#i either already know u or we have a telepathic connection

[lesseraive]

hello 👋 im your government assigned kpop secret santa. just wanted to introduce myself <3

-❓️

omg HIIIIIIIII how are you bestie? it's nice to meet u!!!!!

[kakujis]

i've finished the demo! do you think the last scene will change depending on origins? there is a possibility like alchemist would be more link to leander. it's advertised as a dark gothic romance novel for mature audiences but i think since the game is nowhere near finish, they cannot put an age rating on it yet.

oh, i didn't realised you could add additional items to your tier, i'm new to kickstarter so i have no idea lol. that's good but i've heard the cost of the shipping is pretty expensive too.

ais might be the true route for the game like with other otome games, you have to play the characters in certain order to reach the final/canon ending/route.

there are character sheets??? i feel like mhin is a character that grow on you and leander is the ideal one to start with and vere, you either love or hate him.

really? i thought ais intro was intense esp with that soundtrack! his music theme is the most memorable one. if there are changes, hopefully they will just add more piercings to sen or something like that considering she already have a nose ring.

elyon (?), i felt like he was deliberately designed like that because of his mysterious brief profile information like trying to find the one thing that money can't buy.

what do you think the potential new stretch goals could be? i think we are at the last one. i hope they add more physical merc for the basic tiers then because a lot of fans had chosen them.

omg maybe! i know each origin comes with its own special trait of some sort!! i wanna play sum more when i get home later this week!!! wbu?? r u gonna play thru again using a diff origin? alsooo my fren actually did play thru as alchemist and the dialogue for kuras in particular are diff!! not sure about leander but i thought about that too!!

also yesyes!!! on the touchstarved blog theres chara sheets for all of em! it tells u what they like + dislike alongside their fatal flaw! leanders is cut out im pretty sure soo im sooo curious abt hims. :3 also omg real! mhin is soooososososo pretty eee n i do enjoy their personality buuut, leander is def ideal eep!! vere is super cute to me, but i feel like id stutter to talk to him irl and then perish cus i give in too easily LMAOOO

also yes!! i agree w sen!! give her more piercings shes so damn hot im passing OUT!!! also also, i think leander n vere’s intros kinda swooped me away…. like i literally was dming my friend like: PLs i hope its not vere next ill pass out AND DIE… and then he showed up n i died. poof. GONE. (；ω；)

okok so the whole ais thing w me was like, hmmm. ur hot yes and ur music slaps but that was about it for me! i agree it was really intense! IM NOT EVEN SURE WHY i just felt like. nuffin towards him when i played it LOL. but the scene where he almost borderline kills tht one dude was so hot fusjdjjdjdjkaka. i have a whole lil drabble rn about ais and said alleyway…. im … hes…. hes so. (>_<)… on the floor SOBBING!!! if he is the true route i wont b mad!!! like they do put him in the middle of all the promo art sooo… i could see leander being a true route also. hes soo sweet. i wanna *** him.

yea yea i also agree abt elyon! he’s super handsome tho i bet his route will be great! i wonder what his personality will be like doe… like condescending? rude? patronizing?? hmm hmm. ohh also b4 i forget! yesyes u can change ur tier n do add-ons on the page! it’ll say edit tier or somthin like that! i think shipping will probs b 15 but i am a fool w a lil bit of extra monies. ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ

personally i gots nooo clue for stretch goals but im the same thinking as u!! im praying for more physical merch. I WAN AN AIS DAKIMURA PLS PLS PLS PLS PLS telepathically trying 2 connect w the devs rn… HEAR MY PLEAS!!!

[the-blaze-empress]

OOOH I love this so much I am TIRED so I might not be coherent but here goes anyway

So Phil IS nobility, casting is commonplace, and Phil’s parents are shit. Good to know good to know

I’m really feeling that Phil’s magic is wrong somehow- either nonexistent or dangerous or even just unpredictable. If he couldn’t control it, that would explain the “can’t behave himself comments”, but if it was nonexistent that could explain the “stupid” comments. I need more cluessssss

Okay so techno IS breaking society’s rules in a way that would get him chased out of settlements- and what was that about a response Techno was not “supposed to be able to pick up on”?? It’s giving telepath or empath, and I feel like Chat might have something to do with it. Interesting, very interesting. It’s the same sentiment Techno echoed of the sleep spell, so I’m wondering if the restrictions on the two different things are connected somehow

Either Phil is infamous in this oasis or they’re extreme xenophobes- or maybe it’s just something about techno specifically? Perhaps all three- which would make sense, considering most settlements are supposedly tightly knit, and we know Phil really wanted to Get Out. Plus it’s already been established that Techno dresses differently. The fact is not lost on me that techno rides a horse while everyone else has camels- I wonder if that’s anything important

Technos whole thing is giving kinda horcrux vibes? In that it’s like using normal magic but in dark and dangerous ways, making him an outcast. I’m expecting some dark backstory to start creeping in- perhaps explaining the origin of Chat

Why would Phil be chats problem? What did chat notice about him during the ride? WHAT DOES CHAT KNOW???

Every new chapter of this fic gets me obsessed all over again, the writing is just so eloquent and captivating, well done as always!!

mood on the tiredness, i just got woken up from an impromptu nap by my flatmate telling me theyre gonna start making dinner

yes!! to all three!! i thought youd like learning that information akjhsdfkfjd it answers some of the questions youve had BUT NOT ALL HAHA ITS NOT GONNA B THAT EASY

dont u worry u will be getting plenty more clues, speaking of, i need to go back and edit smth bc i made it Too Obvious I Think also i just had an idea that would be sick

eyes emoji. thats all im saying. eyes emoji but vaguely threatening because i know whats up and you dont <3

i mean yeah its not every day a guy wearing weird clothes turns up on a weird animal with the child of council members also on the weird animal that most people have only ever seen in illustrations. im not saying thats the entire answer btw but im also not saying its not not the entire answer. kapish? kapush.

oooo horcrux vibes i like it. also yeah you will be getting backstory i didnt write it all out already for nothing kajhfdskahf

"CHAT KNOWS ALL!"* *ᵉˣᵖᵉʳᵗˢ ᵃᵈᵛᶦˢᵉ ˢᵏᵉᵖᵗᶦᶜᶦˢᵐ ʷᶦᵗʰ ˢᵘᶜʰ ᵃ ᶜˡᵃᶦᵐ, ⁿᵒ ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉˢ ᶜᶦᵗᵉᵈ ᵃⁿᵈ ⁿᵃʳʳᵃᵗᵒʳ ᶦˢ ᵏⁿᵒʷⁿ ᵗᵒ ᵇᵉ ᵘⁿʳᵉˡᶦᵃᵇˡᵉ

anyways uh. hi. thank you sm for the kind words and the theories and literally everything i love u so much /p

