#my mom & i were only there for the lunch promo

[just-jammin]

ate lunch at a café

it was fucking great :D

[ovobawrites]

𝐵𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽: 𝐸𝓅𝒾𝓈𝑜𝒹𝑒 𝒯𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒 ♡ 𝐹𝒷𝑜𝓎𝓈 𝒜𝓃𝑜𝓃𝓎𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓈

disclaimer: this has already been posted on ao3 and quotev, i'm just reposting this beach episode special as a promo for the fic. after this is all my previous author notes.

this is a fem!reader and also a half chinese!reader insert.

previous ♡ next

You hung limply over Jade's shoulder as he brought you over to the table. He set you down gently and handed you a plate with a polite smile, before quickly snapping up the food he wanted. Thankfully, Jade was quick enough for you to be able to grab a sandwich you actually wanted to eat. There's no way in the cold, wet hells[1] that you'd eat any large meal before swimming. Stomachaches were already a common occurrence for you due to the curse of menstruation, why go through even more unnecessary pain? 

Sadly, the boys had a completely different philosophy. Ruggie had piled a plate sky-high with varying meats and seafood, all while fiercely guarding a gourmet steak for Leona. Floyd and Jade, with you stuck between them, had also taken a large amount of food. At least they were planning on eating vegetables. Meanwhile, Riddle, Azul, Vil and Rook seemed to have prepared meals with the 'perfect' caloric intake.

And even then, they're eating so much! Though I guess the minimum calories are higher for guys? And they are younger...[2]

Leona slowly stalked over to the table, hair a mess from his nap and snatched his plate from Ruggie, sitting next to the hyena. Idia eventually got up from the pancake he made on the ground, mostly by Ortho's prompting. A plate stacked with healthy foods was handed to him by his brother and he was forced in a seat next to Silver. The Diasomnia first year had a plate with similarly healthy foods, though Idia had a smaller portion in comparison... It didn't help that every so often, Lilia would add a vegetable or cut of meat to Silver's plate. 

Malleus ate silently at the head of the table with a contemplative frown, Lilia smirking and whispering in his ear while Silver just ate in silence. Trey smiled sheepishly in conversation with Cater and Riddle, the three of them seemingly somewhat pleased with their meals. Kalim and Jamil ate next to each other, food already tested for poison and picked out to be a perfect lunch.

"Koi fish~" Floyd started, leaning over your shoulder. "is that seriously all you're gonna eat?"

"Ah- well..." You trailed off. "I'm not exactly a 'growing girl' so to speak."

"Still," Jade chimed in, mirroring Floyd. "that isn't a lot of food. Are you sure you don't need to eat anymore?"

Are they... planning something? It's not my fault you boys all eat like beasts!

Trey silently spooned some pasta onto Riddle's plate. Suddenly, everyone at the table seemed extremely invested in your private conversation. 

You sighed. "Yes, I'm sure."

Who are they? My mom? Please. She'd never be so smothering.

"You're already skin and bones." Leona chimed in, "A herbivore like you definitely needs to eat more. Else you'll end up like Riddle."

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" The redhead snapped at Leona, face matching the colour of his hair. "Though you definitely should eat more, it doesn't seem like enough food for the day." He looked over at you, now cool as a cucumber. 

"I agree, I don't think a sandwich is enough for a day in the sun." Trey frowned in concern, Cater nodding emphatically next to him.

"Yeah! How are we supposed to post cute beach pics if you're fainting from a lack of food!"

Can the peanut gallery PLEASE stop offering their opinions?

You took a small bite out of your sandwich, resisting the urge to roll your eyes. A posture of steel, not a crumb falling nor a hair out of place. The essence of perfection you were taught to be. Too bad the boys were too busy worrying over your lunch to properly appreciate it. 

"Are you really fine with only eating that much?" Kalim tilted his head in concern. "Shouldn't she eat more, Jamil?"

"Eh?" His vice dormleader looked over, pretending to be unaware of the conversation. "...Yes, she should be eating more."

Lilia nodded his head with a frown and a shrug. "She definitely should, humans are sooo fragile~"

Vil and Rook looked over at what you were eating, looks of disapproval obvious.

"Don't tell me you've bought into diet culture," Vil lectured, "it's been proven to be a scam that hardly works and even then-"

"Diet culture is a scam?!" Azul looked shell shocked. 

"Obviously? Pressuring people into restricting what they eat so much and guilting them for even barely straying from an un-nutritious and unfulfilling diet is a binge-eating disaster waiting to happen!" 

"...You guys are binge-eating?" Ruggie looked over, half a chicken wing in his mouth, curious.

Floyd poked your cheek, then attempted to place more food on your plate. A serving of calamari clashed against a spearing of mushrooms. Twins glared and started to war a silent fight while you polished off your lunch. There was no way you were gonna deal with this in-fighting when you could just find Crewel and go swimming. You put your plate in the sink and cleaned it up. 

Quiet as a mouse, you left the room, boys none the wiser. Grabbing your bag off of the couch, you bid Crewel adieu and went out to the beach. Shimmering waves against the gleaming, blinding white sand enamored you as you placed your bag and towel in the shade.

A warding talisman and the removal of your sundress left you free to explore the shore to your heart's content. Wandering around, you gathered bone-bleached shells and smoothed down shards of colourful sea glass. By the time you reached rocky cliff, you had left a trail of footprints and a floating pile of your treasures following you. You smiled and took in the relaxing atmosphere.

A crash and the loud slam of the door. 

A swarm of boys rushing down the hill towards the sandy beach. 

"(Y/NNNNN)!!!" Floyd called out, arms waving around wildly, giant grin on his face.

Ruggie and Leona waved from where Ruggie was setting up a throne room for the king of naps. Malleus and Lilia curiously observing while being blasted with horrific UV rays. Rook had already helped Vil set up a UV-proof zone and the two were slathering on reef-safe suncream, glancing at-

Did Idia just eat sand and die?

You smiled ruefully, your boys were so stupid. And there goes Idia rolling over! Knocking over Riddle, Trey, Cater and-

Like dominoes, Idia's fall started a chain reaction ending in a dog-pile of half-naked, sweaty, flushed men. Disgusting. 

You glided over gracefully, faked concern appearing on your face like a well-worn mask.

"Are you guys okay?" You asked, leaning over, hands on your knees. 

For whatever reason, the boys just went even more red. You think Riddle let out a muffled shriek. The momentary confusion was replaced by disappointment.

They were looking at your cleavage. The pigs.

Yeah. There's no way you were going to go near them. You acted confused, tilting your head before walking past in a decisive moment towards Vil and Rook. 

How do I bleach a memory from my brain?!

No matter. You sat in the UV-safe zone with Rook and Vil. The hunter offered you a bottle of water. 

"Ah- no, thank you." With a snap of your fingers, your bag appeared next to you. "I brought my own."

A sip of water and then you gathered up the things you collected from beach-combing. 

"Was that what you were doing while we had that..." Vil paused. "discussion?"

You beamed. "Yep!" That reminds you... "I founded a shell that was like you!" You told Vil with a blinding smile, rummaging through the piles for it.

You pulled out a large conch shell, spiky with streaks of purple. A shy look in your eyes and you offered it to him.

"If I remember correctly... conches follow the golden ratio, right? And well... you're the most perfect person I know, so..."

Vil sniffed and took the shell from your hands like a merciful god. "I suppose it's... nice."

"Vil, mon cher Roi du Poison, I can always take it from your hands if you do not want it!" Rook stated with a wink and a grin. "I always delight in a gift from our Reine des Cygnes[3]!"

Rook reached his hand out only to have it slapped away, Vil tucking the conch protectively into his arms.

"No, it's mine. She gave it to me, so hands off!"

You fretted over the slight fight, feeling the sparks flying between the two. Vil with a stone cold expression and Rook with his ever-present smile. 

"Oh- uhm, I also brought something for you, Rook!"

It wasn't a lie, you did find a piece of glass that reminded you of your classmate, but...

"You did?!" Rook took your hands in his, stars in his eyes. "I shall cherish this for every year that goes by, ma chouette!"

...You just knew Rook was gonna get weird about it. Too late to save yourself now. 

"Ah- here." You tugged your hands out of Rook's grasp and handed him an arrow-shaped shard of indigo sea glass. It sparkled against the sun, uncannily reminiscent of the shine in Rook's eyes.

"Thank you so much ma chère!" He quickly took it, handling it with the reverence of a man with an idol of his god.

"It was no problem at all..." You flushed slightly at the praise.

"No, you took the time to search for these and then give them to us." Vil gazed at you with ardent warmth. "Thank you for taking the time to find these."

You suddenly wished for a fan, hands covering your face while it rapidly heated up. You couldn't handle this! Both Vil and Rook in their purple swimwear, decorative open shirts framing their bodies with such elegance... it was too much! 

A chuckle. Vil covered his laugh up with a hand over his mouth. Rook simply stayed smiling with a knowing look in his eyes. The Pomefiore Housewarden leaned in closer to you, hands brushing, as he opened his mouth to whisper something but-

"Ey, (Y/N), come here!" Leona beckoned you over and with a frown and a curious glance, you followed. 

Vil looked awfully put out, but Rook seemed to be even more pleased by this outcome, taking out a pair of sun-proofed binoculars from who knows where. 

You walked over to the two Savanaclaw members, Leona now lazing on a towel-bed while Ruggie set up portable fans to cool the lion down. 

"Heard you were giving out gifts." Leona said with a twitch of his ears. "Where's mine?"

You fumbled for a second in slight shock, but with a quick recovery, gave him one half of an oyster shell, coated in mother of pearl. 

He raised an eyebrow. "Where's the other half?"

"It's for Ruggie!" You smiled. "Who else?"

The hyena, with a bashful turn of his head, took the other half from your hands. "Wait- I can probably make a lot of money with this... Thank you!"

"Isn't it rude to sell a gift?"

"I gave it to him since I knew he probably would sell it!" You snapped back in reply. 

"I don't get either of you." And with a huff, Leona lied down and took another nap. 

"...Is he already asleep?" You asked Ruggie, head leaning against your hand as you watched him finish up the nap-fort. 

The hyena glanced at Leona. "Probably, yeah."

"He's really good at this..." You sighed. "Now if only he'd apply this effort to his studies..."

A bark of laughter. 

"Like he'd ever! Leona isn't Leona if he spends all his time studying!"

A fond grin and a burst of yellow roses in your heart. "Yeah... you're right."

After a while of chatting with Ruggie and a quick re-application of suncream, you went over to the waves. Floyd and Jade waved at you from where they were (most likely) torturing poor Riddle, who was fuming once again. Trey and Cater tried their best to calm him but it was a lost cause. Meanwhile, Idia was carefully watching Ortho's movements in the water, taking notes on a floating tablet. Kalim was splashing around while Jamil stayed on guard by the shore, resolutely ignoring Azul trying to talk to him. 

"Koi fish! You gonna swim?" Floyd asked with a bright grin, cheeks flushing.

"Why else would I be by the waves?" You teased. 

Riddle went bright red at your entrance, eyes darting to your chest and then to your face before he quickly whipped his head away from you. If he wasn't so endearing you'd have punted him into the sun already. 

"Oh, (Y/N)!" Kalim waved you over. "Wanna play a game with us?"

"Sure!" You beamed. "What is it?"

Jade held a hand to his chest, a smirk on his face. "We're playing 'save the princess'. Would you like to play the part? The heroes have to rescue you from us, if they get to that tree with you, they win."

At some point I am going to murder these men. Is he seriously asking me to play the damsel in distress?

You looked at both Floyd and Jade, the two, in their true forms, were practically vibrating with excitement. You guessed they would be your captors... and even then you doubt that they'd let you go. 

A sigh. "I guess..."

Floyd smiled wide and grabbed you by the waist in a second. Clawed hands almost fondling your sides. 

"I've got Koi fishie~ let's swim away, Jade!" He laughed in childish glee as he quickly darted off.

"Wait, we're starting now?" Kalim called out. "Oh, then, Jamil! Help me catch those dastardly villains!"

A tilt to his head and a proud smile on his face, Kalim fell into his role as the knight-prince, your supposed saviour.

"If sea snake's joining then I want Azul!" Floyd pouted as Jade simply smiled. "Azul! Join us!"

Their Housewarden sighed, getting up from his place in the sand along with Jamil as they entered the water. For whatever reason, Azul stayed in his two-legged form, yet he still could quickly swim over. 

"If we are to win," Jade said, "we should make sure to split up. Toss (Y/N) over to the person who is unswarmed by these heroes."

"But I want to spend time with (Y/N)!" Floyd frowned, hands twitching around your waist while you let him carry you, limp. 

And I wanted to play a fun game of tag, but I guess we don't always get what we want!

"I agree with Jade." Azul pushed his glasses up. "We should make sure to keep (Y/N) away from these heroes."

