, not yet. He still had a lot to say, but you didn't feel like listening anymore.

“I want to see my son” he demanded but you didn’t accept it.

“He’s taking a nap” you answered with a sharp tone “If you want to see him another time, I’m not gonna forbid you, but I’m not gonna let you interrupt his nap now”

The next times you spoke to him were through text messages. He was busy with the cartel and you had been very clear that you didn't want him to go to the Reyes' house other than to see Cristobal and whenever he had time it was already too late at night.

You were hardly ever alone. Ez went home with Emily whenever they could, Angel also went sometimes, and having gone to them had not only worked for you but for Felipe as well. Your son had more people who paid attention to him and played with him and he was very happy about it. His happiness was contagious, so nobody at home could be sad or worry whenever he was awake.

The days were easy to get through, but the nights? That was a completely different story.

Because, no matter how tired you were, you spent hours tossing and turning in bed thinking about everything. You couldn't help but remember the good times with Miguel and all those promises that he had made that now no longer existed. You were angry, hurt, and sad, you wanted to burn and break everything, but not even with all those feelings you could put aside the fact that, although your heart was broken, it still belonged to Miguel and you didn't know if one day that would change.

“Daddy!!!”

From the grass, you saw your husband getting close to where you were and saw how he received with a smile and open arms to your son who ran happily towards him. The laughter of your son when his father held him in his arms filled your heart and somehow, made it harder to keep with the decision you had made when you saw those pictures.

“Mi niño... How are you?” Miguel asked him with a big smile on his face “You good?”

“Yes” Cristobal nodded and your still husband turned to you. You were still sitting on the grass and when Miguel saw you trying to stand up, he came over and offered his hand to help you. “Don Felipe is amazing,” Cristobal said and Miguel took his attention back to him “And tío Ez and tío Angel too”

And even though Miguel was not that happy to hear those names, he nodded “I bet they are”

You heard a bike and your son got immediately excited. You had just more than two weeks staying at Felipe's house, but he already identified when Angel or Ez arrived home. He even identified the sound of Felipe's truck.

Cristobal moved in Miguel's arms for him to put him down, and he, without understanding, did so.

“Tío Angel is home,” Cristobal said jumping around and turning towards you. You knew what that look meant. He was asking your permission to go with Angel like every afternoon when he, his brother, or his father came home.

“Go,” you told him and smiled at his reaction. Cristobal ran towards the street and Miguel turned to you.

Cristobal never did that with him. Yes, the house was big enough so he would never hear the cars coming in, but, he didn’t even show that much excitement whenever he crossed the door of any room where he was.

“You think it's safe for him to go out alone?” Miguel asked you so you turned back to him and nodded.

“Angel's waiting for him,” You said nodding again. The Reyes already knew they had to wait outside until Cristobal got to them. They loved coming home to a swirl of excitement. “I thought you were going to México”

Angel walked into the backyard before Miguel could say anything. He had some bags in one of his hands and Cristobal’s little hand in the other one. Both men just nodded when their gazes met.

“Dinner's ready,” Angel said showing you the bags. You had asked him to stop by for some food before going home “Ez and Emily are helping pops, it won’t take them long...”

“You want to join us?” You asked Miguel and he immediately shook his. You already knew what his answer would be, if you had known he would accept, you wouldn’t have asked.

“No. I just came to see my son and talk to you” Miguel answered and you could notice his emphasis when he talked about Cristobal. Miguel knew how to hide his feelings, but you knew he was hating to see his son taking your ex's hand.

“Why don't you put the table?” You turned to Angel and he nodded, taking Cristobal inside the house when he understood you needed to talk to Miguel alone. “Did you sign the papers?” You asked once your son was far enough away so he couldn’t hear.

“I already told you I'm not going to sign anything,” he said irritated. His gaze was still in the door where Cristobal and Angel disappeared.

“Miguel, don't make this harder,” you asked, sighing tiredly. It was probably the fifth or sixth time you asked him to sign the divorce papers “If you're worried about not seeing Cristobal, I already told you not to worry”

“Amor... We need to talk this” he said  “We can't let everything we've built go just like that”

“Just like that?” You repeated while frowning “Why didn't you think about that before sleeping with her?” You rhetorically asked, “You’re asking me to not forget everything we’ve been through, but if you did, why couldn’t I?” Your eyes filled with tears. Even though you’ve been away for two weeks, it frustrated you to not be able to feel anything like he did whenever he went to México with Palomo “I honestly don’t know what did you need… sometimes I feel like I failed you in something”

“You didn’t,” he said immediately, taking a step towards you. You didn't step back because despite wanting to hate him for what he did, you couldn't help but want to feel him close.

