#i mean to this day steph gets disrespected and people call those two rings of his not valid for the same reason they called KDs

[unmanageably]

whats the tea on kd leaving the warriors? i was a casual fan at the time it happened so i don't know the situation

well... let me be brief (1/278)

lmao jk but.... well a lot! and most of it is speculation, etcetc ofc we'll never truly know until 20 years later when the last dance-esque documentary comes out about the warriors in the steph curry era lmao-- but the story goes like this:

kevin durant was the superstar of okc thunder and was steadily building up the franchise over the years to become serious contenders for a championship. they were always close, but had never quite made it. but with a good FO/org behind him, westbrook by his side, they were always really close— but again, as we all know, it was never enough (made the finals in 2012. lost. would make the playoffs but always got defeated). in 2016, they once again get really close at the western conference finals where they led the series 3-1 against the warriors. despite that they lose. a mere month later, he joins the warriors: a team that's obviously at the beginning of a dynasty— they won a championship in 2015 and made it into the finals in 2016. but more importantly, the team that beat kevin durant and okc thunder at the conference finals.

there were layers to this "betrayal" and to this day people still think this one decision "ruined the sport" (lol). people saw it as a betrayal on KD's part and it took an incredible hit to his reputation. you almost make it to the finals, you have an incredible teammate in westbrook by your side, an org that supports you and is willing to uplift you to your highest star potential, and you leave? to join the team that BEAT you? to the team that has steph curry, klay thompson, draymond green, andre iguodala?

already a hugely successful team without KD, but with him, it was undeniable. a superteam. yeah, a lot of team has duos or trios. lebron and kyrie, lebron and dwade, harden and cp3, etcetc. but this team was different levels. a whole team full. the team was 73-9 without KD. massively talented already. but now? steph, KD, klay as offensive threats. draymond and andre as defensive threats. insanely good roleplayers like shaun livingston.

everyone was livid. not just OKC fans. everyone in the league! the warriors, and KD's name specifically was tarnished. how disrespectful for the warriors to even think about creating a team like this. how disrespectful for KD to leave an org that's done so much for him. sports media was tearing into them, fans were tearing into them, they were quite literally, the most hated north american sports team. fans were burning jerseys, making videos threatening KD, etc.

we all know how KD with the warriors went. winning fixes all, right? arguably the most dominant team in nba history (2017 warriors vs 1996 bulls a common debate to this day), the warriors absolutely dominated the nba, and went on to win the 2017 and 2018 championships. KD finally gets his two rings and a FMVP. and the warriors still stay the most hated team in the league. you either loved the warriors or hated them! no in between. the narrative is that KD's rings were called into question because he "had a superteam" so they weren't "valid".

2018-2019 is when it all kinda starts falling apart. the warriors are plagued with injuries, and it's just clear they don't have the synergy and chemistry that they did before. it was most clear during a game against the clippers where draymond and kd visibly fought after a bad play at the end where draymond refused to pass to kd. draymond had allegedly yelled at kd and told him to just leave the warriors, and that they didn't need him (kd's contract was up that year as well). KD has said in later years that that argument was kind of like the ~last straw for him and the nail in the coffin for him leaving. he had already been having feelings of being "the odd man out"— though they were winning together and had good synergy on court, the core3 plus the other players were already a tight knit family long before he had arrived. after the incident with draymond, the team never really sat down and talked about it: just brushed it under the rug (dray was suspended for one game but nothing was talked about). KD felt like it was a slap in the face, all this stuff about how gsw is known for good team chemistry and good culture but they just wanted to brush that very public incident under the rug? after that he started playing more selfishly— less like how they would play as a team and more in isolation. KD gets injured during the finals, and as we know, klay gets injured as well: we lose the finals. we don't get the sought after three-peat. KD signs with the brooklyn nets and the rest is history.