Your captors had migrated over to the deeper waters in the ocean, powerful tails (and legs) allowing them to tread the water with ease. You shifted in Floyd's grasp, turning chest-to-chest, to peer over at your supposed heroes. The merman chirped with glee and held you even tighter to him in a pseudo-hug while he continued to discuss tactics with his dormmates. 

Surprisingly, Riddle, Cater and Trey were participating in this game as well. By the looks of things, it seems they had managed to recruit Ortho too. The 'knights' were similarly congregating, thinking up a game plan. While their numbers trumped your captors, you're sure that they are the ones with the advantage. 

Seriously, why are the teams like this. There's no way Kalim's team is winning against this sea-beasts.

In a flash, Azul, Jade and Floyd swam off in different directions. Floyd's powerful tail pushed the both of you through the water at a near-alarming speed, making you laugh in an adrenaline-fueled manner. You looked over Floyd's shoulder to see most of the hero team swimming towards you both at a much slower rate. Floyd soon stopped and started to float in the water, guarding you in his arms like a precious treasure.

"You'll never take Koi fishie from me!" He growled out, baring his teeth with a laugh.

"Are you sure about that?" Riddle smirked. "You're surrounded."

In a flash, Riddle, Trey, Cater and Kalim had encircled Floyd, slowly drawing closer with no escape. It's too bad that your 'captors' had planned for this. Floyd smiled even wider, lifting you up by the hips, and called out to Jade. With strong arms, he tossed you over to his brother, who caught you gently with steel cable-like arms. As you flew through the air, you couldn't help but laugh at the 'heroes' shocked faces. 

"It seems you're stuck with me now." Jade smiled, quickly swimming off with Jamil and Ortho giving chase. 

The merman was holding you in a bridal-style carry, whipping his tail through the water, dodging Ortho and Jamil's tries to grab and save you.

You waved lazily at them. "Oh no. I've been caught. Dear heroes, please save me." You spoke, completely deadpan. 

You could hear Jade's chest vibrate from a chuckle as he continued to race through the water. A glance towards his back showed Azul setting up for a catch while Floyd taunted poor Riddle. Trey and Cater were quickly swimming over to help Jamil and Ortho, who were quickly catching up.

So they're handicapping themselves for this. Probably 'cause it wouldn't be as fun.

"Don't worry (Y/N), I'll save you!" Ortho called out, his motors whirring as he started to speed up, nearly brushing your hand as Jade quickly dodged.

"It's not polite to lie, Ortho." Jade called out as you braced yourself for another toss. "There's simply no way for you to win."

In a quick, smooth motion, you flew through the air once more to be caught by Azul. You laughed and ruffled his hair in joy, undeniably pleased from all this throwing. For whatever reason, being tossed through the air filled you with pinks and yellows of a childish happiness, making you giggle, adrenaline-drunk, with glee.

"Please don't mess up my hair." Azul sighed, resigned. He shifted you around in his arms for a better ease of movement as Riddle drew in near with a dangerous glare.

The position he landed on was you, held by the waist in one arm as you were slung over his shoulder. He then took off, not as fast as Jade or Floyd, but still faster than your supposed future saviours. Soon enough, he let them catch up, then threw you through the air to Floyd. 

And so the cycle continued, you happily being thrown in the air while the hero team eventually slowed down, exhausted. Not ones' to lose, they congregated into a circle on the shore to discuss plans, while you stayed fixed in Floyd's arms. Jade and Azul soon joining you as you all watched the hero team plan. 

"I wonder how they'll approach us this time." Jade simpered with an everpresent smile.

Azul scoffed. "This is such a stupid game. How on earth are they going to win?"

Unfortunately for them, Azul just jinxed the 'villain' team. Malleus, Lilia and Silver, returning from a beach combing exploration, went over to the hero team. Kalim waved his hands around and suddenly, it seemed that the Diasomnia boys joined the hero team. Their discussion continued with even more fervor, a dark shadow appearing over their group as they started to scheme.

"Wow. You really just screwed yourself over, Azul." You deadpanned, unbothered by any of this. 

Floyd hugged you closer to him in glee. "Now it's gonna be super fun! Too bad none of them will steal you from me..."

A dark chuckle. "No. They won't win against us, right Azul?"

His glasses flashed. "I think it's time to think of a different plan."

You laughed as Floyd darted through the waves, waving at Malleus, Silver and Lilia who were closing in on you. Sadly for them, Floyd picked up even more speed. Beads of water flew through the air as the waves splashed into the Diasomnia group. Meanwhile, Jade tried to shake off a persistent group of Heartslabyul boys, Azul facing the same problem with Kalim and Jamil. 

"Return (Y/N) to us, mortal, and your punishment will be lessened." Malleus glared, picking up speed.

"There's no way for you to win, Floyd, so just give up." Lilia added with a chuckle. 

Silver stayed silent, a dark look on his face as he swam even faster, nearly managing to grab you off of Floyd. Floyd laughed in amusement and quickly changed directions. Jade and Azul started swimming towards the center of the ocean alongside you and Floyd. Though you were, of course, a limp spectator in this competition. Still, it was fun to move so quickly through the water, you giggled as Floyd started to go even faster.

The three of them met in the middle, the others not far behind. Azul scowled as Jade grabbed you from Floyd, manhandling you into his arms.

"Ready?" Azul asked, "They're closing in."

True to his statement, the group of 'heroes' were quickly getting closer. Riddle looked triumphant, while Trey and Cater's eyes shone with determination to 'save' you.

I guess it's time for my plan to come into action, too. 

There was no way you were playing damsel in distress. No matter how fun it was to go fast and be thrown around, this objectification was too much to bear. Thank god for Idia, who had seen your rapid signing and silently gathered Ruggie and Rook to the shore. You smiled to yourself. This rescue plan was going to work.

"Hand (Y/N) over, criminals! We're here to save her, there's no escape!" Malleus boomed with a smirk. 

"Isn't there?" Jade smiled in reply, "It seems you weren't paying enough attention."

In that quick amount of time, Azul and Floyd had tied up their legs in the seaweed from the ocean floor. They struggled, shocked. 

And now it was your time to shine. 

"Yeah. There's no need for you heroes!" You smiled, a steely look in your eyes. "I can save myself just fine, thanks."

In one quick motion, you grabbed Jade's arms, throwing him over your shoulder by using his body weight. The eel barreled into Floyd and Azul, knocking them out. Whip-quick, you swam off, darting through the waves with a laugh as you approached the shore. 

A look over your shoulder, the boys were catching up. Floyd, Jade and Azul were closest, but the others were pulling on them to slow them down. It soon turned into an all-out war as they fought to get near to you, either to 'save' or 'capture' you. Too bad.

With a smile and a wave, you ran onto the shore. Idia and Ruggie grinned and guarded you as you approached the win-point. You hit the tree with your hand and beamed. 

"I win!" You said in a sing-song tone. 

The boys were stunned.

Trey laughed first. "Yeah, you did! Well done."

The others joined in, heaping you with praise as your heart fluttered in joy. Butterflies in your stomach as you all started to chat about your plan and your win. Ruggie ruffled your hair while Idia gave you a smile in support. 

It was a fun day.

[1] Chinese hell is cold, dark and damp. Basically the opposite to traditional perception of Christian hell. And there are multiple hells! Lovely ^^ [2] Generally, Chinese eating tendencies is that the best and most food goes to children, then the elderly, then the adults. Portion sizes also tend to be quite small for adults/teens, at least compared to US portion sizes. MC is exaggerating when calling the boys younger tho... it's the innate mom instinct lmao [3] Queen of Swans... get it.... cuz MC's so graceful but can also be very fierce? Also cuz swans = romance and Rook is definitely noticing the reverse harem shenangians

Just a fun fact, kids/babies get so happy from being thrown because it helps strengthen their bodies against gravity. It also strengthens a kid's sense of balance and motion. I wonder why MC likes it now uwu

and here is the third part of the beach ep. if you'd like to read the rest of the fic, you can read it on ao3 here, and on quotev here.

[baddygab-bi]

My mom’s a general audience member in her sixties. Doesn’t read articles. Doesn’t watch interviews. Had NO spoilers. A very casual watcher. She once said “they’re not gay” when I told her about how “some gay people” (hi, yeah, me but she doesn’t know I ship nor that I’m bi) ship Buck and Eddie as buddie.

Here’s her thoughts:

Helicopter scene: “huh. Interesting.” Then about Tommy “who’s that guy? I remember him from last episode, but who is he?”

Sewer scene: “that’s funny. That’s cute.” About Buck watching Chris. She also was confused about Eddie suddenly having another car that’s not his truck. She thinks Ravi is adorable and funny.

Maddie and Buck at home: “so he’s jealous, what can you do?” “There’s nothing you can do.” “I don’t know why Buck is at Maddie’s house… I know they’re siblings.” “What’s the big deal, so what? Eddie has a new best friend, you can have many best friends.”

After pressing about Tommy: “He’s not gay, is he?” I said: You can’t just ask someone if they’re gay. “They’re getting really buddy-buddy”

Amazon prime scene: when Buck was doing the weights, she was mumbling something that looked like “no. Stupid. No” (we’re on FaceTime and only unmute on commercial breaks). She thought the Prime ad was funny. “Apparently the other guy (she means Eddie) isn’t interested.” “Buck is going to be lonely if he doesn’t find another friend to play, that’s all.” “I thought he was gonna kill himself with the bar weights.” “He’s not gonna come to your rescue, dude.” “He wanted his friend to spot him and look at him, not the other guy (Ravi).” “But Eddie’s busy with Tony.” (Yes she said Tony.)

She’s more invested in the mom shooting her son and Harry and Athena than I want her to be. I need her to be IN THESE BISEXUAL BUCK TRENCHES. Also is this my coming out moment lmao? I’m just gonna say I like his acting.

Basketball: “that was a killer move. He had so much anger and he wanted to really hurt him and he did.” “He’s jealous! And they were winning!” (Huh, they were winning.) “it’s all about the bonding, the guy things. He’s jealous, that’s all there is to it.” “And sooner or later, Eddie isn’t going to want to be around Buck, he’s gonna want to be around Tommy.” I asked her about the song that was playing, she didn’t hear it. Rewatched the scene to hear the song. Song thoughts: “oh there was music.” I bet she won’t understand the words. I was right, verbatim. She put on the captions. “Just because Eddie gets a broken ankle, I don’t want him to leave the show.” She thinks someone is gonna leave at the end or die, I kinda tricked her into thinking Tommy’s gonna die. She asked what a beard is. Told her. “Let me ask you something—no—wait—Eddie’s not gay. Neither is Chimney. So why would he be a beard?” I asked why she thought Eddie was gay. “Not Eddie. Buck! Buck’s not gay.” I told her nobody on the court is gay (not a lie technically). “Exactly. Nobody is gay.” Still listening to the song: she likes the song. She’s into this scene that I made her watch three times. “Ooohh he drove him.” “They’re not gonna be friends any more.”

Buck and Maddie at lunch: Liked Maddie going blonde and the Sarah story. Thinks Maddie was right he was acting like a kid, so jealous. “I want to be your friend too. Include me.”

The SCENE: she has no clue what’s about to happen. No idea. Is nodding when Buck said he was jealous. “Wow” about Buck wanting to get to know Tommy. “That was funny!” After they kissed. “Buck was trying to get his attention and he just kissed him.” “It’s nice. Good. It’s an interesting ending. So now those two will be friends.” I asked if she missed the end of that scene. “No! They’re going out on Saturday at 8am to learn to fly a helicopter.” I told her to rewind it. On the rewatch: “You can have more than one friend!” After Buck said he thinks Tommy is cool “He likes him… okay.” “Tommy went in for the kiss.” She smiling now. “They’re gonna get a beer.. and kiss.”

Promo for next week: she gasped when Buck said it was his first date with a guy. She thought it was just two guys going out for a drink. She didn’t realize they were romantically involved. “Who did Eddie bring to the restaurant?” I said it was his girlfriend “when did she get on the show?”

And on Buck being bi? “It’s nice.”

Was she expecting it? “I thought Buck was more interested in Eddie. Because of the jealousy. I thought Buck and Eddie would be kissing. And then Tommy comes along and he’s gonna kiss one of them.” “Tommy is cute, he’s gonna kiss somebody. Once they add another character it has to be someone to kiss Eddie or Buck.” “I was waiting for them to have a threesome.” “They’re just men having fun! All three of them!” “I thought Tommy and Eddie were gonna kiss. I forgot about the girlfriend.”

[tkslittlesway]

I really loved that episode! I think my only real complaint is like so many others have said, the lack of a one on one scene with TK and Carlos. I would have loved more physical contact between the two as well. I mean, no hugs, no kisses? In an episode where they're planning their wedding? Not even kisses on the cheek, kisses on the head? I think 3x13 set the bar for how they can put those things in scattered throughout the episode and it spoiled me, because now I want to see it all the time and we haven't had that AT ALL this season... yet. But other than that, it was great.

