#hey I reached a major milestone not that long ago and I’ve been figuring out a gift to make because thank u all love you

[lou-from-moonwood]

[the-greatest-story-untold]

Dear Dream

I know I am so ridiculously late.

But hey, better late than never...

To NCT Dream,

The baby unit of NCT.

The unit of young souls tasked to bring hope and endurance to the world's youths.

The superior unit.

Your current average age is 19.5 years old… barely an adult.

Yet, you have a career that's gone strong for four years (and definitely still counting).

I am not a veteran of the KPop scene so I do not know if your 'formula' has been tried before i.e. a band comprising of literal teenagers to be the inspiration for an entire generation of youths. Most bands I knew had teenagers that were mostly above 16 when they debut and even so, there will be older members in the band.

When you started off in 2016, your oldest member was only 17 years old, and your youngest was 14!

It must have been surreal to have begun your journey as singers, dancers, performers and artists at such a young age!

The music/entertainment industry is very much an 'adult' world. Yet here you are, barely grazing adulthood but already trusted into the bright lights and blazing life of entertainment.

It must have been scary.

But you've made it.

One of you've graduated and became an adult. 4 of you've grown to become adults. One more has just reached his adulthood milestone. And then there's one left.

You guys have grown so, so much. And you guys have grown up so well. You need all the congratulations the world can offer.

You grew up in the limelight of the Kpop industry, in the new age of social media flurry, and in the unprecedented era of KPop world domination.

You grew up well, so well. You've made it.

Your journey is still long and for all the good things in this world, I hope your journey remains long and prosperous.  

I have to say, I am very surprised for the affection I feel towards you.

I admit I was weary to 'get into' NCT Dream because of your ages. I felt very uncomfortable that you were very young. Jisung sweetheart, you are a decade my junior.

It felt very strange for me to see what I viewed as literal children to be thrown into limelight.

My experience with childhood stardom is very limited to the Hollywood scene. I've heard what exposure to stardom can do to children. Especially as they grow into teenagers and young adults. It's kinda scary.

But I forgot. Though you may be in the same 'industry' i.e. entertainment; your cultures are so vastly different.

Sure, there have been infamous stories too about the KPop entertainment industry. It is as notorious as Hollywood. There have definitely been stories about your company.

When you first debuted in 2016, I've been listening to KPop for about 4 years. I wasn't an avid fan nor that big of a multi stan. I was a fan of your seniors: EXO.

The change of OT12 to OT9 was definitely an experience for me and it was difficult not to see kpop in tainted lenses after that.

So when I found out that a group of 7 with an average age of just 15.7 years (not even 16!) was to be debuted, I was quick to dismiss it.

You were too young in my eyes.

1. It felt like exploitation. 2. Your concept was too bright for me to appreciate.

So I paid you no attention.

And honestly, I had not paid attention to your brother units either when they debuted (NCT U with the 7th Sense and NCT 127 with Firetruck).

My attention in NCT officially started in 2018, when NCT2018 started. I knew of NCT’s general concept and units, so I was aware of the existence of Dream. I saw you guys appear on Weekly Idol with your hyungs. And that's about it.

I remained fairly distant with Dream for some time, focusing mainly on NCT 127 as they gained momentum in their American debut with Regular.

I continued telling myself that you were too young for my taste. Furthermore, Mark and Haechan were the maknaes of 127, so that solidified my thinking of the seven of you as mere 'babies'.

But as the end of 2018 approached, two significant episodes occured that brought more of my attention to you.

First, Mark was graduating.

I still wasn't an avid fan let alone an NCTzen at that time. I did not keep up with your updates and I do not follow you on any social media platforms. My 'news' of NCT only came in the form of recommended videos on YouTube.

Somehow, Mark's graduation became significant enough to manifest as recommended content on my YouTube recommendations. I was aware of Dream's graduation concept and since I've not invested in the unit, it bothered me not.

The Dream Show happened but it is not exactly fully available online, so I wasn't really aware of its occurrence. I only knew that Mark had officially graduated because of the 'farewell' video on NCT's channel.

I still wasn't fazed much by this as I was generally accepting of the graduation concept. We all grow up and graduation is just part of life. Welcome to adulthood, champ.

What caught my attention was how affected fans were because of this. There were so many videos of 'why mark/7Dream will be missed'. I brushed it off, understanding that Dreamzens were teenagers and emotions run high in that life period.

Then the next major event happened: Haechan/Donghyuck's injury.

It was only at this time that I was fully aware of 'MarkHyuck'. I saw a glimpse of it before but I dismissed it. However, with Haechan out of commission, it spiked.

I am not a shipper. I don't really have that much of an interest in wanting the pairing to be together. But one thing I have definitely developed during this period, was the solid support of Mark's and Haechan's Best Friends Forever friendship.

Perhaps I was more open to the two of you compared to the rest of the Dreamies since I see you interact within 127 more. Perhaps I was more attentive because you both were in 127 and I was at that time paying attention to 127.

Either way, when fans started pointing out how sad it was that the BFFs had to split, I had a small 'aww' moment.

Then what made me went absolutely 🥺  was Mark's year end performances with the Dreamies but it was already 6Dream instead of full strength.

There was that one year end event when Dream performed 'We Go Up' and it appeared to be that Renjun seemed to be sniffling. Of course, fans were quick to interpret it as sadness and all started lamenting that it was the last performance of Mark with Dream in year end promotions but Mark's best friend wasn't there.

Wow, fans are dramatic.

I wasn't hooked but I felt the sadness. I know fans were just projecting their own emotions into what happened and we eventually found out that Renjun was sniffling because he had a nosebleed earlier, not because he was crying.

This somehow made me curious about Dream… and I guess that begun my journey in getting to know Dream.

I think partly because 127 was on tour in 2019 and it was their official tour. Partly also because WayV officially debuted in 2019. But NCT content was aplenty. I've also subscribed to the NCT channel at this point so my notifications were dinging all the time.

So naturally, with more exposure to NCT, comes more interest in knowing all of you.

I have never been the 'stan only one unit' type of fan. Remember, I officially got into NCT from NCT2018, when 18 of y'all are actively promoting. I am not afraid of your ‘big ass group’ concept.

So as my interest in NCT grows, I figured it was time to know every unit better then. With 127 busy with tour, they were already releasing the Hit the States series on top of their tour, and planning a comeback mid tour. I know content will be readily available. I just had to wait.

WayV was also new so LABEL V was pumping content heavily to promote them. Again, this means content is easily available.

What was missing, was Dream content. With Mark graduated, Haechan injured and then automatically roped in with 127 for their tour, where does that leave the other members?

So I got curious. I wanted to know more about Dream but there aren't current content. What do I do? Well, dig into past content.

Chewing Gum.

I have come across it before, a long time ago probably in 2016 when it first released. I dismissed it so fast, I did not watch it fully.

I think I was still fairly new to KPop and the 'cutesy' bubblegum pop concept did not sit well with me. So anything remotely adorable was dismissed.

Unfortunately, Chewing Gum was the epitome of cute. You guys were so small. So young! Your voices… 😅

However when I started getting into NCT and because I was eager to really learn about Dream, I sat through it. But barely. I kept cringing. Sorry.

After finishing it, I felt like I had done it injustice. But I still wanted to know more about you guys! So I changed tactics.

I started with We Go Up. At least I was familiar with it. And I didn't watch the videos. I just listened to the song. Slowly, I moved down to Go, We Young, My First and Last, and finally, Chewing Gum.

Honestly, it took me some time to get used to. Obviously Dream was very different from 127. So I really had to focus to listen to Dream.

I don't know what was the turning point. I don't recall what made me suddenly enjoy your content but it happened. I find myself looking forward to listening to your songs. I actually felt genuine unadulterated fun.

Chewing Gum got into my head and I kept hearing 'Ch-ch-ch-ch-chewing Gum' on replay in my head. I eventually succumbed and went to watch the M/V again. And this time, I enjoyed it! I still cringed, lol. But I was able to enjoy the song instead of let the overload of cute affect me.

I also came across the hoverboard version and BAM! I was awed.

I was very much the typical millennial that dismissed hoverboards as 'the new trend' that was too beneath my generation (*scoff* I am such an elitist). 

So I knew it was trending and everywhere. But seeing these 7 teens actually performing synchronized choreography in addition to using a hoverboard without breaking a sweat, I was amazed. Omg, how? The dedication, the training, the effort!

It was then I thought that you guys weren't the usual teenagers I see on the street (whom I am so secretly terrified of btw). You guys are the dedicated hardworking types. The one I'm definitely intimidated by. Only because I never had the same drive when I was that age. (Pssst...There's jealousy in that too...)

I began thinking to myself, I've got to give them credit. I can't be an ageist. Just because I have my own issues and insecurities about being a lazy bum as a teenager, I shouldn't project it on these 7 teens who are already contracted to work and dedicate the rest of the young lives to their art.

That was how I started watching more NCT Dream content on YouTube. Your music videos, fancams, fanmade content etc.

I was slowly but surely falling for your charms.

I must also admit, at that period in time, I was fast becoming a big fan of Haechan.

Maybe due to his temporary break during his injury, I had a lot of 'missing you' content recommended to me. I clicked them all and really, I fell in love with his voice.

I had also then started following alot of NCT content on Twitter and IG. With 127 on tour and Haechan back in business with the North American tour, there were alot of celebratory tweets and IG posts about his comeback.

I knew Haechan was a vocalist but I suddenly saw an influx of his dance on my social media. It got me curious and I admit I watched quite a bit of Haechan fancam.

Then, it was announced NCT127 was coming for a concert to my country. And I went for it. My first concert in my 27 years of life. No regrets. I LOVED IT. Plus, my interest in Haechan soared too.

His dance break? In that one little segment? Was enough to sell me.

Highway to Heaven? Superhuman? YAAS.

And then mere days after the concert, We Boom happened.

And wow. We Boom era was a beautiful awakening for me.

You were all still teenagers, technically. Sure, the 00 liners we adults in Korea, but internationally, y'all haven't reached 20.

Still it didn't stop the multiple outpouring of congratulatory messages for all four of you in reaching adulthood.

So I figured if y'all see yourselves as adults, you're officially adults then.

And I think that was the mental barrier that had been putting me off. As much as I don't want to be one, I am sort of an ageist. It really took you 4 being 'official' adults plus one graduated member, for me to pass my own ageist thoughts before deciding you are more than talented.

Any who, with my increased interest in Haechan and my own moral dilemma out of the way, I started to genuinely enjoy your music.

First and foremost, I loved Haechan's look in We Boom era. Him in the suit, in the denim outfit, his hair up? Yes.

Secondly, Jeno and Jaemin. You are always together and even in your growth you are on par. I see the effort you're putting in your gym sessions…

Last but not least, Renjun. Hello, you turned fine. You had the mullet for a moment and I wasn't a huge fan but you still looked fine.

The 00 liners grew up good. I was barely into Dream but even I saw the differences. I was impressed and honestly, felt proud of you despite knowing none of you. Yet I felt affirmed that you’ve worked hard. And this was solely on your appearance alone.

We Boom was also my first journey in listening to your side tracks. And I loved every single one of them.

Again, the talk about graduation came back up. 4 members are meant to graduate by end 2019. What will become of NCT Dream?

We Boom is the first 6Dream album, will it be the last? It probably is?

We Boom had Best Friend and Dream Run. Somehow, it felt a lot like a goodbye message. A graduation gift in a sense. It made a lot of fans feel nostalgic for Mark. It made a lot of fans wonder the fate of Dream. You've worked hard, every single one of you. What's going to happen to all of that?

Soon, end of the year was approaching. However, there is still no news about Dream's fate.

BUT. SM decided to spring a Dream concert on the fans.

Some theories suggested it was to appease the fans who were getting antsy about the lack of news. Some suggested it was a ruse to give fans false hope before SM pulls the plug altogether on Dream. Some dreamt it was a sign they were continuing and not disbanding… soon there were (louder) chants for Dream to be a fixed unit.

I was never very bothered by the graduation concept as mentioned earlier. To me, even if the 00 liners had to graduate, I was fine. What I wasn't fine with: what is their next step?

The radio silence from SM was starting to err me. Fan worries online were also starting to get under my skin. Will Dream disband? As much as I love Haechan, I do admit it was unfair that only he has the clearest path. He had 127.

What about Jeno and Jaemin?

Jeno who had stepped up as the leader of the sextet. Who have so bravely led his team mates in his strong silent resilience.

Jaemin who is all smiles and love for his Czennies. Who had sat out an entire year of promotions to heal from a back injury and then dived straight back into their intense choreography and keeping up with his mates with smooth ease.

Then there were Renjun and Chenle; at least they had the possibility of WayV. And although that's a possibility that seemed so distant, at least it was possible.

Jisung was a rising dance machine. He raps well enough and has stable enough vocals that he has potential for a solo career if all goes south. Otherwise, he was still young enough to be able to sustain the Dream name, perhaps with a new set of members.

Either way, it was all the same. The future of these young teens were too uncertain.

Dream, you are seven youths with so much potential. This is solely on the pure fact that you are still so young. You've achieved so much but for your futures to be so vague felt extremely unfair.

And that's when I realise I will stand by Dream.

Sure, I used to gripe about our age differences. But  then I realised it was your youth that I should be supporting. It was the idea of everlasting friendship that should be preserved here.

Dream was so very much 7 members that even with Mark graduated, in that whole year of him not promoting with Dream, it still felt like he was there because you guys are literal friends with each other. You are not just colleagues that will part at the end of the day once work is done. You're legitimate friends.

And that is what I want to protect.

Call me nostalgic or old but being in a period of time in my life where my social relationships are starting to change as my friends get married and become attached, or grow more interested in building a family rather than finding a cute boy, I must have projected my own feelings of loss onto Dream.

Aren't y'all suppose to be the embodiment of youth, hope and (pardon the pun) dreams?

The bulk of that was formed during my teenage years for me, in the bonds I've created with my own group of girlfriends. The five of us have been together since 13 years old and although we never had the same intensity of an emotional rollercoaster that comes with stardom, I understand the reluctance to let go of a friendship that has lasted so long.

When I see the Dreamies have fun, joking around and sassing around, I am reminded of my girlfriends when we laze about and sass during our staycation.

When I see the Dreamies tired and exhausted but still so present for each other during practice and rehearsals, I am reminded of my girlfriends and the days we studied together for our national exams.

When I see the Dreamies cry because of an uncertain future, I see my girlfriends worried about the next stage of our lives and the fear of being unprepared.

That homely dependence; the family reliance on one another… these are sentiments that actually my girlfriends and I may not exactly feel. For as much as we've been friends for so long, we've never really had a tumultuous lifestyle.

But the Dreamies, you did. You had to be away from family, practice from dusk till dawn, sacrificed school experiences for idolhood, lose out on a 'normal teenage life'.

Sure, you chose this life. You've made your beds and now you must lie in it. What's inspiring is: you're so willingly diligent in doing so.

That, I feel is your most praiseworthy trait.

And I understand that you were able to do this because you've had each other.

And I feel so proud of that friendship you’ve made with each other.

So Dream, congratulations on your fourth year. Congratulations on all your hard work and sacrifices.

Remember, you are still young. You do not owe the world anything but to live your young lives well.

You've made so many sacrifices and earned scars along the way. But you've become better and stronger with them.

You taught me to treasure the friendship I have made in my youth and perhaps a little lesson or two about mourning the loss of friendship.

I wish you all the best. I want to hug you so much and pat you on your heads. And yet at the same time show you off like a proud parent.

I am sure your parents are all proud of you. Every single one of you.

Keep up your good work. You are doing well.

Remember to rest when you need to. You are only human and doing your best can only be meaningful if you are well and healthy.

Congratulations on becoming 7Dream again, I look forward to your comeback.

Keep at it, keep smiling, keep singing, keep dancing.

To Mark Lee, thank you for being the diligent leader to the Dreamies. You've led them well. Hopefully they don't trouble you too much now that you're back.

To Lee Jeno, thank you for being the pillar and unwavering captain of the ship. You have a strong presence about you but yet so gentle and considerate.

To Huang Renjun, thank you for your wisdom and efforts. You put in so much work in reaching out to your fans and listening to their troubles and worries.

To Lee Haechan, thank you Full Sun. You have been so hard working, haven't you. I know you like being busy and I feel relieved that you know too that you should rest well. Keep shining, love.

To Na Jaemin, ohmygosh you are so precious. You are so loving and so sweet. You deserve all the happiness in the world for the magnitude of kindness and compassion you exude.

To Zhong Chenle, thank you for your hard work. You seem to be so effortless in covering and carrying the vocals of your songs together with Renjun. Yet you are always doing it with your boisterous laugh.

To Park Jisung, thank you for your youth. You've spent your entire childhood in the industry and made many sacrifices, more than peers of your same age. Thankfully you've gotten friendship with your team mates and I hope you'll continue to receive all the love and support.

With love.

[aleteia-ff]

1000 followers! | The Phantom of the Archipelago - Sneak Preview

Ohhh, yes!

Thank you, everyone, for your support. This week, I passed the milestone of 1000 Tumblr followers. I have only been on this website for 11 months by now and the amount of love and support I’ve received from this community, the people I’ve gotten to know... I’m so happy I joined! <3

Now, because you guys make me so happy, I want to do something back. And since a lot of you probably started following me because of The Phantom of the Arena, I wanted it to be related to that fic. And although I’m still working on building enough buffer of it’s sequel, The Phantom of the Archipelago, before I actually start posting, I figured I could at least share the draft of one scene from one of the first chapters. 

To say it’s a major scene would be an understatement. 

Obviously, spoilers below the Keep Reading line ;) 

And just a reminder that my ask box is always open! I might take some time to answer them, but in the end I always will. And I will try my hardest to work through some of the asks still in there. 

You can also always find me on Discord in the #aleteias-fics channel!

Hiccup let his gaze wander towards the far side of the island, intuitively scanning Berk’s dense forests for the little clearing in the middle of the trees. For the place he’d loved, and had later come to hate because of how his father had tainted it. But when his eyes found the all-too-familiar spot with ease, he decided that it wouldn’t be that bad to revisit after all.

He nudged Toothless to glide downwards, the two of them staying low and circling the cliffs before soaring over the treetops. Not that anyone was ever looking towards the sky the way Hiccup did, but he’d rather be safe than sorry. Especially on a clear and sunny day like this.

Or perhaps that had changed too over the past couple of years.

Toothless warbled happily when they descended into the cove. Hiccup rolled his eyes, patting the dragon’s neck. “As if you didn’t know where we were going already. You’re flying this thing too, remember?”

They circled around to confirm they were indeed alone, and then skimmed over the pond, the tips of Toothless’ wings just breaking the water’s surface. Hiccup took off his right glove, leaning sidewards to let his scarred fingertips trail through the fresh water, sending a shiver down his spine. He released the straps that secured his feet to the pedals, readying himself to dismount. He didn’t use the straps that often these days, but they were a welcome safety measure when spying on villages, hanging from a cliff. Although he’d definitely let himself drop on purpose a few times, as an excuse to use his own wings.

It was all about danger assessment. And after eleven years of flying, there wasn’t much that could surprise him anymore.

He yelped when that thought was immediately proven wrong as Toothless made an abrupt tight turn, sending him flying all on his own. He realised reaching for his wings was futile just before he hit the water with a loud splash!.

