#i forgot how much i enjoy drawing Cameron

[vrieseasees]

OC Alert! Cameron Stacey

She/her. 32 y.o. Ace. Guidance counselor at a super hero highschool. She was previously a crime lord but faked her death so that I could recycle her for an rp group to live a quieter and less evil life.

Super power is destruction/decay manipulation. Kinda via touch from any part of her body/skin, but she can focus where to emit her power from. It has a small radius of effect but needs to be in contact with her target. She needs to know as much as she can about the materials for better effect.

Not really a red-head. Naturally blonde. Loves potato chips, soft scarves, and her lovely lil students. Appears quite calm and collected, but fighting enemies she hates can really bring the blood lust out of her.

Cameron was once known as Adrienne Richter. She was raised to lead a crime syndicate run by her family and was doing a great job at it. But she doesn't like using her powers on people (it's very gross decaying someone ok lol). Well, unless they deserved it, then maybe she didn't mind.

[perlelune]

Happier Than Ever | Rafe Cameron

Loving Rafe was a rollercoaster you could never get off of. Sometimes thrilling, but mostly terrifying. And some way, somehow, he always found a way to draw you back in for another ride.

Warnings: DUB-CON, NON-CON, Drug Addiction, Drunk Driving, Kook! Reader, Toxic Relationship, Abuse, Emotional Blackmail, Suicidal Talk

This is a dark story. Heed warnings before reading under the cut.

You smile as Marissa tells her story once more. No matter how many times you hear it, it never gets old.

“Who does that? I mean he didn’t even have his driving license. I was so embarrassed-”

The rest of the girls in the circle you formed in the living room gasp. You nurse your beer before taking another sip. You take a bite of the birthday cake, humming in appreciation of the cinnamon and pineapple undertones. For a minute, you soak it all in. The soft pop pouring from the speakers in your friend’s living room. The casual chatter between friends.

You fold your legs beneath yourself, enjoying your cake in a corner of the couch.

It’s been a while since you’ve been able to enjoy a night like this. Quiet and calm. Not since your breakup. Spending time with your friends always fell to the wayside in your previous relationship, your ex finding issues with how much time you spend with them instead of him. It wasn’t uncommon for you to drop everything whenever he called. Girls’ night outs. Sleepovers. Even birthdays, like today.

He was the sun around which your entire life orbited and he couldn’t stand anything or anyone stealing your attention away. It took you a long time to leave. More than you’re comfortable admitting.

It’s not like things were bad all the time. In fact, most of the time, they were good. Not just good. They were great. So great you easily forgave and forgot. Forgot about the tears. Forgot about the rough hands on your skin. Forgot about the cruel words. Forgot about the screaming and nights lying awake, wondering what you did wrong for him to be so angry at you again.

He was a magician. With the right words and that twinkle in his ocean gaze, he could make all the hurt vanish. Like none of it was ever there to begin with. The same eyes that made you feel small could make your stomach flutter. The same mouth that would praise you could tear you down as easily.

Your heart was never at rest, as you never knew which version of him you’d get on a particular day. The sweet and kind version. Or the paranoid and volatile one.

So many little things could set him off. A throwaway comment from his dad. An argument with his sister. Some stranger's gaze resting on you half a second too long. 

Nothing you did could ever get that chip off his shoulder. No amount of care, patience or love could ever reassure him enough. It was exhausting, which is why you left. Well, more like…ran away. Avoided his side of the island. Ghosted him. Hid away really. 

It’s been a few weeks now. You are slowly retrieving some semblance of peace in your life. It’s easier when he’s not around. Easier to breathe. Easier to move around.

Marissa turns to you.

“I’m so happy that you could make it.”

You beam at her. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

She pauses, her fingers tapping the side of her beer bottle.

“You did last year,” she points out. 

You tense. Last year. You never even told her what that was about. You were dressed up and ready and he stopped you on your way out, questioning why you were looking this good for “just some chicks’ get-together”. You shudder as the memory flashes through your brain. Needless to say you never made it to your friend’s party.

“Yeah…sorry about that,” you mumble, scratching your arm.

She smiles in reassurance, squeezing your arm.

“It’s okay. But no more missing my birthday, okay?”

“Okay, promise,” you reply, nodding.

The conversation is halted by the buzzing of your phone. Your chest clenches at the sight of the familiar name across the screen. Marissa steals a glimpse from across the couch and tilts her head in disapproval. The two of them were oil and water, never getting along. In fact, she got in his face quite a few times. And he seemed to enjoy riling her up even more.

“Don’t answer that.” She nudges your shoulder. “I already told you, you need to block him.”

In theory, you know you should sever all ties. But you haven’t found the nerve to cross that bridge yet. Sending him straight to voicemail and leaving him on read is the height of what you can achieve right now. Besides, you shudder to think how he’d react to you blocking him. He damn near broke your door down the day after you texted him that you two were over.

“It could be important…” You get to your feet, stepping away from the couch and your friend’s critical stare. “I’m just gonna tell him to stop. I’ll be right back.”

You head to the balcony. You inhale a lungful of courage before swiping to accept the call. 

“Hey, angel. Miss me?” Rafe slurs drunkenly. 

Your brows knit. “You shouldn’t drive when you’re like this, Rafe.”

He barks out a derisive laugh. “You hear this shit, bro? Acting like she cares about me all of sudden.”

Your chest twinges, his words hurting more than they should.

Another familiar voice faintly echoes in the background. 

“Is that Topper?”

Your frown deepens. They both sound too inebriated to be driving anyone home, let alone themselves.

As you ponder if you should call Sarah or Ward, a crashing sound echoes through the phone, the boys’ laughter dying. Your stomach drops. 

“Rafe?” you call. 

You frantically text him. When you get no response, you try Topper. He doesn’t pick up immediately. 

At least twenty minutes slog by in terrifying silence.

Chewing on your thumb, you wait for the call to reach him.

When you finally hear his voice, relief seeps through you. If he’s fine, then Rafe must also be, right?

But your hopes are swiftly pulverized when he informs you that Rafe is being transported to the hospital. Panic flutters through you. You don’t want to care. You and him aren’t together anymore. It’s not your problem…Except it is. You can’t quell the worry pooling in your gut, the racing of your heart at the thought that Rafe could be hurt. Or worse.

Anxiously rubbing your hands, you head back to the living room. Marissa won’t like what you have to say, but dread has wrapped its fist around your heart since you heard that horrifying sound on the other end of the line, and hasn’t eased up since. The not knowing is worse than anything.

Noting the contrite pinch to your face, your friend heaves out a deep exhale.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to see him,” she says.

You chew on your lip. You know how this looks. Like you’re that girl who picks a guy over her friends again. Still, you remind yourself it’s not like the other times. You aren’t together anymore. You’re over him. You’re way past that. You’re just making sure he’s safe.

“I think something happened. Something really bad.”

Marissa shrugs and takes a swig of her beer. You try to ignore her and your other friend’s pointed stares. Their quietness speaks volumes, the weight of their judgment bearing heavily in the room.

“He always does that. Who knows if he didn’t do it on purpose.”

“You mean crashed his car on purpose? Marissa, come on…”

She tosses her head backwards, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

“Whatever. I’m used to you bailing.” She glances at her freshly painted nails. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

Her accusation aches but you shove it aside. You bid everyone goodbye and grab your keys from the lobby. 

The entire drive your heart is in your throat, your clammy hands tight around the wheel.

The worst scenarios keep playing in your head like a horrible nightmare. The picture of Rafe, a white sheet draped over his unmoving body, won’t stray from your raging thoughts. Why do you feel like this is your fault? He always had troubles with overindulging in liquor and other party favors. It’s something the two of you often argued about. But he had gotten better about it lately, before the breakup. He’d thrown away the drugs, eased up on the drinking. He was better. It’s part of why leaving felt okay.

Your eyes well up with tears. You wipe them in frustration, focusing on the dark road ahead. 

Sucking a wide breath, you remind yourself. You’re not responsible for Rafe. None of this is your fault.

Still, as you pull into the hospital’s driveway, guilt lingers within you.

Thanks to Topper’s instructions, you find Rafe’s room quickly.

You’re a breathless mess when you arrive, having raced through the white corridors. Sarah and Wheezie hug you as soon as they see you. You return it, having missed them in the last few weeks. You had come to think of the youngest of the Cameron siblings as the little sister you never had. You often went out to have ice cream while she told you of the gossip from her school. As for Sarah, the two of you go way back. While not the closest, you’ve been in the same circles since kindergarten. The puffiness of her brown eyes doesn’t escape you. While there’s no love lost between her and her big brother, she seems as shaken as you are.

Ward greets you with a nod. Meeting his gaze is difficult. He always told you you were a good influence on his son. A good girl from a good family. That you were exactly what Rafe needed to set himself straight and finally grow up. You can tell from the way his blue eyes are trained on you that Ward is a little disappointed, that he expected you to stick it out through the storm with his son. The people-pleaser inside you shrinks a bit at that.

Rose at least appears to empathize with your plight, flashing you a quick smile. She too seems to have cried, which stuns you the most. It’s no secret she and Rafe have never gotten along.

The Camerons make space for you to tiptoe further inside the room.

You take shaky steps towards Rafe. It hurts seeing him like that, hunched over at the edge of the bed in a hospital gown. While he’s not attached to tubes and wires, your chest seizes as you note the sling around his left arm, his busted lip and the long cut running across his brow.

“We’ll leave you two alone,” Ward says, gesturing at his daughters to vacate the room.

Silence hangs for a while after the rest of the Cameron clan leaves, giving you and Rafe privacy. Eyes clinging to the floor, you girdle your breath until he speaks.

“You came.”

You look up, Rafe’s cool tone startling you. You approach him.

“Of course I came.”

The muscles of his jaw clench.

“You didn’t have to,” he says curtly.

You cup his cheek, “Rafe-”

He slaps your hand away, his eyes rolling back as he unleashes a heavy sigh.

“Don’t,” he snaps. He sniffs and chuckles but it lacks humor. “I don’t even know why you’re here. You don’t give two shits about me.”

Disbelief strikes you. How could Rafe utter such words after everything you’ve been through together?

Your brows furrow as you graze his arm, whispering softly, 

“That’s not true, Rafe and you know it.”

“Do I?” He taps his temple with his healthy arm, stammering angrily, “C-Cause I had so many thoughts in my head when you left…”

“Rafe-”

“I know we weren’t perfect but I thought we were pretty happy, y’know?” 

A surge of tears presses beneath your lashes.

“We were.” You pause and take a deep breath. “Sometimes. But you weren’t…” Your lip quakes as you’re hit with the remembrance of how bad his mood swings were. You rub your neck, the phantom sensation of Rafe’s fingers squeezing it tight sizzling your flesh. Your voice comes out small. “We weren’t good for each other, Rafe.”

He bites his bottom lip and slowly releases it before sneering, “Bet you’d have preferred if I died tonight, get it all over with.”

“What? How can you even say that?” you say, your pitch spiking with shock.

“Y’know maybe I should…Maybe I should just get my dad’s gun, blow my fucking brains out and stop being such a burden to you.”

He mimics the gesture of shooting a gun through his skull and tears spill over your cheek.

You cradle his face.

“Don’t say things like that, Rafe. Please…” you sob.

“What else am I supposed to say, huh? You left me. Bet you think I’m a fuckup too. Just like my dad.”

“I don’t think that.”

“I wanted to die.”

“Rafe.”

His watery gaze dives into yours.

“When you left, I wanted to fucking die.”

Your breath falters.

“Being without you is hell, angel.” Desperation oozes from his voice. “I just wanted to feel…I don’t know, anything else.” He buries his face in his hand, mumbling under his breath, “I-I don’t know how much more of this shit I can take.”

Your heart sinks. You never imagined breaking up with Rafe would send him in such a state. A wave of guilt consumes your insides. Perhaps it was selfish, taking your distance the way you did. 

You place your hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t know things were this bad for you. I’m sorry.”

He snorts. “I mean, how could you? It’s not like you answer when I call.”

The air chills around you. Your lips clamp shut at that, your head lowering. You did ignore all of Rafe’s calls. And now you find yourself wondering if there were cries for help, if he was drowning and needed you to pull him ashore. If you had picked up, just once, maybe he wouldn’t be here right now. 

The doctor comes in and you step back. Rafe is thankfully cleared, presenting no concussion or major injuries besides his broken arm. You meet Topper outside and are relieved to find him in much better shape than your ex. Outside of a nasty scrape on his cheek, he’s completely unharmed. 

“Were you drunk too?” you can’t help but ask him.

“I…Yeah, but I wasn’t the one driving.” Topper hesitates, nervous as his eyes meet yours. “Rafe, he…he took some other stuff at the party.”

“I figured,” you sigh.

“He just kept driving faster the more he ranted about you.”

Your chest clenches. You glower at him.

“You’re supposed to be his friends, you and Kelce. You’re supposed to look out for him.”

“I’m sorry,” he replies.

Your gaze darts around the hospital corridor.

“Where’s Kelce, anyway?”

Topper scratches the back of his neck.

“He…passed out in a bush at the party.”

Your shoulders sag. Typical Kook shenanigans. Not one of those boys could actually behave responsibly. All they ever do is enable each other and egg each other on to do stupid shit. Then they let someone else clean up their mess. Fatigue settles over you. You’ve been here before. 

You glance at your phone. It’s beyond late. You walk up to Ward.

“I should probably go back home now. I only wanted to check on Rafe, make sure he's okay."

Crossing his arms, the Cameron patriarch astounds you when he utters, “Why don’t you stay at Tannyhill tonight?”

You flash a nervous smile.

“Mr. Cameron, Rafe and I-”

“I know you two are broken up, and I get that.” He heaves out a weary sigh as he considers Rafe. “I know my son has…issues, sweetheart, but he always did better around you.” His piercing gaze travels from Rafe to you. “He hasn’t been doing well since you left him.”

You recline into silence. It’s been a while since you’ve seen Rafe look this defeated. It worries you. You have no desire to give him the wrong idea but you also don’t see yourself just going home after hearing the things he shared with you. While you don’t plan on getting back with him, you can’t just abandon him.

“Okay. But just for tonight,” you specify. 

Ward beams at you. “That's all I ask, sweetheart.”

You end up getting into a car with Ward, Rose and Rafe. Wheezie trails behind Sarah, as you let her borrow the keys of your truck to drive Topper back home. She promises to return them to you in the morning. A heavy quiet coats the air as you share the backseat with Rafe, his stepmom sitting in the front with Ward. He’s not even looking at you, his blue eyes glued to the window. Dejected, you twine your hands in your lap. You’re used to that, Rafe ignoring you when he’s upset. But tonight it stings even more, fueling the guilt simmering inside you.

As Ward’s car pulls into the long alley of the Cameron’s mansion, nostalgia tugs at your heart.

Tannyhill was practically a second home to you this past year. Your parents travel a lot for work and Rafe used to coax you into staying with him most nights, just so you’re not alone.

You don’t even think as you follow Rafe to his bedroom, your feet carrying you absently since you’ve done it so many times before.

You inspect the room. Nothing’s changed since the last time you were here.

He grimaces as he struggles to remove his clothes while wearing the sling.

“I can’t get this fucking shirt off,” Rafe grumbles.

You trudge up to him.

“Let me help you.”

Rafe observes you, falling strangely quiet while you slip off his shirt for him. Your cheeks heat when you do the same for his pants. 

When you’re done, you try to head for the door.

Rafe’s hand clutches yours, halting your departure.

“Stay… please, angel? You can wear one of my shirts like you used to.”

A forlorn expression decorates his features. Despite your best efforts, it tugs at your heartstrings.

You gnaw on your lip. “It’s probably best if I stay in the guest room.”

His thumb sweeps over the inside of your palm.

“I won’t try anything funny, I swear…if that’s what you’re worried about.” His brows draw together. “I’m just in so much pain, and I can barely move my arm.”

You unleash a resigned breath.

“You promise to stay on your side of the bed?” When a playful smile creeps on his lips, your tone sharpens. “Rafe, I’m only here as your friend. I’m serious.”

His gaze narrows, suspicion sneaking in his tone. “Why? You’re like seeing somebody now or some shit?”

“No, I’m not.” You pause before adding cheekily, “And even if I were, it’d be none of your business.”

His cheek pulses.

A flicker of jealousy ignites his gaze, indicating that, in Rafe’s opinion, who you're seeing now is still very much his business. But his features smooth over quickly, his voice mellowing.

“I’d just feel better if you slept next to me, angel. I don’t feel like I’m asking for much, am I?” He pauses before sneering, “Or do you hate my fucking guts so much that I can’t even ask for a little favor?”

“I don’t hate you, Rafe.”

He cocks his head, hope lacing his deep timbre.

“Really? You don’t?”

“I don’t think I could even if I tried,” you admit.

A wide grin blooms on his face at that. He curls his hand around your waist, pulling you a little closer. 

“Then prove it. Stay with me tonight.”

His blue eyes are honest, pleading. Your resolve thaws like ice in the summer heat. 

“Fine,” you yield. You gear yourself to leave, announcing, “I’ll go change in the bathroom.”

The hand on your waist tightens as he teases, “Why not here? It’s nothing I haven’t seen before-”

“Rafe,” you scold, prying his fingers off your waist.

He snickers, lifting his hand. “Sorry. Force of habit.”

A pang of melancholy pierces your chest when you pick one of Rafe’s shirts to wear in bed. It feels a little weird sharing a bed with him when you’re not together anymore.

When you step out of the bathroom, you steal a glance at him. The blanket only covers half of his body, exposing the bare, suntanned muscles of his chest. You ignore Rafe’s smirk as he catches your lingering gaze. Averting your eyes, you make your way to your side of the bed.

You slip under the covers, reassured that he’s respecting your wishes by giving you space. But it doesn’t last.

In the middle of the night, you’re forced to berate him for breaking the boundaries you set.

His good arm snakes around you, his broad chest draping over your back.

“Rafe…”

He nuzzles your neck from behind, humming as he basks in your smell. “Please, just let me have this,” he begs.

You sigh. You don’t have it in you to deny Rafe tonight. Not when he could have died. Not when you feel some responsibility for that. 

“Okay, but no wandering hands.”

He nods and snuggles even closer to you. You can’t help but grow a bit dizzy as the familiar scent of Rafe’s cologne clogs your senses.

You close your eyes and drift into sleep.

In the morning, you wake up to Rafe dragging his fingertips along your cheek, an entranced expression etched on his features.

“I missed waking up like this,” he rasps.

For a while, as you get lost in how bright and blue his eyes look in the soft morning glow, you forget. Remembrance settles over you however when Rafe’s thumb travels to your bottom lip. This is the kind of thing you can’t allow anymore.

Clearing your throat, you sit up and remove his hand from your face.

“Well don’t get used to it.”

Rafe’s brows crumple. “Ouch. When did you get so mean, angel?”

“I learnt it from you.”

He actually seems taken aback by that, speechless as he gapes at you.

His surprise allows you to make a beeline for the bathroom.

“Dibs on the first shower,” you chime, slamming the door closed before he can make another comment that sends your heart in a frenzy.

You use Rafe’s time away in the bathroom to focus on another task. A very important task. One you call the post-bender sweep. It’s a little tragic that you even have a name for it, or that you’ve had to do it so often. So you roll up your sleeves and begin rummaging through all of Rafe’s drawers. No corner of the room is left unchecked.

It’s how he finds you as he steps out of the shower, damp blonde locks grazing his forehead, the towel hanging low on his tapered waist. 

Confusion fills his cobalt eyes. 

“What are you doing?”

“I know you weren’t just drunk last night Rafe. Topper told me everything.”

“Fucking snitch,” Rafe hisses. He inches closer to you. “Look, I’m gonna get it together, alright?”

You crouch near the bed and reach under the mattress. Rafe’s face goes taut as you feel between the wooden slats. “Angel-”

Your fingers dislodge a plastic bag between the slats. You examine its insides. 

“Coke, expected. Well that…is new. Is that meth?” you list sourly. You wish you could say you were disappointed. Instead, you’re just exhausted and vaguely angry. This is a step back. A huge one. “This is poison, Rafe.”

You get to your feet and dash to the bathroom. As you empty every ounce of powder, crystals and every single pill into the toilet bowl, Rafe grips the side of his head. Panic flickers on his face.

“That’s 10k down the drain.”

“Well, Barry can go through me. I’m not letting you do this to yourself again.”

You flush the toilet and meet his eyes. Their intensity has you shifting in discomfort.

“What? Why are you staring at me like that?”

His lips slowly curve upward.

“You still care about me.”

Your heart skips a beat. You blink and shuffle away from the toilet. False hopes, you recall, you weren’t supposed to give them to him. You decide to steer him away from that line of thought.

“Of course I do,” you reply. “You’re my friend.”

Rafe’s smile vanishes. His tone becomes clipped. “Friends, huh? Okay.”

Your plans to only stay the night are thwarted at breakfast. After sharing a copious meal with the Camerons, Ward pulls you aside, practically begging you to prolong your presence at Tannyhill for his son’s sake. 

“You and I both know he needs you, sweetheart.”

At first, you’re hesitant. This wasn’t the plan. You’ve fought so hard against the instinct not to put Rafe’s needs and wants before your own. Tooth and nail quite frankly. The first week after your breakup, not picking up when he called made you physically ill.

You wept about it for days, and almost ran right back into his arms. Without your friends, you probably would have.

Now, your life’s back on track. You can breathe again. You’re happier. The crippling fear of what Rafe would say or think does not hover over your every move anymore.

When Sarah returns your truck’s keys, you consider driving yourself back home and never looking back. Your fingers curl around the keys. It’s right there beneath your palm, your freedom. But there’s just one tiny issue. Rafe’s misty eyes catch yours across the table. And in less than a second, you don’t belong to yourself anymore.

So you remain at Tannyhill much longer than you’d like, taking care of Rafe and spending nights in his arms. The ambiguity of the situation fosters doubts in your mind, threatening the fragile equilibrium you found.

So as soon as Rafe’s noticeably improved, you elect to go back home. One morning, you rise with the sun and start collecting all the things you left behind in his room. It’s imperative to create some distance between you and him again. After all, you’ve gone above and beyond. Initially, this was about checking on your friend. A blind man could see that Rafe wants more than that however. You fear things will spiral to a point of no-return if you don’t leave now. You did so well these last few weeks, getting over Rafe. Or trying to at least. Now all that hard work is on the rocks.

Displeasure paints Rafe’s features as he watches you shove as many of the stray objects you scattered in his space inside your bag. You ended things so abruptly the first time that you never bothered coming back to collect everything you left in Rafe’s room.

“Come on, you could stay a little longer,” he pleads.

“It’s time for me to go home, Rafe.”

“Then just stay the night. You can leave tomorrow.”

“Rafe, it’s been well over a week.”

He sucks his teeth, sniggering meanly, “That excited to be rid of me, huh?”

Your forehead creases.

“It’s not like that.”

Rafe scoffs, “Nah, I get it. You’ve moved on and you never want to see me again, right?”

“Rafe…”

His fingers thread through yours, drawing you back to him. Towering above you, he whispers, “It's just one night. It won’t be different from the other ones. I just want to be able to feel you one last time.”

You purse your lips. You could never say no to anything Rafe asks when he looks at you like that. Like you’re his lifeline, the only thing keeping his head above water. 

It's probably not a great idea. Rafe’s been getting handsier than you’d like these last few days, and you didn’t have the heart to push him away. But what’s one more night? You’ll be gone tomorrow anyways.

“Okay,” you concede.” But I’m really leaving tomorrow.”

A victorious grin breaks out on his face.

“Of course, angel.”

At first, your last night at Tannyhill does indeed seem like the others. You slip under the covers next to Rafe, as you’ve done every other night. His light snores fill the room, his arm finding its way around your waist. Like always. You’ve gotten used to this. You don’t protest, finding comfort in the knowledge you’ll be done with everything Rafe Cameron the next day.

So you let him get close once more. His heat encases you as he nestles his head in the crook of your neck. You don’t even give much thought to the thick bulge poking the small of your back. This is Rafe. He grows hard half the time when you cuddle. Usually, you get him to back off with a frown and a light shove on his chest.

But tonight’s different.

He starts rubbing against you, his hand sneaking below the shirt covering your body.

“Rafe? What are you doing?” you whisper, your voice high-pitched from shock.

“Shh, quiet, angel,” he hushes, trailing sloppy, heated pecks along your neck and shoulder.

“Rafe, you can’t…” Your voice dwindles to a gasp when his digits creep between under your ass, teasing your folds through your panties. He pinches your clit, rolling it between his fingertips. You bite down a sharp cry. 

“I said I wanted to feel you one last time, angel.”  

He shoves a finger inside your panties and sinks between your walls. The embarrassing squelching of your cunt echoes in the room, Rafe beginning to pump inside you at a steady pace. Naturally, he knows exactly how to move his fingers to turn you into a panting, shivering mess against him. You try to resist it, ignore the fire rising in your core, but your skin is easily set ablaze by Rafe’s familiar touch. Your belly knots. Tingles bloom on your flesh. He sweeps along your tender spots and you choke on your spit.

Heat gathers in your face as you grow slicker beneath Rafe’s hand.

He tugs on your panties, sliding them down your legs.

Rafe shifts position. He places himself above you and shimmies out of his boxers. Alarm bells ring inside your head when his thick tip prods at your entrance.

“Rafe…”

Words wither on your tongue as he buries his cock inside you in one blunt thrust. A quiet scream flies from your mouth, your chest heaving.

“Don’t be like this,” Rafe grunts, arrogance dripping from his lustful timbre. “I know you’ve been missing how my fat cock feels inside that tight little pussy, right?”

“We’re broken up, Rafe,” you wheeze out, struggling to catch your breath as your walls strain at his size.

“So?” He pulls out of you, only to sheathe himself inside your wet heat again. Your eyes roll back, your fingers clutching weakly at the sheets.

Rafe’s half-lidded gaze darkens as he drinks you in, his tone getting possessive.

“You’re in my bed, wearing my shirt. I’d say that makes you mine.”

The protests on your tongue evaporate, your thoughts dipping into a tailspin as Rafe slams his cock inside your dripping cunt. Desperation and lust marks each of his deep, pointed thrusts. Your head tosses over the pillows.

Stars fill your sight, pleasure swirling through your limbs. Air dwindles in your lungs as he stretches you out deliciously. His thick cock brushes against your sweet spot repeatedly and your lids flutter. Rafe’s own breaths grow more ragged. His throat bobs, his hard muscles clenching with his motions. He balances his arm above your head, looming over you as sweat dots on his brow.

His warm breath grazes your face as he chuckles.

“It’s like coming home, right? Like I never left.”

“I’m gonna get my shit together. I swear to you, angel.” He rests his forehead against yours. Rafe’s masculine scent floods your senses and your mind spins. You keen as he snaps his taut hips into yours, helpless as Rafe cages you with his frame. “Just don’t leave me again, okay? Please, I need you.”

Over the next few weeks, while his arm is healing, you and Rafe relapse into old habits. First, it’s that night at his house, the one that stirs your unease for a while. Then it’s a quickie in the back of his truck after he offers to drop you off one day. Progressively, it becomes more than that. Dates and late night calls, like before. 

Rafe complaining to you for hours about Sarah or the weight of his dad’s expectations. Rafe sending flowers to your doorstep. Rafe making butterflies swarm in your stomach when he tells you that you’re the only one who understands him.

