#jones road mascara

[controlledcatastrophe]

Jones Road Brand Review | What The Foundation, Miracle Balm, etc.

Hello, babes. How have you been? It’s been a little while. About a year ago, Jones Road Beauty was making a loud buzz about the new at the time What The Foundation launch. And that review came with a mixed bag of feelings. However, I was very intrigued. Then, excitingly, the brand reached out a few weeks ago and wanted to send over some product. Now I have some feelings. So today we are going to…

[deirdrehaggerty]

Love is in the Hair, Eyes, Skin, and Lips: Best Beauty Products for Valentine’s Day

Love is in the hair, eyes, skin, and lips for Valentine’s Day. Ask the Pro Stylist is offering some tried-and-true hair care and the best beauty product recommendations that will have your love interest begging for your attention.

[nicoline1998enilocin]

Teachers Universe | Prologue

PAIRING | Teacher!Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader

WORD COUNT | 1.3K

SUMMARY | You just got out of your marriage to your ex-husband and now you're moving to the other side of the country with your son. Bucky finds out about the fact that he will have a new student in his class, and is excited to completely renovate his classroom.

WARNING(S) | This is your official trigger warning. Do not proceed if any of these topics upset you. Mentions of a messy divorce, swearing.

A/N | This one shot is part of my Teachers Universe AU, but can be read as part of the story, or a standalone one shot! 🖤

Likes and reblogs will be very much appreciated 💜

Main Masterlist | Bucky Barnes Masterlist | AU Masterlist

''I hope you rot in hell, you sick son a bitch!'' is the last thing you say before walking out the door, your divorce is officially finalized now, you're free. And it feels really good, a huge weight has been lifted off your chest and you can finally breathe again. You open the doors of the building and quickly walk away, in the hopes Steve won't follow you. Not that he'd want to, he was practically eye fucking your lawyer during this whole meeting. It wouldn't surprise you if he's got her bent over her desk right now, doing God knows what. You're glad you decided to move to the other side of the country, so you don't have to look at him again. Ever.

You get into your car, and that is where you break. All the tears you've kept in all this time, finally coming out in huge, long sobs, and you know you're not exactly looking pretty right now, but you don't care. Not even a single bit. All of the emotions are coming out and it just feels damn good. After a little while the sobs get softer, and turn into little sniffles, before you stop crying entirely. ''Oh my god, I look like shit…'' you say to yourself when you push down the mirror in your car, seeing your mascara all down your face, your entire make-up ruined now. It's a good thing you always have wipes in your car.

You take off all the make-up you were wearing and decide to go and get yourself an iced coffee before picking Luca up from school. Today is his last day in Sacramento, and tomorrow will be the first day on the road trip with you to New York. All the stuff you need has been packed, you just need to pack it into your car and drive off. Most of the stuff will stay behind, only packing enough clothes for both you and Luca to last yourselves a few weeks, and some sentimental items like photo albums and stuff like that. Everything else is for Steve to figure out what to do with. He can set fire to it for all you care. When you get to the drive-thru of Starbucks, you order your usual iced caramel macchiato and slowly make your way to Luca's school.

When you arrive, you get out of the car and walk towards the playground, to wait in the same spot where you wait every single day. You don't live far from school, but you enjoy the habit of talking to him about his day at school on the way home. ''Hi Mom!'' he says when he runs into your arms, ''Hey bubs, how was your day? Did you get to say goodbye to everyone?'' you ask and he nodded furiously that he did. ''I even got a goodbye present from everyone!'' he says and he wants to pull it out of his bag. ''Let's look at it when we're home okay? We need to get some stuff, and then we'll finally be going to New York,'' you tell him, and he's excited. Steve already said his goodbyes to Luca, but he wasn't happy with it.

Since you got full custody of him - Steve was deemed an unfit parent, he works too much and even though he can financially provide for him, the court has appointed you to be his legal guardian. This was a huge win for you, meaning you didn't have to see Steve anymore. On the drive home, you and Luca talk all about his day, the goodbyes to the class, and his teacher, Ms. Jones. They had a fun day, seeing that it was the last day of the school year, and he was officially on summer break, which was perfect for the road trip you had planned. You had planned to drive to New York and even though you could probably get there in about 3 or 4 days, you planned a week and a half to get there, so the both of you could do some sightseeing and stuff like that on the way.

When you arrive home, both you and Luca are getting all your stuff in the car, and you can see it does more to him than he is showing. ''Are you okay, bubs?'' you ask Luca, and he starts crying, he finds it hard to leave his dad behind. ''I'm gonna miss Dad so much, but I do like that you won't have to fight with him anymore,'' he says through soft sobs, and you grab him in your arms, his cheek flush to your belly when you hug him and softly sway back and forth to calm him down. ''I know it's hard and I know you will miss him, but it is better this way, for all three of us. But you can make new friends when we're in New York, and we will start our new life together,'' you tell him. He calms down when you offer to get him ice cream after dinner today. ''We will start driving to New York now, but for dinner, you can pick where we eat and have ice cream for dessert!'' you tell him, grabbing his face in your hands. ''Okay, Mom! I love you so much!'' he says and you kiss him on his forehead. ''I love you more, bubs,'' is all you say before getting in the car, and leaving your former life behind.

~ Meanwhile in New York ~

''Bucky, can we talk for a minute?'' Natasha asks when all the kids have gone home, their summer vacation has officially started now. ''Of course, something wrong?'' he said and turned his office chair around, facing her. He was finishing cleaning up his desk and seeing what stuff he would need for next year, and what he could throw away at this point. ''I just got informed that you will have an extra student in your class, Luca Y/L/N. He is transferring here from Sacramento since he is moving here during summer vacation. I don't know much about him, all I know is that because of this, he will start one week later,'' she says, and Bucky nods slowly. ''Okay, so I will have 28 students next year?'' he asks, and she confirms it. ''Thanks for letting me know, Nat,'' he says before she walks back to her office.

''Well, let's get this classroom ready for some new students in a few months!'' he said to himself, he is planning to entirely switch his classroom around, from the placement of his desk and the tables, all the way to the decor on the walls and everything in between. It has looked the same for a few years now, but he wanted to change it up this year. Something he has always liked is space, so everything will be space-themed next year. Right now, all he has to do is take the old decorations off and throw them away. ''Time for a fresh start,'' he huffs to himself when he takes the last corkboard off the wall, looking around the bare walls of his classroom. ''Can't wait to see what the next school year will bring,'' and with that, he turned off the lights in the room, ready to be decorated in a week or 2, after he enjoyed a well-deserved vacation to Mexico with Sam.

''So, you seeing anyone at the moment, Barnes?'' Sam asks when the both of them sit in a lounge chair by the pool, just relaxing for a bit. ''You know damn well I'm not interested in dating someone, Sam. I'm not ready, my ex messed me up and I'm done dating anyone for a long time,'' he says with a scowl on his face. ''Yeah yeah I know, I was just kidding!'' he says when he sees Bucky's face. Deep down, Sam hopes he will see his best friend happy with another woman, and start the family he always wanted. ''Who knows, maybe someone will walk into your life soon, and you will completely change your mind,'' he tried again, but the glare Bucky sent him was enough for him to drop the conversation with his hands in the air, ''I'm sorry!'' he chuckled lightly before talking about something else.

[rarebritney]

do u have any fun suggestions for eye makeup? i have to wear a uniform at work and want to add some jazz to the situation

Ooh yes I think colorful eyeliner and mascara is easy and fun... I used to always wear blue mascara to work and people would compliment it and idk about you but I love nothing more than getting compliments at work. urban decay colorful eyeliners are really high performance, I also like water activated liner palettes but they don't stay on as well imo... I also like a really sheer + super sparkly shadow all over the lid and up to the eyebrow, my favorite is Jones road just a sec eyeshadow, they're so pretty.. super sparkly sheer shadow with the tiniest possible outer wing is such a cute look.

[the-blonde-adventurer]

Never Ending Truths (2)

Pairing: Indiana Jones x OC

Summary: Everyone is born with a matching tattoo to their soulmate, but not everyone can feel their soulmate's emotions. Harley LaCarrubba is a freshman attending Marshall college to one day be an archeologist with her passion for history. Lucky for her, she is being taught by none other than the famous Indiana Jones, the school heartthrob. She can feel her soulmate's emotions but never met him in real life, making her feel guilty about having a crush on her professor.

Words: 2961

***

I wake up jumping out of bed as my alarm clock causes me to panic. I felt my soulmate kiss my hand good morning as I rushed around, trying not to be late. I give a quick peck before brushing my teeth and putting on my mascara. I don't have time to do my hair like all the other girls, so I decide to put my hair in a bun on top of my head, making it stay in place. I go over to the pile of clothes I had set out quickly, throwing on the long-sleeve blue shirt with a black collar and a black skirt that went to my calves. I grab my things and my cup of coffee before rushing out the door going to my red car in the parking lot. I don't know why I wake up so late and rush around in the morning like a madwoman threading with tardiness.

I try to focus on the road as it drifts off inside my head, thinking about my archeology professor, Dr. Jones. He is the most handsome man I have ever seen; I don't know why my heart flutters when I look at him. I'm cheating on my soulmate being interested in another man; how could I betray him like that? Dr. Jones teaches his class with passion and enthusiasm, totally engrossed in the topic. The smile never leaves his face as he goes over a topic adding in his own opinions and cracking a few jokes. He's so cute in his suit and the way he takes his glasses off and bites the tip of the arm in deep thought. I snap out of my daydream as I park my car turning it off and grabbing my bookbag.

I get out and lock my car before heading inside, ready to conquer the day. I got this! I make my way down the crowded hall trying not to bump into other rushing students along the way. I finally made it to my first class, taking a seat and getting ready for the lecture with a notebook and pen ready for notes. Mr. Johnson walked in, setting his coffee mug down on his desk before turning to us, rubbing his hand together excitedly. "Who is ready to have fun with numbers?" He questions with a smirk on his face. He went to the board, introducing us to calculus and showing us 'how easy it was. I took notes like a madwoman, not wanting to miss a single step knowing this class I would have to work my ass off.

After a challenging class, the bell finally rang, releasing us from this boring class. I trek the halls to mythology, excited to see what we are learning today. I love history and myths of the world, so I want to be an archeologist where I will be surrounded by history. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been interested in the world's history. My family would often give me history books and textbooks as gifts making my curious mind content. My favorite topic is ancient Egyptians and the mystery of the pyramids, trying to figure out how they built those vast structures. I have become so intrigued with them I taught myself how to read hieroglyphics. One day I'm going to visit those Pyramids and uncover their truths. I sat in my seat, noticing the topic on the board already, "Greek Gods." Oh, this is going to be fun! Mrs. Donovan began her lesson by going over the famous Greek gods and the family tree and what they are the gods of. "Zeus is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, who rules as king of the gods of Mount Olympus. His name is cognate with the first element of his Roman equivalent Jupiter. His mythology and powers are similar, though not identical, to those of Indo-European deities such as Jupiter, Perkūnas, Perun, Indra, and Dyaus." she explained as I wrote down every word she said, listening with interest. She didn't go over anything I didn't already know, but it was still interesting to hear.

***Lunch***

I stand in the long lunch line waiting for my turn, wanting nothing more than to eat since I don't eat breakfast. I grab a chicken wrap, ranch, water, and a cookie before paying and going outside once more. I walk past the group talking about me yesterday, not paying them any attention as I sit in the grass. I felt the grass tickle my legs as the breeze gently blew, dancing on my skin. I pulled out a book on Egyptians reading as I ate my food, trying to relax on my lunch break. I felt something hit me in the back of the neck with a sting, so I turned around to see what was going on. I say that group of four people trying to act normal and hide their laughs, not wanting to get caught. I look down to see a peanut was thrown at me, so I slowly look back up at them, feeling my blood start to boil. I turn around, trying to calm myself down and not start a fight.

I felt another hit me, but I didn't even bother to turn around. I looked straight ahead when I saw Dr. Jones walking the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets as he scratched his leg with his foot. He looked over at me, but I was distracted by hearing the crinkle of a wrapper, knowing they were about to throw another. I then caught it and threw it at the guy hitting him in the eye with precision. "STOP THROWIN' THINGS AT ME, YA DAMN IMMATURE ASSHOLE!" I yelled as my southern accent stood out. I gather my things throwing away my trash, glaring at the table, still feeling the anger boiling inside me. They were shocked I could catch it and launch it at that stupid boy. He still held his eye in pain as I turned to walk away in a huff catching a glimpse of Dr. Jones watching with his mouth slightly agape, still frozen in place. I storm into the history building going into my history class, waiting in my seat for lunch to end and this class to start. I read my book, distracting myself from the fury I felt a few minutes prior.

I was startled by the loud ringing of the bell, making my heart race and chuckle at myself for being so jumpy. Students started to arrive one by one, not wanting to be late and treated like yesterday.

*** I sit in Dr. Jones's class, reading my book before the bell getting wholly engrossed in this chapter. Students file in their seats, but I never looked up from my text until the bell rang. "Alright, settle down, class." I heard his baritone voice announce. I shut my book, placing it in my bag before grabbing my notebook and bottle of water. "Today, we will be going over ancient Egypt," he announced. I take a sip of water before looking up at him and the board noticing hieroglyphics on the chalkboard decorating the top. I spit my water out as I read what it says, choking and laughing, trying to control myself. I wiped my face and tried to silence my laughter as I reread the board. "Care to share what's so humerus?" Dr. Jones questions me. I take a deep breath trying to compose myself. "It's What is written on the board," I tell him with a smirk. He turned around, searching for what I was laughing at. "What?" he turned to me with a scrunched-up face.

"The translation of the hieroglyphics." I clarify with a chuckle as I stare at it.

"You can read what that says?" he questions me, raising a brow with a smirk. I nod my head with a smirk as I nervously chuckle. "Care to enlighten me?"

"It's inappropriate," I smirk. He pulled a blank sheet of paper off his desk, handing it to me so I could write it down without saying it out loud. 'Cleopatra sucks dick.' I wrote, handing it back to him as he looked at my book on Egyptians on my desk. He read the paper, and his eyes went wide before he let out a chuckle looking back Up at me. "I guess I should have translated the text before putting it on the board." he walked over, erasing it off the chalkboard. He went into the spare room, handing me a roll of paper towels so I could clean myself up. "Thank you." I smile up at him as I start to wipe off my desk and the floor. I throw away the used paper towels before sitting at my desk, ready to stay focused. He continued with his lesson.

"Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River, situated in the place that is now the country Egypt. Ancient Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3100 BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology) with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under Menes (often identified with Narmer). The history of ancient Egypt occurred as a series of stable kingdoms, separated by periods of relative instability known as Intermediate Periods: the Old Kingdom of the Early Bronze Age, the Middle Kingdom of the Middle Bronze Age, and the New Kingdom of the Late Bronze Age." he informs the class as I didn't take any notes but listened intently watching him walk around with enthusiasm and passion for the subject. "Egypt reached the pinnacle of its power in the New Kingdom, ruling much of Nubia and a sizable portion of the Near East, after which it entered a period of slow decline. During the course of its history, Egypt was invaded or conquered by several foreign powers, including the Hyksos, the Libyans, the Nubians, the Assyrians, the Achaemenid Persians, and the Macedonians under the command of Alexander the Great. The Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom, formed after Alexander's death, ruled Egypt until 30 BC. Under Cleopatra, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province." he looks so handsome in his suit and bowtie. He looked over at me then noticed I wasn't taking notes as the rest of the class but was leaning back in my chair listening. He looked away and continued his lecture depending on his desk, looking over the group. The bell rang, signaling the end of the day. "Read chapters two through four and write a summary two pages long. It will be turned in tomorrow for a grade," he announced. "LaCarrubba, stay after class," he tells me, stretching to see over the students making sure I heard him. "Yes, sir." I nod my head sitting back down in my seat. Am I in trouble for interrupting his class? Soon everyone was gone, and it was only us in this giant room. "Are you alright?" he asks as he walks over, leaning against his desk.

"Yes, sir." I nodded my head, looking at him, confused about what he was talking about.

"I have a few things to say. Do you have anywhere you must be?" he asks me kindly as his hazel eyes stare into my eyes. I shake my head as I wait for him to continue. "Alright, I saw that senior throwing food at you during lunch, and I witnessed you catch it and throw it back at him, injuring him."

"My apologies, professor; I lost my temper for a brief moment. I walked away before I did somethin' stupid and escalated the situation." I apologize as I look down at my desk, keeping my breathing steady.

"How would you have escalated the situation?" he looks me up and down before looking back into my eyes. I chuckle before I look back at him. "Where I'm from when someone disrespects you or bullies you, we handle it out in the parking lot, usually at the Piggly wiggly."

"You wanted to fight him?" he snorts as he sizes me up.

"Yes, sir, I may look small, but I guarantee you I can handle myself just fine."

"Alright, well, no fighting. I want you to know I spoke to his teachers, informing them what he was doing. He is going to be benched next game for messing with you." Dr. Jones informs me.

"Yes, sir, I understand." I nod my head with a smile.

"Where are you from? I hear a mixture of two accents, and I can't seem to place it."

"I'm from Tennessee, but my first language isn't English," I tell him, not wanting him to find out because of the hate we still receive. The public doesn't really like my kind an Irish, Italian, southerner what a mixture to be. Like the Irish before, we were called "job stealers" and "shiftless." we were stereotyped as being "mafia." some either do not know our own people's history or choose to ignore it. "You're Italian, aren't you?" he questions me. I nod my head before looking down at my hands and looking back up at him. He only looked at me as if he was studying me. "Do you speak Italian and can read hieroglyphics? How are you able to read that?"

"Yes, I love Egyptians. It's an obsession of mine. I have always been obsessed with history and artifacts, which is why I'm majoring in history. Since I was a kid, my family would buy me history books to read. I taught myself how to read hieroglyphics for fun so I could see what the pictures in my book said." I explain.

"Hmmm, interesting. Is that why you didn't take notes for this class?"

"You didn't teach me anything I already didn't know, so I just listened to you." I shrug my shoulders as I stare into those warm brown eyes.

"Ancient Egypt was responsible for the earliest known peace treaty between Egypt and what group of people?" He tests me. I look up at him with a smirk, already knowing the answer. "The Egyptian-Hittite peace treaty is the only ancient Near Eastern treaty in which both sides' versions have survived. A copy of the treaty is displayed on a wall in the United Nations headquarters in New York." I tell him, seeing the smirk on his face as he nodded.

"What was the first pyramid to be built called?" He continued to test me, asking questions from his lecture.

"The Pyramid of Djoser, Also known as The Step Pyramid, it was built during the Third Dynasty for the Pharaoh Djoser. It is surrounded by a wall of limestone 10.5 meters high. The wall has 15 doors, but only one opens. The others are for the pharaoh's spirit to use in the afterlife." I added in my knowledge to impress him, seeing it worked as he had a smirk on his face.

"Not bad, kid."

"I'm not a kid; I'm twenty-four."

"Really?" He raised his eyebrows as he studied me again.

"I had to fight to go to college because the family business doesn't require college."

"What is the family business?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Farmers." I answer, knowing he was thinking mafia. Everyone always thinks we are mafia, but they wouldn't be wrong. My Papa was mafia a long time ago, along with his father before him. Dr. Jones looked like he wanted to say something but decided it was a bad idea and just nodded his head.