“Then?” He asked, but he didn't answer. There were no more excuses that he could use “You know what’s funny? You used to be mad whenever Angel was around, you didn’t stand to hear his name. You were so worried about me cheating with him and the only one cheating was you”

“My mother died, I… I was out of my mind; I was hurt and—”

“I was too and I didn’t run into somebody else’s arms” your voice trembled so you had to clear your throat before continuing “All those times you said you didn’t want to be like your father… Well, you are”

“(Y/n)…” Miguel tried to get closer to you and when you took a step back, his eyes filled with tears now.

“You can come to see Cristobal as many times as you want, but don’t come to talk to me until you sign those papers,” you said putting more distance between the two of you and getting closer to the door “Cristobal! Come say bye to your dad!”

Miguel pressed his eyes with the palm of his hands and tried to look his best by the time Cristobal went out to say goodbye to him.

That night, Cristobal decided that he wanted Felipe to be the one to tuck him in and read him a bedstory, and he wasn't willing to take "no" for an answer. But Felipe didn't care. Happily, after the kid's bath, he went up to the room that had been Ez's to do what the boy had asked, leaving you and his youngest son alone in the living room.

“Since when you drink wine?” He asked you when you poured yourself another drink. You were in the living room, sitting on the couch in front of the television. Emily had left a few hours earlier “Angel said you were the reason why Bishop started to order more beer” he joked.

“Bulshit” You laughed and Ez did too “It’s not that bad, wanna try it?” You asked, offering him your glass, but Ez shook his head, giving a suspicious look at the liquid in your glass.

“Angel said that Galindo stopped by” Ez took his beer and gave it a sip, then leaned against the back of the couch and turned to look at you.

You chuckled “He came with more excuses” you shook your head without turning to him.

You were silent for a couple of minutes, minutes in which you almost finished the red liquid in your glass. You were so focused on not feeling or thinking anything that when Ez spoke again, you just barely got what he said.

“Remember what you told me when we saw each other again after I got out?” He asked with his gaze fixed on you. You smiled when that memory came to you. Meeting your best friend after 8 years of not seeing him was one of the best things that ever happened to you.

“I told you many things,” you said, knowing too well what he was referring to.

“You said that I made a mistake as everybody does,” He said it even so. You looked down when you heard those words. You said that after he told you how embarrassed he would have been if he had allowed you to see him while he was in prison. You had tried to make him feel better. You never believed that those words could be used against you, let alone make you feel worse than you already felt. “Nobody’s perfect”

You laughed lightly. You moved so he would be in front of you.

“You’re Hannah Montana now?” You asked making him laugh. He gave another sip of his beer and then sighed.

“You love him and he loves you…” He said. You knew how hard it was for him to admit it. He never liked the idea of you marrying Miguel “He made a mistake, just like me and so many people”

“So you think I should go back and pretend that nothing happened?” You raised one of your eyebrows as a small smile appeared on your face. It was probably the alcohol in your system, or probably just you wanting to pretend that the whole thing was not that important to you anymore.

“Pretend that nothing happened? No” Ez shook his head immediately.

“What do you think I should do then?”

“What I think is not important” your friend shrugged “It’s only your decision to make”

And yes. It was. But it was one of the hardest decisions you have ever had to make in your life.

The next days Miguel called you, completely ignoring the fact that you had asked him not to speak to you unless what he was going to tell you was that he had already signed the papers. He talked to Cristobal by video call when he couldn't go to see him, but for the last two days, he hadn't even sent a text. You only knew he got busy and had to do with job matters.

Until one day when you were with your son and Felipe at the butcher shop, Nestor called you. He sounded concerned when he told you that Miguel was a mess and that he felt that you would be the only one who could calm him down, so you agreed to go home when Felipe told you that he would watch your son.

On your way there, you were worried about what you might find when you arrived. Although Miguel always showed his true feelings to you, he rarely loses control, and you were worried about him because he was the father of your child and because even if you didn't want to, you still loved him.

“Nestor…” you said when you parked your car. Your husband's best friend was already waiting for you there “Where is he?”

“Office… he doesn’t look good” he informed you while you walked into the house “The office will need a makeover”

You sighed when you were already in front of his office door. You couldn't hear anything from there, he had probably calmed down a bit by now, but after what had happened with his mother, you quickly opened the door only to find him sitting on the couch with his gaze lost at some point in the room.

The office was a mess. There were books all over the floor, the pages of some were peeled off their covers. The desk lamp was broken and there was a mark on the nearby wall, that made you think he had thrown it at it. The few things on the desk —because many were scattered throughout the room— were messy and even one of the windows was broken.

“Hey…” you said when he didn't turn to you. He wasn't wearing his jacket and his dress shirt was disheveled.

“What are you doing here?” Miguel asked when he heard your voice. It was not exactly an invitation for you to get close, but you did it anyway, being careful to not step on anything in the way “Álvarez called you?”

