#ch: rafael

[devilsmenu]

@hiddenpxpercuts - Rafael & anyone

"Do you know where we're going or are we just trying to get lost now?" Rafe asked the other with a scoff. He was pretty sure that the other didn't know where they were going.

[mxrvelouscreations]

“You don’t always have to be the hero. sometimes it’s okay for other people to save you, too.” (For Tony from Rafael @zirkusschwert )

@zirkusschwert

"Ha, you're funny Rafael."

Tony did his best to sit up, despite the pain that was currently radiating from his side. He had just been wanting to keep his friends safe, trying to do his best. Sure, maybe it hadn't been a smart idea to throw himself under the falling rubble to give them time to get out but he was the one with the metal suit, not them. Besides, he was just bruised, nothing was broken.

"I get that. But... what would you rather I had done? Not swooped in?" He asked, "I mean... I wasn't going to let you get hurt ok?"

[harbingersecho]

Lasombra fashion show?

Now how did you know I've been meaning to draw fashion 'shows' for all the clans…?

But! Here's some Lasombra fashion stuff for you!

+ bonus because I love bullying Lasombra abt their tech issues (:

[celias]

We got a flower cards of children (Rafe, Tavvy, Max and Mina)…. And yet we were robbed of Alexander Lightwood, Gabriel and Cecily’s son. How sad…

[uefb]

New fic in the works

Feeling excited but experiencing trepidation about this short fic I’ve been working on, which is a combination of three WIP one-shots that I finally realized today are part of the same story. It’s set primarily in the 1970s when Tina & Newt’s children are adults, and it focuses on their middle child Ephesus (Fife)—a natural-born legilimens—who has just taken up a career a bit too close to Newt & Tina’s own traumas for comfort. I hope I can pull it all together! Writing these characters in late middle/older age (I mean, they’re wizards, what is a “lifespan” 😆😆) is certainly a challenge

Hoping I’ll be able to pull this off and post it late this week!

[founderscouncil]

MADISON PAIGE (@haloedcrown) asked " can you please pretend to be my boyfriend for a moment so my ex will leave me alone ? "

He feels out of place here amongst the other students, a lukewarm beer in his hand as he watches the rest of them dance and let loose beside him. It's meant to be a party, and so far everyone else seems to be having a good time. Well everyone but-

"Can you please pretend to be my boyfriend for a moment so my ex will leave me alone?"

His wolf clocks her before his human mind does, which is the only reason why he doesn't jump at the sudden interruption of his brooding thoughts, but it does take a second for his mouth to catch up. "Uh... yeah, sure."

It's not the first time he's been approached for this before. He's tall and fit, intimidating at first glance, and he's not so bad looking if he says so himself. Immediately, his eyes swivel around to find said ex, expecting another burly meathead type who didn't know how to respect a no, but he falters when he spots an auburnette who is half his size storming up to them.

"Uh... wait..."

[sunlightmade]

tags for characters ( part two ).

pippa rojas ( fiona palomo, 25 ).

rafael rojas ( michael trevino, 38 ).

remington solokov ( reneé rapp, 25 ).

sara dinh ( lana condor, 26 ).

shiny kennedy ( josh heuston, 27 ).

shoshanna jaffe ( kaia gerber, 23 ).

sofia reyes ( hailee steinfeld, 27 ).

tatyana dmitrievna ( katheryn winnick, 46 ).

teagan deverell ( daniel sharman, 37 ).

tobias kahan ( milo manheim, 22 ).

tristan dunne ( thomas doherty, 29 ). 

ursula cabot ( bebe wood, 23 ).

victoria preston ( phoebe dynevor, 28 ).

willow mae lamontagne ( bree kish, 28 ). 

winnie prescott ( maya hawke, 27 ).

wyatt kennedy ( cody christian, 29 ).

xochitl torres ( rachel zegler, 22 ).

yasmine pierron née erdoğan ( melis sezen, 27 ). 

zelda swan ( sarah snook, 36 ).

zoya demir ( asena keskinci, 23 ).

[casperrps]

Rafael wears a lot of 'loud' pattern dress shirts, and will absolutely not wear ripped jeans. His style is decently formal while still being on the casual side of things, he likes button ups ( that he does not button up all the way ). Raf also likes to accessorize with a good bit of jewelry, lots of chains and bracelets. Nice watches, dress shoes. He'll sport the occasional leather jacket but there's usually a flashy button up underneath it. For some reason there's an unhealthy amount of stripped shirts in his closet specifically. In every color under the sun. He even follows a similar trend when it comes to his underwear, as he owns more then his fair share of silk boxers and semi-dramatic robes. Raf is also the type of person who wears designer sunglasses as an accessory. He thinks they give him some 'mystique'. He thoroughly enjoys walking around looking like some cliché romance novel character about a mafia boss's son.

[whumblr]

Meet the warden

Crossed out - Continued from ch.1 - Prologue

-

A bleak and barren interrogation room. Way to break out the clichés.

Lucas glanced around, even though there wasn’t much to look at, except himself, staring back from the two-way mirror. The only part of the room that showed that there was at least some form of advanced technology in this bleak place.

The figure staring back at him wasn’t much to look at either. While he could certainly feel the dried blood caking to his face, could feel the bruise under his eye every time he blinked, seeing his own reflection in black and blue completed the full picture. The bump on his forehead could barely be covered by some strands of black hair and was probably the cause of his massive pounding headache. The fatigue was plain to see on his face, in his eyes. And, unfortunately, didn’t overshadow the hint of resigned fear. All combined, bit of a sad look there, and he looked away.

His throat was parched and he could only hope that he was going to get a cup of water without having to give up anything in return.

But given his treatment when they’d dragged him in, sitting him down here for – what – at least an hour now without the slightest concern for his injuries, he didn’t really feel luck was on his side for that one.

Just when he thought he might as well catch some shuteye and crossed his arms to slide down on his chair, the door opened and rudely interrupted any plans of rest.

Lucas glared up, did a small double take as his eyes had to adjust a few inches higher than he’d anticipated to meet the eyes of the man filling the doorway, and his eyes widened as he recognised who it was.

Heavy footsteps of combat boots echoed against the concrete box as the man slowly entered the room, closed the door. His long black coat had been replaced by – or had just concealed – a simple white dress shirt, tucked into black slacks. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, accenting his toned forearms. Sharp grey eyes roamed over the bruises on Lucas’ face.

It was the man who had slammed his head into the floor and had arres— fucking dragged him to this place.

Lucas nearly snarled and looked up at the man, who stopped at the opposite side of the table. Now that he was standing directly in front of him, the man was even taller than he’d thought. Perhaps also because of how he carried himself; he stood straight as an arrow, hands behind his back, practically looming over Lucas.

Annoyance flared in Lucas’ eyes. “You didn’t have to go to the trouble to actually come all the way here to interrogate me, you know.”

The man’s lips twitched, trying to hide a smile. He pulled the chair back and sat down across. “Don’t be silly,” he said, voice deep and laced with authority, and he looked Lucas straight in the eye. “I am the warden here.”

Lucas fought the impulse to close his eyes and take a sigh, but the man took in every small twitch of body language and nothing escaped him.

“Yes,” he agreed, his eyes didn’t leave Lucas’. “You are fucked.” He folded his fingers and let his hands rest in front of him on the table.

Lucas unconsciously leaned back on his chair, as if he could gain a few inches away from the man. The warden… So he wasn’t at a police station; they’d skipped ahead a few steps and brought him straight to prison. This man’s prison. The prison he’d been looking into. What an awful coincidence. Yeah, right.

The warden slid a folder onto the table and opened it, taking his time reading through it like he had all the time in the world and all the information was new to him.

“Lucas Rafael Varga,” he read from the first page, emphasizing each word.

