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ljxlj48 · 2 years

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My Duty As Princess

Chapter 01

Lee Jeno x fem reader

preview, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, epilogue

Genre: arranged marriage au! royalty au!

Warnings: violence, explicit language, suggestive content

Word Count: 8.8K

Author's Note: I am so sorry, Idk what possessed me to think that this was Saturday and not Sunday. BUT ITS BACK. MDAP is back, this is the revised version in collab with @urlocaltrash28 and far warning this is the longest chapter in the entire series, it's really just because this chapter is the set up for the story. I am so sorry again that this is a day late, I really thought it was saturday and not sunday. anyway, hugs and kisses to anyone reading <3333

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The trip from the north airstrip to the Northcy palace was a ten-hour flight and another hour-long car ride. The Princess arrived at Northcy’s Norhall Palace after a total of twelve hours’ worth of travel in the middle of the night. The only people there to greet her were the queen herself, and four maids.

“My dear, you must be exhausted, please hurry inside,” the queen said. She was a stunning and slim woman. She wore a rich navy blue jumpsuit, with a white long-sleeved coat that hemmed at her ankles. At the top of her head, there was a stunning silver crown, a sign of her being the queen. Although anyone could tell she was the queen by the way she carried herself. She held her head high and stood upright with proper posture. The queen and the four maids led you to your chambers. “You may wash up and when you’re done, Princess. One of the handmaids will inform me, that way I can personally see to it, that you have a meal before you rest,” the queen told you.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” you said as you bowed to the queen. Your two maids helped you undress and bathe as four of the queen’s maids made you some tea and prepared your clothing for the evening. The two guards stood outside the chamber doors because technically, you were still in enemy territory until the marriage.

After your bath, the queen herself escorted you to a private dining hall. The queen was about to have your maids be escorted elsewhere to eat, but you insisted they eat with you. The two maids, being Fei and Mei, were sisters from a family that has served your kingdom for generations. They have always taken care of you from the mere age of nine, when your parents decided it was time to have help. Although it was evident the queen didn’t agree, she allowed the maids to sit and dine with you. You assumed that the queen went to bed right after settling you in with the food.

“Breakfast shall be set in the garden courtyard. There you’ll meet the prince and the king,” the queen informed you.

As the queen made her way to her own chambers, she saw her son. He was pacing in front of her doors. “My boy, it’s very late, you should be fast asleep,” the queen said.

“Mother,” Jeno called out then turned to her maids, “please leave us.”

The queen nodded her head, permitting the maids to leave her side. “What is it, my dear?” The queen asked as Jeno walked with her into her room. Jeno gathered the tea set and poured his mother a cup as she sat down.

“Do you truly expect me to marry that girl, mother?” Jeno asked. “An alliance could be negotiated without marriage. That girl offers nothing of value to our kingdom or family. There are plenty of women within this council that would make a much better bride.” Jeno sighed; he barely wanted to be married, least of all married to a princess he didn’t know at all. “Mother, you can’t seriously think marrying princess (Y/N) is any good for anyone.”

Hearing her son complain about a girl he’s never met gave the queen a headache. The queen once met Princess (Y/N) long ago, during a summit meeting to discuss the end of the war. The little girl at the time was maybe only nine or ten years old, but she was far wiser than any other children the queen had ever met. Princess (Y/N) is only three years younger than her son and when the queen met the little girl on a visit to the Modia kingdom, she knew that princess (Y/N) would be a fine monarch.

“I do expect you to marry her, and I do think she be great, not only for our family but for Northcy as well,” the queen told her son. “So I expect you to be up early and be eager to meet the princess tomorrow morning”

“Mother, you’re kidding, right? You want me to wine and dine Princess (Y/n), the stubborn, unwavering princess that never once cared about her title?” Jeno asked the queen with a look of disbelief on his face.

“I am not kidding, Crown Prince Lee Jeno, and I expect you to be at breakfast prepared to meet your future bride. I expect there to be no complaints from you at all tomorrow morning,” the queen said standing up to dismiss her son out of the room. “Do I make myself clear?”

Jeno knew that whenever his mother addressed him by his proper title he was in trouble. “Yes mother, you have made yourself clear,” Jeno answered grudgingly, knowing he had lost this argument.

“Very well, good night my son.”

The sun rose bright and early the next morning. The princess made her way to the courtyard for breakfast with her maids and guards. Fei and Mei always trailed the princess, never standing in her way, while her two guards always led the princess, never allowing anything to touch her without permission. The two guards that the princess brought refused to leave her side. Even though there was an alliance between all the kingdoms, people could still have grudges against the princess.

“People will gossip if you two don’t leave me be,” the princess told her guards.

“My princess, we will be executed if anything were to happen to you, following you wherever you go is the best way to ensure that doesn’t happen,” stated the princess’ personal guard, Bang Chan. He joined the army at the fresh age of 18, became the princess’ personal guard at 20, fell in love with the princess at 22, and he is now 24. Fei, Mei, Chan, the other guard, Hyunjin, and the princess were all friends; they have basically spent the past three years together. The princess was only ever alone for a few minutes, when she lay in bed, in the middle of the night, before sleep consumed her.

“Princess (Y/n),” the queen called out, getting up from her seat at the breakfast as she saw the princess approach the pavilion. “Come, dear. Take a seat. You can dismiss your guards and handmaids.”

“Very well, Your Majesty,” the princess said as she dismissed the handmaids and guards, taking her seat. She gave them a look telling them to not make a scene. The princess and the queen began to chat amongst themselves. They were not allowed to start eating until the rest of the party arrived.

“My dear, maybe tomorrow you can come by my room and try on your wedding dress,” the queen told the princess.

“Wedding dress?” The princess asked, nearly choking on air “I mean no disrespect, Your Majesty, but don’t think you it’s too soon? I haven’t even met the prince.”

“Never too soon, and it doesn’t matter because you’ll meet my son right now,” And that’s when reality set in for the princess, she was in enemy territory, meeting her fiance. Prince Jeno and the King made their way to the pavilion to sit and dine for breakfast.

The rest of breakfast went by in a blur for the princess didn’t speak unless questions were directed towards her; not many questions were. The king was kind but not very welcoming, just because the war was over didn’t mean all the problems were solved in the country. He still had many issues to tackle, especially with a wedding approaching and the two kingdoms alliance still fresh. Jeno remained quiet for the majority of breakfast because he didn’t want to anger his mother. That would only enrage his father and no one wanted to see an angry king. The queen tried her very best to get everyone to speak, but it didn’t work out as well as she had hoped.

The king had already left the table and just as Jeno was getting ready to leave, his mother called out. “Jeno, why don’t you take the princess and show her around Norhall, it’s her first day here,” Jeno was getting ready to argue with his mother until he saw the stern look in her eye.

“Yes mother,” Jeno answered. He looked almost pained to say yes.

You and Jeno walked around the palace in awkward silence as he pointed things out to you here and there. Jeno wore a simple pair of black dress pants and a light blue button-up dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His black hair was tousled, almost looking like he just rolled out of bed. The two of you entered a room that you could assume to be the palace library. It was something that was straight out of movies; the walls were lined with books from ceiling to floor.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” Jeno asked as you ran your hands across a shelf of books. Some of the books looked to be written in a language of Modia that was long forgotten.

“I was raised to only speak when spoken to, my father was keen to traditions,” you stated. Reading wasn’t something you found yourself doing often, but a desire to stay here and bury yourself into an enriching tale was there.

“Traditions? Something like women are only meant to be child-bearers?” Jeno asked with a quaint smirk. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone, in any kingdom, that the Modia royals were traditional. Many things were considered unladylike, therefore disallowing your participation.

“Yes and no,” the princess started. “Growing up, men and women were equal to each other, but they had different goals to accomplish. A woman was to bear a child, to continue a king’s rule, a man was to provide a just and safe kingdom for his children.”

The rest of the tour was met with silence; Jeno continued to point out things to you and when the two arrived at your chambers, Jeno bid you a farewell until the evening meal, almost looking to be relieved to be done.

The princess’ comment on how she was raised stuck in Jeno’s mind. Was that all a king was meant to do, make a just and safe kingdom? Was that all the princess expected from him? No fairytale romance? No faithful, supporting husband kind of stuff? If ensuring the kingdom’s safety and the justice system was all she expected, Jeno could fulfill those expectations before an earth’s orbit.

The days bled into each other and winter was approaching fast; it had already been a month into the princess’ stay in the Northcy kingdom. Being this far north from the equator, the days started to get chillier. By the time winter came, the kingdom would have already seen snow.

Being from Modia, a tropical climate, the princess was excited for winter to approach because she had never seen snow before. However, the princess was not prepared for the chill of the approaching winter. When the winter comes and the snow falls, the princess will be constantly shivering due to the cold.

Ever since the first day of the princess’ arrival to the Northcy kingdom, her daily duties have been filled as well as Jeno’s. Jeno was already a member of the council as Crown Prince, for he needed to be fully aware of the duties as a king before ascending the throne. The princess was busy familiarizing herself with the kingdom and its departments as this would be her new home. Not to mention the wedding was to take place exactly two months from now, just before the new year.

There was much to do, and there wasn’t nearly enough time to complete all of the tasks. You spent most of your time with the queen, learning about the council members and their families. You already held a vast knowledge of the council of the Modia kingdom. Back home there were ten high houses while only three of the houses held any power, and the other seven were just for show. However, Jeno’s future council held 18 different noble families, a royal advisor, two extra seats for “special members,” and the general held two votes. As to why Jeno’s future council held two special seats or why the general had two votes was beyond you. The vocabulary was so different. For example, what Modia calls high houses were referred to as noble families in Northcy. The number of papers to review to remember all of the council was never-ending. Apparently, it was the queen’s duty to be informed of all noble members and their families. The queen’s duty was also to oversee the budgets spent on entertaining said families.

You and Jeno rarely saw each other, except for the evening meals together with the king and queen.

“Jeno, why don’t you introduce (Y/n) to your brothers tomorrow?” The queen asked her son during one dinner. When Jeno heard the question he nearly choked on his drink. The queen was kind and loving, but she always made it abundantly clear that Jeno was her one and only child.

“Very well, mother,” Jeno answered. This utterly confused you because Jeno was the only known heir to the throne. In the whole month preparing for life in Northcy, there wasn’t a single indication of Jeno having any brothers- not even in your years of schooling did you learn about the children of the Northcy king. All the books and classes said King Lee Donghae of the royal Lee family and Queen Lee Jaeyeon of the Noble Na family had one child, Crown Prince Lee Jeno of the royal Lee family. Such long titles did the royals have.

After dinner, Jeno took the opportunity to escort you back to your chambers. He couldn’t help how curious he was about you. Jeno constantly found himself watching you as you made your way through the palace, trying to catch a glimpse into the drawing rooms you studied in, or just watching the way your hands handled the cutlery at dinner.

