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snaileer · 1 year

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Everyone Loves a 2-for-1 Sale Part 3

Part 1 & 2 (And original Prompt)

The dining room was suspiciously quiet for a Wayne breakfast when Danny walked in.

He glanced up from his phone, pulling one earbud out, “Oh feel free to continue arguing my morality like I’m an object, my music’s on full volume.”

Dick looked uncomfortable, “We weren’t-Look, Ti- Danny, we are just a bit curious as to why you’re…. here,” Dick finished, glancing at the others like asking if they’d share the plate of batguilt-fries with him.

“Surely the world could have done without a second Drake,” Damian cut in before Danny could even start.

“And we could have done without even one of you, yet here you are,” Danny glared, “Factory defects and all.”

Damian jerked upwards with a raised knife, narrowly pushed back down by Dick.

Danny rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to his phone-Tim’s phone-their phone. He held a folded paper out to Bruce with two fingers, still typing, “I have a list, if you want it.”

He continued typing as they opening the note and read it, he knew what it said.

To Do in Gotham:

1. Get to Gotham

2. Find original - don’t freak family out

3. -Find- Talk to Bruce

4. Convince Vicki Vale that Tim is/ actually engaged to Tam Fox

5. Get safe house

6. New identity? (what do clones do? - ask Connor)

9. Leave?

“What’s number seven and eight?” Dick asked, and Danny actively made sure his typing pattern didn’t change.

“Don’t know yet,” He answered with a shrug, the picture of nonchalance. Bruce probably didn’t believe him.

Didn’t matter. Dick did. Because Dick felt guilty.

Bat guilty.

About time he believed him about something.

And Danny didn’t care about Damian’s opinions one way or another.

He stepped away from the table, plopping another grape in his mouth as he walked past, “Welp that’s it for me, busy day, fake engagement, gotta find some crutches because I don’t think Vicki will accept my ‘you got new legs Lieutenant Dan-ny’ joke, all that,”

Danny slipped out the door past a sleep-deprived Tim with a jaunty salute, “All’s well in Clone Town!”

Danny kept walking, his brain running miles ahead of him, Ted Tobin steering the wheel with his fingers on the keypad of his phone as he moved forward and mentally filled in the list.

Number 7: Find Ra’s Al Ghul and the Lazarus pits.

Number 8: Stabilize yourself.

Danny continued up the stairs. He had people to see and rings to buy. Busy is the life of a saboteur.

—

Red Robin watched his clone linger in the jeweler’s store, trying to keep the frown from taking over his whole face.

He was making Tim’s life difficult. Tim suspected it was on purpose.

Largely because people would ask way too many questions if two Tim Drakes showed up in Gotham at the same time.

Hence, Red Robin being relegated to rooftop surveillance.

He turned his attention back to the clone, watching as he left the shop and turned down the street. Red Robin swept after him, following from above.

The clone remained focused on his phone- which was also Tim’s by the way, and stolen- as he walked down the street, turning into an alley without even looking up.

Tim tilted his head and swung to the rooftop, peering into the darkness.

“You could always just come down and actually talk to me, you know?”

Tim dropped into the alley, unsurprised to come face to face with the clone. It was weird to see his own face look so annoyed by him.

“Thought it was best to stay out of sight. We’re not exactly a daylight hero.”

Danny rolled his eyes, “Already annoyed with Vicki Vale?”

Tim nearly growled, “That is your fault,”

“Oh come on, you can’t tell me it’s not hilarious.”

“You’ve spent all morning in ring shops! I have meetings!”

“Lucius can handle them. It’s not like we actually did anything this last year anyways.”

Tim stared at him for a second, confusion in the squint of his eyes and laced with suspicion.

Danny groaned with a roll of his eyes, “Fine, you want me to stay put somewhere so you can do your civilian thing?”

“Yes.”

“I am not staying in the manor. You can’t make me.”

Dread filled him as Tim smiled, “Not a problem.”

Danny glared at Tim standing arms wide in the center of the room of his emptiest safe house, “This is so not what I meant and you know it.”

Tim’s face betrayed nothing, “Look, none of us are happy with this situation-“

Danny scoffed. Understatement of the century.

“But..” Tim continued with a pointed look, “It’s my fault, and I get that. So…compromise? You stay here, work on cold cases while I sort out my current job, and when I’m done, we’ll figure out what to do, okay?”

Danny sighed, feeling Ted Tobin stir to life with plans already forming.

“Fine.”

Tim nodded succinctly, reaching for a laptop and multiple cords, “Ok, here’s my old computer, -huh, I could have sworn that had a different charger- anyways- I’ll take this,” he plucks the phone from Danny’s hands in one smooth motion, giving a mocking smile in return to Danny’s glare, “Thank you very much, now I just have to-and find the guy who…”

Tim’s voice tapers off into mumbles as he heads into the bedroom to peel off his suit, fingers focused on the keypad of his newly reacquired phone.

Danny slumps himself down on the secondhand couch, dust echoing around him. This was fine, he could do stuff in the meanwhile, maybe help Tim with his case -or solve it himself, he bets he could- and then finish the new specs for the suit wings that Danny’s suit still didn’t have.

Tim fumbled through the doorway, now in civilian clothes, already on a call with Lucius probably, or Tam. Tam helped him a lot.

Danny slouched further into the silence.

It felt like being left behind by his parents.

They had bigger priorities.

Archaeology.

Ghosts.

Danny shook his head, opening the computer and letting Ted Tobin fish through the passwords for case files.

He’s nearly 3 hours deep when he really pauses for the first time, finally stopping the continuous notes sitting next him, each a different clue. Most for different cases.

The current case pulled up on his screen scratches at him, facts slotting into place with rapid fire precision.

The officer assigned to the case is a vet.

The case is perpetrated by a senatorial candidate.

The officer assigned served on three active fronts and 2 undisclosed.

The guilty candidate is running support for a bill cutting veteran supports.

Best of all?

It’s not in Gotham.

Danny smiles as Ted Tobin’s plan fills in, piece by piece.

—

Ra’s Al Ghul should really make it harder to hack into his confidential back market mercenary dealings.

Then again, maybe it was for the better. How else would he make sure Red Robin was able to intercept the assassin in time to save that poor officer’s life the night before his case-closing arrest?

—

“Detective, I assumed holding my business outside of Gotham would keep it from being the concern of you and yours,” Ra’s’ voice is muffled through the bag over his head, “It seems I was wrong.”

“Oh well, you know me…,” The bag is ripped roughly off his head, leaving him blinking rapidly against the light even as he smirks, “Always butting into things when I shouldn’t. It’s kind of what we do.”

“Tell me, Timothy,” Ra’s says, turning his back to him once more, as he waves his ninjas away, “What does this officer matter to you, more than a state away from your usual stomping grounds? What-“ Ra’s pauses as a different ninja approaches him to whisper in his ear. His body stills.

“Well, we’ll start there. First of all, as I’m sure you just found out, I’m not Timothy,” Danny says, standing up smoothly. He relishes the look Ra’s gives him as he turns around. “And secondly, the officer wasn’t what mattered. Getting you here on the other hand. Now that.. that takes a little more planning.” Danny brushes himself off, removing the cowl to leave just his own domino behind.

Ra’s al Ghul hums, his eyebrow twitching up even as his eyes narrow in suspicion.

“What? No sudden desire to stab? No impromptu attempt to put a sword through my chest?”

“You are curious. So much like the detective, and yet… my people tell me he is currently patrolling in Gotham with the Grayson boy.”

Danny scoffs, “Oh great, another fruit loop interested in me, like I need a new one of those.”

Ra’s’ stare doesn’t change. Albeit a bit more annoyed, but still flat and calm.

“You wanna know what makes me different from Timothy, Ra’s?” Danny pauses, taking a deep breath and letting the ectoplasm ripple inside him for the first time in months. “The difference between me and him,” When he looks up he knows his eyes glow fluorescent green, “Is that I’m stronger.”

—

Bonus Scene:

Dick stared at Tim’s clone as he left, sweeping past the original’s bleary form stumbling to the coffee machine.

“Are we sure he’s Drake’s clone? He seems… less of a fool,” Damian sneered, watching Tim stand listlessly in front of the cabinet, coffeemaker off, and tablet in hand.

He looked out of the Dining room doors, spotting Danny standing not far away in front of one of the closets by the stairs rather than the actual steps, fingers tapping away.

Damian turned back to his breakfast, “I retract my statement. Clearly his stupidity was simply blinding.”

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see-the-fandom-imagines · 1 year

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What’s in it for me?

Chapter 8

Chapter 1 Masterlist

Pairing: Kyouya Ootori x Reader Author: see-the-fandom-imagines Warnings: Kyouya in a bad mood, other than that mostly cute fluff, filler Author’s Note: I hope you will like it! One tiny question: I have been thinking about uploading this same fic with a few changes that would be required, but using male pronouns. I feel like our male readers get too little attention every once in a while, so let me know in case anyone would actually be interested in reading this with male pronouns! Tag List: @radical-bunny, @redsakura101, @ellouisa17

Link to Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46325452/chapters/116633701

The next morning you awoke early. You needed a moment to realise where you were, but Haruhi’s steady breathing soon reminded you of everything that happened the day before. You groaned and stretched, before carefully sitting up. Bright sun light shone through the curtains, so you decided you might as well should get up and make some breakfast. You owed everyone as much for scaring them like you did. Quietly you walked into the bathroom. Looking into the mirror you noticed that your eyes were still a little puffy from crying, but that was nothing that a little cold water couldn’t save. You brushed your teeth and quickly washed your face, before slipping into your everyday clothes and sneaking downstairs. No one was there yet, and you enjoyed the short moment of calmness, a rare occasion when being anywhere with the host club. You had to admit you probably were relaxed for the first time in weeks, although you knew you also had to thank the six boys for that who were still sleeping upstairs. Silently you checked the fridge and the pantry for food and you actually found almost all of the basics – eggs, rice, flour, sugar … You could work with that. You had just finished heating the pan, when you heard steps coming down the stairs into the kitchen. You turned around to see who it was, after you had poured the first load of dough into the pan. “Mori-Senpai”, you greeted. “Good morning!” You smiled at him and he smiled back. “Good morning.” He stepped closer to see what you were doing. “I am making breakfast, I thought it was the least thing I could do after … after yesterday.” You carefully flipped the pancake, before turning towards him, as you noticed something. “I never really thanked you properly, but… well, thank you. Really.” You looked him in the eyes. “For saving my life. And everything in general, too.” You bowed down as deeply as you could without falling to your knees. He was quiet for a while, but then you felt the weight of his hand on your head as he ruffled your hair. Surprised you looked up into his smiling face. You knew this was his way of saying that it was alright. You smiled up at him. “If you want to you can sit down, I’ll bring the breakfast out in a bit.” “Let me help you.” “But…”, you started but he shook his head. “Please.” You chuckled and gave in. If he said he wanted to help, that’s what he wanted to do. You always enjoyed Mori’s simplicity in this regard. “Alright! You can make some pancakes if you want to? They’re mostly for Honey-senpai and the twins whenever they wake up!” Mori nodded and took the spatula from you. The rest of the morning was spend in a comfortable silence, only interrupted by you giving Mori some cooking tips and asking which vegetables and leftovers he wanted in the soup.

Proudly, Mori showed you the big stack of pancakes he had just made, and you gave him a thumbs up. “Amazing! Now we just have to wait for …” “I smell pancakes!” You almost flinched as you heard the older hosts voice behind you. When did he get up? Had he been awake this whole time? Slowly you turned around, looking into his happy face. “We made some for breakfast, I had a feeling you’d like them”, you said, trying not to be freaked out by his weird sense of smell for sweets. “Yay!”, he proclaimed, “Let’s set the table, so we can eat!” You nodded and handed Honey a stack of plates, when suddenly Mori stepped in front of you, grabbing your chin with one hand and lifting your head to look at him. You felt the heat creep onto your cheeks at his touch. “M-Mori-senpai”, you stammered, but then he lifted his other hand and gently wiped something of your face with his thumb. His fingers felt warm on your face and his touch was soft. A lot softer than how Kyouya had touched you yesterday. With wide eyes you stared up at him. “Flour”, he explained and immediately you understood and relaxed your shoulders again. “Oh”, you said, but before you could react any further, two very well-known voices appeared next to you. “Hey hey, are we interrupting something?” Immediately, Mori let go of your face as if he had been burnt by it. Hikaru appeared next to his brother. “Is there a secret kitchen party and we haven’t been invited?” You rolled your eyes. “Yeah, huge kitchen party, too bad, you’re late.” “Hey”, Kaoru started poking your cheek. “That’s mean”, Hikaru said, poking the other one. “You know me”, you shrugged, “mean to the core.” “Have you made breakfast?”, they realized at the same time. “Yes.” “But why? “Yeah, there’s maids for that.” “Well, there are no maids here as you can see.” “Well, then there’s delivery”, Hikaru shrugged, and you waited for Kaoru’s response but instead he smiled down at you. “Thanks.” Hikaru sent him an irritated gaze, but you beamed up at him. “You’re welcome, now go, go, set the table if you want to eat!” “Do we have to?”, they groaned in unison, but a raised eyebrow from you was enough to get them to move. You shook your head, watching your friends set the table and a weird sense of security and happiness washed over you. It weirdly felt like home. Just… safe. Although a few people were still missing. Smiling at the view, you saw Tamaki and Haruhi walk down the stairs, bickering again, but stopping as they saw the almost fully set breakfast table. “(Y/n) have you done all this?”, Tamaki asked, but you shook your head. “I had some help." You smiled at Mori. “You could have woken me up, I would have helped”, Haruhi protested, but you shushed her quickly. “That’s exactly, why I didn’t wake you! You deserved some rest.” You looked around. “Well, Kyouya-senpai is still missing.” You checked your watch. “I better go wake him up.” Suddenly you felt the gaze of all the hosts on you. “Better don’t do that”, Hikaru said. “Not if you want to live”, Kaoru finished. “What do you mean?” “Kyouya has the blood type AB”, Tamaki explained, but you still were a little confused. “So?” “Kyouya really doesn’t like to be woken up”, Honey said, while already stuffing his face with his first pancake. “You are not the one to talk”, Mori solely commented on his cousin’s utterance, but since you also could not really place this, you just sighed. “Ah, come on, guys, it can’t be that bad … right?” “Try it at your own risk”, the twins said, shrugging, while already sitting down at the breakfast table and you gulped. “Well, I think he is going to be angrier, if we let him sleep and we miss our car back, so I guess I’ll… try my best.” But you had barely finished the sentence, when you were already beginning to doubt your idea.

Carefully, you made your way up the stairs and turned to the left where you knew Kyouya's room was located. You knocked carefully, but didn’t get a reply. You knocked again. Still nothing. You gulped heavily and decided to go in. Once you had stepped inside your eyes needed a moment to adjust to the darkness and suddenly you weren’t so sure anymore of what you were doing here. You had entered Kyouya’s room without his permission, to wake him up, also without his permission. Even morning people would have every right to be pissed at you and he apparently was the complete opposite of a morning person. Biting your lip you questioned why you were here again and thought about simply turning around, it was not too late to just leave again, but then you remembered the feeling of seeing everybody help out in the kitchen. And how happy that had made you. And how much you had noticed Kyouya’s absence in this moment. A part of you really wanted him to be part of this memory. Maybe it was foolish, but now that you were already inside his room you decided there was no going back. You took a deep breath, and carefully stepped closer to his bed. You looked at his sleeping face and couldn’t help but notice how relaxed he looked. You smiled a little to yourself. His hair was messy from sleep and he seemed unusually relaxed. He was always so composed, seeing him in this state was highly unusual, but you had to admit that you liked it. The messy hair was weirdly attractive. You swalled down the lump in your throat and knelt down beside him. “Kyouya-senpai”, you whispered, but he still didn’t move. “Kyouya-senpai”, you tried again, this time a bit louder. You sighed. This was not working. You stood back up again, and carefully moved his shoulder. “Kyouya-sen…” But this was as far as you got, for in the next second you felt Kyouya’s grip on your wrist that had just tried to shake him awake. The sudden pull of his touch made you fall over. Your upper body collided with his and your faces were just inches apart from each other as you now stared into his eyes. The usual brown-greyish colour had turned black and you felt a shiver run down your spine as he looked at you. “First you won’t let me sleep and now you wake me early in the morning?” His voice was ice cold. Wait, not let him sleep, what have you …Oh no, you must have woken him up last night with your crying. Immediately your face went bright red, thinking that he had heard your absolute breakdown. Your mouth went dry and your thoughts went blank. How much had he heard? Had he heard you cry? Had he heard anything at all? You felt your cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. You felt his chest moving with his chest against yours, his fingers burning into your wrist and you were way too aware of the warmth radiating from him. You tried to think of something to say, anything. You wanted to apologize for waking him both yesterday and today, but you realized you were close enough to smell the faint scent of cedar and lavender that always seemed to surround him and it clouded your thoughts. All you could perceive was the warmth of his skin against yours and how close his face was. This was getting really weird, you had to say something, anything to make this better. Just apologise, (y/n), apolo … “I made breakfast.” You slapped yourself internally, but nothing else would come over your lips. You swallowed hard and looked down at him. His eyes seemed to regain a bit of colour, although, he had still gripped your wrist tightly and seemed slightly murderous. “You… made breakfast?”, he asked back. “Yeah.” “…” “…” “You wake me up ... to tell me you made breakfast.” “Yeah.” He seemed to think for a second, before you could feel his chest begin to vibrate with a low chuckle. “You made breakfast”, he repeated again and finally let go of your wrist. Right away you scrambled back up to your feet, although you were immediately missing the warmth. Kyouya sat up and looked at you. It was impossible for you to guess what he was thinking. He still radiated a slight murderous spirit, but at least he didn’t seem like he wanted to decapitate you on the spot anymore. “I’ll be right down.”