Lucas scoffed mentally. As if the man didn’t know his name yet. This was just a means to show what they had on him. He glanced at the little metal tag left of the man’s chest pinned to his white button-up. N Mathison was punched in it in old-fashioned block capitals. “Warden Mathison,” he responded as if in a belated greeting.

Mathison didn’t look up but his lips twitched, not enough to form a smile. He merely nodded in response.

Lucas took the time to take him in. The man was probably a bit older than him, forties maybe. Though the lines on his face could be making him look older than he actually was… He had a weathered look about him, going by his manner and posture (not to mention his physique) possibly gained from a combat role. Military? His hair only reinforced the assumption; an undercut with longer black strands of hair tinged with grey combed back, medium fading to a full grey at his temples.

Grey eyes suddenly shot up from the file and Lucas startled.

“I thought you were leading the pack of wolves?” he grumbled, trying to deflect.

“No, no. I only joined the search for you.” Mathison pushed the file an inch away and leaned forward, noticing Lucas’ discomfort. “After all, it was best to keep you out of trouble. Someone has to protect you from yourself.” The one corner of his lips turned up in a devious smirk.

“You make it a sport to hunt down civilians?”

“Depends on the catch. I do when they are looking into my business.”

So this probably was the man Lucas had been looking for. “Your business being covering up the murder of one of your inmates.”

The warden wasn’t baited and gave an almost exasperated shrug. “That’s what you are hoping to find. I think in time you’ll find yourself reassessing your theories.”

“That man was my client. At the time of his death, he shouldn’t even have been here! I got his sentence reduced to five years, and that was eight years ago.”

That did draw out a reaction. Mathison’s expression twisted, but not in shock or surprise. It was almost in disgust. A mere twitch of the one eye, a crinkle of his nose, barely visible and quickly covered again. Mathison responded calmly: “There are many factors that can add to a man’s sentence.”

Lucas reared up to argue, but thought against it and sagged in his seat. There were many factors why they’d go this far trying to stop him from looking into the matters too deeply. But he wasn’t going to get much out of this. Not now. So he switched to another argument. “You can’t keep me here. No trial, no legal base, it’s unlawful.”

It was unceremoniously slammed down. “You’ll find I don’t care.”

“So this is nothing more than a kidnapping.”

Mathison smiled wryly at that. “A kidnapping doesn’t happen in broad daylight, in public. An arrest, however…”

“An arrest,” Lucas scoffed.

“You were caught up with a client, aiding and abetting. Things escalated beyond your control. Bonus, you resisted arrest.” He nodded at the bump on Lucas’ forehead.

“What? That’s why I’m here?”

“That’s the story why you’re here.”

Lucas stared at the man in disbelief and reality fell into his stomach like a lead weight. It’s not like he had expected anything that would ensure his release that very day. He had hoped Ava could help bail him out; they’d delay things just because they could and to send a message, but ultimately they’d have to send him on his way, all this being nothing more than a warning. But it slowly dawned on him now that this was serious. That this was, literally, for the long haul. And unlike him, they had been preparing for it.

The only thing he had going for him, the tiny bright light that was currently being smothered by dark helplessness, was the fact that no one was going to believe this. Or, well, at least Ava wasn’t…

“After all, if this had been just a simple mistake,” Mathison said in a sweet voice that didn’t match his expression, “you would have simply gone along quietly. Talked your way out, threatened consequences. No. You knew we were coming. And you chose to fight because there was no other option.”

“You can’t do this,” Lucas said, but the certainty of his tone melted away by the warden’s casual confidence at breaking the law and his own voice suddenly sounded too shaky to his ears. “You can’t keep me here isolated from everything and everyone. People will ask questions, they will come for me.”

“They won’t. You’re too ashamed of your actions and refuse to meet with anyone. The trial is in a few weeks and after that everything’s done and dealt with.”

“What about my lawyer.”

“You’re a defence lawyer. You represent yourself.”

Lucas gaped at that. “I will not,” he said, too invested in this fake ass trial.

Mathison finally gave a genuine smile to that, one that wasn’t laced with a condescending cruelty. He took something from Lucas’ file and slid the paper over the table. “Your letter of representation. For your sake, I suggest you sign this now.”

Lucas glanced almost in disgust at the paper. “I will not,” he said again. “You cannot keep me locked in here forever.”

“Doesn’t need to be forever. You know very well how long proceedings can take. And then I’m saying without the delays. Just in a few months… a lot can change.”

…Like me not existing anymore.

“It’d be in your best interest to sign that paper,” the warden continued.

Lucas couldn’t hold back a humourless laugh. “What’re you gonna do? Arrest me? Put me in prison? Hm?”

Mathison just pushed his chair back and walked back to the door, signalling with a single knock that this conversation was over. “You’ll see.”

-

Continued here

Still unnamed prison whump tag list: @gala1981 @chaotic-orphan @lolrpop

[openheartfanfics]

Newly Added Fics

Aug 10 - 16, 2024  

🎭 Angst  |  🦚 Angsty Fluff  |  🛸 AU  |  ☁ Fluff  |  ♥ NSFW  |  📚 Series  |  📷 Edit  |  📱 TextFic  |  Ⓜ Mature

Ethan x F!MC

A Night at the Opera - @coffeeheartaddict2 ♥

It is their first date night after getting engaged and they attend the Opera and the opera that is playing is the one that they saw when they first went to the Opera together. [Public Places]

I Thee Wed... - @liaromancewriter ☁

Ethan and Cassie are ready to say, ‘I do,’ but they forget one important step. [Wedding]

The Next Chapter - @liaromancewriter 🦚

Ethan looks back at the man he was through the lens of his apartment. [Ethan POV]

Multiple Pairings

Mono~poly - @jerzwriter 📚

[extended: wip] What happens when something that was supposed to be just fun turns into something real? Ethan Ramsey x MC, Tobias Carrick x MC

CH 5: Beautiful Days

Rafael x F!MC

Going To Visit Daddy - @rafasgirl23415 📸

Casey takes Isabelle to visit Raf’s grave like she promised.

Home Sweet Home - @rafasgirl23415 📸

After a few days in hospital recovering, Casey is discharged and finally brings Isabelle home.

My Precious Miracle - @rafasgirl23415 📸

Casey struggles to comprehend how close she came to losing Isabelle.

Please Keep Our Girl Safe - @rafasgirl23415 📸

Casey can’t sleep due to flashbacks from the nightmare she had during the last weeks of her pregnancy.

Sienna x M!OC

Ready To Go Home - @rafasgirl23415 📸

Sienna is finally discharged five days after her caesarean & takes Ava & Rafa home to meet their big sister.

Tobias x F!MC

A Favor - @tveitertotwrites 📱

,When Adelaide finds out Landry moved next door to her and they share a wall, she has an idea.

Searching - @alj4890 🎭

Rewriting Book 1's Chapter Four but with Tobias as the attending instead of Ethan. [1.4]

To Love & Protect - @jerzwriter ☁

The chemical attack was over six months ago, and Casey is trying to adjust to her new normal with her new boyfriend at her side.

_

SUBMIT OPEN HEART FICS & WRITERS HERE

[devilsmenu]

@youllalwaysbemyporcelain - Rafe & Max Lightwood

Mud

"Dammit" Rafe said once the mud grabbed on his foot, feeling kind of stoic at it and he groaned. He turned to his uncle. "I know this is a shot in the dark but while I can still move my hands let's hold hands while trying to push each other to get out of the mud" he suggested.

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 60: The Waiting Game

Previous chapters // Montserrat’s masterlist

Fandom: SVU // Pairing: Rafael Barba x OC

Warnings: Due to the nature of the series’ plots, I do have to rate this as ‘mature’ for constant mentions of rape.

