#and these couple of chapters are only one tiny portion of a much bigger feelings scene for Charles/important turning point for both of them

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

Small Charles/Edwin excerpt!

As an apology for making Edwin and Charles a slow-burn in my poly fic series, I thought I would give you a spoiler-free excerpt from very far into the future of this series (like at least ten/twelve updates from now) of one of my favorite Charles/Edwin moments because god do I love the way that it captures Charles' voice/love for Edwin:

Edwin is looking at Charles with those warm, grey eyes that have always been so ready to fight, so ready to stand up for what he believes is right, but have only ever been tender with Charles, long before Charles knew the reason behind it.

Other people don’t like the color grey. They think it’s boring, that it shouldn’t count as a color, that it is a hue that only exists to shade other colors.

Grey has been Charles’ favorite color for forty years.

[rigelmejo]

7/16/2021 - other stuff:

I started translating the simplified print version of Guardian that has additional scenes! I am not sharing it yet, but may in the future at some point. (Notes for future reference: taking a picture in good light with the page flat, depending on if needed upping contrast so its darker/lighter in photos, then opening in OCR in Pleco works pretty well at converting the text to digital so I can make notes and edit and look up words more easily. Also so far 1 page takes 1 hour to translate roughly so keep that in mind ToT).

I am yet again tempted to to a full on Listening Reading Method ‘test run.’ By that I mean: picking a novel, (step 1) reading in english, (step 2) reading in chinese with chinese audio (repeating as needed), (step 3) reading in english with chinese audio (repeating as needed), (step 4) listening to audio only. Yes I’m still debating if I’d do step 3, then step 2 - since I tend to flip which I do first depending on the day. Also debating if I ‘prep’ first by listening only (I could call it step 0). Also still debating if I’d do instead: step 0 listen only, step 1, step 2, step 3, ~step 2 again~, step 4 listen only. Basically I did tiny tests with The Little Prince, and I’ve done 20 chapters of Guardian so far (which did help) but Guardian is so long I end up varying how I do it each day into whatever way gets me TO do it and Guardian is so long it will be months until I know what ‘completing a book’ is like for the process. The original forum creator of L-R Method would do like 3-6 hour books or like 10 hour books. Guardian is... much longer. Also, if I pick a book both harder than The Little Prince (so there’s more vocab to learn) and easier than Guardian (so I can get to a natural listening stage faster) I wonder how much progress I’d make. Right now books I am considering for a ‘test method’ run are: Harry Potter 1 (simply because someone made parallel text with audiobook videos already so it is super convenient to do L-R Method, also the book has  2600 unique characters and 7700 unique words so I would likely reinforce my hanzi knowledge and learn maybe a couple hundred more, and likely increase my vocabulary by several hundred to a couple thousand depending on how much I focus, I’m fairly sure I can blow through it quickly the only limiting factor is like The Little Prince I am not sure if the reading level is low enough that I may not pick up significant amounts of new words compared to how many I pick up from Guardian - https://youtu.be/NLu0JW6VtGM). Sherlock Holmes - The Hound of Baskervilles (the book is 7.5 hours so not nearly as long as Guardian, I could probably L-R Method it in 2 weeks, the novel is written for adults and a mystery genre so genre-words I may find more useful to me while also probably having a bigger vocabulary than The Little Prince,  P74 巴斯克维尔的猎犬 01 audiobook - https://youtu.be/hDKfUjienKA, full playlist of the sherlock audiobooks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1QFMgv0n_Y&list=PLVyDH2ns1F757P-m8MHckuIFqWapl6y-1, and bilinguis.com has a parallel text which I am checking if it matches the audiobook - http://bilinguis.com/book/baskerville/zh/en/c1/). Bonus, just one day I’d love to test it with Alice in Wonderland in French since bilinguis.com has an audiobook and parallel text - http://bilinguis.com/book/alice/fr/en/c3/. Or Le Francais Par Le Methode Nature, since that also now has audio and text and one day I’d like to finish reading it - https://youtu.be/0uS5WSeH8iM.

Fun fact: I am listening to P74 巴斯克维尔的猎犬 01 (by  知识改变命运 ) in the background right now and the first thing I hear is “qinai watson” my dear watson ok. ok sherlock i see you. ToT. Aside from that I just keep hearing random words I know. If you plan to listen to a chinese sherlock audiobook though - I do recommend this playlist. I’ve found a few sherlock audiobooks and for some the audio is very rough like it was recorded from the radio, whereas this one is fairly clear and the reader speaks very clearly, and has a rhythm to sentences (which for me personally helps me listen easier and parse out words). So if you know some words they are much easier to hear, and if you are looking at the parallel text I linked on bilinguis it is quite easy to follow along. 

I really want to get into the habit of some extensive reading with audiobooks (as in reading while listening) just because it speeds up my reading, and I pick up some words in reading while practicing listening. Its also somewhat doable, whereas just listening I may often get lost unless I know the material well. Last night I read chapter 1 of MoDu while playing the audiobook and following along - obviously I did not read as in depth as if I’d have done L-R Method and looked up all unknown words with pop-up english. But combined listening comprehension and reading comprehension I understood ENOUGH to follow the plot and keep reading, at a faster pace than if I only was extensively reading and at a much better comprehension than if I only listen. (My listening comprehension is a bit better if I’ve read the text beforehand, but that’s sort of artificial since i prepped by reading the text beforehand). Yes, I learn new hanzi better with slower extended reading where I have time to really slow down and look at the new hanzi a lot. But I’d like to aim for quantity of materials read for a while? I’d if simply reading more will help, but a lot of the general advice seems to be the more extensive reading you do where you can follow the main points the more you will improve. And hey, maybe that applies to simply ‘listening a lot more’ too?

A lot of articles I’ve found recently emphasize repeated listening, and I want to try to include that more in how I study. While I might not do it as intensively as some articles suggest, I can definitely continue to do it in Clozemaster and continue playing audiobooks of chapters I’ve read already (so I can follow the audio ok) in my downtime. A LOT of my chinese study lately has not been active, its been mostly just ‘playing audio in the background.’ So since I’m not studying actively much, I might as well try to get in more listening.

I checked out the cdrama Forward Forever recently and opinions: if you understand basic chinese JUST watch it in chinese because wow are the english subs a hot mess ToT. I tried watching with subs and there were so many clear ‘wrong’ portions I just had to turn them off, they were made from google translate though so I’m not super surprised (but Xin Xiao Shi Yi Lang has much more decent auto-generated subs so ToT). I’m not sure if I’ll watch more or not, but I can definitely tell it was adapted from a BL source material with the way the main two guys are immediately set up as characters and then meet. I also want to check out Secret of the Three Kingdoms but I’ve seen like 3 minutes and I already am pretty aware I’ll probably like the show so much that I’ll want to put the english subs on for clarity. Secret of the Three Kingdoms feels Very well made.

If I was gonna try to summarize what my study plan has been this month:  - Listen-Reading Method Guardian (its going fine), with some experiments on the structure of the activity - translate some of Guardian (not really study as I’m pretty familiar w the chapters so just rereading things, mainly its translating practice) - Doing a few random things in japanese: read Guardian in japanese, play japanese video games a little bit, watch japanese-teaching video game example vids a bit (basically more tiny bits of japanese I’d add up to idk under 6 hours? just me glancing at things) - Reading this japanese grammar guide (I’m 1/3 through) - https://sakubi.neocities.org/ - Listen to various chinese audiobooks, with and without text. - Read various chinese chapters, with and without audio. - Listen/Read a bit of French, in Gigafrench (i truly mean a bit like a couple hours), Dracula (just listening) - some Clozemaster japanese, and a tiny bit of Clozemaster chinese (mainly to pick up stuff in japanese, and practice shadowing in both) So - some random chinese stuff reading/listening/L-R Method, some japanese exposure/grammar guide/clozemaster, a tiny bit of French (mainly listening practice). 

[simplyshelbs16xoxo]

‘A World of Fragile Things’ Chapter 4: All My Fears Turn to Rage

               Ron was worried; not forgetting to turn in a few assignments worried, but it’s-the-end-of-the-world kind of worried. They had been trekking through the forest towards Yamanouchi for what felt like forever. It would have felt like old times, but the fact that Drakken and Shego were present made the situation feel much more dire. His eyes flickered over towards Kim, her auburn hair tied up into a high ponytail. Her face outwardly showed determination and the fearlessness she always exuded, but Ron knew to look past the surface. After all, he had known her his whole life. Kim was exhausted, and rightly so. From the look in her eyes, if you searched deep enough, her fear was as plain as the nose on her face.

               Kim caught his eyes, giving him a soft smile. She reached out for his hand, interlocking their fingers together. She squeezed his hand three times; that was their silent way of saying ‘I love you.’ There appeared to be a break in the thick forest trees up ahead, and surely enough the bridge to Yamanouchi presented itself to them.

               “It’s about time,” Drakken remarked. “These bugs are getting on my last nerve.” Shego elbowed him not-so-lightly. “Well, they are,” he continued as they walked across the rickety bridge.

               “Sensei said he would be awaiting us in the courtyard,” Yori told them. “I can see him from here.” Surely enough, everyone else saw the small dot of a man in the distance. Yamanouchi had definitely suffered from the attack that happened just days before Hana was kidnapped. There were portions of the structure on the ground in several pieces.

               “I see we have two more guests than expected,” Sensei pointed out when the group arrived. “Drew Lipsky and Sheena Gordon.”

               Drakken’s jaw dropped, and Shego’s hands began to glow. “How do you know our names?” she demanded.

               “Sensei is clairvoyant,” Yori explained. “He knows and sees all except for how Fukushima’s plans will affect us.”

               Shego scoffed. “Well, that’s not very helpful is it, Mystic Man?”

               “Shego!” Kim hissed. “Now’s not the time for snark.”

               What Kim saw as disrespect, Drakken saw as a defense mechanism. He could differentiate between Shego’s attitudes. This particular bit of ‘snark,’ as Kim put it, was what Drakken had come to understand to be Shego’s alternative to showing fear. When in a stressful, life-threatening situation, she tended to give attitude, but it was downplayed more than her usual cockiness. It was very rare for her to be afraid, which surprisingly made Drakken feel braver; or perhaps he was feeling protective, which in turn, would boost his valor.

               “It is quite alright,” Sensei told them. “Stressful situations tend to bring out the worst in people.” He turned to Ron, studying him for a moment. “Stoppable-San, as you know, the Lotus Blade was taken by Fukushima, as well as your sister. She is needed for his plan, which tells us that he plans to unearth the Yono yet again.”

               The faces of Kim, Ron, and Yori were horror-stricken. The last time the Yono had been unearthed, everyone but Hana had been turned to stone. Though Hana defeated the one who unearthed the Yono, they were very close to eternal destruction.

               “What?” Drakken asked as he and Shego noticed the expressions on everyone’s faces. “Who’s this Yono?” Shego pinched the bridge of her nose at Drakken’s use of air quotes.

               Sensei, sensing the tension in the air, motioned for everyone to follow him inside. “Come, and we’ll talk it over with tea. I will tell you the tale of Yono.”

.

.

               Fukushima dug through the coarse dirt in Simia Canyon, searching for the golden pull ring of the Yono’s temple. Hana had finally woken, and was now running around the canyon, distracting him from his work. He couldn’t allow her to get away, as that would risk his chance of receiving absolute power. Digging through his satchel, Fukushima found the powder he had used on Kim Possible. He lifted Hana in his arms and sprinkled the substance over her, putting her tiny body in stasis for the time being.

               After another hour of digging, the pull ring was just barely visible, but it was enough for Fukushima to grab ahold of, and lift. He was thrown back, and watched as the monkey temple rose from the depths of the earth. A turned-to-stone Monkey Fist could be seen at the top of the temple, forever frozen in a prison of his own making.

               Not for long, Fukushima thought. “Simian mon kayala uwono aluay ken servant.” He felt the ground quake, and looked up at Monkey Fist who had begun to move, but still made of stone. Emerging out of the temple’s entrance was a cloaked figure that stopped just a couple of feet from him.

               “I am Yono,” he bellowed, ripping away the cloak to reveal a short brown monkey with piercing green eyes dressed in a purple Mandarin tunic with gold trim.

               “Fukushima!” Monkey Fist shouted. He disappeared out of thin air from the top of the temple, and reappeared atop of the steps. “Have you come to finish what I began?”

               “I have bigger plans than having you become the monkey master,” Fukushima scoffed. “Ever hear of the War of Darkness?”

.

.

               Shego sipped her tea tentatively, unable to figure out if she liked it or not. She had always been more of a coffee person, but when in Rome…or Japan, rather. Sensei was pouring tea for Kim and Ron, who looked to be in deep conversation on the other side of the room. Shego had never seen Possible look so exhausted in all the years they were acquainted. She was itching to find out more about this Yono character, and why it signified danger all around.

               “Gather around,” Sensei told them. Kim and Ron finally sat down between Sensei and Yori, facing their former foes. He looked at Drakken and Shego. “I take it you were told of the War of Darkness?” They nodded. “Yakunan plays a large role in the tale of the Yono.”

               “He does? You never told us that before,” Ron remarked.

               “We shall start from the beginning,” Sensei said softly. “His full title is Yono the Destroyer. When Toshimiru claimed victory, he banished Yakunan, and had him sent away to the hidden valleys of Simia Canyon. Unbeknownst to Toshimiru, Yakunan had meddled with the darkest of magic previously. This dark magic kept him truly immortal. This kind of magic required human sacrifice, and Yakunan gave plenty after slaying so many on the battlefield. However, he did not anticipate the transition into a monkey, as he was only made so by his jealousy of Toshimiru being the monkey master.” Sensei took a sip of his tea, observing everyone’s reactions. By the look on Kim and Ron’s faces, they had figured it out. “Yakunan would remain immortal, but would live out his days as a monkey imbued with the power of wielding the darkest magic in the world, only able to help those evil enough to seek him, for he is the one they call the Yono.”

               “Soooo,” Shego began. “We’re scared of…a monkey?”

               “A monkey who wields dark powers,” Drakken pointed out.

               “And who has caused death and destruction in his wake every time he is summoned,” Yori added. Gesturing toward Kim and Ron, she said, “We are lucky that we survived our last encounter with him, but it was only because Monkey Fist was unable to get Hana to comply.”

               “That’s the other part that doesn’t add up…what does Stoppable’s little sister have to do with any of this?”

               “My sister is a ninja prodigy, but is also the weapon called The Han,” Ron explained. “For reasons still unknown, the Yono has a connection to the monkey mystic weapon that my sister apparently is.”

               “From what I could tell from Monkey Fist’s ramblings, if you are able to have The Yono and The Han comply with your wishes, you’ll gain endless power to do with what you wish,” Kim added.

               "And how do you even know all of this, if it isn't common knowledge?" Shego asked Sensei. "I mean, you're old and wise, I get that, but how are you sure?"

               "Because," Sensei paused for dramatic effect, "I am Toshimiru."

.

.

                After the shock of Sensei's revelation wore off, Yori stood up, gesturing for Kim, Ron, Drakken, and Shego to follow her. “It is time that we get some rest, I suspect. We have all had a long night.” The sun was just beginning to rise over the mountains, but not one person in the room had enough sleep to still be standing. “I will show you to your rooms. I assume it will be alright to share?” The four guests looked at each other in surprise. Yori laughed, realizing they thought all four of them would be sharing one room. “I meant to say that Drakken and Shego will share one room, while you and Stoppable-San share another.” The look of relief on everyone’s faces was extremely noticeable.  

               Drakken and Shego settled as comfortably as possible on the bed roll, though that wasn’t saying much. Her eyes closed instantly, and she was veering off into sweet obliviousness until Drakken’s quiet laughing woke her up. “What are you laughing at???” she asked irritably.

               “I was just thinking, maybe we shouldn’t fight this monkey; he might use gorilla warfare,” he laughed. “Get it? Cause guerilla war—oh never mind.”  He noticed the roll of Shego’s eyes. “This whole thing is just bananas!” And the laughter started up again. “We can’t be caught monkeying around, you know.”

               Shego growled. “That’s it! If you tell me one more pun, I’m shoving you off this bed.”

               “But—“

               “No.”

               “Just—“

               “Sleep!” Her tone was crueler than she meant to be. She harrumphed as she turned herself away from him, unable to get rid of that niggling feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew that Drakken was only trying to ease the tension that Sensei’s story filled the air with, but the fear she felt had her lashing out at everyone.

               Meanwhile, Kim and Ron were continuing their heated conversation from earlier, neither bothering to at least sit upon the bed roll.

               Kim’s eyes were aflame with frustration. “Ron, I don’t care how many times you say it, I’m not just going to get up and leave. Yes, Fukushima is after enacting revenge on you, and the world, but the truth is, I’ll be in danger no matter where I am. You don’t have to do any of this alone.”

               “You don’t know what you’re saying, KP. You need sleep,” Ron told her, sitting down on the bed roll. “We both do. Hopefully, tomorrow you’ll realize how absurd you’re being.”