"Alright, so why were they throwing food at you?"

"It all started yesterday when I went outside for lunch and sat on the grass. They were talking shot about me, but I could hear them. 'What a weirdo sitting in the grass like a child.' 'She's the school freak.' 'I bet she's ugly.' 'Can she not afford a haircut?' 'She's talking to herself what a freak.' I was minding my own business, trying to relax before my next class and look at the beautiful scenery, and they were rude to me all because I'm different. I promised my nonna I wouldn't cut my hair off again, and I've kept that promise. They don't like I'm different, so they decided to throw food at me." I explain, trying to hide my emotions as I stare into his warm eyes.

"Don't let it get to you; who cares what people think about you? I think your hair is beautiful. I don't know what the problem is that you sit on the grass; I don't see anything wrong with it. They just wanted to give you a hard time, but they won't be bothering you again. If anyone gives you a hard time, you come and tell me, and I will take care of it." He uncrossed his hands, leaning back on his desk. I couldn't help but smile, knowing he thinks my hair is beautiful and he has my back. "Thank you, alright, I will." I nod my head.

"Good, tomorrow I want you to translate something for me." He tells me.

"What is it?" I smile, raising my eyes excitedly.

"You'll see, now I won't keep you any longer. I'm sure you have more homework to do than just mine." He walks back over to his desk, grabbing a stack of papers and putting it in his leather case. I pick up all of my things, putting them in my bag before standing up and looking at my professor. "Thank you." I tell him as I walk to the door.

"No worries, have a good night."

"You as well." I walk out to my car with a smile on my face, delighted things are looking up.

[apiratewhopines]

Chapter 3 - Snow Falls

Summary: In which our heroine forges new paths

“I was just guessing at numbers and figures

Pulling the puzzles apart”

-The Scientist, Coldplay

The sunlight gently lightened the room until Emma woke with a start, her eyes frantically searching for some clue about whose bed she was in. With a groan, memories from the prior night returned and she wished she could go back to sleep.

After the doctor’s unceremonious exit, the tension broke. Liam was going to be fine and the world was right again. Graham’s shoulders relaxed, David looked like he wanted to use the opportunity to pull Mary Margaret into his arms and waltz around the room, Mary Margaret’s smile was so big that it literally brightened the gloomy light of the hospital and Killian’s jaw had unclenched. She had felt cut adrift because she thought the way his muscle twitched in his cheek was about the sexiest thing she had ever seen.

Unfortunately, a more immediate concern instantly renewed her stress. It was obvious that Liam hadn’t informed his brother of his impending arrival, much less that he was bringing company with him and Dr. Whale had pretty much told her she didn’t have to go home but she couldn’t stay there. Unless she wanted to crash in the chair in her partner’s room, she needed a place to sleep. Honestly, the chair was not really an option either since she was sure she would have to fight Killian for it.

She had decided her first priority should be to find her phone. She wasn’t normally one to be tied to an electronic device but with Henry traveling and the rest of her world off kilter, it seemed important to have a lifeline. Once she had it, she had planned to see if this town had Uber or taxi service, a hotel, and a 24 hour store since she was without wheels or any of the comforts of home and for the first time she had noticed that her clothes were bloodstained.

As it turned out, Mary Margaret took charge in a way both unexpected and jarring. Not only did the other woman have her phone, but when Emma revealed her lack of sleeping arrangements for the trip leaving Killian to awkwardly offer his extra bedroom up to her even though he wouldn’t be in residence, she had also smoothly intervened with an excuse of keeping Emma “under observation” in her guest room. Before Emma knew what was happening, she had been bundled into the other woman’s car with a promise from the deputy to drop her personal items off after they had finished processing them for evidence.

It hadn’t escaped her notice that you only needed evidence to investigate crimes, not so much for single vehicle car crashes, but she kept her questions to herself and had allowed the kindness of strangers to wash over her.

By the light of day though, she was extremely uncomfortable with the ease they all rearranged her life, albeit momentarily. Deciding the best thing to do would be to get cleaned up and go back to the hospital to check on Liam, she gingerly got out of bed. She was incredibly sore and as she moved over to the full length mirror in the corner, she lifted up her borrowed pajama top to examine the damage. The angry purple bruise covered several inches of her side and would probably last weeks. However, it was the only outward damage from the wreck other than the dark circles under her eyes from her sleepless night.

Wondering about the time, she was already reaching for her phone when it started to ring, alerting her to an incoming video call.

“Henry!” She answered, a big grin on her face and excitement in her voice.

“What’s up, Mom? Are you sleeping in?”

Her eyes scanned his face and she felt her nerves settle a little. “Yeah kid, Liam and I had an eventful night.”

“Yeah? Did you get to meet his brother? Liam told me he only has one hand, just like Captain Hook, and that he knows how to sword fight.”

The things her little boy found fascinating were a constant source of amusement for her. Although she had to admit that—in this case at least—those sorts of details would probably stick with anyone. She thought her observation of Killian the previous night had been pretty thorough but apparently she had missed some things.

For the obvious reason that ten-year-olds weren’t know for their ability to keep secrets and the likelihood of others overhearing her conversations, she had informed him of the trip nonchalantly on their last call, offering no explanation or reasons for it. And bless him, if Henry thought it was strange for her to be traveling with Liam, he didn’t question her about it. Despite the fact that she was sure Neal had some thoughts on the matter, for Henry nothing could be more natural than a road trip with a friend and Henry assumed his friends would automatically be hers.

“Yes, I did meet the famous Killian Jones,” she teased him, “but I can’t confirm his ability with a sword.” She blushed a little when she thought she heard a snicker from the first floor drift up to the open loft and was grateful that the innuendo would be lost on her son.

“Listen kid, I need to talk to you about something. Is your dad around?” She didn’t want to alarm him and she would feel better knowing Neal was close if the news upset him.

“Yeah, hold on a minute.” The camera moved away from his face as he ran over to wherever Neal was, the bouncy motion of the camera only making her a little sick. “Okay, he’s here.”

Neal’s smile and jaunty wave filled the camera view for a second before he took the phone from Henry and adjusted the angle so she could see them both. “Hey Emma, having a nice trip?”

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk about. We were in a little accident last night,” she started, keeping her attention on Henry and watching for his reaction.

“Crap, are you okay?” Neal said as Henry eyes started to cloud over.

“Yes, I’m totally fine,” she rushed to assure them, making sure she kept a big smile on her face. What she wouldn’t give to be there with Henry. For the thousandth time, she regretted her decision to spend a summer apart. “Liam is fine too, Henry. His arm is hurt but he’s going to be back to normal by the time you see him again.”

“Are you sure?” Henry looked hopeful but his voice was small. “He promised he would teach me how to play cricket.”

“Completely sure, kid,” she said. Thankfully he took the news pretty well but she wondered how he had managed to exact that promise from Liam. She knew that they had talks when Henry came to the office after school the one day a week she usually stayed late to do research or complete paperwork. There was only so much homework and video games he could tolerate before he wanted to be up and moving around. Once Liam told her he wasn’t disturbed by the interruption, she let Henry visit next door. She knew he indulged her son’s rampant curiosity but hadn’t realized Liam had taken him under his wing and might actually look forward their interactions. It made her feel a little guilty for giving the man such a hard time, all the time.

Taking her word for the matter, Henry moved on with nary another thought. He told her a little about what they had planned for their day of sightseeing and then announced he had to eat his breakfast and left the frame. Neal shouted a reminder that he was to eat cereal, not his favorite pop tarts, before turning his attention back to her. “Do we need to cut our trip short, Emma? We can come to you if you need us.”

God, she was tempted to tell him that she did need them to come back. She tamped down the selfish urge and said, “No, I really am fine. You guys deserve this time together.”

“Thank you,” he said and she knew he wasn’t only referencing their current situation. “I’ll have him call again tomorrow to check on you if you want.”

“That would be great.”

They said their goodbyes but she didn’t move for several minutes. Sitting on the bed, she tried to reroute her thoughts into some kind of plan for the day. Clothes were a must because while Mary Margaret’s things worked in a pinch, she couldn’t spend all day in them.

“Emma,” came the tentative voice of her host from below, “you have a visitor.”

Popping her head over the bannister, Emma looked down and the mop of dark hair let her know that her visitor was of the Jones variety. With a grimace, she checked out her reflection again. She looked like an overgrown child in the pajama shorts that were covered in bright red flowers and showed a little more leg than was probably appropriate, especially since they were topped off with a matching shirt that had ruffles at the sleeves. Add to that the fact that her hair had taken on a wild, rumpled look since she went to bed with it wet after a hasty shower to rinse off the worst of the night and she considered just carrying on the conversation from the loft. What she wouldn’t give for swipe of mascara and a little concealer for her eyes.

Making her way slowly down the steep steps, her foot barely touched the wooden floor of the living room when he asked, “Alright there, Swan?”

She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting but the cheerful friendliness of his voice and the crooked smile was a definite improvement over the shocked awkwardness and confusion of last night. His eyes still followed her movements with an emotion she couldn’t quite decipher. But that could be because she was shy about meeting his gaze, probably stemming from how gorgeous she found him and not wanting to make a fool of herself.

“He brought breakfast,” Mary Margaret gushed, pushing a box of pastries towards her. “I’m going to get ready while you two catch up.”

They both watched her step into the bathroom. When Emma heard the shower start, knowing that was about as much privacy as they could expect in the open floor plan space, she reached for a bear claw. “Thanks, these are my favorites.”

“Least I could do,” he responded, as much at a loss as she was apparently. He kept staring at her and it was starting to get unnerving.

“How’s Liam this morning?” Glancing over at the clock on the microwave, she amended, “Or afternoon rather.”

“He woke up for a few minutes and was his normal pleasant self,” Killian reported.

As she sat down, she imagined how grumpy her partner would have been having all his carefully laid plans ruined before they had ever been set in motion. It did explain why his brother seemed in a better mood though.

“He was concerned about your welfare, love. Gave me a quite an earful when he found out I had sent you out into the world with only Mary Margaret for protection while I kept vigil at his bedside. He’s sleeping again now so I decided it was time for us to have a little chat.”

Deciding to focus on the least troubling part of his statement, namely the implication that the only hospital volunteer in history who took work home with her wasn’t a force to be reckoned with, she said in a thoughtful tone, “I wouldn’t bet against her.”

When he didn’t pick up the thread of conversation, she reached for another pastry. It felt like he trying to wait her out, letting the silence that stretched between them drive her to reveal all her secrets.

Just when things were getting truly uncomfortable and she started to pray for Mary Margaret to finish her damn shower soon, he caved. “I apologize for last night. I’m afraid I didn’t make the best first impression and maybe I’m not doing much better today since I neglected to ask how you are feeling.”

“Well, your brother deserves some of the blame for the disaster that was our first meeting,” she conceded lightly. “If I had known we were dropping by unannounced in the dead of night, he would have gotten an earful of his own. I should have known better than to think he would have communicated like a normal human being.”

He was looking at her again with that weird far-off expression. Her skin tingled from his nearness and she tried to ignore that his body had leaned closer to hers.

Rushing to steer the conversation away from dangerous areas and wanting to put some distance between them, she jumped up. Walking over to the fridge to see if there was any milk, she called over her shoulder, “I am much better today. Looking forward to getting my stuff back and maybe finding a permanent place to stay. Unless you want to trade out the chair in Liam’s room.”

“Sorry love, brother’s prerogative.” He tensed as if he was expecting her to call on some privilege of her own. Any good will Liam had gained for his treatment of her son was lost as she fumed about his indifference to the feelings of his own brother. When she remained quiet, he added, “You’re welcome to stay at my place though. After all, if Liam brought you home, you must practically be family and you’ll end up there anyway when they release him. You are most welcome. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear last night.”

She wondered how long they could both dance around the topic without addressing the elephant in the room. She knew he was baffled about her sudden appearance in his brother’s life and out of everyone in this town, he had the most right to ask about it. She wasn’t sure she would be able to make it through the next couple of weeks without lying to him at some point but she wasn’t going to jump in with guns blazing so she would keep circling until he questioned her directly.

“Fine.” She took her time pouring her milk and when he shook his head at her silent offer to get some for him as well, she put the carton back and took up a position across the island from him. “If you don’t mind me staying there without you, I’ll take you up on it.”

Mary Margaret joined them before any other details could be sorted and the other woman’s disappointed face at losing her house guest so soon reminded Emma of when Henry was younger and pleas for more cookies went unheeded. Emma gratefully accepted her freshly laundered jeans that the woman had somehow managed to find time to clean, waving off her apology for not being able to salvage the shirt. Instead, she found a crisp, white linen tank that she was informed was a gift to welcome her to town.

She felt like a new woman coming downstairs in clean clothes and with several hours of sleep. Swearing on her honor to meet up with her hostess for lunch that weekend and awkwardly accepting her hug goodbye, she followed Killian down to his pickup truck without another word. He held her door as she climbed into the passenger side before making his way around the front and taking his own seat.

“I await your orders, Swan. Where to first?”

“If you think Liam will be resting for awhile, can we go by the station and pick up my stuff?” Luckily, Mary Margaret had provided a toothbrush last night but it would be nice to have the rest of her things. She had to suppress a chuckle at the thought that the deputy, David if she remembered correctly, would probably begrudge her the missed opportunity of making a visit to a certain brunette’s apartment.

Even though he kept his eyes on the road, somehow he picked up on her change in mood and asked, “Something tickled your fancy?”

“What’s her story?”

“Mary Margaret?”

“Yeah. Does she always pick up strays and bring them back to her apartment? I could have robbed her blind. It’s not safe to trust people like that,” she rambled as she took in the businesses that lined Main Street.

“I wouldn’t call you a stray and you don’t strike me as a thief,” he commented.

“You don’t know me,” Emma said darkly. She had been called that and far worse too many times and his casual observation caused her to stiffen in her seat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him stiffen a bit too but she was distracted by the sign for the pawnshop they just passed. The closed sign hung askew in the front window and all the lights were off even though it was the middle of the day.

“I’d like to know you, Swan. In case you didn’t notice—bringing breakfast, my sparkling conversation, the dashing rescue from having to stay another night in Mary Margaret’s loft, which apparently you viewed as a fate worse than death—all my little ways of trying to get to know you.”

His exasperation struck her as funny. He was more dramatic than his brother and as much as she planned to struggle against and deny her attraction to him, she thought she might end up actually liking him. He pulled off the street into a parking lot and faced her. “Furthermore, Miss Swan, you’re the one who went home with her so perhaps you should have followed your own advice. Maybe she’s a serial killer and she lures her victims in with kindness. Or maybe deep down you know there are good people in this world and it’s better to trust, to risk the occasional mistake, than to hide behind walls.”

Well. She wanted to take offense but she was too stunned at the fact that Killian Jones truly saw her. And maybe through her. How he had figured her out so fast, she wasn’t sure. She felt exposed and, even more chilling, she felt understood. It was exciting and dangerous. Eyes wide, she twisted to face him and licked the corner of her mouth nervously. His focus shifted to her lips. It was getting warm, and not only because of this unexpected turn in their discussion. It was summer and they were sitting in direct sun. That was her story and she was sticking to it.

Smirking at her own reaction more than his, she asked, “Are you finished?”

“For now,” he said softly and it sounded like a vow wrapped in a threat. He faced the front again and turned off the truck. The muscle spasm in his cheek was back and she was a little ashamed at how much she had missed it.

“Great. Consider me suitably chastised. Good to know that sanctimonious speeches are a Jones family trait,” she said with a genuine smile before kicking open the door and leaving him behind.

—

It was more of a battle to get her personal belonging than it should have been. Luckily David showed up halfway through her argument with the man on duty and signed off on the release of all but one of their bags. Killian had brooded for a few minutes but eventually followed her into the station and helped carry the bags first to the truck and then into his place when they reached it.

She hadn’t had time to think about what his home would look like but the oceanfront cottage was much nicer than she would have pictured if she had tried. It occurred to her that while she knew he had a affair about a decade ago, that he could sword fight, that he had the most expressive face she had ever encountered, and apparently could read her like a book, she really didn’t know that much about him. Like what he did for a living that allowed him to afford a place like this.

In what she thought was a sage decision, she had backed off after their run-in or she would have given into her interest and asked him. He had been subdued during the ride and as a person who liked to lick her wounds in private she knew when she met a like soul so she kept things light. Complimenting the view and the peaceful color scheme of creams and blues, she took only long enough to drop her bag in the guest room before swiftly exiting his space and walking back to the truck.

He seemed a bit more like his earlier self by the time they reached the hospital. He offered to pick up some coffee from the cafeteria for them, probably thinking she’d want some time alone with Liam.

It was with some surprise that she found that Liam already had a visitor, although it appeared he was asleep and may not be aware of it. Emma heard a sniffle and saw the woman’s shoulders shaking and immediately tried to back out of the room to give them some time. It was a sound plan until she caught her injured side on the door handle with a loud crack and couldn’t stop herself from dancing around a little bit and whispering in hissed pain, “Crap! Crap! That really hurts!”

The woman came to her feet in one fluid motion, wiping at her tears with the back of her hand and looking embarrassed. She was beyond beautiful, her long white blonde hair cascading in loose waves down her back and wearing sky blue scrubs that looked like a ball gown on her. And unlike Emma, she was able to cry without looking like a complete wreck for the rest of the day.

“I’m sorry—“ they said at the exact same moment and then they both chuckled quietly, intent on not disturbing the patient. Emma took a deep breath, trying to work the pain out from the inside. It made her want to punch something because it hurt so bad. Refusing to give into it, she continued drawing air in and out slowly.

Once the stars that had sparked around her faded, she thought it safe to try to introduce herself. “Emma Swan.”

Before the other woman could reply, she heard Killian behind her. “Elsa, I would have brought you a coffee if I had known you were here.”

He moved past her and placed a quick kiss on Elsa’s cheek and offered her his cup. So, clearly a friend of the family Emma gathered. Move along, nothing to see here. Except she was pretty sure that crying at the bedside of an unconscious man was some next level stuff. Internally, she cursed Liam and his sneaky secrets.

“Oh I’m fine, Killian, I had a little break in my day and decided to check up on my newest patient,” she explained nervously, as if she owed Emma a reason for her visit.

Trying to ease some of the woman’s tension, she smiled kindly and guessed, “Are you a doctor here?”

“Physical therapist,” Elsa explained with a grin of her own and Emma was once again struck by how beautiful the woman was as she moved to stand next to her. If the physical therapy thing didn’t work out for her, she could be a model or a queen or a goddess.

“Liam will be in good hands then,” she replied, and then wondered if she said something wrong with the way both Killian and Elsa shuffled uncomfortably. Seriously, what the hell was the story here.

“Yes. Well, I should get going,” Elsa admitted, eyes not quite meeting Emma’s stare. Her smile for Killian was more natural though. She left quickly, a less graceful person than her would have been accused of trotting out of the room.

Blowing out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, Emma looked over at Killian with a raised eyebrow. He was busy scratching behind his ear, a mannerism that made him look like a guilty toddler.

“I guess Liam told you about Elsa.” His gruffness showed he resented the situation his brother had put him in.

You and me both, Emma wanted to say. Considering she was reasonably certain that the ‘difficult circumstance’ Liam had mentioned during the road trip had just walked out the door as if the hounds of hell were at her feet, she didn’t think it was a lie when she said, “Of course.”