Them at the firehouse, swapping lunches was so cute.

I knew all along that Carlos wasn't going to be the one to break. I kept seeing people on Twitter say how they want Carlos to go off on Owen, and the whole time I was thinking "This is CARLOS, he's not going to go off on Owen (or his Mom but people like to leave her out). I did love that when TK went off, and Carlos was pretty much like "Yeah! What he said!" It was so cute and funny and so on brand for them both, because TK doesn't care if you're a parent or law enforcement, he will speak his mind.

Love the fact that it's canon Carlos has sisters for the people who wanted him to have sisters. It didn't matter to me either way, but I did just assume he was an only child and I wish we hadn't had to wait 50 episodes to find out for sure. But also, I have to repeat what I saw some others say, and it's that, if Carlos has sisters.. especially if they are older sisters.. where were they for him when he was dealing with his past traumas? How did they deal with him coming out? How did they deal with him deciding to marry Iris?? More plot holes, I guess.

I loved Mama Reyes talking about that part of the past, and how she regrets it. I would have LOVED to see the dinner with her and Carlos where they talk about it. They could have part of some of the episode out to do that, I think. But oh well.

I loved that scene with TK and Owen at the end. But again, no hug?? I so wanted another TK and Owen hug again!

Marjans storyline was so so good! I love her so much. The couple was so much like the Gabby Petito story, it was so obvious. But anyway, Marjan deciding to follow them, set up a plan for the girl to leave.. and then when the girl didn't, following them again and hiding so she can get concrete video evidence of abuse. Fighting him off, I cheered, she kicked his ass! The promo for next weeks episode looks amazing. I can't wait to see Marjan be a badass again, even though we know it ends up with her in the hospital.

[fighterkimburgess]

Human

Summary: Hank Voight is only human. He tries to live without second guessing his choices. But every single action he has done has had consequences, and he watches them play out with his family. Post 8x16, inspired by the promo.

Words: 6.1k

Warnings: If it happened in 8x15/16, consider yourself warned. Hospital stuff, medical procedures, intubation, wondering if characters are going to die, angst, police brutality coverups, mentions of death, mentions of canonical pre canon character death, mentions of canonical character death, mentions of canonical shooting, mentions of canonical miscarriage.

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“Sarge, any news?” Hank turned as Ruzek came barrelling down the hallway, still in his clothes from the day before.

“She’s critical but stable. Trudy went to your locker, got some stuff for you. Here.” He handed over the bag of clothing from the precinct, taking in the younger man’s nod. “There’s a shower down the hall, Marcel said any of us who need it can use it. Go shower and then come back. She’s not going anywhere right now.”

“Thanks, Sarge.”

As Hank watched him walk down the hallway he saw Ruzek’s shoulders slump staring into Kim’s room. The two of them had been through everything, but they’d still had the connection he and Camille had had. He just didn’t want to see Adam go through the heartbreak of losing his soulmate.

“Sergeant? You can come in now. She’s still unconscious, they put her in a medically induced coma to help her heal. We need to find an Adam Ruzek? He’s down as her next of kin.” It shouldn’t have surprised him that even after everything Kim would have her ex fiancé, the man she’d nearly married and had a child with, as her next of kin. Of course she did.

“He’s in the shower, spent the night with Makayla, making sure she wasn’t worrying about her mom.”

“Their daughter?”

How did he even begin to explain it all? “Basically, I’m not sure if the adoption is finalised.” Close enough, even when he knew it was.

He followed the nurse into the room, pausing at the door. She was so still in the bed, the hiss of the ventilator and the beep of her heart monitor the only noises in the room.

“She’s fragile, but not made of glass. You can hold her hand.” He sat in the seat beside her bed, Kim’s warm hand in his. “You’re all close, aren’t you? We’ve had cops here before, but never the same way all of you are.”

“Yeah. She’s my daughter.” The words fell out of his mouth before he even thought about it, and the nurse nodded.

“We’re doing everything we can, and she’s triggering the vent herself which is a good sign. I’ll leave you alone with her for a while.” The slide of the door indicated she’d left, the sound of the seal securing giving him the moment to just relax, to not be strong and a leader for once.

“I really need you to wake up, Burgess. We were supposed to have lunch with Makayla on Sunday, remember? I owe her chocolate chip pancakes, and I have no intention of ignoring my promises.” He gulped, blinking back his tears. Not when Ruzek was going to arrive soon. Hank stared at her IV sliding into her hand, bringing back unwanted memories of Camille’s port in her too thin body before she died.

“I have lost three children in my life. I lost a daughter the day she was born, I lost Justin five years ago, and when Erin left I lost her too. And the week after she left you came back to work and you made things brighter. You made it easier. That was all you, Kim. You brought the life back to this unit, to our days. You kept this unit together, we need you. And you and that big heart of yours helped bring us all back. Even when the worst happened, when Al died, you kept us all going.” Hank paused, looking at the ragged nails and scratched fingers. The proof she’d fought to survive. That she’d fought to come back to her daughter and Adam. And maybe she’d fought to come back to all of them.

“I can’t lose another child, Kim. I can’t lose you. Ruzek can’t lose you. If he loses you he’s done. We’re all done. I’ve lost kids, I barely see my grandson. I watched you lose your child too, and we talked about that pain. But you deserve to live. You deserve to share that heart with everyone again. I’ve never told you but I’m so proud of you. For adopting Makayla, for bringing the light to her again. For looking after yourself. For loving everyone. Let me tell you that to your face instead of lying in this bed. So wake up. Talk to Ruzek and admit that the two of you have something beautiful. Take your family. Because out of everyone I know, you deserve that happy ending at last.”

There was no movement in the bed, no sign she’d heard him or recognised anyone was even there. But Trudy had made him promise to not let her be alone, and he wouldn’t break that promise. So he sat with her life signs showing she was still there, waiting. His fingers against her wrist, the soft thump of her pulse matching the heart monitor on the wall.

“Any change?” Hank jumped when Adam arrived in, his hair still wet and barely pushed off his face.

“Nothing. She’s breathing though, triggering the ventilator so she’s telling it when she wants to breathe. It’s a good sign.”

“Yeah.” Adam took the seat at the other side of the bed, holding her hand. “I fucked up, Sarge. I blew my lid and she came to apologise and I didn’t let her. And now she might not know…”

“She knows. Ruzek, a blind and deaf man who spent more than five minutes with the two of you knows.” His voice was harsh but without malice, making Adam nod. “But when she wakes up and she has the energy the two of you need a long talk. The same way when she’s out of the woods you and Atwater need to have a talk.”

“He’s never going to talk to me again, and I don’t blame him. I’ll probably give you transfer papers when everything’s back to vaguely normal.”

“I heard the fight.” Adam took an intake of breath, waiting for Hank’s next words. “You screwed up. Monumentally. You need to talk to him but more than that you need to listen to him. That man loves you like a brother, and no matter what he has always treated you like one. Al and I fought like dogs sometimes, and we’d go weeks without talking. But I would give anything for just one more chance to talk to him. One more chance to get a pearl of wisdom from him. He’s your Al. So you suck it up, you tell him you’re sorry, and then you listen to every piece of upset and anger he has towards you, and you accept it all. Understood?”

“Yeah.” His voice was low, and when Hank looked up Adam’s eyes were filled with unshed tears. “I can’t lose either of them.”

“You won’t.” His cell buzzed, Hank pulling it out and seeing Sam’s name on the text.

We found something, can we talk?

Just leaving the hospital. My office in thirty?

Sure

“I have to go, Miller came up with something. Once Kim was taken she cancelled her time off, wanted to make sure we had what we needed.” He squeezed Kim’s hand one last time, rubbing against her wrist, away from the IV in the back of her hand.

“Sarge, I can’t…I won’t…”

“Stay here.” Adam relaxed as he said the words, taking the moment to hold himself straight. “She doesn’t wake up alone. I’m on the pickup list for Makayla, I’ll collect her from school. What does she know?”

“That Kim’s in hospital, that she got hurt in work. I told her it was a car crash. I didn’t want to scare her too much.”

“Got it. I won’t either, she’ll be fine.” He went around to Adam, a hand on his shoulder as he squeezed gently. “We’re a phone call away. Trudy went home to sleep, she said she’d be back around noon and bring food for you.”

“I can’t…not until we know.”

“You need to look after yourself. Makayla’s counting on you. Kim’s counting on you.”

“Yeah.”

He walked out, watching Adam edge closer to the bed almost forgetting there’d been anyone else there. It reminded him of the last two times he’d seen Burgess in a hospital bed, when she’d lost their child and when she’d been shot on the job the last time. Ruzek there to hold her, anchor her as she healed. This time he’d anchor her to life. There was no alternative.

The drive to the precinct felt like an age and no time at all, and all Hank really wanted was a hot shower and his bed. He felt every single one of his years, the anxiety and worry hitting him. But she was alive. She would stay alive. He had faith in the staff in Med, they’d kept Halstead alive after he was shot. But if his unit could please stop getting shot he’d appreciate it, he couldn’t cope with another one. He didn’t want to see them in a hospital again. He didn’t want to face nearly losing another one of them. He couldn’t do it. Hank didn’t have a lot left in his life, and losing one of those five would break him for good.

He knew he wasn’t a good man. If he was religious, if he believed in an afterlife, he’d firmly believe he was going to hell. He’d done the wrong things for the right reasons, but he’d taken lives before. And he wouldn’t change much of what he’d done. He’d be cleverer, not let Al get caught. But he’d have done the same actions. But those five…they were everything he had left. Their ridiculous antics, the hidden romances. He cared for every single one of them, and losing any of them would stop him from keeping that dark part of him mostly hidden. Even the possibility of losing Kim had done that.

If Upton would ever look at him again. He wouldn’t blame her if he just got her papers, and he’d give her the highest of recommendations and get her into whatever unit she wanted. He had very few regrets, but making her shoot Walton was the biggest after not double checking Camille’s oncologist. If she’d just walked away…but it was his mistake and his fault, and he had to make sure she didn’t live with that guilt. To do whatever he could to ease it for her.

Sam was already waiting in his office, and Hank closed the door behind him. Her face was drawn, two paper cups of coffee on his desk.

“I thought you could do with some caffeine. How’s she doing?”

“Critical but stable. She’s on a ventilator. Ruzek’s with her now.” He took a sip, glad for something that wasn’t hospital swill.

“What is it with the two of them? When I started working with this unit I thought they were together, then they hated each other, then they were getting on an even footing?” Hank laughed, the unexpected motion even surprising him, Sam raising an eyebrow at him.

“Do you have an hour? Long story cut incredibly short they were engaged, they broke it off, she nearly had their kid until she was beaten and lost the baby when we weren’t there in time. He drove her to the hospital and stayed with her the whole time. Then I thought they’d get it together but they didn’t, and she fostered Makayla. She named him her custodian if anything happened.”

“Wow. That’s…something. Do you think they’ll make it?”

“Yes.” It was one word, said with complete conviction. “He stepped away from finding her because he knew her kid needed him. They deserve some happiness for once. But you didn’t call me here to talk about the most gossiped about relationship probably in the entire department. What’s going on?”

Sam shifted, and his gut went cold. Hank was only alive thanks to his gut, and he waited for the gallows to swing.

“We tracked down a potential location for Walton this morning. When we got there he wasn’t there, but there was a large amount of blood. Too much to survive losing. Preliminary DNA looks like Walton, but we’re waiting on the full results. That’ll take about a week. There was no other DNA, no hairs, no nothing. Not even a bullet casing. Which surprised us, because normally if someone’s shot and there’s that much blood, they won’t pick up the shells. What do I need to know, Hank?”

“You don’t need to know anything, Sounds like someone did the city a service.” He kept his voice calm, not wanting his sometime bedmate to know. He’d have no issue going to jail to have saved Kim, to save Hailey the indignity of being a cop behind bars. But he didn’t want to have to do it.

“I’m speaking frankly to you. I’m glad he’s dead. He killed my son, I’d have shot him myself. But what matters here is making sure that nobody loses anything.”

“The only thing that matters is saving her life!” The words came out of his throat with more force than Hank intended, staring at Sam. “I can’t lose her, Sam. I’ve lost three kids. I can’t lose another one. I’ll do anything to make sure I don’t lose her. To make sure that she survives, that they all do. You can cuff me and I’ll sign whatever you need, but they need to be ok.”

Desperation was not a word that people ever associated with him. They’d associate power, knowledge, surety. But the only tone you could possibly say he had at that point was desperation. Desperation for his unit. For Jay, Hailey, Kevin, Adam, Kim. For the two who felt like his kids, and the other three who while he wasn’t as close to them he’d do nearly anything to protect them. He was desperate to keep them safe and alive and whole. If they had each other they’d barely miss him.

“I’m not going to do that, Henry.” When Sam used his given name he looked up from his shaking hands, her face filled with emotion. “I’m glad he’s dead. There’s no DNA. Is there anything that can place you at the scene?”

