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aerodaltonimperial · 2 months

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so those hilarious SDCC photos went up and i made tags and then pasha told me to write something about it so i did and i just need you to all know that this is in no way funny so i am warning you ahead of time LOL but whatever here you go

Britt and Adam are the first ones to the yacht. This is because Britt is always on time and organized (this is why they put her in charge of the family Christmas gift exchange). When they arrive, the dockhands are loading boxes of fireworks into the hold. When she asks her father if he has a permit for those, he waves her off and says, “No one cares what you do on international waters.”

“We’re only going a mile off the shore,” Britt tries to argue, but as usual, he ignores her.

Toni and Mariah show up next. Mariah is wearing a pin-up style bathing suit. She also has a full set-up for her iPhone, including a light box and a five-foot tall tripod. She sets everything up at the front of the ship and proceeds to take photos of herself for the next thirty minutes.

“She’s an influencer,” Toni says.

“That’s not a real job,” Britt tells her, and as usual, Toni ignores her.

Swerve and Hangman eventually arrive fifteen minutes after they were told to. That’s something of a surprise, considering that Swerve didn’t tell anyone that Hangman was coming with. Hangman immediately goes to the bar their father has set up, and staffed, on the deck. He sits across from Adam and neither of them speak. They just stare at each other over the rims of their beer glasses.

“What the hell,” Toni hisses, after they’ve cornered Swerve down in the hallway. “I thought you broke up last year!”

“We did,” Swerve says. “Then we got back together.”

“Last Christmas,” Britt says, “you told us not to get him a gift because you said, and I quote, ‘I never want to see that little bitch again.’”

Swerve shrugs. “Things changed.”

“You mean, rent is really expensive in Hollywood,” Toni says.

“Well, we sure ain’t getting anything from him,” Swerve says, which feels like agreement, and nods towards their father.

The three of them look at the man, who is currently gesturing out towards the water next to wife #5, who just celebrated her twenty-first birthday. None of them can actually remember her name.

“Brayden?” Britt tries.

“No, no, I think it started with an M,” Toni says.

“Whatever,” Swerve sighs.

Darby finally shows up right before Britt is readying to tell the staff just to pull the anchor and go, because he assumes everyone will just do everything on his schedule.

“Dude, are those fireworks?” he asks, after spying the boxes.

“Thanks for finally showing up,” Britt snips. She stares at the guy next to him, hands shoved down in his pockets. “You didn’t say you were bringing anyone. Who is this?”

“Oh, this is, uh…” Darby trails off, turning to his guest. “What’s your name?”

The guy shrugs. “Jack.”

Darby turns back to Britt. “This is Jack.”

“How the fuck did you not know his name?” she asks.

“‘Cause I met him right over there,” Darby jabs his thumb back towards the shore. “Anyway. Hi, sis.”

Britt sighs heavily. “Get on here so we can go, please.”

Wife #5, who might be named Maddie, seems to think that she’s a singer. She turns on a karaoke machine and starts her way through Taylor Swift’s entire discography. She’s two songs in before both Hangman and Adam head to the bar and ask for the liquor bottles themselves. They have yet to speak to each other. Mariah is still taking photos of herself at the bow.

“Does she have something else to wear?” Swerve asks. “This ain’t a pool party.”

“Darling!” Toni calls, waving her hand in the air. “Put your lovely pool cover on!”

The pool cover ends up being a completely sheer robe. Mariah ties it around her waist and grins, waggling her fingers back at Toni. It covers nothing.

Wife #5 is warbling out a terrible cover of ‘I Knew You Were Trouble.’

“You know,” Britt says, “I actually think her name might start with a J.”

“Hey, you introduced yourself,” Darby says, kicking at the bottom of Jack’s seat. “What was her name?”

“See, the propellers started up right when she was saying it, and I didn’t actually hear,” Jack replies.

Swerve sighs. “Useless.”

Toni and Darby corner Britt down in the kitchen, as she’s trying to figure out which dishes their father intended to go out first. He never pays attention once things get underway.

“Adam hasn’t said a thing to us all night,” Toni says, bent over the island. “He just keeps staring at everyone.”

“Murder vibes for sure,” Darby agrees. “Are you dating a serial killer?”

Britt’s pretty annoyed by this, but only because they never like her dates. It’s been something of a trend. “You can’t get murder vibes just from someone looking at you.”

“Until they look at you and then kill you,” Darby says.

“So, wait,” Jack says. He’s moved over to the table with Hangman and Adam. “You’re both named Adam?”

They hadn’t actually figured that out. Hangman and Adam eye each other, distrustful. There’s really probably only room for one Adam on this yacht.

“Well, what if her name is Adam, too?” Jack asks, pointing to Wife #5. She’s moved onto ‘Blank Space.’ The staff is all wearing earplugs.

“Her name isn’t Adam,” Hangman scoffs.

“Then what is it?” Jack asks.

They all go silent, because none of them know. It really could be Adam.

Mariah moves down into the cabin for her photography session. Swerve overhears her on the phone in the short time that she isn’t filming, calling someone ‘baby.’ He goes back up to the deck to find Toni.

“Mariah’s cheating on you,” he says, without preamble.

“She is not!” Toni squawks. “How dare you insinuate that. You’re just jealous.”

Later, Hangman also goes down to the cabin. When he comes back up, he gets another drink before turning to Toni. “Are you in an open relationship?”

“What? No!” Toni says.

Hangman takes a swig. “Okay, yeah, she’s cheating on you.”

Toni crosses her arms over her chest in a huff. “Jealous, all of you. Of the beautiful woman I came here with.”

“What do you mean?” Britt asks. “She's been doing things without you the whole time.”

“She’s an influencer,” Toni sighs dramatically.

“That’s not a real job,” Darby says.

Their father finally cuts off Wife #5’s karaoke halfway through the third Taylor Swift album. Everybody exhales in relief, but the staff doesn’t take out their earplugs.

“Well,” Britt starts, “we’re glad you could come with Swerve tonight.”

“Are you?” Hangman asks. “Because you didn’t get me a Christmas gift.”

“What the fuck,” Darby sighs. He turns to Swerve, hands in the air. “You told us not to buy him anything!”

Swerve shrugs. “Yeah, at Christmas. You could have gotten one two weeks later. No one was stopping you.”

“You told them not to get me a Christmas gift?” Hangman frowns.

“We were broken up,” Swerve says.

“Oh my god,” Britt groans, and buries her head in her hands.

Their father brings Wife #5 around to each of them. Each of them gets a fact about her; their father asks no questions about how they are doing. Afterwards, they sit at a table and compare notes.

“She’s a Pure Barre teacher,” Jack says.

“Her life dream is to be on America’s Next Top Model,” Toni adds.

Hangman makes a face. “How do you guys not know anything about her? They’re already married.”

“Yeah, but they got married in Greece, and none of us were invited,” Britt says. “That was… what, January? February?”

“Last November,” Adam offers. It’s the first thing he’s said all night. When every single one of them turns to stare at him, he doesn’t give any further information, and he doesn’t even blink. He just trails his finger around the condensation on his glass.

“Stalker,” Darby grumbles.

“Yeah, stalker,” Jack agrees, and slides his eyes out to the waves.

The fireworks come out after the sky goes dark. Absolutely none of the staff is trained to handle them. Britt ends up fixing it when the tubes are set up way too close to each other. Wife #5 insists on standing at the side so all the fireworks go off behind her, for photos. She and Mariah get into an argument over who deserves to be there while the biggest ones are exploding and end up missing all of them.

Mariah stomps off, phone up to her ear.

“She’s totally cheating on you,” Britt says to Toni.

Toni covers her ears with her hands and starts humming the national anthem.

“I told you,” Britt tells her siblings as they sit around one of the tables, “that you need to get IRAs!”

“I don’t like paperwork,” Toni replies. “It’s confusing.”

“This is the worst party talk ever,” Hangman says. Somehow, his drink keeps refilling, and no one can quite tell how he does it.

Jack disappears down after Mariah, so eventually, Darby goes looking for him. He finds him in the kitchen. He looks slightly shifty, hands behind his back.

“What are you doing down here?” Darby asks.

“I think Mariah is cheating on your sister,” Jack says.

“Oh, definitely.” Darby leans against the wall. “I really don’t wanna go back up there and hear about retirement accounts. Or the importance of getting regular dental cleanings. You wanna stay down here and make out?”

Jack sets something down on the counter. There’s a clink. “Sure.”

“Sweet,” Darby says.

“Let’s play twenty questions,” Toni says. “So we can get to know you. Let’s start with… favorite movie.”

“American Psycho,” Adam tells her.

The table goes quiet.

“Maybe just one question,” Toni decides.

“I’m still kind of mad about the Christmas gift thing,” Hangman says.

Swerve groans. “I’ll buy you a damn sparkly ornament later. With horses on it.”

“Do you ride?” Toni asks, brightening.

“Oh, he rides all right,” Swerve mutters.

“Please,” Britt pleads. “Please stop talking.”

Pressed up against the cabinets, Darby pauses, hands up Jack’s shirt. “Hold on. Why were you holding a steak knife?”

“No reason,” Jack says. He’s breathing hard, one leg looped around the back of Darby’s legs. “Just… cleaning.”

“Feel like this is gonna come back to bite me,” Darby comments.

Jack grins. “You want me to bite you?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

The staff finds another tube of fireworks. Britt is caught up with explaining the differences in mortgages, so they try to set it up on their own and don’t aim it right. The fireworks end up going into the front sails, which lights all the canvas on fire. There’s pandemonium on the deck. In the chaos, everyone comes up from downstairs, including Mariah, who is still on the phone. As the fire licks across the deck, she drops it and screams, dashing to the other side.

Wife #5 picks up the phone. “Hello?” Her face does something strange. “I’m sorry, you’re looking forward to touching my what? How dare you speak to me that way! I’m a married woman!”

“See?” Swerve says. “Totally cheating on you.”

Toni bursts into tears: huge, wailing, Hollywood-esque sobs. Wife #5 tosses the phone over the side of the boat. Mariah screams. The staff pull out the hoses and start spraying everyone, even the people trying to pat down the flames. One of the champagne bottles explodes, sending glass shards everywhere. And that’s when Jack rushes towards their father in a football style tackle and starts pummeling him.

“Holy shit!” Hangman shouts.

“Someone do something!” Britt exclaims, even though as usual, no one listens to her.

The staff gets the fire put out. Hangman picks up the pieces of shattered champagne bottle. Swerve pats Toni on the shoulder as she wails into her palms. Darby pulls Jack off his father, though Jack is still flailing around trying to get punches in.

“Well, now I’m glad you didn’t have the steak knife,” Darby says. “What the fuck?”

“He got me fired!” Jack cries, kicking at the deck. “He stole a whole bunch of money and planted the evidence on me at the bank, and got me fired!”

“Is that why you were standing out there staring at the yacht?” Darby asks.

Britt stares at him. “What did you think he was doing?”

Darby shrugs. “I just thought he really wanted to ride on one of them or something.”

“Jesus Christ,” Britt sighs.

“Wait,” Hangman says. “Where’s Mariah?”

She’s nowhere on the deck, but Adam is standing by the side, one arm propped up on the railing. He’s still holding his drink, unbothered.

“Did…” Britt begins. “Did you push her overboard?”

“She was cheating on your sister,” Adam says, like it’s terribly obvious. “Besides, no one cares what you do in international waters.”

“Okay, for the last time,” Britt says, “we are half a mile out from the shore.”

Toni perks up. “You pushed her over for me?”

“I told you he had serial killer vibes,” Darby says, as though he is not still holding onto a man who attacked his father.

Wife #5 is fanning their father’s face as he groans against the deck. He’ll probably have a black eye. Their attention has largely moved on from him. He’ll get patched up to a Taylor Swift album later, so they figure he’s fine.

Toni runs to Adam’s side. Dramatically, she reaches for his hand, and then Britt’s, and joins them together. Her mascara is running in black lines down her cheeks. “You have done so much for me. You have saved me.”

“All he did was push her off the railing,” Swerve grumbles.

Toni ignores him. “I support you and my sister, for you have done me a great service.”

Hangman throws back another drink.

They get the yacht back to shore. Britt has to pay the staff extra so that no one runs to the police, but at this point, they have far more loyalty to her than her father.

“Maybe we should buy Hangman a late Christmas gift,” Toni suggests.

“Don’t bother,” Swerve says. “We just broke up again.”

“How?” Britt asks. “It’s been five minutes.”

Hangman swaggers off the boat first and onto the deck. Swerve watches him walk away, biting down on his lip. Then he says, “Changed my mind. We’re back together. Get him a new leather belt.”

He follows Hangman down. Britt sighs.

“Just from watching his ass?” Toni says.

Darby takes off next. He’s pulling Jack along with him, their hands clasped, and Britt stops him by grabbing a hold of his fluffy coat. “Darby! What the hell? He tried to kill Dad!”

“Yeah, it was kinda hot,” Darby replies. “I mean, it’s not like I haven’t thought about doing it, too. Anyway, we’re gonna go back to my place.”

Jack waves with his free hand at them. “Nice to meet you all.”

Britt, Adam, and Toni sit on the shore with their feet in the waves. Toni heaves out another weary exhale as they look at the smoke still curving up from the yacht towards the night sky. “I suppose I’m single again.”

“Okay, you can absolutely find someone better,” Britt says. “No more influencers.”

“That’s not a real job,” Adam agrees.

They watch Mariah stumble out of the foam and onto the beach a few yards away. She collapses dramatically on the sand.

“Maybe someone who works in finance?” Toni says. “After all, I need to get that retirement account set up.”

Britt lights up. “You were listening when I told you about the IRAs!”

On the yacht, Taylor Swift is playing on Spotify. Wife #5 puts a cool compress against their father’s face.

“Thank you, Adama,” their father sighs.

#tag so you don't lose this shit

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cevansbrat0007 · 11 months

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Lemme Tell Ya Bout Some Stuff

I've been a little quiet lately. And here's why - if only because it's cathartic to write about these things. I moved out of my sober living house just shy of two months ago.

The apartment in which I live still encourages maintaining that sobriety. But unfortunately, it doesn't stop life from doing whatever the fuck it does.

Which means that a week ago today I found my roommate overdosed. Thankfully, we were able to save him. But it was terrifying. And traumatizing. And at the time, all I could think was that at least I know how to use Narcan.

I administered the spray. I rubbed his chest. I tried to guide him back. Meanwhile my other roommate called 911, she called out orders, she moved quick to open doors - she's a fucking badass superhero.

And because of that he's okay.

He's moving out and going to get some help. But he's alive and breathing. He gets another fucking chance and believe you me we have talked about how he is quickly running out of lives.

He's overdosed multiple times. He's double digits. And when we spoke finally I did everything short of punch him.

He fucked me up. He fucked my roommate up. And that shit hits in waves. But enough about that - seriously.

