#his wife is three days away and he and his best friend have reconciled because time ran out

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

🦐 to recognize my post

Am I the asshole for asking my grandmother if I can move in with her?

This’ll be one of your classic reddit-style family dramas, I think. Back in late 2019 just before COVID, I (freshly 18 at the time) had run away from home with my mom and moved in with my best friend (R, 17 in 2019) and her (60s, deeply depressed) dad. Her dad and I were on good terms for a long time, but respectfully, he has a tendency to repress any issues he has with someone until they build into a bigger issue. Near toward November of 2020, he kicked me out on account of ‘not keeping a job and not doing anything around the house’ (I washed stagnant dishes often, took care of their several animals, and took out trash whenever I could, R and I think he was projecting his shitty roommates from when he was 20 onto me), so I needed a new place to move.

My own beloved father lives ten hours away, and offered for me to live with him. For months, I was preparing to pick up my entire life from the hometown I had lived in since I was 2 years old to move to a new state, and in the last month, I got cold feet and said I couldn’t make such a large change like that. My dad completely understood, and I went to look for a new place to stay, still living with R and her dad at this time.

During this period, I was getting closer with my grandmother on my mom’s side again. She was one of the few family members I felt comfortable with, and we often went to Panera for lunch dates to catch up on things. I won’t go super deep into why I’m so anxious about the rest of the family, because that would require an entire several page google document to explain (especially now that we’re actively banned from holidays).

It was around this time I asked my grandmother if I could move into one of her five or six spare rooms upstairs. My grandfather had died in the last couple of months, and I was confident that if she needed any help (she’s in her mid eighties) moving things upstairs or cleaning the house, I would be beyond glad to do it for her. She then hesitated and said it may be a better idea for me to move in with my dad after all (which was odd, because she hates my dad’s guts, as does the rest of my family), and I let it go after that. I didn’t push, I would just need to find a new place. 

Well, word got around, and she told my aunts and older cousins in passing. I don’t remember if I got sent anything in specific, but one of my aunts (mother’s older sister who I'm genuinely terrified of) absolutely fucking exploded on my (54 at the time) mom, giving her a several paragraph long shitstorm of a message saying she was a terrible mother for letting me take advantage of my grandmother, calling her horrible things, slurs, and insulting her wife, and it got back to me somehow. I was fucking shredded apart emotionally.

Since then, I have moved back in with my mother out of necessity and we have totally reconciled our relationship in the three or so years I’ve been home, and my entire mother’s side of the family- aside from my grandmother- has completely cut contact and don’t invite us to holidays anymore, for significantly more ridiculous reasons than me asking my grandmother what I did.

My mother’s side of the family ostracized her, myself, and my sister since my mother first married my dad 25ish years ago, and has just never treated her the same since, which explains some of the hostility (I want to specify, I’m confident that my mother did nothing outright wrong for this, my family is extremely far-right and EXTREMELY judgemental, and my mom bore unnecessary vitrol for everything she went through), but I need to know if I was actually the asshole for asking to move in with my grandmother, who even now still cares about me as family and lives alone. I could give less of a shit what my aunt thinks now (she lives an entire day’s drive away, in a different state as well), but I can’t help but shake the fear that I was actually taking advantage of her kindness or something of the sort. Was this a wrong thing to ask? Was this actually too much, and should I not have bothered?

What are these acronyms?

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those who are not aware, I have decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s Queer Cinema Syllabus and have officially started Unit 3: Faith and Religion. The films in Unit 3 are: But I’m a Cheerleader (2000), Prayers for Bobby (2009), Latter Days (2003), Blackbird (2014), The Wise Kids (2011), Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party (2015)

Today I will be writing about

The Wise Kids (2011) dir. Stephen Cone

[Run Time: 1:35, Available on: Amazon Prime, Lang: English] 

Summary: “A vivid, dynamic Southern coming-of-age drama, takes place in the transitional space between high school and college, when life seems to be all questions and no answers, and the future is scarily wide open. Set in and around a Charleston, SC Baptist church, weaving through this ensemble piece are three main characters - Brea, an introspective pastor's daughter experiencing debilitating doubt, the hyperactive Laura, Brea's best friend and a devout believer, and Tim, the open-hearted son of a single father, confronting his homosexuality for the first time. Tensions and buried feelings abound, as colleges are chosen and adults behave badly, as Brea, Laura and Tim attempt to hang onto what they have, all the while yearning to break free.” (from IMDB)

Cast: *Molly Kunz as Brea *Eric Hulsebos as Ryan *Tyler Ross as Tim

__

Cast: *Molly Kunz as Brea *Eric Hulsebos as Ryan *Tyler Ross as Tim

This film does feel very Southern, from the outfits, to the South Carolina state flag sticker on the back of the car, to the way everybody interacts with each other. And that was nice, because it felt familiar. I did not grow up religious, but I did grow up culturally Southern and spent a large portion of my life in small towns in the South. Which means, going in to this film, I understood not fundamentally and completely, but to some extent the pressures that come from being raised in a small Southern town when you don't fit the mold. I remember talking with family about that, about the way they felt they had to believe in Jesus or say they did and act in certain ways in order to survive their towns. 

So I sympathize with Brea’s struggle to come to terms with her own relationship to God. That it gets harder and harder for her to hide her own doubt, and that she is the one person who really remains consistent, non-judgemental friends with Tim, and seems to be the first person that he went to when he realized he might be gay. And I loved all the subtle acting choices that the kids did to show who had knowledge about other characters and who didn’t. 

I think Laura needs a therapist and is concerningly obsessed with God, but I did really love and find it interesting how worried she was that anyone would think she was stupid. And I thought that was intriguing in juxtaposition to the pastor’s wife who Brea talks to about doubt, and who ultimately tells Brea not to think too hard about faith. I don’t think we get any explicit commentary from Laura about it, but I think she is toeing the same line Brea did. Laura sees the Bible as fact, and panics when people start to question those facts, Brea started to question and it lead her away from God. I think Laura is scared of where she’d land if she started questioning the foundation upon which her entire life has been built. 

And Tim is really interesting to me because I never really see him struggle with faith. Which is a fascinating choice for a film that covers some intersections of queerness and religion. At the end of the day, it is Laura who struggles the most out of all characters with Tim’s queerness. It is Laura that has a hard time reconciling what the Bible says with how comfortable Tim is both thinking he is gay, and remaining a Christian. I loved that Tim’s dad seemed to know for at least some time that Tim was queer, and while awkward is generally accepting. I guess I was surprised at how little film really seemed to go in to Tim’s own thoughts and feelings around rejection by friends and family. And that it is the adult gay man that really seems to be struggling more with reconciling his own faith and current life with the queerness he is not really able to hide. 

I think The Wise Kids did a really great job at showing a so many different types of people and their beliefs. I thought it was very realistic and relevant that Tim and Brea, the gay boy and the doubter, end up going to college in New York and getting out of the small town, super religious, Southern community structure that I think would eat them alive overtime if they stayed. 

And I did really love the last shot of the film being a recreation of the manger scene as the kids put on the Nativity play, where Laura is Mary is Tim is an angel. I see as a very strong and intentional metaphor around Laura continuing to uphold the traditional views of religion and God. But that Tim, though he is queer, will still be permitted in to heaven, as he sits above the manger. 

For/By/About 

This feels like a by and about film. I don’t know that they really center queerness in this story to the degree that I would consider it for queer people.

Favorite Moment 

Tim’s dad asking him if he had met any boys in New York. I love how awkward the whole conversation is and how Tim’s dad does appear to be in a bit over his head and slightly uncomfortable with asking. Like, he can’t really even say boys or boyfriend or anything, but he loves his kids (“I have my kids” is another one of my favorite lines in the film) and he’s being as supportive as he can be. I can imagine what Tim’s life will be like in a few years, if he gets a boyfriend and brings him home to meet the family, and I see things maybe being awkward at first, but ending with warmth and that Southern hospitality. 

Favorite Quote 

Is actually not a quote at all, it is the deafening silence of Brea in response to Austin’s wife saying that God is bigger than her questions. That silence spoke volumes to Brea’s reaction to essentially being told that the solution to her crisis of faith was to stop thinking about it. 

Score

8/10

I don’t know exactly why, but this film really struggled to hold my attention. I think part of it is because it was focused on three separate kids, they ended up doing a little bit of everything rather than a lotta bit of one thing, and I have a tendency to prefer stories that are able to dig a little deeper.

[landgraabsims]

It's been a while since I released Doogler Valley, and I've been asked a couple of times to release a play order/set of scripted events for players to follow, but I haven't gotten around to it...until now. This is less of a strict play order/scripted event post but more of a look into how I play this hood and set everything up. :D

This post will contain spoilers for the hood, obviously, so don't read ahead if you're worried about any of that.

Part One: Doogler

I always play this household first because Cassidy is pregnant, and I want to get the baby out of the way (in the nicest way possible!)

Artem is a pretty easy sim to please. Make him tons of friends, fix his relationship with Amos, and work on his schooling (if you feel like it!). His family have tons of money, so he'll probably get into college either way.

I always encourage Amos to get the best grades possible, and also to invite over Tanya and Zachary. Romance usually blooms between Amos and one of his friends if you leave him to his own devices. He should be able to apply for a scholarship if you maintain his grades well enough.

Side note: An easier way to resolve the feud between Artem and Amos is to have Amos initiate friendly interactions between them. Artem likes Amos more than Amos likes Artem, so he's far more likely to accept reconcilation than if you did it the other way around. If something goes awry, keep them away from each other, and keep an especially close eye on Amos! He has been known to pick fights out of nowhere.

On day three (or sooner or later, depending on what pregnancy mods you have installed), Cassidy will give birth! I like the Dooglers to have a baby girl, because then I can call her Astrid. It's up to you if this will fix Cassidy and Theodore's relationship or not. I usually let ACR do its own sweet thing when it comes to those two!

I don't really focus on the parents during the first few days, but I usually have Cassidy paint while she's waiting for the baby to be born. Theodore doesn't really want to be Mayor anymore, so I sometimes have him quit his job and pursue his dream of becoming an entertainer. I had him learn magic from Megara Spiel once, that was fun!

There's also the potential in having Cassidy embark on an affair, as she has three bolts with tons of sims in town (including a certain housekeeper)...but be warned, it almost always ends in disaster! Theodore will almost always forgive his wife for cheating via ACR, but their kids will never, ever forgive her if they find out.

[nintendoraeni]

So uh... it's that time of the decade where I go through my "Keep Reading" posts where I was an absolute depressing sack of shit.

Update:

I graduated university with a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science. A lot of family came to see me (including my best friend who flew down from Kansas in secret to surprise me).

I had written this past January about getting two internship interviews. I didn't get either one. The local internship was nice enough to let me know but I was pretty sure I wouldn't get it when they told me they would only be hiring one person. The second internship, however, I was 100% confident in. They didn't even let me know that I didn't get it, I found out when the internship started because uh... I would've been there if I got the job. Probably one of the biggest letdowns of the year. Nevertheless, I kept applying for everything I could find. Had maybe 3 or 4 programming-related interviews that I didn't get (suprise!).

My weight is at 206. There was a point where I was at my highest weight of 216. I had started a low-calorie diet back in August of 2022 and got down to 199. I was doing so well and then....

I got a new job. Unfortunately, not related to Computer Science but as an admin with Progressive that Emily gave me a referral for! They feed us at least twice a week and I get paid $19 an hour and being totally drained from learning a shit-ton, I ate out. Alot. Back to being over 206 but we'll get back down!

Even though I said that I got a new job, I'm still employed with HEB. My lead said that he would schedule me on weekends but he's only been scheduling me one day a week. Was salty at first but I'm actually blessed that he did that.

So with alot of new stuff happening, I looked back at a few posts from the past. I have new feelings about them that I feel like is worth addressing.

Moving on from work family is normal. I remember when leaving Popeyes, I felt like I was leaving behind a family. I would visit very often to say hi and would feel loved when they would greet me back with the same energy. I remember applying back and trying to work both at HEB and Popeyes. I made a post about regretting it wholeheartedly because of how it fucked with my self-esteem. The only thing worth it was that it motivated me to get together with my then-boyfriend, now-fiance. Other than that, I'm no longer connected with my past co-workers save for one or two. No ill feelings towards them but it was just time to move on. I should feel the same about HEB but I've grown so close to a few of them that I'm not quite ready to say good-bye for good. HEB is a whole different ball-game than Popeyes. You don't just leave behind a small crew, you leave behind people from all different departments. I wouldn't be leaving a family, I would be leaving a community. I'm slowly working up the courage to break free and accept that as close as I've grown with them, we probably won't hang out outside of work. ^^;

I see Ram from time-to-time. Maybe three or four times a year. I feel as if I tried too hard to be close with him. We definitely had a father-daughter relationship but not seeing each other as often definitely watered that relationship down. I would still often send him Happy Birthday texts but that's it. I saw a post from his daughter that he's going through back surgery. Might throw in a donation in the GoF*ndMe and wish him well. I do still miss him, but not enough to make an effort to see him.

Fuck Joel. Fuck Mariah. I have dreams about them sometimes where we reconcile but I've officially moved on. Joel was nice and such a good friend back then but I should've left him alone after he was deployed in the army and shouldn't have contacted his wife to ask for HER PERMISSION to be friends with a grown-ass man. Good riddance to the both of them.

I don't know a single person who still works at Popeyes except Ram (who works a good 20 miles away) so I have absolutely no ties with them anymore.

I was a stupid 20 year old who was attention-starved. A guy 7 years older showed interest in me for a good week and I was desperate to keep our interactions going. I should've gotten the hint and stopped messaging him. We sorta stayed friends afterwards but he's no longer active on Facebook and seems like he dropped off the internet.

The people who've been the nicest to me are the friends I cherish the most. Funny enough, when COVID hit, one of my group of friends made a discord so that we could still hang out and social distance and that was the most I've ever talked to them. They still come into town and ask if I'm down to hang and even though I'm not able to 70% of the time, I have the best time with them!

I originally planned on writing down more but I think thinking about all this has drained my brain so I'll probably come back to this at a later time. I need to end this nostalgia episode before it spirals too deep.

[nextstopparis]

i dont know how to explain, but it’s not even arthur’s “just hold me” that fucks me up. its the way he breathes out a pained “please” as if he thinks merlin might deny him.

[lokisprettygirl]

Love is Selfless, It's Kind (Part 58) (Loki x Female Reader)

Summary : A day before your wedding to Loki, You can't help but get emotional.