He gasped as he came back up for air, frantically looking around from behind the hair stuck to his forehead in search of an explanation. And broke into a chuckle when he caught sight of his drenched dragon, wading towards him with a proud, gummy smile.

“Good to see at least one of us hasn’t grown up since we first ‘flew’ together all those years ago,” he teased.

Toothless moved one of his wings, but Hiccup ducked under water, avoiding the retaliatory splash, throwing water right back at his best friend when he came back up.

They continued to wrestle and tease each other, both of them somehow ending up even more drenched than before, until Hiccup decided he was done and swam towards the shore. Toothless gave his best Scauldron impression as his rider got out, almost making him fall flat on his face when the water hit his back. He stuck out his tongue towards the dragon, removed his helmet, and shook his head, getting rid of most of the water as he took apart Inferno, confirming none of its vital parts had been soaked. Some of it needed oiling - and he couldn’t wait to get around to that - but not like this.

He looked around, a satisfied smile spreading across his lips as he surveyed the cove. It was exactly like he remembered. Frozen in time, the only thing that had changed in the past eleven years the removal of the shield he’d clumsily lodged between two rocks at its entrance, and of course, his remembrance stone.

In honour of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III

Berk’s Bravest Dragon Killer

He found he no longer minded the text. Because it was finally true. And if people chose to remember him for killing that one dragon that had tormented them for so many generations, then he’d settle for that. It was a lot better than being remembered as a Viking-hating terrorist, he supposed.

He sat back against the stone, comfortably leaning against it as Toothless continued to splash around behind him.

“It feels good to be here again,” he murmured to himself. “Now that the memories are no longer tainted, and I can just… Enjoy them.”

He remembered it all like it was only yesterday. How he’d been both scared and then incredibly excited to find Toothless there on that first day, wondering why the dragon was sticking around before he’d spotted his missing tail, instantly realising he’d done that and, more disturbingly, that he felt incredibly sorry for it.

How they’d locked eyes from a distance, and how that look had stayed with him from that moment on. Prompting him to seek out the dragon again the next day and end up swallowing a way too large bite of slimy, raw, regurgitated fish.

It had only been uphill from there… All the afternoons he’d spent in the cove, observing Toothless, learning who he was and interacting with him, closing that gap bit by bit until it had felt no more than simply right - although still thoroughly nerve-wracking - to extend his palm towards the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death itself. And how his entire world had changed when Toothless had pressed his snout against it.

He trailed the scars on his face with his left hand, once again mapping out every line as if he hadn’t already memorised them long ago. He’d been through a lot since he’d met Toothless. Lost a lot. But it was the one thing he’d do again, and again, no matter how many new attempts at life he might get. Because he couldn’t imagine a world without his best friend in it.

“I love you, Bud,” he told the dragon, who warbled a ‘I love you too’ in return.

He closed his eyes, enjoying the sun on his face as he waited for his hair and armour to dry, allowing himself to slightly doze off. He went back to those first attempts at getting Toothless back into the air, at all the failures they’d gone through before they’d actually made it out of the cove. Let alone gone for an actual flight, the first of which had gone anything but smoothly. But he’d enjoyed every second of it. The wind on his face, the saltiness of the sea in his nostrils, the two people shouting in the distance…

His eyes flew open and he put up his hand. Toothless instantly stopped moving, not a sound in the air for a mere moment. And then he heard it. A clear, audible “Wait up!”, echoing through the forest. Louder than before.

Coming towards them.

“Hide!” he hissed at Toothless as he scrambled to his feet, the distance between them too big for them to reconnect and fly away unseen. He sprinted after his dragon, the two of them disappearing behind a boulder in the back end of the cove. He snuck a look over his shoulder, spotting a figure at the top of the cove’s entrance.

A child.

He held his breath, peeking from the shadows, but the kid didn’t seem to have seen him, or the large black dragon currently breathing down his neck. Good. Now he just had to get out of here unseen as well.

“Hey, H!” - Hiccup’s heart skipped a beat, before he realised the kid’s name probably started with an H - “Not so fast!” he heard, coming from the forest once again.

He furrowed his brows, a surprised whisper escaping him. “Tuffnut?”

“I can do it myself!” the child - a boy - shouted back before he started to make his way down the cliff at the cove’s entrance.

“I know you can, but your mother will kill me if I let you,” the man repeated, and surely, Tuffnut Thorston appeared at the top of the cliff, gesturing at the boy, who was climbing down a lot faster than Hiccup would have assumed a child his size could.

“Tuffnut has a son?” he murmured, but Toothless just huffed, also clueless. “Kid doesn’t look much like him.”

Based on his length, the boy couldn’t be older than four, five at best. So he’d likely been born after the Phantom had left Berk. He searched his memory, wondering if he’d ever seen Tuffnut with a woman whose hair remotely resembled the kid’s unruly mop of auburn. He’d seen Tuffnut with many children today and yesterday, but when it came to a wife, he came up empty-handed.

“I didn’t think he even liked women to begin with,” he confessed, grinningly recalling the time Tuffnut had unknowingly flirted with the Phantom. “Guess we learn something new every day.”

“Then I want to fly down,” the boy insisted, pausing on the edge of one of the rocks, leaning forward and peering down in a way that made Hiccup’s stomach churn.

Tuffnut caught up with him, grabbing the boy’s arm and gently pulling him back. “You can’t fly. You’re not a dragon.”

“But I want to be a dragon!”

Tuffnut knelt down, putting his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “And I will still love you even if your breath smells like rotten fish, Little Hamster. But if you want to fly, you should grow some wings first.”

“So I should eat more raw fish?”

Hiccup grinned. Clever boy.

“No, then you’ll get sick, and we don’t want that, now do we?” The boy shook his head, his hair flopping around. “Although between you and me, it’s probably not that much worse than your mom’s cooking.”

“Berkian women and being bad cooks. Name a better duo,” Hiccup chuckled. He’d understood from his dad that his mom hadn’t been stellar, and Astrid surely couldn’t be called remotely talented either. He thought back to the fish stew she’d once tried to make, and instantly felt sympathy for Tuffnut’s situation.

The boy laughed loudly. “I’m gonna tell Mum you said that!”

“Go ahead, snitch,” Tuffnut teased, poking the boy’s chest. “I can take her on any day.”

The boy shook his head. “You can’t! No one can!”

“Are you doubting my mighty Thorston blood? There’s ‘Thor’ in my name for a reason, you know!” Tuffnut caught the boy in his arms, tickling him. “Are you, huh?”

“Stop!” the boy laughed, swatting at his father. “Uncle Tuff!”

Or not his father, then.

Hiccup bit his lip. Perhaps he was one of Ruffnut’s, then? But he thought he’d seen Snotlout with a girl of about the same age as the boy… Twins, then? They did run in the Thorston family, after all. Or perhaps they were siblings who weren’t that far apart, and one of them looked a lot older or younger than they actually were.

He felt he should leave, that he was peeking at something private, something he shouldn’t see. But he simply couldn’t. Instead, he quietly retrieved one of his Changewing skins and hung it over his head, allowing him to blend in with his surroundings and creep forward so he could get a better look. Behind him, Toothless warbled curiously, but he nudged the dragon back with his foot, telling him it wasn’t safe enough.

“Alright, wait here,” Tuffnut told the boy before he climbed down the remaining rocks, opening up his arms when he reached the bottom. “Ready when you are!”

The boy leapt forward, landing in Tuffnut’s arms. He spun the two of them around, keeping the boy high up in the air, making him squeal in delight until he finally put him down, Tuffnut visibly swaying on his feet as he tried to regain his balance.

Hiccup could see the comedic duo more clearly now. Tuffnut was still wearing his usual disorganised combination of a tunic, vest and lustrous assortment of spiked accessories. The boy was dressed way more conservatively, in a dark red tunic, half of it tucked into a pair of brown pants, the other half unintentionally hanging out, a leather satchel with the crest of Berk on it slung over his shoulder. Hiccup had always had good eyes - Astrid had noticed he could make out certain details from high up in the air, while she couldn’t - allowing him to spot the smattering of freckles on the bridge of the boy’s small nose, the tips of his big ears peeking through his copper hair and his forest green eyes, which curiously taking in his surroundings.

In a way, the boy struck him as oddly familiar. Then again, he had likely once met a Thorston who looked just like him, given how colourful and diverse - not just mentally - the family was. Tuffnut and Ruffnut were rather tame by comparison. Or so he’d been told, by enough sources to make the stories believable.

“Go on,” Tuffnut gestured in front of him as he sat down in the grass. “We’re here for you, after all.”

The boy adamantly shook his head. “Not for me. For Daddy.”

“Because you want to talk to him, Hamish,” Tuffnut pointed out.

Hamish. Huh. Hiccup could understand that name becoming fashionable again after he’d personally destroyed the portraits of his ancestors, Hamish I and Hamish II, five years ago. But it seemed like such an usual name for Ruffnut and Snotlout to give to their son. Especially if he was their firstborn son; then he was Snotlout’s heir… It’d be more logical for him to be named in the -lout tradition, but perhaps they had wanted to give off a clear sign by naming him after the great Haddock Chiefs, who had been defiled by their actual descendant.

How un-Thorstonly political.

The boy nodded and slowly walked forward to the edge of the pond, looking down and fidgeting with his hands. Eventually, he stopped in front of Hiccup’s remembrance stone, a bright lop-sided smile spreading across his face. “Hey Daddy.”

Hiccup furrowed his brows, because all of this was only making less and less sense the longer he watched. Was the boy’s father dead? And had his stone become a place to go to to think of other dead, or presumed-dead, people? Or those who simply weren’t around?

“Mama’s not here, but she said it’s okay if I go alone,” the boy - Hamish - continued.

Only to be corrected by Tuffnut. “If someone else goes with you!”

Hamish huffed, looking at Tuffnut. “But I know the way!”

“And you can go alone when you’re older. Until then, you can show an adult how to get here whenever you want,” Tuffnut quipped.

“I’m old enough,” Hamish insisted.

“I disagree. And so does your mother. And while she’s not the boss of me, she’s certainly the boss of you.”

Hamish frowned angrily, but Tuffnut simply grinned at him in response. “So what did you want to say to your dad?”

The boy wavered for a moment, his brows furrowed as he seemed to be thinking, but then his face opened up into a wide smile. He fumbled with his satchel, retrieving something black from it, and walked closer to the stone, proudly holding it up. Hiccup squinted, trying to make out what it was. And then the boy spoke.

“Look, Daddy, I brought Mini-Toothless!”

He only vaguely heard how Toothless purred in response to his name. Because right then, the ground underneath him disappeared, and the entire world along with it. Until there was nothing left but that boy, and the little statuette he held in his hands.

Of a Night Fury.

Which he’d carved and painted for Astrid as a Snoggletog present over five years ago.

“Mummy told me to take care of him while she’s gone -”

The boy’s mother was gone.

He’d given that statuette to Astrid.

And Astrid was gone too.

That boy was Astrid’s son.

But he didn’t have her beautiful blonde hair, her gorgeous blue eyes, her adorable but slightly oversized ears - no, he did have those, so Hamish could be hers, but then where did he get the rest? Hiccup thought she’d waited for him, that she…

“- like you take care of real Toothless!”

You.

The boy was talking to his father.

Who probably had auburn hair, and a pair of green eyes.

Who wasn’t there.

Whose dragon, named Toothless, was worriedly nudging Hiccup’s side, sensing his rider’s distress.

The boy was talking to him.

Because he was his father.

He hardly heard what the boy - Hamish, his son, named after his ancestors - said after that. He simply stared, unable to move, his breath coming out in short pants. Hamish rambled, his tiny hands moving along as he talked, as if this was completely ordinary to him, as if Hiccup’s - as if his father’s - world wasn’t completely falling apart at that very moment. Because it didn’t make sense.

How?

How…?

How!?  

He crumbled to the ground, pressing his hands to his ears, because he couldn’t listen, because this wasn’t happening. The Gods were playing a trick on him, or his mind was, yet again. He was seeing things, hearing things, deluding himself into picturing something that wasn’t there. That didn’t exist, that wasn’t true, because it couldn’t be true. He would’ve known if Astrid had been pregnant, he would’ve known if he was a father, she would have told him, he would have felt it.

It couldn’t be real. But no matter how often he pinched himself, they didn’t go away. The boy, Tuffnut, and the tiny wooden Night Fury stayed where they were. He wanted to flee, but he couldn’t, they would see him, and he didn’t know what happened if delusions spotted the person who was deluding them, not that that thought made much sense -

Oh Gods.

Oh, Gods.

He turned his eyes towards the sky, trying to snap himself out of it, to focus on anything but the scene in front of him. But the sun moved too slowly, and time along with it, so he wasted away, waiting, praying, asking the Gods what they’d brought down on him this time, until finally, his nightmarish visions left.

After scoldingly calling out the boy’s full name, Tuffnut picked him up, and, although reluctantly, the boy eventually stopped struggling, keeping Mini-Toothless clutched to his chest as Tuffnut carried him towards the cove’s exit. They exchanged some words, and the boy waved in the direction of the pond.

Hiccup only just prevented himself from waving back.

He couldn’t banish the boy’s name from his mind. Not even after he and Tuffnut had left, and Hiccup had jumped on Toothless’ back. Not even after they took to the air, the wind in his face not waking him up like he’d hoped it would.

So he simply flew West. Hoping to go back to the nightmare he’d come from. The one he was familiar with, the one he could deal with. Because he couldn’t handle this one.

Hamish Hofferson.

[brattywriters-anonymous]

This Way..

 Part V (and the Valentine’s Day special) of the “I’m Never Wrong” Series.

Erik x (Black!)Reader

Fic Playlist: Back in One Piece x DMX feat. Aaliyah, This Way x Khalid feat. H.E.R, Gonna Love Me x Teyana Taylor, You Got Me x The Roots feat. Erykah Badu

Warnings: ANGST, Violence, Erik done fucked up!

It had been over six months since your night off, and quite a bit has changed. You recently chose to work as the remote part time senior partner to spend more time with Leanna and JuJu, as you promised N’jadaka on your honeymoon. The two of you made a pact to be more involved in the family you were building. He vowed to transition from Wakandan Wardog to the Director of the Oakland Wakandan Outreach Center. In reality, N’jadaka was only home for about four months out of the year. One month for every season. When he left a month after your romantic night, he promised that it was his last mission and he’d only be gone for a month. One month turned into six. It was reminding you of the first year of your relationship when he returned from Wakanda. Except for now, you have paperwork and two children between you. Which fueled your anger on a different level.

Each day that passed after that promised month, Y/N’s resentment grew. It had been radio silence for five months, JuJu had learned to roll over, crawl, and even started standing on his own. N’jadaka missed all of those precious milestones. He and Y/N couldn’t even celebrate his birthday together the week prior to this one. This particular day, you cup runneth over. Leanna is on her worst behavior, talking back and being sassy. N’Juma was screaming all day at the top of his lungs due to his top two teeth coming in. You couldn’t even finish reviewing your junior partner’s briefings due to your children running amok in your house. You have had it. While Lee Lee was throwing all of her toys out of her bin, and JuJu was having a temper tantrum, you walked out on your porch.

You let out a scream and broke down. You were out of steam, out of options. Your ears pick up the sound of tires rolling up to your house. Since your home is the only one in the col du sac, whoever it is is either turning around or they’re parking. When you hear the engine die you lift your head to find a blacked out Suburban. Nakia emerges from the passenger seat, Ayo from the drivers side. You hold your breath, thinking the worst when you don’t see N’jadaka. You see the rear passenger door crack open, you let out a short sigh; still panicking because you can’t see who’s behind the tented windows. Those muddy steel toe boots hit the pavement your breathing find it’s normal pattern, then your eyes  turn more red than they already are from your tears.

Erik gets out of the car, all smiles. That’s until he sees your bloodshot eyes and mean mug. His smiles disappear into a look of concern. You charge straight for him with your fists balled. You huff as you swing and your fist connect with his cheekbone. He reaches for your arm but your anger adds to your speed. Your other fist bangs against his nose. His head twists to the opposite side of your abuse as blood flies across your front yard. He gains control of your arms, ignoring his injuries. “Y/N, Y/N! Dammit! Calm down, woman!” You grunt at his demand, trying to free yourself from his hold. He grips your wrists tighter, “Our kids in there alone!? Ayo, Nakia, can y’all check on them please?”

The pair stand among you two in shock. Nakia taps Ayo’s side and they fall into the house. “I’ve been taking care of them day in and day out for over six months so excuse me for needing to take a fucking breather, N’Jadaka! Why didn’t you call? Why haven’t I heard from you!? I was starting to think you--” “You was starting to think I was dead?” “I was starting to think yo ass left! You’re so fucking selfish! I can’t even believe you right now. Hopping out of the car like you were gonna be met with kisses and hugs. Nigga fuck you!” You shove him with your shoulder, he surrenders and lets you go. You push the front door open, it slams against the wall; attention from your children, Ayo, and Nakia turns to you.

You make a beeline to your bedroom and you start stuffing clothes, toiletries, and shoes into your oversized backpack you fill it to the brim and grab your car key. You brush past your estranged husband to close your laptop and put that in its respective bag. “Where do you think you going?” “Away from you.” And with that, you turn you back and trail to your car. You hear N’jadaka’s heavy footsteps follow you, “Babe, can we talk about this? I’m so--” “Yeah I know, You’re sorry. You’re sorry as fuck. You let half a fucking year go by! You haven’t seen or heard from me. Let alone your daughter and son. You missed Leanna’s birthday! You’ve missed so fucking much with not even so much as a bullshit filled excuse as to why!” As he intends on interrupting you, you slap him clean across his cheek. “You had six months to talk and you didn’t. I’m about to say my peace before I peel out. I’ve highhandedly taken Leanna to and from school, battled her chicken pox and three colds she’s gotten, and put her in ballet in the six and a half months of your absence. I’ve watched N’Juma flourish. He went from babbling and slobbering to teething, crawling, and standing. The boy is damn near walking and you were nowhere to be found! You left me here with little to no help and support. I needed you! You neglected your responsibilities and didn’t make good on your promise which left me to pick up your slack!”

N’jadaka swipes his thumbs across your cheeks to wipe your tears but you push him away, “You ain’t shit for this ‘Ja. You really not. I’m out. I’ll be back whenever. Like you.” You push start your car and peel off with your tires screeching.

--

Erik’s POV

Lee Lee and JuJu were both screaming and crying at Y/N’s dramatic exit. I knew I had some explaining to do when I got home but, shit! I didn’t know I was gon come back to a couple of blows to my face(PAUSE). Now I’m in the middle of my living room, with two crying kids on my hip with my sore ass face.

I finally get my kids asleep and I start my search for my wife. I call up Shuri, “Hey cuzzo, are Y/N’s Kimoyo beads activated?” Shuri types some figures into her database before answering, “Yes. She’s traveling pretty fast. She may be on a flight.” “A flight!? Where?” Shuri gets to typing again, “Let’s cross check the San Fran International flights.. track the flight plans with her location.. Cousin?” “Yeah?” She pauses before continuing, “She’s coming here.” “Here, meaning, Wakanda?” “Yes.”

T’challa has allowed flights to come into our home country, exclusively for natives and their families. So Y/N actually going is a pleasant surprise. “Alright, bet. Tell ‘Cha I need the jet.” “N’Jadaka, maybe you should give her some time, eh?” “Shuri, maybe you shoooould mind your business, eh? Look I’ve gone six months without my wife. I need her to come home. Plus, it’s not gon be just me coming. The kiddos are tagging along too.” Shuri smiles at the suggestion, “Great! Mother has been dying to meet them!”

