#i will never forgive y’all for the nonsense y’all were trying to pull last week

[elliesbelle]

aaron bushnell set himself on fire outside of the israel embassy in washington d.c. yesterday as an act of protest to palestinian genocide and died for the cause, yet so many of y’all were whining and complaining all of last week because participating in the global strike for gaza.

[staytheb]

Chances

Pairing: PTG’s Yuto x OC [Lynn] || PTG’s Hongseok x OC [Alice] Genre: college!au, slice of life, slight fluff, slight angst Word Count: 3,892 Summary: Hongseok's found out who's the girl he's slept with, but more importantly she's the one he's been crushing on since they've first met. He's just hoping that she'll look past his playboy reputation and give him a chance to prove that he's been only all about her and no one else. Yuto finally learns the identity of his secret admirer that's been leaving love notes on his phone and is surprised it's the girl's he liked since they first had class with together. Now he's hoping for a chance for them to become something more since they've now come face to face with no cell phone between them. part one {So It’s You}

Warning: implied sex, drinking, college life stuff, and young adult theme more or less. not proofread either since i’ve last shared it either. lol

so while part two is a lot shorter compare to part one, i was still happy with how this turned out and ofc my sister was happy to get another part to this. she really is a bugger some times. i mean, not sure if this will be your cup of tea or not, but if any of y’all like it, then thanks. if not, then it’s all good. anyways, happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

Hongseok had just opened his bedroom door when he and Alice were bombarded with flashes of lights of the lower PTG members taking photos of them. Hongseok lifted an arm to shield his eyes while Serena turned her body away from the onlookers towards Hongseok's body, but she didn't miss the words coming from out of their mouths. "OMG!" "It's so true!" "She came back again!" "I know right!" "The first girl to come back two times in a row!" "Hongseok is the man!" "Please teach me your ways, Hongseok!" Alice turned to face them again as she moved their hands away and glared at them. "Um, excuse you. Get a life, please."

"What is it to you?" One of them asked rudely. "You're just one of Hongseok's many paintings in his art gallery." Another added with just an even ruder tone. "See for yourself." One of them shoved their phone into her face so that she could see all of the girls that Hongseok had slept with over the course of his college time here so far. Alice knocked the guy's hand out of the way as she looked at them all with disgust. "I can't believe you're all so proud with the fact of sleeping with so many people like it's of value or something." She cast her disgusted gaze onto Hongseok who was looking at her apologetically. "Don't talk to me ever again."

Alice removed herself from Hongseok's embrace and passed the males with a shake of her head and a sigh. Before Hongseok could reach out to stop her the lower members surrounded him and started firing questions about how to be like him and the likes. Hongseok let out a low growl in annoyance and lashed out at his fellow brothers for their naive behavior. "Quit your nonsense and delete those pictures. I've never thought that some of you were like this." He rubbed his face before looking at them again. "You guys will have yard duties for the next two weeks. We'll talk later. I really need to go." Hongseok rushed off to find Alice. 

"So, which way is your dorm, Lynn?" Yuto asked Lynn once the two left the Phi Tau Gamma's house. "Uh, hold on a minute." She told him while her focused was on her phone so she could text the other three that she had left and was hanging out with Yuto. "What again, Yuto?" Lynn asked after she was done messaging them and placed her phone back into her back pocket. "Your dorm." He repeated. "Oh right. My dorm. That way." She pointed to the left of them as she led the way with Yuto matching her strides while keeping a comfortable distance between them under the night sky that shined with the moon's glow.

It was a comfortable silence between them as it was the two of them walking on the campus as everyone was either partying, sleeping, or studying. Lynn was enjoying Yuto's silent company when there was a sudden sound of a twig snapping spooking Yuto into clinging onto Lynn. Lynn was startled by his action and looked over at the tall male. "Yuto, are you okay?" "Uh, yeah, yeah. I'm totally fine." He answered in a distracted tone while looking left and right of the shadows while still holding onto Lynn's arm. "Are you perhaps scared?" "What? No. No. I just thought I heard something."

Lynn chuckled as she patted his hands in a comforting manner. "I won't make fun of you if you are, Yuto." "Okay, Lynn. I'm slightly scared of the dark." Yuto confessed as he looked over at Lynn. "Go ahead and make fun of me." "Why would I make fun of you?" She gave him a weird look. "That's sad if someone did that to you though." "I dunno. I just thought being scared of the dark seems unmanly." "It's okay, Yuto. Everyone is scared of something so you're not the only one." "Thanks for your words, Lynn. I greatly appreciate it." He smiled at her and she nodded. "You're welcome."

Yuto was going to ask Lynn something, but her phone went off distracting her. "Hello?" She answered after pulling it out from her back pocket. "Oh, hey, you got your phone back. What's up?" Yuto tried not to eavesdrop on the conversation, but he couldn't help but hear it since he had comfortably re-positioned his hands on Lynn's arm to that of linking arms instead and was near her than before. Lynn looked over at him as he flashed her a bright smile while she gave him a confused one, but looked forward and went back to talking on her phone. "Yeah, no worries. I got you. I'll text you when I'm there."

Lynn hung up the phone as Yuto waited for her to say anything if she wanted to tell him anything, but instead she re-directed them in another direction causing Yuto to be confused. "Um, aren't we heading to your dorm?" "No. We're gonna get food. Do you like spicy stuff?" "Um, no. I can't really handle spiciness." "You're like one of my friends. Alice can't handle spicy food either." "Yeah, well I can't deal with the dark or spicy food." "It's all good, Yuto. Where we're going has other choices, too. So don't worry." "Is this a date by chance, Lynn?" Yuto asked a moment later with a shy smile as Lynn nodded. "Sure. I guess you can say that it is."

Just then the duo saw a figure running towards them and Lynn laughed when she heard what the guy was yelling out as he was calling out for her despite not knowing her name. "Hey, you, Shinwon's friend. Shinwon's friend. Hey." Hongseok said as he finally reached them and took a moment to catch his breath. "Hongseok?" Yuto let out in confusion as he watched his friend catch his breath. "What are you doing here?" "I, hold on." Hongseok held up a hand before speaking again. "That's why I'm here. I need to talk to her." Hongseok directed his hand at Lynn which she and Yuto shot him a weird look.

"Uh, why?" Lynn asked while looking at Hongseok suspiciously. "Um, weren't you supposed to be with Alice right now?" "I was, but she left. Something happened and I really want to talk to her about it." Hongseok said in a sad tone with slumped shoulders. "Do you think you could help me with that?" "Ah, that makes so much sense now." "What does?" Yuto asked. "Um, I forget that Alice usually craves Boba Palace when she's super annoyed and wants something to make her forget whatever is bothering her when she's not in her usual weird mood as she eats there all the time." Lynn directed her attention onto the other male.

"But I'm assuming you're the cause of it for her being annoyed?" "Unfortunately, yes." Hongseok admitted with a defeat look, but cast Lynn a hopeful look. "So will you please help me out?" Yuto interjected. "Wait a minute, Hongseok. How do you know Lynn's friends with your Alice although she did mentioned an Alice earlier?" "I remember Lynn from earlier when I was trying to return my Alice's her phone back to her. Also, she's Shinwon's best girl friend." "Girlfriend?" "Yeah, like as a best friend, but a girl and not a guy. Girl friend." "Ohhhh. That's what you meant." "What did you think I meant?" Hongseok shot his friend a weird look.

"It's nothing. It's nothing, Hongseok. Don't worry about it." Yuto laughed sheepishly as Lynn elbowed him knowingly causing Yuto to shy away a bit, but he had moved his arm away from her arm and was now placed around her waist instead. "What?" "Anyways," Lynn re-directed the topic back on track focusing her attention onto Hongseok, "I can help you, Hongseok, but you're gonna have to do everything on your own or Alice won't forgive you." "Anything, Lynn." Hongseok agreed desperately. "I'll do anything to have her forgive me and to give me a chance." Lynn grinned mischievously. "Alright then, Hongseok. Here's the plan."

Alice had just gotten done changing into comfortable clothes after washing her face and relieving herself upon arriving back at the dorm when she heard a knock coming from the main door a moment later. "She's fast." Alice made her way out of the bedroom she shared with Lynn and into the living room towards the door while tying her hair up in a lazy ponytail. Another knock sounded as Alice hurried to open it and tried to close it upon seeing who was on the other side, but Hongseok slipped a foot inside preventing her from closing it on him although he winced from the impact of it.

Alice tried to nudged his foot out of the way, but Hongseok kept a firm stance as she glared at him instead. "I thought I told you to never bother me again, Hongseok." "Technically, Alice, you told me to not talk to you ever again." Hongseok reasoned with a smile while holding up a drink carrier filled with bubble tea drinks and a bag filled with several crispy chicken bits for her to see. "Can we please talk?" Hongseok asked with a hopeful expression while also showing her a box of macarons. Alice eyed him weirdly because she knew her friend had sent him when she had asked Lynn earlier to pick her up some stuff from Boba Palace.

"Lynn sent you didn't she?" Alice asked a second later as Hongseok nodded. "Yes, only because I asked her to. Would you give me another chance, please? Or at least let me explain myself?" Alice let out a sigh while gradually opening the door for the male to enter to which he happily walked on in and waited while the female closed the door before doing anything else. The duo settled themselves in her living room with the both of them sitting opposite from one another, but neither of them touching the items after Hongseok placed it onto the coffee table. Alice waited for Hongseok to speak, but she also avoided looking at him.

"Listen, Alice," Hongseok began as he slowly tried to form what he wanted to say to her, "I know my reputation is hardly innocent, but I really do like you." He looked down while playing with his hands nervously. "I didn't know they had photos of me with those other girls, but they really don't mean anything to me. Nothing." He looked up just to see Alice quickly look away and that gave him some courage to continue on. "I know it may be too much to ask, Alice, but please give me a chance to show you my sincere feelings. I mean, you don't even have to forgive me or anything right now or whatever, but I just want a chance to be with you."

Alice couldn't help, but let out a scoff upon thinking that this whole situation was like that of a drama scene. She even let out a few chuckles while shaking her head as Hongseok sat there silently unsure of how to react to her reaction. "Seriously. What have I gotten myself into?" Alice asked herself while placing her face into her palms before looking over at Hongseok with a tired look who then shot her an even awkward look, but neither of them didn't say anything. They just stared at one another for a moment until Hongseok stood up with a dejected look. "I'm gonna go, Alice. I won't bother you again after this. Sorry for troubling you."

