#and then dorothy leaves?? yeah no i'm FINE

[hecatesbroom]

I just watched that s7 episode where Rose, Dorothy and Sophia will have to move out if Blanche doesn't make them co-owners of the house and oh.... oh my god. I knew Blanche's grand gesture would hit hard, but Dorothy's talk to Rose before then?? Giving her an excuse for why she has to say, only to shrug that off and softly tell her the truth ("we love you") and proceeding to tell the permit guy that they're family!! They love each other so much & they can't be separated!! Rose's face throughout the whole thing!! It's so much

[xx-craftycreep-xx]

Hi there! So I’m from the creepypasta fandom, and got back into my morgue files phase lol. This request is mainly based off a thought I had. Reader crushing HARD on the new kid Jeffery Mason. To the point where it gets stalkery. Purely befriending Liu just to be able for the chance to get closer to him. Until one day this eventually leads to Liu inviting then over to the Mason household. Jeff isn’t home yet, Liu has to leave the house for a bit, and that gives a little to snoop in Jeff’s room. There’s a noise, and they think it’s Liu so they’re not really worried. But it’s not Liu, it’s Jeff. And he’s really pissed to have his privacy invaded. And in a panic, S/I confesses lol. What happens next can be up to you

Ooo I love the idea!

dividers are by @cafekitsune

Jeffery Mason x Stalker! reader

Perfect for eachother

WARNINGS: Stalking, swearing,Jeffery Mason,

,personal headcanons.

Fortunately, early mornings in Forest Lawn were quite. Something that would always calm you down as you sat for your morning yoga. You had been living in Forest Lawn for 3 years. Initially, it was hard making friends, but you managed to form a group of 3. You didn't like them completely,but they were fine. After completing your morning routine, you checked the time.

7:30 am.

' Alright. We have time.' you thought. You headed downstairs towards the kitchen. "Breakfast's ready!" Your mother exclaimed. "Damn mom,no good morning? " Your mother mother almost yelled, "Oh! Good morning! So silly of me" You chuckled. You sat for breakfast. Your father had gone out for his morning walk. After sometime you rechecked the time.

7:45 am

'15 minutes left' "Bye mom!" You said as you walked out of the house, not hearing your mother's response. You reached school in 5 minutes. You and your friends had a meet-up spot by a nearby tree. Only 2 of them were present. "Ugh! Oli's late again?" you asked,irritated. " When is he not?" you friend, Dorothy said. Matthew just breathed a chuckle. Right as he did that, Oliver showed up. "I'm sorry!" "Yeah,yeah" all three of you said in unision.

Your group started chatting. As you talked you noticed something from your peripheral view. Two new boys. However, only one grabbed your attention. He was tall, pale and just...breathtaking. He had jet black hair, wore a hoodie and black jeans. He almost looked inhuman (ly beautiful)

His brother or friend..or the other boy looked more human. Looked more..cute..and timid. His back was somewhat slouched and he kept his hands folded. He had fair skin and dark brown hair. He wore a green jacket with a striped scarf along with black pants.Your gaze was fixed on them when your friend asked, "___, what happened? " You flinched. "Look at that, two new boys." you said. "Holy shit,the tall one looks like a vampire!" Dorothy whisper-yelled. "Yeah!Like- ew. Imagine being friends with hi-" Oliver was cut off by your offended face. "Chill,___. You don't even know him!" Oliver said. "Still!" you huffed, folding your arms.

Matthew just stared at you, in an..off manner. You shrugged it off as the bell rang.

You went to your respective class and surprise! The pretty boy with black hair sat behind you. After being introduced,you learnt that his name was Jeffery Mason and that the other boy accompanying him was his younger brother,Liu Mason. As the lecture went by,you couldn't help but blush at Jeffery. He was behind you,yes, but you could hear him muttering some answers to himself. 'What a sexy voice' you thought. You felt someone looking at you, you looked back and saw Matthew look away. 'Creepy..' you thought.

In recess, you befriended Liu. It took you a while..but you did it. You told your friends that you wanted to be friends with him and that it wasn't compulsory for them to befriend him. They agreed and gave you some time with him. Days went by,you and Liu grew close. You understood that he liked arts. And you also got ample chances of seeing Jeffery,albeit never gathering the courage to talk to him. Whenever you got the time, you would follow him around.After a while you got to know that his favorite colour was red, that he had an insta, he liked dried flowers, he smoked and that he liked metal music.

It was Sunday afternoon when your phone started ringing. You picked up and saw in white,bold letters:

Liu

You smiled and picked up. "Hey.." he greeted. "Hey liu.What's up? Did you need help with your paintings? or did you need some extra colours?" you asked as you got up and opened your art supply cupboard. "uh..no. I wanted to ask if you're free...for coming at my house. My parents are gone out for a while,but..they'll come back. Till Then, they said that we could meet. They wanna know you..so..Please introduce yourself to them once they come back." You couldn't believe it!!! You would get to see Jeff! "Yes, of course Liu! What time?" You asked,voice laced with excitement. "4pm...is that alright? " You glanced at the clock.

3:30pm.

"sure! I'll be on time!" you heard a giggle. "You" re so sweet,___." You smiled. You had initially befriended Liu with the intention of getting close to Jeffery,but you would be lying if you said you had not grown close to Liu. You genuinely liked the guy."Thanks,Liu." "Bye ___. See you". " See you" he hung up first.

Immediately,you stepped away from you art supply cupboard and marched towards you wardrobe. "Im gonna wear my red sweater with black jeans." you said to yourself as you rummaged through it. To your dismay,you didn't find it. You ran to every room of your house,asked your parents and even looked in the backyard. No red sweater.'But I wore it on Thursday!' you recalled as you stood in the living room. 'Where would it go?' A memory struck you like lightning. It was of Matthew complimenting you when you wore it. 'That creep! It was definitely him!' you glanced at the time.

3:50 pm.

'Oh fuck! Im gonna be late!' you Immediately put on a white tee with black jeans with your black converse and ran to the Mason household, which fortunately was just a metre away. You rang the doorbell. "On time. Great" Liu said as he let you in. "Come, I'll lead you to my room." You both headed upstairs. Just as Liu was about go open the door,his phone rang. "Hey mom...What? But, how can I leave ___alone...fine.." he hung up. "I have to go for 5 minutes. I'll be back. Till then sit in my room..Im really sorry." He gave you an apologetic look. You smiled understandingly,nodding. Just as he headed downstairs,you asked. "Who's room is this?" "Jeffery 's" he said as he unlocked the main door. "I'll come soon!" the door shut close.

You opened Jeffery's door. You entered and looked around. It was dark, messy yet somewhat organised. Headphones and a pack of cigarettes on the drawer next to his bed. You heard the main door open. 'It's Liu.' You continue to look around. You hear a cough and you look around. You feel the air leaving you lungs. Its not Liu.Its..Jeffery.

"Why in the actual fuck are you in my room?!" he barked. "I-Im sorry. I didn't mean to-" you were cut off."Didn't mean to?! Did the air take you here?Why the fuck would you invade my privacy?! What's the reason?!" "I LIKE YOU!" You yelled. An uncomfortable silence filled the air. You looked around everywhere but him. However, your attention was caught by something. You made your way towards his cupboard,ignoring his protests,blinded by curiosity. You snatched the cloth from the top of the cupboard, only for silence to fill the air again. You broke it first, with wide eyes. "My sweater!" you hugged it,happy that you found it.

But then realization hit you as you looked at the man you loved. He Immediately looked down,fidgeting with the bag in his hand,probably full of groceries. "And you talk about privacy." you said,voice monotone. "I...thought you looked pretty.I...like you too." The last part barely audible. You decided to do the silent method on him. " I liked you from the moment I saw you in class. I just hated that asshole Matthew looking at me everytime I looked at you. Because of that..I assumed you were his girl-" "Oh hell no! Him?! He's...uck!" you shuddered. "He looks like he could be the president of a country of cockroaches!" you said. "The fuck?" he chuckled. Funny, he found you funny. "So..what now? Wanna date?" He was taken aback. "Where's all the confidence coming from now? Couldn't even speak well a minute ago." He mocked. Your cheeks heated up. Before you could answer the doorbell rang. Jeff glanced at you before he went to get the door. You ran to Liu's bedroom.

After the meet and greet with Liu's parents you and him painted many paintings. You were going to take one home. You went to the washroom and came back and saw something written on the backside of the painting in neat handwriting.

Yes,I would like to date you.

And below it written was his phone number. You smiled,carrying it with at your home.

You texted him at night and waited for his response.When you heard a knock on your window. Cautiously,you opened it. And well,the handsome ravenette stood outside. " Hey,beautiful"

Well..This was going to be a long night.

[beah388love]

Torture

18+ Minors DNI!!!

Full Masterlist Legend Masterlist

Pairing: Reggie Kray x Fem!reader

Summary: Another gang torture you and Reggie tries to find you and when he does…

Warnings: Stabbing,Blood,Bad language,Burning cigarettes on person,Whipping with a belt,murder/killing?,carving initials on thigh,beating,punching,slapping,smashed glass,cutting someone with glass,reader nearly dies,reader is injured,injuries,reader takes medicine,stabbing,swearing,knives,guns,hammers!!!!!

(Please Tell me if I missed any warnings!!!)

It was late, I went out for a drink with my best friend, Dorothy and since it was getting quite late we decided to leave the club and go home.

The only problem is, is she lives on the other road from me so once I drop her off, I would have to walk home for awhile on my own.

"Bye dot" i smiled and she gave me a hug before I left her door step and carried on walking down the road all the way to the one dark alleyway I would have to pass.

I sheepishly walked down the alleyway and I was met with two men half way down.

"Looks like we've got compa'ny Charlie" one of them smirked.

"Yeah it does, what's a pretty gal like you doing here all alone?" He asked me.

"I'm not alone" I said and they looked at each other before chuckling when they saw no one behind me.

"Oh really?" They smirked and I nodded.

"My boyfriend, Reggie kray is coming to pick me up right now as we speak" I said and they smirked again.

"Well what a small world, because we were actually looking for krays gal" they smirked at me as they came closer to me and I yelled.

"Get off me! stop it!" I yelled and they laughed before one of them grabbed me by the arm and punched me in the back of the head knocking me out.

I woke up and I felt dizzy until I woke myself up more when I felt chains on my wrists and ankles along with the cold stone floor I was on.

I pulled on the chains and began panicking when another guy walks in.

"Ello Y/n, how are you?" He asks me with a smile and I don't answer. He blew his fag smoke in my face

"Now we aren't gonna hurt you, well we're not gonna kill you" he laughed and I kicked his shins since he was close enough to me.

"Ah! You fucking bitch!" He spat as he slapped me across the face and kicked me repeatedly on the waist as I cried out.

He took his fag from his lips and burned the hot ash onto my stomach making me hiss.

"Freddie! C'mere" he shouted and another man walked in.

"Let's show her what real pain feels like.." he said to Fred with a smirk as they both walked over to me.

———

Reggie's POV-

"You alright Sheila?" I lightly waved at her and she nodded with a smile.

"Albie! Y/n’s 'ouse" I said as I got into the car and albie nodded.

"I heard she went out last night" Albert said to me as he focused on the road.

"Oh really?" I asked since this was new information.

"Mhm, went down to the esters club" he said and I nodded along.

Albert parked outside Bees house and I went and knocked on the door to be met with a quick and worried Jimmy and Daniel Nash and Y/n’s friend Dorothy.

"Everything Alright?" I asked them jokingly.

"No reg! It's not alright! Y/n’s not come back since 6 O'clock yesterday" Jimmy half yelled.

"What?" I said worried.

"We went down to esters club and we left around 10 ish and we were both fine and she dropped me off home and I haven't seen her since, but she must've had to have went up the alley" Dorothy explained.

"Have you checked the alley?" I asked them panicked.

"Of course we've checked the fucking alley! We checked every fucking road around here!" Daniel yelled at me and Jimmy held a hand on his chest.

"Alright, well I'm gonna go look around" I said and quickly got back into the car.

"You alri-" albie was speaking but I cut him off.

"Go up to the end of the alley way" I said sternly and he nodded.

I quickly got out of the car and sprinted up the alley and something caught my eye.

An earring..the same diamond ones I got Y/n for her birthday this year, I picked it up and held it in a fist before putting it in my blazer pocket.

I was about to leave before I saw something else.

A tie clip.

But not any tie clip, a bright red one with three black lines I knew who this belonged to.

Charlie fucking Foreman.

"I've gotta get my brother" I spoke and Albie nodded as he drove to Ron's trailer.

I knocked on the door and Ron groaned.

"Yeah?" He said tiredly and I ignored him.

"Foreman, he's got Y/n" I huffed out quickly and Ron's posture stiffened as he rushed to the car with me.

"Albie! Klington Road down the second alleyway" I demanded and he nodded quickly as he drove off when me and Ron got in the car.

I held onto y/ns earring in my pocket the whole ride there.

———

"Fucking useless Whore" they spat as they left the room.

They tortured me.

They not only did that, they slapped me, kicked me, punched me, he carved his initials on my thigh.

He grabbed my leg and stabbed me in the thigh, blood pouring out of my leg and he twisted it inside before yanking it out and chucking it on the floor.

He whipped me with his belt and he smashed a glass at me.

Leaving me cut,bleeding,bruised, beaten.

I was so tired.

I was bleeding profusely and I was so sore.

I laid there and I couldn't help but cry my heart out.

My throat sore from screaming and shouting.

———

Reggie's POV-

We parked outside we had guns and knives between the two of us.

I walked into the broken down flat and i instantly heard muffled cries.

I busted down the door and I was met with about ten men.

They were weaponless.

Idiots.

Ron smirked as he grabbed his two hammers and threw them at two of the mens heads that then instantly died.

I fought two at the same time dodging mostly all there shots besides two that caused a bloody cut on the cheek.

I saw Charlie escape through the window but I didn't care I just wanted Y/n in this moment of time.

Ron sorted out most of them whilst I went looking for Y/n.

And then I heard it again the muffled cries.

I saw a door and opened it to be met with Y/n.

Bruised and bleeding with fag burns all over along with cuts and whip marks all over her too.

She was left in a white ripped gown that was blood-stained all over.

She was chained, I would've broken the chains but if I did it would have hurt her wrists and ankles.

"Reg! I've got a key" Ronnie said but went quiet when he saw the state of his best friend Y/n.

"Y/n?" He said and i ignored him and quickly took the key off of him and quickly undone all the chains.

Ron took his coat off and helped me wrap her in it.

I picked her up swiftly and placed her in my lap in the car while Ron and Albie were in the front.

Alberts face dropped when he saw Y/n and he quickly drove to the hospital.

Once she was taken by the doctors and she was situated and helped.

She was fast asleep in a hospital bed.

I stayed with her the entire two days she was asleep.

I left Ron in charge for those two days.

I was so anxious I didn't even know I could feel this type of emotion.

I was holding her bruised hand and was staring at her sadly until she slowly woke up.

"Y/n?" I said and she looked at me confused.

"What happened?" She asked me hoarsely.

"Charlie foreman, he hurt you pretty bad dove" I spoke slowly and softly and she went wide eyed.

She must've remembered what happened.

She began sobbing and I hugged her gently so I didn't hurt her.

———

It had been three days since then and nothing got better, Y/n was just continuously crying and if she wasn't she had cried herself to sleep.

She wouldn't eat anything, she wouldn't talk about anything either.

I was holding Y/n in my arms until someone knocked at the door and Y/n jumped which made me frown. She was so feisty I hated seeing her so..frightened. She wouldn't even go near Ron.

She only let me or her mum and dad go near her.

"Sh sh.. it's okay it's just Albie 'member, I need to talk to him about something" I spoke softly and she nodded before I gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Don't go..please" she begged silently and I frowned.

"I'll be two minutes I promise" I said and held out my pinky finger and she looked at my pinky before my face debatably before connecting her pinky and shaking it making me smile.

I walked downstairs and opened the door.

"Member how y'a told me Y/n ain't talking so you can't help her or comfort her and Charlie legged it" Albert whispered and I nodded.

"Well it sounds bad but I found footage from inside the flat so we'll know about what they did to Y/n and where Charlie went" Albert said and I nodded.

"I'll be out in a minute Albie wait for me in the car" I whispered and he nodded and I shut the door.

I walked back upstairs to Y/n.

"Dove..I'm not leaving you alone but I have to do something really important, life threatening" I said and her eyes began to well up again and she began to shake.

"Sh sh.. im not leaving you alone. Im getting your dad and uncles to come round to protect you, they haven't seen you yet have they, they need to know your okay" I said and she nodded as she wiped her tears.

Y/n was still bruised and she had scars and bandages cuts but she could still walk shortly so I helped her to the car.

"I love you dove" I said softly as she rested her head under my chin.

"I love you too Reggie" she spoke quietly from her croaky voice but she still said my name how she always does. I don't know what she does but I love when she calls me Reggie it's not like how everyone else does it..it's different...it makes me smile.

"How have you been Y/n? You been alright" Albie asked her.

"Yeah I feel better" she answered and I frowned when I felt her wince when I accidentally held her bruised hand.

"Sorry dove" I whispered into her ear and she gave me a kiss on the chin to show I was forgiven.