My fucking bright spot, is that for months my Tumblr Bestie and I have been planning a little vacay. Tomorrow, @curls-and-eyeliner and are gonna meet for the first time. I'm flying all the way down to Virginia to hang out with my girl.

And we're gonna have some serious fucking fun! We talk damn near every day, her and I. And she is hands down one of the most supportive people I have in my life.

I'm blessed to know her.

No different than how I've been blessed to know ya'll. I'm gonna finish packing my suitcase now. I love you.

Britt

#britt's notes #tumblr love story #trigger warning #overdose #drug overdose #but he survived #moots love and support #feeling grateful for friends #I love my bestie

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writingcold · 1 year

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Hi! Here we are at Chapter Two! If you’ve not read the previous chapter, you can find the Master List for B & W here. We might still be in setup mode, but you’ll want to start at our first part to get into our lovely characters.

Chapter two finds our new shop girl, Cora, in a bit of a bind. There is more character background and story building in this piece. Please be patient! There’s a lot to build here!

**This is a piece of fiction. I have put in a lot of work researching, writing, rewriting, editing, tossing it all and starting over. I do not know the guys of GVF. They became my muses for this long ass story.**

Thanks to @whitesuitjake for the Jake edit in the cover.

Thanks to @gardensgatedaisy and @lvnterninthenight - Britt and Bobbie, ilysm. Thank you for all your support. (You’re probably getting tired of me thanking you, but too damn bad. Y’all are fucking amazing.)

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Content Warnings: None. Just some pain and injury. Of course, language, mentions of drinking, smoking. It is the 1920’s.

Word count: approx. 5700

Chapter Two: Wounds and New Friends, Cora’s POV

The end of day three of her trial week found Cora standing in the alley peeling away the shoe of her left foot. She had landed wrong coming off one of the ladders, pressing the back of her tight shoe into the thick skin of her heel. The cut was made worse from ten hours of standing, with the back of the shoe digging further into the wound. Walking had become excruciating due to the bruising. Her legs trembled as she fished her handkerchief from her handbag and wrapped it around her heel. She bared her teeth as she tried to push her foot back into the shoe, but sucked in a loud groan when her foot just would not accept the prison of leather.

“Hey there,” a masculine voice called out from the street. “Need help?”

She wiped at her face, hoping that Daniel did not see the pain. “I’m fine, thank you. Just a cut.”

Mr. Daniel Wagner, from what she was able to discern from her past few days, was close with all the Kiszka brothers, but he was particularly close with the youngest, Samuel. His lean frame entered the alley slowly, his near black eyes taking in her condition. He pushed back his hat as he bent, hands held behind his back so as not to intimidate her with his closeness. He was dressed in pressed slacks, dress shirt and vest, his jacket folded in his hands. Cora was unsure of what his duties at the store were, but he always seemed to be working in several areas of the store and office.

“That is not good, Miss Janas,” he said with a sympathetic nod. “Come on. Let’s get you situated. Sam’s good with these things.”

He bent and picked up the shoe then assisted her towards the back of the building. Cora had not been to the area, keeping to the store only, and certainly not the dancehall, though the music that flowed out into the street was always interesting. The garage had three wide carriage doors, all of which were open to allow the cooler evening air in. The deep red brick was neatly kept, but the cavernous inside looked chaotic with tools and shelves full of metal and parts she had no idea what could be in existence for, and the smell of oil and gasoline hung heavy.

“Sammy!” Daniel called out as they approached a garage. “Sammy, I need you.”

Samuel Kiszka was an anomaly - he wore his hair longer, but yanked back under his hat so that it bunched up against his shirt collar. His face was always rich with thought, like he was working out complex problems that she would never hope to understand. His lanky frame was not as tall as Daniel’s, but he seemed to be too big for his actual size. He was dressed in tweed trousers and an undershirt with his suspenders hanging down on his waist. The moment he saw her, he ripped the suspenders up and over his shoulders, disappearing for a moment, only to return as he was drawing a jacket across his torso.

“Sorry, Miss Janas. Was working on the Earl - I mean the automobile,” Sam replied, his warm eyes drifting down to her foot that she gingerly was standing on the ball of her foot. “Oh, that’s awful. Daniel, bring her in. Let’s get that cleaned up.”

“Really, it’ll be fine,” she insisted even as Daniel tugged at her to move towards a chair in the corner. “I need to be getting home.”

“On that foot - I don’t think so. Besides, do you really want to walk home? You’ll get blood all over your lovely shoes,” Sam said with a grin.

Before she could stop him, he had a knife out and cut the thick brown stockings at the calf to slowly pull away from the wound. She let out a yip and couldn’t take her foot away if she tried, Sam had her leg in the vice of his large hand.

“What?” he asked without even looking up at her.

“These are… were my only pair,” she whispered, eyes on the discarded piece of stocking.

“You can buy another pair from the shop,” Sam remarked without a glance at her.

“I don’t have the money,” she whispered as her stomach stabbed with embarrassment.

Daniel’s hand came down on her shoulder. “We’ll get you over to my Molly’s house. I’m sure she has a spare pair that you can have.”

“But I really need to get home,” she started, but her jaw dropped as Sam brought up a rag pressing it to the wound.

He shook his head. “Damn sister, it’s like you sliced the whole of your heel in these things. Danny, go grab me some water, please.”

Daniel disappeared for a few minutes while Sam leaned back on his haunches and pulled a silver cigarette holder from his pocket. He held one to her in offering, but she shook her head. Her mother did not like the habit, so she had never tried. He struck a match and lit his own as his eyes squinted at her foot. With the water retrieved, he set into cleaning away the dried and fresh blood with a look of seriousness.

“Well, you’re lucky there’s no sign of infection,” he said quietly, dabbing at the heel.

“Sammy, how’s my baby…” A fourth voice, full of smoothness, stopped as his heels hit the cement of the garage. “What the hell boys? What’s going on here?”

Cora looked up to see Jacob, hand on one hip, face surprised, not in a good way. The dark button up and vest strained under the crisp linen of his suit. She recoiled, bringing her hands tighter against her abdomen like she could disappear. In the few days of working in the store, she noticed that any time that man was around, the air grew tense, like fabric pulled too tight. He was typically quiet. When he did talk it was low, almost hidden, and usually only to the eldest of the clan. The other shop girl, Renee, no matter what she was doing, would drop away and find something in the opposite direction of the store to do. She said that Jacob had an awful temper and to just steer clear.

“She’s hurt, Jake,” Sam remarked without looking up from his work.

“I caught her in the alley trying to fix it herself,” Daniel said, moving closer to her.

The man’s dark eyes swung from Samuel to Daniel to Cora and she could not stop the visible flinch. The silence that followed made even Sam stop in his actions.

“She’s Josh’s new shop girl,” he said quietly, each word punctuated with a tightness that felt like a hard drum.

“Not news to us, brother,” Samuel remarked, finally looking up at his older brother. “She’s hurt, Jacob. We’re not keeping her here against her will or anything.”

Cora blinked hard, trying not to crumble under the man’s attention like she did something wrong. She tried to tug her leg back. Sam held it firm, shooting her an annoyed expression. The curse that fell from Jacob’s mouth made her blush. His mouth fixed into a fine line as his eyes narrowed at her.

“Get her home,” he said firmly. “Don’t need any worried mamas coming round here.”

“Gotta take her to Molly’s first, Jake,” Daniel said with a nod.

The flare of incredulousness that washed over him made him seem all the scarier. “Why’s that?”

“Had to cut her stocking away. It was her only pair,” Samuel said quietly, as he bent to inspect the wound closer.

“Then take her back into the shop,” Jacob scolded.

“Jake,” Danny said softly, shaking his head.

Jacob’s dark eyes landed directly on her as if seeing through her. Cora tried to make herself as small as possible. Once he had her gaze however, she could not look away. The hard set of his mouth and jaw made her visibly shudder. She watched as he dropped his gaze, tugging his hat off to smooth his hair back. The brown wave that he immediately hid once more caught her attention. Unlike his twin who kept his hair short, with soft curls, Jacob’s was longer in the front to slick back in the more current style. Faded sunshine struck him, making the dark brown brighten and soften his edges for a moment. A moment she took note that there was something beyond the anger that prickled beneath his skin. Cora felt the fear of his thunder drain away for seconds, taking in how he held himself in a tight form, but his eyes on her - surely his visage of her did not hold concern? He took the corner of his mouth between his teeth before retreating and pushing back an air of annoyance.

“Fine. Take the Kissel. Get her to Molly’s, but do not linger. I mean it, you two,” he said in a hard voice. “Get her home and get your asses back here. Josh is not going to like this. At all.”

“Does he have to know?” Sam remarked as the elder brother began walking away.

“Don’t be a wise ass, Samuel,” Jacob called out in a path of smoke.

Cora finally took a full breath. “Really, I can make it home on my own, fellas. I’ll be fine.”

“Committed now, babe,” Samuel said, rising up to cross the garage to a cabinet. He returned with thin material and a small jar of salve. “We’ll get you over to Molly’s and get you home. Josh won’t bluster at us too bad.”

“I just don’t want to cause trouble,” she said quietly.

“No trouble, doll. Let us handle it,” Daniel said, calm oozing from him to surround her.

She winced as he first smeared a large fingerful of the strong scented balm across the wound, then watched quietly as Sam wrapped her foot tightly before trying to get the shoe back on. It stung a little, but admittedly it felt much better. She followed them to an auto that was out back of the garage. The polished silver sedan was the fanciest car she had ever seen. Samuel held the door open for her and helped her inside before sliding into the front seat next to Daniel. Before she knew it, they were in the nest of bungalows that she had tried to tell her mother about. Even in the long shadows of the early evening, her eyes dragged across each of the neat little box-like buildings. They rolled to a jerky stop, catching Cora off guard and causing her to rock back against the seat with a thud.

Samuel held his hand out for her as he opened her door, assisting her out of the car like she was special. She followed the two towards the small home, painted a bright blue with white trim. The door flew open to let out a soft looking woman who wrapped herself about Daniel like no one was watching. The musical laughter made her blush as they kissed in front of her.

“Molly, this is Miss Janas. She’s the new shop girl,” Danny said, finally giving her a reprieve from her blush.

The look the woman gave to Daniel was one of surprise. Cora hobbled a bit up the walk, catching the eye of Molly immediately. “Please, I’m Cora,” she said, attempting a smile.

“I destroyed her stockings,” Samuel replied leaning in to kiss Molly on the cheek. “I’m hoping you can help.”

“What do you mean ‘destroyed’, Samuel. Do I need to straighten you out for something you did to this little lady?” she said with a lot of sass, but a hardness in her eyes that let Cora know she was serious.

“No, ma’am. Miss Cora hurt her foot,” Samuel said with a shake of his head. “Your knight rescued her from the alley and brought her to me. We thought maybe you could share a pair?”

Molly’s quick smile and bright eyes were immediately disarming. She nodded and waved the three inside. “I’m sure I have something that will work for you. And perhaps we can get you gussied up, baby. I can’t believe Joshua allows you to wear that in his store.”

“He asked if I could get another dress, but I needed to make money first,” she said, embarrassed as the words fell from her mouth.

Molly stopped cold with a hard look. “Please tell me he didn’t just give you a week’s trial?”

“Yes - a week’s trial and if I do well -”

Molly groaned with a finger point at Sam. “I’m telling you, that little brat may have charm on his side, but I swear, one of these girls someday is going to put him in his place. Let’s see if it’s you, Miss Cora.”

She looked back at Samuel and Daniel as the woman pulled her by the hand towards the front door. Molly grumbled about her being like the perfect kind of skinny and how she would kill to have the ability to wear any form of drop waist without the boobs getting in the way.

She was met instantly with the scent of lilac as she stepped gingerly up the stairs, onto the narrow porch and into the home. It had four rooms and a bath. The luxury of the idea of four rooms with a bath - running water, no outhouse - for one person made her look upon Molly like she was the richest person in town, though she knew it was not true. The plain white and wood clad walls were warm as the curvy dancer dragged her to the back bedroom with a snap of electric light.

Cora’s eyes popped at the amount of clothing the woman had strewn about the small bedroom. These were not just day dresses, they were dancing girl glad rags that made her blush at how much leg would show if she donned such an item. Each was covered with adornment such as splashes of sequins and crystals, and beadwork that she had never seen in person, just on the picture show screen. She was relieved when Molly opened a wardrobe to reveal modern, yet much more modest attire.

“If you plan on getting past this week's trial, you’re going to need this one,” she said with a confident nod. She pulled out a dusty colored tan skirt with an emerald under top and a smart little jacket that was the same color as the skirt. “Now, it’s not too flashy, but just enough so that Joshua will notice that you are attempting to fit into his shop.”

Cora gazed at the garment with a kind eye. Molly was right, the green would be the snap, but the tan would dull down that overall look to be more suitable. Just as she was to thank her, Molly was back to the wardrobe, pulling out a soft rose colored blouse and matching cream colored jacket that also matched the skirt. The grin that tugged at her mouth before throwing it at her was full of playfulness.

“One more,” she said with a nod. “This one will be for Jacob.”

“Pardon?” Cora stumbled as Molly was combing through the pieces.

“Oh, honey. I know a Jake girl when I see one,” she laughed.

Cora straightened. Her mouth opened but nothing came out, until she finally swallowed hard. “I - I don’t know if I understand what you’re implying.”

Molly stopped in her search to look at her, bottom lip in between her teeth. The coy gleam in her eye sparkled. “Look, doll. I’m just saying that Jacob, for the hardass that he can be, has a type, and you certainly are it. Wispy, pretty, smart. His trifecta.”

She squinted her eyes at Cora for a long moment waiting to see if there was an argument to be made. Cora decided to remain quiet, feigning interest in a baby blue skirt that was laid out on the bed, full of crystals and sequins. Molly turned her back once more, resuming her search.

“Ha! This,” she cooed as she pulled out a drop waist dress that was clearly too small for her lush curves. “This is what you need to wear on Saturday. You hear me? Save it for the last day of the trial.”

Molly held up a dark blue chiffon overdress with a waist that would reach just below mid thigh. There was black trim that boxed out the neckline and at the wrists and hem. The underdress was a rich jeweled blue silk, with embossed flowers of colors blended in the blue, that would only peek out when she moved. Down the sleeves and up both sides were embroidered floral designs with tiny glass beading. It looked luxurious compared to anything that she had ever worn before. Cora took the garment with care as she could not help but close her eyes at the feel of the expensive fabric. Molly had a pair of thin stockings in one hand and thicker brown in the other, waiting for Cora to catch up.

“I can’t pay you for this, Molly,” she said quietly, a flame of shame crossing her cheeks.

“It’s fine, doll. You’ll owe me nothing more than getting through that trial and getting Joshua to hire you permanently,” the woman said with a grin. “Shoes. Those damn things cut you up because they’re too small. These will do you better.”