He apologized as he turned to head out when Alice called his name. "Hongseok, wait." She said as she stood up and made her way towards the male while Hongseok turned to face her. "I don't know if I'm going to regret anything later, but life is life." Alice took a hold of Hongseok hand and gazed into his eyes. "I'll give you a chance, Hongseok." Hongseok broke out into a wide smile as he excitedly wrap his arms around Alice in an instant causing Alice to become suddenly shy. "Yes! Yes!" He then looked at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Wait, have I been forgiven, too?" "You've been forgiven once you showed me those."

She motioned with her head towards the snacks as Hongseok grinned. "So that means that you were already going to give me a chance?" "Yeah, something like that." "You really do like playing hard to get, don't cha?" "No." Alice denied before muttering the rest of it. "Just with you." "I heard that." "Shut up." Alice felt the rumble from Hongseok's chest when he burst out laughing as he hugged her closer against him. "Thank you, Alice." "For what?" "For giving me a chance." "You're welcome, but..." "But what?" Alice bit her bottom lip as she tried to find the right words to ask him something very important for their relationship to continue.

"Whatever it is, Alice, just say it. It's the only way for us to even work out if we talk about it." Hongseok assured her as she finally said what she's been worried about since earlier this morning. "Could you get yourself check? I mean, Hongseok, not to be rude or anything, but you've slept with a lot of girls and I don't know who they've slept with before they've gotten to you. I really need to know about your past sexual activities because I already gotten myself checked out this afternoon. I've been good before I had sex with you and I'm just waiting for the results." Alice said all in one breath as Hongseok smiled while cupping her cheek.

"If it's better I can call them to give you my files if you actually wanna see them with your own eyes. I always get myself checked after each encounter, Alice." Hongseok said with a gentle smile. "Besides, I may have slept with a lot of them, but it was always safe sex. Even with you, Alice, but unlike the others we may have had more rounds that I think you've forgotten about." "Oh my god, we did." Alice suddenly remembered as Hongseok laughed and she lightly punched him in the chest. "Shut up. I can't believe I forgot those." "I mean, we can reenact them if you like. Ow." Alice punched him again with wry look. "Stop or I'll kick you out."

"Please don't." He said as he held onto her tighter. "I just got you to give me a chance and you've forgiven me, too." "Then I'll just take them back." Alice sarcastically said although she didn't really mean it as Hongseok shot her a knowing look. "I mean you would try, but we both know that you don't mean it because you're the type to play hard to get." "I do not." She denied again, but still held onto him. "Whatever. Can we do something now instead of hugging in my living room?" "It's not such a bad thing, but if you say so." He agreed. "How about we eat since our date has changed in to boba and chicken and chill tonight." "Wow, but okay."

Yuto and Lynn were casually sitting at a table at Boba Palace off in a little corner to themselves because Yuto wanted some quality time with the female away from the onlookers. "Why are you such a loner?" Lynn had asked after they've drank half of their bubble tea and eaten three-fourths of their crispy chicken bits. The male cast her a weird look. "What do you mean? I'm not a loner." "You always wear black and you hardly said ten words to me since we sat down to eat." "I'm naturally quiet so I don't even know what to talk about, Lynn." Yuto confessed with a sheepish look. "Besides Hongseok interrupted our bonding time, too."

Lynn playfully eyed him. "Oh I see. Well I don't know if you can consider this a date then, but more like a hang out between two awkward friends isntead." "But I don't want to be friends." Yuto muttered with a slight pout, but Lynn heard him. "Oh really?" Lynn mused as she teased him. "I guess it was your chance to get to know me better, but we can call it a night and-" "That's not what I meant." Yuto let out flustered as he rubbed the back of his neck and avoided looking at her. "It's just, I don't know what to say to you now that we're actually hanging out just the two of us and we're not in class or at one of the PTG's parties or events."

He admitted before returning his gaze onto Lynn. "And I just like the color black. There's nothing wrong with that." "I guess I need to throw in some colors to your wardrobe then." Lynn laughed as Yuto eyed her. "What? You wanna go clothes shopping with me?" "I mean we could if you wanted to. It could be another date of sort to get to know one another better, but I mean we can just also get to know one another as friends instead." "But I don't want us to be friends, Lynn. I want us to have a chance to be more than that." He muttered with another pout as Lynn cast him a small smile. "Sorry, Yuto, but I was just teasing."

Lynn looked down at her hands before looking over at Yuto who wasn't pouting anymore. "Now that I'm actually talking to you I can be more open with myself instead of leaving more love notes on your phone." "Ahh, which reminds me." Yuto pulled his phone from out of his pocket and scrolled through it before finding it and smiling. "What's up with that look?" Lynn asked a bit cautious upon seeing that silly grin upon his face while he recited something from his phone. "My favorite part of the day is when I get to talk to you." His eyes shifted to her, but frown when she gave no reaction and tried reading another one.

"One smile can't change the world, but your smile changes mine." Yuto looked at Lynn, but she continued to give him a weird look and he once again read another thing. "On a scale of one to ten; you're a nine and I'm the one you need." Lynn laughed, but quiet down when Yuto frowned at her once more. "What's funny?" "Whatever it is that you're reading, Yuto. What are you doing?" "I'm reading some of your love notes that you've left on my phone for me to find, Lynn." "Oh my god, I didn't write any of those!" Lynn gasped with widened eyes, before letting out a groan. "Ugh, Shinwon must have written those just to tease me. That jerk."

Lynn then realized something as she returned her eyes back onto Yuto. "Wait a minute, Yuto. You actually saved all the notes that I've written?" 'Yes, but how many of these are actually from you and not Shinwon?" He asked while looking at her as Lynn shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. When I was done I would always returned Shinwon the phone and he always found a way to get it back to you when I was done." "No wonder." He then looked over at Lynn in a shy manner. "Could you tell me which ones were actually yours so I can delete the ones that aren't?" "Um, no, because I would just end up deleting all of them myself."

Yuto frowned while he brought his mobile device back to him as he was about to offer it to Lynn to look through all of the notes. "Now why would you wanna go and do that, Lynn?" "Because, Yuto, I know that my words are probably cringy as fuck now that I think back on it." Lynn said with a disgusted face as she recalled all the words she had written for him. "Super cringe-worthy." He laughed as he nodded his head. "Although true, but I like them." He cast a glance in her direction as Lynn made a face at him. "Hey those were your words not mine, but at least I have proof if you ever try to deny anything." "Whatever, Yuto."

The male put his phone away as he ate a chicken bit. "Y'know, here's your chance to say those words to me now face to face." "Why?" The female eyed him suspiciously after finishing her guava boba. "All you need to know is that I like you and we'll leave it at that." "Not uh, Lynn. Not gonna happen. Now you really have to tell me you like my company and that you can't stop thinking about me and all the other things you've mentioned before we confirmed our feelings for one another." "Um, why do you want me to do that, Yuto? Why can't you do that instead. Why can't you say all those things to me, too, now that we're face to face."

Lynn countered as she didn't want to openly said it to his face now because she could feel the shyness creeping up on her, but now she felt even more shy when she heard Yuto talk about her. "Okay then, Lynn." He shot her a gentle smile. "When I first saw you in our math class I liked how your hair was in this weird bun because you used your own hair to tie it with. I was surprised that you girls could do something like that with your own hair." "Are you being serious now?" Lynn scoffed as she shot him a playful glare. "You remembered that?" "Yes. Now give me the chance to continue." He grinned as Lynn rolled her eyes, but let him go on.

"Then when class was over you ran into me because you were in a hurried to go to your next class or something. I don't remember what it was that you were off in a hurry for because you never rushed out of class since that first day." Lynn groaned because she remembered why. "Ugh, that was because I was trying to rush out of there because I thought you were cute and then I caught your eye." Yuto let out a chuckle as Lynn eyed him. "Shut up. You had a very intense stare that sent me different vibes and I thought you were going to murder me or something for looking at you the wrong way." "That's just how I look." "I know."

He chuckled as he rested his forearms onto the table with a playful look on his face. "Shall I continue, Lynn?" "No thank you, Yuto. Please don't. I don't need you bringing up our past encounters." Lynn shook her head as she also rested her arms on the table. "Besides, Yuto, can't we just enjoyed the present?" "If that actually means taking chances and making memories with you, Lynn, I would love that." She rolled her eyes, but smile. "Cool. So what now?" Yuto reached over to take her hands with his. "I could walk you back to your dorm or maybe we can just walk around until you wanna call it a night." "I favor the second one." "Let's go then."

[ittookthelightforever]

Tell Me Why - Chapter 11 (Smut)

Hi!

This is another fluffy chapter, with a hint of drama, but the addition of smut. I don’t think this is my best smut, I’ve been uninspired lately and blame the lack of new pictures of the Boy. Thankfully we know he’s living his best life, going to amazing concerts and all that jazz... Ok, back to the fic, I hope y’all like it!

Love, Lina

(chapter 1) – (chapter 2 - smut)  – (chapter 3 - TW) – (chapter 4) – (chapter 5) – (chapter 6) – (chapter 7) – (chapter 8) – (chapter 9 - TW) -- (chapter 10)

Source

Charlotte and Alex snuggled in bed, delaying the act of waking up proper and heading downstairs for breakfast. She turns on her side, facing Alex,  “I do ‘ave summat unpleasant to ask.” He tightens his hold of her hand and nods, “Wot ‘appened between yeh and Louise? A-After tha’ night…” Alex grimaces a bit, remembering the aftermath of his stupidness, “Ugh, a-after tha’s, uh, incident, she and I talked and I explained tha’ the babeh came before I’d even met ‘er. She seemed satisfied enough tha’ i woulnd’t leave ‘er for yeh and weh stayed together, she came wiv us all the way back to LA.” Alex has to take a few breaths to maintain a straight voice, “Uh, LA were ‘ard, because it were meh first time there after I broke up wiv Taylor. But tha’s when Matt sat down wiv meh and talked sum sense into meh.”

Charlie laughed, she could picture the conversation perfectly, Matt was incredible at being a no nonsense friend. “ ‘e made meh realise tha’ at tha’ point I probableh weren’t wiv Louise for tha’ reight reasons, tha’ I couldn’t possibleh be takin’ meh relationship wiv ‘er seriously when I were mopin’ around for yeh. And when weh came back to Europe I broke up wiv ‘er.” Charlie can’t help but smile, “Blessed be Matthew J. ‘elders, the third.” Alex kisses her, pulling away slowly. Charlie holds his face close to hers, squeezing his cheeks, “Moping, babeh? Were you annoying our friends?”