“I wasn’t aware you had siblings?” You had asked Jeno during the walk to your chambers. The curiosity of it all forms the words for you.

“All half-siblings, I’m my mother’s only child but I’m the third son of my father,” Jeno answered. He didn’t even think of his only full sibling: his sister, Jia. Part of his unconsciousness pushed the memories as far down in his memory as possible.

“Third son? Your father had other women? Your brothers weren’t angry that the throne was given to you instead of them?” The questions seemingly come to mind one after another, not having enough strength to stop them. “I’m sorry,” you said, realizing you might be pushing onto an unsettling topic, “it’s not my place.”

“It’s alright,” Jeno said, smirking to himself. “The first three years on the throne my mother couldn’t produce an heir. The council insisted an heir be produced, by any means. My oldest brother, son of a nobleman’s daughter, an approved out of wedlock union, was crown prince for several years. He said he hated every moment of it. It’s a shame because he would have made a great leader, but he believes it’s not for him. Then my second brother, son of one of my father’s courtesans was never crown prince and he knew he would never be a Crown Prince but he never minded, he actually promised to stand by my side when I took the throne. And my younger, son of a lucky maid, we’re just a few months apart, however, has admitted he wouldn’t make a great ruler, but he promised to take over if something were to happen to me,” Jeno chuckled finishing his statement.

“Lucky maid?”

“My father is a just and fair man, he is a good father and a better king.” Jeno paused before continuing, wondering just how much to tell you, would it matter? “However, he is a terrible husband. If Modia had a beautiful queen doing its negotiation, who knows if Northcy would’ve put up a fight,” Jeno stated as fact. Like the world knew that the king would spend a night without his wife every now and then. Then again, father did always say ‘palace walls hear more than any other wall. “I say the maid was lucky because there was no evidence to suggest that my father saw her. However, when she laid her accusations at his feet, he accepted the child and paid the maid to say nothing,” Jeno finished off with a small shake of his head.

As the princess thought about this, she found that Jeno seemed to regret being born and taking the throne from his oldest brother. The princess would later learn, from Fei and Mei, through other gossiping maids, that Jeno never wanted the throne. He even tried to surrender it because he just wanted to live a carefree life without a nation depending on him. Oh, how you wished to do the same.

The next morning Jeno waited outside the princess’ chambers to walk with her to breakfast with his brothers. In front of her chambers stood her two guards. Jeno looked at the two men standing in front and he wondered how long they had known the princess. Jeno had two personal guards of his own; each of the princes had two personal guards, but they never followed Jeno around in the palace. The only time Jeno sees his guards is whenever he leaves the palace. He thought it was odd how your guards followed you almost everywhere, even within the palace.

A moment passed and you walked out ready for breakfast. You greeted the prince and he greeted you. As you walked, your two guards began to follow as they were trained to do. “You know you can dismiss them, I can handle escorting you to breakfast,” Jeno told you. You looked behind and noticed the two guards there.

“Chan, Hyunjin, you don’t have to follow us, I’ll be alright,” you told the dear boys.

It took everything in Chan not to be mad at how you so easily believed that Jeno could protect you. “With all due respect my princess, it is our duty to ensure your safety at all times, the best way to achieve that is to follow you all the time.” You smiled to yourself as Chan finished his statement. You knew he wasn’t gonna allow you to be alone with Jeno and his brothers.

“Very well” was all you said and continued to walk. The rest of the walk to the dining hall was silent. Jeno didn’t like the idea that the guards didn’t leave after you told them they could but he understood it was only their job, having to remind himself that the alliance was not technically complete yet.

When arriving at the dining hall, Jeno placed a hand on the small of your back, walking with you towards the table. Chan and Hyunjin remained at the door of the dining hall, far enough to watch, but could barely hear anything. When arriving at the table, Jeno introduced each of his brothers. The oldest is a tall, lean, and handsome young man. He had a sharp jawline with piercing eyes but a childlike smile. His name was Taeyong. The second brother had pitch-black hair, with round eyes and small lips. He was closer to Jeno’s age than the older brother. His name was Mark. The last brother was more tan than the first two and he had a much rounder face with puffy cheeks. His name was Donghyuck. However, they called him Haechan because of his bright personality that reflected the sun.

“Be happy that you have such a pretty bride, Jeno,” Taeyong told his younger brother. You sat beside Jeno, on one side of the table, across from you sat Haechan, and next to him sat Mark. At the front of the table sat Taeyong with the right side having Jeno and the left having Mark. Even though Jeno was the crown prince, he showed his older brothers the utmost respect. He never flaunted his title to any of them and he adhered to all their advice.

“(Y/n), my brother is a good man but he has an atrocious temper. I ask you to be patient with him. He means well but he doesn’t always know how to express it,” Taeyong addresses you. You’re able to tell despite his young age, Taeyong is a man that is wise beyond his years. Jeno doesn’t try to fight back his comment, he simply nods his head. Jeno was different here. You often ate with Jeno, almost every evening, but here Jeno seemed relaxed as if he was a simple 21-year-old and not a future king.

The rest of breakfast goes on with funny stories of Jeno’s youth and constant laughter. This would have to be the first time you saw Jeno ever laugh since your arrival. He had a beautiful smile that reached all the way up to his eyes. The way he acted around his brothers was an all too pleasing difference. He was calm, inviting even, it was like night and day with how different he was.

“We should go horseback riding, they say the first snow is gonna fall today!” Exclaimed Haechan. Northcy looked forward to the first snow. It was both a privilege and a tradition to ride horseback during the first snow. Both you and Jeno didn’t have any duties for the day, which was rare. The queen made sure that your usual duties were postponed. She had hoped that this day would allow you and Jeno to bond in a way. “Please, Taeyong. Come with us, you never hang out with us anymore since you took that position by father,” Haechan whined. You had learned that after Taeyong stepped down from crown prince when Jeno was born he went into the army and within the past year, he took the position of general in the army. He was actually one of the main reasons that Northcy continued to win battles against the Modia Kingdom. He was the general that was allowed two votes at the council, he is the general and a prince.

“Just for the morning, I have duties this afternoon,” Taeyong said, not wanting to disappoint his brothers. They all cheered, including Jeno. As the brothers got up to head towards the stables, you were about to bid them a farewell. Horseback riding wasn’t something you were permitted to do. Your father’s comment about it was: ‘there is no need for you to learn, focus on remembering council members instead.’

“You’re not leaving us, are you, (Y/n)?” Haechan asked, disappointment laced in his voice.

“I don’t know how to ride, I am sorry,” you stated matter of factly.

“Oh, who cares? You can ride with me, you won’t have to learn right now,” Haechan said as he grabbed your wrist and started to pull you towards the stables. The shock was evident on your face. Mark and your two guards were running after the two of you. Jeno was about to race after you until Taeyong grabbed his shoulder.

“He doesn’t mean anything by it, Jeno,” Taeyong said. Even if it was only a split second, Taeyong could see the rage and jealousy spill over his brother from how Haechan grabbed onto you. “You don’t want to scare the poor girl.”

“Tae, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jeno said, “I don’t have any feelings for her.” Which wasn’t entirely wrong, Jeno held no feelings for you, at least not the feelings you should have for the person you’re gonna marry. However, Jeno didn’t like that Haechan just dragged you away. He saw it as impolite and believed that the princess deserves to be treated with respect.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Taeyong said as he watched the gears turn in Jeno’s head.

You and Haechan were the first to arrive at the stables. Mark followed soon after and after Mark was Chan and Hyunjin. All three boys were panting, not realizing how far the dining hall was from the stables. After a while, Jeno and Taeyong arrived side by side.

“You tire yourselves out already?” Taeyong jokes to his two brothers. “Guards, I’m sorry you had to run all the way here, but you can leave the princess be already, she will be alright”

“I do no-“ Chan was about to speak until you interrupted.

“It’s fine Chan, you and Hyunjin go get some food or walk around the palace. I’ll be alright,” you said, giving Chan pleading eyes not to make a scene. You didn’t want to ruin such a happy moment for Jeno and his brothers. Chan understood, and he and Hyunjin left to ensure everything.

The stablemates prepared the horses for the princes. Taeyong had a serene white horse. It looked strong and sturdy as most horses do, but you could tell this horse belonged to Taeyong as when the horse saw Taeyong its face was immediately bright. Mark had a beautiful black horse, hair dark as midnight. Haechan had a brown horse, whose coat was shiny in the morning sun. Jeno’s horse was white as well but the horse seemed more like Jeno. Taeyong’s horse was white but it had a serene and elegant energy, while Jeno’s horse had a cold and chilling energy. Each of the boys began getting on top of their horses. Haechan was about to give you a hand to help you up onto his horse when Jeno came up from behind and stood between you and Haechan. “The princess will ride with me,” Jeno told his younger brother.

“Awh why? She doesn’t want to ride with you anyway,” Haechan said, not meaning to make his brother mad, but just to tease him. However, when Haechan saw the look his brother gave him he knew he made him upset.

Jeno offered you a hand and because you actually wanted to go horseback riding you accepted. Jeno places you in front of him with one leg on each side, back pressed into his chest. Then you guys were off. You expected it to be a slow ride, but that wasn’t the case at all. You quickly learned that Jeno and his brothers enjoyed racing. Jeno kept one hand on your waist, holding you against his chest to ensure you didn’t fall; you kept both hands on the saddle for the same reason. You never realized how tall a horse was until you were on top of one and looking down towards the ground.

The wind was blowing in your face, it felt freeing. The experience was new and exciting to you; this was something you would like to do again. Jeno wasn’t paying much attention to you, he was still just a young adult and the need to beat his brothers took his attention. In the middle of the race, snow began to fall, it was light, almost dream-like. Haechan was right, today was the first snow. You looked up in amazement, this was the first time you had ever seen snow in your entire life, the snow didn’t last though, melting before it even hit the ground. Soon the race was over, Taeyong trailed behind during most of the race until it was almost one and then he pulled ahead winning. After that came you and Jeno, then Haechan and lastly Mark. By the time you made it to the clearing, you were shivering from the cold already. Jeno noticed your shivering body, pulled you closer, and wrapped his arms around you to keep you warm. You leaned further back into Jeno’s touch, trying to embrace as much warmth that radiated off him. Jeno placed his chin on top of your head and smiled to himself. At that moment you guys did look like you were engaged.