--

Y/N’s POV

“Good Morning ladies and gentlemen! We are now landing. Welcome to Wakanda!” The flight attendant graciously announces my arrival to N’jadaka’s home country. I haven’t been back here since the wedding. Since Leanna was too young to travel, she’s never been here and of course JuJu hasn’t either. I miss my babies, don’t get me wrong. But being with those two, caring for them day in and day out for that long, alone, took it’s toll on me. Mentally and physically. I need this vacation. This is the best place I thought about going in the midst of my rage. The clear port is next to the Golden city. I find my way to the center of the city to Shuri’s lab where it seems like she’s waiting.

“About time, Y/N!” She hugs me tight, “How are you?” “Uh, Shuri, how did you know I was coming?” She gives me a childish chuckle, “My cousin asked me to track you down. I knew you were coming about an hour after you took off.” I roll my eyes, “So he’s coming?” Her eyes wonder off as she turns back into her lab, “I do not know Y/N! But uhm, come on in. I wanna show you what I’ve been working on. And I’ll take those while I’m at it..” She rolls my Kimoyo beads off of my wrist, “Why? They work just fine.” “Ugh! You sound like T’challa! Just as I tell him. Just because something is working, doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.” Some contraption standing before us piques my interest, she begins explaining what it is. “This is what I’ve been working on. It’s a collection of vibranium bots. I got the Idea from that Disney movie, Big Hero 6. Leanna showed it to me! They’re about 300,000 microbots that can help improve the construction and infrastructure in major cities all over the world.” The microbots built a replica of T’Challa’s panther suit,  a car, and finished off with a replica of the outside of Shuri’s lab. “Wow Ri, this is awesome!”

Shuri turns off the remote which controlled the bots in the form of a glove. “Thank you Y/N. It’s only in prototype stage right now. But.. once it’s ready for mass production, I’ll introduce it after opening the latest Outreach center in Brooklyn, New York City!” I’m truly impressed. Shuri is a kid genius. I surely hope Leanna takes after her since they are quite fond of one another.

“Cool! I’m sure you’ll be in the Forbes magazine, once again, on that invention alone. Anywho, how’s Queen Mother?” “Queen Mother is doing quite well, Y/N.” T’challa and Shuri’s mother appears from the front entrance. “Queen Mother.” I bow, she takes my hand to pull me upright, “Y/N, we are family. There’s no need to bow.” Ramonda gives me the warmest hug. I truly feel at home here. The people are beautiful, it’s like the colors are more vibrant. The sun rises and sets in a brighter tone. Maybe I should’ve made it here a long time ago.

I pursue Ramonda to the throne room as she asks, “Now child, what brings you to Wakanda? I know that American holiday for lovers is tomorrow. Where’s my nephew?” I’m trying to think of how to tell her what happened in a respectful manner. Even though we are technically family, I still want to reply in a courteous manner. “Well.. Er-- I mean, N’jadaka.. He said he was only gonna be gone for a month. A month was more like half a year. Plus, to be honest, I haven’t even thought about Valentine’s day.” Ramonda’s face furrows into one of amusement. “Maybe you should think about that Y/N, it may remind you and him why you fell in love to begin with. I am not sure why he would tell you when he would return. War dog missions have no set duration.” I stare out to the panoramic view of the Golden City, “He wasn’t supposed to be doing this forever either.” Ramonda hums in agreement, “Mhm. He’s spoken to T’challa about that mission being his last. He will be accepting the director position for Director of your home town’s Outreach center, yes?” 

“I mean, yeah. I guess. He never told me any of that.” I let out a sigh “You never gave me the chance to explain, love.” Swinging around toward the door, I find N’jadaka standing in his typical at ease stance, force of habit from bring in the Navy. My mouth twitches to form a smile, but my thoughts correct me. “What are you doing here ‘Ja?” He plasters a smirk and shrugs, “I came to get my wife. What is my wife doing here?” “She came here to relax, to reflect. We can do that.” N’jadaka turns his lip up and nods, “Okay Y/N. As far as I can tell, you do need that. You damn sure deserve it.” I cross my arms, deeply amused at his response, “Ha! Ha! Oh, We, huh? What part of me leaving you with the kids you didn’t understand? What part of anything I told you has you misconstrued that got you to come here?”

He mirrors my movement, crossing his arms, “I don’t have anything misconstrued, Y/N. I get everything you said to me. I apologize for making you feel neglected, baby. I just didn’t wanna start anything by telling you it was gonna take a lot longer than I thought before I completed the mission. Next thing I knew, we had to go under the radar, and I couldn’t tell you.” “N’jadaka Erik Stevens-Udaku. How dare you! You left me to think whatever!” He grips me by my waist and pulls me to him, looking at me face to face, “I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry for it all. I think you should be here right now. You need some R&R, I get that. So, we’ll be spending Valentine’s Day here this year.”

“Ugh. Here you go with this we shit again!” Ramonda clears her throat, “I apologize..” ‘Ja whispers in my ear, “I don’t just mean me in the we..” I hear tiny footsteps close in, “Mommy! This place is so prettyyyy!” Leanna exclaims this to me while reaching her tiny arms as far as they can stretch to hug my legs. I bend down to meet the love that is my first born, “It is isn’t it?” She enthusiastically nods, “Yes! Baba said this is where he’s from, why don’t we live here?” He intercepts, “Le, we don’t live her because daddy and mommy have responsibilities to home.” I pick her up and nod, “Yeah, we both have jobs to do, lovebug. We’re always welcome to visit though.” Leanna jolts for joy and chants, “I wanna hang out with cousin RiRi! Where she at?!” Ramonda chimes in, “I’ll take you to her, she’s in her lab! Give mommy and daddy some time alone, eh?”

--

Erik leads me to the west wing of the palace where the Dora placed my bags at the door, “This is your room Y/N. Leanna, N’Juma, and I are gonna be on the other side of the palace.” “Okay, so are we gonna be separate the entire time?” He shushes me, “Damn, woman! No. But You did say you needed time to yourself. I’m giving you that! Tomorrow is Valentines day, I got a few things lined up for us to do with the kids and I got something special for you.. Just let me, okay?”

I open the door to my suite, my back to him I rebut, “Let’s just see how the day goes with the kids. Then I’ll tell you if I’ll let you or not.”

With that, I roll my belongings in with me and shut the door. Retiring to the room for the remainder of the evening.

--

I spent the ladder part of the night prior completing the brief reviews I had left before my huge blowup. I fell asleep after I completed my last one. It’s eerily quiet on this side of the palace. Yet, I am grateful for it. I woke up around seven AM with the strangest crook in my neck. I wince in agony, holding my neck where the source of pain resides. Shit! I must have slept wrong. I guess I can try to ease the pain with a hot bath. I plug my phone up to my beats pill and turn on my r&b playlist. Apple sure knows how to channel my mood because This Way by Khalid and H.E.R. begins playing, channeling all of yesterday’s energy into my morning.

You say I'm trippin', bullshit You're the one to make me do shit You're the one to make me feel it The feeling of stupid I was in your corner When you were putting me through shit Now you wanna leave No, you leaving me was foolish

I sink lower the more my comfy bath as the song continues, my mind flashes back to N’jadaka’s abrubt return back home..

“You’re sorry as fuck. You let half a fucking year go by! You haven’t seen or heard from me. Let alone your daughter and son. You missed Leanna’s birthday! You’ve missed so fucking much with not even so much as a bullshit filled excuse as to why!”

Yeah, all of these excuses Say I'm the one that made you ruthless Well you're the reason I'm crazy And with you, I feel useless I let you have it You took me for granted Always wanna play the victim When they don't know the truth is...

You left me this scar on my heart When I'd never take it that far (oh) Why would you say that it was true love If true love is absolute, what more can I say?

My Kimoyo beads go off on my left wrist, I answer it. N’jadaka is on the other end, “Good morning baby.” “Good morning ‘Ja, how are you?” “He releases a heavy sigh, “Our kids are a handful, ma. N’Juma is still on west coast time so he’s sleep now. But he was up until the past hour. Leanna is a total diva. She doesn’t wanna get up, at all!” Poor Erik. He looks so defeated. He only got a night compared to my one hundred eighty-some odd nights of that. “Bribe her with breakfast ‘Ja. JuJu can only be sleep for the next hour or else you’ll have a repeat of last night so you may wanna get her breakfast like, ten minutes ago.” Something flies by his face when he shakes Leanna to wake her up, “Lil girl did you--Get up Leanna! It’s time for breakfast!”

“What’s the plan for today Stevens?” He goes away from the camera view, you hear him tell your eldest child to brush her teeth and wash her face before he comes back, “We’re gonna take the kids to meet W’kabi, Okoye, and the boarder tribe so they can see the rhinos, then we’ll make the trip up to Jabari land so they can play in the sn--” he looks in what I assumed to be where his bathroom was located to see if Leanna was being nosey. I guess the answer was yes because he spells out the next word, “S-N-O-W.”

They’ve never been in the snow with us living in California and all, so it’s really thoughtful that he wants the kids to have that experience in Wakanda. I just hope he takes my advice or we’ll be in for a long and trying day. “Sounds good ba..” The words of adornment almost slips through my teeth, his eyebrows hit the top of his forehead waiting for the rest of the word to drop, “--Sounds good N’jadaka. The kids should enjoy it. I’ll be out for breakfast in a bit.”

--

I stumble through the corridors in my robe and slippers, searching for the dining room. I feel like I’m walking in circles at this point. I hadn’t bumped into anyone and I haven’t seen anything resembling a kitchen or a dining room. I finally found some stairs so I descend to what looks like a foyer next to two huge ass doors, then I hear my daughter yelling, “Where’s mommy? You said she was gonna be down here!” I follow the bossy little voice to the dining room, “I’m sorry LeeLee. Mommy got lost in here it’s so big!” Ramonda and Shuri laugh, “Sorry cousin, I told N’jadaka I should’ve retrieved you.” Speak of the Devil, he comes into the area with a large plate of pancakes in one hand, and a pitcher of OJ in the other, “And I told you she would find her way. How you doing baby?”

I cradle my neck again, “I’m good, except for my neck. I think I slept wrong last night.” N’jadaka huffs, “You slept sitting up, working?” My eyes squint as I purse my lips, “Yes--” I mouth, ‘smartass’, then continue, “I did.” He leaves that where it is as Leanna goes on to talk about her lab time with Shuri, “We’re syncing her gloves to surge an--E--M--P?” She looks over at Shuri for agreement of her termenology, Shuri nods, “Yes, LeeLee. Which stands for?” Leanna looks up, deep in her thoughts, then she snaps, “Eeee--Electromagnetic Pulse.” My four year old is truly on her way to becoming a genius. I’m so proud, “Look at my little scientist!” Leanna glows at the praise, “Baba says I can help with cousin RiRi’s project at home at the center, right?” N’jadaka pops a strawberry in his mouth and nods at his baby girl’s query, “Absolutely. I just got the news, T’challa will offically name me as the director of the Oakland Wakandan Outreach Center before we leave. I start work the week after next.”

Ramonda embraces her nephew and congratulates him. Their relationship had come a long way since he left Wakanda seven years ago. They resented one another. She disliked him because of his quarrel with T’challa, he disliked the entire side of the family that neglected him after his Uncle killed his father, and she wasn’t excluded. Now, he’s closer with her than he is with T’challa or Shuri. She’s like a surrogate mother to him that he needs in his life to keep him balanced. He’s become a better man since reconciling his differences with her. “Congratulations N’jadaka. I’m happy for you.” He turns his attention to me, “I’m happy for us. This is what we’ve wanted since we’ve gotten married. It’s taken me longer than expected..but now I’m able to be closer to our family.” I look down, poking my fork at my piece of watermelon, “Yeah, you are.”

--

Part Two is dropping later tonight. Stay tuned!!!

[frauleinsmaria]

Everything Comes Back to You (1/1)

Summary: Ready for a change in their lives, Emma and Henry move from New York to her hometown of Storybrooke. But she gets a bigger change than she bargained for when Henry's new teacher is the ex-boyfriend she hasn't seen since college … who is also Henry's dad, and doesn't know he has a son. Written as part of the Captain Swan Little Bang.

Rating: T (Language, implied sex)

Word count: 14,842

Also on AO3 and FF.net

AN: After months of planning, writing, and editing, I can't believe it's finally time to share this not so little story of mine!

A few thank yous: First, to the mods of the @captainswanbigbang for putting this event together and giving me the opportunity to participate. I'm grateful for how this experience has challenged me as a writer, and even more so for the friends and connections I've made in the community over the past few months.

Second, words can't express how lucky I was to get Tessa, aka @the-reason-to-sail-home as my beta. She's been encouraging throughout this whole process, helping me deal with writer's block more than a few times and giving incredibly useful feedback. I'm so glad we got paired together and can't wait to read your own LB story soon!

In addition, I was also lucky to get paired with two artists who made gorgeous pieces for my story! Go check out @treluna2 and @polarbearmorgan's art- I'll be reblogging both and posting links to them here once they're up later today!

Lastly, I have to thank @irishswanff for posting this prompt right before the LB sign ups began. I've never had such a strong initial connection to a story idea before, and I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

She should have known this day would come.

Emma stood in the kitchen, mouth agape as she read the letter Henry’s teacher had sent home with him:

Parents,

Just a reminder parent-teacher conferences are Tuesday afternoon. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Killian Jones

This was just her luck. She couldn’t believe he was in Storybrooke, let alone working at the elementary school. How could she face him after almost ten years, at a parent-teacher conference of all things?

More importantly, how would she explain to her son that his new teacher was also his father?

-/-

It started at Boston University during junior year. She met him the first day of the fall semester in Professor Gold’s eight A.M. Advanced Psychology class. Bonding over their mutual hatred of the instructor developed into a close friendship neither one of them expected. This lasted until the end of the year, when Killian confessed he couldn’t return to London for the summer without admitting his feelings for her. She’d kissed him in response.

Falling in love with Killian Jones had changed her life in a way she hadn’t expected, similar to her experience being taken in by David’s mother in high school. But as much as she loved him, Emma spent the entirety of senior year on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was impossible for things could stay the same, no matter how much she wanted them to. The closer they got to graduating, the more terrified she grew of what the future had in store.

It all went to hell the week before graduation. Killian showed up at her apartment, waving around the paper that confirmed her biggest fears: he’d been granted admission into the Masters of English Lit program at the University of Washington in Seattle. Emma had tried to put on a brave face as she congratulated him, and it worked...until he brought up the topic she’d shied away from for months.

He wanted her to go with him. There was plenty to do with a Criminal Justice degree in Seattle, he’d told her so many times she’d lost count. But this time, she couldn’t dismiss his suggestion and change the subject. The night ended with the worst fight they’d ever had - him upset at her hesitance to move forward in their relationship and her convinced he was moving too fast. She’d thrown him out of the apartment and told him they were over. He knew he couldn’t change her mind.

That was the end. He left for Seattle the week after graduation, and she moved to New York, desperate to get away from the place that reminded her of him. It was impossible to walk past the diner that was home to most of their study dates or the park where she’d first kissed him without feeling an overwhelming sense of loss. New York offered exactly what she needed, a chance to start over in a new place with no reminders of the past.

 Then she received a permanent reminder of Killian Jones in the form of a positive pregnancy test a month later.

 She never told him. There were many times over the next nine months she’d picked up the phone and let her finger hover over his name, then decided against it. He had his own life in Seattle and had long since moved on. The last thing he needed hindering his future was a kid with the girl who had been too scared to be a part of it.

 The past ten years had been hard, but she and Henry had made out alright. She managed to pay the bills via bail bonds work and raise him on her own. David and Mary Margaret, the only people she had shared the news of her pregnancy with, had been there whenever they’d needed it. The two of them moved to New York before Henry’s birth and stayed until last year when David, eager to return to their roots, had accepted the job as sheriff in their hometown of Storybrooke.

 Life in New York left little to desire. Henry went to a respectable school, made good grades, and had friends in his class. But after David and Mary Margaret left, it didn’t feel like home anymore. The big city she’d considered a safe haven a decade ago now felt overwhelming.

 Emma tried to change this: she convinced Henry to try every extracurricular his school offered, applied at a new bail bonds office, attempted dating a few times.

 (That fizzled out as men never asked to see her again once they learned she was a mother.)

 The decision to pack up and move to Storybrooke was last minute. When she’d graduated, the idea of coming back to the small town where she’d spent her teenage years wasn’t part of the plan - but becoming a mom wasn’t either, and she wouldn’t trade Henry for anything. There were only a few days until the lease on their apartment ended, and she had yet to decide whether to look into other opportunities, or sign on for another year. She’d been mulling over the whole thing on the phone with David when her brother mentioned he was in need of a deputy at the sheriff’s station. She and Henry moved into their new home a week later.

 The loft differed in comparison to their previous apartment, but Emma liked the open layout and Henry claimed his room upstairs was the best place to build his dream fort. It was nice having family close by for movie nights and lunch on Sundays, which Mary Margaret informed her would now be their new tradition.

 Her son’s parentage had been a touchy topic of conversation between her and Henry over the past few years. He asked Emma about his dad numerous times, but coming up with a story he’d be satisfied with had become difficult as he’d grown older. The last time he brought the subject up, she’d snapped, “He’s not around, okay?” The curt response had kept him from asking since.  That was a year ago.

 She thought about Killian often now that Henry looked less like a little boy and more like the pictures she’d once come across in Killian’s old yearbooks. He had Emma’s nose and chin, but everything else about him screamed “Jones.” Somehow, he’d inherited Killian’s mannerisms despite never meeting him. She had lost count of how many times she’d caught him twirling his pencil or tapping his foot on the floor while doing his homework, as his father had done in college when they were studying.

 Contacting him had crossed her mind a number of times over the years, especially when Henry reached a milestone or event most dads would want to be around for. Locating him wouldn’t have been an issue considering her line of work. Yet, each time, she came to the same conclusion: There’s no need; the two of you are fine by yourselves. You have no idea where he is, or if he has his own family now. It’s best for everyone that he doesn’t know. And each time, her heart sank as she believed it and wondered where life had taken him.

 Now she knew. She would have known sooner had she not been swamped with unpacking the day Henry started at his new school, and David took him instead. He’d been taking the bus since. When asked how his first week had gone, he’d said, “great,” and tried to talk her into letting him watch Deadpool. (He’d lost that one before it started.) All she’d heard about his teacher since was he “wasn’t from Storybrooke” was “cool” and “knew a lot about books.” She hadn’t even asked the man’s name.

 A thought occurred to her: if David had taken Henry to school his first day…

 “Hey, Emma,” her brother answered the phone.

 “When were you going to tell me Killian Jones was Henry’s teacher?!”

 There was dead silence as David tried to come up with a response. “Look, I was gonna tell you, okay? I hadn’t figured out the best way yet. I didn’t know he’d come to Storybrooke until I saw him in Henry’s classroom; he probably hasn’t been here much longer than you.”

 “Did you speak to him? Does he know who Henry is?”

 “No, he was busy so I didn’t have a chance to. I’m sure ‘Henry Nolan’ is on the records and he assumed he’s my kid. It’s not like he’d know otherwise.” David and Killian were friends in college thanks to his relationship with Emma, but from what she knew, they hadn’t been in contact since. She’d made it clear David and Mary Margaret weren’t allowed to contact him when they found out she was pregnant.