“No. My radio was off, my cell here. U—Nobody had a cellphone there.”

“Was Upton there?” He’d damned her. Goddamn it.

“No. I was alone.”

“Don’t lie to me, Henry Voight. I need to know so I can protect you.” He took a deep breath, deciding to trust her for once.

“Yes. Upton tracked me down, found where I was. She tried to call me off, to stop me. But when it happened I sent her out, told her to get out and leave, not to touch anything. I disposed of the body by myself, cleaned out what I used to transport him. Nobody will find him.”

To her credit, Sam didn’t shudder. Her expression barely changed, and Hank nodded once.

“Ok. We have nothing proving anyone was there. We have no body, no proof. I’m assuming even if he was found nobody could tell you were involved?”

“Correct.”

The room was silent for too many seconds, the woman’s brain nearly visibly working.

“I can get him declared dead. His gang tidying up loose ends. He wasn’t at the top of the food chain, or even nearly there. They were clearing up, he died. End of story. No point adding moving parts to it.” There was a noise from outside and they turned, Upton and Halstead at their desks. Hank watched as Sam opened the door, calling them both in.

When Hailey arrived in she paled looking at him, but if you didn’t know her well you couldn’t tell. The two detectives were holding hands, and Sam smiled at them.

“I didn’t know you were together. I hope it works well for you.”

“Thanks, Superintendent. Look, we were just grabbing stuff before going back to the hospital to check on Kim, what’s going on?” Jay spoke, avoiding Hank’s eyes and suddenly he knew Hailey had told him everything. He didn’t blame her, the only reason Camille didn’t know everything was she had a soft heart, he kept the darkness away from her.

“We raided a garage today looking for Walton, and there was a large amount of blood there. Preliminary DNA is that it’s Walton’s, and there’s too much for him to still be alive. His gang killed him, tying up loose ends in Chicago. We’re not expecting to find the body, they’re not going to be that sloppy again. I’m passing over the file on the human trafficking case to the FBI, it’s interstate and we don’t have the manpower for it. I’m putting Intelligence on three weeks paid leave, every single one of you needs to heal. Ruzek is with Burgess now, can someone fill him in?”

“Yeah, we will when we get there. Thanks.” Hailey was blinking back tears, and Hank just nodded once at her. They weren’t ok - would possibly never be ok - but she was safe. Four of them were safe, and one would get there. This he could do. This was where he thrived.

“Thanks. I’m off for a few weeks for bereavement leave. We’re bringing Darrell back to Atlanta for his funeral. If you need me, call me.”

“We won’t. And Superintendent, we’re all sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, Detective Upton. Call me Sam.”

“Hailey, then. We’re going to go to the hospital, see if Adam needs anything. Sarge, is someone picking up Makayla?”

“I am. Kim put me on the list a few months ago.” There was slight surprise on the three faces, but nods as the two detectives left.

“You going to come back to Chicago after Atlanta?” He asked Sam, watching as she fell back into the couch.

“Who knows? Just…how do you do it? After you lost each of them, how did you keep going?” The pain was fresh on her face, the three days since she’d lost her son clear. Three days that had been hell for them. How had it been such a short time?

“One day at a time. When Justin died, Al gave me a book. Grief is like a ball in a box, when it’s fresh the ball is huge, and it’s constantly pushing on the grief button in the box. But as time goes on, it hits less and less. Until eventually it doesn’t hit often, but when it does it still hurts as much as the first time. You just need to accept that it’s going to hurt, and remember the good stuff. It will get easier. Just give it time.”

“Yeah. I guess not having whiskey in my coffee at noon is a good thing.”

“Better than Al or I did when we lost our kids.”

“Ha. Thanks.”

They sat in silence drinking their coffee until Hank’s alarm went off for one, running his hand through his hair before standing up.

“I have to pick up Makayla from school, bring her to the hospital. She knows Kim isn’t ok, but she needs to see her.”

“Of course. If I can do anything, let me know?”

“I will.” He bent down to kiss her cheek before leaving, a squeeze of their hands the last connection they had. There could have been something between them, something more than lonely nights after tough cases. But he would always have Camille in his heart, and Sam deserved more than a man chasing his dead wife. She was too good to deal with his issues.

He’d never been to Makayla’s school before, but he turned up just before the bells went, lining up with the first grade parents. He looked like a grandparent there, standing waiting. Each child’s name was called, first initial and surname. Makayla was nearly at the start, her name changed.

“M Burgess?” He stepped forward, watching as Makayla’s face changed seeing him.

“Sarge? What happened? Where’s Uncle Adam?” She sounded terrified, and Hank crouched down.

“She’s ok, she’s still in hospital. Adam’s with him so I said I’d pick you up.” She smiled slightly at that, Hank standing and showing his CPD ID.

“Henry Voight, Kim put me down to pick her up.” The teacher nodded, checking one of the sheaf of papers in front of her before crossing Makayla off the list.

“That’s fine, Mr. Voight. See you tomorrow, Makayla.”

“Bye.” She took Hank’s hand, and they walked out to his car, the child seat he’d borrowed from the precinct buckled in for her. He got her in and buckled before sitting into the driver’s seat himself.

“I promise, I saw her this morning. She’s still very sick, but she’s in the right place. Adam wanted to make sure someone was there for when she wakes up.”

It was quiet, and he watched Makayla mull over his words, chewing her bottom lip slightly. They were at a red light when she spoke again.

“If Kim dies, does that mean I go back to the lady with the badge?” The casualness that she spoke with broke his heart. She shouldn’t have to be this brave. She shouldn’t have to deal with DCFS. She should still be with her mother, uncle, and grandmother, but instead their unit would protect her while Kim wasn’t able to.

“Nope. Remember when the adoption happened, and Adam went with you and Kim?” Ruzek had been so proud that day, putting on his suit and tie coming into work that morning before heading out for the courtroom appointment, looking more put together than days he testified in criminal trials.

“Yeah, we went for burgers after and Adam let me put my fries in his milkshake. He said it was yummy and I didn’t believe him but it is. Kim likes chocolate though, we like strawberry.” He smiled at that, watching the nearly seven year old’s face light up with the memory.

“Well the reason Adam was there was he promised that if Kim got sick or something happened, he’d make sure you were looked after. So that’s why everyone’s gonna be pitching in while Kim’s in hospital, making sure you’re ok. Me and Adam and your uncle Kevin and Jay and Hailey.”

“Ok.” She was quiet for most of the drive, only speaking again when they made it to the hospital. “Is it scary up there?”

How was he supposed to tell a six year old it was the most terrifying room he’d ever been in, and he included his son’s hospital room, the room his wife had died in, and his prison cell in it?

“A little. There’s lots of wires on Kim, so she looks scary. Want me to tell you what’s there?”

“Yes please.” She bit her lip the same way Kim did when she was nervous, a jolt of affection flowing through him.

“The scariest one is in her mouth, and it’s helping her to breathe. Kim’s the one who’s making it go, it’s just because her throat’s sick so it’s helping. It looks big but she’s fine with it. Then there’s a little one going into her hand, so they can give her medicine straight into her blood. It means that they don’t have to wake her up, because sleeping is the most important thing for her. You know when you had that tummy bug and you slept all day?”

“Yeah, Kim said it was the most I slept without a nightmare since she met me!” How was that normal? How did Kim do it? Make it feel like a game and normalcy for the girl?

“That’s cause you were sick and sleep helps you feel better. That’s why Kim needs to sleep more. To make her feel better.”

“Oh, ok.”

“She’s got some cuts on her face and her hands from the crash, but I’ll show you where you can hold her hand, ok? And we’ll talk to the nurse, see if you can sit up on the bed. You’re not supposed to be up there till you’re 12, but when we told everyone how great you are they said you could come up to see her.”

Makayla nodded, and not for the first time he wondered if this was a bad idea. But she needed to see Kim, needed to see that they weren’t worrying in front of her. So he got out of the car, unbuckling her seat and lifting her out. When he went to put her down she clung onto him, so instead he adjusted her on his hip, watching as she held onto his badge, her finger tracing the blue Sergeant ring around the shield of the City of Chicago.

“Do you want to put it on?” He asked, Makayla shaking her head shyly.

“When I’m scared Kim lets me hold hers. She said cause it makes her brave, it makes me brave. She said I’m too little to be so brave, so she wants to give me extra braver so I don’t hafta be.” Her explanation broke his heart open even more, and without thinking Hank onehandedly took the chain from around his neck, putting it around the six year old’s.

“Just for now. It’s made me be brave enough today, now let it work its magic on you. And it’s a Sergeant one, so it’s got extra special powers.”

“Like Miss Trudy? She said I can calls her Trudy but she always gets a smile when I call her Miss Trudy so I does.”

“Exactly. That’s why hers is blue too. She might be up here as well. Everyone’s making sure to check in on Kim and see how she is.”

They went in, Hank nodding at Maggie at the ED desk, the nurse looking at the girl in his arms, recognition dawning. It didn’t take long for them to get into the elevator and to the ICU floor. The staff from the morning recognised him, Hank just moving forward through the commotion. One of the doctors went to stop him, but the badge around Makayla’s neck and his sure gait meant they didn’t come to him.

Kevin and Trudy were outside the room, huddled together, but both put smiles on their faces seeing Makayla, holding out for high fives.

“Good to see you, MWB. How was school?” Kevin asked, Makayla nodding.

“I was able to add eight and eight! And in art we drawed shapes, and Miss Miller let me draw the star. I said it looked like Kim’s badge.” It didn’t take long for her to relax seeing them, and Hank stole a glance inside. Adam was in the same position he’d been in when he left earlier that day.

“How’s Ruzek doing?” He murmured to Trudy, Makayla distracted.

“He’s Ruzek. The two of them hugged, so that’s something. Are you bringing her in?”

“Yeah.” He patted her head as Makayla’s conversation finished, and she turned to look at him. “Ready to see Kim? Remember what I said, it seems scary but it’s all so they can help her, ok?”

“Yeah. Is Adam in there?”

“He is, let’s go.”

Makayla wiggled to get down, holding her hand up for Hank to take as they walked into the room. She was barely tall enough to reach the side rail of the bed, but she looked over at Adam and waved, the younger man giving a smile that almost reached his eyes.

“Hey lil Darlin’, was it ok Hank picking you up from school?”

“Yeah, Sarge was nice. It was scary not seeing you, but he’s nice.” She was probably the only person in the city who’d call him nice, and it shouldn’t have warmed his heart like it did.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to check in on Kim. The doctor said she might wake up soon. They’re gonna wait till she wakes up to take the tube out of her mouth, so if she wakes up it might be a little scary, ok? But she’s ok.”

“That’s what Sarge said. He told me it’s cause her throat is sick. And her hand is so they can give her medicines without waking her up.”

“Exactly. Wanna come up and sit up here?” He lifted her easily onto the bed, Makayla settling against Kim’s hip, Hank’s badge still around her neck. “You the new Sergeant then?”

“It’s to help me be brave.”

“Well you couldn’t have a better one to help you.”

She started babbling away about school, about the get well soon card she was going to draw for Kim when she got home, and the games she wanted to play. Adam listened intently and Hank just watched, the younger man mouthing a thank you to him as he did.

It was during the babble that Kim coughed, and they realised she was awake. Hank grabbed Makayla, holding her as Adam hit the call bell and calmed Kim down.

“It’s ok, it’s ok. The tube’s to help you breathe, you’re ok. I promise you’re fine.” He cooed, the two of them watching as he calmed her, as Kim leaned into his touch easily. Hank held Makayla at the end of the room, the six year old rapt as the tube came out, Kim coughing and spluttering before sipping some water, her eyes darting around the room.

“Buddy.” The word left her mouth as she locked onto Makayla, and Hank immediately brought her across, settling Makayla in against her chest, away from the bullet wounds.

“Kim. Adam and Sarge were nice but I was scared and I missed you.” She held on, Kim wrapping one arm around her daughter, the other hand clutching onto Adam.

“I know, Buddy, I know. I’m so sorry. I’ve got you, we’ve got you.” Hank went to step away, to give the three the privacy they needed, but Makayla’s hand was stuck to his, holding him there. He patted her shoulder, feeling out of place until Kim’s hand held his, squeezing once with a look of pure gratitude on his face.

Everything he’d done. Everything he would do. It was worth it. Because Kim Burgess was alive, and she had her daughter and her whatever Adam was to her beside her, and there was nothing else Hank needed to see.

On their first day back at work post the enforced furlough, Hank sat in his office. They were quiet, and he was hoping for no cases that day, give them an easy day to get back into the swing of things, let Adam get home to his girls at a reasonable time. Let Kevin see the paramedic he thought none of them knew he was dating, let Halstead and Upton have the date night he’d heard murmurings about, the plain gold promise band that had appeared on Hailey’s finger a sign of how everything was going with them.

The four had gone out for lunch, and he sat there when there was a knock on his office door, a pale Kim appearing in the doorway.