Trying to steady your breath you made your way back down the stairs, your legs a little wobbly from the second close call with death in the last two days and only now noticed that all the other hosts, including Haruhi had gathered at the foot of the staircase, looking up at you expectantly. Before you could react, you found yourself in Tamaki’s embrace. “Oh, (y/n), you can’t imagine how glad we are that you are alive and well!” You blinked a few times. It had been scary, but now he was overdoing it. “I am fine”, you tried to get out between him squeezing you, and it took the help of both twins to peel him away from you. “You don’t look fine”, they observed and you realized, that you probably still were blushing quite heavily. They seemed to mistake it for fear. “No worries, (y/n)-chan! You’re safe now!”, Honey assured you with a serious gaze. “And now sit down and have breakfast with us! A few pancakes will help you get better!”

It didn’t take long for Kyouya to come downstairs, neatly dressed and styled as always. It was as if he was a completely different person. “Good morning”, he wished everyone at the table and they responded. “Good morning, (y/n)”, he said to you in particular, his voice cold, and you knew he was still mad at you for waking him up. “Good morning”, you mumbled back. You had just gotten up to get Honey a few more pancakes, and immediately made your way back into the kitchen to grab another bowl of rice, a miso soup and some of the fish from yesterday you had been frying up again. You placed them one by one in front of Kyouya who looked at you with an unreadable gaze. “I said I made breakfast”, you mumbled, and shrugged, avoiding eye contact. “And I remember you once said you don’t really like sweet stuff, so I made something savory, too.” Kyouya didn’t reply and you didn’t dare to look into his face so you made your way back to your seat to finish your own breakfast. You tried to ignore him, but somehow you caught your gaze wandering back towards him, eyeing the food in front of him suspiciously. You knew it tasted fine, you had had some yourself and Mori had also told you it’s delicious, so you weren’t sure why you were so worried about what Kyouya might think about it. You chewed on a bite of rice, and acted as if you were listening to something Haruhi was telling you, but actually you were watching the dark-haired host from the corner of your eyes, curious about how he'd react. You watched him separate a piece of fish and put it in his mouth. He halted for a second and looked at you, almost surprised. Your gaze met his for a second, but he immediately averted his gaze and focused it on the food again. You had to turn back to Haruhi, so that she wouldn’t realize that you hadn’t been listening to a word she said, but you could have sworn that you had seen a small smirk on Kyouya’s face, as he took a second bite and somehow this made you irrationally happy.

Kyouya for his share did not remember when he had last eaten a homecooked meal like that. Trying to show as little emotion as possible, he nonetheless gladly realized that she seemed to be feeling better. A small smile played on her lips now and he watched her talk and laugh with the other hosts. That sight might have even been worth getting woken up for. Might.

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kissiej · 2 months

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Waffle House Part 1 (Schlatt x Reader)

Hi everyone! This is a Jschlatt x reader story where the reader is a female waitress at her local waffle house. This is my first time writing an actual story on this app, so let me know if you have any feedback. This is written in a second person point of view, but enjoy my writing if you end up reading this <3

request?: nope

proof read?: nuh uh

word count: 2.3k

It was another typical summer morning. Sunny, hot, and probably extremely humid. You knew exactly what type of day it was going to be as you lied there in bed for the few extra moments that you always savored on mornings you had to work. All in all, it wasn't that early, and you had worked much earlier shifts at your beloved workplace, the local Waffle House. But still, it was much too early for you.

The sudden noise of your backup alarm from your phone jolts you up as you swipe to shut off the blaring sound coming from your cellphone. The time on your lockscreen read 07:05 AM. You sharply inhale as you turn to get out of bed and mentally prepare yourself for the day. Your feet hit the floor and you stand up and subconsciously begin to stretch your back out walking to your bathroom. It wasn't connected to your bedroom, which you wish it was, but what can you except from such a cheap apartment? You didn't plan on staying in this area long anyway.

As you enter your bathroom your greeted with your tired looking reflection in the mirror above your sink. Groaning, you lean on your small standalone sink before rubbing your eyes. Come on, just get ready. You have to tell yourself this almost every time you wake up earlier than 9 AM.

You turn the water on the coldest setting letting it run for a moment as you quickly tie back your hair and put on a small headband. Splashing the cold water on your face as you recenter yourself with your sink, you feel slightly more awake. Turning the knob of your faucet, you grab the nearest towel and pat your face dry before continuing your morning routine which consisted of light makeup, brushing your hair out and putting it back into a claw clip, and brushing your teeth.

You're almost done with getting ready for shift. You walk back to your bedroom and open the top drawer of your dresser, carefully rummaging through it attempting to not mess up your folded clothes. You pull out the usual uniform you wear, light blue polo, black skort, and on top of your dresser is your designated name tag, stamped onto it is your name in neat upper-case letters. From your other drawer you pull out a fresh pair of underwear and a bra for the day. You begin to get out of your sleepwear, closing the drawers to the dresser with your hips as you toss your dirty shirt, pants, and undergarments to the laundry bin. Stepping into your new pair of underwear followed by your skort, you decide to check the time on your phone. 07:38 AM, you read as you realize you need to speed up getting ready. You only live about 7-8 minutes away from your work, but you never know what traffic will be like, or what problems you'll face.

As you're finally dressed you grab your purse and slip on your socks before sliding into your white tennis sneakers. You sort through your purse making sure you have everything. Keys, phone, lip balm, hand sanitizer, gum, and a hair tie. That's your mental checklist that you repeat to yourself as you peek into your bag. Luckily this morning, everything is in your bag, so you unlock your door pulling out your keys to relock it after your departure. You rush down the flight of stairs in your outdoor apartment complex as you get into your truck. You jam in the keys, clicking on your engine before you reverse out of your parking spot and start the race to work.

You've finally made it to work and park in the spot you park almost everyday. You hope out of your car grabbing your purse and taking out your keys, before coming in through the back door through the kitchen. You punch in.

"Hey y/n! Nobody's sat in your section yet, so mind filling up coffee's at the counter while I take a quick smoke break?" You hear her voice and immediately realize your officially at work for the day. It's your shift manager Beca talking. She requests this as if it's an option and you can say no, but you obviously can't. "Sure, I got you" You respond to her smiling in her direction before putting on your little work apron that ties around your waist.

You walk out of the kitchen to behind the counter and see a few usuals and a few new faces. Grabbing the coffee pot you begin to offer a refill to everyone who has a mug, occasionally taking an order or answering questions. Beca finally comes back in, and it's just at the right time because 2 parties had just sat down in your section. Beca looks at you with a hint of gratitude in her expression and flashes you a smile. Walking out from behind the counter you make your way over to the party of three.

"Hey, I'm y/n, I'll be your server today! Did anybody want any drinks?" You recited your usual introduction as everybody told you what drinks they liked. You nodded. You can remember that, no need to write it down. A water, a coffee, and an iced tea. You quickly make your way back behind the counter filling up the water and the tea bringing them over to the table and setting them down. You walk back behind the counter and grab the coffee pot and a mug walking back over to the table and setting the mug down and filling it with the thin dark liquid. The people at the table talk amongst themselves as you pour the coffee saying things like "what should I get?" and "Hmm I don't know about that". You engage in the usual waitress talk before they decide on what dishes they'd like. You acknowledge them before writing it down.

Oh right, you still have that other table to help. You begin to walk over to the table. It's two guys, both with brown hair and both with glasses, yet they looked so different. You make your way over to the table, coffee pot in hand, and arrive to the two men talking amongst themselves. "Hi guys, I'm y/n, ill be helpin' ya out today! Can I get either of you started off with some coffee or water?" Well look at that... you seem to have changed up your usual introduction. Wonder why...

Your train of thought is interrupted by a man with a New York accent. "Yea, I think we'll both just get some coffee" The man says running a hand through his hair before looking over at the other man for approval. The other man looks over and you and nods. You smile, but as you walk away you think to yourself, that man had damn cool facial hair... You shake off your thoughts and grab two mugs and a fresh pot of coffee and walk back over to the table setting the mugs down Infront of the two men and begin to pour the coffee in.

"Haven't seen you two round here before. You visiting or just passing through, or?" You trail off at the end trying to make conversation with the two of them. "I'm not from around here, I'm here visiting him for some work" The man who was yet to speak spoke. He had a voice of a fun lighthearted guy, seemed sweet to you. "Yea I just don't go to Waffle Houses much I guess, not really my thing" Again the man with the thick accent spoke. His voice was a bit rugged and deep... you liked his voice.

"Well it's nice meetin' ya both" You say smiling at both the men. "It's y/n, right?" Says the man with the accent as he reaches his hand out to shake yours. You put down the coffee pot before responding. "Sure is" you say shaking the mans hand. You can't help but think he has a firm handshake and wow his hands are rough, but also soft. "You can just call me Schlatt, and this here is Ted." He says before releasing your hand. You do a slight wave to Ted before smiling. "well, Schlatt and Ted, do you know what you want to eat yet?" I ask pulling out my notepad and pen incase they order. "Can I do the classic breakfast?" The man, Ted, asks. "Of course" You smile as you click your pen and write down his order. You finish up jotting it down and lower the pen and pad slightly as you turn towards the other man, Schlatt. "I'll just have pancakes and bacon" You write it down and smile, that's your usual. "Good choice" You say smiling at the man, because you can't help but grin like a dummy. Schlatt nods his head in agreeance with you.

As you walk away from the table you feel like a little girl with a crush. What are you thinking y/n? You're a grown woman why do you feel like this? Remembering to tuck your pad and pen back into your apron, you do before walking into the kitchen. You put in the orders and walk back out behind the counter. "Refill please" You hear an old mans voice call to you. Of course it's everybody's favorite regular, Linus. "Sure thing Linus" You smile and walk over with the pot of coffee and pour it into his cup. "How's the plan for today?" You ask Linus, curious as to what his plan was. "Gonna go to the store, maybe watch some tv, same as everyday." And it really was the same as everyday. Every time you asked the old man what he was going to do that day, it was almost always something along the lines of that. "Figured" Is all you say before smiling and walking away to go make another pot of coffee.

You're interrupted from your intense staring contest with the coffee machine by a bell from the kitchen telling you an order is ready. Oh, it's yours. You grab one of the crappy, black, round trays you use and put the three plates onto it. You recognize the order as the table of three's and head over to them as you balance the dishes on your tray.

"Alright, here we are" You say setting the plates down on the table. "Need anything else right now?" They shake their heads no and begin to eat. Jeez they seem starving. You turn around and begin to make your way back behind the counter, but that man catches your eye again. Schlatt. What is it about him that you like so much? You don't know, but you keep him in your vision as long as you can before having to turn to get back behind the counter.

You hear another ring from the kitchen. It's his order, well and of course Ted's order as well. You put the two plates on your little tray again and walk over to his table, still feeling a bit flustered for some off reason. Jeez you barely even know the guy. "Okay here's the pancakes with bacon and the classic" I say setting the plates down Infront of the two men. You hear a "thank you" from the funny man and a "thanks hun" from the new Yorker... HUN? You can't help but become a bit flustered by the nickname, it's a normal nickname many other men had called you before. Hun. It's a common thing to call a waitress depending on where your from. HUN. It means nothing except him being nice. That's what you tell yourself, but maybe you want it to mean something else. Oh shoot I have to be present, right.

You bring yourself back to reality. "Okay so did you two need anything else right now?" You ask smiling trying to hide the bashfulness you were feeling. "Just the check hun" There it was again hun. "Right, im on it" You say trying not to turn into a red panicking mess. You walk away from the table taking sharp breaths and trying to calm yourself. Okay they just want their check. You had to keep reminding yourself. Just the check so that's what you'll get them.

You print out the check and put it on the little tin dish and put a pen on it. You decide you'll get the other tables check too just in case they want it. You walk over to the the table of three first. "Did you guys want anything else or just the check?" You ask the table with a smile. "Just the check" One of the girls at the table says. So, you nod and put the check down for them with a smile before walking over to the table that seated Schlatt and Ted. "Here you are" You say as you slide the check on the table and smile before walking back to the other table to clear it. It's turned out to be a pretty slow morning.

You had cleared the table of three and they had left and paid the bill. 9 dollar tip, not too bad. You had already ran the card for Ted and Schlatt, and you noticed they had left, so you obviously went over to clear the table and take away their check. You walk over to the table and see something written on the check. It's a number? OH MY GOD!!!

You started to internally freak out when you read what was written below the number. "Give me a call anytime you're bored ~ Schlatt" WHAT? HE LEFT HIS NUMBER???

There will definitely be a part two to this soon... all I can say, soooo comment if u want one.

#jschlatt #jschlatt x reader #schlatt x reader #schlatt x y/n #schlatt fluff #schlatt fanfic #schlatt #jschlatt x y/n #jschlatt fluff #jschlatt fanfic #fanfic

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auliisflower · 11 months

Text

Siren eyes

“C’mon, don’t look at me like that, Baby”

JAM REPUBLIC! KIRSTEN DODGEN

FEM! IDOL READER

A wild heartstealer idol named Yang Y/N and a globally famous dancer named Kirsten Dodgen is a pretty good duo for a power couple, don’t you think? One can only wonder how the korean public will take the news that a dancer from New Zealand can tame the all-famous idol Yang Y/n. Will life let them have their way or will the public eye force another idol between the two who they think will fit Y/n better?

･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ START…

The sound of keys clanging down on a desk could be heard throughout the cold, quiet apartment soon after Y/n had turned on the light in the dim hallway. It was pitch black, maybe 1 am? Y/n wasn’t sure…How much had she drunk at that party? She wondered if her girlfriend was still up.

Oh shit.

Her girlfriend. Y/n had sent her a text earlier promising that she would get home early. Her friends got her too drunk, that promise completely slipped out of her head. Now here she was stumbling around the apartment, trying not to make any noise just in case Kirsten woke up.

She downed a glass of water and went into the bathroom to wash up for bed. Oh god, she looked terrible, when did her cheeks go that red? It almost looked like someone’s lipstick….

“No, don’t think that..oh fuck” Y/n’s head pulsed, she could barely remember the wild night at her brother’s house.

She hurried up and brushed her teeth, took off her make up, and got into her pajamas. “I wonder what time Kirsten went to sleep…I’m so fucked tomorrow morning” Y/n muttered to herself as she climbed the stairs towards her and her girlfriend’s shared bedroom.

She slowly pushed the door open to find Kirsten completely covered, almost drowning in the sheets. Y/n chuckled to herself, finding her girlfriend adorable. She wouldn’t be so adorable tomorrow though, as soon as she found out what time Y/n got home. Ugh, it scares Y/n just thinking about it. Well, there’s nothing she could do about it now.

Y/n didn’t even bother checking her friends’ messages at that point, she just placed her phone down on the bedside table, without another thought. There were only two things on her dizzy mind at that point, the warm bed and her warm, cozy girlfriend.

The next morning

…8:37 am…

Y/n woke with a start, finding her peaceful sleep interrupted by a pillow to her face…

“Ugh…” she groaned as a hangover headache made its presence known. She opened her eyes to her girlfriend who wore Y/n’s old grey shirt and little black shorts. “…Hi, Kirs” she smiled meekly at her girlfriend who just glared at her.

After a few awkward seconds of silence Kirsten finally voiced out, “I’m just disappointed”. Y/n sat up from the comfy duvet and rubbed her sleepy eyes, “I’m sorry, baby, my friends got me too drunk and I couldn’t think straight.” She just rolled her eyes at you and stormed out the room. Y/n could hear Kirsten’s thundering footsteps down the stairs and groaned.

She fucked up.

Big time.

Y/n quickly got up from the bed and made the covers and pillows tidy. She stepped down the staircase quietly in order to not set her girlfriend off even more. She looked around the apartment and found the bathroom locked, she could hear the sink running and…crying? Oh fuck, “No, no, no” Y/n thought, panicking, “what the fuck happened last night?” She remembered her phone in the bedroom and ran up to go get it.

She unlocked her phone and immediately opened instagram to a horde of messages from her friends last night. She viewed some stories, including two from one of her close friends, Ishiriki Yangxi, an idol who the public thinks should be with Y/n as their visuals fit with each other. The first part of the story was a group picture with Y/n and their circle of friends, The second picture was..

“Oh my fucking god” Y/n’s eyes widened at the image. It was a picture of her and Yangxi, the girl was placing a kiss on Y/n’s cheek, leaving red lipstick marks all over Y/n’s face, as sweaty bodies jumped and danced around them.

“No fucking way she posted this.” Y/n immediately sent a message to Yangxi,

“ISHIRIKI LIAN YANGXI, WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU POST THAT ON YOUR STORY? KIRSTEN FUCKING SAW IT AND NOW SHE’S CRYING. WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU. YOU KNEW I WAS TOTALLY WASTED AND TOOK ADVANTAGE OF ME.“

After sending the message with her head pulsing even harder than last night, she left her phone on the bed and ran down the stairs.

Kirsten was nowhere to be found. “Oh fuck me” Y/n gritted her teeth together. Where was she? Oh god, she had to apologize, right this instant. She needed to explain that it wasn’t what she thought.

Y/n sent a few messages to Kirsten apologizing for the story and explaining the situation. She called her girlfriend’s number, no answer…Shit. “God where is she?” Y/n thought, stressed over this. Y/n asked around Kirsten’s friends, Ling, Latrice, Emma, and Audrey.

Ling, Emma, and Audrey all answered pretty quick, all responding with replies like they didn’t know or Kirsten hasn’t talked to them.

Latrice answered last, “She’s with me in the studio, we’re working on a choreo piece” Y/n read her reply quickly as she saw Latrice’s chat bubble typing again.