Soft leather mary janes greeted her when she looked down at the woman’s next offerings. Tears struck her cheeks, hot and fat as her breath caught.

“Aren’t you just the sweetest,” Molly drawled, wiping at Cora’s cheeks with a rough thumb.

“Jake was serious about hurrying up,” Sam called. “I don’t need him to switch me.”

“When are you going to realize that you’re bigger than he is, Samuel?” Molly called, helping her to fold all the items neatly. “Give him a little chin music one time and I’m telling you - he’ll back down.”

Cora rolled her lips into her mouth to keep from smiling.

“Crack him once and he’ll put lead in my belly,” Sam jabbed back. “Come on. It can’t be that hard. We gotta go.”

Molly rolled her eyes, but relented. The two women strolled out, the new shoes on her feet felt more like pillows than shoes. Daniel and Sam were already waiting at the door for her, shooing her along outside. In a repeat at the garage, Samuel held his hand up for her as he held the door open. He grinned as Daniel started the car and they rumbled out of town in a hurry.

Between the jumps, bumps, and sways, Cora felt like her backside would be bruised. She held onto her newly acquired treasures tightly so as not to lose them in the darkness of the seat. Her heart fluttered as they made turns and curves in the near black of the evening with only two very dim lights to lead the way. She wondered how Daniel could see anything, but thought it was best to be left unasked. They had her home in a quarter of the time that it would have taken if she had walked. As they rolled to a loud stop, she saw her mother and younger siblings stream out of the tiny cottage they called home.

With flair, Samuel slid out from his seat and made a big deal of helping Cora out and ensuring that she had all of her items before closing the door. He assisted her to the front of the car before she looked up at him.

“Thank you for this,” she said quietly. “Please tell Daniel I appreciate him, too. That was the bee's knees. Truly. I’ve never been in an automobile before.”

He smiled at her, his dark eyes catching a bit of the light from the lights of the house. “We’ll see you tomorrow then, Miss Cora.”

She smiled at the formal tone as he turned back to the automobile. The look on her mother’s face was distrustful and angry. She tried not to limp as she walked towards her family, but by the time she reached the door, the littles were swarming her and nearly took her down as the pain flared in her foot.

“That better not become a habit, Cora,” her mother scolded before turning and heading inside.

“Yes, Mama,” she said, looking over her shoulder as Sam and Danny disappeared into the distance.

“I suppose there is a reason for that nonsense,” Rosemary continued. “Honestly. Riding in an automobile with two strange men.”

“Mr. Kiszka and Mr. Wagner are respectable gentlemen, Mama,” Cora said as she sat her outfits down on the table to remove her jacket. “They were only helping me out.”

“And why is that?” she asked as she pulled the pot of beans off the woodstove.

Cora’s eyes went to the hand-me-down shoes that were on her feet as if she could guide her mother to notice. “I cut my foot on my oxfords. They helped me and did not think I needed to walk home because of the injury.”

Her mother paused as she started dishing out bowls of the thick mush. “What did they expect in return?”

“What?” Cora sat up straight, her face blushing at the connotation.

“You come home in an expensive auto, with two men. One of your stockings is cut away. You have new clothes and shoes. What am I supposed to think?” her mother said with a hard edge.

She placed her hand on the clothes protectively. “Mr. Samuel patched up my foot, Mama. That was all. It was an act of kindness. Friendship.”

Her mother shook her head and called out for the children to get to the table. Cora stood and moved her items into the shared bedroom of the family before joining them once again at the table. There was no sound as they prayed, ate, and left the meal finished. Junie was sullen as she dried the dishes next to Cora who was washing. Their mother was in the other room, settling down the youngest of the brood.

“I’ve met him,” Junie whispered, looking to make sure their mother did not hear.

“I cannot believe that she is making you do this, Junie,” Cora remarked, not really caring if her voice could be heard or not. “It’s not right. I should be the one she’s trying to get rid of, not you.”

Junie shrugged at her. “But I can’t work like you. We all know that, big sister. She’s going to keep you for as long as she can. She’s even got you convinced that you have to support this family when, really, you can be anywhere and we’d be just fine.”

Cora knew that she had an overdeveloped sense of responsibility, but she could not fathom a reality that allowed for her to not be ensuring her family be taken care of.

“Will you show me your new rags? I love the shoes,” she cooed as she set the bowls in a stack on the table for the next day’s meal.

“You said you met Mr. Archer?” Cora asked after she checked over her shoulder.

“He seems like he is quiet,” Junie whispered. “His children are mean.”

“You don’t have to do this, Junebug,” she said as her heart dropped into her belly.

“I don’t have the same prospects as you do, Cora. This is my one chance to alleviate hardship on this family. I can do my part,” she said quietly.

“You had better wash that whore perfume out of those clothes tonight,” their mother remarked as she sat back down at the table.

“Yes, Mama,” Cora said as she grabbed the wash basin to move outside. “Junie, can you get the clothes please?”

It would give her a reason to show the girl the outfits that otherwise would have to wait until she actually wore them. Junie retrieved the clothes and the washboard on her way outside.

“They smell like lilacs,” Junie said dreamily.

“Her whole house smelled like that,” Cora said as she tried to explain what had happened and the woman who was so very generous with her clothes.

“What does Molly do that she can have the ability to just give away clothing like this?” Junie chirped, her fingers lingering on the dark blue fabric of the outfit she was to wear on Saturday.

Cora looked at the propped open door and found that her mother stood just inside, watching the girls chatter. Swallowing, she started to drag the tan skirt across the bumps of the board.

“Go ahead and tell her what your new friend does for her money, Cora,” her mother said firmly. “I’d like to know as well.”

Thinking back on the brief time she had with Molly, she realized that what Molly actually did to earn her way never was broached. The clothing was that of a night life - flapper attire with pretty crystals and glitz that she was sure the woman was probably the most glamorous woman in town. “I’m going to assume that she works in the dancehall, Mama.”

“You know what kind of women work in the dancehall, Cora,” Rosemary said sharply.

“Doesn’t mean that they cannot be friends,” Cora said just as sharp, her eyes hard. “She was a lovely woman who was willing to help me. That means in turn, she has helped this family. That counts for something.”

“Junie, to bed now,” her mother demanded.

“She’s going to be a married woman, Mama, perhaps she needs to hear this conversation,” Cora remarked, swishing the skirt in the water.

“Cora,” her mother fumed.

“You can’t call someone a whore just because they work in the dancehall,” she said firmly. “And I, for one, will not fault a woman for doing what she needs to in order to survive. Especially in this world of men.”

“Remember that when it has to be your mother, sister or yourself,” Rosemary said in a hard voice.

“If marriage is your only reason for women to be allowed to be close to men or have sex, then there really is no real difference between a married woman and a whore and no reason to look upon either differently. Both must survive within the confines of men and the structure they provide,” Cora continued, voice matching her mother’s as she started wringing the skirt out into the basin.

Junie’s mouth dropped open at her sister’s brashness. Cora held her ground, not liking that her mother did not have trouble looking down her nose at a woman who was doing what she could to live, no different than themselves with their family. Rosemary stood with her painfully thin arms folded across her chest.

“Junie, to bed now, girl,” her mother ordered before turning her back on her daughters. “Cora, I would think that perhaps you should whet your tongue a bit and feed your brain in reality before you run your mouth off again on matters you have no idea what you speak of.”

Hanging the skirt on the line, she set into washing the rest of the items. When her hands wrapped around the dark blue number, her eyes rolled closed. Molly had called her a Jake girl. She had said that she was his ‘type’. She had no idea what any of that meant other than perhaps that she could catch his eye. Perhaps that would mean that she could make him smile? Samuel and Daniel were quick to laugh with happiness. Mr. Joshua was brimming with smiles, though she was sure that those were part of his professional manner. Mr. Jacob was always serious. His dark eyes holding onto something that she could never quite understand or ever see all of what was going on with him. His thunderstorm of a temper was always chaotic and unpredictable, save for one thing, there was always calm afterwards.

The strong vision of him standing in the corner of Mr. Joshua’s office, hands splayed on the desk and looking over whatever his twin was showing him blazed in her thoughts. The way his eyes always met hers, too hard at first, then softening as if he could sense that she needed a more delicate touch. It made her stomach flutter and unexplored knowledge dance through her mind.

Chapter Two: Pt. 2 Molly POV

“Please do not tell me that you hurt that poor girl to get her to me,” she said as Danny sat down next to her, a sarcastic grin tugging at the corner of her plump lips.

He scrunched up his face. “No, it was just a coincidence. I’m actually afraid that if I would not have seen her, she would have kept trying to walk on it.”

“She’s really a doll, though, Danny,” Molly said, clinking her glass of sherry against his mug of beer. “She seems like she can hold herself rather well.”

“Sam thinks that she runs numbers when she is collecting goods,” he remarked. “And I overheard Joshua commenting that she’s a natural with customers. Folks know her from church and foster right into that connection.”

She paused for a moment before leaning over his shoulder. “I hope we didn’t turn things for her by meddling.”

“Why whatever do you mean, meddling?” Josh said as he appeared behind Danny. “Which ‘her’ are you talking about?”

Molly looked up at him over the rim of her glass. He was with Catherine, and Jacob was following right behind. Her stomach soured at the sight of the eldest’s interest. Danny sat up straight as Josh held Catherine’s chair for her to sit. Jacob looked on edge. Samuel and Susannah were wise to remain at the bar. She wished she could crawl under the table and join them. Clearing her throat, she nodded at Danny.

“That new girl of your’s, Joshua,” Molly said, surprised that her voice was as strong as it was. “Danny found her in the alley with a cut heel.”

Josh sat down, eyes narrowed like he was studying the situation. “Well, if she’s injured, then perhaps that’s proof that she can’t do that job after all.”

“She got hurt in your shop,” Molly scoffed.

“No different if you got hurt down here, Miss Molly,” he said, leaning towards Catherine. “If you can’t perform, you wouldn’t be working here.”

“Kind of an idiot-”

“Molly,” Danny broke in, voice firm.

“Kind of a poor business move, Mr. Kiszka,” she continued, ignoring him and shifting into professional mode. “From what I hear she’s been good for your little front of a store. I just gave her some window dressing to level the playing field, boss.”

Josh shook his head. “Alright. Enough of the banter. What the fuck happened today and why is Molly calling me an idiot?”

“Josh,” Jacob said, his voice low. “Miss Cora cut her foot. Sam and Danny helped her out. That’s all. I sent them over to Molly’s to get her cleaned up and on her way home.”

“How droll,” Catherine sighed, rolling her eyes. “Why is this even important?”

Molly noticed that Jake glared at the woman before regrouping. “It was not anything that should affect the shop, is what I’m saying.”

Danny tapped her shoulder. “Come on, Mols. Let’s go dance.”

She let him take her hand. She heard Catherine scoff behind her. Molly tried to turn back around but Danny wouldn’t allow her to return to the table.

“Sweetheart,” he whispered, tugging her tight against him. “Let Jake take care of it.”

“But-”

He swept her out and dipped her down before spinning her, effectively ending the conversation. Molly could not keep her eyes from Catherine, Joshua and Jacob. She said something that made Jake shoot venom. In a chain reaction, Joshua leaned forward, mouth hard like he ended the conversation, leaving smoke and cinders behind. Danny swept her around once more to recapture her attention.

“Leave it,” he whispered, eyes squarely on her own.

Molly screwed her mouth to the side. She reluctantly turned her attention away from the fire that was obviously brewing between the twins. The fuel had been there, growing since Bea had scrammed five months before; since Catherine had strolled onto the scene three months ago; since the family booted them out of Detroit to take the reins on the UP twenty months ago. Molly had been a constant, witnessing the slaughter that Josh had brought to the family from the moment they set foot in Kingsford. She had fallen in love with the tall, dark stranger the moment she had strolled into the dancehall to meet the new proprietors and Daniel stood on the fringes looking like he had choked on a lightning bolt.

Wetting her lips, she pushed her smile to the fore as her fingertips grazed Danny’s chin. The blackness of his eyes and the warmth of his aura filled her with the moment. Instead of arguing, she pulled closer to him and dropped the attention to the group behind them where it belonged.

Hope you enjoyed this bit. Next chapter is one of my favorites and contains our first Jacob POV.

If you'd like to join the tag list, let me know or join here

@lvnterninthenight @doodle417 @luverleaver @jakesgrapejuice @fictional-duchess @whitesuitjake @milkgemini @positivegvfthings @songbirds-sweet @streamingcolors-gvf @gretavanbitches @samsurfgreenbass @joshkiszkas-admin @gardensgatedaisy @babyhoneygvfarchive @myownparadise96 @josh-iamyour-mama @starcatchercarol@loveisonaroll @jakesstarlight @myownparadise96 @reesetrippingthelight @kyrose11 @builtby-gvf @ignite-my-fire @ohgodthefeeling-gvf @wetkleenex-gvf@gold-mines-melting @starsasone @puzzle-gvf @mysticalstarcatcher @montenegroisr @takenbythemadness @brookes-so-done @way-to-go-lad @cal-a-bungaa @lightmylove-gvf @thewritingbeforesunrise @leftjudgeempathsuitcase @brokenbells11 @imborrowedshesblue @vanfleeter @sammysvanfeet

#greta van fleet #gvf #jake gvf #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #josh gvf #sam gvf #sam kiszka #danny gvf #danny wagner #jake kiszka x oc #jake kiszka fanfic #greta van fleet fan fic #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet au fanfiction

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talktaurean2meblog · 4 days

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AEW Collision 9-21-24

This is just a little write-up on All Elite Wrestling's Saturday show, Collision. It's no surprise that I'm trying to become a better fan of their product and that includes watching more often.

It was a solid show, actually, and a lot of folks said it blew Dynamite out of the water. SHEEH.

We begin the action with a Ring of Honor Tag Team Title Match between the reigning champions (Sammy Guevara & Dustin Rhodes) and Undisputed Era (Mike Bennett and Matt Tavern*)

I don't know the most about either team but Sammy and Dustin got the jump on UE before they were even all the way up the ramp. Let the madness begin! Its a gimmick match, but i didn’t catch the specifics.. maybe the name will come back to me, at some point..

Dustin was, at one point, currently grinding a belt buckle into someone’s face.. Apparently this is Dusty’s old one and it was gifted to him after his passing.

A Buckhouse Brawl? I believe that's what it was? And the last one hasn't been a thing since 2020. I thought that Undisputed Era might get a sneaky win.. that was my initial thought, about this match. This damn crash test dummy Sammy, later on in the match, caught a steel chair to the head… and I'm pretty sure this is the type of straight shot that is outlawed in most promotions. At least.. I thought?