Because the fact was, calling what had evidently been a serious relationship a ‘difficult circumstance’ was probably as close as Liam would come to baring his soul anyway.

His shoulders relaxed knowing he wouldn’t be the one to break the news. Assessing her mood, he added in a disbelieving tone, “I assume by your peaceful air that you have no issues with Elsa, the love of his life, taking care of him during his convalescence?”

“Those weren’t quite the words he used when we talked,” she confessed, hating that she felt like she should be the one apologizing about this mess.

“He wouldn’t have with you, would he?” He looked chagrined, as if he suddenly realized that referring to another woman as the love of his brother’s life may have offended her.

“Not sure what you mean but to answer your question, I have no problem with Elsa doing her job.” There. Perhaps not the whole truth but she was getting better at skirting the lies. “We’re all grown-ups here, aren’t we, Jones?”

In a moment of blinding honesty, Killian said with a touch of awe, “I’m not sure what to make of you, Swan.”

“Good,” she laughed, the sound becoming a peace offering between them and allowing the rest of the afternoon to pass without any tension.

[missingrobin]

Unconditional (part one) Hope

part 2

Description: Love. Lies. Heartbreak. A recipe for disaster. When you move to Riverdale you have to face your dark past and a possibly hopeful future.

Pairing:Sweet Pea x Reader, Jughead x Reader 

Warning:language, mentions of death, drugs,violence, underage drinking (just don’t get triggered)

Word Count: 2127

A/N: Hi my loves this is my first fanfic and I’m so excited to dive into this series with you. I poured my heart and soul into this so please give it a read I’m so proud of it. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to send me an ask.

The night was finally starting to set in. Owls called  in every direction. Violent  trees shook their leaves. On a long paved road Y/N was driving to start her new life in Riverdale…

Your first stop was at a large bar on the wrong side of the tracks. You knew immediately that this was the rough part of town by the trailer homes that marked the road and the motorcycles lining the bar. It was obviously a bad idea to stop at this bar but you had no choice. It was either this or get stuck in the copious amounts of rain pouring down.  Even though the rain was not ideal for this situation you couldn’t get over the sweet smell and the dewy weather, it was the best . As you pulled into the grimy parking lot you noticed tall figures standing in front of the bar door, The figures were wrapped inside jackets marked with a snake. You parked your 2008 Mustang Bullitt and got out. The heel of your boots clattered loudly as you  walked toward the figures, you were automatically met with force. One of the taller boys moved toward you with purpose; he flicked a switch blade from out of his jacket pocket and pressed it against your chin. You weren't phased though you had your fair share of violence in your life and you knew that if it came down to a fight you would be the one walking out. The tallest boy quietly spoke with fiery passion.

“What are you doing around here pretty goulie,” questioned the boy.

Confusion marked your face you’d never heard that term before. 

“I’m sorry asshole but I don’t know what the hell a goulie is,” you replied. 

The boy obviously knew you weren't a goulie by you parking your car in their lot and walking over alone but he was testing you to see if she could handle it.

“Well if you’re not a goulie then who the fuck are you?”

Behind the boy you heard an older man call out.

“Sweet Pea what the hell are you doing just bring the girl inside I’m sure she doesn't mean no harm.”

The boy who was called Sweet Pea was obviously annoyed that the older man corrected his behavior. A look of irritability washed over his face and he rolled his eyes and put the knife away.

“Follow me princess” says the one called Sweet Pea 

You flash a quick and passive aggressive smile toward him and walk through the bar doors. The bar was awfully dark inside. Pool tables were scattered around the floor and with many people surrounding them, dart boards were in use and other people resided at the bar where a short girl with pink hair stood and made drinks for thirsty patrons. It looked as if she flashed you a smile on your way in. When you finally stopped looking around you came face to face with a tall dark haired man with the same leather jacket on.

“My name’s FP Jones I’m in charge of this bar, who are you and why are you in our part of town, girl?”

You took slight offense to this since you were turning 18 in 3 weeks and You’ve been on your own since you could remember.

“I’m Y/N,  I’m new to town and I was just trying to find a place to lay low till the weather calmed down if that’s alright with you,” you said with a slight snark in your voice.

That response amazed FP and all of the other members of the Serpents because no one ever dared come in their bar and talk to them like that. They immediately knew they liked this girl.

“Hey is it alright with yall if Ms.Y/N stays?” FP hollered

“Hell Yeah” responded most in the bar except Sweet Pea.

Sweet Pea had been glaring at you since you stepped out of your car. He didn’t trust this interesting new girl that just happened to step foot in his bar.  

The crowd settled and Y/N took a seat at the bar where the pink haired girl greeted her with a smile. 

“HI I’m Toni Topaz,” 

Hi I’m Y/N L/N, What's his deal?” you ask as you point to Sweet Pea who has been glaring at you  for the past 20 minutes.

“Oh, Sweet Pea has issues with new people.” Toni sighed 

“Well he needs to get over himself I didn’t do shit to him.” you spit rapidly 

“Hey girl chill I know don’t get all worked up, lemme get you a drink” Toni replied trying to ease your obvious anger.

The whole drive here has been a shit show. First you ran into some trouble with a gang on your way out of California, then you lost your keys for 20 minutes when they were just in your cup holder, now this. All you wanted was to start a new life away from the gangs, the lovers, and the danger but somehow you’ve already fucked that up by landing in this shit hole.

“Strawberry Daiquiri please,” you finally came out of your hase of thought and emotion.

“Alright, anyways what's going on with you Y/N what's your story?” Toni eyed you 

A tear rolled down your cheek, you quickly wiped it away so she wouldn’t notice but she did.

You broke into everything that you’ve been holding inside. You were definitely scared to say these things out loud but talking about it lifted a weight off of your chest. By the time you were finished with your drink you had told Toni your whole life story. The good. The bad. And the very very ugly. You even told her about the night you lost your parents and little brother in a car crash and the night you left for Riverdale to escape your fucking psycho ex boyfriend Nico You didn’t realize that a tsunami rolled down your face but at this point you didn’t care you were done with lies.You didn’t know why you trusted her but you just did you knew that she wasn’t as judgmental as the girls in California.

“Holy Fuck Y/N” Toni exclaimed 

Toni jumped over the bar and came to give you a huge hug. You wanted to keep your strong bad bitch persona but all of the shit you’ve been dealing with came crashing down in that moment. 

“Bad bitches cry to Y/N it's okay there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Toni whispered as you continued to cry on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry Toni I don’t know where all that came from” you whimpered wiping the tears from your face. 

Mascara smudged all down your cheeks. Toni looked up at you and giggled. You took out your phone to look at the damage you had done. You giggled as well

1:11 am your phone read

The rain hadn’t slowed at all so you came to terms that you would be spending the night at the bar. You didn’t care that your makeup was fucked so you just continued talking to Toni like nothing just happened. 

“Hey you know if you need anything I’m always gonna be there for you” Toni smiled and grabbed your hand.

“Thanks Toni I really appreciate it.” you remarked 

“Where are you gonna be staying for the time being” Toni questioned

“Well I was just going to rent a room at that bed and breakfast up the road till I could find a place” you replied.

“If you want you can stay with me, I have my own trailer over by that road into town” Toni remarked

“Wait are you serious?”

“Yeah I’m serious dork.” Toni replied with rolling her eyes 

“Yes oh my god yes that would be amazing!” your whole mood perked up with the thought

“Okay great cause it gets really lonely not having another girl around.” Toni sighed

“Wait, you don’t have any other girl friends?” you questioned

“Nah I don’t, but I have Jug, Sweet Pea, and Fangs and now you I guess haha.” 

You really liked Toni. You trusted her immensely. She was kind and genuine from the start. You both chatted the night away at the end you were basically best friends. Toni caught glances from other serpents as you laughed loudly. She also explained all the Serpent and Goulie drama that you’ve stepped foot in. You were hella anxious what this new city would bring and who it might bring along but you were ready to face anything head on.

Then suddenly Sweet Pea walked over to you and Toni.  

“Hey Y/N I’m sorry for giving you such a hard time. I just don’t take it well when new people just start showing up.” Sweet pea sighed 

He was obviously gorgeous and you’re type but that doesn’t change the fact that he pulled a fucking knife on you.

“It's fine” you replied coolly 

“Alright then.” 

Oh you were sure that you didn’t like this asshole but you were just going to get used to him.

You continued your conversation with Toni and learned secrets that she hadn’t told anyone. You told Toni about Nico and your relationship with him and how manipulative he was.

“I met him a few months after my family's accident, he was the kindest and sweetest person I had ever met. He took care of me when no one else was there for me. I fell for him immediately. I was always a hopeless romantic but with Nico it felt like it was instant. He had the most beautiful hazel eyes, he looked like he was carved by the gods but there was one problem he was a possessive crazy drug dealing psycho. He didn’t let me go anywhere and once when I was talking to one of his guards he screamed at me and ordered his men to get rid of him. I never saw him again. After that I knew I had to get away by any means necessary, that night I went to his safe and stole a shit ton of drug money, I grabbed all my personal items, and I got the hell outta there.” you finished your story

You didn’t realize that the bar had gone silent while you were telling your story. You looked up to find all eyes on you and everyone was in shock. 

“Holy fuck” you heard some man exclaim. 

FP came to the front to talk to you.

“Y/N we’re all here for you, As long as you’re with the serpents you have protection no one’s gonna fuck with you.” FP said with complete confidence 

“They’re dangerous FP and Nico’s a fucking maniac he will look for me and when he finds me he’s gonna kill anyone who trys to stop him” you said sadly 

“We’ll worry about that when it comes, for now just get settled in town are you in school?” FP asked 

“Yeah I am I registered at South Side High yesterday, and I have a job interview at Pops on Monday.” you responded 

“Forget pops you can have a job here if you want it would be a hell of a lot safer.” FP remarked combing back his sleek black hair with his hands.

“I’d love too thanks FP” excitement rolled over your body

You were so confused why people were being nice to you it was odd after all the months of torture you just went through. Life was finally starting to work out somehow and you were so thankful for it. Love and support surrounded you, a feeling that was lost 7 months ago.

People started slipping off to sleep all around the bar. Toni drifted to a slow slumber on a couch near a FP was off somewhere talking to his son and you were left to your own devices till the brutal Sweet Pea graced you with his presence. 

“Hey Y/N” he mumbled, taking a seat right next to you at the bar.

“Hi Sweet Pea” you were still annoyed about his behavior but you were way too tired to be pissed off at the moment.

“I’m sorry for being such a dick I didn’t know your life was that fucked haha” he laughed quietly 

“It’s okay not many people do.” you replied 

You broke into conversation with Sweet Pea. The sun came up and the rain slowed, your new life was finally starting and with a bang. You napped to prepare for the new adventures ahead. Will there be love? Will there be loss? Will Nico come for you? Will you make it out alive? 

Who knows I guess you have to continue reading to find out ;)

[searchingwardrobes]

The Convenient Groom: 8/13

I can’t believe it took me almost a month to finish this chapter, but here it is! None of this was even in my outline, lol. However, I like where the muse took me, and there’s more "oh shoot, we HAVE to kiss”, so that’s always good. Hopefully that all makes up for the long wait - especially for the girl this was a gift for to begin with. I hope you enjoy this, @spartanguard​!

I also realized that I accidentally posted two chapters labeled as chapter six here on Tumblr. The chapter count is correct on Ao3. This is chapter 8. I fixed the “second chapter six” on my tumblr blog as well. Sorry for the confusion!

Summary: Killian Jones just happens to be there when Emma Swan gets the phone call that changes everything: her fiance is leaving her at the altar. The thing is, it could also mean the end of her career. Convenient that Killian has nothing better to do that day. Convenient that he’s secretly in love with her. Not that Emma has to know that. Written for @spartanguard​​ .

Rating: M

Words: almost 3k in this chapter

Also on Ao3

Tagging: @snowbellewells @whimsicallyenchantedrose @kmomof4​ @let-it-raines @teamhook @bethacaciakay @xhookswenchx @tiganasummertree @shireness-says @stahlop @scientificapricot @welllpthisishappening @resident-of-storybrooke @thislassishooked @ilovemesomekillianjones @kday426 @ekr032-blog-blog @lfh1226-linda @ultraluckycatnd @nikkiemms @distant-rose @optomisticgirl @profdanglaisstuff @carpedzem @ohmakemeahercules @branlovestowrite @superchocovian @sherlockianwhovian @vvbooklady1256 @hollyethecurious @winterbaby89 @delirious-latenight-laughs @jennjenn615 @snidgetsafan

“This dress is absolutely gorgeous,” Anna gushed as she helped Emma zip it up.

“Thank you,” Emma told her sincerely, “but I really didn’t have to wear it again. A simple sundress would have been fine.”

“Excuse me?” Anna snapped with an arch of her brows and a hand on her hip. Behind her, Elsa chuckled.

“Anna, don’t be rude.”

“I’m not!” she retorted, and Emma could easily imagine these two as kids. “I simply want to get the full effect of this wedding, okay? We didn’t get to be there, so today better be the next best thing.”

Elsa shook her head and caught Emma’s eye in the mirror as she adjusted the baby’s breath woven through the loose braids crowning Emma’s waves. It wasn’t the style she would have gone with personally, but she had to admit that Elsa had done a gorgeous job with her hair.

“It’s fine,” Emma assured the other blonde, “your sister has a point. And I don’t really mind recreating the wedding - in a smaller version, of course.”

The door leading from the basement out to the backyard rattled, followed by a frustrated shout from Killian. Anna shrieked as she raced for the door.

“You can’t see the bride before the ceremony, Kil!”

“We’re already married, A! This is ridiculous!”

“Humor a pregnant woman!” she barked, and Emma and Elsa couldn’t contain their laughter any longer.

“Fine,” Killian snapped back, “I’m just here to tell you that Liam and Kristoff want to eat soon, so we better do this.”

“Men and their stomachs,” Anna grumbled with a roll of her eyes.

“Look up,” Elsa told Emma, and she complied. Elsa gave her eyelashes one more swipe of mascara. “There, you’re perfect.”

Emma picked up her small bouquet of forget-me-nots (that matched Killian’s eyes, Anna had pointed out), and lifted the bottom of her dress so her heels wouldn’t get tangled.

“Okay, let’s get this show on the road.”

Anna nodded, then turned back to the door. “Are you still out there, Kil?’

“Yes.”

“Well, go take your place under the arbor!”

Killian mumbled something about bossy women, but did as he was told. Anna peeked out, just to be sure the groom was where he was supposed to be, then she flung the door open. She and her sister went out first, walking out to strands of Canon in D. When the classical music faded out, Emma stepped out of the door. She almost burst out laughing when the music for her processional began.

You’re in an all-girl band, your futon is second-hand . . .

The arbor, which had been moved to Liam and Elsa’s backyard, wasn’t that far away from the basement door, and Emma was close enough already to see Killian’s wink. Emma couldn’t suppress the grin on her face, and Anna couldn’t suppress her glare.

“What kind of bridal song is this,” the redhead hissed as she smacked Killian with her bouquet.

Killian ignored her and waggled his eyebrows at Emma.

“It’s perfect actually, Anna,” Emma assured her, “let’s just say that it’s an inside joke.”

“Fine,” Anna huffed, “and we need to stop talking! This is a wedding.”

“A fake wedding with a grand total of seven people,” Killian muttered.

Anna smacked him with her bouquet again. At this rate, there wouldn’t be any petals left on the thing.

“Dearly beloved,” the officiant intoned as Emma turned to face Killian. She glanced in surprise at the elderly man, then whispered to Killian.

“Who the hell is this?”

“Can you two please take this seriously?” Anna exclaimed. “This is Kristoff’s Grand Pabbie.”

“Is he even ordained?” Killian asked.

“I’m standing right here,” the old man said dryly, “and I suggest you let me continue. You’re getting married.”

“We’re already married.”

“Then who cares if I’m ordained?”

Killian and Emma shared a look and then shrugged. The man cleared his throat pointedly.

“Dearly beloved, we gather here today to join these two in holy matrimony. If anyone knows why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Emma’s eyes narrowed. Had the officiant said that at the first ceremony? She didn’t think so, but then again, everything that day passed in a blur. Kristoff’s Grand Pabbie paused . . . and paused . . . and paused some more. Killian narrowed his eyes in confusion, and Emma gave a small shake of her head.

“Oh my God,” Anna exclaimed in exasperation, “no one objects! Just get on with it!”

“Well,” Grand Pabbie said slowly, his bushy eyebrows moving expressively across his forehead, “Kristoff had mentioned a concerned brother, and I just -”

“Liam,” Killian growled.

“Have I said a word?” his brother countered, both hands raised in surrender.

“You can get on with it, Grand Pabbie,” Kristoff told the elderly man, his face flaming red.

“Okay then, where was I . . . “ the old man narrowed his eyes as he shuffled the papers in his hands. Emma’s eyes met Killian’s, and they couldn’t help bursting out with laughter. Emma could hear Anna huffing in frustration behind her, and she bit the inside of her cheek to get herself back under control. Killian cleared his throat and clenched his jaw, though she could still see the merriment in his eyes.

“Ah yes, here we are . . . Marriage is a sacred union in which two hearts are joined as one. Emma and Killian, repeat after me . . . “

Emma was more aware during this second ceremony, which made sense. She wasn’t in shock like she had been the first time around. Yet she also was surprised to realize that this wedding was more suited to her personality than the one she had spent a year planning - and this wasn’t even real. There was just something about the simplicity of it and the small crowd who was there because they were emotionally invested, not so they could get free food and an open bar.

Then they were pronounced man and wife for the second time in a month, and Killian was told he could kiss his bride. He hadn’t kissed her since that day on the beach with the paparazzi. She hadn’t forgotten what a good kisser he was, but somehow it felt different. It was a simple kiss - more than a brush of lips, yet far less heated than the one he had laid on her at their first wedding. It probably had something to do with his brother glaring at them two feet away. Yet for some reason, Emma felt light headed when he pulled away, and she swayed towards him like he was a magnet she was drawn to. Or like a moth to a flame? Or being pulled out with the tide? It was some sort of romance novel cliche like that, and what made it twice as embarrassing was that she didn’t open her eyes until she almost lost her balance.

“Are you alright, Swan?” he asked as he grasped her by the shoulders to steady her.

“Yeah,” she hurriedly assured him as she gave her head a quick shake.

He tilted his head, and his lips parted on a breath. Before he could question her further, Anna clapped her hands and made an announcement.

“Now the bride and groom will have their first dance!”

“What?” Kristoff blurted out. “I thought we were eating!”

“Not until after their first dance; that’s how it’s done.”

“But I’m hungry!”

Anna leveled her husband with a look that could melt ice. “You don’t think the pregnant woman is hungry? We won’t starve while they dance!”

“Fine!” Kristoff muttered, throwing up his hands. Then he grumbled under his breath, “Isn’t even their first dance since it isn’t their first wedding.”

Killian shrugged at Emma, and she laughed. Elsa pulled up the song they had selected on her phone which was hooked up to the outdoor speakers. Killian set his hands at Emma’s waist as Paul McCartney began to sing, and Emma slid her arms around his neck.

“Are you sure you were alright a minute ago?”

His face looked so concerned that Emma told him the truth. “It just felt different kissing you this time, that’s all.” Her face burned as Killian’s eyes widened. “I mean - not like that or anything. It’s just that we . . . I mean, I . . . I know what pickles you like now.”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Pickles.”