               “Excuse me!?” Kim exclaimed. “I’m being absurd? Who’s the one planning on taking down Fukushima head-on without any backup? You can’t do that, Ron, it’s certain death!”

               “But it’ll ensure that you stay alive!” he argued. Kim was taken aback by this statement. He sounded so sure of it.

               “Ron,” her voice softened, “how can you be so sure of that?” He said nothing, but slipped a small, rolled piece of parchment from his pocket. “What is this?”

               “I found it in Hana’s room,” he told her. “Read it.”

               Outsider, your sister will not come into any harm, as I need her alive in order to enact my plans. However, if you want Possible to remain alive, meet me in two days’ time in Simia Canyon where you will inevitably perish for the woman you love.

               Kim couldn’t stop the tears from welling up in her eyes due to her anger and fear. “Ron, you can’t do this! I’m not worth this. There’s always another way.” She sat down beside him.

               “Not worth this? KP, you’re worth everything good in this world.” Ron’s determination to die for her was frightening. Not that she wouldn’t do the same for him, but what good would it be to not even try to defeat Fukushima together?

               “I won’t let you do this alone,” she told him. “We’ll get Hana back, we’ll defeat Fukushima, and send the Yono and Monkey Fist back in the ground. It seems impossible, but well, do I have to say it?”

               Ron smiled at her, unable to keep it from his face.

               “Anything’s possible for a Possible,” they spoke in unison. “And don’t you forget it,” Kim added.   

.

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FFN | Ao3 | Buy Me a Coffee?  

[akitokihojo]

In Between: Chapter 2

In the past couple of days, my world was literally turned upside down. Thankfully, I’m a bit ahead in writing the chapters to this story, but please keep in mind that if I DO happen to fall behind in the near future, I’m just trying to focus on me. I have a lot on my shoulders right now.

I wanted to thank everyone for their kind feedback on the first chapter of this fic. It means the world. I’m going to TRY to keep posting every weekend, but like I said, I’m currently in a very bad place and need to figure some things out.

Please continue to be patient and kind.

Kagome's Residence

Kagome treaded up the stairs as lightly as possible, hoping the clomp of her high heels wouldn't wake any of her neighbors. It wasn't often at all that she stayed out this late, but she figured once in a blue moon wouldn't hurt. It’s not like she had anything better to do nowadays.

As soon as she reached her landing, she toed her heels off, taking the back lining of the shoes between her fingers and tip-toeing the rest of the way to her front door. In all honesty, she felt like she was living out the rebellious years she'd neglected to have back in high school, sneaking through the halls while trying not to wake her mother so she wouldn't know she'd ignored curfew. She didn't understand how teenagers managed to keep the act up. Every creek the old floorboards made was overwhelmingly stressful, and Kagome legitimately felt she'd get reprimanded if she was heard. The only reason she was trying so hard to keep quiet was because of her sweet, elderly neighbor. It wouldn't be fair to wake her with a noisy entrance just because Kagome had stayed out later than expected. She was in the clear once she got into her apartment; the halls just tended to act as a cavern of sorts, magnifying incoming footsteps and voices to make them appear ten times louder than they actually were.

Kagome picked out the house key on the keyring in hand as she finally closed the distance to her apartment, stopping dead in her tracks as she noticed her door slightly ajar, the rim floating less than an inch away from the molded frame. It wasn’t left like that, she was positive. Kagome distinctly remembered locking it as she left, because she had to give the knob a heavy yank to make sure the bolt properly slid into place. The rainy weather from the week before had caused the door to swell, causing it to be just a little harder than usual to shut. The struggle making the act memorable.

She swallowed thickly, the heavy feeling in her chest making it difficult to take in full breaths of air. It was common sense that she should get down to the lobby as quickly as possible and call the police, but the thought that someone had broken into her apartment while she was out, and could possibly be rummaging through her belongings at this very moment had her moving forward. Kagome pushed the front door open as slowly as she could so as to avoid any creaks from the heavy slab of wood, her eyes wandering over every inch of the shadowed living room, squinting in hopes that her pupils would dilate faster to make out her surroundings better. Everything went silent. Like she was entering an empty vortex, all noise sucked away aside from the eerie ringing suddenly filling her ears.

The moonlight shining through her curtain-less windows at the opposite end of the room stretched over to softly touch a portion of her overturned furniture. She ignored the splintering spike of fear that threatened to paralyze her where she stood. Although the light from the night sky was dim, it didn't take much imagination to figure out the current state of her apartment. Stepping through as carefully as possible, she gently set her purse and one of her shoes down on the carpet, turning her other shoe around in her hand to use the heel as a makeshift weapon until she could grab something better. Kagome toed her way through the living area, treading lightly to avoid tripping, listening intently for any noises that may come from a different room. It almost hurt how powerfully her heart pounded against her ribcage as her eyes coursed back and forth over the room to find anything that shouldn't be there, terrified to see exactly what she anticipated. Her wrecked surroundings made it so much worse, everything looking like it didn't belong.

She had decided not to turn any lights on just yet. If someone was in her apartment, if someone was hiding away in her bedroom or bathroom, she didn't want to attract them her way. She wanted to corner them; trap them. Could she take them? Probably not. Was she going to try? Absolutely.

As she traveled deeper, she made a left, entering the open kitchen area, her peripherals trained on the living room through the cutout in the wall. Every drawer was open, some stretching out far enough to sag. Kagome tried to will her body to calm down a bit, ducking beneath the cover of the counters and opened drawers for a brief moment, forcing deep breaths in and out of her trembling lungs. Her palm was sweating profusely against her high heel. She knew a shoe wouldn't fend off anyone for long, or at all; it was a very temporary fix. Each exhale grounded her more and more as she counted to three and forced herself to stand, keeping a slight hunch to carefully peek through the bar to make sure nothing had changed in the living room first, and then standing as tall as she could, almost to seem bigger than she actually was. What else could she do as a five-foot-two woman? Surely, she didn't appear intimidating, but if she played it off like she believed she was, maybe that fake confidence would become real. Kagome moved to the counter with the block of kitchen knives that, in her mind, glowed like an object in a video game telling her exactly where to go, finally allowing herself to let go of her cheap shoe. She rubbed her hands along the sides of her dress to dry them off as best as she could before opting for the largest knife in the set, making sure she had the best grip possible on the black handle before trudging forward.

Stepping as softly as possible, she traveled back out into the living room, trying not to allow the small amount of light seeping through to disrupt the adjustment her eyes had achieved. She managed to reach her bedroom after maneuvering around the misplaced couch cushions, pillows, sweaters, and miscellaneous decor, her feet only fumbling slightly here and there. Stopping briefly, Kagome prepped herself before stepping through the open door, taking a few more deep, stabilizing breaths to brace for whatever or whoever she'd find once she turned on the light.

She wasn't ready. There was no amount of breathing a person could do to steel themselves against a frightening subject they were entirely unfamiliar with. She wasn't trained in any type of defense, nor was she some sort of adrenaline junkie. She was a preschool teacher, and the scariest thing she'd ever had to deal with up until now was tiny children falling off things they shouldn't be on, or hitting their heads on things they shouldn't be near. Kagome just wasn't the type to run away, which was proving to be more of a curse than a blessing this time around. Since when did she consider the logical thing to do was fight off an intruder, herself? Maybe she was more of an adrenaline junkie than she thought. Even so, she wasn't going to travel this deep into her disheveled apartment only to back out now. No, this was her home. Whoever had the gall to target her was going to regret it.

Kagome tightened her grip on the handle of her kitchen blade as her freehand curved around the frame of the doorway to find the light switch, applying almost too much pressure to the plastic in the midst of her swirling anxiety. As the warm light flooded the crevices of her bedroom from overhead, she took in the surrounding mess, chills spreading over every inch of her skin. Pictures were overturned where they once stood. The contents of her dresser drawers were completely unloaded, clothes littering the carpet. Her closet door was thrown open, most of her dresses off their hangers. Small shoe boxes she'd used to store little knickknacks were opened and emptied on the floor, like the madman was either looking for something or making some sort of indecipherable statement.

But the most unsettling thing of all, the most disturbing and unnerving aspect of her destroyed bedroom, was the fact that her bed was perfectly made, not a crease in sight. Kagome neglected to make her bed today, as she did most days, and even when she bothered to do the chore, she wasn't so neat with it. The floral comforter was nicely spread over the thin, baby pink blanket beneath, folded over just below where her fluffed pillows sat so she wouldn't have to reach beneath them to climb in. It was smoothed over, and pressed into the frame, looking similar to a model bed you'd see in Ikea. On top and in two perfectly aligned rows sat a group of small, black and white polaroids, words written on the tabbed ends of each- illegible from where she stood.

As Kagome inched closer, her fingers found their way over her lips, covering her mouth completely in a way to fend off the disturbance she felt, looking over each clear photo. A few were just of her, some were just of Inuyasha, and the rest were of them together- smiling, laughing, kissing, touching in any way they possibly could. She remembered her fingers mindlessly floating to any part of his body that was available, his energy like a magnet to her, drawing her in and pulling her deeper. Every single one of those polaroids displayed how desperate to touch him she always seemed, her own features noticeably more serene in comparison to the polaroids of her alone. Those three were taken in the coffee shop she frequents. There was one of her at the counter ordering, one of her standing to the side as she waited, and another of her leaving with a sleeved cup in hand, taken from inside. He had been that close to her and she somehow hadn't even noticed a camera pointed her way.

THE LONGER HE TAKES TO FIGURE ME OUT

THE MORE DANGER YOU'RE IN

The statement was in that same, red, smudged lipstick Inuyasha's name had been written in, a single word painted at the bottom of each, individual polaroid.

Surprisingly, what was twisting her core more than anything- more than having her house ripped apart, the distressing and repeated violation of privacy, and the clear, distasteful threat, was seeing the images of Inuyasha. It never made sense why a packet of photos were specifically delivered to him. She could have, and should have, pieced together that he must have been followed as well. Kagome had been so concerned about herself and her own situation, that she never even considered the idea that he was more involved than mere coincidence would put it.

This guy knew Inuyasha. He knew where he lived, who he dated, where he worked, and possibly more. Inuyasha was as much a victim of this as she was. And she hated that.

Kagome backed away from the scene in front of her, suddenly feeling like the air in the room was too dense to breathe. The only place she hadn't checked was the bathroom. Quickly and carefully, she made her way around the tipped couch, cautious as she curved around the coffee table, the light sparse in that area. She turned on the switch as she entered the small doorway, the muscles of her chest constricting painfully as she looked at the message written on the large mirror before her.

SEE YOU SOON

Inuyasha's Residence

Inuyasha's hand fumbled over his nightstand, incidentally knocking the ringing cellphone to the floor in his sightless search for it. Cursing under his breath, he reluctantly opened his eyes, dragging his head over to the edge of his mattress to spot the illuminated device. He snagged it before the call would be sent to voicemail, answering and hitting the speaker button without bothering to look at the I.D..

"Yeah?"

"Uh... hi. Sorry for calling so late..." Her voice was feeble, almost a whisper but somehow holding the same exact effect screaming would, shedding all traces of sleep from the half demon's body and scaring him shitless. He sat up straight, grabbing his work cell from the same nightstand and checking the time on the screen. 2:13am.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Kagome answered. He could hear her shallow breaths through the receiver as she paused, each second that passed building more panic in his system. She wasn't fine. "He broke in."

"Who broke..." Inuyasha felt a scorching heat run over his body as the realization hit. "Where are you?!" He jumped out of bed, grabbing his pants off the floor near the corner chair and setting the phone on his dresser, quickly shoving his feet through the leg holes of his jeans.

"At my apartment. Where he broke in."

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"I'm on my way, Kagome. Wait for me in the lobby."

"I'll just stay-"

"Lobby, Kagome. Now. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay." Kagome numbly agreed, standing idly in the middle of her torn living room. "Thanks."

--

She only managed to make it out to the hallway, slumping along the wall to sit on the floor in between the stairs and her door. There was too much going on in her head, too much to fully comprehend at once. What would have happened if she had been home? Just how long ago did he leave before she showed up? She was angry, frightened, anxious, distraught, and exhausted, the mixture of it all too thick to be contained in her small body, overflowing her mind and muddling her thoughts.

Kagome stretched out her legs, crossing them at the ankles while pulling her white, knitted cardigan to fully cover her torso, shielding herself from the brisk hall and any eyes that may be capable of looking through walls. She didn't even know where to begin when thinking up a possible suspect list; was it a person she and Inuyasha had met together, or someone that knew one of them individually? It wouldn't be crazy to suggest the former option. Inuyasha and Kagome had been friends for years, so it was perfectly plausible that they'd met a lunatic on an outing together. If the latter, though, was it someone that set his eyes on her, found out Inuyasha's occupation in his "research," and decided this would be the best game of cat and mouse of his life? Or was this an enemy Inuyasha had made somewhere throughout his career?

It was surreal that all of this was even happening. Break-in's and cases of stalking were exclusive to crime shows, not Kagome's life. Yet here she was, sitting on the floor just outside of her thrashed apartment, genuinely wondering just how in over her head she was. It was clearly important for her to tread lightly from now on, but to what degree? How dangerous was this guy? Was he someone that got off on another person's fear? A rapist? A murderer? All of the above? What would happen if she was home the next time he decided to waltz into her home like he owned the place, or even showed up to the school she worked at?

At this point in time, she really wished she retained something from the martial arts classes she'd taken when she was ten.

"What the hell does "wait for me in the lobby" mean to you, exactly?" Inuyasha asked hoarsely, tearing Kagome from her deep-rooted thoughts as he quickly approached the top of the stairway, chest heaving. Long, silver and white hair hung loosely down his back, a small bit curving over his shoulders and along the front of his jacket. It was rare that Kagome ever saw him with his hair down. He must have rushed straight over, not even giving himself a moment to tie it back.

She stood as fast as she could, her heart subconsciously aching for the familiar safety he always provided, holding herself back when her first instinct was to lean in for a hug.

"Sorry. I didn't want to go far."

"I figured." He grunted, stopping about a foot away, his eyes subtly drifting down her body to take in the way she was dressed. A black and grey, gradient dress ended just above her knees, black tights adorning her legs, too thick to reveal the shaded, pale flesh they covered. The dress was a comfortable-looking fit, but still just the right amount of tightness to show her curves beneath the cotton. On top, she covered herself with a tightly-knit, thigh length, white cardigan, her hands shoved into the pockets. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail, rogue strands curling around her cheek and jaw bones. This clearly wasn't her usual bedtime attire, and it took more effort than Inuyasha was proud of to ignore the fact that she'd probably been out on a date.

She turned away to face the opened door to her apartment, guiding his sight, the burning lightbulbs within making her mess perfectly visible.

"Were you here when this happened? Did you see him?" Inuyasha asked, golden eyes immediately flying back to her face. He grabbed her chin between his forefinger and thumb, turning her head left and right to look for any marks on her head, cheeks, and neck.

"No, I was out. He was gone by the time I got here. " She said, removing her jaw from his grasp. "Keep your voice down. You'll wake Kaede."

"I'm surprised she managed to sleep through this." He stepped through the doorway, minding the books on the floor. The stench of the intruder immediately wafted into his nose, burning his sinuses. There was no doubt about it. It was the same scent he and Koga had picked up when they'd first visited Kagome, this time strong enough to ring of something horribly familiar, but not sufficient to tell him who the fuck it was. There was no way he'd come across this stench in passing. He knew it from someone. Somewhere. Inuyasha just couldn't figure out when. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, opting to stay silent to refrain from shaking up Kagome even further. "What time did you get home?"

"About ten minutes before I called you." Kagome answered, following him. "He was kind enough to leave the door open for me."

"What do you mean, ten minutes?"

"I mean, I called you ten minutes after I got home."

"Why the hell didn't you call me immediately? What, is it normal for your door to be open when you get home at two in the morning!?"

"I needed to make sure he wasn't still in here!"

"And what if he was!?" His temper was spiking. The thought of her willingly walking right into a crime scene alone, walking right into potential danger without a second thought had a blinding heat surging through his veins.

"I had a knife."

"Oh, so you casually carry a knife on you now?"

"No, but I have a set in my kitchen. What's your problem?"

Inuyasha pinched the space between his brow with his fingers, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment as he took in what Kagome had just said. "Let me... Let me get this straight, Kagome. You came into your house unprotected while you had no idea if your stalker was still here, went all the way into the kitchen, and grabbed a fucking steak knife!?"

"Actually, the carving knife." She shrugged. "Would you rather I used my high heel to fight him off?"

"You- no... Oh my god!" He blinked incredulously at her, mouth slightly agape. "You're such a fucking idiot! I would have rather you called me! This guy could be dangerous! He could have hurt you!"

"This is my apartment, Inuyasha! It's my home to defend! He broke in and wrecked everything! Am I supposed to just walk away and wait for someone to come save me?"

"Yes!"