The walls you erected crumble day by day, shattered by his persistence to win you back. He showers you with gifts and attention on a near daily basis now, even going as far as planning the most romantic evening for Valentine’s day. Though you had plans with your friends, Rafe is so adamant to have you all to himself that you ditch Galentine's day cocktails to be with him.

Slowly but surely, the Cameron heir weasels his way back into your heart. 

Most of your friends aren’t thrilled with your decision, of course. Marissa in particular.

“Guys like him don’t change,” she tells you one night as he’s blowing up your phone with texts inquiring about your whereabouts. You fervently disagree. He’s just worried about you, you convince yourself. That's how much he cares.

Of course Rafe has changed. He’s earning your trust, one day at a time. He has his temper in check. He’s better now. He’s proven it several times.

Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance?

Besides, though you struggle to admit it, there’s something intoxicating about being Rafe Cameron’s girlfriend. A feeling so heady and electric. One you shamefully kind of missed.

You trust Rafe. Those are the words that keep playing in your mind as you wait for him downstairs. You fiddle with your solo cup, taking a tiny sip of your beer. Techno music blares from the speakers in Kelce’s living room. The girls next to you gossip about a crush on some guy you don’t know. You feign interest, giving a dull nod and a smile every now and then. Lavish, hedonistic Kook parties aren’t exactly your scene anymore. Rafe practically had to drag you here.

The initial plan was to meet with your friends tonight. But Rafe closed off when you told him that. He then pleaded with you to come. You caved in, because refusing him has been incredibly difficult since the accident. So you’ve stopped trying to argue with him. 

You go along with most of what he asks, even if it stirs your discomfort at times. 

You glance at the time on your phone. 

Rafe said he needed to go to the bathroom earlier. 

That was nearly thirty minutes ago. Your brows draw together. Taking a leak shouldn’t take that long in theory, right? Or are you this paranoid now?

Still, you can’t quell the dread tickling your insides. A sense of deja vu seeps through you.

Your feet carry you upstairs, guided by your urgent need to find Rafe. 

Kelce’s house is huge and you nearly get lost multiple times. Your cheeks flame as you stumble upon a couple in one of the guest rooms. You hastily apologize and slam the door shut, resuming your search. It takes you a long time of blind wandering through endless corridors before you find him. 

He’s indeed in a bathroom. At least that, he didn’t lie about…unlike the line of coke he’s snorting above the sink.

“Rafe?” you call, frozen on the doorstep. “What are you doing?”

A brief glimpse of panic flits across his face before he bursts out in laughter.

He makes his way to you and tilts your chin upward.

“It’s a party, I’m just having fun. You should try it sometime.”

You scowl at him. “That’s not the point. You promised...”

Rafe sniffs, wiping the remnants of white powder beneath his nose.

“Come on, just relax.” He crowds your space, placing his hands on each side of you on the door. It slams shut as Rafe presses his body against yours, his voice sinking to a lewd rasp. “Why don’t you and I get into the hot tub downstairs and…”

“No,” you assert. “You promised, Rafe. No more drugs.”

When he tries to cup your cheek, you shove his hand away. His jaw clenches.

“Why do you always have to be such a stuck up bitch?”

An astonished breath leaps off your throat.

“I’m sorry?”

Instead of apologizing, a broad grin stretches on his lips, “I’m just saying. Maybe you’re the one who needs to loosen up.”

You note the hollowness in Rafe’s eyes and the sweat glistening over his bare skin.

Tears rush to your eyes. You’ve learnt to recognize the signs. Empty promises, like always. Why did you expect things to be different this time?

You jump back from the door, slipping beneath Rafe’s arm. Wiping irate tears, you glare at him.

“This was a mistake. My friends were right. You’re never going to change.” 

You are such a fool. The depth of his deception didn’t hit you until you saw him bent over that sink. You caught him this time. Who knows how many times Rafe lied right to your face?

Once more, you allowed him to drag you into his spiral, offering no resistance and believing every sweet word and promise.

Closing your eyes, you suck in a deep breath. You think back to the last few weeks, to every time you surrendered an inch and Rafe took a mile. And you just let it happen. You land on a decision. This is the last time you let Rafe Cameron puppeteer his way back into your life.

You make a beeline for the exit. He impedes your path, towering over you as he stands before the door.

“Get out of my way, Rafe,” you hiss.

Rafe squints at you, taking slow, threatening steps towards you.

“Why? So you can leave me, again?” Something lurks in Rafe’s gaze, turning his blue eyes almost black. Chills crawl over your spine. You shrink, retreating as far as the restricted space in the bathroom allows. “No way, you’re not leaving me.”

You chew on your lip, a surge of adrenaline spiking through your veins. You try to run past him but he grabs your wrists and slams you harshly against the bathroom wall.

Your voice comes out a quivering sob.

“Rafe, don’t you dare…”

As you try to wrestle out of his hold, he bangs your head against the tiles. Sharp needles of pain pierce through your skull. You grow dizzy as your legs start shaking. Rafe uses the momentum to push you onto the floor. 

“Dare what, huh? Take what’s mine?” he snarls. His broad body drapes over yours. You taste the liquor on his tongue as he steals your lips in a rough, possessive kiss. A sick laugh leaves him when you bite his lip, drawing blood. A metallic taste fills your mouth. Through your hazy sight, you watch with horror as Rafe unbuttons his pants. 

He reaches under your dress, tearing your panties with one tug of his hand. Fear floods your veins. You writhe underneath him as he guides his length to your entrance.

“I think you’re forgetting, angel. You’re nothing without me.” His taunting whisper sears into your skin like a hot knife. “I made you, little Kook princess.”

Your mouth opens, a scream building in your throat. But it never makes its way past your lips, Rafe wrapping his hand around your neck as he impales you on his cock. Helpless whimpers roll off your tongue as he sets an unforgiving pace right away, ignoring each of your tearful pleas for him to stop. His scalding breaths ghost over your face. Beads of sweat drip from his skin to yours. Sobs shake your frame as you writhe beneath him, left with no other choice but to be the vessel for his anger and lust.

“I need you, just like you need me,” he mumbles hotly, trailing bites and kisses alongside your neck. The room dims around you with each painful stab of Rafe’s cock inside your bruised core.

The hand around your neck tightens, Rafe’s wrathful baritone edging on a roar.

“Don’t you ever try to leave me again. I won’t be able to take it, angel. In fact…” His lips skim over your earshell as he whispers, “I’d rather fucking kill you and myself before letting you walk out on me again.”

[tailsrevane]

[movie review] avatar (2009)

i forgot how fucking incredible this movie is in 3d.

look, i hate 3d and i’m so glad it’s failed as hard as it has. most of the time even when a movie looks great in 3d it just doesn’t add that much to the experience for me to be worth all the headache–sometimes literally. plus the glasses hurt the bridge of my nose. plus now with masks you have to deal with trying to get them not to fog up.

i’m not trying to go all Old Enby Yells At Cloud here, especially over a fad that peaked 10 years ago, but i just think that 3d is for theme park attractions and the very occasional movie that really, truly calls for it. and those movies should also look fucking great in 2d, btw! avatar is the best 3d movie of all time, but when you’re watching it in 2d there are absolutely zero scenes where you snicker & say “oh, i wonder if this was originally in 3d?” so other movies really have no excuse.

like think of the amazing spider-man movies. even if they looked good in 3d (i have no idea) the first one looks like ass in 2d, and there are a bunch of scenes in both where you kinda roll your eyes because it’s basically the big budget tentpole equivalent of in friday the 13th part iii when they stop the movie to juggle or play with yo-yos. it just dates the movie and makes it harder to enjoy in every format.

so basically you need a filmmaker as obsessive as james cameron who has the clout to bully studios into letting him spend as much money & take as long as he fucking wants to put something like this together for it to be worth a damn. and like, if that’s what it’s gonna be, fine? i’ll happily see those movies in 3d? i just don’t want to return to the years of every single studio movie coming out in 3d because the vast majority of them end up looking fucking terrible in 2d & not really being that good in 3d? and as a 3d hater, i just don’t want to see a 3d movie but every once in a while. i’m sorry.

anyway, like i said, this movie looks fantastic no matter what format you watch it in. but given that i most recently saw it on a laptop screen & (i swear to the gods) on one of those tiny screens on the back of an airplane headrest because i thought it would be hilarious to watch it on the way home from disney after going to avatarland for the first time, i was pretty blown away by how big (heh) of a difference seeing it on the big screen again made. even just the early parade of establishing shots & voiceover narration have so much more power to draw you into the world, and it makes all the amazing alien sights on pandora all that much more powerful because you’re already sucked into the movie’s world. it’s small wonder that so many people found the movie so intensely affecting when they saw it in theaters, but given that not many people are sitting down to watch a nearly 3-hour epic on a regular basis this weird narrative formed about the movie being “forgettable” or whatever the fuck. boy am i ever sick of that one.

i kind of want to go see it again. this is exactly what happened the first time it was in theaters.

i’ve written about my issues with the movie (mostly the totally-avoidable white savior narrative) as well as the things i like about it at length before, and i don’t have anything to add to that now. but as often happens with movies where i let myself be swayed by the popular narrative around them, i find myself looping back to my original opinion when i first saw it: this movie fucking owns. s-rank

[outerbankspreferences]

Relax - Rafe Cameron

Word Count: 2314

Warnings: slightly proofread, and SMUT 18+

MASTERLIST

A/N: So this was a request and I’m super late on it, but I hope you like it! Send me more request, I love doing them!

 Never in a million years had you thought you would be dating Rafe Cameron, kook royalty. You knew him when you were in high school, or better yet you knew of him. Rafe had a reputation about sleeping around with girls and causing trouble. He was two years older than you, only seeing him when you went to Sarah’s house for a school project.

You would be lying to yourself if you said you never had a thing for Rafe, all the girls did. You assumed you never had a chance, not that there was anything wrong with you, but you weren’t his type. You weren’t overly keen on going to parties, more enjoying a quite night in instead.

 This is what drew Rafe to you. He loved the calming effect you had on him. He was always so busy that when he would spend time with you it was like he got to slow down for a minute. When he first actually started talking to you, he enjoyed getting to know you.

 Sarah had invited you to one of the parties at her house, she begged you to come. Just to shut her up, you planned on making a small appearance, leaving early enough to catch a movie. They were celebrating Rafe’s birthday and almost everyone on the island was there. Rafe was living for the energy ad vibe going through the house. All you could hear was music and people yelling.

 You caught his eye when you first walked by, catching him off guard. You made your way through the crowd to find something to drink and then meet up with Sarah. You were pouring yourself a drink when Rafe came up slightly scaring you, “hey, it’s Y/N right?” he asked. You looked up completely froze in the moment. “Uh, yeah it is.” You reply, smiling into your cup. “I didn’t think you were the partying type Y/L/N, it’s nice to see you.” He winked at you, making you go weak in the knees.

 You guys talked all night, Rafe ignoring everyone else just to speak to you longer. After that night he got your number from Sarah and you guys had been inseparable since. The two of you had been together four months when you started getting nervous. You had yet to tell Rafe that you were a virgin out of fear that he would make fun of you. It honestly scared you to have sex considering all the horror stories you had heard from your friends.

 There were countless times you would be making out in his room and you thought you were ready just to become too hesitant and start to back off. Rafe would never force anything on you if you weren’t ready but he never had to wait this long. He started to think it was him, that you weren’t into him in a sexual way. He had never been so insecure about the topic before.

 It was one of those times, you guys had been making out all afternoon, you were on top of Rafe, grinding down him enjoying the sounds he was making. He placed his hands on your ass, grabbing it slightly. You started to panic; overthinking everything that was happening. Rafe could sense you tensing up and stopped kissing you, “is everything okay Y/N?” he asked looking into your eyes.

 You could get lost in those eyes, but not today. You felt exposed to him, and you weren’t even naked yet. You look down not wanting to meet his intimidating stare. His hand reached up to brush some hair out of your face, making him look at you, “baby please, talk to me.” He almost whispered, as if speaking to loud would scare you off. You looked at him, taking a deep breathe. “I-uh-I’m a virgin.” You stutter out, cheeks turning red.

 Rafe had never thought of you as a virgin. It was never something that crossed his mind. He assumed from how beautiful you were thought you would have to fight guys off you. “I’m sorry I never told you. I guess I was scared, and I know it’s going to hurt, I’ve heard the stories.”- you rambled on trying to fill the awkward silence. He cut you off by kissing you. “If you’re not ready, that’s okay. I’ll wait.” You thought about it for a minute. You trusted Rafe more than anyone, maybe you were ready.

 You pulled him in for a heated kiss. Slowly kissing down his neck, nipping at his jaw lightly. He moaned at the feeling, “I think I’m ready.” You spoke seductively. He pulled you closer to him kissing down you neck, nipping at places then smoothing it over with his tongue. You were a mess already and he hadn’t even taken your clothes off.

 His hands rubbed small circles on your waist, slowly moving your shirt. Rafe knew it was a big deal that you were allowing him to see this part of you. He pulled at your shirt, “can I take this off love?” He spoke between kisses. You let a breathy moan, “yes please, take it off.” He helped you get out of your shirt, leaving kisses all over your chest and collarbones. He unclasped your bra with one hand letting it fall of your body. You started to get that uncomfortable exposed feeling again, and Rafe could sense it. “Do you want to stop?” he asked looking up at you. You shook your head no. “I need words love.” He spoke kissing your lips.

 “No-no I don’t want to stop.” You whispered to him, kissing him again. Rafe started kissing down your chest, not getting were you needed him most. You were squirming in his lap. “Holy fuck Y/N, you’re so fucking beautiful.” He spoke, gripping your waist looking up at you. He loved seeing that blush creep onto your face. You were about to speak when your words got lost in a moan, Rafe had finally taken your nipple into his mouth. He sucked gently, massaging the other one. It felt amazing, and you could feel yourself getting wetter.

 Rafe continued his assault on your breast making sure to leave some hickeys for you to find in the morning. He flipped the two of you over, so he was above you. Rafe started kissing down you body until he got to your pants. He tugged slightly, asking permission before taking them off. He took a second to admire your soaking panties. He took one of his fingers running them up your core over your panties. “You’re so wet for me baby. Tell me, have you ever made yourself cum before?” he asked looking up at you. You squirmed in his touch, basically giving him his answer but you knew he wanted to hear you say it. “No-no I haven’t Rafe.” You speak blushing again. He pulled himself up to kiss you one more time, “then your in for a treat love.”

 He started to kiss your core over your panties, never losing eye contact with you. If it were anyone else, you would have been uncomfortable but with Rafe it made you drip more for him. He gently pulled your panties down, placing light kisses on your thighs. “Please Rafe, I need you.” You moaned out as his breath got close to your core. He loved to hear you beg for him, he could listen to it all night. He licked a long strip up your pussy and you almost jumped out of the bed. It felt amazing. Rafe was moaning into your core making the vibrations go straight to your clit.

 Most times he would have been a bit rougher, but he didn’t want to overwhelm you. He heard you say something, and he pulled away, “not please Rafe, I want more. I need more.” You spoke more clearly, “are you sure?” He asked watching you nod at him. He took one of his hands that was holding yours and started rubbing small circles on your clit before he went back in with his mouth. He slowly pumped on of his fingers in you curling them up to your g-spot. You thought you were seeing stars, making sure to tell him how good it felt. He took the compliments as encouragement and added a second finger. With the stimulation on your clit and being so wet, it didn’t hurt when he added the second, you just pushed your hips closer to his. You winced grabbing his wrist he put the third in. He stopped immediately, kissing your thighs. “you have to relax beautiful; I have to stretch you out first.” He spoke, still rubbing circles on your clit. “I think I might cum.” You spoke out, having a warm feeling in your belly. Rafe started going a little faster, bringing you closer to the edge. “Come on baby, come for me. You can do it.” He encouraged you, grinding into the bed to relieve some of his own tension. He felt your walls clench around him as you let out loud moan, “that’s my girl. You did such a good job.” He spoke licking you clean; he didn’t stop until you were pushing his head away from the overstimulation.

 “Do you want to keep going love?” He asked, pushing some of your hair out of your face. You were trying to regulate your breathing. All you could think about has him on top of you, and you screaming his name. “Yes, I want you Rafe, make me yours,” You whisper to him, blushing at the words. He leaned down and kissed you and you could taste yourself on his lips. You moaned into the kiss, as you started to rub him through his pants. Rafe took the hint and took the rest of his clothes off, reaching for a condom out of his bedside table.

 It was the first time you had seen his dick. You heard that Rafe was packing but you had no idea he was this big. He laughed when he saw your eyes go wide, “don’t worry, it’ll fit baby.” He spoke and you completely forgot that he had to stretch you out with his huge cock. He put the condom on and grabbed another thing of the draw. He showed you a small red vibrator. “This will making this feel better at first, but we don’t have to use it if you think it’s going to be too much for you.” He spoke, waiting for you approval before doing anything. You kissed him again, “can we stop using it if it gets to be too much?” You ask, kind of nervous. “we can do whatever makes you comfortable.” He replied, smiling into the kiss. “okay let’s try it.”

 Rafe turned the vibrator on the lowest setting, placing it on you hot clit. It was cold which added to the effect it had on you. you squirmed slightly while getting used to the feeling. “Baby, you need to relax for me, it’s going to hurt more fi you don’t.” He spoke up. You took a deep breath, fully relaxing under his body, he lined himself up, and giving you one last look to make sure this is what you want, you smiled and shook your head confirming that it was okay. He started to push into you. he had to force himself to go slow, not wanting to hurt you. it did burn slightly but Rafe was right about the vibrator, it did sort of make things better.

 You both let out loud moans as he bottomed out in you. “Holy fuck Y/N, your so tight.” He moaned out. Rafe felt like he was in heaven. Of course, he had sex before, but he never shared a connection with anyone like he had with you. He knew that he loved you and you were special to him. “You can move now.” Your words pulling him from his trance. Rafe started at a slow pace, not wanting to overwhelm you with the vibrator. You didn’t expect him to be so vocal in bed. “Holy fuck your so amazing” and “you’re taking me so well baby” kept being repeated by him while all you could do was moan, not being able to focus on anything else. You felt the warm feeling your belly again, wanting to chase your high.

 “Oh god Rafe, please go faster I’m going to come.” You spoke out between moans, and Rafe started going to deeper hitting your g-spot again and again. “Come for me baby, you can do it.” He spoke turning the vibrator up a little bit, he could feel your pussy clenching around him being him closer too. You let out a loud moan, forcing him over the edge too. “Holy shit, that was amazing.” He spoke laying on top of you. You giggled, kissing the top of his head. “I’m glad my first time was with you.” You spoke Rafe looking up at you. He kissed your chest, “thank you for letting me be your first time. Now how about he takes a bath and clean up?” He suggested getting up and heading towards his bathroom. You tried to get up put your legs felt like jello, causing you sit back down. ��Hey now, wait there I’ll get the water ready and come get you.” He spoke noticing your lightheaded moment. Once the bath was ready, he came in and carried you in, getting in behind. You sat between his legs, and he poured warm water over your back. You sigh in content, feeling completely relaxed with him. “I hope I’m not reading this wrong, but I love you so much Y/N.” He murmured against your sick.

 You turn around and kiss him as hard as you can. “I love you too Rafe, more then you’ll ever know.”

TAGLIST: 

lemur46  fttayla @drewstarkeysbitchh

[onceupon]

London Boy - Part 2: Let the Game begin

summary: You had always thought you knew exactly what kind of boys Rafe Cameron and Topper Thornton were - but did you actually?

pairing: Rafe x reader (slowburn)

warnings: swearing

word count: 2.5k

a/n: no one is asking for this but here it is anyways lmao enjoy (not canon Rafe)

You make it back to your room and take a deep breath. Boys. You were living with boys. Not just any boys - Rafe Cameron and Topper Thornton. Whatever, you thought, shaking yourself back to reality. It didn’t matter anyways. You weren’t about to let them get in the way of having the time of your life these next few months and you definitely weren’t going to let them keep your mind tied to OBX. That was a tie you desperately wanted to cut. Besides, if you knew Rafe and Topper like you thought you did, they’d be too caught up with playing both the field and the girls of Westheath before you knew it, effectively keeping them occupied and out of your way. 

You decided to go about your day as you usually would. Your Have a Great Day playlist was queued up and playing as you slipped on your favorite jeans and top. You let yourself get absentmindedly lost in your actions as you did your hair and makeup - enough to make you feel put together and regain some control after the way this morning had left you feeling vulnerable. Looking good made you feel good - and if anyone else thought you looked good too, then hey, that was just an added bonus. 

You hadn’t noticed how lost in the process of getting ready you had gotten until you looked down at your phone and saw that an hour had flown by. You were half way down the hall to the kitchen when the door of your flat flew open, bringing you face to face with two new people for the second time that day. 

“Oh my gosh hiiii!” a girl turned to you, pausing her laughter from the conversation she was having with the girl next to her. “I’m Olivia! It’s so nice to meet you!!” the bubbly girl exclaimed, immediately embracing you in a hug. The other girl laughed at her friend’s excitement and forwardness which had clearly startled you. 

“I’m Millie - you must be one of our flatmates,” the other girl smiled, introducing herself to you as well. 

“Hi, I’m Y/n,” you smiled softly. 

“Oh my gosh Mills! I knew it! I told you we’d get roomed with the Americans! Ugh this is so exciting, there’s so much I need to know I don’t even know where to start!” Olivia squealed with a little hop. 

“Alright don’t scare the poor girl, she’s gonna think they’ve stuck her with a couple of psychos,” laughed Millie, pulling her friend’s arm to lead her down the hall. “Come on Liv let’s let y/n breathe for a second while we go put our bags down,” she said, giving you an apologetic smile.

You laughed and continued on to the kitchen to get some water as you had originally set out to do. You were honestly relieved. Thank god your other two roommates were girls who weren’t remotely associated with OBX. You didn’t even mind their intensity, it was endearing really, and you’d take a couple of loud but genuine girls who seemed like they were a bunch of fun to hang out with over the bitchiness and cattiness you were used to with the girls back home at Kildare. 

“Alright Y/n, I forgot sheets and Mills didn’t bring a towel so we’re going to Primark and you’re coming with. I want to hear all the American gossip,” Olivia reappeared and then slipped back down the hallway with a wink. You laughed and went to go grab your bag, just then realizing Rafe and Topper were no longer at the flat. You wondered where they had gone, not hearing them slip out over the music you were playing earlier. Not that you cared, it was a relief to have them out of sight and out of mind for now. 

—

“Hmm Rafe Cameron and Topper Thornton, does sound rather posh,” mused Millie as you had begun providing some intel to your friends on the two flatmates they had yet to meet. 

“Two American ladies men, sign me up!” cackled Olivia. 

“Hey watch yourself missy, you’re taken,” Millie scolded. 

You had only known these girls for maybe an hour and somehow you had been comfortable enough with them to open up about your entire life’s backstory as you walked with them through the home section of Primark. It felt like they had been your friends for years, the three of you gelling together effortlessly. 

“Oo you have a boyfriend?” you asked as your eyes scanned over the shelf of fluffy blankets in front of you. You simply couldn’t leave without the light grey one, daydreaming about how cozy napping with it would be. 

“I do. His name is Jake,” Olivia beamed, “he’s kind of an idiot, but I love him.”

“And he’s got a whole squad of idiot friends too, but you’ll see for yourself,” Millie laughed. 

“Oh shit that reminds me! I invited them all over to pregame tonight before freshers,” chimed Olivia. 

“What’s freshers?” you asked, raising your brows in confusion. 

Millie and Olivia shared a quick laugh at how clueless you were to everything in their world. 

“So freshers is like this huge club event at the beginning of the school year. It’s really meant for uni freshers but since half of us are 18 and we can easily sneak in the other half it’s kind of tradition for Westheath kids to go their last year. Me and Mills went last year too though, one of the guys we knew the year above us was cousins with the bouncer,” Olivia grinned proudly. “But literally everyone is going and that means you’re coming too and- oh shit I’m such a bloody idiot aren’t I! I’m sorry Y/n I literally didn’t think at all to ask anyone from our flat if it was okay to host a pregame,” she bit her thumb with guilt-ridden eyes. 

“Looks like you and your idiot boyfriend are actually a match made in heaven,” joked Millie as Olivia gave her the finger, trying to suppress the smile tugging at her lips. 

“Oh no that’s totally fine! I’ve had like barely any human interaction these last few days and it’ll be nice to meet some more people from Westheath. It’ll be fun,” you reassured Olivia with a genuine smile. “I just uh- I’ve never been clubbing. Like what do I even wear, I don’t think I brought anything like that. And I’m not 18 for another month, would I even get in?”

“Well it’s a good thing we’re here isn’t it!” exclaimed Olivia, grabbing you by the wrist and dragging you to the clothes section. “Mills this would be PERFECT don’t you think,” she said as she held up a sheer black top in front of you. 

“Oh my gosh yes. With a black bra underneath and mini skirt,” Millie grinned, nodding in excitement with Olivia. 

“Guys I don’t know if I can wear this. Like I don’t think I can pull this off,” you said meekly. 

“Oh my god shut up this would look so good on you. Your body is killer and you can 1000% pull this off,” Olivia insisted, shoving the garment toward you. “And we’ll get you in the club no problem,” she added firmly, shutting down any possibility of you talking your way out of tonight. 

“Wait shit do you think Rafe and Topper will be cool with the pregame? We haven’t even properly met them yet and I’ve already invited a bunch of strangers to our place,” groaned Olivia as the three of you headed toward the register. 

“Trust me, if there’s two things those boys definitely don’t mind it’s a party and a reason to drink,” you laughed. 

—-

As the three of you unlocked the door to your flat you could hear Rafe and Topper’s voices from the kitchen. Ugh, back already. 

“Hellooo boys,” called Olivia with zero hesitation, walking straight into the kitchen. “Name’s Olivia, pleasure to meet you,” she smiled extending her hand. 

“Pleasure is all ours,” Rafe smiled back. It took every ounce of your will power not to roll your eyes at his smugness. 

“Indeed it is,” grinned Topper giving her a hand shake. “And you are,” Topper immediately drew his attention to Millie entering the kitchen right behind Olivia. You didn’t miss how his eyes ran her up and down. 

“Millie, your fifth and final roommate,” she smirked, not having missed his wandering eyes either. 

“So listen boys,” Olivia clapped her hands together, drawing everyone’s attention. “I may have invited my boyfriend and some of our friends over to pregame tonight before we all go out to the club. You guys are obviously welcome to join but if you’re not cool with us having people over just say the word and-“

“Done deal. What time should we be ready?” Topper cut her off

“9. See you then,” she grinned from ear to ear sauntering off to her room. 

“Alright I need to go unpack, but it was lovely to meet you boys, see you soon,” Millie smiled, eyes locking with Topper’s for a second too long before she too slipped away. You wanted nothing more than to escape to your room as well but you were starving, and since you were now living with Rafe and Topper you’d have to learn to go about your life around your new home despite their presence. You sighed as you made your way to the fridge, trying to decide what you were gonna scrap together for dinner. 

“So how long have you been here already?” asked Rafe, grabbing some Pringles and taking a seat at the table, Topper already spreading out comfortably on the couch. 

“Uh, few days,” you replied, not bothering to turn around. 