“Why are you even here? I thought you only got out last week?” He helped Kim into the chair, the younger woman smiling.

“Yeah, but I have to walk around. I figured driving here before picking Makayla up from school would count. Plus you need my return to desk duty papers for a few weeks time.” She handed them over, Hank flicking through to make sure it was what he needed.

“I’ll get it filed. Three more weeks?”

“Yeah, then at least a month riding the desk. But I’ll be back, that’s the main thing.” She was chewing her lip, and Hank decided to pre-empt the question he knew was coming.

“If you want to transfer out, nobody will blame you. A friend of mine in Child Protection is looking for someone. It’ll be a fast track through the ranks, you’d make sergeant in about three years. It’s normal hours, too, nine to five. He specifically asked about you and how you are with kid victims. I can get you over there, it’s out of the seventeenth.” He watched her jaw drop open, shock clear on her face.

“No. No way. Sarge, I love this unit. This unit is what I always wanted. I don’t blame anyone here for what happened, I should have kept my guard and window up. I want to stay here. Unless you think I should leave.” Her voice softened, and Hank could have hit himself for putting doubt in her mind.

“I want you to stay. But I know that coming back and dealing with something is hard, and I want you to know the offer is there. But if you want to come back, I want you here. This unit needs you, Burgess.”

“You said that to me before.” Kim’s voice was soft, her eyes misty. “I thought…I thought it was a coma dream. But you were there. You said you were proud of me, proud of me for fighting, for Makayla. You called me your daughter.”

“I did.”

He’d crossed the line admitting it, but if she remembered there was no point in denying it.

“Adam and I are getting married. It’s not till next year, we need to learn to be a couple again. But we love each other, and nearly dying gives you a funny perspective on what’s important. We booked the ballroom at the Hilton for the reception last week, and we’re having the ceremony there too.”

She held out her hand, Hank taking in the ring. It seemed like the original engagement ring, the memories of the excitement the two of them together filling his memory.

“Congratulations. The two of you deserve it.”

“Here’s the thing. My family…we’re not close anymore. My mother thinks I’m an idiot for giving Adam a second chance, and an utter fool for adopting Makayla. Nicole never wants to set foot in Chicago again and blamed me for losing the baby because of what happened. My dad isn’t around. So I was hoping that when we get married, you’d walk down the aisle with me and Makayla. Adam and I want her standing up there with us too, at least for the start. And Kevin’s already agreed to be his best man, Sylvie’s going to be my maid of honour. But when I think of the person I want escorting me down that aisle, it’s you. Would you please do me the honour?”

“It would be my greatest pleasure, Kim.” For the second time in his life he stood in his office, a grin spreading across his face at news Kim Burgess had given him. He opened his arms for her to step into, and this time she hugged him back immediately instead of taking a few seconds. Once they separated he looked down at her, pride beaming from every single one of his pores.

“I told you when you took Makayla in that it would be hard, but that parenting is a gift. Thank you for giving me the one parenthood gift I never thought I’d receive.”

When Kim left his office her ring was immediately spotted by Hailey, cheers going through the bullpen for the engaged couple. Hank could immediately see the difference in them from before. Back then they were separate, beside each other but not in sync. Now they had easy touches, could tell what the other would do nearly before it happened. Hank watched from his doorway as Kim leaned into Adam, his lips pressing against her forehead as they said goodbye.

It was the anniversary of her kidnapping when Hank found himself in a grey suit, standing just outside the ballroom doors. As soon as Makayla saw him she ran to him, hugging around his middle in hello, her yellow dress matching the ribbons on her braids.

“Kim looks so pretty, Sarge!” She exclaimed, her yellow matching his pocket square and tie, and as Kim emerged it matched the ribbon around her bouquet.

“Burgess…you look stunning. That’s the last time I can call you that, eh?” He joked, the name change paperwork sitting on his desk to be filed before the honeymoon was over.

“It’s hyphenation the whole way now,” she replied, taking his outstretched arm and smiling as he kissed her cheek. “Thank you for this.”

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”

The faint strains of the wedding march began as the doors opened, a Burgess on either arm as Hank walked up the aisle towards Adam, watching the man he’d seen grow from an inexperienced boy to a father and almost husband grin at his family arriving to him.

Taglist: @aruzlover @amandarrollins @morganupstead @adamruz @fullwattpadmusictree @redpoodlern @everythingaddictxx @write4life13 @lizlouisebrown @jeanjacketjesus @tuxieboy101-blog @thelittlepterophyllum @planecrazylex @sophiatellerrhodes @eternal-olicity @ossypooh @dissociation-writes @kimburgess-ruzek @thestarrynightslover @reidskitty13 @etamne @torreshalstead @itsnotpersonalbut @leymr @kellykidd @dedlund82 @pinkwhitebrown @mmacke3613 @maybankslut @multicouple-lover @burzekschicago

[purplesurveys]

1548

1. How many beings live in your house? That would be 7 in total – 5 humans, 2 dogs.

2. Last board game you played? I rarely play board games and can’t even remember the last time I played one.

3. Last card game you played? It was just the These Cards Will Get You Drunk game, which barely counts as a card game per se.

4. Last thing you ate and when? I have a macaroni salad that I’ve actually had beside me for hours but I’ve barely gotten a spoonful from because my lunch was so, so heavy. I’m starting to take bites from it now though.

5. Last thing you got for free? We had a company party last Friday and we were all given these food stubs that let us redeem a bunch of food. I didn’t like lining up multiple times though so the only meals I got were sisig tacos and quesadillas. And two glasses of margarita, haha.

6. What colours are you wearing? I have on a grey dress with black and white edges. I wore this when I headed out briefly today and just never changed out of it.

7. What is the last wild animal you remember seeing? Just birds. I don’t get to see a variety of wild animals where I live.

8. How much debt do you have? The only thing I owe is the rest of the payment for my phone since I used my dad’s card to buy it. I pay him every two weeks and I’ll be done with the installments by March.

9. Last song you listened to? Rush Hour by Crush and J-Hope.

10. Where do you rank on the age scale in your house? I’m right in the middle since I’ve got both my parents and then behind me are my two younger siblings.

11. How long have you been tattooed? If you’re not, do you want to get tattooed? I’ve never gotten a tattoo and I’m still not sure whether I want to have one done or not, hahaha. Needles are freaky.

12. What is your belt like? I never wear belts.

13. Last Anniversary you went to? My parents had their 25th wedding anniversary last April and dad surprised my mom with this lovely little Swiss dinner with extended family.

14. Last baby shower? I’ve never been to a baby shower since no one close to me has gotten pregnant yet. This kind of party was also never really popular here until super recently.

15. Last wedding? I also haven’t been invited to a wedding since my aunt and uncle’s back in ‘07. Just waiting for my friends to get married but then again most of us are still single HAHAHA, so I’m really just counting on Angela and Hans because out of everyone I know their wedding is the only one that’s pretty much in the bag.

16. Last funeral? Technically I watched the Queen’s last week lol, but I’ve never actually been to a funeral ceremony. Only wakes and the last one I attended was Nacho’s.

17. What is your mother’s name? Abby.

18. What is your band’s name? Or fantasy band ;)? I’ve never been in a band and have never really thought of a possible band name.

19. How many different strip clubs have you been to? None. I really should try that out at least once just to say that I’ve done it.

20. Ever had a threesome? No.

21. Ever fucked a mother? Nope.

22. Do you have any nieces/nephews? I don’t. I do have a godson, who is also one of my cousins but eh that doesn’t count.

23. Don’t you just love sparkles? I do like sparkly stuff, yeah. My phone case is particularly really sparkly haha.

24. And candles? I like them, yeah, but I’m not obsessed. Most of them are quite expensive and so they don’t usually fit in my priorities. All of the candles I’ve ever used up have been gifts.

25. And chocolate? Chocolate itself is a little blah to me - like Hershey’s bars, truffles, etc. Too sweet. I much prefer chocolate-flavored snacks, like pretzels or cupcakes.

26. How is your hair looking today? It’s fine. I could wash it right now but I also could opt not to.

27. Last time you took a nap? Yesterday afternoon.

28. Last personal unnecessary purchase? This promo from Auntie Anne’s that let me get one big pretzel stick, a pack of tinier pretzel sticks, and a pretzel. I say it’s unnecessary because I would’ve been fine getting just one of these things, but I bought on a hungry stomach and ended up buying a whole set lmao.

29. On which day does / did your birthday fall this year? Thursday. I remember this because I took the opportunity to file a birthday leave then filed a regular leave for that following Friday so I can get a 4-day leave.

30. Can you whistle? I can indeed. 31. Can you type fast? Sure.

32. How old are your parents? Both of them turned 51 this year.

33. Are they nice? Sure.

34. How many schools did / have you go(ne) to? Two. One school from kinder through high school; then I attended a different school for college.

35. What is your Instagram? I have one but I won’t share my username.

36. Can you touch your toes? Not if my legs are like entirely upright and straight; I only can when I put my legs apart.

37. Did you have your morning tea/coffee? I did, but I’m feeling like having another cup...I’ll probably make one after this.

38. Last time you got laid? Sometime two years ago.

39. How old are you? 24.

40. What is your gender? Female.

41. What is your sexuality? Asexual.

42. What is your ethnicity? Filipino/brown.

43. Cars or trucks? Uh cars, I guess. I’ve never been around trucks much.

44. Cats or dogs? Dogs.

45. Name one trait you inherited from each of your grandparents? Admittedly I don’t know much about my paternal grandparents even though both of them are still very much alive and kicking; we’ve always lived physically far from each other, so there haven’t been lots of chances to bond. With my maternal grandma, I definitely got my initial shyness from her. Then with my maternal grandpa I got his penchant for alcohol l o l but also his deep fascination with history and trivia.

46. Are you more likely to dance or sing? Sing.

47. Who is your youngest relative? I think right now that would be my second cousins Jethro and Nico. I’m not sure what their ages are but I’m gonna take a guess and say either 4 or 5.

48. How many bank accounts do you have? One.

49. What kind of cheese is in the fridge? Whatever Eden is, haha.

50. How long have you been with your partner? Or how long have you been single? I’ve been single for two years. 

[writingbeary]

Happy

Note: Set around Year 2019

────────── ♔ ──────────

Waking up to a quiet dorm was something Minyoung would have never expected to experience when she moved in with them but that is what she woke up to this morning. They were given their usual holiday after promotion period, only this time they were given a whole week off which the members took advantage of to visit their family.

Minyoung didn't have any close family in Korea which is why she's remained at the dorms. The members did ask her if she wants to go with any of them so she won't be alone but she declined saying she'll be fine at the dorm and making an excuse that she made plans with her friends. She actually didn't have any plans since most of her friends are busy during this time but she didn't want to intrude on the family time of her members.

Jongho was last one to leave this morning as he was living the closest and was very hesitant to leave Minyoung alone. "You can just come with me. Mom would love to have you over. She’s been asking me when you’ll come to visit anyway. You'll be alone for a few days. Are you sure?"

"Don't worry about me and just go. I'm sure they're already waiting for you back home. I'll contact you if something happens, or better yet I'll just update everyone in our chatroom." Minyoung let out a giggle as she was trying to push Jongho out the door, the latter not budging from his spot.

"Then make sure to message okay? If you change your mind, tell me and I'll pick you up." Jongho sighed before smiling.

"Mhm! Don't worry and just enjoy the holiday. Tell your mom that I’ll visit her next time." Minyoung hugged him before seeing him off.

Having the dorms to herself, Minyoung looked around for something to do before deciding she could clean up the place a bit. They've been so busy that they barely had time to eat and sleep, much less clean. It wasn't as messy as one would expect a group of their size would have but there were some that needs cleaning mainly the shoe cabinet and the couch that sometimes doubles as a hamper. She lost track of time only to realize how late in the afternoon it has gotten, when her stomach made a sound.

"It's time for lunch, I guess. Do we even have anything I can eat here?" Minyoung looked through the fridge and found it empty except for bottled water and kimchi. "Guess not. I'm ordering in and maybe go for groceries tomorrow." She picked up her phone and decided to call the Chinese restaurant near them.

"Yes. Please leave it by the door. Yes." She said finishing up the call. She was then reminded of how she couldn't even call for delivery, worrying if they could understand each other.

(Flashback)

ATEEZ was in the middle of practicing for their showcase when Hongjoong decided it’s time for them to take a break. Most members lied down on the floor catching their breath. 

“So tired and I’m hungryy.” Minyoung whined as she sat down legs stretched on the floor.

“What do you want to eat?” Seonghwa asked already getting their manager’s phone to order.

“I want chicken.” Yeosang answered with Mingi agreeing to it

“Pizza” Jongho and Minyoung answered at the same time, grinning at each other when they realized.

“Should we get chicken and pizza then?” Hongjoong looked around if everyone is okay with it.