“Yeah, pickles.”

He tilted his head and studied her. “I see. I wasn’t aware pickle preferences were such a sign of growing intimacy.”

The way his accent rolled over the words made the whole thing sound far more serious than Emma intended. She let out an indelicate snort. “You know what I mean. I know you better now. Like . . . like the pickles -”

“So we’ve established.”

“And . . . what you watch on Netflix . . . and . . . I’ve seen you . . . sweaty.”

Killian arched one brow and quirked his lips into an absolutely sinful, crooked smile. She swore she could see his eyes darken slowly under those stupid thick eyelashes of his.

“Don’t say it!” she warned him.

“Whatever do you mean?” His tongue darted out to wet his lips, and she swore he must have worked for some sex phone line thing to be able to make syllables drip like that.

“Whatever dirty innuendo you were about to make,” she told him through gritted teeth. “Just. Don’t.”

He nodded but gave her a smug look. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

Killian leaned closer, his nose in her hair and his lips brushing against the shell of her ear. He whispered in that low timbre of his, “I don’t need to say it, love, because you’re already thinking it.”

******************************************************

Emma watched the flames in the backyard fire pit lick at the marshmallow on the end of her stick. It caught and was engulfed, and Emma smiled as it charred.

“You burned it,” Anna observed as Emma pulled it out and blew on it.

“Nope,” Emma said, spinning it and admiring its black crust, “it’s perfect.” She gestured to the slightly browned marshmallow Anna had just slid onto a slab of chocolate. “Yours is still raw.”

Anna sandwiched the treat between two graham crackers, then replied around a messy bite. “I guess everyone makes their s’mores differently.”

Emma watched her catch a glob of marshmallow with her pinkie, and was relieved to see that her table manners didn’t matter with this crowd. Walsh had elegant tastes and took her places where you had to know which fork to use with what course. It had been exhausting.

Emma’s gaze flitted to Killian, who was laughing over beers with Kristoff. Behind them, Elsa was talking to Liam with a bundle of sparklers in one hand and a lighter in the other. Her brow was furrowed as she asked her husband something, and Liam looked intense with his arms crossed over his chest. Emma thought about her agreement with Killian and thought now was as good a time as any to do a little recon about his brother’s marriage.

“So . . . “ she said slowly and casually to Anna, “is Liam just as bossy with your sister as he is to everyone else?”

Anna literally snorted and almost choked on her s’more. “Are you kidding? Liam would walk on broken glass for Elsa if he had to.”

“Really?” Emma asked incredulously. Her gaze landed back on the couple. A gentle smile broke across Liam’s face as his hand closed over Elsa’s where she grasped the lighter. Elsa laughed, her eyes sparkling, as Liam pulled her to his chest and kissed her tenderly. Emma’s eyes narrowed.

“But they’re both opinionated.”

“Well yeah,” Anna said with a shrug, “but so are you and Killian, right?”

“Uh . . . yeah.”

Anna gave Emma a little nudge with her elbow. “Paul McCartney was a great choice. Especially since The Beatles were Alice’s favorite.”

“Alice?”

“Yeah, their mom.”

“Oh, of course,” Emma replied hurriedly, her face burning, but Anna seemed more interested in the messy chocolate that was dripping down her wrist.

“God, I’m a mess,” she chuckled.

“I’m not much better,” Emma laughed, trying to lick sticky marshmallow off her thumb.

“I really have never seen anyone love someone the way Liam loves my sister,” Anna said with a smile. “I mean, not that Kristoff doesn’t love me in an amazing way, he totally does, and he’s - like, super supportive, it’s just . . . Well, Elsa was closed off for so long. She got hurt really badly when we were in high school. To say her heart was broken is a huge understatement. Anyways, I didn’t think she would trust anyone with her heart until Liam came along. Of course, you know from personal experience how Jones men are.”

“How so?” Emma asked before she could stop herself.

Anna tilted her head and looked at her like she was completely dense. “They love completely and fiercely. When they commit to something, they’re all in.”

“Oh . . . “ Emma trailed off and quickly stuffed more dessert in her mouth. She hoped the chatterbox would move on to a different topic, but for once the woman was silent. Emma swallowed and gave her a nervous smile. “Guess that’s why he’s into rom-coms, huh? When we were picking out a wedding song, he seemed to know the plot of most of them.”

Anna’s brow furrowed. “He didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Killian Jones watches sci-fi and fantasy. The only reason he knows those rom-coms is because of me. I had a horrible break up before Kristoff, and Killian asked me how he could help. I said ice cream and rom coms, not really taking him seriously. He was over within an hour with a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough and While You Were Sleeping.”

“Really,” Emma said thoughtfully, her eyes landing on Killian once again.

“Yeah, he came over every night for like a week.”

************************************************

Emma wrapped her sweater around her shoulders tighter as she made her way across the dunes. It was dark now, and almost time for the fireworks over Storybrooke harbor. They wouldn’t have the best view in town, but the privacy was worth the trade off. Killian came up next to her with unlit sparklers in his hands.

“The wedding coordinator demands our presence once again. Something about kissing with sparklers all around us. Very popular Instagram pose, apparently.”

Emma laughed as she turned to face him. “How are we supposed to kiss and hold sparklers at the same time?”

“Very carefully?”

She took the metal stick he offered her, but the jolt she felt was attraction, not electricity. She could admit it now. She was attracted to him. Honestly, who wouldn’t be? He fit the bill of tall, dark, and handsome to perfection. And then . . .

“Anna told me about the rom coms.”

He tilted his head, his brow furrowed. “The what?”

She made a circling motion with her hand. “You know. The reason you know all those cheesy rom coms is because you binge watched them with Anna. To cheer her up after a break up?”

“Oh,” he said, his hand going straight to that favored spot behind his ear, “um, yes. It was the least I could do, really. That Hans was an absolute git. No, worse, a complete and utter narcissist.”

His jaw was clenched now, his eyes narrow, and Emma’s heart flipped over how angry he still seemed on Anna’s behalf. You know from personal experience how Jones men are . . . They love completely and fiercely. Emma realized her gaze had dropped to his lips, and she shook herself out of the stupor she’d fallen into.

“Anyways,” Killian shrugged, “my heart just broke for her, and I didn’t know what else to do.”

“It was sweet, and far more than most men would do. Unless they wanted to get in a woman’s pants.”

Killian wrinkled his nose in offense. “Please don’t even hint at me and Anna’s pants. She’s like the kid sister I never had. It just sounds . . . wrong.”

Emma smiled up at him, tapping his chest with the tip of her sparkler. “Exactly. That’s what makes it so wonderful.”

“Hey, lovebirds!” Anna shouted from the edge of the yard. “Get over here and act romantic for the camera!”

It turned out the Instagram shots consisted first of Emma and Killian holding the sparklers out in front of them while they kissed, then Killian dipping her and kissing her while his family held up sparklers behind them.

They were starting to get really good at this kissing thing. Emma was getting a little bolder in her response, and tonight she could taste the mixture of sweet and smoky from the s’mores on his tongue.

When he righted her, his brows were lifted, and she braced herself for a quip about her new enthusiasm when he kissed her. Instead, he merely smiled that crooked grin of his. She narrowed her eyes and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

“It has to look real for Instagram.”

He moved his lips to her ear so he could whisper back, “Who said I was complaining, love?”

[hattywatch]

T. Seguin - Back Road Part 3

A/N: Happy Holidays ya filthy animals. 

Part 1 Part 2 "No, it's different." 

You can hear Tyler getting frustrated with whomever he's on the phone, but you don't want to interrupt, staying in the foyer, quiet until he can finish his conversation. 

"Well, she's coming and you'll just have to deal with it. I don't know what to tell you," that's when you decide to make yourself known, not wanting to eavesdrop on things you shouldn't hear. 

You open the front door behind you and close it a bit louder this time, "Hiii. I'm here?" 

"In here!" He shouts from the kitchen and you follow his voice after dropping your bag on the sparkling floors in the entryway. He finishes his conversation in hushed tones you can't quite make out over the sound of your sandals on the hardwood. 

When you finally get sight of him in the kitchen he's drinking a water bottle, shirtless, and shoving his phone in his pocket. 

"Do you like, ever wear a shirt?" His distraction technique is honestly flawless. You'd be hard pressed to recall what he was saying only a few scant seconds ago as your eyes take him in. 

He's positively preening, and you're sure he's flexing his chest muscles. So you do the mature thing and push him away from your person before you can do anything stupid like run your tongue up his abs and make him think his macho posturing is sexy. 

Like it is, but he can't know that.

You've only been seeing each other for two-ish months, but he's been great. Really attentive and sweet, calling you nightly even when he's traveling for work. 

He has some free time coming up, a weekend to be exact, and he invited you to his family's cabin in Canada. You weren't sure you were there yet- as a couple, but as Bridget Jones says, "It can't be just a fling, a mini-break holiday means true love." Which is definitely pushing it, but you're not going to pretend it doesn't make your heart flutter that he's bringing you home to meet his family. 

You spend the night at his place to make the shuffle in the morning easier since he lives closer to the airport than you do. He promises no funny business since you're leaving before dawn the next morning. 

Tyler sticks to his promise and you both sleep soundly in the same bed, jolted awake by the ringing off your alarm, but excited nonetheless for your trip.

Boarding the plane at ass o'clock in the morning sucks, but is made better by being in first class- Tyler insisted on paying. It seemed like a bit much, but he persuaded you: 

"I'm making you go.” “You're losing out on tips. At least let me pay.”

“It's not even like we need a hotel… 

“You can make it up to me in other ways."

It took a few days for him to convince you, but you eventually gave in, insisting you'll do most of the cooking, and cleaning while you're there, ensuring you earn your keep.

You're happy he convinced you because it is infinitely easier to fall asleep in first class and you're pretty sure you're going to hate going back to economy class after this. 

He nudges you awake when you land, "Hey, sleepy, lets go." He already has both carry-ons, so you grumble at being woken up, but you trudge through the airport a step behind him as he texts his mom to let her know you've landed safely. 

"No one else is coming up until a little later, we'll have the place to ourselves for a few hours." He gives you what you assume is meant to be a meaningful look, but you can't be bothered to flirt when it's pre-9 am. 

"Good, maybe I can take a nap." 

_________

When you pull up it's actually really picturesque, lakeside and a far cry from his McMansion back in Dallas. He parks the car on the crunching gravel before getting out and grabbing the bags from the trunk. 

You try to pull yours away from him a few times, but he won’t let you carry anything. It’s ridiculous, since all you brought is a weekender sized luggage and you’re certainly capable of carrying it yourself, but it is nice that he’s a gentleman, so you don’t make too much of a fuss. 

He unlocks the door and it’s just as beautiful as his house back in Dallas, bright and big, gorgeous hardwood throughout the whole open floor plan with floor to ceiling windows looking out onto the lake, glistening in the early morning sun.

It’s really, really beautiful- serene and calm, but you really, really want to nap, so you're not a cranky mess when you meet his family. 

As he drags you through the house and to the stairs, you yawn and he gives in, “Okay, okay, point taken. We can sleep.” 

The door he chooses at the end of the upstairs hall opens to a big bedroom, probably the master, if the balcony overlooking the lake outside is indicative of anything. You wiggle out of your hoodie and pull back the blankets, “Should we be sharing a room? Is your family going to think I’m slutty.”

He doesn’t answer directly, but rolls his eyes so hard you get the point. “I’m just trying to make a good impression. I don’t know!” 

“They’re not going to think that,” he peels back the comforter on his side of the bed and tugs off his shirt before lying down next to you. “I don’t bring girls around here often…" he considers, "... ever?” He rolls toward you and lets his leg rest against yours. It’s too hot for any more body contact than that, so you don’t mind.

You're nervous for what's going to happen when you wake up. The excitement of being on vacation with Tyler giving way to a very real fear that his family will hate you; you already overheard whoever he was talking to last night not wanting you to tag along on family time. 

You can't help it as you mash your eyes together and whisper, “Tyler?" He hums, eyes closed, sleep already setting in, “Who were you on the phone with last night when I got to your house?”

His eyes open, “My sister, why?” his mouth is set in a straight line, jaw tight, and you’re not sure you should continue your questioning, but you’re so nervous and you need your questions answered. 

“I overheard a little of what you said to her when I walked in. I didn’t mean to, but I did,” he doesn’t say anything so you continue. “It didn’t really seem like she wanted me to crash your family weekend.” You choose your words carefully, not wanting to offend or point fingers at his sister before you’ve even met her. 

“I don’t really care what she wants,” Tyler pulls you towards him into his bubble of warmth. 

“That’s not nice, Tyler,” he leans in close and kisses you on the nose. 

“You’re right. Still don’t care though. We’re going to have a good weekend,” all you can do is sigh, hope he’s right, and close your eyes to slide into your nap. 

_________

When your alarm goes off, it’s time to face the music, so you stretch and roll out of bed, ignoring a grumbling Tyler behind you. 

You shower in the adjoining bathroom; even that has a stunning view of the lake. Tyler starts making noise from the bedroom as you're swiping on mascara in the mirror and letting your hair air dry. He pops his head in the bathroom after knocking, "Hey, they said they'll be here in 30 minutes. I'm going to order in so we can eat when they get here. I'm starving." Nodding your assent, you brush through your hair again and check your reflection for the thousandth time. 

Standing over the two outfits you’d laid out on the bed, you settle for the high-waisted shorts and a flowy blouse. Nothing too short, and nothing too tight, you don’t want to come across at all tawdry the first time you meet his family. As you slide on your sandals you can hear a ruckus downstairs, paired with a whole bunch of female voices.

Time to face the music. 

After a deep breath and one last look in the mirror to smooth down your outfit and triple check that your shorts aren’t showing any cheek, you make your way down the stairs. 

_________

You can tell immediately that Tyler’s mom is effervescently happy to meet you. She pulls you into a hug and takes the chair right next to you at the table as Tyler tips the delivery driver and plops down a few pizza boxes on the counter. Tyler eyes her warily and sits down on your other side. He rests his foot against yours under the table and catches your eye. The move is clear, we’re in this together. It’s comforting. 

After everyone has dragged a slice of pizza onto their plate and chewed a few bites, his mom can’t seem to hold out any longer. 

“I don’t know if he’ll be mad at me for saying this, y/n but this is the first time Tyler has brought a girl to the lake.” His foot nudges yours gently. 

“Yeah, he mentioned that earlier,” you sip your water and continue, “I think it was supposed to calm me down but it just put the pressure on!” She smiles. It’s warm and that calms you down more than anything Tyler could have said. 

His younger sister, Cassidy, pipes up, “It’s just us, no reason to be nervous. We’re not his fancy Dallas friends.” You take it as a win, but you’ve still yet to get more than a sideways glance from his elder sister, and you’re sure she’s the one who was on the phone, protesting against him bringing you along. 

You can’t blame her. They live so far and she probably rarely gets to see him, it makes sense that she’s less than thrilled at you tagging along, taking up their family time.

It makes you want to prove her wrong, show her you’re not that clingy girl looking to drive a wedge between him and his family. You're just not sure how.

_________

When the wine comes out after dinner things get easier.

Jackie disappears into a closet and returns with Scrabble. Tyler is good, which (you’re embarrassed to say) surprises you, always ready to judge a jock. As your glasses empty and refill a few times the game gets progressively sillier. You challenge Tyler a number of times. 

He confidently lays down “playwrite” and starts to tally up his total before you get a better glimpse at the board and shake your head. “Uh-uh, I don’t think so! Pick that up!” 

He looks at you adamantly, “What’s wrong with playwrite?! It’s one word!” He gestures his hand toward the board.

“That’s not how it’s spelt! It’s W-R-I-G-H-T!” Tyler squints his eyes at you, tilting his head to the side like you’re being purposely difficult. 

“That makes absolutely no sense, they write plays!”

You cross your arms over your chest, “Doesn’t matter, it’s wrong!” 

Tyler matches your stance, “Is that an official challenge?” 

When you look over at the rest of the table you can see his mother is barely holding in a laugh as his sisters smirk up at his ridiculously defensive stance. The score is close and the letter bag is empty. The G is resting on a triple letter, the P on a triple word and you hope to God you’re not too drunk to remember how to spell. You nod solemnly, watching Tyler grab his phone. 

He types something out and you can tell you're right the moment his expression softens and deflates. 

“Fine,” he pulls a few of his letters off the board and leaves only “write" remaining, before adding up the score and writing it down on the paper next to him. Candace runs through all of her letters on her next turn and you all have to subtract your remaining letters from your own scores. She beats you by 3. 

After boxing up the game and tidying the table, you all sleepily stumble up to bed, exhausted from all of the travel and wine. Tyler kisses his mom goodnight and hugs his sisters. You do this awkward hug with his mom, not sure if you’re there yet, but she wraps her arms around you and says “Night hon,” so you’re probably overthinking it. His sisters call out a good night to you before they head into their rooms, but no one looks sideways at you and Tyler entering the bedroom together, so you take it as a small victory.

_________

Scrubbing off your make-up in the bathroom is exhausting, but a necessary evil, so you stand in front of the mirror again reflecting on the past few hours, the night coming full circle. 

“I can hear you dissecting every word that was said tonight. Come to bed, babe. It’s not that real,” Tyler’s footsteps creak on the hardwood and alert you to his presence before you can see him in the mirror behind you. 

“Do they like me?” You put down the wash cloth and turn to him. “I’m nervous. Help meee,” you’re only half kidding as you whine and stick out your bottom lip hoping Tyler takes pity on you. 

He does. 

He wraps you up in his arms and your face, still damp from washing it, leaves wet blotches on his t-shirt. “They like you just fine, you psycho. Relax,” he kisses the top of your head. “I like you that’s all that matters.”

Stepping back you look up at him, “Eh.” You smirk and he calls you a little shit before kissing you hard on the mouth. His hands trail down your back to your ass, squeezing once before he reaches for the front of your shorts. 

“I don’t think so mister. Your family is here!” you chastise him in a harsh whisper. He rolls his eyes but lets go, dragging his hands back around to your butt. He rolls his eyes, but leans down and kisses your neck. 

“Fine, but just know that I’m sad about it,” the way he whispers it into you ear has you second guessing your decision,  but it’s still hard to hold in the laugh. 

“Noted, but just know that I don’t care.” You let him drag you to bed and lave soft kisses down your neck before you fall asleep.

_________

When you all tumble out of bed the next morning the sun is shining. It glints off of the water making it sparkle in the summer heat and everyone quickly decides to spend the day on the lake. 

You always feel a little scrubby next to Tyler when he’s half naked. He’s hard and toned, barely an ounce of fat on his lean body. Meanwhile, you know it’s obvious that you don’t spend enough time in the gym and definitely love carbs.

As soon as he invited you to the lake, you went out and bought a new bathing suit. It sits high enough on your torso to hide your lower belly and nip in flatteringly at your waist while the top lifts and supports as much as you could hope for, so you think you look okay. 

When his sisters make their way out on the dock you instantly want to wrap yourself up. You know you’re built differently, but it doesn’t stop you from unhelpfully comparing your bodies. They’re long and lithe, and you feel nervous that they’ll find something to pick apart and cement their dislike of you.