“No… I needed more clothes for Cristobal” You lied. Thinking about it though, it wasn't entirely a lie. The one who called you was Nestor, not Álvarez “You good?” You asked when you sat next to him after moving some papers. When you were closer to him you noticed that there were tear trails on his cheeks.

“No” He answered, not turning to see you still “I’m not good” he repeated “My wife left with my son, my mother’s dead and I just found out that I knew a version of my mother that wasn’t her,” he said, closing his eyes and throwing his head back “And it was all my fault”

“What happened with your mother wasn’t your fault,” You told him because you knew he's been struggling with those thoughts since what happened.

“I could have done more” he muttered.

“Your mother made a decision and she would have found the way to do it whenever she wanted” Although those words probably wouldn't make him feel better, it was something he had to understand and accept sooner or later. “It’s not your fault”

Miguel nodded even though he didn't completely believe what you said.

“I found a picture of her in one of her books,” he said and turned to you for the first time to ask you: “Felipe knew her; you knew?”

You sighed and nodded “Yes”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He asked, his eyes filled with tears.

“‘Cause she asked me no to”

Miguel sighed and sopped for a second before continuing. Your heart was already broken by the mistake he made, but it was breaking a bit more for seeing him in that state.

“I went to talk to him… he told me he was in love with her. He told me that my mom loved to dance, can you imagine? The woman I had to convince to dance with me in our wedding… loved to dance” he smiled and you did the same, the difference was that his tears began to fall before than yours “I didn’t know that” he shook his head looking down as his smile faded “Felipe said that she had to leave parts of her behind ‘cause they didn’t fit with being José Galindo’s wife” his face seemed to radiate hatred. You knew that Miguel and his father didn't have a close relationship, but you knew that he was fond of him and you had never seen him with that expression while talking about him. “I signed the papers,” he said and those words made your eyes start to fill with tears.

“Why did you change your mind?” You asked trying to make your voice come out as calm as possible.

“You have lost so many things since the day I met you” he winced “Your family, your friends, the club… your social circle went smaller” his voice trembled. He seemed more affected than you by that fact. You had never cared about losing friends or family because Miguel never really made you stopped seeing them. They had decided to walk away on their own “I don’t want you to become my mother…”

You got closer to him and grabbed his hand “You know that wasn’t the reason behind my decision, Miguel, you know it too well”

“Yes, I fucked it up” he nodded “But that’s what I mean… you gave me everything and more than you could. You sacrificed so many things, you’ve been there for me in the worst moments. You gave me my son… and I failed you”

Now, you two were already crying. You let him intertwine his fingers with yours.

“I love you and it hurt me to know that you maybe didn’t love me the same—” you confessed and you felt his hand lightly squeeze yours.

“It wasn’t the case…” he interrupted you right away “I love you the same as ever. It wasn’t your fault, it was all me” he sobbed “If I could go back in time and change it… I would”

You fell silent. That conversation you had with Ez about the mistakes that everyone makes went through your mind. That conversation had made you reconsider your decision, and you hadn't stopped thinking about it since that night.

Who were you kidding? You loved that man and as much as you wanted to follow your pride, deep down you didn't want to get away from him.

You let go of his hand and took the folder that you put away before. When you opened it, you realized that they were the divorce papers already signed by him. Your signature was already there too but it wasn't official yet. You would have to take them back to the lawyer so he could do the rest.

“Do you want to do this?” You asked turning to him. Miguel immediately shook his head.

“Te amo. I’m only doing it for you”

You looked down at the papers on your lap. You knew Miguel too well, you know when he was lying and when he was telling the truth. You were sure he was being honest. So you took the papers and tore them up, making Miguel look up at you.

You looked at him and saw the relief and thankfulness on his face.

“Don’t fuck it up again” you said, cupping his face in your hands as he shook his head.

“I won’t… I promise” Miguel took your hands, kissed them, and then hugged you tightly “Thank you” he muttered in your neck “Oh, God, I missed you so much” he cried as you ran your fingers through his hair.

“I mean it, Miguel,” you said, leaning back so you could see him in the eyes “Don’t fuck it up again”

“I know” he nodded “I swear I won’t”

You smiled and let him come closer so he could kiss you, sealing that promise you were sure he would keep.

|| MY MASTERLIST ||

[miafic]

can you write another thing about jawn/awsten in p&p?

mild dubcon throughout again, but this one’s a lot less sexual than the first one. (here is said first one.) 