“Let Minyoung order it.” San laughed as he noticed Minyoung whipped her head, shocked and confused why he’ll even suggest that. “For practice. Don’t you want to learn how to be able to do that on your own?” San added.

Minyoung nodded, biting her lip“But..what if they don’t understand? Or I don’t understand.” 

“You’ll just have to tell them. We’ll guide you anyway then later you’ll be used to it.” Mingi patted her head chuckling as Minyoung took the phone to order.

Minyoung called the shop and waited nervously for them to pick up the call. “Ah. Hello. I would like to order. Yes. The address is KQ Entertainment. I’d like 4 orders of chicken and 3 boxes of the pizza special. I’ll pay with my card. Thank you.”

“We have a special promo for today..” as the staff went on to explain Minyoung looked towards Jongho for help in a panic as there were a lot of information being relayed in a short time. The other members let out a laugh, particularly San and Wooyoung who were laughing as if they were having the time of their lives. Jongho decided to step in and finish the order for the girl and patting her back after.

“You did well Youngie-ah.” Mingi chuckled patting her head “That was good.”

“The look on your face!” Wooyoung who was still cracking up at what happened managed to say in between his laughs

“Yah yah. Stop it. She did well.” Mingi defended her “I’d imagine the same would happen to us if we were abroad.”

“Should we not let them eat?” Jongho said grinning. Minyoung looked as if she was thinking about it, evoking laughter from everyone other than San and Wooyoung who suddenly stopped and argued that they can’t do that.

(End of Flashback)

It has been six days since the members left for their family homes, six days since Minyoung had the dorm to herself. She had already done everything she could think of to stave off boredom. She was able to talk to her family through video calls, meet up with some of her highschool friends who didn’t have a busy week, and managed to watch dramas and movies that she wanted but unable to due to their packed schedule. She never knew that a week could be a long time when you don’t have anything planned.

The quiet dorm, although Minyoung appreciates how relaxing it is, makes her miss the members and their antics a lot. It was to the point where Minyoung even thought that she wouldn’t mind Wooyoung and San teasing her about the most random things.

“How should I spend the kill time tomorrow?” Just as she thought that, her phone dinged indicating a new message.

(ATEEZ groupchat)

San: Minyoung-ah, are you home? Minyoung: I am. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ Minyoung: Why? Did you have something that will be delivered today? (・・ ) ? San: Can you open the door for me? There’s a lot for me to bring up. Seonghwa: San, you went back early? San: I did. Mom scolded me when she found out Minyoung spent the holiday alone and told me I should have asked her to come with me. Wooyoung: My dad told me off too. He even said I should just go back after spending a day at home. Jongho: I asked her to come with me but she didn’t want to. Minyoung: How could I? It’s a rare holiday, I didn’t want to intrude on your time. |･ω･) Minyoung: Hold on. Let me open the door for San-oppa. Jongho: I told you my mom has been asking me when you’ll come visit. Seonghwa: I’m also on the way back already. Wait for me and let’s eat dinner together.

Minyoung went to get the door and helped San place his bags on the kitchen table.

“My mom packed a lot of food for you. She said you should come with me next time instead of staying here alone.” San handed one of the bags to Minyoung with his mom’s note for her

“Omo. I should thank her. I definitely want to come see where you grew up oppa. I’ve always been curious about it too.” Just then, the chime of their door being unlocked sounded making the two look at each other as if asking who else returned early “Oh! Welcome back. Yeosang-oppa, you also returned earlier? Why?” Minyoung gasped in surprise as both Yeosang and Seonghwa walk in together.

“I didn’t have anything else to do at home so I figured I should just go back and accompany you. Then I saw Seonghwa-hyung outside the door.” Yeosang explained as he went to his room to arrange his stuff.

Seonghwa patted Minyoung’s head as the girl gave him a hug “Yunho said he’s almost here too so let’s wait for him so we could eat together.”

“What is this?” San bursted out in laughter as he was checking his phone

“What happened?” Minyoung asked trying to take a peek

“Everyone’s returning today.” San showed Minyoung their group chat

(ATEEZ groupchat)

Yunho: I’m almost there. There’s some traffic but I’ll get there in 15 minutes Seonghwa: Have you had dinner? If not, we’ll wait for you Yunho: Not yet. Alright, I’m almost at the intersection. Hongjoong: What is this? So is everyone returning today? San: I’m already here with Yeosang and Seonghwa-hyung. Mingi: Did you guys talk about this? Hold on. I’ll get ready and go too. Jongho: Already on my way when Seonghwa-hyung said he’s returning today Hongjoong: Okay. I’ll head straight to the dorms then. I’ll just finish this song. Jongho: You’re at the company Hongjoong-hyung? Hongjoong: I am. I didn’t know how else I’ll spend the rest of the break and I had an idea for a song so I might as well work on it as soon as possible. Wooyoung: Wait. Σ(□_□) Wooyoung: Everyone’s back? Wooyoung: I’m going too! ε=ε=┌( >_<)┘

“Everyone’s going back today? Wahh” Minyoung exclaimed glad that she’s finally have some company. She has to admit that even if their dorms could be as chaotic as could be, she missed spending time with her members. All of ATEEZ realized how glad she is with how bright her smiles are and how she plays along with all the jokes and teasing.

Outtake:

“So? When will she visit again? It’s been a while since I last saw Minyoung. Bring the others with you too.” Jongho’s mom asked for the nth time during their dinner the first night of his holiday

“I already asked her. She said she’ll visit next time.” Jongho shook his head laughing “Are you sure I’m your son? You’ve been asking about Minyoung this whole time!”

“It’s just she’s still a kid. She’s the same age as you and I can’t help but worry for her. You even said she didn’t have any close family in Korea. So I’m worried.” His mom laughed as she explained trailing off before his younger brother suddenly piped in “Mom is always talking about Minyoung-noona with the other aunties.” and his Dad adding in “They all want to see her. I’m surprised your mom hasn’t visited your dorms to see Minyoung.”

────────── ♔ ──────────

ATEEZ Minyoung Masterlist

Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction. Any portrayal of real people is a combination based on what we could see on cameras and imagination of the author. This is purely fan fiction written for entertainment. Thank you for understanding.

━━━━━━ʕ ˵• ₒ •˵ ʔ━━━━━━

Writing Beary Corner

This was actually supposed to be a short post in chat format lol but I again went overboard and wrote a whole thing for it haha! thats my excuse if it seems random lol

and i need serious help with titles. ack

-Mimi

17

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 17X14

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

So, if you read my review from the previous episode you know I turned out to be mostly wrong about this one. That being said, I really enjoyed the episode. I was never a ride or die japril shipper so I don't think this episode was as emotional for me as it was for other fans, but I enjoyed it. It was nice to see Jackson and April back on screen together! They always had great chemistry and I really enjoyed their scenes. And how cute was Harriet in this episode? She was SO adorable! I like that Jackson went to go visit his father to try and figure out what his Mom was talking about and I'm glad he got some closure there. That was nice to see. The scene where Robert tells Jackson why he left was super emotional and the acting was sublime!

I'm glad that Robert is giving lunches to people who need them in the community and is helping in his own way. It doesn't make up for what he did, but it's nice to know that he's making a go of the life he has with the diner and his coffee blend. It did bug me a bit that they played with time so much because it was difficult for me to figure out in the beginning what order the events went in which kind of took me out of the episode a little bit.

My biggest pet peeve with this episode was the whole thing with the meat slicer. Let me explain. It would have taken Robert a few minutes maximum to teach Jackson how to use it, but instead Jackson acts like the entitled pretty boy that he is and says he can operate it no problem. It's because of attitudes like this that people get hurt in workplace accidents because they assume that because it looks easy that it is. Anyone CAN operate a meat slicer, but you shouldn't without proper training.

Attitudes like that perpetuate the idea that people who work in hospitality, retail, construction, and other such fields are "simple" and that anyone can do it. It devalues the important work that so many people do, and it often results in untrained people getting hurt. So yeah as someone whose worked in both hospitality and retail and whose family works in construction I could have done without the harmful stereotype that we are all simpletons and Jackson's BS elitist attitude and him cutting himself on the meat slicer. Jackson's clearly never worked a day in his life outside of being a doctor and it shows.

I too was surprised when April agreed so suddenly to go with Jackson to Boston. I didn't think it was fair for her to agree without talking to Matthew first, but then she revealed that they split up. Going into this episode I really thought they were faking us out because April, a deeply religious woman, leaving her husband and step-daughter for Jackson didn't make any sense to me. But finding out that April and Matthew split up changes that. At first, I thought that would be impossible because getting a divorce in the early months of the pandemic was pretty difficult but the fact that they've separated but not officially divorced makes more sense.

Jackson says in the first half of the season that Matthew is spending more time with Harriet than he or April are because they've both been taking so many COVID shifts which at the time came across as them being a happy family. But taken in context with what April says in this episode it makes it sound like Matthew was spending time with Harriet because Jackson and April were working all the time and that put strain on their marriage. What Jackson is talking about would have happened in March or early April and this episode takes place sometime in June. Sadly, a lot of couples have split up during the pandemic in the way that April describes so while sad it was realistic.

While it would obviously be sad and confusing for the kids April makes it clear that Matthew and Ruby have the support of his sister and mother and her and Harriet have Jackson. I’m sad that April and Matthew’s relationship didn’t work out. I really liked them together. I do think it was nice though that they had Jackson ride off into the sunset with April and Harriet having left the door open for reconciliation the way they did with Arizona and Callie when Arizona moved to New York with Sofia.

Also let’s talk about the big elephant in the room. I get that this is Jackson's send off, but I still don't understand why Jackson couldn't run the Foundation from Seattle. That's what Catherine has been doing on and off for the last few years. Tom and Richard the previous and current Chief Medical Officers of the Catherine Fox Foundation are both based in Seattle. Why is moving to Boston necessary? It's their foundation can't they just move the Headquarters? Also were in a pandemic wouldn’t Jackson be working remotely anyway? Why do they have to move to Boston? What’s in Boston that they need so badly?

That being said, I'm glad that Jackson is getting a proper send off and will have time to say goodbye to everybody and have some heart to hearts and do it properly. We don't get that with every character. What in the heckity heck is Jo going to do next season? She doesn't have anyone to sleep with or date and she's leaving general surgery for OBGYN. That doesn't leave a whole lot of story for her. What is she going to do? Talk to Levi about his relationship problems and deliver babies? You could make a reoccurring character out of that sure but not a main character which is what Jo is currently billed as.

I'd like to see Jo adopt Luna and I think that could be really interesting so if they go that route, I could get on board but if not, I don't know what she's going to do. To be honest Jo isn't my favourite character, but I still feel bad for her. She has serious abandonment issues and every time she heals someone else leaves her! Jo's mother left her at a fire station as a baby. She wanted nothing to do with her as an adult. She did the work to get all whole and healed and was finally ready to have kids with Alex when finds out about the twins and leaves her for Izzie.

Jo does the work to get better and work on her issues and begins a friends with benefits relationship with Jackson only for him to disappear to the woods after Jo called him out on it at the beginning of their relationship and has now decided to move to Boston with April and Harriet to head up the Foundation. Girl can't win. Also does April know that Jackson has been sleeping with Jo? I mean she didn’t tell him that her and Matthew separated so I guess she can’t be too mad at him, but still. Awkward.

I think Jackson loves camping more than anyone else ever loves camping. His departure means he won't be attending Maggie's wedding. I have to admit I was looking forward to the awkwardness. I’m curious to see what Catherine is going to do now. Will she retire? Will she go back to being an attending surgeon full time? Does this mean they are going to have to find someone new to head up Plastics? Are they going to introduce a new character for Season 18?

I feel like finding a replacement for Jackson could go either way. Because I didn't think I would like Hayes when he took over Peds but now I love him and he's one of my favourite characters! I still miss Alex, but Hayes has been a great addition. I root for him and Meredith so hard and he was one of my favourite parts of Season 16.

Also, poor Bailey! This woman is just trying to keep the hospital afloat and she's losing surgeons and doctors left, right, and centre. Alex moved to Kansas. DeLuca died. Jackson is moving to Boston. Jo is switching specialties. Meredith's out with COVID! And let's not forget that Bailey lost her Mom to COVID not that long after she suffered a miscarriage after having a heart attack way too young and she deals with OCD which the pandemic is doing nothing to help! This poor woman!

Onto next week’s promo, I'm glad that they are doing a proper send off with Jackson. I'm also super excited that Meredith is up and talking and moving around! I've missed her! Although I am mad we have to wait another two weeks!!! I mean come on! We waited two whole months for the show to come back and then we waited for two weeks between episodes 13 and 14 and now we have to wait another two weeks for episode 15. Come on! Meredith and Hayes better rise as a couple when the show returns because if they don’t I will be so disappointed.

Until next time!