After a few minutes, your fears dissipate. Everyone is enjoying a relaxing day in the water and no one is staring at your thighs like they’re offended. Candace even tells you she likes your suit, so you know you’re being silly and remember that you have nothing to be self conscious about. Life isn’t a teenage rom-com and no one cares if you have some cellulite on your butt. It helps that you catch Tyler sliding his sunglasses down his nose and winking at you when his sisters aren’t looking. It makes your heart freeze before thumping wildly against your ribcage. 

You take turns getting dragged around the water on an inner tube as Tyler speeds the boat along the empty lake. Jackie shouts to be careful from the dock, drenched in the shadow of her sun-hat looking truly terrified. Everyone laughs and waves at her, cheering when Tyler jerks the boat around trying to throw you all off of the tube.

When the sun starts to set you hop in the shower and everyone ditches their bathing suits for a bath and dinner. Tyler grills up burgers outside and you all sit on deck around the table, laughing and eating, less tense than the evening prior. 

As the sun fully sets it gets chilly on the water, so you all head inside and start up a game of rummy. It’s friendlier than the game of Scrabble. It turns out none of you are very good at remembering what another player picked up and you are all holding a meld that someone else is also trying to build. 

Jackie wins, she claims she’s had longer to learn strategy and you all boo her, chucking your cards into the middle of the table before heading up to bed, thoroughly worn out from the long day on the water.. 

_________

Sunday passes largely the same way. Tyler lets you all take turns driving the boat, which is simultaneously the most fun you’ve ever had and the most terrified you’ve ever been. 

“Cassidy barely got her license and Candace has a lead foot. I don’t know what I was thinking!” He looks over at you, hat backwards on his head and looking bronze from head to toe. You can barely process what he’s saying when he looks like this, but his sisters squawk at his unfair assessment.

“I only failed one time!” Cassidy shouts over her shoulder. 

Candace nods, “And I’m the one who taught you how to drive, little brother. Have some fucking respect for your elders!” Candace sniffs, offended, and turns back towards the bow. 

After Tyler has insulted everyone’s boating abilities, he breaks out some paddle-boards from the boat garage. Turns out paddle boarding is not a hidden talent of yours. You’re far too clumsy to stand up for any length of time. All three siblings are athletic enough to maintain balance while laughing and shouting pointers at you to no avail.

That night's dinner is a little subdued because you all know you’ll be leaving in the morning and your little bubble of vacation is about to pop, but you feel like you've made headway with Candace. She sits across from you at dinner and asks about your life back in Texas and seems genuinely interested in your answers, even if it is just about the diner you work in or where your little apartment is in relation to Tyler’s house.

You know you're correct when she drags you in the house to get stuff for smores as Tyler lights a fire up in the yard. You're in the middle of grabbing the graham crackers when she corners you in the pantry. 

"I just wanted to apologize," she looks you directly in the eye and it's a little unnerving. 

"For what?” you shrug, not wanting to let her know you overheard Tyler on his phone call with her. 

"I just… I wasn't sure about you. But I'm actually really happy my brother brought you around." You smile and she does a little too, but continues, "It's hard to tell who's with him for the fame and the money and who actually likes him for his dorky self."

Her face drops when your brows knit together in confusion, "The fame?" 

It's her turn to look confused, "Yeah? Because of the…" she tapers off, tilts her head to the side, and you can see the family resemblance in the mannerism, "Did that fucking idiot not tell you what he does?"

"I just-” she stares at your with her brows knit together and it’s hard to continue, “I assumed he was an athletic trainer of some sort,” you start. "He travels a lot, and he's in good shape and, you know- it's Texas. Football’s big there. The players need to condition…"

She's shaking her head in her hands and you don’t know how this conversation went south so fast. 

"Okay. I'm going to tell you a secret. Please don't clue him in that you know...” She types into her phone, manicured fingers tapping gently against the glass. When she spins her phone around the Google search results have everything clicking together in your head. “Buuuuuut he's kind of a big deal." 

"Are you kidding me?" 

Candace looks stricken, eyes wide and palms out in front of her.

"You can't tell him I told you. He'll kill me. Please don't be mad. You can understand why he'd be cautious…" 

"I won't say anything. I just can't believe I didn't think of it. He's such a dope." You roll your eyes but start heading out of the pantry. "C'mon, they're going to get suspicious," you nudge her shoulder with yours so she knows you're okay. Candace looks relieved and follows you outside with the marshmallows. 

Your flight leaves early in the morning and you say goodbye over breakfast before loading up the car and driving to the airport. You're too tired to be mad at him for keeping you in the dark. You hate to say it, but you understand. By the time he drops you off at your house and kisses you goodbye, after thanking you for spending time with his family, you're so soft for him you forget why you were ever angry in the first place. 

_________

He’s not quite sure what to do now. It’s been so long. They’ve been dating for almost five months at this point. She’s been to his house, knows his dogs; she met his mother for Christ’s sake. 

With camp coming to an end and pre-season looming in the very near future, he’s out of time. 

So, he has her over. He makes her grilled cheese and pours her wine, just like the very first time he ever got her to come back here. He hopes the nostalgia will soften the blow of the bomb he’s about to drop. 

She sits there in her leggings, wrapped up in one of his sweatshirts. It’s now or never and he knows it. Has to spill the beans before she sees his face plastered on commercials and all over downtown Dallas next to Jamie’s on a billboard. 

He's casual, "So I, uh, have a little bit of a confession to tell you." 

She looks up and stops chewing, eyes wide and brows high. She puts her grilled cheese down and has a sip of water before turning to him, hands in her lap. “That sounds ominous.”

He doesn’t know what’s about to happen, but he knows he can’t put it off any longer, “I didn't really lie, but I've definitely omitted some truth. We're getting really close, so I think it's only fair that I tell you what you're getting yourself into."

She nods, picks her grilled cheese back up and picks at the crust, “You have some bodies buried under the pool or something?” 

He loves her. 

“No, nothing like that,” he sips his wine. "I, Uh. I'm…" he pauses and she nods for him to continue. "I’m a little famous? I play in the NHL and that's why I'm always traveling and my work schedule is so crazy."

There. It’s out in the open. She can reject him if she wants, but he did what was right. The silence stretches on as she chews her dinner thoughtfully and he has a mini-panic attack thinking of everything that can go wrong. He hardly had her buy in at the beginning of this relationship; could this be the weight that breaks the tenuous string of trust she gave him? 

He doesn’t say anything. Just waits for her and bounces his knee up and down, needing to do something to loose the frenetic energy building up in his body. 

She swallows the bite of grilled cheese in your mouth and nods, "Yeah, I know." 

The first thing he feels is relief. It’s cool and soothing and coats his body. The second thing he feels is utter bewilderment. "You know?" It comes out more accusatory than he intended. He’s just… shocked is all.

Nodding, she answers. "Yeah I've known for a while. Like a month now I think?" 

He can’t even string a whole sentence together. The only words leaving his mouth are half questions, “Who? I don’t- When did you? What?” She bites her lip to stifle a laugh and he takes a breath and tries again. 

“How did you find out?” 

She barely shrugs, gently lifts one shoulder and pats him on the knee, “A good investigator never reveals their sources…” He shakes his head, “but maybe it was a certain sister, who shall remain nameless”

It takes a minute or two for him to settle, but he stops and lays both of his hands on her knees. "It’s just as well I guess. You're okay with that? With my life?" He has to know she’s all in, just like he is. She won’t block his number and ghost him when she catches sight of the cardboard cutout of him that some of the bars downtown display as mostly a joke.

She lays both of her hands midway up his thighs, stares into his eyes and grins, "I don't scare easily."  Her smile is devastating and his heart explodes in his chest. She’s not going anywhere. She’ll still have him. All of him. 

He can’t help himself and he leans down and lays a kiss on her lips- mouth salty and soft. It’s sweeter somehow, with nothing separating them, "What a coincidence. That happens to be my favorite quality in a girl."

[soyforramen]

Old Times

Gladys hadn’t been back in town for a month before Alice showed up on her front porch at four in the morning, tears streaking down her cheeks (makeup looking just as good as when she’d applied it that morning; gotta love a woman who can afford Avon).  A wide-eyed teenager, the spiting image of a younger, more precocious Alice, tagged along behind her.  Without hesitation Gladys ground her cigarette out on the arm of the rocker (saved from Mr. O’Neil’s Tuesday trash pile) and pulled them both inside.

Without a word spoken, Gladys went to change the sheets in her bedroom.  Alice and the girl spoke softly in the kitchen, and try as she might, Gladys couldn’t make out a single word.  Whatever it was, it had been bad enough to bring Alice here and not one of her fancy, high-society friends’ houses (probably put out jello molds and finger sandwiches and food that tasted like creamed dirt).  Something big enough to ruin the entire Cooper household.

The pillowcase hung from the bottom of the pillow, wrapped around its middle in a suffocating grip, as she realized Hal hadn’t been with them.  In fact, she hadn’t seen Hal and Alice in the same place since she’d moved back to town (long-since overstayed, parents basement too crowded with two bickering teens and three shifts at the grocery store, g.e.d. just out of reach).  She’d exchanged enough nods with Hal in the frozen dinner aisle, both pretending the space between them wasn’t mired in ancient history and still raw rivalry.  Her path with Alice was limited to the high school drop-off lane, the one public gesture of maternal affection Jughead still allowed

Now, though.  She sighed.  It wasn’t uncommon for the women around here to lean on one another for comfort and safety.  Sad, really, how often that came on the heels of the men not living up to even the lowest standards.  

After a second thought, she fluffed up pillows and headed back towards the kitchen.  Coming towards her in the claustrophobic hallway came Alice and her child (Betty, she realized with a flash of deja vu, a reminder of when she and Jughead were the ones on the other end of this), and Gladys flattened herself against the wall.

“Thanks, Ms. Jones,” Betty murmured, her eyes downcast.

Gladys hadn’t the heart to tell her she hadn’t been a Jones for almost fifteen years.  

“Not a problem at all, darlin’.  What do you think about strawberry pancakes in the morning?”

Betty gave her a watery smile and Alice shooed her into the bedroom.  The door closed behind them, and Gladys let out a heavy breath.  There was always something going wrong around here.  You expected it, but it still hurt to see it happen.

Filled with a nervous energy (live wired and on fire, as her daddy used to say before the tar and the coal got to him; put a cork in that and you could power the whole nothern half of the states), Gladys flitted around the house, straightening and tucking and dusting, nothing seeming to be enough anymore.  She had another two hours before she had to be at her first shift at the factory down the road.  Then again, maybe she’d return that long ago favor and call in sick.  After all, she was entitled to a few days here and there (nothing like the dump in toledo where they squeezed every drop of your soul, pennies on the dollar, and still demanded more).

Just as she was running a cloth over the television set (only three channels, black and white; older than either of her children who preferred leeching ole’ henry’s wifi instead of -), the bedroom door shut quietly.  Gladys straightened and waited for Alice to appear.  When their eyes met, Alice’s stoic, no-nonsense rock solid mask crumbled into a mess of tears and grief.

“He’s -“

Poor gal couldn’t even speak properly anymore.  Whatever Hal’d done, it was enough to knock the sense out of Alice, and that was a scary enough prospect on its own.  She hadn’t been that thrown for a loop since they’d raided (stole) Mantle’s stash of E (curled up like kittens, high in the dusty sunlight on the trailer floor, alice laying out her future with hal and not her…).

Gladys quieted her and lead Alice to the love seat (third-hand from earl and katie, bless their hearts even though it did smell like that damn cat).  Alice tried to apologize for the interruption, but Gladys refused to let her.  Jughead she didn’t have to worry about - boy slept like a brick in a tornado - and J.B. was at a sleepover with some of her friends (best friends on the first day of school, always did get her daddy’s better traits, while jug soured down into his old records and writing, lost in his own world, too much like his mama to make anything of it).

Once Alice was settled, Gladys poured out a shot of rum and set it on the coffee table along with a box of tissues.  A few steps back, and Gladys was in the kitchen to give Alice a modicum of peace in the tiny trailer.  She poured a glass of water and set it next to the empty shot glass.

“Another one?  I have whiskey, too.”

Alice shook her head, a crumbled tissue in her hand halfway shredded to hell and back already.  On the table lay three more (three bucks a pop here, can you believe) and Gladys couldn’t help but want that to be the remnants of Hal’s body.  

“Hal, he -“ Alice’s words were cut off with a gut wrenching sob, and Gladys rushed to her.

Like she did when the kids woke up from their nightmares, she murmured platitudes and soft words, her arms wrapped around Alice in a cocoon of safety.  After a good long cry (glad she still wore waterproof, cheap, drugstore mascara would have ruined the fabric, though the concealer would do hell on the blouse), Alice steadied herself.

Despite her hair falling out of its unnatural wave, despite the botchy cheeks, red eyes, and snotty nose, Gladys was still struck by how well Alice carried herself.  Likely an armor built up having to suppress anger and frustration in this ticky-tacky town (hoa’s, pta’s, cya’s).  A rose of anger bloomed on her cheeks sent Gladys rocking back on her heels, a thrum of excitement rushing through her.

“I suppose you’ve heard about our town’s little problem,” Alice said, still speaking in polite euphemisms and innuendos.  She reached for the glass of water and primly cleared her throat (cats and spots, zebras and strips, snakes and scales; once, always).

“Depends on which one you mean,” Gladys said.  

She was being sarcastic, she knew, but it was the truth.  Riverdale hadn’t changed much from when they were growing up, damn whatever bullshit Hiram and his developers were trying to sell.  It still had the same pristine front, picture perfect suburban life style, full of well respected men trying to save the village green from its own preservation society, but now the fetid foundation it had been built upon was bubbling out from the seams.  The drugs, gangs, and murders were more visible now, no longer brushed under the railroad tracks into the Southside of town.

Hell, the only new thing about it seemed to be the mafia trying to gain a foothold.  And Gladys had her own plans on how to deal with that.

Mostly, though, she’d missed being able to push Alice’s buttons (eyes narrowed, tongue beneath her teeth, a flash of heat in a pan), to get a rise from her so she was the center of her focus.  If nothing else, it drew Alice’s attention away from her grief at hand.  

“But, if you’re talking about that black hood idiot,” Gladys drawled, wincing at the pins and needles attacking her as she stood, “then I’ve heard a bit.”

“Yes, well.”  Alice cleared her throat and looked away.  “It turns out you were right.  About Hal.”

“Oh?”

Gladys let it hang in the air.  It wasn’t often that Alice Cooper, nee Smith, admitted to being wrong about anything, especially when it came to her life choices.  And yet the juxtaposition of the two - the Black Hood and Hal - had caught her attention like a hook in a trout’s belly.

“About -?”

“About Hal,” Alice snapped.

She stood to pace the thin carpet of the trailer, her hands wrapped tight around her arms, the pastel green cardigan wrinkling under her fingers.  

“He’s been going around these past few months like a god damned fool, playing at being an avenging angel, murdering people who he thought deserved it.  I can’t believe I bought his lie about going bowling. The man can’t even lift a lawnmower, let alone a bowling ball.”

Gladys sat down on the love seat, one leg thrown onto the coffee table and watched Alice stew in front of her.  It was a mirror image of fifteen years ago, almost to the day.  She gently touched the corner of her eye, still bearing a white scar, and cursed the day she’d ever met that man.

“And then the bastard has the audacity to say that our children need to be purified.  That I need to be purified.  It was bad enough that he sent that letter to Polly, what he did to Betty -“

Alice stopped and tugged at her hair (bottle blonde to cover up the slow, steady march of time; at least a week’s worth of gladys’ pay for vanity every month).  Gladys stood and guided Alice back to the love seat.

“How about you start from the beginning?”

Another stream of tears, this time borne of frustration and anger, slipped down Alice’s cheeks as she dove head first into the long tale.  Hal always had thought himself above the rest of the town (secret son, hidden away from the world) even though his own sins bore bitter fruit of their own (alice angry and self-destructive in senior year; drunk on the floor; od’ed in the bathroom; blood running down wrists).   Somehow he’d managed to fuel that into something more productive - a picture perfect nuclear family and modest but plentiful business - until he finally didn’t.  

The first murder attempt, then the second, third, and fourth followed, no longer attempts.  Quit murders in the surrounding counties that went with only a few murmurs of disapproval.  Even his own family hadn’t been immune; daughters, tortured and deceived by the man meant to protect them from such things (kids of all things; for crissakes was nothing sacred?.

And Alice…

When she was done with her macabre tale, ending in Hal’s entrapment of his family and their violent escape, Gladys let out a low whistle.

“Well.  Shit.”

Alice let out a wet, wry laugh.  She curled her legs up under her and hugged a throw pillow tight (bought on a whim at a yard sale - two’fer deal she’d haggled; matched the lace curtains jb couldn’t help but make fun of).  Gladys stood and walked towards where her father’s urn sat on the mantle, a place of honor in a family who had little to do with ghosts of the past.

“What do you want to do about it?” Gladys asked.  

Standing on her tiptoes, she reached in an pulled out a rusted Altoids tin and a lighter.  When Alice caught sight of it she let out a real laugh this time, one that drew memories of simpler, happier times when it had just been the two of them against the world.  Wonder Woman and Sarah Conner, united together.  Until they grew up and out of middle school dreams and into the real world where bills piled up and mouths had to be fed.  

“You know we’re not in high school, right?”

Gladys grinned and fell onto the love seat next to her.  She popped open the tin and held it out to Alice.

“Do you want to do the honors?  You always were better at it than I ever was.”

Alice chewed her lip, the implications and scandal of what Gladys was proposing flashed across her eyes.  It was easy enough to guess the arguments against it, the same old ones she’d heard before (what if your mom/daughter/sister finds out you keep that in there? she’ll be more pissed that she didn’t find it sooner), but her hand was steady when she took the tin. Gladys watched her fingers work, long thin fingers still trapped by a band of gold.  The ring of a promise that fell flat and brought with it a hell of a right-hook in the end.

As she watched, Gladys let her mind wonder what would have happened if they hadn’t allowed themselves to be torn apart in high school.  If she’d only beaten the truth out of Hal in junior year when Alice vanished.  If only, if only, if only.

“What I want,” Alice said with a finality, the lid snapping shut a punctuation to her decision, “is to rip his guts out and feed them to him while that harpy mother of his watches.”

Gladys flicked the lighter, the flame dancing around the end of the joint.  Her eyes didn’t move from Alice’s lips as she took a hit.  Lines ebbed and faded, reminders of their time spent apart, waves of years and youth wasted.  In the poor ventilation of the trailer, the smoke wrapped them in a thin cocoon of safety, a gauzy curtain to shield them against the reality of their choices.

“Might have to lay a tarp down, but I know a few guys.”

The phrase sent Alice into a fit of giggles (ask freddie and fp, they know some guys) and Gladys shushed her with a crooked smile, reminding her that Betty lay sleeping not forty feet away.  Alice took another took and blew the smoke into Gladys’ face, a ribbon that caressed and teased her skin

“Or we could take care of it ourselves.”

“Just like old times?”

“Just like old times.”

(A few months later found Jughead and Betty at Pop’s working on a school project under Gladys’ critical eye.  Jughead, used to his mother’s hovering nature, enjoyed the free fries she dropped off between customers; Betty, it seemed, was far more perturbed by the woman’s sudden closeness with her mother.  It wasn’t until they were writing about Lady McBeth  (‘out damn spot’ seemed to Jughead less of a guilt ridden complex after this Black Hood business and more of an attempt at an evidentiary coverup) that he spoke on a subject that had been bothering him for a few weeks.