Taglist : @colifower   @rinacreateart   @christineblood   @the-wounded-healer05   @lokiprompts   @geeky-politics-46   @sharklover927   @virtualstrawberrydinosaur   @huntress-artemiss   @rat-p1ss   @snigdha-14   @daddylokisqueen   @notmesimpingforanothabritishlad  @nonsensicalobsessions

Tomorrow. You were getting married to the love of your life tomorrow. The way you had such ups and downs in your relationship with Loki. You never thought you'd make it to this point. But true love always finds a way so here you are. Since wanda insisted that you two shall stay away from each other, you two have been living in the tower itself. It has truly become another home to you two. Sometimes you think about immortality and how it would be like to outgrow all these people and it makes you sad but then you'd have him at least. He'd have you. You'd never leave him alone.

You didn't want a formal rehearsal dinner, what's the point? So You all got together instead and had a little party. Still hungover from last night, you just wanted to curl up to Loki and kiss the heck out of him but wanda didn't allow you.

When you reached the lounge and found him, he opened his arms instantly to engulf you into him "Mmm my pretty baby" you whispered softly and it made him blush "Beautiful princess I love you, I don't think I told you that today" he kissed your forehead and it made you tear up for some reason, everything made you emotional. You are getting married tomorrow.

"You did actually, you sent that text in the morning and then you said it three times on call" you giggled and like a clock wanda counted the minutes you had with him and took you away. You really needed to spend some time with him, you wanted to spend your last night as his girlfriend with him. Because from tomorrow you'd be his wife.

Everyone was there, Bucky brought his girlfriend Josie. Things were so good between them, Pepperony was pregnant, you finally got to meet Clint's wife Laura, Bruce and Nat were in the process of adopting a kid. Your best friend Wanda and her fiance Vis were set to be married next summer. After moving on from Aliksia's fiasco, Steve decided that he'd move on from Peggy and live his life to the fullest. Thor and Jane would get married soon as well, Eddie reconciled with his ex Anne. And Venom? Well he got to eat two baddies today with the side of Ferrero Rocher so he was extremely giddy.

Everything seemed normal for once, it seemed so perfect that you felt scared of jinxing it.

You looked at him as Wanda got drunk enough to lose hold on you, so he grabbed your arms and took you to the roof of the tower. He conjured a loveseat and you both laid down on it, he laid down on it, you just hid yourself between his arms. Even the stars aligned perfectly tonight.

"I have something for you" he said to you so you looked at him and smiled.

"I have something for you too" you kissed him softly, so soft but then it heated up. He grabbed the back of your head. Your hands ran through his chest, inching down more and more but you had to stop or you won't be able to. "Mmmm, we can't baby" you mumbled so he kissed you one more time and put his hand inside the pocket of his coat. Then he took a picture out of his pocket and gave it to you. "What's that?" You giggled as you took it from him and then you recognised it. It was from the day he came to the store a second time around, to see you again. He drove miles just to see you.

The Same day, You taught him how to use different features on his phone, and how to take selfies. It was the first ever picture you took with him. Your eyes teared up instantly as you looked at the photo, his eyes twinkling and he smiled so widely as he stood behind you "You look so happy here my sweet sweet boy" He was happy that day, happiest he had been in a long time.

He smiled then he placed his hand inside his pocket again and another picture came out. In this one he was looking at you while you looked at the camera "You see that's the moment, the moment I realized that you'd change my life forever and I wasn't wrong" he said to you and tears slipped down your cheeks, so he pulled you closer and wiped them with his lips softly.

You smiled and hugged him tightly "I want to frame it and place it in our bedroom" you told him "That would be perfect darling" he giggled and made them disappear in his vault.

"What do you have for me?" He asked you and you looked up as you sighed "I wanted to show this to you tomorrow but I think this is the perfect time" you smiled and you took your dress off your body. He was so confused for a second so he looked at you all perplexed, then you turned around and sat on your knees, so he traced his fingers from your back and went lower until he spotted the mark. The tattoo that you got. It was right above your tailbone, between your ample cheeks, just a few centimetres above.

"Ohh princess" he traced his fingers over the colorful tattoo, his signature golden horns with his name written between them. He rubbed his thumb over it again and again and the touch made you shiver "You like it? I wanted it somewhere only you'd be able to see" you giggled so he pulled you closer, he wrapped his arms around your chest and kissed on your neck softly "Fuckk I love it princess, you have my name engraved on your precious skin? Makes me feel all feral, like I own you" he whispered in your ear so you turned around to kiss him "You own me lo, owned me since I laid my eyes on you"

Then you kissed him until you both needed to pull away to breathe, he dressed you up magically again because the urge to run his lips over the mark and then make love to you was getting stronger every second.

"I can't wait to be Mrs Loki, officially and legally" you smiled as you both enjoyed the view above you. "I can't wait to be Mr. Y/n either" you giggled as you heard him. Then you teared up again as you thought about everything, you never thought you'd ever reach a place in your life where you'd have someone as loving as him by your side. He changed your life in all the ways you never could have imagined.

"I love you lo, more than love itself" you place a soft kiss on his forehead.

"I love you Princess, more than love itself"

You two stayed there for a while, basking in the beauty you two had in each other.

It will happen tomorrow. Your wedding to Loki Friggason and it will be perfect.

[pillow-anime-talk]

(almost like) mom & dad.

request: ji sweety!! ♡ i loved “wife & huband”! can i request killua, alluka and kalluto being very attached to illumi’s wife? like kill and alluka interrupting their moments alone or kalluto following her everywhere and she is always very sweet and maternal to them?

# tags: headcanon; current marriage relationship & mother figure; romance; big fluff; bit of comedy?; sweet moments; jealousy; sfw

includes: female reader ft. illumi zoldyck & his younger siblings {hxh}

part one {click}

author’s note: omgggg!! i like this even more than the first part!

↘ You had very good contacts with his siblings from the beginning, as I mentioned in the first part; literally from when you introduced yourself for the first time and then moved to the Zoldyck mansion. However, when your and Illumi’s marriage finally did come true, your relationship with his family (and your own too) improved even more.

↘ Your husband’s mother talked to you about all kinds of topics every day, his father used to call you his ‘Daughter’, and his grandfather, Mr. Zeno, would invite you to tea in his office every few days so that you could talk about his and your missions more often. You felt really great between them, like a real member of their big, strong family.

↘ But the best part of this marriage, as it turned out for you, wasn’t taking a new surname, but being adored by Illumi’s younger siblings; the four of them loved you so much. I mean, it might seem that they preferred you to any other member of their family or any of their butlers.

↘ Not gonna lie, but Illumi got fed up with his siblings’ behavior towards you at times, but how could he take them away from you when you got along so wonderfully with them and literally reconciled all siblings by saying that Alluka is an important member of their family and needs as much attention as every other person in this house.

↘ Nevertheless, it was quite annoying for a man when you and he had your little moment like a kiss or something more intimate, and suddenly, literally out of nowhere, the mentioned Alluka appeared with a coloring book, asking you for a minute or two.

↘ You never said ‘No’ to her. Not only because they were her demands, but also because you loved her like your little sister you never had.

↘ She asked you to play, for a new hairstyle, to dress her up in a nice dress, for a walk together... There were many things that you did together as women.

↘ Killua has bothered you a lot too! Of course, you were never angry with him, especially when he asked you to train together or to small talk about Gon, Kurapika and Leorio. You always listened with curiosity to the stories of his three friends and their travels, and then you trained for several long hours, having fun.

↘ He showed you the importance of Nen and the techniques of silent walking, and you trained his temperament so that he would never be guided by emotions, which are often disastrous.

↘ There was also your favorite one – Kalluto.

↘ You literally didn’t love anyone more than him.

↘ Maybe except Illumi, but this headcanon isn’t about him. Lmao.

↘ As time passed, Kalluto was more and more bold and honest with you. A couple of weeks passed, but it was definitely worth waiting for him to finally come up to you, grab your warm hand, and smile at you as beautifully as never before.

↘ Kalluto saw you as a better version of a mother who liked all her children the same, and this is what made him follow you so often, completely ignoring Mrs. Kikyo, his father and other siblings. The woman didn’t hold it against you; in a way, it was even a good and joyful sight for her. She wanted your own children and her first grandchildren more and more!

↘ They definitely couldn’t have had a better sister, daughter and wife than you.

↘ Despite being a killer, I mean, a hell of a good assassin, you didn’t lose your feelings and positive emotions, so you could pass them on to others; you could give them as a teddy bear for Alluka, you could give them as a new sweater for Killua, you could give them as a hug for Kalluto to make him feel some love from the other person, and you could also give them as a new game or standee for Milluki who also adored you (and who I must include here too).

↘ So finally, after many months, you were ready to receive Illumi’s first compliment; it was a compliment you never expected to hear. Or at least not so fast.

↘ “... You will be a amazing mother to our children, Y/N. I don’t know a more gorgeous person than you.” He told you one evening when you, he and all his younger siblings were sitting in the living room, watching TV with Kalluto asleep on your own lap. At the same time, Killua and Alluka fell asleep on both of your shoulders, and Milluki fell asleep on the armchair with a packet of chips that you had bought him earlier.

↘ You smiled broadly at your husband then, and he slightly reciprocated the gesture, gently taking your hand with his much larger one.

[cinnamon-roll-seth]

Meant To Be (Part Two) || Nick Goode

- Part One

Request- Can you write an imagine of Nick Goode from 1978 where y/n is a redhead and is the sister of Ziggy and Cindy. Her and Nick were dating before y/n left camp and Nick dumped her. After a year she comes back with her sisters and they meet again and y/n tries to talk to him but he doesn't want to. And there is a fight like Deena and Sam at the beginning of the movie because Nick was also mad at her because she was kissing a boy and he squeezed her ass and he knows she didn't feel comfortable with it just like Sam and Deena’s fight. And after the fight he ignores her, still loving her, and always thinking about her after years. And then after years they reconcile and stay together for years, until death do them part. (there is no curse in the imagine)

“No, no, no.” You groaned, looking in your rearview mirror as a pair of red and blue lights flashed behind you.

You pulled over and sighed, running a hand through your hair while mumbling out a few curses. Cindy was going to kill you.

You reluctantly rolled your window down as the officer approached your car and bent down, “Ma’am did you know- Y/N?”

Of course it would be Nick Goode, of all people, to have pulled you over.

It had been 7 years since that night at camp where the two of you had fought. After that you avoided him at all cost and only spoke to him when necessary.

As the years went by and you’d grown and matured your negative feelings toward Nick had disappeared. You no longer held any hatred for the man. He was simply an old fling to you now, a silly teenage relationship that didn’t work out.

That still didn’t make him pulling you over any less embarrassing.

“Um, hey Nick. Look I’m sorry if I was speeding, I didn’t even realize. I’m late for my nephews birthday party and if I’m any later my sister is going to literally kill me.” You ramble, reaching into your wallet for your license to give to him.

“You weren’t speeding Y/N. I pulled you over to ask if you knew you had a taillight out.” He reassures you awkwardly.

“Really? The left one? Damn I just replaced that one a few weeks ago.” You mutter, “I guess you have to give me a ticket now, huh? Alright, get it over with.”

“Well technically I don’t have to give you a ticket. I’ll settle for your number instead?” He answers smoothly causing your cheeks to heat up.

“Oh..uh-“

Nick cuts off your stuttering, “Look Y/N. I’m going to go out on a limb here and tell you the truth. These past few years I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. About what it would be like if we’d stayed together. You were one of the best things that has ever happened to me and I was a dumbass and went and fucked it up and I’ve never been able to forgive myself for hurting you. Even if you don’t feel the same way please just give me the chance to properly apologize. The way we left things just doesn’t sit right with me.”

You weren’t sure what to say. You’d be lying if you hadn’t also caught yourself often thinking about what would’ve happened if you and Nick were together still. Would you be married and have kids of your own? Would you have that dog the two of you always talked about?

Yes the two of you had left off on bad terms but that was years ago. You were both older now, more mature. Maybe if you gave Nick another chance things would go different this time. Or maybe you’d get the chance to put the past behind you and be at least friends.

Finally you reached over into the passenger seat into your purse for the pen and notepad you kept inside.

You scribbled your phone number down and ripped the piece of paper off before handing it to Nick, “Call me tonight and we can talk.”

He nodded and smiled before thanking you and sending you on your way. You hoped you wouldn’t regret this.

And you didn’t.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Your family and friends cheered and clapped their hands as Nick gently placed his hands on either side of your face and brought you in for a kiss.

“Ladies and gentlemen I introduce to you: Mr. and Mrs. Goode!”

You’d dreamed about this day that summer at camp when the two of you were together. After your breakup you’d thought bitterly about how this day would never happen. And now the day had arrived after all and it was even more perfect then your sixteen-year-old self could’ve ever imagined.

You were finally married to the love of your life. You were Nick Goode’s wife. All because of an out taillight two years ago.

5 Years Later

“Lunch is done!” You called out to your husband and children from the your back porch.

“Mommy come see our leaf pile!” Your daughter yells excitedly. You make your way down the steps and across the yard to where your husband, daughter, and twin sons are standing around a large pile of leaves.

“Wow that is a big leaf pile,” You tell her enthusiastically.

“Daddy was throwing us in it,” She beams happily.

“Guys I think Mommy wants to play in our leaf pile too, what do you think?” Nick asks mischievously.

“Yeah!” All three of your children reply excitedly.

“Let’s all tackle Mommy on the count of three,” Your husband tells them.

“You better not,” You fake warn them.

“1…2….3! Get her!�� The four of them come running at you and tackle you down into the pile of leaves.

The five of you all fall into the leaf pile giggling and laughing.

“You little devils! I’ll get you for this!” You yell playfully, grabbing one of your sons and tickling him while he shrieks and tries to wiggle away.

Finally the little one escapes and the three kids jump up and run into the house to escape your playful vengeance.

You turn to your husband and grin, putting a hand on his chest, “We’d better go before those little monsters destroy the kitchen.”

You go to get up but Nick pulls you back down and you let out a surprised gasp as you fall back into his chest.

“Let’s just stay here for a minute,” He mumbles, before pulling your lips into his.

You gladly kiss him back, putting your hand on his chest as he has his on your face.

“EWW!” You hear a chorus of little voices, breaking your kiss as you turn and see all three of your kids on the porch staring at the two of you.

“Alright now you’re gonna get it,” Your husband jumps up and runs after the kids, who run into the house yelling and giggling as their father chases them.

You laugh to yourself and stand up, walking towards the house while yelling out, “Let’s go Maisie!”

The german shepherd stops sniffing the bush she was inspecting and chases after you into the house.

You’d finally gotten your happy ever after with Nick and you couldn’t be happier. The two of you truly were meant to be.