She pecks his lips between the words, enjoying the feeling of his chapped lips against her, the familiarity of them, “Yeh laugh, but those bastards made it a rule tha’ I couldn’t say yehr name more than once per ‘our or I’d ‘ave to call yeh and apologize.” Charlie stops playing, her face growing serious, “Did yeh? Say it more than once…” Alex takes her hand, kissing her palm tenderly, “Yeah, I did. But every time I did I ‘id meself like the coward I am. I once even threw me phone against a wall, just so I wouldn’t ‘ave a way to call yeh.” She nuzzles her nose against him, capturing his lips in a gentle kiss, “No, yeh’re not. Otherwise weh wouldn’t be ‘ere today.” She kisses him again.

“Kids!! Yeh better not beh doin’ anyfing inappropriate!” They pull away, laughing at Penny’s teasing tone. Slowly they untangle themselves and try to get ready, the process itself is stopped multiple times to make way for tender kisses and belly rubs. Once they are ready, Alex takes her hand and pulls her in for one more kiss, Charlie can’t help but sigh as his lips part and their tongues join, something clicks within her. Pulling away, she laughs, “C’mon, otherwise Penny will come up to check if weh’re shagging.” Alex nods, pecking her lips one last time, before following her out of the room.

Charlotte goes down the steps laughing at some nonsense Alex said, but as she entered the kitchen Charlie stops and Alex’s bumps into her, “Wot’s wrong, love?” As he looks beyond her Alex sees Charlotte’s parents and Emily sitting on the kitchen table with his parents, “Mum, dad! Yeh are ‘ere!” Maggie and Pete get up and embrace their youngest daughter, Charlie is a little flustered but she manages to respond to her mother’s cooings about the baby. Alex stands back, giving them space, fully aware he was enemy number one in this situation, and Emily remains seated, looking quite fed up with the situation.

“I ‘ave made us all tea, so why don’t weh move this to the living room, where weh can sit more comfortableh?” Maggie helps Penny bring the things over to the adjacent room, where Charlie takes a seat on the couch next to her parents and Alex sits in front of her on a loveseat. He makes a funny face at the whole thing and Charlie has to hide her giggles, as she feels Emily’s hard gaze on her. “It sure is good to see yeh kids in good terms once again!” Charlie turns to her mother with a grateful smile, “I’m sad tha’ it took Nanna’s passing for us to start working through our issues, but ’m glad weh did.”

“Of course weh are ‘appy for yeh, but it’s also important to keep in mind tha’ yeh are ‘aving a child together.” Penny and Maggie take the reins of the conversation, “Yes, these incidents can’t ‘appen. Ever again. Weh know yeh kids ‘ave crazy lives sumtimes, but a babeh needs lots of love and a solid famileh structure.” Alex is hesitant but he chimes in for the first time, “I know I’ve been wrong… I see meh mistakes and I promise yeh that wot ‘appened shall never ‘appen again, I will always be there for the babeh and Charleh.” He directs his words not only to Charlie but to their parents present.

“We’ve watched yeh grow into a fine hard-working man, Alexander. And I am sure yeh will never repeat such behaviours, son.” Her father’s approval puts him at somewhat of an ease, but that doesn’t last long, “No offense Mr and Mrs Turner, but tha’s all it takes? A pretteh little speech and all the pain ‘e brought to my sister is forgotten?” Emily stands up and gestures at Alex, “This is the man tha’ put yeh in bed for a whole week. For a whole week yeh wouldn’t speak or eat, yeh put not onleh yehr life in danger but tha’ of yehr babeh, and yeh just forgive ‘im like tha’?”

“Emily, stop. ‘ow maneh times? Alex is not Michael! Not only ‘as ‘e never laid a finger on meh,all meh life, Alex is the best ‘uman being I’ve ever met. ‘e’s cared for meh more times than I can’t count and tha’ night, wot ‘appened, tha’ is between meh and ‘im. And weh are choosing to work through it, because weh love each other and weh are ‘aving a kid together.” Charlie pauses to take a breath, a hand pressed to her bump. “Iif yeh can’t see past yehr own problems, goodness I can’t deal wiv yeh reight now. I love yeh, but I can’t stand yeh talking about Alex like ‘e’s a monster all of a sudden.” Emily wipes her tears, taking one last look at Alex and then Charlie before storming out.

Charlie takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself, but the inevitable tears come. She is so overcome with sobs she doesn’t notice as her mother trading places with Alex, who wraps his arms around her and starts whispering soothing words to her ear. They stay there for several minutes and he helps her calm down, as their parents watch the sweet interaction and are reassured that Alex’s and Charlie’s decision to stay together was the right one.

--//--//--

Soon Charlie and Alex board a train bound to London, where their lives couldn’t wait for them any longer. For the whole ride Charlie stays wrapped in Alex’s arms, the couple whispering sweet nothings to each other, relishing in this honeymoon phase of their relationship. Exhausted from the train ride they simply swing by Charlie’s for clean non-black clothes and order some take out to Alex’s, indulging in pizza and pop on his bed, which had been cleaned thanks to Miles’ wiseness to call a professional cleaning company to deal with the mess and make the apartment liveable again.

They lay in bed, bodies tangled up, bellies full, whispering to each other in their new found bliss, “I don’t want to tell people yet. I want this to be ours.” Alex nods, nipping at the soft skin of her neck and earning a low moan from Charlie, “Tha’ sounds perfect.” Charlie turns in his arms, facing him, and kisses him, pulling him against her. His hand brushes her upper thigh and Charlie moans, pressing herself as close to him as possible with the baby bump between them. She pulls away from his lips, kissing and sucking down his jaw and neck, which causes Alex to let out a low growl that soaks her underwear.

“Did I mention yeh’ve been moaning meh name in yehr sleep these past nights?” Charlotte pulls away to look him in the eye, “No, I ‘aven’t!” Alex chuckles, running his fingers slowly up her thigh which makes her automatically moan again. He grins, as if to say I told yeh so. The sexual tension had been building since Sheffield and now it was clear they both needed some relief. “Alex, stop teasing meh about it then and do summat about it.” He takes the queue, bowing over her and capturing her lips in a sweet, tame kiss that Alex maintains as much control over as he can before Charlie grips his shoulders and deepens the kiss.

As one of her hands moves up to grip his face, the other trails down his back, feeling each ripple of his muscles, until it reaches his bum and gives him a playful squeeze, “C’monnnn rockstar, gimme yehr best.” Alex chuckles at the nickname and moves his lips down, kissing down her neck and over her collarbones, praises to her beauty echo against her skin. He reaches her nightgown and helps her sit up so she can remove that, taking the moment to remove his own t-shirt, and Charlotte is left completely naked in front of him. Utterly breathtaking, Alex stops for a second to regard her.

“Wot? Do I ‘ave anyfing on meh face?” She gives him a playful half-smile and Alex sighs in contentment, “Yeh are the most beautiful woman I ‘ave ever laid my eyes on. So… Stunning.” Charlie blushes, but doesn’t attempt to hide any of herself, “And this, your magnificent body tha’ is creating our child.” Alex is once again over her, pressing his lips to her skin, adoring every inch of her body, and as he reaches her bump Alex stops, kissing the skin gently. “I love ‘ow sweet this is, but I need yeh lower reight now, love.” He chuckles at her anxiety and moves lower as requested.

Alex parts her thighs and looks up to Charlie, who’s watching anxiously, “Patience, babeh… It’s a virtue, tha’ knows.” She rolls her eyes and moves a hand over her abdomen, reaching her soaking core, “I seem to ‘ave lost mine.”  Charlie moans as she toys with her clit and Alex is mesmerized, almost paralized by the sight, “Excuse meh, I fink tha’s my job.” With a gentle hand he pushes her hand away, taking over with his own fingers. He gently swirls around her clit, bringing his finger down and over her folds, teasingly, making Charlie moan and grip the sheets.

“Hmmm, so wet for meh, babeh. I wonder wot would ‘appen if I did this?” Alex pushes a finger into her, caressing her walls with the rough pad of his finger and Charlie curls her toes, raising her hips towards his touch, moaning for more. He adds a second finger, curling them against her pleasure point, “Tha’s meh girl, yeh look so beautiful, writhing under meh touch.” Charlie moans and moves her hips against his touch, hands massaging her own breasts roughly, “M-More, p-pl-please.” Alex picks up the speed and bends down to press his lips to her clit, letting his tongue move over it in hard strokes. Charlie feels her orgasm build up and up, focusing on Alex’s tongue on her clit, so dextrous with its movements, and his talented fingers curling and stretching her walls, until her core is nearly bursting and she grips at the sheets, nearling howling in pleasure as she reaches her apex.

“Yeh taste absolutelleh delicious… Tha’ was realleh summat.” Charlie is catching her breath, a sheen of sweat covers her body as she comes down from her high, “Are yeh okay, love?” Alex lays down next to her, tracing the pattern of her body, rough finger pad over sensitive skin, “Yeah, hmmm, if yeh continue tha’ I might cum again.” He chuckles, making a point of circling her nipple, “I’d love nowt more, but I feel tha’ we’ve a logistics issue.” Charlie takes his hand, intertwining their fingers, “Yeh afraid of the bump.” He chuckled nervously, “Kind of, yeah.”

Charlie smiles and sits up, straddling him, “Here’s a verreh easeh fix for tha’.” She wiggles her soaking core over his hips, which were still clad in underwear, moaning as the movement produced the perfect friction between her pulsing pussy and his hard cock. Alex moans, moving in tandem with her, “Meh clever girl.” She winks at him raising her hips just enough for him to remove his underwear and position himself against her entrance, Charlie takes him in her hand and sinks down onto his dick, throwing her head back at the perfect sensation of his hard cock filling her up, every ridge stroking her over-sensitive core.