Right after, UE pulled off a nasty doomsday device outside the ring. Sammy's rotation (or over rotation?) had me scared for a second. Dustin went through the table on the outside, and barbed wire was definitely involved, some way. Sammy got to give a running cutter, jumping from the ring and landing on the table that was set up outside. Whew.

Jesus Christ, when will Tony Khan stop this mf from taking all of these over-the-top bumps??? He just fell from a ladder.. We JUST got back from commercial At this point, Dustin has both men in a vice grip via pliers at the nuts.

Almost everyone is bleeding right now.. Its almost hard to watch… I don't know if that's because I'm not truly a "sicko" or not... Or if it's because it's ACTUALLY over the top. There's a “this is awesome” chant at 13 min into the match. Mike Bennett tried to make a comeback, tried to get a cover on Rhodes, but Guevara breaks up the pin. Dustin is, unbeknownst to me, wrapping barbed wire around his right boot.. Very slowly, i might add. He does this while completely bloodied in the face and kicks mike in a nuts while he’s in the corner…

Sammy is, at the closing moments, at the top of the ladder. He went for a Swanton bomb, I believe, and got the cover over Mike Bennett to retain. The goal of this match seems to have been to put on a crazy opening tag title match but also to get Sammy .. somewhat.. closer to being over/show that Dustin can still go.

2. Conglomeration had a backstage segment, including Mark Briscoe, Kyle O'Reilly, and Hologram, but it was Interrupted by Premiere athletes, I think. We're still learning these names.

3. Evil Uno also has a backstage segment about a future match against Mox, I believe. But tonight, is all about him and Darby Allin. Darby is still on Mox's radar, for some reason, too. Darby walks up.. Talking about a war coming? The prior beatdown on Private Party is referenced also. Darby said he has no plan of laying down and dying… he's a future world champ, he adds.

“Remind me what you can do.. Show me you got that dawg in you”

This was a quick moment of beauty from Darby Allin, towards Evil Uno.

For the Conglomeration's match, we have Mark Briscoe and Kyle O'Reilly (joined by Rocky Romero), and with Hologram. The masked wrestler is on a ten match winning streak, according to commentary. They took on the Premiere Athletes (Tony Neese, Ariya Daivari, and someone else I don’t know?)

Grand Slam is coming up on Wednesday this week!

Apparently, AEW 5 is also coming up and that's where Britt Baker is returning. Mind you, we have not seen hide nor tail of that women since she did what she did in between those ropes against Mercedes Mone at All In at Wembley a few weeks or so ago. But AEW 5 is October the 2nd. Title Tuesday is October 8th?

It was a lot going on, so I didn't have many thoughts. Hologram is insane, in between those ropes, and i mean this honestly. He was playing a little bit of cat and mouse with Tony, and he looked so quick and speedy while doing it. I disassociated for a little bit (ADHD), but Briscoe got the pin and not before some crazy shit from Hologram, attempted interference by Smart Mark Sterling Kyle O doing what he normally does.. The damn thing.

3. We were eventually blessed with a MxM Backstage Segment. I love this shit so much for them…

They stole Max Castor's jacket last week.. And gave it a "makeover". Apparently, next week they’re going to do the Grand Slam Finale and reveal it, a la NYFW. I love them so much.

Bang Bang Gang (with Daddy Ass) did a little promo segment backstage, in response, about twenty or so minutes later.

4. At some point we get Mariah May vs Lady Frost in an Eliminator Match. Not too much to write home about, for this one. Short match, good stuff by Frost, a predictable win for this new "champion".

Lady Frost? Oh yes ma'am, that bob is BOBBING. MM is wasting time blowing kisses at Nigel over on commentary and LF attempted like 3 pins on her as soon as the bell even rang.

No surprise, Mariah May lives to hold that belt around another day.

Around this point, is when my "old lady senses" started tingling, letting me know that it was almost my bedtime. So I did finish the episode, but as a casual watcher. No notes.

What should/promotion should I watch/comment/react on next?

Should I start doing the whole show? Or just break down a match or two? We've got some goooooood shows on the horizon, folks.

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chipmunkweirdo · 8 months

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So I have this Valentines fic idea and I dunno if I’ll get to actually write it, because some things are going on at home that make solo writing motivation scarce and anxiety rise.

But it’s a really good and really fun fic idea so I hope for a miracle and some time to actually sit down and get in the writing groove again.

Would you still read it if I can’t get it done until Valentines Day is long over?

My idea is that Alvin and Jeanette inadvertently pick the same restaurant as Brittany and Simon for their Valentines Day date. Meanwhile, Theodore tries to tell Eleanor about his feelings for her, but she’s too busy spying on the double date disaster.

Also, later in the fic they have a karaoke party and sing together and Alvin’s gonna maybe sing Kaleidoscope. Britt and Simon duet to The Scientist. Ellie rickrolls Theo and accidentally reveals she’s demi-romantic and actually does kinda have a crush on him, even though it isn’t the traditional sort of crush.

I could ramble on about it for hours, but actually writing it feels pretty impossible right now.

#alvin and the chipmunks #alvin seville #jeanette miller #alvinette #brimon #theonor #brittany miller #eleanor miller #theodore seville #alvinnn!!! and the chipmunks #aatc #fanfic #Valentines day #double date #disaster

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deepdisireslonging · 1 month

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Choices: Epilogue

A month after the reveal of the Dealer, Wardlow hosts another Bull Session with new seats at the table. They finalize, as a group, a deal that benefits all of them.

Warnings/Promises: paperwork, thinly-veiled threats

Word Count: 1302

Chapter 11: Ace of Hearts

March 26, 1929

The dining room chairs creaked as the visitors readied to leave.

Joe finished making his mark, laying down the pen without flourish or theatrics. When he looked up from his seat on one end of the table, several of the other visitors shied away from his glance. As they should, he marked with a nod. Today, he was a visitor as well. Sitting far away from where he had eaten many a meal as the right hand. At the far end, directly across and directly in view, Wardlow stood up.

“Then it’s settled.” The War Dog watched Joe flick his thumb over the bottom edge of the page. “We are all agreed and mutually beholden to keep our previous violence to a minimum moving forward. Chicago is not a war zone, despite what the press accuses us of. And if we are able to handle… situations like men of business instead of bullets, then we can keep the law from breathing down our necks. Though,” he nodded at Jericho, “we appreciate your inflow of information from the force as always, as well as your… guidance of their warrants.”

Across from one another, Julia Hart did nothing to muffle her snicker. If Jericho had any inclination of telling her to speak her mind so he could answer, the slow way she dragged her finger down the front of her chest buttons stopped him. Her movements boldly outlined the blade there. And, in an effort not to repeat the experience from the last Bull Session, Jericho snapped his jaw shut. He nodded at Wardlow to mark his compliance, much to Omega and Co’s amusement.

Reaching over the table, Friedman picked up the paper they all had signed, with their aliases of course. On the surface of the ink, it was a simple agreement of donations to the city. Nothing about territory borders or about the agreement to cut down inter-family disagreements. If anyone thought to use this ambiguity for their benefit later, and stir things up, there was a spoken agreement that all the crews would send one person each to remind the offshoot of the new order. Friedman had been skeptical at first, but he had soon realized the benefit to his public image with such a paper.

He bobbed his head. “Will Miss Garnier be sending round a copy for all of us?” He mockingly caught his mistake. “My apologies. I had forgotten that she is no longer in your employ. But her voice, shall we say, is all over this. Did she write this for you before she left?”

Only Spears dared to see how Wardlow’s ire was hackled at the mention and veiled threat towards Esther. But the leader went on. “No. She didn’t write a word. Though she inspired it.”

“How is she?”

Joe hmphed. “Probably happy in her retirement with Starks. You flipped them.” He shook his head with a sniff. “Not how I would have done it.”

“Yes, and we all know how you would have done it. How you tried to do it.” Adam Cole leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table while Britt Baker smiled dangerously at his side. They were keeping separate territories, having separate enterprises. And with Cole’s arrival, Joe’s controlled move, and Jade Cargill’s new entry, the table was crowded by the three new spots.

Unperturbed, Joe leaned back in his chair, crossing his hands over his stomach like a baron who had everything he wanted. “Do you even know where they are? That they aren’t planning something? It is Starks, after all. He can’t sit still for long.”

If anyone caught the glance he slid over to Cargill, Wardlow didn’t care. If anyone did see, he didn’t care what they thought either. “I don’t know, and I don’t care to.” He leveled his gaze with his former lieutenant. “And even if I did… I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Finally,” Joe grinned, “a smart stance.”

In only a few more minutes, the meeting broke up. Wardlow invited Omega and the brothers to stay for drinks but was relieved when they declined. Once everyone was gone, he and Spears would walk the contract to the office safe, which had, surprisingly, been Joe’s suggestion. After all, he did know more than anyone how secure it would be there than anywhere else. All the combinations had been changed in the house, though.

At the door, the last one there, Joe paused when putting on his hat and coat. “You’ve grown up quite a bit, boy, since I last saw you,” he grinned, “on that windy day in February.”

Warmly, Wardlow took the hand offered to him. “Thank you. And you seem more at ease, now that you’re not having to sneak around.”

That made Joe’s smile disappear. He remained cordial until he walked out the door, but he would always be a threat.

The clattering of a tray announced Mrs. Anne’s entry into the office a half-hour after the contract was sealed away. She prepared their drinks while Spears eyed the small plate of tea biscuits. “Another successful meeting. If I might request-”

“I’ve already arranged it. We won’t be hosting the next one.” Wardlow took his cup of coffee (with only a splash of milk) and settled into one of the high-back chairs in front of his desk. Spears took his cup of coffee (with a single sugar lump). And Ares rested his head on his master’s knee. Still, the housekeeper lingered. “Yes, Mrs. Anne?”

She hesitated. “Do – do you really not know where they are? Or even if they are – if they are alright?” Her knuckles paled and recovered as she wrung her hands. In the other chair, Spear’s cup hovered between the saucer and his lips as he waited for the answer.

Wardlow took a careful sip of his tea. “For their safety, I don’t know any details, no. But-” he saw Mrs. Anne’s shoulders perk in hope. “Ms. Cargill is keeping tabs on them by way of Taz, since he helped get them out. The less we know, the better. It means they are doing just fine. I have also been assured, that if they ever need help, we’ll be notified.”

“Thank you, sir.” Mrs. Anne breathed a sigh of relief. “That is – that is good to hear.” With a dip of her head, she left.

But a careful nervousness still shivered in the room. Spears reached out for a biscuit off the tray. “What about what Joe said? It is Starks. Think he’ll actually stay out of the business?”

“Absolutely. He’d never willingly endanger Miss Garnier.”

Spears nibbled at the edges of his treat. “Think Joe will try to tie up loose ends?”

Another careful sip. “If Joe wants to bother Cargill for news, he’s welcome to. But I’d like to have a ringside seat when he tries. He’ll discover she’s a force to be reckoned with.” He smiled. “He was right. Starks won’t hide for long. He’ll find trouble eventually. But we also know Esther – Miss Garnier. She’ll keep him out of the worst of it.” He placed his cup and saucer down with a clatter. “Speaking of ringside seats, Taz has already reserved us some tickets for his kid’s opening match. Facing some newcomer known only as the ‘Creole Heat.’ Would you like to go? He sent two tickets.”

It took a second to register. When it did, Spears almost choked on his drink. “So – he, they – yeah. Why not? Let’s see how the professional’s fight. Maybe we’ll learn something.”

“Maybe we will.”

And maybe, Wardlow hoped, they’d see a familiar feminine face in the crowd watching a familiar fighter known as the ‘Creole Heat.’

\\\***///

Bonus info: the date of this meeting was the date for Purim (Esther’s holiday) in 1929.

Note: Thank you all for reading! This series has really been a labor of love. Now that it's all posted and shared with you, I am relieved. But you know what's funny? I wasn't even finished with the final edit for this series before my brain was coming up with scenes for a completely separate new project! I have no idea if/when that might come out, but keep an eye out.

Thank you to my beta readers for giving me insightful feedback. It made the final edition of this series the wonderful, polished version it is. I wouldn't have felt confident enough to post this without your help and loving feedback.

As always: comments, gif and emoji reactions, and reblogs are super appreciated. If you don't know what to say: let me know who you thought the Dealer was! That was the most fun with my Beta readers seeing how their guesses changed with each chapter.

***

Choices Masterlist

#original series #finale #1920s au #aew fanfiction #wardlow #samoa joe #shawn spears #britt baker #adam cole #jade cargill #chris jericho #kenny omega #matt jackson #nick jackson #maxwell jacob friedman #julia hart

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of-twilight-and-moonshadow · 1 year

Text

Never Should Have Let You Go - Adam Cole x Reader PART 2

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how adorable this man is? *.*

*clear throat* Anyhow– so here is part 2 of Reader x Adam Cole, Never Should’ve Let You Go. It’s more from Adam’s prospective/2nd/3rd POV.

Also, I legit work(Well-- WORKED) at a Dollar store, so I am/will be pulling from incidents that happen to me or ones I hear from other stores.

Fun times *eye roll*

Fun Fact: The Microroni story included actually happened. To me. I was sick a couple weeks back, doing a reset (moving shelf labels and product around) with a coworker and the Microwavable Beefaroni had to move a shelf down– and instead I said the Microroni needed to move. She about died laughing)

Also, I don’t know yet if one of these chapters will have a smut section. I’ve never written smut– but i’ve read it, so I know good vs bad smut. I just don’t know if I’m comfortable, yet, writing it. So for now, enjoy all the fluff you can handle.

Y/N/N = Your Nick Name Y/N = Your Name Y/E/C = Your Eye Color

TAG LIST- If you’d like to be added, let me know!

@blxxckheart @shedevil22 @wwequeenbeesblog @regalbanshee

Part 1 - Part 3 - Part 4

(divider)

2017 - EIGHT YEARS LATER

“—don’t understand why you have such a problem with it!” Adam exclaimed in exasperation, frowning to his girlfriend Britt,” Y/N/N never did—”

“There it is! Again!” Britt exclaimed back, scowling at him,” Everything—it’s always Y/N/N this, Y/N/N that! I’m not her, Adam!”

“I’m well aware, thanks!” Adam fired back angrily. All they seemed to do for several months now, was fight. It was the first time they saw each other in a month, and within five minutes they were already at each other’s throats.

“Maybe you should just give her a call if you are so concerned about her!”

“Her numbers been disconnected.”

Britt stood there, almost dumbfounded, before crossing her arms and giving a click of her tongue,” And there it is. You’ve already tried. Should’ve known.”

“Britt c’mon,” Adam sighed,” You know it’s not like—”

“Save it, Adam,” Britt shook her head,” I’m done being constantly compared to your high school sweetheart.” Turning, she walked away—ignoring Adam as he called out to her.

“Britt— Britt!” Balling up his fist in anger, Adam swung at the crate nearest him, hissing in pain as he hit the toughened plastic harder than he intended.

