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storkmuffin · 7 months

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VOGUE US March 2024

On His Terms

by Sarah Crompton

With his red cap pulled down over horn-rimmed glasses, Tobias Menzies walks into a London hotel with the wariness of a man who might just be recognized. It's his face that would catch him out, those deep lines running from eyes to chin. "He had those even as a young man," says his friend the theater director Rupert Goold. "It's like someone has taken a knife and carved them. And I feel those lines run deep inside him as well. He's grown into his face like a lot of actors do."

Menzies's smile is warm and his handshake firm, and though he lives not far from here in north London's Crouch End, he is dressed more as a country dweller than a man-about-town, in jeans and blue gilet zipped over a soft mustard-and-red-checked shirt. Only his Grenson trainers, white and red and with flashes of the same yellow, suggest he might belong to an artier milieu.

"I don't get recognized on any intrusive level, but it's not a part of [the job] that I love," he admits as we settle down to talk. "I like to watch people—I don't like them to watch me." I've asked him about the experience he's having at 49—that of a talent stepping into his prime. Blame it on The Crown, in which he played the second incarnation of Prince Philip across two seasons (a role that won him an Emmy), and last year's wry, acclaimed comedy You Hurt My Feelings, in which he starred opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("He's one of the most warm and present actors I've worked with," says its director, Nicole Holofcener). And now, he's appearing in two leading-man roles, as Edwin Stanton, Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war, in Apple TV+'s series Manhunt in March, and he's currently onstage in The Hunt, an adaptation of the 2012 Thomas Vinterberg film directed by Goold, playing at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn five years after its London premiere.

"I've got to be honest, I really liked it," Menzies says of the status he enjoyed in Manhunt. "Being in the engine room of it and part of the storytelling decisions." The series is part thriller and part history lesson, set over the 12 days following Lincoln's assassination in 1865 as Stanton attempts to track down the president's killer, John Wilkes Booth (it's based on historian James L. Swanson's 2006 bestseller). Episodes skip forward and backward, tracing the story of a tumultuous time and the ideological schisms that caused the Civil War and continued long after it. Stanton, a brilliant lawyer and strategist, is at the center of everything, clashing with Lincoln's successor, President Andrew Johnson, as he attempts to preserve the late president's legacy.

As gripping as any detective story, Manhunt addresses painful facts of America's past: "The implications of losing Lincoln and what that meant for African American people," says showrunner Monica Beletsky, who spent four years developing the project and who has followed Menzies's career since they overlapped as students at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London (she on a stint studying there from the US). "You could argue in a way that the Confederates won the peace," Menzies points out. "What is important about Monica making the show is that she is a person of color, and arguably the big fallout from Lincoln's assassination was that Reconstruction was lost until 100 years later and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Voting rights, land rights—they didn't happen. A lot of the things that African Americans have been fighting so hard for, for so long, were on Stanton's agenda."

Menzies studied carefully for the role ("He prepares months in advance," says Beletsky), working to find Stanton's voice and make his accent seem effortless, but also reading widely about the Civil War and its aftermath. Doris Kearns Goodwin's classic history Team of Rivals was a particularly rich source: "It takes you into this very disparate group Lincoln collected around him," Menzies says. "There was such a diversity of opinion and a lot of antagonism, but that was part of the power of it." Menzies also studied Gregory Peck's towering performance as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. "I was thinking of those archetypes that American literature and film are full of," he says. "Because it's such a whirlwind story with so many different characters floating through it—so you need a moral compass."

The key to the character became a combination of "stoicism and radicalism," Menzies says—and as an actor, he's exceptionally good at playing men who are fighting such opposing impulses, with strong currents of feeling running beneath an impassive surface. "He is one of those rare actors who does a lot with silence," Beletsky says. "He makes you believe you can feel what he is thinking, and he can do those things without saying a word."

Goold, who has directed Menzies many times onstage—including as Hamlet, as Valentine in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, and as Edgar in King Lear—thinks this quality has become stronger as Menzies has grown older. "He's got this wonderful physical expressiveness, but there's a slightly remote quality to him, I suppose," Goold says. "The quality I find really compelling in him is his committed curiosity. It's quite rare, especially for British actors, to keep their craft developing, to become more rigorous and investigative, and I think Tobias is an outlier on that."

Menzies is attracted to roles that conceal depths. "There is a certain magic about that. Part of the maths is that there is more on the inside than on the outside"

Their most recent collaboration is The Hunt, a haunting story in which a small-town teacher becomes ostracized when a six-year-old child accuses him of abuse. Menzies will be reprising his devastatingly observed performance from the play's 2019 London premiere. "When we put it on, we felt it to be about false accusations and the way that cancel culture was creating pariahs," says Goold. "But it is as much about someone who is shut out from their community because they choose to live apart. There is part of Tobias that is like that."

Menzies acknowledges that he is attracted to roles that conceal depths. "It's partly a taste thing," he says. "I like the kind of acting where I can't see the performance, I can't see how it is happening. There is a certain magic about that. Part of the maths is that there is more on the inside than on the outside, there's a kind of mystery there."

Menzies was born in London, his father a radio producer for the BBC, but after his parents separated when he was six, he lived with his mother, a drama teacher, and his brother in Kent. On their regular cultural outings, he was inspired by contemporary dance and the experimental theater companies he saw: Pina Bausch, Complicité, Shared Experience, Cheek by Jowl. "I was interested in companies that were making their own work," he says, "and I tried to go to train with [the radical movement coach] Jacques Lecoq in Paris; but I didn't have the money for that, so I went to RADA."

He never dreamed of being a famous actor. "My obsession as a kid was tennis," he says, with a grin. He was good enough to be on the fringes of the team for the county of Kent but gave it up when he realized he would never be truly first-class. He stopped playing for a long time. "Periodically I would pick up a racket and try to play a bit, and my game had completely fallen apart and it made me so angry. It was so frustrating. A few years ago I thought, Let's start again, do my 10,000 hours, and let's fix it." He approached the task with "monomaniacal" intent, working for a year on his forehand, and a year on his backhand, then adding his serve. Now he plays three times a week at a local tennis club, either with a coach or taking on other members in clay court matches. "I'm pretty obsessive about it," he says. "I just find it fascinating. It is such a mental game—a very interesting microcosm of one's brain."

His hero is Novak Djokovic. "He has less natural flair than Nadal or Federer but there is an epic quality to his tennis. He is able to endure and suffer, and so he can do it all in some way. There is a sort of purity to what he is doing. I think only if you have struggled with tennis do you realize that even though it looks plain, what's going on, the footwork, the ability to get to that ball and then hit it—it's just rather remarkable."

Menzies admits that his attitude to life mirrors his tennis. "I am probably on the methodical end of things, yeah," he says, with another low laugh. I ask about his film roles, which have been getting bigger and richer of late. He loved filming in New York with Holofcener on You Hurt My Feelings—"It was definitely bucket list"—and is currently appearing alongside Brad Pitt in the as-yet-untitled Formula 1 drama directed by Joseph Kosinski, which is filming scenes at Grand Prix around the world.

Before the actors' strike interrupted production, they had shot two scenes at Silverstone in the UK. "It was bonkers because we are in amongst everything else. So we did this scene on the grid before the race and the grid is live: real drivers, real cars, celebrities wandering around." He pauses, then adds: "It was like theater on steroids—really, really fun." He has nothing but praise for Pitt—"a lovely, lovely person, very collaborative, very nice to act with, and supersmart"—but working with him brought Menzies face-to-face with a level of fame that he doesn't aspire to. "How does he go out? It is very constraining to have that level of visibility."

Partly from a desire to preserve his anonymity as much as he can, Menzies took an early decision never to talk about his private life. "Is that old-fashioned of me?" he asks. "I'm going to stick to my guns. It's partly natural shyness on my part. But to be a bit more grandiose about it, the idea of celebrity moving into the arts and acting does have an effect on how we watch."

Through it all Menzies is genial and engaged, asking a lot of questions, yet there is something formal about him too. This is someone who is deeply serious about acting, pursuing projects that interest him and then immersing himself in them. I ask if being able to choose work of quality and interest is part of this new level of success, and Menzies says that it has come at a good time. "The question for me would have been whether as a younger person I would have handled it very well," he tells me. "I just think at some base level, it has taken me time to get really good." He laughs gently. "If I'd had a lot of exposure early on, I don't think I'd have been ready. I know I am a lot better now than I was 10 years ago. Acting keeps you very humble because you never quite know day-to-day. You can do all the work in the world and try the best you can, and sometimes it just lifts off and sometimes it doesn't."