We got to her house and was met with Johnny.

"Y/n!" He called out and instantly held her in his arms.

"God! what happened?" Johnny stiffened when he saw the bruised and cuts, scars, burns all over her .

Johnny looked at me and I shook my head as to not talk about it.

Ronnie came to the door and also took Y/n in for a hug and took her inside.

"Take care of her, I've gotta take care of some business regarding who did this, she needs to take this medicine three times a day." I said and handed Johnny the bottle.

"Who did that.." Johnny said angrily and I sighed.

"Y/n’s more important right now, take care of her alright?" I said to him and he nodded still angry.

"Thank you for saving her, we're here to help you reg, we may not show it because she's like our daughter but, we are" Johnny said sternly and I nodded before going back to the car.

———

I was sat in front of the screen, with Albert beside me and Ron behind me.

We watched the clip start with Charlie walking in the room and Freddie coming in too.

They punched her and slapped her and kicked her.

They burned her with fags as she screamed in pain.

Even more so when Charlie would burn the fag out in her open wounds.

Charlie picked her up and grabbed her leg as he then stabbed the knife into her which made Albert look away. He couldn't bare to see it since this was Y/n, our Y/n.

She was crying and screaming in pain as he stabbed her.

He then threw her to the ground and spat on her before he went to leave and she cried out a half-yell "You Bastard!" He then grabbed a glass and threw it at her as it then shattered into pieces attacking her skin.

It was gruesome. I was angry.

All I saw was red.

Then when we arrived in the footage, Charlie then ran out the window and he left and he went to the Mormons club.

I grabbed a gun and a blade, and a knife before I got up and headed down to the club.

It was late so no one was around but Charlie..he was definitely still there, he knew he shouldn't. Of done what he did.

Ron followed me with a hammer and a knife in his coat pockets.

I slammed open the club door that said closed.

And I was met with Charlie.

In the corner of the club he was about to run away but I stopped him by grabbing him and quickly wrapping my hand around his neck.

Chocking him but not killing him.

"Your gonna apologise and your gonna pay" I said before slashing him all over his body with the blade I had.

Ron stabbed him in the leg and he cried out in pain.

"Enough" I said and Charlie's eyes relaxed but were still widened.

"Put him in the boot" I ordered and Ron nodded before doing as I said, as he began tying him up.

Ron took him to the club and chained him to the wall out the back.

Whilst I walked to Y/n’s house.

———

"What happened?" Ronnie asked me and I shrugged I didn't want to say what he did to me it felt like it was going to happen again if I did. But I knew they had to know i trusted them after all.

"I- they tortured me- " I cried out and Johnny grew mad but Ronnie, Ronnie took me into his arms and held me as I cried.

"They burned me and cut me and threw glass at me" I cried out.

"But then Reggie and Ronnie came and they saved me" i said and Ronnie looked at me.

"They saved you?" He asked me and I nodded.

Then there was a knock at the door and i jumped and Ronnie comforted me whilst Johnny went and answered it to be met with Reggie.

"Is Y/n alright?" Reggie asked and johnny nodded before inviting Reggie in.

I slowly got up very unbalanced and I made my way to Reggie into the hallway and Reggie instantly hugged me.

"You alright dove?" He asked me and gave me a kiss on the head before I nodded.

"Y/n I've gotta to take you somewhere" reg asked me and I was confused but nodded.

"I love you two" I said and hugged johnny and Ronnie before leaving and they said they're goodbyes to me too.

Reggie took me to his club and I already felt panicked as to what he needed to show me.

He held me close and led me out back to where I saw Ron and Charlie.

Ron was slapping him across the face till his cheek was red raw.

"How dare you hurt her!" Ron yelled.

Reggie coughed and Ron looked over to us and Ron smiled when he saw me.

"You alright? You still in pain?" Ron asked me but I didn't answer I was too busy focusing on Charlie and making sure he was not going to be able to hurt me.

"Right you yeah? You are going to apologise to Y/n right now, and mean it" Reggie said sternly and slapped Charlie across the face and Charlie nodded profusely.

"I will, I will" He said and Reggie nodded.

"Dove, C'mere" Reggie motioned for me to walk over to where they were but I was so scared.

I felt like Charlie was going to escape and torture me again.

"He will not hurt you, I promise" Reggie said to me as he looked into my eyes.

I trusted Reggie so I nodded and walked over to them.

"Now? What does Charles have to say?" Reggie said and charlie looked up at me and apologised pleadingly.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry please, I swear I'm sorry.. please" he repeated.

I didn't accept it but I liked to see him there pleading and begging for saving.

I liked it, I didn't but I did a part of me felt better.

" go back over to Ronnie dove" reg whispered to me and I nodded before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and walking away back over to Ron.

Ron held me closely as we watched Reggie tear Charlie limb from limb.

He broke his arms and legs and he stabbed him and cut him and he stabbed him in the face so many times he was unrecognisable.

Reggie spat on him before he walked over to me and Ron.

I gave him a kiss which made him smile.

Whilst Ron motioned to Albert to take care of what and just happened.

———

"Come on dove, its late I'm taking you home" Reggie said softly before he led us outside and he opened the car door for me and drove us home.

He instantly hugged me and he led us to our double bed and we laid there cuddling for hours and I quickly went back to my normal self in the next month.

I was feisty and funny and I was normal again.

Just how I loved it and how everyone else did.

[ask-a-bot]

I 100% sympathize with Megs. I DO NOT like spiders. At. All! Scared silly of them, even. The way they crawl and look…. It’s just….*shivers*…. Terrifying! No judgment here.

I will say, I’ve gotten to the point where, if they are outside and away from me, it’s okay. I’ll just move about 10 feet away from it. However, the minute a spider enters the house or worse….climbs onto me (I’ve had it happen while sleeping), those spiders have declared war and shall be lethally dealt with accordingly.

Being afraid of something doesn’t make you weak, Megs. It’s normal. Perfectly normal. You’re not alone in this fear.

Perhaps if we share our own surprising fears/dislikes to each other, it’ll show you you’re not alone. How’s that sound, Megs? What do you all think?

Heh heh. It was only a gif of one.

Yeah, well... like Optimus said, everyone's got something.

Not you though, Dorothy.

I just hide my things well. I've got kids. If you let your little kids know you're scared of something, they get scared. Before you know it, you've got kids with irrational fears of things.

I'm scared of enclosed spaces. I'm OK if there's a way out I can see... or if it's big enough... but I hate elevators and closets and stuff. If I got stuck in one, I know I'd panic.

Caves?

A small cave... one where I have to duck or crawl... I wouldn't cope well with that either.

Oh. I had no idea. I would have thought your fear (if you had one) would have had to do with your injury...

Loud noises or... something.

I get flashbacks and feel the pain, sometimes... but it's not really the same thing.

Megatron has other fears: purging and humiliation.

Nobody likes being humiliated. I don't think you can really call that a fear. Puking is a pretty normal one, too. Mo definitely has that one.

Fine. But spiders is probably a "normal" fear amongst Cybertronian mining classes, too.

I expect it is. What's your point?

What're you scared of, Starscream?

Snf. Enclosed spaces.

Shut up!

Snakes, lizards, alligators...

I said shut up!

Ksssschhhh! Snf. You listed mine, now it is my turn. I know yours well enough. The fuss you make... ksch-sch-schoooooosch!

Bless you. Maybe we should get you a snake or something, Megs.

I like tegus. Snf. But I am not sure I would really want to own one. They have friendly personalities and I like that.

They're ugly!

They are not! How can you say that, when you like... ugh... arachnids?

What about you, OP?

Me? Uh... bats. They fly around my optics and I don't like it.

Yeah... I can understand that. A lot of people don't like certain flies, wasps and things because of the way they fly around their faces.

I don't like birds.

All birds?

I just don't like the way they look, OK? I dunno if it's really a fear... but I don't like... looking at them.

What about my stuffed ones?

I don't look at them.

But they're not even moving!

Star, it's fine. Bee doesn't have to like the things you like. Leave him alone.

You know, I knew someone who was scared of water, once. Didn't like the sound of moving water, struggled to take a bath or shower... I mean, it's water! We're surrounded by it, we can't survive without it...

That must be due to some sort of trauma.

Definitely. But imagine having to tell someone you're too scared of water to run a tap...

Hmm, yes. Embarrassing thing to have to admit to.

I'm not scared of anything. Except being buried alive, but what're the chances?

I don't like heights much. I'm OK inside a craft, but not... I don't like mountain roads and things.

But we've been to planets that were all mountains!

Well, yeah.

You were fine!

I just focused on the mission and looked forward to moving on.

Seriously? You were scared the whole time?

Like I said, I didn't dwell on it.

Wow!

[criticallyacclaimedstranger]

The Car [a Jay & Frankie fic]

Read on Ao3

Fandom: Triple Frontier

Ship: Frankie Morales x Jay ‘Lady’ Ray (OFC) **Series masterlist**

Warnings: Fighting, real talk, period mention, make up sex, nipple play, nipple orgasm, piv sex, cum on tits, cum eating, typical jay and frankie banter, pet names daddy and mommy.

Words: 3,282

Summary: Jay and Frankie have an argument about the car, and discover something new and exciting during the make up sex.

Alma is happily drooling in the baby carrier while Jay looks for the car keys. It’s not a common occurrence in the Ray-Morales household to have lost one’s keys – both she and Frankie are tidy people – but it’s not her own keys she’s looking for.

"You're coming by Tom's later?" Frankie appears in the entry, leaning over Alma's carrier to cuddle the baby. Jay hums non-committally as she stands with her hands on her hips, trying to figure out where Frankie would keep the keys to his truck, if not in the bowl on the side table by the door.

"Come by anytime," Frankie tells her, smiling at his daughter. "No reason to give granny any more time than absolutely necessary, right, Almalita? A quick lunch with granny, then return to base before the old bat does any damage."

"That's not fair," Jay remarks acidly. Her mother has really turned a new leaf, is treating Jay with respect, and is a wonderful grandmother to Alma. Frankie, however, doesn't forget a wrong done to his loved ones.

"Just saying," he shrugs, holding Alma's little feet and kicking them back and forth, much to the baby's delight.

"Yeah, well, it's getting really old, this ragging on my mom. She's helping out, respecting our boundaries, and hasn't said a single word of disencouragement since we reconnected," Jay reprimands him. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't teach our kid to hate her grandmother."

"Okay, sorry," Frankie apologizes sincerely. He may not like Dorothy, but he doesn't want to stand in his child's way of having a relationship with her grandmother. "I was out of line."

"Thank you." Jay opens the drawer of the side table again, more thoughtfully now than in an actual search for the keys.

"You lost something?"

"Alma's chew toy."

"She's holding it?"

Jay looks over at the baby. "Oh, right." She looks at Frankie, sees his questioning frown, then realizes that there's a small bulge in one of his back pockets that makes one flat ass cheek stand out. He's got the keys. New tactic. She walks up to Frankie, smiling.

"What would I do without you?" Hands on his waist, Jay leans in for a sweet kiss, one that Frankie happily accepts.

"You'd be fine, and you know it," he grins, before stealing another kiss. Jay lets her hands slide down to his ass, copping a playful feel with one hand as the other sneaks into the back pocket. Just as she's about to grab the keys, Frankie takes a step back.

"Gotcha!"

"What?" Jay's not good at playing innocent, but she does try.

"You were trying to get my keys! You want to borrow my car!" Frankie accuses her, amused. "You know, you can just ask me."

"Fine," Jay rolls her eyes. "Can I borrow your truck?"

"What's wrong with the Rogue?"

"You know what's wrong with it!"

"The only thing that's wrong with that car is your attitude towards it," Frankie sighs, seeing very clearly where this is going. "I need my truck today, I'm picking up boards for Tom's patio."

"I don't understand why he doesn't do that himself," Jay mutters as she starts to gather up her things to leave. Her tits feel tight; she’s due for her period, and it’s making her feel shitty.

"Because his truck is a piece of shit, and it's in the shop."

"The Rogue is a piece of shit and I won't drive it."

"Jay, for fuck's sake." Frankie crosses one arm over his chest and rubs his forehead with the other hand. "We agreed that we needed a new car because the Bronco had no backseat, and it wasn't safe for a baby. We made the decision together - "

" - you made it, I had no choice - " Jay interjects sourly, glaring at him.

"We made the decision together, and you had every opportunity to suggest a car that wasn't a Nissan Rogue, but every car you named cost at least thirty grand, and you know we can't afford that!"

"We could've just kept my car!"

"Jesus fucking Christ, Jayne, I'm not having this fight with you again," Frankie sighs, throwing up his hands. It's not the first time Jay's being bitchy about having to give up her beloved Bronco, and the car was sold months ago. The Nissan Rogue may not be sexy or particularly adjusted to off-road driving, but there is absolutely no need for a car like that. What they needed was a good family car, and the Rogue, albeit unsexy, was exactly that. To say that Jay's having a hard time adjusting to the change is an understatement: she borrows Frankie's pickup as much as she can, and he doesn't mind, but today he needs the truck himself.

"That's easy for you to say, you get to drive a real car, not some plastic pussy abomination!" Jay raises her voice and Alma, who up until now has been happy in her carrier, wrinkles her little face into a worried grimace. Frankie's with her in a heartbeat, smiling down at her and stroking one finger over her cheek.

"It's okay, Almalita, you're okay."

"I have to get going," Jay tells him curtly, taking her jacket and putting on her shoes. Wordlessly, Frankie hands the carrier over to her, and Jay leaves, slamming the door poignantly.

It's past Alma's bedtime when Frankie comes back from Tom's, tired but satisfied after a day of working with his hands. He finds Jay on the couch watching TV, but she does turn it off when he comes in and sits down next to her.

"Hi," he says quietly. Jay meets his gaze head first. God, he loves her fearlessness.

"Hi yourself."

"Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah. You?"

"It was okay. We got a lot done."

"Good."

"You didn't come by, and you didn't reply to my text."

Now Jay's gaze falters, and she raises her chin a little. "I read it."

"So my phone told me."

"I didn't want to come and sit there with Molly and the kids like some sort of wife," she finally snaps, but without any real vehemance. In fact, she sounds more despairing than anything else. Frankie sighs deeply.

"Jay..."

"I know, I know," Jay interrupts him. "I'm being stupid and hormonal and need to calm my tits, right?"

"That's not what I was going to say, and you know that."

Now she's glancing at him again. "I know."

"What's up, amor? Talk to me."

Those three magic words that they once agreed should be the foundation of their relationship. Jay can't ignore them, but she's struggling to put her annoyance into words.

"I do think it's hormones," she finally presses, loath to admit it. "I'm due for my period, and I'm... hormonal."

It's almost funny how she says the word like she's admitting to something a lot more embarrassing, but Frankie finds it hard to laugh. He knows how much Jay hates being stereotyped because of her sex, how hard she fights it.

"Okay," he acknowledges, "are you in any pain? Is there something we can do to fix it?"

"Tits are still sore," she throws him a small grin, and he grins back. While enjoying a quickie in the morning, Frankie had been strictly forbidden to touch them.

"It's going to be over soon."

"But it's not just that. I can deal with this."

Frankie waits for her to continue. Jay sighs deeply and leans back on the couch, pulling her legs up and sliding a hand over Frankie's back. Her need to be physical is endearing. Even when she's mad or sad or whatever, she wants to stay connected to him.

"I was afraid that having a baby would change things," she finally says, slowly as if she's looking for every word. "Change how people see me. How they treat me."

Frankie knows this. He had a front row seat during the entire pregnancy, saw how people reacted differently to her in public when she started to show. Before, he could walk around town with her like the couple of nobodies that they are. As soon as Jay was visibly pregnant, people started to notice her, smile at her, make way for her, ask her in the supermarket checkout line when she was due. She fucking hated it, and Frankie was witness to her snapping at people more than once. He himself felt neglected in the baby supply stores, where the salesperson always seemed to think that the mother was the only one who read up on car seats and birthing processes. It became very clear which parent society seemed to think was the more important one.

"I know, but we've talked about this," he tells her gently. "People are assholes, and we'll just do our thing."

"It's not just strangers anymore, Frankie," Jay points out quietly. "It's our friends, too."

"Who? And when?" Now he's staring at her, perplexed at her revelation. He hasn't noticed anything unusual but then again, he's aware of being blind to some things.

"It's not anyone in particular or anything specific," she shrugs. "But something's definitely happened. Mom talks to me differently now that I'm in the club of child-bearing women."

"Yeah, but your mom's - "

"Yes, thank you," she interrupts him sharply, and Frankie’s wise enough to shut up.

"The guys are different, too. I can't put my finger on it, but they are. It's like they expect me to whip out my tits at any given moment, and start spraying milk around."

"That image is disturbing," Frankie chuckles, shaking his head. "Jay... I can't say I've noticed anything. But if you say that things have changed, I believe you. Am I doing something wrong?"

She looks at him, puzzled, like she never even thought about it.

"I don't think so?"

"I need you to tell me if I am."

"I would." Now she smiles wryly. "You know I would."

"You wouldn't tell me, you'd yell it into my face," Frankie agrees with a snigger. Jay slaps his hand lightly before caressing it.

"I don't know what's up with me," she sighs. "I just... miss that fucking Bronco."