"No way! I don't have time for that! It's easy for you to say because you're the one with the muscles, and the demon senses, and the gun! You never have to worry about anything, because you can punch your way through bad guys left and right! So what if I don't have any of that! I-don't-care! I've got a really sharp knife and a stubborn will, and this is my home! I'm not gonna wait around for this creep to just disappear! I'll freaking fight him!" Kagome shouted, stomping closer to Inuyasha, her dark eyes piercing him through. The half demon braced his hands out in front of him, shocked by her outrage, his feet glued to the carpet so as not to back away, but fully aware of how far her temper outstretched his own.

"Okay, alright. Calm down, Cujo. I get it. You win.” He reasoned after a brief pause, making sure she'd gotten all of it out of her system. He watched her shoulders relax a little, though her glare continued to pin him. He placed a hand on top of her head, fingers sliding through her messy bangs, a simple gesture he'd done since the moment they'd met, glad she didn't move push his palm away as he'd expected. "I've got Koga and additional backup on their way to look around; make sure he didn't place any bugs. Is anything missing?"

"Not that I noticed." She shook her head, the heat of his palm comforting her. "Kind of hard to tell. He left a little gift though."

"What?"

"Bedroom and bathroom."

Inuyasha headed toward her room, pushing aside the mess of clothes with his shoes to clear a small path as he approached the out-of-place and well-made bed. He looked down at the photos, resisting the initial reflex to pick them all up and look them over closely.

The message caught his eyes first, his fingers twitching at his sides before he curled them into fists, sharp claws biting into his palms. Then the photos. Photos of them together. He'd seen them together. Witnessed him falling in love. And the asshole was clearly willing to manipulate him with it. He didn't even care about the pictures of himself. He didn’t care that he was wrong and he was the target. This guy could stalk him to the ends of the Earth for all he fucking cared. If he wanted a fight, Inuyasha was happy to give one. If this guy harbored a grudge against him, the coward should just seek him out instead of hiding behind a damn camera. Hell, it wouldn't be the first convict he'd pissed off, nor would it be the last. Inuyasha wasn't necessarily known as the "good cop" throughout investigations. 

Apparently, the bastard wanted to play dirty though. He was using Kagome as bait to get to him. He, without a doubt, knew the half demon's weakness.

Inuyasha could hear Kagome approaching, her footsteps light over the carpet of the floor. Even though she'd already seen the photos, he didn't want to subject her to them again. Never again. She didn't deserve this. This was his fault, his burden, not hers. He turned around, using his broad frame to block her sight of the pictures, stopping her in her tracks by filling the gap between them, himself. "What's in the bathroom?"

"A promise to see me soon written on the mirror." Kagome said, shrugging dully. Inuyasha inhaled slowly, allowing everything to sink in as he sighed out, gaining his bearings on the situation at hand.

"Kagome, you know I won't let him hurt you, right?"

"You can't control that." She shook her head, a slight pinch in her brow.

"I'm serious."

"I'm sure you are, but-"

"Hello?" A deep voice interrupted, chiming in from the front door.

"In here." Inuyasha answered, gently guiding Kagome by her shoulder out to the living room.

"You okay, Miss Higurashi?" Koga asked, carefully venturing over to them, two people trailing closely behind, their eyes wandering over the damage of her place. The female in back wore a skeptical, yet careful, expression, her mouth curved downward as her brown eyes flew over Kagome and met Inuyasha. Her dark hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, flowing straight down to about mid back and swinging along with her gait. The gentleman in between the two seemed more placid, his cheeks and the tip of his nose a rosy color from the cold outside. His blue eyes stopped scouring the room as soon as they stopped their approach, landing on Kagome and gifting her with a gentle smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for coming."

"Don't worry about it," He smiled, looking over his shoulder to acknowledge a small group of officers walking through, all of them wearing matching dark blue windbreakers and carrying silver cases, blending into the background to get to work as if the four of them weren't standing in the middle of the living room. "These are detectives Sango and Hojo. They'll be helping us out here. We're just gonna do a fast sweep, okay? We'll be checking for any sort of planted listening devices or cameras he could have placed."

"Do you think he actually did any of that?" She asked, watching as the men quickly set up their equipment and got to searching.

"You can never be too safe." Hojo claimed, casually sweeping the chestnut bangs from his forehead.

"There's polaroids in the bedroom." Inuyasha said flatly. "Have them check for prints. The bastard had to have left something behind.”

"Will do. Go ahead and take her outside." Koga said, walking past to enter Kagome's room.

"Outside?" Kagome asked, glancing up at the half demon beside her. 

"Interview. Just in the hall. We can't be in the way of all this." Inuyasha gestured to the investigators at work.

Kagome reluctantly followed Inuyasha and the two new detectives out of her apartment, wrapping her sweater tight around her body. She knew everyone here was just trying to help, but she felt violated as it was. The last thing she wanted were more people rummaging through her personal belongings just to analyze the mess this creep had created. She just wanted to move on from it. She wanted to clean her apartment and pretend this whole thing never happened.

"Kagome, what could possibly be going on at this hour?"

She whipped around, barely catching Inuyasha's quick reaction to step beside her. Her elderly neighbor stood at the end of the hall just outside of her opened door, her back hunched over minutely, thin, grey hair falling over one shoulder. She was dressed in a floor-length pajama nighty, staring curiously with her one good eye, the other greyed out from loss of vision.

"I'm so sorry for all the commotion."

"Are you hosting a party, dear? I usually don't mind the noise, but it's been going on for hours. Don't you think it's time to call it a night?"

"Hours? Kaede, I haven't... Wait, did you see whoever showed up?"

"Well, yes. They were bangin' on your door for a minute before you finally opened it. It was hard not to peek out and see who was causing the ruckus." She answered, eyeing the half demon at her side as he got even closer.

"What did he look like?" He asked, almost too quickly.

"What do you mean?"

"Kaede, I didn't throw a party. He, uh... he broke into my apartment while I was out."

"Oh my," Her aged features twisted in perturbation. "A break-in? Here?"

"Please, ma'am, you have nothing to worry about. I understand your concern, but it's very rare for a criminal to strike two separate apartments in the same vicinity. Since you saw him, though, could you give us any striking details so that we could potentially identify him?" Hojo asked, pulling out a small notepad and pen.

"He looked like any average, young man. Nothing stuck out very well from my peephole." She answered, shrugging her hunched shoulders.

"What color hair did he have?"

"Black. Maybe dark brown."

"Length?" Hojo began jotting in his notes.

"Short. I'd say just a tad longer than yours."

"What was he wearing?"

"A black sweater. That's all I could see." Kaede answered. "He was fairly tall too. I'm sorry I can't be of more help. I honestly never considered that something could be wrong."

"That's alright," Hojo said, shaking his head. "You've given us more than we had. We'll wrap all of this up as quickly as possible."

There was a flicker of hesitation before Kaede hummed in acknowledgment, slowly turning her aged body around to take her leave, waving over her shoulder to say goodbye while shutting the door behind her. Kagome couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for bringing Kaede into all of this. If she had her way, no one outside of herself and the police would know about the pressing issue. No one else would have to worry about anything indirectly happening to them just because Kagome was being stalked.

Of course, if she had it her way, none of this would be happening at all.

"I wouldn't necessarily say we have more than we started with. She hardly gave us anything." Inuyasha remarked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Short, black hair. I'd say that's definitely more. At least we know not to suspect someone with, oh I don't know, silver hair?"

"Alright, enough." Sango interrupted, holding an authoritative bite in her tone. "Inuyasha, head on inside. Looks like Koga's got something for you to do." She said, nodding in the wolf demon's direction so that Inuyasha would catch the hint. He rolled his eyes, heading in without another word.

Kagome didn't watch him walk away. Instead she kept her eyes on the ground at the detectives' feet, holding onto her opposite elbows as she patiently waited for all of this to be over with.

"First things first, does that description ring a bell for you, Kagome?" Sango asked, her tone dropping a notch, seeming much kinder than when she spoke to Inuyasha just a second ago. Kagome could easily tell she was the type of woman who could be soft when necessary, but also knew how to make a room take her seriously. Even Kagome couldn't help but feel intimidated, simultaneously increasing the respect she automatically had for the woman before her. If she could shut a guy like Inuyasha up that quickly, she was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

"Not really. I mean, it's a pretty generic description."

"No, that's fair. I just wanted to see if anyone immediately came to mind."

Kagome shook her head, standing by her statement.

"Miss Higurashi," Hojo joined, his voice smooth and gentle compared to the two other men he worked with. "For clarification purposes, you weren't home when this all took place, correct?"

"Yeah. I was out. I came home around two and my door was open."

"Where were you?" Sango asked.

"I third-wheeled with a friend and her date to make sure things went well. I'm her buffer for excuses if she's not feeling any chemistry. She promised we'd be done by eleven the latest, but as per usual, that wasn't the case. Kind of glad this time around, though."

"That was nice of you. Do you do that for her often?"

"As of recently, yes. If you're about to ask if I've met any sketchy guys while out with her, the answer is definitely no. She's a lesbian."

"Alright, we'll check that off the list." Hojo chuckled. "Now, have you noticed anyone following you around? Anyone with a camera?"

"No." Kagome shook her head once more, briefly looking down at the floor before swallowing the tepid fear that swelled in her throat. "Even after receiving the pictures, I haven't noticed anyone. Believe me, I've been looking."

"We do. I can only imagine how scary this is."

"You've known Inuyasha for how long now?" Sango asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Oh, uh, maybe six or seven years. Why?"

"He's been an officer for even longer than that. Have you ever encountered the perps he's apprehended?"

"No. Inuyasha’s always been really good about keeping his work and personal life separate." While he sometimes vented, he always made sure to keep it as vanilla as possible. She never knew names or faces. She never knew the details of his assignments. There were times when she asked for more from him just so she could rack his brain to help him solve those ongoing cases, but the half demon always refused to give in. He openly explained that the more she knew, the riskier it was and he was never willing to take the chances. Inuyasha was careful. Inuyasha always made sure everyone around him was safe.

"From the looks of it, there are no signs of forced entry whatsoever. I'm watching C.S.U. inspect everything from here, but it seems like all of the windows are closed and locked. Your neighbor says he was banging on your door, and that's easy to dismiss as trying to break it down, but your door is still fully intact. So, clearly, something's not adding up here." Sango crouched closer to the strike plates in the door jamb, seeing that they were hardly knocked out of place, which could also happen with normal wear and tear. "You told Koga and Inuyasha no one else has a key, right?"

"Right." She responded. "Not even my mom has one."

"So, you don't have a spare laying around anywhere?"

"My spare is in my coin purse, inside my actual purse."

"He could have picked the lock." Hojo proposed, tapping the top of his pen against his chin. "Kaede didn't say she saw Kagome let him in. She just heard banging until he got inside."

"Right now, that's the only thing that could make sense. Here," Sango reached into her back pocket, her hip-length winter coat folding upward as she pulled her phone free. Opening up the wallet case, she slid a white card from one of the folds, holding it out for Kagome to take. Hojo followed suit, handing over a card from his jacket pocket. "Take our cards. If you need anything, see anything, or hear anything call us immediately."

Kagome gave a small nod, staying out in the hall as the two detectives walked back inside toward Koga and Inuyasha, her eyes drifting down to the two cards. She stared blankly at their names, a numb feeling flooding through her system. She knew they weren't any closer to figuring this out than they were prior to the break in. She had all four of the detectives' information, and yet felt no safer.

At this point in time, Kagome just wanted everyone out. She wanted to fix her apartment and go to bed. She'd been planning on rearranging her furniture anyway. Really, this was just the motivation she needed to get it done since nothing was in its correct place anymore.

"Dumb question, but you okay?" Inuyasha asked, bringing her focus back to the forefront, his hands shoved deep into his pant pockets.

"Oh," Kagome gave a cheap smile. "Yeah. I'm fine. How much longer?"

"They're wrapping up. No bugs so you're good. They've got their evidence, and I went ahead and cleaned your mirror off. Are you sure you want to stay here tonight, though?"

"Well, I haven’t been paying my backup apartment’s rent lately, so yeah. I kind of have to.” She answered sarcastically.

"Seriously, Kagome, you can stay with me. Or we can get you a hotel room." He said quickly, throwing his hand up to keep her from throwing his first offer in his face, the quick flinch in her features showing him that she was about to if he hadn't caught himself in time. Kagome sighed, shaking her head, watching the unit pack up over Inuyasha's shoulder.

"I'm gonna have to clean this up eventually. Might as well face the music now. Thanks, though."

"We're heading out," Koga said, patting Inuyasha's shoulder as he brushed passed with Sango and Hojo in tow. "Stay safe, Kagome."

They disappeared down the staircase, their footsteps loudly bouncing off the walls, the noise more difficult than ever to think through. The remaining group began dispersing, trickling out of her apartment, their footsteps ringing like a stampede through the narrow cavern.

"Let me help." Inuyasha offered as Kagome pushed passed, reentering her place. It seemed like everything was sinking in too rapidly. She was exhausted and angry and annoyed, and now that she was standing in the middle of her disheveled home, not knowing where to even begin, the emotions were becoming literal colors in front of her eyes. It was impossible to pretend this never happened. It was impossible to not be a victim. Kagome probably seemed so vulnerable to everyone, and she was over it as soon as it had started. Accepting Inuyasha's unnecessary offer would be like agreeing, herself, that she was weak. The last thing she was willing to come off as, at a time like this, was a damsel in distress. It wasn't like she never took help from others. When help was needed, Kagome was more than thankful. But this… Right now… No. She could handle it.

"No, thanks."

"Kagome, I'm trying to make things easier on you. Would you freaking let me?"

"I don't need help, Inuyasha."

"Okay, fine. You're right. You need to sleep. I'll stand guard, you go to bed."

"Oh my god, I don't need you to stand guard either."

"Because you're gonna get a goodnight's rest after this bullshit?”

"Probably not, but that's none of your concern." Kagome traveled throughout the living room, starting at the far walls to roll up the curtains that had been torn down from their rods, and moving on to pick up any loose papers on the ground, most of which were drawings and to-be-graded assignments from her students.

Inuyasha let out an exaggerated huff, suppressing the annoyance building up from Kagome's shortness. "Look, I get it. You're still mad-"

"I'm not mad."

"Would you shut up for a second? You're still pissed about what happened between us and now you're pissed that you've got a stalker, I get that, but I'm trying! Could you cut me some damn slack!?"

"Slack!?" Kagome laughed incredulously, spinning around on her heel to glare at him. "I never asked for any of this! If I had invited you back into my life, maybe I could see myself being a little nicer to you, but I didn't. You're here because the stalker took the liberty of inviting you. Otherwise, we'd have no other reason to be talking right now. So, don't worry about trying to be overly nice or anything, Inuyasha, because it doesn't matter. I'm not going down that road again. Don't mistake that as me still being mad, though."

"What the hell should I think, then? You called me over tonight, didn't you?"

"Oh! So, you thought that was the ice breaker? Were you not the one that told me to call you if something happened? If it's this much of a problem, I'll make sure to call someone else next time!"

"Don't fuck with me, Kagome! I'm trying to help!"

"I don't need any! I can take care of myself!"

"Can you get your head out of your ass for like twelve seconds and talk to me!? Stop- hey! Stop cleaning and talk to me!"

"I don't want to talk to you, Inuyasha. I want to clean my apartment." She said sternly, dropping the papers on the table and kneeling down at the back of her knocked-over couch to bring it up to stand.

"Clearly you have some pent up aggravation you need to get off your chest."

"Yeah, you would too if someone did this to your house."

"No. With us!" Inuyasha fired, stepping in her way as she went to move passed him once more.

"In case you haven't noticed, there is no us." Kagome said plainly, pursing her lips as she crossed her arms. "You made sure of that."

Inuyasha swallowed thickly, taking in the scent of her, letting it sit in his nose and replace the repugnant smell of her intruder. Kagome was piercing him with that stare again, her brow furrowed, slightly hooding her dark eyes as she met his gaze. All the color in her face was hidden from his view, the lamp behind her shading her features and denying him the sight. His resolve began to crumble, taking his temper with it as he fought back the temptation to step just a little closer. "Kagome, I never meant-"

“Geez, can you possibly choose a better time to have this discussion!? You've had months, my number hasn't changed, but now's when you want to bring it up? Holy crap, Inuyasha, I mean I know you suck with women, but this is a new level!" 

"At least I'm trying, which is more than I can say for you! We never talked about it, and you still seem bothered so here I am! Get it out of your system!" Inuyasha barked, her words like knives stabbing him over and over. He watched her stiffen, the muscles of her neck becoming more evident as she sucked a breath in and held it for a small moment before exhaling noisily, scowling, stomping over to a nearby throw pillow on the floor and launching it at him.

"You are such an ass, Inuyasha! You have horrible timing, you're rude, you're inconsiderate, and you're selfish! You wanna talk about this? Fine!" Kagome grabbed another pillow, chucking it at him in her fervor, watching him easily block the offending object but never make a move to stop her assault. "You tossed me aside for your ex! How did you expect me to take that?"

"I did not!"

"We may not have been official, Inuyasha, but we were never nothing. Maybe it wasn't the same for you as it was for me, and that's all fine and dandy, but you could have said something. Instead, you decided it would be better to keep her a secret!" She threw another pillow, only able to nail him in the knee that time. "I deserved the truth, you jackass! If you wanted to be with Kikyo, you should have just told me!"