[the196thbattalion]

star wars human! high school! au

i’ve seen so many headcanons circling throughout the star wars tumblr about high school au’s, so i wanted to share my bit with all of you :D

anakin skywalker

five words: REBEL CHILD ON A MOTORCYCLE.

he doesn’t like riding the school bus because it makes him feel extremely claustrophobic, so he scrapped and scavenged up parts to make his own customized motorcycle, which he lovingly dubbed artoo.

the blue and silver detailing was the joint effort of ahsoka and obi-wan, because anakin doesn’t know how to paint.

if he can catch up to the bus, he’ll ride alongside it and flip off the students on it before revving on ahead of them. (the freshmen think it’s the funniest thing in the universe)

probably one of the most well-known juniors in the entirety of temple high school (mostly because of his shenanigans but partly because he’s dating padme fuckiNG AMIDALA, PRETTIEST GIRL IN THE DAMN SCHOOL)

he always wears this worn-down leather jacket his mom gave to him before she passed away, and refuses to take it off, even though it’s somehow “a violation of the dress code and should be outlawed.”

his hair alone has seduced eight different students (boys and girls)

sometimes during study hall, ahsoka or padme will get a hold of his hair and style it into little braids or make a super rad ponytail.

he really likes iced coffee with milk and sugar. he puts in the milk to make it nice and light (it’s aesthetically pleasing, obi-wan!), and then like eight tablespoons of sugar to make it actually taste good.

his favorite class is mechanics, taught by kit fisto.

anakin spent months on a mechanical arm project to replace his clunky plastic prosthetic, and he was so freaking happy when it was finished; he almost cried. (he did cry and ahsoka got it on video)

obi-wan kenobi

a mixture of the soft™, pretty™, hippie™, grunge™, vsco™ and nerd™ tropes.

he really likes peppermint tea with lots of honey but takes his coffee black.

he has had too much tea.

someone needs to stop him.

almost all of his classes are ap courses, and if cody hadn’t been watching when obi-wan was making his schedule, all of them would be.

him, cody and padme have ap english with mace windu, and cody knows how much his classes stress him out, so he lets obi-wan sleep during class and sends him the notes

the only ap class obi-wan doesn’t take is mechanics, and he shares that class with anakin.

anakin and obi-wan are super close with each other. kenobi was there when ahsoka was adopted, and anakin was there when kenobi got his cat. (they were like 5 okay)

“NAME IT C3PO OBI-WAN, OR I SWEAR TO FUCK-” “what kind of name is that, and why would i - anAKIN PUT HIM DOWN!?”.

mr. fisto constantly has to split them up for disrupting the class, but it’s almost like they can communicate telepathically, and the teachers have a running bet

mace windu literally bet $50 on these fucking nerds so you know it’s for realsies

in reality, they’ve just gotten super creative with passing notes.

kind of off topic, but he has these brown harry potter glasses that he uses (kinda for reading???? but mostly so he can do that anime pushing up glasses thing)

cody thinks it’s the funniest shit ever

whenever cody is feeling stressed, obi-wan just does the thing™ and BOOM! happiness.

people think he’s a goodie two shoes, and honestly, it’s really easy to think that. if the iconics are trying to do something stupid, he’s usually the voice of reason.

but parties?

…

you know what, just ask anakin for the video footage.

ahsoka tano

this hs!au ahsoka tano turned me bisexual confirmed ✔

okay before i go into her style, which is mainly what made me drool over my computer, can i just put skatergirl!ahsoka out there?

spray painting of the rebellion symbol all over the bottom of her board and on items in a couple of the places where she skates the most (like the back of an abandoned car yard)

her instagram is filled with these super cool vhs-tape recorded skate videos (u know)

lots crackhead 3am visits (starring anakin, rex, kenobi and barris) to a gas station to get slushies and grind the shit out of the curb connecting the store to the parking lot

trying to teach anakin how to skateboard but he just can’t figure it out? uh yes

“try to balance skyguy!” “HOW DO I MOVE? DO I SCOOT? SNIPS THIS ISN’T FUNNY AND I WANT TO GET OFF – GUYS, STOP LAUGHING!”

okay okay okay i’m done

for now

anyway, her style???? is so???? fucking????? cool!!!!!

her genetics gave her a 80% of having vitiligo, so it really wasn’t a surprise when patches of her skin got lighter, but it still freaked her out a little bit.

basically, went like this: “DAD, I’M TURNING WHITE!” “???? oh my gosh ‘soka, no.”

she has long braided dreadlocks she dyed a super bright orange with various colored beads woven into them with the help of anakin and padme. she usually styles them into little space buns atop her head.

her entire clothing wardrobe consists of fishnets, neon bomber jackets, at least 11 bisexual beanies™, handmade patchy jeans, white tank tops, and light-up platform shoes.

she doesn’t give two flying fucks about the dress code, and – IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MOST BUSY HALLWAY - punched principal sidious over whether or not she “could wear shorts that short” (anakin may or may not have cheered when she broke his nose).

the fetts (chuck have mercy)

*cracks le knuckles* i’ve put it off long enough

we have: fox (24), wolffe (19), cody (17), rex (17), echo (16), fives (16), boil (15), waxer (14), hardcase (13), jesse (12), longshot (8), kix (6), tup (3), gree (2) and boba (9mo)

wolffe is off at college - fox already graduated and moved out, that cheeky little fucking shit - but both still keep in good contact with the fam, and it’s a constant clamor between eleven of the siblings of who gets to talk to them first

fox majored in government/politics, bly is majoring in space/astronomy, and wolffe is majoring in police/law enforcement shit (i don’t know how college works, so sue me)

cody and rex are juniors, and despite their similar looks, the amount of schoolwork each of them completes drastically varies

cody is the honor roll student, valedictorian, whatever you want to call it

rex kinda just either does the work really well or 9/10 times gets distracted by anakin or ahsoka sending him some nice spicy memes

cody tried to tutor rex but it ended up almost landing tup in the hospital

“that’s really simple, actually. if you – vod? rex, are you okay? what are you oH NO TUP DON’T PUT THAT IN YOUR MOUTH-”

fetts on the varsity football team is like a right of passage in the family

right now, only the juniors of the fett family are on the team, but the coach has eyes on fives and echo for next years team

SPEAKING OF

echo, fives and boil are the infamous sophomore trio that pulled the milk bucket prank on the gym teacher, pong krell.

they had to help the janitor (99) clean up afterwards, but they genuinely enjoyed 99’s company, because he’s rad as shit and knows all the secret school passageways.

to be honest, not one person (except maybe sidious) was complaining

that motherfucker makes everyone run like eight laps during gym class

even mr. windu gives them a small smile in the hallways after that

boil says he was blackmailed into it

waxer is a freshman (the poor dude, i’m so sorry), and he always looks out for the nervous freshies

if someone is having a bad day, he’ll give them a lollipop (he carries around a whole bag), a place to sit during lunch, and a shoulder to cry on

all you need to do to find waxer is to locate this long ass line of children

the school counselor, plo koon, sometimes brings his niece numa into school during the day because he can’t find a babysitter, and waxer. fucking. loves. her. PERIOD.

