#i don't think I'll ever explicitly come out but still feels nice to not hide it

[delibird-catboi]

🫡

[terrence-silver]

Could you write something about Terry's youngest daughter asking him for a bedtime story and the story she wants to hear is how Terry met beloved?

-"Daddy, how did you know, though?"-

-"I knew."-

-"Yeah, but, how?"-

Dusk rituals in his mansion estate household were very much the same every evening accompanied by stories, anecdotes and tall tales he'd tell, legs sprawled out and crossed on a child's plush bed, still carrying the sweat, cologne and salt of the lingering daylight and his time at the dojo, surrounded by an array of pillows, throws and stuffed animals of the serpentine variety (much to his pleasure and amusement) being invaded with a ricochet of questions that to his shock somehow always ended up being more complex, philosophical, clever and thought provoking than he'd ever hoped for from a kid, yet unsurprisingly, coming from his child, his flesh, his cunning little snakey, Terry ponders the answer on just how he was left certified the one was the one. How did he know? -"Your blood,"- There it is, sharp intake of breath as he speaks to the small being leaning on his shoulder, listening intently, never blinking, as if those eyes were ready to dry out the secrets of the universe. -"It tells you. It's an underling instinct."- He explains the concept that was drawing dangerous close to describing love at first sight. To describing pheromones. The birds and the bees. Something akin to destiny, possession, the red thread of fate, soulmates, natural attraction and absolute belonging. -"What's instinct?"- His princess asks as an immediate retort, peering up at him, ever so curious and inquisitive.

Ah yes. How would Terry describe instinct to a small child?

-"Darkness. The need to hide from what's out there."- He starts out simple and small, taking the soft end of the blanket and tucking it over a tiny, huddled body, cozying in his princess nicely as he speaks, keeping her snug and toasty. -"A gazelle running from a Cheetah."- He adds knowingly; that was a commonplace, near mundane example that could've been easily lifted straight out National Geographics. A hunter takes chase and it was simply the prey's cognitive, primal instinct to take flight in order to survive. He witnessed it firsthand on a Safari one time back in '82 over some Cuban cigars and champagne. -"The human eye evolving to recognize patterns in nature as a way to ward off from predators."- Terry blurts out finally, feeling extremely proud of that one, realizing too late his sweetheart undoubtedly didn't really understand what that all meant by her drowsy, discontent expression on the tender, plush pillow lined with a frame of lacy ribbons. He relents and tries again, employing the trappings of a Sensei to achieve an end goal. She was six and way past her bedtime after all. There would be time to discuss the nuances of human relations some other time. -"Breathing, that's instinct too. Don't have to think about it, huh? It just happens. Happens for free."- Terry taps the tip of her nose with a bejewelled forefinger for special emphasis. Can't believe he just said that. Happens for free. Yet somehow, it fit.

-So, when you met mom, you didn't think about it?"-

She interjects and there Terry halts, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Yeah.

Yeah, that was about the jist of it.

Seeing someone and finding them so appealing to the eyes, to the nervous system, to the hormones, to the heart, mind and soul he dared say, that upon speaking to them, face to face, realizing all the chemicals in the body appeal to the brain as well, the potent cocktail having every semblance of a thunderbolt and static electricity. Enjoying their scent and their visage and their voice and concluding, that's mine and I'll have it. But, he couldn't put it quite as explicitly or graphically to a child. That was he was contemplating all the carnal principles of lust with their mother on the spot. That he was contemplating telling every bad thing he's every did on the off chance they'll accept him for it. Instead, all Terry tactically says is. -"I didn't have to think, no."- He leans forward with a smile, planting a kiss on her forehead. -"I just took."- Terry whispers, clicking off the lamp on the nightstand and concluding that that too could've been explicit, depending how one interpreted it. -"And that's how you kiddos happened."- He stands up on the partial darkness of the room illuminated solely by the light from the hallway peeking through the door left ajar; this being the last child's room Terry visited for the night, the others lining the foyer, already fast asleep. She closes her eyes as he turns to leave her. She was the youngest, yet always went to bed last, wrestling that bit of control away from him.

He bids his snakey goodnight, content with the explanation.

[randomsnakesimp]

Okay. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna take the leap and say: Phobos is the victim (sorta).

Quick disclaimer: I am going to abuse plot holes and cartoon logic for my cause in a very nitpicky way. If you dislike that, I can completely understand, and I hope this warning will save you a lot of reading.

Also, this won't go into just headcanon territory, I'll put those in a separate post. Everything here I'll try to keep based on actual information from the comics and what I made of them.

That said...

Let's take a look at this scene:

(for a quick translation of the important part, the mother says: "No, Phobos, Meridian is meant for your sister. That's the law. The crown is hers.)