 “Shit. He’s going to have a major bomb dropped on him at parent-teacher conferences.”

 “Oh, wow. Erm...good luck?”

 “Thanks for the encouragement,” she deadpanned.

 “Sorry. I’m not trying to make you feel worse, but have you thought about how he’s going to feel? I know you had your reasons for not telling him, but this isn’t a small secret you’ve kept. I don’t know how I’d react if Mary Margaret and I broke up, and she found me later to say I’d been a father for a decade without knowing it.”

 Yeah, but you and Mary Margaret were a match made in heaven. “I know. I made a mistake, and it’s time to deal with the consequences.”

 ���If it helps, I don’t know how he’ll feel about the not-knowing, but I don’t think he’ll dislike the idea of being a dad.”

 “What makes you say that?”

 “I wasn’t in his classroom long that day, but I saw enough: he’s great with kids.”

 -/-

 After hanging up with David, Emma called the school to schedule her time slot for the parent-teacher conference. Coincidentally she’d called on short notice and the last slots available were the earliest and the latest. She opted for the latter; this conversation was bound to be a long one.

 She spent the next few days on pins and needles, dreading the reunion with her ex-boyfriend. David’s comment had made her feel both better and worse. Truthfully, she’d always known Killian would make a great father. If she had told him the truth, though, would that have mended things between them? She hadn’t wanted to move to Seattle with him because of her own fears and insecurities. Having his child hadn’t helped, as she constantly asked, “what if?” What if she’d decided to go and things fell apart later? Would she have been stuck as a single mom, alone on the other side of the country? What if them having a baby had stood in the way of the opportunities Killian had and he resented her for it? What if he was okay with being a dad, but only stayed with her out of a sense of obligation for Henry?

 Each of these “what if’s” made it harder for her to reach out to him, though she knew they were wrong. If they’d had Henry together and broken up afterwards, it was hard to imagine he would have left her to raise him alone. Which is why she knew how furious he would be when she came clean.

 (She couldn’t say she blamed him.)

 -/-

 Emma put off coming to the school but was still early, hands shaking as she stood in the hall and watched the hands on her wristwatch move at an agonizing speed. Henry had gotten off of the bus and went to the library with Mary Margaret. He wanted to come with her, but his aunt’s offer to spend the afternoon with him seemed more appealing than discussing his academic performance.

 (Among other things he had no idea about.)

 The classroom door opened and a dark haired man walked out with a girl she assumed was his daughter. “Mr. Jones said to send you in,” he told Emma as he took the girl’s hand and they left.

 She walked into the room before she lost her nerve. Her heart constricted when she saw him sitting behind his desk, back turned to her as did something with a stack of papers. “Just a moment, and I’ll be finished here,” he called over his shoulder.

 “Take your time.” There was a catch in her voice as she tried to keep her composure.

 Killian recognized her voice - there was a sharp intake of breath as his back stiffened and he spun around in his chair to face her. His eyes widened as he took her in. “Swan?”

 “Hi,” she whispered. Emma knew seeing him again would sting, but she never expected it to feel like such a punch to the gut. He’d changed since college - shorter hair, more scruff, wearing a button down and khakis instead of a band t-shirt and jeans - but it seemed like no time had passed since she’d seen him for the last time at their graduation. He even wore what looked to be a pair of horn-rimmed reading glasses, and she forced herself not to think about just how much he reminded her of Harrison Ford.

 He stood and came around the desk. “Swan...what are you doing here? In Storybrooke?”

 “I moved back last week.” She paused, feeling awkward. “I got a note saying parent-teacher conferences were today. So, here I am.”

 There was a flicker of emotion - surprise, disappointment, or both? - on his face as he heard why she’d come. “I wasn’t aware you had a child. Who is-“

 “Henry. I’m Henry’s mom.”

 “Ah.” Killian smiled. “Bright lad, I could tell from his first day.” He seemed to think there was nothing odd about her having a child old enough to be in the fourth grade. Did he assume she’d found someone else so soon after they’d broken up?

 “I’m glad you think so.” She gulped as she prepared to tell him the reason she’d come. “Killian, there’s something you need to know about Henry.”

 “Aye? Is he having difficulties adjusting to the school? It’s normal, but I’ll do whatever’s necessary to help.”

 “No, nothing like that.” Her eyes pricked with tears when she realized how much he already cared about Henry. “The thing is, he’s not just my son.”

 Killian’s brow furrowed with confusion. “What do you mean?’

 “He’s nine years old, Killian.” She waited for him to absorb the meaning behind her words, hoping they would be enough for him to piece things together.

 It worked. He froze, looking at Emma as he processed the connection. “Is he...mine?” he whispered, voice barely audible.

 He sounded worried, scared even. “Yes. He’s yours.”

 Despite her urge to run, Emma watched as he sat down on the edge of his desk, removed his glasses and covered his face with his hands.

 “Killian, I-”

 “Bloody hell,” he muttered. “Bloody hell.” He got to his feet again. “Does he know? About me? Is that why you came back?”

 “No. He has no idea. I didn’t know you were here until he brought your note home.”

 This bit of information seemed to be worse than anything she’d shared. “So you were never going to tell me?” he spat, hands clenched at his side. “You did because you had to?”

 “That’s not what I meant-”

 “No, I think you meant you were going to let my child grow up without letting his father know he existed!”

 “Look, I’m sorry, Killian!” she pleaded with him. “I know there’s no excuse for not telling you. I thought it would be for the best.”   

 “What does that mean, Emma? For the best? Were you under the impression I would be such a terrible father?” He paused, thinking of something else. “Did you know before graduation? Is that why you ended things between us?”

 “No! I didn’t find out until you left and I’d moved to New York. I was going to tell you- I almost did so many times- but I knew you had a life in Seattle and I didn’t want to make things complicated for you.”

 “Yes, I had a life, Emma. But a life I would have gladly given up for my child!”

 It should have been reassuring, but it wasn’t. She spent so long scared of what the truth might cause, and he’d told her she’d no reason to be. “I believe you, alright? But that would’ve been hard to believe ten years ago when we’d broken up. I thought you’d resent me for making your life complicated or you’d feel an obligation to stay because of Henry.”

 Killian said nothing, still processing what he’d learned. “I don’t expect you to be happy with me,” she continued. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, and you had to find out like this. I know there’s nothing I can do to make up for the past, but we can change that for the future.”

 A look of confusion flickered across his face. “What are you saying, Swan?”

 “I’m saying you can be involved with him, if you want to.” She knew the words were absurd; of course he wanted to based on his reaction. “I know it’s complicated with you being his teacher, but we can work something out. He already thinks the world of you.”

 She felt relieved to see his lips turn up at the corners. “Really?”

 “Yeah. He thinks it’s cool you’re from London and know so much about books. He wants to be a writer.”

 “I can see that. But it’s never occurred to me,” he looked at her with something besides anger in his eyes, “until now. He looks like you, Swan.”

 “Not always, especially when he’s trying to concentrate. He does the thing with his pencil you always did in school.”

 Killian smiled, a real smile, not unlike the ones from their best memories together. “I’ll keep an eye out for that in the future.” He realized the time and cursed. “Bloody hell. Swan, I hate to cut this short, but there’s a meeting with the county superintendent in ten minutes that I have to attend. Could we pick this conversation up again later?”

 “Yeah, sure. I’m working second shift tomorrow and Thursday, but I have Friday afternoon off if you wanna get coffee and talk. Henry’s going camping with David and Mary Margaret this weekend, anyway.” Her son didn’t need to know she met his teacher outside of school when she couldn’t provide him with an explanation.

 “I can do that.” The way his face had fallen a bit at the mention of Henry’s name hadn’t gone unnoticed to Emma. She expected their situation to be messy, but realized how difficult it would be for Killian: being around his own child, yet forced to stay quiet until they discussed the best way to reveal his parentage. “That Granny’s place you used to talk about has decent coffee. Unless there’s somewhere else you’d prefer.”

 She couldn’t believe he’d remembered her love for the local diner. “As much as I love Granny’s, it’s not the place to go for conversations you don’t want publicized.” One of Granny’s customers or the owner herself could have a rumor about the new deputy and the fourth-grade teacher spread across Storybrooke in minutes.

 “Good point.”

 “There’s a place over on Second Street I’ve heard good things about. Have you been there?”

 “No, but I’ve heard pleasant things from other teachers. I can be there by four if that’s alright.”

 “It’s a date. I mean...” She stammered for better words. “I should go so you can get to your meeting. Bye, Killian.”

 Emma ran out of the room and barely heard his soft, “Goodbye, love.”

 She didn’t stop until she got to her car, plopping down in the driver's seat as her head fell against the wheel. In hindsight, things could have gone worse. He had rightly been upset, but it seemed he would put aside his animosity to be part of their son’s life. Explaining this to a child would be difficult, but she didn’t think Henry would be upset since he’d been asking questions about his dad and getting no answers for years.

 But co-parenting wouldn’t be the hardest part, not by a long shot. She’d gone into that classroom thinking her walls were up, armor intact to ensure whatever feelings she had towards Killian wouldn’t be a factor.

 She thought she was over him and could handle what they were getting into.

 She was wrong.

 -/-

 “It sounds like things went well.”

 Emma sat at David and Mary Margaret’s kitchen table two days later, having hot cocoa and snickerdoodles with her sister-in-law while David and Henry packed for their trip. At times like this she couldn’t complain about living a flight of stairs away.

 “I guess. I didn’t know what to expect. He was nicer to me than I deserved.” She took a sip of her drink before again asking Mary Margaret the question that had been on her mind for days. “You didn’t know he was in Storybrooke? You both work for the school system!”

 “And we work at two different schools, Emma,” she reminded her. “I don’t see teachers from the elementary school often, unless there’s some kind of county-wide event.” Mary Margaret had started teaching first grade when she and David moved back to Storybrooke, but transferred to the middle school last year. “Besides, the semester started less than a month ago.”

 “I can’t understand how he showed up right before I moved back. What made him choose Storybrooke, anyway? It’s my hometown, but it’s not like he’d been here before.” She’d had every intention of bringing Killian to visit while they were dating, but they’d broken up before she had the chance.

 “He may have never visited, but the way we talked about Storybrooke would give anybody a good idea about what kind of place it is. Maybe he got tired of being in the city and wanted a change.”

 Mary Margaret was capable of making the most complicated things make sense. “Did you see him Tuesday? I left because he had to go to some meeting with the superintendent.”

 “Yes, I did. That’s the only time, although I knew he was here since you showed me the note Henry brought home.”

 “Did you speak to him? Did he say anything about…” She trailed off, embarrassed to say about me?

 “No. But we didn’t talk much,” Mary Margaret added, noticing the look of disappointment Emma had failed to mask. “It was in passing, something about how long it had been, and we kept going.”

 Emma didn’t know if this made her feel better. The subject of Killian had been a sensitive one between them over the years. Although she hadn’t said so since her return to Storybrooke, Emma knew Mary Margaret hadn’t approved of her keeping such a monumental secret from him. She was thankful she had yet to hear a lecture beginning with, “I told you so.”

 “Are you two going to be co-parenting now?”

 “I don’t know what other option there is, considering Killian wants to be involved with Henry. But it’s gonna take some time to get there. Him being Henry’s teacher could complicate things.”

 Mary Margaret smiled, the grin meaning she would get a motivational speech about hope or happy endings. “You’ll figure something out, Emma. I know you have the best of intentions. This could end up being the start of something great.”

 “I hope so, Mary Margaret. I really hope so.”

 -/-

 Emma tapped her fingers against the table as she looked from the door of the coffee shop to the clock oh her phone. She’d arrived early, as she had at the school a few days ago, and claimed a table where Killian would see her when he arrived, but far back enough to ensure they would be having a private conversation. The coffee shop was sparsely populated in comparison to Granny’s on any afternoon, but she wasn’t willing to take chances.

 She glanced at her phone again. It was almost four; Killian should be leaving the school. He was a stickler for time; something told her that hadn’t changed.

 “Can I get you something now?” The perky, pink-haired waitress who’d tried to take her order four times since she’d arrived was at her table once again. She must have thought Emma had been stood up or was taking up space for no reason since she’d been there awhile and had yet to order anything.

 Emma smiled at the girl despite her agitation. “Not yet. My...friend should be here soon.”

 The girl looked skeptical, but Emma must have given her the impression she didn’t want to be messed with today. “Alright. Let me know when you’re ready.”

 She sighed with relief when the girl left.

 “Bad day, love?”

 Emma startled. She hadn’t noticed Killian arrive or sit down across from her.

 “Apologies, Swan.” He tried not to laugh. “I didn’t intend to frighten you.”

 She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. “You didn’t scare me.” She sounded unconvincing. “Just didn’t hear you come in. Um, do you want coffee? I would have ordered something but I didn’t know what you’d want.”

 She motioned for the waitress, who seemed surprised she was needed. Emma realized there was no point in making the girl wait when he ordered plain black coffee, like he drank it in school.

 She couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose when he took a long swig of his drink without adding cream or sugar. “I should’ve known,” she told him when he laughed at her expression. “You always drank the boring stuff.”

 “Sorry. I can’t say I like having coffee in my cream.” Killian indicated to her own drink, a light tan color once she’d finished stirring in milk. “How is life treating you, love?”

 “Okay.” She’d hoped they could wait before changing the subject and discussing the reasons they had agreed to meet. “There’s not a lot of crime to deal with, so that’s nice. Unless you count Leroy getting drunk and disturbing the peace at least once a week.”

 “I’m afraid I know who you’re referring to. He showed up at my apartment building after I moved in and started a ruckus with the bloke next door.”

 She changed the subject with what had been on her mind since Tuesday. “Killian, I know you and I have a lot to talk about. But I need to say thank you before anything else.’

 He raised any eyebrow at her over the rim of his coffee mug, confused. “What on earth for, Swan? I haven’t done anything.”

 “Yes, you have. I was horrible for keeping Henry from you, and yet you seem willing to look past that to be a part of his life. I’m not sure a lot of guys would do the same.”

 “Emma.” He looked her in the eye. “Let’s make two things clear: first, I would never abandon, ignore, or mistreat my child, no matter my feelings toward their mother.” She didn’t need to question him to know it was true. “And secondly, I won’t lie, I’m still upset you didn’t tell me about Henry from the beginning.”

 “I can’t say I blame you.”

 “But,” he continued, “I realize you were in a tough spot. We had broken up, I was on the other side of the country. I also realize that had I put more into our relationship, it could have given you confidence that I would have stayed. And for that, I apologize.” He held up his hand to prevent her from disagreeing. “No, Swan. That much is on me. I was too concerned about Seattle to consider how it would change things for us. Again, I wish things could’ve been different, but I’m trying to see things from your perspective. I don’t see a need to dwell on the past when there’s the future and our son to be concerned about.”

 Emma smiled, still bewildered by his attitude. “I appreciate that.”

 They continued in casual conversation, most of it involving Henry and his and Emma’s life before Storybrooke. She waited for Killian to explain what brought him there too, but his expression when she hinted at the subject made it clear he wasn’t up for that discussion yet.

 “He tried sports, but that didn’t last more than a year. He likes books and movies more than anything,” she told Killian when asked about Henry’s interests. “Sometimes that keeps him from fitting in with other kids, but he had a few good friends in New York. I hope he finds some here, too.”

 Killian appeared more than satisfied with what he’d learned about his son. “He’s a bright lad, Swan. I’m sure he’ll have more friends than he knows what to do with.” Despite his approval, however, he wasn’t telling her something.

 “What’s wrong, Killian? And don’t say ‘nothing’; I can spot a lie from a mile away.”

 “That much hasn’t changed,” he chuckled. “I understand why you’d want to handle all of this with Henry slowly. He’s a child; this will be a lot for him. But Emma, he’s almost ten years old. I’ve missed so much of his life already, and-”

 “You don’t want to miss more,” Emma finished. “That’s understandable.” She didn’t want the guilt of keeping him from Henry any longer. “Tell me something, though - are you allowed to have your own child in your class? Is that something the school would have an issue with?”

 Killian shrugged. “It’s not the ideal circumstances, but there’s no policy against it. The third grade teacher’s twin girls are in her class. If it is against policy, there’s not much the school administration can do about it, considering there’s one teacher per grade, and I didn’t know Henry was my son beforehand.”

 “Good to know.” At least his job wasn’t at risk. “I guess the next thing I have to do is talk to him.”

 “Any idea how you’re going to go about that?”

 “None. But I have until he comes back Sunday afternoon to think about it. I know beating around the bush won’t be an option; he’s too clever.”

 “I’m sure you’ll figure out what’s best. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to let me know. I want to be there...for Henry,” he added.

 The last bit stung more than it should have. Of course he wanted to be there for Henry, but she remembered a time when he wanted to be there for her, too. Emma cursed herself for thinking about the past. She’d broken up with Killian, and she’d kept his son hidden from him for years. He’d moved on, and it was past time for her to accept it.

 “I’m curious, love, what made you name him Henry Nolan?” He broke her reverie of thoughts. “I assumed he was David and Mary Margaret’s child at first.”

 “Honestly? I felt better naming him ‘Nolan’ instead of ‘Swan,’”, she admitted. “My last name is something I chose and doesn’t have sentimental ties. I wanted Henry to be named after his family instead. It causes some confusion with legal stuff, but I don’t regret it.”

 He nodded understandingly. “Sounds like you made the right choice.” It was a comfort to know he wasn’t one of those guys who got upset about not sharing a name with his kid.

 They left the cafe soon after, Killian needing to grade papers and Emma heading to the station for the night shift. They exchanged numbers before leaving, Emma promising to let him know when she had the chance to talk things over with Henry.

 She got in her car and drove away, watching in the rearview mirror as Killian walked home in the other direction. Her stomach lurched as she considered what the two - rather, three - of them were about to begin. Whether she was more hopeful or terrified, she didn’t know.

 -/-

 “When are you gonna tell me what’s going on?”

 Emma and Henry hadn’t been away from the loft five minutes before he questioned why she wanted to go out right after he’d returned from his trip. He had now asked so many times she’d lost count.

 “Can a mother not want to spend time with her son after he’s been gone all weekend?”

 “Yeah...but you’d never let me have pizza and doughnuts unless something’s up.”

 That was true. They had lunch at the local pizza place, followed by a trip to the bakery where she let him eat as many chocolate frosted doughnuts as he wanted. “All right, kid. You’ve got me.” They had taken a walk after leaving the bakery and were now at the park. “There’s something you and I need to talk about.” She walked over to the nearest bench and sat down, motioning for Henry to do the same.

 He sat down beside her, worried. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

 “I’m fine, Henry. Yes, something happened. Nothing bad, just something I’ve put off telling you for way too long now.”

 “Is it about my dad?” Henry didn’t miss a beat.

 “How did you kno- nevermind. Yes, it’s about your dad.”

 “Have you talked to him? Does he know about me? Who is he?”

 “Woah, slow down, kid. Yes, I’ve talked to him. He knows about you. In fact, you two have already met.”

 “I have?! Who is he?”

 Emma had intended to ease him into this slowly, but she could tell from his wide eyes and the way he clutched her arm he wouldn’t give her that option. “He’s your teacher, Henry. Mr. Jones is your dad.”