"Maybe the Bronco represents childfree life, the kind of life we had before Alma," Frankie suggests, not really knowing what he's after. "Maybe you're coming to realize that life has changed completely now that we have a kid."

"It sounds like you think I regret having kids," Jay accuses him, but he can hear that she's contemplating his words. He shakes his head immediately.

"I don't think for one second that you regret us having a child! But life is different now."

"Yeah," she nods, "I'm driving a goddamn Nissan Rogue instead of a proper car."

"If that's what your head is telling you to focus on, maybe it's an outlet," Frankie shrugs, "But I'm getting a little tired of hearing about that Bronco."

"How dare you..." Jay starts, but with a smile tugging at her lips. The rest of her warning disappears into the kiss Frankie gives her. He grins smugly at her before cupping her cheek and dragging his large thumb over her lips.

"You know that you can use my truck whenever you want to, Jay, but I really needed it today."

"I know," she mutters. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. And I get it. So much has happened in the last two years. Now we're about to move and all, you still have school... It's a lot. But can we please stop talking about that fucking car?"

"No promises," she quips, and Frankie gives her a soft shove.

"Come on."

"No. I'm gonna sulk about that car for the rest of my life."

"Mula."

"Pendejo."

Frankie leans in to nuzzle her neck. "You know what it does to me when you speak Spanish..."

"It's not supposed to."

Frankie only hums as he continues to scatter little kisses along Jay's skin. She relaxes a little, sighing softly and giving in to his gentle ministrations.

"Can we have angry makeup sex?" Frankie murmurs, his hand finding her thigh and following its curve to her ass cheek. "You're so hot when you're angry."

"You take that back," Jay growls, finding the back of his head and pulling at his hair.

"See, that's exactly what I mean..." Her tight hold of his hair makes him even more turned on, and now he covers her mouth with his, plunges his tongue into her, kisses her breathless. Jay allows it, enjoys it, but when he moves some of his weight on top of her, she pushes back.

"My tits are too sore.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“I’m not sure you can handle it,” Jay scoffs.

“Oh no…?”

He’s always up for the challenge. Carefully, he takes Jay’s t-shirt off, then pops her bra open and releases her tits.

“Hello, girls,” he tells them fondly, catching Jay’s eyeroll. “Careful, or your eyes’ll stay like that.”

“Aren’t they already from living with you?”

“You have such a mouth on you today,” he tuts as he settles comfortably on breast height. A feathery touch of his fingers on the outside of one breast makes Jay sigh.

“That’s nice…”

“Is it now?” Frankie looks up at her with a smile that somehow manages to be both tender and teasing at the same time. Jay smiles back, subdued by Frankie’s light touch and the natural way he adjusts to her needs to make her feel good. He starts to circle her nipple with one finger before very lightly pinching it. Pleasure zaps through Jay, drawing a first moan from her lips.

“Not too rough?” Frankie checks in, and Jay shakes her head.

“Just perfect.”

He does it again, and lowers his mouth to her other breast. His tongue starts to circle the nipple, occasionally passing over it, all the while his fingers keep softly teasing the other. Jay’s eyes fall shut as the pleasure rises unexpectedly. Her tits always were erogenous but with the added sensitivity of her forthcoming period, the sensations are on a completely new level.

“God, Frankie,” she moans when he scrapes his mustache over her rock hard nipple before taking it into his mouth to tenderly suckle it. The tight soreness of her tits right before her period started after Alma was weaned – thank you merciful God it didn’t while Jay was still breast-feeding – and now Frankie skillfully keeps her teetering on the line between pleasure and pain. It’s not the first time sex with Frankie does that, almost makes her hurt, but it’s definitely the first time her breasts are in focus of the titillation.

He takes his time, Jay has no idea how much of it, and doesn’t care to know. There is nothing to know except the way he’s making her tits feel, the way he’s teasing her, torturing her, making her wet, yearning, writhing.

The thought passes through her head but gains no hold as everything is liquid, flowing sensation. Frankie goes on with the same kind of purpose he shows when eating pussy, and Jay’s not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. God knows not all women have partners who like the saggy, post-nursing tits. Frankie not only likes hers: he’s even crazier about them than ever before.

The sensation rises slowly but steadily until it explodes without warning, so suddenly that it takes even Jay by surprise. Shouting out, her body trembling, she anchors herself to Frankie by digging her fingers into his shoulders. He goes on lapping, caressing, gently squeezing, until she comes down, gasping for breath, huge blue eyes trying to focus on his face. Only then does he stop, and come up for a soft kiss.

“Fuck, baby, that was so fucking hot,” he tells her, shifting on top of her to avoid her now throbbing boobs. Jay doesn’t let go of him, her eyes still glassy as she searches his face.

“You knew I could do that?” she whispers hoarsely, amazed and puzzled at the same time, her brain still slow after the unexpected orgasm. Frankie smiles bashfully.

“I figured when you started to move like you do when I eat your pussy.”

She has nothing to say to that, only draws a deep, trembling breath. Frankie kisses her forehead.

“What was it like?”

“Um…” Fumbling for words, Jay wets her lips. “Like… an orgasm? But like, for the entire body, or… maybe more centered along the spine?”

“Was it stronger?”

“In a way, but… Frankie, I don’t know.” She looks almost shy, something of a giggle escaping her. Jay is neither shy nor giggly. It’s fucking adorable. Frankie dips to kiss her again, his chest pressing up against hers. Jay whimpers immediately, and he backs off, sitting up astride her.

“Sore?”

“So fucking sensitive,” she acknowledges, hands following the curves of her tits carefully. “Jesus, Frankie…”

“You think you can do it again?”

“Christ, no! I’d fucking die!”

“Not tonight, amor, I don’t have another 45 minutes in me.”

“45 minutes?” She gapes at him. Frankie gestures with his left hand, bringing attention to his wrist watch.

“I happened to check the time right before I started, and I just checked again. 45 minutes.” He looks proud of himself, and Jay has to grin.

“Daddy does have the stamina…”

“Daddy has a raging boner that he needs to stick into mommy right now, or his balls will explode,” Frankie tells her unceremoniously, the image of Jay cupping her tits underneath him making him very aware of his own needs.

“If mommy doesn’t mind?” he adds chivalrously, making Jay laugh as she reaches for the waistband of his pants.

“Mommy has a nice warm place for daddy to put it in…”

He doesn’t need long, and most of his energy is directed at Jay’s tits, making sure they don’t jiggle so much that they cause her discomfort. She keeps them in check with her hands, head thrown back as he fucks her steadily, sitting up with her thighs draped over his, holding her by the hips as he chases his imminent release. As his balls start to tighten, he has to resist the urge to go faster, instead finding his tongue to speak.

“Jay, can I cum on your tits?”

Her head snaps up for a breathless Yes! and moments later, Frankie pulls out, grabs his dick and pumps it a few times, groaning as he paints her boobs with thick ropes of cum. He stares at the mess, at her soft flesh, the stiff nipples, the rosy hue of the skin, the white jelly of his seed. Embarrassment pokes its unwanted head up to remind him how cheap and pornographic this is, but he sits back on his heels and shakes away the feeling, basking instead in the glorious view before him. Goddammit, he loves her so much. She’s perfect in every way.

He leans down over her and very gently licks her tits clean, enjoying her small whimpers and the way her skin tastes when salted with his spend. He then comes up to kiss her, ravish her mouth with his one more time before he, too, needs to catch his breath. Jay’s eyes flutter open and she smiles at him; a warm, loving smile that makes him just melt inside.

“I’m still real mad about the car,” she whispers, and Frankie starts to laugh, just as the baby monitor crackles and Alma’s blubbering comes through.

“I’ll go,” Frankie offers, getting up from the couch and reaching for his pants on the floor. As he leaves the living-room, he glances back and sees Jay stretch delightfully, a satisfied smile on her face.

God, he’d do anything for her.

[flowtus143]

VA-11 Hall-A Fan Fiction: Bedtime Story

Some #va11halla fan fiction I wrote a while back. Don’t know what to do with it, so I’ll post it here. Hope you enjoy!

#va11halla

#va11halla

#va11halla

After re-establishing their sisterly bond, Jill and Gaby have been spending a lot of time together. They both wish to support each other through the grieving process and, in the long term, play a larger role in each other’s lives. Jill thought it would be great for Gaby to meet some of her friends and invited Alma and Dorothy to hang out them at her apartment. Alma was excited at the idea of hanging out with Jill and meeting Gaby for a second time and arrived early. The three are chatting the night away when the doorbell rings. Jill answers the door…

???: “And the crowd goes WILD!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

???: “And she haven't even taken off her shoes yet!!”

J: Oh, hey Dorothy. Glad you could make it.

J: You can leave you shoes at the door, with the others.

A: Dorothy! Hey girl!

D: Party’s here!!! Hey honey, hey Alma! Hey, uh, umm…

G: …

J: Right, you two haven’t met before. Gaby, this is Dorothy. She a regular at Valhalla and-

D: A REGULAR!?!? JUST A REGULAR!?!? 

J: Relax. Anyway, Dorothy’s a regular and a really good friend of mine.

A&D: Aww, Jill!!

J: S-shut up. Dorothy, this is Gaby. She's my ex’s little sister…and kinda like my little sister too.

G: ...nice to meet you.

D: Hey, Gaby! Nice to meet you, too!

D: Oh, and I'm sorry for you loss. Jill and Dana told me about your sister a few week ago.

G: …it's okay.

G: I mean, it's not okay. I'm doing the best I can, but it's been hard. It goes without saying but…I miss Lenore.

G: Reconnecting with Jill has been really great for processing my sister's passing.

J: …

J: …yeah, same for me.

A: Wow, you were right, Jill. She is really smart, especially for someone so young.

J: Yep. Always has been. She got it from her sister.

A: Don't you mean sisters? 

J: … *blush*

D: Well, I'm glad both of you guys are starting to feel better! Gaby, let me know if I can do anything for you! I'll be more than happy to help!

J: I don't think she'll be needing your kind of help.

D: Hey!

G: What’s that supposed to mean?

A: …really, Jill?

D: I wouldn't offer that kind of help to a minor anyway!

J: Gaby, forget I said anything.

G: Umm, what kind of help?

D: The kind that…makes lonely people feel a little less lonely!

J: Just forget about it, Gaby.

G: …

G: So, you're a prostitute?

J: …dammit.

A: Like you said, smart girl.

D: W-well, yeah. But I wasn't offering those services to you! Really!!

D: I just wanted you to know that I'm here to support you!

G: …thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

A: Jill!! Time for you to offer drinks!

J: We’re not at the bar.

A: But we are guests in your home. Soooooo…

D: I'll take a beer!

J: …fine.

A: Same, since that's all you have around here.

G: Umm…I'll have some water, or…?

J: We're all having water since there's an underaged person hanging out with us.

J: (That was a one-time thing, Gaby.)

G: (Oh, okay…)

J: Four bottles of water, coming right up.

G: Thanks Jill!

D: Thanks, honey!

A: Yeah, thanks Juli-

J: Finish that sentence and I'll make you wear that water.

D: Booby hacker…dripping wet…

???: (Yeah, throw it on her. Maybe she'll take her top off. Don't you want to see her body in all its curvy glory?)

J: (…is that…?)

D: Yes, I'd love to…

J: Huh!?

A: Haha okay, okay, Ms. Stingray. I would tell you to calm down, but I know my presence, my aura, is flustering.

J: You wish. More like frustrating.

D: Honey, I've never seen you get so bothered before! You're always so calm and cool.

G: She was the same way with Lenore. Nobody could get under Jill’s skin the same way Lenore could.

A: Do I remind you of your ex? Does that mean…

J: Alright, enough…

A: Oh, sorry…thanks for the water Jill…

J: My pleasure.

A: …hug?

J: I’m okay. You’re fine, Alma.

D: Group hug on Jill! Sandwich her with love!

J: No, really. I'm fine. Next subject.

G: What do you want to talk about?

D: OH, I KNOW!!!

D: So, I have an INCREDIBLY story to tell you all!

J: Is it a story from work?

D: Yes!

A: A different type of bedtime story, huh?

J: Pfffft.

G: …

D: There's lots of rope involved too!

J: Well, tell us after Gaby goes to sleep.

G: No need to wait, I'll excuse myself. I don't think I want to hear that kind of story anyway.

J: No, don't leave. We want you to hang out, too.

G: It's fine. I'll just go to your room with Fore for the next 30 or so minutes.

“F”: But I want to hear the story too!

G: …

A: ...

D: …

J: …

“F”: …

G: …we’ll be back soon.

J: …

A: Soooo…about that rope story…

D: *ahem*

D: Saturday, January 7th.

D: A lone woman leaves a bar to meet with a peculiar client. 

D: It was a blistering cold walk through the streets of downtown Glitch City. The flickering lights of overdue MegaChristmas decorations and the hum of the neon signs were the woman's only companions.

D: She receives a call. It's the client.

D: “Hey! I'm heading towar-”

D: The client interrupts the woman before she could even finish her sentence. So rude!

???: “Be discreet. I don't want anyone seeing us meet.”

A: Oooooh, meeting with a big shot?

J: Can you get to the point?

D: But I wanted to add some drama and flair to the story!

A: Jill isn't the type to enjoy foreplay.

J: Nonsense. I play with Fore all the time.

A: And you talk for him too, apparently.

J: …

A: Sorry, Jill! As long as we're friends, you'll never live that down!

D: ANYWAY, BACK TO MY STORY!

D: Skipping ahead a bit, we arrive at his place. It's quite fancy. Maybe a bit gaudy too. Huge bottles of alcohol, giant television screens, massive Texas king-sized bed.

J: Texas? I thought king-sized was the biggest.

D: I did too until I saw his bed. But that's not the most interesting part. He had ropes and harnesses fastened to these giant frames.

A: Listen, I've had my fair share of experiences with shady guys in shady places. But this is severe red flag territory. Weren't you scared? I would've got THE FUCK outta there.

D: I was a little tense, but considering who he was made me feel a little more relaxed. Plus, finger guns.

A: Right…who was he?

D: I don't kiss and tell!

A: Jill, you ask her. Maybe she'll tell you.

J: I already know who it is, I think.

A: Ugh, fine.

D: Back to the story. I was like…

D: “Umm…what are the ropes and stuff for?”

???: “For you, of course. Rope bondage. And you're the bunny.”

D: “I-I don’t think I’d make a good ‘bunny.’ I'm not into overly submissive types of play.”

???: “Don't worry about it. We’re not fucking, if that makes you feel better.”

D: My heart was really starting to race at this point. I’ve never shot anyone before, but there’s a first time for everything.

D: “…then, what are we doing?”

???: *sigh* “Everybody has a price. Here's my offer.”

???: “I’ll explain everything I want and I’ll give you an extra 25% on top of your normal rate. Willing to hear me out?”

D: “Sure…”

???: “Smart choice. Ever heard of shibari?”

D: “No…what's that?”

J: Shibari? Interesting, I've seen it before. It's the Japanese art of rope bondage. The rope is beautifully wrapped around a person's body and-

D: Jill! This is my story!

A: Neeeeeerd!

J: …please continue, Dorothy.

???: “I want to use these ropes and harnesses to bound you, pose you, and suspend you in midair. I want to take pictures too.”

???: “Here are some photos of my other work.”

D: “Wow, this is beautiful!”

???: “You can do that, can’t ya? We can get some really good shots with those extra flexible Lilim limbs. So, you in or out?”

D: “In!”

D: At first, I was terrified. I was completely naked and submitting myself entirely to a stranger.

D: But he was shockingly good at applying bondage so, my fears melted away pretty quickly. It didn't hurt at all!

A: Did you get some good photos out of it?

D: Yes! We did four different poses and got dozens of good shots. I'll show you if you don't mind seeing me naked.

A: Ehh, I don't mind. That was an interesting story, Dorothy!

D: Thanks!

J: Yeah, I was half expecting the story to be “this guy had a really weird dick.”

D: Well, that's not interesting at all! That's just my average Tuesday.

D: But yeah! That's my story! The end!

A: *clap*

J: Okay, Gaby, you can come back now!

G: Okay!

G: Shibari sounds really cool.

J, A, & D: YOU WERE LISTENING!?

G: …

[blossominghunnie]

04

Mae's POV

The second Braeden parked, my heart stopped beating. I was beyond nervous, how was I gonna survive this trip?

He stepped out of the car smiling, and looked around for a few seconds until his eyes met mine. I thought I was gonna pass out.

“Hey, bubs!” He walked towards me.

“Bubs?” Each and every one of my friends asked confused.

“Y-yeah, that's how he used to call me when we were younger.” I answered, all of them nodded and some, like Minnie, smirked.

“That's so adorable.” I heard Evan whisper, which made both Braeden and I blush. Sooo discreet, Lina.

“Hi, Brae.” I giggled and hugged him, smiling shyly. He laughed as well and felt this strong arms around me. God, I was gonna melt.

He released me from his embrace after a few seconds. I turned around to look at my friends, who still looked confused, maybe cause they didn't know who the tall guy beside me was.

“So, guys. This is Braeden Lemasters, he used to be my childhood best friend until he moved to LA three years ago.” The brunette waved, as well as the others. “B, this is Minnie's boyfriend, Eric, our friends Dorothy, Jeno, HueningKai, Josephine, Blake, Summer, Jaeden, Evan, Louis, and you already know my sisters.”