“Doesn’t it seem odd?”

Betty hummed and continued to write.  “What seems odd?”

“My father disappears three months before my mother leaves town, never to be seen again.  We come back, and three months later your dad disappears.  And each time, our mothers renewed their friendship just weeks before.”

Any goodwill Betty might have held towards Jughead froze quickly at the implications in his words.  Her fingers gripped the mechanical pencil hard enough her knuckles went white and the plastic cracked.  

“My father was a serial killer,” she snapped.  Blooms of anger rose on her checks and Jughead shifted under her glare.  “It’s not surprising that he’d run away after trying to kill his wife and his daughter in their own home.”

Cowed, Jughead picked at the lukewarm fries.  Her words didn’t change his mind, didn’t move his suspicions a single degree, but it did quiet his need to pry further into her opinion.

The matter was dropped as Macbeth and his realm descended further into madness.)

[charmingturkeysandwich]

I Could Use a Love Song (2/22): where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases

Pairing: Emma Swan/Killian Jones (AU) Words: 3k(ish) Rating: T for this chapter, I’d say. (M overall) Chapter Summary: The band’s first day with their new roadie gets off to a shaky start.

Read on AO3.

---

Having grown used to shitty sleeping situations through foster homes, homelessness, couch surfing, and now touring, Emma awoke the next morning refreshed and ready to fight.

Yep, fight. Because the prior evening she’d been exhausted and hovering in that weird stage of drunk where you’re basically pre-hungover, and life had thrown a hot roadie at her. Except it wasn’t life that had done that. It was David. David who in the year of our lord 2019 most fucking certainly had a cell phone and could have shot her a text that a stranger was going to crash her quiet night alone.

Not that Killian crashed in any sense beyond sleep. They were seemingly both out before even the first song had finished playing through her speakers and he was still eyes-closed and breathing steady now that Emma was crawling over the seat and out the door, dead set on properly raging about the ridiculousness of this decision in addition to the lack of communication that shouldn’t exist among people who literally write words for a fucking living.

Seriously. How hard is it to send a text? Don’t wanna do your dirty work yourself, you can just tell Siri to piss of your bandmate on your behalf.

A little warning might have been nice. But she got none. So they weren’t getting any either.

“Rise and shine, motherfuckers!” Emma squawked as she flung open the door to David and Mary Margaret’s bedroom (they knew she had a copy of it, so really they should have thought twice before giving her no warning that she was going to have to deal with some weird ass alternate universe, very fuckable Captain Hook every single day for the foreseeable future. And pay him.

“Emma!” Mary Margaret gasped, yanking the comforter over what was probably her bare chest, but Emma didn’t bother to even glance at her. Accomplice in lack-of-communication, probably… but David was her object of fury.

Speaking of… “What the hell are you doing?!” he shouted, more confused than angry at her intrusion.

“I have a leather-jacket-wearing bone to pick with you, sir.”

“Aw, shit. You met Liam’s brother then?”

“Met him, slept with him, you know, the basic first steps in an employer-employee relationship.”

“Emma! You had sex with Killian?!” Mary Margaret sounded positively scandalized, which made sense for her own personality in addition to the fact that Emma hadn’t slept with anyone in … well it would probably be measured in years and not months, so. It would have been a shock if it were true.

“No, mom, but he slept in the van with me, which is my happy place. Not a place for strays.”

David stood up from the bed, raking his fingers through his hair in what looked like frustration or perhaps the pain of a hangover headache (good).

“We’re all strays, Emma. Can’t you be a little more accepting?”

“Can’t you be a little more with the warning?! You’re lucking I didn’t punch him when he approached me in a dark fucking alley, David.” Which was true. After much of the shit she suffered in her younger years, she didn’t take a chance or give anyone the benefit of the doubt if they seemed to have ill intentions.

He paused, daring blankly at her before taking a swig of the water next to their little bed. Light was just barely filtering through their curtains, so it was still early. No rush to hit the road quite yet, still time to get breakfast and drink their weights in coffee.

Usually the mornings were more pleasant than this.

Usually it was just the five of them in a diner, and usually she was listening to their post-gig stories, not sharing much of her own.

“Where did you leave him, then? Or did you already fire him?”

“Now, David, how could I fire someone I never even hired?! You remember we voted that we didn’t have the money to add staff.”

At that, Mary Margaret perked up, her back straightening as her mascara-smudged face scrunched in guilt. “That one is actually on me. We were on FaceTime with Killian and he’s just so… he’s in a bad place, Emma, and he needs money and people and we couldn’t just let him… “

“Go to the pound with the other strays? Fine. I get it. He doesn’t seem like the worst person in the world. But, like, give a girl a heads-up? And to answer your question, David, I left him soundly asleep in the van. I’m not a goddamn monster.”

Emma stormed out with no real destination in mind, just a deep craving for coffee and a bear claw and space from any other living human who might attempt to converse with her when she needed a minute to wallow in her semi-justified rage.

-

Of all the people to find her, of fucking course it was Killian.

Known him 12 hours or less and he was already the biggest pain in her ass.

“Swan, fancy seeing you here!” His voice was bright despite the wrinkles in this clothes and the hair that was no longer ‘artfully mussed,’ but more… hurricane-ravaged.

“Why are you so chipper?” is all she croaked back in response.

“Well I’ve already had an unpleasant encounter with Brother Dave and figured I would try to make this one a little less fraught with tension and don’t get any ideas about Emma you wanker.” Killian plopped down across from her, already clutching a coffee from somewhere that definitely was not the diner she’d wandered into and been sulking at for at least 2 hours.

“Why would he yell at you? And why are you calling him brother? And… just why?”

“Apologies, Swan, I assumed you’d had enough coffee and sugar to cope with me by now. I was warned of that. You see, apparently I was supposed to just go ‘sleep on a bench in a park’ or something to that effect and then not introduce myself to you or the rest of the crew until morning. Silly me. So David, who appears to think of himself as your father but who was best friends with my brother, proceeded to lecture me about how I’m not allowed to get in your pants. As if you didn’t have a say in the matter. Don’t worry, darling, I clarified that you will without a doubt never care for me beyond tolerance and he seemed to unbunch his knickers.”

“You know, Jones, if I’m not your love I’m probably not your darling, either.”

“Goodness sakes, woman, can you perhaps glean the important information from my babbling and not focus the filler?”

“Fine. Fuck your filler. We’re probably late for leaving by now, though,” Emma said, glancing at the clock on the wall and then at her message-filled phone. She rose from the table slowly, downing the rest of her lukewarm coffee and shoving a doughnut toward Killian in the process. “Shall we?”

He did some type of bow/curtsey nonsenense and flourished his arm toward the door as if to say ladies first and Emma stomped right past him, already 110% fed up with his weird country boy/Jane Austen hero attempt at chivalry when she knew he was no gentleman and she was no goddamn lady.

-

It appeared that the new guy had already met the rest of the team, Ruby fist bumping him and Graham giving him a hungover nod to acknowledge his return. David and Mary Margaret were blessedly silent about any of the morning’s arguments and simply hopped in the driver and passenger seats so they could meander over to the next tiny ass New York town full of Their People.

Some days were harder than others when it came to the places they played. None of them were the hellish ‘hometown’ she’d steadfastly refused to ever revisit, but each seemed to capture some kind of echo of her past. It was really a shame that scent was so tied to memory, because dive bars were smelly places. The right combination of Marlboro Menthol Lights, Miller, and whatever was in that black bottle from Avon and suddenly Emma was back at the Buckhorn, drinking to forget the hurt she hadn’t quite sustained yet, but was inevitably coming.

She always got past it. Rage was good like that, strong enough to overcome the heartbreak of individual memories. Whiskey helped, too.

Graham and Ruby were sprawled on either side of the middle row in the shabby van, both passed out (clearly they hadn’t done enough sleeping wherever it is either of them had gone the night before). David and Mary Margaret, meanwhile, were quietly singing to each other from the front, songs too cheesy for the other three bandmates to ever agree to allow to be performed on stage.

So that left her and Killian, the only two life forms currently active in actual reality.

“So what’s your story, Jones?

He rolled his head on his shoulders, sliding his line of sight from the video to meet her (probably too-harsh) stare. “What makes you think I have a story?”

“You’re on the road with a country band. In my experience you don’t get to that point without some stuff preceding it. Come on, Jones. Someone stole your truck, shot your dog, or screwed your wife. Which one?”

“Where are your manners, young lady, you definitely take a bloke to dinner before you ask for his Tragic Backstory. That’s got to be written somewhere. For shame!” he whisper-shouted, quite overdramatically.

Maybe he’d gotten his heart broken at drama camp.

“What else am I supposed to ask you? I don’t have much information to go on here.”

“Why don’t you start with, ‘Killian, it’s so nice to meet you. How about you tell me a little about yourself?’”

Her answering eye roll reminded her she hadn’t properly removed her makeup from the night before, not having taken her usual five minutes in the lovers’ hotel room bathroom to allow for proper skin care. Fuck, her pores were going to be pissed.

“I’m not quite that polite, but fine. We’ll have it your way. Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?”

That “little about himself” went on for about an hour, covering everything from his love of football to how underrated asiago cheese was on casual dining menus. They disagreed on silly subjects like the best fast food and what to take on a deserted island. They pretty much only agreed that David and Mary Margaret were insufferable and that love was for losers.

(And yes, that was the closest she got to unlocking even one small detail about his Tragic Backstory.)

They talked all the way to the next hole-in-the-wall bar, which did, in fact, like it might have some holes in it in the light of day.

“Thank the fucking lord we’re finally here. Will you two shut up now?” Ruby moaned into the seat cushion, apparently not as knocked out as Emma had assumed from her unmoving silence the entire ride.

“’s not our fault you two oafs don’t use the nighttime for sleeping,” Killian snarked back at her.

Hmm. Maybe they’d gotten more acquainted than Emma had realized.

Add that to the pile of Killian Jones-related mysteries.

-

Graham had been so exhausted, he didn’t even awake when the van emptied out, still snoozing even as they hauled all their shit into the bar. Just to be a jerk, Emma even tossed a drum stick at him. But he just grumbled and turned, unfazed by her minor assault.

“Hope he lost sleep for the good reason, if you know what I mean,” Killian said, as he bumped his shoulder into hers. He was carrying a guitar case in his right hand and had his left forearm wrapped around one of the boxes carrying electrical equipment.

“Yes, in that tone, I’m pretty sure people up in Vermont know what you mean?”

“I’m not sure about that one. Have you been to Vermont? I don’t think I’ve ever met a fuckable person from that whole state.”

“Don’t say that around David. I’m 99% sure he’d fuck Bernie Sanders.”

The two of them laughed so hard they almost dropped their very expensive equipment, especially when David, as if on cue, turned back toward them: “what’s in Vermont? There’s this ski place I’ve wanted to go to…”

Their laughter turned to near howling as poor, out-of-the-loop David rambled on about Mt. Snow being a great place to take a date and how exactly that could be so funny that two people who’d met last night had already been reduced to giggling middle schoolers.

-

Mary Margaret and Killian quickly started setting up for their set, even though they had a few hours until people would actually show (she was a worrier, and it was technically his first day on the job). So that gave the other slackers some time to rest and eat greasy food and hopefully get properly buzzed before the show so Emma didn’t have a random panic attack at some dude wearing a blue plaid shirt with pink Vans like Neal used to, once upon a time.

Catching up on the night before was usually their breakfast routine, but having avoided that, Emma assumed she’d just end up not knowing how Graham and Ruby had spent their time. Thankfully, both were perfectly happy to provide a secondary replay of their evenings.

Well, Ruby was happy to. See, she hadn’t done anything scandalous the night before. No fucking strangers for her! Turns out, a friend of hers from college lived in that little town and she’d gone over to her place to catch up. Friends old and new were there and she mostly missed out on sleep for conversation and a few truly ridiculous board games (who played Chutes and Ladders when they were plastered?).

Graham, on the other hand, had not had as enjoyable an evening. He’d met a girl, a very pretty girl, and she’d asked him back to her place. He had enthusiastically agreed right up until he was pounding into her against her kitchen counter only to be interrupted by her boyfriend. Thankfully there was no macho how dare you touch my girlshowdown, but it did leave Graham with a bad case of blue balls and nowhere to sleep.

“Wait! Why didn’t you come to the van with me? I don’t bite,” Emma protested as Graham was describing wandering the roads with streetlights until it was appropriately light enough to be breakfast time.

“You don’t think that’s the first place I went? I peeked my head in the fan and saw his shaggy ass and thought you might actually have taken the leap and met someone. No chance in hell I was going to spook you if you finally found a guy you didn’t want to murder on first sight.”

She yelped out a very offended hey, but deep down, he wasn’t wrong. He and David were just the only two men to ever prove to her they were interested in her as a human being and not a punching bag or human fleshlight. She was thankful for finding them and realizing that the whole not all men has some merit, but not enough to take any chances on a guy.

“Well now that you know your assessment couldn’t have been further from the truth, I bet you’re feeling pretty silly for missing out on sleep.”

“No, I stand by my decision. But, yeah, tonight I’m crashing in the van with you two. Unless, I mean, if you ever want privacy with him…”

“YES!” Ruby squealed. “You two would make the cutest babies. You know, someday. With little leather jackets and horrendous attitudes. It would be legit adorable.”

From the corner of her eye she could see David’s face turning fuchsia and she was reminded of the speech he’d apparently given Killian that morning (as if she needed protecting). Not even close.

“Hah, very funny there, Rubes. You think he’s so good looking, you can go for it.”

“Oh, no you will not!” David shouted. “No casual sex within the band.”

(Hey, at least he was yelling at someone who wasn’t her.)

“But you and Mary Margaret!” she protested.

“Nothing casual about that. Marry Killian, fine. I’ll throw the bridal shower. But do not fuck him for fun. We need him and he doesn’t need another mess.”

Before Emma had a chance to ask David to elaborate on that clear Tragic Backstory Hint, Mary Margaret and Killian plopped down at the table, set-up apparently finished.

“So… what do we do now?” Killian asked, the blunt end of his left arm fiddling with the thick ring on his right thumb.

Mary Margaret, David, and Graham collectively responded, “Eat!”

Ruby and Emma were more of the let’s get drunk frame of mind and instead replied, “Shots!”

So the crew of six ordered shots for 12 and their first official day as a team had begun.

By the time they were being announced for the stage, Emma was red-faced and stumbling, Mary Margaret was giggling about the word “banana” and Killian had already told sixteen different dirty jokes, all met with a deeper scowl from Emma each time.

-

That night Graham’s drumming was just a tad out of sync and David forgot that he wasn’t actually supposed to sing the girl parts of their one duet-style song, but none of that mattered. The crowd was wild, totally tuned in and screaming their hearts out right along with them. Halfway through their set, just before Emma relinquished lead vocals to Mary Margaret for Sappy Hour, she clutched the microphone in her hand, swaying as she returned it to the stand at the edge of the stage, yelling, “I love everyone in this bar!”

This whole ‘having friends’ thing just got better and better every single day.

Especially when puking in the dumpster at 3am. You find out who your friends are, right about then, and only Ruby was mockingly taking SnapChat videos. Killian got her water and Graham held her hair and the last thing she remembered before she passed out was telling the other strays she was just so glad they all somehow found each other.

[rarebritney]

hi winnie! ive been wondering how to achieve a makeup look like what ladytron are wearing on the cover of their light & magic album i think its soo cool. could you help me out?

this is the one, no? I love it

I think to easily achieve this look you need two eyeliners- a good liquid one for a thin line across the top and a grease pencil for the inner waterline and under the bottom lashline! I'd recommend a pen like the stila one for the liquid, and the Jones Road best pencil in black for the grease pencil, but use whatever you have if you like it!! For the look on the left, line your waterline with the pencil and line the top with the liquid liner, doing a slightly down turned outer corner wing. Then soften the line with the pencil, smudging slightly with your finger or a small natural hair brush (my favorite for applying dark liner). Use the pencil to define your inner corner and under the lashline, then spangle the eyes with tons of black mascara. This will work best with a very sharp pencil! In the look on the left I detect a touch of reddish/plum eyeshadow that's not super visible bc their hooded lid, so maybe just dust some under the bottom lashline and blend well!! In the liner look on the right, do all of the above except for the waterline. For the eyeshadow on the right, I detect a slate blue/gray all over the lid with a soft black in the outer corner. Maybe a mink brown under the inner eyebrow with a definite matte white inner corner highlight. I love these thin, very defined brows, matte face with pink cheeks and slightly lined lips with a tiny bit of frosty pink gloss on the bottom lip only... So inspiring!!!

[lolabean1998]

This Better Work Part 5

Sweet Pea X OC

Summery; Hey guys, not sure how well this is going to go but I originally put it on Wattpad so its way long, but hopefully its not horrendous. Let me know what you think! So, it follows the story line kind of, it’s not exact but I have tried and it follows my OC Ali as she navigates through the hell that is Riverdale. Whilst struggling with financial, social and romantic difficulties, she has the added pressure of keeping up with school work and bonus of being thrown into the frightening world of the criminal underground.

Side Note; None of the gifs or pictures I use are mine, I’m not talented or smart enough to even begin an attempt at making my own. Thank you to those who have such abilities and if you don’t want me using them then please let me know so I can remove them for you. 

Word Count; 4,392 (Give or Take)

Ali woke earlier than usual the next morning, when her phone began frantically buzzing on the night stand. A message from an unknown number lighting up the screen that read; 'Rise and shine princess, gotta look your best when we win the race... and you!' Ali scowled at her phone in disgust.

"The fuck is going on here. Since when did I become someone's prize?!" She demanded to the empty room. 

"So much for my lie in! I'm awake now, may as well get up and ready." Ali complained climbing out of bed and making her way over to her closet to choose an outfit for the drag race. 

"Unbelievable, they have the audacity to label me as an object but don't have the courtesy to tell me who they are! Great now I'm thinking about it!" Ali muttered to herself.

"And talking to yourself like a crazy person." Izzy added casually from the doorway. Sending Ali cat leaping into her wardrobe.

"Dear god! IZZY WHAT THE FUCK?! You scared the crap out of me!" Ali cried climbing back out of her wardrobe placing the coat hanger she had grabbed as a weapon back on its rail making Izzy laugh.

"Were you going to attack me with a coat hanger?" Izzy howled, tears rolling down her cheeks as she buckled over laughing to the point where she was struggling to breath.

"I will Hang You like a Coat!" Ali claimed confidently, doing her best knight of the round table pose, holding her coat hanger high with pride making Izzy laugh even more. 

Ali chuckled at her sister turning back to pull out a pair of navy blue high waisted shorts with 6 brass buttons leading up the front in 2 parallel lines of three. Grabbing a sleeveless white shirt tying it just below the wire of her bra so her stomach was on show. Pairing it off with a red bandana and black suede heels that finished just above her ankles. Letting Izzy put her hair in two fishtail braids whilst she did her makeup. Adding a touch of mascara and putting on her favourite red lipstick to match the bandana wrapped neatly around her head. 

"Aliii." Izzy dragged out. She wanted something. Ali was sure of it. "Is there a REASON you're getting all dressed up for a turf war drag race? Say perhaps to impress a particular person." Izzy hinted finishing off the last braid.