Taeyong took notice of how his younger brother treated you and smiled to himself. Jeno was just a young boy who was expected to do great things. Taeyong was treated the same when he was born, but Taeyong was the lucky one. When Jeno was born, all the responsibility left Taeyong and was dropped onto Jeno. To most people Jeno would appear to be the luckiest Prince, however, Taeyong knew Jeno didn’t feel like it. Jeno was never allowed to have a normal childhood. During childhood, Mark and Haechan ran around the palace freely while Jeno took etiquette classes for council meetings. In middle school, Haechan and Mark began taking up sports, while Jeno had to take up hand-to-hand combat training. In high school, Mark and Haechan were allowed to actually go to a school, but Jeno had private tutors and began attending council meetings. Jeno took on all these responsibilities, never throwing a tantrum, never taking it out on his brothers. In the eyes of the people of Northcy, Jeno was a picture-perfect prince. Jeno is the picture-perfect prince.

You and the rest of the boys rode back towards the stables. You held onto the arm that was draped across your chest like a seatbelt. You felt as if you were in a dream. As you arrived towards the stable you saw Chan and Hyunjin. The look Chan held was chilling, causing you to shiver again. You let go of Jeno’s arm and wrapped your arms around yourself, practically forcing Jeno’s arm off of you. You dropped your head in an attempt to avoid Chan’s intimidating glare. You felt nothing for Jeno, except responsibility. Jeno was simply a way to save your people, he was your responsibility, your duty, and nothing more.

“Princess, are you alright?” Jeno questioned when you forced his arm away, he could still feel you shivering.

“I’m fine, just tired,” you said breathlessly wanting to go back to your chambers. You bid a farewell to each of the princes and excused yourself. Jeno stood there, utterly confused, thinking that the ride went well. Jeno saw you walk off with your guards and it looked as if one of the guards were speaking to you.

“Are you in love with him?!” Chan yelled in your face in the privacy of your bedroom.

“Why would I be in love with that prince?!” You screamed back.

“You seemed all in love today holding onto him like?!” Chan kept yelling. A single tear slid down your face. Chan’s face was immediately filled with regret. He shouldn’t be questioning you like this; he knew you didn’t want to marry Jeno. Chan pulled you close and you sobbed into his chest. He held you close for what seemed like hours. You loved Chan with all of your heart, you wanted to run away and live a happy and simple life with Chan. However, each night that you thought of that dream, the cries of your people pulled you back to reality. You had a duty to fulfill, no matter the feelings your heart held.

“Are you alright, my princess?” Chan asked as you pulled away.

“Please never yell at me again, I don’t know if I could handle you being upset with me like that again,” you said breathing heavily. Your heart hurts knowing you can’t be with the man you loved.

“Of course, my princess,” Chan said, wiping the tears from your cheeks. Chan felt terrible. He allowed his emotions to get the best of him. He needed to remember his place, and it was not right for him to be like this with you. “(Y/n), I’m sorry, I had no right to yell or question you like that,” your face in his hand.

“I don’t,” you paused trying to calm down, “I don’t love him, I love you.”

“I know,” Chan said with loving eyes, “but you can not continue to love me, my princess.” A sad smile painted itself on his face. Tears came welling to your eyes, you closed your eyes allowing the tears to fall and nodding. What Chan said was the sad truth.

After making sure you were feeling better, Chan left your side to go stand guard outside your doors. As Chan exited your room, Prince Jeno approached. The two made eye contact and Chan quickly looked down, not wanting to see the man that would take the love of his life.

“Has the princess gone off?” Jeno asked the other guard, Hyunjin.

“She still there?” Hyunjin asked Chan.

“Yeah, she’s about to have a cup of tea,” Chan said as he returned to his position. Prince Jeno made his way into your room, not stopping to knock.

“You seriously need to be careful,” Hyunjin whispered to Chan.

“Careful? Of what?” Chan attempted to act oblivious.

“Chan, she is the future queen of our nation. She is going to marry Prince Jeno whether you like it or not. It’s her duty, and you know how (Y/n) is, she isn’t gonna run away from what needs to be done. I know you love her and I know she loves you but you gotta let her go,” Hyunjin said with sad eyes. He knew how much his friend cared for you, it was truly a pity you two couldn’t be together.

Jeno wanted to chase after you after the horseback ride, but that wasn’t possible.

“Crown Prince Lee Jeno, General Lee Taeyong, Prince Lee Mark, and Prince Lee Donghyuck, your presence is requested by the king,” a palace servant called for the boys.

“Father wanted to see all of us, this must not be good,” Mark said as panic started to flood his face.

“Oh, please! We haven’t done anything wrong,” Haechan said.

“Really? You’ve caused no trouble in the past day or two?” Jeno asked his brother. Haechan always enjoyed a good prank.

“I promise, my future king, I have caused no such trouble within the palace walls,” Haechan said with an exaggerated bow to Jeno. Jeno hates being addressed like that, especially by his brothers. Haechan loved to do it because he knew it made Jeno mad. Naturally, Jeno started chasing him around to give him ‘what he deserved.’

“Hey, quit fighting already, do you want to keep the actual king waiting?” Taeyong asked his two brothers who were currently on the ground wrestling.

“No,” both boys said with their heads hung low. They all made their way to see the king.

Upon arrival, the four boys were greeted by their father and Jeno’s mother. “Your majesties,” Taeyong greeted and bowed along with the three other boys who remained silent. They were in the king’s private drawing-room. It was plain, simple, much more like a lounging area for the king to entertain during private meetings. There was a secret door behind the shelves of books that led to the king’s office. No one was allowed in the king’s office. Not once did Jeno, or his brothers, or his mother ever step foot inside the office. Only the king, and one servant, Jung, the king’s personal butler, were permitted.

“You’ve requested our presence, father?” Taeyong asked, standing straight and looking directly at his father.

“Yes, I want to make an announcement to all of you: after Princess (Y/n) and Jeno’s union, I am thinking of stepping down as king,” The king said with a bright smile upon his face.

“What, father?!” Jeno shouted in pure shock.

“Yes, I will step down from the throne after you are married and you will be crowned king, but before all that, my two sons, Mark and Donghyuck, I want to make you each member of the council,” the king said with a satisfied expression.

“Father stepping down? No king in the history of our entire kingdom has ever stepped down before, is that even possible?” Jeno asked incredulously.

“If it’s not possible, I will make it possible. You, my son, have served on the council for almost five years now, since you were 16. You are ready for the throne and your brothers will help guide the way for you. Taeyong is already a member of the council. Mark and Donghyuck are sure to catch on soon enough. Northcy is entering a time of peace; there’s no need to worry about ascending the throne too early,” the king said with a satisfied grin. Haechan and Mark were given off to two council members; they were expected to start learning their duties immediately. Only Jeno and Taeyong were left.

“Father, you can’t be serious,” Jeno groaned in frustration. “Even if you consider Northcy to be entering a time of peace, there is no telling how our people will react to this union,” Jeno stated, his voice clear and concise. Although his point was to defer his father from stepping down, all it did was further prove that the king could step down. Jeno was thinking about what was best for his people, and he held the confidence of a king.

“Jeno, my boy, I am stepping down, not dying. I will help you at every step of the way. The transition between me stepping down and you being crowned king will be lengthy.” The king looked at his son. “There is no need for you to worry so much.”

“Father, no, you cannot just step down because I am forced into a marriage. That clearly is not wanted nor needed,” Jeno stuck firm to his stances on the issues, the venom being weaved into his voice.

“My boy,” the king stood from his seat, placing both hands on Jeno’s shoulders, “you need not worry so much, all will be well. It’s best you boys head off. I’m sure you have much work that needs to be done, Taeyong?” The king asked to change the subject.

“Yes, father, the plans to bring home soldiers and redistribute soldiers in all parts of Northcy is an effect. I’ll see to it personally that everything goes well,” Taeyong states, pulling Jeno along to leave the king and queen in the drawing-room.

“Taeyong, I don’t want this, I don’t want to be king, I don’t wanna get married, why is father making me do this? Can’t you become king and ascend the throne?” Jeno asked his older brother as he exited the room. Anyone could see in Jeno’s face how much the idea of being king worried him.

“Jeno, you will make a fine king, don’t worry so much. Also, the princess is a beautiful girl. What’s the problem with marrying her?”

“The problem isn’t her, the problem is marriage, I don’t want it, not right now at least,” Jeno sighed, “and I want to get married to someone I know, someone I love, not some girl that father and mother presented to me.” Taeyong knew what he meant. If he could lift the burdens from his brother’s shoulders, he would, but this was Jeno’s duty as the only male heir of the true king and queen. Sadly, after Jeno’s statement, Taeyong was called away by a maid, leaving Jeno to his thoughts.

As Jeno walked away from the drawing-room, he found himself wandering towards your chambers. As he got near, he saw one of your guards exit your room. A princess in her private chambers, alone with a boy. Clearly, that would call for a scandal, not to mention the princess’ engagement.

“Has the princess gone off?” Jeno asked the other guard, Hyunjin, as he approached your doors.

“She still there?” Hyunjin asked The guard coming out of your room, Chan.

“Yeah, she’s about to have a cup of tea,” Chan said as he returned to his position. Prince Jeno made his way into your room. Inside, he saw you seated pouring some tea.

“Chan, I promise I am fine, go before people talk,” you said not paying attention to who had entered.

“Princess? It is I, Jeno.”

“Prince Jeno!” You said startled, immediately getting up to greet the prince.

“You don’t need to bow, princess, it is only you and I here,” Jeno said with a soft smile as he made his way near your table. “May I?” Jeno gestures asking if he could take a seat. Your chambers held little personality. The walls were painted pastel green, and the trim was off-white. There was no balcony in this room, but large windows that allowed an abundance of sunlight. There were two white couches with a glass coffee table in between and a small table that held the tea set was in front of a large window, overlooking a courtyard.

“Of course, of course, would you like a cup of tea? I was just about to pour myself some,” you asked frantically, still unsure why Jeno was in your room.

“Yes, please,” Jeno answered. You two sat in awkward silence, sipping your tea and waiting for the other to speak.

“Sooooooo…” you started but trailed off, you reminded yourself to just breathe for Jeno was merely a young adult, who happened to be the future king of your nation and was to be your husband. “Why did you come here?” You asked as you found your words.

“Right,” Jeno set down his cup of tea, turning to face you, “I wanted to make sure you were alright, you didn’t seem well after the horseback ride,” Jeno stayed, there was a look of worry within his eyes. His gaze made you feel cared for, something you thought the prince was incapable of doing at one point in your life.

“I am just fine,” you felt a blush creep up to your cheeks, looking away to hide from the prince. “No reason for you to worry.”

“Are you sure? You rushed off so quickly I was barely able to even say bye as you left,” Jeno pressed on further. Deep in his gut, Jeno believed you rushing off had something to do with the guard, but he pushed the feeling further down as there was no reason to think that just yet.