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @arrthurpendragon​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @anotherunreadblog​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @stareyedplanet​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @averyhotchner​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @abzidabzy​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @hellofutur​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @foxesandmagic​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @xovalliegirlxo @sam-i–am @kmc1989 @midmourn @choosejoyangel​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

[If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message

When Montserrat woke up from her Nyquill-induced nap, she very quickly realized she slept way more hours than she intended to. It was past noon, almost four. Granted she was truly well rested but that was not the point. She still felt mentally exhausted and wasn't equipped for what had to come next. She had to finally call Lucia and tell her what happened — it was the worst conversation she ever had with the woman. Lucia was livid with Montserrat, to say the least.

"How could you not tell me before!? Why are you barely telling me!?"

Montserrat could barely give her reasons when Lucia went on a rampage in the Spanish and English language to the point where Montserrat couldn't dream of understanding. The only thing Montserrat managed to hear was that Lucia was on her way to the hospital and pretty much cut all ties with his son's girlfriend.

Great. That would be fun explaining to Rafael when he woke up. It was definitely about the last thing he needed in his life right now. After that, Montserrat soon found out that somehow Casey had gotten involved with the whole thing.

"Yeah, that was my fault," Kara said with a hand raised in the air. "I suggested it."

"Why?" Montserrat couldn't understand what a robbery had to do with her cousin at the moment. Then again, she was only really thinking with about a 50% capacity.

Kara understood her mistake too late and was left squandering for a reasonable excuse (otherwise this time Sonny would have a true reason to kill her). "Well, uh, Casey's another prosecutor and she'll maybe take the case? If they find the guy?"

"It's just not her case yet," Montserrat insisted, although it seemed like the heat was now going more towards the situation rather than Kara (or Casey for that matter). "Nobody's been murdered."

"And it'll stay like that," Kara jumped on the chance to provide actual support to her friend. It was hard thinking this could turn into a homicide case rather than attempted murder. "You'll see."

Montserrat would've been more convinced if she didn't have other things on her mind. She kept getting voice-mail for Lucia's number, only reiterating how angry the woman was with her.

"She'll come around," Kara kept insisting as well, "She's stunned, like you were when you first got the call. It's just different. She's his mother, after all. Give her some days."

Montserrat nodded only because there was nothing else she could do, but it didn't mean it wasn't nagging at her in the meantime. "I need to go back to the hospital," she told Kara after lunch. She did Kara the solid of sticking around for that mealtime but it was about all she would do now. She'd been away from the hospital for way too long.

"What are you talking about? It's only been a couple hours," Kara pointed out. She would rather Montserrat stay for a bit more until she was less anxious and stressed.

"It's past noon now!"

"So?" Kara would love to hear an adequate reason why the time even mattered. "Montserrat, you need to rest."

"I already did!" Montserrat exclaimed. "Way more than I planned!"

Kara's eyes flickered to the side for a moment. The nyquil was still under wraps. Her phone started ringing and seeing it was Sonny, she urged Montserrat to wait for another 5 minutes. "Just let me take the call and see what's happened, okay?"

Montserrat groaned. "Fine! But I am leaving as soon as you're done, with or without you!"

Kara nodded and hurried to take the call. Montserrat took the first seconds to try and calm herself down. She didn't want to actually fight with Kara, not with anyone for that matter. They were all walking on eggshells around her already, thinking she was a ticking time bomb. It was hard staying afloat not knowing what the next day would bring, or even the next hour. Tears stung get eyes just thinking about the uncertainty.

Hearing the knock on the door somehow startled her greatly. She went to open it, presuming it would be Sonny on the other side only to find her father instead.

"Dad!" She gasped, stumbling back a step.

"Montserrat, how — woah! What's happened to you?" Thomas of course referred to his daughter's face of anguish.

Immediately, Montserrat whirled around, eyes wide as she took a few steps away from her father. She tried wiping her eyes quickly. "Dad, what are you doing here?"

"I got the day off and since it's been a while, I thought we could have lunch,, but..." Thomas trailed off, reaching forward for his daughter's shoulder. He gently turned her around and saw the same face as before, only this time it was slightly redder from the fervent rubbing at the eyes. "Now I'm seeing it's longer than I thought. Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Dad," Montserrat shook her father's hand off her shoulder. "Just a rough day, that's all."

"No, no, no," Thomas shook his head, "Don't try to kid me. I know you, Montserrat. You've been crying and it looks like it's been going on for a while. What's happened?"

"Nothing, sheesh!" Montserrat exclaimed. Of course she would've been more convincing if her voice hadn't shaken towards the end. How the hell am I a detective? "Look, I can't do lunch today. Can we schedule another day?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Thomas declared, crossing his arms, "It looks like you've got explaining to do, young lady."

Montserrat glared at her father. This was the last thing she needed right now. Despondence, anxiety, and anger mixed into one did not bode well for anybody in the room. "Dad, I don't have time for this. Can we do this another day, please?"

Thomas raised an eyebrow at his daughter. Usually it was all he needed to warn her she was crossing a line with him.

She still knew that.

But she didn't back down this time.

"You've got 5 seconds to tell me what's going on with you," Thomas warned. "Five…four…"

Montserrat gawked at her father with incredulity. "Dad, you can't treat me like I'm five—"

"Three…two—"

"Dad, seriously!"

"One—"

"I SAID STOP!" Montserrat unintentionally yelled at her father.

Thomas was dumbfounded with such a frantic reaction from his daughter. Tears were coming to Montserrat's eyes and though it was partially out of guilt, there was something deeper going on. "Montserrat," he tried again, softly, "Sweetheart, what's—"

"Can you just go? I'm actually leaving right now too," Montserrat gestured to the door behind Thomas. "I have to—"

"Montserrat!" Kara called from the hallway seconds before emerging. "Sonny says he'll be by in 15 and he can take us to the hospital."

"Hospital!?" Thomas exclaimed.

Kara's eyes widened. She had no idea they were no longer alone. "Oops…"

Montserrat let out a heavy sigh. "Dad—"

"Why do you need to go to the hospital!?" Thomas started demanding. "Are you hurt?" He went to check himself but Montserrat swatted his hands away.

"Dad, stop!"

"Why do you need to go!? Do you feel alright? What am I saying — it's obvious you're not feeling well! You've been crying!"

"She has," Kara agreed solemnly.

"KARA!" Montserrat said loudly enough to make Kara flinch. "SHUT UP!"

"Don't yell at Kara like that," Thomas reprimanded his daughter, "Answer my question. Why are you going to the hospital right now?"

"Because…" Montserrat racked her head for a good answer that wouldn't give away such a terrible situation.

"Are you hurt?"

"No!"

"Then why—"

"Oh, just stop!" Montserrat resorted to pleading, something downright shocking to her father. "Please! Just stop!" Tears rolled down her cheeks as the weight of each of her problems finally culminated into one heavy load on her shoulders. "I'm not hurt! At least not physically because trust me, everything else right now hurts! I'm going to the hospital because my boyfriend's there because he's been shot, okay!? He's been shot and he hasn't woken up since it happened and I want to be there when he does — if he does! Now please stop berating me and just—" Montserrat ran into her father's arms where she finally burst into tears.

Thomas was utterly stunned. For the first couple of seconds, nothing of what Montserrat said had sunk in so while she hugged him, his arms were awkwardly on either side of him. Eyes wide, mouth hanging open, he met Kara's gaze. She nodded to confirm everything Montserrat had said. Her grim expression helped sell it too.