“Forget it, man,” he muttered under his breath, walking the opposite way that Britt had left. If she was done, then so be it; time to focus on the career again.

That was seven months ago. October had crept up on everyone- and Adam was rolling on the high of successfully debuting in NXT along with Kyle and Bobby. Sewing chaos back stage for the cameras—and searching for a decent apartment in the area—kept him busy enough. It was the day after filming their latest hijinks—all Adam wanted to do was rest a bit, but instead he found himself at a local Dollar store, picking up items he needed for the apartment. He didn’t expect the small store to have everything it did—but here he was quickly filling a cart. Kyle and Bobby had got roped into tagging along—and the three were just having a blast, cracking jokes at certain things or memories that came up.

“Remember when you were so tired that one night—you were combining every word you said?” Bobby laughed, causing Kyle to groan.

“Come on man, I was up for almost 45 hours.”

“Beefaroni and Microwavable— what was it again, Adam?”

“Microroni,” Adam laughed,” What was even better was that the Macaroni was right beside him too!”

“I hate you guys,” Kyle rolled his eyes, walking off towards the end of the aisle on his own.

“Oh, come on, kid—all in good fun,” Bobby chuckled. Adam looked up briefly from the coffee to see where Kyle was at, glancing back to the coffee tins. Quickly, he done a double take—his head snapping back towards Kyle’s direction, blue eyes widening slightly.

“No…” he whispered.

“You good?” Bobby asked, noticing his friends state of shock. Wordlessly, Adam left his cart where it was and walked down to Kyle’s location, carefully peering out from the end of the aisle.

Five aisles down, focusing on a display she had to set was the one person Adam never thought he would see again. The one person that stole his heart ten years ago. The one person he was still in love with.

“Y/N/N…” he breathed, swallowing the lump in his throat—unaware that Bobby and Kyle were standing right beside him, looking in the same direction.

“S’up man? You know her?” Kyle asked.

“T-that’s Y/N/N…”

“Y/N/N? W—” Kyle started, before stopping as his eyes widened in surprise,” Wait—Y/N Y/N/N? Your girlfriend from high school?”

The words escaped him, so all Adam could do was nod once.

“She’s more beautiful than I remember…”

“Go talk to her,” Bobby ushered, nodding his head in Y/N’s direction as she focused on the numerous papers and shelves.

“Nah, nah—I—I can’t.”

“Why not?” Kyle questioned, confusion evident in both his expression and voice.

“Wh— It’s been eight years!” Adam exclaimed, before glancing back over his shoulder real quick. Seemingly being unheard by Y/N, he lowered his voice as he continued with sadness,” She’s probably moved on.”

“You don’t know that,” Bobby told his long-time friend,” Let me just give you one piece of advice— Adam. You listening, man?”

Kyle and Bobby watched in mild amusement as Adam leaned carefully around the corner of the aisle, peering out from the canned goods.

“She always done that—scrunched her face like that? Something’s not adding up—she’s trying to figure out why,” Adam recalled, watching with a ghost of a smile on his face.

“I don’t think he’s listening,” Kyle chuckled to Bobby, who gave a nod of agreeance.

“Y/N—I need you up front.” A voice rang through the walkie on her hip, causing her to sigh softly as she put down her papers.

“I’ll be right there.”

She disappeared into another aisle—and almost without thought, Adam snuck after her.

“I’ll grab the cart,” Kyle smirked, as he and Bobby followed along behind their friend in a non-suspicious behavior. They caught up to Adam, who was watching from behind the Pepsi display, as Y/N seemed to be explaining something to a customer. Her voice floated just far enough that they heard what was being discussed.

“—not on sale. The sign states exactly what’s half off—spring items, planters, seeds. This is a harvest for the Fall.”

“But it was back there with the clearance! I want it for that price!”

“I’m sorry, m’am, but I’m not going to price override it. The signs clearly state—”

“I want to speak to the manager!”

“M’am—”

“Manager! I want to speak with them—not you! You clearly don’t know what you’re doing! Your manager will know about this!”

The three men saw Y/N seemingly take a deep breath and Adam gave a small smirk.

“Deep breath, chewing on the bottom lip— and— and— there it is. Arms crossed in front of her. She’s trying to keep her cool, to remain calm. She’s yelling on the inside—chewing the lady apart.”

“M’am—I—”

“No! Manager—right now!” the customer demanded, crossing her arms and glaring at Y/N.

“Sure, let me go get her.”

They watch as she disappears down the registers towards a room in the corner, closing the door behind her.

“She’s losing her job over this! Mark my words!”

Adam watches in baited breath, before the door opens again and Y/N walks back towards the registers—a huge smile plastered on her face.

“She’s got something up her sleeve.”

“Hello! I’m the store manager, Y/N,”she said, pointing to her name badge,” How can I help you today?”

“You are not! Don’t lie to me! Get your manager out here right now!”

“M’am—”

“—can’t believe you! I will have your job for this! Get the manager out—”

“I’m going to ask you to leave,” Y/N said, talking over the customer,” And if you don’t leave, I will call the police.”

“You bitch! You think you can do this to me?! Do you have any idea who—”

“Get out and never come back to my store,” Y/N told her, raising her voice, as she pointed to the doors.

The customer let out a shriek of indignance, before stomping her way out of the store.

“If she comes back in here, let me know—okay?” The cashier gave a nod- before Y/N looked to the few customers that were in the line.

“Thank you all for being patient.” Walking away from the register, Adam watched as she disappeared back down an aisle to the project she left previously.

“She’s…” Adam whispered, barely loud enough that Kyle and Bobby heard.

“Do you see them?” Kyle asked, leaning back towards the older man, as Adam looked over at them in confusion.

“You mean the little hearts in his eyes? Yeah—I see ‘em.”

“Shut up,” Adam scoffed, a slight blush tinting his cheeks.

“Look, man. While I’ve got your attention,” Bobby said,” I’ve got one piece of advice for you—and it’s all I’ll say. If you don’t go up to her, talk to her—and leave here today, never coming back—you’ll always wonder. What if? What if she is single? What if she’s been waiting for you? What if—she still loves you as much as you love her? Would you be able to live with yourself knowing you didn’t take the chance?”

Could he?

Adam contemplated it for a few moments, crossing his arms in front of him and softly nibbling on his thumbnail, staring off into space. His baby blues glossed over momentarily as memories from ten years ago replayed in his head.

Seeing Y/N in the hallways at school and always thinking she would never be interested in him.

Being surprised, when one day after school, a group of them decided to play tackle football—and she was one of the few girls who joined. Adam remembered the surprise he felt—when, as he was getting ready to pass the football to a teammate, and she came out of nowhere and tackled him with her full bodyweight. The sudden impact had caused him to fall over into the mud—the ball slipping from his hands. After the initial shock was over, a slight flutter of happiness traveled through him when he found she was straddled over his waist, her arms covered in mud—some streaks of brown on her face. In that moment, he saw her beauty—her true beauty. After a slight awkward shuffling off one another and standing up, he tossed her a small smile to which she had returned with a shy smile of her own.

Their first date had gone completely wrong—but in the end, was probably the best first date that could’ve happened. The original plans had been going to the local diner a couple blocks away- but the weather had different plans. After being soaked within a minute of being outside, the two spent hours playing video games—and Y/N didn’t go home until almost one in the morning.

Their first kiss happened out of the blue—outside in the cold Pennsylvania winter. A simple snowman had turned into an all-out snowball fight. Before either one knew it, they were rolling around in the cold snow, both laughing up a storm- until they came to a stop, Adam slightly leaning over Y/N. Both were red in the face from the cold but smiling despite it. His eyes briefly flickered to her lips, before looking her in the eyes once more—hesitantly leaning down. It was soft and almost uncertain—but both couldn’t ignore the fireworks that they felt.

“—match against Roddy next week. Be just like old times,” Bobby was saying, as Adam came back to earth. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he knew what he had to do.

It was now or never.

Kyle and Bobby watched quietly as their close friend walked down the aisle, heading to where Y/N worked. As he neared her, Adam peered around the corner cautiously, watching for just a moment longer.

“If this goes to Hell—I just… I need one last, good look at her…”

As he worked up the courage to step around, he saw the metal shelf she had just put up slip out of its place and fall to the floor with a loud clatter- as she let out a groan of annoyance.

“Seriously—work with me here, come on,” Y/N muttered, as she bent down to pick it up.

“Need a hand with that, princess?”

Adam saw her freeze in place, before she slowly straightened back up; her e/c gaze meeting his baby blues. He gave her a shy smile—tentative and uncertain—as he swallowed the lump in his throat once again.

Why did this girl always make him so nervous? Even ten years later, he still felt like that 16-year-old boy in high school, watching her from afar.

“A-Adam?”

#wwe #world wrestling entertainment #Adam Cole #Adam x Reader #Part 2 #imagine #reader insert #fanfiction #NXT

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a-lucha-brother · 2 years

Text

Let’s Talk About Jade

I love THAT bitch to the ends of the earth. She’s a bonafied money printing superstar and a megastar in the making.

BUT what the hell are we doing with her, and half the women’s roster for that matter?

Her streak is at what, 54(?) now, just stop it. It should have ended at 50, it’ll never be caught again for probably the rest of AEW’s history.

It’s done more harm now for EVERYONE involved. It’s hurt, the TBS championship, Jade herself, Nyla Rose, Skye Blue, Red Velvet, Ruby Soho (even though she’s finally clawing something back), Athena, Diamante, Kiera Hogan and Anna Jay.

The TBS title has become redundant. Jade barely features on television, and when she does she doesn’t say or do much - next to no screentime for literally the most dominant champion in all of wrestling outside of Roman Reigns!? What the fuck is going on here!?

Next to no storylines, apart from someone is unhappy with Jade so they challenge her and she batters them, wooptiedoo!!

Granted they kinda tried something with Nyla stealing her title that one time but guess what, they had one match and Nyla got battered, wooptiedoo!!

So......what do we do?

Let me take you back to when Awesome Kong was the Knockouts Champion. Undefeated, couldn’t be touched, literally no other woman on her physical level. But she lost her title after some shenanigans involving Velvet Sky tying her hair to the ropes stopping her from retaining her title. Now I’m not for a single second AEW go down as silly a route as TNA did, but literally Jade needs to lose the TBS title to some shenanigans and move onto Dynamite full-time with a full-time storyline that has her in the Women’s Title picture, if not challenging for it, if not winning it, but at least being involved in a long-term story, which I have for you now.

And it involves:

These two lassies here and:

A little lady by the name of Ruby Soho.

This is written before Revolution, but they have been teasing for the longest time this idea of “ex-WWE vs AEW born and bred” and I think it could work amazingly, it’s been done to death before with many men in many promotions (NWO, Aces & 8′s, Bullet Club) but never to that extent with women.

Regardless of who wins the Women’s Title at Revolution, I think it would be VERY smart to have Ruby turn on Jamie and team with Toni and Saraya. Works both ways actually, Jamie retains after Ruby gets so close and she snaps, Ruby wins after accepting some help from the side by Saraya with the story being it was all for her all along. Either way regardless, I think they 3 should become a team, hijack Rampage (again works whether Ruby does or doesn’t have the Women’s Title, probably better if she doesn’t) and shenanigan their way to beating Jade taking her TBS Title away (works both ways in that either Ruby gets the TBS or she gets the Women’s and Toni gets the TBS). This then forces Jade to try and take back her title by hunting the 3 ladies down across Dynamite but getting beat by the numbers game everytime. And further down the line, Jade teams up with Jamie and Britt to beat the ex-WWE birds, and then either uses that to challenge one of the ex-WWE birds for the title OR better yet, Jamie for her still retained title. If we go down the line of Ruby having the Women’s Title, you can make the case for a 3-way between Ruby, Jade and Jamie. If Jamie still has her title and Ruby has the TBS, you could still have a 3-way with the stipulation being if either champion gets pinned they lose their title and if Jade is pinned both champions retain. So there’s also a 3-way incentive all round:

Become a double champ? Save your own reign by double-teaming Jade? Which championship does Jade go for?

I always always always say this about wrestling, storylines write themselves, it’s not hard to book these things that involve many people and keep them all looking good and strong. You could make this storyline last 6 months if you wanted to. That length of storytelling you’d get your hand bitten off to have that in your wrestling promotion.

And it’s what I think needs to be done with Jade and the TBS Title cause they’re both drowning it mediocrity right now.

#personal #aew #jade cargill #fantasy booking #fantasy booker #aew fantasy booking #jamie hayter #ruby soho

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fonkeloog · 5 months

Text

Someone, please send me things to use for my poetry. I wanna write, but all I can think of is trauma related. And while that's very healing, I'm hoping to just... write.

So, any prompts, words, or pictures. Please send them in my ask box

#britt is rambling #britt (tries to) write things

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sohemotional · 2 years

Note

Can you write about Brinn (or Britt) taking Santana to a 7-Eleven?

Santana was only six (she wasn't a baby, she'd turn seven in August and that was what she reminded anyone who asked her), riding the new red bike she got for Christmas around the block when she bumped into this weird, tall kid with light brown hair she saw sometimes. He had an old looking green scooter that Santana thought looked pretty lame and was wearing a Power Rangers shirt. He had recently moved into the neighbourhood with his mom, that was all Santana knew.

"Hey, do you want to be friends?" The other six year old asked, wincing when she glared at him.

"No!" Santana shouted and left in a flash before he had a chance to answer her, showing off how fast she was. Santana thought Finn was annoying but she didn't know anyone else in the neighbourhood who was her age, so she ended up hanging around him when she was completely bored a few times. She didn't like boys much and he was one of the dumbest boys she had ever met. One day, she came over to his house to watch some lame Star Wars movie he kept ranting about. Santana's jaw dropped when the prettiest girl she had ever seen came to the door.

This had to be Finn's older sister he had mentioned before several times. She was nine, much taller than Santana and had the brightest, cat-like blue eyes, along with long blonde hair. Santana was speechless when she smiled at her and there were butterflies in her stomach.

Santana was so awestruck by Brittany that it took her a while before she was comfortable enough in the older girl's presence to act normally but once she did, she became closer to Brittany than she had been with Finn. The trio soon did everything together, even though Santana secretly would have preferred if it was just her and Brittany. Finn began to pout and complain about the two girls always leaving him out of things.

Fast forward more than ten years later and an eighteen year old Santana was nervous when her childhood friend Finn was calling up the Latina to ask if she wanted to hang out with him and his sister on a summer day.

"Whatever, Finnocence. I guess." She mumbled into the phone disinterestedly. She and Finn moved in different circles in high school and Santana still found him irritating half the time but he was one of the popular jocks and she was a cheerleader, so at least they had their popularity in common.

She had nothing better to do that day other than paint her nails and maybe just maybe part of her was nostalgic for weekends at the Hudson house and lame movies. Carole and her boyfriend Darren had always treated her like family. There was the sound of giggling in the background as someone seemed to grab the phone out of Finn's hand and a girl's voice.