“Nice to meet you, guys.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” A chorus of voices was heard.

“Okay, now that we're all here we can finally go!” Mimi announced, making all of us cheer. “We're 14, so 7 will go with me and 7 with Mom Mae.”

“Let's go, people!” Maddie clapped her hands and made us move towards the two cars.

“Mom Mae?” Braeden asked amused, trying to hold his laugh.

“Yeah, it's just a nickname my sisters gave me cause I'm like the mom of the group, and a little older than some of our friends.” I made a face. “I'm not a big fan, to be honest.”

“I think it's cute.” I blushed a little. Damn it. “Does that make me Dad Brae?”

“Okay, 1. That's kinda cringy and 2. Hmm, you'll have to earn the nickname.” I said playfully, making him push me gently, causing me to laugh.

“Okay lovebirds, stop flirting and let's gooo.” Kai spoke, which made us blush even harder. “They're gonna leave us if we don't hurry“ Madelaine said next.

I turned to look at the inside of my Jeep and Kai, Maddie, Summer, Jeno and Louis were in the back.

“Where are your girlfriends and boyfriends?” I asked them as soon as I got in my car.

“They abandoned us.” Summer answered. “Well, 1. I abandoned Jae and 2. The only one here that's in a relationship is Jeno. The rest of us are single.” She continued with a 'duh' tone.

“Oh, yeah. I always thought you were with Jaeden.” I spoke while I started the engine and began driving.

“Nop. We're just best friends.“ She said in a sad and lower tone. Despite not liking Minnie, I always had a good relationship with the blonde. Why? To be honest I didn't know. But I was fine with it, she's cool and on very rare occasions she could be sweet.

“Oh. Okay, I'm feeling generous today, so I'll let one of you have the entire control of the aux.” I changed the subject and glanced at the people in the back through the rear-view mirror. They looked at each other, raised their hand and started pushing one another. Savages. “But only if you can tell me... My favorite candy, my favorite song aaand my favorite quote from Friends.”

The car was silent for a moment until I heard Braeden speaking softly.

“I know the first one, it's sour gummy worms.” I felt his eyes on me.

“Y-yeah, you remembered.” I was surprised that he didn't forget it.

“How could I not know? You used to buy like five packages from the cafeteria when we were little and I recall that I gave you a box full of them on your 13th birthday.”

To this day, that is the most thoughtful present anyone's given me.

I didn't respond and just smiled widely, I missed being around him. He was always so nice and caring, two of the things that made me had a crush on him.

While the group in the back thought of their answers, Common Sense by Joshua Bassett was playing in the background. Such a cute song.

Almost as the song was coming to an end, I heard Jeno’s voice.

“I think I know, Mae.” He said but was interrupted by Louis.

“Don't listen to him, pick meee.”

I laughed. “If he doesn't get it right you're next.” The brown haired nodded.

I gestured to Jeno that he could continue. “1. Sour gummy worms, 2. Nobody Gets Me (Like You) by Wallows and 3. "I just gave birth to three children and I will not see them grow up in a world where Joey is right." which was said by Phoebe.”

I loved that quote and Phoebe was one of my favorite characters but that was not the quote I was thinking of.

“You were almost right. The first and second are correct but the third one wasn't.” He made a face. “I'm sorryyyy.” I touched his hair affectionately (when we stopped at a red light, obviously. I'm a responsible driver.)

The next one that tried to guess was Louis, and he had the quote wrong as well.

After him, my sister spoke very confidently, may I add.

“1. Sour gummy worms, 2. Nobody Gets Me (Like You) aaaand 3. "I'm not great at the advice. Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?"

“Ding, ding, ding! Maddie's the winneeer.” I announced in a presenter's voice. I heard several groans.

“How did you know?” Hyuka asked.

“I know my sister. Chandler is one of her favorite characters and that quote is her motto.”

“It's true. Well done, sis!” I high fived her and passed her the aux.

Seconds later Brooklyn Baby by Lana del Rey started playing, making me smile. Such a bop!

“It just hit me, your favorite song is Nobody Gets Me (Like You)?” The singer asked curiously.

“Yep, ever since I heard it for the first time. I instantly fell in love with it.”

“Aw, you're so sweet.” He put his right hand above his heart.

“Sometimes.” I smiled.

The rest of the journey we talked, laughed and sang, just like the old times.

I was gonna miss moments like these the most.

Synopsis: In which a group of friends decide to go on a trip together and end up being stuck in a terrifying adventure.

Note: Not my fav chapter but I didn’t know what to change jsjs.

03 ≈⌲ 05

Masterlist

[nnightskiess]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐲

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

₊° - 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐣𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨.

☾ ⋆*·ﾟ:⋆*·ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:·ﾟ .: ⋆*·ﾟ: .⋆

i kindly ask you to not copy, republish, translate or reproduce this imagine on wattpad or on other platforms. respect the author’s work <3

The food was scarce, the mood incredibly low, and the energy levels even lower. Some girls kept quiet, others snapped, and then you also had those who snapped when their quiet was interrupted.

Fatin's lips were puckered together in a sour frown, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked out at the waves flowing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Almost as if they were teasing her that while they had all the freedom in the world, she was stuck on this damned island.

"We shouldn't sit here and expect food to magically drop out of the sky." Dot took a deep breath and pushed herself off the ground, her limbs felt like they were filled with concrete, "Who's coming with?"

"Yeah, I'm not doing shit. You can go ahead, though." Fatin was beyond annoyed, so much so that even the wind that blew her hairs softly in her face could make her want to scream. The battle she'd had with the sand sticking to every part of her body had been long lost. There was no point in fighting anymore, seeing as sand was surrounding them.

"Fatin, do you want-"

"I'm not going!"

She opened her eyes as soon as she realised it had not been Dot's voice, but yours.

"Fuck, Y/N, I'm sorry." She pulled at your hand, a tired smile immediately taking over her face, "What do I want...? Enlighten me."

You, in a mood of your own, felt no longer excited to take your girlfriend along, "No, it's fine. Martha, you want to come?"

The girl nodded and accepted your offered hand to pull her up.

"Hey! I never said I didn't want to come along?" Fatin sat up on her knees, talking to the back of your head as you left.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you did." Dot shrugged.

"I said I didn't want to go on some Bear Grills hunting mission with you."

Dot snorted at the defensive look on Fatin's face. Fatin huffed and grabbed a La Croix before following the footsteps you had left in the sand.

"Where are you going? Five-star resort is the other way!"

"Fuck off, Dorothy." She flipped her off before she disappeared behind the cliffs.

☾ ⋆*·ﾟ:⋆*·ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:·ﾟ .: ⋆*·ﾟ: .⋆

"Um, do you see it?"

You both inspected every tree and branch for one of the markings Fatin had left, but there was no nail polish or piece of cloth anywhere in sight.

"No... maybe we should walk back a bit. Might've missed one or gone the wrong direction."

"Sure thing!"

You wanted to turn on your heel but stopped, "Hey, look at this!"

A low bush of beautifully vibrant, pink flowers were hidden away in the greenery of the woods. Behind you, Martha let out a surprised and impressed sigh.

"Those are so beautiful! Wait- What are you doing?"

"Taking one."

"But then they might stop growing!"

"Just one. I'll leave enough. Besides, this is public property, right?" You sent her a playful wink before taking the flower up to your nose, "Hm, I thought it would smell sweet."

"What are you going to do with it?"

Suddenly, your cheeks flushed, "I-I, um, well-"

You didn't know if Fatin was even the type of girl to appreciate flowers, your time on the island had made you get to know her fast but silly things like this had never been part of the conversation. She seemed to resent everything classy or cliché, but, surely she could appreciate the gesture of a beautiful flower, right?

"Fatin?" Martha's teasing smirk said it all. You nodded meekly. "I bet she'll love it."

"I hope so." Your mind went to the girl and a lovesick smile coated your face. You held tight onto the flower, careful not to break its delicate petals.

☾ ⋆*·ﾟ:⋆*·ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:·ﾟ .: ⋆*·ﾟ: .⋆

"Y/N!" Fatin yelled and sighed, getting irritated that you were ignoring her calls.

"Come on, you can't be that far ahead," She mumbled under her breath.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? But I hauled my ass all the way over here to tell you that so the least you can do is respond-" Her words echoed through the woods, "-Hey! Hell-oohoo?! Babe!"

"I'm taking my top off!" She found amusement in her own joke and lame attempt to lure you to her, but her face fell once she reached the waterfall and there was no one there.

"Fucking great, making me play search party in this heat." She cursed under her breath. She might have followed you, but that didn't mean the lack of food in her belly, the mosquito bites giving her an unbearable itch and the sun blazing down on her weren't still annoying her.

The sounds of bird's wings flapping caught her attention. A flock of birds flew up from another part of the woods and an ecstatic yell followed. The exact words got lost in the soundtrack of the chirping, screeching and crackling of the woods, but she knew it was your voice.

☾ ⋆*·ﾟ:⋆*·ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:·ﾟ .: ⋆*·ﾟ: .⋆

"I have never tasted something so sweet!" Martha grinned from ear to ear as she pushed berry after berry into her mouth, her mouth and hands stained with red juice.

You hummed, swallowing down your own bite before wiping your mouth with the back of your hand.

Martha cackled and pointed at your face, "You look like a clown!"

"You should see yourself!"

"What kind of fresh hell-" Fatin's voice made you turn around in an instant, and you immediately hid the hand that still held the flower behind your back.

She tried to bite away her smile at the ridiculous mess on your faces,

"Wow... if you're trying out for a child-friendly circus then you should really do your lipstick in front of a mirror because this look just screams psychotic killer clown." She smiled heartedly and walked up to you, gently grabbing your chin before rubbing the juice off your cheeks, chin and lips.

Her smile faded as she looked into your eyes, "I'm sorry." she mouthed quietly, to which you shook your head.

"I'm sorry too." You mouthed back, gesturing for her to open her mouth so you could pop a berry in. It popped open in her mouth and prickled her tastebuds.

She closed her eyes and chewed.

"Good?"

She put her finger up to silence you, "Let me enjoy this food orgasm in silence."

"In silence? I thought you-"

She wagged her finger around, shutting you up.

"How are we gonna take all the berries back?"

"Carry it in our shirts?" You opted and pulled your shirt off, immediately folding it so that it could serve as a little basket. You quickly turned back around so that Fatin couldn't see the flower as you hid it carefully.

"This is all getting better and better." Fatin playfully pushed your chest with a finger, making you stumble back slightly, her eyes shamelessly going over your chest.

"Just wait till we get all the glory from bringing back food." You played.

"Gah, the irony."

"What?"

"Oh, just that I'm gonna be the one bringing back food and not Dot."

"Um, we kind of found it?" Martha smiled unsurely.

"Oh, come on! Can't I get a share of the praise for helping you bring it back?"

"Of course, you can." You planted a quick kiss on her cheek and intertwined your hands together. She adorably squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched up her nose.

Martha playfully rolled her eyes and decided to start picking more berries, knowing you'd be too busy being cute.

☾ ⋆*·ﾟ:⋆*·ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:·ﾟ .: ⋆*·ﾟ: .⋆

"Here! Here! Fresh fruit for only one 'thank you' per handful! Get your dose of berries now before it's too late!"

All the girls turned around in an instant, their faces lighting up immediately as they saw you approach. They surrounded you all, wanting to grab their own handful before Nora stopped them,

"Wait! We don't know if they're poisonous or not."

Martha shrugged, "We ate them."

"And?"

"And what? We're feeling fine." You added.

"And it sure beats cannibalism." Fatin huffed.

"Yeah, so YOLO!"

She turned to you, shaking her head, "No, don't... say that, babe."

"What?" You shrank only slightly until she cracked a grin at the adorable look on your face.

"Fuck it, I'm too hungry to be thinking of the consequences right now." Toni threw a handful in her mouth, immediately moaning at the taste,

"Worth it!" She mumbled out, her lips stained with red juice.

Eventually, everyone started to happily eat away, feeling blissed out and slightly more full.

Fatin rested between your legs, against your chest and had her arms outstretched in a namaste pose.

A loud giggle coming from you made her shoot her eyes open,

"You put your right foot in, your right foot out and you shake it all about-"

"What the-"

Martha's giggles followed and mixed with your own. She let out a deep sigh, "Yes, Marcus, I do!" She playfully slapped the chest of the mannequin she was leaning against.

You laughed loudly, "He can't even wear a ring on his left hand!"

"Babe, shush, I can't hear him." Fatin slapped your thigh. "He's asking me something."

"Who?" Leah asked.

"Leah, not now!"

"What the fuck is going on?" Rachel's eyes flashed across your faces.

"Oh, you should come, too! Double-wedding!" A snort left Martha's mouth before she fell to the ground in a fit of giggles.

"Sshhh!" Fatin flailed her arm around, "He's talking!"

"Who?! Who is talking!!?" Rachel stood up.

"This is some seriously weird shit." Dot furrowed her brows but couldn't help but laugh quietly.

"Oooooh, you do the hokey pokey."

The girls all exchanged glances as Martha, Fatin and you each seemed to be in your own little bubble. Or whatever it was.

"Martha, are you okay?" Toni leaned over, only for the girl to loudly hum the Here Comes The Bride theme.

"The berries!" Nora said as soon as it hit her, "I think... they might've made them high... They ate them earlier than we did... so... just a heads up? We'll probably follow soon."

Shelby immediately tensed up, "High? We're all going to get high?!"

Toni put an arm around her, "Hey, don't worry. We'll be fine. Look, they're just being silly. That's all."

But when Fatin shrieked loudly when you offered her your hand, everyone's eyes widened.

"Get away from me, you fucking mutant!" She scurried off in the sand.

You started to sob loudly at the rejection, raising your hand to shield your face. That's when everyone let out a gasp.

Your hand was red and purple, swollen, and was filled with disgusting blisters.

"That... that can't be good."

"Don't touch your face!" Dot slapped your hand away.

"Is that gonna happen to us, too?!" Leah panicked.

"Martha doesn't have it."

"Hey, Fatin-"

She slapped Leah's hands away, afraid Leah was another mutant, but it was enough to see Fatin was safe, "Neither does Fatin."

Shelby inspected her hands thoroughly for every tiny spot or change. Toni grabbed them to stop her.

"Y/N!" Martha suddenly sat up, "I don't have a bouquet! Can I borrow your flower?"

As if you had completely forgotten Fatin's rejection, you giggled again, "Flower? You're silly. I have a coin though." You pulled out a penny.

"The hell is-"

Then, as if a light switched on, you seemed to realise you had indeed picked a flower. You were about to give the bright pink flower to Martha,

"Don't!" Nora's yell made you flinch.

You frowned, "Don't you think it's pretty?" Your eyes glanced over Fatin, who sat staring at her hands. If Nora didn't like them, would Fatin?

"Oh- it's a lovely flower!" Leah nodded ferociously, playing along, trying to keep you distracted.

"I-I read about those... they're-" Nora turned to the others, knowing there was no time to explain anything, "Drop it, Y/N."

"But it's for-"

"Drop it in the fire."

"Why?" Your lip quivered.

"Hey, um, Y/N-" Dot tried, "It's trying to eat away at your fingers, see its tiny teeth?"

Repulsed, you flicked the flower off your hand. Dot grabbed a stick to whip it into the fire where the petals turned to ash almost immediately.

"I'll give her the Cetirizine." Dot stood up with a sigh. You were probably having an allergic reaction to the flower.

"Oh and uh... um, fill that part of the suitcase... with, um, saltwater and make her keep... her hands in there!" Nora squeezed her eyes shut and pointed a shaky finger the other way, feeling the effects of the berries start to sink in. She let out a high-pitched chuckle.

"So is it safe to assume that that was because of the flower and not because of the berries?" Shelby asked, slightly calming down.

"Looks like it."

"Oh, thank God."

Fatin crawled back to you through the sand and grabbed your cheeks, looking into your eyes as if her next words would be her last, "I still like you, nothing has changed. Mutant or not— shut the fuck up, Marcus, I'm talking-"

Dot started laughing at that, Rachel and Toni soon joined. Then Leah followed and eventually also Shelby.

☾ ⋆*·ﾟ:⋆*·ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:·ﾟ .: ⋆*·ﾟ: .⋆

The orange hue of the flames lit up all of your faces. Everyone was exhausted, your bellies ached from laughing, but at least the effects had worn off. Fatin sat beside you and you felt her look at you.

"What?" You had your brows furrowed, your bottom lip jotted out. The suitcase sat in front of you, where your hand was still soaking in the saltwater.

She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing, "I'm sorry, you just look so fucking adorable when you're brooding."

"Nice take on my suffering, but it's good that at least someone is getting something out of it." You groaned when your hand started to itch again, "I feel like a fucking dog filled with fleas." You moved your hand out of the water, but Fatin tutted,

"Eh! No, no! Put it back. I need that hand smooth as a baby bum before my hands are going anywhere near it again." She looped her arm around yours and gave your side a squeeze. She nuzzled her nose into your cheek.

You let out a grunt but listened nonetheless.

"Ohhh, you do the hokey pokey." Leah nudged your leg, stifling a laugh.