“Kirs told me that she wanted some space for a couple hours to cool down and think about things” she added

Y/n replied to Latrice, “Oh…okay, could you please tell her I’m incredibly sorry and if she’ll let me I’ll explain to her what happened, please.”

Latrice replied instantly, “Okay sure, don’t worry about it, I’m sure she’ll feel better after a few hours of dancing to cool off”

･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･

Y/n decided to leave her alone, deciding it would be better for her to think about that

for a while before Y/n explains herself. She figured Kirsten would come back somewhere near lunch time, she usually takes a nap at noon…

It was now 9:15 and Y/n decided to get some stuff to make up for last night. She went out and got a bouquet of yellow and white tulips, yellow was Kirsten’s favorite, because she loves the sun. She hurried home and made lunch for the two of them.

…10:04 am…

Y/n cleaned her self up and put on something comfy to not look like a mess. She went up to the bedroom and opened her phone.

There was a message from Yangxi.

“Oh. I thought you were in your right mind…Everyone told me I should go for it, I’m sorry.” Her reply said.

“Well, Sorry doesn’t cut it. I was completely drunk last night, that should’ve never happened, I’m sorry but this friendship cannot go on if it hurts my girlfriend” Y/n replied back coldly, still fuming from Yangxi’s actions. She blocked her, just to make sure it never happened again, she didn’t care if the public wanted them to date, Y/n wanted Kirsten, and Kirsten only.

Y/n cleaned up the house a bit more before Kirsten came back to take her mind of Yangxi for a bit. She went up to the bedroom again to touch up her makeup, after a few minutes she heard the door unlocking and a few light footsteps.

･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･

She grabbed the bouquet from the bed and listened for a few minutes. Once she heard the bathroom door opening and closing shut, she crept down the stairs quietly and hid in the living room for a bit.

After the bathroom door opens once more, Y/n peeked through the living room door to see Kirsten looking for something in her bag with her back to Y/n. Slowly and quietly, Y/n made her way to her girlfriend and gently slid her arms around Kirsten’s waist.

With the bouquet in one hand and the other going lower to hook her fingers through the belt loops of Kirsten’s pants, Y/n gently laid her chin on Kirsten’s shoulder as Kirsten let out a soft sigh.

“Kirsten please…I’m sorry, let me explain what happened” Y/n begged her quietly, hugging her tightly as if afraid if she let go, it’d be the last time. Kirsten let a few seconds of silence slip as she felt Y/n’s hot breath on her neck and her warm hands on her waist.

“Fine…what the hell did I see on Yangxi’s story this morning?” Kirsten muttered quietly as she placed her hands gently on the kitchen counter, the item in her bag completely forgotten.

Y/n heaved a sigh, “It was my fault, I’m so sorry, my love. My brother gave me too much to drink but I never thought Yangxi would’ve taken advantage of that. Trust me, Kirsten, I would never willingly let her do that.” Y/n quietly let out.

“Please believe me on this, Kirsten, I’ve already asked my company and Yangxi to separate us, I never want to work with her anymore now that she hurt you.” Y/n begged her, her eyes shined with tears because seeing Kirsten hurt broke her heart into a million pieces.

Kirsten stayed silent for a bit, Y/n could feel her breathing more heavily now. “it's okay... you go on ahead and cry. I've got you...” Y/n let out worriedly as tears slid down Kirsten’s cheeks. Y/n let go of her and set the bouquet on the table quickly, she turned back to Kirsten who was looking down at the floor, her tears steadily flowing.

Y/n wiped her tears gently, “You know you’re mine right?” Kirsten let out quietly as she let Y/n wipe her tears away. “Of course, my love” Y/n breathed out, clearly relieved, “I’m all yours, Kirs” Y/n grabbed her hand gently and placed a gentle kiss on her palm.

Y/n giggled lightly at the shorter woman, "What are you laughing at? i don't see anything funny." Kirsten questioned her, Y/n giggled in response “You’re cute when you’re jealous”

“Sorry how am I not supposed to be jealous when you’re supposed to be fucking mine, Y/n?” Kirsten rolled her eyes, Y/n grinned at her as she wrapped her arms around Kirsten’s waist again, finally letting out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding.

“You're so fucking hot when you're mad." Y/n muttered in Kirsten’s ear as she giggled finally relieving the tension that hung in the air for the past couple of minutes. Kirsten broke the hug as she held both of Y/n’s hands in her own,

“Yeah, yeah. You're cute. Just stop smiling at me like that." She giggled back in response.

Kirsten took Y/n’s hand and led her into the living room, “Oh?, you just can't help yourself, can you?" Y/n giggled at the shorter woman, loving this side of Kirsten she rarely got to see. They stumbled into the room, as Kirsten pulled Y/n’s collar to bring her into a heated kiss, Y/n didn’t resist, she’ll let Kirsten have her fun this one time.

Y/n just let it happen as Kirsten pushed her onto the couch, “Don’t you have to go back to the studio later?” Y/n questioned her girlfriend as she sat in her lap. “That doesn’t really matter to me right now, I’m sure Latrice can finish the piece by herself” Kirsten mumbled as she pulled Y/n into a slow, sweet kiss which morphed into a rough, eager make out session that left Y/n whimpering for more.

As Kirsten let Y/n catch her breath, she said “You look good like this, with my lipstick all smeared around your face and your neck marked by me.” Kirsten grinned smugly at the woman below her. She pushed Y/n so that the taller woman was lying down with Kirsten still comfortably seated in her lap.

Y/n was panting achingly at Kirsten, completely overwhelmed by her dominating behavior. She was all over you. She looked at you with those beautiful, captivating eyes of hers and you just found her irresistible. That was a look Y/n could never get tired of.

“C’mon, don’t look at me like that, Baby”

Let’s just say Y/n’s bouquet and the lunch she prepared were long forgotten after that.

･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ END…

HIIIII!!!! SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG HELP, ANYWAYS I HOPED THIS LIVED UP TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS 😭😭 SORRY IF IT SUCKS BUT I DID MY BEST OK😭 BUT IF YOU WANT MORE FEEL FREE TO SEND ME REQUESTS FOR ANY SWF2 DANCER <333 THATS ALL ILY GUYS MWA

(girl this was not my best, at all)

#swf2 x reader #swf2 #kirsten x reader #kirsten dodgen #jam republic #ling zhang #emma huch #latrice #audrey lane #yang jungwon #street woman fighter 2 #kirsten dodgen x reader

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anthemofgvf · 1 year

Text

Endless Summer: Josh Kiszka x Reader Fanfiction

Part Three

description: you and sammy have been best friends since you were kids, and being around his family was the norm your entire life. when invited to a trip to their family lake house during the summer, you find yourself spending more time with his brother than your best friend. and, one thing has been clear your entire friendship: brothers are off limits.

warnings for this series: alcohol and marijuana usage, explicit content (18+, minors dni), angst, swearing

word count: 7.5k

⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰

The next two days consisted of more physical activity than the prior week. One of the only things you all hadn't filled your time with was a hike, so slotting those into your guys' mornings every once in a while would ensure keeping boredom away.

The morning after the second day, your muscles were beyond sore, barely letting you move from your mattress. It was as if you had fully sunken into the sheets, enveloped in the silk cloth and held hostage willingly by your exhausted body. Your eyes flickered open only for a moment, until realizing that sleep was the only thing that kept you from the aching sensation that ran throughout your legs.

Once you flipped over to the best of your ability, you tapped your phone screen and read the time: 8:30 AM. You exhaled deeply while the back of your hand rubbed the sleep out of your eyes and figured a soak would do your body justice.

And your assumption of just that proved itself to be true once you worked up the strength to maneuver yourself to the bathroom and strip from your clothes. If you had to push yourself through one more day of hiking, you had to soothe your muscles to the best of your ability. Although a slight wince escaped your lips as your toes dipped into the icy hot water, you just continued to clench your jaw and fully submerge yourself in the tub and felt relaxation wash over your whole being.

Whether or not a cold bath would've been more fitting for the current state of your body, that wasn't on your mind. The heat that steamed off the water and created a spa-like aroma was soothing enough, so you just lolled your head back and let your eyes rest shut.

But relaxation can only last for so long, especially if you're trying to achieve it in a house full of boys. Whistling rang throughout the upstairs, along with small steps to accompany the melodic blowing. You were unsure of who was awake, but Sam usually woke up before his brothers, so you ditched another ten minutes of soaking and slipped on the first things you could find in your suitcase.

Your head poked out of your bedroom with your hand finding its way to undo the lazy up-do you had worn to keep your hair from getting wet. But looking down the hallway, left and right, no one had made their appearance known. Sam's bedroom door was shut, and there was no sight of the twins.

Stepping out of your room, you quietly made your way down the stairs and the whistling ran through your ears again. It was coming from outside, and your curiosity led you to open the back door and follow it without thought.

To your surprise, Josh had his hands pressed flat behind him on the ground, propping his body weight onto them and swaying his head from side to side as he continued the melody. The warm wind hugged your body but sang through yours and his hair, and you watched from afar as the curls he spent hours perfecting just defying the position they were supposed to stay in. Your calves did argue with your body to hold you up but propping yourself on the side of the lake house seemed to be beneficiary to the calls from your tense legs.

Josh's whistling faltered, and his head turned over his shoulder. With squinted eyes, his face lit into a content smile, and he returned to overlooking the mountains that contained the lake you all enjoyed.

"Thought I heard someone." He kept his focus in front of him as he spoke. "Surprised to see you up so early."

"Me? I'm surprised to see that you're the first one awake." You repositioned yourself on the exterior of the house, with your back pressed onto it instead of your shoulder and upper arm. "Figured it was Sam out here."

"Are you disappointed?" He let his words sink into sticky air before turning his head to find your expression, and through squinted eyes, he saw you roll your eyes and huff a laugh. Your reaction only let his infectious grin fully display itself and turn back to the scenery. "Glad to know you don't have favorites, y/n."

"Don't tell your brother." You joined Josh on the grass with your legs extended in front of you and resting on your elbows. The temperature of the grass alone allowed you to adjust to the heat that was quickly rising with the sun, but not at its full high.

With the same scrunched expression, you shielded your eyes with your hand and looked to Josh, who had mastered a relaxed face despite being almost directly blinded by the sun. "You excited for another day of hiking?"

Josh tilted his head down, which casted a shadow over your eyes and reduced your scrunched face into a normal state. "My legs tell me no, but I know the view will be worth the pain." His curls slightly shook with the movement of his head as he spoke - always animated. "What about you?"

"My legs are killing me, to be honest. Might stay here while you guys go."

"And do what? Nothing?"

"Possibly. Or go down to the lake on my own. Haven't figured it out yet." You gave him a shrug, removing your eyes from his and looking out into the mountains.

"Well, I'd like it if you went with us." His eyes lingered on you, which was a nonverbal cue for you to look back up to him. "Just think about it, alright? And, if you don't want to go, I don't mind staying back with you to keep you company - if you'll have me."

You gave him a singular nod, mouthing, "okay" before you looked off into the distance and tilted your chin down enough to examine the trees that lined the waters in the small canyon of mountains.

You and Josh basked in the silence, interrupted once or twice by the whistling wind or the birds singing their infamous tune, but it didn't bother either of you. There was something comforting about the silence held between you and Josh; feeling as if there is no need to speak because each other's company was just enough. But although the world was quiet, your mind wasn't.

You remembered that Sam would be awake soon, and you didn't want his morning to be started off with a view of you outside with Josh. Whether he relaxed his feelings about your friendship with Josh, or just learned not to show them as much, you knew it bothered him, nonetheless. So, you left Josh quietly and made your way up to Sammy's bedroom, clinging onto the railing to drag your legs up each step that seemed to be more painful than the one before.

You left a few soft knocks on the door, and with no response, you cracked the door slightly to see your best friend still sound asleep laying on his stomach.

Hushed snores rumbled against his pillows as you tiptoed around the bed and crawl into the other side. Even your movements didn't stir his sleep, which didn't surprise you, so you pressed your palm onto his bare back and spoke his name.

After you shook his body a few times, he sharply inhaled, pushing his body up and whipping his head towards you. When his eyes allowed him to make out the figure in front of him, he was satisfied to see it was you.

"I was sleeping, y'know?" He relaxed his head back onto the pillow and turned away from you.

"Shh, you've woken me up plenty of times. I get a turn, right?"

Sam hummed, rotating his body and letting his eyes flutter shut again. "What time is it?"

"9:30. Not too bad of a time to start your day." Your hands ran through his knotted hair and brushed the stray pieces back behind his ear.

"Guess it's nice of you to have woken me up." He leaned his head into your touch. "Anyone else awake?"

You had to make a quick decision of whether or not to tell Sam that you had just gotten back from hanging out with Josh, or to just say you were just leaving your bedroom for the day. But, without knowing if Josh would say something about this morning, you figured telling Sam the truth was the best decision.

"Yeah, uh, Josh is. Heard him outside when I was taking a bath. So, I joined him for a bit after I got changed and talked with him." Your face slightly squinted as if you were trying to reflect any puncture, but to your surprise, Sam just nodded.

"He's awake?"

"I know! I was surprised to see him, too." You continued to toy with his hair. "Think he's still out there."

"Well, then that means neither of you have eaten yet." He said with a grunt, pushing himself off the mattress and hopping out of the bed. If you and him hadn't been friends for so long, seeing him in his briefs would cause a lot of discomfort on your end. "Do you have any preferences on breakfast?" He slipped into a loose pair of joggers.

"Preferably not limited to vegan." You shrugged.

Sam rested his hands on his hips, tapping at the bones with his pointer fingers. "Well, I guess I'll need some help then if I'm making a grand meal, huh?"

"Sam, I'm not a cook. Can't you recruit your brother?" You said in reference to Jake, who you had known to love cooking since he was little.

Although Sam sighed in defiance, he rolled his head towards the door and his body followed, leaving you to follow him downstairs and into the kitchen.

Jake was already awake, sitting on the couch and absent-mindedly scrolling through his phone when Sam discussed the plan of the first meal of the day with him. He just nodded, waiting for Sam to fully leave the room before he stood up, passing you by with a light smile and tousling the hair on top of your head. While you flattened your hair out, Josh had entered the room quietly, and joined his brothers.

Josh barely helped with the meal, just handing them things they asked for or mixing whatever concoction Jake had whipped up. You just rested your chin on the back of the couch as you watched them all work together, noticing how their work dynamic never really changed from when they were kids. You figured their arguing would lessen, or their teamwork would improve, but they still had hints of their old ways. It was special to see them act as if time never passed, and they were still the same normal guys that you grew up with in Frankenmuth.

⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰

Over breakfast, Jake had mentioned staying another week or two at the lake house, admitting he's missed the second home more than he's realized and doesn't want to let the feeling of serenity go just yet. They all agreed with hums, mouths stuffed full of food, and their eyes landed on you. You were the only one who didn't follow their course of plans, so your decision mattered. Jake had said there was no pressure staying, but you insisted that you were enjoying yourself and the time spent with them, to which they all smiled gratefully to you that you chose to stay longer. However, you did mention that after today, you wouldn't want to take another hike, and Jake hummed in agreement.

After breakfast, you helped the three of them clean up the multitude of dishes they compiled while making the grand meal. You stook to the sink and washed the dishes thoroughly, then handing them to Josh, who dried them. Although there was a dishwasher that could make the job easier, there was something sentimental about making the one-man job into a two or three-man job. Sam only stuck around for so long when helping put away the dishes, until he ran off to take a shower. Jake, who helped you wash the plates and bowls for a few, chose to clean the pans instead and then leaving to get ready for the day himself.

Then there was just you and Josh... again. You swore you promised yourself you wouldn't stick yourself in situations as such that would leave you and Josh alone. Sam seemed to have gotten his feelings about your friendship with his brother under control, and that didn't help. Sam was like a barrier that did annoy you at some points with his aggravation of the platonic relationship between Josh and you, but it helped to keep your feelings sunk into the back of your mind and hopefully forgotten about.

Sure, it didn't help either that Josh came into your bedroom nightly to spend time with you but talking helped keep your thoughts at bay. It's not like you minded hanging around Josh, since he exuded the closest feeling to euphoria you could get. But it was easier to be upset about Sam getting in the way than for him to fully step away and let yours and Josh's relationship take its course.

You didn't let the guilt override your positive mind, and just took a few glances at Josh every now and then when he was putting a dish away or drying them off. His focused face was quite adorable, and not a part of you felt ashamed for thinking that. You chose for at least today to let yourself think or say whatever you want to in your mind about him, since it was the only place that was trustworthy enough to hold such a secret.

His eyes flicked at you once, or at least to your knowledge, and quickly shot his eyes down to the white mug he was drying.

"Were you ever taught that staring was rude?" He teased you with a smile, earning him a bump into his shoulder from your elbow.

"Were you ever taught about sunscreen? Your cheeks are red."

Josh just simply shook his head with a grin that only raised at the right corner of his mouth, taking a few steps to open the wooden cabinets to place the cup into its original spot and returning to your side.

"They always get burnt, no matter how much sunscreen I put on. It's annoying, y'know? Have to walk around looking like a fucking tomato." His hands flew to motion to his face, returning back onto the counter and waiting for you to hand him the next dish. "With that being said, have you decided whether or not you'll be joining us today?"

You placed the small plate into Josh's hands, fiddling with the next bowl and running it under the hot sink water as you thought about the proposition. "Haven't really thought about it to be honest. I'll probably go for the sake of not having to explain myself."

"Well, today's trail is the shortest one. And it overlooks this beautiful forest. You'll enjoy it, I promise." His hand patted your back. "And, if your legs go numb, I'm sure one of us can carry you back down."