[hockeylvr59]

Secret Love Part 4 || Cale Makar

Requested: [ ] yes [x] no

Authors Note: 

Warnings: cursing, discussion of sexual activities

Word Count: 3,911

~~~~

You’d tossed and turned for almost an hour before you had eventually drifted off to sleep, only to be awoken by the Denver sunrise spilling through the window. Groaning softly you made a mental note for the shopping trip...curtains...Cale definitely needed curtains. Laying on the couch, you played on your phone for a few minutes before the need to use the bathroom finally took over. 

After knocking quietly on Cale’s door with no response, you cracked it open hoping to sneak through to the bathroom without disturbing him. As you tiptoed across his bedroom floor, you couldn’t help but let your eyes fall on him. As expected, he was shirtless, blankets falling only midway up his exposed chest. His hair was a mess, and a relaxed expression covered his face. Quietly closing the bathroom door behind you, you chastised yourself for the heat that flooded through you. You were just friends and despite his now single status, that was all this was ever going to be. 

Relieving yourself, you then quickly brushed your teeth before quietly moving back to the living room, easing his door shut behind you. His parents were going to be here in about an hour and after starting a pot of coffee you examined the contents of Cale’s fridge and cabinets. Finding bacon, eggs, and pancake mix you decided to make everyone breakfast. It was as you were moving around the kitchen that Cale finally appeared, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

“You’re making breakfast?” He murmured, leaning in to kiss the top of your head. 

“I am…” You smiled, checking on the bacon in the oven as you scrambled eggs in a pan on the stove. Cale poured himself a cup of coffee and you felt his eyes on you once more. 

“Anything I can do?” He questioned after a moment. 

“Get some plates?” You requested. “How do you want your eggs?” The clatter of plates filled your ears for a moment as Cale set plates beside you. 

“However you’re making them is perfect.” He insisted, sharing a warm grin now that he was a little bit more awake. Nodding you took one of the plates and scooped a hefty portion of eggs onto it before pulling the bacon from the oven and the pancakes from where they were keeping warm in the microwave and piling those onto the plate as well. 

“Eat up.” You grinned, turning to place the plate in front of one of the bar stools at the island. Doing another batch of eggs quickly you set everything aside to keep warm before serving yourself a much smaller portion. Taking a seat beside him, you shook your head as you watched Cale continue to dig into his breakfast. The moment felt a little too domestic and natural so you were thankful when there was a knock at the door that signaled that Laura and Gary had arrived. 

It wasn’t long after that before you were quickly getting ready and heading out with Laura to go shopping for things for Cale’s apartment. The first place you stopped was Starbucks and then you were off to a local shopping center to do some damage. 

“You seem more relaxed…” Laura mentioned as she sat waiting for the light to turn green. 

“Yeah uh...we talked after dinner last night. We’re good.” You shrugged. Yes you were close with Laura, but you really didn’t want to tell her the details of your friendship with her son. She seemed to accept that because she nodded and smiled. 

“Good. I’m glad.” Her response ended the subject and instead she focused on the task ahead. “So you’ve spent a decent amount of time in Cale’s apartment...what does he still need other than what he mentioned to me?” 

“Well curtains would be good. Waking up to the sun isn’t always ideal.” You said, a yawn slipping from your throat. “He could also use a throw blanket for the couch.” You added, pondering over what comforts Cale’s apartment seemed to be missing that would make it feel more like a home. 

Wandering through aisles, Laura did most of the shopping, occasionally asking for your thoughts on something before either tossing it into the cart or putting it back on the shelf. As you walked through the aisle containing photo frames you paused. 

“What do you think about surprising him with some pictures?” You suggested. He had a couple pieces of ‘artwork’ but there really weren’t any family photos to be found as far as you could see. 

“Why don’t you take the reins on that?” Laura replied, a soft look you couldn’t place filling her eyes as she handed you her phone. “Text yourself anything from my camera roll.” As she looked through possible throw pillows, you quickly scanned through the pictures, texting yourself a half dozen that would be perfect. Agreeing to meet up in about fifteen minutes, you headed back to the instant photo machine, plugging your phone in to print the pictures from Laura’s gallery as well as a couple from your own. Satisfied with what you had, you moved back to the frames, picking out one for each photo before moving to find some command strips to hang them with. 

On the car ride back to Cale’s place, you worked to get each photo into a frame. By the time Laura pulled back into the garage you were finished and you helped her carry all of the shopping bags inside. Cale had given his mom the spare key in case the two of you were done before he got back and after letting yourselves inside, you went to work on making Cale’s apartment feel just a little cozier. Together you hung curtains up in his living room, tossing pillows and the sherpa throw onto the couch. Then Laura helped you with hanging photos on his bedroom wall while a few of them were placed stationary on a side table in his living room. Laura unpacked the rest of the things Cale had asked her to buy and then the two of you settled onto the couch to watch tv until the guys arrived. 

Gary and Cale had picked up lunch on the way home, so the four of you sat down to eat. When you finished, Cale handed you a gift bag and though you had a feeling you knew what it was, you were still anxious to open it. Navy fabric accented with maroon and white spilled around your fingers and you gently ran your fingers over the number 8 and lettering of the nameplate. 

“Can’t have you come to the game tonight without proper apparel.” Cale murmured and you jumped up quickly, wrapping your arms around him in a hug. 

“It’s perfect.” You agreed. You’d packed the Makar home jersey that you’d bought yourself at the beginning of the season, but you had to admit the thirds were your favorite jersey and getting the jersey from Cale meant just a little bit more than buying one for yourself. 

As you cleaned up lunch, Cale started to settle in, getting ready to take his pregame nap. He had acknowledged the curtains, blanket, pillows and other things his mom had gotten him but it wasn’t until he disappeared into his bedroom for a moment that his eyes must have caught the photos. He’d only been gone maybe 30 seconds when he returned, pulling his mom into a huge hug, his eyes soft. 

“You framed pictures for me?” He muttered softly. 

“That idea was all Y/N.” Laura quickly clarified and immediately Cale turned to you, his arms wrapping around you just as tightly. 

“That’s incredible. Thank you.” He whispered into your ear, and when he pulled back his hands lingered on your hips for a moment more. 

Soon you were grabbing everything you’d need for the game because you were headed with Laura and Gary to play tourist while Cale napped and then headed to the rink. Laura and Gary had already headed downstairs while you debated on a shirt to wear and you didn’t even notice Cale come up beside you as you dug through your bag. 

“Wear that one.” He instructed, pointing to a wine red long-sleeved off-the-shoulder blouse. “We’re going out after the game if we win.” He clarified, rubbing the back of his neck. You were already wearing your favorite pair of jeans and had thrown on a cute pair of tennis shoes for running around. You weren’t exactly a club type of person but going out with Cale and his teammates did seem fun. 

“Okay.” You agreed, disappearing into his bathroom to change tops before returning. “Have a good nap. And kick some ass tonight.” You teased, grabbing your makeup bag because you’d barely put any on to go shopping and if you were going out tonight you were going to need to rethink your current makeup. With everything you needed, you snuck a kiss to Cale’s cheek before disappearing out the door to meet Gary and Laura down at the car. 

____

The last time you saw Cale play live was versus Calgary during the playoffs. So sitting in the stands of the Pepsi Center watching him warm up was an entirely different experience. You’d watched him on tv many times but in person it was clear to see just how much his game was growing every day. He was almost mesmerizing to watch and tucked in next to Laura, wrapped in his jersey, you felt at peace. Well, at least until the puck dropped for real. 

During a commercial break in the first period, the Avs announced a promo game. After the participant was introduced and the game was explained, a baby picture popped up on the screen. In it, a little boy, no more than 9 or 10 months old, sat between the legs of a little girl around the age of five who had a book in her hands. Immediately your own cheeks flushed as you recognized the picture, it was one of your favorites from when you and Cale were super little. The fan playing got one guess of who it was with no options to win an autographed jersey, but they were way off and guessed Nate for some reason. Then multiple choice popped up with Cale’s name, JT’s, and Gabe for a chance at an autographed puck. You didn’t even pay attention to the guess beyond hearing the boos signaling they got it wrong, but instead your gaze landed on Cale who was looking up at the screen, hiding a smile as he took some ribbing by his teammates. Eventually his eyes drifted up to where you were seated and he sent a little wink that you would have missed if you weren’t looking at him. From beside you Laura just smiled and bumped your shoulder, signaling without words just how strong your friendship with Cale really was. 

The Avs played a solid all around game and you cheered with each goal scored. Cale had two assists on the night and with the team coming out with the win you knew he was going to be in a good mood. Heading down to the locker room, you listened as Gary rambled on about the game as hockey dads do while sharing looks with Laura that made you burst into laughter. 

When Cale finally stepped out of the locker room he hugged his parents before lifting you up and spinning you around. 

“You ready to go have some fun?” He inquired, boyish smile on his face. 

“Don’t get into too much trouble.” Laura warned, though her expression wasn’t all that serious. 

“As if I’d let him.” You joked. For years Cale’s family had the running joke of you being the more responsible one keeping Cale in line. It wasn’t always true obviously, but for the most part the point stood. Still after the past few weeks Cale had had, you were willing to let him go just a little bit crazy tonight, knowing that you would be there as his safety net. 

“We’ll see you both tomorrow.” Gary grinned. “Go relax and have a good time.” Cale’s arm drifted around your waist as he tugged you to his car. Once there, you stripped off the jersey leaving you in just the blouse and as he pulled out of the garage you mussed up your hair just a little bit. Using the mirror, you carefully added a little more eyeliner before throwing on a dark lipstick, tossing both cylinders into the cupholder beside you. 

By the time you stepped out of the car at the club you felt ready for a night out and as you watched Cale shed his jacket, you felt his eyes on you once more. 

Waiting for him to be ready to head inside, you watched as a tall redhead approached, beautiful woman tucked into his side. 

“Y/N...this is JT and his girlfriend Lauren.” Cale introduced and you reached a hand out to shake theirs before tucking your hand back into your pocket. 

“So this is the best friend.” JT said, smirking. “Bout time Cale finally brought you around, he’s been talking about you for forever.” 

“Really?” You teased, ready to throw out a semi-embarrassing tidbit until Cale grabbed you by the waist, his finger falling to your lips to shush you as he guided you inside. 

“Can you at least let me get a drink or two in me before you start spilling the embarrassing stories?” He pleaded jokingly. 

“I suppose.” You conceded, smiling as he guided you up to the VIP lounge and over to the bar. Settling for a glass of wine, you watched him order a beer for himself before leading you over to one of the many couches. It wasn’t long before you were being introduced to all of Cale’s teammates.  

Gabe was boisterous and funny and the way that he looked at his wife Mel made you smile brightly. Josty was a character, he had you laughing almost immediately as he told stories about all of the media events he’d done with Cale and what he’d learned from residing in the same building. He was definitely giving you ammo to use later. Then again they all were, chirps had been flying left and right all night. 

You’d been nursing the same glass of wine for about an hour, watching as Cale downed another 2-3 beers as well as a shot that Burky handed him. It was nice to see Cale out with people that clearly cared about him and you knew this was probably the first time he had really been able to let go of all of the stress since the pregnancy scare. 

Eventually Mel and Lauren dragged you out onto the dance floor with the other better halves and even though you’d barely had anything to drink, the beat of the music had you relaxing, enjoying the time you had getting to know the people who were part of Cale’s other family. 

“You know his eyes haven’t left you all night.” Mel eventually declared, her voice barely audible over the loud music. 

“He’s always been a little protective…” You simply shrugged. The look Mel and Lauren shared suggested that they weren’t buying that logic but they didn’t push things. After a few more songs, you left the dance floor to head to the bar for a bottle of water. While there a tall….like really tall, dark haired man who looked like he should star in the next hollywood vampire blockbuster, slipped up beside you, his arm brushing against yours lightly. As you placed him as Cale’s d-partner you smiled up at him before looking back at where the bartender was rushing back and forth. 