“I’m alright, Jeno.” That was the first time in your entire stay here you addressed Jeno by merely his name, not with his title. He actually liked hearing you say his name, he liked the way you spoke. Your tone was always gentle, kind, like silk to his ears. Jeno pushed further on, asking you questions about yourself and your family. In an attempt to avoid conversations about you personally, you spoke of your family. When that didn’t work, you asked questions instead of answering them.

You learned Jeno was a skilled archer and he preferred music studies over all others. Jeno has never seen a single battle or a moment of war for Taeyong took those burdens; he was the prince in the war. Jeno doesn’t know what it’s like to have a kingdom fall into poverty because his kingdom always had money and a large army. You also learned that Jeno wanted to join the army with his brother, but was denied by his father, saying Jeno isn’t allowed to die. Jeno wanted to learn music and how to paint but was forced into archery and history. Jeno’s life was a never-changing path that was decided, it was a set road, ready for him to walk.

Jeno has learned that you were not meant to be queen at all. You were the youngest child of the king and queen, with an older brother and two older sisters. However, when the war took lives faster than new ones were born, your siblings weren’t afraid to step up to the fight. Being royal children, you and your siblings were raised as equals, learning everything from cooking and cleaning to martial arts and war techniques. Your siblings being much older than you, when they left home to fight, you were still doing your schooling. After each letter made it back home instead of the authors, your parents knew they could no longer keep fighting this war. They had already lost millions of people and now three of their children.

After the third letter made it home, your father put in order 15: ceasefire but hold the line. The soldier at the war front was not to evacuate or move from their position but they were to stop firing at the enemy. The negotiations for peace began, not that Modia had much to negotiate anyway because, without a male heir, the kingdom would fall out of the family. The royal family line died with your brother, so the island that started it all would be left alone out of respect for Modia, all of Modia’s territories would be in control of the new king and queen, and Makena Palace in Modia would now become a summer palace. This was temporary, though, because Modia would only be in Jeno’s control after your father passed on.

As the two of you talked on and on, neither one of you noticed or addressed Fei and Mei. The two maids entered your chambers, helping in any way you saw fit. However, seeing you in deep conversation with the prince, Fei and Mei decided to go about their routine: pulling out the evening dress for dinner, fixing the bed, cleaning the bathroom. The two maids nearly complete all tasks in utter silence. It was until Fei and Mei entered the bathroom did either one of them decide to speak. Your bathroom was connected to the sleeping area of your bedroom, which was separated by a wall and double doors from where you and Jeno were.

“Getting cozy fast, the princess has,” Fei stated to her sister.

“Fei, watch what you say,” Mei stated in a rather hushing manner.

“Mei, no one else can hear us,” Fei started, “all I am saying is the princess seems to be getting along well with the prince, nothing more.”

“I hope Chan is alright,” Mei stated and Fei just nodded along knowingly. Anyone, everyone, in your kingdom knew the story. Knew of the princess and her personal guard. There was no denying the loving looks passed among the two of you.

The knock at your door pulled you and Jeno out of your guys’ thoughts, looking towards the two eggshell white French doors anticipating who would ruin such a divine moment. One door was slowly pushed open revealing the queen. Both you and Jeno immediately stood, bowing to greet the queen.

“My apologies, I didn’t realize you had a guest princess, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” the queen said, hand over heart.

“No apology needed, Your Majesty,” you said, slowly rising for your bowing stances, “your presence is no interruption.” ‘The presence of any queen or king is never an interruption to anyone. You must remember that even as royalty, it is an honor to be in the presence of a king or queen,’ Lady Kam’s lessons on proper etiquette play in your mind.

“My dear daughter,” the queen has taken a keen interest in calling you ‘daughter.’ The name makes you tense. “You must meet with the gardener, the flower arrangements aren’t set yet.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” you said. You would take memorizing noble families over wedding arrangements any day, but you can no longer avoid the duties. “I apologize, Prince Jeno, for I must leave you.”

“No apology needed,” Jeno said, looking at you, longing for a few minutes ago, when your conversation wasn’t interrupted. There were still so many thoughts in his head, so many things he wanted to discuss with you and get your opinion on. And memories… slowly resurfacing, much to his own horror, that he needed help coming to terms with. He specifically wanted your help, as he knew you could truly understand him.

You and the queen walked together to meet the gardener in the main foyer. You stayed a step behind her. Everything from the seating arrangement to the way you walked must be done in a hierarchical order. The queen had a higher status than you, so she led the group, you were second, then your maids, and lastly, your guards. It wasn’t common for your guards to follow instead of lead, but since this was the queen, they had to follow.

Even what you wore was a sign of status. The queen wore navy straight-leg pants, topped with a white bishop sleeve blouse that went up to her neck. A simple medallion necklace lay on her chest, her hair pulled back into a tight low bun and a simple silver tiara topped her head. The outfit was simple but classy, only something a queen would wear. It was certainly more elegant than what you wore: black tight dress pants with a deep crimson red wrap long-sleeved blouse.

As you entered the main foyer, there the gardener, an older gentleman, old enough to be your father, stood. He was a slim man, skin obviously tanned from the sun, his hair salt and pepper from age. Next to him stood a young boy, at first just looking like an assistant for the gardener. But as you drew closer to them, you could see the resemblance between the two: the same nose, the same cheekbones, the same jawline. They were father and son.

“Your Majesty,” the older gentleman stated as he and his son bowed, “I am Andrew and this is my son, Ramsey.”

“Pleased to meet the two of you,” the queen started before turning to you, “let us make our way to the palace garden, there you can see the flowers we have and what will work best for the wedding.”

All of you made your way through the palace to the private garden. It was the only area where the temperature remained regulated, warm. The queen and the gardener talked amongst themselves about the flower arrangements, never once asking your opinion. This is how most wedding arrangements went: the queen handled it all, every now and then looking to you for a nod of approval, which you always gave. There was no reason to argue, you thought; the queen will have the wedding she wants. If you truly got what you wanted, you wouldn’t even be in this palace.

The son didn’t speak at all either, he just held a tablet with a pen. He wrote everything that needed to be remembered, never allowing his father and the queen to venture out of earshot, always close enough behind to hear everything but not too close to get in the way. Oh, how you envied him, to be responsible for so little. A simple life as a gardener’s daughter festered in your daydreams as you looked on to the flowers. You walked away from the group, to the neglected parts of the garden. It was all taken care of, just neglected because no one seemed to enjoy these flowers as much as the others.

“Princess (Y/n),” the queen called, pulling you from your thoughts.

“Huh?” was all that came to mind to say

“I’ve been trying to get your attention, dear,” the queen looked to you with a show of concern, but under the concern was a hint of irritation that you weren’t focused on the task at hand. “How do red and white roses sound for your bouquet and then we’ll have blue carnations for all the arrangements?”

‘I held orchids for my bouquet; they were always my favorite flowers’ your mother told you one day long, long ago. “Instead of white roses for the bouquet, what about white orchids?” You asked, more to the queen than the gardener.

“That’s possible,” the gardener said as his son wrote.

The queen was in shock at you actually making a decision, smiling to herself, hoping this was a sign you’re coming around to the idea of this marriage. “Of course, my dear, whatever you want.”

The words meant to encourage and uplift you about the wedding did the exact opposite. Hearing ‘whatever you want’ from the queen caused you to physically flinch. What you truly want is to cancel this wedding and go home.

Soon enough, the meeting with the gardener and his son was over. You see the two of them off leaving the palace. All the flower arrangements set into motion.

“Tomorrow, you have an important luncheon with the noble Na family,” the queen stated, walking away from the foyer. You followed closely behind. “The noble families will soon start arriving at the palace for the wedding.”

“Already? We’re still two months out.”

“The Na family will be arriving late this evening, and the two of us will see to it that they are settled in,” the queen ignored your comment as if you never even said it, “and in a couple of weeks, the noble Min family will come and then a week after them will be the noble Kim family. By that time, we will only be a month from the weddings, and more families will continue to arrive. Take the next few hours and prepare yourself; it’s time to put all those lessons on the Northcy kingdom to the test.”

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Taglist: @floweronacloud @cookydream @nctstrawberrycow @marklexleaf @jvjsssnaa @thejeongjaehyun @thejungjaehyun @jackyeongljin @terjeno @tyongf-sunflower99 @tgnctzen131@gooreumic @jenotation@nctdom@ficklehoe @itsveronicaxxx @actually-vl

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gravelyhumerus · 3 years

Text

Criminal Minds College AU - Chapter Seventeen

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Title: “I may just take your breath away”

Relationship: Jemily

Summary:

Exams, pizza, board games... what more could a girl ask for?

Slow-burn Jemily college AU where they live across the hall and despite all odds, the universe pushes them together. AKA they’re silly gay babies who pine after each other for months.

Read it on AO3

Tumblr: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, (bonus scene), Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty

“That was a lot of chess,” Emily complained, nearly chugging her latte as she and Spencer left the coffee shop.

She pulled her beanie onto her head and braced herself for the snow as the taller boy held the door open for her. Emily almost slipped on the slushy tile floor on her way out but managed to keep her balance.

“Fifteen of the multiple-choice questions to be precise,” Spencer replied. The salted sidewalk crunched under their feet as they made their way across campus.

“I’m so glad it’s finally over,” she admitted. “I think I’ve had enough philosophy to last me a lifetime.”

“I’m enrolled in ‘Minds and Machines’ next semester,” he said. “I think I might try and get a double minor this time around.”

“What’s the goal? Three PhDs by the time you’re 24?” Emily quipped.

He was well on his way, having completed his engineering degree before she managed to graduate high school. He was 17, only two years younger than her, but somehow seemed like a kid. A kid with more education crammed into his brain than she could ever master in her life.

“Something like that,” he replied with a smile. His hair was getting long and he had tied it back during the exam. With last names starting with P and R, they were seated near each other in the large exam hall, and she glanced over at him as he fussed with his hair.

They stopped at the red light, watching as the cars and busses wooshed past them, sending the slush flying into the snowbanks. It had been a fairly sunny day, but bitterly cold. Now, the sun was setting and the campus was bathed in a warm golden glow. The snow had fallen the night before, leaving fluffy white snow covering their campus.

Emily had spent most of the day holed up in the library with Spencer, with him quizzing her on fallacies and philosophers. With his eidetic memory, he only really needed to read the material once. Earlier in the semester, she did feel useful when it came to editing each other’s essays. He always got bogged down with detail, word vomiting everything he knew, and she helped him with his structure and argumentation.

More studying awaited her back in her room. She rubbed at the back of her neck as she thought about the upcoming evening spent hunched over her desk studying criminal justice, a subject that left her questioning her degree half the time as she was forced to learn about the muddled ethics of justice.