[creativeashproductions]

Lost Time // Luke Patterson

Summary: Things changed since Sunset Curve fell apart literally as three out of four members died before a gig. Leaving a sad girl behind Luke by chance runs into the reader with someone else. Death tore the couple apart, and time can’t fix this.

Warning: Talk of death, depression, angst and fluff

Words: 2.2k

Might as well join the Julie and the Phantoms fan club!

*For the sake of the story the time frame has been altered, it takes place in the mid-2000s. Also! I tried to make the reader as generalized as I could to make sure that everyone can relate. The reader is Alex’s sister, for inclusion that can be biological, adopted, half or stepsiblings. I want to make sure all people can be the reader.

Masterlist

THIS IS FROM MY SECONDARY BLOG! REPOST!!

The 1990s was definitely some of the best years of your life watching your brother grow more comfortable in his identity. Alex had kept his sexuality secret, taking the frustration of the secret by learning how to play the drums. You would often be found curled on the chair listening to his growing talent; Alex was a great brother.

Alex found friends in three local boys Reggie, Bobby and Luke, even a little more than friends with Luke briefly. By 1991 the boys had formed a band Sunset Curve with each other and a loyal fan in you. By mid-1994 the band had a fanbase and some gigs, but playing The Orpheum was the goal.

Luke had admitted to Alex, he had feelings for you, and with a lot of encouragement from Alex, he approached you. Luke had been focused on music since his parents gave him his first guitar, so relationships weren’t even on the backburner.

“Hey.” Luke spoke, pressing a kiss to your cheek backstage, “Missed you.”

His hair tickled your skin, bringing a bright smile from the teenage boy and a deep blush from you, private time wasn’t as often as it once had been. After Luke’s fallout with his parents a few months back, he had couch surfed between Reggie and Alex’s rooms; he wasn’t allowed in yours.

“You saw me last night.”

“A monumental time.” Luke bent his bend to place a lingering kiss on your bare shoulder, his jacket having fallen down, “Three years together and a bright future ahead.”

Last night had been the third anniversary of your relationship and hopefully the previous night worrying on parents walking in, cheap dates Luke often felt guilty about. Luke knew in his bones playing The Orpheum tonight would open the door to a legendary future. A future where money wasn’t tight and he could you on dates he deemed acceptable for the love of his life.

Bobby voiced brought Sunset Curve’s lead singer back to that moment, you dropped from the stage to settle in the empty audience to watch the soundcheck. With a wink from Alex, he started making the beat to Now or Never, you beamed as they poured their souls into the song. The four were talented and made to be in a band together even if you didn’t really like Bobby.

Cringing at the awkward wink Bobby sent you turned on your converse to head to the bar for a glass of water. Thanking the bartender, you tuned out the conversation with the waitress and the band only jumping when arms wrapped around your waist.

“We’re getting street dogs.” Luke spoke, bringing your body to rest on his chest, “Do you want one?”

The thought of those street dogs honestly horrifying given they were cooked in some random guys car. The one time you tried, it had permanently tattooed the taste in your memories forever, and just remembering was vomit-inducing.

 “I’ll pass.” You wrinkled your nose, turning to wrap your arms around his neck, “I don’t know how you guys like those.”

“Tradition.” Luke shrugged caressing your cheekbone with the pad of this thumb. Gazing at features he wanted to wake up to for the rest of his life, “Still down with the plan?”

“The minute I’m eighteen, we go to the nearest chapel.” You grinned playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, “I’ll be waiting Rockstar.”

Luke pressed a long passionate kiss on your lips, pulling away to jog over to Alex and Reggie waiting at the door. Bobby having declined the street dog invitation to flirt with the waitress Rose. Alex waved before the door closed. Little did you know that would be the last time you saw them alive.

1995 was the worst year of your life. 1996 was the hardest, especially with the forever reminder of your love. You wouldn’t trade 1996 for the world however, only wishing for one change.

Los Angeles, 2004

Alex, Reggie and Luke had learnt a mere few days away from that life had drastically changed forever. Firstly, the three boys had died from eating the street dogs mere hours before performing on the stage of The Orpheum. Secondly, it was no longer 1995 but instead nearly ten years had past bringing the three ghosts into 2004.

The most jarring wasn’t being able to be heard playing music with a random girl named Julie but that the most constant part of the band no longer was there. You hadn’t died that night, and Alex was pretty sure you were still alive. Luke felt lost waking up without you beside him and the deep regret of not reconciling with his parents.

It would be a week before Luke would swallow his pride enough to orb himself into his unchanged childhood home. Emily, Luke’s mom, was in the well-worn chair knitting a scarf Luke recognized as his favourite colours. Mitch was in the kitchen, putting the groceries away. It was heartbreaking being invisible to his aged parents.

“Hey, Mom.” Luke sniffled sitting on the couch nearby staring at his silent mother, “Sorry for not visiting sooner.”

Tears welled up in the boy’s eyes feeling hopeless, not being able to ease his parents’ pain, the regret and guilt bubbling to the surface.

“How is Y/N? I bet she’s living in New York of London now. We promised to travel the world together. Part of me is guilty of wishing she had eaten a street dog that night so we could be together.” Luke sobbed, wrapping his arms around his midsection reminiscing on the beautiful girl he had unwillingly left.

“Hey.” Mitch spoke, kissing his wife’s forehead. Her eyes closing in contentment.

“I wonder if you know where Reg and Alex’s parents are. Reggie’s neighbourhood was torn down who knows when. It makes me scared to see if Alex and Y/N’s parents still have their place. I don’t think so. They lost their son.”

“Hey Luke.”

Luke glanced over his shoulder to see Alex at the door, reluctant to impose of Luke’s privacy.

“Yeah.”

“We’re rehearsing.” Alex spoke, smiling as the other teenager took one more wistful look at his parents before orbing out of his house to the Molina family’s garage. Minutes later, the front door opening and feet thudding brought the noise to the Patterson home.

“Grandma!”

A four-foot blue of green and black blur covered the room in seconds nearly sprawling Mitch to the floor. Why was that 1996 year difficult? Well, ’95 was when Sunset Curve tragically died, and a stick changed your life. ’96 was spent going through the last five months of pregnancy without Luke.

October 1995

You kept your lips pressed tightly together, unable to look at the smooth, shiny mahogany rectangle surrounded by flowers. Looking up meant the reality kicking in. Funerals sucked. Especially the third funeral in the last handful of days. It was surreal thinking that one week ago you had kissed your boyfriend and hugged your brother and now they were dead. Gone. Not even a goodbye.

“Are you okay?” The broke voice asked, gaining your attention. Swollen red eyes matching yours held unimaginable pain. While the last few months had been icy with your parents, it didn’t mean losing one of their kids didn’t sting.

“I will be.” You whispered clasping your hands over the scratchy black velvet dress, one you had worn three times too many.

The sobs broke out seeing the best picture Alex had taken in his life, it encapsulated his best features; his beaming smile and kind, caring eyes. Alex was gone. Your brother was gone because he ate a bad hot dog with his friends. You would never see your boys again. Never feel Luke’s skin or share a laugh with Alex or complain about things with Reggie. You wouldn’t get to meet in the chapel with Luke wearing second hand ‘fancy’ clothing. In one night, your life changed.

It changed further seeing the two lines on the test later that night. The heartache growing. The baby you carried would never meet his uncles and his Dad. Would never hear them play or learn to play. ’95 and ’96 sucked ass.

You sighed, closing the door to follow the rambunctious ball of energy into the living room where he entertained Mitch and Emily. Some days it was difficult to stare into the green eyes he inherited from his father.

“Benjamin Lucas.” You spoke crossing your arms, meeting the gaze of the eight-year-old boy, “What did I say?”

“To not runoff.” Ben quietly replied, playing with his hands. His messy brown hair, in need of a trim, falling into his eyes, “Sorry Mom.”

“Please don’t do it again.” You gently told the little boy elated as he quickly found the toy box in the corner of the room.

Ben was loved deeply by Mitch and Emily, who had stepped up when your parents made the decision to sell your childhood home. Wanting Ben to know his paternal grandparents, you had struggled to find an apartment and job to say in the neighbourhood. Since the baby was the last part of their son, the Patterson parents’ had welcomed you into the home where you stayed until Ben was two.

“Do you want us to come around for Luke’s birthday?” You questioned sitting on the love seat, the same love seat you had made out on with Luke many times during movies.

The room turned sad at the question and reminded that for the ninth year, you would celebrate Luke’s birthday without him. A day where Ben wouldn’t fully understand. Emily simply nodded her head.

 “Have you met anyone?” Mitch asked, leaning over to clasp his hands together. For the last few years, they had been pushing you to date. They wanted your happiness and for Ben to have a father even if Luke couldn’t be it.

“Mama can we stay here tonight?” Ben’s innocent voice cut the tension, saving you from answering the question again. Mitch and Emily each nodded their heads at the question, unable to tell the young boy no.

“Have you ate?” Emily asked, turning to look at you in concern. The chuckle left your mouth at the question she frequently requested, she missed cooking for more than two.

“We had pasta before we came.” You replied, turning to gaze out the window to the dark sky, “I should put Ben to bed.”

The soft whine from your son and denial was a nightly routine and very much a mirror image to Luke’s character as well. With a smile, Emily held out her hand to her grandchild, she was notoriously the only one able to get Ben to sleep fast.

 “Come on Bug.”

It seemed the universe was keeping Luke from seeing you and discovering Ben, but when that night came, he was shocked. Emily was curled up on the patio couch, watching Ben in the newly bought sandbox. The patio doors opened. Inside, Mitch had invited a stranger who knew his son into the house.

 “I think I heard the doorbell. I’ll be right back.” Emily called out to you. You had found shade under the tree reading a new book.

The soft cry had you up and running to Ben before you even realized, on his knee was a bleeding wound. You had already scooped the boy into your arms to quickly get into the kitchen. The moment your foot stepped into the home, the sound of a familiar voice and song filled the house.

Gently placing Ben on his feet, you followed the sound to the living room. Across the room behind a young girl stood a boy.

“Luke.” You breathed floored at the sight of the teenager who looked exactly like he did back in ’95. The ghost singing widened his eyes at yours, taking in the mature features and change of fashion.

He continued to sing the song Unsaid Emily he had written as an apology to his mom following the last big fight. The song he never got to show her. His voice faded as the ending of the song came around.

“Mama!” Your attention broke from Luke’s when a tiny hand reached for yours. The pain in his voice bringing you back to the most important part of your life, “It hurts Mama.”

Despite being sad, Mitch was the one to cross the room to lift the little boy into his arms. Placing the little boy on the counter, the man gently wet a paper towel to wash the area.

“I think he needs stitches.” Mitch sighed, furrowing his brows.

“Who is that?” Luke asked the Molina girl. The girl shrugged taking in the features she could recognize. Julie asked Emily.

“That’s Ben.” Emily beamed, looking over her shoulder at the little boy that filled the void of Luke’s death. It didn’t fix the wound or erase the pain, but Ben’s existence helped with the loss as he was a precious gift, “When Luke passed away his girlfriend Y/N found out she was pregnant with Luke’s baby.”

The choked sob fell from Luke’s mouth echoed by the thud of his knees, hitting the floor in the pure shock. The heartbreak painted so clear Julie was sure she could feel Luke’s agony.

God, why did Luke have to eat that fucking street dog. Fuck his band dreams. Nothing hurt as bad as finding out about Ben and Y/N having to be a single parent.

“I have a son?” Luke cried, orbing himself as far as he could from the Patterson home and his most tremendous loss.

Part Two

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[yslkook]

complicated

pairing: seokjin x reader summary: in which you and seokjin are figuring your “relationship” out. word count: 2415 warnings: cursing, alcohol, brief smut (like very brief) a/n: a part two to ships in the night. ty to @taestybae​ for listening to me rant about this!!

You and Seokjin somehow find your rhythm, even after months of being out of sync with each other. It makes him nervous, how easily he falls back into his friendship with you. It scares him how now that he’s allowed to, he sees you in a different light.

Like you had said. It was a cliche, that he was coming to terms with his seemingly hidden feelings for you after a three year long engagement with another woman. Another woman that he hardly thinks of these days. Because all he can think about is how soft you feel curled up next to him, and how your hands feel intertwined with his. All he can think about is how your face lights up when you see him, as if he’s the only one in the room.

It’s been almost eight months since Jin had ended his engagement with Taeyeon. He doesn’t know what the appropriate time is to wait into jumping into another relationship after a failed engagement. But does it bother you? 

You don’t like complicated. So you let him hold your hand. You let him kiss you. You let him sleep in your bed, reminding you of when you were both in college. You let him hold you in a way that is definitely more than friendly.

Yoongi tells you that you should ask him what he’s thinking. Ask him where you stand with him. But the idea of complicating whatever you have with Jin doesn’t sound very appealing. Yoongi tells you that you’ll break your own heart again if you don’t figure your shit out with Jin. Jimin gives you flirty eyes and his warm smile, finally happy that his two friends who were like his older siblings finally are venturing out of the bounds of friendship. And Jungkook worries that you’ll get hurt.

They’re all probably right. And you deserve better than a boy, regardless if he’s your best friend or not, have you out of sheer convenience. But you know Jin. You know his heart, and you know when he’s genuine. But still, you make a promise to yourself. That you’ll talk to him at some point.

Jin had asked you to accompany him to his parents’ house for dinner about a week later. You think nothing of it- you’re closer to his family than your own family. You had contemplated whether you should dress more casually or dress up a little. You decide on dressing up a little bit, wearing a blouse tucked into your pants and a brown plaid jacket. The way Jin’s eyes widen as you swipe your lip gloss on makes it worth it, you think.

“You look better than I do,” Jin whines, pulling you into his side and dropping a kiss to your lips quickly. You swipe at his bottom lip to take the remnants of your gloss off of him. It should be strange, how easy kissing him was. 

“God forbid,” You roll your eyes and wrap an arm around his waist, pulling you flush against his chest.

“We’ll be the only tens in the house. Well, I’m an eleven, but you’ll do,” Jin says and you scoff fondly.

“Alright, keep dreamin’, Jin. Keep living in your delusions. I won’t burst your bubble.”

“Kim Seokjin!” You hiss at him, swatting your hand over his shoulder, “You did not tell me that your brother and his pregnant wife were coming. And your cousins. And your aunts and uncles! You ambushed me!”

“What’s the big deal?” Jin hisses back, rubbing his shoulder, “They all love you anyway! You act like this is the first time-”

“The first time! It is the first time, you idiot,” You pull him to you by the lapels of his jacket, cursing his stupidly handsome face, “It’s the first time I’ve been around your entire family while we’re doing whatever it is that we’re doing!