#tobias menzies #one of my perennial favorites

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thebetterluthor · 1 year

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Lincoln Lawyer season 2: Absolutely killing it, so far.

I don't think anyone was happier than me when they started watching the show and realised the writers had twisted Lisa's story around a bit. I love the "community hero" twist versus the "disgruntled wife" of the original novel, it makes for a much stronger case of is she guilty or not.

Also, 0 surprises to Lana playing this up absolutely perfectly and nailing the line between making us want to believe she is innocent (I mean, I personally wouln't care, I'd help her hide the body, just talking about normal viewers here) and getting flustered when caught in a lie to make us wonder if she actually did kill the dude.

Great work for Mickey as well, who is so absolutely enthralled (fantasising about making out with Lisa while eating her flan? Honestly dude, same) he is 100% incapable of being objective, or seeing anything outside of how to keep her out of jail. I even felt for a moment, when he was refusing to answer whether he thought she was innocent or not, that it actually didn't matter to him as long as he won the case and kept her out of jail, and I swear to God, I've never empathised with a male character more in my entire life. I'm there with you mate.

I also like the fact that he starts to care more about her innocence the more emotionally attached he gets (I love that this attachment grows with every meal she makes for him, they've made that food association, they're sticking with it, it works perfectly, I love it). It does make me sad that, that emotional attachment, the clear connection between them is the actual proof of guilt for Lisa. Because Mickey can't really walk off into the sunset with an innocent and gorgeous chef at the end of the season. That's not really the show, is it? And since I can't see a way where they'd realistically break it off if Lisa was found innocent, I guess I'm just waiting for part 2 at the edge of my seat to enjoy a few more episodes of Lana finally gracing us with her presence on sceen, and watching poor Mickey's heartbreak as the events will unfold.

Lastly, I'd like to make a final observation on how elegantly they've used the fact that Lana is an absolutely gorgeous woman. They've not turned her into a stereotypical femme fatale. There's depth to her character, and there's depth to her appearance and her relationship with Mickey, too. I found the fact that we got the scene where he was fantasising about them making out, while Lisa was in the kitchen, hair in a messy bun, just going about her day, apron in place, just really sweet. He just likes her, it's so sincere. Hot too, but also sincere. I'm as enthralled by the whole situation as he is, so, good job Linkoln Lawyer writers!

#Lincoln Lawyer #Lincoln Lawyer spoilers #? maybe #just in case #I'd help her hide the body guys #I'd drive with her to Mexico and beyond #like the border is right there they're in LA #She's a chef who cooks Latin Asian fusion and she looks like Lana are you kidding me #like how do you spell perfect woman if not that #Lana Parrilla #has done it again #making me all invested and shit before she breaks my heart #if Lisa dies like Rita I will sue for damages I swear to God #Lisa Trammel

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popentertainment-interviews · 8 days

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Michael Connelly and Alison Ellwood

Return to Wonderland

by Jay S. Jacobs

Hollywood was a pretty wild place in the early 1980s; a mixture of glitz, glamour and seediness, aging stars and young up-and-comers, gorgeous homes and run-down hoods, big business and small-time crime, nature, shopping and lots and lots of drugs.

On July 1, 1981, four people were found violently executed in a house on Wonderland Avenue in the beautiful Laurel Canyon section of LA. This mystery has long fascinated Angelinos and true-crime buffs. Barbara Richardson, Ron Launius, Joy Miller and Billy DeVerell were killed in the home invasion, with Lanius’ wife Susan Launius surviving with serious injuries.

While since early on the responsibility for the crimes has been attached to LA nightclub owner and gangster Eddie Nash as retribution to Ron Lanius and DeVerell taking part in a robbery of Nash’s home, no one has ever been successfully charged with the murders. However, the events had tendrils which reached way out into Hollywood, ensnaring porn star John Holmes and Vegas icon Liberace, and even lightly brushing upon such 1980s superstars as John Belushi, Richard Pryor and Michael Jackson.

The Liberace, Belushi, Pryor and Jackson connections mostly came through witness Scott Thorson, Liberace’s former companion (he wrote the book Behind the Candelabra) turned drug dealer. Thorson is an infamously unreliable storyteller (he is referred to as an “enigma” in the series), however, it seems that he has mostly told the truth about the goings-on at Wonderland.

Crime novelist Michael Connelly (the Harry Bosch books and The Lincoln Lawyer) has long had a fascination with the case, going back to his days as a crime reporter at The Los Angeles Times. He also lived right around the corner from the crime scene for much of the 1990s. His fascination led to his 2021 podcast on the crime, “The Wonderland Murders & the Secret History of Hollywood.” The podcast was such a success that it has been turned into a TV series to stream on MGM+.

A few years after we spoke with the novelist about the podcast, we checked back in with Connelly and series director Alison Ellwood to discuss the TV series version of The Wonderland Massacre & the Secret History of Hollywood.

Michael, you did a podcast on the case a few years ago. Why did the two of you think that it would make for an intriguing TV series?

Michael Connelly: I thought there'd be some pretty good archival stuff. I had some of that, but obviously I only had the audio of it for the podcast. I didn't know the wealth of stuff that Alison would find, going all the way back to Eddie Nash being on TV. That was something I was hoping for. That would be a reason to go from podcast to documentary. That idea, or that hope, paid off in much bigger ways than I even expected. I think that's a really big part of what keeps this series compelling.

Alison, what was it that interested you about making this a series?

Alison Ellwood: I had just finished doing the Laurel Canyon music series, and that was this beautiful place with these musicians and all this amazing music. By the time this story happens, it's like the negative image of what had become of this place: houses with artists creating music could become dens of drug thieves. That noirish turn in a place was what compelled me about it, plus getting to work with Michael. I'm a big fan of his books.

Scott Thorson died a couple weeks ago. He was a huge part of the show, and the series is dedicated to him. However, you always referred to him as “an enigma” and “an unreliable narrator.” He has told many stories of the Wonderland Massacre, and many seem to check out, but you never know for sure with him. He even said in your last interview that he was working on a book on the case, which will probably never see the light of day. How much of the story do you think he took to the grave with him, or do you think he shared most of what he knew?

Michael Connelly: I think he shared probably 90% of it, but he always inferred – we didn't put this in podcast or the show – he always inferred that if push came to shove, he would name other people that were there that night. That were dispatched to Wonderland to exact Eddie Nash's revenge. He was scared of these people, and said they were still alive. Whether that was baiting or exaggeration, I don't really know, but I'm pretty sure he took some stuff with him, and I don't think we'll ever be able to dig that out.

Alison Ellwood: I don't think he could know for sure, too. He said he suspected who met them at the house, but he didn't personally witness that.

A lot of other people also have gone to the grave since, people like Johnny Holmes and Greg Iles. Why do you think that Eddie Nash had that kind of effect on people that they were just so afraid to talk, no matter what happened?

Alison Ellwood: Well, look at what he did at Wonderland. I mean, it was brutal. They were terrified of it. They were all addicted to drugs too. He had that hold over them as well.

Michael Connelly: Yeah, it was money and drugs. It was obviously a key way of controlling people. And indications are that he had tentacles into power structures in Los Angeles, through payoffs and bribes and things like that. So, whether he really had it as wired as it appeared is one thing, but if people of that time believed it, they were going to stay in line. I think over the years that what happened at Wonderland served him well as being the scary figure that you don't cross.

The killings are in this weird netherworld of crime because it's officially still an open case after all these years, although everyone pretty much agrees they know the who, the why and what happened. Eddie Nash did end up spending a little time in jail on RICOH charges, but not nearly as much as he probably should have for what he did. Do you think that the fact that justice was never quite served makes this story even more interesting and more sordid?

Alison Ellwood: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you can see it in the detectives, the frustration and frankly, anger. They feel they had it. They had all the pieces. Everything was in place, and just one thing after another, the rug would get pulled out from under them.

Michael Connelly: That's my connection to the case, because I spend a lot of time with detectives to inspire and research the books I write. All the detectives in this story I've known for a while, long before I decided to do a podcast or a documentary series. This is the one that really sticks with them. As you say, it's unrequited justice. Sometimes some people were brought before the courts, publicly and so forth, but at the end of the day, X number of people went in that house and brutally killed four people. Every person that went in there, no matter how many it was – whether there was two, three or four – none of them served any time for what they did. That's why it's still open. Probably will always be open. You never know, this documentary series could spawn something, but at the end of the day, it's a story of unrequited justice, and that makes it pretty interesting.

As a novelist, you say in the series, you couldn’t get away with writing many of the things which happen in real life. What are some of the things that really happened here that if you were writing fiction, you would feel you could never get away with?