---------

one day during quiet time while jawn is napping, awsten sneaks over to the dresser and grabs jawn’s sketchbook. he finds a million sketches of lucas inside, which is weird, and there are also a million sketches of two old ladies. one’s face is always wrinkled and grouchy, and the other always looks soft and full of love. it takes awsten several pages to realize that these two ladies are the same person. awsten wonders if it’s jawn’s grandmother. 

peppered throughout the book have been sketches of hands. old, wrinkly hands that jawn assumes belong to the woman. big, masculine hands that always look authoritative, strong, smooth, controlled. the most recent sketches of hands look familiar, younger, but awsten can’t place them. they’re lazier, fingers splayed on a knee covered in denim… both hands wrapped around a glass of water… one hand with the middle finger up…

awsten turns the page and finds a study of himself. eyes, ears, lips, bitten fingernails. never a full portrait, but awsten can still recognize what his own eyes look like. and jawn’s realized that they’re two different colors. 

awsten stares and stares.

once he’s done looking (and honestly kind of starting to feel a little weird about the whole thing), he gets up to sneak back across the room and replace the book. but he’s stopped by a voice. 

“what did you think?”

awsten’s eyes snap up. 

jawn is motionless, lying on his pillow with his hair partially in his face. “pages make noise when they turn. and i wasn’t all the way asleep yet, dumbass.”

“i - i’m sorry, i-” awsten stammers.

“that was shitty of you,” jawn replies candidly. 

awsten glares at him, but he can’t exactly disagree. “sorry,” he repeats, but his tone is short this time.

“well, now i want something.”

“what?”

“you dug around in my stuff without permission. you owe me.”

awsten’s eyes narrow. “what the fuck do you want?” 

“kiss me.”

awsten rolls his eyes, huffs. “jawn, not this again-”

jawn’s still lying on his pillow, but his expression shows that his demand is more a challenge than anything. “you liked it. i know you did. so come over here and pay me back. you saw my art. i get a kiss. then we’re even, and we’ll forget the whole thing ever happened.” 

awsten opens the book and pages around til he finds what he’s looking for. he stares down at jawn’s pencil marks. “this lady you keep drawing… who is she?”

“i’ll tell you if you kiss me.” 

awsten can’t help it; he looks over at him.

“i’ll tell you everything, whatever the fuck you wanna know. please, just-”

“it’s daytime, jawn,” awsten mutters, casting his eyes back down to the drawing. “at least at night, it’s dark. we can’t do this now. besides, it’s stupid-”

“you like me. and i like you. maybe not enough for it to turn into anything real, but enough for this. i’m not an idiot. i know you like me.” 

awsten sighs and covers his face.

“just one kiss and i’ll tell you about whatever art you want.” jawn holds a hand out. “bring me the sketchbook.” 

reluctantly, awsten does. he sits down on the side of jawn’s bed. 

jawn shuts the notebook and sits up. 

awsten looks at his lips, shifting uncomfortably. “why do you always make me-” 

before he can say anything else, jawn’s mouth is on his. awsten can feel his teeth, taste the sandwich that he had for lunch, taste the way that he had smelled that day they were wrestling in the backyard. sweaty and hot and -

awsten pulls back. 

jawn is breathing a little too hard. 

“you said a kiss, not a makeout session,” awsten snaps. he jams a finger into the cover of the notebook. “now tell me about the lady.”

jawn passes the book back to him, a slight smile on his face. “pick a picture and i’ll tell you about it.” 

hungrily, awsten grabs it and starts skimming through.

“i have veto power, though.”

awsten gapes. “that’s not fair! you said whatever i want!”

jawn’s quiet for a moment. then - “you’re such a sucker for stories,” he comments softly, and when awsten looks up at him, he has an expression on his face that could only be described as tenderness.

awsten blushes, hating the way the whole thing makes him feel. he knows he’s not as mad as he should be at jawn for making him do this whole kissing thing, and he hates that, too. he turns another few pages. 

awsten settles on a drawing of the woman looking sad. 

“that’s my mom,” jawn murmurs. “mamãe.” 

“mamãe,” awsten tries out under his breath.

“no, mamãe,” jawn repeats, but it sounds the same to awsten.

the boys’ shoulders brush. awsten glances at his roommate and then looks back down at the page.

jawn runs his fingers lightly over the artwork. “you picked it cause of the look on her face, right?”

“yeah…” 

“this was a few days before i came here. everything was falling apart. my, uh… my best friend’s little brother got shot. you know, like i told you about on easter.”

“yeah. david, right?”

“david was my best friend. max died.” 

awsten nods awkwardly down at the book. 

“mamãe and i went over to their place a couple days after, to bring food and flowers. it was awful. david wouldn’t come out of his room. i could hear him in the back of the house crying, and his parents didn’t do anything to help him.” jawn’s voice grows emotional. “he really needed somebody, but i was too scared to go and see him. he was... screaming, really, and i didn’t know what pain was. not til that man came and i got taken away and then i had nothing.” he forces a sad smile and looks at awsten. “coming here is the best thing ever and the worst thing ever, you know?” 