"What?" The look she received from you was quizzical, and you looked especially puzzled when the others started to laugh as well.

"And you turn yourself around, that's what it's all about." The girls sang as one before dissolving into laughter.

You had no idea what their inside joke was about, or what you had done while being high on berries, but what you did know, was that you had cheered Fatin up again, which had been your main priority that day after all.

You watched as Fatin sat smiling beside you, her toothy grin as wide as ever. Indeed, that was what it was all about.

i kindly ask you to not copy, republish, translate or reproduce this imagine on wattpad or on other platforms. respect the author’s work <3

[runnning-outof-time]

To Be Alone | Tommy Shelby x OC | Chapter 22

Masterlist

Next Chapter

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x OC

Summary: Celia gets some surprising news. She’s able to share it with some of her friends, but is hesitant to tell Tommy. She almost works up the nerve to do it, but the couple is interrupted by Arthur, who pulls Tommy away for the night.

Warnings: hospitals, smoking, language

Word Count: 3628

A/N: got some pretty exciting things happening from here on out! Hope you’re still enjoying! :)

Let me know if you want to be tagged!

———

"Hey, CeCe, are you ok?" Sophia asked as she came into the hall of the hospital that Celia was currently working in. She had the task of mopping down the floors. Fun. "You're looking pretty pale," she observed then.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Celia stated, but the face Sophia gave her made her realize that the woman had seen right through her answer. "Ok so I've felt a little sick. I think it might have been something I ate," she disclosed then.

"You really should be at home, sleeping then, Celia," Sophia pointed out, and Celia sighed.

"I'm fine, Soph, really. Besides, who's gonna clean these floors if not for me?" Celia stated, cracking a grin that made the nurse shrug her shoulders with a chuckle. She had a point.

"Ok, but please let Dorothy or I know if you start feeling worse," Sophia gave her another serious look. "I mean it," she emphasized, making Celia nod her head in an exaggerated manner.

She just wanted to get done with her work so that she could go home for the day. She had been feeling this way for a couple of weeks now: dissy, nauseous, clammy at times. She just figured it had been something she ate. But would those effects really last over weeks? She didn't know. Maybe she just kept eating something that wasn't agreeing with her.

Sophia eventually left her, and now Celia was on her own in the hospital's hall. She kept on with her mopping, choosing to ignore the headache that was starting to form in her skull. Maybe it's because of these damn hospital lights. She thought to herself. She never did like being in these halls for a long period of time. She kept going until the headache got worse. Blinking her eyes a couple times, she set the mop against the wall so that she could rest her hands on her knees and take a few steadying breaths. These breaths only made her feel more dizzy, and before she could stop herself, she was falling limp onto the floor in the hallway. The room was spinning, and her vision was tinted with a black circle in each eye.

"Oh my goodness!" she heard a woman shriek, but she didn't have the energy to see who it was. Footsteps rushed towards her as the black circle got wider and darker, and the last thing she thought before she lost her consciousness was: it's a good thing I'm at a hospital.

—

Celia didn't know exactly how much time had passed when she woke up. She saw that it was now dark out and figured that it had been a good couple of hours, considering it was the middle of the day when she was last awake. She was now hooked up to a couple of lines, bags hanging above her, sending what she presumed to be fluids into her body. She didn't get much time to herself as the door then opened, Sophia stepping into her room then.

The nurse's eyes widened slightly when she realized that her friend was now awake. "Celia! You're awake!" she shrieked, quickly moving to her bedside. "What the hell happened?!"

"I wish I could tell you," Celia stated, a miserable excuse of a laugh leaving her body then. Why was she so tired all of a sudden?

"Well we've got fluids going into your body now. That should help with the dizziness. Doctor ran some tests, and he should be in to review them with you as soon as he gets the results," Sophia explained, returning to the duties of her job. "I wish you would have gone home when I told you too," she jumped back into the friend role for a moment.

"Then I would have passed out there," Celia pointed out meekly, making Sophia sigh but not say anything more. She knew that the younger woman was right.

"I'll go see how the Doctor's getting on with those tests," she stated, motioning to the door before she walked back towards it, leaving Celia alone again.

No more than twenty minutes later, the doctor was walking through the door with a clipboard in his hands. "Hello, Ms. Farraday," he greeted her, a smile on his face. "I have your results."

"Great. Do they explain why I passed out all of a sudden?" Celia asked hopefully.

"Yes, they do. They have brought to light some interesting things, actually," the doctor nodded.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Celia's eyebrows were raised as she intently waited for the 'interesting things' to be told to her.

"You are about a month pregnant, Ms. Farraday."

"Excuse me?" her eyes widened at the news. Pregnant? How?...well Celia had an inkling of how, because she and Tommy had certainly been doing a lot of that recently, but she never expected that she'd fall pregnant.

"We ran some tests with your blood, and it came back conclusive that you are pregnant. It very well could explain why you've been dizzy and nauseous, as a great deal of first time mothers have reported feeling similar symptoms in their first trimester," he explained to her how he came to the conclusion, "you are a first time mother, correct?" he looked to her for confirmation then.

"Yes...I don't really...I don't kn...yes, I am," she stammered out, trying to explain her feelings before she stopped and finished her babbling with a head nod.

"Alright then. Well, I'll be having the midwife check in with you, because you will be needing to come see her for several check-up appointments. That way we can keep a close eye on you and baby as the pregnancy progresses," the doctor spoke then, but Celia was currently spacing out. This still didn't feel real to her.

"O...ok," she barely got out before he was heading towards the door.

"Thank you, Ms. Farraday," he nodded, opening the door before he spun to look at her, "oh, and congratulations." Celia smiled at his warm statement before he left her alone.

Moments later, Sophia was walking through the door. "Celia...I saw that Dr. Doby put in a request for a midwife's visit. Are you really pregnant?" she immediately started with the questions, and any bit of overwhelming feelings that Celia had worked to push down were coming right back up.

"Yeah, I am," it still didn't sound real.

"You're already a month along too? That could explain the dizziness and nausea you told me you were feeling," Sophia put the pieces together.

"Yeah. And I didn't exactly have my menses this month...though I thought it was due to the weird sickness I was having," Celia pointed out. That was true, at times her periods weren't regular, and despite trips to the doctors, she was never able to determine why. She was left with a bunch of maybes and was pretty much told to go and live with it.

"Well it kinda was due to the sickness you were having," Sophia pointed out the truth jokingly, making both women laugh. "Ah wow...that's really crazy though," Sophia shook her head after she had calmed down. "And it's Tommy's?"

"Yes," Celia answered, knowing Sophia didn't have any malicious intent behind her question. "Tommy cannot know about this. About me fainting or anything," she stressed then, looking Sophia directly in the eyes to show she was being serious. She couldn't even think about telling Tommy about this right now. She had to come to grips with the fact that it was happening herself.

The nurse just simply nodded. "I won't tell a soul until you're ready to."

"My goodness look at me...I'm just like my brother and his wife," Celia laughed in spite of herself once they had become quiet.

"How so?" Sophia questioned, her eyebrows furrowed.

"They had their first child out of wedlock. Katherine got pregnant when Joseph was on leave with the army. Samuel was born just before the war ended," Celia explained to her friend some of her brother's past.

"Oh. Well I think they turned out just fine," Sophia pointed out, making Celia nod slightly. "I think you're gonna be ok, CeCe. Think about how exciting this is going to be. A new baby. New life! I already know you'll be an amazing mother," Sophia smiled at her, making Celia's heart flutter at the compliments.

"How the hell am I gonna push this thing out of me?" she questioned incredulously then, her mind already on the stressful labor and delivery process.

Sophia laughed at her worries, "you've got at least eight more months until that comes," she reminded her. They got quiet then as Sophia shook her head with a slight laugh. "You and Tommy Shelby, Celia...having a baby. If you would have told me this about a year and a half ago when I first met you, I would have outright laughed," she stated then.

"I know, Soph. Please don't remind me," Celia pinched the bridge of her nose as a way to hopefully quell the headache she felt coming on. She had no idea when she first met this blue-eyed gangster in Mr. and Mrs. Robinson's tailoring shop that she would eventually fall pregnant with his child. She just hoped that he would be as inviting to the idea as she was quickly becoming.

——

After making sure her vitals were good and setting her up on a schedule with the midwife, Celia was allowed to leave the hospital. Given the circumstances, she was pretty much told to head home, being that she was unconscious for the remainder of her shift. She was sitting on her couch working on knitting something, a small blanket for her unborn child (could you blame her? She was excited), when a knock sounded on the door. Standing up and setting the work in progress on the couch, Celia walked towards the door. After unlocking it and pulling it open, she smiled to see Ada Thorne standing on the other side.

"Ada! What a pleasure it is to see you!" Celia smiled, stepping aside to let her in. "What brings you in?" she asked, the two of them walking over to the couch then.

"I came in to meet with Polly and Tommy. But of course, Tommy's already occupied," she responded, sighing as she spoke about her brother. "Have you seen him at all?"

"No. I've been at the hospital all day," Celia shook her head.

Ada sent her a furrowed expression, "hospital? Are you ill?"

"No. I work there," Celia answered, her statement not being a complete lie.

"Oh. Ok," Ada nodded, her eyes scanning the apartment. "That's a beautiful blanket you're making. Is it for Esme's baby?" she questioned then, her eyes shifting from the blanket to Celia, who was sitting rigidly. How the hell did she pick that up?

"No, uh...it's, uh...it's for me. For my...for my baby," Celia stammered out. She could have lied, but Ada was a smart woman. She would have found out and then been angry that she was lied to.

"You're baby?" Ada asked if she heard correctly, her eyes widening.

"Yes. My baby," Celia responded clearly this time.

"You're pregnant, Celia?" she asked the same question in a different way, almost as if she was trying to wrap her mind around it.

"Yes, I am," Celia nodded once more. She watched as Ada's straight face dissolved into a smile. One Shelby down, six more to go.

"That's amazing!" she cheered, leaning over to hug the woman across from her. "Did you tell Tommy?" she asked after pulling away.

"No. I only found out a bit earlier. I don't think I could tell Tommy yet. I shouldn't overwhelm him with this when he's got so much going on," Celia shook her head. Ada nodded along with her words. She then paused for a moment, contemplating her words, "do you think Tommy will be happy about this?"

"Of course he will. Why would you think otherwise?" Ada furrowed her eyebrows.

"Well because we didn't really talk about children, you know..." she trailed off.

"You know...Tom may be brash with us adults, but he's something else when he's around kids," Ada commented, making Celia smile slightly. She was starting to imagine her and Tommy with a baby of their own.

"Well when you tell him, please do let me know how he responds," Ada smiled at her and Celia nodded. The conversation then shifted to the recent happenings in London, and how Karl was doing while Celia continued on with her blanket.

——

Mom,

I'm sorry I haven't been writing. Things have been rather crazy here these past few weeks.

I wanted to write to you now because I have just received some rather exciting news.

I am preg....

"Celia?" Tommy's voice came from the door, making her jump and draw an unnecessary line through her paper.

"Shit," she muttered, crumbling up the paper before Tommy could see it. "Hi, Tommy. I wasn't expecting you," she looked at him, sending a smile in his direction.

"Did I make you mess up?" he questioned, a smile playing on his lips.

"You did. But it's alright. I don't think I was ready to send this letter yet," Celia responded, moving to the trash so that she could throw the paper out. Tommy furrowed his eyebrows but said nothing in response.

"Is everything ok, love?" he asked then, making Celia's stomach drop. Was he already on to her?

"Yeah, I'm doing just fine," she nodded her head before moving over to kiss his lips quickly. "How's your day been?" she asked him as she pulled away.

"Alright," he nodded, not saying much. "I was wondering if you'd want to join me. I'm supposed to meet with John about a problem that's happened in London. He said Esme's supposed to be there. Would be good for her to have a friend."

"I'll come with you," Celia shrugged, not having much else to do.

"Right then," Tommy nodded, watching as Celia grabbed her purse and coat before he followed her out of the apartment.

—

"Oh, you've gotta tell Tommy, Celia. He's gonna go mental when he hears the news," Esme grinned widely at Celia after she heard the news.

"I don't know, Esme. Don't you think he's a bit overwhelmed at the moment?" Celia was still apprehensive.

"Isn't that man always overwhelmed?" Esme pointed out. Celia couldn't help but laugh, nodding along with what the other woman said.

"So you'll tell him?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

"If the time is right," Celia nodded, a smile on her face.

John and Tommy exited the snug then, coming to where the women were sitting in one of the booths. "You wanna leave, Es?" John asked Esme.

"Yeah," Esme nodded, sending a look to Celia then before she and John left the pub.

"Come back to mine?" Tommy questioned Celia, his eyes falling on her. She sent him a nod in response, letting him take her hand to walk out of the pub en route to his home on Watery Lane.

—

Celia didn't know how one thing led to another, but almost as soon as she and Tommy entered the house, he was kissing her. "Tommy," she chuckled at his eagerness, placing her hands on his chest as she attempted to separate the two of them. "Thomas," she tried his full name then, and sure enough, he backed away from her slightly. Calling him Thomas always seemed to get him to listen. "What's going on?" she asked him, searching his eyes.

"I love you," he blatantly stated, making her heart swell. Tommy really wasn't one to express his feelings through words. He showed her through buying her gifts, and he loved expressing them through physical touch, but it wasn't often that he said those three words to her. It made it even more special to her when he did.

"I love you..." she trailed off, giving him a kiss that he turned into two. "Are you ok?" she asked him then, her voice coming out as a whisper.

"Yes, love, I am," he nodded, his hand running down her cheek, his thumb brushing over her lips. Celia could see in his eyes that the gears in his head were currently working on overdrive, and she wondered if it was because of the meeting and conversation he had just had with John. She knew better than to ask him though, knowing full well by now that Tommy needed to come to her with these things. "Just need you to distract me," he breathed then, his lips just centimeters from hers as he spoke.

She let out a soft laugh along with a breath, her hands finding his cheeks so that she could pull him back slightly to look at her. They searched each others' eyes for a moment before she spoke, "I'd be happy to," she smiled at him, pulling him in then for another kiss.

They blindly found their way over to the couch then, Celia falling back into it before Tommy moved on top of her, their lips slotting back together. "Thank you...for getting me...out of my head," Tommy breathed out, kissing her lips with each pause he took. "Makes all this shit worth it," he said as his lips moved to her neck and he began placing open-mouthed kisses to her soft skin. Celia breathed out a sigh of satisfaction, a smile on her face as she then slipped her hands under Tommy to start blindly unbuttoning his shirt. Once she was done, she pushed on his shoulders, making him get the message and move to take it off. Suspenders fell down then before she was raising his undershirt over his head, leaving him shirtless above her.

She smiled as she ran her hands over his smooth chest, gripping his shoulders then as she pulled him down to her lips once more. "Mmm, love you, Tommy," she whispered, like it was a secret for only him to hear. He didn't repeat the sentiment, but instead kissed her harder and with more passion, his one hand moving south to slide up the bottom of her skirt while the other got tangled within her hair.

This was the time, she thought to herself. She'd tell him now. "I need to tell you something, Tommy," she managed to speak between the kisses he was giving her.

"What, love?" he asked, his voice husky as it came beside her left ear.

"I'm..." she wasn't able to say anymore, the door to the house opening and sending her mind into a scramble. Who the hell just barges into a house without knocking?

"Tom, I...oh shit, sorry brother," it was Arthur. Celia could never mistake that voice for someone else's. If she wasn't in such a compromising position, she would have jumped up and ran to give him a hug. He had just been released from prison two days earlier and she had yet to see him. "I didn't see anything," he muttered then, a smirk in his voice.

Tommy mumbled something to Celia then before he did sort of a push-up on the couch, making sure she looked decent before he rolled to the side so that he could stand and face his brother. "Just fuckin' knock next time," Tommy told him, no anger in his words as he spoke. Arthur nodded, smiling over at Celia then, whose face he was just now able to see.

"This probably isn't the best time, but John boy and I found that address," Arthur spoke then, eyes focused on his brother, who was in the process of putting his clothing back on rather than Celia, who was currently fixing her hair in the mirror that hung above the fireplace.

"Now's as good a time as any," Tommy nodded, clearing his throat then, "I'll come with you." He then turned to look at Celia, a cigarette hanging from his lips as he patted his pockets down for his lighter. Seeing it on the ground, Celia knelt down and picked it up before handing it to him. "Thanks, love," he smiled, lighting the cigarette before looking at her as he continued, "I've gotta head out," he stated, not really giving her the option to ask him to stay. It wasn't like she was going to, anyway. He was about to turn before something dawned on him. "You had something to tell me."

"Oh, yeah. It was..." she trailed off, contemplating whether or not it was a good time now, "it was nothing. It can wait," she brushed it off, deciding that now, right before he was about to go and handle some business with his brothers, wasn't the best time to tell him that he was going to be having a child.

"You sure?" he checked with her, his brows furrowed as her tried to sus her out. She hoped that her façade was strong enough.

"Yes. Now, you need to go," she pointed out, motioning to Arthur who was still, rather awkwardly, waiting by the door. "Be safe, please," she stressed her final word, almost wanting to add you've got a baby to come home to, but she didn't.