"Oh wait, my sister's back home from college on vacation and wants to say hi..."

Santana swallowed hard, heat rising to her face as her nervousness took over. She had always had a massive crush on Brittany but had been too terrified to admit it to the older girl. She felt like there was no way someone as angelic as Brittany could ever love her back and now that she was in college, she was even further out of her league.

"H-hi..." She stuttered nervously, cringing at herself for how shy she sounded. Brittany was an incredibly gorgeous girl and even though Santana tried to date other girls in the past, she couldn't get the freckled, blonde she knew since childhood out of her head.

"Hi Santana!" Brittany chirped casually, "It's been a while. I missed seeing you."

"I m-missed you too."

"So are you coming? Finn and I have the coolest place ever to take you to."

"Sure. I'll be ready," Santana tried to ignore how the butterflies were fluttering again like crazy. She was so nervous about going out with Brittany, even though it wasn't as if the three of them hadn't been out countless times together before. "Where are we going?"

"It's a secret," She teased with another soft giggle, "We'll pick you up in ten minutes, okay?"

Santana began to panic as soon as she ended the call and spent what felt like a million years primping in the mirror, staring at her reflection and making sure her straight black hair and makeup looked amazing because there was no way she'd let Brittany see her looking like a mess. Her tight jeans, black leather jacket and boots would have to do.

There was an insanely bright pink G-Wagon parked in the driveway of the Lopez mansion a little later than Brittany said she'd be. Finn and Brittany could never do anything on time. The blonde girl saw Santana watching them through the window and waved at her from the driver's seat. Santana tried to calm the butterflies she felt again but quickly made her way down to her friends after her mother shouted at her telling her the Hudsons were there. Finn fist-bumped her in greeting and Brittany grinned cheerfully when Santana climbed into the backseat.

"Hi Guys."

"Hi, Hot Stuff!" Brittany quipped, meeting her gaze head on.

Was she flirting with her or what? Blue eyes were narrowed, long lashes fluttering and it felt like Brittany was eyeing her appreciatively but maybe that was just wishful thinking on Santana's part. "Wow, you're all dressed up. It's just us, Silly. Remember you and I used to play naked in the splash pool?"

Santana blushed deeply, squirming as she snapped her seatbelt on and trying not to look as flustered as she felt. Finn just laughed awkwardly, his hoodie pulled over his head because he was being driven in Brittany's Barbie pink car. Of course Finn, being Finn also was completely oblivious to Santana's huge crush on his sister.

"I've also seen you in Hello Kitty pajamas, Santana. You look great in that leather jacket though."

"You too. You look... nice." Santana responded, cursing herself for not having a better line. Brittany was wearing an adorable pink shirt with black cats and jean shorts, her long hair in beachy waves. She was even more beautiful than Santana remembered her being.

"Um, Britt... you might want to pay attention to the um, road. Getting kind of dizzy." Finn pointed out as Brittany swerved wildly and drove like she was flying. Santana started to feel a little disoriented herself. Brittany was the craziest driver she knew and she’d get distracted by anything.

"I think we just drove past here." He mentioned as it felt like Brittany had circled the same block a few times."

"Oops, sorry. I had my head in the clouds. This happens all the time." Brittany spoke in a dreamy voice but at least they were finally on the highway again.

"It feels like I'm being kidnapped by Barbie." Santana joked as Brittany drove along in her crazy, girly car for twenty more minutes and Finn kept making his usual dad jokes, bopping his head to some pop song Brittany was playing. There was an easygoing, light vibe like how it always was with the Hudson siblings and Santana found herself enjoying how relaxed it was with them, even though it was hard to focus on anything other than her attraction to Brittany.

"Ohh remember when we used to play Barbies?” Brittany glanced back at her in the rear view mirror, beaming. "Finn used to be really into that too."

"Hey now, let's keep that just between us," Finn chuckled nervously as Santana snickered. "It was just fun making up stories."

"You set my Ken doll on fire." His sister giggled, catching Santana's eye again and pointedly staring at her. It was true that Santana had been insanely jealous of watching Brittany being obsessed with that doll when she was eight and set it on fire in a fit of rage. Santana slumped down into her seat in embarrassment as the two smirked at her.

"Oh look, we're here!" Finn announced happily. Santana blinked in complete confusion as they pulled into a gas station. "It's the most fun place ever. Britt and I go here all the time for fun."

"It's... a 7-Eleven..." Santana said flatly, blinking in confusion as Finn and Brittany got out and encouraged her to follow them. It was probably the biggest 7-Eleven Santana had ever seen. When Finn kept ranting about some cool place they wanted to take her, Santana expected something way better than this. She was unimpressed.

Finn kept looking over at Brittany like an excited puppy to see her reaction. Ever since Santana first met him, Finn always looked up to his older sister. Brittany reached up as she was shorter than him even in her high heels and ruffled his brown hair affectionately.

"Yeah, I know. Isn't that great?" Brittany gushed to the black-haired girl. Santana nearly tripped when her hand grabbed hers as they walked over, forgetting about anything disparaging she was going to say as she saw how excited Brittany was. She didn't understand why Brittany was holding her hand but she wasn't going to pull away.

"Um... it's something." Santana cleared her throat, trying not to hurt the girl's feelings.

"This is the best place ever to get snacks other than the dollar store. Hey look, Brittany, chips are on sale!" Finn grabbed several huge bags of potato chips, shoving them into a basket and Brittany made a delighted sound. Both of their eyes went big as they saw all of the snacks on display in the aisles. "We'll need to get all the discounted Halloween chocolates too."

"Yep and don't forget ice cream. We're running low on chocolatey caramel vanilla swirl and that's my favourite." Brittany added with a nod. For the life of her, Santana couldn't understand what the two were so happy about but they moved around at a fast pace and talked like they were seasoned experts. Her face fell and she tried not to look disappointed when Brittany let go of her hand to go inspect a huge bag of pink and white marshmallows Finn was holding up.

"Are you guys done yet?" Santana crossed her arms over her chest, not keeping the irritation out of her voice after the two of them spent the next ten minutes debating which snacks they should get.

"Don't worry, it's not over just yet. The best part is about to come." Brittany winked at her and Santana's knees felt a little shaky.

"Oh you're in for a treat, Santana. I can't believe you've never tried this stuff before." Finn sighed, in ecstasy as he bit into a chocolate bar.

"I can't either." Santana deadpanned as he and Brittany lead her over to the counter where you could buy nachos and slushies. Sure, Santana had been to a 7-Eleven once or twice in her life but she was completely out of her element.

She liked to live in luxury and gas station food wasn't exactly glamorous. She cringed, thinking of the germs the food was probably full of and her eyes darted around, hoping that no one from her high school was seeing her there. This was what she got all dressed up for? Brittany handed her a set of nachos and added cheese to them for her. Santana stared at them scornfully but her face softened when Brittany looked at her encouragingly.

"Yeah, they’re good. The cheese does kinda make me gassy though so you might want to roll a window down just in case." Finn added as an afterthought and Brittany laughed loudly, elbowing him in the side while Santana just stared at him, repulsed. Santana could never really understand the dynamic between the Hudson siblings.

"It's delicious, trust me. Do you want a slushie too?"

"Ew - I mean no - no thank you. They're way too sweet." Santana made a face as Finn began sipping the blue extra large slushie he was holding and Brittany just shrugged, sipping from her smaller red one as she paid for their things. Santana offered to pay for hers but Brittany didn’t let her. They also grabbed some hot dogs with everything on them for Finn and he made sure to cover his nachos with every topping imaginable.

"What the fuck, Flopson?" Santana groaned when Finn bumped into her, spilling some slushie on her expensive shirt. She could practically scream in frustration. That was the last straw. She hated feeling unclean. Seeing the puddles of spilled slushie and dried on coffee on areas of the floor everywhere she went only made her feel more repulsed.

Santana slipped away into the aisles, asking or rather demanding with a snarl that Finn held her tray, along with his own, much heavier one. The boy just blinked at her in confusion but didn't argue as he knew not to argue back with Santana when she was in one of her moods. She was annoyed at watching Finn stuff his big face the whole time they stood up by the counter and flustered about having to hang out in this gross, tacky place in the first place.

"Whoa - what the fuck..."

She was surprised when she felt arms wrap around her and was about to deck whichever pervert grabbed her but she heard Brittany's soft voice in her ear and blushed, feeling her curves pressed against her back.

"Are you okay, Santana?" She giggled as Santana turned around to face her with a flustered expression. "Not too traumatized?"

So Brittany had noticed her lack of interest after all. Santana didn't want to upset the girl by admitting she wasn't into gas station food.

"I'm not..."

"I'm sorry about your shirt. You know my little bro gets clumsy sometimes. You can borrow one of mine and I'll help you get the stain out."

"T-thanks."

"You look really weirded out. I'm sorry if we made you uncomfortable by taking you here. If you want, I can take you back to our place or somewhere else."

"It's fine, Brittany. It's just not exactly... fancy."

"I know you only like your fancy pants five star restaurants but thanks for coming with us anyway," Something about the way Brittany was standing so close to her, whispering in her ear was making Santana forget to breathe. "For what it's worth, you look really hot in that outfit. It's turning me on."

Santana yelped, looking around to make sure Finn wasn't hearing them because she was so flustered by Brittany. She was relieved that they seemed to be alone, out of earshot of the other customers. She practically overheated when Brittany slipped sneaky hands into the back pockets of her jeans and gave her ass a squeeze.

"Brittany! What are you doing?"

"Sorry, you just looked so cute. I had no choice." Brittany winked again, her octopus arms disappearing from around Santana as she finally moved away. Santana took a deep breath, summoning all her courage and grabbed Brittany's hand, pulling her in close and glared at her.

"Wait, Brittany, I...look, are you... are you flirting with me? Just stop leading me on, okay, if that's what you're doing because... I really like you, way way too much and I don't know if I should be telling you this but... "

Instead of answering, Brittany leaned in close again, cupping Santana's jaw to tilt her face upwards and kissed her. Santana tensed at first, not expecting it. It wasn't that long of a kiss but Santana accidentally dropped the bag of jelly beans she was holding for Brittany and melted completely at the touch of those soft lips against hers. She could taste the cherry flavour from the slushie and to her surprise, it wasn't the least bit unappealing on Brittany.

"Mmm... making out in the 7-Eleven in the chip aisle. So sexy." Brittany joked as they parted and Santana's heart continued to beat rapidly. Santana couldn't help but laugh and Brittany took her hand again and lead her away.

"Whoa, what's going on? Were you guys kissing just now?" Finn raised an eyebrow, grinning at them playfully as he handed them their food and they sat around at a table. He whistled at them, chuckling when neither Brittany or Santana denied it, the black-haired girl hiding her face.

"Maybe." Brittany smirked back at her brother, stealing a bunch of Santana's nachos and the Latina didn't protest at all. Finn made a face at the two as he finally seemed to realize that there was something going on between his sister and the dark-haired girl.

"Huh..." He got out, finishing his third hot dog after the huge set of loaded nachos he had demolished. Finn had always been overprotective of Brittany and Santana wondered if she should start running when the big guy frowned, furrowing his brows. "That's just... wow...I guess I always knew Santana had a huge crush on you."

Santana could not have been more embarrassed as the siblings smirked at her.

"Best first date ever?" Brittany asked jokingly, whispering into Santana's ear. Santana forgot how to speak when Brittany kissed the tip of her ear. She realized that Brittany was kind of right... it had been like a first date for them almost. A very weird one but at least she still got a kiss out of it from the prettiest girl in existence.

"You got that right." She smirked, wrinkling her nose at the smell of nacho cheese on the girl but thinking she was adorable all the same as they finished their food - Santana barely touched hers, much to Finn’s confusion, giving most of it to the siblings to finish - and Brittany lead them back in the direction of her Barbie car, her arm around Santana's shoulders.

#Brittana #Brittany S. Pierce #Santana Lopez #Platonic Finntana #my fics

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staytiny-angel · 2 years

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Shall We Play a Game?

Rating: M

Pairings; "Hangman" Adam Page/Female OC (Ava Grace Page), Finn Balor/Female OC (Violet Balor), Becky Lynch/Seth Rollins, Austin Theory/Damien Priest

Warnings: Swearing, Seth being Seth

Summary: Ava and Adam are about to leave on their long awaited Honeymoon.

Authors Note: This story takes place in the Emoverse a shared universe created by myself, @rowina-blck and @swifteforeverandalways This part was Cowritten with Rowina

I've tried to write this so that no prior knowledge of the Emoverse is needed but in case I missed something AEW and WWE are currently in the middle of a "World's Collide" Event, Violet Balor is Rowina's OC, the wife of Finn Balor, the two have a baby girl named Raven and she is my OCs Best Friend. Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch and Drew McIntyre are a committed throuple, If you have any questions just shoot me an ask.

"Finally" Ava said as she packed her bags,"I can't believe it took six months for Tony to approve our Honeymoon"

"With the invasion going on we're lucky he's letting us go now,Sugar" Adam repiled from his spot on their bed

"I told him if he didn't I would make his life a living hell" She said locking the last suitcase and jumping on the bed to snuggle in her husband's arms.

"Hawaii here we come" Adam said, nuzzling behind his wife's ear "I've got plans for you, Sugar" he half growled directly into her ear making her shiver.

The next day at Monday Night Raw, the pair was sitting in catering with Violet and Becky waiting for their turn to go on.

"I'm gonna miss you!" Violet said to her pseudo sister and fellow Judgement Day member. "A whole month Ma Cherie Who's going to help me keep Austin and Damien in line?" “Maybe Athena’s up for a company switch” Ava laughed, Raven babbling on. “I cannot believe this little thing is almost two” Adam hugged her close. “I know” Violet kissed her head. “Are you thinking of having kids?” Adam and Ava looked at each other and nodded "We've talked about it but we're not ready right at this moment" Adam said bouncing Raven on his lap and smiling when the toddler giggled and tugged on his scruff

"Honeymoons are mysterious things" Becky said on a laugh "You better be prepared"

"You just got here and your already leaving for a month!" Seth said loudly as he dropped into a chair at the table. “Sorry Dad” Ava giggled. “Just know I have Nicky on speed dial to guilt trip you”

“That’s evil”

Violet laughed as Austin entered being carried by Damian.

“Judgment Day wins!” He cheered. “And you did nothing” Ava teased "Hey! Cheerleading is a very important part of the whole winning routine" Austin says as Damien took a seat, and Austin sat on his boyfriend's lap.