"When...when did you get a boyfriend?" Thomas looked down at his daughter but at the question, Montserrat only whimpered and retreated further into him, desperate to be hugged back. Thomas slowly did so, bringing one hand over her back and the other behind her head. "O-okay, um…that's...that's...bad..." He sighed. He was terrible when it came to things like these. Montserrat's teenage years had been quite an adventure in terms of boyfriends and dating but now at 30? He didn't know which age was worse. "I'm—I'm so sorry, sweetheart," he ultimately said, "Really. I — how did this happen?"

Montserrat pulled away to take a deep breath. Her face was stained with tears. "A robbery. The guy was trying to rob the shop Rafael was at and then he just shot...he shot…"

Kara remained absolutely silent and lowered her head. It killed her to keep the truth of the situation a secret from Montserrat. But if she knew the truth, it would make her feel even worse, she reminded herself.

"Okay, okay," Thomas cupped Montserrat's face, "Wipe those tears. We can go to the hospital right now."

"You'd come with me?" Montserrat sniffed. "You're not mad I didn't tell you—"

"It does not matter right now," Thomas said, "Besides, you're a grown woman — as tough as that is to deal with — and you can make whatever choices you want."

"I was going to tell you. That's why I asked about having dinner, remember?"

Thomas nodded. "Yeah, and I told you I was going out on a trip for a whole month. Okay, that was my fault then."

"Dad, you would really like him. I mean, he's sort of a smart-ass but then again so is Gael."

Thomas let out a low laugh. "Oh, is it just Gael?"

"Of course, why do you ask?"

Thomas barely held his next laugh in. "Right." He gave Montserrat a kiss on the forehead. "Are you ready to go?"

Montserrat nodded fairly quickly. "Yes, please, let's go!"

"Kara?" Thomas looked at the blonde behind them.

Kara waved them off with a hand. "I'll wait for my boyfriend. He was already on his way. Plus, I think there'll be a lot of talking done on that drive."

Thomas wholeheartedly agreed with her. His eyes drifted over to Montserrat who had the energy to appear more nervous than before. "Ready?"

Montserrat wasn't so sure anymore. Still, a ride to the hospital meant she would practically do anything.

~0~

Thomas started slowly, cautiously, and for that Montserrat appreciated but it didn't make things any less awkward nor tense.

"Dating your co-worker — isn't that against the rules?" Thomas wondered out loud. He stopped at an upcoming red light, giving him the opportunity to glance at his daughter.

Her tear-stained face was finally getting a glimpse of light. She had stopped crying for the moment — she just needed to clean her face.

"Not if you disclose," she answered quietly, "Which we did."

"Ah, okay, um...when was that?"

"Dunno, two months ago? Time sort of blurred…"

"Time 'blurred'?" Thomas let out a small chuckle.

Montserrat glanced at him, eyebrows knitted together. "What?" Her voice couldn't go any louder than a quiet tone. If not, she would've demanded the explanation.

"Nothing...it's just...usually when you feel like time has 'blurred', it's because you've been having a good time," Thomas explained. At the green light, he was no longer able to look at her.

Maybe it was for the best.

Montserrat shifted in her seat. She was not about to go into detail about her relationship to her father. "It's been different," she left it at that. It wasn't a lie but it didn't outright expose her either.

Thomas hummed. "I can see that. I've never seen you so distressed over someone like this."

"To be fair, none of my other boyfriends have ever been shot."

Thomas let out a small laugh. "True, but I also meant in general. I've noticed you've been more, uh, content lately. Because I don't know what made you leave behind your old job and place in Queens, but I know that you haven't been happy in a while. I like the change."

"I'm sorry for that," Montserrat mumbled, eyes downcast. However painful it was for her, she imagined it had to have been hard for her father as well. She wasn't the kindest to him in the beginning. She did what a victim typically does: push people away. She thought she did it perfectly. She left her old friends in Queens, her job. She put distance between her father, her brother, even her nieces, and Kara. She became a good liar, indeed.

"I wasn't expecting an apology," Thomas clarified, "And I certainly didn't need one. I'm your father. I just want to know that you're okay."

Montserrat smiled lightly. "I can tell you that before all of this, I was more than okay."

Thomas nodded. "I believe it. You were...happier, more than I'd seen you in a very long time. I would love to say that you were your old self again but it still isn't like that."

"Dad, I don't think I'll ever be the same as before," Montserrat said, figuring it was best to shatter that dream right now than let it keep going without a future. "But that's okay because the way I felt before all this, it was damn great." Her breathlessness was enough to take her word for it. It sounded like even she couldn't believe it.

Truthfully, sometimes she still couldn't.

It took very little for Montserrat to become accustomed to the idea of always feeling miserable on the inside and overall like she was simply floating through life. She had resigned herself to the idea that it would always be like that from now on. But things changed again and she couldn't be more grateful. It would be beyond cruel to lose it all again. Actually, Montserrat couldn't see herself getting past it all over again if she lost Rafael.

"No more tears," came Thomas' voice.

Montserrat snapped out of her thoughts to find there were new tears rolling down her cheeks. "Sorry," she sniffed, wiping the tears off with the backs of her hands.

"No need to be," Thomas told her, "I'm so sorry this is happening, sweetie. But let's have some faith that it'll be okay in the end."

"To be honest Dad…" Montserrat let out a low sigh, "I don't really do the 'faith' thing a lot anymore."

Thomas nodded silently. It wasn't much of a surprise. "The things you see at your job can't leave much hope in the world, I know."

"Mhm," Montserrat nodded. She could let her father believe it was all because of her job. It would be easier for him that way.

"But in times like these...who do you turn to for strength?" Thomas asked curiously. "People pray to God, or other saints or something. What do you pray to?"

"Nothing," Montserrat admitted. It had been a very long time since she turned to any type of religious prayer. She was non-practicing Catholic at this point. Don't tell Lucia. "Right now, I just think about Rafael and how he's strong enough to come back. You should see him in action, Dad. If I were that guy who shot him, I'd run. I've been on the receiving end a couple times and Rafael doesn't play. And I've only gotten a small taste of the real thing. He's scary. Ask Kara."

Thomas let out a small laugh. "Knowing you, you probably kept it going."

Montserrat nodded. "Hell yeah. He's not right until I say he's right." She shifted in her seat. "Although right now, I'd give anything to hear his smart-ass remarks. An argument. Anything."

Thomas stretched a hand out until he was able to find Montserrat's. "It'll be okay."

Montserrat didn't say much after that. She couldn't wait to see the end of the drive and be at the hospital again. Nick had tried sending her messages but it didn't look like the service in the hospital was doing so well. All his texts were coming in as 'incoming message'. It left Montserrat even more anxious. What if something happened while she was away!?

She practically ran through the hospital, leaving her father to do his best to keep up. "Nick!?" She called as soon as she saw the man in the waiting room. "Your messages weren't coming through! Did something happen?"

"Yeah," Nick nodded, eyes flickering past Montserrat to her father.

"That's my Dad," Montserrat said dismissively. She had no times for introductions right now. "What happened!? Is Raf—"

"He's awake," Nick thankfully cut Montserrat off. He presumed that she had assumed the worst with his answer.

The relief that washed over Montserrat was monumental and yet so short-lived. Nick didn't understand why.

"I wasn't here," she whispered, eyes falling, "I wasn't here for him. God — I told you people I shouldn't have left!"

"Montserrat, you needed to rest," Nick said, "Besides, he woke up like 15 minutes ago. His mom's in there with him right now." Apparently, he'd something really bad because Montserrat's face had paled to a ghostly shade.

"What?" She asked, sounding like she'd lost air as well. "N-n-n-n-no, tell me she just got here too. Please."

"Uuh…" Nick was utterly confused but he still had to answer with the truth and it was not what Montserrat wanted to hear. "She got here an hour ago."

"Crap," Montserrat let out a heavy sigh.

"Montserrat, what's wrong?" Thomas asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You should be happy!"