"Eew gross why would I try to impress Reggie he's a creep." Ali cringed looking at her sister in disgusted confusion. Izzy was a little taken a back at Ali's reaction. She couldn't possibly be that oblivious.

"Eew what makes you think I'm talking about HIM?" Izzy questioned, now staring heavily at her sister in utter disbelief.

"Well he's the only possible candidate. It's obviously going to be a guy because as hot as Cheryl is. I don't do girls. Believe me I've tried. Jug and Arch are taken. Kev and Fangs are gay, obviously. The other Bulldogs are all too scared of me to bother. I don't know any other Serpents well enough to judge. Malachi and the Ghoulies are self-explanatory and Sweet Pea has the emotional range of a self-absorbed teaspoon with a temper. The only guy left is Reggie who hits on me relentlessly but is basically a walking STD so that’s a no." Ali listed off as they made their way down stairs and into the kitchen for family breakfast. 

"Mum Ali's being stupid again!" Izzy whined as they entered.

"You mean there was a point she stopped? Why didn't you call me Isabelle I would've grabbed my camera!" Rosie exclaimed. Her tone was serious, but her face was playful.

"I hate you both!" Ali scowled poking her tongue out playfully at the pair.

"When you made the deal, you didn't offer up any Serpent territory did you?" Ali questioned keeping her voice low so others wouldn't hear.

"The Wyrm and Sunnyside, I had no choice why?" He answered looking at Ali worriedly.

"Doesn't matter, just don't you dare lose. I'm not sharing the bar with a bunch of cannibalistic junkies with an attitude problem." Ali blew it off like it was nothing. She didn't want to put Jughead under any more stress. Jughead nodded moving back to continue his conversation with Archie. 

"Something tells me these were the wrong shoes to wear today!" Ali muttered making her way over to Toni and Fangs.

"Why's that princess?" The blonde-haired serpent that had grabbed Ali the night of the open house drawled. His gaze wandering all over Ali's body like she was a piece of meat.

"Because if I get blood on them when I turn you into a snake skin purse, It's going to take forever to get out." Ali spat, glaring coldly at the boy before her. 

"HEY! What did I tell you?! WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY!" Sweet Pea bellowed scowling menacingly at the Serpent. 

"Looks like I'm not the only one you pissed off." Ali sneered, chuckling when the boy shuffled uneasily on the spot avoiding looking at Ali all together. Ali's phone pinged with a new message that read; 'You did as you're told that’s a good girl. Time to finish what I started!' Ali's stomach churned when she realized who the messages were from. Malachi's second in command. 

"That weasel!" Ali hissed to herself spinning on her heels and strolling casually over to Malachi who was laughing and joking with one of his Muppets. 

"You lying rat! You sold me out! What the fuck Malachi?!" Ali hissed trying to hide the fear creeping up her throat.

"You really think I'd actually protect you? You're dumber than you look, good job you're cute otherwise we'd have messed up that pretty face of yours a long time ago." Malachi sneered turning to face Ali. A terrifying, bone shaking grin plastered on his pale face. "And this time, I'm coming to play too." 

"Over my dead body!" Ali spat stepping backwards and moving back to the safety of her friends. Unaware of the pair of eyes that had been glued to her since she arrived.

"Dude if you stare any harder your eyes will explode!" Toni muttered to Sweet Pea.

"What was she talking to HIM about and why does she look like she's about to throw up or pass out!" Sweet Pea quizzed just as Tall Boy strolled over calling for the race to start.

"If it bothers you That much, ask her." Toni instructed making her way over to start the race. Sweet Pea shook his head at his friends instructions. There's no way she'd talk to me. He thought turning to Fangs.

"Whatever it is I'm not doing it. You and Ali use me for your dirty work all the time. I'm putting my foot Down." Fangs insisted putting his hand up to silence Sweet Pea before he said anything.

"You get replaced Cha Cha?" Ali teased catching up with Toni as Cheryl took her place to start the race.

"She's a preppy snob but DAMN she's hot!" Toni replied cheering as the race began. The blood thirsty roars of engines that filled the air disappearing rapidly as the cars charged down the road.

"I know. If Only she liked girls too." Ali sighed sarcastically, winking at Toni as they walked over to where the other Serpents were gathering again. The girls stopped by Sweet Pea leaning either side of him for a moment before Ali decided she wanted to sit on the bonnet of the truck. 

"Watch yourself Fangs I'm swinging up." Ali warned giving Fangs enough time to move out the way before jumping up effortlessly and settling comfortably on the hood of the truck. Unaware that Sweet Pea had used this as an opportunity to swipe her phone from her pocket and start going through it. Guessing her password in one try. Izzy's birthday, how predictable. Sweet Pea thought as he began reading the messages from the unknown number.

"For Fuck Sakes Jones." Sweet Pea growled under his breath, but he wasn't quiet enough. He had attracted the attention of Ali who was now leaning forwards. Intrigued by what Jughead had done this time to rattle the tall Serpent.

"What's up Buttercup?" Ali chirped resting her head on Sweet Pea's shoulder, biting her lip when a waft of his cologne filled her nostrils. This is stupid since when did we notice things like peoples smell? Come on Ali pull yourself together! She thought frowning at herself. Turning her attention back to the familiar phone in front of her. Pausing a moment before realizing that it was her own phone she was looking at. 

"Um, Sweet Pea. Why do you have my phone? And why are you reading through my messages?" She questioned tilting her head to the side and frowning a little.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Sweet Pea growled turning to face Ali his face laced with concern and fury.

"I don't know what you're talking about Petal." Ali replied doing her best to sound as sincere as possible.

"Don't play games Ali. Why didn't you tell Jones about the messages?" Sweet Pea growled again his hands holding Ali's knees possessively as his gaze poured into Ali's eyes. Worry and rage turning his eyes a deadly shade of black that Ali was all too familiar with.

"It wouldn't have made a difference. I'm not a Serpent so it's not his concern." Ali shrugged looking warmly into his eye's. Her gaze alone was enough to both calm him down and scare the hell out of him at the same time. He couldn't let something so pure get destroyed by something as cruel and evil as the Ghoulies. 

"You know that's not true. Jones wouldn't have gone through with the race if he knew what was at stake. And what do they mean by that last message? Finish what they started?" Sweet Pea interrogated but they were interrupted before Ali got the chance to answer when a voice shouted from the crowd. Immediately sending the crowd scattering in a mad panic. Ali bolted to her bike throwing on her helmet and leaping onto her trusted Harley.

"Ali, My Trailer!" Fangs commanded flying past her at speed in the passenger seat of Toni's truck. Shortly followed by several Serpents on Bikes. Ali didn't waste any time kicking off and catching up with the group. Turning off to take a different route to Fangs' trailer. 

"Balls! This can't be good." Ali muttered spotting two ghoulies in her mirrors. She knew she couldn't bring them back to the trailer. That would just be utter mayhem. Fuck it! Quarry we go! Ali decided making a sharp U-turn doubling back on herself and tanking it towards the quarry, not noticing the Serpent trailing the ghoulies. 

Ali swiftly hid her bike behind a large tree trunk before two nasty looking Ghoulie cars pulled up blocking her escape. 

"Oh, Bugger and Balls there is a lot more than two of you! Come on lads this is hardly fair. There's like ten of you and these are my favourite heels. I'm hardly dressed for the occasion!" Ali whined, trying to bargain her way out of the inevitable fight that was about unfold. 

"Nice try Princess, we've got orders." A tall blonde snarled stepping menacingly towards Ali.

"Look. The boss is most definitely in a jail cell by now and won't be out for months. So why not just leave it for a bit. At least wait until I'm wearing my scruffs. I really don't want to get blood on my clothes." Ali bargained, a pleading smile resting on her gentle features.

"Why delay the inevitable?" The Ghoulie sneered, smiling wickedly as the boys behind him fell into step.

"Think about it logically. You have your orders yes? But Malachi is going to be far more pissed when he finally gets out, realizing that his opportunity to finish what his goon started, has been taken away because you bunch of myrmidons didn't think ahead. Think how pleased he'll be to be welcomed back with a perfect revenge plan. He's obviously already working on and a bonus prize." Ali continued, slowly trying to persuade the blood thirsty group to change their plans. 

"If you let me go today, I'll continue with my daily routine. Falling straight back into my happy bubble. The bubble dearest darling Malachi so desperately wants to pop, himself." Ali's manipulation technique slowly taking effect.

"She's got a point. As much as it pains me to say it. I agree with the Northsider. Why get her now when you can preserve her in her perfect preppy little Northsider form ready for when the boss gets out. I mean that's what I would do if it were me!" A voice agreed from behind the Ghoulies making everyone jump and turn. Revealing an overly laid-back Sweet Pea leaning against a beaten-up old truck. Clearly stolen by the ghoulies when they ditched their own cars.

"See, I can't believe I'm about to say this but even the snake has a brain and moderate sense of self preservation. All though that could use some improvement." Ali nodded pointing to the smug Serpent in agreement. 

"Please don't tell anyone I said the snake has a brain. It would be so humiliating." She added giving Sweet Pea a cheeky wink, edging towards him slyly. 

"I mean, we all know Serpents are probably one of the top ten dumbest creatures on Earth so to name your gang after them is just shameful really." Ali waffled as she slowly began backing up to Sweet Pea. Watching from the corner of her eye as he prepared himself to make a run to his bike.

"It could be worse I suppose." She paused hoping the blonde-haired boy would take the bait. He did.

"Oh? And how's that Princess?" The boy questioned mockingly.

"They could have called themselves Ghoulies!" She quipped quickly before turning tail and leaping onto the back of Sweet Peas bike. Heaving a sigh of relief as they made a break for it charging straight to Fangs place for back up.

"GOD DAMN IT ALI WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Sweet Pea roared the moment they arrived at Fangs' trailer. Scaring the hell out of everyone within a 10-mile radius. Sending Ali flying off the end of the bike. 

"YOU CAN'T KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT FOR 1 MINUTE CAN YOU? IF I HADN'T SHOWN UP WHEN I DID, THEY WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU!" Sweet Pea now fuming. His face red with rage and frustration.

"You can shut up! You helped! You AGREED!" Ali retorted scowling at the enraged giant.

"I HELPED YOU TALK YOUR WAY OUT OF IT. I DID NOT HOWEVER, AGREE TO YOU MAKING IT FUCKING WORSE! THAT COMMENT AT THE END ABOUT CALLING THEMSELVES GHOULIES!" Sweet Pea thundered making Ali chuckle. She was proud of that last comment. Which of course only made Sweet Pea even more furious.

"Oh, nip it bean pole. I didn't ask for your help. There's no law saying you have to help me or even be nice to me. So, save yourself the struggle and give it up. Pretending to care is clearly too difficult and painful for you. So stop. No ones buying the act anyway." Ali snapped. 

"I've told you before. I don't need a knight in shining armour and if I did it most definitely would Not. Be. You." Ali spat. How dare he assume she needed saving. 

Fangs and the rest of the troops stood speechless at these words, staring at his best friend. Sweet Pea held his furious glare on Ali, remaining to the outside world the same angry, hot headed, giant he had always appeared to be. But Fangs could see what was happening inside. The shatter of his friends heart. It was like Ali was the Bull and Sweet Pea was the china shop. Whilst the appearance was as stable and solid as always, the inside was a mess of broken shards and splinters. 

"FINE, DON'T COME RUNNING TO ME WHEN YOU GET YOUR ASS HANDED TO YOU!" Sweet Pea barked, glaring down at Ali.

"NEVER HAVE, NEVER WILL." Ali thundered, her voice deep with rage. Her face crumpled into a stone cold, stubborn rage. Suddenly flicking back to her usual happy smile. All signs of rage and aggression gone like the flick of a switch. Blowing away her anger like blowing dust off an old book. 

"After all, where I come from. They don't send boys to do a Woman's job." She smiled brushing past him gently, walking back towards the road. 

"Ali, where are you going?" Fangs called worriedly, it was too soon for her to be wandering around on her own. Especially after her encounter with the Ghoulies.

"Home, I have bread to make!" Ali called before setting off at a jog, disappearing behind a trailer. Fangs leapt forwards to catch up with her, but Sweet Pea stuck his hand out stopping him.

"Leave her. She made her bed, let her sleep in it." He growled coldly, all signs of hope and light that had been slowly growing in his eyes after meeting Ali had gone. Leaving his eyes colder and darker than before. This terrified Fangs. This was not good.

Ali set off at a jog that rapidly turned into a rage fuelled sprint. Her eyes welling up as her legs carried her down the winding roads leading home. The muscles in her legs burnt with a monstrous fire and her lungs felt as though they were about to burst. By the time she arrived home she was dripping head to toe in sweat. Her favourite heels now in desperate need of TLC and her entire body felt as though it was being flooded with Molten Lava. Rosie and Izzy had gone out for the day, running errands and finishing off paperwork so Ali had the house to herself. She quickly threw off her shoes and clothes, jumping in the shower to cool off before throwing on a sports bra and yoga shorts. She made her way into the kitchen throwing her hair up in a lazy plait so she could start making bread without it getting in the way. 

Fangs froze, he knew he needed to be there to comfort his friend. But Ali needed a friend too. He also knew that she was too stubborn to admit it. Jones will know what to do. He thought pulling out his phone and texting a quick message that read; 'Ali nearly got jumped by ghoulies - send BFF'. Turning to look at Sweet Pea once the message had sent. He looked angry and broken. 

"Beer?" Fangs offered in an attempt to raise his spirits. But he was in the mood for something much stronger. Sweet Pea grunted in response swinging back onto his bike and speeding towards the Wyrm. 

"This can't be good." Fangs muttered following in quick pursuit after him on his own bike.

"He's been here an hour and almost drunk us dry. Played practically everyone here and hit on like 3 girls. What the hell happened?" Toni demanded watching as Sweet Pea began making a move on a tall brunette who looked as though she had forgotten to get dressed this morning. 

"Ali snapped and basically told him to fuck off. Said he'd never be her knight in shining armour and that he didn't care about her." Fangs reported watching as his broken friend disappeared out the door followed by the overly flirty brunette. 

"It isn't good Toni, his eyes turned to stone. Its like staring into the abyss." 

"You stare into his eyes a lot then do you Fangs?" Toni asked tilting her head to the side and smirking.

"Shut up Topaz." Fangs scoffed grabbing his beer and making his way to the pool table leaving Toni working behind the bar.

Ali was half way through pummelling her second ball of bread dough, tears threatening to spring from her eyes and turn into a small-scale version on Niagara Falls, when she heard the familiar singing call of her best friend. 

"Honey I'm Home!" Cheryl sang bursting through the door carrying 2 large bottles of wine and a stack of chipped white plates. 

"Thought you could use one these and all of these!" Cheryl smiled pouring Ali a large glass of red wine and dumping the pile of plates on the stand by the back door. 

"I also brought my bow and arrow." She added pouring herself a glass and rolling her sleeves up.

"How in the hell did you know?" Ali asked, a mixture of humour and seriousness in her voice. 

"Hobo and Nancy Drew told me. Come on, lets smash some plates and you can tell me what happened." She smiled dragging Ali away from her station and shoving a very large glass of wine into her hands. 

"He was so condescending and sexist. Do I look like someone who needs to be protected? Like some freaking glass flower that needs to be guarded at all times? How DARE he treat me like a damsel in distress. He acted like I'd break a leg if I was to walk on my own! Misogynistic. Sexist. Condescending. Pig Headed. Serpent Boy Scout!" Ali ranted her voice getting louder with each word until she was practically screaming. Cheryl had never seen one person rattle her so much, except Nick St. Clair of course. Plates smashing left right and centre as Ali vented all her aggression and pent up rage.

"Should've brought more plates!" Cheryl observed as the large pile of china shattered in the space of ten minutes. 

Ali spent the next couple of weeks filling her time with work, cheerleading practice and tutoring. Leaving no time for outside socializing. Her weekends were spent in the garage picking up as many jobs as she could. Izzy would've felt left out if Ali hadn't spent every Sunday teaching her everything she knew.

"Hey Ali, I need to talk to you. It's about Penny Peabody." Uncle Gary called, his voice shaken with worry and shame. His gaze fixed on the ground in front of him as he fiddled with the beanie in his hands.

"The lawyer? What about her?" Ali inquired rolling out from under a black SUV, peering up at her Uncle in concern.

"She pulled us out of a jam a few months back. They said not to go to her, but she was the only one I could trust since not everything is by the book. And now she's calling in on her favour." He admitted sheepishly, shame wearing heavy on his face.

"Oh god! She's already got Juggie under her thumb. It was only yesterday that I had to go and rescue the boys from a flat tire at some unsightly time in the morning." Ali grumbled, but she could see how much it pained her uncle to come to her for help. 

"What am I getting up to tonight then?" She asked brightly.

"I'm sorry to ask this of you Ali but I don't know where else to turn." Uncle Gary began with a heavy sigh. "I need you to break into Penny's office and wipe the computer clean. She has a video of me doing something outside the law-" 

"Dropping off drugs." Ali interrupted casually. 

"Sorry, carry on." Ali added apologetically when her uncle heaved an annoyed sigh at her.

"As I was saying, I need you to get rid of the footage." Gary finished. 

"Sounds like fun. There's a computer virus I've been wanting to try out that is perfect for the job. Simple in and out job, in the lair of a Snake Charming drug pusher. What could go wrong?" Ali replied positively. 

"I'll head over tonight after dark. So much for staying away from sin huh" Ali joked sliding back under the SUV to continue her work.

That night Ali threw on her old all black outfit of, skinny jeans, skin tight hooded jacket, hat, leather gloves, combat boots and a bandana to cover her face. It was scary how prepared she was for breaking and entering. Fastening her thigh knife holsters and grabbing the infected USB stick before creeping down stairs. Only to find Izzy and Rosie stood at the foot of the stairs each holding a pair of throwing knives out for her. 

"Don't. Even. Bother." Rosie said firmly. She was clearly very annoyed with how her brother in law was using his niece like this. But it wasn't the first time Ali had stepped outside the realms of the law.

"Better to be prepared Ali-Cat." Izzy reminded her as Ali slide the knives into their slots in the holster. Smiling when her mum handed her a small pale blue lock picking set. 

"We also think it would be best if you don't break the doors." Izzy added when Ali accepted the set placing it in the breast pocket of her leather jacket.

"I'll be fine mum. I promise. Peabody's out on a drug run so there’s no way she'll catch me." Ali reassured before disappearing out the door into the deadly silence of the night.

"It's not her I'm worried about, it's the Black Hood. Your Uncle would ask this of her tonight of all nights, wouldn't he?" Rosie muttered worriedly, watching as the tail lights of Ali's trusty Harley disappeared into the thick black ocean of uncertainty.

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

since u did others, can you do 1989 for your ocs?