“See anything cool yet,” Topper chimed in as he scrolled on his phone. The way they were asking you questions was oddly normal. You were trying hard to detect any hint of cockiness in their voice but you couldn’t find any. You weren’t ready to let your guard down fully, not entirely trusting the pair, but you decided to soften a bit and give them a chance. 

“Yeah actually, I walked around Hyde Park the other day and the day before I watched the sunset from Millennium Bridge. It was beautiful,” you replied, finally turning toward the boys, a jar of pasta sauce in hand. 

“Crazy being in a city like this huh. Definitely not the Outer Banks,” Rafe chuckled lightly, gaze settling on the window. 

“Definitely not the Outer Banks,” you smiled. 

—-

“What do you mean you haven’t watched Friends!?” you let out an exasperated cry as you twirled more spaghetti on your fork. 

“It’s stupid,” said Topper, making a face. 

“It’s a classic,” you retorted. 

“No. The Office though. Now that’s a classic.”

“Should’ve know you were an Office guy,” you shook your head, Rafe laughing from his seat across from you. 

“Listen, I can’t help you if you don’t know how to appreciate true comedy,” Topper shrugged. 

“Yeah okay,” you rolled your eyes, turning now to face the dirty blonde seated across from you, absent mindedly shuffling a deck of cards for no reason, the golden ring on his finer catching your eye as his hands moved in a repetitive motion. “And what about you Mr. Dealer,” you asked Rafe, eyes motioning to the cards in his hand before going back up to meet his gaze. Rafe knew how to keep good eye contact with a person, confident yet not overpowering, and as the evening progressed and you become more comfortable you welcomed the challenge of his piercing blue eyes. 

“I’m more of a How I Met Your Mother guy,” he answered nonchalantly. 

“Huh, I wouldn’t’ve pegged you as that.”

“And what would you have pegged me as, Y/n,” he asked, still holding your gaze to which you just shrugged playfully, letting him wonder. 

“Okay, forget about comedies. Game of Thrones. Hands down best thing I’ve ever watched,” Topper stated, throwing his palms down on the table. 

“I mean I do hear good things, but I don’t know, seems kind of intense,” you said before shoving another forkful of spaghetti in your mouth. 

“No no no Y/n you literally don’t know what you’re missing out on, it’s pure genius,” Topper continued passionately. 

Rafe gave you a knowing glance as you two made eye contact again, trying not to laugh, “He’s been on my ass for years to watch it.”

“And now you have no excuse! It’s senior man, classes will be light work, just give it a chance,” Topper pleaded. 

“You know what Topper, just because you’re practically jumping out of your seat right now, I’ll check it out just for you,” you laughed as Toppers face pulled into a wide grin. 

“Good enough for me,” he said victoriously. 

“Lemme one up that Topps, I’ll also give it a chance, so it better be worth it,” Rafe added, Topper’s eyes growing wide in simultaneous glee and disbelief. Topper quickly got up from his seat, puffing his chest, “woooo! Winter is coming to London baby!” he exclaimed, pumping his fist before heading down the hall to his room. 

Two hours had passed by with you hanging out in the kitchen with Rafe and Topper, and to your surprise… you were actually enjoying yourself. You guys had talked about the things you wanted to do in London, the music you all listened to, favorite movies, and tv shows of course. You almost didn’t know how to process it. How could two guys who seemed like such kook douchebags actually be - cool? You had always regarded the two at face value, but perhaps there was more to these boys than what meets the eye. 

“Oh god how is it already 8, I’m so behind,” you groaned, getting up to wash your dishes. 

“Once Topper is full speed ahead, there’s no stopping that man,” Rafe laughed. 

“Hey,” you turned your head around from the sink, soapy dish in hand. “I was actually serious about giving Game of Thrones a try. Damn Topper if he didn’t make me curious now,” you laughed, “but I was thinking, if you’re actually gonna watch too, that we should time it so we both watch on the same days. Because then if we’re on the same schedule, whenever we see each other in the kitchen or something we can discuss and we’ll be on the same episodes so no spoilers.”

“So you mean we’d both watch on our own but at the same time?” Rafe asked. 

“Yeah,” you replied, as if it was obvious. That’s what you literally just described. 

“Well if we’re gonna watch it at the same time, we might as well just watch it together Y/n,” he calmly stated, walking right up next to you to put his Pringles away. 

“Uh yeah I mean that works too,” you replied, looking up at the boy now next to you, getting slightly flustered by his presence once again. His blue eyes were piercing right through you, and this time it was a losing a battle. 

“Cool,” he smiled, turning around and walking out of the kitchen to his room. You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding in, the water still running in front of you as you stood their holding the sponge like an idiot. What the fuck just happened?

---

Part 3

[hydroponicjj]

No Body, No Crime [2]

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x Female!Peterkin!Reader

Word Count: 3k+

Warnings: Mentions of Drugs/Alcohol, Swearing, etc

Summary: Rafe is finding himself having trouble trusting Y/N, even after what she did for him.

A/N: Hello! This is the second chapter of No Body, No Crime. Please enjoy and, let me know if you’d like to be on the taglist! <3

「 ₊˚.༄ 」

The entire drive over to Topper's made you extremely nervous. Your stomach felt as if it was in a knot that couldn't be undone.

It only got worse when you began to recognize the scenery of Figure 8.

It was unusual of you to be so anxious.

Usually, you’re hyper-focused. You don’t have time to worry about all the possible things that could go wrong but, Rafe made you feel different.

Typically, the two of you would only interact in passing. Oftentimes in the kitchen at his house when you needed him to help you reach something on the top shelf.

Now, you’re about to see each other in a brand new light. Going from strangers to...

Honestly, you didn’t really know how to classify this blossoming relationship, considering it hasn’t started yet.

Turning a corner into a neighborhood, you recognized Topper's mansion almost immediately.

It was the second house on the right with pillars and a baby blue door. There were tiny American flags pitched in the yard with small lights showcasing their entrance.

There were so many cars parked on the street and in the driveway that it was nearly impossible for you to get close without clipping a vehicle.

Finding a good spot near the sidewalk, you emerged from your car, making sure to check that it was locked (a habit you learned from your mother).

Drawing closer to the front door, you spotted Rafe.

He was sitting ominously in a rocking chair on the porch, looking out into the yard.

"Hey." You called out. He broke from his intense gaze and glanced at you.

"Shit, I totally forgot that you were coming." He pinched the bridge of his nose, turning his head.

"Well, I'm here so.." You trailed off, taking a seat next to him.

Instantly, Rafe began to draw away from you. You noticed but refrained from commenting on it, not knowing what his problem was.

It wasn't long after that the tension started to fill the air. You’re usually the one keeping your distance from him, not vice versa.

“Are-Are you going to say anything?” You asked, nervously.

You had no idea what made his energy shift from the last time you spoke to him but, this wasn’t the same Rafe that you saw that afternoon.

“What do you want me to say?” He replied sharply, glancing over in your direction.

You were taken aback by him, “Rafe. You asked me to meet you here. I have no idea what the hell is going on. So, I just— I wanna know what’s happening.”

He froze, inhaling deeply. It was clear that he was searching for the right words to say that would get his message across.

“Y/N, I don’t trust you. You might be Sarah’s best friend but, you’re also the sheriffs' daughter.” His voice was cold and distant.

He genuinely viewed you as some kind of threat. Less than 7 hours ago, he was more than willing to rope you into whatever he had going on, and now, you’re just a burden to him.

You scoffed, “You seemed pretty happy to get your drugs back this afternoon. Was I the sheriffs' daughter then?”

“I stole from my mom, Rafe. That’s not something you just do for fun. Especially when you have a lot to lose on your end, okay. So, if I rat you out, I’m going down too.”

Guilt instantly flashed behind his blue eyes. It was evident as his features began to soften and he lowered his eyebrows.

He began to speak but, you cut him off, “Listen, Rafe, I don’t expect us to go out and get matching tattoos anytime soon but, we have to learn to trust each other, or else this thing isn’t going to work.”

He chuckled lightly, flashing you a crooked smile, “Yeah.” Rafe replied simply.

The loud booming of music coming from inside filled the silence.

“Didn’t you graduate high school yesterday?” Rafe asked, quirking his head to the side.

“Yeah... I-I did.” You replied, still surprised.

You weren’t valedictorian like your mother planned but, you were pretty damn close. Still, it wasn’t enough to satisfy Susan Peterkin so, you spent the entirety of graduation sulking.

You didn’t even get a chance to enjoy your High School graduation.

A sour taste formed in your mouth as your throat began to get tighter by the second.

Rafe noticed your sudden discomfort, “Well, you’re at a party. Why don’t you go inside and have fun? Celebrate the milestone.”

“You should celebrate too. I mean- finishing your first year of college.” You acknowledged, awkwardly trying to shift the conversation toward him.

“I took a gap year. Too many things to do and not enough time.” He shrugged.

You were so entranced by the way Rafe spoke. He wasn’t like you, who felt the need to give the deepest, most profound explanation for everything.

He was simple.

You liked simple.

Standing up, you extended your hand in his direction, “Come on,” you paused, grabbing him by the wrist, “We’re going inside.”

“No no no,” he protested, “I already told my friends I was leaving so,” Rafe resisted your grasp, staying firmly in his seat.

“I think we can handle Topper and Kelce.” You scoffed, giving him a playful look.

Rafe knit his eyebrows together, contemplating. It had already been an extremely long night. But, he was having a hard time pulling out the response from his chest.

"Shitttt," He drew out, "What the hell. It'd be nice to see you pull the stick out of your ass and relax."

Eyes lighting up and a smile tugging on your lips, you yanked on his wrist again. This time, he rose from the rocking chair, peering down at you, "Don't make me regret this, Peterkin."

"How could you possibly regret anything when you're with me?" You sent him a sly wink.

Twisting the front-door handle, you entered the Thorton household.

Your senses were instantly triggered. Your ears struggled to determine which was louder, the music or screaming of teenagers. Your eyes reacted to the fluorescent light projected on the ceiling.

The scent was absolutely putrid. Sweaty bodies and alcohol were not a good mixture, not under any circumstances.

"Ugh," Covering your nose with your right hand, you peered back at Rafe. He seemed completely fine.

This was normal for him.

Watching as he maneuvered around this situation with such ease inspired you.

Rafe was a complete mystery to you. Although with every interaction, he became less of a riddle, it was still a challenge trying to figure him out.

Abruptly, someone from behind you yelled, tearing you from your trance, "I said that you'd be back!"

Turning around, you saw Kelce and Topper making their way towards the two of you.

"Yeah, yeah," Rafe responded, playfully, drifting closer to his two friends.

A mere seconds later, Topper noticed you standing at a feeble 1 and a half feet shorter than Rafe.

"Holy shit," He gasped, "A-Are my eyes deceiving me, or is Y/N Peterkin at a party?"

This caught Kelce's attention and, he certainly couldn't resist making a sly comment, "How's your mom? Is she still 6 feet up the Pogues ass or....?"

Scoffing, you began to walk away but, something caught your shoulder.

"Listen, she's a bitch but, not as nearly as much as you think." Rafe defended.

You couldn't help but laugh, “Thanks.”

Yes, it was a shitty, backhanded compliment. But, it was coming from Rafe Cameron so, that's the best you're gonna get.

"Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it," Commented Kelce, turning his head to look around at the scenery.

“Rafe,” Topper paused, “Are you trying to get even more fucked up tonight?”

Glancing at Rafe, you noticed how tired he looked. Drooping eyes and hunched shoulders gave away how he was feeling.

“No, he has other priorities on his mind.” You chimed in.

“Ohhhhhhhh.” Kelce raised his eyebrows.

Wiggling two fingers between the two of you, “Are you guys....? You know?”

“Shut the fuck up, Kelce. You’re a goddamned idiot.” Rafe rolled his eyes, pushing his friend lightly.

“Relax. I’m not gonna swoop in on your girl. Just curious who you’re fucking this week.”

Glancing up at Rafe, he appeared extremely fed up with the current conversation.

“Come on, man,” Topper said, pulling Kelce by the shoulder, “Let’s leave these two alone. I’m sure they’ve got loads of shit to catch up on.”

The two walked out of the entryway, side by side, and floated right back into the epicenter of the party.

“Why do you do that?” You questioned, almost instantly.

Looking in your direction, he responded, “What are you talking about?”

Sighing, you began, “You willingly hang out with Dumb and Dumber,”

“You could be surrounded by people that are on the same intellectual level as you. Yet, you surround yourself with people like those 2 that are only interested in being so high that they can’t remember their name.”

Rafe shook his head, “It doesn’t matter.”

There he goes again. Being simple. Summing up everything he has to say in a mere 3 words.

"He deserves better than that." You thought but didn't say.

In your head, you could see Rafe walking away from the conversation and, you wanted him as close as possible (because you're not used to parties.... no other reason.... of course).

"This is stressing me out," You commented jokingly, running your hands through your hair.

If you weren't so hyperaware of your surroundings, you would've missed the way that Rafe was glancing at you.

He looked as if he was trying to decipher what was going on in your head.

“Come on.” He nodded his head in the direction of the living room (aka where 90% of the party-goers were).

You grinned slightly, “I was deprived of partying my entire 4 years of High School. I don’t think I should start now.”

You turned around and sat on the love seat in the Thornton entryway.

“You dragged me back in here so, the least you could do is sway your hips to some shitty music.”

“Maybe.” You smirked, teasing him.

“Alright, I’ll find Topper and Kelce. I’m sure they’ve got something interesting for me.” Rafe began to exit the room.

“Fine,” you rose from your seat immediately, catching his attention.

You shook your head in disapproval, “So manipulative.”

A smug look was plastered on Rafe’s face, “Yeah, well.... it worked.”

He shrugged and sent you a smirk.

「 ₊˚.༄ 」

You had never felt so free in your entire life.

It was surprising that such a wild atmosphere made you feel a sense of comfort and enjoyment, rather than fear and anxiety.

Maybe it was the fact that you clung to Rafe for the majority of the time.

He was such a social hotspot.

People of all ages and demographics were speaking to him. He kept the conversations brief and, it was clear that he wasn't very interested.

Nevertheless, he was dragged into a game of beer pong, and (with the help of Topper and Kelce) he agreed to play BUT, only if you did.

At first, you were hesitant, having no idea how to play but, there was something inside of you that hated the thought of saying no to Rafe.

You indulged him and decided to play, with the exception that you didn't drink, considering that you had to drive back home to the Cut.

It took a few tries for you to actually get the hang of things but, Rafe helped a lot.

He would often adjust your form, wrapping his arm around your waist and tugging you in another direction.

It made you nervous yet excited having him in such close proximity to you, whispering in your ear which direction to throw the ball.

Ultimately, the two of you ended up winning against Topper and Kelce (who were pissed that they lost to such an inexperienced player).

That was the beginning of the fun.

After that, you didn't feel the need to cling to Rafe as tight as you had been before.

You went off and had conversations with people that didn't go to your High School, which also meant they had no clue who your mother was.

You used to be extremely familiar with Figure 8 and you often found yourself missing it from time to time.

It was very nice to be able to surround yourself with people that weren't foaming at the mouth to run and tell your mother everything they saw.

It wasn't until you began to dance, swaying your hips to the beat that Rafe found you again.

"Y/N, I--I need a ride home." He began, speaking in a low but rushed tone.

"What?!" You yelled, not being able to hear him over the music.

You took a glance at him and, he looked horrible.

His eyes were extremely red and he reeked of alcohol and plenty of other illegal substances.

Not only that but, Rafe seemed extremely jittery. Almost as if something bad was going to happen if he didn't leave immediately.

Seeing the stress of the situation, you gripped Rafe by the arm and tugged him out of the hectic scene and into the nearest quiet room.

Finding a bathroom right before the kitchen, the two of you entered.

You sat him on the edge of the tub, crouching in front of him.

"Rafe," You paused, clutching the sides of his face, "Look at me. What's going on?"

Opening his eyes, he began to speak, "Please, just, please. Take me home." He buried his head into your shoulder.

You were stunned by his actions, having no idea what drug he took that made him act like that.

But, now was not the time to question Rafe, he needed your help and after all the progress the two of you made that evening, you weren't going to leave him behind.

"O-okay, okay. Yes, I'll take you home."

You stood up, continuing to hold his arm, afraid that he'd fall back into the tub.

"Rafe, can you stand? Can you walk?" You asked.

He nodded then rose, towering over you.

"Here," You directed him towards the sink, "Splash some cold water onto your face, okay?"

He did as you told him, gathering a scoop of water in his palms and splattered it onto his face.

After, he seemed slightly more coherent but, not nearly enough.

The two of you emerged from the bathroom. You were still clung to his arm, leading him in the direction of the exit.

Once, you left the inside of the house, you were bombarded with cars from all angles.

It then hit you that you had to park on the street.

As you led Rafe down the infinitely long driveway, you cursed in your head, upset at the universe for making you work against gravity in order to keep him from face-planting.

Finally, making it to your car, you reached in your pocket and unlocked it.

Opening the door to the passenger's side, you plopped Rafe in the seat and buckled him in.

You ran around the front of the car, trying to get back to Rafe as soon as possible.

"Rafe, do you have everything? Your phone, wallet, keys?"

"Mhm." He replied, setting his head on the back of the seat.

With that, you took one last glance at Rafe and put the car in drive.

「 ₊˚.༄ 」

Pulling into the driveway, you noticed that the Cameron household was quiet.

The only light coming from inside was the glare of the TV from Wheezie's room.

"Rafe, we're here." You said, shaking him. He had fallen asleep seconds after you started driving.

He didn't waste any time getting out of the car. Unbuckling his seatbelt and opening the door, he headed in the direction of the garage.

As he approached, it opened.

"I know they're rich but, damn, motion detected garage?" You commented, continuing to watch, making sure Rafe made it inside safely.

It wasn't until you started saw him stop that you noticed a figure standing in front of him.

It was Ward Cameron.

"Shit."

You knew Ward was going to give Rafe crap for staying out late, partying so, the least you could do was try and cover for him.

Emerging from your car, you walked towards the garage.

"Rafe, I need you to do it, okay? I don't want Sarah getting involved-" You caught the end of what Ward was saying before he stopped.

"Y/N!" He greeted, a smile on his face.

"Hey, Mr.Cameron." You waved awkwardly, sending a forced smile.

"Thank you so much for bringing this one home," He grabbed Rafe by the shoulder, pulling him into a side hug.

"No problem! I just needed his help with some things. The least I could do was take him home." You replied.

"Yeah, yeah," Ward nodded his head, looking back at the door.

"Listen, Y/N, thanks for putting in a good word with your mom. We really appreciate it."

"I'm sorry?" You knit your eyebrows in confusion.

"I got a call from the station today saying the charges against Rafe had been dropped. All of us are so thrilled that we can resume a normal life and move past this." He placed a hand on his chest.

You had no idea what he was talking about. Your mom wasn't home yet. There was no way she could've seen the drugs had been taken from her safe yet.

But, you had to play it cool, not wanting Ward to ask any questions "Sure, sure." you answered.

"Okay, welp," He paused, "Have a nice night, Y/N. Come by tomorrow and see us." Ward finished, hurridly.

With that, he turned around swiftly and went back inside his house, through the garage door.

That entire interaction was odd. You had never seen Ward act so tense.

Also, you couldn't help but wonder what was so urgent that Sarah couldn't do?

It had been less than 24 hours and, you're already wrapped up in things you couldn't begin to comprehend.

"I need to sleep."

Walking back to your car, you entered the driver's seat.

Putting the car in reverse, you exited the Cameron house and began your journey back to the Cut.

TAGLIST *strikethrough it won’t let me tag*: @oopsiedoopsie23 @a-bolanos @cocobutterqween @gabiatthedisco @athenastarkey @halsmultibitch @water13 @avaspringtime @niamhvivo @haterpenny @nerdypartytrashpsychic @casually-kook @mynameberose @malfoylaufeysonweasley

[reawritesthings]

Ratatouille | JJ Maybank

(GIF is made by me. Credit if used)

Summary: JJ Maybank is a clever little rat. Always stealing and never getting caught. Until, he finds himself in the presence of your own home and you finally catch him.

Note: It’s been a hot minute since I’ve released something so it might be a little iffy but, i really hope you enjoy it + feedback is appreciated

"Have you heard about the little rat who keeps stealing our food? Just the other day, my finest roast chicken was taken. I bet it's those dirty Pogues." Mrs Andrew's who resident three doors down complained to a few other figures, who slyly had there eye on your mother's newest trinket.

"You should take it as a compliment, Mrs Andrew's. It means your cooking is divine." You endeavour into her daily rant hoping she could see this in a different light.

Mrs Andrew vexed at your attempt to see the light in this particular theft, " That piece of chicken costs me 30 dollars. I don't pay for my food to be taken, young lady."

You threw your head back, squaring your shoulders with charismatic movement whilst hearing Mrs Andrew's bicker about a false accusation that you might be seeing a Pogue. As the daily neighbour meeting elongated into hours of constantly whining, you decided to seek refuge into a certain Cameron.

You constrain your body to accompany Rafe, your trusted advisor and best alcohol dealer. "Rafe. I need alcohol, pronto."

Rafe disapproved your request, seeing you suffer was a blessing and a curse to his sicken mind, "Mrs Andrew's giving you a hard time?" You nodded, freely motioning your head to rest into his chest.

"She's claiming I'm sleeping with a Pogue because I defended the 'rat' that steals her god damn chicken." Even the mention on the claim provoked you making you feel slightly uncomfortable that you had that potential to sleep with a Pogue.

"Don't you fancy the Maybank kid?" Rafe's eyebrow furrowed knowing too much about your personal life.

"I don't fancy him. I just see him delivering my groceries." Rafe prompted attacked your false claim by falling your emotions further.

"So staring at him for three minutes straight and, finding it hard to say 'thank you' really gives the ' I don't fancy him' vibe."

You awarded Rafe with the finger, gravitating away from his presence before you do something you'll regret.

    ✿✿✿✿

"JJ, A chicken? Really?" Kiara was slightly miffed by the actions that her best friend accomplishes the night before.  JJ rose from his worn-out deck chair that somehow stayed afloat giving the circumstances of the holes present.

"What are you on about, Kie?"

Kiara watched JJ fumble his way towards her, his walk was mistaken for zigzags which only met she had to handle a drunk JJ. "You stole Mrs Andrew's chicken and many more things."

JJ remotely failed to make a face to the name, shrugging his shoulder he twirled away from Kiara, "Mrs Andrew shouldn't be so worked up about a fucking chicken. If I did take the chicken, shouldn't she take it as a compliment?"

"You didn't have to steal it, JJ. You could have just asked me and I would have gotten you groceries." Kiara abbreviated JJ's response, hoping the statement she announced stayed in JJ's mind the next time he decides to steal.

Stealing for JJ was like breathing. He didn't need to, of course - but,  he needed to survive. It was like a curse his father placed when he turned to alcohol for pleasure. His friend tried to make him stop, but he couldn't break the curse. He always saw stealing as the only sensible way to survive in the Cut. In this Pogue life, you worked two jobs and were lucky enough to earn a tip. JJ wasn't going to rely on just an hourly income for himself and his drunken father, he needs cash, immediately.

It started with small items, food to help him function for the day. But, as he successful outsmarted Heyward, he thought bigger and placed his icky nose on the other side of the island known as 'Figure 8.' Figure 8 was JJ's dream, a dream that one day he would go full Kook and have a golden statue of himself.

"Noted." JJ bluntly responded but Kie wasn't remotely sure if JJ even took anything she told into account.

JJ watched the sea, lost in the rhythmic percussion of the harsh waves crashing onto the sand. His eyes watched the sunset, spreading into its last ounce of orange rays before twilight awakes. His lips bear the semblance of a smile, just enough to show that he knew what house he wanted to enter, whatever the consequences he was adamant to have another decent meal. JJ landed in Figure 8, a town he knew well from his kleptomaniac days. Since he got the heads up that Mrs Andrews was on the hunt, he vowed to take the beachfront.

His stomach commences into a harsh growl, the pain was noticeable and so was a house. It was three downs up from Mrs Andrews, a typical white framed fence with artificial flowers and wide backyard. JJ's wandering eye teleported him towards the gate, a gate he began to familiarise when his hand touched the newly painted wood.

"Mrs Y/L/N House..." JJ whispered to himself. When JJ's movement came towards the garden he noticed the door left ajar, a scent rushed out of the house and suffocated JJ's nostrils making his belly flip with joy. He knew he couldn't get into trouble due to the door being already open which was odd for Figure 8. JJ approached the door and scanned the ghost-like kitchen to see if anyone was awake.

No one was seen.

JJ pushed the door and it swung open with ease, a blast of air-conditioned of a cold streamed past him, with light jazz escaping through the night. He tiptoed inside, squinting his eyes shut as he didn't want to draw attention to himself. He shamelessly headed from the double magnetized fridge covered with pictures of you and magnets from different states.

"Why do Kook's have beautiful children?" JJ murmured, haltingly placing his hand over the handle letting the momentum of the fridge open revealing a whole stack of food.

"Tempting. What do you fancy tonight, JJ?" He asked himself, fiddling around with the products making sure everything was neatly stacked the way he found it. JJ took out a plate of half-eaten cheesecake, along with a bottle of coke with some fruit on the side.

"I found dessert, but I need dinner. C'mon pretty girl, what did mama make ya?" JJ eyes darted around the island, checking if there were pots present or even a plate visible to him.

"Bingo." JJ teethed with joy as he noticed a pan neatly resting on the stove. "Come to JJ."

As JJ swayed his arching body towards the stove, he smelt the rich scent evaporate around him causing him to gag a little, "This has to do..."

JJ tasted the dish, it looked like someone effortlessly threw random vegetables onto the pan and called it a day. "This is fucking disgusting."

"Tell me about it." You chuckled, repelling the smell of your mother's failed attempt of Ratatouille, and amazed that a boy with the same age demolished the meal in three gulps. "Of all things you could eat, you choose that?"

JJ froze insight, ceiling his eyes shut with a combination of a curse word leaving his lips, "Please don't call the cops."

"I wasn't planning too, Maybank." He was stunned by your response and the mention of his surname.

"How do you know me?" JJ dumbly interrogated the girl, trying to form a vision but the darkness around them forbade him.

You chuckled, as JJ tried to figure out a time where he would have met you."You deliver my groceries every Sunday. You are friends with Pope Heyward, I usually give him a can of beer whenever he is alone."

"Beer girl? No fucking way."

You bowed letting out a quiet laugh. "I'm guessing you are the person who stole Mrs Andrew chicken? and, If you really are that hungry I can make you mac n cheese?"

JJ hurled when the name entered the room, "The ungrateful bitch. She should be glad I stole her chicken. She's hella of a good cook, better than your ma's."

"Anything is better than my mother's cooking. I sometimes ride down to the Wreck for a decent meal. Mr Cerrera's food is the best." You praised the Cerrera's talent whilst you attempted to make Mac n Cheese for the hungry boy.

JJ sent a smirk to his fond smile, "I'm best friends with their daughter. Even though, I'm not their cup of tea... I still get scraps that ungrateful Touron's don't finish."

You envied the Pogue life, even more now as JJ began to blabber on about his adventures of surfing during the hurricane's, going to Mrs Crain's and Rixon's Cove. You liked being a Kook, you had everything you wanted and more but, something was missing. You had friends, Rafe mainly when he wasn't trying to get into your pants and his sister, Sarah but, It wasn't nearly as great as JJ's friends.