w+n pull these tiny little pranks on teachers, and the staff pretends not to notice, but numa always giggles and gives them away.

boil has a soft spot for numa too, and sneaks her rice krispies.

bonus shit i want to add in but can’t figure out where to put it (or i’m just gonna add it on and shit)

plo koon adopted anakin after his mother died (him and anakin’s mother were good friends), and found ahsoka on the side of the street, shivering like a maniac.

he doesn’t know where ahsoka came from, but he loves her so gOD DAMN MUCH.

he’s the school counselor, and still keeps in touch with a lot of students even after the graduated (he thinks that majoring in law enforcement/police is a bit dangerous for wolffe but he still supports his unofficial but basically son 100%)

yoda is the super old but radically rad english teacher.

his entire point of existence in my mind fic is to troll the shit out of palpatine.

a recent conversation starring yoda and palps: “did you give the students the mountain of extra work i assigned them?” “for the students, that was?” i’m sorry. my bad, that is.” “this is the seventh time, yoda.”

okay but for real

mace windu violently roots for the school football team.

“BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HIM, CODY! YOU TOO...OTHER CODY!”

“THAT’S A HOLDING! THAT’S A HOLDING!”

“REF IF YOU DON’T COUNT THAT TOUCHDOWN THEN I SWEAR TO SAMUEL L. JACKSON I WILL COME DOWN THERE AND BEAT YOUR SORRY PINSTRIPED ASS!”

[peaches-writes]

tricky treats

prompt 11: “Wait, hold on, that’s not—please tell me you didn’t eat a lo—oh no.”

member: chan wc: 1.2k genre: fluff, comedy (?) this is so cracky what am i even on, werewolf au, witch/wizard au, fairy au, implied established relationship au warning: mentions of vomit note: what is this even HAHAHAHAHAHA + just u, ur werewolf mate chan, and ur baby fairies jeonglix you’re welcome 🥺💖 + in the same forest as the werequokka jisung 

In his grey wolf form, Chan walks next to you with your plastic pumpkin bag in between his teeth and your accompanying fairies, Felix and Jeongin, balanced on top of his head. He hums a low whistle in the comfortable silence, occasionally glancing over to you on his side as you figure out the village map in your hands then above his forehead to see if Jeongin and Felix have actually made a dent on the pink sweets wrapper they’ve been eating for the past two minutes.

You’re supposed to make a quick delivery stop somewhere, from what Chan remembers of your conversation before you drowned yourself in trying to navigate the unfamiliar place, after which the four of you could finally go trick or treating as planned. It’s slowly starting to take too long, mainly because of your clumsy lack of direction, but your mate doesn’t mind.

He just slightly minds the crumbs getting stuck on his fur courtesy of the two kids rolling around right in between his ears.

“This is harder than I thought! I’m getting really sleepy.” Felix yawn, falling into Chan’s fur with his hand on his stomach and his little wings wrapped around him as if in a blanket. There’s also the other problem: the gold and blue dust that flies around whenever the two little fairies would move or plop around, making Chan sneeze. “I think I’m growing a food baby! Aaah, I’m going into a food coma! Food, food, food!”

Chan could hear rustles right above him as Jeongin pokes his head out of the pink wrapper. What are these kids even eating? The older boy, unfortunately, didn’t see the labelling well when the two managed to pull it out of the pumpkin bag earlier and he couldn’t ask the two either since they immediately dug in the treat.

“We haven’t even finished a square yet, hyung! You should recover fast before I eat everything!” Jeongin giggles before taking another bite of his share and spreading even more crumbs on the fur around him. Sliding right down the older wolf’s nose after, the red fairy then holds up the tiniest square of chocolate and addresses Chan’s telepathic question with, “We’re eating chocolates, Channie hyung! Do you want some?”

Only then does Chan stop walking altogether in shock, leaving you to walk a few steps ahead until you realize his absence. Jeongin, that’s not—

“Not what?” Jeongin repeats, taking another bite of the chocolate. 

Turning around, only then do you look up from your map for the first time since you left the house, glancing over your shoulder to Chan with a raised eyebrow. “What’s wrong, guys?” You ask, retracing your steps back until you’re right in front of the big grey wolf and your two fairies. “Wait, hold on, that’s not—“ You then immediately glance down at the pumpkin bag, double checking its contents. “please tell me you didn’t eat a lo—oh no.”

Jeongin innocently turns to you, completely oblivious to your worried face as he holds up the chocolate right above his head and confirms your worries. “What’s wrong, Y/N?”

You and Chan exchange wide eyes in realization.

Quicky returning your map back in your satchel, you then gently scoop up Jeongin in your hands, inspecting his face with the pad of your index finger for any emerging side effects of one of the chocolates you’re supposed to deliver. “Jeongin, are you feeling anything weird? Anything at all?” You ask worriedly, furrowing your eyebrows even more when Chan passes you a knocked out Felix, snoring even louder by the time he lands on your palm. You check his pulse quickly before turning to his younger brother, asking next, “Oh no, how much did you two eat?”

Jeogin darts his eyes between you and Chan in confusion, asking, “Hm? W-Why? D-Did we eat the wrong chocolate?”

They didn’t eat a lot, I think, Chan replies telepathically, on the other hand, as he now shakes the pink chocolate wrapper out of his head and to your free hand, but then they’re fairies. Is half a square already too much for them?

You shake your head, carefully wrapping the chocolate again with your one hand before returning it back inside the pumpkin bag. “Not really.” You sigh in relief. “We’re lucky you noticed it just in time, babe.”

Ah, I should’ve checked the moment they took it out of the bag, Chan visibly frowns and you quickly assure him that it’s okay.

“Oh no, Y/N, we’re so sorry!” Jeongin frowns, sitting down on your palm and carefully placing Felix’s head on his lap. “We didn’t mean to! You said you got us treats in the bag while we wait and we thought we got the right one.”

And again, you shake your head reassuringly. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m just worried since it has love potion in it.” You frown, shocking the two boys once again.

“What?!” Jeongin and Chan both exclaim, the later literally screaming in your telepathic connection that you flinch back slightly in response.

“It’s has a love potion but it’s made with a specific recipe so it’s only supposed to be eaten by the one it’s for.” You explain, turning to Felix after and lighly poking his sides. “Since it’s not for you two, I’m worried you might get sick or something.”

“Ha?! What should we do then?” Jeongin asks next worriedly and you swear you could see little tears well up in the fairy’s eyes in worry. “Should we wake Lixie up?”

“No, let Felix sleep it off, that’s probably the effect on him. We’ll have to go back to the house and get you treated, though.” You frown, bringing the two fairies in your hands back to Chan’s head. “I’ll just deliver the chocolates myself after then observe you until tomorrow morning. Sadly, we can’t go trick or treating tonight until I’m sure that you two wouldn’t get any side effects. Is that okay?”