"I am," Montserrat clarified, "But you don't understand. Lucia got very upset with me because I didn't call her immediately when this happened. I called her this morning instead because I thought there was no reason she should lose sleep when I was already here, waiting to hear how the surgery went. She didn't agree. She thought she should've been notified immediately."

"Okay, well, that was then, this is now. Things will change now that Rafael's awake. She was probably very scared too."

"I bet she was," Montserrat agreed, "But she's Rafael's mother. Where do you think he gets his temper from?"

Nobody would answer her. It was better to stay quiet and to help move things along, Olivia arrived shortly afterwards. She'd gotten the call from the doctors themselves as was protocol.

"Is he capable of answering?" She asked the two detectives.

"He might be too tired to remember things right now," Nick said, "I was with him for 10 minutes and he barely said anything about what happened."

"Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it," Montserrat said. "And he shouldn't if he's not ready."

Olivia nodded with her. "Yes, but it's worth asking, don't you think?"

The detective in Montserrat would make her agree but the civilian side of her made her shake her head. That was the part of her that wanted everyone to stay the hell away from Rafael until he was all better.

"There's his mom," Nick said when he saw Lucia emerging from the hallway.

Montserrat immediately pressed her clothes down as if Lucia were going to point them out and add to her fuel against Montserrat. She made herself front front center when Lucia joined them.

"How is he?" She immediately asked the older woman. "Is he — is he talking? Does anything hurt?"

"He had a bullet in his body so yes, he is in pain," Lucia answered sharply enough to have Montserrat wincing each time.

"Excuse me," Thomas cut in just as Montserrat was about to go on. He moved around Nick and Olivia to stand beside his daughter. "There's no need to be that kind of rude. You're both stressed and frightened."

"And who are you?" Lucia demanded, eyebrow raising.

"This is my father," Montserrat said hastily, truly wanting to avoid any kind of confrontation.

"Thomas Novak," Thomas introduced himself, "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak to my daughter like that."

Lucia didn't appreciate the tone used on her either. "Lucia Barba," she introduced herself in the same tone as Thomas, "And your daughter knows exactly why I'm upset." She crossed gazes with Montserrat.

"I'm sorry," Montserrat reiterated, sighing. "I didn't want you to go through a sleepless night. You nor Catalina."

"Don't take decisions that don't belong to you," Lucia retorted, "When it comes to my son, I need to be informed about everything that happens to him. I don't know why I didn't get the call in the first place. Do you?"

Montserrat lowered her head. She preferred not to answer for the moment.

"There's no need to argue," Olivia stepped in as well, "We all want the same thing, don't we? For Rafael to get better?"

"Of course," Lucia said incredulously. How dare they think otherwise?

"Okay," nodded Olivia, "Then I'd like to see him right now. I think Montserrat as well."

Montserrat nodded fervently. "I do," she said.

"Don't bother him with the unnecessary, please," Lucia warned as the two women started walking around her.

"I would never," Montserrat said sharply. "But I do want to catch whoever did this to him. And I will."

She followed Olivia down the hallway, preferring not to look back. She couldn't take whatever look Lucia must be giving her right now. She didn't have the head for it either.

"Montserrat," Olivia called twice before she was heard, "Forgive me for intruding but, have you taken some time for yourself with all this going on?"

"Are you kidding? I slept way more than I should have!" Montserrat exclaimed. "He woke up and I wasn't here!"

"I don't mean that," Olivia shook her head. "With this kind of stuff, I presume you would want to go see your therapist?"

"I don't have time for that!" Montserrat said dismissively. "I need to be here!"

Olivia suspected that mindset long before she got the courage to ask Montserrat. "It's important that you take care of yourself first. I'm sure Rafael would say the same thing."

It honestly didn't matter to Montserrat right now. She just wanted to reach the damn room herself and see with her own eyes that Rafael was awake. That's all she wanted. Olivia must have seen it because she didn't mention therapy again for the rest of the walk.

They didn't make a sound when they finally entered the room. If Rafael was really asleep, neither wanted to wake him. Questions would wait. But, as soon as they were in sight, Montserrat saw Rafael wide awake. He seemed a bit dazed but lucid enough to recognize them.

Montserrat forgot all about her conversation with Olivia and rushed forward. "Hii…" She said breathlessly, "You're still awake! You should be sleeping."

"I've done enough sleeping," Rafael muttered, sounding a lot more like himself than Montserrat (and Olivia) expected. He was definitely irritated enough to be himself.

Montserrat grinned widely at his response. She absolutely loved seeing him act like he usually would — it meant he was getting better! She reached for his hand, immediately gripping it. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up. I-I should've been, I know, but…"

Rafael watched Montserrat in a more dazed manner again — his mind went in and out with all the meds he was on.

This, Olivia presumed and since Montserrat seemed too upset with herself to notice, Olivia decided to cut in and help them both out. "Now, Montserrat, I think it's okay," she started slowly, watching Montserrat lower her head out of utter guilt, "You had to go home and rest too." Olivia looked at Rafael who was still trying to make sense of Montserrat's long ramble. "She was here all of last night and Carisi and Amaro and sent her home to sleep and eat."

"Well — why are you apologizing then?" Rafael glanced at Montserrat, eyebrows knitting together with confusion. "It's not like I noticed, right? I was in surgery. At least that's what my mother told me?"

"Is that all she told you?" Montserrat asked rather curiously and slightly worried. She grabbed a chair and sat down beside the bed.

"She said a lot of things but honestly, I tuned her out," Rafael drew in a breath, "The mess might be a blessing in disguise, you know."

"Ha…" Montserrat smiled lightly. That sounded a lot more like him. It truly relieved some of her anxiety. "Still, I'm really sorry. I did want to be here but I…I sort of overslept and…"

"I promise you that I am okay with that," Rafael said, smiling for the first time. "I don't want you forgetting about yourself because of me."

"I'm good, I promise," Montserrat assured, nodding her head fast. She brought their interlocked hands to her mouth, kissing his hand. "I just want you to be okay now. I've been a little crazy."

"A little?" Rafael's smile widened.

"Shut up," Montserrat said hushedly, letting out a small chuckle. She missed this so much. All the nerves were washing out as a familiar warmth flooded her insides.

At the same time, Olivia's phone started buzzing. "I'll be back," she told the two before taking the call.

Montserrat scooted her chair closer to the bed. She held onto Rafael's hand, still keeping her smile. This is all she wanted. Rafael was awake, seemingly recuperating and already taking jabs at her. In all her thoughts, she missed Rafael studying her. He noticed something he truly wished he hadn't. It led to his question.

"How are you?"

Montserrat blinked at first, puzzled with the question. "What — me?" She laughed. "Môj drahý, I'm fine. I'm absolutely fine."

"I'm on some strong medication but I assume you just spoke Slovak but even then…I don't buy it," Rafael said, shaking his head. "You went crazy over me."

"You were shot," Montserrat said, still frazzled having to say that. "What did you think I would do? Happily pass the night with your scotch?"

"Did you save me some, by the way?"

"Rafael," Montserrat warned him not to play jokes right now. "You were shot. It's not funny."

"Oh, I'm not laughing at that," agreed Rafael, "But I am trying to lighten the mood here. I don't want you to worry about me."

"Not right now," Montserrat shook her head, "Don't ask me not to do that when you're here. You have no idea how scared I was when I got the call."

"They called you…" Rafael said, as if realizing something.

"Um, yeah…" Montserrat cleared her throat, "Why did the hospital call me first? Your mother, uh, she was pretty pretty confused about that too."

"Yeah…" Rafael nodded, "Uh…I was going to tell you sometime…definitely not here but…"

"I don't think I've ever heard you ramble so uselessly…" Montserrat laughed almost immediately after saying that.