i talked a lot about the beginning of KD signing on to the warriors because i feel like that was really the root of why he left. he became one of the most hated players in north american sports. his own fans tore into him. sports media all tore into him. calling him mentally weak, pathetic, etc. and does winning fix all? i feel like KD with the warriors was proof that... it doesn't. KD gets two rings that he basically sold his soul to the devil for AND two FMVPs and people still don't respect him. on top of that he wins it with the warriors: which has always been and will always be Steph Curry's Team. yeah he was integral to those wins, but you can't compete with how steph has built the dynasty, yk? what steph has given to the warriors.

so at the end of the day, the story goes like this: KD "betrays" okc by going to the team who beat him in the conference finals, creates the first real "superteam" in the nba (the superteam discourse is a whole other thing smh like teams aren't trying to do that now but i digress). the whole sports world is going in on him, he's basically sold his soul for these rings. he gets his rings, he gets his FMVP. but his legacy and reputation is still called into question: he's integral but still won his rings and his FMVPs on STEPH CURRYs team, not his. Steph's. on top of all the outside noise, internally he's not happy either. he doesn't feel protected within the team. he has beef with draymond, and steph/klay + the franchise will clearly always have their loyalty to draymond. he doesn't buy into the team culture anymore, and he feels like the odd one out. the only thing that could make him stay would be to keep winning more rings. but the two rings he has didn't fix anything. so why stay? what does he have going for him?

(he goes on to bounce between different teams, tries to build his own superteams but never comes as close as he did. meanwhile steph klay and draymond go through a tough two years, considerably the lowest two years in the steph/core3 era, and come out on top: they win the '22 finals, against a celtics team that had an 84% chance of winning the finals. they save their dynasty, their legacy. steph proves that he won a chip BEFORE KD, during KD, and AFTER KD as well.)

[ultimatetornshipper]

Daminette December Day 3

@daminette-december2019-2020

Princes and Pedestals

Chapter 3 – Legend

Previous

Next

Marinette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The breeze softly danced through her hair as she sat in the windowsill of her room. She opened her eyes and stared at the parchment resting on a book on her lap, her little bottle of ink sat next to her on the ledge. She fidgeted with the quill in her hand, frustrated.

She was trying to write a letter to Luka to let him know that they'd arrived safely. He was her right hand man and their friends were most likely bugging him on whether he'd heard from her or not. She needed to give them an estimate on how well the whole thing was going but she barely had a feel for these people. She was pretty certain they wanted this alliance just as much as the Order did, but she didn’t yet have any idea what exactly they’d ask for.

She sighed and dipped her quill in her ink, maybe if she started the words would come.

Dear Luka

I hope you are well. How is everyone doing? How’s Alya and the baby? How’s Nino dealing with her pregnancy hormones? How’s she dealing with his overprotectiveness? Has Chloe returned from her mission? How did it go?

I miss you all, I hope everything is alright back home.

We arrived safely at the Gotham Royal family's Summer home. They have treated me with kindness and respect.

She took a breath. Should she tell him about Prince Damian? He would in all likelihood be the next Black Cat. He was her match. She didn’t know him, but the Destruction radiating off of him was on par with the Creation that followed her. As much as she didn’t want to replace- She shook her head, moving on was inevitable, she needed someone to rule by her side. She needed to tell her court the truth.

I met him. It all feels too soon after everything that happened last year. The Destruction coming from him was incredible. Plagg would kill me if I didn’t introduce them. Please have Pegasus deliver the ring when you receive my letter. He can deliver it to my exact location, I’ll explain things to any witnesses. I’ll disclose more information on who he is if he accepts my offer of the ring.

Yours sincerely,

Marinette

She tapped her chin with the end of her quill as she reread her letter.

A soft mew made her look up, sitting next to her little ink bottle was a beautiful calico, staring at her curiously.

“Hey girl,” she replied softly, holding out her hand, the cat sniffed it then pressed her cheek against Marinette’s hand. She scratched the cat's head softly, smiling.

“Her name is Legend,” a voice said from her doorway. She looked up and recognized Lady Stephanie standing in her doorway. She was about to greet her when the girl kept talking.

“Oh sorry, your door was open, I didn’t think it'd be a problem, we’re just pretty casual around here and it slipped my mind, Your Majesty,” she said, quickly, her hands gesturing as she spoke.