"I think one of you will need to carry me the whole way." You giggled, to which Josh returned a light chuckle.

Leaving Josh in the kitchen, you got yourself ready for the day and mentally prepared yourself for the hike. Although you enjoyed the activities and spending time with the boys, your legs were telling you that you should stay in and ditch them. But something interesting always comes out of the day when you're with them, so sucking it up was your best option.

Dressing yourself in a light tank top and a pair of denim shorts, you threw on your tennis shoes and stumbled your way down the stairs, gripping onto the railing with each step you took.

Two bottles of water were laid on the island, to which you chose to grab your own and assumed the boys had claimed those two as their own.

"All ready?" Sam popped into the kitchen, joining you at the fridge.

"Yeah, you?" You closed the fridge door, setting your water bottle on the counter and crossing your arms once you rested your back against it.

"Yeah. Think they're still getting ready, but I've been waiting about 10 minutes." His eyes flicked down at his watch. "Can't wait to do nothing tomorrow."

"Couldn't agree more. Maybe me and you can go out and do something. Just us."

His lips curled into a smile, nodding in agreement at your words. "I'd like that. What would we do?"

"Depends. There's not much to do here, but whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be fun." You took your water bottle off the counter, bouncing it between your hands. "You don't think they'd be upset if we didn't invite them?"

"I'm sure they'll want to go do something on their own, so I doubt they'll feel left out." He opened the fridge, grabbing his own water and shutting the door swiftly. "We haven't had much time alone together. We've got some time to make up for it."

"It's hard when you're constantly on the road and I'm stuck here." You brought your inner cheek into your teeth as your lips turned into a frown. You didn't want him to feel guilty for traveling, or the fact that you and him rarely spent time together. It wasn't his fault that he had a career that called for constant travel. "Just wish you had more time home, that's all."

He rested against the counter across from you, folding his arms as he spoke. "As much as I like touring, I wish I got to stay here more. You don't realize how much you miss home until you come back. I mean, yeah, I get homesick, but it's worth it when I get to come home."

"You've got to have a favorite place you've been to, right? I mean, if I got to travel as much as you, I would be revisiting the places I liked the most."

"We try to hit the best spots that we come across on tour." Josh said from across the room, strutting into the kitchen and joining the conversation. "My personal favorite was probably France. Lovely language; French."

"Eavesdropping in on our conversation?" Sam pushed himself off the counter with a grin splattered on his face.

"Don't talk in a public room if you don't want me joining." Josh mimicked Sam's smile and gestured at his brother with his pointer finger.

Sam just gave him a weak shrug before leaving you two, saying he was checking on Jake after he gave you a pat on your shoulder.

Josh joined you at your side. "What's the best place you've been to, travel-wise?"

"I haven't been out of the country before, so I'd probably say California, which is a basic answer," you admitted, turning your head to him, "but Paris sounds nice. Oh, or London."

"Been to both." Josh gave you a cocky smirk, wiggling his head and straightening his posture. You pushed his shoulder and watched him laugh with a toothy expression. "Maybe I'll take you someday."

You shook your head with a puzzled expression. "Just you and me?"

"I meant when you come on tour with us, if you ever do, that is." His eyes averted to the cabinets in front of him before returning back to your eyes. "Or if you'd prefer an exclusive excursion with just me, I think I'd make the perfect tour guide."

You tilted your head back with a giggle. "I think you'd get us lost."

"Well, I think your expectations of me are too low. You're going to have to fix that if you want to travel with us one day." He positioned his body facing you, resting his hand on the counter beside him.

"You've got some time to prove yourself. Still time to change my mind, Josh." The corners of your lips fell into a downturned smile. And, with the muscles in your face moving so much into that joyful expression, you realized how much your cheeks hurt from smiling so much. It didn't help that the blood quickly rose to your cheeks and flushed them to a bubblegum pink.

"I'll take that challenge gratefully." He gave you a singular nod with a comical smile and wink before grabbing his water bottle and walking off to Jake's room.

You watched him leave and found Jake and Sam meeting him halfway, sharing a few words before they all announced that they were ready to go.

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True to Josh's words, the trail was quite short, so your muscles decided not to give out on you just yet. And, even better, the view was beautiful. The slightly cool breeze whistled through your hair and the leaves of the trees that rested below the hill you four stopped at.

Josh took the liberty to snap a few photos of everyone, a few of himself, and plenty of the view that stood before you four. You couldn't help but watch his eyes light up at the view, seeing him discuss with his brothers how nothing beats the atmosphere of home. His joy for life and everything that surrounded him was contagious, and you couldn't help but feel warm and comfort from the energy that radiated off of him. His wide smile that reached his eyes and created wrinkles at the sides, his animated movements when he spoke or how he deeply examined everything that stood below him and that rested above him. How he felt no shame in just sitting near the edge of the cliff, seemingly trying to meditate, but he was just taking everything in and trying to be one with the environment.

You considered joining him, but you chose not to when Sam pulled you into a conversation with Jake. Josh was just in his own world, appreciating life even if the activity of the day was a small one. You'd say it from time and time that you admired his outlook on life, and aspired to think the way he did. Appreciate things the way he did. See things the way he did. Loved things the way he did. He was always an inspiration to you in the way you should live your life everyday as if it were your last, and just live in the moment.

And that's all you thought about during the hike. You tried to respond to his brothers when they asked you a question, or the conversation grew quiet and you decided to add something or give them your input, but your mind was somewhere else. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing that you loved the way Josh loved the world, but it was a bad thing that you loved the way Josh loved. You had gotten yourself back to square one, and digging yourself out of that hole was going to take longer than you pictured. Because, no matter what he did, he always knew the right things to say or do. It's like he could read your mind, or just knew you more than you knew yourself. And that's another thing you loved about Josh.

And loving those things about Josh was one thing, but loving him, was another.

You four decided after an hour or so that it was best to head back for lunch, so you all made your way down the trail and headed back towards the lake house. While Jake offered to make lunch and started before anyone had any input, you decided on a quick shower to wash off the sweat that accumulated on your body from the hike. Stepping into the cool water felt nice on your sunburnt shoulders, so you let the water run off your back for a few moments as you faced the wall in front of you.

Once you were satisfied with scrubbing your body and your head of hair long enough, you stepped out of the shower and wrapped your towel around your bare body as you ran your brush through your wet hair.

A few knocks tapped at your door, and you peaked your head through the bathroom door.

"Who is it?" You questioned with your ears tuned to any sounds that came from behind the door. When waiting for a response and receiving none, you made your way to the door and opened it.

Josh stood at your door, eyes immediately shooting to your white towel before looking at you with his lips curled into a quizzical grin.

"Lunch outfit?"

"Ha, ha, very funny," you rolled your eyes, "just got out of the shower."

"Didn't quite get that from the towel. Thanks for clarifying, though." He shot you a wink. "Food's ready by the way."

"Thanks. I'll be down in a second." You nodded with a quick flash of a smile, then shutting the door on Josh and let your towel fall to the ground.

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After you all ate lunch and the rest of the day consisted of simple relaxation around the house, Jake came into your room and said that you all were going to watch the sun set around the fire. It had been a few days since you all sat around the firepit, so you gratefully walked with him outside of the cabin and noticed that Josh and Sam were already in their chairs with beers accompanied in their hands.

Sam stood from his chair and embraced you before letting you sit down, handing you a beer after you sat crisscross in the seat.

The routine was the same as it always was: Jake playing a few songs, Sam talking to you about whatever it is he had to say, and then you all splitting off into the cabin after the sun fully rested under the waters and the moon casted its glimmering light. You didn't mind the continuous formula that you all grew accustomed to doing, mainly because you enjoyed relaxation more than constantly being on your toes doing something. Especially since you were surrounded by the three of them, it made the activity that could be taken as boring into something interesting.

And you could say you enjoyed the ritual more because you knew Josh would be joining you for a bit afterwards. It didn't matter that you two talked about nonsensical topics, it was just his presence that made everything feel better. Even if you both smelled of smoke and amber and it would've been best to wash it off, you both didn't care. You had come to enjoy the familiar scent.

He entered your room without knocking, figuring you were decent and just waiting for him to arrive, and he shut the door behind him and locking it.

He hopped onto your bed with a huff, looking at you with a soft smile and eyes that told you that he was thinking of something.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Josh?"

"I have an idea of something we could do instead of staying in here, even though I don't mind it."

You huffed out a laugh, looking away for a moment. "And what's that?"

"You can say no, by the way. No hard feelings," he crossed his hands over each other, "we take my Jeep and go down to the beach." He shrugged with a confident smile, proud of his plan.

"And do what?"

"What we always do: talk. We could swim, too. What else do you do at a beach?" He pretended to insult you with his question but couldn't keep a straight face, so he reserved to a sly smirk.

"Well, I don't know. I never know when it comes to you," you shook your head, "did you want to go now?"

"We can. Or we can sit in here for a bit if that's what you prefer."

You nodded with a hum, glancing at the mirror and then reverting your eyes back to his. "I've always got to choose, huh?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, would you like me to be a bit more assertive?" He cocked his head, his curls following his motions.

You rubbed your lips together. "Would be more helpful. You're always letting people decide things for you. Gotta put yourself and your needs before others."

Maybe you should take your own advice.

"I'm a people pleaser, what can I say? I enjoy doing things others want to do. We don't have to go the-."

"Josh, I want to go." You cut him off with a laugh. "Let's just head out now, alright?"

He gave you a singular nod and a smile, helping himself out of the bed and walking over to the door, waiting for you.

As you joined his side, he reached for the lock, but quickly halted his movements when the doorknob shook. His eyes widened, looking over to you, and seeing you were wearing the same shocked face.

"Y/n? You awake?"

You both mouthed "shit", turning your bodies frantically to figure out what move would be the best to make next. It's not like you could just open up the door with Josh at your side. Although Sam seemed to have his annoyance with you and Josh's friendship at bay, the door being locked wouldn't help with how his mind works. Anyone could assume the worst in that situation.

"Y-yeah, I am. One second!" You stammered as your eyes flashed from the door to Josh. You could hear your heartbeat ringing in your ears, body flaming intensely as your fingertips began to shake.

"What do we do?" Josh mouthed to you, even though his voice was almost audible.

"I-I don't know." You whispered back, scanning your room and finding a solution. "The bathroom, go."

You pointed over to the door, and he looked at you with a puzzled expression.

"Wait, why can't he know I'm in here?" His voice raised into a whisper, and your heart rattled in your chest.

"Because my door is locked and you know how he feels about us hanging out, especially alone. Bathroom, go." You nodded over there, waiting for him to walk with quiet steps and shutting the door behind himself, taking a few moments to slow your breathing before opening the door with a smile.

"Why was your door locked? You never lock it." Sam pointed at your doorknob with furrowed brows.

"I was, uh, changing. And, knowing you, you never knock. Didn't want to risk it." You dragged the words out slowly, nodding and tapping at the doorframe.

"But you're wearing...never mind. I don't think I want to know," he chuckled, "just wanted to see if you wanted to go do something."

"Right now?" You turned your head to the window in your room. "What did you want to go do?"

"Dunno. I'm not tired just yet. Maybe go take a walk, or something." He gave you a shrug.

And here you were again having to choose between your best friend and Josh. You and Josh had made prior agreements to going out, but knowing that Sam wasn't tired, he was probably going to notice you were leaving. Your brain banged in your head as you tried to come up with a quick decision. Either way, you were going to feel guilty.

But you made a promise to yourself that Josh wouldn't get in the way of you and Sam's friendship. And Josh was also just your friend, so why would it matter?

"Yeah, sure. I'm going to finish changing. I'll be a second or two, alright?" You nodded quickly, shutting the door before Sam had the chance to speak.

You rested your back on the door, sprawling your hands onto the wood and exhaling deeply. Composing yourself quickly, you walked over to the bathroom and opened the door.

"Alright, he's gone." You nodded.

"You think we should wait it out, or?"

Your head fell to your feet as your stomach twisted with guilt. You had never seen Josh disappointed, and you didn't plan on seeing it. Not now, at least.

"I'm, uh, I'm actually going out with him for a bit."

"Oh," he pressed his lips together, "okay then. We'll just go on our little trip tomorrow."

"I'm really, really sorry, Josh. I feel terrible. I know you wanted to go and-."

"Why are you apologizing? I get it, it's okay." He gave you a reassuring smile and placed his hands on the sides of your arms. "Just gives me something to look forward to."

"Are you sure? Because I can just tell Sam I'm too tired or make up some lame excuse to get out of it."

"No, no. Go, I insist." He jerked your body forward, then back, and ran his hands up your arms before letting them fall to his sides.

Josh began to laugh, running his hands over his mouth to try and suppress the laughter.

"What's so funny?" You felt a smile creep onto your lips.

"Just thinking about if Sam saw me in here with you how ballistic he'd react. Think he'd kill me?" His laughter grew, and you tried shushing him, but he couldn't stop laughing.

So, your body reacted quickly, clapping your hand over his mouth and giving him a stern glare. His hand grasped onto your wrist in a swift reaction to your own actions. You peaked outside of the bathroom, then met his surprised eyes.

"It's not like we were doing anything, but you know how he is. Now, stop laughing before I kill you. I don't know how thin these walls are, but if he's out there, there's a good chance he can hear you." You whispered to him, slowly removing your hand from his face.

He was in a state of recollecting himself, but once finished, he let a smirk rest on his lips and ran his thumb over his bottom lip. "There are better ways to silence me than that, y/n."

"Well, you weren't keeping quiet, Josh. Now, shut up and wait a few to leave my room." You pointed at him with a stern face, then leaving him in the bathroom. You turned to him again. "And, shut the door. I'm changing."

He put his hands up in defense, closing the door and wiggling his fingers at you in a quiet goodbye.

You stripped off your clothing quickly, throwing on a pair of grey shorts and the first tank top you could find. You left your room after grabbing your phone, grateful that Sam wasn't waiting outside of you room for you, but in fact downstairs on the blue couch.

Sam's pupils shot up at you with a smile finding the corners of his eyes. He stood up and placed his hand on your back to guide you out through the back door.

As you two walked down the familiar trail that led to the lake below the lake house, silence echoed throughout the air. It had been a while since you two had genuinely spent time together without anyone's presence, and talking just wasn't on your mind. You just wanted to soak up the friendship you've held with Sam in the quiet atmosphere, although it was filled with an owl or two calling in the air and trees whispering in the wind.

You couldn't remember the last time you were with Sam in an area as such. You two sat near the lake, near enough to hear the waves trickle in a dance along the rocks at the shoreline. All you could do was just breathe in the same air as him and let your head fall back, eyes shut and giving yourself to the environment.

Your phone vibrated on the ground, and you unwrapped your arms from around your legs pressed against your chest to turn your device over.

Don't forget about our little secret trip to the beach tomorrow night. Goodnight, y/n. Hope Sam is keeping you good company.

You read the text from Josh with a smile, rereading it over twice before turning your phone off and looking over to Sam.

"Who was that?"

"Oh, just my mom saying goodnight." You nodded with your tongue pressed into your cheek. He pressed his lips together and looked off into the water, returning to his silent state. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just...thinking, that's all." A deep exhale fell from his lips. His eyes lifted to the sky, admiring the night sky lit up by glistening stars.

You pressed your cheek into your knee. "Penny for your thoughts?"

He pulled his eyebrows together, bringing his hand from behind him to massage the bridge of his nose. "Dunno. Just missed this, y'know? I don't get to see you as much, and it sucks. I don't like getting all sappy with you, but I've just been thinking about how much fun I've been having with you and all that." He gave you a weak shrug and glanced over to see your reaction had fallen softly into an admirable one, and kept his eyes held into yours.

"Yeah, it's so weird of you to share your feelings." Your eyes widened for a moment with a light giggle. "No, really, I've missed this too. It's not the same when you're gone. Get a little bored sometimes."

He gave you a single nod. "We used to hang out every night. Remember that?"

"How could I forget? Sam, you were pretty much there for everything. Think we hung out until our parents told us to get home, and until we got older, we just slept over at one of each other's houses and drove to school together." You reminisced in the memories that flooded into your brain.

"Can't believe you never got sick of me. I mean, you get pretty annoying sometimes, but-."

"Do not!" You swatted his shoulder. He huffed a laugh, shaking his head and looking back up to the sky.

The silence filled the air once again, and you two just enjoyed the comfort of that noise in itself. The sound of nothing was comforting, and although it wasn't eventful, you didn't mind it.

It was something that you had in common with Josh. But, letting Josh run through your mind was not something you were going to let happen, at least, not tonight. This moment was about you and your best friend, not his brother.

"Thanks for coming on this trip with us. I don't think I thanked you before, so." He gestured with his hand, then reserving it back behind himself.

"Thanks for inviting me. I was a bit nervous that I was going to be a bit bored. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with you guys, but, I don't know. Was kind of worried you guys changed after a year."

"A year is a long time, but we're still the same," he shrugged, "maybe Josh is a bit more loud."

You laughed at his comment, letting your mind wander only just for a moment to Josh, although you promised yourself you wouldn't think of him. But this was an acceptable time, so you allowed your thoughts to take over for a moment.

"He's a bit more talkative this time round. I mean, we've always been good friends, but he's actually making an effort to talk to me more. It's nice."

All Sam did was nod and kept his eyes locked into the sky. Reading him normally came easy to you, but you couldn't quite pick out how he felt about your words. He had seemed to cool down after a few weeks and become comfortable with you and Josh's friendship, but you knew deep down it still bothered him.

You were hesitant to speak. You tried to come up with a new topic, something that didn't involve his brother.

"Do you think you'll be back for my graduation?"