She grabs his shoulders to get purchase, while Alex holds onto her hips, and they move in synchrony. Alex is mesmerized by the sight of Charlotte - head hung back, eyes closed, lips slightly parted as moans come out; He drives his hips up to meet each of her movements, his cock burrying deep into her core with every stroke, “B-Babeh, yeh feel like ‘eaven… Yeh’re so wet for meh…” Charlie’s movements soon become slower as she builds up for her second orgasm, Alex holds her face making her look at him, “Let go for meh, babeh… I want to feel yeh cum all over meh.” As she stares into those golden chocolate eyes, Charlie lets go and moans as waves of pleasure wash over her, her walls clenching around Alex’s dick which set his own orgasm off.

Charlie uses the last of her energy to pull back from Alex and lay down on the bed, “G-Goodness, tha’ was…” She sighs trying to catch her breath as he inches closer to her, pulling her against his sweaty body, “Tha’ was literally the sexiest fing I’ve ever experienced.” She smiles and cuddles against his body, curling up to fit within his frame, “Hmmm, even sexier than Miles?” Alex laughs, kissing the top of her head, “Miles’ got nowt on yeh babeh, yeh… Yeh are the missing piece tha’ I never realized had been missing but now I can’t ever live wivout again.” Charlie looks up at him, reaching up to press a chaste kiss to his lips, “Ever the poet, huh Turner? I love yeh.” Alex smiles and tightens his grip of her, “I love yeh endlessly, meh Charleh.

--//--//--

Despite her tiredness, Charlie couldn’t sleep due to pregnancy induced insomnia, so she had settled on Alex’s couch with a pint of Cherry Garcia, watching a french romance from Alex’s collection. “ ‘ey, what yeh doin’ up?” Alex plops down next to her on the couch and Charlie pauses, “Can’t sleep. Why is it tha’ yeh don’t ‘ave aneh cable or internet on yehr tv? Onleh a collection of foreign movehs and Batman.” Alex shrugs, taking her spoon, “Eh, don’t realleh need anyfing else. Can I ‘ave some?” Charlie pushes the ice cream towards him, “Course, it’s yehrs, genius.”

Alex squints his eyes at her, eating a big spoonful of ice cream, “Yeh know what I meant. ‘ave yeh been eating enough?” Charlie avoids his gaze, taking the spoon, “Well, now I ‘ave an obligation to eat and since the morning sickness went away fings got a whole lot better.” She takes another mouthful of ice cream, handing the spoon back to Alex, “I ‘ate that yeh went through that whole phase by yehrself.”

“Alex, it’s not yehr fault and I ‘ad the support I needed then, now yeh know and can participate in every step of the way, okay? Just make sure to be a cool dad.” Alex laughs, giving her the spoon back, “Oh, check this out, whenever I eat cold stuff, baby moves like crazeh.” Charlie takes his hand, positioning over her belly and takes another bit of ice cream. Alex’s smile widens and moves his hand along Charlie’s belly, “Tha’s incredible, there realleh is a tineh person in there. Do yeh know the gender yet?”

Charlie shakes her head, “No, but me midwife wrote it in and put it in an envelope.I were waitin’ for yeh to look, it’s actualleh in my purse upstairs.” Alex face can’t contain his giddiness, “Can weh go look?” Charlie chuckles at his childish expression, which reminded her so much of when they were kids, in that moment she hoped that their child would inherit his enthusiasm, “Of course.” They tread upstairs, leaving the TV on and the ice cream to melt, in her room Charlie looks through her stuff for the envelope, finding it jammed between the pages of the book she’d been reading.

“ ‘ere it is.” She holds the thin paper envelope between them, “Let’s get it over wiv.” Alex motions for her to open, but she pauses and sits down, patting the bed for Alex to join her, “This… This babeh is a big step, for both of us. In our relationship, in our lives. Promise meh whatever ‘appens this tiny ‘uman being will come first?” Alex cups her face with his hands, centering her gaze on his eyes, “Charleh, I ‘ope tha’ there’s nofing tha’ could ‘appen tha’ could push us apart again, yeh are one of the moost important people in meh life and tha’ will never change. And I promise yeh, there won’t be a day in meh life when tha’ kid yehr carrying won’t be meh number one prioriteh, okeh?”

Charlotte sighs, a rogue tear slipping down her face, “Yes… Okeh, let’s see if babeh is a girl or a boy!” Alex smiles and presses a kiss to her forehead, “Do the honours then…” Charlie’s hands are shaking slightly as she pries the envelope open and pulls the paper from within, she reads the words, once, twice, gasping in surprise, “Wot? Wot is it?” She giggles through her tears, “It’s a boy.” Alex beams and hugs her, squishing her against him. Charlie closes her eyes and she can picture it perfectly. A little boy, the spitting image of his dad, playing piano next to Alex, the both of them causing a raucous around the house. Her heart swells with the thought of little boy that will be half of her and half of the man she loves.

“Wow, Charleh, I-I… A little fella…” Alex chokes on his words, tears slipping down his face as well, “I know, I understand love. I joost ‘ope ‘e inherits yehr ridiculously amazing ‘air and not tha’ giant nose.” Charlie wipes his tears as Alex snorts at her words, “If ‘e’s ‘alf as incredible as ‘is mum everfing will be fine.” Charlie averts her gaze at his words, laying down on the bed, “Yeh should probably go to sleep, Al..” He yawns, causing her to yawn back, “Weh bof should.” He lays down next to her, staring at the ceiling.

Alex holds Charlie’s hand as they stare up at the ceiling, both knocked down by the lovely news, “I love yeh, Charleh. More than I ‘ave ever loved anyoneh.” Charlie smiles and turns on her side to face him, “Marreh meh, Turner.” Alex turns in a second, nearly bumping into Charlie, “Wot?” She smiles, bringing a hand up to his face, “I love yeh. Marreh meh.” Alex regards her for a second, trying to gauge whether she was serious, before a huge smile spreads on his face, “Ei, I should beh asking yeh tha’.” Charlie giggles, tangling her legs with his.

“If yeh want to weh can tell people yeh were tha’ one who asked. It don’t matter! Alexander David Turner, will yeh marreh meh?”  

[bellabooks]