Michael Connelly: Just the idea of this guy who was appearing on Las Vegas stages with Liberace becomes at the center of this drug kingdom. Just the idea that a guy that's delivered to witness protection ends up on The 700 Club as a TV evangelist. Put that in a book and see what your editor says. I love the little story about how they were ahead of the wave of law enforcement with crack cocaine, where Thorson got pulled over, they found a baseball sized ball of crack, and the cops didn't even know what it was. They just tossed it on the hood of the car and then let him go about his way when he said it was a toy that his brother's kid used, or something like that. Just little things that have the ring of truth to them because they are outrageous. “When you write a crime novel, you have to be more real than real,” is one of the things that my editor told me once a long time ago. I would always seed my books with little anecdotes that I know are true, but they just seemed unbelievable. This case is full of them.

Alison Ellwood: Yeah, and Scott's claims just become more and more fantastical as it goes on. But they actually proved to be vetted out, so….

Alison as a filmmaker, was it fun and/or difficult to track down and go through all the footage of not just the case, but basically the United States in the 80s and Hollywood in the 80s and everything that was going on there?

Alison Ellwood: Yeah. We had researchers working constantly, bringing in material all the time and finding new things. One of the best things we found was [footage of] Scott after he'd been shot in Jacksonville. I mean, who knew that existed? That was crazy that we got that. That was like another point in telling of the story. It was just covered by local news. I guess he was still famous enough as being attached to Liberace, that they covered it as a local thing, but we never knew that existed. It was constant, bringing stuff in, even up until the very last minute.

Michael Connelly: The archival stuff that we were able to get, that Alison was able to get, really are the reasons to take it from podcast to visual storytelling. You can have, as I did in the podcast, Scott talk about knowing these people like Michael Jackson, but I've already said he's an unreliable narrator. In the documentary, we have a slew of photos of him with Michael Jackson, so it's confirmed. The documentary confirms a lot of the podcast that you can't just confirm with audio storytelling.

Just on a more basic level, why do you think that true crime stories make for such interesting television?

Michael Connelly: From my standpoint, it's because you're talking about the 2% of the world that gets involved in these things. It's almost like science fiction or something. You're taking someone into a world that they don't understand. When I do book tours, I usually say, “How many here have solved a murder?” and no one raises their hand. But they love reading books about solving murders, because it's an alien world and it's fascinating, and the stakes are always high. So, I think that does translate to this… I guess it's a vogue, or maybe it's always been that way… but that true crime is something that so many people are interested in.

Alison Ellwood: I personally prefer reading true crime to watching true crime because it's too scary. (laughs)

Michael Connelly: It helps when you have a story that extends the genre or takes it to a point where it has some resonance. The social history involved in this and the start of the crack epidemic, and the tendrils of this story that go into the underworld of Hollywood and the overworld of Hollywood. All that adds to it, I think, and gives you something that's more than a whodunit.

Alison Ellwood: Also, not to be just sensationalized. There's a much deeper story beneath all of this, both about the human beings, and how they got tripped up into all this. Storytelling is what interests me and this was very rich in that respect.

Are there any other Hollywood mysteries, or just mystery stories in general, that you'd like to explore for possible future series?

Alison Ellwood: Yes. (laughs)

Michael Connelly: We've had a good time on this. I enjoyed being a pseudo detective, so Alison and I are and the production company that made this, we're all talking about maybe doing something else.

You've long ago moved past your crime reporting to doing fiction. Was it fun to get your reporter’s cap back on and do all of the interviews and probe into the mystery?

Michael Connelly: Yes, definitely. I mean, I don't think I ever lost that. You're right, I've not done any kind of newspaper writing or anything like that. Even though it's been 25 years or so since I worked at a newspaper, I've always felt, even as I'm writing fiction, that I'm still a journalist at heart. Something happened in the last few years, maybe the craze of podcasts led me back to telling true stories and it's been fun. I don't want this one to be the last story I tell that's true.

You've also been having a hot streak on television right now with Bosch and Bosch: Legacy and The Lincoln Lawyer and now this. Writing books is very solitary work, and TV is much more interactive. You're dealing with people, everyone's putting things together. Are you enjoying all the different directions your TV work is taking in?

Michael Connelly: Yeah, I think it's therapeutic to get out of the isolation of a room where you write books and go into a [TV} writing room or go to a set. It appears that I'm more involved than I really am. What I do is gather people that I can trust with my work and let them do their thing, and then I bask in the glory of it. So, it's not like I'm totally there all the time. I pick my times to show up and to help out if I can, but for the most part, I'm back in that room by myself writing books.

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#Michael Connelly #Alison Ellwood #2024 #Writer Interview #Director Interview #The Wonderland Massacre and the Secret History of Hollywood #Jay S. Jacobs #Youtube

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theboysfromaustin · 23 days

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The party crasher story, just because I love it and it encapsulates what a chaos demon Kazuo can be.

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November 5, 1999

Lincoln Park High School, Chicago, Illinois

Kazuo stared at his locker, annoyed. Another day, another slur scrawled across it. Maybe it would have been less irritating if it said something the tiniest bit clever, but it was the usual 'FAGGOT'.

Sure, he was gay, but his classmates didn't know….probably. They usually called anyone who wasn't contributing to the teen pregnancy rate of Illinois a faggot. He hated his classmates and they hated him - he was sort of hoping the whole Y2K thing would take most of them out. Maybe himself. Life was pretty awful. Then he sighed - due to the events of Columbine, he'd been repeatedly called into the counselor's office because the new fun thing for his peers to do was to paint him as a potential school shooter.

He wasn't like that, all he wanted to do was listen to music, draw, and be left the fuck alone, but the cadre of people - led by his former friend Jack, had other ideas. School had been a never ending cycle of lunches being thrown on the ground, shoving, punching, being upended into garbage cans, swirlies, and wet towel whippings.

Gym was the worst, with the showering. These were already men he found wildly unattractive, and seeing them nude was enough to make him retch. The only good part was he could cocoon himself inside his long hair to cover himself. His hair got pulled constantly, so he often kept it tucked under a hoodie, which he was wearing now because it was November in Chicago. He threw his books into the locker because fuck doing homework. He was doing well enough anyway - could go valedictorian at senior graduation if he really wanted to apply himself, but he knew he'd get five words of his speech out beginning with "EAT SHIT AND DIE, MOTHERFUCKERS" and would get his ass yoinked off stage.

He was barely through his Sophomore year. Two more years after, and then…

He really didn't know. He guessed his dear ol' dad would push him into a job and steal most of, if not all of his money for cigs and beer, despite being on oxygen. He'd never get away. He assumed any money his mother may have left had already been taken by his father. He had no money to make an escape. If he could, he'd go find his grandfather in Austin….if he'd even take him.

And then maybe he could get the lawyer his grandfather worked for to protect him. He didn't know the guy's name, but any time his dad bitched about his grandfather, he'd usually grouse about "that bastard lawyer." He sighed, readjusting his backpack. All he wanted was to leave school without getting the shit kicked out of him. It happened at least once a week. Often two or three times, and he tried to vary his routine of how he left the campus, but damn if the bastards didn't keep finding him. He figured without books weighing him down, maybe he could outpace them.

Kazuo was honestly surprised that after all these years, Jack still wanted to cave his head in. Sure, Kazuo was a loner - not by choice, scrawny, kind of short and only had one eye, but he'd hadn't spoken to him civilly since kindergarten. Maybe Jack had taken a few too many hits to the head playing baseball, and torturing him was the only thing he had going.

Maybe Jack had the hots for him, which, quite frankly was disgusting.

Kazuo skirted along the wall, peering out the double doors at the concrete expanse, out at the Chicago skyline. His classmates milled by, leaving or heading to after school clubs. Honestly, he had zero romantic interest in men his own age. He liked older men - and not like, dudes in their twenties. He really preferred men older than fifty - he was only 16, so he was aware it was weird now, but he'd be 18 soon enough, and maybe he could find someone to help him….to love him.

He dashed through the doors, trying to stay hidden in the throngs of students, hoping he was short enough to move undetected. He hunched over to make himself smaller, Joy Division hoodie pulled over his head. If he could get a few blocks away, he'd be free to….go home.

Huh.

Some days, getting the shit kicked out of him was the more pleasant option.

Before he could further contemplate the bullshit of life, his hood was grabbed and was yanked out of the crowd and bodily picked up, his ribs squeezed. He bit down on the jacket sleeved arm, opting to go full feral. He kicked, and his legs were grabbed. The other students ignored his plight, but he was used to that happening.

"You thought you could get away?"