“No wonder your mother is looking at me like she has a secret,” You rant, “Oh my god, and your brother- he looked so fuckin’ happy to see us. Oh my god-”

“Hey,” Jin says sharply, “Will you relax?”

“Seokjin! No, I will not relax! Can’t believe I had to be ambushed just to get an answer out of you for what it is we’re doing here-”

Jin sighs and pulls you into his arms, muffling your surprised gasp. You melt into his hug quickly, and most of your irritation has washed away. He’s always been an instant source of calm for you, and this time is no different.

“Is that what this is about?” Jin murmurs and before you can snark at him, he clasps his hand over your mouth, “You’re mine and I’m yours. That’s how it’s always been. And that’s it. Doesn’t have to be so complicated, baby.”

“Complicated…” You echo, feeling your muscles relax, “Unconditionally?”

“Yeah. Unconditionally.”

At the end of the night, when Jin’s father insists on a family picture with everyone in it, you don’t even feel out of place pressed up against Jin. You squeeze his hand in yours tightly and smile.

It’s not so complicated.

You almost drop your coffee when you see none other than Taeyeon, Jin’s ex-fiancee, staring at you as if you have ten heads.

“Uh,” You say eloquently, squeezing your cup of coffee. You had gone to your favorite coffee shop after work to pick up pastries for you and Jin before seeing him later that evening.

Taeyeon finally gives you a weak wiggle of her fingers. “Hey. Long time no see,” She says. She looks good, you think. She looks happy. Happier than when she was with Jin.

“You look good,” You comment, voicing your thoughts out loud, “How have you been, Taeyeon?”

Your heart is slamming in your chest, for some unknown reason. You can’t help but feel guilty all of a sudden. Even if you had done nothing when her and Jin had been together.

“Good. How have you been?” Taeyeon says politely.

“Good,” You echo. What does she want with you? She seems to hesitate for a minute before sighing deeply.

“Will you sit with me for a minute?” Taeyeon says quietly. Your lips part in surprise, eyebrows shooting up to your hairline.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay,” You murmur and lead her to one of the tables by the windows, “So how are you really? I didn’t think you’d want to hear from me. Considering…” You trail off, your eyes meeting hers.

“Yeah,” Taeyeon nods, “I didn’t. Want to hear from you, that is.”

“Fair,” You reply, “Not sure why you wanna hear from me now, then. Want a croissant?” You take a freshly baked croissant from the box and hand it to her. Her eyes glaze over your left hand, namely your ring finger. Before she can protest, you shove it in her hands and she murmurs a soft ‘thanks’.

“You bringing those for Seokjin?” Taeyeon says, not an ounce of bitterness in her voice. She was always too good. Better than you could ever be.

“Yeah,” You say simply. Part of you wants to say ‘is it any of your business?’ but you refrain. You’re certain this is hard for her. But she’s the one who wanted to talk.

“I was thinking about you the other day,” She says softly. Taeyeon is just full of surprises today, isn’t she. “I just…”

“Taeyeon… You don’t have to do this. We don’t have to do this. You can hate me-”

“Hate you? I never hated you,” Taeyeon says, taking a sip of her coffee, “Okay, maybe I did for a little. But that was only because you were the easiest person to blame at the time. Seokjin and I would have never been happy together.”

You stay quiet, chewing nervously on your bottom lip.

“I moved on. There’s no reason for him not to,” Taeyeon continues, her voice soft and melodious as it carries through. You raise your head in surprise, trying to mask it quickly. But she picks up on it and smiles.

“That’s great, Taeyeon. I’m happy for you,” You say, and you mean it. Her eyes brighten at your words and she gives you one of her show-stopping smiles. The smile that Seokjin fell in love with all those years ago.

“He hasn’t put a ring on you yet?” She says, half jokingly and you snort.

“How do you know I haven’t put a ring on him yet?” You wink at her. You remember why you had defended her to your friends when they said that her and Jin didn’t fit- she was genuinely so nice. But that didn’t take away from the fact that they didn’t fit. You missed her friendship, and that revelation has you surprised.

“He seems to be taking his sweet time. Considering that you were one of the reasons we ended things,” Taeyeon says airily. You wince at her oblivious bluntness.

“Taking his time with what?”

“Making you his. The way you should’ve been from the beginning.”

Breath seems to be stolen from your throat at her words and you choke on your coffee. “Taeyeon…”

“I’m only saying. He broke an engagement for you. What are you both scared of?”

“It’s…” You exhale, somehow trying to reconcile that you’re speaking about your relationship with Jin with his ex-fiancee, “Complicated. It’s complicated.”

“Is it?”

Jin’s head is in between your legs, your back braced over the couch. Your hands tangle in his hair, tugging lightly as a lewd moan escapes you. Despite his lips dotting your inner thighs in kisses, his hands flat over your hips… Your mind is preoccupied. 

Taeyeon’s words replay in your mind on loop. Jin can tell you’re distracted and he pulls away with a sigh and with rosy lips.

“Babe,” He sighs, “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” You mumble, wrapping your legs around his waist to nudge him by the heels of your feet. Jin lays on top of you, shoving a hand up your shirt to play with your tits lazily.

“What’s on your mind?”

“I saw Taeyeon today. Your ex-fiancee, remember her?” You say bluntly and Jin freezes for a second, his fingers clamped around your nipple.

“Of course I remember my ex-fiancee,” Jin hisses, squeezing your waist, “What could my girl possibly be talking to my ex-fiancee about?”

“What else do we have in common?” You roll your eyes, “You. And croissants. She looks good. She’s happy, told me about the girl she’s seeing.”

“And you? Are you happy?”

“She said something funny,” You say, ignoring his question, “Said you broke your engagement for me and that it was stupid that we weren’t together.”

“Not together? You think we’re not together?” Jin asks incredulously, “This is fuckin’ weird, baby. Because Taeyeon said we’re not together, you think we’re not together?”

“I don’t think anything, baby,” You say stubbornly, “It’s...complicated.”

“What’s complicated? I’m yours and you’re mine. That’s all there is to it, remember?” Jin murmurs, cradling your face. You pull him down for a hungry kiss. You don’t want to talk about it anymore. You only want him.

Hoseok’s New Year’s Eve party, or the party of the year as he dubbed it, was in full swing. Bottles of alcohol were opened on the designated table, red, black and gold streamers and decorations all over his apartment, with everyone dressed in either red, black or gold to match the theme. As per his request.

You were wearing a tight, red midi dress. Jin nearly convinced you to stay home, with his wandering hands and lingering touches. But you wanted to end the year with a bang, and you’d be damned if he held you up. He was hot, and you thought it was cute when his ears reddened at your soft sigh when you saw him.

You’re about four drinks deep, in the middle of drinking games with equally, if not more, tipsy friends and you’ve never been happier. You cheer loudly when your team wins, giving Jungkook and Yoongi’s girlfriend kisses on the cheek at your victory.

Seokjin is on a mission to get you alone. When he finally gets his chance, inching his way in between you and Taehyung, you grin widely at him. With your arms flat on his chest.

“Hey,” You purr, “Missed you.”

“Wanna tell you something,” Jin says, a little desperately and takes you outside, on Hoseok’s balcony.

“Outside? It’s cold,” You complain, rubbing your bare arms. Jin immediately draws you into his chest, replacing your hands with his. As nice as it is, you’re still cold.

“I need to talk to you,” Jin pleads, taking your chin in his hands.

“Jin,” You ask worriedly, “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“I love you,” Jin exhales, “I love you so much.”

“I know that,” You smile, heart still skipping a beat at his words. 

“No, you don’t understand,” Jin says frantically, “I’m in love with you. I’m so in love with you. Even when I didn’t know it, I was. You are my best friend, my soulmate, and I am in love with you.”

“O-oh. Like that,” You murmur. His words are new, but for some reason, you don’t feel any different. Maybe it’s because you’ve known for the last few months. You’ve known how he felt about you. But still. His words are everything. 

“Yeah. Like that.”

“I’ve been so in love with you for… God, I don’t even know how long,” You sigh dreamily, melting into his kisses over your cheek, your forehead, your chin, “Say it again, Jinnie.”

“I’m in love with you,” A kiss to the corner of your mouth, “I love you-” A kiss to your eyebrow, “I fuckin’ love you,” A kiss to your lips.

“Want to end the year with you as my girlfriend,” Jin murmurs into your neck, “And start the next year with you as my girlfriend. Will you do that for me? Will you do that with me?”

“Yeah,” You nod, almost shy, “Fuck, yeah. I’ll do that with you.”

“I wanna do everything with you,” Jin sighs, “Every fuckin’ thing, babe. Do it all with me. I love you. I love you. I’m in love with you.”

Your heart is singing, you feel like you’re floating and when Jin kisses you at midnight in front of all of your friends… Even dipping you dramatically. The cheers of your friends are muted with the press of Jin’s warm lips on yours with the promise of a future together.

It’s not so complicated.

[jpegjade]

Missing - Spencer

Requests: 

Hey! I just thought of an idea where Spencer and the reader are dating but no one on the team knows, but when the reader goes missing or gets hurt or something they all figure it out?? 

Hi! I have a request 🥰 Could you write something where the reader gets captured by an unsub and spence/the team save her just in time??

Warnings: Aight yall, we’ve got some unsub angst. Light talk about the case and really angsty shit. Kidnapping. If you feel like you’re not able to handle it at any point while you’re reading, stop reading! Mental health first!

_______________

“SON OF A BITCH.” Reid yelled for the third time this morning. 

He was panicking and no one on the team could figure out why this was affecting him so badly. They knew you guys were close friends but you were close with everyone on the team. You were the second resident  tech genius in the building but you were out in the field, on the trips, as a way to get another handle on things. They thought this would affect Penelope more than it would affect anyone else but Spencer wouldn’t calm down.

It had been 12 hours since you had gone missing. It wasn’t like you to stop answering his calls, ignore his texts, or leave the house. You were happy, overjoyed just to be with him. You wouldn’t take off like this. This wasn’t like you. 

“Reid, calm down.” Hotch said for the third time. . 

“She isn’t the type to just run off or go anywhere without letting me know. She’s a little paranoid considering the last time she stopped contacting us was because she was kidnapped. And now this.” Reid was pacing and he wouldn’t stop moving. 

“We need to look at the victimology. Treat this like we would treat any other case, no matter how closely it hits to home for all of us.” Hotch said, pulling up the file. 

There wasn’t much to find. Penelope went through your emails, nothing strange. Just a lot of fanfiction about bands, movie characters, tv shows. You even wrote some occasionally. 

Morgan and Reid checked your apartment for any clues. Nothing out of the ordinary, no signs of struggle. There was nothing to suggest that you were anything but normally living there. 

JJ and Hotch looked at any recent kidnappings in the area that might have been similar to yours. Of course, they put out an APB with local police but there was nothing to suggest that you were in distress. 

Your mom didn’t know where you were and you didn’t have the best relationship with your dad in the past but recently, you were trying to reconcile. That was odd to him but he admitted that he liked it. None of your immediate family could tell Spencer a thing about you and he wondered how in the world they could call themselves your family when they knew almost nothing about you. You had mentioned you weren’t close to anyone anymore but he didn’t think it was this bad…

Sitting in the parked car, Derek looked over at Spencer. “I hate to say it, I really do, but maybe she just took off. Maybe she went on a last minute vacation and-”

“She wouldn’t do that. Not to me.” Spencer said, realizing he was making it really personal. “We’re her family. She wouldn’t just run from us. We have to find her.” 

“What’s up baby girl? Tell us something good.” Derek said, answering the phone. 

“I would love to go back and forth with you but you’re three blocks away from y/n’s cell phone. It’s moving so wherever it is, that’s where she is. Sending you a location stream now.” Garcia hung up and Derek saw exactly where the phone was. 

He drove like hell to get to you. Spencer’s heart raced so fast that he could barely believe it. This came out of nowhere. When Garcia tried to find your phone earlier, it was turned off so there was no signal. Thank god your phone came back on but there was something nagging at him. Why did your phone come back on when whoever took you was so careful to make sure you couldn’t be found. Maybe they wanted you to be found. 

The address led to a parking garage. As painful as it was, Morgan had to climb slowly up the garage to see everything. For the most part, it was empty because it was getting late. The sun was setting and in this part of town, everything closed early on Fridays. Each level seemed like it took forever to climb up until they reached the top of the garage, where you were standing near the ledge. THere was someone with you, a hooded figure. 

“FBI, step away from the girl.” Morgan said, hopping out of the car with his gun raised. Spencer raised his as well, already expecting this to go south. 

You were calm, quiet. You turned around slowly and gave Spencer a knowing smile. Spencer’s heart sank. He knew that smile. You were scared but doing your best not to show it. You wanted to show him that whatever happened, you would be okay with it. Everything was going to be okay. 

“How nice of you to show up.” The hooded figure stepped behind you, using you as a shield. You felt something solid press against your back and you froze. Your smile faltered and Spencer saw it. You were terrified and trying hard to not spur the unsub on, not communicate to Spencer. 

“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen.” Spencer said, slowly stepping forward, gun trained on the unsub. “What you’re going to do is step away from my girlfriend and come with us where we will take you in and get you the help you need. All you need is a little help.” 

The unsub took the gun from being pressed to your back and pointed it at your head, resting on your temple. Your breath hitched in your throat as you tried to focus on Spencer. You had to keep your focus on Spencer or you wouldn’t make it. Tears streamed down your face, steady and unrelenting, but you tried your best to keep your breathing steady. 

“You think I forgot. You think you could move on from me. You thought I wasn’t going to track you down and ruin your life, didn’t you, Spencer Reid?” It finally clicked for Spencer and his blood ran cold. 

There was a girl he broke up with a few years prior. She was absolutely crazy about him and he was crazy about her until the relationship started going sour. It became something that Spencer didn’t recognize and when she started getting into this really dark stuff, Spencer ended things. Gently, of course, but she was devastated. 

“I wanted so damn long for this. I’ve been watching you, watching her. Watching you look at her the way you looked at me. I’ve been planning this for years and you didn’t even notice. You were so consumed with this piece of trash that you didn’t realize what was happening.” The unsub pressed the gun harder to your head, the cold metal on your skin. 

“Spence, baby. It’s okay.” You said, smiling a sad smile. You knew what was going to happen to you next and you weren’t scared. You were at peace with everything. The man you adored and loved was there for you the whole time. He never stopped looking. You didn’t have to die alone. 

“Baby. You make me sick.” The unsub said, making a gagging sound. 

It pissed Spencer off how it sounded like a game to the unsub. Leah. Her name was Leah. And he remembered every moment with her, good and bad. But you know what else he remembered? Maeve. He remembered trying to reason with the unreasonable and Leah was definitely unreasonable. He wasn’t going to make that mistake again. 