What we can see here are a few very important things:

1. Phobos is at most 5 years older than Elyon.

2. The name "Phobos" is not an edgy nickname he gave himself. Five-year-olds don't go around calling themselves Phobos. So his parents, for some reason, gave him that name.

3. His mother is very adamant about him not even touching the crown and reminding him of his sisters' birthright.

So, after establishing what I would call more or less facts, what else can, relatively savely, be deduced here?

- Since Elyon never noticed anything weird about herself, she can't have aged slower than earth children. So neither can Phobos. This would mean that, as she was kidnapped after her mothers death as a baby, he would have been five. So, he either tried his best to rule at age five, or the council we see as Elyon rules stepped in for him for a while

- this would then mean two things: we need an explanation as to why Miriadel, Alborn and Galgheita fled explicitly from Phobos (I'll give my explanation a bit further down) and second, Phobos' reign of terror wasn't even thirteen years, and a lot of that time he was a child/teen and could not even have been mature enough to rule.

- This also means that Kandrakar pulled up the veil when Phobos was at most five, likely younger, and that the so called "Seal of Phobos" also existed at that time, as both the veil and the seal are seen in the flashback depicting Elyons abduction. For Kandrakar, this, too, I will try to explain soon, but as for the seal, I find it most plausible that the theory @ror-witch used in their fanfiction, of the seal being a royal heirloom and named after each ruler, is true.

- His and his mother's relationship was neither as bad as some assumptions go, but neither was it that good, probably, or at least it wasn't in his perception. See how his memory is of her cradling the baby the entire time and talking more about his sisters birthright than about what he has/can do? Yes, it's only a short memory, but I think it's clear that it's a summary of what he remembers of his mother.

- Phobos desire to rule Meridian does not stem from something deeply sinister, but rather from a childish spite. Five year old Phobos probably just wanted the crown cause it looked nice and shiny, and he was fabulous even back then, but after his mothers words, he sulked and decided to show her. That's his motivation.

So, now let's go a bit further and look at some other things we can deduce from the rest of the comics:

- Phobos has a huge dungeon, a wall of roses that turn people into more roses if they touch it and his plan for the annihilation of Meridian is "Well, Cedric and I hide in the castle and...we'll see". He hates the people of Meridian, but he doesn't seem to have it in him to directly attack anyone until Elyon is there and even here, when he has her knocked out in their duel or locked up as Endarno, he isn't unnecessarily cruel. He's not evil in nature, he's more of a very dangerous child throwing tantrums. ( Cedric is kinda similar, and they both start losing it toward the coronation, but I sincerely believe that before that, there would have been a chance for them to come around )

- The only person he ever tortures or even hurts directly is Cedric. Because one, he likes Cedric and so gets more extreme emotions around him, and two, Cedric never says anything, and just plays it of afterwards, so I don't know if he even fully realizes what he's doing, like a child hitting someone. If Cedric ever just said "Stop it, you're hurting me", Phobos would probably need an entire week to process that input.

- Phobos is VERY reclusive, and he doesn't want anyone to have even pictures of him, and while that could be a God complex, I get some highly insecure vibes out of it, in a vulnerable narcissist kinda way, in that he is massively overcompensating. I gotta admit, though, that I cannot put my finger on why, so maybe take this with a grain of salt and decide for yourself if you agree.

- Kandrakar never orders the guardians to help Meridian in any way, just to make sure nothing oozes out. They likely pulled up the veil for their own protection, so Phobos wouldn't be able to spread far enough to become a real danger, rather than to protect innocent people, as clearly the Meridian people mean shit to them

- while the guards are widely feared in Meridian, Cedric seems to be viewed as... not very frightening or important, as some random merchant feels comfortable clinging to his cape (and rightfully so, apparently, as Cedric just tells him to piss off and doesn't care any further). This further leads me to believe that Cedric is rather unhealthy devoted to Phobos and his tantrums while their shitty ass reign leaves a lot of free space for unsuited people to become guards and tyranize the people.

- the King and Queen seem to have died in rapid succession, and shortly after the scene shown above, yet she looks perfectly healthy in that scene.

Now, what do I make of all this?

I believe the line of events to be as follows:

I don't think Phobos traveling back in time is a viable theory for mainly two reasons: I think his mother would be less chill around him if she saw/heard about his reign herself, and I believe that it would have been mentioned somewhere along the way if that were the case. Instead, what I believe happened is that the oracle had a vague vision of Phobos nearly taking over Kandrakar. Deciding in their random mood swings that today was a day of action, they had the people of Meridian informed that the next male born to a queen would become a dangerous tyrant, pulled up a veil and set their guardians to make sure nothing oozed out.

The veil, of course, made the people of Meridian feel trapped and a horror of the unborn prince who would ruin their lives spread.