 Henry didn’t seem to understand. Then, “Really?! Mr. Jones?” His sudden excitement wavered. “Why hasn’t he said anything? He’s been acting like my teacher since I started school here. Does he not wanna be my dad?”

 “No, Henry! It’s not that. He didn’t know he was your dad until I went to your school and talked to him.”

 “So...you never told him about me?”

 “I’m so sorry, Henry,” she whispered, the hurt look on his face pricking her eyes with unshed tears. “I know I did you both wrong by keeping you from him. I was scared of what might happen, but that wasn’t fair to you. But,” she clasped his hand in hers, “the important thing is, he knows about you. He wants to be your dad, and I want him to be your dad, too, if you’re okay with it.” She watched as he contemplated everything she’d shared.

 He finally smiled and threw his arms around her. “Of course I’m okay with it! I have a dad! And I already know he’s cool. Can I talk to him? Now?”

 “Okay, kid. I’ll see if he’s busy.” She released him and grabbed her phone, sending a text to the number he’d given her. I talked to Henry. He wants to see you. Can you come to the playground at the park?

 He responded within seconds. On my way.

 Henry asked a myriad of questions as they waited. How had they met? What Killian was like? Why was he in Storybrooke? She answered them as well as she could (aside from the last one). “He likes books and movies, like you. I remember he used to be big on Peter Pan. Harry Potter, too.” Henry’s eyes lit up. She knew there would be harder questions (why had they broken up, what their attempt at co-parenting would involve), but at least he knew the truth about Killian.

 A few minutes had passed when she spotted headlights as a familiar black Mustang drove into the parking lot. (She couldn’t believe he still drove the old car he’d bought right after they met, when he always gave her a hard time about her bug.) Emma watched as Killian got out and fixed his gaze on them. She worried about what Henry would say. He had taken the news well, but this would overall be the biggest adjustment for him.

 Killian approached them slowly, his nervous gaze implying he was just as torn on what to say. Henry, however, solved that problem. When he’d managed to say, “Henry, I-” the boy jumped up from the bench and threw his arms around his father.

 Killian looked bewildered; he must have not expected Henry to react so well. He returned the hug.

 “So, you’re my dad?”   

 “Aye.” There was a catch in his voice; Emma realized he was trying not to cry.

 He was laughing a moment later as Henry bombarded him with questions. “When’s your birthday? How old are you? Do you know what Hogwarts house you’re in? Mom and I are both Gryffindors. Please tell me you like hot cocoa with cinnamon?”

 “Woah, kid. Give him time to catch up,” Emma walked over to them, putting her hand on Henry’s shoulder. “I have a feeling you’ll have plenty of time to talk about Hogwarts houses and hot cocoa.”

 They took long walk around the park, Emma hanging back a bit to give Henry a chance to talk to Killian alone. She expected Killian to get tired of the endless questions, but he answered them all and listened to everything Henry said with genuine interest.

 It felt like playing devil’s advocate when she noticed the time and had to press pause on their time together. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” she interrupted, catching up to them, “but it’s getting late. Someone still has math homework to finish before bed.” Henry made a sour face.

 “She’s right, lad,” Killian agreed. “It’s time I let the two of you go.”

 If not for her self restraint, Henry’s disappointed expression would have been enough for her to let him talk to Killian all night. “Okay,” he sighed in defeat. “But we can do this again, right?”

 Killian hesitated, looking back and forth between her and Henry. “I’d be more than happy to, but it’s ultimately up to your mother.”

 It hurt to hear he still wasn’t convinced Emma would want them spending time together. “Of course,” she told them. “It’ll take time to figure out something for our schedules, but you can absolutely do this again.”

 There was much more needed to be discussed, but the sky was growing dark and Henry would need to be in bed soon. Killian hugged him goodbye as he and Emma discussed a time to sit down and talk again, deciding to meet in a few days at the coffee shop.

 Henry talked about Killian nonstop the rest of the night, and for the first time in his life, seemed excited about going to school the next morning.

 “You realize he still has to be Mr. Jones to you at school, don’t you?” she asked. “He can’t treat you differently because you’re his kid.”

 “It’s okay. I’m just happy I have a dad.”

 She sent Killian a text after Henry went to bed. Thanks for coming tonight. It meant a lot to him.

 It meant a lot to me as well.

 Not for the first time that night, Emma regretted the decision to keep a secret ten years ago.

 -/-

 “What do you think?” Mary Margaret held a bright blue dress up for Emma’s observation.

 “It’s gorgeous. The yellow one is nice too, though.” Emma wasn’t sure how she wound up spending her Saturday off helping her sister-in-law find a new dress for the sixth-grade dance she was chaperoning the next weekend.

 Oh, wait. It was because Mary Margaret had used the fact Henry wouldn’t be around today as leverage.

 As if she’d read her mind, Mary Margaret asked, “What are Henry and Killian up to today?”

 “Not sure. I think they were going to see a movie, and to the park if the weather’s nice.” It had been over a month since she told Henry that Killian was his father. Since then, they’d made arrangements for the two of them to spend Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons, as well as every other Saturday together.

 “This new arrangement seems to be working out well,” Mary Margaret mused. “Oh! This would look perfect on you.”

 A pale pink dress with sleeves was thrust into Emma’s arms. “It still feels weird sharing him,” she admitted, “but it’s good so far. And how many times do I have to tell you I’m not going to that dance? Henry’s not even in sixth grade.”

 “Parent chaperones are welcome, too. We don’t have an overwhelming amount of teachers on staff. So Killian’s doing alright at the whole ‘dad’ thing?”

 “I wish you’d stick to one subject,” Emma muttered as she put the pink dress away; it was nice, but she didn’t need it. “I mean, I’m not around him all that much. But Henry loves spending time with him, and Killian has his best interests in mind.” To be truthful, she’d been avoiding contact with him other than the occasional text about plans with Henry, and when he was dropped off and picked up on his days with Killian. She had no objections with them spending time together, but was afraid getting too involved would stir up old feelings and cause problems for everyone.

 “I’m happy he’s getting to be a part of his life after all this time.”

 Emma suppressed a groan. “Are you going to put me on a guilt trip for not telling him about Henry before I did? Because if you are-”

 “Relax, Emma,” Mary Margaret cut her off.  “I’m saying it’s good the three of you are getting a chance to be a family.”

 “I’m sorry, family?”

 “Well, you two were in love, and you do have a child together, so…”

 “Mary Margaret, I’m glad you’re optimistic. But Killian and I aren’t you and David. Whatever there was between us ended a long time ago. We’re co-parenting, and maybe we can be friends, but don’t get your hopes up for more.”

 The look on her sister-in-law’s face showed she was unconvinced, but she dropped the subject.

 (Although, Emma had a feeling this conversation was far from over.)

 -/-

 “Alright, kid. I bought popcorn, milk duds, and hot chocolate mix. All you need to do is pick the movie.”

 Emma followed Henry into the loft and kicked the door shut behind her, carrying the bags of things they’d picked up at the store for movie night. She was glad to have time with him. David was working at the station, and Mary Margaret and Killian were both chaperoning the dance tonight. While their last few months in New York had been lonely, it was nice to know her son wanted to spend time with her despite everyone else in his life now.

 “I’m thinking a sequel. Maybe Empire Strikes Back or Temple of Doom?”

 “Either sounds good to me. Or, I might let you stay up late enough to watch both.”

 Henry’s face lit up as he grinned and bolted over to the couch. “Great, let’s start now so you won’t fall asleep.”

 “Hey!” Emma protested as she put away their groceries. “I fell asleep during movie night once, and-” She stopped at the sound of her phone ringing. She saw Mary Margaret’s name and prepared for a short conversation; Henry was adamant about making sure no part of a movie was missed.

 “Emma? Are you home?”

 “Yeah, Henry and I just got in.”

 “Oh, thank goodness! I worried you might be out. Is there any way you could do me a favor?”

 “Of course.” Something told Emma she should have waited to hear the favor first.

 “Great! Because I’m under the weather, and wanted to know if there’s any way you’d consider chaperoning the sixth-grade dance for me? It’s required a certain amount of adults be there.”

 Mary Margaret didn’t sound under the weather. “I’m the only one that could do it? I’m sure there are dozens of parents who’d love to come embarrass their kids.”

 “I would try someone else, but the dance is in less than an hour. I might not have time if I can’t get someone now. Please?” Mary Margaret pleaded. “I’ll owe you one.”

 “Yes, you will,” said Emma. “Fine. I’ll find someone for Henry to stay with and throw myself together. What do you wear to a sixth-grade dance?”

 “Don’t worry about it. I may have left something in your closet after we went shopping last weekend.”

 “What?”

 “Thanks a million, you’re the best, bye!” Mary Margaret hung up before Emma could question her further.

 Why do I have the feeling she’s got something up her sleeve?

 “Sorry, kid.” She sat down beside Henry as he looked through their Netflix queue. “Movie night’s being postponed; I have to go to the dance at your school in Mary Margaret’s place.”

 “That’s okay. We can reschedule.”

 “Thanks for having a good attitude.” Emma smiled and hugged him. “The problem is finding someone for you to hang out with. Mary Margaret’s sick, and Kil- your dad will be chaperoning the dance, too.” She hadn’t considered this fact until now, and felt nervous. “David’s working, but I’ll see about dropping you off with him if things are quiet at the station.”

 “Awesome! I can show him the level I started!” Henry jumped off the couch and bolted upstairs to get his Gameboy.

 She arranged to drop Henry off with David on her way to the school. Now, if she could make herself presentable to spend a Saturday night with a crowd of kids...and Killian.

 It’s not like it’s a date or anything. She opened the closet to see what Mary Margaret had left her.

 The garment bag stood out among her other clothes. Inside held the pink dress they’d found shopping, with a note taped to the hanger: I knew you wouldn’t buy it, but it suited you too well to pass it up. You’re welcome :)

 People could say what they wanted about Emma’s sister-in-law, but it they couldn’t deny she had impeccable taste. The dress fit her like a glove, a relief as she had little to choose from besides the short, tight numbers from her bail bonds jobs not suited for a night spent with a bunch of prepubescent teens.

 She finished getting ready twenty minutes before the dance was to start, leaving enough time to leave Henry with David and drive over to the school. The parking lot was crowded; Mary Margaret must not have been kidding when she said all school employees were to help.

 There was a chill in the air. Emma shivered as she stepped out of the bug and wished she’d forgone the dress for something warmer. At least she’d thought to grab a sweater on her way out the door. She pulled the grey cardigan around her as she walked into the school, not for the first time wondering what she had gotten into.

 The gymnasium was decorated nicely for a dance. The room was filled with the school colors of white and blue, and there were fairy lights strung up everywhere, even the stage where the DJ stood. He looked to be in his late teens, as if this dance were the last place he wanted to be.

 Emma scanned the room for familiar faces, a regular customer at Granny’s or the librarian Henry liked. Socializing hadn’t been high on her priority list since moving thanks to more important things. She remembered there should be a face in the crowd that was more than familiar, and the thought had her stomach in knots. She considered turning back and walking out while she had the chance when she saw him standing alone to the side.

 Glancing at him was enough to make Emma stop in her tracks. She knew she would see him tonight - that was inevitable. She didn’t know he’d manage to have such an effect on her after all these years.

 He wore all black: leather jacket, button up shirt, jeans, and boots, not unlike the outfits he wore in college. Since reconnecting in Storybrooke, she’d grown used to seeing him in blazers and slacks, like most of the other teachers. It was why seeing him now caught her off guard- for the first time in ten years, it felt like looking at the man she fell in love with.

 Killian noticed her then. She realized he had seen her staring and blushed with embarrassment.

 “Um, hi,” she said sheepishly when he walked over.

 “Hello, love,” He smiled, and she hated the way it made her heart constrict. “Not that I’m unhappy to see you, but what are you doing here? I would’ve assumed you finished sixth-grade by now.”

 She laughed. “Smart ass. Mary Margaret’s sick and asked me to fill in her chaperoning duties, whatever those are.”

 “Nothing difficult. Just keep an eye on the students and ensure they’re not doing anything unbecoming.”

 “They’re in sixth-grade!”

 “Aye, but you’d be surprised.” He noticed she was alone. “Where’s Henry?”

 “With David. I thought he’d get bored since he doesn’t know many of the older students.” This was the first conversation they’d had without their son since they’d come up with an arrangement for he and Killian spending time together. “He had a lot of fun with you at the movies last weekend. It’s all he’s talked about since.”

 Killian smiled. Something told her the words meant more than he let on. “I enjoyed it as well. I, erm, appreciate all the time you’ve allowed him to spend with me.”

 She wanted to ask Why wouldn’t I? He’s your son. But she knew the answer: because she’d gone nearly a decade without letting him be a part of Henry’s life. The guilt had eaten at her far before she’d told him the truth, but seeing how he prioritized having a relationship with their son made it worse. “It means a lot that you’ve made room for him in your life,” she told him instead.

 The sound of footsteps interrupted them. “Jones, I pay you to work, not to flirt with parents.”

 A tall brunette woman glared at Killian, arms crossed over her chest. It took a glance at her pantsuit and heels, plus the description Mary Margaret had given her to assume she was the school’s principal. “Miss Mills?”

 The woman looked from Killian to Emma. “Yes? And you are?”

 I’m wondering who had the right mind to appoint you head of an elementary school. “I’m Emma Swan, Mary Margaret Blanchard’s sister-in-law. She’s sick so I’m here to chaperone in her place.”

 Regina pursed her lips as if she were trying to decide if she approved of Emma. “Yes, the new deputy. I’ve heard about you. Isn’t your son a student here?”

 “Yeah. Henry’s in the fourth-grade.” Her eyes flickered to Killian, who had his on Regina. She didn’t know if he had shared the details of his relationship with Henry with anyone else at the school, or in Storybrooke for that matter.

 The unassuming look on the principal’s face insinuated he hadn’t. “Well, I appreciate your coming to help. But Mr. Jones needs to stop appreciating it long enough to get extra cups and plates out of the supply closet like I asked him to five minutes ago.” She gestured to the table of refreshments on the other side of the room, which appeared to be stocked with enough cups and plates already.

 “I’m sorry,” Emma began. “I shouldn’t have-”

 “Don’t worry about it, love.” Killian cut her off. “Apologies, Regina. I’ll get what you need right away.” The principal walked away without responding.

 “Is she always like that?”

 Killian chuckled. “Usually. The students like her well enough though, and for some reason, so do their parents. Well- most of them,” he corrected when noticing the expression on her face.

 “If you say so. Let me help get you get that stuff so I can avoid running into her again.”

 Emma followed him out of the gymnasium and down the hall to a closet where they found the plates and cups Regina had so graciously requested.

 “Thank you for the help, love,” he told her after they had delivered the supplies, “but you didn’t have to do anything.”

 “I wanted to.” They had found themselves back in another corner of the gym, close enough to where they could keep an eye on the kids, but far away enough they could talk without being overheard. “It’s nice to see a familiar face,” she continued. “I’ve kept to myself since moving back. Being somewhere like this is almost unnerving.”

 “Aye? I assumed you had a number of friends here.”

 “I did in high school, but we grew apart after college, more so after I went to New York. Since then, I’ve been occupied with Henry.” She smiled. “What about you? Life in Storybrooke kept you busy?”

 “I’m afraid not. Teaching has been my top priority, other than Henry. I’m ashamed to say I’ve lived here three months, and the only people I come into contact with regularly are my students. And Granny, who tries her hand at flirting when I go in for breakfast.”

 Emma snickered. She believed him knowing Granny’s tactics with men,but it surprised her he was a loner now. His charisma made him friends in college. It was odd that aspect changed afterwards, and also another reminder she had no knowledge of his life between graduation and Storybrooke, including his presence there. The thought had been nagging her for weeks now, but she’d always thought it in her best interest not to ask. However, he was the father of her child and now a part of his life. Didn’t that give her the right to know things?

 “So...why Storybrooke?”

 Killian looked taken aback; he didn’t expect such a loaded question out of nowhere. “Erm, I don’t know. Seemed like a nice place?”

 Emma rolled her eyes. They’d already established he couldn’t get a lie past her. “I’m serious, Killian. You decided to ditch Seattle for a place you’d never been to before, let alone my hometown?”

 “What makes you think I was in Seattle?”

 “You weren’t?”

 “Well, yes. But I’m pointing out you don’t know as much about my life as you think.”

 “I would if you would tell me!” she exclaimed. Her voice dropped to a whisper when she realized she’d attracted the attention of a group of kids nearby. “I’m not saying you need to spill all your secrets, but you’ve got to admit the Storybrooke thing doesn’t add up from my side.”

 Killian realized she wouldn’t let it go. “Fine. If you bloody insist, I’ll tell you. Just not here.”

 She was confused when he gestured for her to follow him out. “Aren’t we supposed to watch the kids?”

 “Yes. But I don’t think our present company will be offended with our absence.”

 Emma glanced around the room. Most of the kids were either tapping at their phones or sulking in the corner, waiting to leave. The other chaperones were talking among themselves. It took seeing Regina with her back turned for her to give in and follow him.

 They ended up in his classroom, Emma leaning against the closed door and he on his desk, looking as if this were the last conversation in the world he wanted to have.

 “You want to know why I left Seattle?”

 “Yeah, but particularly why you’re in Storybrooke.”

 Killian rubbed a hand over his face as he thought. “Well, where to start? I graduated, moved to Seattle, went to grad school. My intentions were to get involved with publishing, but I was drawn to teaching instead. I didn’t care about age groups or specifics, just wanted to help educate and inspire students as my teachers did for me. I taught in community colleges until I got involved with a mentoring program and ended up transitioning to primary schools.”

 “Which explains the job here,” she finished for him.

 “Aye. I was content in Seattle, but it didn’t feel like home. That is, until-” he paused, looking uncomfortable. “Until I met Milah. We met at a school district meeting a little over a year ago. She taught at another school in the city, third grade. We became friends, but it didn’t take long to grow into something else. I knew she and her husband had just separated, but I’ll admit I was so caught up in the moment I never gave it much thought. We’d been together a few months when their teenage son begged her to give his father another chance. She agreed. And that’s the end of it.”

 The crestfallen look on his face made her heart ache for him. “I’m so sorry, Killian.”

 His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s alright. I don’t have any ill will towards her. It’s understandable why she wanted to make things work for the lad’s sake. I just hoped things would be different. Anyway,” he continued, “this happened, oh, three or four months ago. I realized I needed to move on - from Seattle, from everything. It sounds crazy, but…” he looked hesitant. “I came to Storybrooke because of you, love.”

 Emma was bewildered. “Because of me? I thought you didn’t know I was here.”

 “Trust me, I didn’t. As I said, I’d decided to leave Seattle. I didn’t know where to go next, but I began to make preparations and hoped a solution would come eventually. I was packing up my apartment when I came across a handful of photos you’d given me in school, not long after we started dating.”

 “Oh?”

 “Aye. You’d come home for the weekend - you invited me, but I was working. Mary Margaret had taken pictures of you in spots across Storybrooke- the town square, the harbor. I looked through them again, saw how happy you looked. I knew I wanted a change from the city, and thought perhaps it was a sign. Maybe it was crazy, Emma, to feel so strongly about a place I’d never been, but I did. I moved at the first of the year and got my teaching job. And that’s it.”

 Killian was right: it was crazy to a certain extent. She’d impacted his coming to Storybrooke just as she’d decided to come back herself.