“Pretty Little Liars” recap S7 Ep20: Til death do us part

Pretty Little Readers, this is it. The last PLL recap I will ever write…until the inevitable reboot in 2032 that follows the adventures of teenage twins Lily and Grace DiLaurentis-Fields. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This was a two-hour finale with buckets of exposition, so let’s dive on in! I’m glad this show finally upped their budget and gave Jenna a pony   We open on a deserted Rosewood street, where the Liars are all drinking coffee and bemoaning the drama-less state of their lives. It’s swelteringly hot, but all anyone can talk about is how boring everything is without any mysteries to solve. Oh, and Lucas tap dances by in a white tuxedo. And Jenna rides by in a decorated horse like she’s a circus performer. And then it starts snowing.  Is that snow? NO IT’S COCAINE!!!   The Liars look to the heavens, and the camera zooms out to reveal they were inside a snow globe, which was no joke my fantasy ending for this show. But who is holding the snow globe? Mona Vanderwaal, queen of the heavens, runner of the games, genius among geniuses. She’s locked up in Welby with only her snow globe, which she drops to the floor when she’s confronted by a black hoodie. She asks them if they are there to kill her, and she smiles that Mona smile. Then the opening credits run for the last time, and all the Liars do the “sshhhh” together. TOGETHER!  For real though guys, who is in this coffin?   We then cut to ONE YEAR LATER, and check in on the gang. Ezria is on the Warner Bros. lot (which is incidentally where they shoot the show- so meta!) because their book is being turned into a movie. They are also getting married in a week. Spencer is rescuing horses with Melissa and bonding with her, and Toby returns to town after a long Eat, Pray, Shave tour of the world. Spencer is rehabbing a cute pony named Bashful, who is skittish around everyone but her. Don’t worry, this will come back later in a big bad way. Emily and Ali are juggling twins, Lily and Grace. Also, Ali has the worst bangs and it’s so distracting I had to rewind this scene twice just to focus. Ali meets up with Pam Fields at the Radley, and they have a secret conversation about taking care of/loving Emily. Ali continues teaching English at Rosewood High, where she discusses literary endings (wink wink) with her class. She’s still teaching mini-bitch Addison, who disrupts the class and calls Ali a lesbo. Ali is in no mood, and grabs Addison after class. Addison isn’t scared of her, but she IS scared of Jenna Marshall, who is now a life skills teacher at Rosewood. What life skills is Jenna imparting to these children?! How to seduce men and women alike into doing your bidding? Firecracker dodging? I have so many questions, the first of which is, where do I sign up? Addison tries to sass Jenna by waving her hands in front of her blind face, but Jenna grabs her by the wrist like she’s Dare Devil and tells her that she while she can’t see, she can smell a bitch from a mile away. In a world where teachers can sleep with and marry their students without censure, I guess calling someone a bitch is small potatoes.  BITCH CAN SMELL   Meanwhile, things aren’t sunshine and lollipops with Hanna and Caleb. Mona is being discharged from Welby, and Hanna invited her to stay at the loft without running it by her husband. Caleb is upset that the woman who tried to push his wife out of a bell tower is now their new roommate, but Hanna knows that while husbands come and go, ride or die BFFs are forever. On cue, Mona shows up at their door and Hanna welcomes her. Mona seems fragile and forgetful, and tells them that with her new meds, she isn’t as sharp as she used to be. If this series ends with a neutered and sad Mona I will never forgive Marlene. Why is the wifi password Hanily?!   The Liars and friends meet up at the newly renovated Lost Woods resort, which Spencer and Ali are re-launching. Everyone’s gathered for a surprise bachelor/bachelorette dinner for Aria and Ezra. There is wine and laughter and memories, and everyone is having a good time…except for Haleb, who can’t stop squabbling. Spying on them from the bushes is a black hoodie, who turns around to reveal MELISSA HASTINGS…or is it? Everyone is enjoying drinks by the fire pit, when Emily remembers that this is their first night without the babies and drags Ali to their room for some sexing. Then everyone else pairs off to hook up, except for Toby and Spencer who decide to play scrabble like a couple of nerds. We find out that Spencer is going to law school, working at her mom’s firm, and rebuilding her relationship with her family. Isn’t it nuts that we’re 25 and have two kids?!  Tell it to my bangs: they’re already 45.   While everyone else gets a lengthy sex scene, complete with saxophone music, Emily and Ali press their cheeks together and touch legs because that is how lesbians have sex on Freeform. At least, they are trying to…Ali is feeling all sentimental while Emily is trying to get it on. I feel like this would be a totally adequate sex scene by itself, but pairing it with Ezria’s lengthy romp only highlights the double standard when it comes to queer sex scenes.  Nothing says sex scene like closed mouth kissing!   Despite this disparate treatment, let’s all take a step back and marvel that this series is ending with a happy queer couple, where no one is dead or heartbroken. It’s 2017, but there is still something delightfully revolutionary about the awkward gay jock winning the heart of the most popular girl in school and living happily ever after. It’s kind of lovely until you remember what they did with Maya and Shana and Charlotte. In a less romantic sex scene across town, Hanna and Caleb are still fighting while Hanna sits with her legs up, trying to conceive. Yup, these two dummies are trying to have a baby. And in sadder fertility news, Aria gets a phone call from her doctor and finds out that she can’t have children. Why is everyone so baby crazy on this show?! Y’all are 25, settle down. Aria wants to call off the wedding, but the Liars convince her that Ezra won’t care. She tries to keep it a secret, but ends up telling him the next day, and he responds as he should: that it doesn’t matter, and there’s more than one way to make a family. Melissa watches the Liars comforting Aria from the bushes, and removes her mask to reveal MONA underneath. Dun Dun Dun! I would love it if A.D. turns out to be a Russian nesting doll of masks leading to an empty hoodie. Mona Facetimes with A.D. and demands to know who they are. You know what would really take this party up a notch? Jenna Marshall on a damn horse!   The next night is Aria’s rehearsal dinner, and Hanna brings along Mona, which is rude as hell. You don’t just bring your crazy hyperadrenalized murderer BFF without RSVPing for her first! No one is more shocked than Ashley Marin, who separates from the Wine Moms to give Hanna a talking to about co-dependency and toxic friendships. The Wine Moms keep talking about that time they got locked in a basement, yet another spin-off show that we’ll never get from Marlene.  A toast to the best parent on this show: Chardonnay!   Emily sees Alison sneaking around with Pam and assumes that Ali is hiding something from her. She gives Ali the third degree until she reveals that Pam gave her the family engagement ring—she was planning to propose to Emily somewhere romantic, but instead she’s doing it right this second in her pug dog sweater. Ali thanks Emily for loving her unconditionally, even when she was a zombie bitch who communicated through stolen birds and old witches. Even when she was flying a plane in a Vivian Darkbloom wig. Emily says yes, and they kiss.  If you can love me through these bangs, you can love me no matter what   Meanwhile, Spencer goes back to Toby and they have a lengthy sex scene of their very own. Spencer steps out of the shower and finds Mona in a black hoodie in her room. Mona says “Déjà vu bitch!” and knocks her unconscious. Spencer wakes up in a prison cell, disoriented. She looks in the mirror and checks herself out, until the mirror Spencer starts moving on her own. Holy crap, Twincer is real! And British! Kudos to everyone who predicted this twist, I honestly thought it was going to be someone else. This British twin is Alex Drake, aka A.D. and she’s busted Mary Drake out of jail for a family reunion. Put some pants on, we need to talk about Spencer’s accent: it’s not just British. It’s Eliza Doolittle meets Burt the Chimney Sweep meets Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd. It’s SO over the top and terrible and delightful. Just like this British evil twin conceit: soapy and ridiculous and I am so on board with this nonsense. ‘Ello Guvnah! I’m your twin I is!   In a series of flashbacks, we get the sordid tale of Alex Drake: When Mary was in labor at Radley (in the 1940’s) she gave birth to Spencer, who was quickly whisked away by the Hastings family. So quickly in fact, that no one stuck around for Spencer’s twin sister Alex to be born. To buy her way out of Radley, Mary sells Alex to a fancy British family who raise her across the pond…until they realize that she is the baddest of bad seeds and dump her at an orphanage for evil geniuses. Flash forward, and teenage Alex is pulling pints in a bar where she runs into Wren. Wren can’t believe he’s found a British Spencer, and tells Alex of her true parentage. They fall in love (eww) and Wren arranges a meeting for Alex and Charlotte. Once the half sisters meet, they become thick as thieves, each finding the family they were searching so long for. Charlotte falls in love with Archer, and they proceed to double date their way around Europe. It’s like The Parent Trap, but with more wigs, murder, and asylum stays.  This is my Sarah Manning cosplay…fancy a shag?   But Charlotte can’t handle being away from the game, so she goes back to Rosewood to play with her dolls, where Mona murders her in the bell tower. Consumed by revenge, Alex sets out for Rosewood and picks up the game where Charlotte left off. In her quest to find out who murdered Charlotte, she gets a glimpse into the charmed life of Spencer Hastings, and wonders what could have been if she had that life. You know, that idyllic suburban experience where your father bangs every mom in town, you’re related to all your friends, and you spend your entire adolescence being terrorized by a maniac in athleisure wear. Ah, the stuff that dreams are made of! Alex starts cosplaying as Spencer and pops up in a series of flashbacks: Alex was the one who held Hanna when she was locked in that barn. Alex asked Toby for the goodbye kiss. Alex also banged Toby and fell for him. Soon enough, she decides she wants to be Spencer full-time, so she’s locked Spencer in her new dollhouse and takes over her life. She’s so into mirroring Spencer that she makes Wren shoot her in the shoulder so she has the same scar. She also uses Wren’s sperm to father Emily and Ali’s babies, before killing him and turning him into a diamond necklace. Which she wears around her neck. EVERYWHERE SHE GOES. I mean, it’s no bracelet made of teeth, but it’s still pretty bonkers.   Does this seem like a lot of exposition? Because it’s an insane amount of exposition. Alex isn’t revealed until at least halfway through this 2-hour finale, and she hits the ground running, checking off every unsolved mystery this show ever made up. Bitch can summarize! Alex heads off to Aria’s wedding, where no one notices anything different about her. Aria comes out in her bridal gown, and it is some wacky vintage nonsense that only Aria could cook up. Frankly, I’m surprised it was missing her signature leopard print pattern. It’s the last ever Emily Fields cleavage appreciation post!   Meanwhile, Mary tries to comfort Spencer by making her Peruvian chicken and assuring her that living life in a jail can be fun. Spencer begs Mary to release her, and Mary gives her a hug. Instead of bum rushing her birth mom out the door, Spencer cries in her arms. Once Mary locks the door, we see that Spencer has taken a bobby pin out of her hair. Someone is about to Nancy Drew her way out of this underground prison! Back at Wedding Central, Ezra still hasn’t shown up. Aria is crying Byron is threatening to beat up Ezra, and everyone is confused. Did Ezra have a crisis of conscience and decide not to marry the girl he seduced at 15? Of course not! Alex abducted him and threw him in a jail cell next to Spencer. Does Ezra help Spencer escape? Nope, he just mansplains lock picking to her with a pissy attitude. Back at Radley, the Liars are all sharing a room and consoling Aria. Alex climbs into bed and strokes Aria’s hair, telling her that they’ll be the closest of all. How did she find out about Team Sparia all the way in England?!  Team Sparia for Life   The next day, Alex meets Toby at the stables, where the horse starts freaking out because he knows she’s not Spencer. That, or she’s a vampire. Toby starts putting the pieces together. Later, Jenna meets with Alex and can tell just by smelling her that she’s not Spencer. Finally, Toby takes the book of French love poems Alex gave him, and realizes that it can’t be Spencer’s book because there aren’t any notes in the margins. Toby brings this information to the Liars, and everyone is like, “evil twin? Yup, sounds about right” and they go off in search of the real Spencer.  YOU’RE NOT MY MOM!   Back at the bunker, Spencer picks the lock and frees herself and Ezra. They try to escape from the bunker and run outside of the house…only to realize that they aren’t outside at all. The ceiling is painted to look like the sky, and there is fake grass and everything, but it’s just a dollhouse within a dollhouse. Mona confronts the Liars and tells them that Wren tried to kill her in Welby, but she convinced him she could help bust Mary out of prison. Mona has also tracked Spencer’s coordinates to Toby’s house, because she is in this damn game to win it.  Here I am, explaining this game to you dum-dums one last time!   The Liars bust their way into the bunker, where they stumble onto the classic twin face-off: Spencer and Alex wrestling, and trying to convince the Liars that they’re each the real Spencer Hastings. Oh, and Ezra hits his head on a rock. Toby grabs one of the twins and demands to know what their favorite poem is from the book, and the real Spencer (in classic Spencer fashion) starts reciting it in perfect French. The cops rush in and arrest Alex and Mary, and Spencer is reunited with her friends.  I’m the right real Spencer, you barmy old chaps!   The Ezria wedding gets a do-over, and everything goes smoothly, even Marlene King’s cameo as a photographer who didn’t turn off her cell phone. The Liars walk around the only square in Rosewood, and talk about how much they’ll miss Aria while she’s on her honeymoon. Spencer is back together with Toby, and Hanna reveals that she’s pregnant. They all hug and it’s very sweet.  So long Rosewood…you’re the 6th bitch at this table!   But what of Miss Vanderwaal? We find Mona living in Paris, selling antique dolls and making out with a beefy French dude. She steps into her backroom, where she has dollhouse decorated with two brunette dolls. The camera pulls back and we see Mary and Alex Drake imprisoned in a dollhouse of their very own. Looks like Mona won the game after all.  Praise be to VanderJesus, for ever and ever, amen.   Then the final scene is a rehash of the pilot opening, with Addison’s mean girls at a sleepover (with Maya’s cousin) waking up to find their queen bee missing. Nice try show, but I’m not spending another seven years with this hot nonsense. And that’s it: seven seasons of masks, wigs, doll parts, Grunwalds, and interchangeable white guys. Seven seasons of Shay Mitchell’s shiny pony-like hair and two facial expressions. Seven seasons of that same damn yellow top that Ali wore on the night she died a thousand times. I started this show the way most of us did, by reading Heather Hogan’s recaps and laughing along with the #BooRadleyVanCullen crew. I didn’t know then that I would go on to write recaps for Autostraddle and AfterEllen, nor did I know that AfterEllen would meet a cruel and untimely end. I didn’t know that I would meet my very own Twincer, Dana Piccoli, who would bring me here to the Bella Books blog to complete this ridiculous journey. To everyone who edited my work, gave me encouragement, and provided me with screengrabs (shout out to @PLLBigA) I want to say thank you. Bitch can appreciate! At its best, Pretty Little Liars was campy frothy fun with some serious heart. It gave the queers of the world Emily Fields and Paige McCullers and Alison DiLaurentis. It also gave us Ravenswood, Ezria, and oh so problematic treatment of Charlotte. Most importantly, it gave us an online community, a world of inside jokes and memes that bonded us nerdy, pop culture obsessed queer folks together. Visibility still matters, now more than ever. I will miss recapping this show, but more than that, I will miss the weekly check-in on Twitter, and laughing my face off at all your hilarious comments. I’m taking a break from recapping to work on my own writing, film my web series, learn how to fly a plane, assume an alias, speak to birds, and life-jack my twin. But just like Alison DiLaurentis, I’ll be back. I hope you’ve enjoyed these recaps over the past couple of years: I’ve enjoyed writing them and getting to know all you beautiful weirdos. Ending these recaps is a real mannequin leg to the heart. What else is there to say but…XOXO bitches! http://dlvr.it/PRGG7Q

[whatwillbe-blog]

Chapter 54

I gave this big speech about things having to change and they have to but how much exactly is the question. Chris has me… there is doubt or question to that and now matter how long it took us to finally admit it I got him too but what else? Our lives are so intertwined and wrapped around each other that I don’t know exactly if some big change is even possible. From work to love to life we’re joined so if some big change came along I’m not sure how it will affect that as well. We’ve operated in these roles for years now that I think in some ways I’m actually afraid of it. I’ve been here almost two weeks now and while I could easily distract myself that first week meeting up and hanging out with folks I haven’t seen in forever the second week ain't been that kind. Melissa and Leandra had lives outside of mine so I’m stuck by myself just thinking and that’s not good.