Jack's voice hissed in his ear. Kazuo glared across the courtyard at his Biology teacher smoking a cigarette, then growled, "What do you want, Jack? You need to hold me as gayly as possible?" That earned him a punch to the head from Ron, one of Jack's cohorts, "Shut it, queer." "Hey, I'm not the one cradling me close to my heart. And crotch." Another punch, but Kazuo was annoyed enough by the constant attacks that he was going to be as snotty and degrading as possible.

"What should we do with him?" Marco, Jack's other stooge. Jack squeezed Kazuo harder, and he gagged, coughing. Ron took the opportunity to grab Kazuo's legs so Marco could remove his ragged sneakers and socks, throwing them up into a tree.

Great. Now his feet were cold.

With that, Kazuo flung his head backwards into Jack's mouth, hoping to bust a tooth, or at least his lip. Jack yelped, dropping him, Kazuo immediately making a break for it, dodging traffic across Armitage Ave, fleeing as he heard the trio behind him. He fled, dodging down an alleyway, tucking and rolling between a garbage can and a dumpster. He grinned, eye shut as he leaned into the brick wall, pretty sure he'd lost them.

Wrong.

That's rough, buddy.

Within two seconds, he felt himself be grabbed and chucked headfirst into the dumpster, the lid slammed overhead. He could hear the idiots cackling, but as they left, he heard one snippet of conversation - "Cant believe your parents left for the weekend, Jack, your party is gonna be sick!" Kazuo reoriented himself, shaking garbage off his hair, a malicious grin overtaking his face. So. Jack was hosting a party. He knew Jack, and he knew there would be copious amounts of weed and booze.

Everyone would be way too wasted to notice if he showed up in disguise.

Perfect.

He popped out of the dumpster, shook the rest of the crap off him, and went to go fetch his shoes - but failing to get his socks - via hucking rocks at them. Feeling better about the day, he headed for home. He knew his dad would probably be home - he worked from home, but fuck if he knew what his old man did. He had a couple theories - either he was running an off track betting business or was the world's worst phone sex operator. Home wasn't too far away.

He carefully opened the door, peering into the living room. His father was angrily pounding away at his new computer, cigarette in mouth, hard liquor in a glass next to him - he'd surprisingly given Kazuo his old Gateway, and he'd upgraded it to Windows 98 so now he could look at whatever lecherous things he wanted on AOL without worrying the old man would find out. He slipped into his room, locking the door behind him. He dug around the bottom of his closet, pulling out a backpack and unzipping it. He pulled out a beige eye patch with a large googly eye glued to it.

It was dumb, but damn if it didn't always convince a bunch of wasted idiots that he had two eyes. Also in the bag were a bunch of paint balloons and two five pound bags of flour, plus a pair of beige gloves. All he needed now was a package of sliced cheese and round deli meat like bologna. He needed all this to cause maximum damage at the party. He also needed a couple peanut butter sandwiches, but it was early, and he didn't want to talk to his dad. Kazuo also pulled out his platform shoes - they added a full two inches to his height, making it way harder to pin the chaos on him.

He repacked his supplies, pleased. All he had to do now was wait.

—--

It was right about midnight, when most partygoers are good and drunk. Kazuo had added a pack of sliced cheddar, a pack of bologna, and two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to his arsenal. He also had an empty bottle of cheap grain alcohol he'd filled with water and isopropyl alcohol to appease any overzealous doormen.

Jack's house wasn't hard for him to find - he'd gone over plenty of times before the accident to play He-Man. He could hear music playing, and he hummed softly, skipping once, pleased with the idea of destroying a good portion of his house. He felt a minor twinge of guilt - Jack's mother was nice, not her fault he'd become a dickbag. His father….eh. He walked up the steps, a swagger in his step. Kazuo put on his plain hoodie and gloves and opened the door, nodding to the sloshed teens, handing the closest one his bottle.

He went upstairs first. It would be easier to work up to down - and it was quieter upstairs. He peeked into Jack's parents' room - empty, and snuck in, surveying. They had both a VCR and DVD player, which brought him great delight. He pulled off his pack, turned on and opened the DVD player, flung out the disc and replaced it with a slice of bologna, hit play, then checked the VCR, turned it on, slipped in a PB&J, and hit play. Next was the air vents, which he carefully emptied part of a bag of flour into.

He turned his attention to the floor vent, and dropped in a couple slices of cheese. Then, he slipped into the bathroom, grabbing a paint balloon. Taking aim at the toilet from across the room, he hurled a balloon into the bowl, where it exploded - and not with just any paint - it was glitter paint. He immediately gave the shower the same treatment.

He left the room, carefully closing the door, turning to Jack's room. Oh, he had plans for that. He cracked the door, scanning the room. It was empty. He did the usual - wall vents, food in the electronics, but the heating vent…

He stepped up to it, and unzipped his pants, laughing quietly to himself. He'd choked down an entire can of asparagus just for this. Kazuo sighed as he emptied his bladder into the ductwork. Good luck getting this out. The fact that it was November and Jack would need the heat only made this funnier to him.

He finished and zipped up, threw in cheese for extra evil, then left the bedroom and hit the bathroom across the way with paint. Finished with the upstairs, he carefully made his way down, looking out over a sea of drunk teenagers. He sidled into the kitchen, put a bunch of soda cans into the freezer along with a well-aimed paint balloon, and decided he should probably take off. He looked back in on the living room, nothing that everyone was either asleep or so drunk they had the reflexes of a sloth

He reached into his pocket - as an artist, he always had an abundance of Sharpies - and drew some elaborate dickage on Jack's face, then on several other people's faces for good measure. Then he heard a girl's voice, protesting, and turned, seeing Jen Hansen drunkenly pushing an even drunker Marco off her, while he kept groping at her. Immediately, Kazuo was angry. Sure, Jen had never been nice to him, she was the quintessential mean girl, but she didn't deserve to be assaulted.

He approached, and lowered his voice, "Leave her alone, man," and took Jen's hand, "I'll take you home." He knew exactly where her house was because he'd egged it a few times. "Thank yooouuuu," she slurred, putting one arm around him, leaning her head on his shoulder. He led her down the front steps, while she squinted up at him, "Who are you?" "A friend." "You're cute." A hard blush overtook his face despite his raging homosexuality,

"You wouldn't think so if you weren't hammered."

She groaned, suddenly retching, and he steered her towards some shrubbery to let her feed the plants. She finished, putting one arm around her as she shivered, trying to get her home as soon as possible. He helped her up the steps to her house, watching as she unlocked the door and opened it. Then, she turned, throwing her arms around him, "Thank you. I love you."

Kazuo stiffened. He knew it was because she was wasted, but it had been a very long time since anyone had said they loved him. He blinked back tears, "Glad you're home safe, Jen. Take care." She went inside, and he turned away, tears streaming down his face.

He ran.

Snow flurries began to fall around him as he kept running, making it back to the brownstone. He slipped inside quietly, putting out the lit cigarette in the ashtray by the couch - an ashtray he'd made as a child because that's what you did in art class back then, call it a last-ditch effort to make his father love him. Kazuo didn't see his father at all. He headed for his room, undressed, and stared at himself in the mirror.

The scar that cut across his abdomen from the accident.

The scar on his back where his father had beaten him with a belt.

The enormous scar that took up the right side of his face, a glaring reminder that he had lost the only person in the world who really loved him.

"Look at me, mom…I…" His shoulders slumped. Then he glanced at the wall, at a painting his mother had done, and sat on the bed, staring at it. It had always comforted him. It showed a man with graying hair in front of a lake. He had very kind eyes and a gentle smile on his face. Kazuo wondered who he was.

He wondered if it was his grandfather's boss. Kazuo vaguely remembered his grandfather describing the man as a "gentle spitfire." He sprawled out in bed, pulling his ratty He-Man comforter up against the cold. He had done both good and evil tonight. He knew he wasn't a bad person, he'd just been dealt a shitty hand in life.

He shut his eye with a deep sigh.

Maybe, eventually, things would balance out.

#oc #original character

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e-b-reads · 6 months

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Books of the Month: Feb 2024

At this point I'm doing books of the months posts late more by design than by accident (I mean, several were by accident, but now...). It's interesting to look back with a little more distance and see what reads stuck with me from the previous month. This time it was:

My Brother Sam is Dead (James Lincoln Collier): I picked this up literally years ago for free, thinking I've heard of this so I should probably read it. Despite the title being right there, so you know what's coming, it was still a little more violent than I expected, and sort of more sad (although obviously I knew it would be sad! But he still got me). I am including it on the list because of a post I read recently about some people failing to grasp that there's nuance in history. A good book about a boy - young man - and his shrinking family, and how they're mostly just trying to live through the events happening around them.