Marinette smiled at her, standing and placing her letter, book and quill on a nearby table, “It’s quite alright, Lady Stephanie. My court and I are quite similar to you that way, and please do call me Marinette,”

“Only if you’ll call me Steph,” she replied, shifting from foot to foot in the doorway.

Marinette saw the movement and invited her in. They sat at the table she’d put her letter on and she folded it as they made small talk.

She melted some wax onto her envelope and pressed it with the Miraculous Court's seal as she listened to Steph detail a story about the time she and Jason had snuck into the kitchen to steal some of the pastries before a big event when she’d first arrived at the castle back in Gotham.

“It seems you are all quite close,” Marinette commented after Stephanie wrapped up her tale.

“Yeah, we’re family, you know?” she replied. Stephanie wrung her hands together before meeting her gaze, “Can I ask you something?”

Marinette could feel the girl’s unease, so she tried to appear reassuring, “Yes,”

“Yesterday,” she started hesitantly, “In the throne room, the older man who came with you did most of the talking. I don’t know much about the Order of the Miraculous, but I was pretty certain you’re their leader but you didn’t really talk so...” she left the rest of the question unsaid, clearly hoping Marinette would understand hat she was trying to say.

She could tell the girl didn’t mean any disrespect, she was simply curious and she couldn’t blame her. So she gave her a smile, “Master Fu is my teacher, I’m still learning to lead and he’s helping me through everything, until my training is complete he makes the important introductions and still does a lot of the talking. I will be voicing my thoughts a lot more during negotiations though,”

Stephanie nodded slowly, “That makes a lot of sense actually,”

They spent the afternoon together and had tea in the garden.

Marinette was listening to Stephanie ‘s retelling of how she and Tim first met when she recognized Prince Jason heading towards them.

Stephanie spotted him too so she paused when he got close. Marinette nodded her head at him, “Your Highness,”

He nodded back, “Your Majesty,”

He sat down on the open chair at their table and Stephanie quickly continued her story.

She listened politely, but she was aware of the Prince who had joined them studying her discreetly, if she hadn’t been trained to notice, she would’ve missed it.

He noticed her noticing him and she was impressed by his ability to read body language. He, if her training was correct, was growing more and more curious about her by the second.

Somehow managing to miss the tension Stephanie kept telling her story.

“We were both so incredibly oblivious to the other’s feelings and denying our own. Months of pinning and so many misunderstandings. Apparently it was an incredibly frustrating debacle to watch,” she said laughingly, giving Prince Jason a pointed look.

He groaned, playing along and ignoring their silent sort-of conversation that had transpired earlier, “Don’t remind me, it was torture,”

They all laughed, and a comfortable silence followed.

Well that was until Tikki appeared and the other two almost fell of their chairs. She turned to her kwami and decided to explain later.

“Guardian, Queen Bee is attempting to contact you,” she quickly supplied, ignoring the two royal siblings who were staring in shock.

“Put her on, these two can be trusted,” she replied, sipping her tea.

Tikki put down a device on the table and the familiar image of Queen Bee appeared shining in the air in front of her, it was nothing new to Marinette but the other two stared in shock at the moving image of a blonde girl in armor unlike any they’ve ever seen.

“Bee, this better be important, you know how much it takes out of the kwami to do calls (a/n I’m not gonna figure out a new name for it, calls make sense sorry not sorry °3°),” Marinette said sternly.

Chloe looked grim but stood up straight, confident in her choice, “I’m afraid it’s rather urgent Guardian,”

Marinette felt chills, Chloe rarely looked that grim, it was even rarer for her to address her by her title, “Queen Bee, what is it?”

Chloe grimaced. She gave her a meaningful look softly replied, “It may bring back a few unpleasant memories, Mari,”

Oh

It felt as though the wind had momentarily been knocked out of her.

The familiar green eyes that haunted her at night flashed through her mind. Immediately followed by a darker, newer pair. She pushed both images away, she’d deal with that later, now Chloe needed her to be the Guardian.