“yeah,” awsten replies, because he does know. 

“anyway, this-” he motions to the page - “is from after we got home from david’s house. mamãe made me a peanut butter and banana sandwich even though i didn’t ask, and she just kept staring at me while i ate like i finally mattered to her. like, really fucking mattered. i know she loves me a lot. cause she’s my mom, you know?”

that awsten doesn’t know. he chooses not to respond.

“but i could finally see it on her face, that she didn’t want me to die like max had. that she was really scared for me. for everybody, but especially for me. cause she loves me the most out of all the other people. that’s why she looks so sad.”

“cause… wait, what?” awsten asks, confused.

“cause even though she loves me, she knows she can’t do anything to protect me.” 

“oh.”

there’s a long, uncomfortable silence.

awsten picks the book up, pages through it some more. “what about this one?” he asks. he stares down at the pair of hands folded on a desk. the fingers are woven together, thumbs gently crossed atop them. the wrist attached to the left hand has a loose, leather bracelet draped over it.

“that’s lucas.” 

awsten nods. “figured. what’s the story?”

jawn smirks. “it’s a good one, but you’re gonna have to kiss me again if you wanna hear it.” 

awsten weighs his options for a second before sighing and leaning forward. 

[theycallmebeccawrites]

Perfectly Imperfect: Chapter 2

With Tumblr holding my original writing blog @beccaheartschrisevans captive (aka flagged as explicit), I have made a secondary writing blog and may end up closing the other all together. In the meantime, I am reposting all of my stories on my new blog.

Pairing: Chris Evans x Wren Arnold (OFC)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: n/a

Disclaimer: This work of fiction is not to be reposted, used or translated without my permission.

Perfectly Imperfect Masterlist | Chris & Wren Masterlist

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

May 9, 2020

An old, solid wood door with a cheap hook lock separated Chris Evans and the four women who had showed up over an hour early to Addy's third birthday party. They had brought their children, all of who Addy had been happy to see, but the four moms were way overdressed, or rather underdressed, for a preschool party. One mom was wearing a tight pair of black jeans with a silk top that barely concealed her breasts, while another was wearing a black leather skirt, a partially see through maroon top and a pair of knee high boots. The other two moms were wearing dresses that one would expect to see at a cocktail party, one skin tight and red and the other black and short.

Adelaide had turned three 2 days ago and Chris had arranged for all of her classmates at her preschool to come over to their house for a Sofia the First themed party. What he hadn't expected was for four of the moms to show up an hour early and proceed to flirt with him, or try to, instead of actually trying to help him set anything up. He'd lost count of the number of times his butt had been pinched or he'd been told how strong he was while they had petted his bicep.

Chris felt guilty for the way he'd told them to keep an eye on the kids while he'd fled to the laundry room right of the kitchen. The term 'chicken shit' came to mind as he leaned against his washing machine trying to figure out what to do. Taking his phone out of his pocket, he selected his family members and Wren and quickly typed a message:

SOS GET HERE NOW!

He hit send and then started to type again:

House invaded by the

He paused, for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain the situation he was facing. They were all moms, they'd come in a group and they all, apparently, wanted him and were offering themselves to him in front of each other and the kids.

House invaded by the horny mom brigade.

He hit send and his phone blew up a moment later with 'lol's, 'lmao's, and 'on our way'.

Then he got Wren's message:

Just parked. I'll be there in a few minutes.

Knowing he needed to get out there before the women decided to try and find his bedroom, Chris took a deep breath and unlocked the door. He opened it and startled when he saw one of the women leaning against the doorframe.

"There you are," she smiled, flipping her hair. "I wondered what you were up to." Her eyes flickered around the laundry room. "This room is a good -"

The sound of the doorbell cut her off and Chris breathed a sigh of relief as he ducked under her arm then all but ran to answer the door. After throwing it open, a large smiled spread across his face when he saw it was Wren. He all but pulled her inside and gave her a big hug.

"You have no idea how happy I am you are here," he muttered to her, holding her in his arms for a minute longer than needed, hoping the horny mom brigade would back off if they thought he and Wren were something.

"They can't be that bad," Wren laughed as she stepped out of his embrace. She smoothed her floral knee length skirt. "Where are the kids?"

Chris's face paled as he realized that the house was too quiet.

"We put a movie on for them," the mom in the black dress said from the entrance to the kitchen. She was holding a wine glass that was half full. "Who's this?"

"This is Wren," Chris told her. "She's my uh -"

Once again, Chris was saved by somebody arriving and he said a silent prayer of thanks when he saw it was his mom, siblings, niece and nephews.