I went from thinking this was the best thing yet to trying to figure out if it were the worst mistake instead. I haven’t talked to him. I haven’t heard his voice. No I love yous or I miss you or Please come backs and it’s killing me. I told him I was coming here for space but this much space and separation is killing me. I could almost convince myself that this no communication was good if I at least had been sent a text message or two but I haven’t gotten that yet either. Not even a damn emoji I could obsess over while trying to determine what it meant. Nothing… and every none call, text, or word is slowly doing me in. It’s not that I haven’t tried to contact him… I’ve sent him more than one text message and still nothing. He read them but that’s about it… no response… no reaction… and I can’t take it much longer.

I jumped on this time away because I thought it would bring me some kind of clarity and direction of what exactly I want and now all I can think about it is going to the airport and buying a ticket home. This was supposed to be my time to think and make myself whole while packing up Melissa and Leandra and bringing back with me but I’m at the point where I’m about to say the hell with packing anything just so I can get back to him. While I’m doing all this over thinking I can’t help but wonder if he’s doing the same about me. Even with all the non communication surely he has to be back there thinking, wishing, and hoping I come home sooner than I said he I would. Surely he’s got to be feeling the same way I am because no way am I in these damn feelings alone. Surely he has to be…

The few times my mind actually wanders away from Chris it goes to Kellen and every pissed off thought and emotion I thought gone comes rushing back. I thought he was a friend that I would be laughing with when I’m old and gray and me and Chris’ grandkids run around as Chris chasing behind them. I’m so damn angry but I’m not sure who I’m madder at… him or me. The shit he said and tried to push hurt like hell but hurt even more that he even attempted it. I thought he was a new found friend for life but the second he didn’t get what he wanted he turned on me. He turned on me and said the worst shit ever to folks who wanted to believe that nonsense and if that wasn’t even he tried spitting shit at Chris that had me ready to beat his ass had Chris not got to him first. I would have never said or done anything remotely close to that to him and that’s why I’m mad at myself. I put my trust in someone who so obviously did not care for me the same way I cared for him. He made me laugh when I didn’t think it possible but now if I were to see him again I honestly don’t know what I would say to him. Truth of matter… the way I’m feeling right now I’m not even sure if I even want to see him.

My thoughts go back to Chris and I can’t stop my mind from going in a million different directions. I want to pick up the phone and call him up just so I can hear his voice but at the same time I want him to do the same to me. He’s probably not thinking about me. I’ve been gone too long and too many thirsty ass broads are back in LA probably happy that my dumb ass is going. Sydney, Mona, and their crew are typical of the chicks forever running up behind Chris. Chicks like that used to be at every party, kickback, and get together we had so I’m not even sure why I was surprised by Sydney. Let me take that back… I was surprised because Chris actually fell for the thirst and let her come in between what should have been only for us. I’m mad at me for Kellen but there are times I’m still livid at Chris for Sydney and the dumbness of it all.

 “What purpose you even coming here?”

Slowly looking in Melissa’s direction, “Huh?”

“What you here for if all you do is sit and think about him?”

“I wasn’t thinking…”

 I couldn’t even finish my lie because we both knew that’s exactly what I was doing. I tried not to but it ain't that damn easy. If I could have flipped a switch and all thoughts of Chris went away I could have it hit so damn fast but unfortunately there isn’t one so I’m pining away when I shouldn’t.

 “I’m not trying to…”

“Why you say you come here?”

“To help you pack up and…”

Slowly shaking her head stopping my words, “Don’t play me girl… the real reason you come?”

“To find the Robyn I lost…”

“You run after him and over look and forgive him for every hurt he give you. You can’t keep doing that to your heart…”

Softly whispering, “I know…”

“Then why you sitting here like your world is ending…”

“I just miss him…”

“You miss what’s between his legs…”

Quickly looking in Leandra’s direction as she entered the room, “I can get dick from anywhere Leandra… I miss him…”

“As much as he pass it out you not the only one missing it…”

“Leanrda…”

Fanning off Melissa’s warning, “She know he community dick… he pass it out to Karen, Linda, Mikah, Sydney…”

“Do you ever stop?”

Smirking as she stared back at me, “You don’t like what I say?”

“You’re an ass Leandra for no damn reason…”

“Oh… I must have left out some chicks since it’s been so many…”

“Why you care?”

“Cause you sitting her like a dumb ass thinking and breaking your own heart over a dude who probably ain't doing the same for you…”

“You don’t know that…”

“The second you left he called Mona and Sydney up and tell them come over and he not think of you…”

“You’re not a friend…”

“I’m your only friend… I don’t stand here and lie like Melissa so you feel good…”

“You don’t know what I do…”

Looking quickly at Melissa, “Did you tell her the truth about him?”

“I thought you liked Chris…”

Turning her gaze back to me, “Me liking him has nothing to do with what I’m saying about him…”

“That don’t make sense…”

“If I didn’t tell you how you been acting you still be here mooning over somebody that ain't doing the same to you…”

“Somebody needs to tell you about how you act…”

Fanning her hand in Melissa’s direction, “I act like I always act…”

“And that’s the damn problem. You so damn jacked up in the head because you not living the life you want. Don’t come down on her cause she is and missing her boo…”

“Ain't that what you was just doing?”

“No… I was telling her to do what she came here for. Heal up her heart and mind so when she go back to him she strong and she good…”

“She gon be all that while he’s still passing out dick to whatever new girl he pull in next time…”

“Are you that bitter and upset that I’m getting dick and you ain't?”

“I get dick whenever I want it and best believe it ain’t no damn community dick…”

Slowly shaking my head, “Battery operated dick don’t count boo… and hell even that don’t want your bitter ass either…”

“Fuck you Robyn…”

“I’m good on that… community dick and all…”

“Both of y’all shut about dicks and shit neither one of you is getting right now… go get ready…”

“For what?”

“I told you we were meeting Sonita and ‘em at the club later…”

Shaking my head, “I’m not going…”

“Cunt… go and put some damn clothes on and stop thinking about him for one damn night. Whatever you are thinking about will still be here when we come back later…”

“I bet his ass ain't thinking about she…”

“Worry about who ain't thinking about yo dusty ass before you worry about who ain't thinking about me…”

“You gon go back doing the same dumb shit and he’s going to walk all over you still…”

“If I’m not worried about it why are you?”

 Not even remotely interested in her response I left the room in search of clothes I didn’t feel like wearing. I guess Melissa didn’t much like her words or attitude either because she blessed her with some words I’m more than sure Leandra wasn’t ready to hear. Leandra could barely get a word in and the few she did she probably wished she didn’t because Mel had even more words for her. Despite the nastiness of her words I knew what Leandra was trying to do.

Staring off into space thinking and worrying about Chris is not what I came here to do. I was stuck in the same rut I’m mired in at home and that was helping no one. I knew her words were said to force me out of that same rut but sometimes I wish she would keep her thoughts, comments, and help to herself. I came here to figure out me so when I went back to him all that I was willing to accept I wouldn’t anymore. I know he loves me and wants to be with me but if another Sydney comes along I want to be strong enough not to sit there and wait until he pushed her and her interference from what we had. I can’t and won’t do that again and I need to strong enough inside so regardless to what he does I’m good.

I’m now stuck in the middle of Rita's and if I had my way this is the last damn place I would be. I remember growing up and hoping and praying for the day I was finally old enough to get in these damn doors. We didn’t exactly wait but from the moment we walked through those doors this place practically became home. There were days they had to damn near drag us out here. The music and party was everything and we didn’t leave until we absolutely had to and even then they had to literally shut down everything and physically push us towards the door to get us out.

This used to be my club, my place, my home but I don’t feel none of that now and if I had my way we would have never come at all. I knew we would come here eventually… hell the few times Chris came home to Barbados with me we practically lived here but he’s not here and right now this ain't it. I’ve been reduced to seat holder and drink and purse watcher and as sad that is I’m ok with it. The quicker they can get their drink and dance on the quicker we can get the hell up out of here.

Rita’s holds memories I’m ok with forgetting and if this is the only time we come here that’s one time too many as far as I am concerned. When I left for LA I was able to push all of those things aside and bury them where I didn’t have to think or feel them. When Chris came here with me those thoughts, feelings, and memories stayed tucked away because truthfully all I was thinking about was him but he’s not here right now and everything I fought hard to push away came rushing back to me.

 “I don’t get a hello or hug or some ‘ting?”

“No…”

“What about a I miss you or it’s so good to see you…”

Slowly shrugging, “Why lie?”

“I see you haven’t changed…”

“And that was your biggest problem…”

“I changed baby…”

Quickly and finally looking in his direction, “I’m your baby and even more importantly I don’t give a damn if you changed or not…”

“Where this attitude of yours come from? You leave me and come back different person…”

“I didn’t leave you…”

“You run and never look or come back to me. I miss you and waited…”

Shaking my head as I turned from him, “You can leave my table now…”

“We have to talk…”

 I felt his hand on my shoulder and I angrily snatched away from him wanting him and whatever he’s trying to bring as far away from me as possible.