"Hawaii, sis? Cliche much?" Austin said to Ava with a smirk

"Hey! It was good enough for literally everyone at this table" Ava says "We're gonna have fun, see the sights"

Adam covered Raven's ears and murmured "All the sights we can see from the bed and the hot tub"

"HEY!" Seth yelled "No innuendos about my daughter"

“Overprotective much?” Violet teased. “Silence” “Stop being naughty Moi Chaton, or I may have to punish you” Ava laughed while Adam looked horrified “You didn’t know my wife was Seth’s dom back in the day?” Finn tease

Adam blinked "No that was not something I was aware of" he says very primly "I knew they were together but not like that"

"It's disgusting, she's my sister and he's practically my dad. I don't like to think about how they used to bone" Ava said with a grossed out expression on her face

"Can we change the subject there are children present" Becky said laughing

"And on that note we're out of here" Ava said. I need to kick Britt's ass one more time before I bounce.

"Please do after that neck comment towards my little sister" Seth practically growled Violet crossed her arms and nodded. "If you need Judgement Day to make ourselves known we will be at the ready"

"Family? See you later" Ava leaned of and softly kissed her husband before heading to the gorilla position as Dionsyus by BTS blasted out into the arena and the boos started. She didn't give a fuck that the WWE Universe seemed to hate her, it didn't even matter that Britt was a heel too. No one. But no one fucked with her family especially her Aunt Saraya after all the work she'd done to come back to the sport she loved so much.

And after? Well 31 days in bed with her husband sounded like an awfully good reward.

#Shai's Kinktober 2022 #Shai Writes #Shai writes with Rowina

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tuiyla · 2 years

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The whole Brittany is a math genius thing makes me so! mad! Because it plays into all the most wrong perceptions about my beloved mathematics. Even after the "genius twist", the narrative makes it pretty clear Birtt had never taken an interest in maths or studied it but tries to play it like she magically knew it. Mathematics cannot be mastered at any level without incredible dedication, and it builds on itself more than maybe any other subject. You can't just magically figure out stuff! And they have her get into MIT because she wrote down random numbers and it was a palindromic prime or something if I recall correctly. That's ridiculous! First of all, that's not impressive. That's the kind of stuff we write a program for and leave it running so we find a new example every few years. People prove theorems, computers do boring calculations. Maths has a lot less to do with numbers than people think frankly, and without justification results are not accepted. Let us look at the mathematician considered the most naturally gifted, Ramanujan. He grew up poor in India with little access to mathematical resources and due to this most of his work was rediscovery and he never really learned the mathematical rigour necessary to formalize proofs. He dedicated his life to mathematics and wrote letters filled with results he'd send to mathematicians trying to interest them in his work. For years he was dismissed as a crank because he was an unknown and lacked mathematical rigour, until GH Hardy took an interest in him and had him brought to Cambridge. Even if Britt had secretly dedicated her entire life to maths and had written a counterexample to the Riemann hypothesis (the most important problem in mathematics), she likely would have been dismissed. Though if they had written this at least it would fit in with the normal unbelievability of the show. They couldn't have called up 1 random mathematician and asked them what would be impressive? I know this is dumb and glee has plenty of worst stuff but this is still the one that makes me the most irrationally upset. I feel like Ryan Murphy personally took a dump on my life's work.

Hehe hi Anon so I know it's been nearly two months and tbh I'm not sure why I put off answering this for so long. Not like I have a ton to say because while I understand and appreciate your perspective, I also think... it's not that deep? And woah, I know that's very very rich coming from me when I monopolize the freaking Glee shovel but the genius storyline is largely a joke.

I personally like it because imo it adds much needed agency and dimension to Brittany's character and story, and that's a convo for another day, but it is a joke. The writers truly didn't think anything of it, much less really considered the actual reality of mathematics. Like, yes, it is ridiculous! It's played for laughs like much of Brittany's ch is. One of those instances of Glee being very aware of the nonsense and leaning into it.

But I also happen to personally believe that that doesn't matter. What matters is validating Brittany's unique point of view and her way of seeing the world, saying that hey, there are ways in which she's actually much smarter than most. Is it in any way plausible, no. But even I, notorious Glee too-seriously-taker, would advise you not to take Glee's disregard of how maths actually works personally. This is a big rant for something that doesn't matter too much, dramatically, in the series. The show leans into the ridiculousness of it all enough while also focusing on Britt's character more than the actual science of it all. And I can personally get behind that. I think the 4x22 scene with her and the MIT professors is hilarious. But I also left maths behind when I graduated high school so what do I know.

#i am but a media graduate not a mathematician #and my diagnosis is 'it's not about the science' lol #brittany asks #gotta be one of the most passionate asks i've gotten #certainly about maths #but bella is yet to rant to me about maths soooo #unless it is you! i doubt it bella uses paragraph breaks #anon #glee asks #britt genius storyline

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fantasies-fairytales-n-fics · 2 years

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Code Blue Ch. 3 "Hysteria"

Summary: Josie is discharged from the hospital and goes home to more than one upsetting situations. A treasure hunt begins but someone deters it, temporarily. A close friend comes for Josie. She learns shocking information. Lee is in trouble and is in need of saving, but can he be? Quite the reunion takes place.

*Warning* language, mentions of child death, injury, alcohol mentions, angst, mentions of traumatic events(ptsd), mentions of infertility, mentions of anxiety, mentions of organized crime

Stories Stories Stories Masterlist

Salem, Massachusetts

February 2, 2023 - Earlier in the day

"TAXI!!!" You hollered while vigorously waving your hand in the air. It was 9 am as you ran out to the hospital parking lot watching a cab pulling away from dropping someone off.

The winter groundhog day was actually quite warm and sunny to where you could get by with the thin waist length jacket you wore. You were in a rush to get home, charge your phone and get on your laptop to search for the debonair doctor Lee. In a way, you were glad this was happening as it you distracted you from thinking about your brother, otherwise you would just go crawl in bed and hibernate until his future funeral was over.

It was just you and your mother Margaret now. You were 30 years old and still lived with her but only so she wasn't alone since your father had passed a few years ago. Besides, you had no significant other tying you down which was by your choice. One too many let downs had been enough for you to handle so you made the family businesses a priority along with your love of writing. Fantasies, fairytales and romance novels were your thing, although you loved a good horror story as well. Living in the witch city certainly had it's perks and influenced a lot of your material. One thing that came with writing was research and you were damn good at it. Finding Dr. Pace would...should be a piece of cake.

The cab dropped you off and you went racing into the house.

"Mom! I'm home!"

As you shut the door, there stood your mother at the bottom of the stairwell on her phone....and something in the kitchen was burning.

"Hey! Mom, what are you doing?? You're supposed to be resting, not trying to burn the house down!"

You ran into the kitchen and foolishly yanked the flame filled cast iron pan filled with charred bacon off the stove. Screaming in agony, you instinctively dropped it onto the floor.

"Fuck!!"

You ran to the sink while sucking on your fingers and desperately submerged your hand under a cold stream of water. About five more F bombs dropped from your clenched mouth as you stared at your already blistering palm.

"I'm sorry honey! Are you alright? I was only trying to make some breakfast for you. Let me get some ointment...."

"You couldn't have waited until I got home? I called you this morning and told you I would be here soon mom!"

"Alright. Well I am just going to go up to my room then." she huffed and stormed up the stairs.

You just stood there, peering down at the splattered grease and broke down in quiet sobs as you leaned over the sink. The smoke, the smell, the burning of your hand, had all triggered your memories of the explosion. In that moment, you became so angry at Jason for the lifestyle he chose that resulted in his death and could have killed you too. You dreaded what was to come of it soon enough as you would have to face the investigating detective who tried to speak with you, but Britt would not allow it because of the condition you were in at the time.

After soaking your hand for a few more minutes, you went to the bathroom and wrapped your palm in gauze, then trekked up the stairs to your room to get your laptop. First and foremost, you plugged your phone in. Then....you heard your mom crying.

You crept inside her room and found her taking clothes out of the closet and someone sitting on her bed. Megan, the younger sister that you did not acknowledge because she only came around when she wanted something, such as a boyfriend of yours. Otherwise, she was whoring it up in Boston somewhere. You were fuming inside to see her as she did not even care for Jason at all. Most likely she was there to hit her mother up for money as there was an abundance of it from the businesses and also from your father's will that he left all of you.

You glared at her as she ignored you and played on her phone.

""Mom...I'm sorry. I did not mean to snap at you. Are...you ok?"

Your curly haired redheaded mother rolled her eyes and turned to you.

"No Jo, I am not O..K. How could I be? My son is...and now I have to find something for him to wear and plan a funeral but what do I dress someone in who was in the mob?"

"Do you think I was oblivious to his so called profession? Or that you knew about it? And were almost killed too?"

She, along with most of the town and police department were definitely not oblivious to what Jason was involved in. Mafia, mob, organized crime...call it what you will, it all meant the same thing and your brother had been in it up to his neck for many years. You just happened to be collateral damage merely by being in his orbit.

You paced about, wanting to scream as you couldn't take it when your mom got into these moods.

"Ok...I can see you need some space right now, so I am going to go to my room for a bit, and then I am leaving. You seem to have everything you need here."

Your sarcasm was deep as you left, glowering at Megan in her stupid little clashing beret.

Your phone was now half charged and you powered it on. 3 new voicemails appeared in your notifications.

"Hey Josie, it's Britt. Obviously your phone is dead as it went straight to voicemail. Call me..or text, whatever. Just let me know how you're doing. David is worried about you also so give him a shout out too, K? Love you. Talk soon."

"Hello Miss March, this is Detective Butler with the Salem P.D. following up about the incident on pier 55 yesterday. Please give me a call at your earliest convenience to set up a time to take your statement. Sooner than later is best. You can reach me at 555-7268. Thank you."

"Ugh!!" you reeled. He was just going to have to wait. What did it even matter now anyways? Your brother was gone and the last thing you wanted to get involved in was matters of the mob.

"Hi there Miss March. This is Dr. Bloom. I just wanted to follow up with you to see how you are doing. Hopefully well. Feel free to reach out if you have any concerns...and again. I am sorry for your loss. Bye."

"What in the hell was that?" you whispered. Do doctors call to check on patients? Not that you knew of...and you had just seen him three hours ago.

You blew it off and hopped in the shower, dressed and fixed yourself up, then grabbed your laptop and phone charger, stuffing them in your bag and took off. Anywhere but there was good for you to do your doctor hunt.

You headed straight for Britt's downtown apartment since you knew this was her day off. Of course the gorgeous 5'9 40 year old brunette who looked 30, had a snazzy penthouse on the top floor of a place called the Metro Court but she certainly could afford it with her Chief of Staff salary. She deserved it though because she worked her ass off and was damn good at what she did as she was an OBGYN. She had chosen that path when she found out she could never conceive a child, so she wanted to help others out. It was something you could identify with as well, but yours stemmed from an accident years ago.

As you got out of your car, you glanced up at the twenty story high rise which made your stomach do a flip. Heights off almost any kind, you couldn't do or you would freeze solid and have an anxiety attack, which this fear was caused by a ride at an amusement park. But oddly, you didn't have a problem with riding rollercoasters...as long as it wasn't anything to where your feet would dangle out in the open. You had to be boxed in or it wasn't happening. You had been to the famous Cedar Point once in Ohio and rode the Power Tower. Biggest mistake ever... Everyone sits around this gigantic pole in their own chair with your legs hanging in mid air and then it starts moving up, then at some point, it just drops and flies back up, over and over.

Your body had frozen as the panic set in, and it was bad. You screamed and cried as if you were being murdered, while your friends laughed. The ride attendant couldn't decipher your terrified screams from everyone else's joyful ones, so you had to endure it, and you've been traumatized ever since.

Up the gazillion flights of stairs you went, as another issue you had was elevators. You had claustrophobia and any small space would have you flat on the floor in seconds. Your sinister sister once locked you in a pitch black crawl space when you were both teens and let you scream and cry for over an hour before your mother came home. Megan quickly unlocked the door and denied having anything to do with it, that the door must have gotten stuck. She paid for it though, much later when you kicked her ass after school one day with no witnesses.

You finally reached Britt's door, huffing and puffing as you knocked.

"Omg Josie!! Hiiiii!!!" She threw her arms around you as you both did the little jump up and down dance while laughing.

"Hey you!" a familiar voice sounded from behind. Dr. David Conrad, Britt's brother and also your drop dead gorgeous other best friend. Tall, dark and handsome with piercing blue eyes, also older than you at 38 ...and all just like the stunning Dr. Pace. It was no secret Dave had it bad for you but you were not willing to cross that line and risk your friendship with him in case it didn't work out. It wasn't easy though because he was just perfect in every way. One of the most kind, caring and compassionate individuals that you had ever known. But this Lee guy...you had never felt so drawn to anyone in your life, not even Dave....the pull was undeniable, at least on your end and you had to find out why.

Dave came right to you and picked you up in a spinning hug.

"How's my girl? I am so sorry about what happened sweetheart. I would have been there for you, but I was out of town. I rushed as fast as I could to get here. Britt told me you were coming here so I just came here to wait. Don't ever scare me like that again, you hear me?"

His words and tone were so heartfelt and sincere. You knew he was in love with you but you also knew he would never tell you that. He too was afraid of jeopardizing his friendship with you. You felt like such a fool because he was every woman's dream and yet you kept him at arm's length. Sure, people say being great friends first bud some of the best relationships but after all you had been through in that department, you were just too scared to test the waters because it would kill you if you lost him. You did love him, you just weren't in love with him.

"Hey, don't worry! I know you would have been here in a flash if you could. Your here now and that's all that matters." You stroked his cheek and smiled.

"You're the best, you know that? So...I am grilling out on the patio, taking advantage of this unusual warm weather. You're gonna stick around right? We can all get our drinks on and try to have a little fun? Just to try and ease your thoughts some?"

'I..I..well...I actually have some things to go take care of...but I guess I can stay for a little while since I haven't seen you in a minute." His grin matched yours as he spun around to make you a drink. His famous midnight margaritas, although it was only high noon. You and he named the popular drink that after many nights of horror movies on his couch. One of those nights, you mentioned that you were in the mood for a margarita and it was midnight, and he happened to have all the ingredients so he got up and made them, and then it just became a tradition with a name.

He handed you the icy beverage and then went to the patio to finish his ridiculously good steaks.

"Someone's sure happy to see you." Britt said in an insinuating manner. She knew of her brother's feelings. Most people did.

You rolled your eyes at her. "Ugh. Britt. Don't. He will find someone someday. That person is not me. Although, it baffles me. All these gorgeous doctors at SGH and they're all single."

"That's because they have no life." she chuckled. "Same for me." Her face changed to sadness as she looked down.

"So...how are you doing with all this?"

"I...I'm fine? Why wouldn't I be? Except that I am worried about you."

"Maybe because you were in love with my brother."

"Well...he didn't love me and now he's gone and...Josie...I don't want to talk about that ok? So what's with all the stuff?"

She was good at deflecting, so you broke down and decided to tell her what you were up to. After explaining it all to her, only the parts about finding the bracelet and wanting to return it and thank him, she gave you the dreaded look you knew you were going to get.