 Mary Margaret would have called it fate, but Emma wasn’t sure what to call it yet.

 “Killian?” It was hard to think of the right thing to say. “I don’t know it this helps, but I’m glad you ended up in Storybrooke.”

 His smile made her heart still in a way it hadn’t in ten years. “Aye, love. So am I.”

 -/-

 That night at the school changed something between them. Their brief texts about his time with Henry had become long conversations on everything from Netflix to foreign foods to books she’d read via his recommendations. (She vividly remembered when they’d stayed up past two in the morning comparing Lord of the Rings to the Narnia books. She had been exhausted at work the next day, but regretted none of it.)

 They’d also been spending time together with Henry. It started unintentionally- Killian arrived at Granny’s one afternoon when she and Henry were having lunch, and Emma invited him to join. Their son, who had enjoyed spending time with both of his parents, asked if it could be a regular occurrence. Emma saw no reason to object. The three of them now had lunch together once a week, sometimes more if their schedules permitted it. They’d also gone to the movies a few times, along with a few school events Henry participated in.

 Emma could easily imagine the wheels in Mary Margaret’s head turning whenever Killian was mentioned. Her sister-in-law hadn’t asked for details on their relationship since that day in the dress shop, but she didn’t have to mention it. Emma knew she held out hope for some kind of fairytale romance.

 But Mary Margaret wasn’t alone. Recently, Emma and Henry had been eating dinner when her son stopped rambling about Star Wars to ask, “Are you and my dad gonna get back together?”

 She nearly choked on her spaghetti. “Uh, what makes you ask, kid?” she’d responded after downing a generous amount of water. “Did Killian say something to you about this?” She hated how her pulse quickened at the thought.

 “No. But you’ve started spending more time together and stuff. I figured something changed.”

 A lot had changed, but explaining that to a nine-year old would be difficult. “It’s not always that simple, Henry. Your dad and I are on good terms and have been trying to spend time with you as a family, but that doesn’t mean we could get back together.”

 Emma worried he would be upset, but he shrugged. “I just don’t think you should be afraid of giving him another chance.”

 I’m not afraid of giving him another chance she thought. It’s him who I’m worried about not giving another chance to me.

 -/-

 Henry was up to something.

 Emma had suspected as much for the past week, but it became hard to ignore by Friday. He’d been spending a large amount of alone time in his room, and ran out the door that morning with barely a word for her. It stung since he’d be spending the afternoon and the next day with Killian, but she assumed it was normal, maybe even preparation for his teenage years when he’d be embarrassed to admit she existed.

 The station was busy, causing her to forget about Henry’s behavior. But she was abruptly reminded of it when Killian called after four. “Hey, what’s up?”

 “Is Henry with you?” He sounded frantic.

 “No. I thought he was hanging out with you today?”

 “Bloody hell, he was supposed to. I had a meeting with a parent after school and asked him to wait in the school library with Belle until I finished. That was twenty minutes ago, and he never came.”

 Emma’s heart dropped. “And you don’t know where he could be?” She tried to ignore the terrifying scenarios running through her mind. Storybrooke may have been a small, safe town, but she knew thanks to working in law enforcement the worst was capable of happening.

 “We were supposed to go to the park after my meeting, but I don’t see why he would have gone alone.” He let out a string of muffled curses. “I’m sorry, Emma. If anything’s happened to him-”

 “Don’t talk like that!” she interrupted. “This isn’t your fault. I’m sure he wandered off, you know how easily distracted he is. I’ll come to the school and we can look for him.”

 Emma drove up at the school minutes later. She’d probably broken a dozen traffic violations in the process, but there was little chance David would put his deputy behind bars.

 Killian waited on the sidewalk, and she motioned for him to get in the car. “He just left?!” she asked as soon as he was seated beside her.

 “Aye. Some of the teachers saw him leaving, but assumed he was going to get on the bus.”

 “Shit,” she swore as she put the car in drive and pulled onto the road. The only solution she knew of was driving around until they found some sign of him. “Why the hell would he do something like this? I don’t let him walk up the street to Granny’s alone.”

 “I’ve no idea. It’s certainly not like him.”

 They drove into town, hoping to see Henry sitting on a bench or looking in a store window. Emma had driven up the same street twice now when she asked, “Didn’t you say you were going to the park? Maybe he’s there.”

 “It’s worth trying.” She stopped in the middle of the road and made a sharp U-turn, not noticing when Killian grabbed the handle above his seat. She felt her stomach spin right along with the car and ignored the sounds of blaring car horns and curses from their exasperated drivers. Her son was worth committing a traffic violation for.

 Seeing their son playing his Gameboy by the park entrance nearly made Emma cry with relief. “Henry!” she called as they approached him. “What are you doing here? You had us worried sick! You know you shouldn’t have come alone.”

 “Sorry.” The boy winced as Emma embraced him. “I wanted to get you both here.”

 “Lad, if that were the case, I could easily have asked your mother to join us.” He tried to smile, but she could tell his nerves were shot, like her own.

 Henry hung his head, realizing how much stress he’d caused. “Sorry,” he apologized again.

 “It’s okay, just don’t do it again. Now, why did you want us both here?”

 “Oh.” She released him as he reached into his backpack and looked through its contents. “I brought you here for your date.”

 Emma was sure she misheard him. She and Killian looked back and forth from each other to their son, confused. “Kid, what are you talking about?”

 “I figured you wouldn’t give each other another chance without a push. So, here’s your push.” He pulled a paper bag from his backpack and held it up. “I got donuts from the bakery. Dibs on the chocolate frosted.”

 He set them up for a date? “For the record, I had nothing to do with this, Swan,” Killian explained. “Er, not that I truly mind the idea of- nevermind.”

 Henry took a donut (chocolate frosted) and gave the bag to her. “I’m gonna take this and play my Game Boy over there.” He nodded toward another bench several feet away. “And you two are gonna eat donuts and talk about...whatever grown ups talk about. I threw this together in a hurry.” He took his things and ran to the other bench before she or Killian could object.

 “Apologies, love. I don’t know where he got the idea from.”

 “I do,” she admitted. “He’s been asking questions about us. But I didn’t picture him going this far.”

 She and Killian stared at each other, both at a loss for words. He broke the silence by gesturing to the bag in her hands. “Might as well take advantage of those. Don’t want them to go to waste.” He smiled, and she couldn’t help but laugh despite how awkward it all was.

 His questionable decisions aside, Emma couldn’t stay mad at Henry as she polished off a bear claw. Killian sat on the opposite side of the bench, eating his own donut and pointedly avoiding her gaze. They’d both used the food as an excuse to sit in awkward silence, but there were things needed to be discussed.

 “I’ve got to give Henry some credit,” Killian said. “He’s a smart lad.”

 “I’m sorry. I really had no idea he’d do this. I understand if this makes you uncomfortable.”

 His brow furrowed in confusion. “Why would it make me uncomfortable, love?”

 Emma felt uncomfortable thinking of a response. It would be difficult to answer without revealing her feelings for him. “What we’ve got going with Henry has been great. But I don’t want this,” she gestured to the bag of donuts between them “to make you to feel like you owe me something more because have a kid together.”

 “This doesn’t make me feel anything like that, Swan.”

 Her heart sank. “What do you mean?” She was scared to hear the answer. Was he going to tell her any chance of rekindling what they had was gone?

“What I mean is that I’ve spent the better part of ten years trying to move on from you. I thought perhaps as time passed, it would be easier to put things behind me. But that never worked.” Killian looked at her with such intense fervor in his eyes that she found it impossible to tear her gaze from him. “I attempted to stay occupied with school, and then my job after graduating. I told you about Milah, and while I cared for her a great deal, I wonder now if things would have worked out between us. Because I’ve accepted that my heart is yours, love. I think it always has been.”

 Emma stared at him, dumbfounded. His words had put most of her fears to rest. “Are you saying you want another go at this?” she asked, her voice uneven. “At us?”

 “That’s ultimately up to you. But, if I’m being truthful, then, yes. I do.”

 She looked away from him, staring at her hands folded in her lap. “You’re putting a lot of faith in me considering I fucked up the last time. Killian, I was too scared to consider us having a future. I kept Henry from you for ten years!”

 “Which I’ve since forgiven you for.”

 “Still, that doesn’t mean I won’t unintentionally do something to hurt you again. I don’t want you to put your heart on the line when I’m not sure I can be the person you deserve.”

 “You don’t have to be sure for me to know what I want. I have faith in you, love. I only wish you had it in yourself.”

 Emma bit her lip to hold back the tears that pricked her eyes. He was again choosing to see the best in her despite everything that happened in the past. The real question was, could she put aside her own fears and insecurities to do the same?

 “Okay,” she breathed.

 “Okay?”

 “I’m willing to give this a chance.” She glanced at him hesitantly. “That is, if you’re really sure.”

 The grin on his face was enough to answer her. “I’ve never been more sure of anything, Swan.”

 “Go out with me?” she asked before she lost her nerve. “Henry did a nice job with the donuts and all, but-”

 “Of course,” he answered, understanding she’d like something nicer for what would technically be their second first date. “I accept on one condition: you let me plan the evening.”

 “I know how to plan a date!”

 “I’m sure you do. Just let me have this one, Swan, and the next is all yours.”

 “Next? Confident, aren’t you?”

 “Perhaps,” he smirked. If it had been anyone else, she would’ve argued, but there was no winning this. Besides, she was eager to see what he had in mind.

 “Just let me know where and when.”

 “Would tonight be too soon?” he asked. “I’m sure it’s inconvenient, but considering how much time we’ve lost already…”

 He didn’t need to finish for her to understand. “Yeah, of course. Henry can stay with David and Mary Margaret.” She didn’t know if they were free tonight, but figured this was the perfect time to cash in on helping Mary Margaret with the dance several weeks ago.

 “Perfect. I’ll pick you up at seven?”

 “I’ll be waiting.”

 -/-

 “Where are you going?” Henry leaned against the bathroom doorway and watched as she stood at the mirror getting ready.

 “No idea. Your dad’s doing all the planning.” Emma finished her makeup and began to style her hair, the brush shaking a bit in her hands. She hadn’t expected to be so nervous. It had been over a year since her last date, but this was different. Tonight would determine if she and Killian were capable of fully rekindling their relationship.

 She saw Henry smirk out of the corner of her eye. “Bet you’re not so mad at me for setting you up today, are you?”

 “No. Just don’t do it again,” she reminded him, tying her hair into a low ponytail and following him out of the bathroom. “You should get your stuff and head up to David and Mary Margaret’s. Killian should be here soon.” Truthfully, she didn’t want Henry around when his father arrived in case he asked questions they couldn’t answer yet.

 Ten minutes later, Henry was upstairs with his aunt and uncle. Emma had never told Mary Margaret why she needed a babysitter, and groaned as she thought of the lecture she’d receive once she and David found out she’d been with Killian. She finished dressing in her outfit from the school dance as there was a knock at the door. Her heart pounded as she grabbed her purse and gave herself a once-over in the mirror.

 She didn’t know what to expect when she opened the door. But seeing Killian also dressed in his outfit from the dance made her want to laugh. (She thought of the Halloween party they’d attended not long after they met. They surprised each other by both dressing as Harry Potter characters. He told her that night they were more alike than they thought, and he wasn’t wrong.) And maybe something else, too. The way the leather jacket and tight jeans clung to him had ignited something in her several weeks ago she’d almost forgotten had existed. But tonight, it was all for her, and she felt warm enough to melt into a puddle at his feet.

 “You look stunning, Swan.”

 She struggled for words “You look-”

 “I know.” He held out his hand and she took it, closing the door behind her.

 “Where are we going?”

 “You’ll see, love. I think you’ll approve.”

 They walked hand in hand across town, reminiscent of the nights they ditched homework for walking around Boston together for hours. If not for Henry and everything else that happened over the past decade, she might have found it possible to believe no time had passed.

 “Here we are.” Killian stopped when they arrived at the Italian restaurant by the docks. She and Henry had come a few times since moving to Storybrooke, and it had since become one of their favorite places. “The lad might have mentioned your liking for the lasagna.”

 “He was right,” she told him as they walked inside. “Don’t tell Granny, but it’s not the same frozen.”

 “Careful, Swan. You may find yourself in trouble if someone overhears you.”

 The night went better than she could have hoped for. All talk of heartbreak and the past was put aside for casual conversation, again like the nights they spent together during their senior year when homework and professors were their biggest problems.

 “I’m afraid you’re right, love,” Killian agreed when she’d convinced him to try the lasagna. “This is certainly better than whatever it is that Granny serves.”

 “And you told me to watch my words. You’d be in jeopardy of not being her favorite customer anymore if she finds out.”

 She told him stories of difficult bail jumpers she encountered in New York, and he shared the shenanigans of his last group of students in Seattle. Although she’d learned he was in Storybrooke several months ago now, it was still difficult to comprehend how they wound up back in each other’s orbit after so much time apart.

 “You seem to be doing a wonderful job with your class.” Emma smiled as she took a bite from the ice cream dish they’d decided to split after dinner. “I can’t speak for the other kids, but Henry’s grades are the best they’ve ever been.”

 Killian shrugged as his face flushed pink with slight embarrassment. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I can’t take much credit. He’s a smart lad...although I may be slightly biased. You’ve done well with him, Swan.”

 “So have you. No, I mean it,” Emma continued when he looked unconvinced. “I know it’s only been a few months now, but you mean the world to him and I can already tell what a positive impact you’ve had on his life. Don’t sell yourself short.”

 He reached across the table for her hand and held it in his for a moment before replying. “You don’t know how much that means to me, love.”

 “It’s true. Even though it disappoints him you don’t think Pop Tarts are an acceptable breakfast.”

 “I’m just looking out for the boy’s health! Swan, are you aware of how much sugar and chemicals are in those bloody things?”

 “The sugar and chemicals are what make those bloody things good.” She laughed as he cringed at her poor imitation of his accent.

 Emma realized how much she wanted this as he sat across from her and talked about their son, telling her some joke Henry had shared with him in class the day before. There might always be fear of the worst happening or walls of hers needing to be broken down, but something told her it would be worth it. Killian had proved over the last few months he was in for the long haul as far as Henry was concerned. It wasn’t hard to believe he’d do the same for her.

 There was a shared sense of disappointment when they arrived back at her apartment. “I would invite you in for coffee, but I should get Henry from David and Mary Margaret. It’s almost his bedtime.”

 “I suppose we’ll just have to wait until next time.”

 “Again with the next time? I don’t remember asking.”

 “That’s because it’s my turn. Will you go out with me again?” A hint of anticipation flickered in his eyes- not nervousness, but desire.

 Emma knew her answer before the words left his mouth. But instead of speaking, she responded the way she’d wanted to for weeks now.

 Killian saw her leaning in and closed the distance between them. The first press of his lips to hers was soft, hesitant even. She encouraged him for more, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him flush against her. His own hands moved to her waist, under the jacket she’d pilfered from him at the restaurant.

 It was hard not to groan when his tongue traced the seam of her lips, and like everything tonight, it reminded her what could exist between them. There were many things she loved about Killian Jones, but his ability to set her heart racing like nothing else stood out among the rest.

 (Yes, she loved him. She was done trying to deny it.)

 Regretfully, he broke the kiss to come up for air. “That was…”

 “Yeah.”

 “I should let you go.” She slipped off his jacket and returned it to him. “Tell the lad I’ll see him tomorrow?”

 “I will. Night, Killian.”

 “Goodnight, love.”

 -/-

 As expected, David and Mary Margaret lost their minds over the date.

 Mary Margaret seemed disappointed she missed out on “all the fun.” David crossed his arms and asked a number of thorough questions.

 “We had dinner, Dad.” Emma rolled her eyes.

 “I’m making sure he was a gentleman!”

 The questions continued when they came over Tuesday night.

 “When are you going out again? What are you going to do? Have you picked an outfi-”

 “Geez, Mary Margaret,” Emma interrupted. “Can we slow down a bit?”

 “Sorry! I’m excited.”

 “Just be glad she’s not like Uncle David,” Henry pointed out. “Then you’d have both acting like your parents.”

 “Hey!” the uncle in question protested.

 Emma smiled. “It’s okay, David. I’m glad you care so much.” She turned to Mary Margaret. “I don’t know when we’re going out or what we’re doing. I’ll choose my outfit when the time comes.”

 “Go out Saturday. I’m going to a sleepover at Nicholas’,” her son informed her.

 “When were you going to tell me this?”

 “Uh, now?”

 “Good call. I’ll see if he’s doing anything Saturday night.”

 Mary Margaret squealed with joy.

 David leaned over and whispered, “I think she’s more excited than you.”

 “You think?”

 -/-

 Emma lost count of how many times she’d cleaned the apartment on Saturday. When she came back from taking Henry to his sleepover at six, it felt like returning to a stranger’s home. It hadn’t been this tidy since they moved in. Killian hadn’t minded her messy college apartment years earlier, but she prefered resembling a mature adult who somewhat had her life together.

 She’d invited him over at seven for pizza and a movie. It seemed like a boring date, but Killian wasn’t hard to please, and the pizza place delivered.

 (The added bonus of having the loft to herself tonight didn’t hurt.)

 Killian arrived at five to seven, after the pizza was dropped off.

 “Hello, love.”

 “Hi.” She stepped back from the door to let him in. “Thanks for coming. I know it’s not anything exciting, but…”

 “Nonsense. Time spent in your company is exciting enough.”

 “I’m glad you think so.” She stood on her toes to kiss him briefly, and it was enough to ignite the feeling in her stomach she refused to call ‘butterflies’. “Is Prisoner of Azkaban still your favorite Harry Potter movie?” They’d broken up before the last few were released, but she doubted this had changed thanks to his fondness for Lupin.

 “Aye.”

 “Good. If you still like bacon on pizza, we’re in luck.”

 He did like bacon on pizza, thankfully. Said pizza was demolished as they watched Harry use the Marauder’s map to sneak into Hogsmeade.

 “I can see why this is your favorite,” she said. “No one dies.”

 “That is an upside.” He chuckled. “I recall less than pleasant memories seeing the others.” They’d gone with David and Mary Margaret to the midnight premiere for Order of the Phoenix, and all four cried multiple times before it ended.

 “Do you remember the Halloween we both dressed in Gryffindor robes? I thought of it last Friday when we wore the same clothes from the school dance.”

 “I remember. I said something along the lines of us being more alike than you thought.”

 “More than being in the same Hogwarts house?”

 “Much more.” He smiled. “I never told you this, but that night was when I started to fall in love with you.”

 “Really? We barely knew each other, aside from complaining about Gold in class.”

 “That didn’t matter. Seeing you so excited about your house robe and wand did something for me, and by the end of the night, I knew you were special. For the record,” he continued, “my thoughts haven’t changed.”

 Emma didn’t hesitate before grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and fusing her mouth with his. She could tell the kiss surprised him, but he quickly welcomed it, one hand on her hip and the other tangled in her hair. It wasn’t unlike their kiss in the hall, but still different. Last time she’d needed to tend to Henry, and this thing between them was still new. Tonight, there were no distractions, and she was certain of what she wanted.

 She found herself in Killian’s lap, and ran her fingers through his messy hair as he continued to kiss her. His hand slipped under the hem of her sweater to rest on her waist, and she gasped slightly at the feel of it against her skin. He pulled back. “I’m sorry, love. I didn’t-“

 She cut him off with another kiss and reassured him by guiding his hand back to her waist. “Don’t apologize.”