"I will, love," he smiled at her, leaning down to kiss her lips quickly before he turned to Arthur and started to walk. He made sure he had his gun fastened in his holster before he and Arthur exited the house. Celia sat on the couch with a sigh, her hand falling onto her stomach without thought. She then smiled to herself, the full realization of it over her now. She was going to have a baby.

———

Tagged: @mootiemoose @theshelbyclan @alreadybroken-ts @cloudofdisney @stevie75 @honey-im-hotdog @kagome1414 @epicwaterlemon @magicalxdaydream @the-anxious-youth @woofgocows @joossieisdabomb

[bowandcurtsey]

If you don't mind, can I request a scenario/HC of BC boys (Yami, Nozel and Fuegoleon) where some people ask if reader and them are in a relationship but they intentionally lied out of jealousy (it's up to you if who they're jealous of😅). Then felt guilty afterwards. I'll also leave it to you on how they're going to make amends😅😌💕. Thank you so much in advance 😻💖🤗.

Hi Akira! I'm finally here with your request! sorry for the long ass wait, my schedule has been so hectic, *cries*

Yami | Nozel | Fuegoleon x f! reader

Tw: not proof read. Maybe angst?

Yami Sukehiro

You arrived at the town hall, tired and injured, only to see Charlotte collapse onto your man. Yami lifted her in his arms to find a healer while you stood there, green with jealousy.

"Oi y/n right?" you turned around to see the tall mantis captain, "you're injured. You should get a healer to heal you."

You winced a little at the pain in your legs, but it was still tolerable.

"It's okay, I'm fine Captain Jack."

You were hoisted like you weighed nothing as Jack carried you to find a healer at the first aid tent that was temporarily set up. You saw Yami and Charlotte there as well.

Yami rushed over the moment he saw you.

"you okay?" there was concerned laced in his voice.

"It's fine Captains" referring to the both of them, "don't have to worry over me alright? There are others that need the help more than I do." you snapped.

"Sheeshhhh, y/n." Jack raised his eyebrow at you, "why you so worked up when we're just concerned bout you? You're worried your boyfriend gonna be jealous or sumthin'?"

"I'm single." you looked at Jack straight in the eye. And you saw the look of disappointment in Yami's face.

Yami pursed his lips as his gaze washed upon you, a concoction of worry and sadness. You heart ached as you read his expression and you immediately felt the guilt from your words earlier.

After you were healed, you felt exhausted and decided to just return back to the base.

"Heading home?" you turned around to see Yami. He gave you a tiny smile, "Let's go."

"So.." Yami cleared his throat before speaking, "you don't want people to know of our relationship?"

You remained silent for a moment, thinking what an idiot you were earlier.

"baby?" he looked at you, "there's no one here now, so I can call you that right? It's fine if you don't want us to be public, I get-"

"No Yami." you cut him off, "I'm sorry. I was stupid earlier, I was just jealous."

"Jealous about what baby?" he raised a brow at you.

"I've never-" he stopped himself mid sentence, realising what was going on, "oh.."

"Yeah. I saw you carrying another woman in your arms and I didn't like that very much." you avoided his gaze, feeling ashamed of yourself.

"I'm sorry baby," he gently put his huge hands over your head, gently patting you, "I'll never touch another woman like that unless it's an emergency."

"Is that why you let that bean pole carry you? I didn't like that too." he narrowed his eyes at you.

"I didn't! He just carried me randomly- eek!" You squealed as Yami scooped you up in his arms.

"Now this is much better," he smiled, "you in my arms"

Nozel Silva

You were at a gala for an annual event. You were suddenly approached by Fuegoleon. You both started chit chatting about unimportant things.

Nozel showed up and you gave him the cold shoulder. Nozel has been going to the coral peacocks lately to meet Dorothy to talk about "stuffs" and it made you jealous to no ends. He said he would talk to you about it, but he was just so busy, and it kept you on edge.

"Anyway y/n, who are you here with? Did you come alone without a date?" Fuego asked.

"oh.." you decided to get back a little at your man, "yeah, I don't have a date or anything, so yeah I guess I'm alone?"

You saw Nozel's face instantly soured.

Fuegoleon glanced at Nozel. He knew that Nozel has a liking towards you but he didn't know that you were both already dating. He thought that he would give his bro an opportunity to talk to you, so he excused himself.

You were confused as Fuegoleon made some lousy excuse to leave you alone with Nozel. Did he know that you and Nozel were dating?

"You don't have a date, huh? Why not just tell Fuegoleon that you're single and that you want to date him or something?" Nozel was obviously extremely upset at what you said earlier.

"Maybe I should?" you were not caving in to him this round, "my 'date' obviously has someone else in mind too?"

Nozel's eyes widened at you, "what are you implying y/n? Who has been spouting nonsense to you?"

"you're always with Dorothy aren't you? Do you think I'm dumb? You have so many 'captainly duties' with her?" you argued in a hushed tone, not wanting anyone to know you were arguing.

Nozel blinked at you. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights, not knowing what to say for a moment.

"y/n," he took a deep breath, "can we find somewhere else to talk?"

"fine." you followed him, your heart racing in your chest, thinking that Nozel was finally going to break up with you.

You both took a seat on a bench in the outside garden.

"y/n.. I'm sorry." Nozel looked at you, his eyes filled with remorse, "I've neglected you."

You could only stare at him silently waiting for him to continue.

"I've been going to Dorothy for 'therapy'... When my mom died, I was there and things were a little... complicated." He talked slowly, thinking about the right words to say, "however, when I'm in dorothy's dream world, I can talk about the matter freely."

Oh. The regret you felt in your heart came all of a sudden, as you realised how much you have hurt him earlier.

"Zel, I'm sorry.. why didn't you explain sooner...?" your eyes were clouded with tears now, "I was so miserable!"

Nozel pulled you into a hug, the first display of affection he showed towards to you in public, "which is why I'm sorry. I want to bring you into dream world so I can talk to you about this."

---

After you came out from dream world, you both headed home on Nozel's mercury eagle. You turned around and embraced your man.

"I'm so sorry, love." you pressed a kiss to his cheeks.

Nozel was caught off guard at your sudden display of affections and he fumbled on what to say.

"Just remember.. Don't talk about this matter.." he said with a blush.

He cleared his throat, "I also hope that you don't tell anyone that you don't have a date from now onwards..."

Fuegoleon Vermillion

Fuegoleon is a gentleman through and through. But sometimes, it was really frustrating because he was nice to everyone. At times, too nice.

A lost woman came stumbling into the Vermillion residence, saying that she just migrated to the Clover kingdom, and was from the heart kingdom. Fuegoleon, out of goodwill, decided to offer her a meal and invited her in. They chatted happily before Fue sent her to where she intended to go.

You were furious. Even salamander could feel your raging aura.

During a celebratory party from the invasion of the spade kingdom, Finral from the black bulls waddled up to you.

"Hey pretty y/n," he was probably a little drunk, "are you in a relationship? How about going on a date with me?"

You wanted to politely refuse, just like you did to all your other suitors ever since you were in a relationship with Fue, when you happened to see from the corner of your eyes that Fue coming towards the both of you.

"Oh no, I'm not in a relationship, must be a gossip that is not true."

Fuego froze in his tracks.

"oh hi Captain Vermillion!" Finral greeted your boyfriend but there was a solemn expression on his face.

"Hi Finral, I think your captain is looking for you."

After Finral was gone, Fue grabbed your hand firmly but gently. "Why did you say that darling?"

His eyes were filled with dejection and hurt.

You thought about him talking cheerily to a stranger woman over breakfast the other day and got upset again. You freed your hands from his grip.

"Am I not wrong? Am I your girlfriend?"

"w-.." Fue was confused and in despair, " have I not made myself clear enough? Or do you not feel loved enough? Did I do something wrong, love?"

His sincere purple orbs made you feel bad. You kept silent and avoided his gaze.

"Please, talk to me..." Fue held onto your hand again, like a lost puppy.

"T-the other day.. You invited a random woman into your place, you even had a meal and accompanied her.." You lowered your head, filling your tears about to spill.

Fue tugged at your hand, signalling for you to follow him as he lead you to the balcony outside the room. He pulled you into his embrace.

"I'm very sorry. I didn't know you felt this way about that." His grip around you tightened as he spoke, "she was just lost and not from Clover, which was why I was just trying to help."

"I know you're always so kind and helpful," you mumbled into his chest, "but could you leave that little extra just for me only?"

Fue understood what you meant. There was indeed a lot of ways he could have helped that lady without personally attending to her.

"I'm sorry dear. So are you still in a relationship?" He pulled back to wipe the tears that has fallen from your eyes, "We're not just a gossip are we?"

"I'm sorry about that Fue.." you pouted guiltily, "of course I am in a relationship with you."

The Crimson Lion captain smiled. He held your hand back into the party, and he didn't let go throughout the entire night.

-end-

[hecatesbroom]

For the fic titles ask game: number 9 for "the finish line" and "it's still the same old story", number 11 for "i'm tired of wanting more / i think i'm finally worn", plus a bonus - one question among these you really want to answer for any one of your fics! :)

Ooh different fics in the same ask, that's fun! Thank you! <3

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

the finish line

Not exactly, but also kind of? I started with the introspective bits in chapter 1, but there was no setting yet. Eventually I added in the bits where Dorothy is looking at Lucas and holding back her tears, because I thought framing this in an actual scene would give it more weight — and would make it easier for people to connect to the emotion.

I was originally planning to leave it at that, but felt so bad for Dorothy (and honestly also a little for myself, because I'd properly broken my own heart 😂) I had to give her a hopeful ending. So I added chapter 2 as a fix-it (and an apology) for the pain I inflicted lmao

it's still the same old story

Ohh my Maude fic! Thanks for asking about this one! :')

Yeah, there were two! The original version of this didn't include the movie theater — it was just the introspective bits. And while those worked fine on their own, I thought I could increase the tension and weight of the story if I added an actual scene to frame it. Kind of like the finish line, haha.

Though after writing the movie theater scene, I felt like a different setting might suit this better — so I started a half-baked attempt at another scene, one where they're having a movie night at home. It was fine, and I think it could've worked out well, but my mind was already set on the initial setting and I couldn't get the new one to work. So I ended up going with the first (ish) option eventually!

11: What do you like best about this fic?

I'm tired of wanting more / I think I'm finally worn

Ooh, this is a hard one. In terms of technical details, I had a great time with the way this is structured. Going through Dorothy's life year by year, opening with a similar line each time. I gave myself a few rules to stick to (open every part in the same way, sketch her life at that moment, and tie it all in with the physical weight of it all) and I think it ended up working really well :)

I also like that this gave me the opportunity to explore how to write about different types of exhaustion and fatigue, and distinguish between them. It's a topic near and dear to my heart, so let's just say it was nice to be able to put my knowledge to good use for a change!

And for the bonus question (thank you for that!) I'll add on to #11 with another fic :)

Farewell to a Daughter (in C Major)

I tried to include some symbolism in here, and it was so much fun weaving it in! There's Sophia's gray dress, of course, but there's also the second to last line -- where she finally dabs at her eyes with a black handkerchief, essentially giving in to the notion she's been struggling with throughout the entire scene: she's mourning, instead of celebrating.

My favourite part of symbolism in the entire fic might be the title, honestly. The tragedy of Farewell to a Daughter, contrasted with (C Major) at the end -- putting Sophia's feelings against a cheerful tune that is, in fact, the key Mendelssohn's wedding march is played to. But of course you knew about that already, haha.

[liron-ao3]

It's not that Dean doesn't like Castiel. It is more of an I-swear-on-my-mother's-grave-I'll-kill-him kinda relationship. Because the thing is, Castiel set up Dean's little brother Sam and his stepsister Rowena and it isn't that Dean could say it out loud, but he is worried. To say the least.

Rowena has a power over Sam that makes Dean's stomach flip. She conjures sappy smiles on Sam's face and makes him follow her like a love-drunk puppy. She's a witch, Dean is convinced, but he tries hard not to mention that in Sammy's orbit. He heard the whole that's-a-misogynistic-term speech when Sam was dating that Ruby chick and Dean knows that his brother would only cling closer to the Scot if he knew that Dean thinks that his fiancée is straight from hell.

So Dean grits his teeth, swallows his tongue, and plays nice around her, even going as far as agreeing to be his brother's best man. He will still be there when Sam comes running with his heart broken and with his tail between his legs.

Castiel, on the other hand? That man he can hate in abundance. Not that he has ever met him, but honestly, he has to be Lucifer himself if he thinks their siblings to be a good match.

Dean can picture him vividly—a leer on his face, sweet-talking people into feeling safe and then smiting them with the snap of his fingers. That man has to be evil incarnate and Dean won't pussyfoot around him. No way!

***

"Play nice," Bobby grumbles when they enter the venue for the rehearsal dinner.

"I am nice," Dean hisses back.

"Sure you are," his surrogate father says and makes a beeline for Ellen and Jo on the other side of the room.

Dean shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans and scans the room for the man he is sure he will recognise immediately. But no one really sticks out from the crowd that is well-dressed and mostly speaking in different kinds of British accents. Family of the bride, obviously.

Dean feels a little underdressed until he spots a man in an ill-fitting suit, draped into a trenchcoat. He is standing next to a redheaded, slim woman, who Dean would probably try to get on the backseat of his Impala if he wasn't set on finding that Castiel guy, sweet talk him today and wreck him tomorrow. Unless Sam does the wise thing and cancels the wedding, which seems less and less likely by the minute. Rowena's spell seems to become stronger day by day. Dean hardly recognises his ever-worrying, self-loathing brother anymore, with all the grinning that goes on on his face.

Maybe Dean is an asshole, but he has pulled Sam from the edge too many times to count. This is too good to be true. Happiness doesn't find a Winchester. Not in his experience.

Dean walks to the other side from where the redhead smiled over to him. Maybe she can point him to the object of his hate. She tilts her head to the side when he comes closer.

"You must be Dean," she says, stretching out her hand. Dean is taken aback by her knowledge.

"How did you…?"

She shrugs. "I know nearly everyone in this room. And the only two men Sam ever mentioned were his brother and Bobby who I assume is the fella over there."

Dean looks in the direction she is nodding to. "Yeah. Sam always had more female friends."

"I think that's what Rowena likes about him. He's sensible."

Dean huffs. "Yeah, I bet she likes that he's soft for her."

"He makes her very happy," the man says and his voice does things to Dean's insides he doesn't want to nurse right now. He needs to focus on his anger. Arousal isn't helpful.

"If you say so," Dean grunts.

Anna furrows her brow. "Are you okay, Dean?" she asks concerned.

"Yeah, just not really convinced about this whole wedding business. Don't you think it's too fast?"

The man tilts his head to the side and Dean starts seeing the family resemblance. "I think that they complement each other very well. I would have expected Sam's best man to see that, too."

Dean can't really argue with that. "I don't know her well enough to judge. I just know that my brother is a different person now."

"And you don't like that?" the woman asks. Hell, Dean doesn't even know their names and spills all the beans, probably making an ass of himself.

"He's my brother. I know him better than anyone and this—" He gestures in the engaged couple's direction. "This isn't the man I raised."

Two pairs of eyes move to the tall men and back to Dean.

"You mean a happy man?" the woman asks.

"No. I mean…" Dean should have kept his mouth shut. They don't know Sam, his dark thoughts, the forced smiles, the brave face. Dean knows it all or at least well enough to know that the chuckling man on the other side of the room is a stranger to him. Okay, maybe Dean is a bit overdramatic. He knows Sam laughing, pulling pranks. But life had been shitty to both of them and the only people they could always rely on were the two of them.

Yes, their circles have widened over time, with Jody and the girls, Charlie and Dorothy. Still, happiness isn't really part of their lives. They might get glimpses of it, but…

"You mean what? That our sister isn't good enough for your big shot lawyer brother?" the man asks.

Dean freezes. He sometimes forgets that Sam isn't little Sammy anymore. That he's one step away from leaving his old life behind, and with it his big brother, probably.

Dean scans the people in the room, mainly the bride's family and he swallows hard. Yes, he's the odd one out. He only owns a single suit, so he couldn't wear it tonight. Is it that? Is he jealous? Or anxious to lose Sam?

He looks back at the bride and groom. Sam presses a kiss into Rowena's hair. From afar, they are a cute couple with the difference in height and the unconventional age gap.

Dean bites the inside of his cheek and tries to unclench his fists. It isn't working.

"She's way out of his league," he hears himself say, not knowing where this is even coming from.

"That's what you said, Anna, the first time you met Sam," the man chuckles.

Anna? Oh, that's the future sister-in-law Sam raved about and Dean thinks he wants to set him up with. Well, that probably flew out of the window a minute ago.

"I didn't, Castiel. I said I was surprised that she went for someone younger. That's all."

Dean's eyes shoot up. That's the man? The man, who he built up as the bogeyman who would get familiar with his fist? A fucking baby in a trenchcoat?

The whole house of cards that Dean has built up over weeks is threatening to collapse. Dean's throat tightens and he pops a button on his polo shirt, but to no avail. He meets Castiel's eyes for a moment, the other man squinting at him as if he could look deep into his soul.

"Are you okay, Dean?" he asks and sounds concerned.

"Yeah. Just need some air," Dean all but spits and heads for the door.