Sam's eyes shot down to you with a confused expression. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Dunno. Maybe you'd be on tour in late May, or something." You pressed your chin in between your knees and let your gaze relax into the lake.

"No, we'll be back. Don't worry, I'm not going to miss your graduation."

He brought you into his arms, letting you relax into his body. You hummed with delight and rested your head into his chest.

"You know I would hate you forever if you missed my graduation?" You said, causing his chest to rise with a laugh.

"Shut up. You can't hate me. I'm going to be around for the rest of your life."

"Sounds miserable." Another laugh rose in his chest.

"As much as I hate to admit it," he spoke with sarcasm laced on his tongue, "I care about you a lot. Gotta be here for you when I can, and as much as I can. Making up the time we lost when I was gone."

"This trip definitely helped. It's nice that we all decided to stay a few more weeks. But we're going to have to find new stuff to do."

"Unfortunately, there's not much to do in this town. But we always come up with random shit to do to pass time. Comes in handy after being on the road with the same people for months on end." His hand ran delicately along your spine.

"Yeah. Maybe we can take a drive somewhere? Go to Chicago or something." You lifted your head up.

"That's not a bad idea, although Chicago is a bit far. Detroit might be a better shot." He gave you an assertive nod with a grin, and you let your head rest into his chest.

His heartbeat drummed into your ear, comforting and warm on the side of your head as you laid in his arms. You and Sam never found being this close to each other to be uncomfortable or weird. It was just a normality in your guys' friendship. And you never disapproved of the action itself. It was something you often missed when he was gone. Although he was difficult with showing his emotions, you were someone that could always bring everything out of him. And that made you feel a bit golden, to be honest.

"I'm just glad we stay in touch when you're gone." You mentioned to him, exhaling the vulnerability that your words held. Truthful words that sunk into your friend's heart and tugged at the strings. Ones that made his heart race just enough for you to feel the change of the beat of his heart.

"Me too. Don't want to lose you, you know that?"

You lifted your head up again and gave him a singular nod to show him you understood. "You won't, I promise. Just, don't do anything stupid."

"Same goes for you, y/n." He tousled the hair that rested on top of your scalp.

And you knew what he meant when he told you that. You knew who he was referring to when he said that. The journey of burying your feelings for Josh was a treacherous one, but you hadn't finished it just yet. Your mind would make you believe that in some circumstance you could get Sam on board with idea and be okay with it. Maybe, just maybe, you could convince him.

But you knew there was no way to do that. Even if you were someone that Sam couldn't stay mad at, someone that could convince Sam of anything, that was the one thing he'd never be in agreement with you on. And you hated to admit it, but your feelings for Josh grew on this trip.

You were just good at masking them more.

"Mind heading back? Getting a bit tired." You unraveled yourself from Sam's arms.

"Yeah, sure." He said and pushed himself off the ground before lending his hands to you and helping you up from the rocks.

On the walk back, he began a small talk about the stars, something he was always fond of. He told you about things he learned about the galaxy that lit up the sky since he's been gone, things he's seen and picked up on his travels. It was one of the only things you never understood about him - his fascination with the stars, that is. But admiration for the world ran in the family, and he chose the night over the day as his pleasurable hobby. It was an escape from his daily life as a musician.

He even mentioned to you that in some places you can barely see them, which you knew, but you didn't let him know that. You liked seeing his eyes light up talking about this kind of thing, and seeing himself feeling accomplished when telling you something you didn't know or chose not to tell him that you did know.

Sam followed you up the stairs into the lake house, pulling you into a tight embrace before saying goodnight to you and leaving you to enter his own room.

The night had turned to be a memorable one, despite your wishes to have gone to the beach with Josh. You realized that your friendship with Sam was irreplaceable. It couldn't be found in anyone else. It couldn't be created with anyone else. So, with that in mind, it was going to be a bit easier easing your feelings of Josh out of your head and heart and returning your thoughts of him to purely platonic.

You still had the beach trip with him, but that could be a possible test for how you could control your thoughts and just letting things be the way they are. And that reminder was enough to help you sleep that night, mind cleared of any thought that dared to enter.

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taglist: @gvfleetwood @sacredjake @aureatopia @myeyehurtz @alexiagx @objectsinspvce @unhappycylinder @spinthehemmo @carbonwritingthroughtime @thecoldwind @ageofsophgvf @fakeplastiqtree @thepritchardscale @gvfpal @light-myluv @raviolilegs

-part four-

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flailingfrog · 1 year

Text

Nikole and Kit: Holly in the Parking Lot

TW : BBU/BBU-adjacent setting, dehumanization, conditioned whumpee, mentioned character death

She exits the office and descends the stairs as quickly as she can, fuming.

Holly’s promised she can drop by the house with her 8 am tomorrow morning, the same time Holly herself always stops by to check on Kit and the dog, guide the pet through daily needs she wouldn’t attend to if left on her own. She’ll get her the keys, and the house—The house is going to be a headache. All the packing and cleaning and eventual listing on the market—

Her mother’s boxbabe would be so much more useful if she were a Domestic.

The cold air of this joke of an early spring smacks her across her face as she pushes out of the building, stinging her cheeks. All she wants to do is pick her way across the parking lot, get in her car, get something greasy for dinner and go home, trying not to wonder if her ex husband is enforcing Alyvia’s limit on screen time.

Before she’s halfway across the cracked asphalt, cold already nipping through her coat, Holly’s voice is cracking on her name.

She shuts her eyes, takes in an inhale of bitter March air, and forces friendliness back to her features as she turns to her.

“Hey, Holly. Did you need something?” Holly’s hair’s frizzy today, and she’d take pleasure in it if she thought it bothered the other woman in the slightest. As it is, it adds to the growing agitation spidering up and down her arms.

Holly isn’t smiling at her as she joins her by the young trees daring to begin to bud new leaves.

Sometimes, Nikole forgets not everyone has had friendliness programmed into them from preschool. Holly’s not from Utah, but she never bothered to learn where she came from or when she moved. Her mom would’ve known. She ignores the way it hollows her out to think about.

“Yeah, I do. I need you to—” Whatever she was going to say—something foul based on her voice raising an octave—she smooths it away and decides to try instead, “Why did you agree?”

“Mom asked.”

Holly’s face is still threatening to revolt against her. “You know your mom wants you to take care of her, right? The way your mom takes—”

Nikole’s face would twist up that same way at a slip like that, but she doesn’t reach to comfort her, especially not with the air starting to tease her nose.

“Took care of her, not the way you feel she should be.”

She manages to keep her face pleasant as she says, “I’m aware.”

“And are you going to?”

Nikole gives her a look, just this side of teasing, because that’s what the question deserves.

Holly’s face twists.

Past the parking lot, large enough for everyone the four story building that houses her mother’s chosen attorney serves, evening traffic continues routinely.

“You didn’t have to take her,” Holly tells her.

Something twists in Nikole’s chest. She shoves her hands into her pockets instead of examining it, the chill laid into them prickling at the pockets’ warmth. “What, and let you handle it?”

“Yes? Is that so difficult for you?”

If she didn't know any better, she'd say her face is like she’s going through the grief of Nikole’s mom dying all over again. There's a reason she’s never understood Holly.

She scoffs instead of trying. “Trust me, I’m doing Kit a favor. The deterioration of her training… It can’t be good for her, either.”

“What would you even know about that?” Holly asks, not bothering to hide the challenge in it as she steps further into Nikole’s space. “You barely see her.”

She acts like Holly isn’t close enough she can feel her own heartbeat. “I see enough.” Anyone with eyes could see enough. You take Kit, you compare her to her friend’s Refurbs, to any of the friends she had whens he was still with Michael’s refurbs, and the difference is obvious. She knows that Platonics are meant to keep company, but Kit doesn’t treat her mother the way a boxbabe should. She acts more like she’s Nikole, and she’d never seen Kit ask permission for a single thing, not even at one of Alyvia’s birthday parties, and don’t get her started on how inappropriate that whole affair is to begin with.

She doesn’t need to be an expert.

Holly’s about to continue, but she cuts her off, voice as sweet as she can manage when she’s this aware of her heart and the news of her mother’s last parting act of stupidity is still reverberating through her. “I know you care about her, and I promise, I have everyone’s best intentions at heart.” She pauses, but not enough for Holly to speak. “I really need to be getting home, but if you need anything, you have my number. You can text me—Call me, even, if you really need to.” She manages that same sympathetic tone despite the circumstances.

Holly’s face scrunches, then fights to keep from staying that way, and Nikole feels her own smile tighten. But Holly doesn’t say anything, so Nikole lets herself turn around and leave, digging her car key out of her purse.

Its click as it unlocks is enough to ease the last tension from her. She slips in and locks the car, the outside world muffled if only until she gets to the drivethrough by a cocoon of pale leather and touchscreens connected to bluetooth.

She puts on Fleetwood Mac and pretends she doesn’t have to see Holly again tomorrow at her dead mother’s house.

@angst-after-dark

#whump #pet whump #bbu whump #ladywhump #box boy universe #mentioned character death #nikole and kit

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parcequecestnotreprojeeeet · 2 years

Note

Hello! It's Winter! I went back to the earlier years with this story. I hope everyone enjoys it.

Early

It had been a week - one excruciatingly long week - since he saw his girlfriend. 168 hours since he kissed her body and been inside her. A glance at his watch indicated he was only 2 hours away from holding her again. He caught the train on time, took a quick nap onboard, and now found himself bounding the stairs to her house.

“Brigitte! I’m here!” Emmanuel announced as he walked in and removed his shoes at the door.

A few seconds had passed before he called her name again. “Brigitte!?”

If the front door hadn’t been unlocked, he would have assumed no one was home. “Brigitte? Dearest, are you here?”

“Yeah, I’m here.” She finally made herself seen in a white, oversized sweatshirt and pink fuzzy slippers. Her long, blonde hair was thrown up in a messy bun and she wore not a dab of makeup on her freshly washed face. It wasn’t the sexy attire Emmanuel hoped his girlfriend would greet him in, but nonetheless, his heart raced when he saw her.

“Are you okay?” He asked, throwing his duffel bag on the floor between them.

“I’m fine.” She answered, irritated.

He wondered if he had done something wrong to receive such a cold, heartless welcome. After a week of being apart, the Brigitte he knew & loved would wrap her long legs around his waist, frantically kiss him all over, and refuse to separate until they were both satisfied.

“Chérie, are you mad at me?” Emmanuel held out his hand, desperately craving her touch. “This is not the greeting I deserve.”

“Were you expecting me to bow at your feet and roll out the red carpet? Or did you want me to get down on my knees right away?” Brigitte replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Choosing to ignore his girlfriend’s rude comment, Emmanuel brushed past her to the kitchen.

He briefly considered leaving, but that wouldn’t be fair. He waited an entire week to see her, and he didn’t care if she was being disrespectful, he would make the most out of their weekend.

After putting his empty glass of water in the sink, he decided to wash the train smell off his body.

“I’ll be out in 10 minutes,” Emmanuel yelled, turning on the hot water in the shower. After receiving no acknowledgement, he locked the bathroom door.

Stepping out into the hallway, he was met with darkness and complete silence.

“Brigitte?” He searched the house, quietly whispering her name as he entered each room. The last place he checked was the bedroom, finally finding her asleep wearing only his t-shirt. Stripping off his boxers, he slipped into bed next to her.

“Have you been watching me?” Emmanuel sensed he was being stared at as he opened his eyes. The sunlight beaming through the window indicated it was around 8 AM.

“You’re so handsome when you’re asleep. But you’re even sexier when you’re awake. Did you sleep well, my darling?” She asked, laying her head on his hairy chest. "I've been up for about an hour but I didn't have the heart to wake you."

Running his hand through her damp hair, he inhaled the fresh scent of vanilla soap. Things appeared to be back to normal but he still threaded carefully.

“Are you feeling better this morning?” Emmanuel inquired, half expecting the beast from yesterday to unleash on him again.

When their eyes met, she stared deep into his soul and smiled. “Yes, I’m sorry about last night.”

“What happened? You were behaving like a different person. If I did something wrong, please tell me.” Emmanuel kissed her cheek.

“I will not make excuses for my behaviour, but I was experiencing painful cramps when you showed up,” Brigitte confessed, looking away. “Accompanied by other things as well.”

“Was it something you ate?” He asked innocently.

“I …. I .. My period started two hours before you arrived and my body reacted horribly.” When it came to feminine issues, Brigitte was honest and open with Emmanuel. They often joked that he knew her cycle better than she did.

He hugged her tightly, “it arrived early? You weren’t expecting it until Monday.”

(Case and Point)

“For some reason, it’s off this month. But I’m sorry because you didn’t deserve the way I treated you. I was upset with my body for betraying me and ruining everything I had planned for our weekend. I miss you like crazy, crave your affection, and then this happens!” Brigitte cried out, cursing her bad luck.

“What did you have planned for us?” Emmanuel asked.

She blushed, “well, it mostly involved you and me being naked in this room.”

He smirked and an evil grin spread across his face. “We can still do everything you had in mind.”

“No, we can’t!”

“Trust me, we can. I’m not going to let anything ruin our weekend together.” Emmanuel kissed her hand, “I would do anything for you.”

“Even this?” She raised her eyebrow suspiciously.

“Whatever you feel comfortable with. I’m all in, Brigitte. But first, let me grab the nice, big piece of chocolate I saw on the kitchen counter last night. I was craving it, but I knew I would have gotten my arm bit if I took a piece.” Emmanuel laughed, leaping out of bed and slipping into his boxers. “Don’t move, chérie, I’ll be right back with your two favourite things.”

“Ohh - and what might that be?” She giggled.

“Chocolate … and me.”

Hellooo Winter! ❤️

Hahaha aren’t we all girls Brigitte? 🤭 Some months are definitely complicated! But poor Emmanuel thinking he had done something wrong, the sweet potato.

Chocolate is always a fantastic idea 😜

Thank you so much, Winter! ❤️❤️❤️

#fanfic #winter

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pbandjesse · 1 year

Text

Today was a wildly long day. I don't know why I am surprised by this. But man. My legs hurt. It was actually a really awesome day. I feel happy. And very much ready for bed.

I slept pretty well. Waking up was tough but that was mostly because I was cold. James usually brings my phone to the bed since we leave them across the room to charge. But they did not today and I had to get out of bed quickly to turn off the alarm. That is alright. I was not thrilled to be awake but it wasn't to bad.

I felt really cute and good today. I was looking forward to being with the kids today and I was just having a nice morning.

But then I forgot my water bottle inside and felt very dumb. James called me from inside and told me not to leave yet because they were bringing it down to me. I really appreciated that. Love my husband.

I got to camp at 8 spent some time on the art building working on the new yarn wraps rings for our hoop and stick game. I have 12 total rings, 6 small and 6 large. I have a few so e but it is going to take a while to get them all done. But it was nice to sit and have a task.

I would go and have breakfast in the office. Answered some emails. I was surprised when everyone else was already there. Elizabeth had told us 10 but apparently everyone decided 9. Which is fine. Mostly Celia was over at nature and Nick went to get himself and Elizabeth coffee. So it was a much slower way to start the morning.

I would wander over to the lodge to make sure the bedrooms in the saltmines weren't a mess. The plumber had cut holes in the walls so I put the pieces of drywall in the closet and moved a mirror in front of the holes. So it wouldn't look terrible. And went over to the art building to get my walkie. Before heading back to the lodge to meet the group.

I ran into everyone else on the walk over. And when we got there one of the teachers was there already. She said the bus was on its way. And it would get there basically on time at 10:30. I was a little embarrassed when I walked over to help direct and I slipped on some leaves and immediately fell over in front of the bus. I joked that I lost all my street cred with the kids.

But I would get everyone off the bus and started directing everyone up the hill. I have asked Sylvia to wait at the Oregon trail sign and then Sarah went to the top of stairs and Nick would head up to the stockade building. And the kids were great. They were super organized and they got their stuff and they wandered up. I stayed behind to catch any parents who were strugglers. There were two and I made sure they were heading towards Celia. Me and Celia were making dumb jokes on the walkie the whole time. We also like to call each other on the walkie wall in the same room at each other. Being very silly.

They have about 45 minutes to go and set up their cabins and so me and Celia would go up to the art building and I got in my hammock and we just talked and chilled for a while. There was a weird smell in the art building. I think it might be the box that my games were in because it was put away a little damp. But it's fine. We mostly could ignore it.

At 11:20 we went back down to the field to meet with Elizabeth and Nick and Sarah. And the plan was to do an intro and then Nick and Sarah were going to leave a 55 child version of steel the bacon.

Andrew went fine except for the sun was so bright. And it hurt her eyeballs really bad. And no one was prepared with sunglasses. But we got all the rules down and they seemed like pretty cool group.

Still making was kind of a mess. That's just a lot of children and I felt like Nick wasn't clear enough with the rules but they played for a while and only a few of them got so angry that they quit. Overall they seem to enjoy it. Even the few that got overly angry. They were just tired and hungry I think. It was a long morning for them.

We all went back to the office for lunch after we sent them off to the lodge. They got capturing so we would wait for them to be done eating so we could also get sandwiches but all of us had snacks up back in the office. And it was nice saying I'm just chatting. I ended up talking to Alexi about a safety training she just took and telling her how it was kind of an eloper when I was a child. But I slipped up and said when I hide places now and everyone was like we heard that. And I was like I know what now when I hide and run away it's just to the art building and I tell you guys all that so I think they thought I was being silly but it is 100% true. Even at my sweet 16 I hit under a table and I think almost every single birthday party I ever had I would run and hide it somewhere. Not for long but that's just something I've always kind of done. I remember being in high school and going to a fair with Joanna and a bunch of people and immediately just blending into the crowd and leaving them. And this is before I had a cell phone. I used to tell people I didn't want a cell phone because I felt like I would be too easily contacted and then I could not hide and run away as easily. And honestly it's true.