Thus Was Adonis Murdered (Sarah Caudwell): Now for something completely different! Well, someone still dies in this one, but otherwise. I had heard of these (this is first in a short mystery series) before, but I didn't realize how much of an ensemble cast they have, or how hilarious they are! Set contemporaneously with when they're written, so early 1980s. Oxford Professor Hilary Tamar (gender unclear) seems to never spend time in Oxford, but instead hangs out with a gaggle of young lawyers (solicitors? I admit the British law stuff loses me a little, but it's kind of meant to) in London and in various cities around the world where they keep falling into situations where someone was murdered, and write each other very funny letters about it. I can't describe these sufficiently but I recommend them wholeheartedly.

And then I'm going to do something I never have yet, and list a couple honorable mentions. These were special to me for specific reasons, but might be exactly what someone is looking for so I'll list them too!

Call the Nurse (Mary J. MacLeod): This is one of those books written by someone who had experiences and wanted to write about them, rather than someone who wanted to write and so chose some experiences to write about. True stories from a woman (a nurse) who moved with her family to the Scottish Hebrides in the...1960s?? (Someone is currently borrowing my copy! I can't check, I think that's the right time period.) It was given to me by a very good friend; she'd read it a while ago but had trouble finding a copy to gift. So she was very triumphant when she found one, and I was touched. I enjoyed it as a book to read in the evenings, one chapter at a time.

The Waterman (Tim Junkin): This is fictional but kind of fits with the above as a book that's about a specific place and time as much as about a plot (though it does have a plot! gets exciting at the end). It was written in the 90s, takes place in the 70s, but though things have changed a lot, there's a lot of things that are still true about the communities around the Chesapeake Bay today, and I really liked it.

#books of the month #book recs #my brother sam is dead #james lincoln collier #<- i was going to put that book in the shelf of free books here at camp when done but now am reconsidering #i mean i think kids should get to read it but idk if i want them to read it and have nightmares abt the violent bits while at camp #thus was adonis murdered #sarah caudwell #call the nurse #mary j macleod #the waterman #tim junkin

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nataliescatorccio · 3 months

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Anything really I love all types of books lol

Ones off the top of my head, Jodi Picoult books, John Green books, vampire academy series, evermore series, divergent series, hunger games series, Harry Potter, the raven cycle series, the Lincoln lawyer series, the girl on the train..etc lol

hmm, i've mostly been reading historical fiction currently! last few books on my reading list are: the whalebone theatre by joanna quinn (this is quite heavy though so i wouldn't recommend unless you like very overly descriptive books, but it is incredibly well written), lessons in chemistry by bonnie garmus, the dance tree by kiran willwood hargrave, weyward by emilia clarke, mrs porter calling by aj pearce (this is part of a wider series: dear mrs bird and yours cheerfully are earlier in the series), a lady's guide to fortune hunting by sophie irwin and reputation by lex croucher. they're all books i very much enjoyed, some are based off real events and some aren't, but i'm not sure if they're your cup of tea so i'd recommend just googling them and checking some goodread reviews to see if it's your kind of thing. if you're looking for a series more along the lines you mentioned, then i really enjoyed the percy jackson series and would recommend!

#Anonymous

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joe9cool · 2 years

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Collide-Justin Herbert-14

A/N. Before this chapter starts I want to say I only own my Characters. The LA Chargers, their employees are real people. The gossip is for storylines only. I don't know their stories in reality. This is my story and doesn't reflect their real lives. Thank you.

"Alright, we got everything?" Sara yawned and nodded her head as she got in the car. It was 2am and Justin wanted to be at his parents by the afternoon. She could understand he didn't get to see his family very often during the season and he was excited. Despite the fact that she was exhausted, his happiness rubbed off on her.

Everything was packed up. Nova was asleep in her carrier, still on a high after the catnip she was given. They began the eight hour drive. Justin's phone was navigating, even though he insisted he knew where he was going.

She loaded up on snacks. She packed protein bars, cookies, an uncrustable and Capri suns. (Justin busted out laughing when he saw that one.) He was a bit annoyed when she made him stop at the twenty four hour dunkin donuts. (She placed an order ahead and ran inside in disguise to get it) however the stop was in handy as he sipped the coffee she got him and ate some of the sandwich.

"Just let me know when you want to switch." Justin rolled his eyes. "Babe, I did this drive all by myself. I'm fine. Also be careful of the liquids, we are going to be hitting a long stretch with no rest stop."

"It's dark, I'll just pee on the side of the road." He sighed. "That's fine. I got my water bottle if I need to go." Sara wrinkled her nose up in disgust. "Ewww boys." He laughed. "Hey its extremely effective."

She used the car's Bluetooth to play some music. He didn't have any preferences so she put on Lord Huron. While listening to "meet me in the city" she told him about her upcoming projects with the band. He was genuinely interested in hearing about what she had planned.

Justin felt bad about not paying attention in the past. Truth was he was all science and sports. Yes he watched movies, but he never really thought about the background of what went into it. Sara explaining her being behind the camera and coming up with ideas. It was fascinating.

"I had no idea you selected the music for the scenes of your show. That's awesome." He smiled, proud of his girl. "I'm going to be honest though. I have never seen a single episode. So I don't understand it."

Sara was a little hurt. "Well it's about college kids coming together after leaving their small town, conservative neighborhoods. You know, coming of age. I'm shocked you haven't seen an episode. Have you heard of it at least?" He nodded. "We have to watch it together."

"Oh no I don't watch anything I'm in. Unless I have to, like a movie premiere that's it. I'll never see it again." He looked at her as he signaled to get on the expressway. "Why?"

"I am my worst critic, I cringe when I see myself." She shrugged. "I guess going back to my high-school days where I would do plays and then my family would critique me."

Justin never thought of it that way. He was forced to watch his old games to go over mistakes he made. He didn't care for it, but it was part of the game. It brought him to another thought. "Well on the topic of your family." He began. "You never talk about yours really."

"I love my immediate family. But I don't know. Sometimes I feel like a disappointment."

"Thats ridiculous. You are more successful than them combined." He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Sara nodded. "I guess, but my family is very businesslike, very Wall street. My dad is a CEO of Lincoln Financial, an investment company. My mom is an economics professor at the local community College. My oldest sister Katie is a financial advisor along with her husband. Middle one Brittany is a lawyer, same as her husband. Alyssa is a stay at home mom. But she has her degree in Pre law, and then there's me."

"You have a degree in psychology though."

Sara sighed. "So did Katie, but my dad made her go to business school because he didn't see any potential in it. When I told my dad I was going to do psychology in high school, he was mad. But hoping I would use it for pre med and pre law. When I told him it was a backup because I wanted to be in the entertainment industry my parents agreed that they wouldn't pay for it. Not a dime. They covered my sisters tuition and dorm fully,but not me. It hurts, I think they feel bad about doubting that. But they never said anything to me."

She smiled. "They have my back and are very supportive. But I don't know, I feel left out sometimes. They were all very athletic and involved, whereas I hated playing sports. I hated being put out there at something I wasn't good at. It wasn't until I joined theater in middle school that I found my niche. My parents rarely went to my plays, usually because it fell around nationals for Alyssa cause she was in dance.

"Not to be rude, but I don't really consider dancing a sport." Justin shrugged his shoulders. "What about aunts and uncles?"

She rolled her eyes. "My aunt is the fucking worst. Always cuts me up when no one is around. She will Make sure to remind me I'll never be good enough like my sisters or small like them" He looked at her questioningly. "I'm the tallest, and the largest in body frame. It pisses her off that her oldest isn’t in show business because she’s prettier.”

Justin was mad. "Fuck them. You don't need them." He grabbed her hand. He noticed she was shaking. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"It's fine, we had to talk about it eventually." Speaking of which, she had to talk to him about leaving in January. That would be a topic when they got home, she decided. Wanting to get off sad topics she smiled. "I hope your mom has all the baby books out."

He groaned and she laughed. "As soon as I told her you were coming my dad texted me and said she was in the crawl space digging them out." She giggled. "Aww come on you were probably the cutest kid. She pinched his cheeks. "Baby Justin with the chubby cheeks oh my god." He smiled and blushed. "Stop it."

She laughed. "So it's your mom, dad, and Patrick right?" He nodded. "Yes, Mitch is in New York in med school. Funny though you took a picture with his girlfriend when you were in New York."

"Really? Wow what a small world." He smiled. After a minute he asked. "Did you tell your family about us?"

There it was. He was worried if more people knew. "Don't worry, I didn't say anything." She said.

He furrowed his eyebrows. It actually hurt to know that her parents didn't know anything. "May I ask why?"