He tapped the right side of his gun twice. He watched your eyes widen in recognition. 

“I love you, baby.” You said, smiling a sad smile. You knew he was going to try to save you but if it didn’t work, then he needed to know how you felt. 

“This is going to be fun. Taking her away from you is-” That was the last thing Leah said before a loud pop sounded and her body dropped to the ground. Head shot. 

You crumpled to the ground, body wracked in sobs you had been holding in all day. You were inconsolable and terrified, even though the worst was over. Morgan looked at Spencer as he ran over to you, bringing you into his arms. 

“I’m right here. I’m right here.” He kept repeating as you continued to sob. Loud and heavy, you were in shock and just kept crying. 

Soon enough, an ambulance came. You guessed Morgan called for one. The EMTs put you on a stretcher and gave you a shot of some cocktail to help you get some rest. Spencer rode with you to the hospital, holding your hand the whole time. Even sedated, all you could think about was how good Spencer looked in his bulletproof vest. Damn, the boy filled out. 

“You’re mine…” You said before blacking out. 

At the hospital, once you were situated in a room, Spencer went out to meet the team in the waiting room. Everyone looked relieved when he told them you were sedated but were going to physically be okay. Spencer left out that you weren’t going to be mentally okay for a while because that part was implied. 

“So, Morgan tells me you’ve been keeping a secret from us.” Hotch said, crossing his arms. 

“I fell in love with her.” Spencer said, looking down at his converse. 

“Well, next time you have important information to disclose, such as a relationship to the victim in one way or another, be upfront about it.” Hotch said. 

“Aww,” JJ and Garcia said as soon as Hotch was done. 

“I’m looking for Mr. Reid.” A nurse came by the waiting room said. “Your wife is awake.” 

“Oh she’s…” The nurse turned around and started walking Spencer to your room. Spencer assumed you told them the two of you were married so he could come back and see you past visiting hours.

“Hey wifey,” Spencer said, giving you a kiss on the forehead. 

“Yeah, she was going to kick you out if you weren’t married to me or related. We look nothing alike so I went with the latter. And I really need my husband right now…” You said, a fresh tear rolling down your face. 

Spencer wiped it away with his thumb and climbed into bed with you. The only sound coming from the tv. You were about to say something when he started getting sleepy again. Before you or Spencer could talk about everything that happened, you were asleep again. Peacefully asleep and safe in his arms.

______________

Tags: 

@winchestertardis

@ancailinaerach

[murtaghsbeard]

Season 5 ep 9 - Monsters and Heroes

Buffalo

Marsali belly. Marsali getting coy and calling Claire “Ma.” Guesss you have to move on from “hooooore” at some point. Good for them.

Indigo time. Boring voiceover by Claire about colors

More shirtless Roger and Brianna. Show, I do not have any interest in that at all. Please stop treating this as something appealing. Luckily the baby interrupts. They teach him the word shit.

Jamie is banging on the door so it’s a race to get presentable before the door is flung open. It’s hunting time and he needs help shooting game for the winter. Har! He wants a good shot to accompany him, thus Brianna. She insists that she has been looking forward to dying cloth. Sure.....That sounds much more exciting than exercising your actual talents on a hunting trip with the dad you traveled back in time to meet. Anyways, why not take Roger along as your useless lackey because the only thing he has demonstrated he could shoot is Claire from 6 feet away? Roger is so bad at everything and despite three times as many teach Roger to use a gun scenes as it took to make Brianna an engineer, no one has managed to make a good shot out of Roger. I’m sure this will be the episode where Roger proves his worth to Jamie, but I prefer watching him as a pitiable, useless lump. Ha, they still call him Roger Mac....Which I feel in my heart is a jibe, but they keep using it sincerely.

Why are you sending away Ian? He is your the best hunter. They find some bison but leave only Roger to assist Jamie. Very Suspect.

Jamie gets bitten by a viper. Roger gets hacking at Jamie’s leg. The old cut suck spit.

Roger agrees to just leave the bite victim in situ alone.

Roger must get help. Roger gets lost. Roger shoots a tree. Roger turns up at Jamie’s camp not having succeeded in getting help. Jamie, for all his agony has made a fire, prepared dinner, set up camp. Roger is not too fussed about Jamie’s snake venom issue.

Jamie kens he might be dying. He decides to let Roger in on his unfinished business-Please kill Steven bonnet, I’ve arranged all the particulars. Roger is all “ I don’t know if I can...murder, it’s just not my style.” Jamie presses him.

Roger, this show is about an audience of women. It’s full steam ahead with murdering vicious rapists here. Your prevarication wins you no fans. It’s Jamie’s unquestioning, at times reckless, fervor for righting the wrongs done to his wife and shield her from the rest that is the bedrock of this franchise. You won’t be spin off worthy until you adopt a similar mantra.

Jamie, though his body courses with poison, must lay out the situation rationally for dim Roger. It’s about the inheritance, dummy. Bonnet is going to shit all over everything, dummy. Your wife’s reputation, the paternity of your child, everything. You should kill Bonnet.

Finally the competent fellows find Jamie and Roger, led of course by the dog

Claire needs maggots for Jamie so Marsali gets all the folk out looking for them... in the forest? Wouldn’t their own barns and domestic spaces be more likely?

Jamie spies the leg saw laid out for him. He doesn’t like it.

Finally! Josiah finds a maggoty rabbit

Oh shit, it’s the bison in the yard. Claire and Brianna sort it out in 30 seconds

There is medicine to help save Jamie’s leg. The problem is no syringe

Jamie is very stubborn about the prospect of losing his leg. Ian gives him a thorough shaming in about 39 seconds. Finally, we get the dream team, Ian and Fergus, though the show cuts the glory short.

I’m sorry. What is this. A recusitating handjob??? I..... Like a magical, bring-you-back-from-the-dead handjob???

Love Fergus, teaching his toddlers about forest mushrooms! What better way to honor our fungal overloads with a little forest birth over the mycelial patch. Thanks Marsali.

Jamie is now reconciled to losing his leg and they are set to do it. But then Bri all busts in, I’ve made a syringe out of the offending snake’s tooth. There is a metaphor here!

When all is said and done, I’m very pleased that Roger did a middling to pitiable job as caretaker of the incapacitated Jamie. A triumphant Roger might give me an anyeurism. Glad that Bri experiences getting tossed by a bison without a scratch and then putting an engineering degree to use with fang syringe. Bri 4 stars, Roger 1 Star. Squirm like a worm for another day my friend.

However, Roger feels it’s his four star moment and gloats to Jamie.

Roger wants to watch Jamie kill Bonnet. I guess that’s improvement over where we last left things.

Getting a bit perturbed watching this slow build of Roger and Jamie building a relationship, when Roger threw a Molotov cocktail on every good feeling he had built with Brianna and then the narrative just let’s him drop in, say no harm, no foul. We’ll be married with no apology from me and I’ll continue to be barely tolerable from here on out, and we are just meant to accept it

So! Glad! To catch up on what this cat has been doing. Actually!

[pacific-rimbaud]

Please bless with your Christmas Parkweasel headcannons

I’ve been sitting on this ask until the right moment, and the Right Moment is apparently when I haven’t slept in like 50-something hours and have forgotten to cut off this emergency room visitor bracelet that says “TUESDAY” in five different fonts (we’re fine, everything is fine, I’m just vry extreme tired but it’s: 12:43 p.m.)

ParkWeasel at Christmas below the cut!

Pansy Parkinson cannot be touched in the areas of: decorating, personal styling, and throwing a party. She throws the best parties. I am not open to discussion on this topic. She can organize a flawless wedding and a large, formal, uptight gala kind of deal, but every Christmas she hosts a large party with friends at their home. She always wears something kind of borderline, like a shortshortshort silver sequin dress and mile-high heels, just this side of being too much. She excels at getting the right people talking, playing the right music, keeping the energy at exactly the right level, making sure it’s really well lubricated with incredible cocktails, but no one ever gets truly shitty. Every year she sends everyone home with a new magical ornament. She does it all so masterfully that Percy forgets he hates parties. Once it’s over, he draws her a bath while he cleans up so meticulously you’d never know they had people over, then spends ages demonstrating his appreciation and admiration for her in bed. It’s secretly his favorite night of the year, outside of their anniversary.

Percy has a handful of homespun and kinda kitschy decorations from his childhood, and for along time keeps them packed away in a box. Pansy finds it one day, and he comes home from work to discover the paper Christmas village he spent hours and hours adding a house and magically animated paper figures to every year set up on the mantel, living in miraculous harmony with the spare lines of his absurdly expensive midcentury candleholders and Pansy’s weekly rotation of fresh flowers in her great-grandmother’s cloisonné vases.

The Sweaters. Pansy puts hers on at bedtime on Christmas Day, just long enough for them both to make funny faces and take a selfie for Molly. Then she tells Percy he’ll never make her take it off, which is a very fun sort of challenge. The first time Molly receives the photograph by owl is the moment she fully understands that her daughter-in-law has made her son completely, deliriously happy. She’s been warm to her ever since.

Percy struggles at Christmas: because of his grief over Fred, and because while he’s reconciled with his family, he will always, for his entire life, be different from the rest of them in ways that make him feel isolated and lonely. Pansy has no baggage around the holidays, beyond the teenage years she spent defying her mother over stiff Christmas dresses by emerging from her bedroom wearing them with slightly inappropriate shoes. She thinks it’s all a pleasing, if hectic, sort of lark where she gets nice new jewelry from Percy and outrageously expensive gifts from her parents, and has an excuse to wear kitschy lingerie. She has ample emotional bandwidth, so she pours her considerable talents into speaking Percy’s love languages loud and clear over the holidays. She does a killer job as his plus one at the Ministry Christmas party, she buys him the most unexpected and thoughtful gifts that show she spent time and energy on him, she sends him owls during the day that let him know he’s on her mind and how special she thinks he is. Fuck. He has no idea how he managed to be so lucky.

Percy is low-key shite at gift buying. His primary love language is not gifts, and he tends to think of things in overly practical terms. He believes Pansy when she tells him how charming she thinks his ineptitude is, because she’s not actually a gifts person either, but he has a standing date every year to go shopping with Blaise Zabbini. Neither of them has ever disclosed this to another person. They both really look forward to it.

What Percy brings to the table at Christmas is: how much he utterly adores his wife and their little family of two. He takes on every aspect of the Christmas cards, the thank-you cards, delivering gifts to friends, wrapping—whatever he can do, he does with the utmost care and without being asked, with the aim of communicating how wildly, achingly spectacular he thinks she is.

He goes truly, truly overboard on gifts for their black-haired three month-old daughter on her first Christmas. Pansy thought she knew how much she loved him before he started coming home from Diagon Alley and explaining the rationale for purchasing each set of wooden blocks and every paperboard book and the magical music box that plays intelligence-enhacing classical compositions, but she was wrong.

[thefreakydeaky]

Call Out My Name

Part Eight Title: The Town

Characters: Negan, Reader, A stupid little prick named Rick Grimes, Garbage pail kid Daryl Dixon, Tanya and Frankie.

Summary: You belonged to him.Try as you might to pretend indifference, Negan’s very presence has awakened feelings in you that you believed had died with the old world.Is the ruthless King of the Sanctuary still human enough to fall in love?

Warnings: Language, Canon Typical Negan BS, Canon Typical Violence, A bit of gore, Angst.

Word Count: 3000

With each step you took your stomach knotted tighter in dread of the big scary u.Dealing with the unknown had always been a problem for you. When something was unknown, you were stuck waiting around to find out and in that time you could not plan for it.Upon reaching the ground floor, you saw that all of the dock doors had been pulled down. Every exit locked and blocked.The hungry rasps of the dead filled you with dread.It sounded like you were surrounded. Your eyes darted nervously about the place, from the worn and teary faces of the scared inhabitants to the hard expressions worn by the invaders.

The pounding of heavy boot steps had you swiveling your head about to find the source.

“Don’t you think of tryin’ anything.” Darryl grated.

“Get down on your knees.” He ordered gruffly.

You and the other two girls knelt on the concrete floor, waiting.

You could hear someone approaching behind you.Your breathing quickened in horrible anticipation.

“Are these his...wives?” A deep voice, asked calmly. “Carl said there were five.”

“I looked all over. Found one dead and these three."

You closed your eyes, wondering briefly who it had been.Your stomach churned.You knew what would happen next.He would hit you.He would hit you and demand to know where Sherri and Amber were.You wouldn’t have an answer, except to say you hadn’t seen them in a couple of hours.

“We’re not here to hurt you.” The man’s gentle tone was reassuring. “We’re here to free you.”

“Where is number five?” He inquired.

You couldn’t bring yourself to look at the man, you couldn’t bare it.

Darryl put a hand on your shoulder and shoved you forward.

“Ask her.This one was leadin’ ‘em.”

A pair of worn leather work boots stopped in front of you.The man inhaled deeply as if to calm himself.

“Are you alright?”He seemed to actually mean it.

You clenched your jaw.

He reached out and brushed his knuckles along your cheek.

You stiffened, hardening your heart for what was to come.

He tipped your face up, his index finger just under your chin.

Your eyes met his clear blue gaze.

The gasp you emitted made Tanya and Frankie turn to look at you.

“Y/n?” He sounded as astonished as you felt, almost hoarse with the shock of this revelation.

His arms were around you and squeezing you in a warm embrace before you could fully process it.

“Oh,” He kissed the top of your head.“You’re alive!”A sigh of relief escaped his throat.

Your lower lip trembled, emotion overtaking you.

Home hadn’t come to mind in a long time.Hugging him, you were transported to a different stage of your life, a different society.

“She doesn’t understand.Much as I wanna be there,I have got to put work first.We talked about this when I joined the force.Lori agreed that she should stay home and take care of Carl, that I would provide for our family. These days, I cover a late shift for another officer, get home and she starts ripping me a new one. Says everytime I’m out late I been drinkin’ with Shane.She accuses me of any wrong thing a husband can do.You name it, according to Her, I’ve done it.”

You frowned a bit at that. Lori wasn’t the best person, but she certainly wasn’t the worst. Neither of you was really in a position to judge her. Not when you were sleeping with her husband.

“Well, I’m sorry that ya’ll are goin’ through a rough patch.”Your voice sounded dejected even to you.

He closed his eyes briefly, his expression contrite.

“I’m...I’m sorry.You shouldn’t have to hear all this.I don’t know what I was thinkin’.” He kissed the top of your head in apology.

You snuggled closer, your head on his bare chest and sighed.

“It’s okay with me for you to talk about your problems.Everybody needs to vent sometime.The thing is, I feel...bad.I feel like I’m part of the problem.”