So, when Weira gave birth to that prince, a full blown panic spread, so much so that she, in a fit of hysterical emotion, named him after that boust of panic. Of course, people tried to kill the prince basically from the moment he was born, and he was met with barely concealed resentment.

Soon after, Weira and her husband died - whether they were killed, or fell ill, or died in an accident, I have no idea, but I wouldn't completely rule out an assassination either aimed at Phobos and accidentally hitting them or the strain making at least one of them fall terminally ill.

Either the people rioted and Phobos' magic panic reaction or the leftover loyal guard was enough to fight them back, or the people succumbed to their fate at this point, slumping into the state of despair seen throughout the comics. But in the end, five year old Phobos had to be handed the throne. I assume the council still had some say at this point, but he did manage to get all pictures of him destroyed - this order was likely due to the fact that they were mostly caricatures.

So he grew up with the very volatile combination of a shitton of power and no one able to tell him if he was being stupid on one hand, and feeling unloved and unwanted on the other. He withdrew, likely also due to countless assassination attempts or things he perceived as such, and went into a negative feedback loop of being unable to mature and take responsibility, therefore being a shit ruler, therefore being hated, therefore having no one to help him, therefore being unable to face and grow from his mistakes, rinse and repeat.

So, Meridian was plunged into chaos, yet he seemed fine more or less just sitting in the new playroom he made for himself in the gardens, sporadically giving out an order or two and having generally no idea about anything that didn't directly concern him.

Enter Elyon. Now, she send him of the rails, as she was a danger to his lifestyle AND a reminder of all the sentiments he'd be drowning in alcohol if he wasn't too much of a recluse and education denier to know of that option. He doesn't even try. He just lets Cedric, the one person he trusts, handle her, like everything else, and somewhat plays along sometimes, when he feels like it. This is where he passes the point of no return and starts actually trying to kill people, culminating in him creating an army to wipe out Meridian. I still believe that even at this point, in his head, what he's doing is just throwing a nice toy out the window just so his sister won't have it.

[nashibirne]

Safe Haven - 11

I haven't updated this in forever and nobody reads it anyway 😆 but why let the already written parts rot in my WIPs, so here we go.

Previous parts: Masterlist

Pairing: Thomas / female OFC

Setting: After the end of ‘TMR - Death Cure’

Summary: Thomas is dealing with the aftermath of the events since the glade and learns that falling in love can be painful.

In part 11 Kasey goes on her date with Parker, meets Anne and Thomas starts fighting

Warnings:  smut/sex/porn (in some chapters), swearing, mentioning of death, traumatic experiences, violence, sexual frustration, promiscuity, homosexuality, 18+ readers only

Credits: TMR-Characters don’t belong to me / are based on the books by James Dashner and the movies. All pictures I used for the moodboards are from pinterest. Face claims: Blake Lively, Parker Hurley, Henry Cavill, Michael B. Jordan. If I violate any copyright please let me know and I’m going to remove the pictures.