"You okay there?" JJ snapped your train of thoughts, placing his hand over yours.

You gave JJ a cramped smile as he took charge of stirring, "Yeah. I was daydreaming."

JJ didn't say a word, knowing it wasn't just a daydream thought. "Cute. How about you come and hang out with us? As for us, I mean the Pogues? But, If you want to hang out just us two..." You cut JJ with a light kiss to his cheek causing a heat of pink to arouse him.

"Taking that as a yes."

You laughed, scooting him away from the stove. "You are my guest. Sit down and I'll give you your food."

JJ did as he was told, hearing your bossy attitude take charge aroused him. "Yes, chef."

You delivered JJ his meal, watching him devour as if it was his last. The small moans escaping from his lips gave you confidence that you weren't a bad cook. "JJ, slow down. It's not going to run away."

"I think you have scored the best cook of Mac n Cheese. I'm definitely coming here, again."

You were meaning to question the boy on how he cleverly entered your house, "How did you even get inside? The alarm was on."

"Simple. the back door was open slightly. Someone must of-" JJ stopped when a gasp escaped your lips.

"Fuck. I forgot to close it." JJ chuckled at the clumsiness of your mind. He managed to figure you out in 10 minutes, which he didn't mind doing.

"It's okay. Maybe you forgot for a reason?" JJ tried to flirt his way into the situation, but you were more infuriated with yourself.

"You saying we were destined to meet, Maybank? I thought a Pogue and Kook don't get along or date." You translated the rules of the two tribes made by Rafe and, JJ.

"Fuck the rules. I tend to break them." JJ shrugged looking around as he proved his point.

"I see. Well, my mother is making spaghetti bolognese tomorrow? I'll leave you a plate outside." You winked, gathering his empty plate.

"And if it all fails, I'll treat you to a nice dinner at the Wreck. My treat..." JJ rambled not wanting to leave your house but, he knew he had too.

"You mean, free food at the Wreck?"

JJ pouted at the response. He was hoping for a simple nod.

"It's a date, Maybank."

masterlist | taglist

[angellissy]

the beat of desire

Rafe Cameron x Reader

A/N: oh she is back!!! better than ever with a new nice imagine for my fav people, hope you all enjoy!!! 

Warnings: Mention of drugs, breakup, a guy not taking a no for an answer.

Soft beats left the speakers situated above you, your body moved to the sound of them and it was almost like no one else existed. There was only you, the neon lights illuminated your features, enhancing them for everyone to see. And trust me when I say that everyone was watching you. The girl kissing her boyfriend at the bar? Her dark eyes were roaming over your body as she softly moaned into his mouth, making him continue to give her sloppy kisses. The group of college boys dancing a few meters away from you? Their eyes were trying to catch yours as they placed a bet on who would get to take you home. 

But who were you watching with those eyes of yours? The only person in the club that was not looking at you of course. He was wearing a navy blue shirt, it was slightly unbuttoned which showed a few centimeters of his tanned chest. A few weeks in Ibiza had left him looking more gorgeous than ever, his slicked-back hair was even lighter than you remembered. You thanked the Spanish sun for that. You watched as he threw his head back in laughter because of something his friend had said, you raised your eyebrows at that. Surely Topper Thornton had not managed to say something so funny that he was laughing that hard. From the times you had spent in Topper’s company, a smile had rarely escaped you. But boys were different, especially rich boys living off their parent’s money. 

Unfortunately, you had fallen for the richest and most self-absorbed of them all. That’s right, Rafe Cameron had somehow managed to steal away your heart, and now when you were watching him, you knew that you would never get it back. You tore your eyes from him for just a few seconds when you felt a hand brush past your back, you whipped around, just to find another one of those frat boys that had been eyeing you the whole night. 

“What’s up baby, care for a dance?” He ran a hand through his dark hair and bit his lower lip as he waited for your response. 

You had a few options:

The first one was to politely tell him that there was no way in hell that his hands were coming anywhere near your very beautiful body.

The second one was to say yes and let his hands travel all over your body, with the sheer possibility of making Rafe jealous, that was if he watched you. 

You did not really bother with the other options, number two was the winner. You did not care how pathetic you were beginning to become, but you needed him to notice you.

So you gave the frat boy in front of you a small smile and wrapped your arms around his neck. He lowered his lips closer to your ear as he continued to grind his body onto yours, making you feel everything. You tried to overlook that fact, you tried to focus on making this little performance of yours as believable as it could be. Your hands were running over his chest, and you pressed your body closer to his. The two of you were moving to the beats of the music, the songs were the only thing getting you through this. It wasn’t too bad, had it been another day, maybe you would have thrown your head back, baring your neck so that he could run his lips over the soft skin. Had it been another day you might have taken his hand and dragged him towards the closest bathroom, in order to find temporary relief in another persons body. 

But it wasn’t another day, it was Friday the twenty-eight of august, and all you wished for was another man’s hands to roam over your body. You closed your eyes as if that would help in blocking out all the memories that had resurfaced the second you had heard that he was in back in town. 

“Baby relax, your body is getting all stiff.” And suddenly you were brought back to reality, you let your hands fall to your sides as you backed out from his embrace. His smirk faltered and he looked as if was to say something, but you just gave him an apologetic smile as you backed into the crowds and lost yourself there. Your heartbeat increased the closer you got to him, some part of you were begging you to turn around and to not get yourself involved with him again. But then there was this bigger part of you, that loved him so much that it physically hurt. And it was that part of you that urged you to tap his shoulder and draw his attention from his friends.

“Can we talk?” He didn’t even look surprised to see you standing there, he did not even look like he cared. And you knew that he probably didn’t either, the only thing he had ever seemed to care about was the rush he got from those drugs that probably were laying in his back pocket. 

His rosy lips tugged into a smirk, and he bowed slightly “Lead the way princess.” His words almost made you stumble, but you convinced yourself that it was because of the several shots you had downed before. You just nodded at him and walked towards the velvet couches in the back of the club, you knew they were not reserved for you, but one look at Rafe and the bouncer just let the two of you walk past. He brushed past you and threw himself down on one of the dark couches, he separated his legs and rested his hands on either one of them. You followed his example and sat down on the couch beside his, it was close but not close enough for you to accidently do something you would regret.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you were back?” You watched him carefully, trying to decipher what he was feeling. But apart from his cocky smirk, he showed no other emotions. 

“You obviously figured it out without me.” A small sigh left your lips at his words. Your fingers trailed over the cushions as you tried to figure out what to say next. This had been your plan ever since Sarah told you her brother was back, she had been complaining about how he already was wreaking havoc but you had stopped listening after her first words. So you had put on the dress that showed the most skin, you had enhanced your face so that every feature was glowing a little extra. You had stepped into the role of the party girl you had left behind a long time ago, she had gotten his attention the first time and so you had hoped that she would do the trick the second time. Maybe that particular part of your plan hadn’t worked, but it didn’t matter since he was now sitting close enough for you to reach out and touch him. “You care enough to tell me why you left without a word four weeks ago?” You uttered the only thing that had been haunting you for the majority of the summer. Something flashed through his eyes, surprise maybe? But it was gone before you could figure out what it was. “I didn’t think it mattered.” The calm you had been feeling towards facing him was slowly fading away, he really did not care did he? 

“I had to find out where you were thanks to Topper’s Instagram you fucking ass.” You said, venom lacing every word. He shrugged his shoulders “Yeah and I am sorry about that princess, but I honestly did not think you would care this much.”

“I wouldn’t care? Rafe, you told me you loved me, you said that you never wanted anyone that wasn’t me. And you think I wouldn’t care?” Before he could say anything, you continued and there was sheer desperation in your voice as you said “I loved you, and I would have done anything for you. I still would, which fucking sucks because you don’t even care about me.” There was a bump starting to form in your throat, but you would not cry, you would not let him have that satisfaction. But the smug look on his face was gone and he was watching you so intensely that you almost forgot how to breathe.

“That’s what you think? That I didn’t fucking care about you? I left because I didn’t know how to fucking stay away from you.” You couldn’t help the laugh that escaped from your mouth “Why would you have to stay away from me?” Subconsciously you leaned closer towards him, you breathed in the smell of smoke and cologne as you waited for his words. But they never came, instead, he placed his hands on your cheeks, drawing you close enough for your foreheads to touch. You swallowed hard, and tried to calm your heartbeat “I don’t want any trouble Rafe.” You breathed out, and he let out a low chuckle at that. His lips came close enough to touch, but instead of doing that he turned your face to the side and kissed the soft skin on your neck. 

“You sure about that? The way you were dancing told me otherwise” Your breath hitched and you pulled away slightly in order to look at him properly. “You noticed that?” His eyes twinkled and he shook his head at you. “Princess, how could I not notice you? You are the only thing I can fucking see.” 

That was the only thing you needed to hear before pressing your lips against his, and oh how you had missed that spark of electricity that went through your body as a reaction to his touch. His hands travelled further down your body and drew you closer, this time around, you were not mad at all about being so tightly pressed towards someone. If you could you wold have intertwined your entire being with him. 

“Maybe we should take this somewhere else?” He whispered against your lips, sending shivers all down your spine. You didn’t even say anything before grabbing his hand and starting to drag him through the crowds. You couldn’t remember that there had been this many people on the dance floor before, but at the same time you hadn’t been overwhelmed by the feeling of lust the last time. You were almost at the enctrence when a strong hand gripped you by the arm and pulled you away from Rafe. You stumbled as the hand let go, it was defiently going to leave a bruise.

“You and me were not done sweetheart.” You looked into the dark eyes of that frat boy you had left behind on the dance floor. “Yes actually, I think we were.” You muttered as you tried walking away from him, but once again his hand was on your arm, pulling you closer to him. The feeling of panic was starting to arise and you tried to wriggle yourself out of his grip, but apprently those msuscles of his hadn’t been only for show. 

“I said we were not done.” His lips were coming closer to yours but before you could even think of an escape plan, a sudden force ripped him away from you and sent him stumbling back. You backed away as you saw Rafe standing behind him, rage latched onto his face.

“Get the fuck away from her.” Rafe said, he towered over the other boy and you couldn’t help the butterflies that erupted in your stomach. “Who the fuck are you?” The frat boy exlaimed, clearly not getting the memo to stay the fuck down.

“I am the person who will ruin your life if you ever go near her again.” With his fathers influence and money, he most defiently could. “Dude whatever, you can have the fucking whore.” 

Rafe’s fist collided with his face before you could even comprehend the things he had said, and Rafe punched him several more times before taking the boy by his collar and pulling him closer. “I could fucking kill you.” He paused, and his eyes shifted towards you “But I have better things to do.” He let go off the collar and the boy landed on the floor with a thud. Rafe walked closer to you and when he finally reached you, he used his non bloody hand to stroke your face. “Let’s go home princess.”

And so he put his arm around you and the two of you walked home, not looking back once.

tagging some friends if you all wanna read <3 @drewstarkey​ @snkkat​ @downbytheouterbanks​ @outrbanks​ @outerbankslut​ @outrebanx​ @dreamyvcid​ @ad-infinitums​ @shawnssongs​ @socialwriter​ @softstarkey​

[averagejoesolomon]

This one is just a straight-up good time, and I hope you love it as much as I do. Full Circle can be read from the beginning on Ao3. Enjoy!

Chapter Eight

“It’s like we didn’t even watch the same movie.”

The sweet, sugar scent of cherry wafts from backseat to front as Abby throws herself forward, hands wild with every word. “Boba Fett is the galaxy’s biggest badass,” she says, with the pop of her sucker. “And you can’t convince me otherwise.”

She lands perfectly in his rearview mirror and his attention flickers once, twice, three times from the road ahead. A golden sunrise stretches in through the windshield and across the dash, washing over her with a renewed warmth. The light turns her eyes from green to brown, more hollow now than usual, and Matt can’t help himself. He takes the time to steal a selfish, lingering look. He stares. And he swoons. And he reminds himself why she caught his eye to begin with.

Maybe his focus gets lost for a little too long, but he ain’t worried. They’ve traded in Virginia mountains for midwest highways, and this ain’t his first rodeo. He’s driving alongside freshly sprouted cornfields and crooked pole barns. “You can’t honestly say that Boba Fett tops Vader.”

“Uh, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” The road twists, drawing him back in, but he’s got all ears on her. He always does. “Did you hear the way he talks to Vader at Cloud City? Who else could talk to Vader like that and not get Force choked out of their mind?”

Matt scoffs. “Obi-Wan Kenobi, for one—”

“Vader killed Obi-Wan!”

“Which is exactly my point!” His voice is too loud for their little, beaten-up sedan, but it’s impossible to reign himself in with her. She draws out every last bit of his attention, and he wants to give it to her. “If Obi-Wan couldn’t kill Vader, then no one can.”

“Except, maybe—I don’t know—a bounty hunter with a missile launcher?”

“He would just use The Force on the missiles.”

“Maybe The Force doesn’t work on missiles.”

“The Force? Doesn’t work on missiles?” He’s not sure how his voice got this high. “The Force works on everything. Now I know you’re out of your mind.”

“No, you are.” When she speaks, she lands a solid shove to his shoulder, and he can’t help but flinch. The pain in his arm translates into a swerve of the steering wheel, at the exact same time Abby lets out a quick, “Sorry, sorry, sorry!”

They drift over the dashed yellow line, but Matt finds his lane soon enough. There’s no one driving these back roads anyhow. At worst, they’re likely to run across a wayward bunny and not much more. The throb beneath his bandage subsides just as quickly as it came, and they’re back to sunsets and farm fences before Abby can say, “I forgot.”

Rachel’s voice draws his eyes to the rearview once more, to the far side of the bench at his back. Her attention is cast outside of the window, watching for horses, or wildflowers, or whatever else Rachel Cameron might spend her time looking for. “We just patched him up twenty minutes ago. How can you have possibly forgotten?”

Matt’s focus doesn’t linger on Rachel in the same way it does with Abby. When Matt looks at Abby, it’s because he wants to. When he looks at Rachel, it’s because he has to. She seems to know everything, right before the rest of the world figures it out. He has to see her. He has to read her. He has to know what that contemplative expression on her face means. With Rachel, he finds himself staring entirely by accident, because sometimes her very presence pulls him into answers for questions he didn’t even know he was asking.

“Well maybe you patched him up too good,” says Abby, sliding back into her seat with a defensive huff. “You can hardly even tell he was shot.”

“Too well,” Rachel corrects into the glass.

“Don’t let her bring you down, Matt,” says Abby. “I think it was totally sick.”

This fills up a spot in him that the sunshine seems to have missed. “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah,” says Abby. “Every time a person gets shot, they gain, like, a hundred cool points.”

This, at long last, sparks a great big roll of Rachel’s eyes as she peels them away from the window. “Yeah, it’s real cool,” she says, although she’s carrying that edge to her tone. “Right up until—”

“Until it’s the last bullet they ever take.”

By most definitions, Joe is the strong, silent type. When he does speak, the people around him tend to listen, because he doesn’t waste words on things that ain’t worth saying. His mood strikes everyone first, somber and serious, until his meaning finally sinks in. A quiet presses up against the inside of the car, trying desperately to get out, but instead it soaks deep into the four of them.

Rachel doesn’t wait to suffocate. “Yeah.” She turns back toward the window. “What he said.”

There’s a silent something, hanging over each of their heads, and it comes from years of experience that Matt doesn’t have. Surrounded by the smartest covert minds of his generation, he comes to realize the same singular thought that runs through each of them.

Matt was shot. Matt was shot, and it could have been far worse.

But they’re all forgetting one crucial fact—it wasn’t worse. He walked away mostly unharmed, with little more than a new scar to add to his ever growing collection. Matt grew up seeing an old S-mine scar on his father’s calf. His grandfather tells stories about a splotchy mark from a bullet that didn’t quite make it through his hip. This is how the Morgan family men have served for generations, and each of them lived to tell the tale.

What Matt saw today ain’t nothing compared to the battles fought before him, and it won’t do any of them much good to dwell on how it could have compared. “The game was good,” he tries instead, spat through held breath. He’s met with a pause, and plows straight through it. “‘Course, it ain’t a Royals game, but it scratches the itch well enough.”

He’s cast a line into the water, waiting with a baited hook. At first, it looks like slim pickings, but then Joe takes a bite. “Of course it wasn’t a Royals game,” he says. “You can tell on account of how they were actually hitting the ball.”

Matt tsks at him through a cautious grin. “Bold words coming from a man whose boys are fixing for a losing season.”

“Come talk to me when your boys play in the East,” says Joe. “We’ll see how your little Kansas City team does up against Detroit and Boston.”

“Kansas City?” Rachel snides. Her sudden interest is a surprise, given her apparent indifference toward America’s favorite pastime, but curiosity seems to get the better of her. “You root for a team that’s a state and a half away from your hometown?”

“Nebraska doesn’t have a Baseball team.” Joe volunteers the information with just a little too much glee in his voice, but Matt lets it slide. This is the sweetest tone he’s taken with Rachel all day. “Not Major League, anyway.”

“Well,” says Rachel, briefly matching Joe’s delight. “That’ll just break your hodunk little heart, won’t it, Nebraska?”

“This country doesn’t let me down often,” Matt admits, using his free hand to adjust the bill of his KC cap. “But when it does, it’s in the absence of a Nebraskan MLB team—y’all got a team back home?”

Abby scoffs. “Rachel wouldn’t know a baseball from a bag of rocks.”

In their years together, Matt has learned that sisters have a special sort of glare that only works on one another. Anyone else would surely burst into flames beneath it. “My baseball knowledge is limited to home runs and some guy named Cal Ripken Jr.” she says, letting her look linger. “The space in my head is already taken up by more useful information, like the names of every Argentinian ambassador for the past three decades. Or how to kill a man with his own shoelaces.”

“Some guy,” Joe groans, and whatever camaraderie was shared between the two of them now evaporates. He looks over to Matt and echoes it, dismay in every syllable. “Some guy named Cal Ripken Jr.”

And while Joe’s distress is well-founded, there’s a clear conversational priority that they seem to have skipped over entirely. “Hold on.” He holds up a hand to the backseat, stopping them before they can go any further. “You know how to kill a man with his own shoelaces?”

“Three different ways,” she confirms, simple. “And only two of them require both laces. I’ll have to show you sometime.”

This strikes up a mental image that Matt ain’t too keen on, given the love he has for his own neck. “I, uh, think I’ll leave the lace wrangling to you,” he sputters, “if it’s all the same.”

“Suit yourself,” she says, and Matt catches the edge of a pointing finger. Her voice is cool and collected when she asks, “Why is your friend banging his head into the dashboard?”

Sure enough, when Matt steals a glance to his passenger seat, he spots Joe with his forehead up against the dash, gently pounding in rhythm with his own muttering. “Oh,” says Matt. “Yeah, that’ll be about the Cal Ripken Jr. thing.”

“So I take it he’s good?”

“Oh, Rachel,” groans Abby.

“How,” says Joe, popping back up, “are we sharing a car with you?”

Matt’s response ain’t quite so impassioned, acting as a balance to Joe’s outrage. Though her question shoots stakes into Matt's heart, he takes the time to level himself, then grants her a restrained nod. “Uh, yes,” he says. “I’d hold onto his rookie card if I stumbled across it, yeah.”

“Thank you, Matthew,” she says, a point in her words, “for answering my question politely, and without a hint of superiority.”

“If you don’t want superiority,” Joe suggests, “then don’t ask questions with obvious answers.”

Matt lands a hit to Joe’s shoulder, but he isn’t quite able to tell him to lay off before Rachel cuts in with her own defense. “Well then how about we go with something a little less obvious, then,” she says, perfectly innocent. “Because I’ve got plenty of questions about where you disappeared to during the seventh inning today, and how you ended up off comms.”

In an instant, the car shifts from a group of twenty-somethings to a group of highly trained operatives.

Joe doesn’t shuffle. He doesn’t squirm. There’s accusation in the air, although none of them will say it outright. “I already told you—”

“Remind me,” says Rachel, not missing a beat. Sometimes Matt makes the mistake of thinking that Rachel is good at everything. It’s true, to some extent, but it masks her strengths, mixing them in with the rest of her talent. Sometimes he forgets that this is the part she’s best at. “Because Matt got shot looking for you down there—”

“And I saved him before she could bury the bullet anywhere important,” he snaps, and Matt’s heart catches on the memory, as though anticipating the missed shot to finally land. “We both saw suspicious activity, and we both went to investigate. That was our job. I couldn’t have known my comms would go out down there. If I did, I wouldn’t have risked it.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Interesting, because—”

Rachel’s voice is trampled over by a squeal. “Oh my god, everyone shut up.” Abby lunges over the glove compartment, reach, reach, reaching for the knob on the radio. She turns it with abandon, and an operatic harmony begins to blare from all four corners of the car. “I love this song.”

Of course she loves this song. Everyone loves this song. The tension in the car takes an easy turn as Freddie Mercury’s voice leads Bohemian Rhapsody, melting between a grand piano and a simple bass. Abby is the first to give in to the lyrics, reciting every word as though they’re scribed into her soul. Rachel is the next to go, absently humming along with the background melody, and even Joe slides into a careful tap of the foot.

By the time the piano picks up, they’ve all but forgotten what arguments they left behind. The moment acts as unequivocal proof that Queen rocks hard enough to smooth even the roughest edges between strangers. When it comes time, they’re all bobbing their heads to the shred of the guitar—Abby wild, Rachel demure, and Joe as though the world has made him honestly, endlessly angry.

The road passes them by, music blaring and spirits lifted, as Matt glances at Joe one more time. The sun falls over him, now, catching the shadow along his jaw. He looks positively out of place among the fields, all dark leather against the golden hay. Stars will start to shine soon enough, and Joe will blend seamlessly into the night, just as he always does.

But in the meantime, a hesitation buds at the back of Matt’s mind. It ain’t much, but it could be the beginning of something mighty, and important, and mighty important. Because in between the car rental, and the plane tickets, and getting out of Chicago, they haven’t yet debriefed. They haven’t yet written their reports.

And Matt hasn’t yet mentioned to Joe that their mark was a woman.

[themowrites]

One-Shot: Everything Works Out In The End.

+ I would like to thank the anon for giving me the opportunity of bringing his/her PROMPT to life; I hope I executed it properly. Thank you again and readers enjoy! Constructive and Positive feedback is always welcomed. -Mo

“You got me treading on the water. Because I've never learned to swim. And now I know that it's all over. I better learn to start again.” –Kodaline (Everything Works Out In The End).

Mercedes looked over at Samuel as he slept peacefully beside her naked frame, she watched slowly as his chest rose and fell and she shifted gently. Turning her body to face his, trying her best not to disturb him during his peaceful slumber. She’d be leaving for LA in a day and he had managed to convince her to do the unthinkable. She pulled the covers up, a cold night’s chill rushing over her as she laid their bear with him and she managed to pull her herself out of her head long enough to lay her head there. Hazelnut skin pressed against his perfect chiseled chest as she inhaled his scent deeply, what if she never got to relish in this exact moment again. The sex was something, but with or without it, she’d still long for the man as she departed across what felt like the highest mountains and lowest of seas. But she had to follow her dreams, right? She asked herself would it be worth it, as she drew tiny hearts across his skin sadly.

“What are you doing?” Samuel’s gruff voice spoke, a smirk sporting his thick pink lips as he opened his eyes looking down at Mercedes. Her hair was a mess of curls that had fallen and sweated out, however, in this lighting as the moon danced across her skin, she’d never looked so beautiful to him. He grabbed her hand, stopping her motion and he pecked the back of it tenderly before he said “I thought you were asleep…”

His eyes rolled back shut tiredly, as his other hand stroked her head of hair idly. Mercedes head leaned upwards as she looked to him. “Writing I love you across your skin” she answered honestly, not matter how it may how sound leaving her lips. At his next remark she shifted, looking at the window where the moon glowed. “I can’t sleep” she breathed to him; she should’ve been able to after all. He had, had her locked away in his room all evening; losing her virginity had been a full-time job. Or a lesson, depends on who you asked out of the two. He’d done all the work and yet she was still able to please him as he’d done her. That was once she got over the initial shock and uncomfortable adjustment to a size, she didn’t quite picture this entire time. She licked her plump lips at that and looked back at him.

Samuel smirked; his forehead managed to crease between his brows as he asked himself why she was doing that subconsciously. “You should get some rest” he reasoned as he shifted wrapping her up in his long arms. “You have so much to do…” he reminded her, his hand resting on the small of her back, drawing circles there. His eyes never opened though he was watching her no doubt, his chest was pressed against her ample bosom and he wouldn’t deny how incredible that felt. He finally opened his eyes again and looked to her “what’s on your mind?” he asked her knowingly, the words left him just as he left a kiss on her lips. Drawing back to look into her almond orbs, “you can tell me anything” he said softly, green eyes piercing hers.

As he shifted his long body, pulling her closer to him, his arms pressed fluff against muscle mass. She closed her eyes for a moment as he reminded her yet again about her new phase in life.  Heartbreakingly she opened her eyes to stare into his, this time they were glossy, and she said “I don’t want to leave you” her chine quivered only a little as she closed her eyes again. Hugging him back tightly she fell quiet.

As she confessed her true feelings, he nodded his head at her, he hadn’t thought of her move as a negative thing. He wouldn’t forgive himself if he selfishly let her stay, only to waste a dream as big as hers away. He needed her to go to LA, not just for herself, but for him. He wouldn’t be any prouder unless he had the opportunity to fly the plane himself. “You know I love you” he said against her skin as he pecked her forehead “and I’ll do anything for you” he added pecking her forehead again. “And that means sacrifice” he told her sternly. “It’s going to hurt like hell being apart, but you have to do this, it’s your destiny” he reasoned. He kissed her forehead again, lips lingering there for a while as his eyes closed “we will get through this” he said confidently. “It’ll work out, you’ll see” he sighed heavily as he opened his eyes again to look at her.

Mercedes nodded her head against him sadly, she bit down on her bottom lip as her warm tears spilled anyway. As he went on, just making the idea of being away from him harder she sniffled. She continued to nod her head at him, maybe if she kept repeating his words her heart would eventually catch up with her head and she’d convince herself that it would be fine as well. “Okay” she said in a shaky voice in response to him. Words had left her, she knew it would hurt, because it was killing the hell out of her already. She nodded her head again for good measure as she sucked her tears up, wiping them away slowly.

Samuel’s thumb swiped against her skin gently, he’d never like to see her in this light. What man wanted to watch the woman he loved cry? As she finally replied he nodded his head saying “okay” back to her sweetly as his lips met hers in a feverish kiss. His lips parted only ever so slightly so that their tongues could meet with each other again. They’d been apart for too long and the blonde had realized that now. He needed to remind her body and soul, just what they had and why no amount of distance in the World could separate them truly. They were soulmates, destined for a life full of happiness and lifelong memories. He was hers, as long as she were his. And only God could take that away. His hard body shifted against the bed as he positioned himself above her now, moaning deeply into their kiss ever more as her delicate hand slid its way up to his face to cup it lovingly. Oh, how he adored the way, her hand felt resting over his heart, it would be death they’d part.

“Thank you so much for picking me up at the last minute” Mercedes said to Mike as she closed the door to the backseat of his sedan. She looked down at her little boy Cameron safely fastened in his car seat, she kissed his head of hair and looked towards her old friend again. “Something came up and my mother totally forgot about us here at the airport” she finished as she placed her seatbelt on herself.