Marinette took a deep breath and tightened her grip on her cup, “I can take it,”

“It’s Gabriel, he has the butterfly, he wants -,” Chloe swallowed, looking at Mari with pity, she lowered her voice, “He wants to bring him back, Mari,”

Her grip around her teacup was deadly, it was a shock it hadn’t broken yet. She was certain her knuckles and face were both as white as a cloud.

“I -,” her voice cracked and she took a deep breath, she was in the presence of strangers, she couldn’t break down, she pushed her emotions back and went into her Guardian mode, “Tikki add Carapace, Viperion, Tigress, Rena Rouge and Paon to the call. Now. I want it taken care of quickly,”

Chloe’s eyes widened, “Those are all our top warriors,”

“Like I said, I want this taken care of quickly,” Marinette replied briskly.

The others were quickly added and they all switched to the language of the Guardians. If the two royal siblings could speak French, her and Chloe’s previous conversation had already given enough away. Chloe explained the situation while Marinette quickly pulled herself together, she could fall apart later. Right now her Court needed her.

Carapace looked on edge and she knew why. Rena was on the call and she was pregnant, he was scared that she’d have to fight.

“Rena,” she said after Chloe finished explaining, all eyes turned to look at her, “You’re not fighting, but your strategizing capabilities are too valuable to have you sit out completely. You’re on the side-lines for this one,”

Carapace looked relieved and Rena nodded, understanding.

She looked at Viperion, while half her letter turned out to be written in vain, at least she could get this done quicker, “I need you to send Plagg and his ring with Pegasus as soon as you guys finish discussing details,"

She took a deep breath, "I found my match,”

(a/n did I totally just only put the prompt as part of a single paragraph? yeah i did. Do I have any idea where this is going? No i don't. Is the fact that I don’t listen to my outline and do whatever the hell I want gonna stop me? Nope, not at all)

(fr tho I’m just as surprised at this plot as yall are ngl, also, look at me doing a cliffhanger hehehe)

Taglist:

@animegirlweeb

[mischiefandi]

My Home - Drake Walker

A/N: hi everyone! This is the fic I wrote for @riseandshinelittleblossom ‘s Quote Me On This writing challenge! Thank you Steph for organizing this and for letting me participate on such short notice <33 I hope you guys enjoy it. (the quote I had to use is in bold). I always wished MC got a backstory in TRR, so here is a potential one

Warnings: mentions of gun violence, theft, crime, alcoholism, foster care, jail, etc. I would like to disclaim that I know these themes are very difficult for a lot of people so I want to make it clear that I mean absolutely no disrespect to anyone who can somehow relate to this story. This is a dark and angsty fic and I don’t mean to offend or hurt anyone who reads this. Reader discretion is advised.  

Word Count: 3.1K

Pairing: Drake Walker & Iris Jones (MC TRR)

Ringing. Dozens of cellphones buzzing in luxurious purses and warm pockets, an array of ring tones echoing throughout the ballroom, and shocked gasps and quiet curses followed suit, a great number of nobles turning their heads to gawk at Iris. Her face was pale with worry as she nudged Maxwell in the ribs, her eyes darting from duke to duchess.

“What’s going on?” she asked in a hushed tone and her question was answered with a big gulp, a cell phone being pushed in her direction.

Time stopped when she laid her eyes on the article on the screen, the earth shattering words hitting her in the face like a pack of bricks.

NY Thief Turned Duchess of Valtoria, the shocking details of Duchess Iris Jones’ past:

The ballroom started to spin, the faces surrounding her all blending into one big cloud of color and the whispers tripled in volume. Iris couldn’t believe what she had just read, the memories flooding back to her. Somehow, her past had caught up with her, just like she had always known it would.

Her eyes desperately searched the crowd for her friends, the ones she had hoped would never find out about her deepest and darkest secret. Hana’s brow was furrowed in confusion and Maxwell’s face turned paler than the Lythikos snow. Iris’ eyes met Liam’s hurt and bewildered stare and her heart shattered, the darkness of the situation settling in. She had broken his trust, as well the others’. Now, they all knew who she really was. And what an unfortunate reality it was.