“You’re not.” He said vehemently. “Lori started accusing me of havin’ an affair long before you and I ever...”

He couldn’t bring himself to say it, his guilt wouldn’t allow it. That sat well with you. It was the least either of you could do.Admit that this temptation you’d both given into wasn’t right.

“How much do we owe you for watchin’ Carl?” He inquired with a softness in his tone that made you melt inside.

“I can’t charge you not when we’re sleeping together.It would feel like-like-“

“I get it.” He ran his hand along your side tenderly. “But I’m gonna have to pay you anyway.”

You winced.Of course he did. She would notice if suddenly there was an extra $80 bucks in their account every week. He could hide the money, save it and use it for something. but that would be one more lie he had to tell Lori. So you accepted the money and put it all in your savings account. Guilt kept you from spending it and as it turned out,you had needed that money to get yourself out of Kentucky.It had gotten you as far as Richmond,Virginia when all hell broke loose. It was there you met Charlie and the gang...

“It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.” He murmured into your hair.

Darryl cleared his throat. “Are you forgetting somethin’?”

Rick looked to him questioningly.

“She’s married to a sociopath!”

“She’s...a friend” He hedged. “I know her. She would never willingly have married a man like Negan."

“I don’t care if she’s your damn aunt fanny! Her husband murdered Glenn and Abraham!” He growled and spit at your feet.

You jerked back at the insult.

“You’re not the only one that’s lost people to The Saviors.” Your voice shook as you spoke.You couldn’t bring yourself to say that it was Negan who killed Charlie.Negan had done terrible things, but he also made you feel wonderful things, now was not the time to reconcile the two.

“He killed my best friend. My co-leader,Charlie.” You told them.”He forced me to become a wife. You gestured toward Tanya.

“Her mom was terminally sick.She was suffering. He offered to get her some morphine if Tanya would become his wife.”

Rick was listening with wrapped attention, compassion in his gaze.

“Frankie,” You nodded toward the redhead. Her green eyes begged you not to tell.

You took a breath.

“She was attacked by a group of cruel and violent men. Negan and The Saviors, rescued her.The price for his help was marriage.” You hoped Amber had gotten far far away from the Sanctuary.

If your words were revealed to be untrue, you might all be killed. You had no doubt this, Darryl guy would have you strung up in a heartbeat. Quiet followed the sad tale.

“I believe you.” Rick said calmly. “I’m sorry you had to go through this.”

Your eyes filled with tears.Not because you agreed with his insinuation that your marriage to Negan was a form of torture you had undergone, but for all else you had endured since leaving Kentucky.

Darryl huffed loudly.

“What are we gonna do with Negan?” He ground out.

“Now’s not the time or place to discuss this.” Rick inclined his head, peering at Darryl over your shoulder.

“We’ll talk about it once we get them to Alexandria.”

“Fine.” The man responded.Though it didn’t sound as if he were fine with Rick’s decision at all.

Once we get them to Alexandria. He’d said.

Your heart leapt at the possibility that Rick’s them included Negan.

During the three month deliberation of Negan’s sentence, Hilltop’s Doctor Carson had informed you that your dizzy spells and drowsiness were actually pregnancy.You were elated at first, then heartbroken when you realized there was a huge chance your child would never meet it’s father.

It took pride shriveling amounts of begging and sweet talking your ex-boyfriend to get him on your side to save Negan’s life.Rick turned the majority of the council in your favor.Their final decision was that Negan would live.Your relief at hearing this was immense until you were told the terms on which his execution had been stayed.You would be delivering his sentence.

The rustling sound of soft soles walking across the dirty concrete floor reached Negan long before your tear stained face came into focus in the dim light.

“Negan.”

He kept his face blank.

“Y/n.” His voice sounded raspier to you than usual.

Your eyes scanned over him in the dark and caught on the white bandage set across his throat.

“I’m here to-“

“Do I look like I give a shit?” He glared over your shoulder at Darryl.”You people are ridiculous.Five women to choose from and you send the one I regret ever setting eyes on.Nice.”

You glanced over at Darryl.He looked supremely unimpressed.

“That isn’t true and you know it.” You wet your lips with your tongue.

“You get the fuck away from me right fucking now.”

You took a shaking breath and tried to hold back the tears.A sobbing emotional mess was the last thing either of you needed at the moment.

You held your wrists up where he could see the restraints the council demanded you wear at all times.

You felt sorry for him.This was going to hurt both of you immensely, but if you didn’t do as you’d been asked, he would be getting a hell of a lot worse than a life sentence.

He turned away from you, unable to bear the sight.

“You’re wasting your fucking time.I am not fucking talking to you.”

“You don’t have to say anything, just listen.” You inhaled slowly and held it, to steady yourself for the pain to come.

“I’m not married to you.I wasn’t ever married to you.You manipulated, scared, and threatened me into submitting to you.”

He stiffened.

“You are a power hungry, sociopath who took advantage of my weakness and the weaknesses of many others-“

“Weakness? You?” He scoffed.

“-you brain washed us like some kinda deranged cult leader.I don’t love you.I never loved you and neither did any of the other wives.”You spat the word at him.

He laughed bitterly.

“I did what had to be done to keep all of you alive, if that makes me the fucking bad guy then fuck it.”

“Don’t you dare laugh!”You cried glaring at his back. "Do you have any idea how many people had to die because of you?Do you have any remorse for the pain you’ve caused? The lives you’ve taken?”

He turned to look at you then. From Negan’s surprised expression, the tears streaming down your face must really be selling it.

“You know I don’t.”He frowned, uncertainty in his tone.

“I hate you!”

“Hate me? For what?” He huffed.

“For everything you took from me! For everything you did to me!”

“You sure seemed to like what I did to you. Used to beg me to keep doing those things to you...But don’t you worry, Baby. I’m sure you’ll be getting your retribution soon enough.”

He crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

You sniffed, choked down a sob and prepared for the grand finally.You stepped right up to the bars.Eyeing you wearily, he moved slowly towards you.

“Kiss me.” Your voice was a low whisper.

The reluctance in his gold flecked eyes unsettled you, made what was to come that much harder.

He leaned in and through the bars pressed his dry lips to yours. He closed his eyes, reveling in your proximity, the familiar intoxicating taste of you.You fought to keep still, to appear unaffected. It took him longer to realize that you weren’t participating, than you thought it would.

He pressed his forehead to yours.

“I love you, Y/n.” He declared, breathing harshly. “Don’t you forget it.”

You raised one eyebrow attempting to seem aloof.

“You have been sentenced to life imprisonment.You’ll have all the time in the world to reflect on the atrocities you committed.It’s a fitting punishment for what you’ve done. Wouldn’t you say?"

He smiled sadly.

“I would much rather die, but they know that, don’t they?”

“Mhmm..”

He held you as best he could.

“They don’t have any mercy to spare where I’m concerned...Why’d they send you to tell me?”He wondered out loud.

You pulled away, taking a few steps backwards, so he could see you fully.You placed your hands on your stomach in that soft maternal way, the sick fucks had told you to do.

His face fell.

“I’m expecting.”

“No, no no no no.”

“Oh yes...but don’t worry.My baby will have a father.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Do you remember those little chats we used to have?”

He nodded, hanging on your every word.

“I told you about the man I was seeing, the cop with the bright blue eyes...”

Negan shook his head in denial.

“Fate has brought him back into my life. Can you believe that? I mean what were the chances, that the man to take you down, would be the only man that I have ever loved, Rick Grimes?”

Negan dropped to his knees. His eyes were wide pools of vulnerability.

“Have a nice life. I know I will.” You turned away.

Darryl gave you a begrudging nod of approval on your way out.

You’d never hated yourself as much as you did in that moment.

[tabloidtoc]

National Enquirer, May 10

You can buy a brand new copy of this issue without the mailing label for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Prince Charles orders Prince Harry to divorce Meghan Markle

Page 2: In a sniveling fit of pique, scorned Alex Rodriguez has trashed former fiancee Jennifer Lopez as a dud in the sack and A-Rod is moaning J. Lo drove him to chase excitement elsewhere because she couldn't keep up with his sex demands and Alex is defending his piggish behavior by saying Jennifer pushed him into it and their spark died long ago, and they were barely intimate for the best part of a year before calling it quits -- Jennifer would pack on the PDA for the cameras, but the moment they were in private she pushed Alex away and even made him sleep in a separate bedroom and he says it was like dating an ice queen and pities the next guy she ropes in -- Jennifer thought she and Alex had a pretty good connection during their happier times, even though she'd likely admit things really petered out toward the end when the lack of trust set in so it will sting her that he's trashing her skills in the bedroom

Page 4: Robert De Niro is getting pummeled by estranged wife Grace Hightower's free-spending ways and his bitter spouse is intent on taking the aging legend for every penny as their nasty divorce drags on -- Robert's lawyers argued in court that greedy Grace's extravagant lifestyle has forced him to take every job he can snag, causing the 77-year-old to toil 12-hour days, six days a week and what's more, Robert's Nobu restaurant business has hit hard times and his tax bills to Uncle Sam are piling up but he is reportedly worth a whopping $500 million, and Grace's lawyers have countered he's pleading poverty but regularly charters a helicopter to Sunday brunch, a charge denied by his lawyer and her attorneys also claimed Robert frequently flies to Florida on a private plane and spends millions and millions on himself -- meanwhile, Robert's relationship with 66-year-old Grace has taken such a nosedive, she's spending frivolously just to punish him and she's walked into a shop a spent $80,000 in 15 minutes and she will go on vacations to the Bahamas, stop at the duty-free store and pay four times the price of what things usually cost and she has more wigs than Imelda Marcos had shoes -- Robert met Grace in 1987 when she was working as a waitress in London, and they married a decade later but they split in 1999 then reconciled and renewed their vows in 2004 before finally calling it quits in 2018 -- De Niro has forked over as much as $375,000 a month to his spouse since their split and the financially squeezed star may resort to doing product endorsements just to pay the bills -- under the terms of the couple's prenuptial agreement, once Grace and Robert are finally divorced, she's allowed a $6 million home, $500,000 cash and $1 million in annual alimony, but her lawyers have argued she should be entitled to half his fortune

* Nearly two years after Hayden Panettiere accused ex-boyfriend Brian Hickerson of brutally attacking her, the bully was sentenced to serve time in Los Angeles after he pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend, and the remaining charges of battery, assault with a deadly weapon and dissuading a witness were dismissed and he was hit with 45 days behind bars and four years' probation but he'll get credit for 12 days served -- he's done his own damage and will pay a permanent price for it -- meanwhile, Hayden is now in a great place in her life

Page 5: Danny Masterson has dragged Leah Remini into his rape case, claiming her docuseries Scientology and Its Aftermath influenced his alleged victims to file police reports against him -- former Scientologist Leah offered the women inducements and benefits to report Masterson to cops, his lawyer Tom Mesereau told a L.A. criminal court -- Danny, a 45-year-old Scientologist and That '70s Show alum, has pleaded not guilty to charges he raped three women in separate incidents between 2001 and 2003 -- Mesereau also called an LAPD detective who worked a second job as security for Leah a double agent and questioned how a 2000 police report made by one alleged victim went missing, but Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller dismissed Mesereau's double agent claims as hyperbole and said the defense got a copy of the missing report and Mesereau's request to push back Masterson's preliminary hearing, a Scientology delay tactic, was also rejected

Page 6: Kelly Osbourne's shocking relapse after nearly four years of sobriety occurred amid intense family drama for the former reality show clan -- Kelly's mom Sharon Osbourne's exit from The Talk amid racism claims by co-hosts and dad Ozzy Osbourne's struggles with crippling Parkinson's disease and excruciating nerve damage frazzled her and she confessed she relapsed and she's not proud of it, but she's back on track and she's truly learned that it is just one day at a time -- her parents' problems weighed heavily on 36-year-old Kelly, who first struggled with substance abuse in her teens, and there's no doubt her mother's scandalous exit from The Talk played a big role as Kelly was crushed over the beating Sharon took in the press and retired rocker Ozzy's relentless suffering also pains Kelly and throw in brother Jack Osbourne's progressive MS and she's dealing with a lot

Page 7: Distressed Dolly Parton is ready to stage an all-star country intervention for her party-hearty goddaughter Miley Cyrus after recent photos of the troubled wild child swilling booze triggered alarm bells for Miley's family members and inner circle, including Dolly who has acted as a mentor to Miley and Dolly has always fussed over Miley like a mother hen and she's worried Miley is going to throw away her career and her life -- 75-year-old Dolly is so concerned about 28-year-old Miley that she's talked about reaching out to other country icons to arrange a meeting with the former Disney child star and help her consider her options and Dolly wants to enlist women she knows Miley truly admires, like Reba McEntire and Loretta Lynn, and organize a sit-down and Dolly knows if Miley hears from legends who achieved so much in the music industry, she's likely to understand any mistakes she makes now can affect her life forever -- every time Dolly thinks Miley's got her demons beat, she hears of another slip-up, so she feels like it's time to take action and Miley's parents Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus, who are good pals of Dolly, are thankful for Dolly's concern because Billy Ray and Tish have tried talking to Miley, but she tunes her parents out and they agree their daughter is more likely to respond to Dolly and her legendary friends

* Angelina Jolie blamed her ugly divorce with Brad Pitt for dashing her dreams to direct movies -- she and Brad split in 2016 and the two have been locked in a mudslinging legal slugfest ever since -- Angie says she love directing, but she had a change in her family situation that's not made it possible for her to direct for a few years and Angie, who last directed 2017's First They Killed My Father, said she needed to just do shorter jobs and be home more, so she kind of went back to doing a few acting jobs

Page 8: Shamed sleaze Matt Lauer has been snubbed by his old Hamptons crowd, and it's got the scandal-scarred scumbag down in the dumps and the super-rich who live and socialize in the fashionable high-society playground won't forget how Lauer was axed from his longtime Today gig over bombshell allegations of sexual misconduct and Matt's done everything he can to regain his place in the community, from hanging out in the village to splashing money around and tipping too well and he's convinced he can make a comeback, but snooty residents turn their noses up and it must be difficult for him because it's tough for anyone who wants to get in with this crowd but for Matt it's become almost impossible -- with scandal raging, Lauer's marriage to Annette Roque collapsed and they divorced in 2019 after a two-year separation and they share three children, daughter Romy, 17, and sons Jack, 19, and Thijs, 14, and Lauer has denied any wrongdoing and insisted his reputation was wrongly smeared in a media feeding frenzy intent on destroying him -- after his divorce, Matt hooked up with public relations guru Shamin Abas and the two have reportedly been pals for years and were first linked when Matt took her to his New Zealand home in December 2019 and Matt's friends are saying he's talking about a big Hamptons wedding when he and Shamin make things official, but it would be a failure if no one attends but Shamin has a lot of connections, so maybe that will help in time -- Matt's obviously an embarrassment in the area and he's not getting much joy at the swanky country clubs he likes to frequent either and it's clear to see that doors from many A-listers, like Martha Stewart, Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson, who have had ample time to put out the welcome mat and Matt won't be getting invites to their homes anytime soon