"You've got it all wrong! I didn't know what to do at the time, but she needed my help! I couldn’t just turn her away!”

"Don't try to pull that hero card with me! How am I supposed to believe nothing happened between you two when I saw her in your living room wearing your clothes? I know your history with her! You were hung up for a month after she left, so don't even try to feed me that rancid bullshit!" Kagome argued, flexing her jaw in an attempt to keep her bottom lip from quivering. She watched the anger seemingly leave Inuyasha's facial features, his shoulders sagging in defeat as a guilty expression took over. Kagome could feel the sharp sting of tears at the corners of her eyes, and she tried to blink them away. She wasn't willing to cry about this in front of him. Not now. Not while her apartment was as much of a wreck as she was. “I think you should leave, Inuyasha.”

"What? Kagome, no. You've gotta understand, things were complicated then. I didn't mean- I didn't want... Fuck, after all these years do you actually think I'm capable of intentionally doing something to hurt you?" Inuyasha pushed the silver bangs from his eyes, as if clearing the wisps of hair from his vision would help him speak clearer.

“Yes! And it won't happen again, so get the hell out!” Inuyasha felt the stab in his chest all over again. He could smell the bristling salt in the air, sense that she was closing herself off further to him. They never had their closure all those months ago. He made his mistake and she was gone as quick as a snap. What made this even worse was he never texted or called to explain himself. To apologize. Nothing. Inuyasha knew to give her space when she was upset. He thought she'd be pissed for a day or two, a week tops, and then she'd reach out to him to fix the mess like usual, but he was wrong. She never called. And he let his wounded pride get in the way of reaching out to her, himself. He let Kagome slip away.

Inuyasha sighed out, knowing he couldn't push her anymore. He opened his mouth to say something, the click of his tongue echoing in the silent room, then shut it before his voice could slip. Walking towards the exit, he grabbed the side of the door, shutting it as he left. "Call me if you need anything."

Kagome slumped along the side of the sofa feeling a debilitating weight sink into the center of her chest. People always said talking about your issues made everything better, but that was so far from the truth here. Opening up, yelling at Inuyasha, revisiting the things that broke her heart was like pouring salt into a once almost-sealed, now-reopened wound. The sting was so intense, she couldn't bite back the emotion that swelled in her throat any longer, a choked, weak sob escaping her down-turned lips as hot tears began to paint her cheeks. Quickly, she swiped them away, staring at the door Inuyasha had left through. Calling him names and shutting him out, acting as he normally would in any emotional predicament, didn't make her feel any better either. 

It made her feel worse. 

So much worse.

Kagome stepped forward, grabbing one of the pillows she'd recently thrown and launched it at the closed door as hard as she could manage, a frustrated cry scratching the inside of her throat. She didn't want to fix things between them, but at the same time, god did she want to fix things. None of this was fair. She'd moved on. She'd let it all go. Now everything was crumbling to pieces so fine and small, she was afraid nothing would be salvageable.

[a-toon-out-of-toontown]

Chapter 2

Now on to chapter 2!!! I hope y’all enjoy!!

(again under a read more because these are long)

*the next day*

I woke up to the sound of my alarm. I rolled over and groggily tried to hit the button on the top to silent the annoying beeping. I was going to go back to sleep, but then I remembered that I had to meet my parents today at town hall. I rolled out of bed, almost hitting my bedside table. I got dressed and brushed the tuft of fur on the top of my head. As I was getting myself a bowl for my cereal I noticed that my tablet was flashing, like I had gotten a notification. I went over to it and tapped the screen and it came to life. The notification told me I had a package waiting for me in my mailbox. I assume that's from the VP, I was impressed by how fast it came. I put down the bowl I was holding and walked out the front door. The flag on the mailbox was upright, I walked over and opened the door, removing the package. Once I had done this, the flag went down. It was a decent sized package, a little smaller than I had expected. I closed mailbox door and walked back into my house, and I put the package on my kitchen table.

I found a knife in my drawer and used it to cut the tape that was sealing the package. In it was what I assumed was to be my uniform, there was a plain white button up collared shirt, a brown blazer and matching brown pants, black flats, and two tiny boxes. One contained a pair of cufflinks and the other a fountain pen with a set of instructions. I looked at the clock, I was running out of time, so I packed the box back up. To hide it from anyone who was to come into my house, I removed a ceiling tile and put the package in the attic. I went back to the bowl that I left on the counter and took a box of cereal out of the cupboard. I poured and into the bowl and returned the box. I walked over to my the kitchen table and put the bowl on the placemat in front of my chair. I went back to the fridge and grabbed the carton of milk. I grabbed a spoon from the drawer and went back to my chair. I quickly ate my cereal. Once I was finished I put my bowl in the dishwasher and returned the milk to the fridge. I walked back to my room, grabbing my portable hole and the keys to my house. I walked out the front door and locked it. I then teleported to toontown central playground.

I arrived right in front of the loopy lane tunnel. I turned around and started to make my way to town hall. I walked over the bridge that went over the pond and walked around the gazebo in the middle of the playground. I walked up the steps to the raised portion of the playground, passing toon HQ, the bank, and library. I walked through the front door of toon hall. My parents were standing in the front foyer. My dad was facing away from me and my mom facing my direction but not looking directly at me. My father was discussing something important, judging by the fact it took a couple of minutes for her to notice me. She pointed me out to my dad and he turned around.

"Oh, guess she did decide to come, he said to my mom, facing me he continued. Let's get this over with we have lots of important resistance work to do, unlike you."

"Nick! Said my mother, leave the poor girl alone, at least she's trying. I heard she tried to solo a factory, didn't you Bubbles."

Yes, I thought they aren't suspicious at all. "yeah I did, i replied, but I failed."

"Well of course you failed, my dad said, your gags are at level 4 at the best, and your best gag is a whole fruit pie. Go with a group next time, it will be safer"

"You father does have a point, my mother added, we both would be happy to take you through the factory"

"we would?" My father asked looking at my mother, she jabbed him in the ribs. "Ouch!, he said as he rubbed his side, I mean yeah we totally would."

"No, its cool, I replied, it was kinda boring."

"I give up, my father said, looking to my mother, she is never going to help the resistance. Hopefully moving her will help."

Just then a grey cat walked into the room, coming from behind a door with the label toon housing on the front. "Nick, Julia, Bubbles you all can come in now"

"ah Charlotte, good timing, we were just talking about it."

We followed that cat into the room, it was smallish, with a desk in the middle. On the left of the table was one chair and the left there was three. On the very back wall was a window that looked out onto the playground.

" please sit down," Charlotte said, gesturing to the three chairs.

"Ok, my father said as he sat down on the rightmost chair, let's get this over with"

I sat down on the chair closest to the door, which left my mother taking the middle chair.

"Ehh, said Charlotte, you really aren't going to like what I am going to tell you. Your request to move your daughter from a private estate to a shared estate has been….. denied"

"WHAT, my dad said angrily, how was it denied? I demand to know"

"Nick! my mom said, don't yell at the poor cat. It's not her fault"

"I know, replied my father, it's just frustrating, that's all"

"If I may interrupt, Charlotte said, I can tell you why it was denied"

"Fine then, my father replied, we're listening"

"ok, Charlotte started, your request was denied for this simple reason, it's not fair."

"Not fair? My father interrupted. We do far more for the toon resistance that most of the population, so how is this little request unfair?"

"If you let me continue I'll tell you, Charlotte said, a tone of annoyance in her voice, usually shared estates are sold to toons that can't quite afford the bigger private estates. Usually, a toon moves into a bigger estate once they have made more money. Then those estates are resold so that more toons can afford housing. If we were to let your daughter into one of these shared estates, we would have to turn away a toon who really needs the cheaper housing. I don't think that's fair, do you?"

I was my turn to speak, "I agree, I don't think that's fair"

"Of course you do, my dad retorted, you've hated this idea from the start."

Just then there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Charlotte said, and the door opened revealing Flippy.

"Hi, umm, Nick, Julia, I have some err, news regarding the anti cogism act."

"News?, My father asked, what kind of news Flippy?"

"is it bad? My mother asked concerned, was someone actually caught breaking it?"

There was a pause, my parents both looking expectantly at Flippy, and Flippy looking right back at them. He looked as though he was trying to think of how best to break whatever news he had to my parents.

"Yes, Flippy said, two reports were filed of toons found breaking the act. A cat by the name of Miss Fancy Petalbubble and a duck by the name of Lucky."

"Great, my father said to my mother, can this day get any worse"

"don't jinx it," my mother said. She then looked at Flippy, "has any of this information been released to the public yet?"

"No, replied Flippy, but that's one of the things I came to ask about, should we release it yet?"

"No, my father said as he stood up, alerting the public will put everyone into a state of panic. Who knows how much information has gotten into the hands of the cogs."

"I agree, my mother said, alerting the public will only make the situation worse."

"Ok, that's kind of what I thought you would say, we should probably continue this discussion in my office, said Flippy"

"Continue, you mean there's more?! My father asked.

Flippy nodded.

"I told you not to jinx it," my mother said also standing up, looking at my father. She looked back at Flippy "I believe we are done here, she said so we can go."

"yes let's, my father replied before someone comes and gives us even more bad news."

With that, my father and Flippy walked out the door and my mother moved to follow them. Before she left the room, she turned back and said

"Thanks, Bubbles for coming, I know that one day you'll find out where your place is in the toon resistance, it'll just take time."

With that, she left the room. "Those two do so much for the toon resistance, Charlotte said, that must be a lot to live up to"

"yeah, I replied going to the door, it definitely is"

I walked out of town hall and out onto the playground. There was a worried feeling creeping up on me and I knew exactly what had caused it. I walked into the library, wanting to look up the anti cogism act. I found the act in the toon lawbook. Toontown didn't have many laws, especially after 2003, but we still had to have something to keep the population in line. It was a newish law, probably was passed in my last year of school. That's probably why i had never heard of it, I never did listen in class. The law was as follows: It is criminal offence to interact, befriend, work for, or ally oneself with the cogs or known cogs supporters, as well as researching them for any reason outside the use of battle, without permission from the toon council. Great, I thought as I left the library, the toon council would be on high alert, now that they found that toons were actually breaking one of the most important laws in the book. Man those toons must have been sloppy, I thought as I went back to my estate.

I looked over to the planters that surrounded my house. I guess I should harvest and replant those before I got to anything else. Grabbing my gloves, gold shovel and watering can, I walked to the planters that were placed around my house. I harvested the dilly lilies one by one, replanting them as I went along. I was super close to maxing gardening, only 90 points to go, which would be equivalent to 9 more days. I was going to get one of those toon statues to put in my garden, but you need to master the 8 bean flower before you could. I got up from the last pot took of my gardening gloves and put on my normal white ones on. I washed of the shovel in the pond and left it leaning on my house to dry. I went back to my house and returned the watering can and gloves.

My gaze wandered to the loose ceiling tile in which I put the package from the VP. I decided to go through it and read the letter that came with the pen. I got up and walked over to the far corner of my room. I brought a stool and stood on it, opening the ceiling tile and taking the box down. I walked over to my desk, sweeping the crayon shavings into the garbage can, and put the box down. I opened the box and took the small box with the pen and opened it. I took the letter and closed it putting it back into the big box. Before I unfolded the letter I looked back and listened for a moment, still paranoid about anyone listening in. Once I was sure there was no unwanted company, I opened the letter. There were two pieces of paper, the first one read

Miss Bubbles Wildspeed,

On your first day of work you are to report at 8:00 o'clock sharp to Jessica's apartment. There you will be given a tour of your living space and a tour of where you will be working. On any other day you are to arrive at 8:45. Jessica lives in apartment #589, and she will be waiting on the roof for you to arrive.

Signed The Vice President of sales.

"Go and make that sale!"

Well, that's nice to know, I thought, I'm glad I read that now if I had waited until tomorrow the results could have been disastrous. The second letter read.

How to use the pen

Step one, make sure you are in a wide open space outside

Step two Secure a grip on the pen with both hands

Step three, press the button on the top, state your desired destination and retain grip until you have been delivered

Those seemed like simple enough instructions, I thought, that is kinda ingenious the whole pen propeller thing. The nice thing is that it would be very portable. I folded the letter back up and put it back in the box. Moving the box to the side, I decided to get some things ready for the next day. I got the least toony backpack I could find and brought it to the table. I packed up my tools and all of the miscellaneous spare parts. As I was doing this I felt something hitting the back of my left leg, which made me jump. I looked down and realized that my miniature cog goon had walked into my office. I picked it up and disabled it using a switch on the bottom. I examined it in the palm of my hand, debating whether to bring it along or not. This was the reason I had a job, to begin with, as I used it as sort of a test dummy on my work. I shrugged, putting the goon in the bag, it wouldn't hurt I thought to bring it along. I was going to leave everything in Jessica's apartment, even my uniform because if I was searched I would be ready. Can't charge me with anything if they can't find any evidence. Going over to my closet I got a simple outfit composed of a red shirt and skirt. Folding it up, i put it into the bag, I was going to wear it back tomorrow night. I turned around, looking at all the plans strewn about the room. This was going to take a while to pack, I better get started on it now.

[god-of-lust-negan]

A wild piece of life Chapter 3 (College!Negan x reader)

Characters: Reader, Mom, Dad.

Summary: Your family is forced to sell their items and house for some money to buy a small house. You however…how would your life be in a the new college you’re going?

Warnings: none really, just a happy chapter.

This is part of @embracetheapocalypsewithme ’s challenge. Honestly this is so much fun, I’m glad I did this!

Alright, back to the show! I am sorry for my grammar usage, I promise to improve for future entertainment, of course if you want me to.

You opened the last of your boxes that was set in your room. You’d never thought this day would come where money has ruined your family and your happiness. You sigh and sat on the bed, taking a quick break. From the silence you can hear your mother complaining about the new house. Was she complaining when she first saw your father? That’s all you hear from her mouth. Complain after complain, will she ever shut up? Will nothing ever make her happy?

You heard a knock om the door and you turn your head to see your father in the doorway, “Hey, kiddo. Mind if I come in?” He asked. You shook your head and he walked inside, sitting next to you. It was silent once again.

Now you both heard the complaints from the woman in the living room.

Aside from that, you hear a light chuckle from your father. You couldn’t help but turn to him and ask, “What’s wrong?”

He continued to chuckle until he took a deep breath, “…Sorry. It’s just…it’s seems crazy you know?…I remember coming in to your room when you were 5, that was one night I was so glad to be with you…after that, I couldn’t give you company as a father but as a guardian…it seems 15 years later I have time now to hang out with you…”

You stared into his eyes, the same eye color as yours, you also obtain his intelligence and his common sense.

He wrapped his arm around you and pulled you onto his side, “I missed this…which is why I did what i did.”

Your eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion, “What…did you do?”

“Now sweetheart, please, I only did this for all of us-”

“What.did.you.do?” You say one word at a time as you pulled away from him with a stern expression.

He sighed and ran his hand through his grey and brown hair, “I uh…I gave up my position as CEO of Grace.”

Your eyes widen in shock, “….w-what….”

“Between my wife’s happiness and yours…I thought yours was more important…you see, your mother made me work all the time for her sake…all she wanted me to do was make money and hand it over for her. She was happy and so was I, but after you were born I was incredibly happy…no, genuinely happy…I wanted nothing more but to see that beautiful smile of yours. That night you were 5, you gave me relief, for such a young mind like yours, it’s as if you were the most mature person I know.”

He wanted to bring back a normal life in exchange for the luxuries he build for many years. You felt horrible, guilty even. “I’m sorry…but…this was my chance to be happy…to be a teacher.”

He chuckles once again and pulled you in a hug, “You naive you!” And he started to laugh. “You can get a degree for teaching anywhere. It doesn’t matter about the money!”

“Huh?!” You were so confused from the statement, “B-but mother-”

“Your mom lied so she can persuade you on going to one of the most expensive schools and brag to her friends. You can easily ace it now. It’ll be easier.” He smiled.

You were still confused, not knowing where this came from. It was all so weird to hear this. What the hell happened?

“So don’t stress, everything it’s going to be fine, on the other hand…” he looked out the door from your room, “Your mother is going to have a huge grudge on me, so let’s keep this a secret, okay?”

You speechlessly nodded and hugged him, tightly like you never done before in your life. It was one of those hugs that released all of your gratefulness to someone and that person felt it, like he felt how you feel without saying a word.

“Thank you, Daddy.”

He kissed your cheek and smiled against your cheek, “Anything for my little princess.”

 Dinner went horrible, your mother did not know how to cook. Since you were alone most of your life, the chefs and maids helped you with breakfast, lunch and dinner. You always asked them you could help, the young chefs were always trying to shoo you away but the main chef, Bartolio, had seen something within you. He thought it would be great for you to know how to cook. 