Her initial shock slowly turned to anger as she bit back her tears, her blood boiling. Someone had uncovered her past life and had tried to use it against her, sabotaging her reputation once again, publicly humiliating her in front of the court. Someone was still out to get her, after all of this time and all of her hard work. And this time, maybe that someone had finally won.

“Iris,” a voice called out, and her head snapped in its direction, lips parted in anticipation as she finally met Drake’s gaze. He stood a few feet away from her, eyes completely focused on hers. His arms rested along his sides, fists clenched but his expression utterly unreadable. She kept looking at him, tears finally spilling over her lids, unable to control her anguish as she faced her lover. She didn’t care about the court, not really. All she cared about was him, and she had lied to him about it all. The man she loved more than anything in the world, her everything.

The moment was abruptly interrupted when a pair of gruff hands wrapped themselves around her upper arms, gripping tightly at her gentle skin as she was dragged off by members of the Royal Guard, and her first instinct was to fight them off, trying to push them away but in vain.

“Stop. I can explain, let me go!” she grunted, emotion tainting her words as she tried to get out of the guards’ custody.

The crowd gasped as they dragged her away from where she had been standing, walking over to the grand ornate doors of the ballroom.

Iris’ eyes met Liam’s again and she mouthed the words: “I’m sorry” before looking back at Drake. He was pushing people out of the way, cursing and shouting at the other guards trying to keep him away from his fiancée.

“Let me through. Goddamnit, let me pass!” he exclaimed gruffly, almost shoving a guard to the ground.

A series of shouts and voices calling out Iris’ name were swallowed by darkness as the doors closed in front of her. She let out a strangled sob, unable to contain the panic building up inside of her. She couldn’t believe what had just occurred. It had all happened so fast. The moment had been over in a flash, but she kept reliving it, over and over again as the guards dragged her to her palace bedroom.

“What am I going to do?” she thought to herself.

Iris had spent hours in her room, the guards standing behind the door. She had paced up and down the room for what now seemed like an eternity, time ticking by so slowly she could’ve sworn it was the next day if it weren’t for the pitch black sky behind the tall glass windows of the bedroom. She had also curled up into a ball on her bed and sobbed, face hidden away in the palm of her hands, unable to control the waves of distraught that had washed over her at the ball. Now, she sat on her bed, bloodshot eyes fixated on the floor as she bit through four of her fingernails, foot anxiously tapping against the floor while her anxiety levels rose higher.

No one had come to talk to her yet, and she couldn’t even tell if that was a good thing. Maybe she was staying at court, maybe she’d be stripped from her newly given title, maybe she’d be shipped back to New York where she belonged. Maybe.

She was terrified.

What scared her most wasn’t losing Cordonia. It was losing Drake. She had never imagined she would ever find someone like him to protect her and love her the way he did. She had always just thought she’d end up unloved and alone, but he had seen something in her no one else had ever even noticed, something even she couldn’t see, and she thanked the universe every day for it. She had found a home in him, but now, maybe she was going to lose that too. And it was all her fault.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an angry voice and the sounds of footsteps tapping against the marble floor of the palace, volume increasing as it got closer and closer to the bedroom door.

“Move aside and let me in. Now.” Iris heard and her heart throbbed as she recognized Drake.

A polite “no” could be heard, followed by a quiet but stern voice speaking.

“You will let him pass. This man should be granted the opportunity to speak to his fiancée.”

Liam.

Finally, the door opened and Iris shot up in a flash, hands curled up into fists, furious but anguished, ready to defend herself if need be.

Her heart swelled at the sight of her fiancé standing in the doorway. He seemed to be shaking in his wrinkled suit, either from anger or fear, and the look on his face turned the blood in her veins to ice, her lungs clenching as she tried to speak.

“Drake, I-“ she tried to say when he bolted towards her, closing the distance between them and throwing his arms around her, pulling her into a warm and desperate embrace.