Eventually we were able to go to the lodge and get sandwiches and they were okay. Thank you us a citrus fruit as well which I think was a tangelo but no one agrees with me that that is a real thing. But it is! It's a tangerine and pomelo together. But then Elizabeth said that she didn't wear Pamela was when I was like it's the original citrus and she didn't believe me that it was a real thing. And then the catering staff so that they were cuties but I think they were entirely too big to be cuties. But it's fine. We agreed to disagree that it was just a citrus of some kind. An indistinct citrus.

Then it was time to go break up into our groups. I was nervous. Celia was also very nervous. But we were both heading to the Glen and I had high hopes.

And honestly I was correct. Not only were the group of children I got just lovely. We had so much fun. We walked down to the Glen and one of my children pointed out a turtle on the ground. I have not seen a turtle in the wild and forever and it was so exciting and we picked him up and we all gently pet him and then I took a picture and passed him to Celia so she could show her group. And we were kind of just riding that high. I took them over to the picnic table and we went through the packet and I gave each of them a sheet of paper and sharpie and we got through all of the information and then we debriefed together. And they were really smart kids. And super on board with the learning. And we went through what the habitat was and we found all the different things in the packet that we were looking for and then once we were done debriefing they were able to explore the space. And we would go on a nice little hike up and around the loving trail which is the name of the switchback trail over there. And while we didn't find too many more critters we did find a lot of really interesting mushrooms. And funguses.

I showed them how you can roll logs and look for things and we mostly found pill bugs and worms but we did find a newt and that was exciting. And they were really down to explore and that was awesome. We used Google loans to look at what different things were and we talked about invasive species and I just had a really good time.

We headed back to the table and I explained the predator and prey game. I really don't like playing games. I'm not good at them. I don't enjoy explaining rules. But they were really into it and they let me read the paper at them so it ended up working way better and they really loved it and we were able to spend most of the hour just going through and playing that game a few times and it was really good. They did a really good job actually playing by the rules and not cheating and I just appreciated that. They had to hide up in the bushes while one child pretended to be the predator and had to close their eyes for a minute and they had one minute to hide and then she had one minute to try to find them just from standing in her spot. And then they had 30 seconds to move closer to her while she wasn't looking and then she had 30 seconds to try to find them and then they have 30 more seconds to get closer and she had 30 more seconds to try to find them. And some of the kids did not get found it was really cool. For the last round I was the predator and it was hard to call them out cuz I didn't know their name still but I did find a few of them. And it was just really fun sitting on the ground and counting and then trying to find them.

Once you're done we circle back up at the table and I told them how much I appreciated them being nice to me because the last group that I had this program with was not very nice and they were so mad about it. They were like what You're so nice though why were they not nice to you and I was like I don't know They just work not nice to me and then one of them told me I was really cool and that made me feel. And so I told them that because they were so chill we were going to go and try to pet the horses.

So we took the trail back up the hill and over to the field and there was only one horse right there and they ran at him so he ran away so I had to get them to calm down even though they were so excited to see the horses and five or six of them came over and we were able to feed them hey and pet them and the kids honestly did not want to go and do anything else because they love horses so much. I do not blame them, the horses are great.

But I also wanted to keep us on time so we would say goodbye to the horses and went over to ground elements.

And they did a pretty good job over there. They had 54 seconds on the wheel watcher. And after They stop yelling at each other they were a great team. And be able to get the first two eggs for a kiss finger. I did have to help because a couple of children needed a break but I was really proud of them. We were not able to get the tallest one but I don't know how some of the groups do it so easily because we could not get it that high. We were very close but it was not going to go all the way up. I was was a little exhausted by the end of it.

I think them again for being so sweet and then we say goodbye. And I sent them off to go do archery tag and I waited for the next group.

The next group is coming from Elizabeth who taught them archery and she accidentally told them they were going to low ropes and I was no no this is my group. And I called her and we were able to sort it out and it was all fine. This group was a little rough. They were very mean to each other. They were fine with me but they were screaming at each other a lot and that was tough. At first I thought it was because this one kid was a bully but I think he was being boisterous because the other kids were very much not nice to him. It was kind of a tough situation but we got through it and they were able to get 48 seconds for whale watcher and they were able to do Buddy walkers and then they wanted to play on the team wall but I didn't want to run that as an activity I just let them climb it. And we got through it and I was ready to be done.

I walked them down to the field and went up to the airport building to collect my stuff. I let Elizabeth know that I couldn't stay much later because I was supposed to go meet James at the museum for the opening of the exhibit and after stopping in the office to say goodbye I got my car.

I did give myself a little for anxiety when I had left some stuffed animals outside of the art building because I'm trying to get rid of them and one of the kids that he would like one to use as a pillow but then all of the kids wanted them and I was already leaving and I couldn't go back and I feel so bad that I did not get all of them stuffed animals. But I have a bunch in the art building I want to get rid of so tomorrow I'm going to offer them and we'll see what happens. But then it made me upset because I feel bad that some of the kids were essentially left out but I will try to make it up to them tomorrow. And everything will be okay.

I drove to the museum and it was a pretty solid drive out. I had good music. And at 6 I arrived.

I was excited to see James and I was excited to see the exhibit. I talked to Meril and Kristen for a bit and then went to see the exhibit and it looks so good!! I'm very excited about it. And the event was very well attended. I got to eat pretzels and beer cheese and talk to Debra and Meril for a while and then enjoy the remarks and the music. And then joined James at the desk. I was tired and ready to leave but we had to wait a while.

So in the mean time I enjoyed catching up with Auni and Jessica and it was just really nice to see everyone. We had many more pretzels. Going home couldn't come quick enough.

We would get the all clear to leave. I was able to snag some stickers and a flyer for a square dance party that is happening for Halloween that now I want to go to. And then we headed home.

When we got back I cuddled Sweetp. And while I was standing there I got a surprise in the form of my pet loach, kitty kitty. I thought he was dead!! I haven't seen him for literally months!! But there he was and he looked bigger. But very quickly he was back in the rock structure. I'm glad he's alive. And seemingly doing well.

I got a shower and washed my hair. Which is risky because it looked so good today but also was slightly oily at my crown. But it needed to be done. Annoyingly though we are at the time of year where I have to rush the end of my shower because we lose hot water to fast. But it's fine I am clean and that's all I care about.

And now we are in bed. Being cozy. I might get up to paint my toes but I am mostly interesting in being horizontal.

I am with my group again tomorrow. And I hope it goes well. I'm looking forward to a nice day.

So wish me luck. And be safe. I love you all. Goodnight!

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crazyforkasey-blog · 15 hours

Text

I will always find you

Chapter 8

Bastogne was cold. Cold like Hades at least that is how I imagined Hades would be like. Rumbling through the Belgian forest in the back of a jeep made me think of Hades.

France, Germany, Holland and Africa had been bad, but Belgium was Hades.

I knew he was there a couple of kilometers to the right from me. I could just slip out of the jeep and in a matter of minutes, I could be with him.

The Jeep dropped me off in front of a building. The smell of burning buildings, poverty and desperation burnt my nose like acid, under normal circumstance this part of Bastogne was a nice family part of the once thriving Belgian town, but now the destruction caused by the Germans…well Bastogne wasn't as nice as it was the last time I had been by.

I sighed and knocked on the door and an opening in the door sprung open. "The eagle screams" I said the password and the door opened. The guard walked me up the stairs and opened the door to a dark room. A group was pouring over a map. I took a step forward and the group shuffled so I could get a look at the map. The map, divided into sections with various company names scribbled on them. My heart skipped a beat when I noticed that the Company was closest to the action. Easy Company, that meant he was out right smack in the middle of the action and I knew he probably wasn't taking care of himself.

"Agent, your task will be to make contact with the 506th 2nd battalion and report on troop actions" I nodded and turned around.

I left the building and flagged down a jeep and asked if I could get a ride out to the barracks, where McAuliffe and HQ had set up in the dark and damp basement.

The Jeep stopped and I took a second to look down onto the cemetery on the other side of the road, a few new graves had been added since the last time I was there.

I walked by the guards saluting them and walked to the right and into the red brick building and down the stairs. I found 2nd battalion HQ and gave my report. The men nodded and typed down my oral report.

Someone handed me a cup of coffee and I sat down on the floor, I put the cup down beside me and closed my eyes and before I knew it I was fast asleep.

I woke up a few hours later, someone had covered me with a blanket, I folded it neatly, ran up the stairs and stepped out into the crisp morning air.

I looked around and flagged down a jeep that was headed towards the Bois Jaques, since I was here and since there was no leaving Bastogne I might as well go see Nix.

Nixon

I pulled back the tarp covering my foxhole. The sight that met me was a tired Winters. He, like the rest of us, looked worn out, cheeks hollowed by the lack of proper nutrition and cheek and nose red with light frostbite.

"Rise and shine Nix the preacher is on his way" Winters said and helped out of my foxhole.

I frowned, but resisted the urge to pull the tarp back over my foxhole and sleep. Sleep and dream of Jo.

The distinct sound of a jeep sounded through the forest. I turned, there were two soldiers in the jeep or one soldier and one preacher. The closer the jeep came the more recognizable the two figures in the jeep became.

It was her, it was Jo. I couldn't move and I just stood there and waited for the jeep to stop. The preacher stopped the jeep, Jo walked towards me, and all I could do was open my arms to her.

“You are here, how are you here” I asked

“We came in on the tail end of you guys and we have no way to get out, so here I am” Jo smiled up at me and hugged me.

When the jeep stopped, I was reluctant to get out of the jeep, but when I saw Lew open his arms, I was out and in his arms in less than 20 seconds. I hugged him and I felt him kissing the top of my head.

I loved him. I knew that. I had loved him from the first night and every time I left him I died a little.

The preacher held his service and someone who was going out on patrol made a joke about how now they could die in the state of grace.

The patrol went out, but something must have gone wrong, because not long after the young Lt. who had led the patrol came running back. Nix took off and I ran after him. Chaos it was pure chaos; the patrol had to leave a wounded man.

After everything settled Nix and I huddled together in his foxhole and for a few blissful days I got to stay with him, but nothing lasted and one night while he slept, I lifted tarp and left.

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brenpaidhi-blog · 4 months

Text

Hell Hath No Fury - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Pescador de Hombres

"Good morning, Lieutenant," John said as Rita walked through the door and stopped at his desk for her messages.

"Good morning, John," Rita Ortiz answered as John handed her three slips of paper.

John Irvin had a habit of organizing her messages so that the topmost was the most important, so she was not surprised when she saw Chief of D's office and the familiar phone number written in John's beautiful cursive handwriting.

"One of those days, it looks like."

"No rest for the wicked, Lieutenant."

I wish I had the spare time to be wicked, she thought as she walked to her office.

She had barely reached her desk when the phone rang.

Jesus, can I at least get a cup of coffee?

She had not had time to close the door to her office, and most of the detectives working the 8 AM to 4 PM day shift had not arrived yet, so John had no trouble hearing her words.

"15th squad, Lt. Ortiz. No, I got it - like five seconds ago. You were my first call if you had given me another sixty seconds."

John heard the irritation in her voice. He leaned back in his chair to get a better view of his Lieutenant as she listened and wrote.

"OK, I'll get someone over there," she said and hung up the phone before looking out the window of her office to see her PAA sitting straight at his desk and looking straight ahead at the two detectives entering the squad room.

"Good morning, detectives," John said to Joe Slovak and Ray Quinn.

"Morning, John," each said.

"Perfect timing," Rita said as she handed a slip of paper to Detective Joe Slovak, "there was another one last night."

"Jesus, three nights in a row?" Quinn asked.

"Four," Slovak corrected him as he read the address written in the chicken scrawl that passes for Rita's handwriting.

"Is that a three or a five?" he asked her.

Rita opened her mouth before closing it again as she took the paper from his hand and looked at what she had written.

"Three," she said as she handed it back.

"Four nights in a row," said Ray Quinn, shaking his head as he took a radio from the charging station.

Rita watched them as they headed down the stairs and out of her view. Slovak was right. Four nights in a row. A total of thirteen men with an assortment of mob connections, beaten bloody, trussed up, along with whatever they had been dealing or moving or making. All where the anonymous tip, delivered as a GPS-tagged video, said they would be.

This last tip would be just as untraceable as the other three. Not the first three, God no, this last batch was only the last batch . Precincts across the city had received gifts like this for a while now. It was because some of those gifts had been transporting kidnapped women that the NYPD had any information on the source of those gifts. The gifts themselves would not utter one word on the topic.

Thirteen bad guys off the streets should have made Rita happy, but Lt. Ortiz was not. Rita did not like vigilantes, especially the kind that came with special suits and special abilities. It was her job, and her detectives, to take these assholes off the streets, not some over-privileged dickhead with too much money, too much time, and no accountability or even the most basic concept of chain of custody.

"What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?" the ADA asked her after the second batch of gifts, "how long between when you received the tip and when your men showed up? How do we prove that it's their drugs?"

"They gave us the men, they gave us the drugs, they gave us the location. Make something out of it," she had answered, "some idiot in a yellow suit is this summer's version of Santa Clause, however much I don't like their methods."

Rita's squad was one of the best in the country. If anyone could get a suspect to roll on his employer, it was them. Plus, none of these thirteen men wanted to be back on the street and have to explain how it was that several million dollars worth of whatever had slipped through their fingers. She was sure they could follow this trail of little fish back to the bigger fish that employed them.

But how far back and how big was the head fish?

#hell hath no fury

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lilyevanstan1325 · 9 months

Text

✨ Astral Lovers ✨

Chapter 10

Lily POV

"Lily please wait..." are the last words I hear before reopening my eyes in what should be my room.

I lie in bed curled up on myself.

Warm tears wet my face.

I don't know what to think, I feel so confused and hurt.

Why did Steve do this to me?

How could he?

I trusted him, I revealed my secrets and my fears to him.

I approached him physically as I had never done with anyone.

I let him touch my body.

He had no right to hide what he knew from me, my fate is at stake and it is not up to him to decide my fate.

As much as I love him, these are choices that I, only me, have to make.

After an indefinite time I decide to get up, my eyes red and swollen asking for mercy.

I head into the kitchen without caring about what is around me.

Nothing is real here, everything I do doesn't matter at all.

I look at the clock.

Excellent it's 8 AM.

I look out the window, I observe the streets and the people and suddenly I have an idea.

It will be crazy but that's all that comes to mind.

I make myself a cup of tea and take it to my room, I finish drinking it while I get ready.

I brush my teeth and pull my hair up in a messy bun, some black curls like inky slip out of the scrunchie and rest delicately on my face.

I wear a beige sweater over a pair of black trousers, on my feet my favorite Tod's Chelsea boots.

I run down the stairs, I have to go now that I have found the courage or I will never do it again.

Before leaving the house I put on my Burberry duffle coat together with the scarf and leave the house.

The air outside is so cold that the tip of my nose immediately turns red.

Dense clouds of steam come out from my lips.

My God it's freezing today.

I walk towards my destination lost in my thoughts.

New tears press to come out from my eyes as soon as I think back to Steve.

What if I never have to go back to reality?

What if that was the last time I saw him?

A knot forms in my stomach, even swallowing my own saliva is hard.

My last words were terrible, I've been mean.

I don't think anything of what I told him but I couldn't help it.

I am angry with him but my chest aches at the thought of having made him suffer.

His gaze destroyed and hurt when I told him not to touch me will haunt me forever.

His behavior hurt me and I wanted to pay him back with the same coin.

Childish?

Maybe.

But at that moment it seemed to me the only possible way.

What I am about to do may not lead me to anything but I had been thinking about this for a while and today, as if by magic, I had an enlightenment.

My father never wanted me to leave Brookville for any reason.

The question is why?

Why can't I leave this place?

Can't I see what's outside because there's nothing beyond the borders?

With this thought, I am preparing to reach the outskirts of the city.

I think back to the file I read in Steve's room.

My mother and I died in a fire.

At least her died in a fire.

But me?

What about me?

What happened to me?

Where do the memories I have about the death of my mom come from?

Someone messed up with my brain and I have to find out who he is and above all why he did such a horrible thing.

Because he does it and above all I want to know the truth.

Where is my mother?

Is there a possibility that she is still alive?

And then the file on my father.

Is he really a scientist who belongs to the dark side?

His real last name is McTavish, not Ross.

So who am I?

Is Elisabeth Ross my real name?

I feel my head explode.

Not knowing where I am is already distressing, not even being sure who I am is a scary thought.

I feel alone and disoriented.

I sigh with a heavy head and a boulder pressing on my chest.

I have been walking for about an hour and I have almost arrived near the borders of the city but immediately I realize that there is something wrong, the sky is no longer clear and blue with the sun shining high but it is dark as if was getting night.

That's impossible!

I only left my house a couple of hour ago so it should be around 10 in the morning.

But it's getting dark like it's 6 PM.

Another strange detail is that there is no one.

Nobody is on the street, nobody in the houses around me.

I approach a house and peek inside.

The lights are out, no sign of life.

I keep going and see a woman in front of her door.

She has a small metal watering can in her hands.

I approach slowly pretending to seek information.

"Excuse me madam could you tell me where I can find a bookshop?"

The woman doesn't answer.

Now I am closer to her and I can see her body making small movements, she sways slightly.

The gaze lost in the void.

I try to get her attention again but she doesn't seem to hear me, she doesn't even seem aware of my presence.

She just murmurs a few words between her teeth but I can't understand the meaning so I get closer.

"Are you all right ma'am?Do you need help?"

I don't get any response.

Now that I'm closer, my ear is inches from her mouth, I can understand what she is saying.