Welcome To New York:

Daphne Dwyer - It’s a new soundtrack I could dance to this beat // The lights are so bright but they never blind me & When we first dropped our bags on apartment floors // Took our broken hearts, put them in a drawer // Everybody here was someone else before // And you can want who you want // Boys and boys and girls and girls

Blank Space: 

Arianne Martin - So it's gonna be forever // Or it's gonna go down in flames // You can tell me when it's over // If the high was worth the pain

Style:

Anastasia Andrews x Jughead Jones - You’ve got that long hair slick back, white t-shirt/And I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt

Amethyst Andrews x Sweet Pea - You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye/And I got that red lip, classic thing that you like/And when we go crashing down, we come back every time

Out Of The Woods:

Selena McCall x Derek Hale - But when the sun came up I was looking at you & But the monsters turned out to be just trees // When the sun came up you were looking at me

Teagan O’Neal x Nico Wayne - Remember when we couldn’t take the heat // I walked out, I said, I’m setting you free // But the monsters turned out to be just trees // When the sun came up you were looking at me

Isla George x Dean Winchester - Remember when you hit the brakes too soon // Twenty stitches in a hospital room // When you started crying baby, I did too // But when the sun came up I was looking at you

All You Had To Do Was Stay:

Fallon Parris Jones x Sweet Pea - People like you always want back the love they gave away // And people like me wanna believe you when you say you’ve changed & Stay, hey, all you had to do was stay // Had me in the palm of your hand // Then, why’d you had to go and lock me out when I let you in & People like you always want back the love they pushed aside // But people like me are gone forever when you say goodbye

Shake It Off:

Fallon Parris Jones - I go on to many dates // But I can't make them stay // At least that's what people say

I Wish You Would:

Carmen Rivera x Jackson Whittemore - I wish we could go back // And remember what we were fighting for // Wish you knew that // I miss you too much to be mad anymore

Bad Blood:

Luna Hale & Allison Argent - Band-Aids don't fix bullet holes // You say sorry just for show // You live like that, you live with ghosts

Wildest Dreams:

Ariel Blossom x Malachai - He’s so tall, and handsome as hell/He’s so bad but he does it so well/I can see the end as it begins, my one condition is/Say you’ll remember me/Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset babe

How You Get The Girl:

Amethyst Andrews x Sweet Pea - And then you say // I want you for worse or for better // I would wait for ever and ever // Broke your heart, I'll put it back together // I would wait for ever and ever

This Love:

Ryann Hernández-Viamonte x Toni Topaz, Victoria Blofis x Jason Grace, Annika Webster x Barry Allen - This love is good, this love is bad // This love is alive back from the dead // These hands had to let it go free // And this love came back to me

I Know Places:

Mia Pierce x Pietro Maximoff - I know places we can hide, I know places // They are the hunters, we are the foxes // And we run // Just grab my hand and don’t ever drop it // My love

Clean:

Arianne Martin x Brett Talbot - Ten months sober, I must admit // Just because you’re clean don’t mean you don’t miss it // Ten months older I won’t give in // Now that I’m clean I’m never gonna risk it & Rain came pouring down when I was drowning // That’s when I could finally breathe // And by morning, gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean & You’re still all over me like a wine-stained dress I can’t wear anymore // Hung my head, as I lost the war, and the sky turned black like a perfect storm

Wonderland:

Anastasia Andrews x Jughead Jones - Didn't they tell us don't rush into things // Didn't you flash your green eyes at me // Haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds

You Are In Love:

Nikki Rogers x Peter Parker - You two are dancing in a snow globe, go round and round // And he keeps the picture of you in his office downtown // You understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars // And why I've spent my whole life try to put it into words

Luna Hale x Scott McCall - You keep his shirt // He keeps his word // And for once you let go // Of your fears and your ghosts

New Romantics:

Arianne Martin - We're so young // But we're on the road to ruin // We play dumb // But we know exactly what we're doing // We cry tears // Of mascara in the bathroom // Honey, life is just a classroom & Cause, baby, I could build a castle // Out of all the bricks they threw at me // And every day is like a battle // But every night with us is like a dream

Amara Caro & Percy Flowers - Baby, we’re the new romantics/Come on, come along with me/Heart break is the national anthem/We sing it proudly/We are too busy dancing/To get knocked off our feet/Baby, we’re the new romantics/The best people in life are free

Send me a song and I’ll tell you which OC(s) it fits best

[ao3feed--bughead]

by luhv

On his way back home on the Southside of Riverdale, he notices a shattered girl on the side of the road, her face marked with mascara tear stains and her palm bleeding from crescent shaped cuts. Feeling helplessly sorry for her, he decides to help her, not knowing that he was her last hope, not only from helping her off the side of the street, but her last hope at survival and love.

Words: 1854, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Riverdale (TV 2017)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones, Archie Andrews, Veronica Lodge, Cheryl Blossom, Kevin Keller, Josie McCoy, Reggie Mantle, Toni Topaz, Joaquin DeSantos, Fangs Fogarty, Sweet Pea (Riverdale)

Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones

[det-loki]

poison & wine part two

 “I don’t have a choice, but I’d still choose you.”

warnings: angst, cursing, slight smut, talk of death/kidnapping

pairing: detective loki x fem reader

word count: 3,213

A/N: feedback is welcomed, enjoy!

1  ⌽   3  4  5  6

  You and Loki arrived at the aunt’s house later that night. You followed Loki through the hall as he spoke to Holly Jones about Alex. You observed her simple home trying to find any lead as she watched Loki look through Alex’s room, taking interest in a toy RV. Walking into her home was like walking into a time capsule, everything seemed old and outdated. So far, you had nothing, not a single thing.

Opening the passenger car door of the old Crown Vic, you huffed as you sat down in the seat, hand coming up to your face trying to wipe away the exhaustion. Beside you, Loki sat still, watching you as your mind run rampant. He wished more than anything that he could take away your grievances. He hated what this town did to you, what this case was doing to you. You deserved better than this. Better than this town and better than him. 

“Let’s go home, get some rest, visit the parents in the morning. We can’t solve a case when both of us can barely stand, let alone think. I have a feeling this case is going to be tough.” You didn’t have the energy to respond, only nodding as Loki put the car in reverse and changing gears into drive, pulling onto the road towards your shared home. His hand found yours, intertwining on top of your thigh, his thumb brushing across the back of your hand. You wished this was easy, going to work and being able to leave it at the door. Your life with Loki was complicated, some days you were madly in love, others you were just coworkers. You hoped tonight you were in love, you didn’t think you could keep your head above the rising water of emotions if you weren’t.

The warm water cascaded over your back, unthawing your chilled bones as you heard the shower curtain open. Loki’s calloused hand finding its place on your hip, pulling you against his chest. His head dropped to the crook of your neck, lips moving along your shoulder as his fingers wandered from your hip to the space between your legs, murmuring in your ear, “Hey baby.” The soft circles he made sent pleasure through your body, softly whimpering as you leaned further back into his embrace and melted. You needed this. Needed the feeling of comfort and pleasure even if it was just 5 minutes out of the 24 hours in a day. Loki was more than happy to give it to you without the expectation of receiving it. He knew you needed this, needed to feel the overwhelming feeling of his hands, his scent, him. Tonight you were in love, managing to keep each other from crumbling apart and running down the drain. 

Neither you nor David slept well that night. Beside you, David tossed and turned and you couldn’t get your brain to turn off. Two little girls were out there missing and you were trying to sleep in a warm bed next to someone you loved. It wasn’t fair. You counted the days it had been since it happened. You lost count after 2,500, the years and days blurring together. 

Morning came faster than you liked. The clock read 6:14 A.M., mocking you. You could hear the shower running, you were sure David had been awake much longer than you, he rarely slept through the night. You knew he didn’t need to shower, thoughts of the previous night floated through your head. He was only doing it to wake up and mentally prepare himself for the day. You swung your legs over the edge of the bed, standing and making your way to the kitchen. You needed coffee. 

Sitting on the couch in the living room with your mug in hand, fingers gripping the handle much harder than you needed, knuckles flexing white. You watched the news display information about the case of the two missing girls with bleary eyes. You had written the media release last night which was now being played all across the state. David emerged from your shared bedroom, kissing the top of your head as he walked past you. He had on fresh clothes, his blue button-up fastened up to his neck like normal, his dark circles more pronounced, eyes already tired. You, on the other hand, opted for something more comfortable, not having the capacity to care about your appearance as much as you normally would, a basic sweater and slacks, face void of any makeup, only leftover mascara the shower didn’t wash away. This case had your full attention. 

"This morning we'll go by the parents. I can do the talking. You can stay in the car if you need to." David looked at you softly as he sat next to you on the sofa, bringing your sock clad feet to his lap, fingers working the tender muscle. Cases with children were always the worst, tension findings its way into every muscle in your body. Especially with your background. David didn't want to see you spiral, he would do anything to save you even if it meant jeopardizing himself in the process. He had done it before and he would do it again. You were his person, the only one in his life that knew enough to be considered more than acquaintances. You knew his coffee order by heart, how he hated nutmeg, refused to wear gloves even when the weather permitted them. It gave him the excuse to shove his ice-cold hand against your neck just to hear you laugh. You also knew the deep dark depths of what made him who he was. The boys home, the priests, the lack of familial support, the illegal activities he used to take part in. You were literally and figuratively his everything. It was always you and Loki against everything. 

"No, I'm fine. I'll be okay, Loke." Loke. The nickname you gave him at the delicate age of 14 when you met him. It wasn't special by any means, anyone could have come up with it themselves, but when it came out of your mouth, it meant everything to David. 

"Okay, but if you need a break, you have to tell me, baby." Your heart physically aches at Loki's words. He would save you from any cliff even if he was tumbling over with you. 

You look up from your mug at him with a soft smile on your face that didn't quite reach your eyes, "Same goes for you."

Loki pulled up to the Birch's home as you take a deep breath, attempting to calm yourself. Your stomach was clenching in pain, a knot in your throat, choking you. At least it wasn’t raining today.

"Y/N, you can stay in the car if you need to." David was worried about you. He knew you like the back of his hand. Hell, you were literally tattooed on the back of his hand. Your zodiac symbol etching itself on his ring finger knuckle so many years ago, his version of committing himself to you. A month after the funeral.

 "I'm fine, David." He nodded, wanting to believe you as you both exited the car, walking towards the Birch family's front door. Each step taking entirely too much energy. 

After three quick knocks, Franklin Birch pulled open the door, his bloodshot eyes meeting David's then yours. David knew that feeling. Helplessness.

You walked into the home after David. Walking around the corner of the entryway you were met with a sight that tore your heart in two. Nancy Birch sat at the dinner table surrounded by half-eaten Thanksgiving food from the night before, numb. You knew that feeling. Although your little girl didn't go missing. She didn't even have a chance at a decent childhood, let alone a decent life. That was torn away too soon. 

You quietly excused yourself, darting out the door and towards the car, avoiding Loki's concerned gaze. Your hands trembled, you were never able to get rid of the feeling of her body in your arms on that fateful day. You hated the universe, angry at the world for what it had done to you, what it had done to David. You shouldn’t have even gotten out of bed this morning. 

Minutes later, Loki returns to the car with pictures of Joy Birch in hand. "Hey, you okay? You practically ran out of there."

"I just-, I fucking hate cases with kids. I know it's not that case, but that doesn't make it any easier."

It’s not that case. It’s not that case. It’s not that case.

"I know." That's all he could say. He knew. He knew what you were feeling, all too well, the indescribable pain nipping at your heels, slowly making its way up your body and consuming you whole. It was only day two.  

The next stop was Dover's. To say you were dreading it was an understatement. Loki put the car in park and turned to face you, his brows furrowed in concern, regret swimming in his eyes. 

“You ready?” You knew Loki was giving you a way out, he was more than okay with going in alone. 

“Yes, I’m ready.” No, you weren’t. You were going anyway. You had to in order to restore some sort of justice for your little girl.

It’s not that case.

You sat next to Loki, who was next to Grace Dover on the sofa with a blanket sprawling across her lap. You were sure it belonged to Anna judging by the color and the pattern. That poor woman.

“So, did we pass?” It was clear to you from Grace’s voice and the dark circles under her eyes that she hadn’t slept at all. 

You gently nudged Loki, who had been on his phone answering emails, “I’m sorry, what did you say?

Grace croaked, “The poly thing. The lie detector we took this morning, did we pass?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Sorry.” Loki responded before looking back down at his phone and sliding it into his coat pocket, “Yes, we appreciate your cooperation.”

Grace speaks again, “It’s embarrassing, all this-all this fuss. Everyone’s gonna think we’re crazy when those two come out of hiding, wherever they are.”

“Do you have some reason to believe they ran away?” Loki asks. In a perfect world, these girls wouldn’t even be missing, but in an ideal world, they did just run away. The sting in your gut said otherwise.

“No. They’re happy. They must have run away. I think they must have run away. Right?” She wasn’t trying to convince you or Loki, she was trying to convince herself.

Loki tries to show a comforting smile but the words won’t come out, he can only nod. 

Grace changes the subject, trying to smile although the only thing it reached was her mouth, “Um, your police captain told me that you two have solved every case that you’ve ever been assigned. Is that right?” There was never a time Captain O’Malley didn’t brag about the two of you. You just wished he didn’t do it now, not with this case. It gave too much hope to the parents. Too much pressure that you were sure you or Loki would eventually collapse from. Again, neither you nor Loki could find the words. 

Grace begins to get emotional again, hand clutching her mouth, you couldn’t blame her. However, what she spoke next ripped apart your soul that had just begun to get stitched back together by the calloused hands of David, “Do either of you have children, detectives?” You’re back straightened and your mouth fills with the rancid taste of bile. Suddenly you’re nineteen again, in pain and scared, tears streaming down your face, hands raw from scrubbing off the blood that never seemed to go down the drain, bleach stinging your nose. Like so many years ago, David is next to you, except this time he isn’t in a hospital chair with his head in his hands finding out his daughter had been pronounced dead at the age of two. No, this time he was a detective trying to comfort this poor woman about her own daughter. You shoved your trembling hands in your coat pocket, although Loki already took notice. He didn’t even have to look at you to know, you and Loki were connected on a much deeper level. 

It's not that case.

Loki speaking brings you out of your toxic minefield of thoughts, “We’re going to find your daughter, Mrs. Dover.” Pausing, he speaks again, shoving his own emotions down, “We believe that they came back here after they left you at the Birch’s yesterday.”

Keller Dover appears from the hall with bloodshot eyes, “They were looking for Anna’s red whistle.” You shakily stand alongside Loki, your body swaying as he shakes his hand, “Right. I read your statement. I’m Detective Loki, this is Detective Y/L/N. We’re heading up the investigation into your daughter’s investigation. Please, sit down.” 

Keller disregarded Loki, choking out words to the best of his ability, “Uh, uh, m-my son already told you th-that the guy was inside the RV just watchin’ em’, right?” 

You speak up from behind Loki, finally finding your voice, “We haven’t found any physical evidence inside the RV. Or his aunt's house where he lives.”

Keller looks at you as disbelief paints over his features, “Nothing?”

“Alex Jones, unfortunately, has an I.Q. of a ten-year-old. There is no way someone with the I.Q of a ten-year-old could abduct two girls in broad daylight and then somehow make them disappear.” You were able to confirm your suspicions about Alex’s cognitive ability early this morning after a briefing with a forensic psychologist. 

“Uh. well. How can he drive an RV? If he can’t answer a question?” Being honest, it didn’t make much sense to you either, it was a fair question.

Loki speaks up in front of you, “Well, he has a legal Pennsylvania license.”

Keller pushed, “And he ran, right? They said he tried to run away. Why would he do that? Why would he run?”

Loki speaks before you, “We’ve just spent ten hours questioning this boy. Okay? I hear what you're saying.” 

Keller speaks in disbelief again, this was overwhelming, “Uh, did- did you give him a lie detector? You gave us a lie detector. Did you give him one?”

“Sir, I understand what you’re asking me, yes we did. We gave him a lie detector and there's no way of-” Loki cuts short, stifling a laugh and scoffing. Not at Mr. Dover or the case, but at the number of unanswered questions we had, “A lie detector doesn’t work if you don’t understand the questions.”

Mr. Dover’s face changes, angry, “Well, maybe he wasn’t on his own. How could he drive an RV with the IQ of a ten-year-old?”

You speak with a softer tone attempting to de-escalate the situation, “Hey, we’re considering all possibilities.” You were, everything mattered. Everything.

Keller shakes his head, “I don’t think you are considering all possibilities.”

Using a sharper tone, you tell Mr. Dover as he interrupts you, “I-I hear what you're saying. Sir- Sir-”

“You listen to me! Just shut the fuck up for a fucking second!” Keller booms as his wife flinched on the couch beside his standing form. You take a step back as Loki positions himself in front of you, throwing his hands in front of him in a calming gesture, Loki speaking, “This is what I’m gonna need you to do for me. I need you to calm down.” You hated yelling, you despised it. Although you understood Keller and had no animosity for him, he was living in hell and you had no room to judge. You had been there. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please listen to me for a second.” Keller was pleading and he didn’t need to. You would sit with and listen for hours if you could. But you couldn’t, you had to find his daughter. You had to fix this. 

“Mr. Dover, I understand this is an incredibly hard time.” Loki did know that, better than anyone. “But I have every uniformed police officer in this state looking for Anna.”

From behind Loki, you can see Keller’s face break, “I don’t understand what any of this means. They said he ran. They said he tried to get away. I don’t understand why he would try to run away.”

“We’re considering all possibilities, Mr. Dover. I hear what you’re saying. We’re not crossing anybody off our list. Just, let us do our job.” 

Walking out of the Dover’s felt like you were trudging through molasses, you hated this case and it was only day two. You sat in the passenger seat as David put the keys in the ignition, Keller Dover running out of the house made him pause.

“Hey! Detectives!” 

Both you and David mutter “oh shit” under your breath as Loki rolls the window down to speak to Mr. Dover.

Keller approaches, eyes darting between you and Loki wildly, “Hey! He stays in custody until my daughter is found, right? Right?” 

Loki shakes his head, not wanting to upset Keller any more than he was already, “We have a 48-hour hold on him that ends tomorrow unless we bring charges.”

“Well, charge him with something. Charge him.” It wasn’t that easy, you wished it was.

Loki protests, “Mr. Dover, I understand-”

Keller interrupts, “Detective, detectives, two little girls have gotta be worth whatever little rule you have to break to keep that asshole in custody. Now, I know you can’t promise me anything, I understand that, but I’m asking you to be sure. Be 100% sure. Thank you. I appreciate it.” and with that, he walked away back into the house.

Loki sat idle as you turned to him, “We have to at least try. If we- I would have wanted to someone to at least try when-”

Loki snaps at you, stopping you, “No. No, this isn’t that case and you can’t think that. We will do our best, but I can’t have you going down that road.”

“I know it isn’t that case, David. But we can’t pretend that it isn’t similar. Ours was attempted kidnapping, she-” You’re chest stung as you tried to get out the words, lungs on fire and brain pounding. You were too close.

“Y/N, saving these little girls won’t bring ours back.” Loki's voice cracked on emotion. You knew that. God, you knew that. A freak incident, a failed abduction. The smell of antiseptic burning your nose, David’s hand clutched tightly in yours as the doctor left the room after telling you your little girl didn’t make it. A suspect was never found. You had only gone inside for a second. 

Neither you nor David spoke for the entire ride back to the station. There wasn’t anything to say, it all had been said before in the late hours of the night, everytime one of you woke up with a nightmare, whispering words to each other, too afraid to say them too loud, staring at the ceiling. You were living in a nightmare you couldn’t wake up from.

taglist: @lexie-wayland @whew-oh-em-gee @winterlavenderskysworld @buck-this-nasty​ @heeyirenee