“-I don’t care. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter,” he declared intensely as he tightened his hold on her, heart beating uncontrollably and she broke down in sobs.

“It does matter. I have to tell you-“

“-No, you don’t,” he insisted as he looked at her. His heart broke a little at the sight of the fat tears rolling down her cheeks and he placed a comforting kiss on her forehead. Iris let out a shaky breath before finally breaking the embrace. She took a step back and avoided his gaze, instead staring at the floor in embarrassment. She did have to explain, if only to make sure he knew the whole truth and not just the story the tabloids were trying to sell.

“You might wanna sit down for this,” she said, gesturing to the bed. Drake followed her hand and frowned as he placed himself on the edge of the mattress.

“Jones, I don’t need to hear this.”

“Maybe, but I need to know I told you everything.”

She sat next to him, still avoiding his stare and fidgeted with her dress, her long trembling fingers twisting the silk fabric into a small ball just above her knees. This was it. After all this time, she was finally going to open up about her past. This disturbing reality shook her to her core.

“What is it?” Drake asked, watching her fingers shake.

“I’m afraid that when I tell you, you won’t see me the same way anymore.”

Drake reached out to hold her hands in his, tentatively caressing them with his thumb in soothing circles.

“Don’t say that,” he whispered and she squeezed her eyes shut, a single tear rolling down her cheek and landing on her burgundy-colored dress.

“Okay,” she simply said before turning to him.

“My mom got pregnant with me when she was really young, around 19 years old. I didn’t grow up with a dad because he left her when he found out. It was just the two of us in a crappy apartment in the Bronx. My mom was really depressed and she started drinking a lot. She barely even seemed to notice that I was around,” Iris said before sucking in a breath, pausing for a few seconds before resuming her story.

“She left when I was 14. I got home from school one day and she wasn’t home. I waited but she never came back. I tried to hide it but it didn’t take long before I was put in the system and I became a foster kid. I kept running away from my foster homes ‘cus they all sucked. Half of my foster families couldn’t remember my name and they were all assholes anyway.”

“I’m sorry,” Drake muttered, the frown on his face intensifying. No one should have to endure those things, least of all her.

“I-,” she started, before inhaling slowly. “It is what it is. But growing up alone and afraid all the time, I just had a lot of unresolved issues. I ended up meeting a boy. He was good to me at first, made me feel like I was special, like I was the most important thing in his life. I thought I loved him, because I had never known anything else. He was a drinker, just like my mom, and he knew all sorts of people, all involved in shady business. He never really gave me any details about what his friends did, but I knew that something wasn’t right.”

“What was his name?” Drake croaked, heart pumping steadily like the calm before a storm.

“His name was Ty. One day, we were talking and he told me he wanted us to get married. We were gonna run away together and start a life somewhere new, far away from New York. We just needed to some money to get started. I trusted him, so when he told me his plan, I was naïve enough to believe him. I never should’ve.

“The plan was simple enough. We were gonna steal liquor from the bar he and his friends used to go to. The bottles were pretty expensive so we were gonna sell them and use the money to leave before we could even get caught. But something went wrong,” Iris said, her voice wobbling slightly.

Her pulse was quickening by the minute as she remembered the scene, memories flooding back in her mind. She was sweating and trembling, voice completely clouded by a veil of emotion. It was getting harder and harder to keep her cool. This was the part that was going to change everything, the part that would destroy all the things she had worked so hard to get.

“The bar was closed. He used a crowbar to smash the window of the back door and opened the lock from the inside. It was just me and him. We grabbed the most expensive bottles and put them in big duffel bags. But then he told me he was gonna empty the register. I told him it wasn’t a good idea but he didn’t listen, and he started to shout at me, telling me to wait in the storage room with all of the bar supplies. I was terrified, so I did what he told me and I stayed in the back room with the bags full of the stuff we had stolen when I heard a shout and the sound of something smashing.”

Iris’ breathing became erratic and she almost wheezed as she tried to continue telling her story.