“It was no problem at all, I didn’t know if you were actually going to come into town or not. Glad you did decide to” he smiled sweetly. “I got to see little Cameron again so that’s a plus” he chuckled as he drove down the road. “So where do I need to go first?” he asked her curiously. “You know… everyone is uh… meeting up” he paused looking at his watch for a minute “at the diner at around 5 pm today” he told her looking back at her and the curly haired little boy in his backseat. He didn’t know how things were doing to go, he was in the middle of all of this and truthfully it was hard to lie to his dearest friend. Though he guessed it wasn’t a lie if the topic wasn’t actually spoken about publicly. However, he still felt terribly bad for Samuel’s sake.

“I decided at the last minute. Cameron is so young you know” she told her friend. “I haven’t really traveled with him like this before, mother always came to us” she said looking back down at the tired child once more. “But it’ll be fun to catch up and see everyone, it’s been what? Almost two years?” she sighed. “My mother’s house, I’ll be staying there. I opted out of a hotel” she acknowledged. “I just” she sighed heavily to the man shaking her head, “I uh, I don’t know Mike. I have so much guilt weighing on me it’s hard to think or breathe most days…” she actually confessed to him for a change.

Mike continued to carry them down the road in the vehicle and he licked his lips slowly listening to her. He got it, lapsed judgement and scare caused her to lie to the man, break off their relationship, and hide his only child from him for the last how many months? He could understand her desire to protect everyone in the situation at all cost, but he also understood the negative impact it had on her life no matter what she was trying to accomplish in all of this. He didn’t really see how it would be possible for someone to attempt to hide a child, but he intended on honoring wishes to his fullest ability. “Listen” the man spoke confidently “you are a lot of things, a big character” he chuckled lightening the mood. “However, everyone knows your heart ‘Cedes” he breathed “if it’s becoming too much lessen the burden, release it to the wind” he said poetically. “Tell him, Samuel knows your heart better than we all do. He would have to understand exactly what you were trying to achieve; don’t you think?” he asked her though he didn’t really believe that statement himself, he’d be livid if the love or his life or past love had done this very thing to him.

Mercedes looked up at her friend, watching the back of his head as he spoke. At one point of time, she looked away and out of the window as she offered Cameron her hand to play with as he sat there. She nodded her head despite the man being incapable of seeing her, she didn’t know. All of this happened to be overwhelming and confusing at times. “You are right” she finally offered to him after a while of going over the thoughts and things he just said in her own head. “Thanks again Mike.”

Mike walked into the diner that they were all supposed to meet up at mutually, 5 pm on the dot. He asked the hostess for the party’s location and happily traveled towards the table. He saw Samuel, Artie, Blaine, Kurt, and Jake at the table chatting among themselves. They were early to the reunion or perhaps on time, which was unexpected in his opinion, but he greeted them all casually and grabbed himself a seat. “How is it going?” he asked them all mutually. “I expected to be one of the first ones” he said with a smirk as he made himself comfortable sitting on Samuel’s right.

Jake looked at Mike offering the man a simple head nod, “we all kind of hitched rides with each other” he chuckled lightly.

“We didn’t expect to be on time either ole pal” Samuel said with a goofy grin.

“Well, we don’t get to do this often, so, you know” Artie said with a shrug “it’s worth being on time for” he said with a smile. “The whole gang is back, give or take a few….”

“Agreed” Mike said gesturing to Artie with his pointer finger. “This should be a fun gathering…”

“What held you up anyway?” Samuel asked Mike turning his head towards him, once the thought occurred finally.

“Ah, I had some errands to run” Mike said to Samuel, “had to swing by the airport and stuff” he told the man without much thought.

Samuel nodded his head and said, “oh yeah, who did you pick up?” curiously as he picked up his glass and took a sip of his drink.

“You actually would never guess it” Mike said to the man with a small smirk. He opened his mouth to respond to him the best way he knew how, however he was interrupted by their server.

“Hi there” the woman said to Mike “what could I get you to drink this evening?” she asked as she grabbed her guest check pad and pen from her apron.

“Hello” Mike told the woman and he looked down at the menu for a moment before he went with his gut and ordered a “root beer” he spoke. “Have you all ordered?” he asked the guys.

“Not yet, we were waiting on everyone” Kurt said “we did order a few starters” he admitted.

“Well in that case, just the root beer” Mike said smiling to the woman.

Nodding her head, she said “alright, one root beer. And do any of you guys need anything, while I grab that and check on your starters?” she pressed the group. After getting a moderate no thank you from everyone, she moved to walk off from the table again.

“So, who was it? Tina?” Blaine asked nosily, curiosity would kill the cat today because unlike everyone else he actually really desired to know who all planned on coming.

Mike chuckled shaking his head “no, no. I’m not sure if she came in town, you know not everyone really responded to the email threads. But I did uh, pick Mercedes and Cameron up from the airport, dropped them off a few hours ago and then I had some other errands to run” he shrugged, having let slip a huge secret in the process.  

Kurt eyes grew as Mike went on to explain where he was, what he was doing, and finally who he had picked up from the airport.

Artie eyebrows stitched together as he tried to recall a Cameron in his memory bank. It wasn’t ringing a bell however and perhaps he was the only one who didn’t know. Wonder if it’s a new boyfriend, juicy, he thought to himself know all the details to Samuel and Mercedes’ break-up.

Blaine tilted his head “who’s Cameron?” he asked aloud before he looked at Kurt with a raised brow. The forceful kick the man supplied him under the table was a red flag that clearly his significant other knew something he didn’t. He had overstepped somewhere. So instead of meeting the eyes of the other men he grabbed his glass of water and took a long sip from it.

Samuel rolled the paper from his straw between his fingers “Mercedes” he said first, very unaware that she was coming. Afterall, she hadn’t been seen in almost two years and they weren’t quite on speaking terms. Well in his head at least. However, upon the mention of someone named Cameron he raised a brow and looked at Blaine then Kurt to his left. “Who’s Cameron?” he asked Mike looking over at him again.

Mike looked down for a moment, shit, he said to himself before he looked over at Kurt. He needed the man to throw him a life vest but obviously he much like Mike couldn’t think of a good enough lie at the moment. And just like that save by the bell again, thank you God he said as Quinn approached the table with Brittany in toe.

“The boys beating us to the punch, how lovely…” Quinn said cutting in with a wide grin. “How is everyone?” she questioned them as she moved to grab a seat between Mike and Samuel.

Brittany smiled at everyone scattered about the chairs around the huge table. “Hey guys!” she said cheerfully. She followed behind Quinn who happened to have been her ride, she sat down at the table next to Artie planting a soft kiss to his cheek before she smiled at Jake who was sitting on her other side. “I missed you guys” she said hugging Artie gently.

Kurt looked towards Quinn, thankfully and he smiled at her as he moved his hand for Blaine’s knee. “Well, we all just about piled into each other’s car so that helped” he said to her changing the subject gladly. “Doing great, you?” he asked, looking at her directly.

Samuel looked at Mike who avoided his question, yet again. He looked over at the women as they rolled in and he sat back in his chair. If any of them thought for a second he was going to sit at a table with Mercedes and her new boy toy they were sadly mistaken. Just the simple thought of that was making his blood boil. He pushed the straw paper aside as he lifted his glass and took a long sip from it again, his eyes fixed on the side of Mike’s face.

Artie blushed a little at Brittany and looked at her with a fond smile on his face “we missed you too” he told her kindly. He stared at her for a few more minutes before he looked at Quinn and said, “no complaints here, everything has been great.”

“Who else is showing up?” Quinn asked them all as she removed her jacket and draped it on the back of her chair revealing her, somewhat revealing dress before she laced her fingers together and rested her hands in her lap.

“Rach” Blaine said in response to Quinn politely as he took her in, she looked amazing. Though he guessed she kind of always did.

“And Tina” Kurt added looking to Blaine for a brief moment a smile on his face. “She text me a hour ago and said she made it in and will meet us here as soon as she’s freshened up and stuff” he added, his eyes moving towards Mike now. Confirming what the man claimed he didn’t know just moments ago.

Samuel looked to Kurt before he said “and Mercedes” all the chipper tone in his voice gone now. “As a matter of fact, Mike was just letting us know she was bringing some Cameron person with her, however none of us know who that is” he said as he looked over at Mike once more, bitterness in his tone and a great deal of anger in his eyes. “Weren’t you Mike?” he asked.

Quinn looked between Blaine and Kurt before lastly, she looked at Samuel, her eyebrows rising as he spoke. Well, it was no secret that Mercedes untimely breakup left the man bitter, angry, and alone. Among the group of friends there had been plenty rumors but even she had no idea who Cameron was. However, if it were another man of some sorts, she might have lucked up tonight. She almost canceled on them for work sake, but she had to admit no amount of money would be worth missing this.

Mike looked over at Samuel, sighing a bit to himself as the man spoke. “I never said that” he told him his head hanging low “I didn’t say she was bringing him here” he corrected. “And he’s not a boyfriend of hers, she doesn’t have one” he said before he looked up at Kurt from across the table.

Kurt swallowed hard as Samuel pressed Mike to speak up and the man finally did. Kurt kept his eyes low after he swapped a glance with Mike and he focused on his glass sitting above the wooden table.

Artie looked at Samuel, then Mike, his eyes moved to the rest of the table as everyone stayed silent for a while.

“Then who the hell is Cameron?” Samuel asked the man, his eyebrows stitched together.

Quinn looked at Mike as he spoke, and she followed his eyes over to Kurt. As it was made clear that Cameron was not Mercedes significant other it then and only then dawned on her who this person could be. Her eyes quickly shot towards Kurt again. “Did you guys order?” she said quickly trying to change the subject once more and she finally picked up her menu.

“Hello, hello, hello everybody” Rachel said as she Tina and Mercedes walked up towards the massive table. “I cannot believe you guys successfully put together some kind of reunion without my help and expertise” she teased them all as she moved to sit down beside Blaine. Offering Jake a kind pat on the shoulder.

“What did we walk in on?” Tina asked sitting down beside Mike at the table and she pushed out the chair beside her a bit for Mercedes to nestle between her and Artie.

Mercedes smiled despite herself, she was well aware that today’s events had two possible ways of ending. On a good foot or perhaps a bad, depending. She hadn’t been in the same room as Samuel since she departed from him to leave for LA. It was her fault that happened to have panned out that way, she knew. But it was didn’t make it any less awkward when you really thought about the reasoning behind her doing so in the first place. She moved for the seat next to Tina it was the only free chair anyway and looked at everyone with a smile deciding not to glance in Samuel’s direction.

Quinn looked at the other girls as they came in one after the other and she sighed heavily, welp, when you speak of the devil, he shall appear she thought to herself. “You guys look good” she said taking them all in, but truly examining Mercedes from head to toe as if that would give her a real inkling to what was going on. But it didn’t especially considering the girl did have a massive coat on. Even if she didn’t you couldn’t look at her and tell she ever had a baby, or could you?

Artie leaned towards Mercedes gently and said “I missed you” with a slight hug assuming they were all going to drop the conversation from beforehand once again. Which was probably for the best anyhow.

As the rest of the group finally joined them Kurt looked towards them and smiled, it really was great to see everyone despite what was currently being examined. He looked over at Samuel, after Tina made yet a very leading question that he truly hoped didn’t cause the blonde to have yet another unnecessary meltdown. “The waitress should be back any minute with starters and, Mike’s drink, we could all like order or something” he chuckled awkwardly.

Samuel watched Rachel as she walked into view, and then Tina thereafter. Mercedes was behind the shorter girl and he looked away, focusing on the table before him and he found that piece of paper again. He toyed with the paper as he did before, rolling it against the tabletop as he fell silent, allowing the group to talk among themselves.

Tina nodded her head at Kurt and said “cool” before she turned to Mike, bumping him with her shoulder lightly. They weren’t together at the moment, but did that mean they had to be awkward, no. They were planning to just be friends until they figured everything all out with themselves. “I was going to call you for a ride, but you had to go get ‘Cedes” she said in a soft whisper to him.

Mercedes looked to Artie and smirked at him sweetly leaning into the man. “I missed you more” she breathed sweetly to him.

The server returned to the group seeing that everyone who should be there was finally there, she sat the root beer in front of the gentlemen who ordered it. She quickly sat the starters in the middle of the table one at a time before she lowered the tray in her hand. “Hi ladies, what can I get you all to drink?” she asked, she sat the tray aside and moved to grab her pad and pen again.

Looking up at the woman, Mercedes she shifted and said to her “water please?” without thought.

Seeing the appetizers, she smirked “water with lemon” Rachel said to the woman before she actually turned her attention to the menu before her to figure out what she wanted for dinner.

“Coke for me” Tina said lifting one finger up for the woman to see as she wrote down the drink orders.

“Sweet tea, please” Quinn said to the waitress, looking at Samuel who sat next to her, finally since Mercedes walked in. She looked at him for only a moment before she looked away again.

“Can I have a coke too?” Brittany asked the woman, the last to order within the group before she grabbed an onion ring and popped it into her mouth. “Two waters one with a lemon, two cokes, and a sweet tea” the young woman repeated back to the table before she said, “are we ordering now too, or do we need some more time?” curiously. When collectively they all asked to have some more time, she nodded and left the group to grab their drinks.

“So, Mercedes, what have you been up to?” Jake asked curiously, despite the early conversation he always though it was pretty cool she got out of Ohio and moved all the way to LA. “I mean what is LA really like?” he asked her as he grabbed a mozzarella stick.

Quinn looked over at Jake with a bit of disappointment. They were all deflecting here, and he was obviously not on board with everyone because he just opened another door or window, depends on who you asked.

Mercedes pulled her eyes and attention away from Brittany and Artie, “uh” she paused smirking at Jake. “I have been great; I have no complaints whatsoever” she told the boy. “LA is” she said trying to think very hard on her answer “sometimes it’s everything I pictured and not so much during other times, but I could have never asked for a better opportunity” she told him. “Life throws tons of surprises and I try to handle, well uh take it in strides” she breathed.

Samuel looked up as Mercedes spoke and he squinted his eyes a bit before he looked away from her. “Care to elaborate for us small town folk?” he asked her sarcastically.

Mercedes slowly looked towards Samuel across from her and she furrowed her brows.

“Now Sam” Rachel said from the left of him, she gave the man an all well knowing look. He didn’t need to make a scene right now; they were here to have a good time.

“Now Rachel” Samuel said as he looked over at her “I asked her question let her answer” he said back to the brunette, who he had no trouble leaning forward to gaze it from across Blaine and Kurt.

“Sam, we are here to have a small gathering to catch up. Are you sure you want to do this?” Kurt asked the man leaning in a bit. The two men was sitting directly next to each other, in another world Kurt would’ve probably slapped him. However, his personality didn’t allow him to inflict someone with such violence. But the blonde was really becoming annoying and all around excessive.

“Yes, I want to do this” Samuel snapped as he looked at Kurt. “Why not do it?” he shrugged, a small chuckle leaving him. “Why not do this right here and right now…”

Mike licked his lips and looked around the table before he sighed and said “Mercedes, I slipped up about Cameron. But Samuel doesn’t quite know who that is…. still….” He said quietly.

Mercedes looked past Tina and at Mike, her eyes large and confused. How could the man have let that slip? He’d kept the secret for this long of course today he lets the cat out of the bag. She couldn’t be mad at him of course, any of them keeping the secret was doing her a favor everyday of their lives. But what was she supposed to say or do right now?

“I think we all should maybe let Samuel and Mercedes talk” Kurt said looking around the table.

“No, let her say what she has to say right here in front of everyone” Samuel said to Kurt. “I think to many of you have been talking among yourselves this whole time anyway.”

Mercedes blinked a few times and she looked at Samuel “okay” she said simply to him. “I ended our relationship, against my better judgement because I was trying to keep a secret from you that I thought would be very detrimental to our lives and relationship” she offered him. “We have a one-year-old son, his name is Cameron” she said. “And before you get angry, I was just trying to do what I thought was best for all of us…”

Samuel looked at Mercedes as she spoke, she really had put a very cute spin on breaking his heart and he couldn’t believe that was the story she was going with. They were fine when she left, everything was perfect outside of the distance. And then a few months into her moving to LA she hit him with the words he’d never imagined leaving her lips. A breakup was what it was, a breakup that was not mutual among them both, that she didn’t even give a good enough reasoning as to why for. And now after all this time he finally gets his real reason, and it was because she was pregnant? With their child. His son? And she didn’t tell him because she thought that was what was best for them both? “Wow” was the only thing his lips could form in the moment as he moved to stand up from the chair, he was in. “You are despicable” he said his finger gesturing in her direction “and any of you at this table who knew this shit and didn’t say anything can rot in hell along with Mercedes” he said coldly as he left the table and the group.

Mercedes looked at Samuel as he spoke, she looked down, she didn’t know what to say. As he continued, she looked back up her eyes watering a little from his harsh words. She couldn’t blame him, what were she to expect from telling him this? When he stormed off, she looked back down again as the embarrassment set in.

“I sorry Mercedes” Kurt said from across the table as, his eyes left her and looked towards Samuel as he moved through the restaurant to leave.

Rachel walked up towards the Evans’ home with her purse in hand and she rang the doorbell gently waiting for someone to surface.

“I have it” Samuel said as he moved for the front door slowly, he looked outside and saw Rachel and he huffed. Unlocking the front door, he looked at her and said “I don’t want you over here so it’s in your best interest to leave” without even thinking, his finger pointing towards her car.

“Look, I don’t want to come into your home, I don’t want you to forgive me if you don’t want to, you don’t even have to listen. But I am going to say what I have to say to you face to face” Rachel told Samuel. “Some of us knew, we didn’t all agree. But we understood and as friends and family we supported her. We supported each party the best way we knew how during this time” she told him. “I am sorry that a secret that big was kept from you for the two years. And I really can’t imagine how you must really be feeling right now” she said her eyes low. “But I say that for you, not her, you. It would be best if you hear her out and at least demand to see your son” she said to him. “She’s owes you that much, and I know that is what you’d want to do right now” she told him simply. “We don’t always do the right things, none of us are perfect. But we deserve the right to make it better if we can” she sighed. “That’s it” she said quickly as she tossed her hand up at him, moving to turn around and leave the front porch of the man’s home headed for her car.

Samuel listened as the woman spoke and he squinted at her slightly, didn’t she know he had every right to close the door in her face if he really wanted to do so right now. It would be that simple. He didn’t want to hear anything from Rachel, she wasn’t the one that owed him an explanation or apology. However, he listened to her, every word even if he didn’t want to. He licked his lips slowly and watched her as she departed from his presence “Rachel!” he called out to her. “Rachel” he repeated even as she kept walking.

Rachel ignored the man as she unlocked the car door and climbed inside to leave. She had said what was needed to say to the man and she didn’t plan on speaking on the subject further. It was between the both of them now, she felt compelled to say what she needed in regard to the part she played in it but that would be it. She couldn’t give him any more details, that he had to seek for himself from Mercedes own mouth.

Hearing a knock at her parents’ door Mercedes squinted slightly, who could it have been she didn’t know. “Stay right here” she told Cameron with a stern finger as she moved to walk out of the living room and towards the front door. She looked to see who was on the other side of the door before she opened it “Sam?” she breathed as she looked up at the man.

Samuel stood before the Jones’ front door with his hands in his pants pockets, he waited for someone to answer and when Mercedes did, he looked at her. “Hi” he breathed he didn’t know what else to say. He hadn’t thought this far ahead and now that he was here, he was conflicted. He wanted to curse her out no doubt but now as he stared into her brown eyes he couldn’t. “Look, I am pissed at you, I am so damn pissed at you, I can’t even think straight!” he said voice booming. “I can’t believe you had the nerve to end things with me, and because of a baby?” he asked her. “I would have given anything to be there, to help, to experience that with you! How could you be so got damn selfish?” he asked her seriously. “I loved you” he told her “I love you” he corrected “how could you do that to me Mercedes?” he said.

Mercedes waited for something to be said and he said ‘hi’ to her, which was a shocker considering. Before she could even get her own greeting out to him, he said what he felt deep down inside from the events that happened from the day before. She looked down unable to say anything at first, she knew she was wrong, and she didn’t really have an excuse for it at all. He was right, he was in love with her as she were with him and it was inconceivable that she did break it off with him and justifiably so. A child had not ruined everything but in her mind it would have. He believed in her, believed she would go off and make him proud. A baby was not a part of the deal, but it had not been a deal breaker. And perhaps it was her own immaturity that did not notice that until now. “Sam” she said softly, blinking gently as her eyes watered, tears filling it. “I didn’t want to let you down” she said blinking heavy tears, allowing them to fall as she looked up at him.

“Well, you ended up doing far more than that, you do realize that?” he asked her. “Keeping my son from me, was a bigger let down then the entire situation and all of its layers combined” he breathed. Samuel folded his arms over his chest as he looked at her still in disbelief a little.

Mercedes tucked her lips inward as she sniffled, her hand wiped away a few tears. Nodding her head at him she agreed with his statement, “I get that now, yes,” she breathed. “I don’t know” she shrugged a little, a bit of a cry leaving her lips after she did. “I didn’t say anything, and then he was here. And I just didn’t know what to say after that” she added. “I was confused, embarrassed” she listed. “It was stupid, and I am truly sorry Samuel. I did not mean for this too grow into all of this” she stressed. “I just didn’t know what to say, or how to even say it when I did find the words” she swallowed hard. “I never tended to hurt you, with any of this. The breakup or with keeping him as a secret from you” she said looking into his eyes.

Samuel listened to her, he continued to stand there with his arms crossed over his chest. In his heart of hearts, he didn’t feel she were lying about a single thing. Though his brain throbbed as he tried to understand what the hell possessed her. Even now, the move was one he could not have pictured her making. Not her out of all people in the World, it didn’t fit. He nodded his head back at her and he said “is he here? Can I see him?”

Mercedes watched him and she sniffled again, wiping more tears from her face. She dried the tears that rested under her chin with the back of her hand before she nodded her head. “Yes, of course” she nodded as she moved to allow him into her parent’s home. Opening the door wider from him she sniffled once more as she waited for him to walk in and once, he did, she closed the door behind him and locked it. “He’s in here” she said as she moved to walk through the home towards the living room where Cameron stood eating cheerios from a kid sized bowl while watching Blue’s Clues idly.

Samuel nodded his head and he moved into the large home; it was as he remembered it. Always neat, clean, and in decent order every time. He didn’t know why but in the moment all of the anger he had melted away. Not because he was understanding of the situation at this time but because it had been replaced with nervousness. He didn’t see fatherhood greeting him for at least another few years and now he was being thrown in it full speed, in a very instance. And he didn’t know what to think or how to feel about that, what if he wasn’t good at it? Despite that the boy didn’t even know him. As he followed Mercedes into the living room, he took the boy in, though it was only from behind he could tell how ridiculously adorable he was.  

“Cameron” Mercedes said sliding her hands in her back pockets as she watched him. “Someone is here to see you” she said to him softly. She watched the boy turn around, his hazel eyes moving from her to the taller man next to her and back to her familiar face. “Mama” he said in response back to her before he turned back to the bowl and placed another cheerio into his mouth chewing lightly. He turned back around before he moved to walk away from the bowl and towards his toy car. Mercedes stepped towards the child and hoisted him up into her arms pecking his cheek lightly moving closer to Samuel.

Samuel watched the little boy as he turned around, his full head of curls bouncing lightly as he looked between her and him then back to her cutely. He smirked a little, he looked like the perfect mix of them both, it was astonishing. The little boy continued his snack eating and playtime, ignoring them both until Mercedes moved to go pick him up walking over towards him “hey” he said waving at the little boy awkwardly.

Mercedes looked at Cameron and then grabbed the toy car that was stealing all of his attention, holding it in her hand and at her side. “Say hey” she said as she looked at him, he cowered in front of the tall man sticking his hands into his mouth as he looked at him. He pulled his hands down eventually and said “hey” before he rested his head on his mother’s shoulder shifting in her arms gently. “Cameron” she said softly as she shifted him in her arms again “this is your daddy” she said pointing to Samuel with the same hand the car was is.

Samuel watched the kid placing his hands in his pockets gently as she tried to get the little boy to interact with him. When the child finally did talk and then moved to hide himself away from Samuel he smirked. When she told the boy who he was he looked at her then at the little boy. He risked the chance and held his hands out for the boy, he could or could not come. What would it hurt?

Cameron watched Samuel and he looked at his mother before he leaned into the man and allowed him to hold him as well. He looked at the side of the man’s face, blinking a few times before he looked at his mother and then back at Samuel. Mercedes sat the car down on the couch and looked at Cameron again “daddy” she said pointing to Samuel again.

Samuel and the little boy glanced back and forth at each other, when he looked at his mother again Sam adjusted him in his arms. He hugged the boy to his chest gently closing his eyes as he basked in it for a moment or two. He opened his eyes again and he looked at the little boy who had his fingers in his mouth once more eyeing him.

Mercedes sat on the edge of the couch watching Samuel, she picked Cameron’s car up in her hand and she toyed with it for a moment. She looked between them both and the toy car a few times as the man got acquainted with his son for the first time.

Samuel moved towards the couch with the child in his arms and he sat down with him. Shifting the child in his lap he looked at Mercedes “how is it possible to be in love with someone you just met for the first time?” he asked her seriously.

Mercedes shifted on the couch and looked at Samuel, a smirking forming on her lips and she spoke. “I don’t know” quietly “it just happens, I can’t explain it” she said with a small chuckle as she looked at the child. “He looks just like you” she commented as she looked down.

Samuel looked at her and then back to their son, he hugged the boy close who was now stretched out across him watching tv again. He was a little more comfortable with him he guessed, and he relaxed himself on the couch. He looked back at her and smirked “no, he looks like you” he told her. He looked back at the little boy, he couldn’t believe one night filled with love and adoration for each other could create such perfection, but not only that night however perfection that would last them both a lifetime. “I can’t be mad at you” he told her seriously as he moved his hand to hers, grabbing it in his and holding it gently. “But I really wish I could have been there” he said sadly “he’s so perfect, I can’t imagine what it would have been like to see him when he was first born” he sighed.

Mercedes looked at Samuel again placing the boy’s car aside, as he grabbed her hand, she allowed him to. It was comforting receiving any kind of touch from him even after all of this time. At his words she looked at Cameron and then pulled her bottom into her mouth biting down on it hard. She didn’t say anything in response to him, there was plenty of photos, videos, and things she could show him, and she would in the future. She knew she owed him that and needed to make sure it was something that she did out of respect for him. “Despite how it panned out, I am glad that you finally got to meet him. And that you can now be a part of his life.”

Nodding his head at her, he said “thank you” quietly. “Especially for him, you could have done something totally different, but you didn’t. Thank you for that” Samuel said sensibly as he looked her in her eyes.

“The thought never crossed my mind” Mercedes replied back to him seriously, looking into his eyes once more.

[louu-7]

everything i don’t know

on wattpad

CHAPTER 7:

“No, she’s acting weird lately, I don’t think the rumors worked…”

“It has to work, we can’t let her do her things, and sometimes she’ll have to work with us. The problem is her behavior of spoiled rotten little girl. We can’t let her starts to stick her nose into our business, not now, we’re so close and she doesn’t give a shit about what we’re doing. She’ll know when the time will comes.”