Chan looks up at Jeongin, tilting his head as if inviting the younger boy to pet him knowing that it comforts him. Jeongin instinctively obliges.

“We’re sorry again, Y/N, Chan.” Jeongin repeats, making you smile a little.

“Don’t worry, Innie, it’s not a big deal.” You assure him, gently patting his head after. “Just tell me when you’re feeling something weird, okay? And make sure your brother doesn’t suddenly start vomiting on you and Chan on our way back.”

“Okay.” The little fairy nods, pursing his lips in thought.

You pat his head gently again, picking up the correct treat this time for him. “Here’s the right one, Innie.” You offer to him, taking out your smallest flask from your satchel after to to with the tiny bag of lollipops. “I’m sorry I mixed it in with my delivery, that’s my bad. Drink water too, here.”

“I think I’ll just take the water.” Jeongin pouts, earning him a nod from you as you place the lollipops in your bag this time.

“I’ll hold onto the lollipops in my bag for now so they don’t get mixed up again.” You conclude. “I’m sorry again too...”

The four of you then retrace your steps back to your cottage, Jeongin eventually falling asleep on the way.

Ah, I was looking forward to trick or treating, Chan sighs once he feels Jeongin snuggling close to his fur. They’ll be okay, right?

“Hopefully, if they react well to the remedy potion.” You point out. “If it all goes well, we’ll just go trick or treating tomorrow night instead.”

Maybe babysitting fairies isn’t for us, Chan scrunches up his nose after a while, making you laugh. Aish, what will Minho say? 

“Let’s just agree to not tell him.” You offer, earning you a nod from your mate. “The last thing he wants to hear on his free night is his two kids getting poisoned with a love potion I made.” 

Agreed. The wolf sighs. Let’s go home. 

on a night much like tonight (drabble game)

[saintjojis]

The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot

Genre: Angst, just angst.

Word Count: 3255

A/N: There isn’t really a pairing in this, it’s Vernon centric; and it’s based on true events. Love ain’t easy.

[nonie🥴- 8:09pm: yoooo check this out lmao- ATTACHMENT: 1 IMAGE]

[nonie🥴- 8:09pm: btwbtw are u coming over tonight? chan & kwan are coming, i think a few more people are comin too]

[soonie🐅- 8:09pm: JSJSNS]

[soonie🐅- 8:10pm: sorry dude i can’t make it )):]

[soonie🐅, 8:10pm: hey dude when u get the chance can u check out this choreo?- ATTACHMENT: noon.docx]

[soonie🐅- 8:11pm: night mr. chwe]

[nonie🥴- 8:12pm: good night mr. kwon]

Something felt odd about the conversation, but Vernon couldn’t quite place what it was. Soonyoung wasn’t really the type to say good night, especially this early; add to the fact that they stayed up nearly every night texting, and sending each other memes. Maybe he was reading too much into it.

Even if he was, he now had to call up Mingyu to tell him that everyone cancelled. He felt a little disheartened, they had all been so excited for tonight; and now, it seems like no ones available. He could understand that things come up, so he pushed the feeling aside. At least Chan and Seungkwan were still coming over.

[kwannie🍊-8:21pm: dude soonyoung cancelled???]

[nonie🥴-8:21pm: yeah dog,,, guess it’s us 3 again,,,,, like Always]

[chan🦖-8:22pm: Uh,,, I can’t make it either,, sorry guys]

Bummer. Nearly all hope was lost, until Seungkwan texted him saying he still wanted to hang out, even if everyone else stood them up. Vernon felt that, he really wanted to hang out and have a good time like always. Leave it to Seungkwan to always pull through.

They went out for dinner and a walk around a night time bazaar of sorts. They had a lot of fun, these days it seemed that it was them against the world. They talked about everything going on lately, how they thought it strange that everyone cancelled, Soonyoung’s cryptic message, Chan’s attitude as of late; simply everything. Seungkwan had the brilliant idea that to commemorate the occasion, they get matching necklaces. A symbol of their friendship. They walked around looking for something nice, something that would suit them. When they finally did, they laughed and talked about how dumb they felt; even if it wasn’t dumb. Vernon ironically posted their necklaces on his Instagram story with the tag “friendship goals”, thinking nothing more of it.

That is until Soonyoung posted on his own story, a picture of him and Chan, with the tag “friendship goals”. They were taken aback by this. It felt a little aggressive, if they were being honest. Chan followed suit with his own picture of him and Soonyoung, with the same tag. What were they trying to do? Vernon shook it off, Seungkwan, however, felt there was more to it. On the drive back to Vernon’s place, they talked about how suspicious everything was. It was very confusing why they’d even post that, as if they were mocking Vernon’s picture.

Once back home, Vernon read Soonyoung’s letter disguised as a choreography to Seungkwan. Halfway through, he started crying. Everything was too much, and he didn’t know what to feel. Soonyoung’s words were so sincere, and so warm and nice; Vernon wasn’t sure what he was feeling, or how to process the confession that had been presented to him. It didn’t make him sad, it made him scared. He knew all too well how this would end. He simply couldn’t feel that for Soonyoung, it was very complicated. Now he knew that all the sappy posts Soonyoung commented on, or all the lovey dovey stories were about him. Seungkwan was equally as shocked as Vernon, but he was more worried for him.

“Dude… What are you going to say to him?”

“I don’t know… I don’t know.”

It wasn’t an easy thing to process. He was touched, he was moved; but that didn’t mean he felt what Soonyoung felt. Not romantically at least. He did love him, as a friend. One he admired, and respected immensely. Platonically, he’d move mountains for Soonyoung. He’d do anything for him. It wasn’t romantic, but it was pure, innocent, real love. He’d grown to have a special place in Vernon’s heart. Now, he had to figure out how not to break his heart. He hated being in this situation, he knew it would be painful regardless of how nice he was.

Seungkwan wouldn’t allow for Vernon to be sad over this, not tonight. He told Vernon that they could deal with it later, when they had more time to think. For now, they could focus their energy on them. They were here, it was still early so they might as well enjoy it. So they did.

They walked around the neighborhood, laughing about nothing and everything. Vernon felt better already, Soonyoung being nothing but an afterthought.

“What the fuck?!” Seungkwan turned his phone over so Vernon could see what was on the screen. It was Soonyoung. With Chan. They were hanging out. They were drinking. Vernon felt hurt, Seungkwan was livid. He was fired up, not necessarily because they were hanging out; but because they had lied. They’d lied, and decided to blow them off. Soonyoung had been a coward, and Chan an accomplice. They were in shock. Vernon felt stupid for having cried over Soonyoung’s words, it made him feel conflicted. It was clear to him that Chan knew about it. The night went on, they were determined to not let it affect them; but it was now a forethought for Vernon. How could he think about anything else? The timing was awful too, they had a final group assignment due on Monday, and they hadn’t even started. They’d deal with it tomorrow. Tonight, Vernon wanted to cry.