Rafael deadpanned her for a straight minute while she laughed. "I think I deserve to be cut a little slack, right?"

Montserrat nodded as she did her best to sober from her laugh. "Of course, dear."

It was too late as Rafael was already properly annoyed. "You're my emergency contact," he said in a huff.

Montserrat gasped lightly then, eyebrows raising with pleasant shock. "Am I really?"

"Yes, but you're making me regret it—"

"No, no, I promise I'm good! That's nice to hear, I…" Montserrat could feel the familiar spread of butterflies in her stomach. "When did you…when did you decide to do that?"

"I don't know, a bit back? Is that — are you okay with that?"

"Of course! Yes!" Montserrat was a smiling mess, a deep difference from the past day. She leaned over, carefully, and pressed a kiss on Rafael's lips. "Thank you for that trust in me." There was something else she wanted to desperately say to him but she felt the timing was off and perhaps even imprudent on her part.

Even if Rafael said nothing of it, Montserrat still noticed the subtle scrunch of his nose and the twitch of his mouth every now and then from the pain he obviously felt. He just didn't want to tell her about it — it wasn't shocking for her. He barely got used to the idea of asking her for help in far less serious situations so this situation would require a lot more effort from his side and she wanted to make it as easy as possible for him.

"Do you need anything?" She asked him, "I don't know, like a drink or something? And by that I mean water, of course."

"Damn, and I was just about to ask you for some scotch…"

"I would smack you right now if you weren't hurt!" Montserrat sighed and shook her head. "So listen, I really hate asking you this right now but I need to help so…about that night…"

Rafael already started turning his head away from her. He knew exactly what was coming.

"Do you remember what happened?" Montserrat wanted to be as cautious as possible for his sake. It was physically painful enough and now he would have to deal with any mental trauma he suffered from that evening.

"...a little," he did answer albeit in a low mutter.

"Okay, um, well there is that cashier — Clara?"

At the mention of the young woman, Rafael immediately looked back at Montserrat. "Is she okay!?" He truly didn't remember much after hearing the sound of the gun firing. He was in and out of consciousness but he did have slight memories of the young woman terrified in the shop.

"Yes, she is," Montserrat nodded, smiling lightly. "Did you know she's a med student? I was told she helped keep you stable while the ambulance got to you guys. She called 911. I absolutely love her."

It was Rafael's turn to smile. "Should I be worried?"

Montserrat let out a weary sigh but her broad smile defeated any attempt to sound annoyed. "Shut up."

"I want to tell her thank you," Rafael said a moment later. "She was so scared. I may have yelled at her."

"Lots of people react differently in situations like those. It's a flight or fight thing — you chose fight, she chose flight. All involuntary of course. But please, don't ever choose to 'fight' with a robber."

"Oh, but you can?" Rafael countered on the spot. His smirk didn't help. "You carry — you do that for a living. The way you feel right now is what I always feel about you..."

"I know, I know," sighed Montserrat. This was a conversation she didn't like having because Rafael always had the right. His concerns were right, his points made sense.

Rafael gripped Montserrat's hand as much as he could, which wasn't very much if Montserrat was honest with him. She wouldn't tell him. "I'm not arguing, I'm just telling you this is something we can't control," he told her. "I'm sorry I worried you. I didn't…I didn't see the guy getting up…"

"So you do remember some things, then?"

"Yes…but it's still mostly fuzzy…" If there was one thing Rafael didn't want to do right now, it was having to lie to Montserrat. His gaze lowered to their interlocked hands, which fueled his reasons all over again. "I don't know what they put in my body but I couldn't even tell you my birthday right now."

Montserrat smiled sweetly at him. "I'll make a full list about you when you get home. We can go over it together." She scooted her chair even closer to the bed. "Because when you get out of here, you have two choices about what's going to happen."

"Oh, do I?" Rafael blinked, bemused with the revelation.

Montserrat nodded. "Yup. You have a bullet wound and you need to take care of it. You won't be able to move around so easily — you won't be working," she said the last part as a full on threat in case he had the idea of even discussing the matter. "So, when you get out of here, you can either come home with me where I can help you out."

"Not happening," Rafael said on the spot. "You live with Kara and by extension Carisi. Haven't I been through enough already?"

Montserrat deadpanned him for a short minute. She was honestly expecting a response like that. "Then your other option — and your only other one — is that I come stay with you at your place for a while."

"You'd be willing to do that?"

"Yes, of course. I want to help you and I can't do that if I'm at my own place."

"Montserrat, that's sweet of you and I appreciate it but I don't need help —"

"Yes, you do," Montserrat nodded. This was also something else she anticipated and was well prepared to handle. "Raf, you can't live by yourself right now. Until you can go up and down the stairs on your own, I will be staying with you."

"It's not that the idea of having you around isn't pleasant — because it is — but I don't need you giving up your time just to take care of me." Even as he said it out loud, Rafael thought it was ridiculous. "I can manage on my own. I always do."

"Tough luck because it's not just about you anymore," Montserrat countered with a wry smile, "To your misfortune, and mine, I like you very much. With all your sarcasm and hard attitude, but I like you."

Rafael rolled his eyes at Montserrat. It was, of course, nice to hear something like that but it still didn't take away the feeling of impotence either. There were many things out of his control and Rafael was not used to it.

"Montse—"

"Let me do this, please," Montserrat insisted earnestly. "You're right. I was dead worried about you and, yeah, I want to be close to you for the next couple days because of it. I promise I'll try not to bombard you, okay?" She squeezed his hand in hers. "Please?"

This was a battle he had already lost and Rafael knew it. For all he knew, half her things were already in his apartment. That's not the worst thing that could happen. No, no it absolutely wasn't. Rafael sighed. What he would have given for this conversation to be part of a much better situation than the one they were in right now.

"You can go back home anytime, alright?" He said, instantly earning a beam from Montserrat. "You don't have to stay more than you want and you definitely don't have to do anything for me."

"I don't understand how you graduated from Harvard. You're seriously so stupid," Montserrat said quite honestly, which prompted a hard deadpan from Rafael in return. Montserrat let out a laugh in the next second. "But I want you just the way you are! I missed it all!" She leaned over to give him another kiss. "I missed you," she whispered afterwards. "I know it's insane to say that when we saw each other — what, yesterday? — but I really did miss you so much."

Even while saying it, she still sounded so afraid like he would fall under again. Rafael felt so guilty even while knowing this was way out of his control.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he insisted for her sake. He wished he could get up from the stupid bed and show her — ease her fear and worries. "I don't want you worrying anymore, okay? Calmada."

"I cannot be calm when you're in this situation," Montserrat promptly huffed. "You went ballistic when I had a scratch on my back! I have every right not to be calm about this. Who did this to you? Do you remember anything about the guy?"

Rafael's mind was slow with all the medication, so coming up with a good excuse was even harder than usual. Luckily for him, Olivia returned at that moment.

"Sorry, that was Rollins," the Sergeant said, "She and Fin are going through some possible witnesses." She approached the foot of the bed slowly, both hands in front of her. "Do you think you can give your statement right now?"

Rafael shifted, and in doing so felt a jab of pain on his side.

"Or we could wait…" Olivia said, mistaking his shift for uneasiness.

"I'm good," he said immediately. He glanced at Montserrat, and a moment later he was asking her: "Maybe I do need something after all."

Montserrat nodded. "Anything," she encouraged, "What do you need?"

"A damn glass of water," he said, "They pump meds all night and day and I don't get to eat anything. I'm so thirsty."

"I'll go see what I can do," Montserrat smiled slyly, "Flash my badge and all."

Rafael smiled at her. He knew very well that she would. "Thank you."

"Of course." Montserrat gave his hand a pat then stood up, turning to Olivia. "Keep an eye on him?"