“Don’t worry, she’s not gonna mess everything up. She’s not confident enough to face up to you.”

Are they talking about me? I stay where I am and continue to listen to them with attention, stuck against the living room wall. Are they fucking talking behind my back about me, and just put me down like it was normal. And after my Mom’s gonna coming to my room and proposes to go shopping together… bullshit.

“I’m not sure about this anymore, look what she did at the Cameron’s, we can’t continue to go to this kind of events with her.” My Dad seems to contain his anger inside.

Is he that mad at me? What did I do like, I apologized for the Cameron’s… I decide to walk in as if nothing had happened, just to see their reaction. Are they gonna argue or be kind…

“Sweetie, how’s it going?”

“Good.” I try to act normal, but it’s rather delicate when I see how they lie to me. That’s disgusting. “What were you doing?” Asks my Mom to break the silence, as I get some cookies and an apple. “Some work. Not gonna disturb you for too long, I’m just getting these.” I show us what I’m taking and give them a faint smile that burns my lips before coming back to my room.

So on top of being hypocrites with the other Kooks, they’re also hypocrites with their own family. Great, I’ve such a good entourage... I climb up the stairs and lock my door before jumping on my bed and open my laptop to keep my mind off things.

OK. If I understand well, something’s going on in this house, and they think I’m gonna mess everything up, even if I don’t know what they mean. What the hell… and since when they’re hiding things from me? And… what the hell could I do?

Maybe I just should forget it, why do I even care… I don’t have to care anymore about their problems, or anything else. As long as I managed to get out of this house secretly, I also have to play the good girl, not to be suspected to leave and enjoy. Apparently enjoy is a crime here.

Let’s call Sarah, and if never she’s with John B, I could call Kie, and, if she’s with Pope… well, I won’t call anyone.

“Heyy! What’s up babe?” Her screaming voice resonates in my ear.

“Not much.” I laugh as wincing a little. “What happen, you just destroyed my ear.”

“It’s John B’s birthday and I have a gift like, the best ever!”

“Oh, I didn’t know! What’s the gift, I wanna know!” I shout out at my turn, certainly destroying her ear.

“He kinda hates to dress up, so I bought a whole chic outfit, just to joke, and then the true gift will be revealed, it’s a new surf board and it’s awesome! I had the idea that we all could dress up and celebrate at John B’s before going on the marsh, so I give him his outfit, we celebrate and everything, and then you all arrive and I give him the surfboard, and we put music and-”

“Eh, aren’t you a little nervous? “

I laugh and don’t hear any answer form her. The silence is the only response that I got for a while so I frown as I sit up in my bed, is she OK…? “Sarah?”

“Yes, sorry I…” Her sniffing make me feel more and more worried as I completely stand up, concerned about what’s happening. “Eh, what’s wrong?” I ask with a sympathetic voice, this kind of behavior doesn’t feel like her, that’s really troubling to know her in such a state. When she starts to sob quietly I got a pang of emotion, that just makes me shake as tears come into my brown eyes.

“I don’t even know why am I crying.” Her strangled voice stop her from talking as her words become little sob. “Sarah is it serious?”

“Non, no I’m just feeling so-so nervous about today because I-I never loved someone as I love John B and I...”

“Baby, you don’t have to be nervous, you’re the best girlfriend John B could be with and he loves you I swear. Sarah I’m not tellin’ you this because you’re my best friend but, you’re my best friend and you’re gorgeous so don’t be nervous.” I wipe the lonely tear that runs on my cheek and sigh a little. “Thank you, I’m ridiculous I just don’t know how to act, I can’t describe how… I don’t know, I just love him. So much.”

“I know, you guys are so cute and he’s gonna love your gift.” We continue to talk for at least an hour and we eventually stop the call to prepare for the famous birthday of mister Routledge. I’m not sure my whole business family left the house but they’re not gonna lock me in this house today, even less now.

It’s been two weeks that I manage to get out when they left to enjoy my summer, and then I come back before they do and they don’t know anything. Moreover, I’m not sure he’s ready to come in the Cut to search me so, there’s no problem.

Lately I noticed that my parents were at home sooner than usual, so they maybe have doubts, I hear them talking a lot about me, without they know it, and they have million calls, more than before, so I don’t know whats going on but… the ambiance here is weird feel like I’m kind of excluded from all this business. It doesn’t disturb me that much but it’s like they don’t want me to know, and the little talk between my parents earlier confirm my doubts…

I have to admit I prefer to stay away from their things but something changed and I feel so… curious about all this. Curious, but scared. My Dad’s sometimes yelling at the phone like it was a matter of life and death.

Anyway, I but on a tiny bit of makeup and chose to wear a short ruffle blue dress, with thin straps and a V-neck, something pretty and comfy at the same time. Then I put my Converse that I washed a while ago and am perfume myself as someone ring the doorbell. “I’m comin’ babe!”

I go downstairs quickly with my bag full of a chiller outfit, some deodorant and food, check my face in the mirror next to the door and finally open it. My eyes wide and I step back as I discover a broad-shouldered man in front of me, all black dressed except his whit shirt under his suit. “Hum, hello?”

“Thara Abrams?”

“Yes?”

“Follow me.”

“What? No, I don’t even know you.”

“A friend of your parents, they want you to be with them.” Does he think that I’m dumb? Who the hell is this man, I never saw it in my whole life and he says that he’s a friend of my parents, really?

“And how could I be sure about what you’re saying?”

“Because they charged me to pick you up maybe?”

“Drop dead.” I shut the door in his face without him stopping me from doing it and I breath. I didn’t notice but my heartbeats are too quick to be normal, and my hands are shaking. Why am I so nervous, he’s nobody.

What if he’s right? Since when my parents send someone to pick me up like… they never did it, I don’t understand why would they do it now. I grab my phone and call my Dad to get some answers to the questions that cross my mind.

“Yes, what’s wrong?”

“Did you send someone to take me to the vineyard with you?” He sigh and doesn’t respond to my question. S it probably means that’s true. “Just follow him darling, he’s a friend.”

“‘Darling’? Really?”

“Don’t make me come and do what I say Thara.” I hang up the phone and run my fingers in my hair as a sigh escape from my lips. Like I said, there’s something wrong, that’s obvious. My phone rings and I see Sarah’s face on the screen.

“Girl who’s the man in front of your door?”

“He’s still here? Oh, fuck…”

“Who’s it?”

“I don’t know, he wants to take me to the vineyard of my father, just…” I stop to talk as an idea is emerging in my mind, and a crooked smile is drawing on my lips. “Thara?”

“Yeah, I have a plan, wait me at the police station, I’ll be there quickly.”

“Be careful girl, we don’t know this man.”

“He doesn’t look like a criminal, and moreover he doesn’t even really look like a smart-ass.” We laugh a little before hanging the phone and I breath again. I don’t even know why would it be dangerous. That’s totally OK, he’s just not ready for what I got in mind.

I re-open the door and fake a smile that he seems to see as a smile of excuse. Not a smart boy… “I’m sorry I just lost my composure. You’re well-dressed, nice suit.” I continue to smile and walk until the car to get in, next to the driving seat. He take place in front of the steering wheel. He starts the car in silence and he drives toward the vineyard. “Can we please stop to the Starbucks? I rarely get out of the house, it would be a pleasure to drink something better than water of fruit juice. But just if you’re OK.”

“Yeah, of course, but be quick please.”

“Thank you, I really appreciate. Do you know where is it?” He confusedly says no, so I change a little my plan and tell him the direction to the police station. I don’t think he’ll understand until we park before I get out of the car to run away.

Once arrived I take my bag and look at him, a grateful air on my face. “Thank you for this ride monsieur.” I open the car door and put a first foot on the ground. “It was a pleasure but I’m pretty busy, say hi to my dear daddy.”

“What, no!”

When his voice resonate in the street my feet are already running on the concrete toward the black Volvo of Sarah, parked some meters further away. She gets in the car and I do the same, out of breath and a victorious smile on my face. It feels amazing.

“Starts the car, c’mon!” We laugh and leave the police station parking to drive through some little streets that the smart-ass is not gonna know to follow us. “Thank you, you saved me.” I manage to say, short-winded. “You’re welcome. We should do this more often, it was cool!”

“Yeah, but not to much if I don’t wanna die before the end of the summer.”

“Oh” she looks at me as she slows down. your father, “I forgot about it, we never should’ve do that he’s gonna kill you… I’m sorry if you want I can-”

“No, he’s not gonna say anything, it’s OK. I’ll find something. Let’s have a good time.”

She agrees by nodding quietly her head and I raise my eyebrows. “Sarah that’s OK, my father’s not killer anyway.” I laugh and she sighs in a smile before telling me to shut up.

We arrived at John B’s and Sarah explain to me that we all arrive well-dressed, she gives him his outfit, we party and then we give him the surfboard. When she finishes talking she starts to feel some pressure.

“He’s gonna love it. Let’s go, I’m sure he can’t wait anymore to see you, and I’m also sure that the only thing he wants is you, so don’t be antsy.”

“Yeah, OK, it’s gonna be perfect.”

“Of course it is!”

We get out of the car together as the three others John B’s friends arrive, all really prepared and clean and beautiful. That’s so cool, he’s gonna love it. I don’t know John B for a long time but he’s a really cool guy, big-hearted and completely in love with my girl. And he accepted me, not like a certain blond who can’t stand me, not yet. I think it’s fro never.

We all say hello to each other, almost all, and walk to the door of the chateau. Kinda good name thought.

Sarah’s knocking at the door as we all wait, a smile on our faces. He opens the door, bleary-eyed and confused of our presence. Is eyebrows are frowning and his shoulders raising as a yawn escape from his mouth. “Happy birthday!” We all shout out, and Pope and JJ are jumping on him to piss him of gently.

They push him on the bed to crush him while laughing, and the girls and I are just… present? Yeah, we’re not really useful for the moment.

“Guys c’mon, get off!”

“Happy birthday old man!” JJ yell before tousle the brown hair of his best friend. Once they finish to tease John B, they all stand up and we look at them. They’re kids. They’ll be kids until the end of their life. “Thank girls, that’s really, hum, nice.”

He steps toward Sarah and the smile on her face widen. They kiss so softly that it adds something romantic in this non-romantic ambiance, before a pillow hits John B’s head and stop them. Kiara and I just burst out laughing as the face of the old man raise his face. I laugh so much that my abs hurt, then Sarah gives him his outfit.

He put it on and come back, her eyebrows raised. “Dude I never saw you prepared and you decide to do it for my birthday, what a gift bro.” He pats JJ’s shoulder and put his other arm behind Pope’s back.

We go take the cake in the car with Sarah and come back as we all starts to sing the happy birthday song. John B’s eyes are sparkling and when my phone suddenly ring in my bag a bad feeling capture me and I wince as they all look at me, singing.

“Fuck I’m so sorry… I ruin everything…”

The desire to leave this room and just go away is completely present in me, and I don’t even know why. Something like this can happen to everyone one but, I already struggle a lot to prove that it’s not because I’m a ‘kook’ that I can’t be a good person, even if they don’t always seem convinced and it makes me so nervous, so ruining everything makes me feel like shit.

I grab my phone and get out of the house not to disturb even more the celebration and see my father’s face on my screen. “Fuck… I sigh and pick up. Hi, Dad… what’s u-”

“Thara what’s going on in your head!” He yells so loud that I can move my phone a little away. “Where are you and… Are you thinking about your acts or are you just disobeying to everything I told you to do, because this little game is over, you come back home now.”

“No, Dad not now please it’s important and-”

“I don’t care!” His deep voice make me shiver and I grit my teeth, upset but scared as fuck. “Let me just today I swear I won’t disobey again please let me today and I-”

“Because you think that I believe you? Are you that much naive?”

My heart’s kind of… breaking like, in a million pieces when his words resonate in an echo in my head. Some tears run automatically on my cheeks as I try to stop them. “How do…” my strangled voice prevent me from saying anything more and the silence is the only noise that we can hear.

“Thara you come back home now and we’ll talk about it tonight. And don’t think you’ll ever get out of this house again. How can you be that ridiculous, do you think I didn’t notice your new behavior of perfect little girl?”

Tears can’t stop to run my cheeks and my face is soon sinking into tears as my heart’s almost dying when his insults come one after on, moving me so much that my body shakes a little. “Oh, you’re crying? Don’t think that I care, you can’t just play the rebel and then crap out like a coward. See you tonight at home, Alyssa’s at home to see if you come back.”

He hangs up the phone before I answer anything, but anyway I don’t think I have the strength to… What is wrong with him…

I stay here for a while and look around to see if I can sit somewhere and not totally ruin the party. It’s supposed to be the best day of the year for one of them so I’m not destroying everything Sarah prepared for him. I walk toward a tree and sit in front of the water, in a silence broke by my sniffle.

My tears are flooding my face and I can’t stop to wipe my eyes if I want to see something. His words are in repeat in my mind, I just can’t stand these things that just got out of his mouth so naturally, to talk about me.

I feel like these are the words he never could told me before, so he took advantage of the situation to hurl me insults and prove me that I’m nothing.

I feel like I’ve never been nothing.

[meteorit3737]

5

They decided to celebrate Christmas foursome. This year no one wanted a noisy holiday, a note of sadness mixed in a cheerful mood. There were gifts under the tree (Donna secretly peeked in there and made sure that they were all packed beautifully), Christmas songs were heard in the speakers (Cam winced at a couple of songs, but was surprised to find that all the other songs were in full accord with her mood), on the table there was Donna’s special salad (Joanie admitted that although she likes to tease about this, she really likes it) and the favorite dishes of those present (Haley insisted that there was a cream pie, like the one she threw at her father in Comet).

They ate and chatted naturally, when they were all full, the girls more and more often glanced under the tree, and Donna could not stand it:

- And let's break the tradition this year and open gifts now, and not in the morning?

- Yes! Let's! - shouted Joanie and Haley and together rushed to the tree. Donna and Cam got up with smiles and joined them.

The girls have already managed to open one box.

- Built-in CD-ROM drive for computer! 8x speed! - Haley screamed enthusiastically. - But Cam, it have not yet appeared on sale! How?

- Howe is my last name. - Cam smiled, - It has already appeared in Japan.  

Joanie gently held her present in her arms:

- Mom, how did you realize that I was dreaming of such a camera?

- It was easy, - Donna shrugged. - You said so often, “If I could take a picture of it and show you” when you talked about your journey! And, of course, the fact that you drowned your old camera in the lake just before returning home ...

- It was an accident! I bent to look, and he slipped off his neck under the influence of gravity. By the way, there is something heavy for you.

Joanie handed Donna a box, on the side of which with Cam's uneven handwriting, it was written "for Donna",  and a little lower "carefully, don't drop." Donna looked at Cam, who was discussing with Hayley the question of connecting a CD-ROM to a computer, opened the box and found 10 mugs under layers of rustling paper. They were all different - on one was the Texas state seal, on the other a picture of the famous San Francisco bridge and the inscription "We just had a coffee machine broken," on the third there are two boxes with the words "IBM XT" and the text "Partners for crime”, on the fourth and fifth - pixel drawings of Donna and Cam from chat rooms of the time of Mutiny, both had these funny antennas, on the sixth it was written “Save my BIOS?”, and on the seventh there was an anchor (@theresebelivett, sorry, I couldn't resist). Donna's hands trembled, she almost dropped the mug and hurriedly pressed it to her.

- I just thought that since I am constantly taking all the mugs, I need to replenish your supplies, - came the soft voice of Cam. She awkwardly waved a cozy sweater that she held in her hands, dropped her T-shirt, began to pick it up and dropped the second one. Donna laughed and helped her collect the fallen.

- Thanks, - Cameron said. - And thanks for the gift. This is my favorite! - She unfolded one of the T-shirts and put it to herself so that the words “Ignore alien orders” could be seen. - Great minds think alike, eh?

Donna did not understand at first, then she took out the eighth mug - with a phoenix drawing, then the ninth “I have an idea”, and finally the tenth - “Ignore alien orders”. Donna thinks she never smiled so wide.

When all the other gifts were unpacked and thanks expressed, Joanie suggested watching a Christmas movie. But Haley looked imploringly at her mother:

- Mom, Cam, let's first connect the CD-ROM to my computer, please! I so want to experience it!

- Good, honey, I don’t think it will take much time. Have an instruction?

- There is. But only in Japanese, - Haley winked at Cameron.

- Product for the domestic market. But you're in luck, you have a translator, - Cam waved the instruction twisted into a tube. - Let's go to?

Haley picked up a box of CD-ROM and the three of them went into her room. Joanie sat on the couch and shouted after them: "And I'll start watching the movie! Join in!"

Working together, Cam and Donna quickly pulled out a 5" floppy disk drive from the system unit, plugged in a CD-ROM drive and joyfully looked at the happy Haley, who turned on the disc and enjoyed the music. She went up to them and hugged both at once, wrapping Donna in one hand, and another Cam.

- Hey, you know what? - Joanie appeared at the door. She froze for a second, assessing the situation, then quickly walked up and hugged everyone she could reach. - We look like bats.

- What? - Donna was surprised at the comparison.

- Yes, I once saw a colony of bats, they hang upside down, flap their wings, cling to each other and squeak.

- We don't hang upside down! - Haley said indignantly.

- And we don't squeak! - added Donna.

- And we don't cling, - Cam said.

All three pointedly looked at her, tightly wrapped in their hands.

- What? - raised her eyebrows Cam. - We just ... Well ... (Joanie and Haley giggled, Donna smiled) Well, watch out!

And Cam began to tickle everyone, which caused squeals and laughter in the room.

***

A week later, Joanie flew to Tokyo.

- I did not learn Japanese in vain! - She said after she showed Donna her travel plan across Japan.

- Yes, your knowledge of Japanese is comforting, at least you won’t die of hunger and you can always buy food.

- Cam says that this is a Tokyo dialect and is understood almost everywhere, but I may not understand some dialects, but if a problem arises, I can communicate in hieroglyphs.

- Then write on paper with the hieroglyphs "I need a phone to call my mother" and put it in your pocket. Please, Joanie, do not forget to call.

- Don’t worry, mom, I will. I promise that I will not be lost in Japan for 7 years. In fact, I want to return to Easter. So you have time to buy a tent and stuff.

- A tent? - surprised Donna. - Oh yes, I remembered. Okay!

- Good, - Joanie smiled.

When the three of them returned from the airport, everyone was a little sad. Cameron and Haley went into their rooms and sat at the computers. Donna walked around the house, turned on the dishwasher, which she forgot to turn on after dinner, and decided to sit at the computer too.

She waited for the system to load, decided to find out what the weather is like in Japan, and started connecting the modem. Suddenly, a pixel figure appeared in the lower left corner of the screen, walked to the center, stopped and waved to Donna. It was her own avatar from the Mutiny chats.

Little Donna went to the right corner of the screen, folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the right border of the screen. Donna began to work on the computer, constantly checking what her small copy was doing. But she didn’t sit still: she walked around the screen, sometimes ran with a butterfly net behind the mouse pointer, pulled a computer from the edge of the screen and worked behind it, smartly examined the text that Donna was typing, and when Donna checked the mail, painted Donna opened envelopes, read letters and threw part of it behind the screen, part of it in her pocket.

All this was very fun for Donna and the sad mood was forgotten. She did all the planned things, but she was sorry to turn off the computer. She gently ran the mouse pointer over the drawn hair, then again, and little Donna smiled and a red heart appeared over her head, which slowly turned pale to transparency.

- Cool, yeah?

Donna jumped up in surprise, she was so carried away that she did not notice how Hayley approached her.

- Very cool! I like it so! So you already know this little miss?

- Yes, Cam showed me her when she wrote, I even told her a couple of things that she could do.

- She's wonderful!

- Cam or little miss? - Haley smiled.

- Both! - Donna answered without hesitation. - I'm even sorry to turn off the computer. She will not be lost, right?

- No, she will be at autorun until you get her out of there.

- Never!

Donna sent the computer off and managed to see how her small copy took the pillow and went to bed. Joyful emotions filled Donna. She hugged Haley:

- Are you hungry? Maybe we order takeaway food?

- Yes, I really want pizza.

- Pizza? - asked Donna. - Are you sure?

- Yes, I'm sure. So will I order? You and Cam as usual?

- Of course. I'll go tell Cam how I liked her surprise.

Donna climbed the stairs and knocked on Cam's room. There was no answer, but she assumed that Cameron was just listening to music on the headphones. She knocked and opened the door. She was right - Cam was sitting at the computer in the headphones and quickly tapping the keyboard. She was wearing a shirt “Ignore alien orders” and for a few seconds Donna seemed to be back in time - basement of Cardiff electric, Mutiny, moving to California, Cam lives with them ... At that moment, Cam seemed to feel Donna's gaze and looked up. Donna had a thought in her head that she never managed to discreetly watch working Cam for more than a few seconds, she always found out about her presence and raised her head, or Donna herself simply did not wait for these seconds and involved Cam in solving urgent problems that Mutiny had enough.

Cam stopped typing and took off her headphones. Donna stands in the doorway of room and shines with such a joyful smile, as if she had heard the best news in the world. Or maybe she discovered ...

- Cameron Howe, you are a genius! - exclaimed Donna, interrupting Cam's thoughts.

- May I have a certificate about this? - asked Cam with a smile.

Donna entered the room and went to Cam.

- Do you have a minute?

- Of course! - Cam removed the headphones from her neck and laid them on the table. Donna leaned back against the table and leaned her hands slightly on it. She tilted her head slightly to one side and looked at Cam with strange intensity.

- Sometimes I think what is going on in your head? Where do you get your ideas? And how do you find the time to implement them?

- You want to say that you liked the electronic version of you? - Cam asked hopefully.

- Of course I liked her! I am absolutely delighted! She was painted, but at the same time so lively, sometimes it seemed to me that she was about to speak.

Cameron saw Donna's enthusiasm and it warmed her heart.

- Well, I had such a thought, but for the talking version your computer needs to be upgraded.

- When did you manage to write it? You were constantly busy with a working project, I saw how much you are doing.

- In fact, it did not take much time. I invented everything while I was engaged in some domestic things. So then it remained just to sit down and write down the code. It is in some way a descendant of my operating system.

- Your OS was ahead of time. I did not believe in the success of the Giant until I launched a prototype in the garage and talked to your OS. It said I had good manners, - Donna smiled tenderly.

- You decided to go to Komdex after talking to a computer? Cam shook her head in disbelief. - You know, if you had not come with us, the Giant wouldn’t even have started.

- And if I did not communicate with this villain Hunt, the Giant would be the star of the exhibition, - Donna lowered her eyes sadly.

- Hey, don't blame yourself! If Joe hadn’t taken off my OS ... Although, in some ways, he was right, if one reasoned rationally.

- Sometimes we are too rational, - Donna said decisively. - And speaking emotionally, I’m ready to upgrade my computer even tomorrow to see what you came up with for ... By the way, what is her name? My electronic version?

- When I wrote the code, I thought of her as a mini-Donna, - Cam confusedly confessed. - And I do not think that she will speak out loud, rather, it will be a text.

- Can I write something for her? - Donna asked.

- Yes, I want to make a small window for entering text, which appears when you poke the mouse into the miniDonna.

- You know, she often did actions corresponding to what I did, for example, email.

- The program responds to system calls. So far, only a few, but I still have thoughts on this.

- God, Cam, I’ll just watch her for half the time, and if she starts to talk too ... - Donna waved her hands and laughed. - But you have to write a lot of phrases!

- Therefore, miniDonna will first be a boring interlocutor. But if you regularly update the database of phrases ... Can you imagine if she knew how to learn and remember everything that you write?

- And if she was not alone, but on each computer there were such characters? - continued the thought of Donna.

- With a common database! - finished Cam.

They looked at each other, excited about what they had just come up with.

- Do you think it would be artificial intelligence? - asked Donna.

- Are you afraid that Skynet will capture us? - smirked at Cam.

- Well, if this happens, then messengers from the future will surely come to us to prevent the creation of artificial intelligence, and now I absolutely do not want to deal with them.

- Donna! Are you going to argue with messengers from the future? - Cam was indignant.

They both laughed merrily. At that moment, Cameron's stomach decided to enter into conversation and growled loudly. Cam shrugged shyly.

-I think I'm hungry.

- Let's go down, Haley ordered pizza, she will be brought soon.

- Good idea! - Cam enthusiastically jumped up from her chair. - The last one makes coffee!

And rushed down. Donna did not hesitate for a second and ran after her. They rushed shoulder to shoulder along the stairs, ran to the kitchen, collided with each other at the door and laughed. Haley looked at them from the living room and twisted her finger at the temple.

- Cam, you're crazy! - Donna fell on a chair, continuing to laugh. God, how good it is to laugh! She laughed more in a few months than in the last few years.

- You too! - Cam poured water into a mug and took a couple of sips. Then she took another mug, filled it with water and handed it to Donna. Donna gratefully accepted it and drank it with pleasure.

- So we make coffee together? - asked Donna.

- It's strange that you asked ... - Cam said mysteriously and turned her mug, showing the words “Partners for crime”. - What about you?

Donna looked at her mug and her heart nearly jumped out of her chest. Anchor. She showed it to Cam and nodded: - I will clean the filter, and you pour water.

When the coffee was ready, the pizza delivery man arrived.

[forestwater87]

Underrated Characters Appreciation Weeks I’m too lazy to set up....

...but I’m proud of myself for having created. So if y’all wanna adopt any of these, you can go wild (please tag me though! I wanna see them!). Otherwise, shower me with praise.

(They’re very writing-heavy and often just a list of questions, so if you borrow anything feel free to tweak as suits your inspiration; the questions/suggestions are really just to get people thinking!)

I’m gonna put them below the cut so it doesn’t get too long, but you have to look forward to:

Jasper Appreciation Week

Cameron Campbell Appreciation Week

Gwen Appreciation Week

Bonquisha Appreciation Week

Dirty Kevin Appreciation Week

QM Appreciation Week

Other Secondary Characters Appreciation Week

Elevated Extras Appreciation Week

Nerris Appreciation Week

Space Kid Appreciation Week

Ered Appreciation Week

Harrison Appreciation Week

Dolph Appreciation Week

Nikki Appreciation Week

Preston Appreciation Week

Nurf Appreciation Week

Flower Scouts Appreciation Week

Woodscouts Appreciation Week

Jasper Appreciation Week

Who doesn’t love this good good ghost boy?

Day 1: 90s Kid -- Depict Jasper doing something radical.

Day 2: Jasper’s Camp -- Show off Jasper’s time as Camp Campbell’s golden boy.

Day 3: David -- It’s the only character he has a real canon relationship with . . .

Day 4: Life After Death -- What does he do with himself on that there island all day?

Day 5: All Grown Up -- We’ve all thought about it.

Day 6: Best Friend to Campers -- Pick a non-David character and develop his relationship with them.

Day 7: Spookily Ever After -- How does Jasper’s story end? On Spooky Island forever? Leaving this realm? Becoming the camp’s new mascot? Or was he somehow alive the whole time? Let your imagination go wild!

Cameron Campbell Appreciation Week

He’s sleazy. He’s morally bankrupt. He’s everyone’s favorite non-blonde-twink villain!