Unbeta'ed!

~~~~~

"Kay, why are you sitting here with me?" Parker cocked his head, looking at her with a frown. They were sitting on a pile of mattresses in the corner of the room that functioned as a substitute for a couch, enjoying a hot chocolate as kind of a dessert.

Kasey was a little confused about his question, that was coming out of nowhere in the middle of a rather easy-going chat. The whole dinner had been very nice, relaxed and natural, the conversation flowing without awkward moments of silence. In the beginning Parker had been pretty flirtatious but to Kaseys relief he'd started getting more casual, switching from flirt-mode to friends-mode during the evening. They talked about everything under the sun just like they used to do when they were nothing more than good friends and Kasey was beginning to hope that it wouldn't be necessary to talk about their relationship explicitly. That Parker's feelings had changed too over the last months and that they both silently agreed to staying just good friends. No more flirting, no dating. So his strange question caught her off-guard, making her feel unsure.

"Umm...because you invited me over? For dinner?"

"Right, and we decided to call it a date, didn't we?"

"Yes, I guess so."

"So, let me ask you again, Kay, but with another accentuation this time...why are you sitting here on a date with me?" he asked, overly stressing the last word now, increasing Kasey's confusion.

"Is that a trick question, Parks?" she grinned, trying to laugh it off because it was dawning on her what he was getting at.

"No, it's not a trick question." He didn't join in laughing and Kasey was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"I don't know what you want to hear from me." her voice was sharper than intended.

Parker turned to her, taking her hand, his voice soothing now.

"What I want to hear from you is that you wanted this date as much as I did. That you've missed me as much as I've missed you. I want to hear my name slip from your lips again and again, because all you can think about is me. But unfortunately all I keep hearing is Thomas, Kay. Thomas did this, Thomas did that, Thomas is so funny, so brave, so nice, so smart. Thomas, Thomas, Thomas…that's why I'm asking why you're sitting here with me and not somewhere on a date with him." 

Kasey stared at him, shocked and embarrassed.

"Oh my god, Parker. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. I really didn't realize I talked about Tommy that much." She buried her burning face in her hands, unable to look at him now.

"Well, you do. Almost non-stop."

"Okay, okay...I get it. I guess it's because I spend so much time with him. And he's a good friend...so…" She didn't need Parker to tell her how lame this excuse was but he told her anyway.

"You haven't mentioned Quince or Joe or Marjorie or any of your other friends just once, Kay. So I don't think that's the reason."

She didn't know how to respond, just shrugging her shoulders instead she gave him a sheepish smile.

"Just tell me, and please be honest, you and him...is there something going on? Something physical?"

"No." she replied truthfully.

"But?" Parker looked her in the eyes and she knew the moment of truth was there. She needed to be honest with him and with herself. Taking a deep breath she started to talk.

"But...there is something going on emotionally. I'm in love with him, Parker." she blurted out and to her own surprise she burst into tears. "I'm so sorry" she sobbed. "I don't know how it happened, at first I just liked him but then he was so...so...perfect. It suddenly hit me somehow... like lightning. I swear I was missing you, Parks...the months on sea, separated from you, I was so looking forward to this.." she said pointing at him and her and the remains of their dinner "but then Thomas came stumbling into my life and I fell for him. It just happened. Accidentally. I don't know..."

"Hey, hey, hey...princess. Calm down, okay? No need to cry." He took her in his arms, cradling her gently till her crying fit was over.

"I'm sorry." she said again, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Would you please stop apologizing, Kay?"

She nodded, staring at her feet.

"You should have told me right away. I mean...if I hadn't mentioned it...would you have said anything at all? What was your plan? To date me, secretly yearning for him?"

"No! Of course not. I was planning on telling you how my feelings have changed but then you stopped flirting and I thought maybe your feelings have changed too and there is no need to talk about it at all…" Kasey still didn't dare to look him in the eyes.

"I stopped flirting because you wouldn't stop talking about him…" His voice was hoarse and the smile he gave her didn't reach his eyes. When Kasey finally looked at him, it didn't take much to tell how hurt he was.

"To be honest, Kay, I already had a notion earlier at the beach. I saw your little exchange during the lunch break and I had the strange feeling that you and the guy are already closer than we have ever been. And when you got angry because I called him a greenhorn, I knew he was special to you. But I hoped it was just feelings of friendship."

"I wish it was." she sighed. "I'm sorry. I really don't know what else to say, Parker."

"It's all right. It was me who wanted us to wait in the first place. We separated as friends and I don't deny it, I expected us to become more than this after our return, but you didn't make any promises and neither did I. So there's no need to justify yourself or to apologize."

"You're not mad at me?"

"No, I'm not. I know you didn't do it on purpose or to hurt me. We don't choose who we love, do we?" he sighed.

"And please don't be mad at Thomas, okay? It's not his fault."

Parker raised an eyebrow. "Are you scared I'm gonna kick his little ass?" 

"You wouldn't!"

"We'll see." Parker grinned, causing Kasey to slap him on his leg. 

"Promise!" 

"Okay, okay, I promise. I'm not gonna touch a hair on his head."