"I'll go check on the kids," Wren offered with a smile. She slipped the strap of her crossbody purse over her head and then tucked it behind a chair so it was out of the way. She quickly said her hellos to Chris's family and then led his niece and nephews to the TV room where Addy and her school friends were watching a movie.

"Well, I assume there is still a lot to do before the other guests arrive," Chris's mom declared. "It will be all hands on deck to get this party ready." She headed into the kitchen, grabbing the wine glass out of black dress's hands as she went. "Thanks, dear. But alcohol at a three year old's birthday party might be a bit much."

Chris waited until everyone else had followed his mom into the kitchen before he did a little happy dance. He didn't feel an ounce of guilt for sticking his mother on the horny mom brigade; they deserved whatever she threw at them.

By the time Chris made it into the kitchen, his mom had everyone doing jobs: skinny jeans was helping Scott fill coolers with juice boxes; red dress was helping his older sister put together vegetable trays; black dress was helping his mom open the Sofia the First themed party plates and cups; and leather skirt was helping his younger sister fill the piñata that Addy had begged him to buy. With the four women occupied, Chris went out to the backyard to make sure both gates were closed and that the party games were ready to go.

It was another fifteen minutes, or so, until more of Addy's classmates arrived. Chris helped her answer the door while Wren, his niece and nephews wrangled the other three year olds. Most of the parents stayed for the party while others made their apologies and promised to be back within two hours time.

The next two hours were complete chaos, at least to Chris. Wren, who was used to dealing with twenty excited kids for eight hours a day, handled it like a pro. She seemed to have a sixth sense about when it was time to do a different activity and when the kids needed to rest for a little bit.

Meanwhile, the horny mom brigade had hidden themselves in the shade of the large tree in the backyard, trying to stay out of Chris's mom's eye line to avoid getting set with another task. It had humored Chris to great lengths that his mom had deemed the four women the perfect volunteers for helping little ones, whose parents had left, get to the bathroom.

Therefore, it was no surprise to anyone, when the horny mom brigade and their offspring were the first to leave the party. It was only after they'd left that the other parents, both moms and dads, started laughing and had informed Chris that the women tried this stunt whenever they knew there was a single dad in the picture. They'd all gotten a kick out of his nickname for them and had asked him to bring his mom with him to future birthday parties that the four women would be attending.

By the time the last party guests and their parents had left, Addy was stretched out on the couch in the TV room passed out from exhaustion and a sugar crash. Chris's family stuck around to help with the major clean up, but they eventually filled out, leaving the last bit of the cleaning to Chris and Wren.

"Thanks for your help today," Chris said as he dried the serving dish she had just washed. "I can honestly say we couldn't have done this without you."

"I love being around kids, you know that," Wren shrugged as she washed a bowl.

"Why don't you have any kids?" Chris asked her as he put the towel down to put the bowl away.

"Because I don't have a husband," Wren replied. "I'm an old fashioned girl, Chris."

"You'll be a great mom someday," Chris stated. His mind instantly went to Jessa and with a crack in his voice, he added, "and your kids will be lucky to have a mom like you."

Chris saw Wren's shoulders tense and then heard her shut off the water. He watched as she turned around and he knew that she'd caught the change in his voice. Turning away from her, he fussed with the dishes in the cupboard in order to get his emotions under control. He wasn't ready, wasn't sure he'd ever be ready, to talk about Jessa.

Only his family knew the real reason behind his and Jessa's divorce and he'd purposefully kept it that way. After all, the last thing he wanted was for the media to splash the fact that Jessa didn't want to be a mom all over the front pages and have his daughter find out one day from one of her classmates.

His mind flashed back to that November afternoon when he'd brought Addy home from a playdate. He'd put her down for a nap and then had gone into the bedroom he'd shared with Jessa, only to find her bags packed and her sitting at the end of the bed waiting for him.

At first, he'd thought she was going on a trip or being called away to fill in for another wardrobe assistant for Marvel, but then she'd handed him a manila envelope and had said the word 'divorce'. She had done some more talking, but all he had heard was 'blah blah I can't do this anymore blah blah blah I never wanted to be a mom blah blah blah.'

"Chris?" Wren's soft voice forced him back to the present. "What's wrong?"

Chris felt her hand on his shoulder and he took a deep breath as the anger he felt at Jessa for abandoning Addy threatened to return. He refused to let that anger affect Wren more than it already had and he refused to ruin an otherwise perfect day.

"I'm ok," he told her as he turned around. "Just had a not so pleasant memory."

"I'm here if you ever need to talk," she said, genuine concern showing on her face. "You know that, right?"

"I do know that," Chris nodded. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close.

Chris knew that Addy would suffer from not having her mom in her life, but he also knew that she would always have his mom, sisters and Wren in her corner. Those four strong women would show her more love than she'd know what do with. Knowing that made his heart hurt a little less for his daughter.