That week, she had survived on minimal sleep, eating mostly bagels and coffee to sustain her. Her body was protesting with each step, and she had suffered from a constant tension headache for as long as she remembered. At least her college had that golden retriever walk around at the library yesterday, she thought to herself, sarcastically. Animal therapy definitely relieved all her stress. As if petting a dog for five minutes would fix the anxiety of finals season.

Two more exams, she reminded herself. You’ll make it.

Despite this mantra, Emily was conflicted. While finals were killing her, the end of the semester also meant winter break. Emily would be forced to go “home” for the holidays. For most college students, that meant going back to their respective towns and being surrounded by their loved ones. Emily, on the other hand, didn’t have anywhere she called home. Last winter break, her mom had at least been in DC, and Emily was able to catch up with some of her international school friends who were in the city. This time, her mom was stationed in London, and Emily knew she’d be roped back into her old life. She didn’t know anyone there and knew most of her break would be spent alone.

The last place she had called home was Rome, and now that was tarnished by her complicated past with that city.

Emily was good at being alone. Being an only child of a workaholic single mom meant she learned to keep her own company. She read a lot. She got good at running away, escaping her nannies, and skirting security in order to roam free. She’d be fine.

The problem was that Emily had gotten used to this. She rarely spent a moment alone these days. Whether it was walking to class with Spencer, or Hotch, or Derek, getting lunch with the team, surprise coffee dates with Penelope and spending almost every evening with her girlfriend, she hadn’t been left alone in ages. She didn’t miss it.

Their residence building had a warm yellow light shining out of the windows and a soft red brick facade. In the summer, ivy grew up the south facing side but in the winter, the ledges were covered in snow and the stone steps were slippery. She trudged forward, excited for the warm embrace of the dorm.

Spencer had other plans. He reached into the garish yellow plastic newspaper box that was stationed next to their doorway and retrieved this week’s newspaper.

“Come on Reid,” Emily said. “Just subscribe to the newsletter or something like the rest of us.”

He held up the cover to her in surprise. Usually it reported the news of a recent sports victory, or a change of policy announced by the administrators, or even a fun event held on campus. Sometimes there was even a dramatic protest or an important speaker coming to campus. But this week, the headline surprised her. In large font printed across the page read: “Multiple student politicians fired amid financial scandal.”

“That sounds bad,” Emily said. It did seem way more dramatic on newsprint than on a website, so maybe Spencer was onto something with his affinity for the printed word.

Grabbing a copy for herself, she then walked inside to escape the cold. Warm air greeted them as they entered their residence hall, and both students kicked the snow off their boots before trudging up the stairs. They read as they walked, but the route to their rooms was already muscle memory, so neither worried about stumbling on their way.

Normally, Emily wouldn’t willingly touch this sort of student politics with a ten foot pole. Sure, she was involved with the Criminology council, but there was a difference between the kind of person interested in petitioning for better accessibility to faculty events or running a bake sale, and the kind of students to embezzle thousands of student dollars like what the current student government executive seemed to be accused of doing.

She quickly ran her eyes down the page, the contents jogging a memory from Halloween, of Hotch and JJ discussing the early stirrings of said scandal.

“You know,” Spencer said, “I’m surprised they got a lot of this information, it’s notoriously difficult to file FOIAs for student governments, as they’re technically private corporations. So the fact that they got these files means that this is a much bigger scandal than one might assume.”

Corruption, bribery, embezzlement, nepotism. All words that jogged memories of hiding in the corner of political fundraisers, overhearing the worst of politics from too-drunk elites sipping on their wine and munching on charcuterie.

“I hate politics,” Emily said, stuffing her copy of the paper into her bag.

“I find it interesting. It’s basically a microcosm of our current political climate. In fact, I have subscribed to the print edition of fifteen student papers in the region,” Spencer said, “I like to keep informed on the coverage of student issues, and compare them to our own.”

“Why?!” Emily said with a laugh. “You know you can just look them up online.”

Spencer gave her a withering look, and she should have known better than asking about his aversion to tech. He loathed having to use his computer, as the LCD screens apparently gave him a headache. Penelope even gave him a pair of blue light glasses to attempt to alleviate the issue.

Then, he began to speak, at length, about the dying printed news industry and why print copies were better for understanding than screens et cetera. She made sure to nod and hum at appropriate points, but her mind kept wandering.

She wondered if her girlfriend was in her room. Emily missed her any time they were apart and she yearned to hold her in her arms once again. But she shouldn’t. She needed to work. She had too much to do. Her grades had slipped, slightly, this semester. Everyone warned her about how college would be harder than high school, but no one ever warned her how much the expectations were raised in second year.

Two more exams. She clutched her coffee tighter. She’d rather do anything else besides study at this point. Her body was exhausted, her mind frazzled. She wondered if she could even manage to get through a chapter of revision before conking out on her desk.

As she said goodbye to Spencer and struggled with her keys that were tangled up in their corresponding university-branded lanyard, JJ’s door opened.

“Hey girlfriend,” JJ greeted her, sounding way too much like a straight girl greeting her platonic friend for Emily’s taste. She gave her a pass because it sounded cute in her voice.

“JJ!” Emily said, somehow surprised to see her despite the fact that she lived right across the hall. Her girlfriend was dressed in sweatpants and an oversized sweater, with her straight hair tucked behind her ears and her face bare of make up. Her face was lit up with a smile, and Emily rushed towards her, planting a soft kiss on her lips.

“Hi JJ,” Spencer said as Emily and JJ kissed.

When they pulled apart, JJ gave Spencer a smile as a greeting and asked them how their exam went.

Spencer babbled about their Logic exams for a minute or two, as Emily basked in JJ’s presence. She grabbed onto her hand and found that it was so much hotter than her own and wasn’t sure if she held on tight because she was cold, or if she had missed her girlfriend.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” Emily said. “I never want to hear about fallacies again.”

Spencer seemed to want to say something, but fell silent at Emily’s tired expression.

“Wanna come in for a bit?” JJ whispered in Emily’s ear. Apparently she said so a touch too loud because Spencer replied instead.

“Sure!” he said, and then walked into JJ and Penelope’s room.

“I should really study,” Emily tried to argue, but a single glance into JJ’s deep, blue eyes had Emily melting.

JJ’s room was much messier than Emily had last seen it. Both desks showed clear markers of the ongoing exams, with papers and books piled high. In addition to this was an assortment of pillows strewn all over the floor.

“You guys are back early!” JJ said, after checking her watch, “I thought it was a two hour exam?”

“I finished in an hour,” Spencer said, “and Emily only needed an extra half hour on top of my time.”

Damn straight, Emily thought, feeling somewhat competitive with the boy-genius despite herself.

She really should study, but the prospect of seeing her girlfriend outweighed the desire to sit hunched over a textbook for another evening.

Emily and Spencer kicked off their boots, placing them neatly on the mat by the door before peeling their jackets off and hanging them on the back of her door. Emily wasn’t sure if she liked winter. Whenever her mother was stationed in the Middle East she yearned for snow, but now that she was experiencing the Nor’easter for the first time, the desert sounded like a good time.

“Well there goes my plan,” JJ said, blowing her hair out of her face with a puff of air.

Spencer flopped onto Penelope’s neatly-made bed, collapsing into the assortment of pink pillows while carefully keeping his take-away cup upright. Emily sat down next to JJ on her bed.

“Your plan?” Emily asked.

“Yeah,” JJ said, sounding a bit shy. “I had this whole plan to make up a blanket fort here for you, and I would surprise you with it when you walked in.’”

JJ gestured with her hands at the mess. Blankets and pillows were strewn about, and a bundle of fairy lights were laying in the middle of the floor.

“Then you came back early,” JJ concluded. “Spence, I thought you’d keep her occupied longer!”

“You didn’t tell me that,” he replied. Spencer looked quizzically at her, shrugged, then took another sip of his coffee.

“I just wanted us to have a cute date night,” JJ admitted. “I know you’re so stressed, and you deserve a break.”

Emily grabbed her girlfriend’s moving hands and held them in her own. She felt overwhelmed. JJ was so… thoughtful. Caring. Attentive. So many things that were absolutely foreign to Emily. No one had ever tried to impress her like this.

“It’s okay,” Emily said. “We don’t need anything special to have a cute date night. You’re cute enough.”

JJ gave Emily a goofy smile in response.

“Okay,” JJ said. “If you say so.”

“You’re building a blanket fort?” Spencer asked. “I actually have some experience with blanket fort architecture.”

“You do?” JJ asked, raising her eyebrows skeptically.

“Of course,” he replied, seeming almost offended that she questioned him. “It sparked my interest in engineering. I wanted to overcome the problem of chair-tippage when it came to building the structure, so I devised a system of counter-weights that I found increased the structural integrity by 53%. My mom always told me that I could be an architect, but I thought the sciences better suited my intellect.”

“Oh?” Emily asked, genuinely interested. How would someone measure the structural integrity of a blanket fort?

“Actually, I have some blueprints. Let me grab them,” he said, standing up and making a move for the door.

“Of course you have blueprints,” JJ laughed.

“I should probably go feed Gideon, anyway. I’ll be right back!” Spencer said. Before closing the door behind him.

“Gideon?” Emily asked.

“His fish,” JJ said, “the one he won at the fair. It’s named after his professor, I think.”

She shrugged. The kid was weird, they tended to just accept that.

“I guess Spencer’s joining us on date night,” JJ said. “Sorry. I know you’re stressed and probably want to be studying, but I thought we’d order pizza and just have one night off. Just us. And Spencer.”

JJ planted a firm kiss on Emily’s lips, leaving her dazed and blushing.

“Relaxing sounds perfect,” Emily said, pulling her girlfriend closer to her. “I can’t believe it’s already exams. This semester has flown by. Soon it’ll be winter break, and I won’t get to see you.”

“I can’t imagine you not being right across the hall,” JJ said. “Who will give me kisses when I want them?”

JJ kissed Emily, sucking on Emily’s bottom lip slightly before pulling apart to look at her.

“I know you’re joking, but I hope you’re not kissing anybody else, no matter the circumstances.”

With that established, Emily pounced on her girlfriend, pushing her onto her bed and kissing her deeply. She intertwined her fingers in the blonde locks that were splayed out in a golden halo and breathed in deep, taking in the warm scent of the lilac candle that burnt on her night side table.

All her worries melted away at JJ’s touch. Emily’s brain was filled with the feeling of JJ’s lips on hers, with her lithe form beneath her. Exams, student politics and thoughts of home were wiped away, and her stress faded into background noise.

JJ’s pliant form writhed under Emily’s, her hands sneaking below Emily’s sweater and dancing over her back. They deepened the kiss until they were making out like teenagers in JJ’s dorm with the door still open a crack.

This was how Spencer, accompanied by Derek, found them when they pushed open the door with blanket fort blueprints and bags of potato chips in hand.