 Snatching away from him, “Keep your damn hands off of me and I don’t have shit to say to you nor do I want to hear anything you have to say…”

“I hear you have a man now… is he better than me? He love you better… he make you call he name when he inside you?”

“What makes you think any of that is your damn business or better yet that I’m going to tell you?”

Smirking as he stared back at me, “That means no…”

“No… that means mind your fucking business Yohan…”

“He must not do you right… you ‘ere all alone…” slowly smiling as he attempted to move closer still to me, “I can make you forget about whatever he do to you…”

Shaking my head, “No what you can do is get the fuck away from my table and take whatever nonsense you talking with you…”

 For once he took heed of my words and actually did something I asked of him. Running into Johan was the last damn thing I wanted to do and yet I knew being in Rita's it was always a possibility. I watched him until he finally disappeared from my sight into the crowd of partiers. If I’m honest I felt him before he said a word to me and I wanted to scream, shout, and yell that Rita's is the last place I needed to be as I ran fast as hell from it. I never thought I could feel this emotion for anyone but I can honestly and truly say that I hate him. Yohan and his actions singlehandedly led to my decision to pack up and leave my home, family, and everything I loved behind. I had to get the hell away from him and his piss poor treatment of me so I ran and found the life I was supposed to be living with Chris. As fucked up as his treatment of me it’s ironic as hell that it led me to Chris and everything he gives to me. In some ways Chris and his actions remind of him… the only difference being Chris actually loves me whereas Yohan only loved himself. Sadly it took me damn near a lifetime of tears before I figured that truth out and I will never allow myself to take anything he ever attempts to give me again.

 “What was his ass doing over here?”

Looking quickly in Leandra’s direction, “I don’t know or care…”

“Did he say something to you?”

“Of course he did…”

Softly whispering as she shook her head, “Don’t talk to he Roby…”

“I have no damn plans…”

“If you ever try I ship ya ass back to Chris whether you clear ya head or not…”

“The way you was talking earlier I thought you hated Chris….”

Slowly shaking her head, “I hate the way you lose yourself… you better than that. He treat you like he deserve and I love him as much as he love me…”

“Community dick and all?”

“You keep that rotten meat… I keep my batteries…”

Softly whispering as I looked back in the direction he disappeared, “I’m not trying to talk or do anything with Yohan…”

“Like I said you do I either ship you back or call Light Bright and tell him come here…”

“Maybe with you calling he’ll actually answer…”

Loudly laughing as she questioned me, “He ignoring you?”

Pouting despite myself, “Yes…”

“Good… you leave him without giving him a taste or anything… I would ignore your ass too…”

“God I hate you…”

“Next time he see you he gon put two… three babies in you…”

“No the hell he’s not…”

Shrugging as she slowly stood, “In you… on your face… down your throat…”

“I’m not nasty like you…”

“Open that mouth a little wider and he never think about another girl again…”

 Flicking Leandra off as she laughed before rushing off to gather the rest of our friends up to leave. With no words spoken she knew it was time to get the hell up out of Rita’s. He’s here and that alone is reason enough not to be there. Yohan is, was, and will forever be my biggest mistake and I’m not trying to stay around anyplace he’s in attendance. I won’t ever make that mistake again and the bigger amount of distance between us the better. I could feel his gaze on me as we left the club and just knowing he’s around lurking and waiting to strike makes me want to pack up my shit and run my ass right back to Los Angeles and Chris but I won’t ever give him that power over me again.

Finally back to Mel and Lee’s place I watched as Leandra called Chris and him instantly answering for her. Leandra saw my reaction and of course she rubbed it in laughing and joking and cackling with him on the phone. I wish I had enough willpower to stomp out of the room yelling screw them both but I didn’t and I wanted to hear his voice so damn bad I willingly stood there waiting for their cacklefest to be over so I could finally hear from him. Ready to huss and cuss when she finally gave me her phone all was forgotten the moment he whispered back to me.

 “How you answer for her and not me…”

Softly whispering, “I didn’t think you wanted to hear from me…”

“Don’t play with me boy… I know you saw and read all the text messages I sent you…”

“Robyn…”

Shaking my head as if he could see me, “Don’t Robyn me… why you didn’t answer them?”

“Cause I was trying to keep from begging…”

“Huh?”

“Baby… I miss you… I miss you so damn much…”

“So you ignore me? That don’t make sense Chris…”

“I know and I got so many damn texts in my drafts telling you over and over how much I love and miss you in between begging you to come back home, send me a picture, and leave me a nasty message I could play over and over in the middle of the night when I’m doing things…”

Softly laughing, “That’s nasty…”

“Then you don’t want to know about the dreams I’ve been having…”

Softly whispering, “I miss you Chris…”

“I miss you too baby… are you ready to come home to me?”

“Not yet but soon…”

“I’ll be here waiting…”

“What have you been doing while I’ve been gone?”

“In between staring at every little ass bikini pic someone keeps posting… thank you by the way… I’ve actually been working on the showcase and a couple of contacts and contracts that we might be interested in later…”

“How far along is the planning of the showcase?”

“The only thing missing is you…”

“You keep talking like that and I’m going to be on the next flight out of here…”

Softly laughing, “Good… because by the time you get here you might be the only friend I have left…”

“What did you do?”

“The crew dropped me the day after you left… they wanted to go and search for ass so they took me to the club with them…”

“Why?”

“I’m so damn fine all the girls run after me and they needed my help…”

Softly laughing, “Whatever…”

“You know it’s true but anyway… I pulled them a girl or two but rest of the night… even when we back to Keeis and Robb’s for the after party… I wouldn’t shut about you and how perfect you were and how much I missed you. I told them the whole story of us… how we met, my fuck ups, your stalker… you leaving me. By the time I was finished any ass they were getting for the night was lost and the chicks left saying they wanted to find something like we had…” softly sighing, “they haven’t hung out with me since…”

“Aww… my poor baby… what about Mijo?”

“Mijo is so sick of me too. He told me to stay away from him and his place for at least a week or two or until I got my shit together…”

Sighing as I questioned him once again, “What did you do?”

“I made the mistake of telling him in explicit detail about this dream I had of you. He cussed me out for talking about his sister like that and said I should be ashamed of myself and until I get my shit together I can’t come back…”

“Why would you tell him that?”

“I’m horny as hell and my hand ain't cutting it no more…”

Shaking my head, “You’ll be alright…”

“The second you walk through the door I’m bending you over something…”

“And doing what?”

Softly laughing, “You already know…”

“Whatever Christopher…”

“You using the government now… you might get bent over something in the damn airport…”

“We’ll see…”

 Our conversation just flowed and before we realized it the sun was slowly rising to greet and welcome a new day. Reluctantly ending the call I whispered to him that I loved him slowly smiling as he whispered the same.

 “I love you Chris…”

Softly whispering, “I love you too baby…”

“Don’t ignore my calls and text next time…”

“Don’t forget to come home to me…”

“I won’t…”

“Then I won’t either…”

 I needed that call and conversation more than he could ever know. Seeing Yohan was the last thing I wanted while I was here but unfortunately I did. That little bit of him damn near brought back every hurt and emotion I felt until I heard Chris’ voice. Like always he soothed and fixed what ailed me without him even knowing it. I never really told Chris about Yohan and what he did and put me through. I didn’t know how to voice or speak about the hurt I willingly allowed him to give me. It started off slow but it gradually became worse and worse and by the time I packed my bag I knew all the tricks and techniques and what make up to use to cover up what I didn’t want others to see. Melissa and Leandra don’t even know all I endured because of Yohan and if I had my way they never will but something is telling me that whether I want to or not everything I ran from will be put on full display for everyone to see whether I want it to happen or not.

[empressxmachina]

by Imperial-Radiance (es yo)

Zwischenzug - 2

A few days had passed since Ren’s big reveal, and Freya was still stuffing cake in her mouth.

Up until now, surprising to her family – well, all but her mother – she didn’t try to skip work or ask for time off. Not that she’d be guaranteed any, her tenure and various overtimes would’ve earned it. Everyone knew she was truly devastated, bawling on the inside, but her outsides were hard as concrete as if nothing had occurred. They neither could chip away any kind of weakness from her, aside from their attempts to take the cake away, nor could they pull out any solid answers about why she was upset.

Read more on DA, see this on Wattpad, or...

They knew that Ren – Prince Silas, son of house Maddox, heir apparent of the Zronian monarchy, to be specific – was a literal, big liar. However, it seemed that his actual size and hidden nobility were not her issues. Every time that she was asked of them, she would reply with something along the lines of ‘That’s not the problem!’, wouldn’t finish or continue with the thought, and would leave them in the dark.

Now, in the present, it was near midday, and only due to a canceled appointment at her workplace, Freya was thus the only person inside the house. Miriam was helping a neighbor, the elder men were already out working, the teens were on their way to work, and the youths were playing in the backyard as little kids do. Freya had half of a mind to tend with the older half or chaperone the young ones, just to work the stress out, but the sweetness of morning dessert and silent solitude was too perfect to give up so soon.

She had just finished her last bite of breakfast cake in her room, hearing the cluster of kids run past her walls toward the front of the house, when, “Freya!”, two of them called her. They all sounded so similar that she couldn’t tell which pair was speaking. Though, at that moment, it didn’t matter.

“What!?” she shrilled back, seething but not enough to point blame to family. They were annoying, sure, but not her reason for it.

They replied, still in tandem, “You got something!” She… got… something?

A gift, package, or some other kind of mail was the farthest thing from Freya’s mind. If anything, it was probably some sort of payroll statement from work, if they had finally switched to paper vouchers… with revenue that she could actually use. She knew more industrial workers, including humans, got paid in such a fashion, but what value could paper from that side of life possibly have? Would anyone in hers even dare to trade it with her, knowing the baggage it held from its origins? She didn’t know.

Nevertheless, she had something, and she had to see it for herself, eventually.

“Just bring it and leave it on the table, then,” she suggested, leaving her room only to place her dirty plate and eating wares in a washing bowl.

“I… I can’t!” one of the brothers – most likely, ten-year-old Adrian – declared, sending Freya another bother she didn’t need, right after waking up. What could be the reason that he can’t do one simple task? He then elaborated, handing her a brow-raising response. “It’s too big!”