After ending their hug, Chris and Wren returned to their task of washing and drying dishes. It was as they were working that Chris mentioned that he'd recently gotten a job on a television drama that was going to start shooting in Boston in June.

"What are you doing this summer?" he asked. He had planned to have Addy in daycare with his mom and sisters taking up the slack when they could, but when Wren mentioned that she had the summer off, he had started to get an idea.

"I haven't made any plans yet, why?" she asked.

"Do you have any interest in taking care of Addy for me this summer?" he asked. "It will only be during the week and most of the time it will be normal hours, but I do know there will be some night shoots."

"Do you need an answer now?" Wren asked, hesitantly.

"No, I don't," he replied then quickly added, "But please don't feel pressured to say yes. My mom and sisters have already agreed to help. I just thought you and Addy would have fun together."

"I think we would, too," Wren nodded. "But I'll still need to think it over."

"I understand," Chris told her. "Take all the time you need."

They finished doing the dishes and then Wren said her goodbyes. Chris watched from the doorway as she whispered goodbye to Addy and then he followed her to the front door.

"Text me when you get home," he told her as he opened the front door.

"Will do," Wren nodded.

Chris watched as she made her way down the path to the sidewalk. She gave a slight wave as she reached the end and then she started walking to her car, disappearing from his view.

Closing the door, Chris took a deep breath as he leaned against the door. He barely had a minute to himself before he heard Addy call for him. Shaking his head, he pushed off the door and made his way into the TV room where the best part of his life waited for his attention.

Chapter 3

Want to find me off tumblr? I'm @beccatheycallme on twitter. I also post my stories on AO3.

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[bekahdoesnerdshit]

Playlist: Rainivere

Alternate Title: I Lost My Ability To “Feel” Twelve Levels Ago (No I Didn’t)

Are Things Still Burning by Em Harris

I can't imagine life on earth now. And I just want to know is my bedroom still there, is it still standing. Is the tree that I planted still there in the backyard. I want to know are things still burning, still burning.

This song isn’t so much about the lyrics as setting the general tone for the playlist. The dark indie sorta vibe, the heaviness, the rhythmic trombone and drum, the almost lazy way the singer drifts between notes, the slow start that ramps up into the rest of the song, it’s all good shit! Could I tell you what this song is actually about? No! But the vibes. The Vibes!! Pitch perfect for the start of Raini’s playlist.

A Little Wicked by Valerie Broussard

No one calls you honey, when you're sitting on a throne Beware the patient woman, 'cause this much I know No one calls you honey, when you're sitting on a throne

This is the “I’m a bastard! Did you forget?” song! It builds off the heaviness of the last song while adding a twist of “I act like hot shit because I am hot shit” that I just felt like really fucking nailed Raini’s general contempt for anyone who isn’t one of the like ten people she knows and tolerates. Also! It represents (especially hypothetical early level raini’s) drive to and unshakable belief that she would succeed at becoming powerful enough to become a god. No one calls you honey when you’re sitting on a throne, and no one says shit to you when that throne is in the upper planes, bitch! 

Deep Green by Marika Hackman

Just because I love your skin Doesn't mean I'll jump in The water's clean and warm and green I'm not allowed to swim I'm scared of getting in

First of all, again, vibes. Is Raini’s playlist 75% vibes? Maybe so. But they’re structural vibes so they have to stay or the whole playlist won’t be up to code, so. Once again, I couldn’t for the life of you tell me what this song is about. But I’m sorta starting to think that may be a problem between me and indie stuff instead of the songs in particular. I love again the laziness in the singer’s voice, as well as the eeriness of the backing vocals and the instruments, and like not to beat a dead horse about it but vibes!! Hello.

Come What May by The Last Bison

Come what may we will always be the same. You and I Shall remain in every way, so will I

You know the first of all at this point (it’s “vibes”) so let’s just skip to the second of all. Is it uhhh. Friendship time? In literally THE most haughty, roundabout way? Maybe so! “Hey I do have an aesthetic to maintain but. I do care about you. Technically.” Like the chorus is literally such an intense declaration of devotion, but it takes a hot minute to get to it and the second verse picks up immediately after it, moving the song quickly along. And I think between that and how intense the claim/music is, it’s the only possible way Raini could tell someone she’s in it for the long haul with them. You know who you are. Keep scrolling.