"Well for starters I know you don't want many people to know about us so I just didn't say Justin understood the first part. He did value his privacy, but he didn't realize how much his comments hurt Sara. "It's not that I don't want people to know. I'm okay with close friends. It's just when it gets revealed to the public I know things will change." He thought back to his and Bella's conversation. "You have to give me time to adjust." She turned towards him, surprised. "Really?"

"Yes. Sara I really like you and see this going somewhere. I think it's time we discussed going forward. I don't see this as a casual fling."

She smiled and grabbed his hand, kissing it "I see this going somewhere too." He smiled. "I'm glad."anything. Also my family is very overwhelming. The moment I say I'm seeing someone they will be on the first plane to Cali to grill you. Then the others will know and I'm not going to subject you to scrutiny."

She was quiet for a moment

"Can I confess something?" He looked at her. "I thought you were just going to be a fling."

He was surprised. "Really?" She nodded. "I kinda swore off dating for a while. Then I saw you at the wedding and thought you were cute and tall." She laughed. "I approached you thinking it was going to be a one night stand thing. But then I just chickened out and called you for a date."

He laughed. "Well I'm honored. Can I be honest as well? I wasn't going to call at all, I was too intimidated." She busted out laughing. "I knew, that's why I called you."

They laughed together. "That was really bold of me. I thought for sure you would go for someone like me."

"What makes you say that?"

She almost said it. It was on the tip of her tongue. She chickened out again. " Well don't pro athletes usually go for skinny blonde girls?" She noticed his hesitation. "I'm going to be honest, I've just always ended up with blondes. But I like brunettes as well. I got a gorgeous one right next to me." She cooed.

She was happy, this was the most honest conversation they ever had since their relationship. It was progress, and while Sara could admit that she was toxic in the way that she never really injected herself in his hobbies she felt really guilty over invading his privacy. She had no reason not to trust him. He was with her almost twenty four seven. There was no reason to suspect him cheating his own teammate backed him up.

A teammate she was stringing along.

As on cue her phone buzzed and it was Joey.

Hey

It was four in the morning. What could he want? Her read receipts were on unfortunately. Still she decided to ignore it

She looked at Justin, she needed a distraction. "You know what I'm most excited for?" She asked

"Hmm."

"To see your childhood bedroom."

"Why?"

"I don't know, because of the memories you have tied to it. Where you had your struggles, how you celebrated the highs and dealt with the lows. Photos of your friends and family. Also I'm sure you have jerseys hung up. I want to thank you for trusting me with that "

He smiled. "I'm happy to reveal it to you. I know I'm not the most open guy and I struggle with feelings, but this is important to me, you're important to me."

Sara's heart was going to burst with joy and love. "Well technically I got the hard part over, I met your parents." He laughed. "Yeah now you get to meet my youngest brother. Which is easy, he's a pain in the ass though. I'm sure he would say the same for me."

"What would he have to say about you?"

Justin laughed. "That I beat up on him a Lot, which I did when I was younger. Also I was a neat freak."

"You still are, you got me containers for my makeup and toiletries to keep them separate."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay? And you find what you're looking for faster." She was silent for a moment. "Okay, point taken."

Another couple hours went by with some playful bickering about the music. (He joked that her music was depressing and she said he had the taste of a dad going through a mid life crisis.) They settled into a comfortable silence. Finally Sara saw the 'Welcome to Oregon' sign. She squeezed his hand tighter.

It was nice to see the change. Even though they just crossed the border she noticed Justin looked more relaxed than he had the past couple of weeks. She knew how stressed he was, so she hoped he could truly relax and reset, seek comfort in his family. The weather changed to dark and dreary. "I love it" She said.

"What?' She blushed as she realized she spoke her thoughts out loud. "This weather. I love it, perfect weather to be in bed, reading a book, sleeping. Or making love."

They came to a red light and he glanced at her. "my house in Oregon isn't as glamorous as LA. But I love it "

"Justin because I'm a Hollywood actress doesn't mean I have people waiting on me hand and foot. I don't need fancy things, my house is pretty modest for LA isn't it?"

He nodded "yes. I'm sorry. I don't mean it offensively. My idea of Hollywood starlets is completely different." He paused. "Still can't believe I met Bella Hadid." She laughed. "Crazy isn't it? When she was up and coming I was still in my college dorm."

"Yeah and I was starting at Oregon." She felt bad. This is his trip for him, and she wanted this to be about him. This territory was for his stories to tell.

It was still a bit before they hit Eugene, but Sara was already in love. It was gorgeous and the scenery was perfect. The fall really brought that out, completely atmosphere from the busy Los Angeles. Justin looked at Sara as she took in the sights. As they were on the road she offered to switch many times, as they initially agreed to share the driving responsibilities. But Justin had no intention of doing that. He wanted her to take in the scenery, and he had done this drive many times by himself.

Plus this made him feel like a man, driving his girl to locations. He loved that he was so much bigger than her. He loved that she comforted him during hard times, that she validated his feelings. Everything about her was perfect. He loved watching her get ready in the morning. He loved that she was the first person he spoke to in the morning and the last one he spoke to before he fell asleep

It was in that moment he realized he loved everything about her

He loved Sara Christine Wozniak.

The realization hit him so hard that he didn't start driving until the car behind them honked and startled them both. Embarrassed, he began driving while Sara laughed at him. She was scrolling instagram and decided to post photos she took in LA the other day while out. Just in case she had to cover her tracks.

It's a good thing she did.

Twitteruser: My dad just saw Justin Herbert in Oregon! Looks like he's taking a break

I would need a break from Lombardis offense.

Probably re enrolling in OSU to play ball there.

Was he with anyone?

Twitteruser: he said there was someone in the seat next to him. Looked like a girl with dark hair, had a baseball cap on.

Are you sure it was him? I thought he was dating that blonde reporter.

Twitteruser: yeah long hair, silver Porsche with the Oregon plate. He said he couldn't get a look at the girl, who was very secretive.

He probably has a secret girlfriend and is using Taylor as a cover up

Twitteruser7: what a player.

Yeah dude needs to focus on ball and not pussy.

On Tumblr.

Anon message : have you seen this? [Link to tweet] interesting. I like the theory that he has a secret girlfriend she probably lives in Oregon

Interesting anon. However we don't know if this is legit. Let's not make this a thing and go through all of his followers with dark hair and message them.

Anon2: what are your thoughts?

I'm not going to add any fuel to the fire. I have my own opinions but he's a twenty four year old guy having fun. I'm thrown for a loop cause I was pretty sure I knew who he was seeing, and it wasn't a brunette.

Anon: Maybe it's Sara?

I know for sure it isn't Sara Wozniak. She was posting photos of Los Angeles. I can't see them together. Sorry. Now unless there's photo evidence I really don't want to talk about this.

Anon: great another girl to add to the list for these crazies to stalk. He's home, maybe it's a fucking relative.

True, he has plenty of female relatives with dark hair. I'm surprised he went home though, he told the media he was just going to treat it like any other week.

Anon: he didn't want any scrutiny. He needs to reset and I feel that this is good for him. See family and recharge, glad to see he has a support team.

Yes this will be a good mental reset before next week.

Sara’s anxiety began to spike as Justin got off the main roads and turned on a residential street. She could see Autzen stadium in the distance and smiled thinking of how Justin played there.

"we're going to my house first to drop off our stuff. Maybe get a nap in." He yawned and saw it was 11am. He looked over at Sara. "That sound good?"

"That's perfect. We would have gotten here a lot faster If I drove." She teased. He was a rule follower, only going the max five over.

"Okay hun, and you had how many speeding tickets?"

She huffed. "Only two and the cops in Pennsylvania are jerks. I was running late for school." He laughed as he pulled into his driveway. She took in the sight, it was alot smaller than his home in California, but it was nice, and homey. Perfect home for a family to grow in. They pulled into the garage and once the door was closed He jumped out and opened the door for her. She grabbed Nova’s carrier and litter box and made sure to set it up as soon as he unlocked the door.

They had a brief back and forth about the bags. (She reminded him he was still injured.,) and they settled in. "I'm going to assume you have nothing." She opened the fridge and was surprised when it was fully stocked with everything. Justin smiled. "My mom stocked up on everything when I told her we were coming. Also Patrick uses this place when his girlfriend comes to visit." She nodded in understanding before she unpacked everything in his room. It was a similar setup to Los Angeles. Once that was done she smiled as she took in the photos. He had his trophies, memories of his time at University of Oregon. There was one trophy she was memorized by.

"Thats the Campbell trophy." Justin came up behind her and caressed her shoulders. "It's awarded to the most academic athlete."