Sunday proved to be even worse than Saturday, where the day before had started out fine; Sunday was a bad one right from the beginning.

[chan🦖-10:32am: So you guys don’t give a shit about failing?]

[kwannie🍊-10:34am: we do??? cool it dude]

[chan🦖-10:35am: Well it doesn’t fucking seem like it.]

What the fuck was with the attitude? And, as if they were connected telepathically, Seungkwan texted him about it. Why was Chan blaming them if he hadn’t done anything either. It turned into a war. One that Seungkwan and Vernon fought together, and got nothing from. Vernon wound up saying hurtful things to Chan, only after he’d hurt his feelings and proceeded to make him lose his patience entirely. If he was so up in arms about the assignment not being done, he could do it himself. Which only warranted an empty apology from Chan upon realizing that he couldn’t do the work by himself. In the end, Vernon wound up doing the whole thing himself, getting a total of half an hour of sleep in order to get it done. He refused to talk to Chan, it wasn’t like he’d earned forgiveness yet. Not after genuinely hurting his feelings. It wasn’t the first time either, he’d let it slide many times before.

Vernon could hardly concentrate on the work in front of him, though. He still had Soonyoung’s words in his head, eating away at his mind. He decided to write him something too. Something nice and heartfelt, to explain his situation, as complicated as it was.

[nonie🥴-3:47am: hey dude, when you’ve got time can u check out the lyrics to this track i wrote? good night - ATTACHMENT: late night.docx]

Seeing each other around campus and in class proved to be very difficult for Vernon. From the moment he got there he noticed how close Soonyoung and Chan were; how Soonyoung wouldn’t even look at him. It sent a flood of resentment surging through his body. He kept checking if Soonyoung had seen his message already, it just stood at ‘sent’ while Soonyoung was on his phone constantly. Even more resentment followed.

That afternoon when he went home, Seungkwan called him. Chan had the nerve to confront him, and demand an apology. As if he hadn’t laughed at them and insinuated that they were lazy, good for nothings the day before. He even had the nerve to claim Vernon was in the wrong for feeling hurt. Whatever Chan was doing, it wasn’t working. Seungkwan is a lot more reactionary than Vernon is, so the screaming at each other on campus scene was quite an interesting one. He really couldn’t believe it, at this point, Vernon didn’t think Chan could fix their friendship. It would take a lot more than a simple apology to make things better between them.

Regardless, he pushed it all aside; they had even more assignments to get done; and working together seemed to be out of the picture. So, as per usual, Vernon took care of everything. Seungkwan had a valid excuse since he had another individual assignment due, Chan on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. He only popped in to complain about how they’re not going to get the assignment done on time and how they’re all going to fail. Really helpful. Still he managed- again- to get it done on time.

However, everything was weighing heavy on him. He felt the entire situation with Soonyoung and Chan taking a toll on him, he could only put it off for so long. Vernon checked his phone every five minutes hoping that Soonyoung has at least seen his message. Still nothing. Yet Soonyoung shared meme after meme about how heartbroken he was. How could he? Everything was right there in his letter, maybe he was misunderstanding everything. Maybe, Soonyoung preemptively distanced himself to avoid the heartache and rejection. The real question was “why?”. Soonyoung knew that Vernon cared for him dearly. And if he did distance himself purposely, why make it so public? He wasn’t dropping Vernon’s name, but there was simply no chance that his friends didn’t know about it given the replies and comments. Vernon just wanted to understand why. Of course, Seungkwan sent him everything he saw; which Vernon was grateful for, because if he didn’t he’d still be making excuses for Soonyoung.

As much as it hurt to see him blaming all his sadness on him, it was for the best. If that was what Soonyoung chose to put out into the world, and if he chose to paint that picture, then Vernon didn’t want anything to do with it. What isn’t to say a breakup would be worse? It really hurt to be put at the forefront of this heartbreak, unwillingly and without his knowledge.

[nonie🥴-9:36pm: i wanted to talk about this in person, but it’s better if we leave it like this. you go your way i go mine. have a nice life mr. kwon, make the best of it.]

[soonie🐅-10:17pm: can i call you?]

Vernon waited, biding his time. He didn’t want to talk over the phone, that wouldn’t help either of them. Instead they agreed to meet the following day on campus to talk. By themselves.

The next morning, after a long night of learning a semester’s worth of statistics, he walked to the library looking for Soonyoung. Vernon sent him a text, telling him where he was. Time crept by, so Vernon listened to music and worked a little more on his still unfinished assignments. It was now nine thirty and there were no signs of Soonyoung anywhere. So Vernon walked out of the building and looked around. He saw Soonyoung in a bench not too far away; he was with Chan, and Mingyu. They were laughing and having a good time, Soonyoung, phone in hand, sat there simply laughing along. To say Vernon was mad would be an understatement. Did Soonyoung not care? How could he be acting like this? Vernon sat himself on a bench at which he could see them, and waited. It had now been an hour since he’d sent Soonyoung that message. He felt a knot in his throat swell, and his vision got blurry. It hurt. Just as he sat there on the verge of tears he looked up to see Chan an Soonyoung walking in his direction, they saw him. They seemed completely taken aback by him given they went behind one of the buildings so they were out of sight. If Vernon wasn’t so emotionally invested in both of them, he would’ve thought they ditched him.

Soon enough, however, Soonyoung emerged from behind the wall. He carried himself like he wasn’t nervous or worried, but his expression and mannerisms said otherwise. Vernon, on the other hand, was angry.

“What took you so long?”

“My phone died, I didn’t see your message. I’m sorry.”

What a lame excuse.

“Do you have anything you want to say to me?” Vernon was direct, and dry. He wasn’t in the mood for being friendly.

“Hansol, I love you. I don’t want you out of my life.”

“It doesn’t seem like you want me in it, though.”

“I’m sorr-“

“When you blatantly ignore me, I don’t get the idea that you want me in your life. It gives me the opposite impression, actually. Waiting and waiting, but you won’t even look at me when I pass by. You won’t even wave at me. Nothing, like I don’t exist anymore. I thought I made things clear in my letter. I want to be your friend, I love you as a friend.”

“But, I don’t want to be just your friend. Every since I met you, you’ve been all I can think about. I love everything about you, and we’ve got so much in common. Whenever you talked about something I didn’t know I’d look it up to understand you. You’re funny. You’re all I’ve ever wanted.” There was a hiny of desperation in Soonyoung’s voice. He was beginning to choke up. Vernon’s anger dissipated, and was replaced with sadness and stress instead.

“You know we can’t be together. I don’t love you that way. I wouldn’t want to hurt you. That isn’t my intent. I value you so much as my friend,” a small sob interrupted his sentence, “I don’t want to lose you. You’re so important to me, please understand that some things aren’t meant to be.”