 One day you walked in the kitchen ans scanned the room, your eyes lit up once you saw him and skipped to him, “Can I help?” You chirped happily after tugging on his apron. He was not wearing a chef’s uniform. He wore a light grey button up shirt and a dark grey vest with a white apron on top of it. His sleeves were rolled up and his hair was slicked back. He looked at you and smiled, “Why yes, little angel. Come come, let me get you a stool okay?” He then ordered one of the young chefs to bring a stool and right away he brought it.

 Bartolio helped you on it and smiled at you. He was always so kind. You looked on the counter and looked at the dough, “Whatcha making?” You asked curiously.

 "Pizza.“ He grinned and raised your arm, rolling the sleeves up. He did the same with the other and took a quarter of the dough, the right side for you to knead and placed it in front of you. 

 "Before you knead, you must cover your hands with some powder and on the board, like this.” He took some powder and rubbed it on the board and padded some on your tiny hands. “Now. Follow my moves.” He began kneading the bigger piece and you repeated the same moves he did. 

 Those memories meant a lot to you, thanks to him he taught you how to survive with very little food and how to make a meal from very little. So here you are in the kitchen, making homemade pizza.

 In the dining table, your father and mother were seated. They forgot they didn’t have enough money to hire a maid and your mother started sipping on her wine, “I hope your happy, Hert, we are going to STARVE to death.” She smacked at and he took a deep breath.

 "Margaret, I seriously don’t want to hear you right now, you’ve given me headaches.“ He sighed and drink his whiskey. Not even the table was set up.

 "And what is this girl doing?” She scoffed, “I swear this girl brings nothing but trouble.” She heard the plates rattling.

 "Don’t you EVER insult my baby girl, Marge. I won’t tolerate that ever. Or do I have to bring up what happened 17 years ago?“ He glared at her and it was a staring contest for a few seconds before she scoffed again, "You wouldn’t.” And she was right. 

 You walked out of the kitchen and placed the plates on the table, “Dinner is going to be served.” You smiled.

 "Ha! Dinner? What do you know about cooking?“ Your mother Insulted you.

 You clenched your jaw and snapped at her, "More than you, I’m making homemade pizza, unless you want to STARVE to death.” You mocked and she glared at you, shooting daggers at you. 

 "I am your mother, you don’t speak to me like that.“ "Then don’t give me a reason to mock you, at least I know basic surviving skills, all you know is shoes that have been made from a cheap bastard that sells them for thousands of dollars.” And you left when you heard the beeping of the stove.

 A couple minutes later you came back with the pizza, placing it in the middle.

 You looked at your father who almost drooled at it, “Well, let’s up.” You smiled and took a piece for yourself. Your father was next to take a piece and biting into it, “Mmm.” He closed his eyes, savoring it. Your smile got bigger from your father’s reaction. 

 "Tastes just how Bartolio made it.“ And took another bite off of it. You looked at your mother, "I cut them to smaller pieces for more, it’s the right portion how you like your food. It’s got vegetable as well as pepperoni. It’s basically healthy, I didn’t use a lot of oil.”

 "But you used oil-“ 

 "Mother…please, just a bite." 

 She scoffed and hesitated to take on, staring at it, "Only because I’m hungry.” And she took a careful bite from it. You smirked to yourself as you ate your piece.

Hi guys I am back! Sorry that was a Long time but I was in Mexico and well I did not have internet. I did manage to get three chapters written (6th is tricky because some sh%t happened.) So now that I am back, I need to proofread it, edit some things and then post! Thank you for reading, REBLOGGING (seriously that means a lot to me that my stories are being noticed and read oh brings a big smile on my face.)

[hookedonapirate]

Tangled Up In Blue

(Chapter 20/?)   Emma's baby shower

Summary: Fear for her unborn child, a bruised and broken Emma Swan is determined to escape an abusive marriage. After she drives a long way from home to a small town in Maine, she doesn't think her life could get more complicated... that is until she ends up falling for her OBGYN, a blue-eyed British man who's shielded his heart from love long ago. But he may be just what she needs to begin her healing process and start a new life for her child. If only nothing gets in the way.

Notes: I'm so sorry it took so long to update. I got caught up in other things and had to update my other stories. In case you didn't see, I started posting deleted scenes of this story and I'm accepting prompts, so let me know if there's any scenes you would like me to add. Hope you enjoy!

*TRIGGER WARNING* Mentions and depictions of physical and verbal abuse/domestic violence towards a pregnant woman.

Chapter trigger warning includes brief mention of implied adultery between minor characters

Rated: M

Catch Up: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Deleted Scenes: 1 2

Also available on: AO3 FF.N

34 Weeks...

Emma sighed in frustration, placing her hands on her belly as she stood in the full-length mirror, studying her reflection. She was wearing a short navy blue gown that had an extra layer of sheer lace on top and ribbon tied into a bow just above her protruding stomach. She liked the dress but she hated how she looked in it. Her breasts and belly were so huge, she was afraid that people were going to think she had stolen a basketball and a couple of melons. And her legs and feet were so swollen, she could barely fit into her blue flats. She looked and felt like a whale or a manatee to say the least. This morning, especially.

She was sure that her baby had climbed upwards, her breasts seemed to be more swollen and proud than normal, or maybe she was just imagining it. Either way, her cleavage was threatening to spill out, no matter how she adjusted the dress. And to top it off, there was a huge purple blemish that her boyfriend had left behind during their throes of passion the other day, but only a small portion of it was showing. A tiny smile pulled at her lips at the memories, her cheeks filling with blush. Maybe she should just change.

“Bloody gorgeous…”

A low, husky voice cooed as she felt a pair of warm arms wrapping around her and warm lips on her neck, leaving soft kisses. “...And sexy.” She instantly surrendered to him, fluttering her eyes shut as she revelled in his kisses and caresses of her body. His lips moved to her collarbone, his hands gravitating to her pregnant belly. “...And beautiful.”

“And huge,” she added, biting her lip at his attempts of making her melt into a puddle of goo.

Killian lifted his head and she opened her eyes to see his bright blue ones staring at her reflection in the mirror. “You are anything but huge, sweetness,” he assured her with soothing words. He lifted his hand and pulled away the neck of her dress to reveal the love bite underneath. “Although you do have quite the mark on your chest,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, I think I'm going to change.” His eyebrows furrowed together.

“Why would you do that? You look fetching in this dress.” He lifted a brow, a devious smirk spreading across his lips. “Although it will look better on our bedroom floor when I take it off of you tonight.”

Emma rolled her eyes, blush filling her cheeks. “As much as I like the sound of that, I don't think I'm going to feel the least bit sexy after the baby shower.”

“That's okay, love. I'm still drawing you a bath and giving you massages either way. I just want to make you feel as comfortable as you can.” He burrowed his face into the crook of her neck, peppering tender kisses and wrapping her arms snugly around her belly. “But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the lovely view,” he smirked against her skin.

Emma's heart fluttered inside of her chest. He always knew how to make her feel better. “Still, I should change. I don't want people seeing this, and my dress is not doing a very good job at hiding it.”

“Can't you cover it up with some makeup, love? It doesn't even look that bad. In fact I like the idea of people knowing that you're taken,” he teased playfully.

Emma laughed. “Yeah and I'll just tell them who put it there.”

Killian’s smile grew wider as though he wasn't opposed to the idea. “Hmm, you better watch it, love, before I leave another one…” Emma quivered as she felt his index finger on the pulse point of her neck, “...right here.” He removed his finger and started kissing and massaging his tongue over the same spot before drawing it gently into his mouth. Emma's breath stuttered, her eyes closing briefly.

“I'll just show up to the baby shower with hickeys all over my body.” She shuddered at the thought of having his lips all over her, arousal pooling in her core.

Killian released the skin of her neck with a sucking sound. “Mmmm, I'd be happy to make that happen. But we have to be there in fifteen minutes.”