"So, like I know you better than anyone, and I also know when you have a thing for someone. I also know of the train wrecks of relationships you've been in and that you're trying to steer clear of that, so why on earth are you doing somersaults for a man you have only known for like 5 minutes? And don't deny it, I can hear it in your tone and see it in your eyes. The way you talk about him. I'll tell you right now, you need to get in your car and drive as far in the oppsite direction form him as you can. He's bad news Josie."

"What? How?? He was so kind and understanding."

"Because he's a doctor. That's his job."

Now you were just getting pissed. "So you're saying it was all an act? That he's an asshole or something because I may have only known him for the 5 minutes you speak of, but his eyes...there was...something in them...and it was not that of what you say..."

"It's called lust. You're beautiful and every man knows it."

You laughed sarcastically. "Ok, if that's what it was, then why isn't he chasing after me?"

"Ok...look. He called the hospital about an hour ago and requested for time off to take care of some business. The man's a workoholic and has weeks upon weeks to use so I allowed it, but not for that reason. He's a hot mess Josie. Dealing with things you do not need in your life."

"Excuse me but I will make the decisions of what I do and don't need....Shit...I'm sorry. I don't mean to be hasty. I know you are only looking out for me...but it's not like I haven't dealt with hot messes before. Hell...I"M one." you giggled.

"Maybe so, but did you forget you're trying to stay away from all that or did you hit your head in that explosion? If you knew what I know, you would think twice. So I'll tell you."

"No...you won't! Whatever he is going through is none of my business, and honestly it's none of yours either unless it is affecting his ability to treat his patients."

"I fear that it could. There are days I can tell he had not slept, his eyes all blood shot and sucking down his red bulls, and his mood swings will give you whiplash. He's so irritable lately and as I said, he works too much. I have suggested to him in the past to take time off, but he refuses so when he asked for it, I gladly accepted because he needs to get his shit together before an accident or mistake happens with a patient. Josie...he had a son who died and..."

"NO I SAID! Don't tell me this, it's not your place." You literally put your hands over your ears and walked away.

"You need to know before you get in too deep. There was a car accident. The boy was only five years old and he wasn't buckled in..."

"Stop!! No wonder the man is a complete wreck and you're standing here calling him a hot mess and bad news. I am going to go find him to return his bracelet wether you like it or not. So are you going to tell me his address or do I have to drive to everyone I find on google?"

"Ok..OK....calm down. Geez. I know where he's at right now and he'll probably be there at least two weeks so I am only going to tell you if you stay here tonight and think all of this through. Dave came all the way here to be with you Josie. He left an important conference...for you. The least you could do is spend a little time with him and go in the morning. Dr. Pace needs his space anyways. He's at his old home where he lived with his son. He was renting it and the people up and left, leaving the place in a disarray so he's going to be there a long time cleaning it and fixing things. One day won't hurt you to hang out with your best friend, you know, the guy you've actually known more than 5 minutes?"

The woman could certainly pose a good argument and you knew you wouldn't win. You also knew she was right so you agreed to wait. Your heart was broken over what she vaguely told you. Now you knew what you saw in his eyes.....pain.

You woke up at 1 am in a sweat from a nightmare and couldn't breathe. But it wasn't about the explosion...it was about Lee. As you laid your head in your hands and closed your eyes, you strangely heard Lee's voice in your head. "Just breathe Jo."

You sat up straight, eyes still closed and sucked in a deep breath, then blew it out slowly.

"Ok...ok Jo...breathe...you cannot have another panic attack...not now." you mumbled under your breath. Of course you hadn't taken your meds like Dr. Bloom had persistently told you to do.

When you got this way, your entire rationalized thinking capability was non existent. Why were you like this? So befuddled? After the episode with your mom and surprisingly seeing your succubus sister, you were flat out frazzled and so was your hand still as it stung, but that wasn't enough to get you in such a frenzy. It was him....it was all him. The dream was horrible. Lee had been hurt and you were trying to get to him but you couldn't. It had to all be related to what Britt told you and the fact you were trying to find him but had to wait. The thought of seeing him again had your stomach filled with butterflies. A feeling no other had ever caused. You screamed internally of frustration and whipped the blanket over your head, finally falling back asleep after a few minutes.

Lee's old home- 1 am.

Lee was three sheets to the wind and in a maudlin mood. A mood to reminisce and he knew just where to go. The attic. It had all of Jacob's things stored in boxes. He pretty much had to pull himself up the ladder in his stupefied state to accomplish his destination.

All he could manage to do was stumble around while using the flashlight on his phone as there was no light in the attic. Corner after corner was stacked with boxes and he couldn't remember which ones were his son's as it had been years since he had went up there. He could never bring himself to do it and now, the one time that he wanted to, he still could barely do it due to his blind drunken state.

As he turned around, he saw the pile belonging to his son. The sight was so overwhelming that he gasped and stepped backwards.

But there was nothing there but the open doorway he just climbed through. Down the wooden ladder he tumbled, crashing to the floor below which knocked him out cold.

February 3, 2023

You awoke bright and early at 7 am. There was no way you could make yourself sleep any longer. You snuck into Britt's room and woke her up by plopping onto her bed with a laugh.

"Ok...it's tomorrow, now spill it. What's his address?"

Britt moaned and yanked the blankets over her head. "Noooooo...go awayyyy. It's too early and my head is killing me."

"Well who's fault is that miss beer pong champion?"

You had all played games and drank last night, although you drank yours in moderation so you would be ready for today.

"Tell me or I am going to jump up and down in your bed like a kid on a trampoline!"

She whipped the blankets down. "OK OK, please don't!"

You ran and got a pen and paper off her dresser, then hopped back onto her bed in an Indian style position with an anticipated grin on your face as she groaned from the bounce.

You scribbled down the address and directions, then jumped up and rooted through her closet for something to wear as you both were the same size in clothing. Then off to the shower you went so she could go back to sleep. Once you were done, you quickly texted a still sleeping Dave to tell him thank you for everything and that you would see him soon. Down the twenty flights of stairs you went and got into your car. A classic silver Monte Carlo SS with chrome wheels. You loved the older style sports cars. Even bicycles. The one you had was blue and looked like it belonged to Almira Gulch and should have a captive Toto on the back in a basket.

Off you went with your tires squealing. Your lead foot was inspired by Jason who rode a motorcycle and was always burning rubber. Your car had the absolute best sound system too so you turned on Sirius XM and cranked it up. The song was so fitting too for what was occurring and it was one of your favorite bands as well. Def Leppard. Hysteria.

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The window down, you sang along.

"I gotta know tonight, if you're alone tonight. Can't stop this feeling, can't stop this fire..." Your thoughts went straight to Lee. What the hell had done to you?

It was now almost 9 am and the drive would take you about 30 minutes with the morning traffic. You prayed that Lee would already be up. The butterflies were swarming through your stomach as you pulled onto the street his house was on. You turned off your music and slowly drove as you searched the house numbers. There it was. A large two story home with a large porch with stone pillars and a swing.... and the front door was wide open. There was also the coolest classic muscle car parked in the driveway.

You got out with the bracelet in your pocket and carefully shut the door as you gazed up at the open doorway that held blackness behind it.

"Breathe Jo..." you whispered and went up the steps. The closer you got to the entrance, contents of the home became visible from the sunlight shining in. Your heart dropped as you saw Lee laying in the middle of the floor with a bloodied nose.

"Jesus!" You rushed to him and dropped to your knees. He was unconscious, or so you believed. You began to panic as you called his name but got no response. You flipped him over and checked his pulse but failed to find it.

"Lee! Can you hear me? Come on, wake up please!" you shouted frantically as you patted his cheek over and over.

What you did next is all you could think of to do before you were going to grab your phone and call 911. CPR, which you had absolutely no idea how to do.

Leaning down, you opened his mouth and placed your lips over his, but as soon as you did, you felt his warm breath softly flow onto your cheek from his nose....yet you remained in an immobile lip lock with him as you couldn't move. You did not want to move. His lips were so incredibly soft and you liked the way they fit perfectly to yours. It felt like a union of soulmates for the first time as you foolishly believed in that stuff. His breath was tainted with whiskey and you now understood why.

You broke the seal of your joined lips and hovered over him, lost as to what to do for him.

Suddenly he gasped and began to sit up with his eyes in a squint from the sunlight.

"You...You're...here..." he whispered as he gazed at you like you weren't real.

"I...Are...you alright? What can I do? Do you need me to call an ambulance?"

All he did was stare at you, then spoke one word.

"W...water."

You stretched your neck up and glanced all around for a kitchen or bathroom.

"Ok..ok. Don't move. I'll find you some."

You shuffled to your feet and found the kitchen and grabbed the first thing you saw for a cup. A child's thermos. You snatched the top off and filled it, then scuffled back to him.

"Here...it's all I could find." you said as your shaking hand offered it to him.

He drank it as his eyes remained fixed on you, then his head lowered as if he was ashamed to be seen in such a state.

You sat trembling in a silent hysteria, trying to hold down yesterday's lunch. Words were out of reach as your brain fumbled for them. Finally, you spoke.

"Wh..what happened? Are you alright?"

He glanced up at the open attic door, then brought his sapphire orbs back to you.

"I...fell. It was...dark and I..." He sighed as he closed his eyes. "Basically, I was shit faced and lost my ability to navigate. How...why... are you here....miss....March?"

"Please...call me Josie. I. I wanted to...." You couldn't stop looking at the blood. "You're hurt... bleeding. Please, let me get something to clean you up."

All you could think about was if you had came last night, maybe this would not have happened to him.

"Thank you...but it's not necessary. I did this to myself. Do stupid things, get stupid results. I will live." he lightly smiled.

You gave him a meek smile. "Well, you didn't deserve that. That's quite a fall.

"Indeed. So...are you going to tell me why you are here or how you even found me?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry. I...I wanted...I found something I think belongs to you and...I also wanted to thank you for what you did for me."

"Something of mine? How could that be?"

You reached in your pocket and pulled out the bracelet, dangling it in front of you. "It..it was under the table in my hospital room..."

His eyes widened as he stiffened into an upright position. "My...bracelet..." he whispered in disbelief.

You handed it to him and he held it as if it would break. "You...you have no idea what this means to me...I..I never thought I would see it again. You came all the way here to give me this?"

"Well....yeah. It looks expensive. I..I tried to fix the clasp. I think it will work now. It was the least I could do after what you did....sitting with me and all."

His mouth hung slightly open as his eyes darted about your face in awe. "I...I don't even know what to say....th...thank you...Josie." His soft delicate tone was so sincere.

"You're so welcome. I am glad to see you so happy." you said in a timorous voice.

His head slightly tilted at your words. You both stared at each other in silence for what seemed like minutes. Shyly, you lowered your eyes.

"You...you have a little...something right...." he touched his lips as he gazed at yours.

Quickly and self consciously, you wiped you mouth and your fingers revealed some blood from him. Oh god, you thought...did he remember? You wanted to crawl under a rock and never come out.

"I...I had...patted your face to try and wake you and must have...gotten some blood on my hand...then...touched my face..." you rambled in the most awkward stutter. How lame did your explanation sound? The grin that formed on his mouth told you he fucking knew. The panic was creeping up into your chest from sheer embarrassment. For fucks sake, how did this man make you so damn frazzled and nervous. Between the butterflies and this feeling, you had no answers, just that not a single soul has ever made your body react this way.

You were certain he was going to call you out on it, but he didn't. He seemed to notice your fear and didn't want to embarrass you more than you already were. Of course he probably noticed it, the fact that you knew you were 50 shades of red right now. You could feel it.

He then got up. "Let me give you some money for returning this to me and for fixing it."

"Oh god no, Lee, I do not want your money. I just wanted you to have that back. It is obviously something of great importance to you and expensive like I had said before."

He turned with a dazed look. "H...how did you know my name? Which brings me again to the question of how did you find me?"

You didn't want to give Britt up, although you actually kind of did after the way she had downgraded him...but...you could see her point now after finding him in such a dire state.

"Google." you simply replied with a fib. You were going to search him anyways, so maybe it wasn't such a stretch of the truth.

"Oh..." he also simply replied. "Yes, it is very expensive but it's value to me is nothing of cost."

He held it in is palm and gazed so deeply at it. "It was a birthday gift from someone special."

His tone was of sheer sadness as his face then corresponded. You knew then it was from his son.

Stupidly, you said it. "You had a son, it was...from him?" Open mouth, insert foot is all you could think.

He lightly gasped as his eyes sprung up from his hand. Then he just flat out said it.

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"Oh god...I..I am soooo sorry. Please forgive me Dr. Pace. It is so none of my business."

Lee took a few steps towards you. "Please...call me Lee...and do not be sorry. It's not like it's some classified secret. I'm sure google can tell you that as well."

His eyes diverted back to the bracelet as he took it and tried to put it on his wrist, failing miserably.

"M...may I?" Your hand reached out to him.

There he was, staring at you again. He held the bracelet out to you and held his arm there in an answer to your question.

You sheepishly took it and wrapped it around his wrist. Tremors rolled through your fingers at the touch of his skin while you tried to clasp it. He must have felt it.

"Here....you hold the end and I'll hook it." His voice was understanding and his smile comforting. "There. Back where it belongs thanks to you."

"I am going into the kitchen for more water. Would you care to come have some? Or some juice? Sorry, it is all I have right now."

"Sure." you squeaked and followed him. As he came to the archway to the kitchen, he leaned on the wall, appearing dizzy and then he just dropped.

"Jesus Lee! Are you alright??" you knelt beside him and rubbed his arm. "Let me take you to the hospital, please! You obviously hit your head and have a concussion."

He brought his arm up, laying it over his forehead. "No...please no. They cannot know..."

He then took your hand. "Who's the doctor here?" he smirked. "I didn't hit my head, only had the wind knocked out of me when I fell...and I'm severely dehydrated. I now the symptoms."

"And I also know doctors are not supposed to diagnose themselves. Britt told me that."

"And she also told you about Jacob. She knows all about what happened, not google. Am I right?"

You closed your eyes in shame. "Ok, ok I may have stretched the truth some but.."

"Jo...calm down, it's ok. I am not upset."

Now you were the one staring at him.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"You...you called me...Jo..." You also remembered he called you that when he told you to breathe when you awoke from your dream and imagined his voice. Did you imagine it?

"Annnnd? That's your name isn't it?" he chuckled.

"Well...yes, technically but...no one but my mom and Jason ever called me that...well...me too when I talk to myself.."

"You talk to yourself? I think maybe you are the one with the brain injury." he chortled in amusement.

"Ha ha. You got jokes, so you must be ok."

Your hands were still entwined and his smile faded as he was lost in your sun like eyes....You felt his hand lightly squeeze yours and then he began to tell you about Jacob....

@redeemer46

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