“It doesn’t have to end like it always does, you know. We don’t have t-“

“Soonyoung, it always ends up like that. You think that it won’t but it will. We’ll date, you’ll realize I don’t love you, and you’ll be hurt. You’ll want to hold my hand, and I won’t let you. You’ll want to hold me, and I won’t let you. You have to realize that dating me won’t make me love you, and you’ll only be in love with the idea of me. I can’t love you like you want. Like you deserve. You deserve more than a one sided relationship. You deserve someone who can actually love you. And I can’t love you how you want.”

Vernon broke at that moment, why can’t Soonyoung understand? He was crying, hard. The idea of losing a friend so close to him was genuinely upsetting.

“Please, Hansol, we can try it out and if it doesn’t work I won’t hold it against you. I won’t hate you. I don’t hate you.”

“You don’t, but you will.” He stood, grabbing his things. Not looking at him once. “I should leave.”

So he did, without looking back. He sat in a corner of the library where no one would find him or hear him cry. It was a bitter end, and a depressing goodbye to someone he wanted around for a long time. Vernon couldn’t help but feel guilt crawling up his body. Invading him, like a leech. He felt sick, his head spinned. He texted Seungkwan to tell him, he told him everything that was said. Seungkwan said he’d be there as soon as possible.

Vernon cut all ties with Soonyoung. It didn’t do him any good to blame himself for what happened; as Seungkwan had put it, if he couldn’t see him as anything more than a friend, then they were never really friends to begin with. Still, as helpful as that was, Vernon kept feeling a twinge of pain and guilt every time he saw Soonyoung comment on memes about heartbreak on his timeline, blaming “someone” for feeling like utter shit and absolutely worthless. It hurt to see him think that Vernon didn’t care, or that he didn’t love him. Sure it wasn’t romantic, but platonic love is just as important and meaningful. He constantly remembered every good day they’d had together, all the times they went out, inside jokes; everything. It was all tainted. It didn’t bring him joy, it only brought him heartache.

Then, all of Soonyoung’s skeletons came out of the closet. He’d told his friends a different version if events; in his, they dated. Vernon was his ex-boyfriend, who dumped him because he no longer cared or loved him. To say Vernon didn’t cry when he found out would be a lie. He had no right. Then it happened. The fateful meme accusing Vernon of being very expensive to Soonyoung. Apparently he was still in debt over things he did for Vernon. Not only that, but their “friends” clowning him, agreeing with Soonyoung, taking pity on him.

‘You don’t hurt those you claim to love.’

Blocking Soonyoung wasn’t the easiest or the absolute happiest thing, but he had to for the sake of his own mental health. Which Soonyoung noticed right away. Vernon felt he needed to give him one last chance at redemption. So he texted him before blocking his number.

[nonie🥴-9:08pm: “let’s not be immature” so lets talk. ]

[soonie🐅-10:56pm: 🤔 hey? how are you?]

[nonie🥴-10:57pm: not good, but that isnt the point. the point is, u dont know why i blocked you do you?]

[soonie🐅-10:57pm: You blocked me? what’s up with that]

What? Why was he acting dumb? He really doesn’t care at all.

[nonie🥴-10:58pm: you know, talking to you was a mistake. ]

[soonie🐅-10:59pm: 😢]

[nonie🥴-11:00pm: i like that you deem this as important as i do.]

[soonie🐅-11:00pm: Well it is important]

It felt like a cruel fucking joke. One last chance at fixing everything, and he was acting like this? Fuck it, fuck him.

[nonie🥴-11:02pm: it isnt. and i know it.]

[soonie🐅-11:03pm: Do you want to talk about something? And it is important to me]

[soonie🐅-11:03pm: If you want I’ll call you, you tell me. ]

[nonie🥴-11:05pm: no. ]

[soonie🐅-11:05pm: Okay, that’s fine ]

[nonie🥴-11:06: goodbye. ]

He felt pathetic for crying about it, but it was just so obvious that Soonyoung didn’t want him around anymore. Since they couldn’t date, there wasn’t a point to trying in Soonyoung’s eyes. It’s the only way Vernon could make sense of it. Otherwise, it was all so inconsistent.

It hurt to have to say goodbye to him that way, but there was no other choice. It hurt seeing someone who you love and who claimed to love you, turn so bitter towards you. Vernon didn’t want to put up with the humiliation and character assassination taking place for something that wasn’t his fault.

A bitter end to something so sweet. Something that Vernon would bare in mind next time anyone wanted to get that close to him. He still wished Soonyoung all the best, he only hoped Soonyoung did the same for him.

[hellostarlight20]

I Will...6/10

Ten x Rose Rated T Telepathy (telepathic marriage bond) Angst Fluffy laughter Not exactly a rewrite Dimension Hopping Rose JE fixit Happy ending! Beta’d by the ever fabulous MrsBertucci, without whom this chapter wouldn’t exist AO3 and TSP and on Tumblr Chapter 1 (the corrected!) 2, 3, 4, 5 Part of the The Adventures of Bad Wolf and the TARDIS…and their Doctor series

…find a way

“Mum and Pete are taking little Tony to Broadchurch this weekend,” Rose told him.

“You’re not going?” The Doctor asked, looking at her askance. “Where’s Broadchurch?”

“Little beach town in West Bay, Dorset.” Rose paused then rushed on. “I…I might go. There’s not much left to do at Torchwood with the canon, and Mickey—well, Micks convinced me that spending time with them while I can might be the best thing.”

The Doctor did his very best not to let his jealousy bleed through their link. He tried, really. He gave his success rate as maybe 68%. Rose didn’t hit him but she didn’t look at him, either. No, she kept her head on his chest, fingers running lightly through the hairs covering it.

“How’s his Gran?” He didn’t want to talk about Mickey Smith in their bedroom as they lay in bed, drowsy and content and naked, but they promised never to hold back, not to keep secrets while they were separated.

More than that, he knew something bothered Rose. The Doctor didn’t know if it was their separation, the lack of progress on the cannon, or loneliness.

The same loneliness that choked him and made him contemplate desperate things—like dismantling the dead Daleks in a 1930 New York sewer and using whatever he could from them to punch through the Void. They did it, they broke through and with a few tweaks he could as well. After all, he was far smarter than a Dalek.

He hadn’t. Well, all right, he had dismantled them. He’d taken them apart with cold precision and destroyed the cavern they’d used for their hideous experiments.

But he hadn’t punched through the Void.

The TARDIS somehow alerted Martha who lectured him on destroying the universe and demanded to speak to Rose. Not the first or last time that had happened. And Rose. His beloved, his hearts…

He held her tighter, his own grief and loneliness swelling through him.

Or maybe it was hers.