"Good." Kasey smiled, stifling a yawn. She was so tired. The lack of sleep, the hard work all day, this conversation, the crying…

"So you love the guy. What about him? Does he feel the same?"

"No, I don't think so."

"How's that?"

"Let's just say he's not looking for love, okay?" Kasey was way too exhausted to tell Parker the whole story. She slowly sank down on Parker's lap, stretching out on the mattress, yawning.

"But he looks at you with a lot of love, Kay."

"No he doesn't…" was all Kasey managed to mumble before falling asleep, missing Parker's answer.

"I think you're wrong, princess."

The next morning she found herself on the mattresses, wrapped up in a blanket, blended by the sun, shining through the window right into her face. She raised her head, looking for Parker who was lying in his bed, smiling at her.

"Good Morning."

"Morning…"

"I didn't have the heart to wake you up, so I thought you could just as well spend the night here with me."

"Thanks." she smiled at him gratefully. "I really appreciate that. Not only that you let me sleep here. Everything. Your understanding, your reaction. The way you handle this situation. I know I hurt you and I hope you know that's the last thing I wanted to do."

"Of course. I just want us to stay friends, Kasey." He got up and put on a shirt before he went to the stove, putting the kettle on.

"What about breakfast?"

'No, thanks, Parks." Kasey got up, straightening her clothes. "I don't want to abuse your hospitality. And I need some time to think." 

"Sure," he nodded. "And Kay?" Parker turned around to look at her. "I want you to be happy, okay? And if he's the one for you...then I'll be fine. I just want you to know…"

Kasey smiled and walked over to him, hugging him tightly. "Thanks. This means a lot to me."

***

When Kasey left Parker's hut, she unfortunately ran right into Anne, who was on her way to the laundry shack. 

"Uh-huh...you really don't waste any time, do you." Anne greeted her, a smug smile on her face.

"Excuse me?" Kasey decided to play dumb, hoping to avoid a longer conversation. But Anne wasn't willing to do her the favor.

"You and Parker I mean. There were rumours going round that you and him are a thing and obviously it's true. I'm dying to see Tommy's face when he finds out. He's gonna be so pissed and disappointed."

"What?" Kasey didn't even try to hide her annoyance.

"You don't have to act stupid." Anne snapped, her eyes cold. "Our little Casanova is in love with you and I'm not denying it...it's gonna be lots of fun to see him die from jealousy. The big player losing the most important game."

"Wait...what are you talking about, Anne? " Kasey couldn't believe her ears.

"Ooohhhh....you didn't know. He hasn't told you. What a fucking coward." Anne let out a contemptuous snort.

"Anne, I'm really not in the mood for some stupid games, okay? Thomas doesn't do love, just sex and you know that."

"Yeah, that's what I thought until the day before yesterday, when he called me by your name."

"He confused your name with mine...that doesn't mean anything." Kasey crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"He called me Kasey, cuming in my mouth, screaming your name when he orgasmed." Anne said, her voice sharp. "And when I confronted him about it, telling him he loves you right in his face, he didn't even try to deny it. So you better believe me."

Kasey stared at her speechless, unable to think clearly.  "It's gonna be a little awkward to work with him from now on, don't you think?" Anne gave her a triumphant and malicious smile before turning around and walking away without another word, leaving Kasey dazed and confused. It took her a few minutes to think straight again but when she'd finally managed to compose herself she knew there was only one place she could go now. There was only one person who was gonna help her, listen to her, and talk to her with unabashed openness. The only person who really knew her, maybe better than she knew herself. 

*****

When Thomas woke up refreshed and with new strength, his mood was as bright and sunny as the morning. After a night of brooding over the fact that Kasey was on a dinner with Mr Perfect he felt ready for battle now. He was not going to give up that easily.

"Morning, Tommy" Minho greeted, entering their hut with a little basket filled with eggs from their hens.

"Good morning my friend." Thomas was all smiles.

"Wow… you're in a good mood." Minho raised an eyebrow.

"Yep, I am. Tonight's the night. The big party. And I'm finally gonna win Kasey's heart. To hell with Parker Higgins."

Today was the anniversary of the island's discovery and the camp members celebrated it with a big beach party every year. 

"Yeah, man! That's the spirit." Minho gave his friend a high five. He was happy to see Thomas in high spirits, ready to fight for the woman he obviously really loved. Just 12 hours ago Thomas had been a picture of misery, moping and full of jealousy and lovesickness. But now he seemed to be optimistic and eager for action again, which was much more like him.

"So, what's the plan?" Minho wanted to know. He handed the eggs over to Thomas who started to make scrambled eggs for breakfast.

"I'm going to tell her that I love her. No matter what. Even if she's with him now."

"I doubt that. As I said yesterday...the fact that they had dinner together doesn't mean anything."

"Yeah, we'll see. But I better expect the worst so I won't be disappointed… I just want her to know how I feel."

"That's good, Tommy. You belong together, if you find love you gotta grab it." Minho said, setting the table.

"Wise words from a wise man, but what about you?" Thomas turned around, the pan with the eggs in his hand, serving each of them a portion, before sitting down.

"Me? What do you mean?" Minho was visibly confused.

"Are you gonna grab love tonight?"

Minho stared at him, chewing on a piece of bread.

"I don't know what you're talking about, shuck-face."

"I'm talking about Quincy."