He props himself up on the roof terrace's balustrade and tries to sort through all his contradicting feelings. He hates it. It's all him. His fear to be left behind, for the only constant in his life to leave, like everybody else who has ever meant something to him. He's jealous and the realisation hits him hard.

Yes, he doesn't know Rowena, but Sam does. Well enough to want to marry her. Sam, who thought he was too toxic for a real relationship. Dean always told him that this was bullshit. And now that his little brother is finally listening, Dean acts like a jaundiced ex? Fuck!

"There you are," a too-familiar voice comes from behind. "I thought you left me hanging, man."

Dean chuckles. "I have to lead the bride to the altar, right?" He ruffles Sam's hair. His brother glares at him, but without heat.

"Wanna come in? I'd like to introduce you to Rowena's best man."

"Who's that?"

"Castiel."

Dean's eyes sink to the floor. Of course, he is. "Already met him."

Sam raises an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you already snubbed him."

"Nah. I wouldn't embarrass you in front of your new family." It's enough that Dean embarrassed himself.

"Most of them are kind people," Sam says carefully. "And after tomorrow, Rowena is your family, too."

Dean works his jaw. It's a bit difficult to look at Sam, now that he realised that he's never given his fiancée a real chance.

"You'll be here in California, and I'll be back in Kansas. We'll be lucky if we see each other on Christmas."

Sam squeezes his shoulder. "You could move here, Dean."

The older brother shakes his head. "I don't belong here, Sammy." Another squeeze. "And I can't afford to take off so much to drive over." And soon you'll be too busy to fly back to where everything feels small and like past, he adds in his head. He puts on a smile nonetheless.

"Samuel?" Rowena calls from the entrance. "Dinner starts in five."

Sam smiles over to his future bride. "I just need a minute, mo ghràdh."

"Mo what?"

"It's Scottish Gaelic for 'my love'."

Dean raises an eyebrow and chuckles. "You really got it bad, huh?"

"I wouldn't marry her if I didn't."

Dean pats his back. "I'm happy for you man." He's surprised that he means it.

***

Dinner goes fine and Dean has a nice conversation with Anna, who is seated next to him. Luckily, she's not of the resentful kind. Still, Dean is feeling out of place. Their found family is so much smaller than Rowena's real one with all the siblings and cousins from both sides of the pond. And this is only the rehearsal.

As soon as dinner is done, Dean excuses himself and flees to the hotel. A real one that Sam was kind enough to pay. It makes Dean feel only smaller and not good enough.

He takes a shower and walks out on the balcony, just a towel slung around his waist. He can hear the waves hitting the beach nearby and seabirds screeching. He gets why Sam moved here, why he won't come back. It still stings.

Dean did everything in his power to get him so far and he can't bring himself to regret it. But he's still angry. Maybe he is anger, plain and simple. He's been angry since his mother died and his father gave a shit about giving his sons a home. This anger will probably never go away. It's good that Sam found happiness, Dean muses. At least one of them should.

There's movement on the balcony next door and despite the separation wall, Dean can see the trenchcoat clad arms propped up on the railing. What are the odds?

"Castiel?"

There is a long pause and then comes, "Dean?" This gravelly voice doesn't fail to move him. If Dean didn't decide to scratch the term 'witch' for his future sister-in-law, he would wonder if her stepbrother might be a witcher, too.

"Yeah. Not into parties?"

There is another pause, probably filled with a head shake Dean can't see. "I don't like crowds of people. And my family is, well, my family. I love them, but it's complicated."

"I get it," Dean says, although he probably doesn't.

"You seem to have cooled down a little," Castiel states matter-of-factly.

"Was it so obvious?"

Castiel laughs and the sound vibrates into Dean's heart, churning it in delicious ways. "You looked as if you were out to kill someone."

Dean chuckles. "I kinda was."

"Why? And who?"

Dean swallows hard. What he would give for a beer right now, but he had way too much of that red wine already. Maybe that's why he answers, "You." There is a long moment of surprise that Castiel doesn't seem inclined to break, so Dean adds, "I built up this story in my head that Rowena bewitched Sam and you were at fault because you brought them together."

"And now?"

Dean shrugs his shoulders. "I only want Sammy to be happy."

Castiel hums on the other side of the separation. "Why are you sounding so sad then?"

A flare of anger rises in Dean's chest. The man doesn't know him. What gives him the right to state something like this?

"Blow me, Cass!" he grinds out. That guy is getting under his skin. Why, he doesn't know. Maybe because he's right.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

The retort comes quick like a shot and Dean is struck speechless for a way too long moment. Castiel starts chuckling.

"You're an asshole!" Dean grumbles.

"An asshole who gives good head, though," Castiel says smugly.

Dean groans. No, he won't think of these sinful lips wrapped around his cock. No way, José.

"Is that an offer?" his mouth asks without his consent.

"I'm not a one-off kind of guy, Dean."

Dean wishes he wouldn't have to lie if he said he wasn't either. Is there an expiration date for that stamp if you haven't got laid for more than a year? Probably not.

The silence stretches into an eternity until Castiel quietly says, "Good night," leaving Dean alone in the pale moonlight.

***

Rowena looks beautiful and Sam smart. Dean manages to get through the whole wedding ceremony and his best man speech without a single glimmer of jealousy. Bobby looks at him approvingly and Ellen whispers into his ear that his mum would have been so proud of him.

Still, Dean finds himself on the balcony once again. His thoughts need space to swirl around him. There's a lot to process on this fine day—his brotherly/parent-like love, his own loneliness in a room full of people, the strange stares that Castiel and he have been sharing the whole day…

He presses the palms of his hands against his eyes, hoping to force back the sting of tears building up in them. A warm hand lands on his shoulder, startling him. "You've done well."

Dean chuckles without mirth. "Can't remember when anyone said something like this about me." He bites his lip, hard. Why did he say that? To a complete stranger nonetheless. Castiel doesn't comment on it, though, and Dean sighs in relief.

The music coming from the party changes to something slow and Castiel asks, "May I have the next dance?"

Dean turns his head and stares at the outstretched hand for a very long moment. He has never danced with a man before. Not without a beer bottle in his hand and for sure not a slow dance. But he feels a pull to this man, who he hated with all his guts just a day ago. A man with kind eyes, a shy smile, and a patience Dean isn't used to.

He takes the offered hand and Castiel's smile grows wider, just like Dean's heart. Castiel pulls him slowly into his arms, lets him settle against him, and rewards Dean's head leant against his own with a gentle brush over his back.

Dean shivers at the tender touch and bites the inside of his cheek in a last attempt to keep back the tears welling up in his eyes.

"It's okay," Castiel says. "Let go. No one will see it."

And Dean does. In the arms of a stranger under the Californian moon. He doesn't shake off the tender hand carding through his hair, or the strong arms holding him upwards. He lets out the sobs he's been holding and allows Castiel to brush away his tears before their lips meet in a gentle kiss. He smiles at Castiel bashfully afterwards.

"It's okay," Castiel repeats.

Dean chuckles. "Is it? Crying like a baby in a stranger's arms?"

"Crying like the big brother, who raised a wonderful man and has to let him go to live his own life. Crying like a lonely man, who hasn't been touched intimately for ages."

Dean furrows his brow. "How?"

Castiel smiles at him with so much warmth that Dean feels like welling up again.

"Sam loves you. He talks about you all the time. It felt like I knew you before we even met. And the rest? Let's say, kindred souls recognise each other."

Dean huffs a laugh. "You're good, man."

Castiel smirks at him. "And you're a good man, Dean Winchester," he says and leans in for another kiss.

Maybe, Dean muses, Castiel is magical after all.

[gregorovitch-adler]

Third Person

Part-2

John and Sherlock arrived at the hospital. They rushed inside and towards the ER. John couldn't comprehend what suddenly changed. Sherlock was moving fast because of his long legs so John wasn't able to keep up with his pace. He had to practically run to be able to talk to him. "What happened Sherlock? What's the matter?", he asked. "The lady is recovering from shock. It looks like she'll live. She's nauseating still. That's why they need to keep her in the ER instead of shifting her somewhere else. We'll have to take a closer look.", he said. "What about other things? Her bleeding for example. Is she still bleeding?", he asked. "No she's not. They've managed to get it under control. She should be able to make it. As John was sprinting, he didn't notice an empty stretcher in the way and so he stumbled upon it. He was going to fall down when Sherlock got hold of him by his arms and pinned him against the nearby wall for a moment and said, "Oi, are you alright? What happened to you? You okay?", John saw the warmth in his eyes which was in strong contrast to his cold exterior. He felt a bit stupid for being so clumsy and getting pinned against the wall like that. However John looked deep into his eyes and glanced at his lips for a second. He could kiss him at that moment. He was overwhelmed by the concern, he just couldn't help it. He shook his head and regained his posture and said, "Oh no, I'm fine.", "Are you sure?, asked Sherlock. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'm fine." Sherlock let go of him and both of them went towards the casualty.

Inside the ER, they rushed to look for their victim. Gregson and Anderson had to go back to Scotland Yard because Lestrade had called them for further investigation. John looked at the patient now. She was in her late 20s, dark haired and had a pale skin. She was shifting uncomfortably in her bed and trying to sleep. She was injected with fluids through IV and was provided required medication and care. Her arm was plastered with a cast and it was elevated. A nurse came by to check on her and increase the flow of the IV fluid. "What's going on with her?", he asked. "We found her driving licence. Her name is Dorothy Smith. She's 27 and from Yorkshire actually. All we can say right now is that she's recovering from shock but she's still vomiting every now and then. The doctors are coming here to keep an eye on her. They'll come here again in 10 minutes. You can ask the doctor for further details.", she said and she left. John was pacing up and down. He was getting impatient because this case was growing on him. The curiosity was killing him at that time.

As for Sherlock, he moved closer towards her. Pale skin with tanned palms. Skin around palms- coarse. Contrast from the rest of her skin. Fabric of the brown trousers- worn out and dirty around the bottom portion. At this time, the girl shifted again as she wanted to sit up for a while. Able to sit up on her own. Movement and control over hands- steady. Finger movements- quite stable. Body type- athletic and lean. From the state of her condition during the scene of accident he remembered that it looked like she had tried a lot to save herself with her driving skills. He then pictured the damaged car. Again, damaged from the right side only. Rest of the car- well maintained. Lotus-7. Could be a professional driver. He now needed to take a close look at the other car as well. The one which started this mess. He would contact Scotland Yard if they've traced the required car from the streets. If not, then he'd have to take over the whole case himself, which was not something new at all. He shouldn't restrict the possibilities to London though, he might as well have to look for Yorkshire for clues. He had to go out to text Lestrade and go deeper inside his mind palace.

John saw Sherlock leaving the ER and shook his head in exasperation and tagged along. "No, John! You wait here. I'll be back in a while.", he stopped there because even he wanted to talk to a doctor. It had been 10 minutes since he was waiting.

The doctor arrived. She was doing routine check up and then she contacted someone to order a test. She was wearing the uniform of the Emergency Department - dark blue scrubs and canvas shoes. She could be in her 30s. John noticed her because she looked different. She was not English. She looked like someone from a South-East Asian country. Maybe she was an Indian. Tying her jet-black hair up, she approached John because he was standing next to the bed.

"Are you her relative? I'm trying to contact people she might know through her phone since an hour now but I'm not able to get in touch with anybody.", she said. Her accent was Indian but John had served in the army and he had been in contact with some Indian people as well in his time so he didn't have much problem in catching up with her. "No, I'm not her relative. I was the one who called an ambulance for her. I'm a doctor too. The accident had taken place near Scotland Yard. We just happened to be there at the same time because we had gone there to talk to a Detective Inspector in person for a previous case.", he replied. "We?", she asked. "Oh, I'm here with my friend Sherlock Holmes.", he said. "Sherlock Holmes, sounds familiar. Do you happen to live at Baker's Street at any chance?", she asked. John was surprised. She didn't recognize Sherlock, the name only sounded familiar to her. " Yes. We live at 221 B, Baker's Street. I'm John Watson, his best friend." "Oh, 221 B Baker's Street! Mrs. Hudson's place. She did tell me something about her tenants. I remember Sherlock Holmes because that's an odd name. Sorry, I had forgotten yours. I'm Dr. Deepali Das by the way." They shook hands. "Give my greetings to Mrs Hudson. She's very kind.", her pace of talking was fast- not as fast as Sherlock's but quite fast still. "Sherlock Holmes is sort of famous because of the press. He's the only consultant detective in the world, he invented the job. Are you new here, in London?", he finally asked her. "Not just in London, I'm new in England. It's my first time in Europe, actually. I had come here for a medical conference a month ago but then I decided to apply at this hospital and live in London for a while. I wanted international exposure and improve my medicinal practice.", she said. "Oh, so you're Dr. Das! Sorry I had forgotten your name too. Mrs Hudson said that she would leave my daughter at your place for a while.", said John. "So Rosie is your daughter. Nice kid! We had fun. Don't worry, I gave Mrs Hudson a call and left Rosie at her place since she was back at her flat and I had got a page from the hospital because of this case at hand. Dorothy Smith.", she replied.

"Yeah, what about Dorothy Smith then. What's going on with her?", asked John. "She's recovering from the shock and while her other symptoms are getting repressed and less prominent her frequent nausea and vomiting is not stopping at all. She's sleeping now but when she was awake I had asked her about her past ailments but she said that she didn't have any. She wasn't particularly sick because of something chronic. I've ordered an MRI scan for her to get some more help on this one. I'll need to get some information about her immunization as well. That's why I was asking the two people who had accompanied her to contact someone. If you're not her family, why did that guy named Anderson call you?",she asked. "Oh yes, and he did mention Sherlock Holmes. You were saying that he's a consultant detective. What's that, now?" "He's the only Consultant Detective in the world. He invented the job for himself. He's neither a private detective nor an inspector. In fact he's so intelligent and fascinating that other inspectors approach him and ask for his advice. His deducing skills are mind- blowing. Just amazing. He even has a website named Science of Deduction. He can deduce anyone within seconds. He can deduce you by just looking closely at you. He's just..he's brilliant.", John realised he'd spoken too much and even the doctor was raising her eyebrows at him. He could feel his face heated again. He quickly looked away from and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. After a long pause, she said, "So, Dorothy Smith then. I should go and take a look at her file from the computer." John was relieved. He nodded and said, "I should go and look for Sherlock now.", "Is he your boyfriend?", she asked and by that time he had turned away from her already so he closed his eyes and sighed. He was exasperated. He turned back to face her again. "No, I'm not. What makes you think that? Why would you assume that about me at all? Jesus!", "Oh, I'm so sorry. It's just that you have a daughter and instead of living with a wife or something you live with him. Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed anything.", she said and looked embarrassed. Moreover, you blushed when I asked you about him. You're still blushing.", she said. She wasn't wrong though. He was feeling like he wanted to bury his face somewhere. "Um, no I'm sorry. I overreacted. It's just that Sherlock is not my boyfriend. I live with him because my wife died a year ago.", " Sorry again, Dr. Watson!", she said. "No, it's fine. It's all fine.", she nodded this time and turned away from him as she was going out of the ER. "One more thing, Dr. Das.", she turned around and looked at him again. "I am not gay.", he said in an irritable way. She looked confused. "And I don't remember asking about your sexuality, Dr. Watson!", she made this sarcastic remark as she headed out of the door.

John took a deep breath and started looking around for Sherlock. He felt a little ashamed of himself for not having come out as a bisexual yet to anyone in this world but himself. Not even to Harry. He made up his mind and thought to himself that he'll call her and tell her that he's a bisexual. Then he'll gather more courage and tell the same thing to Sherlock as well. At least then he'll be a step closer to the promise that he had made to himself. He would tell him that he's in love with Sherlock, eventually. As for now, he had to focus on the case that they were dealing with and so he went out of the hospital's building looking for Sherlock.

[einsteinsugly]

Ficlet/Script: The Right Stuff, a prelude to Home, Sweet Home

Sunday, October 30, 1994 Chicago, Illinois Jackie and Hyde's house. A nice little Halloween gathering/party. Jackie is dressed as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, Hyde is dressed as the tin man (merely in all grey), whereas Eric and Donna are wearing regular clothes.

Kelso (bursting through the front door, dressed as an astronaut, without even a knock): I can't believe I have to do night patrol tomorrow! On Halloween!

Brooke, dressed as a 1910s suffragette, Betsy, with no costume, and Hannah, dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast reluctantly appear in the doorway. Clearly embarrassed with Kelso's obnoxious antics.

Jackie (with an annoyed sigh): Michael, you have night patrol every Halloween...

Donna: Can't you call off sick or something?

Kelso: I can't do that two years in a row! I'm almost the stooge...

Hyde: If it wasn't for Darryl and Dennis. That's a low bar.

Jackie: Didn't Dennis get arrested?

Kelso: Yeah. He got a DWI, which is way worse than a DUI. But I almost got arrested, remember? Trying to get to that New Kids on the Block concert, in a police car.

Betsy (blushing, and incredibly embarrassed): Dad...

Kelso: And when I rented a petting zoo for Hannah's birthday. And...

Brooke: Michael.

Donna: We've heard all the stories before, Kelso.

Kelso: But I wanna make new ones!

Donna: Then you'll become the stooge.