Page 9: Kourtney Kardashian is packing on the PDA with new boyfriend Travis Barker and insiders said her desperate bid to compete with her sisters has gone way over the top and ever since Kourtney and Travis first went public, the oldest Kardashian sibling has made it a point to post the couple's passionate romps in racy pics and videos on social media and people in her circle feel it's beneath her to advertise her personal moments like this and even her family thinks it's unflattering, but she's getting a kick out of showing off her wild side and Kourtney has been desperate to raise her profile to keep up with internet-savvy sisters Kim Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian, who promote themselves by posting incessantly and Kourtney was always more low-key, but now she thinks she needs to be outrageous to keep up but her friends and family say it's not who she is, and she should put a lid on the steam

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Alison Brie helped tend to newly planted trees in Malibu, Chris Rock tuned out the world with a set of headphones while walking in Miami, Dylan McDermott plays a bad guy on Law & Order: Organized Crime, Dancing with the Stars pro Sasha Farber buzzed around L.A. on an electric bike, Margot Robbie skating in Malibu

Page 11: Paula Abdul is filling in for Luke Bryan on American Idol, but she's gone crazy with fillers and Botox to the point where she can barely move her face -- 58-year-old Paula, one of the show's original three judges who left before the ninth season, jumped at the chance after Luke tested positive for COVID-19, but when she showed up for work, she was far from the familiar face everyone was expecting and she must have given her co-hosts quite a fright because her face is blown up like a balloon and her forehead has no lines and her eyes have no crinkling at the corners that you would normally expect on someone who's pushing 60 and people are saying she never did know when to quit and this time she's really gone overboard and it was a shame, since it's no secret she'd love to make a comeback on the show and she's still in fantastic shape, but it's kind of sad to see her fall victim to these Hollywood trends as she's a lovely lady and should leave well enough alone -- her heart-shaped face may predispose her to a slower aging process than longer facial shapes

* Jessica Simpson has plumped up her kisser, but one expert thinks her new inflated piehole would look better on a fish because she's gone overboard with filler in her lips and the end result is an unnatural and very unattractive look because the M-shape of the middle upper lip is distorted, creating a fishy appearance she surely wasn't going for

Page 12: Straight Shuter gossip column -- James Bond will be gunning for Top Gun: Maverick on movie screens in November, and Tom Cruise isn't happy -- moving the Top Gun sequel from July to November has left Tom shaken and stirred and no one is more competitive than Tom and going up against the new 007 film starring Daniel Craig has put the fear of God into him because Tom likes to win and coming in second is not an option so get ready for an all-out box office war between Tom and James Bond and this is going to get ugly

* Just out-of-the-closet Colton Underwood has been invited back to his old stomping grounds on The Bachelor but he won't be the new Gay Bachelor, but there's been talk about him returning to help contestants through the process -- he'll literally play the gay best friend who helps the straight contestants find love

* Bridgerton stud Rege-Jean Page won't be back for season 2, but crossing the show's powerful producer Shonda Rhimes was not smart because Shonda is not used to being told no, especially by an actor no one had heard of before she cast him -- Rege-Jean was naive about the business of Hollywood, but he's learning fast but saying no to Shonda is a move he's now thinking twice about

* Irina Shayk had her hands full during a photo shoot in NYC (picture)

Page 13: Racy reality series The Bachelorette has so disgusted some American viewers, they've flooded the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with complaints and calls to yank the sexy show from TV -- according to documents, a season 16 dodgeball game that turned into a stripping competition among Clare Crawley's suitors in 2020 especially fueled viewers' rage, even though the aired footage was blacked out to protect the men's privates but the game was not over until one team was fully naked

* Matchmaker Olivia Newton-John is itching to play Cupid for longtime pal John Travolta as her Grease co-star approaches the one-year anniversary of the death of his beloved wife Kelly Preston and Oliva would like nothing more than to bring some joy and happiness back into John's life and she has lots of beautiful, fun-filled lady friends from the U.S. and Australia she could set John up with but he may not be ready for a new romance, and John himself has admitted mourning is individual and experiencing your own journey is what can lead to healing and John still hasn't gotten over Kelly's death yet and it feels like yesterday to him

Page 15: Tiger Woods' former mistress Jamie Jungers is dishing about her doomed 18-month affair with the then-married golf great and the fallout that triggered her harrowing spiral into drug addiction in a juicy new tell-all -- Jamie, 38, said she met the skirt-chasing links legend, now recovering from a shattered right leg after a February car crash, during her stint as a party host in Sin City and she claimed they kicked off a fling behind the back of his wife Elin Nordegren and Tiger would often fly his new squeeze to his L.A. home for their secret trysts and Jamie said she even once signed for a package at the newlyweds' pad that turned out to be wedding photos of Tiger and his bride, who divorced the sex addict in 2010 -- but it was not too hard for Jamie to convince herself the couple's marriage was on the skids because Elin spent so much time in her native Sweden and Jamie confessed she loved Tiger in a way but knew they'd never have a real relationship -- things came to a screeching halt when the tightwad millionaire refused to help her find new digs and Jamie kept her lips zipped about the hush-hush affair for three years, but she claimed her ensuing media appearances, in which she was dubbed Mistress No. 4, left her feeling humiliated, triggering a $500 a day pill habit that led to her getting hooked on heroin and meth and homeless Jamie endured failed stints in rehab, went through detox while behind bars and hit rock bottom before getting clean in 2018 and now sober, she said of her former flame she's not in love with him anymore

Page 16: Picky parents Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin have found one thing that's even tougher than raising six kids: finding the right nanny -- Alec and Hilaria have high expectations for prospective carers and exacting demands when it comes to their duties and Hilaria is so involved with the kids, so she's especially vigilant and has the final say when it comes to hiring and firing though Alec definitely has his checklist on what makes a good nanny and try as they might, they realize they can't do everything themselves and need help, lots of it, but it's been a logistical nightmare getting a team of nannies organized as Alec and Hilaria are tough on them and firm and long hours and multitasking are a must and of course they must be quick on their toes and know what to do with a cranky set of children without losing their cool and a good disposition, a clean and tidy appearance and the ability to step in last minute when needed are all prerequisites to be a Baldwin nanny -- Hilaria and Alec feel guilty about using more help than they initially thought they'd need and typically have at least two nannies on duty and they're doing their best to keep their home from becoming a nuthouse and stay sane and even when Hilaria and Alec are both home at the same time, they still need help changing diapers and doing endless loads of laundry, preparing meals and snacks and assisting homeschooling for the older ones and making sure they all get plenty of exercise and playtime -- it's been a challenge and they won't settle for anything but the most skilled nannies, and their friends can see the efforts are paying off

Page 17: Britney Spears has taken to social media to insist she's OK, but there are increasing concerns over the singer's state of mind -- Britney, 39, has shared bizarre Instagram posts showing her maniacally dancing and also bellyached that she's trying to learn how to use technology in this technology-driven generation, but to be totally honest she can't stand it -- the wacky videos followed the documentary Framing Britney Spears, which cast an unflattering spotlight on her troubled history amid her fight to have her conservator dad Jamie Spears removed from overseeing her personal and financial affairs and Britney, who has not had control over her own cash or major life decisions since her notorious 2008 breakdown, said the documentary's portrayal embarrassed her and brought her to tears and she cried for two weeks -- still, Britney reassured fans she's totally fine and she's extremely happy, she has a beautiful home, beautiful children, referring to her sons Sean, 15, and Jayden, 14, and although Britney, who's been coupled up with 27-year-old personal trainer Sam Asghari since 2016, insisted she's enjoying herself, she was caught on camera in Malibu appearing out of sorts and she looked a total mess and she looked like she hadn't brushed her hair in days and the truth is she's wracked with anxiety and she doesn't trust anyone in her orbit except her boyfriend

Page 18: American Life -- Like many dads, J.B. Handley couldn't understand his teenage son, but in this case, 18-year-old Jamison Handley is autistic and has not spoken a word since he was born -- using a breakthrough strategy called Spelling to Communicate (STC), J.B. discovered his son was hyper-intelligent and now Jamison is graduating from high school and will go to college to study neuroscience in 2022

Page 19: Newly single Kanye West is in the market for someone to cuddle with now that Kim Kardashian is out of the picture and the National Enquirer has decided to help him in his quest: Amanda Gorman, Bjork, Quay Dash, Marina Abramovic, Maria Cristerna

* While Kanye West is looking for a new lady to be his creative muse, his estranged wife Kim Kardashian sees the dating pool as the source of her next career move -- Kim has not been romantically linked to anyone since she filed for divorce in February and she's not dating anyone because, if she were, it would be a career move and Kim can't date quietly; she doesn't even understand what that would be like

Page 22: Katie Holmes and her boytoy beau Emilio Vitolo Jr. haven't been photographed together in more than a month, leaving people to wonder if the once snap-happy couple's romance is cooling off -- after being constantly caught on camera packing on the PDAs, the coosome twosome's vanishing act has sources suspecting work stress is taking a toll -- they're still together but things aren't anything like they were, and Katie seems pretty down and Emilio has been working long hours at his dad's restaurant, which was hit hard during the pandemic and that's meant less time for him and Katie to hang out and their romance may have gone from full boil to simmer

* Hollywood Hookups -- Danica Patrick and Carter Comstock dating, Zac Efron and Vanessa Valladares split, Madison LeCroy is dating a mystery man

Page 23: Lizzo stripped nude on social media for an unedited selfie to promote body positivity in all its glory and the 32-year-old defied the haters by bravely going makeup-free and wearing only her birthday suit -- she said she's letting it all hang out to encourage girls struggling with their self-image and self-confidence to embrace their natural beauty

* Bethenny Frankel plans to spend a whopping $10 million on her upcoming wedding -- she is set to wed Paul Bernon after she was spotted flashing a ginormous sparkler reportedly worth over $400,000 and movie producer Paul, 43, has given Bethenny, 50, carte blanche to spend whatever she wants so she's thinking 50,000 roses, champagne, gilt-edged glasses, a garden setting with fountains, dancers and a choir and Bethenny wants it to be perfect and she expects the best of everything

* Julianna Margulies has admitted things were hot on the set of ER, and it was because she and co-star George Clooney had a crush on each other and the chemistry on the beloved TV series between Julianna, now 54, and George, 60, was organic, she gushed in her upcoming memoir -- she also said when you create an environment that people feel safe in, then you do your best work and George taught her that and she felt so safe with him

Page 25: Troubled Tori Spelling is convinced having a sixth baby is the only way to bring her rocky 15-year marriage to Dean McDermott back from the brink -- Tori, 47, and Dean, 54, have been living separate lives for months and she has frequently been seen in public without her wedding ring and lately they've been more like brother and sister than husband and wife, but Tori is under the impression that another baby will give them a fresh start -- Dean has tried to repair their romance by taking on more dad duties and he even pushed for a recent family getaway to Palm Springs, where Tori socked her husband with the ultimatum to give her another baby or hit the highway and it's true they got along a lot happier when she was pregnant, but a lot of people think she's being delusional since they still have a lot of issues to work through and having another kid isn't going to be a magic fix and in fact, it may even add to their problems

Page 26: Cover Story -- Prince Harry's desperate bid to make peace with his estranged royal family exploded spectacularly when his father Prince Charles gave him an ultimatum to divorce Meghan Markle or you're out forever -- the secret showdown came after the funeral for his grandfather Prince Philip that forced family members to reunite for the first time following a year of bitterness and shocking allegations and any hope Harry had of mending fences and being welcomed back went out the window when he broke Queen Elizabeth's heart by snubbing her 95th birthday right after the funeral because he flew back to California the day before her birthday and it was the last straw for Charles, who was furious and he was stunned his son couldn't wait just 24 hours more to show respect for his grandmother and felt compelled to rush back to his pregnant wife Meghan and it would have meant so much for Her Majesty, who was still mourning her husband and needs all the comfort she can get but instead Harry headed back to his ritzy $14 mansion and Hollywood lifestyle, callously leaving his grieving grandmother on what should have been her big day -- the word is Meghan ordered him back as he'd been gone 10 days, their longest separation since they wed, and she didn't want his family playing mind tricks on him, trying to convince him he should return to the U.K. -- Charles confronted his younger son about snubbing Her Majesty during a phone call from his country getaway in Wales, where Charles was grieving his father Prince Philip and considering the future of the monarchy and Charles didn't mince words and he called Harry selfish and blamed Meghan for ripping the family apart and he bluntly admitted he and other royals, including the queen herself, were deeply disappointed and very angry by what the couple said in an explosive tell-all TV special and he couldn't believe Harry would agree to such a devastating interview without pressure from his publicity-obsessed wife or her advisors and Charles told Harry he was ashamed of him for turning his back on his family and breaking his grandmother's heart and Charles said he didn't believe Harry's marriage can survive long-term and suggested that Meghan was so ambitious, she'd dump Harry when something, or someone, better came along then he shockingly told his son he would only be welcomed back if he divorced that American actress and Charles insisted divorce was the only way to save the royal family and Harry himself -- Harry faced a great deal of frostiness from other members of the family after he arrived for Philip's funeral: Princess Anne, Prince Edward, his wife Sophie and other relatives didn't even look at Harry, they are so angry with him and Meghan, and Prince William and his wife Duchess Kate tried to put on a united front, speaking to Harry as they walked away from the service, but it was all for show as the queen had ordered a truce in the feud to avoid another public scandal, but family feelings are running very deep against Harry and Meghan for quitting royal duties and trashing the royals in their interview and the truth is if Harry doesn't divorce Meghan, this rift will never be mended

Page 36: Ellen DeGeneres confessed she'd swilled three cannabis-laced drinks and popped two snooze-inducing pills before driving wife Portia de Rossi to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy -- during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Ellen said she'd downed a commercial beverage containing the weed compounds THC and CBD and admitted she didn't feel anything and then she drank three, and she also took two melatonin sleep pills and she's lying in bed and realizes Portia is not in bed -- after finding Portia on all fours and in pain, Ellen claimed her adrenaline kicked in and she rushed Portia to the hospital

Page 38: Gwyneth Paltrow knows at least one person who is not a fan of her catalog of sex toys: her mom Blythe Danner -- while Gwynnie loves to bang the drum for frisky female fun by hawking vibrators, whips, handcuffs, genital-themed jewelry and even a candle called This Smells Like My Orgasm, her 78-year-old mother is always shocked by her raunchy online inventory and is very proper, but Gwyneth said even proper ladies have sexuality too -- although her mom is not lining up to purchase the BDSM starter kit or the $15,000 gold-plated dildo, Gwyneth remains committed to tackling taboos related to female pleasure, saying she thinks that our sexuality is such an important part of who we are and one of the things they really believe in at Goop is eliminating shame from these topics

* The Entourage crew might get back together, with Charlie Sheen joining the gang -- the creator of the bro show and 2015 spinoff movie said he may bring the boys back with his buddy Charlie in the reboot and Doug Elin says whether he would ever be in Entourage as Charlie Sheen or whether he would create a character for him, he would be all for it -- Charlie hasn't been seen on the big screen since a 2018 guest spot on Saturday Night Live

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Sofia Vergara

[barbasbodaciousbeard]

If You Love Someone, Let Them Go: Part 4

Summary: Since starting with SVU, Sonny hadn’t kept much terribly close to the chest. The squad knew about his family, growing up on Staten Island, the classes at Fordam. What was hidden was why he didn’t date. Sonny Carisi was also separated from his childhood sweetheart, a separation neither ever took to divorce. They had the same haunts. They’d grown up neighbors. Their paths crossed every few months, and divorce talks would turn into reminiscing would turn into a night spent together, sometimes sex sometimes just talking until the early morning. It always ended with one of them waking up alone however. How will that change when the squad finds out?