Minho dropped his fork, his body stiffening.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Yeah, I heard you, but I don't know what you're getting at." Minho leaned back in his chair with a frown.

"It's just...I think you like Quincy. A lot."

"Oh yeah? How's that?" 

"I don't know,  just a feeling?"

"A feeling?" 

"Yes. The way you look at him. I've never seen you look at someone like this. And you spent a lot of time with him. And…." Thomas hesitated.

"And what?" Minho gave him a challenging look.

"And there are so many girls hitting on you and you don't seem to care a bit. You don't even look at them. You don't have dates and...well...no sex life. You live like a monk, man."

"Well, not everyone feels the need to fuck around, Thomas." Minho snapped, crossing his arms in front of his wide chest.

Thomas leaned forward, looking at his friend.

"I know and I don't want to pry, Minho. It's alright if you don't want to talk about it. I'm sorry."

Minho took his time before answering.

"No, it's okay." He sighed. "I just tried so hard to hide it but it seems I was pretty obvious."

"To me it was obvious but I know you very well. Why would you want to hide it in the first place? You know you could have talked to me."

"Like you talked to me about Kasey?" Minho raised his eyebrows. "It took kind of a nervous breakdown to make you open up to me about her."

"Okay, okay." Thomas grinned. "Maybe we both suck at talking about feelings and stuff."

"Yeah." Minho laughed and the tension between them vanished.

"So you're into men?"

"Yes, shank. You got it." Minho threw a piece of egg at him. "In the glade I fell in love with Ben…"

"You and him were…?"

"No!" Minho interrupted Thomas. "No. He had no idea how I felt."

"Must have been hard for you."

"It was, especially when he was banished. But I never considered myself gay, you know. I thought I fell in love with a boy due to the lack of girls. That once I would meet girls I would eventually fall in love like it's supposed to be." Minho shrugged.

"But you didn't." 

"No. I wanted to. I tried to. But it didn't work. I didn't feel anything more than friendship for any of the girls. And then Quincy came along and somehow I slowly fell for him."

"That's great, Minho."

"Great? Are you kidding me? I don't even know if he's gay too."

"He is." Thomas said grinning.

"Says who?" Minho asked with a sceptical frown.

"Marge. I asked her if Kay and Quince were more than friends and she told me Quincy's not interested in women."

"Oh."

"Yeah...there goes your excuse…"

"It's not only that. I don't know if he likes me at all."

"Then you better find out, man. Tonight."

"In front of everyone? I don't think so." Minho shook his head.

"I'm not saying you should make out with him or something. But you could try to get a little closer to him? Flirt a little?" Thomas suggested.

"Yeah, I think I can do that." Minho grinned.

"Of course you can. And then he flirts back and you get really really close and you leave the party and go to his place…." Thomas smirked. 

"Shut up." Minho said laughing. "Let me take  one step after another, okay?"

****

Kasey arrived at Joe's just a few minutes after her confrontation with Anne. After knocking for the second time without a reaction she started to wonder if he might still be asleep which would be quite unusual for him. He had always been an early-bird, quite the opposite of his twin sister who was a late riser.

She was about to knock again, when Joe opened the door, surprised to see her.

"Sis...what are you doing here?"

Kasey sighed, giving him a sheepish smile.

"I need your advice, Joe. And a coffee."

"Who says I have coffee?" he grinned.

"I can smell it." 

"Got me, come in, Kay." Joe laughed, stepping aside to let her enter his hut.

"Sit down." He offered her a chair and Kasey took a seat. From the corner of her eyes she noticed a movement in Joe's bed, followed by a rustling noise. To her big surprise it was Marjorie that appeared from underneath the bedsheets, stretching and yawning.

"Morning, Kay." she gave her a wink before getting up, standing there completely naked, scanning the room for her clothes. 

Kasey gave Joe a surprised look followed by a big grin. Her brother just bit his lip, shrugging his shoulders, blushing like she'd never seen him blush before.

"I'll leave you to it, guys." Marjorie said while getting dressed. "See you later, Joe." She kissed him tenderly, looking him deep in the eyes. "Yeah, Babe." he mumbled, pressing a sweet kiss on her neck. "Can't wait."

"So you and Marge, huh?" Kasey asked when Marjorie was gone, sipping on her coffee.

"Yeah…" Joe grinned "Me and Marge."

"How long has this been going on?"

"A few weeks." The smile on her brother's face told Kasey how much he was in love without further words. He wasn't much of a talker, especially not regarding his feelings. It was his way of self-protection to keep things to himself. But their bond was strong, and so there was no need to talk, looking at her twin was all it took for Kasey to tell how he was feeling. 

"I have to admit, I didn't see that coming…"

"Neither did I." Joe took a big sip of his coffee, smiling happily. "It simply happened but it's perfect. Marjorie is...perfect."

"That's great, Joe. I'm so happy for you." 

Kasey took her brother's hand, squeezing it.

"Thanks, Kay." He returned the squeeze. "But I don't think you're here to talk about my love life, right? What makes you knock on my door unannounced so early in the morning?"

"It's complicated." she answered with a long deep sigh.

"Is it about Thomas?"

Kasey looked at him, surprised about his guess.

"Yeah. How do you know?"

"To be honest….Marjorie mentioned that she thinks there might be something going on between you. And so I started watching you closely and I totally agree. I don't know exactly what's going on but it's as clear as day that there is a certain tension between you and Tommy."

Kasey got up from her chair walking over to the window, staring out into the bright blue sky.

"Yeah...what's going on between us. That is the question, I guess…"