“I dropped the bags and ran inside of the barroom, and he was there, holding a gun to the owner’s head. I don’t know when the owner got there or what happened before I came in the room but he was screaming, pleading for his life. I couldn’t believe what was going on, I didn’t even know Ty owned a gun. The owner’s face was bloody, like he had just been beaten up. I couldn’t recognize the look on Ty’s face. Like he was proud of what he had done. It scared me to my core.

“Then I heard sirens coming from a distance and I knew that if we didn’t leave straight away, the police would catch us and we’d never be able to leave and do what he had promised me we would do together. He looked at me and smiled, and suddenly I felt like maybe It was going to be okay.

“He raised his arm towards the ceiling and shot at it. The sound of the gunshot completely blindsided me and I covered my head with my arms. Bits of the ceiling started to come down on us. I thought Ty had done it to distract the owner or something so we could get away. But when I opened my eyes, he was gone and the gun was at my feet.”

Iris exhaled a shaky breath before looking back down at her feet, tears cascading down her flushed cheeks as she cried out.

“The police came in and arrested me on the spot for armed robbery. I quickly realized Ty had used me. He didn’t care about the liquor bottles, all he wanted was the cash from the register. He took all of it. And he left me there to take the fall so he could get out. He didn’t care about me. I was just a stupid teenage girl who’d been naïve enough to trust him.”

Drake’s eyes were wide with shock and he let go of Iris’ hands, passing his fingers through his hair as he tried to process what he had just heard. This made her heart break.

“What happened next,” he inquired, voice steady but quiet.

“I don’t know why but the owner didn’t press charges against me. I still had a court date but apparently there wasn’t enough evidence to suggest that I had had a big enough part in the burglary to go to an actual juvenile detention center. Instead they sent me to some sort of group home for young delinquents which was basically juvie but I didn’t have a record at least. It was hell.

“I did my best to fly under the radar and eventually when I turned 18, I had another court date. They decided I wouldn’t have to go to jail and I was free to go. I left the group home and tried to look for a job. I just wanted to get as far away from that part of my life as possible. I worked as a waitress in a tiny bar and I eventually made enough money to move to Queens in a small apartment just for me. I changed my name and got a new job at another bar, made a few friends, moved on. I became tough, but at least I had gotten out of that place. Ended up working at this new bar for 6 years, until you came in, and my entire world was turned upside down.”

Drake grunted approvingly, eyes locked on the floor beneath his feet. Everything he had just learned was unbelievable. Iris had never told him about her past, only small details, things that seemed normal without the context he had just been granted.

He knew she loved her mom’s mac & cheese as a kid, but he hadn’t known it was because her mom never made anything else. He knew Iris was an avid fan of Queens, but he had never realized it was because it had been her first real home. He knew she was tough as nails, but he had never understood where her immense strength came from.

A sudden urge to hold her washed over him and he instantly pulled her into a warm and protective embrace, the act taking Iris by surprise. Her eyes were wide with shock and she gasped, her heart rapidly beating against her ribs.

“You don’t hate me?” she cried, unable to contain the emotions bubbling beneath the surface.

“Hate you?” Drake asked. He pulled away just enough to look her deep in the eyes, sending her a warm look as he smiled softly.  

“I saw that you were perfect and so I loved you. Then I saw that you were not perfect and I loved you even more,” he said softly.

Iris’ heart throbbed and she cried in her lover’s arms, relief spreading over her in an overwhelming wave.

Never in a million years had she thought she would find someone who could love her unconditionally the way he did. She had just told him about her entire past, every sordid little thing about the person she had once been, the person she had despised for so long. But if he could find a way to forgive her, maybe she could learn to forgive herself too. Iris held him tightly, thanking her lucky stars for giving her a home like this one.

After a few minutes of peace and quiet in each other’s arms, Iris looked up at Drake, a frown spreading on her beautiful face.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. How do I fix this?” she asked.

Her lover look down at her and smiled.

“I don’t know, but we’ll find a way…together.”

And eventually, they did.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed my fic! ty for reading :)  feedback is always appreciated!!

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