Pairings: Sonny Carisi x Original Character

A/N: The babies. I’ve outlined like eight chapters at least, so I think this thing’s just going to go until I run out of steam. So here’s a third part already. Also, I threw up a pinned post masterlist to throw my AO3 links on

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

November 2014

Victoria had gone to her mom’s house, the one by the Carisi’s, for Thanksgiving, but she should have known better than to think that she’d be there. Housekeepers kept the place up, but Irene hadn’t been around much since her daughter was seventeen. She hadn’t been there the year before for Victoria’s first set of holidays alone, and she wasn’t this year either. The year before, Victoria had made the rounds between childhood friends. Rachel would normally be who she went to now that she was coming to terms with the possibility of an actual divorce. She said she was coming to terms with it a lot for someone who just avoided the subject entirely and cried in Sonny’s Fordham sweatshirt at least two nights a week. Coming to her mom’s house when the childhood friends from the year before were at their significant other’s families’ houses was not her best idea when it meant she could hear the bustle of activity at the Carisi’s house. 

“Bella?” she said softly when she answered the knock at her door. It was late, and she’d heard everyone start to wind down and broken out the wine.

“Hey Tori. I know coming over ain’t exactly an option, but I snuck you a plate. And a bottle of wine from their stockpile.” Victoria motioned for her to come in, watching her unload a bag onto the kitchen counter. 

“That’s really sweet of you.”

“I wanted to make sure you ate good. You’re getting awful skinny for a baker.”

“Ain’t got Sonny making spaghetti like three nights a week.”

“He’s getting skinny without the endless supply of cannoli. Maybe you oughta come over and reconcile.”

“Bella, he knows what he has to do for us to be okay. I wouldn’t care if it weren’t for the fact whatever he needs to talk to me about made him push me away.”

“At least say hi before the end of tomorrow? He’s got the sad puppy eyes, watching your house.”

“We’ll see.” Bella said her goodbyes, and Victoria opened the second bottle of wine, settling on the porch. She saw Sonny making his way over a half hour later, sighing as she downed the end of the glass. 

“Bella send ya?” she called, bundled up in the blanket she’d brought out.

“Just said you were here. Heard you pop the cork and needed a break. Besides, you shouldn’t be alone on the holiday.””

“Nosy neighbor, huh?”

“The sound really echoes between these houses. I’d have invited you, but Ma…”

“It’s okay, Dom. You free all weekend? Or they got you working?”

“I’m not Staten Island anymore,” he said proudly. He’d been drinking too, which made it easier for both of them.

“Where are you now?”

“Manhattan SVU.”

“You made it?” Her voice was ecstatic, and he grinned when she jumped from the porch swing to hug him close. “I’m so proud of you, Dom.”

“Thanks, Tor. It’s only been three months, but I think it’s the right place. I feel like I’m really doin’ something, y’know?”

“Yeah. And you’re such a good guy, y’know? I bet victims feel comfortable.”

“That means more than I can tell you.”

“Want a glass of your mom’s wine to celebrate?”

“I’ll grab the second glass.” Before she could stop him, he went in, coming back and dropping on the swing beside her. She poured them each a glass, head resting on his shoulder as she sipped her own. It was quiet, and she wanted to get at least this long to be close to him. The hope from Teresa’s wedding wasn’t there. This would just be an evening, and he’d go home.

“How’s classes?”

“They’ve been good. I take finals next week.”

“Halfway through,” she grinned up at him as he took a share of the blanket. 

“And, I don’t know how else to bring it up, but I’m working on figuring out how to talk about how I felt. It’s like my brain disconnects when I try. I said it to my new boss, and I went to therapy. Apparently it sounded heavy.”

“I appreciate that, Dom. I know that isn’t easy for you.”

“Don’t tell nobody. Ma’s not happy about it.”

“I won’t. Spousal privilege.”

“Now we really can’t get divorced.”

“You’re not wearing your ring.” His hand slid into his hoodie, pulling out a chain with the gold band on it. 

“Yours is on your right hand.”

“It’s just hard to explain.”

“I know. The squad doesn’t know yet. I’m already trying to be the new guy. Saying I won’t divorce my wife even though I only see her ever four to six months because I truly believe she’s made for me and I love her? Way too much to unpack.”

“We hired new people. Hard to seem like the boss with her shit together when you ain’t lived with your husband in over a year.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“You’re confident.”

“You’re not?”

“I’m scared you won’t trust me to tell me.”

“It’s not about trust, Tor. I know it’s a lot, but trust me on this. It’s not about you.”

“Okay,” she nodded, taking his hand. “You’ve been really open with me tonight. So I’m willing to believe you.”

“Thanks, doll. I’m going to tell the squad about you. That’s step one. Then I’m going to get my head out of my ass.”

He pressed a gentle kiss to her temple, arm slung around her. It felt weird knowing there were people in his life who didn’t know she existed. It bothered him too. He didn’t know how to go into everything. Whenever he talked to his mom or Gina, it ended with him crying, telling them that he knew God had made them for each other, and he’d ruined it all with his free will. He wasn’t ready to be that vulnerable. Telling them what he couldn’t tell his family was one thing; they saw the same thing, day in and day out. He couldn’t taint them. He could make himself seem broken, some newbie who couldn’t tell a woman he’d been with a decade how cases made him feel. 

“Do I have to go home or can I just hold you tonight?”

“I’m not up for analyzing things tomorrow. Limbo isn’t changing until you can tell me..”

“That’s okay with me, doll.”

“Then okay. I’m eating the slice of pie Bella brought over first.”

“Of course that’s fine,” he chuckled. “I had t’loosen my belt. Had like a quarter of the pie myself.”

“So there was pumpkin. You just ate it,” she teased, leading him in. The house looked the same as it had when they were kids. Once they got married, they never really spent time there, always going to his family’s house, and Victoria’s mom coming if she felt like it. Now that he worked with SVU, he remembered how often she was alone as a kid and felt grateful it was his family that lived next door. That could have ended very differently for her. He’d tell her about that when the damn finally burst. She plated her pie, tupperware stacked in the fridge, before she leaned over the counter and took a bite. 

“Chocolate bourbon pecan. The one you taught her.” He missed that part of the holiday the most. This was the second Thanksgiving he didn’t get to watch Victoria carefully teach his mom a new dessert. She gathered new recipes all year round, spreading them out to narrow down which she’d get the ingredients for the weekend before Thanksgiving. Sonny would usually make lasagna that day, listening as she described the pros and cons of each option and offering his opinion when prompted. 

“She did it perfect.” 

“Nah. Your crust is better. You ever gonna tell the secret?”

“Not a chance. Gotta keep my edge. You think she’s ever going to tell the secret ingredient to her cannoli filling?”

“Noted.” He dropped onto the stool on the other side of the counter, chin propped in his hand. It had taken a couple more beers than he should have had to come over, and now with the wine, Sonny had the sleepy eyes and goofy grin that gave it away.

“You’re drunk.”

“Just tipsy.”

“No gettin’ handsy, Sonny.”

“Promise. I’m a good boy.”

“Mhm,” she laughed, holding out a bite of pie he took gladly. “We’re going to have to get you to bed soon. Otherwise, you’ll get grumpy.”

“You make me sound like a toddler.”

“Only when you’ve been drinking.”

“Y’know, I’m a detective now. If I hadn’t fucked up, we might be down that road.”

“Dom, we’re so far from kids right now.”

“Let me be drunk and sentimental.”

“I thought you weren’t drunk.”

“Fine, I’m drunk.” 

“I appreciate the honesty,” she grinned, putting the plate in the drying rack. “I bet you still got a pair of sweats in my room from high school.”

“Lucky me.” She led him upstairs, digging them out of the dresser and tossing them to him. When he caught them, he was prouder than he should’ve been, stripping his jeans off and pulling them on. Victoria hadn’t taken her pajamas off that day, climbing into the bed. Sonny belly flopped next to her, and she pulled her knees up, laughing loudly. With a grin, he settled the blanket over them and flung an arm over her. Maybe he was taking advantage of the excuse drinking gave him, but he liked hearing her laugh. Sonny Carisi was still a gentleman though, and he was careful to keep his arm on her stomach and his hands on her ribs. This visit was more delicate than the wedding. Memories probably still helped; they were in her teenage room after all. His parents were always home, and her mom wasn’t. 

“Whatcha thinking?” Victoria asked gently, hand smoothing over his hair. 

“I miss this.”

“Staten Island?”

“Watching you eat pie when I’m drunk and staring at ya.”

“You’re sappy. Get some sleep.”

“If I go to sleep, it’s over sooner.” She smoothed his hair back gently, smiling as she pressed a kiss to his forehead. He closed his eyes and hummed, and Victoria thought describing Sonny as a puppy seemed even more apt. He was curling against her, pleased at the attention as she scratched his scalp. WHen they were kids, he’d always said If I go to sleep, it’s over sooner with excitement as they waited on vacations or holiday mornings. He’d said it sadly tonight. She didn’t like that. The more times she saw him, the more tempted she was not to wait it out and come home. So what if she had to worry he’d pull away again?

It mattered because she had to remember how she felt. Waiting at home all those months, fighting him, begging for something to prove he wanted her there. Victoria couldn’t do it again, but she also couldn’t picture turning thirty without Sonny. Having a kid without him. Sitting on a porch with some other guy. After a while, soft snoring alerted her that he’d fallen asleep, arm still flung over her and his head on her shoulder. Her cheek rested against the top of his head as she tried to memorize what this felt like again. 

He’d met a therapist. That was what made it feel more like there might be a conclusion to the separation. Before tonight, she’d accepted this weird limbo may be permanent. Despite the mentions of divorce, she knew neither of them would do it. Therapy wasn’t something Sonny’s family valued, and he’d always been resistant to the concept for himself. When Victoria went, he was supportive and recognized the good it did her, but his father had always demeaned it, and that stuck with him. That wasn’t a problem before when Victoria could weasel the problem out of him. He didn’t think he was in the wrong before, but it seemed whatever was wrong was something he realized was too big for him. It didn’t bother her that she couldn’t fix it for him; she was just glad he was accepting help somewhere.

She wasn’t sure when she fell asleep, but Sonny was gone when she woke. Her first response was panic, that maybe how they left things the morning after the wedding meant he’d opted for the same response as the first time and gone home before she woke up. Her mind stopped racing, however, when she realized she could smell coffee and bacon wafting through the door. She slipped out of bed, finding him in the kitchen with his hair askew as he flipped a pancake. 

“Mornin’ doll,” he smiled shyly, pouring coffee and sliding the mug to her. It seemed like he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be there, and she supposed she didn’t know if he should be or not. “I got some time before I have to go to the precinct, so I figured I’d make you pancakes.”

“Thanks, Dom.” She pressed a kiss to his temple. “Ain’t Ma going to be mad?”

“She can deal with it. She had me all day yesterday. I know I ain’t ready to tell you what you need me to, but I want to leave on a good note. Prove I’m really trying.” Victoria set her coffee back on the counter, arms sliding around him as she pressed her cheek to his back. His free hand rested where hers clasped as he flipped another pancake.

“That means a lot, Dom.”

“You felt like I didn’t want you with me. Leaving when you’re asleep or pressuring you won’t help. You told me what to do, and all I can do is prove I want you while I work on doing it. If you love somebody, let ‘em go. If it’s meant to be, they’ll come back. And it’s meant to be, Tor. Ordained by the big guy.”

“You really believe that?”

“Believe it? I know it, doll.”

“You know I do love you?”

“I know. And I do love you. We just never had to communicate before.”

“How dare we develop real problems in our twenties?”

“Right? What chumps.”

“Should we go to therapy together?”

“I’m not ready yet, Tor. But I think it would be a good idea when I am.”

“Me too,” she said, squeezing him before she let go. “I can see you’re trying.”

“I’m just glad you ain’t mad I haven’t told the new squad yet.”

“It’s super complicated. I understand.”

“Yeah. I’m still growing on them. I don’t want to seem like I’ve got a lot of drama too. Because weirdly, we’re low to no drama. But ‘Yeah, I’m married and we see each other for a day every few months while we try to figure out how to talk’ sounds bad.”

“Only a little,” she laughed, taking their plates to the table as he refilled the coffee. They ate happily, Victoria kissing him softly when he left to get dressed for work back at his mom’s house. Gianna Carisi was in the yard, shooting them a disapproving look. He shook his head at her, ushering the woman inside before she could try to talk to Victoria. Sonny understood his mom’s stance: her son could do no wrong. In reality, they had both done wrong. Victoria should have told him how she was feeling before they were in too deep, and he shouldn’t have waited so long to process what he saw on the job. 

“Ma, you leave my wife alone.”

“You’re not acting married. You’re acting like acquaintances that get lucky sometimes.”

“And you’re not helping my chances of fixing things.”

“Dominick, it’s been over a year.”

“And I’m finally getting off my ass, going to therapy, and trying to work with Tor.”

“You don’t need therapy, Dom. Just man up, like your father.”

“I do. And it’s helpin’ and I just got to spend a night and morning with Victoria with no fighting. That’s a step in the right direction.”

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