The only logic Freya could figure was if the item was too heavy, thus causing him to get another brother or herself to lift it for or with him. She deeply hoped it wasn’t another one of the village families trying to swoon her into coupling by gifting another cattle spawn. Of all things, hers did not need more cattle.

“It can’t fit through the door!” another faceless brother – presumably Sascha, two years Adrian’s senior – added. Well, that technically struck out cattle. At least an animal – well, a human animal – could get through the door. So, what was it? The idea of the thing truly being hers was going out of the window.

“Then, how do you know it’s even mine?” she tested. If it turned out to be some kind of ruse to kick her while she was already down, then she knew that things would become dangerous. Dangerous maybe for the youngsters, perhaps her whole family, but not her if she had any say about it.

Isaak’s answer – he, the seven-year-old youngest Müller – wasn’t any sort of help in deciphering what it was, but he did make her curious enough to go take a look for herself. “Because your name is on it… in HUGE writing!”

“What the-?” Freya immediately rushed to the front door, “Guys, what in the world are you talking ab-?” Whereas her mind was ready to fume, her jaw dropped at the sight behind the door. “Oh, my…”

The entryway of the home was blocked by a gloriously massive bouquet.

It was a colorful, varied blend with many types that she had never seen in her life – thankfully, none sprouted an allergy – and with its gorgeous arrangement and shiny wrappings around the stems, she knew that it couldn’t have been cheap. But she just couldn’t get over how immense the collection was. There was most likely enough paper and plastic to make her entire cottage into a holiday present of its own, like giving a Drachian child a fantasy dollhouse. Yet, the icing on the cake was the large, sealed envelope tucked within the rainbow of petals, with her name written atop of it in gold calligraphy.

“Uh, why don’t y’all go back to playing in the backyard, huh?” Freya directed to her brothers of varied expressions – awestruck, confused, and intrigued – still gazing at the gift. “Maybe check if everything’s still counted for in their areas, while you’re there?” She pointed them toward the gardens and crops, hoping that was enough incentive to leave her alone with the delivery. Although they were a bit hesitant about it, mostly Sascha, they eventually complied, skipping down the hill to be impromptu inspectors.

Now, Freya was, once again, all alone to deal with this surprise on her own.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped outside barefoot, closing the front door to a crack behind her, and inched toward the big bunch. Being so close to the sizable flora now made them seem fantastical, enough to get lost in. With the envelope addressed to her so far within them, she knew it was going to be a struggle to retrieve it.

A struggle, definitely, but it wasn’t impossible.

With a bit of a running head start, she leaped high enough to grab onto two of the packet’s edges, doing so tightly enough for gravity to send her back down to the ground with it still in her hands. Unfortunately, such a slick move on a not-so-slick texture resulted in some of the skin of her hands being slit open, leaking little beads of blood onto the cardstock-like paper. However, if anyone soon walked up to her and noticed, then the drops would easily blend with the Royal crimson wax seal holding the envelope closed.

Running her hands over the crushed wax approximately the same size as her head was surreal. Running them over the monogrammed initials of a specific heir to the throne in the center of it, on the other hand, was sickening. Nonetheless, the message had to be seen, for her sanity, and she was going to do whatever she had to do to see it.

Gently biting her lip to distract herself from her hand pain, present and future, Freya braced herself and dug her nails into the wax seal to rip it off. Said tugging released not only the message inside on another piece of thick paper but also a sweet fruity fragrance that was unexpected, unfamiliar, and unfortunately pleasing to her all at the same time. When she looked at her hands upon completion, they resembled the aftermath of a deathmatch with someone’s heart ripped out. With the drama she dealt with in only a matter of minutes not yet a week ago, that’s how she felt and what she wished to do to the gift’s obvious sender.

Despite that, she had enough restraint to, at least, read his words before taking some kind of action. Removed from its casing, the note read:

“Freya,

“I know that you’re upset with me, and you have every right to be. But you have to understand that I never wanted to hurt you. Not you, not your wondrous mother, not all of your kind brothers, and not even your family extended and those of your surrounding community in the fewer times we met.

“I lied – I lived a life not mine – and I’m not denying that. I can’t do that, not anymore. I kept such a large part of my life from you (no pun intended), and I truly was going to tell you myself at some point. I wanted to, then, and I still do. I still do want to tell you myself, not because I’m not a human, not because I am a prince, but because I do not want to lose what we had and now have, whatever it may be.

“With this request, I also send aromas and flora from home: my birth home. Forgive me if they are more a nuisance than anything of good use. They, in their differences, reminded me of you – their uniqueness, strength in sweetness, and beauty – and I felt you should enjoy them like I’ve been able to. Perhaps, in them, you may learn more of me, maybe even enough to finally conquer Caissa.

“There’s so much that cannot and shouldn’t be said in a letter, no matter how long or wide. So, I won’t. I want to tell you in person, as I am, and see you again, one-on-one. By the gods above and the magic that brought us together, I just hope that you allow me that chance.

“-Ren”

Freya read the message ten times over before she made any kind of remark, and none of them had a sense of positivity. Rather than being touched by his sentiments, she filled with disgust, infuriation, and all-around bother, raising her frustration about the entire situation to a new zenith.

“What… is this nonsense!?” she asked herself in anger. “Is this a joke? Is he trying to play with me!? He lied to me for five years, right to my face, and he expects me to just believe him? To slog back to him? Is… Is he stupid!?” She then started to pace, huffing air like a speeding locomotive. “What did he possibly think I was going to do with these flowers… and this card!? Use them for fertilizer or a damn soup? They’re bigger than the fucking door – the whole house, even – and my hands are cut now!”

She took about a minute to cool off and try treating her hands with some rainwater caught in a bucket before facing the struggle again.

“Posh bastard with your fucking flourishes and glamour, this seems really humbling, doesn’t it?” she critiqued the message contents, growing more enraged with every word. “Flaunt your wealth and omnipotence from afar just because you can, why don’t you!? And… and that crap ‘allow me that chance’. How in all depths of the underworld am I supposed to do that!? It’s not like I can just walk to Drachian Lucia! Am I supposed to just stuff myself in this envelope and just wait for some damned colossus to-!?”

At a sound coming from the trees across from her house, she paused herself. If it was just a rustle, like an animal scurrying around, then she wouldn’t have been worried. But the sound was fairly loud and mechanical – nothing that she was used to hearing in her little farming village – almost grating to the ears. Plus, with how the sound seemed to come down to her and how reminiscent of her workplace it was, there was no way someone like her caused it.

It may have been a spy or worker of her size hired – an idea she briefly considered, based on some certain, past assignments she had for work. But bearing in mind the events of that week and the over-sized objects in front of her, still, only one type of ‘person’ made sense, and she, letting anger overlay common sense, didn’t care if it was probably dumb to call it out.

“If you’re going to watch me, then you might as well expose yourself!” Freya then shouted to the woods, hoping that the possible giant watching was listening to her. “Or, are you doing your job by staying in camouflage? Because spying on a person – a woman – at her own home isn’t illegal or anything, right!?”

She stood quietly, waiting for a kind of response, but nothing came. Yet, she was still confident someone was there, so she continued throwing verbal blows.

“Well, fine! Don’t show yourself! I know why you’re here. You’ve got something to do with this stuff and Ren- no, ‘Prince Silas’. My bad. He knows someone’s out here on his behalf – he probably ordered you out here, himself – because that was his handwriting. I’m sure whenever you go back, he’s probably going to ask something like ‘What happened?’ or ‘What did she say?’ since I’m damn well not going to leave a reply letter for you to disregard as a scrap somewhere! Though, I’ll give you something to tell him, alright.”

***

Miriam was walking up a pathway on the incline to her home, and the stone abode wasn’t even in her sights when she began hearing screaming from somewhere ahead. Because of its proximity to her children and its panicked tone, she hustled as quickly as she could to observe and help. In the end, however, she was met with quite an interesting sight.

A bouquet at a size that only magic could make laid in front of her doorway, and in front of it laid flat, blanket-sized parchments and stood her daughter with hands dripping some red-tinted liquid, screaming an expansive vocabulary of expletives to seemingly nothing but trees until she wore herself out, made a suggestive hand motion toward them, and trudged into the house with a scowl on her face.

Only partially worried that her only little girl was finally losing it after losing a friend, Miriam took her time before making her reappearance into the home. As she traveled to the door, she glanced at the parchment – no, just thick paper – and caught sight of her daughter’s name written upon them. She then cautiously looked behind her into the woods for a possible onlooker, instinctively placing a hand in a skirt pocket for what was held inside, only to sigh and retract her hand after seeing no one.

With no other concerns in mind, aside from her daughter, and blooming a smile at her youngest children being good boys in the backyard, Miriam plucked the tiniest bud out of the bunch to try growing one of these foreign flowers on her own. Taking in one last panorama of the outside for the moment, she backed herself into the home, closing the door as softly as possible.

The air inside was still and soft for the first time since the huge house guests came, and knowing it’d be disrupted as soon as she spoke to Freya, Miriam just went to her room and examined her find, absorbing its details until it was time to soak up her daughter’s sorrows.

As the tiny, wooden door of that small, stone house had shut, a breeze began to blow with just enough power to reveal the street lantern that was the unlit flash of a digital point-and-shoot camera high above the ground in the front-facing woods. Its Drachian owner had been seated in near seclusion, watching the near-still life scene that was the diminutive damsel and her delivery unfold.

He sat, watched, and made notes in his head of the spectacle he had catalyzed, disguised as and by comparatively minuscule branches and leaves, ever since the matriarch of the home left that morning. He had moved swiftly to follow orders and place the prize, having accurately calculated the short duration of clearance he had before another resident – a trio of brothers, in this case – would enter the area and spot it.

His watching of the voluminous bundle’s intended receiver’s handling of the ordeal was not only humorous but also a surprise. While he had been told that the human in question was ‘something else’, her spunk and her awareness of her reality were unexpected. But the spy didn’t act on them, other than simply following Royal orders. His mission would be accomplished at the storing of his camera in his bag behind him and sending its pictures and videos to the palace through the airwaves.

Having only slivers of knowledge of the prince’s relationship with some human girl, most of it consisting of her reaction to the gift and what he could make out of the message through his lenses, the spy was curious yet aware of his place. It wasn’t his concern to ask, and so he wouldn’t, but he hoped whatever the prince wanted with this minute miss – what he did all of this for – would, like the flowers, bloom soon enough.