Kelso: You're the stooge. You're super lame.

Donna: I'm in protest. Eric is either Luke Skywalker or Marty McFly. Every. Freaking. Year.

Eric: I'm in protest of her protest. And I have no new ideas, unless you want me to break out the old Spiderman costume...

All (sans Betsy and Hannah, in unison): No.

Eric: It has a lot of memories.

Brooke: Not good memories, bad memories. Flashback, 1981, Point Place, Wisconsin... Eric (in a soiled Spiderman costume, covered in vomit, increasingly nervous): I can't take this off. I'm naked under here. Naked!

Hyde: Nobody wants to see that. Mr. Nude. Back to the present... Eric: I still think it was food poisoning. Courtesy of today's host, Jackie...

Jackie: No, you brought the stomach bug from Madison.

Eric: No, you brought me food poisoning! Those hockey puck cookies!

Hyde: Forman, she's gotten pretty good at makin' cookies.

Eric: Ah, she's nothing compared to my mom.

For several seconds, Jackie is slapped with silence.

Jackie: Steven? Aren't you going to defend me?

Until Betsy pipes up in her defense.

Betsy: I think you're the best.

Hannah (eagerly raising her hand): Me too.

Jackie: See? They're sweethearts. Sweeter than their Uncle Hyde, but way sweeter than their father, who can be kind of an...

Eric: A-s-s?

Betsy and Hannah (in unison): We can spell.

Betsy: We're not dumb like our dad.

Laughter fills the room.

Kelso (obviously offended): Uh! I hate it when they burn me!

Betsy: But it's pretty easy. You leave the door wide open.

Jackie: Yeah, Michael. You play with fire; it's easy to burn you.

Kelso: Yeah?

Jackie: Yeah.

Kelso (huffing and puffing): Okay, fine. I'll tell the world all about our...

Hyde (in a warning tone): Don't even think about it.

Kelso: To all the kids, right here. Me and Aunt Jackie used to date, before she started dating Uncle Hyde.

Betsy and Hannah are visibly disgusted, especially Betsy.

Betsy: Eww. Why, Aunt Jackie?

Jackie: Before I started dating your Uncle Hyde, to me, love was only skin deep. And your father's like a beautiful marble statue, but he's a stupid marble statue. Who breaks easily. But Uncle Hyde, he's made of diamonds. Beautiful, tough, and you have to dig deep when you're with him. Beyond the stupid stuff.

Hyde, Eric, and Donna chuckle at the burn. Brooke is nervous. Betsy and Hannah are still bewildered.

Betsy: I still don't understand why you dated my dad. You're fine as friends, but if...when you dated, you'd just stoke each other's egos. Because you both have pretty big egos.

Hyde: Yup. It was a match made in he...

Jackie: Steven.

Hyde: But I'm not wrong.

Jackie: You're right.

Betsy (awkwardly interrupting): You can swear in front of me. It was a match made in hell, right?

Jackie and Hyde (in unison, with utmost confidence): Right.

[let-it-raines]

fic prompt for captain swan! "my flight was delayed so i'm sitting it the airport scrolling through tinder and the man behind me goes "ouch hard no for that one?" and i turn around only to see the man i swiped no on right behind me!" thanks :)))

She hates airports.

They’re basically like forcing everyone into a large (and yet somehow very small) room where germs are passed around, people are pissed, people are tired, and only a small amount are there to actually go on vacation where life is fun. Most everyone is there for work or to visit family, and really, what’s so fun about that?

Okay, so maybe she’s on her way to visit her parents in Chicago, and she’s not exactly happy to have woken up at four in the morning for her seven o’clock flight when it ended up getting cancelled because the weather in Boston and Chicago both seriously suck in February. Seriously. Snow is pretty and all, but she’s tired and wants to be sitting in her parents’ living room eating the breakfast casserole she knows that her mom is making for her right now.

And she’s stuck at Logan standing in the longest line in the world for overpriced coffee.

She doesn’t even really want coffee. She wants hot chocolate, but she really needs the caffeine.

She needs a lot of caffeine.

Sighing, she pulls her phone out of her pocket, figuring that she can at least use the free Wifi and pass the time by scrolling through the internet. And she does, making her way through all of Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Hell, she even goes through Facebook. She doesn’t even know when she last used Facebook.

It had to have been at least a year ago when Ruby and Dorothy got married, and she wanted to see all of the pictures Ruby had tagged her in. But that had definitely been the last time. She should probably just delete the account.

The line moves at a slow pace, and she’s convinced she’s never going to get her coffee, so as a last resort, she opens up Tinder, which is also something she hasn’t used in awhile, probably not since she was trying to find a date to Elsa’s wedding in June.

Why in the world are all of her friends getting married? What is she doing with her life? Woah, Emma, don’t go down that road. She’s fine. Everything is fine, and her mom totally isn’t going to hound her about why she’s not dating anyone while she’s eating the cold breakfast casserole that she’s missing right now.

Her mom is definitely going to hound her on it, especially because her cousin who is younger than her just announced that she was pregnant when they were all eating Christmas dinner. She could practically feel her mom screaming “baby, baby, baby oh” all Justin Bieber style.

Her mom is not as good of a singer as Justin Bieber…not that she would ever admit that…out loud. She’s twenty-seven years old, single, childless, and she can jam out to Justin Bieber and the Jonas Brothers if she wants to while she’s driving down the road late at night following a guy for one of her cases.

She’s a consummate professional. Always.

It takes forever to go through the profiles, a bunch of sleazy guys who pose shirtless in their pictures and write some of the dumbest captions in the world, and while she may not have always had the best taste in guys, she’s not about to go on a date with Matt from Boston who is looking for a “hot girl with an ass that won’t quit.” Her ass won’t quit, but her ass has standards. And it goes on and on like that, every single guy she sees just kind of looking like a douche, so she’s constantly swiping left simply because she can.

“Ouch,” someone groans behind her, right in her ear really, “so it’s a hard no on him, huh?”

She turns around, about ready to chew this dude out for looking over her shoulder, and it’s exactly when she sees familiar blue eyes and dark hair of the guy she just swiped left on.

Well, shit.

She’ll just walk to Chicago. Screw the snow. She’ll walk and then move there so she never has to run into this guy again.

Seriously, what are the odds? She needs someone super smart and good with statistics to figure out what exactly the odds are of having the guy you just rejected on Tinder standing right behind you in line at a Starbucks in Logan International. She’s also kind of regretting swiping left because, well, he’s hot, especially in person. His profile wasn’t bad, it was actually pretty good from the glimpse she got of it, but she was kind of on a roll of rejecting guys. It felt…powerful almost, and the more she thinks about that, the more she realizes that she really is tired if she thinks silently rejecting on guys is making her feel powerful.

But Matt from Boston totally deserved it.

“Seriously,” she whines when she looks up at him and the way his lips are stretched into an actual smirk. A smirk. In real life. And not on a Disney character. It’s insane. He’s smirking at her, his thick brows moving across his forehead, and she’s still considering just not going to visit her parents for their thirtieth anniversary party. “So I’m guessing you saw that.”

“I did just see you reject me without really even reading my profile,” he laughs, his British accent coming out stronger than it did when he first spoke. She didn’t even realize he had an accent at first. “I mean, come on, love. My profile is pretty good.”

“Obviously not if I just swiped it away like nothing.”

“Ah,” he sighs, crossing his arms over his chest and adjusting the backpack on his shoulders while his lips press together into a straight line, “well, maybe. Or maybe you were simply rejecting every man in Boston all while waiting in this ridiculous line. You were going pretty fast.”

“And you were invading my privacy.”

He shrugs, almost like he doesn’t have a care in the world while she feels irritation prick up over her skin. “I don’t mean to point out the obvious – ”

“Which is exactly what you’re about to do.”

“Aye,” he laughs, his eyes crinkling at the sides, and oh no, she will not find that attractive, “I am. I really didn’t mean to pry, but I’m a wee bit taller than you, and the way you’ve been holding your phone is directly in my eyeline while I watch the television playing. And imagine my surprise when a beautiful woman rejected me without even giving me a chance. I wasn’t planning on getting rejected this morning.”

“I’m guessing you don’t get rejected a lot.”

“It has something to do with my devilishly handsome good looks.”

“Oh my God,” she groans, rolling her eyes while he moves his eyebrows again. Why does he keep moving his eyebrows? “That is so conceited.”

“Or confident.”

“Conceited.”

He shrugs. “Whatever you say. So why the rejection of men on this fine Thursday morning?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I would. That’s why I’m asking.”

“Flight’s delayed, I’m bored, and I really want coffee.”

“The same could be said for me, but I do feel like I would give your profile a chance.”

“Guess you’ll never know now.”

“Perhaps.” He smiles down at her before he uncrosses his arms and sticks his hand out. Oh wow. He’s really about to introduce himself to her. Maybe the guy really does have confidence. “Killian Jones.”“Emma Swan,” she says warily, taking his hand in hers and shaking it up and down three times. She definitely doesn’t notice how warm his hand is. Nope. “It’s nice to reject you.”

“It’s nice to be rejected.”

She and Killian talk as they move through the rest of the line. It’s awkward and stilted sometimes, but he’s a pretty persistent guy. And obviously he does not feel embarrassment because he powers through it all and chats away about his job at an engineering firm and then asks her far more questions than necessary about what it’s like to be a private investigator. He seems genuinely interested, and that may be the first time that has happened…ever. But he’s a nice guy, funny at least from what she can tell, and when she finally gets to the front of the line, she pays for his coffee.

She’s not really sure why she does it. Maybe it’s some kind of apology for rejecting him, even if she doesn’t need to apologize for that, and maybe she just figures there’s no harm in being nice. Plus, he drinks black coffee, so it’s not like it was expensive.

She was really scared he was going to order something complicated for a minute there. He seems like the type of guy who would do that.

He also seems like the kind of guy who would part ways after he got his coffee and leave her be, but he asks her if she wants to find somewhere to sit. She does, so she follows him until they manage to find a spot on the floor next to the windows, settling down on the ground and completely ignoring how disgusting this has to be.

It just has to be.

She’s sure of it.

Killian’s apparently flying to New York for a conference, something he’s not at all looking forward to, and his flight has been delayed until at least one. So really, he’s going to miss the entire first day of it, and a part of her feels like maybe the man is happy to be stranded in an airport.

She’s kind of happy to be stranded in an airport.

Yeah, this has got to be like that movie where the girl gets trapped in a romantic comedy? She doesn’t meet men in airports who are charming and funny, especially men who also use Tinder. She really can’t say anything. She uses it too. Maybe he was simply looking for a wedding date. Maybe he was looking for a hook up. She can’t blame him there either. Sometimes you just need to scratch the itch.

She does have a bit of a hard time believing that he has trouble finding someone to scratch the itch with, but hey, maybe he doesn’t always have a great first line like calling her out for rejecting him.

She wonders if people still even use pick up lines. She also wonders if they’ve ever worked. If someone walked up to her and said “Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again?” she’d definitely have to hold herself back from slapping someone or tossing a drink.

She swears she’s not a violent person.

Maybe just a little.

“So tell me, Swan,” Killian begins, fiddling his fingers over his thighs and the suit pants that are stretched with the muscles, “you’re from Boston, correct?”

“That would be correct.”

He smiles, all of his white teeth on display, and she wonders what dentist he goes to. “And I assume that you’re single from your use of dating apps.”

“You’re a very smart man, Jones.”

“Oh, well that’s never been a doubt.”

“Stop,” she groans, reaching over and knocking her shoulder into his while she laughs.

“Never,” he promises, twisting a ring around on his thumb. It’s weirdly hot, especially since she knows it’s not a wedding ring. This conversation would have stopped before it started two hours ago because they have definitely been flirting, and she’s not going to flirt with a married man. It’s been awhile since she’s flirted with someone outside of work, but she knows how these things go. “So you’re from Boston and you’re single. It’s a funny coincidence because those two things happen to be true about me as well.”

“I’m glad we finally found something we have in common.”

“Aye, me too, even though we both have fantastic taste in comedic television.”

“That’s true,” she laughs, her lips stretching into a smile while her entire body buzzes with energy. She knows where this is going, and she likes it, which only surprises her a little.

“So I was thinking, maybe when we get back from our trips, you might like to go out to dinner with me.”

She hums, tilting her head back against the glass while Killian scratches behind his ear. “I think that might be a good idea. But I should warn you that you’ve already been rejected once, so I would suggest that you be on your best behavior. Or your worst. It kind of depends on how you want the night to go.”

“I’ll have to think on it. I do so fancy you when you’re irritated with me for peeping over your shoulder.”

“You’re a weird guy.”

“Who you’re going on a date with.”

“That I am.”

And it’s one date, then two, then three. And it goes on and on and on as she and Killian travel across all of Boston going to restaurants, museums, and baseball games. Eventually the fun dates slow down. They don’t stop, but they’re replaced by takeout at home, by a run down at the river on Saturday mornings, or by a cup of coffee in the morning before work when she’s staying at his apartment working on a case while he’s rushing off to do whatever it is he does as a civil engineer. She’s not entirely sure, simply because she doesn’t understand the mathematics of it, but she doesn’t really care as long as he’s happy doing it.

She loves him. She loves him a lot, actually, and it constantly surprises her how happy she is getting to have someone by her side who laughs with her and yells with her and who will let her eat all of the junk food in his apartment without complaining.

Okay, so he complains a little bit, but it’s really only when she eats his Doritos. It’s his favorite American snack, and he’s very protective over the cool ranch flavor. Anything else she can have.

She thinks it’s kind of weird, but then one day he’s at work while she’s at home doing research, and she really wants the chips. It takes some maneuvering, some climbing on cabinets because he put them on the shelf she can’t reach, and then she’s grabbing the unopened bag while making sure she doesn’t fall backwards and bust her ass. She doesn’t when she gets the chips, but she almost does when she spies a small green velvet box tucked into the corner. She knows what it is, wants to open it so damn bad that she almost does, but she restrains herself. She knows Killian, knows that he probably put a lot of effort into the ring and into his plan for proposing (holy shit, he’s going to propose), so she puts the Doritos back and pretends that she never saw it.

The weeks pass, and for awhile, she forgets about the ring even though something in the back of her mind is nagging at her, a little doubt trying to freak her out about why he hasn’t asked yet. But she does forget, doesn’t focus on it constantly, and they go about their lives.

It’s only when they’re at Logan again, two tickets in her wallet for them to fly to Chicago to visit her parents so Killian can meet them, that she realizes what he’s going to do. He somehow manages to get them in nearly the exact same spot on the floor as that first day, their thighs pressed together this time with no distance between them, and he hands her a diamond ring and whispers in her ear.

“I know that you swiped left on me the last time we were here, but I’d really like it if you put this ring on your left ring finger. Forever, preferably.”

Needless to say, she deletes the app.

[csolarstormhealthjournal]

It was at least satisfying that I got to roast Dorothy hard. She visited me in my room to warn me about what would happen if I gave up my IHSS...which not only did I not say I was going to do...but it's not even the program we were talking about today! So this is a paraphrasing of what was said.

"So in our conversation, did you hear me say I was going to give up IHSS? Did you hear us talk about IHSS?

"No, but either way, I just wanted to let you know."

"I think whenever I want to make a TINY change to my benefits like taking my mom's name off my SSI, you guys freak as if I'm throwing you onto the streets. 'Oh no, we can't let Casey be in charge of his SSI, he's a screw up!'"

"Well to be fair there's a reason for it - "

"What reason?"

"Well history shows you are kind of a giver-upper since you dropped out of college."

"Oh, so the TEN YEARS I kept going back over and over until I finished my Bachelor's Degree aren't a thing because I dropped out of my Master's in the middle of a pandemic because I couldn't find a way to pay for it - "

"No no, it was at the beginning. Well technically you dropped out before the pandemic."

"No I didn't. I went back for another semester, and then I dropped out during the pandemic after four damn years of broken legs, exhaustion, and emergency room visits." (And not to mention, we're in the middle of talking about a way to pay for the last year of college, but they're still fine with calling me a dropout and holding it against me!)

"So yeah I know you think I'm a screw up, you've been tearing me down over and over lately all the time. You think I don't know it's bad to just suddenly get off IHSS? I'm thinking of SSI and IHSS all the time! That's exactly why I told you guys I want to GRADUALLY change things! That's the whole point of what I'm saying! I'm not someone who just plays video games all the time! The fact that you think I don't understand my own IHSS and SSI when I've studied it and I've dealt with it for years (and won multiple cases over them, and went to protests and spoke for them) shows me how little you think of me! So thanks."

"Okay, I just wanted to tell you that. Give you a little bit of another perspective."

"Okay, cool, thanks."

--

It's heartbreaking. Lately Dorothy gives me little tests of discipline at dumb times, as if she's trying to repair the "giver-upper" in me. This is what I get for leaving college so my family doesn't have to pay 1600 dollars twice a year when they can barely make ends meet! I did it thinking of their money and they throw it in my face because they're worried about their money MORE! They both try to hide their disdain for me, for not completing a Master's Program, something neither of them have done or want to do. Dorothy got a BA at an online school and decided she was done, and gave up finding any jobs. I begin the conversation talking about jobs and I get this. I'm so disappointed they feel this way, and would throw it in my face like this.