Emma huffed, the naughty thoughts in her head quickly shot down. She didn't realize it was that time already. She was not prepared for this.

~~~

They surprisingly made it to the party in time, driving separate vehicles. Killian left before Emma while she attempted to cover her love bite with makeup. It was still showing, but the color was much more faded so she deemed it acceptable. She still couldn't believe that just a year ago she was covering up bruises on her face from her violent husband and now she was covering up love bites from her overly affectionate boyfriend. It felt so surreal how happy she was and how much Killian loved her and she doubted that it would ever cease to surprise her.

Emma arrived at the diner with a tentative smile on her face as she scanned the room. The Nolans had closed it for the shower and the whole place was decorated in jungle themes. And there were so many people, she was sure that the whole town of Storybrooke had been invited. Emma gulped thickly, her stomach full of butterflies. She wasn't expecting so many people. She thought it would be mostly females and a few male stragglers who tagged along but that was not the case. There were many of her regular customers who had seen her belly gradually grow bigger over the months. There was a pretty equal balance of both genders, which was a bit of a relief. No one would question why her former male OBGYN was there. He definitely would not be out of place and maybe that was Mary Margaret's intention.

Mary Margaret and David were the first ones to greet her with warm hugs.

“Thank you both so much for this, it looks amazing.”

“Hey, it was our pleasure,” Mary Margaret told her with a beaming smile.

“Well, she did most of the work, I only followed instructions,” David chuckled as he came behind Emma and removed her jacket from her shoulders. “I'll take this for you.”

“Thanks David,” she said appreciatively before he left to hang up her jacket on the coat rack.

“Yeah, I kind of went a little overboard. I know you said you didn't want very many people but I just couldn't help myself.”

“It's okay, I understand your tactics,” Emma smirked, winking at her.

Mary Margaret blushed, knowing that she was caught as she took Emma's hands in hers. “Well, I know you both still have to hide your relationship but I wanted Killian to be able to be here for you.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that,” Emma murmured, smiling at her friend. “Killian is going to be in my baby's life and I want him to be there for everything.”

The brunette’s smile widened. “So he's going to help raise the baby?”

“Yeah, we had the conversation last week,” Emma explained, biting her lip. “He told me he loved me.”

Mary Margaret's mouth opened, her eyes bugging out with excitement. “Did you say it back?”

Emma smiled sheepishly and nodded. “I did.”

She could have sworn her friend was about to burst into a million pieces as she clapped her hands together. “Oh Emma, I'm so happy for you. You and your baby deserve to be happy and safe. I just hope that bastard husband does something stupid, not towards you or your son of course, but I hope he ends up in jail.”

Emma smiled weakly. She hoped it would be that simple, but she highly doubted it. “Me too.”

“What's going on?” David asked as he came back, a confused expression on his face when he saw how excited his wife was.

“Killian and Emma are in love,” she replied quietly. “They're raising the little duckling together.”

Emma braced herself for how David might react. She knew that he had warmed up to her boyfriend, but she didn't know how much.”

A slow smile crept over his lips, melting away her fears. “That's a relief.” The two women gazed at him in confusion and David looked at Emma with apologetic eyes as he continued. “It's just good to know that he's genuinely looking out for the two of you,” he confessed with a sigh. “I admit that at first I was worried that his motives were less than chivalrous. But I see now that I was wrong. I may have judged him a little too quickly and I want to apologize for that.”

Emma smiled and gave him a hug. “It's okay, you're forgiven.” She had never held anything against him for that. He had quickly become a protective father-figure to her, despite the fact that he was the same age. “I knew you were just looking out for me. And I want to thank both of you. I really appreciate all that you've done for me.” Emma said as she opened her small purse that was around her shoulder and pulled out two tickets, handing them over to David. “So with some help from Killian, I was able to plan you both a trip as a thank you for everything you've done for me and my baby.” He and Mary Margaret scanned them before looking up at her.

“Two flights to Paris?”

“Yes. And Killian and Liam's parents have a condo there they use for vacations that they were so kind to let you stay in for ten days. I know you want to be here for when the baby comes so I've booked the tickets in February. That gives you plenty of time to find someone to take over the Bed and Breakfast while you're gone and make other arrangements. Just picture spending Valentine's Day with the view of the Eiffel tower,” Emma said with an encouraging smile. She didn't expect very promising results, she knew that Mary Margaret wasn't too keen on leaving for a week, let alone out of the country, but she and Killian thought that this would be a great opportunity to give them plenty of space away from their business and the town. And she was glad that Killian’s parents happily agreed to letting them stay in their condo. He explained to them that they were like family to Emma and she wanted to do something special for them.

“Emma, this is really sweet but we couldn't possibly accept these,” Mary Margaret said softly. “You need all of the money you can get for the baby.”

“It's not a problem. Killian redeemed his frequent flyer miles that he earned from flying back and forth from England to the States, so the tickets were really cheap. Please, you both deserve this. And I'm not taking no for an answer.”

They were both in shock as they both looked at one another, exchanging unspoken words before reverting their gaze back to Emma. “I don't know, Emma. I just think we could do something smaller. Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely.”

David let out a slow sligh in defeat. “What do you think honey, should we do this?”

Much to her surprise, a wide smile crawled across Mary Margaret's lips. “Are you kidding? We get to go to spend Valentine's Day in Paris. Emma, I don't even know what to say.” The brunette gave Emma hug, squeezing her so tight, she couldn't breathe. “Thank you so much.”

“You're welcome,” Emma managed a laugh.

“And you… thank you too.” Emma eyed her in confusion, but then Killian came from behind her and wrapped the brunette in a hug.

“Yes, thank you, Killian,” David chimed and Emma was thrown for a loop when he hugged him.

“You're welcome. You both deserve it.”

“Why am I always the one who misses out on the family hugs?”

Emma looked behind her to see James and Rosabell approach them holding hands. “You're just always fashionably late, that's all,” Emma teased him as she turned around and hugged him. He let go of the doctor's hand to wrap his arms around Emma, kissing her cheek.

“Hey Em. How's the little duckling of yours?” James asked as they pulled apart.

“He's doing fine,” Emma replied, putting her hands on her belly. ”I take it things are going well for the two of you?” she asked with a smile as James put his arm around the other blonde.

“Very well,” Rosabell responded. “I want to thank you by the way. James is really sweet.”

James grinned smugly and Emma laughed. “He has his moments.”

“So where's your boyfriend?” Rosabelle asked her as Killian finished his conversation with the Nolan couple and stood beside Emma.

“Oh, he couldn't make it. He had to work.”

Her face scrunched up in confusion. “He couldn't make it to your baby shower? He of all people should be here.”

“Well, I mean he's not the baby's father, so he wasn't obligated to come,” Emma attempted, but she was sure that Rosabell wasn't buying it. She would be so glad when she didn't have to lie to people anymore.

“And what about you?” Rosabell asked Killian as she averted her gaze to him. “Where's your girlfriend? I was hoping to meet her.”

Killian scratched behind his ear, the tips of them turning red as he attempted a reply. “She couldn't be here either.” He glanced at Emma, his cheeks brushed with red and she could tell he was trying to hide the guilty look on his face. He was sure she had the exact same look. God, this whole thing was a terrible idea.

Rosabell glanced between them both, suspicion in her eyes. Emma’s heart was pounding, she was sure they were caught. After what felt like forever, she finally spoke. “Well, maybe next time then?”

They both sighed heavily in relief.

“Yes, definitely next time you will meet her,” Killian replied.

The four of them talked some more and Emma did her best to contain her feelings for her boyfriend. Being next to him and not being able to touch him or kiss him drove her mad.

“Em! Long time, no see!” Emma turned around at the familiar voice. It was Ruby with her arms open wide. She eyed Emma's belly before giving her a hug. “You're so much bigger compared to the last time I saw you.”

“Gee thanks,” Emma laughed. “How are you?”

“I'm fine,” Ruby replied as they broke the hug and her voice was reduced to a whisper. “How are things with you and your hot doctor?” she asked with a mischievous smirk and a wink.

Emma blushed and looked behind briefly her to make sure no one was around. The others had drifted off within the crowd, talking to other guests as they enjoyed some cake and punch. “We’re doing well… really well actually.”

“Oh, I owe you an apology by the way. I'm so sorry I started the rumor about Killian and Tink, I didn't mean to cause any trouble, it just slipped out in the moment.”

“It's okay, honestly. We worked things out.”

“I'm so glad. And I'm really happy for you and Killian.” She leaned in, speaking in a mischievous voice. “It must be nice having a boyfriend who knows his way down there.”

Emma's cheeks were hot with red as her mouth opened in shock. “Ruby!” Although she shouldn't really be surprised. The woman had no filter.

“What? I'm just saying. Some guys act like finding a woman's g-spot is like trying to get into Fort Knox.”

Emma was blushing profusely as Mary Margaret approached them. “Hey Rubes, what are you telling Emma that's making her face turn into a tomato?”

“Oh I was just saying how lucky Em is to have an OBGYN as a boyfriend,” she said quietly to keep out prying ears.

Emma rolled her eyes.

“So have you picked out a name for the baby yet?”

“No, not yet. I just haven't decided on one,” Emma happily replied, glad that Ruby had changed the subject as her eyes scanned the room, falling upon Regina and her father.

Emma chatted with Ruby a few minutes longer before greeting Regina and Henry. She updated them on what was going on with Neal and couldn't help but notice that Regina seemed awfully distracted. She was gazing across the room, with eyes that looked like they would turn an unlucky target into a puff of smoke. She imagined it was similar to how she had glared at Rosabell and Killian back when they were dancing together at her birthday party.

“Are you alright, sweetheart?” Henry asked his daughter, concerned.

“Yeah, I'm fine, Daddy,” she murmured, never breaking the death stare on her target.

Emma looked behind her to see who Regina was glaring at. It was Robin and Marion and their newborn, Roland. She recognized the skinny brunette from when she would stop into the diner with her friends and every once and while Robin was with her. Now she remembered why he looked so familiar the day she walked to Regina's office. He was the same man who walked by wiping off his mouth as if he were removing lipstick. Emma was surprised by what was obviously taking place between them.

She was also surprised when she saw Gold there, who didn't really talk to anyone but seemed to be lurking around. Belle wasn't even there with him, she was at home waiting to go into labor. Emma had an unsettling feeling in her gut at his presence. She decided to get a glass of punch and make her way around the room, other guests greeting and congratulating her. Mary Margaret encouraged her to sit and relax but Emma wanted to thank everyone who came. And every so often her eyes would find Killian who flashed her a smile, his sparkling baby blues saying what his lips could not.

“Hi lass.”

She turned around to see Liam and Cordelia and hugged them both, congratulating them on the news of the pregnancy. Meanwhile, she tried not to blush, remembering the incident in the kitchen the other morning when Liam had walked in on Emma and Killian in a compromising position. Thankfully their activities were hidden behind the island counter and Liam hadn't seen anything.

“Thank you, Emma. We’re really excited,” Cordelia said. “Maybe after you have the baby you could give me some tips about pregnancy?” she suggested playfully. Emma smiled at that. She looked forward to bonding with Liam's wife, seeing as she was going to be apart of their lives. Emma knew that would certainly make Killian happy, especially if the two of them had play dates with their babies, but Emma tried not to get ahead of herself. That was still miles ahead and anything could happen by then.

“Of course. You can even borrow my Expectant Mother books if you want,” Emma told her.

They talked for a bit longer before she refilled her punch and continued to make her rounds. She spotted Killian and started to make her way towards him when someone stood in front of her, blocking Emma’s path. It was the sheriff and he was in his uniform along with an unfamiliar man standing next to him with curly brown hair and, unsurprisingly, blue eyes.

“Sheriff Booth… how are you? Any luck finding Neal?”

“Unfortunately, no sign of him or the yellow Volkswagen, but don't worry, we will. He can't hide forever.”

Emma's heart dropped in her chest. How could one person be so hard to find, especially when he was driving around in her bug that undeniably stood out in this small town? Maybe he went back to Tallahassee? Maybe he saw how happy she was and decided to let her live in peace? Yeah right. That would never happen.

“Emma, I want you to meet my new deputy. This is Graham Humbert. He just moved here to Storybrooke a week ago. Graham, this is the lovely Emma I've told you about.”

The deputy flashed her a charming grin and took her hand, lifting it to his lips and pressing a kiss to her skin. “At your service malady.” He spoke with an accent that was different from Killian's and Liam's. Maybe Irish? Emma looked in between the two men and saw Killian, his jaw clenching at what he was witnessing. Emma smiled tentatively at Graham as he finally released her hand.

“Nice to meet you.”

“I got you a gift for the lad,” he said holding up a blue gift bag.

“Oh, thank you. The gifts go on the table over there,” Emma told him with a polite smile, pointing towards the decorated table that held a mountain of presents atop of it.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a box of animal crackers. “I also got these... for you.”

“Oh…” Emma muttered, not sure of what to think about that. “That's thoughtful of you.” She accepted the box of crackers as her eyes darted to August, seeing the conspiring look in his eyes before their walkie talkies went off.

“Don't worry Humbert, I got it,” August assured his deputy, and Emma could have sworn he winked at Graham before he disappeared.

The deputy looked nervous as he ran his hand through his hair, fumbling for words. “So… uh… August tells me you’re pretty new to Storybrooke as well?”

“Yeah, I moved here about four months ago,” she replied, but was more interested in her boyfriend who was sitting in one of the booths across the diner, jealousy piercing his eyes.

“He uh… he also told me you left your husband recently?”

Emma reverted her eyes to the deputy, glaring at him. “Yeah, he was an abusive drunk,” she replied shortly.

“Sorry to hear,” he murmured, still fishing for words. He looked like he was sweating bullets. “Listen, I know it's probably too soon for you but I was thinking maybe we could grab some coffee sometime?”

“Did you miss the part about me being pregnant? I mean you did buy my baby a gift, remember?” Emma asked him, her words laced with irritation.

“I know, but I have no problem with that. And just because you're having a baby doesn't mean you can't have a cup of coffee.”

“Look, it's very sweet of you to ask but I'm actually already taken,” she told him in the nicest way possible.

His face fell in disappointment. “Oh. I'm sorry… August said that you weren’t seeing anyone.”

Obviously the sheriff didn't get the memo about her pretend boyfriend.

“It's okay. I'm flattered though, considering I'm eight months pregnant and getting hit on by a handsome Irishman,” she laughed.

The deputy blushed. “Well, your pregnancy hasn't taken away your beauty, believe me,” he said with a sheepish smile. “The lad’s very lucky and I wish you and your baby the best,” he told her sincerely. Emma was shocked. She figured the guy was some douchebag trying to get in her pants, because that was what she was used to, but now she could see that he was genuinely a nice guy. And he obviously wasn't staring at her breasts because otherwise he would have noticed the hickey she tried to hide. “If you need anything at all, here's my card,” he said, pulling it out of his jacket and handing it to her.

“Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

After he walked away, Emma looked to the booth where Killian had been sitting, but it was now empty. She went to look for him and searched down the corridor to the restrooms. It was empty but she thought maybe he was in the men's room so she started for the door, but was suddenly being pulled into the Ladies’ room instead.

She let out a gasp as her mouth was being covered and she was gently pressed into the wall, but she realized quickly that it was Killian. “What are you doing in here?” she asked him in confusion when he removed his hand.

“I just wanted to do this...” Killian crashed his lips into hers and she immediately responded, parting her mouth for him and letting his tongue slip in, caressing hers. She melted into the kiss, getting lost as she cupped his cheeks in her hands, his fingers grasping onto her waist.

He broke the kiss, leaving her gasping for air. “And this…” he buried his face in her neck and left soft kisses there. Emma let a moan slip, shivers shooting down her spine as she tilted her head back and fluttered her eyelids shut. The rough stubble against her skin left her aching for him.

“Killian… we shouldn't… we’ll get caught,” she managed breathlessly.

He tore his lips away, kissing her mouth once more. “I know, I just… I saw you from across the room and I've just been dying to kiss you,” he admitted with a smile.

“You looked like you were dying to murder the deputy too,” she laughed.

“No I wasn't,” he argued with a pout.

She looked at him skeptically.

He grinned in surrender. “Okay, maybe a little.”

“Killian, you have nothing to be jealous about. My heart belongs to you.”

“I know, but I still don't like to see men hitting on my Swan.”

“He just asked me out for coffee.”

Killian's brows furrowed together. “He asked you out on a date?”

“Yeah, but I turned him down.”

“Well, you deserve to go on a date, love.”

She arched a brow. “You want me to go on a date with Graham?” she laughed in confusion.

“Not with him… with me. Out in public. What do you say? We can leave town for a few hours where no one knows us, we can go to a nice restaurant and hold hands with everyone watching,” he offered, a hopeful look gleaming in his eyes.

“That sounds amazing,” she breathed with a big smile.

“I thought so too,” he grinned playfully.

“You've got yourself a date mister.” She pulled him in for another kiss that quickly grew heated and he released a growl as she bit his bottom lip. “We should go back to the party before people start looking for us,” she suggested breathlessly as she leaned her forehead on his.

“Aye, good idea.”

They peeled themselves off of each other and Emma peaked her head through the door to make sure the coast was clear, but Liam was there standing in front of it. He turned around to face her. “Are you two trying to get caught? I had to chase a lady down, telling her the restroom was out of order.”

“How did you know we were in here?”

“Because I saw both of you come back here. I saw how my brother reacted watching the deputy flirt with you and so I was looking out to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.”

“Oi, I heard that,” Killian called out.

“Well, thanks for guarding the door.”

“No problem, but I'm not staying here all night.”

Killian left the restroom first and Emma had to use the toilet before she came back to the party. She sat down, opening presents as Mary Margaret took pictures on her phone and Ruby wrote down the names and the gifts they brought so Emma could send them thank you cards later.

Emma opened so many presents, she was glad Killian's home was big enough to store them all. She received a diaper genie, pacifiers, clothes and stuffed animals. Ruby got her a breast pump, making Emma laugh, and James and Rosabell got her a stroller and Liam and Cordelia decided to go all out and get her a bassinet with blankets and onesies that she had knitted. Cordelia told her that when the baby had a name, she would stitch it into the blankets. Mary Margaret and David got her a mobile for the crib they bought her and Emma was almost in tears by the end of opening the presents.

When Mary Margaret handed her Killian's present, she was sure she was going to burst into tears. She removed the bow and slowly opened the package, revealing a large photo album that looked like a fairytale book with flourish lettering engraved on the cover that read ‘Once Upon a Baby’. She opened the album and there were already photos inside. All of her ultrasounds since she moved to Storybrooke. The dates and progress of the baby were included. Emma's eyes stung with the threat of tears. The book had fill-in pages where she could record all of her baby's important milestones. His first crawl, first steps and first words. A tear escaped at the thought of witnessing all of those precious moments and she looked up through blurry eyes. Killian was wearing a warm smile and she desperately wanted to hug and kiss him and just have him hold her in his arms.

Emma smiled and looked around the room, thanking everyone for the presents.

After most of the guests filtered out, Emma was ready to leave, herself. She was utterly exhausted. She had used the restroom several times and just overall felt uncomfortable. The baby had been kicking more than normal and she just wanted to go home and relax with her boyfriend.

“Emma you got another present,” Mary Margaret called out as she came from outside the diner, handing her a small gift bag. “This was left by the door.”

Emma's eyebrows knitted in confusion. “Who's it from?”

“I'm not sure,” the brunette shrugged. “It just has your name on it.”

Killian and James and David and Mary Margaret all stared at Emma while she reached into the bag and pulled out some baby clothes. She smiled as she unfolded a white onesie and held it up.

Her face suddenly turned as white as a sheet and her eyes widened in horror.

“Emma? You alright?” A concerned Killian asked her, seeing the look on her face.

“Let’s see the front,” Mary Margaret encouraged.

Emma swallowed the large lump in her dry throat, unable to speak as she turned the onsie around for them to see. In large, bold blue letters it read ‘Daddy's Boy’.

~~~

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[rissagomes]

A Warrior’s Vow

Genre: Fantasy/Humor

Short Story -Complete

Rating : PG 13.

Wygar has lived through many things, but this latest was the worst of them all. He had lost his family, his friends, became trapped into this alternative realm who was seriously not the best one for his usually sunny disposition (because he was not grumpy, darn it) and now he had lost the last thing that he had left - his little human pet. Now, alone in a very threatening world, Wygar must decide whether he has had enough or if he still has a last quest on him.

Copyright © 2019 by Priscila Gomes Bandeira writing as Rissa Gomes. All rights reserved. This short story or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

 Chapter 1

"Look at this!"

"Aw, he's so cute!"

Wygar Von Greire, the third son from the honorable Von Greire family, scowled at the two humans who were making cooing sounds at him. Cooing sounds! As if he was an infant or some sort of baby animal! His scowl deepened when one of the humans dared to lower itself on the ground and pick him up with its hands.

"Do you have it?" the infant female who held him in its hands asked, and the other one smiled.

"Yes! Yes, I do! Here." Wygar barely had enough time to breathe before one of the females showed the other a pot and, with care, proceeded to slip the two of them slid him into it.

Wygar sighed. It was the third time he had been met with just such a situation since he woke up on that pile of straw, exactly three hours ago. What was it with the human race that they found it that honorable beings such as himself were collectible? Still, a great being such as himself wouldn't find the situation troublesome – maybe annoying, or even irritating at the worst - if he hadn't much worse things to worry about.

So he once again swallowed the desire to explain to those humans that no, he was not 'cute'. What he was was a legendary warrior from the great Ascardia, the land of gods. He was a lugyeri, and an adult one at that, mind you, a being of legends that was temporarily gracing their realm with his imponent presence.

These humans should have been amazed, honored to have been one of the few to be in the presence of a warrior of the lugyeri; they should be bowing, revering him as their better, their superior. They should not be putting him inside a pot made of glass, nor carrying him away from his temporary home and definitely not thinking that he was cute.

Because he was not.

So, the humans were a tad bigger - ok, a lot bigger. The first time he'd seen a human, eons ago, he had been a tad intimidated. After all, it was hard not to be intimidated by beings that were triple, even quadruple your size.

But he hadn't faltered - a warrior of the lugyeri race did not falter, no. They often faced death with a smile on their face, following the brave God of Air and Storms' commands and fighting until either victory or oblivion.

Now, after spending quite some time with his pet human - a tiny female named Nephelle - he found that he no longer thought of them as being threatening.

Well, maybe his pet was a little more threatening. He felt a little pride when he thought of it, as he had mentored his pet into growing both as a magic user and as a fighter. Of course, it was never going to be as good as he was - it was human, after all, even if it did earn a few perks from the Gods, it would always be just a human.

And it didn't even have the advantages that most humans had - while it was bigger than him, it was still tiny close to most humans - which was why he called it his tiny pet.

Nephelle found it funny for some reason - he could remember his pet laughing at him the day he gifted it with an explanation, the silly human. It should have felt honored to have been graced with his presence alone, never mind an explanation - and she dared to laugh at him!

Well, for some reason he didn't feel as offended as he ought to have been... Probably because he felt a certain kinship to it, as Nephelle - much like himself - had soon found itself locked away from its world. No family, no friends, no nothing.

Its laughter felt a bit like a gift itself... Not that he liked his pet. No. It was just...

Yeah, he understood his little pet.

So, maybe that was why he had decided to adopt Nephelle. He admired the way that it never complained of loneliness, even though anyone could easily see it on the way it talked to plants, carved animals, curtains and... well, nothing sometimes. Even he had never resorted to that...

But then again a warrior of the lugyeri race never felt loneliness. It was a weakness that they did not have. Though a proud race, the lugyeri were not afraid to admit their weaknesses – 'the one who resists owning to their faults is owned by them', Wygar remembered Master Kyan, his favorite, saying. During his long life, he had been called many things but never stupid nor coward... Even if it had definitely been stupidity that had led him on this path he threaded right now, on more ways than one.

What had prompted him to interfere, he wondered, even as he glared at the human girls who dared to carry him - him! Of all people! A noble, honored warrior of the Von Greire lineage! He couldn't bear to think of what his antecessors were thinking of him, they must be turning on their graves. He knew his limits - he was barely an inch tall, on a world of giants. Even the little flying things people called birds seemed to be out for him, only giving up - sometimes - when they learned that he, as well, was a master of flight.

He could use air magic - which was proving to be bloody frustrating. Sure, he could whip a tornado or cause a storm, but to what purpose? He would surely be carried away to yet another place or another time.

And he would still be alone.

Not that he cared. A warrior of the lugyeri race was never lonely, not ever. And if he ventured closer to every human village and city - even after being captured in a glass made prison by a couple of particularly nasty humans - well, it wasn't because he was looking for his missing pet.

He didn't care for it at all.

He wasn't missing the sound of her voice as it chattered at nothing at all or the little house that it had built for him. Nor the little chair it had carved, or the little bites of a thing it called cookies that it left for him to find.

He didn't miss it at all. He was used to having little or even nothing, so this wasn't something new.

With a sigh, he stared around himself. The little females were carrying him around a path filled with flowers and there were some blueish lights hanging from the trees. It would be rather pretty and he would have admired the human's ability to make something already beautiful even more striking... if the little females were shaking the glass with every cheery step they gave. He could probably slip away from this place and dodge the humans - for all they were tall, their brains didn't always seem to grow with their sizes, it was almost laughingly easy to slip away through their big fingers and hide away in the grass.

Still, after this long of a hunt, he couldn't help but feel deflated. Yet another village, yet another human, yet no pet.

Where was his pet?

His belly rumbled and he sighed. He knew he was hungry, but had no will to try to leave his glass prison... not yet. Yes, he was a great warrior of the lugyeri race, but he was no longer a youngster. Were him at home, he would have quite a bunch of kids and grandkids to surround him, all begging for tales of his many adventures.

Unbidden, came the images to his head. His little pet loved hearing the stories of his adventures, particularly the ones that involved his lovely Lariah. How was she now, that he had been gone for so many years? Had she married again? Had she beheaded their children in their sleep when she married again, as the custom demanded?

Or had she remained alone to raise their six babies?

She would be able to do either, he knew. Lariah was a force to be reckoned and he wouldn't be surprised to discover that not only had she raised their babies but that she had also been looking for a way to bring him back home.

It wouldn't surprise him if she succeeded.