If asking after a beach trip or Mickey’s Gran helped Rose, then that’s what he’d do. He had to be there for her, even if it was to talk about vacation plans with the family and her best mate. Plans he couldn’t participate in.

“They moved into the mansion. Rita-Ann wasn’t too sure of that, she remembered this world’s Pete and Jackie and, of course, heard all the gossip. Everyone heard about Jackie’s death.” She paused and sighed, and the Doctor ran his fingers through her hair, hoping that small movement, the slight press of his fingers on her scalp, soothed her. “But Mickey convinced her. Best place for her. Best place for all of us. And it’s nice, having Mickey around.”

“So, Broadchurch, eh? Nice place?”

“So I hear. Sleepy little town, but it’ll be nice to get away.”

The Doctor kissed her and tugged her closer to him. He loved telepathic sex with Rose, but he missed touching her physical body as badly as he missed sharing their adventures.

“We’re heading to Cardiff,” the Doctor told her.

Rose rubbed her leg over his, head on his chest, and kissed the spot between his hearts. “Going to refill the TARDIS?”

“She deserves it. Doesn’t need it often, but after being powered down for the three months I hid from the Family and then being caught by the Angels when we were separated...” The Doctor shuddered and tightened his hold on her.

“Almost had to take out a mortgage,” Rose teased. But she kissed him gently and cupped his face. “Whatever would you have done?”

The Doctor caught her gaze and held her hand to his cheek. “Bad enough that flat had curtains.”

“Didn’t have carpets at least.” Rose lay her head back on his chest and held him tight. “And you had Martha. I’m glad she was with you—she’s good.”

“She’s a star, Martha Jones is.”

“Shame we can’t communicate through the watch anymore.” Rose sighed, though he didn’t feel her soft breath on his chest. The loss cut through him. “I miss being a part of your life.”

“You are my life.”

The Doctor swallowed and shuddered, pushing his loneliness and fear as far back into the screaming pit of darkness he carried with him. She didn’t need that. She needed him. His support, his love, his telling her of how he spent his day even if it was wandering through marketplaces with Martha looking for elusive TARDIS parts.

“I don’t need you two ganging up on me again!” He pulled her even closer. He’d give a regeneration for Rose to be in the same universe, galaxy, planet, TARDIS, room with him, she and Martha teasing him.

They were both right when they told him that his plan to evade the family wasn’t his best. Being with Rose in the watch greyed out a portion of their link; in a way it was fantastic, being with her all the time. As if they hadn’t been separated.

However it wasn’t the same, and him being John Smith had killed a lot of people and ruined an entire village. Not to mention how he’d hurt Joan Redfern. And Martha.

“It’s impossible now, without my mind in there. No way to connect the two of you.”

“No, I know. Still, it was nice having a friend…” Rose trailed off and the Doctor looked down at her.

She never talked about it, but then the Doctor knew everything that went on in Rose’s mind. She was lonely in the other universe. Achingly so. Not only because she missed him but because that world treated her like an interloper.

Half of Torchwood thought she was a vacuous daddy’s girl bleeding money from Pete—of course half of the UK thought she was a vacuous daddy’s girl who resurfaced as Pete Tyler’s daughter to bleed him of money.

It didn’t matter how smart she was or how uninterested in money she was. It didn’t matter she donated her Torchwood salary to President Harriet Jones’s charity, Feed the United Kingdom. It also didn’t matter that Jackie made a miraculous return from the dead and that she completely embraced Rose as their daughter. (A convoluted story the Vitex PR department had a hell of a time spinning.)

Other than the handful of dimension canon scientists and technicians assigned to work with her, ostensibly to study the feasibility of interdimensional travel and the impact on the environment, both Earth’s and the universe’s, Rose only spoke with Mickey and Jake. At least she had them, and for that the Doctor had never been more grateful to Mr. Mickey.

“How go the jumper calculations?” He asked, changing the subject.

Rose shrugged. “Still at a standstill. Not because it won’t work,” she amended and kissed where his right heart beat beneath her touch. “You and Mickey both agree on the calculations, which—” she raised her head and glared at him—“I never want to go through again. Had a migraine for a week, I did, having the pair of ya go back and forth on dimensional coordinates verses galactical verses Earth Prime.” She shuddered and scowled. “No, those pinpricks in the Void walls aren’t big enough.”

Neither said those pinpricks might never be big enough for her to jump through. Neither had to. They both knew the risks. For now, it didn’t matter. She’d been trapped a year there, already.

Not enough time for anyone to notice the changes in her. Not yet. But then he hadn’t even realized Bad Wolf changed her to begin with. It’d taken months and months; only after she and the TARDIS merged again to fly the ship to pre-Revolutionary France had either of them realized anything had changed in Rose.

“The TARDIS is still scanning,” he promised. And his amazing ship hummed insistently in his head, promising she was, in fact, looking hard for any way to reunite the three of them.

“I know.” Rose sniffed back tears and the Doctor moved just enough to cradle her face in his hands. To show her, as tenderly as possible, the depth of his love for her.

“Don’t cry, my hearts,” he begged. “Please don’t cry.”

“I miss you.” She looked up and grinned at the ceiling. “I miss you, too, darling.”

The TARDIS preened, but Rose’s voice broke and the Doctor couldn’t even roll his eyes at the pair of them. All he could do was blink back his own tears, his own grief, and hold his wife close.

Clung to her might’ve been a better descriptor.

“We won’t be in Cardiff long,” he told her, kissing her gently. “Any suggestions for our next trip?”

“Have you taken Martha to that asteroid bazar?” Rose wound her arms around his neck and slid her leg over his hip. The Doctor couldn’t feel her tears on his chest and hate that more than he loathed the fact she cried. Unable to say anything around the lump in his own throat, he held her closer. “The one with the eight-foot-tall troubadours in that anti-gravity well?”

“Herschel Asteroid.” He nodded in agreement.

“The one discovered by the first English female astronomer, yeah?”

“Yup!”

“Take her there. I think she’ll like it. Lots to see, good ice cream, too.”

They never made it to Herschel Asteroid. They didn’t even last long in Cardiff. The Doctor tried to joke about no one ever expecting Jack Harkness, but it fell flat.

“Hello again.” The Doctor frowned down at the body as Martha raced inside the TARDIS for the medical kit she insisted on keeping handy after a small (very slight) problem with Daivander Stinger Bugs which most definitely was not his fault! “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Here we go.” Martha pushed him out of the way and knelt beside Jack. “Get out of the way. It’s a bit odd, though. Not very hundred trillion. That coat’s more like World War Two.”

“I think he came with us,” he said and wondered how he could keep this from Rose.

She slept now, he had carefully calculated his and Martha’s trips so he could spend the maximum amount of time with Rose in their telepathic world. Rose needed her sleep, she pushed herself to develop the dimension cannon, and he was loathed to deprive her because he was lonely.

“How do you mean, from Earth?” Martha squinted up at him.