~~~~~

[nashibirne]

Safe Haven - 11

Pairing: Thomas / female OFC Setting: After the end of ‘TMR - Death Cure’ Summary: Thomas is dealing with the aftermath of the events since the glade and learns that falling in love can be painful. In part 11 (got the wrong number in the moodboard, sorry) Kasey has a date with Parker and she meets Anne... Warnings:  smut/sex/porn (in some chapters), swearing, mentioning of death, traumatic experiences, violence, sexual frustration, promiscuity, homosexuality, 18+ readers only Credits: TMR-Characters don’t belong to me / are based on the books by James Dashner and the movies. All pictures I used for the moodboards/headers are from pinterest. Face claims: Blake Lively, Parker Hurley. If I violate any copyright please let me know and I’m going to remove the pictures. Beta by the wonderful  @hell1129-blog​  Thanks for your support! xo

Comments, likes and reblogs are very much appreciated.

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"Kay, why are you sitting here with me?" Parker cocked his head, looking at her with a frown. They were sitting on a pile of mattresses in the corner of the room that functioned as a substitute for a couch, enjoying a hot chocolate as kind of a dessert.

Kasey was a little confused by his question, that was coming out of nowhere in the middle of a rather easy-going chat. The whole dinner had been very nice, relaxed and natural, the conversation flowing without awkward moments of silence. In the beginning Parker had been pretty flirtatious but to Kaseys relief he'd started getting more casual, switching from flirt-mode to friends-mode during the evening. They talked about everything under the sun just like they used to do when they were nothing more than good friends and Kasey was beginning to hope that it wouldn't be necessary to talk about their relationship explicitly. That Parker's feelings had changed too over the last months and that they both silently agreed to staying just good friends. No more flirting, no dating. So his strange question caught her off-guard, making her feel unsure.

"Umm...because you invited me over? For dinner?"

"Right, and we decided to call it a date, didn't we."

"Yes, I guess so."

"So, let me ask you again, Kay, but with another accentuation this time...why are you sitting here on a date with me?" he asked, overly stressing the last word now, increasing Kasey's confusion.

"Is that a trick question, Parks?" she grinned, trying to laugh it off because it was dawning on her what he was getting at.

"No, it's not a trick question." He didn't join in laughing and Kasey was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"I don't know what you want to hear from me." her voice was sharper than intended.

Parker turned to her, taking her hand, his voice soothing now.

"What I want to hear from you is that you wanted this date as much as I did. That you've missed me as much as I've missed you. I want to hear my name slip from your lips again and again, because all you can think about is me. But unfortunately all I keep hearing is Thomas, Kay. Thomas did this, Thomas did that, Thomas is so funny, so brave, so nice, so smart. Thomas, Thomas, Thomas…that's why I'm asking why you're sitting here with me and not somewhere on a date with him." 

Kasey stared at him shocked and embarrassed.

"Oh my god, Parker. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. I really didn't realize I talk about Tommy that much." She buried her burning face in her hands unable to look at him now.

"Well, you do. Almost non-stop."

"Okay, okay...I get it. I guess it's because I spend so much time with him. And he's a good friend...so…" She didn't need Parker to tell her how lame this excuse was but he told her anyway.

"You haven't mentioned Quince or Joe or Marjorie or any of your other friends just once, Kay. So I don't think that's the reason."

She didn't know how to respond, just shrugging her shoulders instead she gave him a sheepish smile.

"Just tell me, and please be honest, you and him...is there something going on? Something physical?"

"No." she replied truthfully.

"But?" Parker looked her in the eyes and she knew the moment of truth was there. She needed to be honest with him and with herself. Taking a deep breath she started to talk.

"But...there is something going on emotionally. I'm in love with him, Parker." she blurted out and to her own surprise she burst into tears. "I'm so sorry" she sobbed. "I don't know how it happened, at first I just liked him but then he was so...so...perfect. It suddenly hit me somehow... like lightning. I swear I was missing you, Parks...the months on sea, separated from you, I was so looking forward to this.." she said pointing at him and her and the remains of their dinner "but then Thomas came stumbling into my life and I fell for him. It just happened. Accidentally. I don't know..."

"Hey, hey, hey...princess. Calm down, okay? No need to cry." He took her in his arms, cradling her gently till her crying fit was over.

"I'm sorry." she said again, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Would you please stop apologizing, Kay?"

She nodded, staring at her feet.

"You should have told me right away. I mean...if I hadn't mentioned it...would you have said anything at all? What was your plan? To date me, secretly yearning for him?"

"No! Of course not. I was planning on telling you how my feelings have changed but then you stopped flirting and I thought maybe you're feelings have changed too and there is no need to talk about it at all…" Kasey still didn't dare to look him in the eyes.