Spencer made a surprised noise, which made Emily aware of his return. She jumped up and pulled apart from JJ with a dark red blush gracing her cheeks.

“Woah there ladies,” Derek said with a laugh. “Keep it in your pants!”

“Guys! I was gone for five minutes!” Spencer whined.

Emily stood up awkwardly, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she watched JJ sit up and pat her hair down in a huff.

“Sorry,” Emily grumbled, not really meaning it. She would never be sorry for kissing JJ, but she was sorry for the awkwardness

“Pretty boy dragged me down the hall,” Derek said in explanation. He had Spencer’s rolled-up fort plans in his hand, and lightly smacked Emily’s head with it, making a comedic thwap noise as it made contact. “Hope you weren’t in the middle of something?”

“Only JJ’s legs,” Emily quipped to everyone’s surprise, even her own. JJ hit her jokingly and blushed.

“Hey!” Derek laughed, “Let’s keep this PG!”

“You called?” The voice of Penelope Garcia—PG if you will—rang out from the hallway, and within seconds JJ’s room was filled with just about all their friends standing around in a slightly awkward silence: JJ, Emily, Spencer and Derek were joined by Penelope with Hotch in tow.

The latter two of them had grown closer recently and walked into the room with white shopping bags with the walrus logo printed on the side, looking like they had just returned from out in the cold. Penelope and Hotch going thrifting together, that’s new! Emily thought to herself and decided to file the observation for later. The image of Hotch watching Penelope’s customary fashion show was enough to make her laugh under her breath.

“We’re building a blanket fort,” Spencer announced, changing the subject to the task at hand. “Are you guys helping?”

“Oh you know I will, boy genius,” Penelope said with an excited smile.

Emily looked over to her girlfriend. So much for date night.

———

Without much questioning about why they were building a blanket fort, the team got to work. In college, sometimes things just happened. Impromptu blanket forts were par the course. In their defense, any excuse to not spend the evening burying their heads in textbooks was a welcome reprieve.

It started with just a few blankets draped in the space between JJ and Penelope’s beds, but with Spencer’s instruction, a verifiable architectural marvel began to take shape.

While Emily knew that Penelope would be all gung ho for this sort of project, it was certainly amusing to see Hotch in his khakis and dress shirt crawling around on the floor like a child with the rest of them, tying off blankets and very seriously maneuvering the different parts of the structure.

Sheets were draped here and there, tied together to form ceilings and walls. Two chairs stolen from the common room, loaded with backpacks on the seat for support acted as the entrance to the fort.

While it was crawling space only, Emily had to note that there was a sense of awe when you emerged into the open space of the main fort-area. It was surprisingly big, fitting all six of them with ease. The key to the whole design was a curtain rod Hotch had stolen from the boys shower that lifted the roof up.

The design was strangely reminiscent of Baroque architecture, which she was sure was due to Spencer’s designs. This was a fact that Emily kept to herself. She always tried to rein in the ‘I lived abroad’ conversation points so her childhood could remain under minimal scrutiny.

Emily’s exhaustion transformed into excitement as she relished the time hanging out with her friends. Music played from Penelope’s computer as they worked, they began to work as a cohesive group, each member doing their share. It was nice to do something besides sit at her desk and obsess over memorizing facts and statistics, or figuring out the proper argumentation for an essay on a subject. Making sure that a bunch of blankets didn’t crash onto them was treated with the utmost seriousness, and the whole group was focused with intense concentration at their own tasks.

Spencer did, in fact, have literal sketches of blanket forts in his notebooks, but the details of which were fairly incomprehensible to her. While she believed that he did the math, his chicken scratch was just about indecipherable, and his drawing was little more than a few shapes on a page. Despite this, it was laid out on the centre of the dorm-room floor for them to reference.

At one point, as Emily stood on JJ’s wheely chair, she feared that the fort had all come crashing down as she lost her balance and grabbed at the blankets to stop her fall before tumbling onto Derek with a yelp.

“Sorry,” she muttered as she climbed back onto her feet and fought off the blanket that had wrapped her in a shroud.

She flinched as she realized she had ruined it all, a pit forming in her stomach. She looked at her friends in concern, but instead of yelling at her for her mistake, or shunning her for ruining it for the rest of them, they smiled at her and helped her up.

“It’s okay!” Spencer said cheerfully. “I know exactly how to reinforce that wall.”

“You okay, Emily?” Hotch asked, righting the wheely chair as JJ fretted over her.

“I’m good,” she answered, still confused as to why they weren’t mad at her.

Instead of making a big deal over the set back, they went back to work. Soon, the fort filled out and it returned to its former glory. Arguably, better than it was because they had draped fairy lights throughout the inside, making the space glow with a warm orange light.

Inside was filled with pillows and big enough for all of them to sit comfortably so it was a comfy lounge space. It was cozy and warm, the antithesis of the bitterly cold night air outside.

“You know what?” Hotch said. “This is a damned good fort, Reid.”

The group muttered in consensus. They all had piled into the space, and as the excitement wore off, Emily was wondering what happened next. What does one do in a blanket fort? She had vague memories of building one in her room, but she had just sat inside and read a book.

“I hear the RA’s storage room has a ton of board games,” Penelope said. “They pull them out for socials and stuff.”

“That’s all well and good, but we’re not asking Strauss to let us in,” Derek argued. “I still think she thinks we were responsible for that fire alarm last week. She’s been giving me the evil eye ever since.”

“Who said we had to tell her?” Emily said. “We could just… borrow… them…”

“I mean, they are for us to use, anyway.” JJ’s eyes had a mischievous look in them as she looked at Emily.

“That is true,” Hotch said, the scowl that was usually a fixture on his face turning to a smirk.

“That’s stealing, guys,” Spencer warned, as if they didn’t already know that.

“We’ll give them back,” Emily said with a shrug. “Come on!”

Penelope led the way to a dark wooden door on the main floor, it was labelled simply “Storage,” but the computer science student assured them that it was where the RA’s stored all of their supplies.

“It’s locked,” Penelope huffed.

“Do you have a bobby pin?” Emily asked her in a hushed voice. She wouldn’t have gotten this far if she hadn’t learned how to pick simple door locks. She had trouble with deadbolts but a simple latch she could probably do within a couple of minutes.

The blonde pulled a hot pink bobby pin out of her perfectly curled hair. Emily snapped it into two, bending one end into a longer L-shape. Sticking that into the bottom of the lock and holding it in place, she used the other side to feel for the pins that held the lock in place.

Emily could feel all eyes on her as she confidently knelt in front of the doorknob, the group keeping watch for her as she worked. No one questioned how or why Emily knew how to do this. She had her reasons.

This definitely broke all sorts of residence rules and if they got caught, they knew they’d get into shit, but no one seemed to care that much. They just wouldn’t get caught.

After a couple minutes, Emily’s hands began to sweat. What if she couldn’t do this anymore? She tried to centre herself. She had made it through infinitely more stressful situations in the past. It was the eyes of her friends on her that made her nervous. She was finally accepted by a group, and she desperately didn’t want to let them down.

Then, it clicked, and she was able to turn the brass knob easily. Emily made a noise of excitement, got to her feet and yanked the door open.

Instead of an empty storage closet, on the other side of the door was Erin Strauss, their RA, in a passionate embrace with David Rossi. Her shirt was unbuttoned and he was in the middle of sucking on her neck.

“Dave?!” Hotch called out, startling the couple.

Both groups stood stock-still, neither knowing what to say. While Emily had hid the bobby pins, she wasn’t sure who was in more trouble, them for breaking into the room or their RA for using the space for unofficial purposes.

The room was small and cramped, with a pile of poster board mostly obscuring the one small window that lit the space. Strauss had been hoisted onto the desk, her legs straddling the other student. Emily could see a shelf filled with the board games stacked on the left side of the room, but they seemed unimportant at the moment. While Emily had known about their illicit love affair, she had never expected to see it in action.

“Hey guys,” Rossi said after a moment, his unwavering confidence carrying on to this moment as he pulled apart from Strauss, who was furiously buttoning up her shirt and trying to sort herself out.

“What are you all doing in here?” she demanded, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. “This room’s meant for RA’s only.”

“Well,” Emily said, startled by her own audacity, “Dave isn’t an RA so…”

“We just came for some board games,” JJ said in her most diplomatic voice, despite clearly wanting to laugh at the situation, “then we’ll be off.”

“Take them and go,” the RA said in a strangled voice, her face beet-red and as she avoided eye contact like it was the plague.

Clearly not as embarrassed as Strauss, Rossi simply smirked, collected a few board games into his arms off of the shelf, then deposited them into Emily’s arms.

Realizing that given the circumstances, they couldn’t be picky with their choices, the stunned group thanked him then scurried away, back upstairs with their loot. The silence remained until they made it back to their floor, where they all burst into laughter.

“What on earth was that?!” Derek exclaimed.

“Rossi and Strauss,” Spencer muttered.

Emily and JJ made eye contact, remembering all those weeks ago when they had caught their friend emerging from the RA’s room down the hall in the middle of the night. They had known that Rossi and Strauss had hooked up that night, but had no idea that it was a whole relationship.

“I see it,” Hotch commented. “I mean, I don’t know your RA too well, but Rossi likes a woman with authority.”

Derek and Emily fake-gagged in an exaggerated manner at the comment.

“I think I need to bleach my eyeballs after that display,” Emily muttered.

“Ooo-kay!” JJ said, pointedly changing the subject. “It seems like we have most of the pieces to Clue… I think we could manage a game of that. We also have Scrabble, Yahtzee and Snakes and Ladders. Uh… also a pack of cards.”

“At least it’s not chess,” Emily said, thinking about her seemingly endless exam that afternoon.

“Agreed,” Spencer said.

“We do not have chess, no,” JJ said with a quizzical laugh.

———

After ordering a couple of pizzas to the dorm, they all settled in to play a board game. After a few minutes of debate, they decided to play Clue (or Cluedo as Emily continuously referred to it as). The board was laid out: it was vintage, with a teal and yellow colour scheme and some scuffs and rips showing its age. In their blanket fort, they were seated in a circle, all secretly looking at their Clue cards.

“Can I be Professor Plum?” Spencer asked before they had even gotten the pieces out of the box.

“Of course pretty boy,” Derek said, “I’ll take Mr. Green.”

“My sculpted god of thunder looks excellent in green,” Penelope flirted, choosing the white piece for herself.

“Did you know that in the original version of Clue, Mr Green was a Reverend, but they changed his name for American audience because they believed that the American public would object to a parson as a murder suspect?”

“Good thing you’re on our trivia team, Reid,” Hotch replied.

Emily was Miss Scarlet, of course, and was seated right next to JJ, who had chosen to portray Mrs. Peacock. Hotch claimed the remaining piece: Colonel Mustard.