Sara leaned into his embrace. "You're so smart. Tell me something, I found an article that said you were looking into med school if the NFL didn't work out."

"That's crap. People assumed that because of Mitch. I didn't really want that. I probably would have been a biology teacher like my dad. I was a teacher's assistant and I really liked that."

"Hmm so you would have been the hot guy sitting next to the professor. I would have tried to hook up with you?" He smiled. "You would?"

She laughed. "Naw this was at college. I would have stared at you like a weirdo and stalked your social media."

"Jokes on you, I didn't have social media. Plus we probably wouldn't have had any classes together." Acknowledging the two year age gap." Sara nodded. "When you were at UCLA did you attend any football games?"

Sitting on the bed she thought about it. "Yes, my roommate freshman year was dating someone on the football team so I went. But I wasn't really interested, so I went to a party with the team. Told one of the guys I wanted to be an actress and he laughed before he tried to fuck me."

Justin sat next to her. "What happened?"

"As soon as the show took off he was in my DMs, he also told the press that I fucked him and was a 'wild animal in bed'

"Asshole."

"I mean what are you going to do? My friends stood up for me, it was a back and forth on twitter. I don't want to talk about that though " She laid on the bed. "I want to take a nap and maybe have a snack later. Then we will meet everyone."

He began to strip off his clothes, "that sounds like a good plan to me." Sara followed suit, and when they were stripped down to their underwear they crawled underneath the covers. Justin pulled Sara to him. Content and relaxed, they fell asleep, ready to enjoy their mini vacation.

------------------------------------------------------------

It was 2 o'clock when she woke up to an empty bed, slipping on her glasses, she sat up and stretched. She heard commotion in the kitchen? She heard voices, however it wasn't Holly or Mark's.

"Bro I'm sorry I didn't know you were here already."

"Shh you're gonna wake her up." She knew Justin's voice.

"Who?"

"My girlfriend, dipshit. Besides, don't you have practice or something?"

The unrecognizable voice. "Well you get certain perks when your team has a winning record, you remember that don't you?"

"Shut up?"

"Wait a second, girlfriend? When the fuck did this happen?"

"Four months."

"Mom and dad know?

She could tell her boyfriend was irritated. "Yes they know they met her when they visited LA. So does Mitch too."

Wait, Mitch knows? That was news to her, in a good way. But he never mentioned that.

"So you're telling me you just show up here with a girl that the whole family knows about except me? Well dude I want to meet her!"

"Not now! When she wakes up and gets ready we will be over Mom and Dad's for dinner!"

A laugh. "Oh so you had to break in the bed first huh? Ceremonial first girl in the house."

She heard a slap and then an "ow" following. She stifled a laugh, knowing how red Justin probably was. "Shut up Patrick."

Oh so that was Patrick, the youngest of the Herbert brothers. She should have figured that out. She wanted to go out there and meet him but not like this. It was best to pretend she was still sleeping.

"Well you're in luck cause Carly surprised me as a late birthday gift."

She heard the panic in Justin's voice. "She's here? You didn't tell me she was here. I wasn't planning for that."

"I know, that's why I said surprise genius. She got here last night."

"Well, she isn't coming tonight is she?"

"Uh yeah she's staying with me. You never had an issue with her being over. What's the deal?" Oh he was worried about her knowing. God forbid one more person knew about them.

Anger flared up inside of her, but then she thought rationally. She was a big Star, and if someone blew their cover that was it. However, she would think Patrick's girlfriend would be trustworthy.

The rest of their conversation turned to Oregon games. They had come off of a win vs UCLA so there was a lot of trash talking on Pat's end. Once he had left she heard Justin head towards the room and she quickly laid back down and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep. She heard him enter and felt the bed move. His large arm wrapped around her stomach. He kissed her cheek. "I know you're not asleep." She could hear the smile. She steadied her breathing, putting on the performance of a lifetime. "You can pull that with anyone else but you can't with me. You don't like to sleep on your back." Still, she persisted.

His finger slid down her side, creeping up on her side, he moved towards her arm Pitt and she held her breath. One night he discovered her weakness that she was extremely ticklish and used that to his advantage. Of course he was going to use it here and she felt his hand move off of her and she thought she was in the clear, but to no avail as he went to the other spot which was her neck. He began to poke at the sides of her neck. Her lips moved, then she gave up and began laughing really hard. Justin joined in. "Gotcha!" He kept up the antics and Sara tried shoving him away. "Jerk! That's not fair." He kissed her.

"How long have you been up?"

"Long enough to know Pat came." He rolled his eyes. "You can ignore him, he's an ass." She smiled and kissed him, he responded. Soon enough their tongues were battling for dominance. Of course he had to win. He grabbed her neck and she moaned. The kiss was broken "so, if you want." Justin breathed. "I never gave you a tour of the house."

"I want a tour of something else." She reached underneath his shirt. He grabbed her hands and held them to her sides. "I think the house tour is more important." The smile on her face told her everything. Jerk was teasing her. "Besides, patience is a virtue." He got off the bed and motioned for her to follow him. Upon stealing one of his shirts she followed him.

He took his sweet time explaining each room, how each appliance worked. She tried so hard to pay attention when he would go into detail explaining something significant that happened to him or a memory. It was hard to focus when he looked delicious. She had known before the conversation with Patrick he must have showered cause she noticed his hair was wet. Also he was shirtless, a massive weakness for her and he knew it. Again, what a jerk. Justin took her into the basement and she gasped. It was a guy setup with a bar, a pool table, a video game setup with a big television. That wasn't what grabbed Sara’s attention, there was a piano in the corner collecting dust. She noticed he was looking at her. "I didn't know you played."

"I don't. I bought it for decoration from my buddy. You play?" She nodded. "One of the first things my parents enrolled me in. I always thought it was such a beautiful instrument. My brother in law plays too." She walked over and ran her hands over the keys. "Have you thought about taking lessons?" He shrugged. "Not really. It's just for decoration.

"Such a shame, I think you would look hot. If you want I can show you some basics." He smiled. "I'd like that a lot." He walked towards her. "You want to see the backyard. "

"You got a swing set?" He raised his eyebrows. "A swing set?"

"Or a hammock?" He shook his head no. "Come on Herbert!"

"What? I only grill in my backyard, and it's not hot enough for a pool." He smirked. "I do have a hot tub. Which Patrick uses for recovery."

"Really Justin? You should have told me! I didn't pack any swimwear!"

"That shouldn't stop you. I mean, we can just skinny dip." She turned to see the mischievous smile on his face. "Hmm I don't know. I'm saving myself for marriage."

He busted out laughing. "Yeah okay. You call what you did something a virgin would do?"

"I'm a woman of many talents." He let out a "hmph" sound and grabbed her hand to lead her back upstairs. Once they reached the top of the stairs Sara thought about the time they needed to be at his parents house. "I should start getting ready."

"It's only three we got a couple of hours."

"Thank God I made those cookies yesterday."

"You know my parents wouldn't care if you brought something or not."

"And I told you this before Italians never show up empty handed." She thought about that comment she made to Joey. While Justin and Patrick were talking, she saw he had messaged her a couple times wishing her a good trip and to let him know how it goes. She wasn't going to respond to him. "I need to get ready." Before Jusgin could respond she went back to the room and began sorting through her bags to find her makeup. Once she did she plugged in her curling iron. Her hair wasn't due for a washing but she felt her body did, so she quickly did once over in the shower and got out. It was nice and cool in the room, so she decided to just get ready naked.

She was doing skincare when Justin walked in. He was enjoying the view of her bent over the bathroom counter. Their eyes met in the mirror and she knew the look on his face. "Justin, no we do not have time. I need to get ready."

He leaned against the doorframe. "It's not going to take you the whole two hours to get ready. I only need ten minutes." She pushed out of the way to grab something from her bag and he followed her like a lost puppy. "Baby."

"Justin, not now. Once we stop we won't be able to stop." He smirked. "I could just say you're too tired from the trip." She rolled her eyes smiling. "You can't wait a couple of hours? Patience is a virtue." She used his words against him. He groaned. "Damn it Sara." She laughed and shooed him out the room so she could get ready in peace.

He sat on the bed and watched her routine as she applied her skincare. As much as he fussed about her doing the facial on him, he secretly loved it. "We can do another facial night if you want."

"I knew you would love the skincare routine!" She called. He couldn't resist and smirked. "Who said anything about skincare." She whipped around and playfully glared at him. "Oh I have a dirty mouth huh? You got photos of me with your baby gravy on my face."