Day 1: Shady Business Dealings -- What’s Campbell up to when he’s not at camp? What does he want with Camp Campbell? Was that Nazi gold in his vault? Something’s fishy here, and I’m curious what everyone thinks is going on.

Day 2: Mysterious Past -- How on earth does someone like Campbell happen, anyway? This could be stuff about his childhood, how he got into . . . whatever illegal nonsense he’s up to, how he met QM, even how he got away with not getting in trouble for what happened to Jasper.

Day 3: Spooky Island -- Seriously, what on earth was going on in that house? Focus on the coolest/creepiest thing in there and go nuts.

Day 4: Fears & Other Random Headcanons -- Basically your Free Space day.

Day 5: Boss Man -- Focusing specifically on his relationships with the counselors.

Day 6: (Relation)Ships -- Yeah, yeah, gotta have it somewhere. This one is pretty open to interpretation, and should be considered platonic or not. Just depict the most interesting/fun relationship you think Campbell has. Is that cold black heart even capable of affection, anyway? (If you think he’s a foxy grandpa, go wild today.)

Day 7: What Happens Next? -- Is he gonna ever leave that cave? Team up with Daniel? Gone for good? What’s up ahead for the most notorious criminal who’s ever run a summer camp?

Gwen Appreciation Week

I mean, come on. You knew I was gonna do it.

Day 1: Background -- There are a lot of interesting headcanons about Gwen’s backstory, cultural heritage, etc. City girl or country bumpkin, Latina or African-American or rich or poor or college dropout or whatever, pick what you think is the most interesting headcanon for Gwen (something that’s related to her time before the show, that is) and go nuts.

Day 2: Favorite Camper -- Pick one of the kiddos and have them bond with their grumpiest caregiver.

Day 3: All Dolled Up -- She’s always in that counselor uniform. What does she look like outside of camp?

Day 4: Ships -- Obviously.

Day 5: That Tragic Plot Twist -- If you have an idea what makes Gwen such a grumpy disaster of panic and unemployment -- or just want to have fun making things unnecessarily dark for such a lighthearted cartoon which I know you do; I’ve read the fanfiction -- it’s time to unleash the angst.

Day 6: Anywhere Else -- AUs! AUs in all directions! Gwen doesn’t want to be at camp, so let’s plop her into another world where she might be happier . . . or might not be.

Day 7: A Campbell Camper? Whether you think Gwen was one of the kids who grew up at Camp Campbell or not, I think we’d all agree it’d be fun to imagine.

Bonquisha Appreciation Week

Because she deserves it and will probably kill you if you don’t appreciate her enough. 

Day 1: Those Wild Shirts -- Draw her in another fantastic outfit, or speculate where her amazing fashion sense (and vanity plates) came from. She has a filthy mouth and a whole lotta confidence, and the first day of this week is to celebrate that!

Day 2: Home Sweet Trailer -- Put her in her house on 69 Dirt Rd. and think about what kinds of things a girl like Bon would call home.

Day 3: Dog -- She has one. Tell us about it!

Day 4: Work/Hometown HCs -- What does someone even do in a town that small? Whether you think she’s a waitress alongside that cute pink-haired gal, or if she lives out of town and drove up to see David, ponder a little bit of what Bonquisha does in or around Sleepy Peak and show it to us.

Day 5: Bonvid -- How did that relationship with David crash and burn so hard, anyway? And what does it look like after that episode?

Day 6: Other Relationships -- Bonquisha vs. Tabii, or Gwenquisha, or bffs with Dirty Kevin, or any sort of connection you’d like to expand upon or forge between Bon-Bon and another character in the show. Hell, draw her and Jacob if you think that’s cute; it’s canon, after all.

Day 7: Muscles to Die For -- She’s big and beautiful and could absolutely murder everyone. Let’s just spend out last day appreciating how very much of a badass Bonquisha is.

Dirty Kevin Appreciation Week

The very goodest alternative Den Mother there ever was.

Day 1: Probably a Real Brat -- What was he like as a kid or teenager?

Day 2: Drugs & More Drugs -- Show us Kevin hard at work or tell us how he got into this crazy business.

Day 3: That Red Hoodie -- It’s kind of his trademark, and this is a day to appreciate it.

Day 4: From Sleepy Peak to Mexico -- Take your favorite part from Kevin’s debut appearance and do something fun with it.

Day 5: Den Mommy -- We’ve all thought about Dirty Kevin as a Flower Scout mother, and if you haven’t, you’re lying.

Day 6: Cleaned Up -- Get him a nice facial grooming and some good clothes, and you could have a handsome gentleman right there. What on earth would that look like? 

Day 7:  Not Such a Lone Wolf -- Whether you have an OTP or just love the idea of Kevin being friends with certain characters, show us who you think he has a soft spot for.

QM Appreciation Week

Listen, we’re all a little afraid of him, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve the spotlight for a bit. Even if we know he’ll probably do unspeakable things in and to that spotlight.

Day 1: God or Just Crazy? Whether it’s his apparent inability to age or how he can magically find little woodland paradises in the middle of the camp, there’s a lot of weird going on there. Celebrate the man who may or may not be a murderer and may or may not actually be a literal deity and all his strange, often supernatural weirdness.

Day 2: Hook -- Hey, how’d he lose that hand?

Day 3: Man vs. Squirrels -- He has a blood feud with many woodland creatures.

Day 4: QM Store -- There’s a lot of wacky stuff in there. What did you like best, or what do you think was hidden in the corners that we didn’t get to see?

Day 5: Bonding -- QM’s been there for a long (long long long) time, and he’s clearly known Campbell and David at least for years. Pick a character and explore what their relationship with the Quartermaster might be like.

Day 6: Tontine -- So what on earth was going on there?

Day 7: Camp Specter -- Regardless of how you approached Day 1, the fact remains that for whatever reason, the Quartermaster is at Camp Campbell for good. You can speculate why he’s there or just show us him hard at work doing . . . whatever he does, but today I just wanna see our beloved QM lurking around the camp!

Other Secondary Characters Appreciation Week

To all those characters who hang out in the background, making the campers’ shenanigans more fun.

Day 1: Daniel -- I don’t consider him in any way under-appreciated, but he’s a pretty spectacular way to kick off Season 2, and also this week.

Day 2: Platypus -- Mother of six five four three two one lunch and terror of the camp.

Day 3: Cute Waitress -- Y’all sure do love her. Show your love!

Day 4: Jermy Fartz -- Oh yeah. I went there.

Day 5: Darla & Gregg -- How can anyone who isn’t David be that excited about camping? Were they totally secretly dating? Where are they now, and how did they get there?

Day 6: The Denizens of Sleepy Peak -- Whether your heart belongs to Lester, Fred, the old geezers, or any of the others populating the nearby town, it’s time to show them some love.

Day 7: Parents -- How else would we end this week but with some family bonding?

Elevated Extras Appreciation Week

They’re not as memorable as the secondary characters. They don’t even have lines. But they’re ours and we love them.

Day 1: Former Campbell Campers -- we see in the picture on David’s bulletin board that there were a lot of kids who used to come to the camp. Show or tell us about your favorite!

Day 2: Camp Counselor of the Year Judges -- What was up with those guys? Were they even human?

Day 3: Other Camps -- Lake Lilac is home to Teen Church Camp, Pirate Camp, and who knows how many others? Let’s enjoy them!

Day 4: Larry -- Poor, poor undeserving Larry. RIP, my fuzzy man.

Day 5: Scotty -- Visual comedy camp? Seriously?

Day 6: Chucky -- What happened to him anyway?

Day 7: Your choice! Think I forgot the most important one? Time to correct that mistake! (Listen, if you’re mad I didn’t include Jen, consider this the Jen space.)

Nerris Appreciation Week

Devoted to the real(?) magic kid.

Day 1: The Cute -- Artists, draw how cute she is! Writers, maybe think about how the nickname came about! Or do something completely different! I don’t care!

Day 2: Magic War -- Explore her relationship with Harrison.

Day 3: Elf-kin -- What does that even look like? What does it mean?

Day 4: Bonding with Mere Mortals -- The camp is full of people and animals. Pick one and play with their relationship with Nerris.

Day 5: Dice -- What do they look like? How did she get them?

Day 6: Fandom -- A girl that excited about fantasy has to be quite the fan of a lot of things. Show us her interacting with her favorite stuff.

Day 7: Her Party -- Her relationship with her slightly-clueless mother and extremely-geeky dad.

Space Kid Appreciation Week

The most obvious appreciation week in the entire world.

Day 1: Astronaut -- Whether you want to show him all grown up or as a little kid, give us a glimpse of what Neil the real-life spaceman would be like.

Day 2: Aliens -- Another type of spaceman.

Day 3: Fishbowl -- A day to just appreciate his adorable, impractical costume.

Day 4: Punching Bag -- He’s been pushed around and disregarded by Max, Nurf, Max, the counselors, various animals, and Max. This is a day dedicated to his unfortunate luck and indomitable good spirit.

Day 5: Sick -- After that trip he took across the lake to the moon, and barely surviving the flu zombies, Space Kid could probably use some patching up.

Day 6: Science Guys -- The two Neils, bonding.

Day 7: SPACE!!! -- Give us Space Kid interacting with his favorite hobby ever.

Ered Appreciation Week

A very very cool week.

Day 1: Skater -- Even on the camp’s awful cardboard halfpipe, Ered’s still a budding Tony Hawk.

Day 2: Dye -- Dedicated to her awesome -- dare we say cool? -- hair.

Day 3: Camp Kool Kidz -- Celebrate her short-lived tenure as the head of Camp Campbell.

Day 4: Extreme -- What other extreme sports does she like to get up to?

Day 5: Queen Bee -- Her relationship with one or more of the other campers.

Day 6: Wipeout -- She gets injured a lot, doesn’t she?

Day 7: Cool Gay FBI Dads -- They’re the most wholesome family that regularly gets into gunfights.

Harrison Appreciation Week

Devoted to the . . . real(?) magic kid? (Didn’t we already do this?)

Day 1: Harry’s Son -- His outfit is pure Vegas showman, his VA and accent seem to suggest Israeli descent, and he may or may not be a literal wizard. His parents are terrified of him, but his mom says he’ll grow into his looks. Give some backstory to this lovable kid and his love of illusions.

Day 2: Actual, Real, Terrifying Magic -- This kid isn’t messing around. From summoning fireballs to making both objects and living things appear and disappear, he has some serious supernatural chops.

Day 3: Apprenticeship -- He and Nikki’s relationship consists of equal parts mutual admiration and mayhem. What do the two of them get up to behind the scenes?

Day 4: Brother -- Time for theories (and angst, of course angst) about how and why he “made his brother disappear.” 

Day 5: Any Resemblance to Bill Cipher is Pure Coincidence -- . . . probably. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to imagine that crossover!

Day 6: Frenemies -- Harrison has a habit of getting on people’s nerves. Pick at least one character and develop their relationship with the magic kid.

Day 7: Hufflepuff Pride -- Jordan Cwierz confirmed it! This last day is about celebrating all things yellow and black and (mostly) well-intentioned.

Dolph Appreciation Week

I know, he’s controversial. But he’s a kid with a passion for art and no understanding of history, and he could use some love as well.

Day 1: Painting -- Exactly what it says on the tin. While he is clearly skilled at lots of different types of art, this is the one he seems to like the most.

Day 2: Where’s the Yellow? He is the only one who doesn’t wear anything camp-themed. Give us a glimpse of what might’ve happened to that signature yellow clothing.

Day 3: Stage Manager -- Multiple times throughout the series Dolph is shown as Preston’s right-hand man by helping him design sets and acting in his plays; Preston even returns the favor by posing for a painting. Today is dedicated to the strange relationship of the theatre and art kids.

Day 4: Camp Counselor of the Year! Incredibly, Dolph appears to be quite the competent leader for his age, and his one day of running the camp went smoothly for the most part. Maybe he has the makings of a great counselor after all.

Day 5: The Elephant in the Room -- We all knew it was coming. Whether you find the Hitler jokes hilarious or offensive, everyone has an opinion about this particular character choice. Now’s the time to speculate what happens when he gets older, or completely retcon this aspect of his personality, or do whatever you’d like to with his . . . peculiarities.

Day 6: Father Issues -- According to the show’s wiki, “his father is an American lieutenant, who raised him on a German army base where he supposedly gained a love of art and soccer like many Europeans, much to his father's dismay.” Oof, that’s a lot to unpack. Time for backstory!

Day 7: Not Such a Bad Kid -- Despite his . . . controversial elements, Dolph as a character seems fairly sweet and oblivious, and is loved by a significant portion of the fanbase for these qualities. A free day of sorts, this is about accentuating the positive and appreciating the awkward, artistic weirdo underneath the jokes.

Nikki Appreciation Week

I was really close to not including this, because I don’t consider her an underrated character exactly, but Neil has a week and, let’s be honest, it’d be fun.

Day 1: Rough n’ Tumble -- Nikki isn’t afraid of fighting, and she’s no stranger to getting dirty or even hurt. Show the wild child doing something fun, reckless, and probably not very smart.

Day 2: Raised by Wolves -- Imagine an AU where she actually was as much a literal daughter of the forest as she wants to be.

Day 3: Just a Tiny Bit Traditional -- Despite being such a tomboy, there’s a part of Nikki that is deeply romantic and even maternal. Whether through a version of her that’s a bit older or a quiet moment at the camp, show us a little bit more of her gentle side.

Day 4: BFFs, Potential Step Siblings, Sidekicks -- A day to appreciate Neil and Nikki’s relationship, whatever you see that as.

Day 5: Flower Scout Nikki -- What was her time across the lake like?

Day 6: Parent Troubles -- She and her mom have a difficult relationship, and her dad doesn’t seem to be around that much. Show us Nikki and one or more of her guardians, and what that relationship might be like.

Day 7: Holidays! Her first and greatest love is Christmas, but there’s probably not a holiday she wouldn’t throw herself into. Give her a chance to celebrate any holiday you want!

Preston Appreciation Week

Get ready for some high-octane theatrics!

Day 1: A Flair for the Dramatic -- I don’t care what you do with this one, just give it lots of DRAMA!

Day 2: Speak Up -- Preston and his grandmother are really close, but his parents seem to be AWOL. Every Appreciation Week needs a backstory- and/or family-centric day, and that’s what this is.

Day 3: Cosplay -- What’s Preston’s favorite play? Let’s have him dress up like a character in that show.

Day 4: Stage Presence -- Give the boy a spotlight and an audience!

Day 5: The Bard -- He seems to love writing and directing even more than performing. Show him creating the next Hamilton (or more likely, Hamilton’s weird sequel involving pirates and aliens).

Day 6: Theater Nerd -- Either as a high school AU or just some time in the future, image Preston fully engrossed in that drama club life.

Day 7: Tribe -- Every weirdo has their group of friends. Either through OCs or other characters in Camp Camp, give or describe the people that make up the group in which he belongs.

Nurf Appreciation Week

Gaylord Nurfington, much like Shrek, is like an onion: smelly, surprisingly layered, and will probably make you cry.

Day 1: Big N Tough -- He’s built like a brick shithouse and mean as a bear, and that’s part of why we love him. Celebrate the fact that this guy can (and probably will) kick anyone’s ass.

Day 2: Theater Kid? -- We’ve seen Nurf involved in Preston’s productions more than once. Have some fun with his apparent interest in the performing arts.

Day 3: His Mother’s Boy -- Mother and son time!

Day 4: Surprising Depths -- Show Nurf doing something no one would ever have thought he would enjoy and/or be good at.

Day 5: A Thoughtful Bully . . . -- As the self-proclaimed most self-actualized character in the show, Nurf has proven to be remarkably cognizant of his own issues and respectful of others’. Give him a positive-ish interaction with another character.

Day 6: . . . Is Still a Bully -- But let’s be real: Nurf can be a total jerk. Let the kid be mean today!

Day 7: Knives -- Where the hell is he getting all of those, anyway? Regardless, show Nurf with his favorite toys.

Flower Scouts Appreciation Week

They’ll kill you with a smile and fantastic hair, then they’ll use their drug contacts to bury the bodies.

Day 1: Grace & Class -- No one is prettier and daintier than these angels -- and nobody knows it better than them.

Day 2: Nicer than Disneyland -- Whether you’d like to focus on their shady cookie dealings, the washed-up Miss Priss, or even invent your own Scout, give yourself a chance to explore a part of the Flower Scouts that hasn’t been given much screentime yet.

Day 3: Sasha -- A day dedicated to the quintessential Queen Bee. Manipulative, clever, and pretty damn selfish, Sasha is undoubtedly the leader of the Scouts, and you better respect it.

Day 4: Erin -- If your heart hasn’t been captured by this heterochromatic science nerd, this day is not for you. But for the rest of us, grab your pumpkin spice and head off to Fraaaaance to celebrate her!

Day 5: Tabii -- What she lacks in common sense she makes up for with being absolutely terrifying. Tabii-with-two-eyes-with-one-eye is an emotional rollercoaster, and she deserves a little bit of love today.

Day 6: Not-So Delicate Girls -- From drug empires to vats of acid, the Flower Scouts have proven that they can kick a whole lot of ass. Show off how tough these girly-girls can really be!

Day 7: Garden Mother Kevin -- Come on. You knew it was coming.

Woodscouts Appreciation Week

They might be the cartoon answer to what would happen if Stormtroopers were body-swapped with Boy Scouts, but that’s part of their charm.

Day 1: A Shadowy Organization -- No girls are allowed, they don’t appear to have a troop leader, their camp is impenetrable, there seem to be maybe 5 Scouts at most . . . Pick something cool about this creepy camp and play around with it.

Day 2: Bitter Rivalries -- Between risky bets against Camp Campbell and popcorn/cookie sales against the Flower Scouts, it seems like the WS have a problem with basically everyone. Depict one or more interaction between them and their most bitter enemies.

Day 3: A New Recruit -- How on earth does Jermy fit into the Woodscouts’ routine? How has he not accidentally (or not-so accidentally) been incapacitated yet?

Day 4: Fearless Leader -- He’s slimy in more ways than one, but he keeps Troop #818 together and has even managed to snag a few recruits. That alone is worth a day of appreciation.

Day 5: Strong & Silent -- For someone who doesn’t talk much, Petrol has a lot of good advice and personality. Let’s celebrate his bromance with Snake, his willingness to be sacrificed for the WS, or even just his stubborn refusal to try leg day even once.

Day 6: Call him Snake -- Prince Zuko Billy might not be the most dignified character on the show, but he’s certainly the most honorable and is deadly with a candy cane.

Day 7: Like Family -- I just want to see some Woodscouts bonding, with each other or a character of your choice.

[operationoverdrive]

power morphicon diary (2018)

twitter thread with pics and such ✨✨✨

now to recap the greatest weekend of my life:

brennan mejia (tyer, dino charge red)

the first ranger i met, his line was always really long i love my relevant king. i was shaking and speechless pearl had to speak for me, she told him i loved all latinx rangers and he said “good!”. he told us everyone got to keep 8 items from the set and he kept his energem, tyler’s boots, his dad’s bracelet, tyler’s red puffy vest (for me ofc), and other stuff idr because he was so beautiful i was physically unable to breathe. 

later kat was reminiscing and said “i can’t believe azim had a mental breakdown because of us” and we turned the corner and a voice said “azim had a mental breakdown” GUESS WHO IT WAS! we all screamed, kat ran back around the corner but we all did end up in the elevator together and he was very chill even tho we were all wrecks

selwyn ward (tj, turbo red/in space blue)

idr planning to get a pic with selwyn but he has a magnetic forcefield that draws people to him and no one was in his line so he talked to us for a while and asked if we preferred turbo or space and which episode was our fave and he actually remembered the plot of mine (the curve ball). he was tight-lipped when we asked if he was in the anniversary even tho we pointed out a pic of him and chrysti was posted (BY HIM), it was so adorable he was squirming so much. 

later we saw him while waiting for our car and we SCREAMED and he rushed right over and gave us all hugs and told us to make sure to come see him (he corrected himself when he saw pearl and remembered we’d already been)

brandon jay mclaren (jack, spd red)

i asked him to sign a marriage license and he almost died laughing, he was so happy. fyi he has never been proposed to by a fan before so @everyone in the world i need you to step it the fuck up

jorge vargas / adam tuominen (blake and hunter, ninja storm navy and crimson)

my first sighting of them was while we were waiting for our tickets and they were going to check in, as soon as i recognized jorge i screamed my lungs out and he was utterly bewildered but he waved while adam was living for it. everyone around me looked at me like we did NOT just see the actors of our generation and i chastised them all for failing at life. when they came back around jorge had his phone out to film the crowd and i screamed even louder and he waved really big and BLEW A KISS IN MY DIRECTION AND I ASCENDED TO HEAVEN

when i finally was able to meet them to take pics pearl had to drag me over and she immediately let jorge know i was his biggest fan and was the girl who shrieked every time she saw him. he came right around and gave me a big hug!!!! i couldn’t really talk to him for long nor do i remember what we talked about because i mean how do you hold yourself together in front of someone that means so much to you??? YOU DON’T THAT’S HOW!

it was easier to talk to adam bc i could actually remember how to breathe. he told us jorge was the second oldest in the cast even tho he was supposed to be hunter’s baby brother so it was a strange contradiction but he loved playing an older brother. he said he and jorge hung out just the two of them alot to strengthen their bond (i asked if they got drunk together and he laughed and said “well i wasn’t gonna say it but yes”. i told him hunter was a pink ranger and he laughed and said “Yea first male pink ranger!!!”

i saw them again when we were in line for the atm and this time they definitely recognized me and waved really big i love those thunder punks

megaforce panel

this was the only panel i went to bc pr fans don’t know how to act so they’re all boring or frustrating but thankfully the megacast is charming as hell and made every second entertaining and engaging

andrew and christina were late but when christina walked in i guess we screamed really loud because when she asked if we missed her john mark said “yes the christina masterson fan club is right there” and pointed to our group in the crowd

some fan asked them about the vrak is back two parter and the entire cast was like scrambling to remember if that was even an episode of their series, azim started talking about fight scenes and crates and confused vrak with vekar so i decided to yell that its the episode where robo knight dies and cameron was like “that must’ve been an episode my morpher was coincidentally turned off” and i was like “no you dummy you were kidnapped! orion was sleeping beauty!!” and he cracked up. john mark told me to calm down.

i asked christina if she prepared or studied anything about photography since emma is very passionate about it and she said her boyfriend at the time was a photographer and she was a model so she knew some basics and became a photographer herself

tracy lynn cruz (ashley, turbo/in space yellow)

even tho we were second in line we had to wait FOREVER bc some dude kept asking her about monsters. we ended up talking to her son who was helping with her booth and he was really nice! her husband was also there and wearing her merch it was so cute! i told tracy she needed to start a fashion line based on ashley’s wardrobe and when i almost forgot my debit card she told me “oh wait i can use this to start my fashion business”

davi santos (ivan, dino charge gold)

quite possible my favorite interaction of the entire con??? we approached him right as he arrived so we were the first to meet him! pearl and i were basically gushing as soon as we made it to the table and he was so confused bc we kept talking at the same time. i congratulated him on the new show and he said he hopes we all enjoy it. his booth was so cute, he was selling energems but the signs specifically said “zandarian energems” and his sign advertising his social media said “thine twitter, thine instagram, thine facebook” bc he’s a fucking NERD. he let me wear his jacket which was real and from the show, specifically from the episode sync or swim where they made a bunch of replica’s bc of the scene where they have to ruin it. he also kept his glasses on bc i asked him if we could be glasses twins and did ivan’s famed duck mouth selfie with me. then he hugged me and i died

azim rizk (jake, megaforce black/super mega green)

he recognized us as soon as we approached his booth and said he noticed our little “cluster” because we were so loud at the panel dkhgfmdg. he was literally the easiest person to talk to i could’ve spent all day talking about megaforce and how much i love it with just him. he was selling jake pins for FIVE DOLLARS and i told him to raise his prices bc he is hashtag worth it and also to make jake hoodies (he was wearing his one from the show!) and sell them and we would all be his investors. we were holding each other for the pic and he looked right at me and his face was really close so i screamed “omhy god don’t look at me” and he was like “oh sorry” so yea gia moran found dead in a ditch

the second time we saw him pearl recapped here

at one point when we were chilling behind his booth cameron was like ??? and i was like “we’re his security team please don’t look him directly in the eye” and he laughed. azim literally could not stop hugging us he was so cuddly and soft!!!!!!! he also told us he brought his spandex with him and if it would be Too Much if he put them on and were like no bitch that would be the best thing ever why is no one else doing it, but then i called him a nerd when he actually ended up wearing it just bc we told him too and he was like “Yes.”

christina The Main Event masterson (emma, megaforce/super mega pink)

my darling my angel my being of light the sweetest human to ever live, she was so kind and easygoing but the first time i met her i could not speak. the first time my brain turned to slime so i think all i told her was that emma was my favorite ranger of all time and i loved her so much and pearl brought up all the times emma kicked ass and i think i interjected with “the halloween baking episode!” and she said she didn’t like that episode bc emma didn’t get to dress up. pearl asked what emma would’ve been and she said a monarch butterfly we stan an intellectual

i took a second pic with her bc i am That Emma Stan aka i bought a child-sized megaforce pink t-shirt and squeezed into it just for the aesthetic. i was better about speaking this time and told her i loved her syfy movies truth or dare but how dare she make me watch her awful death scene, she told me her dad also hated that scene but we talked about how we loved that her character chose to take her destiny into her own hands. when i brought up zombie shark she cringed a little but i told her i thought it was a fun movie and she said she loved playing a shark. i asked if she got tips from john mark since he’s a shark ranger and she said “as if”, she and ciara had also commandeered all the boys’ helmets for some reason it was adorable. i told her the girls rightfully owned them anyway and she smiled. they were so many babies in line for the girls and they kept calling them by their character names it was the most heartwarming thing ever to hear a small child squeak out “hey gia!” I LVOE POWER RANGERS MEGAFROCE

hector david jr. (mike, samurai green)

first saw him at the valet and kat is the one who pointed him out like “He....” and we all started screaming and as he gains life from such activities he immediately rushed over and gave us all a huge group hug bc he is an angel sent from heaven

he was announced like one hour before the con so they literally just shoved him into najee’s booth it was so funny bc all the merch was blue ranger (i got a kevin t-shirt!) and hector’s one green ranger helmet. i told hector to sell me the shirt off his back and he said he’d think about it since it matched my outfit kdnhnkd. he kept doing flips and jumping over the table bc he’s part grasshopper i guess. when kat took her picture we had to wait while he did a flip and kat asked najee what was up with him and najee was like “thats just hector” lmao. i asked hector why he and brittany were the only rangers that didn’t get an intro scene where their helmets flashed and he said it all just boiled down to the writing but that we haven’t seen the last of mike and he wants to come as a villain so i’m like 👀🔍📝 noted. when we took our pic i l layed my head on his shoulder and he said “my prom date right here” and morphicon became little mix’s love me like you mv as he also agreed to be ben’s prom date i love hector david jr with all my heart. again SO MANY BABIES IN LINE FOR THE SAMURAI RANGERS!!! the kid ahead of us asked if the samurizer that najee had was real or was it a toy CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE

anna hutchison (lily, jungle fury yellow)

while in line for the atm we saw her entering and i screamed “we love you anna!” and she waved and smiled at us she’s so ethereal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! kat and i were the first (paying) people in line, she had lily figurines all over her table i love jungle fury’s number one stan. she is literally the sweetest person ever and so engaging. kat told her it was an absolute power move that she wore red instead of yellow and anna said she did it so she could lead the morph for once, i told her that lily could absolutely lead in yellow just fine and she laughed and agreed. when we were taking our pic kat mentioned how i didn’t like how some of my previous pics had turned out and anna said she’d wait until i signed off on them and we could retake them if i didn’t like them QUEEN OF CHARITY!! her handler was...really bad and the pics came out all shaky as soon as we saw them she and i exchanged looks and anna was like “uh yeah let’s try again” i still didn’t like how they came out but i stayed quiet the second time bc i was grateful enough to be in the presence of a literal heavenly being. she asked what other parts of the convention we were looking forward too and i told her she was the main event because we had been waiting for her all day and she hugged me!!! blonde yellow rangers respect ur leader

andrew gray (troy, megaforce/super mega red)

this man printed out an article that explained why super megaforce was the strongest team in power rangers history and cited it during the panel fuck everyone else i RESPECT HIM. when we came up to his booth i picked up the article and said he should have it on display and he told me i could keep the paper copy because he had A PRESERVED DISPLAY COPY ANDREW LOVES MEGAFORCE MORE THAN ANYONE. he was also the epitome of beauty and has the most intense nature about him so it was hard to think of things to say. i just told him i loved troy and he said “that’s cool man”, a chill legend. when we did our photo op he kept trying to talk to us and asked to see how the pic turned out a few times but my mouth just could not form words around him, years of academy training wasted.