A single sentence, repeated mechanically in an almost inhuman voice.

Robotics.

The woman keeps repeating T.A.H.I.T.I. project operating.

What the hell does that mean?

I walk away from there and I realize that many other people here are in the same condition.

Motionless and absent they always repeat the same words.

As I go further and further the sky gets darker and darker until I can no longer see the road in front of me.

Now it is dark like midnight, the streets are without lighting.

An unnatural darkness in front of me, my skin is covered with chills.

Retreating seems to me the most sensible choice right now.

I turn and come back, my heart beating deafening in my ears.

The only audible sound is my irregular breathing.

As I get closer to the center of the town, this place begins to come to life again.

I see a man cutting the grass in his garden, two women walking around chatting, some kids overtake me on their bikes.

The streets are filled with cars and the sky is becoming clearer.

I'm back in front of my house, the sun high in the sky and the streets is full of life.

I enter inside disoriented.

I need help and the only people who can give it to me are in New York.

I lie down on the sofa, lean my head on a small pillow and try to relax my every muscle.

I have to go back to New York right away.

I don't even bother to go to my room anymore, it wouldn't change anything, I don't even wait for the night anymore.

I already know that no one will look for me and when I open my eyes it will be magically morning.

By now I only need a few hours of rest between one move and another.

I close my eyes and focus on the large glass tower that I have learned to recognize as home.

A shiver runs through me and after a slight glow I open my eyes and find myself right where I wanted to be.

I walk in with great strides and head for the elevator.

I go up to the top floor and head directly to his door.

I knock one single time.

The door opens and in an instant I am crushed by two large arms.

"I can't breathe, James"

I can't help but smile.

His reaction is so sweet.

I don't want to cry but with this show of love I lose all my self control and a little sob escapes my lips, James's grip increases and I find myself sobbing against his chest.

I feel him pulling me into his room, one of his hands lightly stroking my head and the other massaging my back.

I hear his sweet voice echoing in my ears.

"Shhhh.It's okay.Everything will be fine, I promise"

I cry even louder.

I hate being so weak.

As soon as I calm down I feel James's hands on my arms pulling me away from him, breaking our contact.

He watches me with shining eyes.

"I was so worried" he sighs heavily.

I smile through the tears.

"Really?I didn't think I was so close to your heart, Barnes"

I tease him.

He takes me by the hand and makes me sit on his bed and then takes a seat next to me.

He turns his face in my direction and speaks.

"Don't be stupid.You know I love you and I consider you a friend, a good friend"

"James is the same for me and that's why I'm here with you, I need your help.You have to help me but you have to promise me that you won't say anything to Steve"

He hesitates.

I keep talking.

"Listen, I know he's your best friend and you hate lying to him but I need your help.You're the only one I can trust at the moment"

James becomes thoughtful.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure you can"

I smile at him.

"Are you going to leave him?I mean Steve.You still love him, don't you?"

I feel taken aback by his curiosity.

"Of course I still love him.Sure I'm very angry with him but I haven't stopped loving him.I could never"

My eyes get wet again.

"I love him but I need to do this without him.And I hope you can help me"

I see him sigh.

"Ok.Tell me what we have to do"

"I need to talk to someone.Any person who may have a minimum of competence with this power that I have"

I hope he knows how to help me.

"Come with me" he replies.

He gets up and grabs his leather jacket.

He holds out his hand.

I grab it and with my heart full of hope I follow him out of his room.

But before his hand reaches the doorknob I freeze, he notices.

"What's going on?" he asks me.

"If Steve sees us how..."

Bucky cuts me off before I can finish.

"Steve isn't here.He and Natasha are out on a mission, they'll be missing for a couple of days"

I sigh.

I feel relieved.

I know I will have to talk to him sooner or later but now is not the time.

First I have to find the answers to my questions.

"Okay, let's go"

I say more to myself than to him.

We go downstairs, where is Tony's garage.

I've never been here.

Bucky heads for a big black SUV.

"Is this yours?I didn't think you could drive" I tease.

He rolls his eyes.

"God, I hate you" he murmurs shaking his head.

"Nah...it's not true.I make you laugh"

I answer after which I make a tongue out.

We both laugh.

Once in the car we enter in the traffic of New York.

I suddenly feel nervous.

"Where are we headed?"

Bucky keeps looking at the street, he replies without turning to me.

"We are headed to Greenwich Village, exactly at 177A Bleecker Street.Doctor Strange lives there, he is the only one who can help you"

"Who is this Strange?"

"He is a master of the mystical arts"

"Would he be some kind of sorcerer?"

Bucky frowns thoughtfully.

"Yeah...more or less"

I sigh and watch the traffic go by beyond the window.

"Whoever he is I just hope he can help me"

I really hope so.

After a while Bucky begins to slow down and look around.

He parks the SUV and after getting out he comes to help me by holding out his hand.

"It should be close..." he murmurs to himself, "Yep, here we are!" he exclaims exultantly.

I gladly grab his hand, I feel I need his comfort right now.

He seems to understand this and squeezes my hand tighter, without letting go we head together to the 177A.

Even before knocking, a man of Asian origins opens the door for us.

"Please come in.I am Wong.The High Sorcerer will be with you soon"

My heart is beating wildly, I'm so shaken that my feet stick to the ground.

Bucky pulls me lightly.

"C'mon, doll.It'll be okay.I'm with you, I won't let anything happen to you"

And I know I can believe him.

We enter and what appears in front of our eyes is majestic.

To welcome us an immense room with high ceilings, the walls are covered with large panels of dark wood.

Right in front of us stands a beautiful wooden staircase.

Bucky and I stand looking around, he stays alert as if he's ready to attack anyone who dares to even get close to me.

"How do they know we would arrive?" I ask.

He shrugs.

"Maybe because he's a sorcerer?"

His answer is so simple that he blows me away.

Suddenly a sense of anxiety pervades me, my eyes begin to wander wildly around the large room.

"I think you're right" I whisper softly.

Bucky notices my discomfort.

"Lily?Lily look at me"

I turn to him with my back to the immense staircase.

"What worries you?"

"I don't know Buck...what if I don't like the answers to my questions?What if I was...what if I was the villain?"

I feel like crying.

"What if I weren't worthy of Steve's love?Or yours?Or Nat's love?You are my family now and I..."

"Lily, breath!None of us will stop loving you.We will protect you and we will be by your side at any cost but to do it to the best of our ability we have to find out the truth.Okay?Trust me!"

I turn around as soon as I hear my mother's name.

I'm about to answer him when a voice behind me whispers "Sophia?"

I turn towards the source of that voice and I see a man coming down the stairs, I can't see his face.

His figure is hidden in the shadows.

"How do you know my mother's name?"

He continues his descent until a beam of light illuminates his face.

His eyes.

I know those eyes.

They are so similar to mine.

As he approaches I can see more details.

When I get a full picture of his face, I feel the blood freeze in my veins.

I know this man, I've already seen him.

They are memories.

Suddenly in my head images of my recurring nightmare follow one another frantically...but this time it doesn't seem like a nightmare.

It's not a nightmare.

My legs give out and I fall to the ground, my knees and my palms stop the fall.

A sharp pain in my head makes me bend over, I put my hands on my knees and I try to take deep breaths but the pain increases.

My scream pierces the silence that surrounds us.

Bucky is right next to me.

His voice is far away.

Muffled.

"What's going on, doll?What the hell are you doing to her, sorcerer?"

Meanwhile images of debris, flames and smoke invade my mind.

I can't see anything else.

Then a man.

A man crying.

A man who hugs my mother's lifeless body and asks her for forgiveness.

That man finally has a face.

It's Dr Strange.

I feel like I'm about to lose conscience, I'm about to faint.

I wait for the impact with the floor but it doesn't happen.

I hear distant voices.

"Wong brings fresh water and a damp towel"

"What happened to her?Why doesn't she wake up?Oh God!Steve will kill me!No no, he'll skin me first and use my skin to polish his shield and then, then he'll kill me"

"Stay calm White Wolf she will wake up soon, she can already hear us"

I feel something wet and fresh on my forehead, someone holds a bottle to my mouth, making a few drops fall inside.

Hands caress my face, my hair.

I understand that this is James from the cold of his fingers in Vibranium.

I slowly raise my eyelids, blink them frantically trying to focus on the images in front of me.

I find myself lying on a loveseat, Bucky's face filling my field of vision.

My head is on his legs.

His eyes are filled with relief.

"Thank God!Do you feel ok?"

My throat is parched.

"I think so" I croak in a shrill voice.

Strange hands me a bottle of water.

"Take it, you'll feel better"

I accept the bottle and drink without taking my eyes off him.

I think I can sit up.

"I know you"

Mine is not a question.

"What I thought was just a nightmare...I think it's a memory.My mother died in an explosion, right?You were there.She wasn't sick"

I feel like throwing up.

Strange looks at me with an unreadable look.

"I am Dr. Stephen Strange, Lord of the Mystical Arts and High Sorcerer of New York"

He introduces himself then continues to speak.

"Your mother died in an unfortunate accident.It was my fault"

The sorcerer sighs.

"What does it mean?" Bucky interjects.

"It's a long and painful story"

Bucky and I following Strange upstairs.

"It doesn't matter" I reply harshly, "We have all the time in the world"

The former Winter Soldier continues to give me worried looks.

"It's alright Bucky, I'm really fine"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah"

It's definitely not true but I try to keep my expression relaxed.

I smile sweetly at him.

I don't want him to worry about me any more than he already is.

We sit on a sofa, the sorcerer takes his place in front of us.

He is sitting on a chair, behind him a huge window.

He is looking at an indefinite point in front of him, his gaze seems to be light years away.

I observe him better.

He is a handsome man, his features almost noble.

His hair is pulled back at the grizzled temples, the goatee also salt and pepper.

His austere gaze stops on me.

His eyes are so dark, so deep.

They seem to conceal an immense and ancient pain.

He keeps staring at me without saying a word and yet I feel like he's communicating something to me.

Something so important that it could upset my life.

"When I met your mother we were both 18 years old, she and Philip had just got married.We met in Kamar-Taj in Nepal, we both had to meet the Ancient One.The one who would instruct us on how to protect our Stones"

"Yes, she was tasked to protect the Space Stone"

"Was Lily's mother the guardian of an Infinity Stone?" Bucky asks.

They both stare.

"At the dawn of the universe there was nothing" I hear Wong speaking behind me.

"Sorry" I intrude, "May I know what you are talking about?What are the Infinity Stones?What is this thing about the guardians?"

I didn't realize he had joined us.

He places a teapot with some cups on the table in front of us.

"Then boom the Big Bang threw six elemental crystals across the virgin universe.Each of these Infinity Stones controls an essential aspect of existence"

Strange takes the word "Space.Reality.Power.Soul. Mind. And Time" so he says he moves his hands, precise and almost hypnotizing movements.

The pendant around his neck opens to reveal a brilliant green stone.

"I am the Guardian of the Time Stone.Your mother had the task of protecting that of Space"

Strange gets up and goes to the large window, he gives us his back and continues his story.

"The Space Stone, together with that of Reality, are the only ones that don't have a solid shape.Your mother protected the Stone by hiding it within herself"

"What is the power of the Space Stone?" I ask.

"The Space Stone is an unlimited source of energy capable of opening portals to any part of the Earth.Or of the Galaxy"

Bucky and I looking each other in the eye.

Here we are.

Now I understand.

"Doctor could the stone be inside my body right now?"

I get up to join him.

Everything will depend on his answer.

He keeps looking out the window for a few more seconds, then turns and chains his gaze to mine.

"Yes" his only answer.

I can't believe it.

Finally the truth or at least part of it.

I have the impression that the worst of this story is yet to come.

I get it from the doctor's eyes.

"After spending years training together your mother went back to America to your father, their long distance relationship was getting complicated so she continued her training in America.We never had contact again until, fifteen years later, I received a call from her.She was scared, she feared for her life and yours.She found out that Philiph had married her only because she was the guardian of the Space Stone and wanted to get hold of it"

I listen to him enraptured, I can't take my eyes off his face.

"I told her to stay calm and that I would join her immediately but she replied that it wasn't necessary.That she would come to me but she had to talk to Philiph first.After all, they had been together for 18 years.According to her she owed him an explanation, she couldn't take you with her and disappear"

Strange sighs, he seems to hunch over himself as if a great pain weighs on his shoulders.

"That was the biggest mistake of my life"

I see him tremble but continues with his story.

"When I arrived at your father's workplace there was an explosion.Due to a short circuit, one of the labs under his office had exploded.When I met you Sophia was already dying, you were unconscious but alive"

I didn't realize I started crying until Strange's hand rests on my face.

With his thumb he wipes some tears away.

He holding his hand on my face and keep speaks.

"Her last words were for you.She asked me to protect you at all costs, to take care of our little girl"

The air leaves my lungs as if someone had hit me in the stomach.

"That you hated coffee and if you had been sad it would have been enough for me to offer you some chocolate"

I laugh through tears.

I hear James wince behind us.

"I didn't succeed.I am sorry.As soon as your mother took her last breath, dozens of gunmen burst into the room where we were.They took you away from me.I fought but there were too many.I didn't do it"

Strange lowers his gaze, his eyes are full of guilt.

Nobody talks.

Nobody knows what to say.

"Did you love her?Did you love my mother?"

My voice sounds strangled in the large room.

"Yes, with all my heart.But she was a married woman.I let her go, it seemed like the right thing to do.I didn't fight for her.I should have but I didn't and I will never stop blaming myself for that.If I had acted differently she would still be alive today.We could have been a family"

His voice breaks at the end of the sentence.

Instinctively I hug him.

My hands close behind his back.

He is much taller than me.

At first his arms remain lifeless along his body but after a few moments I feel them tighten around me.

"You look so much like her, you know?" he says.

I cry against his chest.

I cry the frustration of a life spent not feeling loved by what I thought my father was.

Now it all make sense.

"I didn't know you existed.Your mother never told me the truth about you, not until that day.In these long 10 years I have never stopped looking for you" his voice vibrates in his chest up to my ear.

We part.

Our eyes so similar are intertwined in each other's gaze.

Shocked and with my head still full of questions I go back to sit next to Bucky.

My friend squeezes my hand in his and smiles softly at me.

Then he turns to the man in front of us.

To my father, my real father.

I listen him tell my whole story, of how I swooped in their life.

In Steve's life.

God, how much I miss him.

I am grateful to Bucky that he is speaking, at this moment I don't have the strength to do or say anything.

I can only think of my mother and Steve, the greatest loves of my life.

Then Bucky asks a question that totally grabs my attention.

"Why did the Stone pass from her mother's body to her?"

I look at him, my eyes wide with shock.

"Because Sophia's body was badly injured, she was dying and the Stone, in order to survive, attached itself to the nearest vital source.That is you" replies the doctor turning to me, "And this is the reason why your astral body is able to move from one place to another"

"So I can accomplish astral travel thanks to the Stone?"

"Yes, that's right"

I think about it for a few minutes then I decide to tell what happened to me today just a few hours before appearing again in New York.

Bucky looks at me with wide eyes, I had not yet had time to update him on what happened.

Strange, on the other hand, seems to connect everything.

"Of course, so it's all clearer.Philiph has tampered with your memories somehow and he keeps you imprisoned somewhere unconscious.Maybe you are sedated or in cryogenesis"

His gaze becomes thoughtful.

But the sorcerer's gaze says something else.

"How do we find her?" Bucky's voice seems invigorated, he knows we may be close to the solution.

"Unfortunately, the only one who can tell us is her" and with a wave of his hand he points to me.

"Lily, you are the only one who can find out where you are.The solution is inside your head"

I collapse on myself, Bucky's vibranium arm wraps around my shoulders.

I see Strange rise from his seat and approach me.

"How?What if I can't?" I whisper under my breath.

He lowers himself to the same height as me and puts his hand on my head.

"I know you can do it"

"Really?"

"Of course!You are the daughter of Stephen Strange and Sophia Bonnet.You can do whatever you want"

Bucky and I are at the tower now.

We spent the return journey in silence, overwhelmed by everything we discovered.

He hands me a bottle of water and gives me a smile.

"Do you want to eat something?"

"No James, my stomach is closed at the moment"

He watches me and as he is about to tell me something his phone rings.

He looks at the screen and then looks at me.

"It's Steve, isn't it?"

The dark-haired man nods.

"Please don't tell him I'm here"

"Lily, Steve is worried, he's suffering.At least let me tell him that I saw you and that you are fine.I won't tell him anything else I swear but at least you owe him this.You can't torture him like that!Ok he was wrong but he did it to protect you.He just wanted to protect you"

His tone is full of anger, his words hit me like a slap.

I nod.

His phone stops ringing, Bucky calls him back immediately.

I listen in silence to their conversation.

"Hey pal, sorry I was in the shower and I didn't have time to answer"

He pauses, surely Steve is asking about me because James's blue eyes are now glued to my figure.

I see Bucky sigh, I know how much him hate lying to his best friend.

"Yes" he replies, "Yeah man, stay calm.She's fine.She only stayed a few minutes"

"She doesn't hate you, don't bullshit.She loves you so much, just give her some time, ok?"

They exchange a greeting and their phone call ends.

"How is he?"

"You could have asked him yourself, don't you think?"

"Sorry it's heartbreaking to hear Steve like this, okay?That man acts as if someone has ripped his heart out of his chest.He's really in agony.He's seriously convinced that you don't want to have anything to do with him anymore"

"C'mon James trying to understand me!" I reply annoyed.

I sigh.

"I know Bucky.I'm sorry"

I look down.

After a few seconds I feel his hand on my face, he brushes my hair out of my face.

"I know.Sorry if I spoke to you earlier in that tone"

"It's okay.Now I have to go"

Am I sure?