"I stopped flirting because you wouldn't stop talking about him…" His voice was hoarse and the smile he gave her didn't reach his eyes. When Kasey finally looked at him, it didn't take much to tell how hurt he was.

"To be honest, Kay, I already had a notion earlier at the beach. I saw your little exchange during the lunch break and I had the strange feeling that you and the guy are already closer than we have ever been. And when you got angry because I called him a greenhorn, I knew he was special to you. But I hoped it was just feelings of friendship."

"I wish it was." she sighed. "I'm sorry. I really don't know what else to say, Parker."

"It's all right. It was me who wanted us to wait in the first place. We separated as friends and I don't deny it, I expected us to become more than this after our return, but you didn't make any promises and neither did I. So there's no need to justify yourself or to apologize."

"You're not mad at me?"

"No, I'm not. I know you didn't do it on purpose or to hurt me. We don't choose who we love, do we?" he sighed.

"And please don't be mad at Thomas, okay? It's not his fault."

Parker raised an eyebrow. "Are you scared I'm gonna kick his little ass?" 

"You wouldn't!"

"We'll see." Parker grinned causing Kasey to slap him on his leg. 

"Promise!" 

"Okay, okay, I promise. I'm not gonna touch a hair on his head."

"Good." Kasey smiled, stifling a yawn. She was so tired. The lack of sleep, the hard work all day, this conversation, the crying…

"So you love the guy. What about him? Does he feel the same?"

"No, I don't think so."

"How's that?"

"Let's just say he's not looking for love, okay?" Kasey was way too exhausted to tell Parker the whole story. She slowly sank down on Parker's lap, stretching out on the mattress, yawning.

"But he looks at you with a lot of love, Kay."

"No he doesn't…" was all Kasey managed to mumble before falling asleep, missing Parker's answer.

"I think you're wrong, princess."

The next morning she found herself on the mattresses, wrapped up in a blanket, blended by the sun, shining through the window right into her face. She raised her head, looking for Parker who was lying in his bed, smiling at her.

"Good Morning."

"Morning…"

"I didn't have the heart to wake you up, so I thought you can just as well spend the night here with me."

"Thanks." she smiled at him gratefully. "I really appreciate that. Not only that you let me sleep here. Everything. Your understanding, your reaction. The way you handle this situation. I know I hurt you and I hope you know that's the last thing I wanted to do."

"Of course. I just want us to stay friends, Kasey." He got up and put on a shirt before he went to the stove, putting the kettle on.

"What about breakfast?"

'No, thanks, Parks." Kasey got up, straightening her clothes. "I don't want to abuse your hospitality. And I need some time to think." 

"Sure." he nodded. "And Kay?" Parker turned around to look at her. "I want you to be happy, okay? And if he's the one for you...then I'll be fine. I just want you to know…"

Kasey smiled and walked over to him, hugging him tightly. "Thanks. This means a lot to me."

****

When Kasey left Parker's hut, she unfortunately ran right into Anne, who was on her way to the laundry shack. 

"Uh-huh...you really don't waste any time, do you." Anne greeted her, a smug smile on her face.

"Excuse me?" Kasey decided to play dumb, hoping to avoid a longer conversation. But Anne wasn't willing to do her the favor.

"You and Parker I mean. There were rumours going round that you and him are a thing and obviously it's true. I'm dying to see Tommy's face when he finds out. He's gonna be so pissed and disappointed."

"What?" Kasey didn't even try to hide her annoyance.

"You don't have to act stupid." Anne snapped, her eyes cold. "Our little Casanova is in love with you and I'm not denying it...it's gonna be lots of fun to see him die from jealousy. The big player losing the most important game."

"Wait...what are you talking about, Anne? " Kasey couldn't believe her ears.

"Ooohhhh....you didn't know. He hasn't told you. What a fucking coward." Anne let out a contemptuous snort.

"Anne, I'm really not in the mood for some stupid games, okay? Thomas doesn't do love, just sex and you know that."

"Yeah, that's what I thought until the day before yesterday, when he called me by your name."

"He confused your name with mine...that doesn't mean anything." Kasey crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"He called me Kasey, cuming in my mouth, screaming your name when he orgasmed." Anne said, her voice sharp. "And when I confronted him about it, telling him he loves you right in his face, he didn't even try to deny it. So you better believe me."

Kasey stared at her speechless, unable to think clearly.  "It's gonna be a little awkward to work with him from now on, don't you think?" Anne gave her a triumphant and malicious smile before turning around and walking away without another word, leaving Kasey dazed and confused.

It took her a few minutes to think straight again but when she'd finally managed to compose herself she knew there was only one place she could go now. There was only one person who was gonna help her, listen to her, and talk to her with unabashed openness. The only person who really knew her, maybe better than she knew herself.