He wrinkled his face. "Well I'm not turned on anymore. What I meant was you could sit on my face." He noticed she stopped her makeup application. Justin smirked as the tables turned. She glared at him. "I know what you're trying to do and it's not working." She looked down at her phone. "Times are ticking. I don't want to be late."

"Okay I'm done." He took out his phone and began to browse instagram. "Hey Sara, do you have a personal account on Instagram?"

"Yes, it's ChristopherW14. He typed it in and found it. The profile was locked, and it showed a picture of a guy overlooking the sunset. "Who is this?"

Her makeup was done and she was spraying something on her face. "It's a random picture I found on Google. So far no one has detected it being me. It's a I don't even follow it on my page " He hit the request, and a few seconds later her phone buzzed with the notification. She accepted it and headed into the room to get dressed. It was cool, so she decided on some light jeans and a gray t-shirt with a checkered sweater. She looked at Justin who was in his usual Nike attire. It was him, it was charming. He noticed her stare and he was self conscious. "What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. You look good." He blushed. "Stop, I feel like a slob compared to you." She walked up to him and stood on her tippy toes to kiss shit chin. "I would still smash." He smirked. "Gave you the opportunity, but noooo you said we will be late. My parents are down the block." She rolled her eyes and went to grab her purse. "Let's go". He led her to the garage and she was confused before she could ask if they could just walk. She remembered he didn't want the neighbors to notice. While he was not a big star in Los Angeles, he was a big celebrity here.

She couldn't help but laugh though as he backed out of his driveway and pulled into his parents driveway in less than two seconds. Their home was set up exactly like Justin's, except there were female touches to let her know that his mother was there. He pulled out his keys and unlocked the door and Sara took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves

The first thing she noticed was a large black dog bounding towards her at full speed. Before Justin could yell or stop the dog she found herself on her ass and laughed as the dog excitedly sniffed and barked while his paws where on his shoulder.

"DYLAN!" Holly rounded the corner as Justin grabbed the dog's collar to pull him off of his girlfriend. "Oh my god I'm so sorry he gets so excited around new people." Sara got off the ground. "It's okay, I love dogs. He's a good boy." She scratched his tail and that calmed him down. Once he recognized Justin he was excited and began whimpering and trying to jump on him. "Yeah now you noticed me. Miss you buddy." Justin patted the dog. "Pat must have forgotten to lock him up "

"What kinda dog is he?"

"Lab mixed with Pyrenees." Holly and Sara embraced. "So nice to see you again."

"Same to you. I love your house." It was warm and inviting. You could tell a loving family lived there. "Oh thank you, Mark is outside finishing up lawn work. He does these things at the silliest times. Come on, everyone else is in the kitchen." The young couple followed Holly as they entered. Sara could see Patrick and a blonde woman, their backs facing her.

Patrick turned around, and as soon as he made eye contact with Sara he froze. It was comical really.

"Pat what's wron-" the woman who was presumed to be Carly, turned around and froze. Shock flooded both of their system as they came face to face with the woman who was on the big screen and their TV screens

Sara was used to this reaction, however coming from someone she was trying to impress was a bit nerve wracking " she smiled awkwardly and waved. "Hi I'm Sara." She addressed Justin's brother first. "You must be Patrick." She held out her hand for him to shake. "It's really nice to meet you." Carly snapped out her daze first and grabbed her hand. "Oh wow! It's nice to meet you! Wow, um Patrick told me Justin was seeing someone but… wow." Sara had to laugh. "I'm so sorry, we are just a little star struck right now. Aren't we?" She hit Pat in the ribs with her elbow and he suddenly remembered where he was. "Oh yeah where are my manners? I'm so sorry! Hi I'm Pat." He shook her hand. He looked at Justin. "How the hell did you land her?"

"Patrick!" Holly slapped him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry Sara, I wish Mitch was here, he is the less obnoxious one out of these two." Justin feigned hurt. "Hey now don't lump me in with Patrick"

Carly rolled her eyes. "You are both idiots. Even Mitch has his moments. You can ask Isobel." They were interrupted when Mark came in the back door. "Oh you guys arrived. Hello Sara. I'd hug you but I got to shower first." She smiled. "That's okay, good to see you again Mr. Herbert " "It's Mark remember" He winked. Patrick interrupted.

"Wow so this is why you guys didn't say anything. Well welcome. Sorry I acted a little off putting, it's not everyday my brother brings home a movie Star, or a girl for that matter." Sara laughed, and her fears sorta melted away. So far The rest of the Herbert family was cool, and if Mitch was like this, then that would be a breeze.

"Holly, do you need help with anything?" Sara set the container of cookies down (which almost were crushed by the massive dog) rounding the corner she could see Holly was sautéing vegetables. "No thank you Sweetie. Everything is almost done." As on cue the oven beeped. She put on the oven mitts and opened the oven to reveal a small turkey. Justin saw it as well. "Gosh mom, I didn't realize it was thanksgiving." He joked

She put the turkey on the counter. "Oh stop it, it's rare to have you home so I thought it would make it special." Patrick smiled. "See? And Mitch isn't here. Obviously we are the favorite sons."

"I never said that." Mark came downstairs, hair wet from the shower. "Looks good babe," He kissed Holly, and Sara smiled. They reminded her of her parents and how they interacted. She noticed Justin looking at her and they met eyes and smiled.

Holly finished up the sides and announced to everyone that they can fill their plates. Mark carved the turkey while everyone helped themselves. They took their seats and began eating. Sara had to say, the food was delicious and she complimented Holly on it. Conversation was flowing and she loved it. It felt like family. It felt like home.

"I'm sorry I have to ask. How on earth did you two meet?" Carly looked between her and Justin. "He is the most shy guy I've ever met. When I came over for the first time. He was just in his room, barely said hi. I thought he hated me."

"I was preparing for the rose bowl! I was really focused. Justin defended himself. "Anyways. We met at Joe Grant's wedding in July."

"Didn't know you had the game or the confidence to approach her." Patrick smiled.

Justin closed his eyes. He knew what was going to come next. Sara chimed in with a smirk. " I was the one who made the move. I approached him, gave him my number, called him, and set up the date."

Patrick busted out laughing. "I should have known! I knew he didn't have the balls." He slapped his older brother on the back. "I can already tell she's too good for you "

Mark chimed in. "Hey! Don't scare her off I like her" Sara felt warm at that comment. When she first met Mark he was nice, but he wasn't open like Holly, and being emotional with anxiety it worried her. She was still incredibly nervous and as much as tried not to show it Justin picked up on it. She was twisting the ring on her middle finger and under the table he noticed her leg Bouncing. At one point he put his hand on her knees to steady her. She looked over and he met her with a reassuring smile.

Meanwhile The Herbert family (including Carly) were noticing these things. Justin was attentive to Sara, asking if she needed anything or making sure to include her in the conversation. The glances he stole were filled with adoration and…. Love. Patrick and Holly met eyes many times and they spoke a thousand words without saying anything. Mark was taking it all in, smiling to himself.

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"I love your family." Sara couldn't stop grinning as she got into bed. Justin looked up from his book. Setting it down, he kissed her on the cheek. "I'm glad. They love you too, you know."

She looked over. "You really think so?" He knew she was looking for that reassurance. He smiled. "I wouldn't lie about something like that." And he wouldn't. "My mom likes that you call me out on my shit."

After dinner, they got on the topic of board games in which it led them to a loud boisterous game of Jenga, and then Sorry! (In which Sara finally beat him to Patrick's happiness." They didn't leave his parents house til about midnight. Patrick was leaving Friday for his game at California. However Justin and Patrick were going to the Oregon practice facilities early before everyone else to get some throws in. Holly and Sara echoed the same concerns. They didn't want Justin getting hurt while attempting the throws not being under supervision of the Chargers. "Are you sure you want to throw tomorrow?"

He laid down and faced her. "I'll be fine, you really think I didn't clear it with the medical team before we left?" His tone had 'duh' written all over and Sara felt dumb "Well when you say it like that I feel stupid." He kissed her cheek. "Don't feel that way. Now let's get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow. She raised her eyebrow in questioning. "Make sure you get your golf stuff ready while I'm gone. I got the course where I held my event closed down for me, you and my dad." He saw the apprehension on her face. "Don't worry you will be fine."

She was a little bit worried. Golf was still athletic and she wasn't the best person to explore athletics. Maybe that's why she insulted him and put golf down a little bit. However it was important to him and she wanted to show him that she would at least try.

Justin turned off the light and cuddled next to her. With a sigh she settled against him and closed her eyes.

A.N. Welcome to the adventures in Oregon!

#justin herbert #sara and justin canon #alexa writes collide #nfl #nfl imagine

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