katrina browne / katrina devine (marah and kapri, ninja storm)

literally the most excited and affectionate ladies at the con they were so happy to talk to people i told them that marah and kapri were the greatest villainesses of all time. they were so adorable and didn’t know what i was talking about when i said “let’s do the charlie’s angels pose!” so i had to show them. it was their first con and i asked them to please come back and they said it was so much fun so they really wanted to!

jack guzman (danny, wild force black)

he made a Comment and had me like ..........................give me my money back, but i got a cool danny jacket and i love it and i love danny delgado what’s a jock gizmo

mike ginn / li ming hu (gem and gemma, rpm silver and gold)

APPARENTLY my snake friends told mike ginn about me and how much i loved gem and gemma and how excited i was to meet them but that i was really shy around my faves so when he came over to take the pic and i told him my name he was like “omg you’re shy tabby!” and i immediately died. he kept trying to tell me it was okay and i was just giggling so much and trying to fake run away and li ming told mike to stop embarrassing me it was so cute. he asked for a hug to calm me down and he was so gentle i love him.

later when kat and i walked past mike’s booth he yelled “hey there’s tabby!” I HATE HMI SO MCUH WHY IS HE LIEK THIS

karan ashley (aisha, mmpr yellow)

she was selling so much merch we stan an entrepreneurial queen. i told her that i stan all mexican rangers and she said “yes i love that!”. she hugged me and told me that she loved that i was Ready with my cute pose and i told her it’s bc she emits cuteness energy and i thrived off of it but she said it came from me so i guess you could say we’re dating

other sightings

mike chat (chad, lightspeed blue): was hanging out at the beast morphers unveiling and i saw him and was like....,,,,,.,.,.oh myog do........ITC HAD!!!!!!!! but he had like a ring of handlers around him and the panel was going on and he wasn’t there as an official guest (he trained those auditioning for beast morphers including the 3 cast!!) so i didn’t approach him but he was wearing an all blue suit so thank you for my life

cerina vincent (maya, lost galaxy yellow): saw her as she was walking to the con and she recognized us when she saw me and kat standing in another line she’s literally sunshine personified

kevin kleinberg (trip, time force green): a bunch of people got into the elevator and it got too full for us but i noticed one of the men looked familiar and then it hit me “OH MYGOD YOU’RE KEVIN KLEINBERG ITS KEVIN KLEINBERG!” he smiled real big and waved and told me he liked my shirt (megaforce) as the doors closed, then i reminded everyone it was trip from time force and no one but me is valid 

alycia purrott (syd, spd pink) +2: i talked to her while kat was getting her pic and asked why a full version of syd’s hit single was never released and she said she’d love to get hands on the original recording. i told her that it’d be the perfect SPD reunion if they all shot a music video together and she agreed. kat met all the spd rangers so i also spoke a bit to matt austin (bridge) and chris violette (sky) and matt said chris stole his poster design from greg and i said “that’s such a sky move” and he cracked up. i asked chris if he was having fun at the con and he said of course but i told him he didn’t have to lie and he gave me a look and said “i know right” and laughed, the spd cast is so funny

i also saw will shewfelt eating lunch, he was with his entire family which was adorable that they all came to see him at his power ranger event and his brother looks EXACTLY like him but tiny

anyway i love morphicon and power rangers and the hell clique and all you pr fans need to step it up and ask better questions at panels and be nicer to the actors and also do research and learn all their faces so ur not looking around wondering why i am screaming my head off because some lady passed by (IT WAS KARAN ASHLEY YOU UNGRATEFUL BRATS!!!!!)

can it be 2020 now?

[azvolrien]

Night Words

Part three of Pirates of the North Atlantic is in progress (read: I got distracted and forgot about it but have actually been working on it again), but in the meantime here’s an unrelated thing. Bit of a character piece, that being writer-speak for ‘nothing really happens’, but I had some fun writing it.

I just like writing conversations

~~~

           Wygar slowly opened his eyes, felt the chill on his face, and pulled the blankets up to his forehead. His bedroom was cold; clearly the College’s furnace had been banked for the night, and the steam pipes concealed within the walls of the building had cooled without its heat. With a grunt, he rolled over beneath the heavy quilt and flung his arm across – nothing. His hand bumped down against the mattress.

           He sat up. He was alone in the dark bedroom. Frowning, he swung his legs out of bed and stood up, pulling on his dressing gown as he let himself out into the main room. It was no warmer there.

           Tiger-formed, Fayn lounged on one of the broad, padded windowsills, her nightdress draped over her back as she gazed out at the night.

           Wygar detoured to stir the embers in the hearth before joining her by the window. “Are you all right?”

           Fayn nodded, but didn’t turn away from the window. Wygar absently brushed his fingers through the fur on her shoulders and leant in to see what she was looking at.

           A heavy snowfall had joined the previous day’s frost, coating the College grounds in a blanket of white. Even the pond had frozen over.

           “I wonder if it’ll stay?” said Wygar. “Usually the snow here melts by about lunchtime, but it’s been colder than usual this winter.”

           Fayn sat up and shifted to human form. “It’s beautiful,” she said, shrugging on her nightdress. It wasn’t a particularly warm one and goosebumps appeared on her bare arms, but if she felt the cold, she resolutely ignored it.

           “I suppose it is,” said Wygar.

           “You suppose?” said Fayn, smiling.

           He shrugged. “Spending the best part of a winter in the Dragon’s Teeth rather reduced my fondness for snow,” he said. “Now I can’t look at it for too long without imagining how much more inconvenient it’s going to make everything.”

           Fayn laughed. “I didn’t see much snow in the forest,” she said, drawing a circle in the condensation forming on the glass. “It did get cold enough up in the northern reaches, but it wasn’t usually heavy enough for much to get through the trees.” Her eyes took on a faraway look. “Sometimes if I was up that way at the right time of year, I’d climb up to the canopy and look out at the snow covering the branches. It was like being above the clouds.”

           “Do you miss it?” asked Wygar quietly. “The forest.”

           Fayn fell into a contemplative silence. “There are things I do miss,” she said after a while. “Travelling around, watching the animals. The general lack of responsibilities,” she added, making Wygar chuckle. “But there are so many more things I don’t that I’d say it still balances out to a ‘no’. Starving. Having to either dig a burrow or build a nest every night. Always looking over my shoulder. Fighting off animals just to get something to eat, either when hunting or because they wanted whatever I’d foraged. Never being quite warm or comfortable enough…”

           “Fleas,” supplied Wygar.

           Fayn froze, her eyes widening. “…Did Rhona tell you!? That little- She promised she wouldn’t!”

           “Whoa, hey, hey!” Wygar held up both hands. “Rhona didn’t say a word. I worked it out for myself.”

           “How?!”

           “Well, partly because since you’d spent twenty years living a feral existence in the uncharted wilds, it was only reasonable that you’d have picked up a few passengers along the way… Aaaand partly because you gave them to me. Must’ve happened on the journey back, when you were riding behind me on Rathus.”

           Fayn made a peculiar strangled sound in the pit of her throat.

           “I won’t say I was thrilled to find out,” said Wygar, “but it was nothing a fine-toothed comb and a thorough scrub with the right soap couldn’t fix.”

           One of Fayn’s eyes twitched, before humour finally won out over mortification and she burst out laughing until someone on the floor beneath shouted for her to be quiet. “Gods,” she muttered, scrubbing tears from her eyes, “it must be true love if I gave you fleas and you still married me!”

           “I certainly don’t have many romantic illusions about you any more,” said Wygar, and briefly nuzzled her hair. See, no fleas was the unspoken reassurance. “Just romantic observations.”

           “Oh, stop,” said Fayn, half-heartedly elbowing him in the stomach. She sat back against the wall and sighed. “At least there was nothing to let you work it out about the tapeworm.”

           “The Healers have a lot of practice with parasites,” said Wygar after an only mildly horrified pause. “Some of the apprentices come from very deprived backgrounds. They come here from all over the country, and some of the more isolated settlements up in the hills-”

           “I get the idea.” Fayn slid an arm around his waist and hugged him against her side.

           Wygar lightly traced the scars on her left shoulder with his fingertips. Most of her scars – and there were many of them – were smooth and silvery; even the ones on her face were barely noticeable from a casual glance, gained from countless scrapes and scratches over her years in the forest. In contrast, the three on her shoulder were stark and ropy, reminders of deep wounds that had been inflicted by the claws of an angry bear and had healed slowly and poorly. Wygar shivered, returned her hug tightly, and abruptly changed the subject.

           “How did you get out of bed without waking me?” he asked.

           Fayn laughed again, more softly. “You’re a heavy sleeper, and I’m very stealthy.”

           “A useful skill in a librarian.”

           “Oh, yes. The apprentices never hear me coming. Of course, that’s easier if they’re being noisy. I suppose it’d be useful for a warmage as well, but your fighting style doesn’t really lend itself to stealth.”

           “No, it certainly does not.” Wygar sat down on the other half of the window seat with his back to the glass. “Have you given any more thought to what we should look for in a house?” he asked, drawing one knee up to his chest and folding his arms around it. “While I’ve generally enjoyed my time at the College, we can’t live here indefinitely. They won’t take these rooms off me as long as I still work here, but they weren’t really furnished with a couple in mind, let alone a family.”

           “Hmm.” Fayn stretched her arms above her head, arching her back. “Not much about the house – I don’t know much about houses, come to that – but I’d like to stay in Magetown if we can. Ravenswood, Windstone and Seacourt are all a bit… penned-in, if you know what I’m trying to say-”

           “I do.”

           “And I doubt we’ve saved up enough to live in Craglee or the Barracks.”

           “We haven’t.”

           “Magetown is less cramped, and it’d be more convenient for the College.”

           Wygar nodded. “Cheaper, too – a lot of people are wary of living too near the College, so it drives the house prices down. Not that the College’s wards let most of the apprentices’ accidents leak out, but… Well, they have in the past, and the city has a long memory. Anyway, my parents have promised to go in with us on the cost, wherever we decide on. Sort of a late wedding present.”

           Fayn nodded thoughtfully and looked back out of the window. Wygar glanced over his shoulder as a fox ran across the outdoor training court, leaving a trail of prints in the otherwise undisturbed snow, but decided that Fayn was the better view.

           “Did you ever imagine yourself getting married?” he asked.

           “I never really imagined the future,” she said after a moment’s pause. “Though there was one time…” She trailed off.

           “Hm?”

           “I’d forgotten about it until you said that. I could only have been about four or five. There was a wedding in the village, and they let me in past the boundary stones for once so I could come to the feast. I don’t think I really understood what was happening at the time – I just thought it was an excuse for a party – but when Una was taking me back to my hut I asked her if I was ever going to have a wedding. Sethuk – the village priest – overheard and said nobody would risk getting that close to a ghost-marked.”

           She said this in an entirely casual tone and with no hint of self-pity; merely relating a childhood anecdote, not fishing for sympathy in the least. Wygar became dimly aware that his mouth was hanging open, and closed it again before Fayn turned back to him.

           “We showed him, didn’t we?” she said. “What about you?”

           “Huh? Oh. Honestly, no – I’d never imagined it until you came into the picture.” Fayn cocked her head, raising an eyebrow. “I’ve… been with a lot of people,” Wygar explained. “Enough that once I’d got to know you a bit – this is going to sound terribly soppy – I… quickly realised that you were the one I wanted to spend my life with.”

           “You’re right,” said Fayn, smiling. “That was soppy.” She reached out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind his ear, trailing her fingers over his cheekbone. “So it wasn’t just my ethereal beauty?” she teased.

           “No, but I won’t deny it was a factor.”

           “Good answer.” She sat back and shifted one foot slightly to rest it against his hip. “Do you remember all the people you’ve significant pause been with?” she asked curiously.

           “Some in more detail than others,” admitted Wygar, “but yes, certainly. Do you want the list?”

           “You can list them?”

           “Mm-hmm. Not in chronological order, but including more, er, casual arrangements and a couple of teenage partners I never actually slept with as well as the more serious ones…” Wygar took a deep breath. “Rhys, Sian, Gareth, Angharad, Rilla, Aeron, Wynne, Awena, Evan, Iorwen, Nye – not your colleague, a different one – Sioned, Arkadiy, Katya, Tamara, Ebba, Alrik, Ingrid, Eilidh, Fionnula, Lorna, Cameron, Lenka, Alonzo, Carina, Gaetano, Elia, Cyrus, Inara, Safara, Arno, Rosine, Morgan, Arianna, Gwenno and Rhodri.”  

           Fayn blinked. “Wow.” Wygar shrugged helplessly. “Mostly women, right? I can’t tell from some of the names.”

           “About two-thirds women, yes, though more from the numbers of potential partners than any particular preference of mine.”

           “…Huh.”

           “Does… does it bother you?” asked Wygar with some hesitation.

           “No,” said Fayn, completely without hesitation.

           Wygar sat up slightly. “Really?”

           “Should it? You’ve never been unfaithful to any of them – why would you start with me?” A wicked grin appeared on her face. “Look at it this way,” she said. “Means you’d had plenty of practice by the time you got to me – and that’s a lot of people I can swap notes with if need be!”

           “What a terrifying thought,” said Wygar faintly, recalling a whispered and giggly conversation Fayn had had with Rhys a couple of days before the wedding. He still wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what the subject had been.

           Fayn smiled again, less wickedly. “Who would you say is the better fighter?” she asked. “You or Wynne? She certainly drank Calburn under the table at the wedding reception.”

           “Depends, cariad. I’d say I have the edge where magic is concerned, both in power and technique… but in melee I’m reasonably sure she could break me in half. Spent a lot of time training with Master Kendrick – maybe you should try sparring with her the next time she’s around.”

           “Kendrick suggested that as well. Maybe we could drop in on her if we’re ever passing through Northold.”

           “It’s a thought,” said Wygar. “I don’t know the city too well, but I think she mentioned something about a famous burial mound near her flat. There can’t be too many of those.”

           Fayn stared at him. “A burial mound? In a city?”

           Wygar shrugged again. “Like I said, I don’t know Northold much. But while we’re on the subject of visiting places – the Midwinter break is coming up in a couple of weeks. What would you say to getting out of the city for a few days? It would be good to have a holiday together that doesn’t involve either of us getting kidnapped by pirates.”

           Fayn sniggered. “The Sunset Islanders were very apologetic about the pirates,” she said. “Apparently they almost never have trouble with those. Still, you’ve got a good idea there. We can look for a nice hotel in the country or something.”

           “Not-” Wygar broke off to yawn enormously. “Not right now, though.” He looked back at the bedroom door and wrinkled his nose. “The bed will have chilled right down by now, you know.”

           Fayn stretched again, linking her fingers above her head and cracking her knuckles, and stood up. “Come on,” she said, lightly tweaking one of his ears between thumb and forefinger. The point was freezing. “Think I’ve kept you awake long enough. The bed will warm up once we’re back in it.”

~~~

The School of Healing takes responsibility for, er, decontaminating incomers to the College, whether new staff or new students. Accordingly they keep the infirmary well-stocked with flea powders, vermicides and other similar medicines.

Some require more decontamination than others.

[peachhpunch-blog]

Getting to Know Quinn McNeil

Answering ask memes without anyone sending you a message never really bothered me. Sometimes I want to answer them without any sort of prompt. Today is one of those days! I found an ask meme by cassandrapentayaaaaas for OCs and creators; not only does it look fun, but it’ll get me to understand Quinn even better! Enjoy!

1. What’s the maximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing to do? Quinn is working towards being High Scholar in my world, which means plenty of studying. She is studious and dedicated, so she has no problems with sitting still for long periods of time. Sometimes her twin brother, Cameron, leaves glasses of water and food for her because he knows how often she forgot to take care of herself.

2. How easy is it for your character to laugh? I’d say about average. She politely giggles more than laugh, but Keandra makes her genuinely giggle all the time. Her brother, too, but she doesn’t really laugh on a regular basis.

3. How do they put themselves to bed at night (reading, singing, thinking?) More often than not, she falls asleep studying or reading. She’s basically stressed 24/7 because of school so she doesn’t really get a good full nights rest. Unfortunately.

4. How easy is it to earn their trust? She wants to see the best in everyone, but at the same time she’s the butt of a lot of jokes thanks to asshole Mervyn Fredrick Maslow III, who also wants to be High Scholar. She trusts her family, she trusts Keandra, but not many others. To her, actions speak louder than words. Show her that she can trust you, and you’re good!

5. How easy is it to earn their mistrust? She often gives second chances; she did with Mervyn at first, thinking that maybe he had an off day, that his attitude wasn’t about her but something else. But months past and he still ridiculed her. So I’d say it’s harder to earn her mistrust than her trust.

6. Do they consider laws flexible, or immovable? Oh no, rules are rules. The law is there for a reason. She is very Lawful Good. To be High Scholar, you must have a clean record because you work for the Emperor directly.

7. What triggers nostalgia for them, most often? Do they enjoy that feeling? The smell of aromatic woods, sunshine, and roses. She grew up in the Rosewood Palace because her uncle, the Emperor, is her and Cameron’s legal guardian. She also has a little drawing her brother had drawn as children that she keeps as a bookmark. It’s a picture of a the god and goddess Alistair and Nora. Unfortunately, she has nothing of her mother’s and father’s. So she’s pretty sad about that.

8. What were they told to stop/start doing most often as a child? “Be more confidant!” “Stop walking in your brother’s shadow!” “Smile more!” “Speak up!”

9.Do they swear? Do they remember their first swear word? She’s too pure for that. When she was seven she accidentally said “shit” and cried all the way to her uncle about it. (OKAY TRU STORY this happened to me and I ran all the way to my house and cried to my dad lmaooo)

10. What lie do they most frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them? Nothing seriously, to be honest. Just that she was going to bed when really she would stay up all night reading. She’s quite a truthful person, ie. question number 9!

11. How do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)? She keeps asking questions until she fully understands the situation/question. One of her pet peeves is misunderstanding or something not clicking. 

12. How do they deal with an itch found in a place they can’t quite reach? She’d more than likely try to scratch it on the back of a chair if she’s sitting. Once, she used a fountain pen and got ink all on her back!

13. What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color? She loves the color red, and I think she looks beautiful in the color!

14. What animal do they fear most? She’s not scared of most creatures. I mean she lives in the city, and she spends so much time in the royal library that the worst she deals with is rats. She thinks they’re cute though! I would say dragons, but they’re all extinct. And I mean truly extinct. None of that Game of Thrones Mother of Dragons stuff. HAHA.

15. How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first? My poor baby rehearses everything in her mind first, unless it’s in front of Cameron or Keandra. She has a soft voice, the kind of voice you’d want to hear when you’re having a bad day.

16. What makes their stomach turn? Public speaking.

17. Are they easily embarrassed? Ho boy, is she! I’d say her face is forever red because of how much she blushes.

18. What embarrasses them? Public speaking, people saying nice things to her, getting something wrong, stumbling over words, her brother teasing her... she’s basically a walking shoujo anime girl cliche!

19. What is their favorite number? Mmm... I don’t think she has one. Maybe 10? It’s divisible by 5 and 2 which makes thing look all pretty and organized.

20. If they were asked to explain the difference between romantic and platonic or familial love, how would they do so? She’d think about it for a while. She’d probably use examples from old tales and history to help explain.

21. Why do they get up in the morning? More than anything, she wants to be High Scholar. She wants to be recognized for her dedication, intelligence, and, even though she loves her brother more than anyone else in the world, she wants to prove that she is her own person. She does not need his shadow anymore.

22. How does jealousy manifest itself in them (they become possessive, they become aloof, etc)? I feel like there are several types of jealousy. She’s jealous of her brother because she wishes she could relax like him, but she knows she doesn’t have that in her. She’s jealous of Mervyn because he’s quite charismatic, but in Mervyn’s case, I think she does things out of spite. Haha I hope that made sense!

23. How does envy manifest itself in them (they take what they want, they become resentful, etc)? I’d always felt that envy and jealousy are the same thing, so please look at question 22.

24. Is sex something that they’re comfortable speaking about? To whom? In a clinical sense, sure. She can talk about the anatomy of a penis and vagina with ease. But personally, probably not.

25. What are their thoughts on marriage? Marriage isn’t really in her plan, but she’d bawl her eyes out at a wedding!

26. What is their preferred mode of transportation? Walking. She lives in a fantasy world where advanced technology doesn’t exist. Though I am toying with the idea of trains.

27. What causes them to feel dread? Surprise surprise! Public speaking! Leaving the city, her uncle’s long speeches, and the Bridging, which is the annual oral exam all scholars must take to advance to the next grade/level. 

28. Would they prefer a lie over an unpleasant truth? An unpleasant truth for sure. Quinn is stronger than she believes and can handle the ugly truth. Besides, who likes being lied to? No, no, scratch that because some of my OCs would rater a lie...

29. Do they usually live up to their own ideals? Unfortunately, no. She wants to be brave, charismatic, and outgoing, but that’s not who she is. She has very low confidence, but don’t worry! She gets there. I mean, I can’t really  consider that a spoiler. She’ll learn to love herself.  30. Who do they most regret meeting? Uhm, Mervyn for sure! And this nasty slimy dude, Hayes. :) 31. Who are they the most glad to have met? Keandra!!!!!!!!!! And another OC, Naomi, Rosewood’s General of Arms!

32. Do they have a go-to story in conversation? Or a joke? No... She’s horribly awkward in conversations.

33. Could they be considered lazy? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Lazy isn’t in her vocabulary.

34. How hard is it for them to shake a sense of guilt? Extremely hard. She’s her worst critic and is very hard on herself. She’ll think about it for weeks.

35. How do they treat the things their friends come to them excited about? Are they supportive?  Absolutely! If... they’re practical. If her brother came to her and said, “Quinn, I want to become Captain of the Guard!” she’d say, “Oh... Okay, but let’s think about this.” But if he said, “Quinn, I got an apprenticeship with an artist down at the Market, and I’m thinking about taking it” she’d say, “Cameron! That’s great! Who is it? What sort of art do they do? Do they have patrons? Followers? Will you need to buy your own supplies?” etc, etc... 34. Do they actively seek romance, or do they wait for it to fall into their lap? Quinn has a huge crush on Keandra, and vis versa, but romance isn’t her priority. She’d just let it happen, though they BOTH have this stupid “but they would never like me back” thought in their thick heads!

35. Do they have a system for remembering names, long lists of numbers, things that need to go in a certain order (like anagrams, putting things to melodies, etc)? She uses plenty of mnemonics.

36. What memory do they revisit the most often? There’s two! One, when she and Cameron were around five, they explored the palace, even the parts they were allowed to go. It’s the most rebellious she’s ever felt. The second, the moment she received her red shael. (Shael’s are like belts in karate, except they’re satin clothes you wear over your head. They represent the level of scholar you are - black, blue, green, red, gold, white. Cameron is green, while Quinn and Mervyn are red. Whoever earns the gold shael will be the nest High Scholar, but they do not get the white until the present High Scholar dies. I also chose black to be novice since black does not take in any color, and white as High Scholar because white takes in all colors.)

37. How easy is it for them to ignore flaws in other people? Mmm... haha. That’s one of Quinn’s flaws. It’s pretty hard to ignore someone’s flaws. She will try to correct it as nicely as she can, but it can become pretty annoying, like she’s trying to fix them into a perfect person. 

38. How sensitive are they to their own flaws? Same with other’s flaws, she sensitive to her own. 39. How do they feel about children? She loves children! But, again, children just aren’t in her plan.

40. How badly do they want to reach their end goal? VERY BADLY. But not enough to kill. So maybe not that badly! HA, I’m kidding! But she does want to be High Scholar very very badly. 41. If someone asked them to explain their sexuality, how would they do so? Okay, so, to Quinn, she doesn’t really care about her own sexuality. The world she lives in doesn’t really care, but I will make it a priority to show/tell the readers that some characters are bisexual/ace/trans/etc whenever gender/sexuality is important to them, the characters. Like Keandra, she’s mtf trans and bisexual, and that’s important to her. Another character, Naomi, is aromantic ace, and that’s important to her.  It’s just, Quinn doesn’t feel like it’s important. But for the sake of this question, Quinn is pansexual. I hope I made sense of this...

1. Why are you excited about this character? Absolutely! Please make more female characters like Quinn. She’s weak. It’s harsh, but it’s true. But she’s kind, smart, understanding, and she will grow into her own. I love characters like this (ie. Samwell Tarly/ Sansa Stark) because I root for them the most. And it’s nice to see a character I could relate to. 

2. What inspired you to create them? This is going to sound conceded, but... me. I’m a lot like Quinn, except I am definitely not that smart and I’m a little more outgoing. But like I said above, I want more female characters who are cowards, who hide behind people when they’re scared. Because they have the most room to grow! And I will root for all of those characters until I’m six feet under!!!!

3.  Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story? Nope! She was the first person I thought of. I was going to make this a 1 POV story with just her, but I love multiple POV books so much, now I have like... 5? She plays a pretty big role. 

4. Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look? Oh no, she went through some editing. At first she was petite and very thin, but then I was like... SCREW THAT! Now she’s still small but stocky from holding huge books and climbing up stairs and ladders all day long.

5. Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you? I think so... We’re both so a like. She’s the kind of person you feel comfortable sitting quietly with! 6. What do you feel when you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)? Mmm... Excited, mostly. Because I can’t wait to see her grow into such a fantastic woman!

7. What trait of theirs bothers you the most? How she always second guesses herself, and yet she wants to “fix” her friends when she notices a flaw. And how her brother has to stand up for her.

8. What trait do you admire most? Oh, her dedication for sure. That’s where we’re the opposite. I’m so lazy, but she gets so determined when she really gets her mind on something.

9. Do you prefer to keep them in their canon universe? .... Yes?

10. Did you have to manipulate or exclude canon factors to allow them to create their character? ......... Noooo??? (Is talking about fandoms? lol)