He watched as the girls reached a place - a place he guessed was their home, as they walked into it with no fear. Laughingly, they ran inside so fast that he couldn't quite take note of his surroundings. Soon, however, they opened a door and arrived at a place he guessed was their bedroom, because it looked a lot like the one his pet tended to call. Their giggles became even louder as they dropped him onto a bed and rushed towards a dresser to revolve inside it, seeming to search for something.

Taking a deep breath, he dropped to the floor. Soon, he promised himself, soon he would venture out and grab some food. He would go to whatever stood for a resting spot for travelers, listen to the music, to the voices, and hope to discover something. A whisper of a name, a voice, maybe even a physical description of someone like it.

Like his pet.

Not that he was missing it, mind you.

After everything that had happened to him, Nephelle had listened to him. It had given him freedom and also, in a way, a home. A place to come back to, that he knew was safe, warm, and that had plenty of food.

Nephelle had kept him safe for so long, he felt like he owed his pet a little something.

Not that he needed Nephelle's help, mind you. He had been completely able to chug along, as he had just been, proving to any who might have doubted him. He was perfectly able to survive without any help.

But Nephelle might not have been. He didn't remember much from that awful night, but he remembered having seen it, he remembered it had been badly wounded... dying.

It smiled at him - a peaceful, accepting smile. He would never forget that sight: he had seen it far too often from his comrades during battles. It was the peace that came with knowing that you had died for something that was right, that was fair. You died for your cause.

He remembered thinking that it was wrong. His pet was a happy little thing, it was rare the moments he caught her staring at nothing, her eyes filling with tears. And when it was sure there wasn't anybody around, it cried.

Of course, he had been around - his little pet was just a human, after all. It didn't have his perception of the ambient, honed by his intense training and the sheer wonder that was being of the lugyeri race. He had been blessed with many gifts, the one of hiding unnoticed and being able to detect another's presence was just one of them.

But he couldn't lie and tell that he didn't feel a bit of pride at witnessing the tears of a warrior - he might even have shed one or two of his own, not that he would ever admit it out loud. It hit him then that he respected Nephelle, one warrior to another.

The fact that she was of an inferior race didn't diminish her feats, quite the opposite, really. And if Nephelle was able to impress him, a great warrior of the Von Greire lineage, she would be able to do great feats indeed.

Determined, he had tried to yell at her. To shout at his pet, telling it to hang on, to keep fighting... but it felt as if the whole world was crumbling around him. The world was melting into nothingness, and he was falling... His last memory of his pet was of her smiling at him, that peaceful, sad little smile of acceptance of its fate.

But it wasn't dead.

He was very sure of it, his little pet wasn't dead. Wygar had to find it so he could see if it was alright, if it needed food, if it had found shelter.

It wasn't dead.

It didn't matter to him that Nephelle was badly wounded, or that they had tumbled into Philtria, the human continent. It didn't matter that he couldn't even calculate how far they had fallen - until he found his pet's body sprawled somewhere, he refused to believe it.

He was going to find his human pet.

But not because he missed it or, the gods forbid, because he was attached to his human pet. It was just a pet, and like he had adopted one he could easily adopt another clueless human.

Still, it wasn't the honorable thing to do - and his pet deserved this. It had been a good pet.

And he was an honorable warrior of the lugyeri race.

He still remembered clearly his mother telling him, with pride in her voice, of all the things she was expecting of him. She would want him to take care of the human pet. So that's what he was going to do.

And to do it, the first thing he had to do was to leave his little haven of glass.

Suddenly bursting with determination, he got to his feet and started to plan for a way of leaving the pot. He could maybe summon a great wind, but chances were that he would be hurt by a shard of the broken glass; if he made it a soft breeze, however...

Breezes were easier to control - not that he had a hard time controlling even the strongest hurricanes, mind you, but as a man grew older he often learned the uses of subtlety and grace.

He had started to prepare a soft breeze when one of the girls slipped its hand inside the pot and grinned even as it surrounded him.

"Look, he's so cute!"

"He's going to look adorable in this!"

It was with a mix of panic and despair that he noticed that, beside him on the bed's surface, carefully displaced, were quite a couple of different clothes. Some were even dresses! When would a warrior such as himself actually lower himself to wearing dresses? What would Lariah say if she ever heard about this?

In a fit of panic, he bit the finger of the girl who was holding him - and inching closer to the dress, the disrespectful little thing - and dashed past her towards what he expected to be the exit.

It wasn't.

Unfortunately, for all of his good plans and smart thinking, he had forgotten a detail – the giant humans would need an equally giant house. Not all of them would be like his gentle pet and create adaptations for the honorable beings of the lugyeri race.

Thanking his lucky stars that the girls didn't have any pets - not that he was scared of them, he was more than able to get rid of them if need be, of course – but it would take time he didn't have. He had just finished crossing the long corridor as the girls started after him, yelling for their parents to catch their 'pet'.

How dare they, name such a dignified being as himself, a pet? If anything, they would have been the pets, had he decided to keep them.

However, as he already had a pet and had no wish for another, Wygar summoned a burst of wind to help him run faster and slide through the crack between the door and the ground. It was with a huge breath of relief that he found himself once again able to explore freely this land of giants.

Philtria. Who would have guessed?

He took a deep breath, suddenly recognizing the mouthwatering scents of a pork roast, accompanied by mashed potatoes and... he'd guess it was red wine. Making a decision, he summoned a stronger air current and allowed it to guide his body towards the scents.

Humans were quite predictable, really. They tended to gather in places where there was plenty of food and drink, and when they gathered they enjoyed talk – not that different from his race, really, though where the great lugyeri would share tales of their battles and adventures, the humans tended to enjoy talking about each other.

Especially if said other wasn't present.

He surely would discover many things in such a gathering, and information was the first step in any successful quest. Surely a human would have noticed his little, wounded pet.

Glancing at the sky, Wygar, the third son of the proud Von Greire line, did something he hadn't done in so long, he had almost forgotten about its existence entirely. He made a warrior vow, hoping the currents of air would carry the noise to Nephelle's ears.

"I'll find you pet. This I do vow."

Continues...

[anavoliselenu]

In flight chapter 14

What came up was overwhelming, and filled with even more unpleasant surprises than I was prepared for. I had been aware that he was a young but well-known billionaire. I had expected some attention from the media in his direction, just from his looks and money alone. But I couldn’t have anticipated what I found.

I was out of touch with current events, to say the least. I didn’t watch the news, and you couldn’t pay me to watch some of the celebrity entertainment shows that were on television, and I certainly wasn’t interested in print tabloids. I’d never understood the appeal of things like that. I had just never been able to relate to anything about them. They usually centered around spoiled rich people, and I just didn’t get the appeal. That could perhaps excuse the fact that I was utterly clueless about the man I’d had a brief affair with.

I clicked on the images portion first. It was mostly shots on red carpets. He seemed to have endless pictures posing with countless women, though Jules was in a sickening majority of them.

He wore tux after tux, some fashion forward, some classic. She wore gowns in every color, always looking beyond stunning. The two of them together made a dauntingly beautiful pair. He wore suits in other pictures, to what I assumed were less formal red carpet events. I was shocked to see that I even recognized some of the other women he had dated.

I recognized a very famous actress. I hadn’t realized she was so tiny until I saw her standing beside Justin’s tall figure. She barely came to his chest. I had liked a few of her films, but I felt an unreasonable rush of dislike for her when I saw that she had attended at least three events with him.

I recognized yet another woman, a voluptuous, dead behind the eyes reality star. She was dark-haired and dark complexioned. Her curves very nearly ran to fat, I decided cattily. She was so short that they looked ridiculous side by side.

I felt sick when I saw him next to one woman who had the caption ‘fetish p*rn star’ right under the picture.

He always looked spectacularly handsome, regardless of who he had on his arm, but I was getting a bigger and drastically different view of him now. And I didn’t like what I was seeing.

Farther down on the image page I saw a picture of him and Jules dressed down in jeans. It was a rare sight, so I clicked on it. I got a larger view, with a small gossip article. They were holding hands in the picture. The article said that she was rumored to be his longtime on-again off-again girlfriend.

I turned on my phone just long enough to send Justin the image.

Selena: You Liar. I’ll speak to you on Monday because I said I would, but I’ve begun to do my research, and I’m quickly seeing that I don’t know anything about you.

I didn’t bother to read the dozen unread messages above the one I had sent him, but I got a response almost immediately, and I did read that.

Justin: Please don’t believe that tabloid garbage. I’ll admit I never discouraged the rumors about Jules being my girlfriend, but they were only rumors. She has never been my girlfriend. She’s my best buddy’s sister. I promise I will never escort her to another event for the rest of my life, but last night was not a date with her. It was a long standing social obligation. If I had tried to put myself in your shoes, I would have seen how hurtful it could look to you. I apologize for that. I would give anything if I could do it differently. But please, just try to give me the benefit of the doubt, and stop looking at tabloids. I’m still in New York working, since you won’t see me, but it’s killing me that I hurt you and that I can’t make it right. I could be on a flight within the hour. Just say the word, love.

I turned my phone off after that. His one message almost had me softening towards him, and I just wasn’t going to let that happen. Fool me once…

I went back to my own personal torture of sifting through gossip about Justin Archibald Basil Cavendish, The Third. I hadn’t even known his middle names, or that he had two of them. A random gossip site had had to tell me. Of course, he didn’t know mine, either.

I found articles about his parents, and even a few pictures. They were a stunning couple. His mother was a dark-haired, dark-eyed, ravishing beauty with Justin’s golden skin and pretty mouth. His father was devastatingly handsome and blond, with beautiful turquoise eyes that made my gut clench with recognition. I could see how such a combination of people could create a masterpiece like Justin.

An article I found about them wrote about how they had died in a car accident. Their tragedy, and a beautiful young Justin, a billionaire before he was even fourteen, had quickly been propelled into the spotlight and romanticized.

I caught little snippets and even a picture of his infamous deceased guardian, and the full details of that scandal. The man was in his early thirties in the first picture. He was handsome, with light brownish-blond hair, like Justin, but a paler complexion. And he was slender to the point of frail, with creepy, pale green eyes. Spencer Charles Douglas Cavendish had been a predator in the skin of a lamb. I felt a hate for him that made bile rise in my throat.

I read the article about his death. Spencer Cavendish had been killed by an enraged lover. One Lowell Blankenship had been drugged and handcuffed by the frail Spencer. Lowell had commented that he had consented to have sex with Spencer, but that he hadn’t agreed to any of the other ‘sick shit’ the man had forced upon him. Spencer had been strangled to death when he had unlocked the handcuffs of the much larger Lowell. I personally thought he deserved a far more painful death.

There were countless other articles about Justin’s numerous business ventures. I just skimmed over these. I did learn that he was into much more than just the hotel industry, and I wasn’t surprised.

I read through a three page article about his two month affair with a platinum hit singer. She was barely nineteen, and it had been less than six months since their split.

Dammit, I have some of her songs on my mp3 player, I thought in disgust. He had his hand on her nape in one of the pictures. I wanted to throw something.

There were a few articles that hinted briefly about him being a kinky sex partner, but that was all that I found that was even close to touching on his BDSM lifestyle. I wondered how he’d kept it so well under wraps.

I turned off my computer, striding into my bedroom and tearing the painting of him from the wall. I tried to make myself tear it up, but I just couldn’t do it. Instead, I put it into my chest of old watercolors.

I turned my phone on again. I ignored all of the new missed calls and texts from Justin. I texted Stephan, asking if I could come over. He answered instantly with a yes.

I went over, and we watched TV and ate too much ice cream. It helped, but as soon as we stopped watching, I started thinking again. That’s how we ended up catching up on my TV until nearly two a.m on a work night. We had an early morning, but Stephan didn’t complain.

“I spoke at length to Justin today,” Stephan told me after we’d been watching TV for hours.

I just nodded.

“Want me to tell you about it?”

I shook my head.

“Okay. Let me know if you do.”

“I need some time. I read up on him online. I’m feeling less inclined than ever to even speak to him again.”

Stephan took a deep breath. “That’s something I wanted to talk about, actually, if you’re willing to hear what I think about the whole thing right now.”

I just studied him for a minute. He looked nervous, which meant I wouldn’t like what he was going to say. “Not right now,” I said.

“I think I can at least understand now why he wanted to keep his relationship with you private.”

I held a hand up. “No more. It sounds a lot like you’re taking his side right now. I just can’t handle that at the moment.” Unwilling tears welled up as I spoke.

He pulled me against his chest, kissing the top of my head. “Never, Buttercup. I’m always on your side. Always. We’ll talk about it when you’re ready.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Mr. Cavendish

I was grateful for busy flights at work the following day. We had full planes going both ways on our turn. I barely had time to eat, and I was avoiding thinking at all costs. I didn’t even have my phone. It was still at home, by my bed, and turned off.

The Agents were present, and I felt a moment of unreasonable anger at them when I first spotted the one in my cabin. I squelched the emotion, just serving them as they alternated cabins on the return flight. I made myself brush off the implication that Justin still had a reason to keep an eye on me. I would set him straight on Monday, and then this nonsense would be over for good.

I was, thankfully, exhausted by the time I got back home that night. I only performed the minimum bedtime preparations before practically falling into bed.

I slept in late the next morning. Even after I woke up, I moved slowly. It took me nearly an hour to prepare and feed myself breakfast.

I felt like a zombie, too numb to even cry. I thought it was an improvement.

Stephan and I had a monthly lunch date with several of the other members of our flight attendant class at eleven. I was skipping out. It was a boisterous, funny, close-knit group. The lunches were always a great time. There were twelve of us in total that went, and we usually caught up with each other over lunch. We often caught a movie afterward or even headed to Stephan’s house, on occasion. I wasn’t up for any of it. Stephan had promised to make my excuses. He had offered to skip out with me, but I wouldn’t hear of it. I knew he was a social creature, and the lunches were always a highlight for him.

I tried to paint. One look at my canvas of a nude Justin changed my mind . I put the painting in my spare room with trembling hands. I just didn’t have it in me to deal with it at that moment.

Finally, I went the masochistic route, turning on my computer again. I set out to do more painful research on my famous ex-lover.

If I had been shocked by what my search had turned up the first time, I was utterly floored by what I found then. What a difference a few days had made.

Now, typing Justin Cavendish into the search engine brought up an entirely new batch of photos that the first search hadn’t. Pictures of me. I had never thought of myself as a beauty. My features were even and symmetrical and my coloring was a soft natural blond, but I had always just considered myself attractive, if I was in a kind mood. I usually photographed well. I even had a picture-ready smile. If it wasn’t all that sincere, it was at least polished and convincing enough at a distance. These weren’t those kinds of pictures.

They had obviously been snapped as I was stumbling out of Justin’s building. I looked disheveled, and, well, horrible. I was ghostly pale, my eyes red and bloodshot. There was mascara running down my face in dark lines. It made me look at least forty years old, instead of twenty-three.

My uniform was in shambles, the buttons of my blouse misaligned by at least three. I hadn’t even noticed at the time. My shirt was untucked, and the top was hanging low, showing an almost obscene amount of cl**vage. My hair was a tangled mess.

I looked like I was drunk and about to throw up in the street. I was teetering on the edge of the sidewalk. Apparently, I had looked as awful as I had felt that night. And the pictures were everywhere. One gossip site after another had scented the story of trouble in paradise. Though they all seemed to have a slightly different slant on it.

One site named me a ‘Vegas floozy’ who had come between Jules and Justin, though the site claimed that their love would endure the scandal. I saw that they were commonly referred to on the gossip sites as J&J. It made me want to throw up.

One site called me a ‘Low Class Inflight’, who had broken the heart of a distraught Jules. That one hurt, with side by side pictures of the two of us. The picture of Jules showed her in the pale gray gown she’d been wearing that night, giving a stiff smile at the camera. She looked strained, but at least she’d known she was being photographed. I saw farther down on the same article that they had indeed still attended the charity event together, in spite of the obvious strain yet another of Justin’s affairs had caused on the beautiful couple. The article concluded that their love would prevail over Justin’s weakness for cheap women.

I wouldn’t have been surprised if Jules had written the article herself, it was so biased towards her. It made her out to be a long-suffering Saint. I’d met the woman, if only briefly. She was no Saint.

One site called me a ‘Blond Sky Slut,’ and claimed that I was trying to trap Justin with a baby. I couldn’t believe all of the lies that could be concocted from a few short minutes worth of unsolicited photos, and all of a woman no one had ever heard of. It was shocking, and infuriating, and sickening.

One site resorted to drawing giant penises all over my face, saying that I ‘gave the best head’, and that was the only reason Justin would risk his long-time lover’s wrath. Supposedly several of the site’s sources knew it first-hand. The lies made me feel ill.

One site claimed I was part of a high-priced flight attendant prostitution ring, and that Justin obviously needed to ask for his money back.

I was almost flattered for a moment as I read the headline of one article. It claimed I was a ‘Swedish Bikini Model’. That sounded complimentary. Until I scrolled to the bottom of the article, which had a link it claimed went to a porno, starring me. I didn’t bother to click on it. I knew for a fact that it wasn’t me, and I didn’t want to see what it actually was.