Emily loved board games. Her nanny in France, who was a kindly elderly woman that Emily only knew as “Madame,” would play with her each Sunday after church. She has hazy memories from that time, but the warm glow of sunlight streaming into their Parisian apartment as she learned how to play Cluedo. Emily would always try to cheat, but knew better than to try to do so with her immensely observant girlfriend seated to her left, JJ’s hand resting casually on Emily’s thigh.

She looked at her cards and grinned. She had been dealt her own character, she noted, as Miss Scarlet’s name was printed in bold on the top of her first card. It felt weirdly validating to know that she herself was innocent. Also in her hands were the cards for the candlestick and pistol, as well as the observatory. She marked these off of her card and tried to gauge her opponents' reactions.

JJ was checking her phone with her cards face down, tracking the pizza’s arrival. Spencer was sprawled back, his long legs taking up way more room than was necessary, jotting down notes on some scrap paper. Presumably some statistics and probability for the possibilities of the cards that were sealed in the envelope in the centre of the board. Penelope smiled over at Derek and flirtatiously tried to sneak a peek at his hand.

After the initial rounds being dedicated to moving around the board, Emily finally made it into her first room: the lounge. There, she decided on her first suggestion.

“I suggest,” Emily said, in her most dramatic, formal voice, which was particularly suited to the role of Miss Scarlet, “that Mrs. Peacock committed this heinous crime in the Lounge with-” she hurriedly grabbed the candlestick, “the candlestick!”

She knew that it wasn’t the correct weapon, but using it would narrow it down to someone ruling out either JJ’s character or the lounge as the scene of the crime.

“Moi?!” JJ said, sounding almost offended at the accusation. “Your own girlfriend?!”

Emily grinned evilly at her, but internally she felt giddy. It was the first time she heard JJ use that word in front of their friends. JJ moved her piece into the Lounge. The others chuckled lightly at their antics.

“You have no alibi for the crime, Mrs. Peacock,” Emily said, “and I am merely making a suggestion.”

JJ glared at her, but said nothing. Emily turned to Derek, who was seated at her left.

“What do I do?” Derek asked, looking around the room, slightly confused.

“Do you have any of those cards?” Hotch asked.

“Yeah-” Derek said, moving to show his hand.

“No!” Penelope stopped him. “Just show one of your cards to Emily if you can prove her suggestion was wrong.”

He made an “o” with his mouth and sneakily showed Emily the Lounge card. Emily noted that, and that it was Derek’s card. Mrs. Peacock had yet to be proven innocent, and Emily gave JJ a suspicious glance.

She loved this game.

As the game progressed, Emily noted a few things about her opponents. A part of Emily was profiling her friends subconsciously, reading each of their strategies like a book.

Penelope always seemed to luck out on her dice rolls, covering a lot of terrain and gathering information like it was a cup of tea. But, she seemed to take it personally when someone accused Mrs. White of having killed Mr. Boddy and gasped every time someone made that suggestion.

Hotch seemed to take the game very seriously, and was at it like he was an actual police officer solving crime. But, it didn’t seem that he completely understood all of the rules, and definitely hadn’t played before, so he spent most of his turn grumbling as he skimmed the rule pamphlet.

Spencer, on the other hand, had memorized the rules, common strategies and probabilities of the different outcomes, so Hotch often looked over to him nervously as the boy wrote longhand equations in the notebook that he pulled out of his bag for the very occasion.

Derek also had never played before, and regularly made ‘accusations’ rather than ‘suggestions’ when he entered a room, frustrating Spencer to no end. But, Derek was smart and seemed to be picking it up as he went along. That was until he made the same suggestion twice in a row, both times making Hotch show him the exact same card. He asked Reid endless questions about specific rules, and more than once he made the boy double check in the rule book when Derek tried to make a rather unorthodox move.

JJ seemed to be the only one genuinely trying to have fun. She munched on the Cheetos that she stored in the bottom drawer of her night stand, and made conversation. Her strategy seemed to be exclusively focused on playing the game like it was the 1985 feature film Clue, playing the role of Mrs. Peacock with a fake accent and treating it like an actual murder-filled dinner party.

After a solid twenty minutes of gameplay, the pizza arrived. With minimal grumbling from Hotch, who was apparently on a roll, they took a break to eat.

“Did you see this?” Spencer said with his mouth full, lifting up the copy of the newspaper that he had grabbed earlier.

“Don’t get me started,” JJ grumbled and took a sip of her pop.

“What happened?” Hotch asked, the conversation piquing his interest.

Spencer explained—with the assistance of JJ who apparently knew one of the people involved through soccer—the entire scandal. Apparently, last year there had been very little interest in the leadership roles, so the President of the student government had simply waltzed into his role. He then hired all of his friends, his girlfriend, his roommate, and together they embezzled thousands of dollars of student funds.

“I can’t believe they’re getting away with this,” JJ muttered. “Is there no oversight?”

“It’s always the same,” Emily replied. “Who’s going to oversee them? The college? They’re corrupt too.”

“This sucks,” Derek said. “Wish someone good would run for government, for once.”

Emily shook her head in frustration. It all just reminded her of her childhood. Embezzlement, corruption and nepotism all were casual topics discussed over family dinner in her home. She had higher hopes for students her own age, would they not break the cycle? Or was it just a microcosm of the outside world?

“You should run Mr. Lawyer Man,” Penelope teased Hotch. “You could take any of these clowns.”

Hotch raised an eyebrow at her and went back to his pizza, brushing her off. Emily smiled at him. Penelope was right, he might actually do a good job if he set his mind to it.

The people that surrounded her now were nothing like her mother’s friends—or the kids she had been forced to hang out with when she was younger—they were genuinely kind, supportive, and seemed to like Emily for Emily. When she told them she was an ambassador’s daughter, they had been more concerned with the cool places that she had been able to travel to than whatever power she had. At college, Emily finally exhaled fully, slowly relaxing more and more into herself.

But, the topic of politics always set her on edge, especially since the semester was ending soon. Her mother had already begun to leave her voicemails about the galas, fundraisers and events that she was required to attend over Christmas break. She pushed thoughts of the future aside and focused on the warmth that surrounded her. With some music playing softly (a song that JJ liked by Vampire Weekend), the softness of blankets under her, and JJ leaning on her slightly as she ate her dinner, Emily felt at peace. She knew she could handle winter break, because she knew that these friends would be here when she came back.

After years of leaving a school midway through the year only to show up to some new boarding school or international school each time her mom was reassigned, Emily never had a chance to put down roots. But, with each bite of pizza, Emily felt herself becoming even more firmly rooted. Not to this place, but to these people as their lives became more entwined.

Once dinner was over, the game continued, and thoughts of politics left their minds. By then, Emily narrowed it down to the weapon (the candlestick), two rooms (the kitchen and the billiard room) and she was pretty sure that it was Colonel Mustard that had committed the crime.

She had a decision to make: walk all the way from the study to the billiard room, or risk being wrong by making an accusation. She was pretty sure both Hotch and Reid were on the right track, as the younger boy’s scribbling in his notebook had gotten even more intense and the older boy was beginning to look around suspiciously, as if the others were trying to read his notes.

She had pretty much ruled out Penelope, JJ and Derek as competitors, as the trio spent most of the time talking, and genuinely trying to have fun. Emily, Reid and Hotch were all way too into it, but Emily was competitive and this was her game. She wasn’t going to lose to Hotch, no way. Reid winning she could blame on his boy-genius nature, but Emily decided that Hotch was going down.

The two boys seemed to have come to the same conclusion, all eyeing each other across the board, the tension palatable between them as their competition became heated.

She nervously tried to move to the billiards room, deciding to play it safe. Better safe than disqualified. But, as soon as she made that decision, she regretted it as Spencer straightened up on his turn and said: “I’d like to make my accusation.”

“Write it down,” JJ prompted, as per the rules. He jotted it down in his paper.

Then, with bated breath, they watched as he grabbed the envelope out of the centre of the board, and read the cards. His face fell when he saw one of the cards, so he must have been wrong. He placed them back into their envelope and back onto the board.

“No dice?” Emily asked.

He shook his head.

“Statistically speaking that should have been right,” he grumbled. “My math was wrong.”

“Boy genius isn’t a good detective, huh?” Penelope mused.

A few turns went by, with Derek, Penelope, and JJ moving around the board or making suggestions.

Emily rolled the dice, making one square from a room. She sighed. She’d make a suggestion next round.

On Hotch’s next turn, he made an accusation, which he wrote down on a pink sticky note that Penelope had handed out when the game started. He checked the envelope.

Emily held her breath. She was sure he had it and that the game was over. She should just call it quits now. She went to bite her nails out of stress, but stopped herself, they were starting to get long and she wanted them to look nice.

A moment passed as Hotch compared his cards. After he saw the third card in the envelope, his expression revealed that was also wrong.

Boys, Emily thought. Always so overconfident.

She made a suggestion instead of risking it: “Miss Scarlet—er myself I guess— in the Billiards Room with the pistol.”

It was a gamble. If she was right, and the people who knew she had her own card and the pistol caught on, they would also know that it was the Billiard Room, because no one would be able to disprove her theory. If she was wrong, someone would have the card for that room, and she would know that the crime occured in the Kitchen.

The second seemed to be true, as Derek showed her his card with a small illustrated image of the Billiard Room on it. She was right. She knew what it was. But, she would have to wait until her next turn. She was going to win.

But, it was she who was overconfident, because as she was too busy preemptively celebrating her win, Derek casually made his accusation.

“Hey I’m right!” he exclaimed, holding up the cards and his own hot pink sticky note.

In his semi-cursive scrawl read: “Colonel Mustard, Candlestick, Kitchen.” These guesses matched the cards hidden in the envelope, and Emily’s own deduction that she planned to make on her own turn.

“You guys really thought I hadn’t played this game before?” Derek laughed. “I’ve got two sisters, board games were everything.”

“Were you hustling us, Morgan?” Spencer demanded.

He smirked.

“Should’ve put money on the outcome,” Derek said with a laugh. “I’d be rich.”

Emily threw her cards onto the table in defeat. JJ shot her an empathetic look, and Emily tried to stuff her frustration down to pat her friend on the back for the surprising win. He deserved it.

———

After the game concluded and the pizza had been completely eaten, the group parted ways, heading to bed, or for more midnight snacks or to finish up some studying, leaving JJ and Emily alone and to start? a game of Scrabble.

The board was ancient, and quite a few letters were missing, but with music droning on JJ’s laptop, and the soft fairy lights overhead, neither girl minded too much.

Emily looked at her letters: O, B, S, O, T, B, W and thought hard, rearranging the wooden pieces to try and formulate a word. After a long day of academia, and investing so heavily into the game of Clue, she probably had only one or two working brain cells and both were telling her to play the word ‘boobs.’