 It hadn’t taken long for the kiss to become something more. It took even less time after she angled her hips just right against his and he gasped “Swan” against her lips for her to stand, taking his hand and guiding him to her bedroom.

 (Neither of them paid mind to the movie still playing or the pizza box they’d knocked onto the floor. They had ten years of lost time to make up for.)

 -/-

 Emma woke the next morning with an arm around her waist and lips pressing kisses to her bare shoulder. “Morning, love.”

 “Morning. Sleep well?”

 “Not a wink. Certain blonde kept me up all night.”

 The sound of her laugh was cut off by the door to the apartment slamming shut. “Mom?”

 “Dammit!” She’d forgotten Nicholas’ parents were bringing Henry home. “Just a minute, kid!” she called when she heard footsteps outside her room. “I’m getting dressed.” She jumped out of bed and grabbed an outfit from the closet as Killian quickly dressed in his own clothes.

 “What are you going to tell him, Swan?”

 “That’s a good question. There are some things I’m not ready for our nine year old to learn about yet.”

 “I understand, but it’s not as if we have many options.”

 She tried to think of a solution, and was contemplating telling Henry the awkward truth when he called, “I’m gonna take a shower.”

 “Now!” She brought Killian out when she heard the water turn on. “He’ll think you came over for breakfast or something.”

 They were making pancakes when Henry emerged fifteen minutes later, wet hair plastered to his head. “Dad?”

 “Morning, lad.”

 “Did you have fun at Nicholas’?” Emma asked.

 “Yeah. His mom made brownies and let us watch The Avengers.” He sat down at the kitchen table. “I didn’t know you guys were having a sleepover too.”

 She nearly dropped the bowl of pancake batter as she and Killian stared at each other dumbfounded. “What makes you think that?”

 “Nice job trying to trick me, but the coat rack gave it away when I got home.” Sure enough, Killian’s jacket still hung where he’d left it last night.

 “There’s no point in trying to fool him, Swan,” Killian whispered. “He’s smarter than either of us.”

 Emma turned to Henry. “Are you okay with all this?”

 “Why wouldn’t I be? You’re happy. I’m happy. And there’s pancakes!”

 She pulled him into a hug and laughed at his groan when she kissed the top of his head. “Sorry, kid. I’m not stopping anytime soon.” She extended her arm towards Killian, and he embraced both of them.

 “I love you guys,” Henry said. “But can I have pancakes now?”

 -/-

 “Eight fifteen, guys. Time to go!”

 It was Henry’s first day of fifth grade, his last year in elementary school. Emma had mixed feelings about how much he’d grown over the last eight months, but was grateful there were eight years before things like college and adulthood came into the picture.

 Killian came out of the bedroom as she finished making Henry’s sandwich. “Ready, lad?” he called up the stairs, adjusting the sleeve of his blazer.

 “I’ll be down in a minute.”

 He had moved into the loft with them once his lease had ended over the summer. They discussed buying a house in the future, but their current arrangement suited them for now.

 She smiled as she glanced over her shoulder and saw him dressed in his normal work attire, complete with the reading glasses she’d taken such a liking to. “How prepared are we for the new class, Professor Jones?” The nickname had stuck since she’d admitted to comparing him to Harrison Ford the first time she saw him wearing the glasses in his classroom.

 He came up behind her in the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’m expecting all to go well. The children I met at open house seemed to like me. Although it’s going to be odd without Henry in the room.”

 “All his future teachers have big shoes to fill.” She knew Henry would miss being in Killian’s class, but he’d already taken a liking to Ariel, the fifth grade teacher who’d moved to Storybrooke a few months earlier.

 Their son came barreling down the stairs, school bag in one hand and a book in the other. “I’m ready.”

 She pulled away from Killian long enough to kiss him goodbye, much to his chagrin. “I’ll see you this afternoon. Love you.”

 Henry tried to nonchalantly wipe his cheek where she’d kissed it with his shirt sleeve. “Love you too.”

 Killian pulled her back to him and rested his chin on her shoulder. “Remember we’re having dinner at David and Mary Margaret’s. They’ll get suspicious if we’re late again,” she whispered where Henry couldn’t hear, thinking of the moment in the backseat of her bug that made them nearly twenty minutes late for the last family dinner. It was obvious her brother and sister-in-law hadn’t believed whatever excuse they’d come up with.

 “I’ll be there. I’ll even come early, if that’s any consolation.”

 “It is.”

 “Good. Do I get a kiss goodbye as well?”

 “I’ll consider it.” Emma turned in his arms and leaned in just as Henry made a gagging sound.

 “Ugh! You guys are so gross!”

 “Get used to it, kid.” She smiled as she kissed his father. “Something tells me this won’t change anytime soon.” That something was the ring box she knew was hidden in the back of Killian’s sock drawer. She’d found it last week when putting away the laundry, and hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since. Maybe their six-month anniversary dinner Saturday night would be more eventful than she’d thought.

 “Not if I have anything to do with it, love,” Killian agreed. He turned to Henry. “And I’d be nice to me if I were you. Notice I didn’t object when you put Pop Tarts in the cart at the store yesterday.”

 “Huh. Love sure does make you do strange things.”

[wayward-marvel-sommer1196]

From Kisses To Stitches

Pairing: Demon!Dean x Reader, Dean x Reader, Sam x Reader (Platonic)

Trigger Warnings: Abuse, blood, forced captivity, swearing canon typical violence, Demon Dean is a dick, ANGST!!!

Word Count: Around 3500

A/N: This was written for @percussiongirl2017 550 followers challenge. The song I chose was Stitches by Shawn Mendes. I have always loved this song. Any who this is very angsty so be aware. Also, this is my first time writing Demon Dean so please be nice (also note I haven’t seen the Demon Dean episodes in a bit so this is written from how I remember him being). Lastly, I left this with an open ending so if anyone want a part 2 let me know. I would be more than happy to accommodate. P.S. Rita, congrats on your graduation girl, that’s a major milestone accomplished and you should be proud.

Summary: What happens when Dean is the love of your life but is “killed” by Metatron and becomes a Knight of Hell? Well, let’s just say it’s not the Dean you fell in love with. Will what he puts you through be worth trying to save him or is it just best for you to call a quits while you still have your life?

***Italics are flashbacks***

***Bolded are song lyrics***

***Bolded Italics are memories (basically it was a flashback in a flashback)***

You couldn’t believe the sight before you. Sam had Dean cradled in his arms crying. Dean laid motionless in his brother’s hands beaten and bloody. His face was covered in blood, dripping from his mouth and nose. You looked to Sam and he just shook his head while his hands cradled Dean’s head. You fell to your knees shaking your head as the tears stared to roll down your cheeks. You couldn’t breathe. But, you knew you had to quickly recompose yourself so you took a deep breath and walked over to Sam knowing he was going to need your help.

“Sam we need to get him out of here,” you said.

Sam nodded his head with his cheeks soaked with tears and replied, “Yeah,” as he scooped up his big brother in his arms and proceeded to the Impala.

The ride back to the bunker was one of complete silence aside from the occasional sob from you or Sam. You would look in the rear view every so often to glance at the lifeless body of the man you loved. You couldn’t bear to see the man you loved with blood all over his body and laying so motionless so you just stared out the passenger side window into the night sky reminiscing and plotting some form of revenge on Metatron.

---- It was your second date and Dean had the whole night planned down to the last detail. He wanted the night to be romantic and special for you. He wanted you to have a normal date like every other couple who weren’t hunters had. He wanted you to feel loved and normal and special all at the same time. So, he made reservations at the fancy Italian restaurant just a mile away because he knew how much you loved Italian (I mean who doesn’t? Am I right?) He told you to wear something nice and he would wear his nicest clothes. You wore a simple black lace dress that had one long sleeve down the right arm and sleeveless on the left and it hugged your body to highlight your curves. You paired it with a pair of black spiked heels, to pull your personality in it a bit, and a black clutch. When Dean saw you his jaw nearly hit the floor. His eyes seemed to get glossy and he walked up to you and gave you a squeeze telling you how god damned gorgeous you looked. He on the other hand shocked you. He was in a white button up and a black suit and dress pants. Completely unlike Dean but so damn sexy. So, you replied to him ditto. He gave you the flowers he had gotten and took your arm in his.

Y’all went to the restaurant and had the best dinner of your lives and Dean was a gentleman the whole time, but also had that sense of humor that made you laugh nonstop. After the restaurant, he drove you down to the beach so you could walk along the shore and just be comfortable in each other’s company. Halfway down the beach you had your heels in your hands and began to shiver at the cool ocean breeze. Dean took notice and slipped out of his suit jacket and draped it over your shoulders. You spent an hour at the beach before you headed back to the bunker.

Once back, he grabbed you and kissed you passionately. His lips moved in synch with yours, even nibbled on your bottom lip. He slid his tongue in and you didn’t hesitate to let him in and melt into his touch. He grabbed your thighs and lifted you up and you wrapped your legs around his waist as he carried you back to his room where you would have the most sensual, passionate, and best sex of your life.

This was the best date you had ever been on. Dean Winchester was the love of your life. After that night, there was no questioning that. ----

Once you reached the bunker Sam carefully slid Dean’s broken body out of the Impala and brought him into his Dean’s room. He gently laid him on the neatly made bed while a tear escaped his eye and raced down his cheek. You on the other hand had had enough of the day and ran into your room and closed yourself off from the world finally letting grief and sadness take over.

I thought that I've been hurt before But no one's ever left me quite this sore Your words cut deeper than a knife Now I need someone to breathe me back to life

That was a month ago. Now here you were beaten, bloody, and broken. You were covered in bruises from head to toe. Your wrist was swollen and purple and hurt like a bitch meaning it was most likely broken from your last beating. Your hair was matted down to your head with dried blood. You had dried blood sticking to your face that came from your mouth and nose. Your ribs were throbbing and you were pretty sure that you dislocated your knee. On top of all that, you had a pain in your head that felt like someone stabbed you and was sitting there wiggling the knife. With all the hunts that you had been on you’d figured that you had been hurt in every way possible by now. Boy, were you wrong. No one has ever left you this beaten and sore. You didn’t think he had it in him to do this to you. HIM. Of all people in the world he was the last person you thought would be capable of this type of violence towards you.

However, the beatings weren’t even the worst part. That you could handle. You had handled those situations pretty much your whole life being raised a hunter. It had been the venomous words that escaped his mouth that had cut you deeper than a knife.

“You stupid bitch.”

“What did I ever see in you?”

“You know you are only good as a punching bag.”

“Nobody will ever love you. Not with the way you follow like a lost puppy.”

Those were his words that would float through your mind. Those were the words that took the life right out of you. The very pink plump lips that would breathe the life into you. Dean’s lips. The love of your life that once doted over you now stood tall and told you you were worthless.

Got a feeling that I'm going under But I know that I'll make it out alive If I quit calling you my lover Move on

You knew your body couldn’t take much more of what Dean was throwing at you. You had aches and pains on every single part of your body. It physically hurt you to take a breath. You knew you wouldn’t survive another beating like the one given to you yesterday and you knew he was only going to escalate. You knew your mind couldn’t handle another emotional lashing either. He already had you feeling worthless, like a piece of trash. If he continued there would be nothing left of (Y/N). You would be just a shell of a person. You were struggling to hold on to the little bit of you that you had left as it was.

With all the blood, it almost felt like you were drowning in it. You couldn’t get out of it. You couldn’t get away from it. It felt like it was suffocating you. It felt like HE was suffocating you.

You then realized that there was no fixing Dean. You couldn’t do it. You were not strong enough. He had taken the life out of you. If Dean could be saved you weren’t going to be the one doing it. He was slowly killing you. The only way you would make it out of this alive was to let him go. It killed you to say that but you had to let him go and find a way to contact Sam and find a way out. A way to get away from the only man you have ever loved.

You watch me bleed until I can't breathe I'm shaking falling onto my knees And now that I'm without your kisses I'll be needing stitches I'm tripping over myself I'm aching begging you to come help And now that I'm without your kisses I'll be needing stitches

One punch. Two punches. A kick and then another punch. You picked yourself off the ground to look Dean in the eyes only to see them flash black. You had been with Dean for two weeks now and this was becoming a routine. He wanted to beat the life out of you. He punched you again effectively dropping you to the ground and he proceeded to kick you in the chest. He stood there and watched you pull yourself up bleeding and gasping for air from the previous kick.

That was the moment you knew Dean wasn’t Dean, at least not anymore as you fell to your knees shaking. Pain and realization took over your entire body at that moment. Instead of getting kisses from Dean you would be getting stitches.

Despite him not being him anymore you hoped that there was one shred of humanity left in this person. Through your aches and pains, you stared into Dean’s eyes grasping at the hope you could see something and begged him to stop with the beatings. You begged for him to help you and not hurt you. But all he did was smile and chuckle at you. That was when you knew you were trouble.

Just like a moth drawn to a flame Oh you lured me in I couldn't sense the pain Your bitter heart cold to the touch Now I'm gonna reap what I sew I'm left seeing red on my own

You woke up the next morning to soft knocks on your door. You sat up in your bed and smoothed out your hair.

“Come in,” you said, your voice hoarse from all the crying the night before.

“Hey, (Y/N). How are you doing?” Sam asked.

You smiled at him appreciating the compassion as you can tell he was a wreck himself. “I’m sad, Sammy, but I’m alive so that counts for something.” He smiled and let out a chuckle and looked at you with sadness. “How are you doing Sammy? Honestly,” you asked.

“Not great to be completely honest. I already miss him (Y/N). I know you do too. He was the love of your love, but he was my big brother and all I had left, besides you. I don’t know what I’m going to do without him,” he replied.

You looked at him with glossy eyes and pulled him in for a tight hug and squeezed him. You wanted to give him every ounce of love you could because he was right, you did love Dean, but Dean was Sam’s only family and now he had lost that like everyone else in his life. “It’s going to be fine Sammy. I’ll be here for you and you’ll be here for me. We’ll be each other’s rock. We will get each other through this with all the love we can spare,” you said and Sam squeezed you tighter hanging on every word you said.

Once you let go of each other you decided it was best to prepare Dean’s body for the pyre. So, you both got dressed and went to Dean’s room. What you found, or better yet what you didn’t find shocked you both. Dean, or rather his body, was gone. “What the hell?” you both said in unison not having a clue of what’s going on.

Over the next two days you and Sam had been looking for any sign of Dean anywhere. Searching traffic cams, security cameras, even atm cameras and you both were coming up empty handed. After going hours without a break Sam suggested a food break and you agreed so he ran to the market to get you both some grub.

A few minutes after Sam left your phone rang and the name that popped up shocked you. Dean. So, naturally you answered.

“Hello? Dean? Is that you?” you asked.

“(Y/N), yeah it’s me. Look I know you may have a lot of questions but I don’t have a lot of time so can you meet me at that beach where we had our second date so we can talk?” Dean said.

“Uhh……. yeah sure. When?”

“Now. If you could?”

“Sure see you in a few.”

You hung up the phone and quickly scribbled a note for Sam saying you went to check a lead and would call him if it checked out and ran out the door.

You were standing on the beach waiting for Dean when you turned around and saw him approaching. You smiled and almost ran up to him until you realized that Crowley was with him. You were confused since you guys were supposed to hate him.

“Hey Dean. What’s with the demon tail?” you asked.

“That’s what I’m here to tell you. Obviously, I didn’t die but I became something else,” Dean said as his eyes flicked black and then back to normal again. “I’m a knight of hell now.”

To say were shocked was an understatement. You backed up a little bit and said “Like Abaddon?”

“Yeah. Something to do with the mark. It won’t let me die.”

At that statement, all you could see was red and realized that Crowley had to have known about this and tricked Dean so you lashed out at him. An action you would soon later come to regret as you felt something hard hit your head and then black.

When you woke up you were in a dungeon of some sort and your hands were chained to the wall. You realized Dean was the one who knocked you out and that he needed to be saved.

Got a feeling that I'm going under But I know that I'll make it out alive If I quit calling you my lover Move on

You stood with your hands still chained to the wall and checked to see the coast was clear. Every day you had been clawing at the wall to loosen the foundation around the shackles and today you could yank them out of the wall. You carefully and silently ran out the door and through whatever warehouse you were in without anyone noticing you and escaped. However, before you got completely out you noticed a phone on one of the work tables and snatched it and ran out the door.

You ran a few blocks before deciding it was safe to take a break and make a phone call. THE phone call that was supposed to made a month ago. You had to call Sam. You dialed his number and pushed call as you released a breath and leaned against the alley wall.

“Hello?” Sam said.

“Sammy, it’s me (Y/N). I need your help,” you said.

“Yeah anything (Y/N). Where have you been? It’s been like a month. You said you would call and then radio silence. I mean don’t get me wrong I’m glad you called, but what the hell?”

“I know Sammy. I’m sorry. A lot has happened and I will tell you all of it but not right now. I just…. I just really need you to come get me.”

With that last sentence, your voice cracked and it almost seemed like a sob, which concerned Sam. This gave him a bad feeling. “I’ll be right there (Y/N). I’m tracking the phone you are on right now. I’ll be there shortly just hang to for me ok?”

“Ok Sammy. See you soon.”  

Needle and the thread Gotta get you out of my head Needle and the thread Gonna wind up dead

Sam came and got you like he promised but when he saw the state you were in, it shook him to his core. Now you were both back at the bunker and Sam made you sit down and drink some water while he fetched every medical supply he could find. Once back he cleaned the blood from your face and arms. He bandaged the ligatures on your wrists that came from the shackles and put a splint on your broken wrist and explained you’d have to see a doctor later. He tended to the small cuts on your abdomen being very weary of all the bruises. When you would hiss, he would give you those puppy dog eyes saying sorry. He them gave you a rag to bite down on while he put your knee back in place. Lastly, he led you to the sink and rinsed all the blood out of your hair to ensure there was nothing currently bleeding on your head. Throughout all this he couldn’t help but wonder what did this. Whatever or whoever did, he was for sure going to kill. You didn’t deserve this.

“Hey Sam?” you said.

“Yeah (Y/N)?” Sam said.

“I want to tell you what happened, but I’m afraid you won’t believe me. Hell, I was there and I still don’t believe it.”

“(Y/N), sweetie you can tell me anything and I’ll believe you. You haven’t lied to me before. I trust you.”

“Dean’s a demon, well more like a knight of hell to be exact,” you blurted out ripping off the metaphorical band-aid.

“I know. I mean the demon part not the knight of hell part. But that does make sense.”

“You know?”

“Yeah. Right after you left I found footage of him at a convenience store killing people and then boom black eyes.”

“Well, he was my lead. He called me to ask to meet up at the beach we had our second date on and I went. Only he wasn’t alone, Crowley was with him, and he didn’t want to talk.”

“What are you saying?”

Here it goes. You were going to tell Sammy and either destroy him or lose him because why would Dean ever do this to you. Either way he was going to be pissed at what you for what you are about to say.

“Dean knocked me out, locked me in a dungeon, and then he and Crowley took turns torturing me for the last month,” you said as quick as possible as the tears started to flow and you started to shake with sobs.

Sam grabbed you and squeezed you in a tight hug while you cried into his chest. “I’m so sorry (Y/N). I’m sorry you had to go through that. I’m sorry I didn’t try harder to find you. I’m just so sorry.”