Another said I was a cocktail waitress, and yet another said that I was a stripper with the stage name ‘Glory Hole’. The slurs went on and on, and I felt humiliated, angry, and heartsick.

This was the price I had to pay for one week of pleasure? I thought in disgust. I was going celibate for the rest of my life.

And I hated myself, for being just as upset that Justin and Jules had still gone out together that night as I was by all of the horrible lies being spread about me…

I got my phone out of my bedroom, finally turning it on after days in the off position. I went straight to Stephan’s name in my texts, completely ignoring all of the other messages and calls that I had missed. I’d missed one from Stephan as well. It had been sent twenty minutes ago.

Stephan: Buttercup, I’ll be home soon. Finishing up lunch now. We need to talk. Please don’t look at anything online until I get there.

I snorted. He should have known better. If I hadn’t already looked, his odd message would have sent me straight to my computer.

I heard the doorbell ring.

That was quick, I thought, as I strode directly to the door.

I wondered why he didn’t just let himself in. He was rarely so formal. He even had my alarm code.

A cold shiver ran through me. I couldn’t place why. Cautiously, I checked the peephole. It was covered.

By a hand, I thought. It made me angry.

I swung the door open, ready to chew Stephan a new one. “You know better than to mess with me like that, Stephan. It’s a mean prank-”

I couldn’t finish as a huge hand seized my throat, shoving me back into the house. I couldn’t even scream as the hand tightened. I blinked, trying to focus on the coldly furious face in front of me. The familiar pale-blue, bloodshot eyes. I could do nothing as the huge blond man picked me up by the throat, and shoved me across the room, my back hitting the wall with a jarring thud.

I clawed at the giant hand that held me suspended like a rag doll. It had no effect. My throat burned, and the impact with the wall had knocked the wind out of me, but the pain was secondary to the terror that gripped me.

A question consumed my thoughts. It was an old familiar pattern for me, when this madman, who exercised so little control over his rage, held me in his grasp. The question circled my brain like a persistent cancer. Would he kill me this time? He always threatened to. Ever since I had stood, not more than four feet away, and watched in horror as he pushed the gun my mother held into her mouth, and pulled the trigger. I had watched in helpless horror as his finger covered hers on that trigger, and pulled so slowly.

Blood had splattered all three of us, but he hadn’t seemed to notice.

At the moment, his words were a confusing tangle of Swedish and English, and I couldn’t for the life of me understand it. I had never been fluent in Swedish, but I’d had to understand it as a child, since my father stubbornly insisted on using it at home. But, either from terror or disuse, any ability to understand it was failing me. I tried to speak, to tell him that, but his hand was still at my throat, cutting off my ability to speak.

His hand relaxed on my throat just enough for me to take a breath. I gasped, then grunted and whimpered as his fist made hard contact with my ribs. I sobbed in another breath, still desperate for air.

He spoke again. This time it was a heavily accented but understandable string of English. “Don’t get the idea that a rich boyfriend will keep you safe from me. If you even think about speaking to the police, I will still kill you. Do you understand?”

I couldn’t speak, but I tried. God, did I try. Finally, I just nodded, but it wasn’t enough. One of those massive fists made contact with my stomach once, and then again. I started to crumble, but he pushed my shoulder into the wall hard enough to keep me upright.

“Look at me,” my father’s cold voice ordered.

I did, getting a good look at him for the first time since he’d charged, like a madman, through my door. It had been six years since I’d seen him, but he’d aged twenty. He was even heavier now, his face dissipated with the signs of a life lived in excess. He was a drunk, a smoker, a chronic gambler, a murderer, and God only knew what else. It had all taken it’s toll on his once handsome face.

I called myself a thousand kinds of fool. I’d known he would never leave Vegas. He had gambled to stay afloat since his parents had disowned him at least twenty-four years before. I had prayed that his destructive lifestyle would take care of him on it’s own, but it had been too much to hope for.

Thinking it was Stephan at my door was no excuse. I was an idiot for letting my guard down for even a second. But he had somehow known when to strike. I was so depressed and despondent that my brain wasn’t working properly. The thought of a real threat had been so far from my mind…

“People have been asking about me, people I don’t know. What did you tell your rich boyfriend about me? Did you tell him about your mother’s death?”

“No,” I sobbed. “I don’t know what people you’re talking about. I didn’t tell him anything. I swear it.”

My words were useless. They always were. My father was a man of action. He grabbed my arm with one hand, punching me in the side with the other. He always spread his punches out. He caught a spot at my back and my spine bowed in pain.

He swept my legs out from under me. I went down easily. He kicked me once, hard, in the back. He walked around me, bringing a booted heel to my neck. “It would be easier than taking a simple step for me to kill you. You understand this? My weight alone will crush your windpipe. Is this how you want to die? Because if you tell anyone what I did to your mother, there is no reason why I shouldn’t kill you. I would not hesitate. Do you understand, sotnos?”

“Yes,” I croaked out. It was a struggle to get that one word out with that huge boot on my neck.

He picked me up, effortlessly propping me back on my feet. “And your man needs to quit poking around in my business.” He raised an enormous fist above me, bringing it down on the back of my head. My world went black.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Epilogue

I awoke to the biggest, baddest headache of my life. It was a doozy. I wanted to sink back into unconsciousness immediately. It was my first conscious thought.

I opened my eyes the tiniest crack. It made the pain even worse, so I shut them again.

I’m in a hospital, was my second conscious thought. Everything, from the way I was propped up, to the smell, to all of the little beeps, clued me in. My third thought was that my head wasn’t the only thing wrong with me. Almost every part of my body throbbed, head to toe.

My hands seemed to be unharmed. My right hand was clutched in a warm, hard hand. I knew that it must be Stephan at my side, and I felt better just from the knowledge of his steady presence. I was in bad shape, but I was alive. And I had Stephan.

I made a second attempt to open my eyes. It was marginally more successful than the first try, but agonizing pain still shot through my temples. I glanced toward the man sitting at my right. I was more than a little unsettled to see that it wasn’t Stephan.

Golden-brown hair trailed into an achingly beautiful face as Justin leaned over my hand, his face stark and desolate, his eyes red, his pretty mouth pursed as though he were in pain. He had the posture of someone who had been sitting slumped over that way for hours, if not days. He looked so tragic that way, and so heart-achingly handsome, that I felt an instant softening towards him. I wasn’t thinking very clearly, but I tried to reach out briefly to comfort him.

My arm didn’t move much, but I was able to grip his hand with a tiny, reassuring squeeze.

His head shot up, his eyes searching. Those vibrant blue eyes looked on the verge of tears. It was surreal to see him like that. He swallowed hard.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. He reached over and pushed a button just to my right, but behind me. And then both of his hands gripped mine, stroking it softly.

My voice was raspy and weak, but I answered him. “Alive.”

He blinked, and a tear slipped down the planes of that perfect golden cheek.

I blinked at him, wondering if I was dreaming. This was such a strange Justin that sat in front of me, nearly a stranger. But then again, he had always been a stranger. Hadn’t he?

“Where’s Stephan?” I asked him. It hurt to talk, so I vowed to keep my talking to a minimum.

“He went to get coffee. He’s been glued to your side.” He nodded at a spot on the other side of me. There was another chair placed right at my side. “He’s even been sleeping there.”

I processed his words, then almost immediately broke my vow of silence. “How long have I been out?”

He lowered his head, touching his forehead to my hand. “Three days. Forever.”

I sighed, feeling a little relieved. It could have been worse. “How long have you been here?” I asked him.

His face looked impossibly tired as he gazed down at our joined hands. “I showed up at your house as the ambulance was taking you away. We followed it to the hospital. Stephan and I were both just minutes too late…”

“You came to my house early,” I said, a small thread of accusation in my voice.

He just nodded. “Yes. But not early enough,” he said, and I could tell that he was blaming himself for what had happened, for showing up too late to stop it, which was crazy, of course.

I supposed, in a disconnected kind of way, that someone who needed so badly to be in control, must also feel the need to take a disproportionate amount of responsibility for things, even things that were completely out of his control. I squeezed his hand.

“How long have you been at the hospital?” I asked again.

He just blinked at me. “Since then, Love. Do you think I could leave you like this?”

My brow furrowed. “Don’t you have work to do?”

He laughed, and it was a rusty sound. “I’m taking some time off.”

I noticed for the first time that the private room we were in was filled to bursting with flowers. They ranged from exotic bouquets, to decadent roses, to simple carnations. It seemed that every flower was represented in the many vases around the room.

“You did this,” I said, as I took it all in.

He kissed my hand. “Not just me,” he said. “The white lilies are from Stephan. And those sunflowers are from Damien and Murphy. The mixed wildflowers are from your airline. And that mixed bouquet is from a group of flight attendants from your class. I got the rest.”

“They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he murmured, watching me like a hawk.

Stephan came in then, and rushed to my other side. Tears ran down his face as he grabbed my other hand.

“How do you feel?” he asked, sitting in what was obviously his chair at my other side..

I grimaced. “Alive.”

“I should go get the nurse,” Stephan said, starting to stand.

“I buzzed her. She’s usually prompt, so she’ll be here any time now,” Justin told him.

Stephan sat again. He stroked my hand comfortingly. “I was just speaking to the police. They want to talk to you when you feel up to it. I told them that I thought it was your father, but I didn’t see him, so they won’t take my word for it. It was your father, right?”

I just nodded, wincing. “Later. I’m definitely not feeling up to it right now. What day is it?”

“Thursday,” Stephan told me.

My eyes widened, my mind automatically going to work. “We fly out tonight?” I asked him.

He patted my hand. “I talked to the director of inflight. He had no problem letting us switch our vacation time, with you being hospitalized. He was actually really great about it, knowing we couldn’t take that much time off unpaid, and that I couldn’t work with you hurt like this. We’ve got two weeks off, so don’t worry about work.”

I shut my eyes in relief. “Thanks, Stephan. You’re the best.”

Justin’s hand tightened on mine. “That’s not enough time. And if you’re that worried about money-”

“Don’t,” I told him, my eyes still closed.

His mention of money opened the floodgate, and I suddenly remembered, quite vividly, why he had no reason to be by my side. I started to withdraw my hand.

He clutched it, and my eyes snapped open, glaring at him. The look in his eyes stopped my hand, and I just didn’t have the heart to glare at someone who looked so…desperate.

“Okay, I won’t. I’m sorry. I just wanted to help,” he reassured me in a way that seemed foreign to him. No one could say he wasn’t trying…

The nurse arrived, checking on me. She asked me about the pain, and I saw her pushing the painkiller button several times. I drifted off.

Both men were seemingly unmoved when I roused again. I could see from the slightly opened shades that it was dark outside. Both of my hands were still warmly enveloped.

“How long was I out that time?” I asked.

Stephan seemed to be dozing, but Justin had his eyes open. He looked like he was praying over my hand.

“Fourteen hours,” Justin said, and kissed my hand. “I think you’ve taken ten years off my life this week.” He reached to punch a button, and I knew he was calling for the nurse again.

It was a different nurse this time, I absently noted, as she left after checking and medding me. They had both been pleasant and quick. I wondered if the hospital always had such good service, or if this was the Justin Cavendish effect.

“You don’t have to stay here,” I told him, as I began to drift off again. He sent me such a hurt look that I tried to take it back even as I sank into a drugged sleep.

Days went by like that, floating in and out of consciousness while my body healed. It was five days before I was up and about. And even then it was a limited amount of activity.

I had a severe concussion, some internal bleeding, and some badly bruised ribs. From the way they felt, I found it hard to believe they weren’t broken. I hated to imagine what they would feel like if they were actually broken, if this was what bruised felt like.

I found out from the doctor that I would be in the hospital for several more days, under observation. All of my injuries were painful, but survivable. I was lucky, I knew. It could have been so much worse.

I had several visitors. The rest of our crew even visited once, pilots included. They wished me well, and chatted pleasantly about nothing important. Neither of the men at my side even offered their spots to the other visitors. I wasn’t surprised.

Justin’s hand tightened on mine once, when Damien reached down to pat my leg. I knew Damien was just being friendly. He would have patted my hand, probably, if they weren’t both already taken.

Justin and Stephan never wandered far from their seats at my side, day or night. Occasionally, they took turns sleeping on a tiny bed that folded out from the wall in the far corner of the room. I couldn’t imagine either man was getting much sleep on the uncomfortably hard looking bed. It was both heartwarming and baffling to me, these two amazing men that insisted on watching over me, completely unconcerned for their own comforts.

A neat, business-like blond woman kept coming in and out of the room, silently handing Justin his phone, or his laptop, or even the occasional stack of papers. I supposed that was how he was able to spend so much time at my side.

“You don’t have to stay here,” I told him. “I understand that you have work to do.”

He just gave me a dismissive glance, working on his laptop.

I was nearly recovered enough to be discharged before Stephan brought up the attack again. “Why did he come after you again, after all these years?” he asked in a hushed voice. Justin was dozing in his bedside chair.

“He mentioned something about people asking questions about him, people that he didn’t know. He saw me in the tabloids, I suppose, and blamed me. He also seemed to think that dating a rich man would make me more likely to get brave and go to the police about him.”

“This was my fault,” Justin spoke, making me start in surprise. His face was ashen. “I’m so sorry.”

I arched a brow at him. “That’s a bit of a stretch. And, anyways, my father wasn’t wrong. I am feeling brave now.”

Justin tried to get me to explain what I meant, but I wasn’t sharing anymore. And there was nothing to share with Stephan. He already knew everything.

I caught the tail end of a hushed conversation as I woke up one morning, days later.

“I think that will do more harm than good,” Stephan was saying to Justin. “She won’t like it. Just give her time, Justin. I know it’s hard, but you’ll have to be patient.”

“What’re ya talkin’ bout?” I mumbled, as my brain crawled out of sleep.

Both men looked a little guilty at being caught discussing me, but neither answered.

“Spill it, Stephan.”

He sighed. “Justin would like to take you to a quiet place to heal. He was suggesting a place on the beach, maybe. And we were trying to figure out how to handle the media circus that seems to follow Justin around.”

I went from groggy to alert as he spoke.

Justin gave me a very solemn look. “I can’t tell you how much I didn’t want you to get caught in the crossfire of my media circus of a life. That is the entire reason that I wanted to keep our relationship quiet, at first. I was suggesting that I release a statement about our relationship so it’s clear that you and I are together and exclusive. And that Jules is and only ever has been a friend of mine. I hate the implication that you are usurping on her territory. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

I pulled my hand away from Justin, then raised it when he tried to protest.

“Stephan, give us a moment, please,” I said solemnly.

He left without a word, beating a rather hasty retreat.

Justin’s jaw had clenched, and he looked angry and pleading all at once. “Please don’t shut me out, Selena,” he said quietly.

I took a deep breath. My chest hurt. It wasn’t just from the fists that had marked it. It was a deeper pain. “Justin, this has all happened too quickly. I need to take a step back.”

He looked down, hiding his pain-filled eyes, that lovely mouth twisting in a heart-wrenching way. “Please.” His voice was quiet. “I can’t stand the thought of losing you. What can I do?”

I swallowed past a very thick lump in my throat. “Just give me time, please. Things between us happened too fast, and everything that’s happened since has just made me realize that. I can’t think when we’re together. You just sweep me up and I seem to lose all semblance of sane thought. I don’t know that I can be a part of your life, or that I can even accept whatever little piece of it you would carve out for me.” I could tell he wanted to argue, but I quieted him with a look.

“Just give me some time,” I finally repeated. “That’s all I ask. We can discuss this thing we have in a few weeks, maybe a month, if you still want to. Frankly, I half-expect you to just move on in that time.”

He looked very angry now, but he studied me, and I could see that he tried to tamp it down.

“Please have more faith in me than that,” he said quietly. “Will you at least allow me to call you? Or even text you?”

I closed my eyes, wanting to go back to sleep, wanting to cry like a baby. “I’ll contact you,” was all I said.

He clutched my hand. “It feels like you’ve already written me off. I wish I knew the words to say to help you understand how serious I am about you.”

There were tears in his voice, and it broke my heart. But he didn’t really try to find any of the words. He never spoke of love, or even how much he cared. It made it easier for me to do what needed to be done. It helped me to tell myself, We barely know each other. This could all mean nothing to him in a month. If he had said he loved me, I might not have been able to manage it.

“I haven’t written you off. I just need time, and space. As you’ve seen and heard, I’m going to be fine. I’ll be released from the hospital anytime now. Today, probably. Stephan will take care of me after that.”

I kept my eyes closed. It was so much easier to say the words when I wasn’t looking at him.

“Goodbye, Justin,” I told him, my voice oddly thick. It was a dismissal.

He kissed my forehead. I felt him watching me for long minutes. Finally, after a suspenseful wait, he departed.

I felt tears slip down my cheeks, but only after he’d gone.

Stephan re-entered some time later. I suspected he had walked Justin out. He came right to my side, seeming to know, without a word from me, what had transpired. “Are you okay, Selena?”

I nodded. “I want to get out of here. And I’m ready to talk to the police, Stephan. I’m going to tell them everything.”

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