Don’t Fall in Love by Wake Child

Though I know I can't stay There's a price i may pay Baby don't fall in love while I'm away

Finally!! It’s a fucking BANGER in here boys!! And you know what it’s about. Sometimes you’re a hot and sexy and sexual pirate, and you travel a lot. Sometimes you’re a hot and sexy and sexual wizard/adventurer, and you travel a lot. Sometimes you and said pirate/wizard are dancing around each other in the longest, dumbest, horniest type of courtship imaginable, and sometimes you get deep enough into it where you’re like. Invested. In the other person. But you’re still not far enough into it where you can admit that you’re invested. So you. So you uh. So you? Silently pray that they don’t find somebody they like more than you in between your -admittedly more and more frequent- “accidental” run-ins? Because, boy, you’ll feel foolish if it turns out you’re the only one catching feelings. Best to just keep your mouth shut and hope for the best!

Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Lorde

We will find you Acting on your best behavior Turn your back on mother nature Everybody wants to rule the world

I would like to personally thank that one Legend of Korra amv that was super popular on tumblr like four years ago for putting this song on my radar. Thank you, Korra. As always: point one, vibes. Point two, VIBES for a character’s who ultimate goal at the beginning of her arc was to become powerful enough to become a god. Point three, VIBES again for a party of level 20 demigods who wield unimaginable power and can stand up to and defeat archdevils and fake gods and universe devouring planar systems and win. Listen to like the last minute of this song and tell me you can’t see a montage of the party shredding the not-mystra and the Abeast and the giant radiant eel and like, listen. It’s sexy. I’m not ashamed to admit it: this song Fucks.

I’m Tired, You’re Lonely by Liza Anne

And if I was a softer person I could give you the kindness you are deserving But I'm not And maybe that's just it

Raini doesn’t know how to process or express her emotions again we GET it do we really have to keep doubling down on this 😪 Obviously the answer is yes, we do. This is the “hey we just got back from hell without any memories, and I don’t know how to process the fact that this is obviously upsetting to the tiefling who flew halfway around the world overnight on little more than a vague sending, made out with me in our front hall, then painted our relationship as ‘glorified booty call’ but also seems to know everything about me” song. You know, that one song every playlist has. Because like! Obviously there was some tension and hurt between every party and their significant other when we came back sans memories, but I feel like there was still efforts made by both parties to reach for the other despite this sudden distance, you know? And Raini just, did not do that. And neither did Ecstasy really, and who can blame her? Morgan and I talked about it (I think ahah) and there was like a non-zero chance that they split up over this memory loss thing! They didn’t of course, but this song captures the mid-campaign tension of “...well, shit. I don’t know what our relationship actually is”.

Lover, Don’t Leave by Citizen Shade

I've said that love is just a word The idea seems absurd That one can give more than they take Away from me  Woah, and then came you

Okay YES technically this playlist only has two themes and it’s 1) “Raini is a badass level 20 wizard” and 2) “Raini has never processed an emotion in her life”. What do you want from me. Now I know we don’t say the L word on this blog (l*ve, obviously. Not Lesbians) BUT we have to make an exception for this song because a) it’s heartbreaking and b) I mean. Come on. Sometimes you go into your adult life convinced you’re more than enough for yourself and that you don’t need any kind of romantic attachment to slow you down, and then sometimes you meet someone who can not only keep up with you, but makes you maybe want to linger? And then, of course, you do your best to blow it and push them away because you’re you and that’s what you do. And you’re not great at apologizing and, well, we already talked about how close they maybe came to splitting up in game. There’s definitely a universe where that happened. 

Boy Who Has Everything by Annika Bennett

I just wish there was something he needs Some beautiful thing I could be To keep him from seeing the worst in me

Hey guys what if we took that “he” and maybe we... made it a “they”?? what might happen then.... Uh oh.......uh oh.....uh oh!!! Although the singer probably intended this song to be about a romantic relationship, in this playlist this song is about Raini looking at her party and going “.....well, fuck. Why am I here?” She’s an asshole! She’s not a pleasant person, and she knows it. And she’s looking at a group of people who really, really seem to have it together re: being a person. And aside from just the fact that they’re all, at the very least, personable, she knows that she owes them more than she knows how to put into words for what she did to them, without their permission. But it’s fine it’s cool she’s definitely just actually this much of an asshole 24/7 it’s not a defense mechanism or anything ahahahah :))

In the End by Marcus Warner

We’re DONE being emo it’s time to circle back to “Raini is a badass do NOT forget it”. This is our instrumental for this playlist! It starts out lowkey, and builds in power and confidence as it goes, and while the main melody never changes the addition of the timpani and the low brass REALLY brings another layer to the song that makes it driving and intense and I Love it. It’s pretty, yes, but there’s also an underlying power and focus that I feel like reflects Raini very very well. And! It’s an incredible song to picture her casting to! Raini standing, feet planted, arms outstretched, hair and robes whipping around her as she casts spell after spells at enemies that are just out of view, the camera starting low and slowly spinning around and coming up until it’s at eye level and she’s staring straight into it-- YES I’m still obsessed with the imagery of this campaign. Keep scrolling. Thank you for reading. I love you.