"Oh yeah," Olivia pressed a finger to her cheek then pointed at Rafael.

Montserrat still left with some reluctance, especially when Olivia mentioned that Lucia was asking for her.

"My mother's still here?" Rafael asked, eyebrows raised.

Olivia nodded. "Oh yeah, she's made it clear she's not stepping away for a while."

"She should go home, like you all. I don't need babysitters," Rafael said, shaking his head.

"Oh no, you're not paying Montserrat with that coin when she's had to deal with your mother."

At Olivia's words, Rafael turned his head slightly. "What do you mean by that? Has she been giving Montserrat a hard time?" He wouldn't put it behind his mother given the situation.

Olivia reluctantly nodded. "Yeah. Novak made the call to inform your mother about the situation earlier in the morning. She didn't want Lucia going through a sleepless night like her, much less your grandmother. Lucia didn't like that."

"Is she kidding?" Rafael snapped, not at Olivia but at the situation. "She just told me she hasn't told my grandmother anything about this." He loved his mother, he did, but sometimes she could be a…

"Montserrat didn't tell you?" Olivia assumed with Rafael's reaction. "She probably didn't want to add to your stress."

"Of course," groaned Rafael, although he soon stopped when he discovered it hurt him. "I'll have a word with my mother."

"Sorry," Olivia said guiltily, "I didn't mean to…you know…"

"No, I'm glad you did," said Rafael sharply, "Because Montserrat wouldn't tell me." Nobody would make her life harder than it had to be, not if he could help it. "Don't even tell her that I know."

"Understood," nodded Olivia. "So, about the case…"

"I need you to do something for me," Rafael said out of the blue, startling Olivia.

"Uh, yeah, of course…" Olivia nodded slowly, "What-what do you need?"

Before answering, Rafael's gaze flickered to the door. Montserrat would be away for a while, hopefully. "I need you to close this case."

"Excuse me?" Olivia tilted her head, presuming she heard wrong.

"You heard me," Rafael said, meeting her gaze. "I want the case closed. Cold case, if it must be."

"I don't — I don't understand…" Olivia rubbed her temple, "You want us to…"

"Close the case, yes," Rafael nodded. 'That's exactly what I want you to do. It's my case, and that's what I'm asking for."

"Why?" Olivia never thought she would have to have this kind of conversation with him. If there's anyone who always said what he wanted, it was Rafael. This made no sense. "Are you still processing what happened? Do you need —"

"I already processed it and this is what I need to happen," Rafael said, sounding very sure of himself. "I know what happens next and I'm not doing that."

"Because of a trial? Rafael, you know that's the natural order of thi—"

"I know," Rafael cut Olivia, his sense of impatience growing. "Believe me, Liv, I know what happens next. I know that you will eventually catch this guy and it will go to trial. I know that their defense attorney will start playing tricks and turn things around for their benefit."

"So you're afraid?" Olivia guessed. "That's also normal…"

"I'm not afraid," Rafael clarified, "I would gladly go along with every part of the process but this isn't about me. It was never about me."

Olivia was utterly lost. She rubbed her forehead relentlessly, leaving faint red marks on her skin. "You're going to have to explain this a little better because I'm not understanding. You don't want us to proceed with the case, you don't want a trial, but you're not scared?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Rafael confirmed, "And you, as my friend and more importantly the Sergeant here, need to help me."

"Why? Why do you want me to do that!?"

"Because that man worked for someone I get the feeling has been watching us for a while now."

Olivia presumed that the struggle she saw in Rafael was for himself. His hands balled into fists on either side of him. His lips pursed together enough to scrunch his nose automatically. But once again, Olivia was wrong because as Rafael had said earlier, this wasn't about him.

"He's been watching Montserrat," he spat darkly. The idea sent him into a frenzy and the only thing stopping its full fledged form was the aching throb he felt on the side of his stomach.

Olivia looked at Rafael both curiously and alarmed. "Why…why would you think that?"

"Because that man told me," Rafael replied, giving the impression that he remembered exactly what happened last night.

Olivia raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"You and I are the only ones who know what happened to Montserrat before she transferred here, so this should be easy to understand," Rafael said, only taking a moment because he abhorred what he had to say next. "That man who hurt her — he's watching her. I don't know how, I don't know when, but he's still got eyes on her."

Olivia was keenly aware of the rising noise from the machine beside the bed. One of them was connected to Rafael's finger — a blood pressure measure. "I think you need to—"

"It makes sense now, what Little Tino told Montserrat when we visited him in jail. He told Montserrat that there was a rule in place…"

The beeps got slightly louder.

"Raf—"

"Nobody lays a finger on the redhead," Rafael repeated the words he now hated himself for. He completely missed them at that moment. A deep scowl marked his face. "He has rules, Olivia, about her, about Montserrat — in his eyes, she belongs to him. I can't — he's just—"

"Rafael!" Olivia snapped to get his attention. She moved to his bedside, urgently motioning him to calm down.

"Liv, we can't let him keep watching her," he told her, finally sounding what he truly was: frightened. He was scared, but not for him. "We can't let this keep going. He's—"

Olivia nodded and once again motioned him to calm down. "You need to take it easy. You have stitches. They can burst," she reminded him. She grabbed Montserrat's chair to sit down. "Okay, you're going to have to walk me through this so that we're on the same page about what happened. Only then we can decide how to proceed from here."

"Fine, whatever, but you can't tell Montserrat anything about this."

"I can't promise that but we can work together to come up with the best solution," Olivia said.

It wasn't good enough for Rafael. He needed to hear it out loud…but he knew he was asking the impossible from Olivia. He'd been on that side plenty of times. It was hypocritical of him to be asking the same thing he denied so many times before.

Yes, he was being hypocritical.

Yes, he was being unreasonable.

But he just didn't care.

He didn't care about anything, not even the frikin stitches throbbing on his side right now. The only thing he cared about was currently outside, getting something he asked her for. She was all he cared about. So damn everything else.

[koistocrat]

TRANSPHOBIC CHATTERS FROM: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door by Koseki Biboo (Ep. 2 Ch. 1-2)

Neckwhiskers JH Lee S.KullRandom JDrago Alexei B SpacerSam8 Rhogue Daz McBurnstain Rafael Carrasco Erica Evangeline William Sadistic Overlord vinicius rodrigues Jacob Cross

Supporters of Vivian:

Literally EVERYONE with money who can ACTUALLY support her (channel members)

BONUS: Biboo beats up the hag, as she should

[uefb]

Back at it again with @ScamanderSciCom on Twitter*

*Janus and Ephesus/Fife are two of the three Goldstein Scamander kids in the “universe” I write. I’m too lazy to make up different characters for a satire twitter account

Tweet inspired by this very serious Mt St Helen’s tweet yesterday. (Yes, that is a satire account, where various landforms shame one another & argue, and it is majestic […and PG-13/T, at the least])

[founderscouncil]

LANDON KIRBY (@ofvalor) said ❛ this place is the closest thing to home i have. ❜

"I know man, I know. I feel the same way." Rafael stares down at the grounds that have become familiar to them both from his place at the library window. Coming to Salvatore may have been rocky at first, but now, he can't really imagine being anywhere else. Landon is here, his friends are here, his pack is here. For once in his life, Rafael actually feels like he has a place, and both of them know not to take it for granted. "That's how you know I'll be back as soon as I can. All I'm doing is going to New Orleans, doing some blood test with Hope's aunt, and I'll be back before you know it." He steps away from the window and walks over to his best friend, nudging his shoulder gently. "Don't do anything stupid like sacrificing yourself for hero points."