This was not the reaction you expected, but it was the one you were hoping for because in all honesty with Dean gone he was all you had left and losing him would be the straw that broke the camel’s back. “It’s ok Sam. Really. I mean do I hurt like hell, yeah. Does it suck that it was the love of my life that did this to me? Hell, yeah. But I’m alive that’s all that matters and I certainly don’t blame you because for all you knew I was hunting down a lead.”

“I still feel bad.”

“Don’t because what I’m about to tell you might make you hate me but I have to say it.”

“Ok….”

“I know you want to look for Dean. I know you want to find, help him and cure him, but Sammy I can’t. I love him and I always will, you know that. I just have to let him go because that’s not him, not anymore. If I don’t get him out of my head Sammy, I’ll end up dead because even though the beatings were brutal they were nothing compared to the verbal lashings I got daily, multiple times a day.”

Sam just looked at you with sad eyes, tears forming but not quite tipping over his eyelids. This was sympathy. You knew Sam. He wasn’t upset with you for saying that. He was upset that thing got so bad for you that you have to feel this way. He knew he needed to protect you but he knew he also had to save his brother.

“I’m sorry you had to endure that. And I’m not mad at all. With what he put you through I completely understand, but here’s the thing I have to save him (Y/N). And there’s no way in hell I’m letting you out of my sight. It’s my job to protect you now more than ever. So, what if you don’t look for him and just let him go and I’ll do it. On my own time and I won’t even bring it up? Does that sound like something you could do?”

“Yeah Sammy, I think so.”

Tags: @jensen-jarpad @alwayskeepfightingmoose If you want to be tagged in any of my future stories hit me up 

[yasuo-the-unforgiven]

                                      [Updates / To-Do List]

Hey! Whats up peeps!

I wanted to take some of your time to sit down and give some insight about my current thoughts regarding what’s to come.

For starters, I wanted to tell I’ve been itching to do a new overhaul for a while. A lot has happened since the last one - roleplay wise and art wise.

 It isn’t as drastic as a theme change, but I will be sure to add some features I miss since the last. Some features I can think of from the top of my head is:

Relationships page - This pertaining mainly the people who roleplay with me and those characters who have already some relationship estabilished with Yasuo.

In-Depth Headcanons page - This here featuring important moments of Yasuo’s life told previously. I have them tagged but they aren’t apart from minor headcanons. Unlike minor ones, major headcanons revolve around indepth and detailed information, such as tales about his childhood, his relationship with Yone, how did he end up with the scar upon the bridge of his nose, etc.

Worldbuilding page - Some of you may know I began a series of worldbuilding posts relating Ionia - but instead of photo reblogs with IRL references, I am hand painting those and fleshing it out through Yasuo’s eyes. He is a wanderer and I figured it would be great to describe the land through the man himself.

Rules and Muse info overhaul - Not so much the information but the way its written. I believe some information could be more objective and some better written. I have constantly touched up these two pages as I saw necessity, but I need to sit down and update everything eventually.

Specially on muse information, I want things to change a bit for better clarity. The issue here is many things changed after Taliyah arrived in the League. My portrayal was adapted a lot after the period and the way I see how Yasuo behaved before that is much more of what I would consider pre Taliyah - his mourning and still in pain self. His earlier years while adapting to his new cruel lifestyle and his fall from his path. I have already talked to every active blog who has interacted with me back then about this.

Everything else falls to excess of information that needs to be filtered and presented better.

Donation Page - Devoting so much time to this blog is always enjoyable, but its also a lot of work. Those following me for a while might have noticed I have set up a commissions page. I now draw for a living, and I don’t plan on asking for handouts. Still, if you like what you see in this blog and feel like leaving this windy hobo a tip, it would be very much appreciated!

[Possible] Thread Tracker - Some of my old followers remember I used to track some threads to make communication easier. I pretend giving the idea thought and bring this feature back since right now I am much more chill with replies. I have to manually update though because some of my followers reblog my threads (no issue on that regard by the way).

URL change - This has been mentioned before, but sometime ago I was gifted the ask-yasuo URL. I believe for a roleplay blog this is more fitting. Some people encouraged me to do so when I announced it but was insecure about it. My current one will go to another blog. Probably a personal.

Old Headcanon Overhaul/Rewriting/Retcon

Concerning older headcanons (this again applies to big stories only), some of them are very outdated and need rewriting and a good art overhaul. Most of them, since I began the blog still stand. I will definitely take my time to rewrite and apply fresh artwork.

For the old followers, this concerns the Jayce ship. I have pondered about it and I decided it is no longer canon for this blog’s timeline. That is so new Jayce blogs may approach if they wish and interact without being placed in a sepparate universe. The Jayce I used to interact with is long since gone and I see no point to keep him within my main roleplay circle. There were mentions of him on a thread with Rinidinger, but this is as far as it goes.

Standalone Headcanons/Stories

Or as I like to call them ‘unrequested headcanons’ - aka, headcanons I think about without having anyone ask me about them. There are still areas I would like to explore with Yasuo and its difficult to wait for the ‘correct question’. I will be looking after stories to enrich his background and tell more about him, but this will come later in time as I already have quite a lot on my plate as is.

Concerning Roleplay / What I seek for future threads

Steady roleplay partners - in short. People whose muses can connect with mine in a less superficial way. This does not stand for friendship/romance always - actually, Yasuo is better at making enemies than friends. This dynamic is something I have been missing dearly, I am not going to lie.

I understand the community has changed and its no longer the same I used to interact with years ago. Because of my recent outburst of ship art, I also believe a lot of you think I am only seeking ‘Dat Graves ™ ’ to ship with and that is not the case. I want to talk and interact with more people, but I have to do that carefully because each thread has a lot of effort placed into it. It’s not just about the pretty pictures - it’s about the portrayal and the writing aswell.

I certainly pretend to keep a decent share of memes, sillyness and other goods to keep a balance and prevent this blog from becoming stagnantly serious. I want to have a good laugh and to shitpost but Yasuo is a serious character. He has his moments but clearly they are not as frequent as desirable. 

To wrap it up with style

 I’m very pleased to announce soon I will be reaching a new follower count milestone and I will be hosting another giveaway event. This time I pretend to mix in what I did in the previous (doodles - but this time in character. Yes. Yasuo is probably going to doodle what you want, if RNG is kind to you) plus two or three free art pieces. Those are sepparate events and will take place at different dates that are yet to be scheduled.

Anyway, I might be missing something or two and I will be sure to reblog an edited version whenever they come to mind. For now, thats it. I appreciate the attention and apologies for the huge wall of text. If you have anything to ask/add/request please leave a comment!

[riichardwilson]

Required Masks, ‘Peace of Mind Commitments’ and Temperature Checks: What to Expect When Traveling This Summer

July 2, 2020 7 min read

Given the events of the past several months, chances are good you know someone who’s cancelled a summer trip to a far-flung locale and traded it for an RV adventure (just look at country singer Miranda Lambert). Or maybe you’re going on a road trip to visit family or camping at a state park or simply doing a staycation. 

After months of stress and economic uncertainty, Americans still want a semblance of normal from their summer, and that means many are trying to figure out a way to travel safely. Since March the U.S. Travel Association and MMGY Travel Intelligence have been conducting surveys on how Americans feel about travel, and though the majority don’t plan to travel in the next six months for business or leisure, 40 percent do plan to, according to MMGY’s June report. Sixty-seven of those travelers plan to do so by car, more than double the number who plan to fly. And those who do fly say they feel safer doing so domestically. 

According to the survey Americans have gotten progressively more confident about overnight leisure travel since March, and this increase, of course, coincides with many hotels and restaurants reopening for the first time in months. 

Related: Selling Cruises During a Lockdown? Here’s How One Travel Agent Does It.

If you do travel this summer, what will it look like, and what are properties doing to prepare for guests? Entrepreneur talked to four hospitality industry experts to learn what travelers should expect. 

The great American road trip is coming back

Located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in a small town called St. Michael’s, the Inn at Perry Cabin has long been a destination for city dwellers from Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and even New York. (The picturesque waterfront inn was the filming location for the wedding in Wedding Crashers.) 

Image Credit: Inn at Perry Cabin

After furloughing most of its staff in March so that they could claim unemployment benefits, Inn at Perry Cabin managing director Michael Hoffmann says he looked to properties in Asia and Europe that had been hit harder to try to figure out a way forward. “We scanned the horizon and said, okay, so what is this? How does it work, and how do you figure out how you navigate reefs and shallows as you sail to the next chapter in the business?” Hoffmann says. “What we realized very quickly is there was nothing firm that you could rely on. There were a lot of gray areas and a lot more questions than there were answers.”

The hotel shut down completely then slowly began doing small things — offering takeout from its restaurants and selling boxes with at-home spa kits, for example. In early June, it reopened 40 of its 78 rooms Thursday through Monday, and by mid-June it upped that capacity to 60 rooms per weekend. Face masks are required inside any of the buildings, but the hotel has only lost one guest over that rule.

Since it opened, Hoffmann says 96 percent of the guests have come from within four-and-a-half hours — Connecticut to the Carolinas — and 99 percent have driven in. By mid-June, Hoffmann said he was turning business away. “I’m doing so reluctantly, but I’m also sending a very clear message that we are here not only to make money, but also to make sure that we are safe.”

Related: Airbnb CEO: It Took Us 12 Years to Build, and We Lost Almost Everything in 6 Weeks

“Second-tier” cities could surge in popularity among travelers

When you’re driving, smaller cities that are a short car ride away suddenly become infinitely more appealing than far-flung metropolises or beach towns. It’s something Kevin Robinson and Mario Tricoci started thinking about when they worked on a hotel project in Chicago more than a decade ago and would drive to nearby cities for business or kids’ sports tournaments. Finding the independent hotel options lacking, they founded Aparium Hotels to manage and develop hyper-local boutique properties in so-called “second-tier” cities like Minneapolis, Detroit and Kansas City. 

Image Credit: Aparium Hotels

“When Mario and I started the company, people gave us a hard time. ‘Didn’t you know Detroit just declared bankruptcy?’ ‘Minneapolis? Don’t you know it freezes up there in the wintertime?’ And we don’t really hear much anymore. These markets are being celebrated more often,” Robinson says. 

They spend months scouting independent coffee shops, breweries, local farmers and mom-and-pop stores in each of those markets to source products from before opening, which will become even more important as they slowly reopen their existing properties and open new ones throughout the rest of the year. “We’re making efforts to celebrate the entrepreneurs, especially in a time like this,” Tricoci says. “As a result of the pandemic, a lot of small businesses aren’t going to come back, and for us to be a little bit of a platform in every one of these markets to celebrate these small businesses and farmers is important. We’re already reaching out to ensure they know ‘Hey, we’re coming back.’”

Related: 7 Entrepreneurs Who Built Businesses Off Their Love of Travel

People still want to celebrate

Laguna Beach, California-based Montage Hotels, which operates hotels and residences across the U.S. and in Mexico, is slowly reopening its properties as states roll back restrictions on business operations. It opened Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina in early June, then slowly opened the doors in Los Cabos, Laguna Beach and Deer Valley over the course of the month. Its Kapalua Bay on Maui won’t reopen until Hawaii lifts its visitor restrictions. 

Image Credit: Montage Hotels

President and COO Jason Herthel has been pleasantly surprised by the number of leisure travelers making reservations, though, especially in its easy-to-drive-to properties like Palmetto Bluff and Deer Valley. An increased number of travelers are booking suites and villas that don’t require them to go through a main building. “Our customers are living through this period of time where their ability to travel, be with their loved ones and celebrate milestone events, whether it’s a wedding or an anniversary, has been taken away from them,” he says. “My initial sense, based on conversations I’ve had with guests and our team, is that our customer is saying ‘I may have previously taken my abilities to travel for granted, and this episode underscores for me how much I value it. So I’m going to travel, because I realize how precious it is and want to celebrate life.’”

Right now, every person who makes a reservation at a Montage property has to review what it’s calling a “peace of mind commitment,” which breaks down the safety and sanitation measures guests can expect at the property. It also informs them that, should they choose to book a spa appointment, for example, they can expect to have their temperature taken and for the staff to be wearing extra protective equipment such as shields, masks and gloves. 

Montage also partnered with a company called One Medical, a direct primary healthcare company, to offer a 30-day membership for its guests (and ongoing memberships for staff and their families). Through that, they’ll be able to access virtual medical care even when they’re away from home. 

Protecting staff while keeping them employed is something each of these hoteliers emphasized is their first priority. “We want the hotel to be a safe haven amidst whatever else is happening around us,” Inn at Perry Cabin’s Hoffmann says. “We have to protect anyone in the hotel — our staff first, our guests second and last but not least the business, because if the business isn’t there, we don’t get the staff and we don’t get the guests.”

Related: Graduate Hotels Is Beating Its Competitors By Going Hyper, Hyper Local

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/required-masks-peace-of-mind-commitments-and-temperature-checks-what-to-expect-when-traveling-this-summer/ source https://scpie.tumblr.com/post/622588055613833217

[scpie]

Required Masks, ‘Peace of Mind Commitments’ and Temperature Checks: What to Expect When Traveling This Summer

July 2, 2020 7 min read

Given the events of the past several months, chances are good you know someone who’s cancelled a summer trip to a far-flung locale and traded it for an RV adventure (just look at country singer Miranda Lambert). Or maybe you’re going on a road trip to visit family or camping at a state park or simply doing a staycation. 

After months of stress and economic uncertainty, Americans still want a semblance of normal from their summer, and that means many are trying to figure out a way to travel safely. Since March the U.S. Travel Association and MMGY Travel Intelligence have been conducting surveys on how Americans feel about travel, and though the majority don’t plan to travel in the next six months for business or leisure, 40 percent do plan to, according to MMGY’s June report. Sixty-seven of those travelers plan to do so by car, more than double the number who plan to fly. And those who do fly say they feel safer doing so domestically. 

According to the survey Americans have gotten progressively more confident about overnight leisure travel since March, and this increase, of course, coincides with many hotels and restaurants reopening for the first time in months. 

Related: Selling Cruises During a Lockdown? Here’s How One Travel Agent Does It.

If you do travel this summer, what will it look like, and what are properties doing to prepare for guests? Entrepreneur talked to four hospitality industry experts to learn what travelers should expect. 

The great American road trip is coming back

Located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in a small town called St. Michael’s, the Inn at Perry Cabin has long been a destination for city dwellers from Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and even New York. (The picturesque waterfront inn was the filming location for the wedding in Wedding Crashers.) 

Image Credit: Inn at Perry Cabin

After furloughing most of its staff in March so that they could claim unemployment benefits, Inn at Perry Cabin managing director Michael Hoffmann says he looked to properties in Asia and Europe that had been hit harder to try to figure out a way forward. “We scanned the horizon and said, okay, so what is this? How does it work, and how do you figure out how you navigate reefs and shallows as you sail to the next chapter in the business?” Hoffmann says. “What we realized very quickly is there was nothing firm that you could rely on. There were a lot of gray areas and a lot more questions than there were answers.”

The hotel shut down completely then slowly began doing small things — offering takeout from its restaurants and selling boxes with at-home spa kits, for example. In early June, it reopened 40 of its 78 rooms Thursday through Monday, and by mid-June it upped that capacity to 60 rooms per weekend. Face masks are required inside any of the buildings, but the hotel has only lost one guest over that rule.

Since it opened, Hoffmann says 96 percent of the guests have come from within four-and-a-half hours — Connecticut to the Carolinas — and 99 percent have driven in. By mid-June, Hoffmann said he was turning business away. “I’m doing so reluctantly, but I’m also sending a very clear message that we are here not only to make money, but also to make sure that we are safe.”

Related: Airbnb CEO: It Took Us 12 Years to Build, and We Lost Almost Everything in 6 Weeks

“Second-tier” cities could surge in popularity among travelers

When you’re driving, smaller cities that are a short car ride away suddenly become infinitely more appealing than far-flung metropolises or beach towns. It’s something Kevin Robinson and Mario Tricoci started thinking about when they worked on a hotel project in Chicago more than a decade ago and would drive to nearby cities for business or kids’ sports tournaments. Finding the independent hotel options lacking, they founded Aparium Hotels to manage and develop hyper-local boutique properties in so-called “second-tier” cities like Minneapolis, Detroit and Kansas City. 

Image Credit: Aparium Hotels

“When Mario and I started the company, people gave us a hard time. ‘Didn’t you know Detroit just declared bankruptcy?’ ‘Minneapolis? Don’t you know it freezes up there in the wintertime?’ And we don’t really hear much anymore. These markets are being celebrated more often,” Robinson says. 

They spend months scouting independent coffee shops, breweries, local farmers and mom-and-pop stores in each of those markets to source products from before opening, which will become even more important as they slowly reopen their existing properties and open new ones throughout the rest of the year. “We’re making efforts to celebrate the entrepreneurs, especially in a time like this,” Tricoci says. “As a result of the pandemic, a lot of small businesses aren’t going to come back, and for us to be a little bit of a platform in every one of these markets to celebrate these small businesses and farmers is important. We’re already reaching out to ensure they know ‘Hey, we’re coming back.’”

Related: 7 Entrepreneurs Who Built Businesses Off Their Love of Travel

People still want to celebrate

Laguna Beach, California-based Montage Hotels, which operates hotels and residences across the U.S. and in Mexico, is slowly reopening its properties as states roll back restrictions on business operations. It opened Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina in early June, then slowly opened the doors in Los Cabos, Laguna Beach and Deer Valley over the course of the month. Its Kapalua Bay on Maui won’t reopen until Hawaii lifts its visitor restrictions. 

Image Credit: Montage Hotels

President and COO Jason Herthel has been pleasantly surprised by the number of leisure travelers making reservations, though, especially in its easy-to-drive-to properties like Palmetto Bluff and Deer Valley. An increased number of travelers are booking suites and villas that don’t require them to go through a main building. “Our customers are living through this period of time where their ability to travel, be with their loved ones and celebrate milestone events, whether it’s a wedding or an anniversary, has been taken away from them,” he says. “My initial sense, based on conversations I’ve had with guests and our team, is that our customer is saying ‘I may have previously taken my abilities to travel for granted, and this episode underscores for me how much I value it. So I’m going to travel, because I realize how precious it is and want to celebrate life.’”

Right now, every person who makes a reservation at a Montage property has to review what it’s calling a “peace of mind commitment,” which breaks down the safety and sanitation measures guests can expect at the property. It also informs them that, should they choose to book a spa appointment, for example, they can expect to have their temperature taken and for the staff to be wearing extra protective equipment such as shields, masks and gloves. 

Montage also partnered with a company called One Medical, a direct primary healthcare company, to offer a 30-day membership for its guests (and ongoing memberships for staff and their families). Through that, they’ll be able to access virtual medical care even when they’re away from home. 

Protecting staff while keeping them employed is something each of these hoteliers emphasized is their first priority. “We want the hotel to be a safe haven amidst whatever else is happening around us,” Inn at Perry Cabin’s Hoffmann says. “We have to protect anyone in the hotel — our staff first, our guests second and last but not least the business, because if the business isn’t there, we don’t get the staff and we don’t get the guests.”

Related: Graduate Hotels Is Beating Its Competitors By Going Hyper, Hyper Local

Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co

Delray Beach SEO

source http://www.scpie.org/required-masks-peace-of-mind-commitments-and-temperature-checks-what-to-expect-when-traveling-this-summer/