“Friend of mine,” the Doctor was forced to admit. Martha frowned. “Used to travel with me, back in the old days.”

“With Rose?” Martha asked softly.

His gaze jerked from Jack’s body to her, though he really didn’t see Martha. He didn’t see this planet or Jack or even care. He saw the three of them, Team TARDIS Rose had called them. “Yeah. We—before. The other me—we traveled together.”

“Oh.” Martha nodded and the Doctor was suddenly relieved he’d told her about regeneration. Especially since Jack might or might not know about it, and either way this barren land wasn’t the place to describe what happened.

“But he’s—I’m sorry,” Martha whispered. “There’s no heartbeat. There’s nothing. He’s dead.”

Of course Jack wasn’t and when he woke up, he scared ten years off Martha. The Doctor, uncomfortable, sad, and desperately trying to figure out how to tell Rose, couldn’t even grin.

“Nice to meet you, Martha Jones.” Jack winked. The Doctor did roll his eyes then.

“Doctor.” Jack stood and helped Martha up as well.

“Captain.”

He tried not to watch Martha as he and Jack exchanged what could only be called forced polite hellos. Not even all that polite.

“Just got to ask. The Battle of Canary Wharf. I saw the list of the dead. It said Rose Tyler.”

His hearts squeezed and for a moment his world stopped. The Doctor frantically reached out for Rose, despite her slumber, and for a moment—a lifetime—held her close. “Oh, no! Sorry, she’s alive.”

Stunned, Jack’s façade fell and his smile bloomed. “You’re kidding!”

“Parallel world.” The words cut through him as surely as any sword. “Safe and sound. And Mickey, and her mother.”

“Oh, yes!” Jack hugged him and the Doctor let him. And for a moment, reveled in the lie. That he could find Rose any time he wanted to. That he could see her whenever the fancy took hold of him—

As simple as crossing a bridge.

“Wait a minute.” Jack pulled back and squinted at him.

“Yes,” Martha said and stood between them, allowing the Doctor distance and he seriously wanted to fall to her feet in gratitude. “Great reunion and all,” she interrupted. “But we’re a hundred trillion years in the future. Let’s explore, eh?”

It wasn’t until they were in the silo, with Jack in the radiation chamber that the Doctor admitted what he knew Jack wanted to know.

“You married her,” Jack said, stunned. “Even knowing—?”

“I—yeah.” He and Rose had only told Jackie about what Bad Wolf had done to her, how opening the Heart of the TARDIS and looking into the Vortex fundamentally altered her, increasing her longevity, her healing, her overall health.

Once it became clear to both of them he couldn’t pilot the TARDIS through the remaining gaps in the Void, Rose finally told Mickey who just nodded and shrugged. “Yeah, that don’t surprise me none,” he’d said and they returned to their cannon work.

“She’s not just in the other universe, Jack.” Each word chipped at what little composure he maintained outside his and Rose’s telepathic bedroom. He hadn’t been in their real, physical, bedroom since losing her. “I can’t reach her. The walls closed after the Time War and it was only because the Cybermen punched through that the gaps opened in the first place. She’s trapped there.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah.” Yeah. He was, too.

“What happened?” Jack asked, and his tone caught the Doctor. Lived through the entirety of the 20th century—yeah, Jack knew all about loss and loneliness. Grief. Even waiting a hundred years to see Rose again, Jack mourned her as if they met for tea only yesterday.

So, the Doctor told him—Bad Wolf, merging with the TARDIS, flying back to save him. Them.

“If you’re married…” Jack let the sentence trail off. “Oh. I’m sorry,” he said again.

“Yeah.” He repeated. “How could I say no to her?” the Doctor whispered. “She was everything to me.” He sniffed, looked away from Jack. “Still is.”

And then all hell broke loose.

The Doctor grabbed Jack’s wrist and flicked through the sonic’s settings as quickly as possible. They needed to leave this place before either the riot reached them, the atmospheric shell dissolved, or the Master decided not to take any chances and return to kill him anyway. Freezing the TARDIS’s controls wouldn’t last long, not on another Time Lord, but the Doctor knew his beloved ship wouldn’t let someone like the Master break into her systems.

They landed hard, with Rose screaming in his head and that sickening feeling of transporting through the Vortex minus a TARDIS making him dizzy. Rose railed at him, fists beating against his chest for not only lying to her about Jack but about her part in his change.

“My hearts.” He grabbed her hands and held her close as she spat at him, tears streaking her beautiful face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—I couldn’t—”

“There’s no excuse, Doctor,” she said, hard and flat and too silent for anything other than furious anger. “You lied to me after promising me never to do so. After telling me that sharing a bond opened up everything you were to another.”

“I—yes. I did. You’re right, there’s no excuse.” He took a breath, though that did nothing but allow him to taste the air. “I buried it deep, far too deep for you to find, and I did it on purpose.” Jaw clenched, he met her gaze. “And I did it because I’m a coward. I ran from Jack because he’s wrong, time-wise, yes, but you’re right. I could’ve returned.”

“Why didn’t you?” she demanded. “Any time you could’ve said, we traveled for months together before we found out about Bad Wolf—and then for a year or so after that! WHY?”

He ran his hand through is hair—now wasn’t the time for this conversation and he knew it, but he’d lied to his wife, his bond mate.

“I was afraid!” he shouted, more at himself than her. “I’d kept it from you for so long and then I didn’t know how to tell you. I was terrified you’d—” he cut himself off.

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. “That I’d what?”

“That you wouldn’t forgive me for being more concerned over you, over keeping you safe. I was regenerating, Rose, and you’d just looked into the Heart of the TARDIS. Forgive me for being more concerned for you than Jack.”

“And later?”

He swallowed and closed his eyes, the weight of his lies caving his chest inward. “I didn’t know how to tell you. Even when I promised never to keep anything from you, you believed me because it was the truth. By then—by then,” he said softer, “I’d buried Jack and what happened to him so far back I meant every word.”

“The TARDIS is chiming in my head.” She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. Pulling back, Rose kissed him fiercely, hungrily. “We are by no means finished with his, mister.” She pecked his lips and stepped out of his arms. “But do what you need to do to stop the Master.”

“I love you, my hearts.”

Rose nodded. “I know. I love you, too, Doctor, even when I’m furious with you.”

The Doctor opened his eyes and found himself on a street with Jack and Martha—no. Martha wasn’t there.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

“I don’t know,” Jack admitted, looking pale and worried. “The Vortex Manipulators work on multiple people when everyone is holding on, and I know she was.”

The Doctor felt sick—if Martha let go, she could be floating in the Vortex. He had no way of tracking her, no way of finding her if she was lost.

“She’s all right, Doctor.”

“Rose?”

“She’s in the TARDIS. We’ll look after her.”

“Rose says Martha is in the TARDIS.” He looked at Jack, who looked confusedly intrigued, and shrugged. “At least she’s safe.”