Her eyes flicked to her girlfriend, who looked absolutely gorgeous in the warm light. Her blonde hair almost glowed, and she had an adorable expression on her face. Emily couldn’t help but glance lower, thinking about the real world examples of her Scrabble word.

She played the word with a cheeky grin.

“‘Boobs,’ Emily?” JJ scolded. “Really?”

She sounded angry, but there was a hint of a smile tugging at her cheeks and Emily could tell the girl found it funny.

“I can’t help it,” Emily said. “I haven’t thought of much else since last weekend.”

She raised and lowered her eyebrows in an exaggerated manner, making JJ laugh and kick her lightly in protest.

JJ then played the word ‘throw,’ using the ‘o’ from ‘boobs’ to form her word, earning her thirteen points.

“I don’t think you can throw boobs, babe,” Emily said. “They’re usually attached.”

JJ rolled her eyes.

Emily made it her mission to find the funniest words possible, working extra hard (and missing out on some good points) in an effort to make JJ laugh. ‘Armpit,’ ‘meaty,’ ‘hoagie,’ ‘urine,’ ‘joint’ and her piece de resistance: ‘boner.’ All while JJ was playing incredibly normal, and often strategic words like ‘axis,’ ‘snow,’ ‘vain,’ ‘snag’ and ‘writings,’ hitting multiple double- and triple word scores on the way.

“This is fun,” Emily said, sneaking a handful of JJ’s Cheetos out of the family-sized bag next to the blonde, while she was distracted by playing her turn.

“I don’t understand how you’re winning,” JJ muttered.

Emily shrugged, “Guess I’m just a genius.”

“Reid? Is that you?” JJ joked. “Why are you disguised as my girlfriend?”

“Would Reid do this?” Emily said, leaning over toward her girlfriend and pressing kisses all over her face until she fell back. Then Emily straddled her, their lips meeting in a passionate embrace that left both girls panting.

“I would hope not!” JJ exclaimed with a laugh, making a face at the thought.

They laughed and went back to making out, with Emily careful not to disturb the game pieces. JJ sucked onto Emily’s bottom lip, making her weak in the knees and she struggled to support herself over JJ’s shorter frame at the motion.

“We should-” Emily tried to say between kisses, “finish the game.”

JJ kept deepening the kiss, going so far as to grab onto Emily’s butt to hold her in place on top of her.

“You’re trying to distract me,” Emily chided, “because I’m winning! I see right through your plot.”

She sat up and went back to her tiles before playing another funny word: ‘suck’ for twenty points. JJ grumbled,fiddling with her own tiles, as Emily collected a few out of the bag.

Emily was preening as she rearranged her own tiles and didn’t notice as JJ put down her word. When she went to play her next word (‘zap’) and only then did she see what word JJ played.

‘Love.’

It was there. Clear as day. Written vertically and connected to the word ‘snow,’ it was unmistakable. Emily looked at it for a long moment, trying to figure out what it could possibly mean that her girlfriend very intentionally played such a loaded word. Was it the only word that fit? Did she only mean that she loved the snow? Was she also reading into it?

Emily looked up, making eye contact with JJ. The blonde blushed and looked away, nervously fiddling with the necklace around her neck. Emily smiled faintly at the warmth that flooded through her, but alongside that, was the sharp pang of anxiety. Was she supposed to acknowledge that? Would that make it weird?

‘Zap’ didn’t feel appropriate when her girlfriend may or may not have confessed her love for her.

She played it anyway, deciding that making a big deal of it would just complicate matters. Besides, did she love JJ? She didn’t know. It was all so new. She liked JJ a lot. She definitely like-liked her in the traditional sense of the world. But Emily had never been in love before. She’d loved people before, Matthew for one, and her mother in a way, and she loved Derek like a brother. But being in love was a whole ‘nother ball game.

JJ won the game after playing ‘equinox’ for twenty two points near the end, beating any lead Emily had gained from her silly words. JJ deserved it in the end, as the blonde would sit and stare at her letters until they formed the most complex words that Emily had never even heard of. Emily’s eyes drooped and she was barely able to create three letter words by the end, while JJ was still surprising her with her vocabulary.

Emily shook JJ’s hand to congratulate her for the win. JJ grinned and kissed her.

Then, they looked around and realized two things: it was past one in the morning and Penelope hadn’t come back to the room yet and that all of the blankets that JJ owned were currently being used in the blanket fort.

“Can we sleep in my bed, tonight?” Emily asked. “I’ll help you clean up in the morning.”

JJ nodded but was in the middle of texting Penelope, wondering where on earth her roommate had wandered off to. Within a minute she got back to JJ saying: with derek! will explain tmrw!! 😘 🧚‍♀️ 😳

JJ showed Emily the message and both girls giggled. Emily saw that coming, but didn’t realize it would be a game of Clue that finally sealed the deal.

Exhausted but happy and relaxed after the game night, Emily and JJ tumbled into Emily’s bed and cuddled up together. Between JJ and Emily, the word ‘love’ was left unsaid that night, but Emily fell asleep that night feeling a new warmth in her chest.

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dailybiblelessons · 4 years

Text

The Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Revised Common Lectionary Proper 20 Roman Catholic Proper 25

More information about the complementary and semi-continuous series is here: Which Series?

Complementary Hebrew Scripture from The Twelve Prophets: Jonah 3:10-4:11

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.

The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

Semi-continuous Hebrew Scripture Torah Lesson: Exodus 16:2-15

The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him–what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’” And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

Complementary Psalm 145:1-8

I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness. They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Semi-continuous Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45

O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually. Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of his servant Abraham, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.¹

Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold, and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled. Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it. He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night.

They asked, and he brought quails, and gave them food from heaven in abundance. He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river. For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.

So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing. He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples, that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!

¹Paul, in Romans 9:7, writes that the descendants of Isaac are the true children of Abraham. This is part of a passage on God's election of Israel.

New Testament Epistle Lesson: Philippians 1:21-30

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God's doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well–since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

New Testament Gospel Lesson: Matthew 20:1-16

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o'clock, he did the same. And about five o'clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o'clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Year A Ordinary 25, RCL Proper 20, Catholic Proper 25 Sunday

Selections are from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings copyright © 1995 by the Consultation on Common Texts. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible text is from New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV) copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Image Credit: The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard from the Codex Aureus Epternacensis, via Wikimedia Commons. This is a public domain image.

#A Ordinary 25 Sunday #parables of Jesus #parable of the workers in the vineyard #parable of the generous landowner #laborers in the vineyard #Nineveh saved #Jonah's anger #Nineveh repents #manna #bread from heaven #complaining against Moses #worthy of the Gospel #stand firm in one spirit

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dailyofficereadings · 4 years

Text

Daily Office Readings January 30, 2020 at 11:00PM

Psalm 40

Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for Help

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He drew me up from the desolate pit,[a] out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.

4 Happy are those who make the Lord their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods. 5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted.

6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear.[b] Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 7 Then I said, “Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.[c] 8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. 10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

11 Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever. 12 For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me. 14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt. 15 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” 17 As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.

Footnotes:

Psalm 40:2 Cn: Heb pit of tumult

Psalm 40:6 Heb ears you have dug for me

Psalm 40:7 Meaning of Heb uncertain

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm 54

Prayer for Vindication

To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “David is in hiding among us.”

1 Save me, O God, by your name, and vindicate me by your might. 2 Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For the insolent have risen against me, the ruthless seek my life; they do not set God before them.Selah

4 But surely, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of[a] my life. 5 He will repay my enemies for their evil. In your faithfulness, put an end to them.

6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. 7 For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

Footnotes:

Psalm 54:4 Gk Syr Jerome: Heb is of those who uphold or is with those who uphold

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Psalm 51

Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon

To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment. 5 Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.

6 You desire truth in the inward being;[a] therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right[b] spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing[c] spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. 17 The sacrifice acceptable to God[d] is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, 19 then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Footnotes:

Psalm 51:6 Meaning of Heb uncertain

Psalm 51:10 Or steadfast

Psalm 51:12 Or generous

Psalm 51:17 Or My sacrifice, O God,

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Genesis 17:15-27

15 God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live in your sight!” 19 God said, “No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac.[a] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.” 22 And when he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the slaves born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised; 27 and all the men of his house, slaves born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Footnotes:

Genesis 17:19 That is he laughs

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Hebrews 10:11-25

11 And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ[a] had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” 13 and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,”

17 he also adds,

“I will remember[b] their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

A Call to Persevere

19 Therefore, my friends,[c] since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Footnotes:

Hebrews 10:12 Gk this one

Hebrews 10:17 Gk on their minds and I will remember

Hebrews 10:19 Gk Therefore, brothers

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

John 6:1-15

Feeding the Five Thousand

6 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.[a] 2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages[b] would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they[c] sat down, about five thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Footnotes:

John 6:1 Gk of Galilee of Tiberias

John 6:7 Gk Two hundred denarii; the denarius was the usual day’s wage for a laborer

John 6:10 Gk the men

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

#January 30 #2020 at 11:00PM

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dailyofficereadings · 6 years

Text

Daily Office Readings January 26, 2018 at 11:00PM

Psalm 40

Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for Help

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

Footnotes:

Psalm 40:2 Cn: Heb pit of tumult

Psalm 40:6 Heb ears you have dug for me

Psalm 40:7 Meaning of Heb uncertain

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Psalm 54

Prayer for Vindication

To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “David is in hiding among us.”

1 Save me, O God, by your name, and vindicate me by your might. 2 Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For the insolent have risen against me, the ruthless seek my life; they do not set God before them.Selah

4 But surely, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of[a] my life. 5 He will repay my enemies for their evil. In your faithfulness, put an end to them.

Footnotes:

Psalm 54:4 Gk Syr Jerome: Heb is of those who uphold or is with those who uphold

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Psalm 51

Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon

To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

Footnotes:

Psalm 51:6 Meaning of Heb uncertain

Psalm 51:10 Or steadfast

Psalm 51:12 Or generous

Psalm 51:17 Or My sacrifice, O God,

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Genesis 17:15-27

Footnotes:

Genesis 17:19 That is he laughs

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Hebrews 10:11-25

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,”

17 he also adds,

“I will remember[b] their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

A Call to Persevere

Footnotes:

Hebrews 10:12 Gk this one

Hebrews 10:17 Gk on their minds and I will remember

Hebrews 10:19 Gk Therefore, brothers

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

John 6:1-15

Feeding the Five Thousand

15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Footnotes:

John 6:1 Gk of Galilee of Tiberias

John 6:7 Gk Two hundred denarii; the denarius was the usual day’s wage for a laborer

John 6:10 Gk the men

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

#January 26 #2018 at 11:00PM

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