[simplyclary]

Red, White and Royal Blue: A Royal Obsession

(Photo credits: Entertainment Weekly)

This is honestly a long overdue [personal] review of one of my most favorite book to movie adaptations EVER, considering it came out last August 11, 2023, and I wrote this entire thing on October 11, 2023 (Wow, on the 2nd month anniversary of the movie's release! How ironic!). But hey, what's important is it's here and it's here for you to read.

To be quite honest with you all, I have no particular format for this review, but I will be reviewing the storyline, the characters, the dialogue and what's in the book but not in the movie and vice versa.

I will also discuss the perfection that is the CASTING!! Like I can't imagine anybody else as Alex and Henry than who was casted, and you should know their names by now even though I'm gonna state their names a little later, so stay tuned.

Feel free to keep reading even though you haven't watched the movie or read the book, I'll leave it to your discretion but there is a section where I discuss the differences between the movie and the book so skip that if you wish ;)

So with that, I'll go ahead and jump into the movie and book review.

RED, WHITE AND ROYAL BLUE MOVIE AND BOOK REVIEW

Let's talk about the storyline first.

The storyline is not one for your typical romantic comedy. To be honest, this is the first romantic comedy storyline of its kind that I have ever seen in my life, like its not set in like high school or whatsoever where stakes are low. This is sort of high stakes (though not fantasy level high stakes), considering that the lives of the main characters Alex and Henry are forever altered with what happens in the story. This is also a story with an enemies/rivals-to-lovers trope, which I personally love, like I'm such a fan for any story with that trope.

The story has plot and it's a good one. It's one of those plots that are sort of unforgettable and you really need to watch until the end to find out what happens. The storyline of this balances the comedy to the romance and the drama. Like I love that so much, it's everything I want in a romantic comedy story.

Also, there are certain changes between the movie and the book but I'll discuss that in a bit.

Now, let's talk about the dialogue.

With regards to the dialogue, I wouldn't call it cringe because some of the lines are just the wittiest and hit lines that I have ever heard and read. The banter between characters is so fun to read and the way the actors delivered the dialogue is just worth remembering. Like there are certain scenes that I can never unhear from my brain, even while I was reading the book. I would also like to point out that the dialogue are not those cringy one-liners that other rom-coms have and so, it was one aspect that set it apart from your typical rom-com.

One thing that I would like to point out is the conversations between Alex and Henry through text and emails. Now, this was an aspect in the movie that I loved, like the way they executed their conversations in the emails and texts by having text bubbles show up is just cool. Their emails were longer in the book, with some poetry involved but I didn't mind how it turned out in the movie.

I'll now talk about the characters and the utter PERFECTION that is the CASTING.

This story does not have an overload of characters, which makes it easy to remember almost everybody in the story. There were some characters who were not included in the movie or was changed in the movie but kind of had the same vibe with the original character in the book. The titular characters of this story are Alex Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry. Notable side characters include June Claremont-Diaz, Nora Holleran, Princess Beatrice, Zahra Bankston, President Ellen Claremont, Oscar Diaz, Shaan Srivastava (Henry's equerry), Rafael Luna, Percy "Pez" Okonjo, Duchess Catherine of Edinburgh, Queen Mary and Henry's pet beagle David.

Casting wise, I have nothing to say except that the characters were casted perfectly. Having Taylor Zakhar Perez as Alex and Nicholas Galitzine as Henry was nothing but PERFECT! Like, their chemistry was off the charts and emanating through the screen as I was watching the movie. The banter that flowed between them is so natural and so fun to watch. They did have to be close immediately because of the intimacy of the story, and I love how easily they got along considering that Nick was casted first and they had to find someone who can easily bond with him and I'm happy they found Taylor because their friendship is a gem to be treasured.

Even when I read the book after watching the movie (I know, it's a sin. PEACE!), I heard their voices in my mind as I was reading their characters' dialogues. As for the supporting characters, Uma Thurman as President Ellen Claremont was a force of nature, her speech toward the end of the movie was something else, Sarah Shahi was hilarious and iconic as Zahra, Rachel Hilson as Nora is the best friend you want in your life, and Ellie Bamber as Princess Beatrice is the sweetest and supportive sister you want with you during tough times.

Honestly, I have nothing but praise for the casting of this movie. Other casting directors should learn from this (just kidding, but lowkey, yes, they should!).

Moving on to the twists and differences from book to screen.

Similar to every other book to screen adaptation, not every element from the book gets adapted on screen and this movie is no different. Certain characters were also not adapted and changed and certain scenes were not included.

Let's talk about the differences in characters first.

One of the characters that I really wanted to see in the movie (this is after reading the book already) was June Claremont-Diaz. June is Alex's older sister and the First Daughter of the US. She was not included in the movie, which kinda made me sad because her banter with Alex and Nora is one of my favorites in the book. Also, she just provides that sisterly vibe to Alex similar to what Beatrice provides to Henry. I would've also loved to see the Claremont-Diaz siblings banter on screen but sadly, that is not the case. I would also like to mention that one of my favorite actresses Emeraude Toubia was the fancast for June and simply imagining her with Taylor just makes me giddy and happy.

Another character that was not there but mentioned multiple times in the movie was Henry's mother Duchess Catherine of Edinburgh. She was present in the book but not in the movie so that's another character that I would've loved to see on screen.

For the characters that were changed, a few notable ones were Rafael Luna. Rafael's character became Miguel in the movie, and believe me when I tell you that Miguel irritates me in the movie, especially when he is around Alex, which is always! Another notable character change was the royal ruler of England. In the book, it was Queen Mary but in the movie, the character became King James so it was a transition from a queen to a king which I don't mind.

So far, those are the only ones that really come to mind. The other side characters like Zahra, Nora, Shaan, and Percy were maintained. I would also like to add that it's a smart move when they decided to have the author of the book Casey Mcquiston appear in the movie! That's a slay, honestly.

As for the differences in the storyline and dialogue...

Storyline-wise, the movie stayed pretty true to the book, which is honestly good because I am not the biggest fan of when they put too much twists in a book to screen adaptation that sometimes it already strays away from the original plot. Some iconic scenes from the book that did not make it to the movie (the Cornetto scene, for example, but it was released later on) and some minor changes to places were made like in the book, Alex and Henry first met in the Rio Olympics while in the movie, they first met at the Melbourne Climate Conference.

Dialogue-wise, it is pretty much the same thing. Some dialogue was just made more dramatic in the movie (Zahra saying "I will Brexit your head right off your body" to Henry in the movie is one of my favorites), but most of it was taken from the book itself which honestly, slay because the book basically gives you your script so if changes were to be made, it would be minor and not super major.

More deleted scenes could possibly be coming, so keep manifesting for their release, you guys!

Before I end, let's talk intimacy, smut and spice

This story is definitely not YA, and it has spice and smut within. Honestly, I would rate the spice 3/5 chili peppers because it's not like a full-blown "frack me boneless" or something but it still has hooking up and making love scenes that are essential to show the growing romance between Alex and Henry. To be fair, since I watched the movie before reading the book, I was surprised by the speed of the spice but I was also enchanted by the tenderness of when they made love in their room in Paris. Like that scene was beautifully executed and I was speechless after that.

The intimacy level of the story is one of the main reasons (if not the main reason) why Nick and Taylor had to be close so fast because the level of trust that needs to be established in order to execute the intimate scenes is necessary between two actors. Their dedication to their craft just leaves me in awe every time I think of the care and work they, along with the entire cast and crew, put into this movie.

Now, to conclude,

To end, I do not regret watching Red, White and Royal Blue. It's one of those feel-good movies that I could never get tired of no matter how many times I have already seen the movie, read bits of the book and heard the dialogue. It's just that good. The movie easily became a comfort movie for me and the book is one of my 5-star reads for the year.

History, huh? This movie definitely made some.