"Already?Are you sure?" Bucky asks me with concern.

No.

But I have to.

I have to find the way to the truth.

I have to find out how to lead Steve to me, how to find me.

"Yes, I have to but I'll be back soon.I promise you.In the meantime, let Tony or Bruce help you to find information about this T.A.H.I.T.I. Project"

Bucky nods.

Before closing my eyes I turn to the man in front of me.

"Tell Steve I love him.And that in one way or another we will meet again soon"

"I'll tell him, don't worry"

I close my eyes and concentrate, in a few moments I find myself catapulted into my mental prison.

I open my eyes and as I already suspected it is the sunrise, a new day begins.

This time I don't let myself be caught unprepared.

I run upstairs, check that there is no one and rush to my room.

I open the wardrobe door and after a short search I take out a small backpack, inside I put a flashlight with spare batteries.

Then I change into something more comfortable, jeans and a blue turtleneck sweater.

I put the Converse on and go down to the kitchen.

Once I grab a bottle of water from the fridge I rummage through each drawer in search of something that can be used as a defensive weapon, should it be needed.

I find a large kitchen knife.

I believe it can go.

I put everything in the backpack and after grabbing the jacket I leave the house.

This morning the sky is gray, a light drizzle bathes me.

I walk the same road as last time and the scenario is always the same.

The light of day gives way to darkness.

The woman with the watering can is always there, in the same position and always wearing the same clothes.

A shiver runs down my spine.

I get to the point where everything goes black, a darkness so intense that I can hardly even see my feet.

I open my backpack and take out the flashlight.

I keep advancing.

Wherever I point the beam of light there is nothing, only absolute darkness.

I do not lose courage and continue to walk, I have no reference point and I fear I am going around in circles.

Then suddenly I see it, something different from the darkness that surrounds me.

It appears to be a...force field?

I don't understand.

I advance with extreme caution but there is nothing else around me.

It's blue, it just glows in all this darkness.

As I get closer, I feel as if an energy vibrates all around me, the hairs on my arms stand up.

It is static energy.

I raise my hand and bring it closer, the contact is painful.

I retract my burned hand, bring it to my chest.

It really hurts and my eyes fill with tears.

I crouch on my heels and look for the bottle of water I brought with me, then I pour the water over my hand for relief.

I look at this kind of fence, I know the answer is behind it.

I have to risk, at best I will find the truth that I have search for so long.

The worst case scenario?

I could die.

I would never see Steve again.

But there is also a positive side to death...I would be free.

I would finally be free.

I stand up and take a deep breath.

I do this several times.

Then I lean with all my weight against this barrier.

The flesh burns, it is an excruciating pain.

I scream with all the breath in my throat and I keep pushing.

I look at my hands and I am terrified, the flesh is melting.

The blood flows copiously down my arms, I can see the muscles and tendons underneath the flesh.

The fingertips are now white bones.

It's like I'm melting.

Literally.

By now I am numb with the intensity of the pain but I continue.

In my tear-filled eyes I have only the image of Steve, his eyes and his smile.

I would go through all this pain again in order to have the opportunity to be with him.

To be able to lose myself in his embrace.

"I'm sorry Steve, I love you"

I whisper between tears and blood.

The pain becomes too much and then nothing.

At the end my time has come.

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lifeaftertheabuse · 1 year

Text

I saw a video today that really just hit home for me. Basically the video was talking about how we gaslight our own selves after the abusive relationship is over and this can’t be more true. I’m constantly having moments where I am telling myself maybe the abuse wasn’t that bad or maybe I was the problem.. maybe I was the crazy one .. maybe I was too sensitive and about things?? Then having to remind myself of specific scenarios that happened that weren’t normal.

Like screaming through the house at 6:30 in the morning when everyone is sleeping because I forgot to wash your work clothes for you that weekend. Imagine a 40 year old man so mad that someone didn’t wash their clothes for them? I worked all weekend.. he was home. It slipped my mind but their YOUR work clothes. And why are we yelling? That isn’t going to help right? Telling me I’m useless… I’m lazy.. I don’t do anything.. when I’m the only one who does anything.

Or when I didn’t order the pizza the way he wanted me too one day when we were out to eat. He called me fucking retarded.

A dumb stupid idiot. I heard those words come out his mouth so many times. I eventually put a boundary up. If you call me stupid again “I’m done” and shockingly he stopped, but then he just found other ways to make me feel stupid and small. His favorite line “how did you get a college degree and I’m smarter than you.” Now looking back I know that was all part of the plan. To make me feel small and stupid so I don’t leave.

But that’s not me. I have a voice. I’m not timid. I have opinions and that’s okay but not for a narcissist. They want you to fit into their perfect plan the way they want. They don’t want to hear your opinions, your emotions. They don’t care. My ex always said “I was attacking him” when I would be talking so calmly just saying what I was feeling but the reality is they can’t handle hearing what their doing wrong because then it takes away from the “perfect” persona they’ve created not just to the world but in their own sick heads. I never realized being self obsessed was a part of narcissism until I was doing my own research and it just all made sense. Always stairing at himself in the mirror.. always having to have the most expensive clothes and shoes.. always talking about other girls staring him as if he was just so handsome they couldn’t take their eyes off him.

But I just sat back and watched it all unfold. I remembered everything I could. I tracked it all in my brain. And when I knew I had to leave I formulated a plan in my brain. I gave myself months to make this happen to make sure it was what I really wanted. I stopped arguing back. I submitted to him. I took months of verbal abuse. I cried for hours. Some days things were amazing and I thought okay I do want this and then the same day he’d say something so mean and I’d have to re remind my brain what the plan was.

It wasn’t easy… walking away was one of the most difficult things I’ve done aside from leaving a physically abusive relationship 8 years ago. Isn’t is crazy that the pain im feeling from this relationships isn’t even comparable to the one I felt from that. Emotional and mental abuse really doesn’t get enough awareness of the damage it does. How it breaks us down. How we feel stuck to this person even after substantial time has past.

Going back to what I said in the beginning about gaslighting my own self in to believing the abuse didn’t happen.. it’s important to remember at least for me that it did happen. That I didn’t make those situations up. The words he spoke to me were real. The hurt I felt was real. The loneliness I felt was real and when you love someone you don’t treat them that way. One day at a time I will get through this. I will heal and I will be me again ❤️

#abuse recovery #tw gaslighting #survivor #ptsd recovery #surviving narcissism

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imnotobsessedwfictionalchracters · 2 years

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Chapter 2: This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

I do not own Harry Potter or the characters made by J.K. Rowling

Anyways, this is also posted onto my Fanfiction.net account SomeKind0fMagic and my Wattpad somekindofmagic1 so you can check it out on there too!

But anywho, hope you enjoy!

Love Z <3

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Albus’s eyes shot open as he felt someone shaking him awake. “What the hell, Lils?” His words still slurred with sleep, muttered out. He looked over to the side, expecting to see the ginger-red hair of his sister, but was instead met with the blonde of his friends. He gave Scorpius a confused look until he saw the robes on his friend and suddenly hit him. Albus practically jumped out of his bed and ran to get dressed. He heard Scorpius say something about it being 8:50 as he slipped his pants over his legs, nearly falling onto his bed doing so.

By the time that he was fully dressed and ready, class had already begun. And after they ran down the stairs and were rushing to their first class, Potions. The two quickly became thankful that they lived in the dungeons. But, even due to their Common Room being in the Dungeons, they had no clue where to go, it caused them to be nearly 10 minutes late and out of breath. When they noticed that the door ajar they assumed that they could slip in without being noticed, however Professor Slughorn did take notice. “Ah, there’s our two missing students!” They jumped as they heard his voice and he laughed, “I was beginning to believe you were skipping class on your first day!” The two looked down, embarrassed that the Professor called them out on being late. “But it’s no problem, just take a seat next to Miss. Green.”

Scorpius and Albus walked over to where Anneliese was sitting. Once they sat down, they looked down into their laps. Refusing to meet anyone's eyes. Anneliese leaned over and whispered to the two boys, “I was beginning to think that you two weren’t going to show. My god, you two.”

“Well excuse me for not being used to having to be up by 8 am to be at classes at 9.” Albus muttered back to her.

She rolled her eyes, “Technically, you should be up even earlier so you can eat breakfast.”

Albus held back a groan, “Don’t remind me! Now I can’t eat until lunch...whenever the hell that is!”

Anneliese bit her lip, “Sorry Al. Hopefully you won’t die.” Albus leaned back as she leaned a little over him to talk to Scorpius, “And you?”

The blonde sighed and grabbed the text book from his bag, “I have nothing to say as I am usually up by 7 am.” And all three of their attentions turned back to the board and all turned to the page that was written on the wall.

“By the way...your family, well mostly James, was staring at the Slytherin table for the majority of lunch. I just...thought you should know, y’know?”

Albus sighed and nodded as he began to take notes on what was written on the pages. He tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. He knew, full well, that for whatever James’s reason for staring at the Slytherin table this morning wasn’t good. And that he most likely was looking for Albus. Why? Albus didn’t know.

Not yet...at least.

----

“First day of classes is done! You have no idea how long this day was!”

As Anneliese rolled her eyes at Albus, he stuck his tongue out at her. “Quit complaining Albus, we have 4 more days of this, plus Wednesday we have Astronomy.”

His silly tongue-sticking-out face turned sour as he glared at her, “I hate you right now.”

She just shrugged, “I know, but I’m not wrong.”

Scorpius laughed, “She has you there Al.”

Albus was about to retort about how Anneliese doesn’t have anything, but he stopped in his tracks when he heard a voice call out to him. “Albus! Albus, wait!”

The three 11 year olds turned around and Albus gave a half smile to his cousin. “Rose! What’s up?”

Once she caught up with them, she swung her curly red hair over her left shoulder and pulled her bag up her shoulder. “James wants to talk to you.”

He raised an eyebrow, “What about?” While he looked at his cousin with genuine concern and question, his friends stared at her with suspicion. Of course, Albus didn’t see this, but he had a good idea that they were.

Rose looked at Albus with shock, “Oh! I-I don’t know. He didn’t say.” She glanced away from him for a moment, “All he told me was that he wanted you to meet him in front of the school doors.”

He nodded and turned to his friends, “I guess I’ll see you two in a minute.” He sighed, “Guess I need to go see what he wants.”

His friends gave him a concerned look, “You sure you wanna go alone?” Anneliese’s voice was full of concern.

Albus nodded and waved her off. “I doubt James would do something to me. He’s my brother, after all.”

The two nodded and walked to the Great Hall, barely not seeing the look the multi-freckled girl gave them. But Albus did. And it took everything in him not to comment on it. Hoping that it was just a trick of the light. But he knew, deep down, that it wasn’t. He was silent as he walked out to where he was told his older brother was. Thinking about what his brother could want. But he was sure that it had something to do with him being in Slytherin. It didn’t take long for his eyes to find the unruly black hair, so similar to his own, of his brothers. “James?”

His brother turned around, the look of worry and concern was obvious on his face. “Albus!” He wrapped him into a hug, “I am so sorry that you’re in Slytherin!” He pulled away and stared at Albus, “I never thought that it would actually happen! I only joked about it, cause y’know, your middle name is Severus and he was a Slytherin. I-I never thought that a Potter could be in Slytherin! I mean...I’m pretty sure that there hasn’t been a single one of us who has been a Slytherin in the past, over 100 years! And I’m sure that we could always--”

“I actually like Slytherin, James.” Albus crossed his arms.

James rolled his eyes, “Albus, you can’t possibly be serious!” When Albus didn’t budge on liking Slytherin, James ran an aggravated hand through his hair. “I’ve known those people for 2 years, they certainly are not nice!”

Albus scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Maybe to you! Maybe because, at least from what I’ve heard, you never even gave them a chance! C’mon Jamie, you said it doesn’t matter what house I’m in! And mum and don’t--”

James interrupted Albus, “I joked because I didn’t think you would become a Slytherin! I’ve had 2 years of experience with those guys! You’ve only known them for a few days! You don’t know anything about them!”

“I don’t believe that! They’ve been nothing but kind! They accepted me into Slytherin without a question! They’re a little rough around the edges, perhaps, but who’s fault is that? Who’s the one that gets assumed their bad purely because of their parents past mistakes and what house they’re in?” Albus argued.

“What are you getting at Albus? Are you saying you’re one of those...snakes?!”

“So what if I am? I am a Slytherin, James? I don’t possibly understand how bad that could be!”

“You are a Potter! A Potter! We are Gryffindor’s, not Slytherins.” Albus noticed the venom that dripped from James’s mouth as he said the last bit.

“I wonder how you would react if you found out who my friends are.” He muttered under his breath, but unfortunately, James heard.

“Who? Who are you friends with? A Malfoy?”

Albus crossed his arms again, “Actually, I am! What’s wrong with that, James? He’s not his dad’s past mistakes! Just like we aren’t our dad’s past rights! I-I mean seriously! What do you expect me to do? Not make friends with the kids in my house?”

“You already had friends, Albus!” James yelled. “Friends who were good for you! Friends whose parents were Death Eaters and Pureblood supremacists!” His face was stone cold with anger, “Rose told me she saw you with Anneliese Green.” He was no longer yelling. “Did you know her mom went to Durmstrang? The biggest fucking school full of Pureblood supremacists. Their Headmaster was literally a fucking Death Eater.”

Albus rolled his eyes, “Well, no. I didn’t know about Anne’s mom. But so what? Viktor Krum went there too. And he’s not a bad guy. And I mean...shit, we had a Death Eater as a Headmaster.”

Now it was James’s turn to roll his eyes. “But Snape was a spy.” He crossed his arms, “You can’t be friends with a Malfoy and a Green.”

Albus stared at James, dumbfounded. He scoffed, “Well guess what James? I am friends with them! Like I said, they aren’t their parents! The war ended 19 years ago! Before any of us were even born! You need to let that go! Let-let past mistakes of parents go and not judge their kids because of it!”

“I can’t believe it.” James scoffed, “3 days and you’ve already been corrupted. I thought--actually, you know what. Nevermind.”

Albus raised an eyebrow, “No. No, do finish the thought.” When James said nothing. Albus let his arms fall to his sides and nodded his head softly, “Well, I haven’t been corrupted, I am no different than I was before I was sorted.” He pulled his bag up his shoulder as he turned on his heel and began to walk away. But, he stopped, not turning around, but still said one last thing and he only glanced back. “You know, they are right, you are an asshole who clings onto old stereotypes.”

And with that, Albus walked away from his brother and went to join his friends in the Great Hall. He ignored their questioning looks as he sat down next to them. He just threw them a happy smile and started to grab some food.

----

A few days had passed since Albus’s argument with James. He hadn’t mentioned what was said to anyone. But everyone could feel the tension between him and his family. At first it was just James, but then it got to the larger scale and now people in classes could feel how tense things were between Albus and Rose.

And while Albus hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. It seemed like James had. Or at least the letter from his parents said that he did.

Albus jumped when he heard the sound of a hand slamming down in front of him. “Alright, Albus, you have had a pissed off look since you got back from your talk with your brother. And now you’re staring at that damn letter you got this morning! What the hell is up?”

He quickly put the letter in his back pocket and looked up at Scorpius confused, “What’re you talking about? Nothing’s wrong.”

Scorpius just scoffed, “Nothing’s wrong my ass. Don’t you dare try and lie to me dude.”

Albus’s eyes looked down, “It’s really nothing.”

He heard Scorpius sigh and sit in the chair next to him, “I don’t believe you. But whatever, I guess. But just know, I’m always willing to listen to whatever you have going on.”

Albus shook his head, “I just don’t want to talk about it. That’s all.”

Scorpius nodded, “Okay, I’ll believe that. Well, on another note, do you have any understanding of what is happening in History of Magic? I promise that I’m listening to Professor Patil, but she’s just...boring. The best thing about that class is her throwing glares at you and Rose. What’s that for, anyways?”

Albus snorted, “My dad took her sister to the Yule Ball and my Uncle took her. I’m assuming she’s still bitter over it.”

“That’s so…”

“Ridiculous?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m gonna fucking murder your brother, Potter!”

Albus froze as he heard Aidan, Anne’s oldest brother and the Head Boy, pissed off voice coming from behind him. He refused to look back to him, terrified of what his eyes may see if he did. So he cleared his throat, “W-why’s that?” His eyes were glued to his lap.

“Why? Why?! Are you really fucking asking me why? That asshole just fucking cornered my fucking little sister and threatened her!” That got Albus to turn around. And now he saw the angry face of Aidan Green.

“What?”

“Yeah. The fucker said that she had to stop corrupting you or else she’d have to deal with him! Then fucking proceeded to have one of his fucking friends dump all of her shit into the goddamn toilet. Professors Longbottom and McGonagall are already dealing with his punk ass. But I fucking swear, if he doesn’t stay in line and fucks with my family again, he’s a fucking deadman. Got it?”

Albus nodded silently and watched as the 17 year old angrily walked away. “Holy shit. If I didn’t hate your brother before. I sure do now. Who the hell does that to a fucking first year?”

“I-I don’t know.” He couldn’t even believe James. Why would he do that? What would he even gain from it? Albus couldn’t understand. One day James was saying how Albus needed to drop his Slytherin friends and now James is threatening them? It made no sense to him. Especially if he got caught by a member of the staff. The amount of trouble he could get into.

Was he really that determined to show Albus how much he hates Slytherin house? And if he was willing to threaten an 11 year old. Who knew what he would do when Albus was older.

#harry #potter #harry potter #next #gen #next gen #harry potter next gen #harry potter next gen fic #harry potter oc #harry potter next gen oc #oc #albus potter #scorpius malfoy #easy to hate #easy to hate chapter 2

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