“You know none of us have ever seen him like this before…” Ryan murmured. “He comes out but he never really lets loose. Now I don’t know whether that’s because it’s the first time we’ve been out since everything happened or if it’s because you’re here but I suspect it’s more to do with the latter.” You didn’t really know what to say to that so you shrugged. “And I’m not saying that in the manner of he feels like you’re the babysitter who will take care of him, I’m saying that he feels comfortable because you’re here in a way he was never comfortable either by himself or with Sara.” Ryan finally managed to get the bartender’s attention and he ordered your water along with whatever he was drinking before continuing. “And I’m sure Cale never said anything and neither did anyone else but...you should know everyone really likes you. And I can’t say the same for Sara.” Just as quickly as he’d appeared, Ryan had walked off and you glanced over at Cale to see his eyes planted firmly on you, his cheeks rosy from the alcohol. 

Water in hand, you moved to Cale’s side, his arm wrapping around you immediately. The redness in his eyes told you he’d had a little bit more to drink than he probably should have and you pushed your water his way, not wanting him to be completely impossible to drag home. The grin on his face was lazy as he took the bottle, showing how completely relaxed and at ease he was. 

His Adam's apple bobbed as he took a long sip of the water and you tilted your head to observe him, tie gone and the top few buttons of his shirt undone. His fingers slipped just under the edge of your shirt along your hip and you took your own sip from the bottle of water trying to hide the flush that filled your body at the feeling of his fingertips on your bare skin. Passing the water back to him, it was soon gone and once the bottle was empty you stood, looking over your shoulder. 

“Are you going to sit there all night or are you going to come dance with me?” You inquired, your tongue running against your bottom lip. Stumbling just slightly, Cale slipped out of the booth and his hand fell to the curve of your back as he guided you over to where his teammates and their significant others were dancing. 

With Cale’s chest pressed against your back, his hands fell to your hips once more and the pads of his fingers wandered over every inch of skin they could reach. His touch had never affected you like this before, he’d never been this brazen before, but you chalked both of those factors up to the alcohol. Though you’d only had two glasses of wine since you arrived, wine had always made you far warmer than any other form of alcohol so the heat in your skin was definitely just from that. 

“So I have a question…” Cale’s breath fanned over your ear as he leaned down to whisper yell at you, allowing you to hear him over the rap song that was playing. 

“Yes Cale?” You replied, tilting your body back against his so that you could see his face. It was even rosier than before and his soft smile was replaced by a serious and focused look causing your eyebrow to quirk at the sight. 

“Women like having oral sex performed on them right?” For a split second you were certain that it was only Cale’s hold on you that kept you from falling right over. Choking on your own saliva as you tried to swallow you quickly coughed, your cheeks even more flushed than you could attribute to the wine. 

“I...I mean from what I’ve heard yeah…” You finally stumbled out an answer. “Why?” Your question was ignored as Cale’s hands tightened around your hips. 

“You’ve heard?” Cale prodded. “You don’t know?” Cursing under your breath you shivered as Cale’s thumb stroked a sensitive spot along your side. 

“Cale…” You mumbled, not drunk enough for this conversation. He poked you in the side though signaling you to continue and you groaned. “I mean...I had sex for the first time freshman year of college and we didn’t exactly know what we were doing…” You explained, softly enough that only Cale would hear you. “And I mean I’ve only had sex one other time...it was a one night stand and we were both way too drunk to do anything but fuck. So yeah...I’m just taking other people’s word on it...why are you asking Cale?” You finished, twisting in his arms so that you could look at him properly. His head ducked to press against the crook of your neck and he hissed quietly as you drug your nails along his lower back. 

“Just curious…” Cale breathed. “Sara never let me...I mean I wanted to but...she told me she wasn’t interested.” For a moment you didn’t know what to say as that little piece of you celebrated the fact that it seemed there were a lot of things he didn’t do with his ex girlfriend. 

“Oh...I mean everyone has their own likes and dislikes…” You reminded him. “But generally equal reciprocation is definitely appreciated.” 

As the song ended, Gabe called Cale’s name to go take another shot and you pushed him to go murmuring that you were going to run to the bathroom. By the time you returned, you suspected it was definitely time to get Cale home, so you sidled up to his side, slipping your hand in his front pocket for his car keys. 

“I think it’s time we get you home and to bed rockstar.” You declared. Thankfully Cale didn’t put up much of a fight, closing his tab before letting you lead him out of the club. By the time you had parked in his garage, you could see how sleepy the alcohol was making him and you moved around to help him out of the car, his body nearly dragging yours down with its weight. 

Stumbling through the door, you urged him to start to bed while you got him more water and some pain killers. Gathering both, you moved to his room after checking to ensure the front door was locked. You found him sitting on the edge of his bed, dressed in only boxer briefs and though you tried not to stare, your body couldn’t help but notice that gone was the teenage boy you once knew and in his place was a man plain and simple. Setting the water and pills on his bedside table, you urged him to take his contacts out. 

Once you were certain he was fairly settled, you turned to make your way to the couch. Instead, Cale’s hands reached out to pull you back to him and as he scooted to the far side of the bed, he drug you down with him. 

“Cale…” You mumbled in complaint but his eyes were already closed and his breathing was starting to steady out, his hands keeping your body pressed tightly against his. Sighing, you managed to work yourself out of your jeans before giving in and settling in his arms. 

Between your conversation with Gravy, the looks Mel and Lauren were giving you, Cale’s inquiry, wandering hands, and this, so many lines had been blurred tonight that it was making you dizzy. 

For the second night in a row...your mind reeled as you fell into a fitful sleep. 

Blouse:

[kitkatwinchester]

So...considering we’re on the home stretch of the greatest show of all time--a show that has been a huge part of my life for the last eight years--I figured now was probably a good time to start doing reactions and reviews. I’ve seen a lot of Tumblrs do this, and I want to join in on that.

So basically, I’m gonna start by just doing a bullet point list of reactions as I go. Fair warning, I get very excited and very into this show, so the list’ll probably be pretty long. But hopefully you enjoy it! And, even if you don’t, this gives me something to look back on years down the line. XD

Also, my mom is watching it with me, so I might include some of her reactions/our discussion in my list too!

And, because I can, at the end of all of it, I’ll give a much more concise review/reaction based on how I feel after the whole episode’s over. Because why not. XD

Enjoy my watching! XD <3

Oh we’re starting!

...did I miss the “then” title card?

Oh wait there it is.

Dude we’re going FAR back on this “then”. I wonder what that means?

My poor baby crying again. :(

DEAN’S APRON OH MY GOD I’M DEAD! XD XD <3 <3

“It was. In the 50s.” Point taken.

My poor baby. :( :( :( :(

Oh so killing Amara is officially a plan? Okay then.

“I’ve killed Hitler.” I can’t believe he’s still talking about that! XD

Actually I can believe he’s still talking about it, I take that back.

DEAN WITH THE MARIO BROTHERS OMG!!

Okay, I know this episode has something to do with them celebrating holidays because of a fairy or nymph or something like that, and this is already feeling like a light-hearted, fun, domestic Winchesters episode. I hope it stays that way. <3

Have you tried turning it back off and turning it on again? Hit reset.

HE READ MY MIND!

MEAT MAN!! XD XD

Ummm...okay then.

Also SCOOBY-DOO UNDIES!!! DEAN YOU DORK!! XD XD <3

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Jack is my favorite and Dean is my second-favorite.

“Language!” “That’s it I’m getting my gun.” XD XD

I can already tell that so many of my reactions are probably just gonna be me quoting and then laughing. XD

They don’t seem very concerned? Shouldn’t random people not be able to get in?

This lady is such a mom omg.

Mrs. Butters? XD

Wood nymph. Got it.

“Shouldn’t you be in the woods somewhere? Nymphing?” XD XD (P.S. That was my mom’s favorite line in this episode. XD)

You what now?

Necessities of life?

Hmmm….I like her, but she weirds me out. Something is off.

Dean’s “oof that’s awkward” face. XD

“2020.” Hearing that year said out loud just feels...oof. Just oof.

Poor nymph…

Wait, haven’t we seen those symbols before? Maybe I’m making that up.

HA! “It’s kind of been one apocalypse after the other.” He’s not kidding.

OOOOH!! HERE COME THE HOLIDAYS!!!

WAIT WHAT IS THAT TELESCOPE THING?

WAIT WAIT WAIT WHAT??!! A MONSTER radar??!! Dude WHAT?! Man, they’ve needed something like that for YEARS!

Wait wait wait...relatively nearby….it’s not gonna ping because of Jack is it?? SHE’S NOT GONNA HURT JACK IS SHE??!!

Oh okay nevermind. Just a vamp nest.

Say what now?

We can...that just...umm...okay then??

“Heck...heck yeah.” XD XD XD

Yeah I’m with Sam on this one. She seems innocent, but, like…

Dean does have a point though.

But also things like this never last. It’s too good to be true.

MY BABY!!!

“She’s probably harmless, but just in case, watch yourself”?? Dean that was a terrible way to do that but okay.

Snickerdoodles. XD

My poor baby looks so lost. :(

I mean...Dean makes a good point there. But also the son of Satan is adorable and she’s suspicious. But anyways.

“Ignoring your trauma doesn’t make you healthy.” SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT OMG!!! XD XD XD <3 <3 <3 <3

...Jack is hiding something? IS JACK HIDING SOMETHING?!

...do we know what Jack is hiding??

The only thing I can think of is that he knows about Cas’s deal with the empty, but he had a soul when that happened, and it wasn’t really eating at him then. Is it eating at him more now for some reason??

IS JACK HIDING SOMETHING??!!

Jesus christ this is gonna bother me…

Okay but when has that ever actually worked, Dean?

Awww….

I’m guessing they didn’t tell her he’s a nephilim? If they don’t really trust her--which they don’t--they shouldn’t. Is there a chance she knows already? I feel like she wouldn’t be acting like that if she did.

Vamps watching a movie with vamps. Classy. XD

...ew…

At least they’re drinking from bags instead of from humans I guess?

Nice slicing at the same time, boys.

Huh. Well. That was easy. Too easy?

CHRISTMAS! XD <3

THE TRAIN OMG!! XD XD <3 <3

Their faces. XD

HER DANCE!

Okay she’s kind of adorable not gonna lie.

“We are so keeping her.” XD XD

DEAN’S LITTLE EXCITED HANDS ON THE RAILING OMG I’M DEAD!! XD XD <3 <3 <3

If I can’t get adorable Jack right now, I’m okay with adorable Dean. XD <3 <3

Sam is still suspicious, but Dean is totally into it.

“Enjoy the world you’re fighting for.” That was really quick and so subtle, but d*mn that’s a good line.

MY BABY!!!!

HIIIII JACK!!! I MIIIIISSSSSED YOOOOOUUU!!! <3 <3 <3

Uh-oh. I don’t like the way she said “what are you”. DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY BABY!!!

“He’s a millennial.” XD XD

DEAN IN THAT NIGHTGOWN OMG!!! I know it was in the promo photos, but seeing it in the context of the episode is even funnier. XD

Sam’s gagging at his bro’s “down there” bits lol.

Oof. She is VERY absentminded by Jack and whatever he is. No likey.

...hmm. I still don’t trust her with Jack.

“Poppycock”???

HA!! “I’m worried about your cholesterol.”

And Sam and Jack’s little smiles at that omg. <3 <3 <3

“We got one!” IS THAT A HILLYWOOD PARODY REFERENCE/GHOSTBUSTER REFERENCE??!! Because IT FEELS LIKE ONE!!!

The way they’re running to their rooms to get ready omg.

And that cut to them being dressed and going.

LUNCHES!! XD

Their faces! XD

The cinematography in this episode is AWESOME. Go Serge Ladouceur (and yes, I looked that name up. XD)

No crusts. Blessed knives. “I just waxed it.” She IS a mom!

Wait no. Take Jack with you. I don’t trust her with him.

“What shall we do with you.” LEAVE HIM ALONE IS WHAT!

Oh. They’re doing dishes.

WAIT DON’T TELL HER THAT JACK!

...I don’t like the way she’s talking to him.

Oof. Mary. *gags*

Jack you’re adorable and I love you but please stop being so gullible and stop sharing so much personal information.

WAIT NO! I know you feel guilty, but DON’T TELL HER YOU KILLED HER!

...dangat.

...oh. That was actually super sweet, and honestly the EXACT thing Jack needed to hear. ...maybe she’s not so bad?

...wait what? She just...pulls those out of thin air?

Ha! Another hunt

THEIR FACES WITH THE LUNCHES! ESPECIALLY DEAN’S!! XD

Aww! Thanksgiving! <3

Where is Cas during all this? Talking to his angel friends I guess?

That finger gun at Sam omg.

It’s so EASY for them wow.

Halloween! Fitting given our current season.

Their little smiles awww!!

THE BEERS TOGETHER HOLY FRICK!!! IT’S JUST LIKE WHAT TEAM FREE WILL 2.0 DID WHEN JACK CAME BACK! AND what the boys and Mary and John did in Lebanon! NEVER GETS OLD!! I LOVE THIS FAMILY!! <3 <3

...I still don’t necessarily trust Mrs. Butters. BUT I LOVE SAM AND DEAN AND JACK!

Those faces for the lunches just get better and better.

GRENADE LAUNCHER!!

MJOLNIR OMG NO WAY!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE HE STILL HAS IT!!! THIS EPISODE HAS SO MANY EASTER EGGS OMG!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Also that is an AWESOME shot.

BIRTHDAY!! Awww… <3 <3

OOF. Poor Dean. XD

Jack’s laugh and then immediately being like “oop” and bringing his head down but still chuckling when Dean glares at him I CAN’T. XD XD

I LOVE THIS FAMILY!! <3 <3 <3

AWW!! She made extra for him!

Okay, I like her. But I’m still cautious.

Oh. THERE it is.

What’s she doing??

Jack’s got you lady.

My mom is wondering why she has to walk away to make another smoothie when before she was just producing them. I’m wondering if maybe she has to near the ingredients to whip it into a smoothie magically, but that seems weird...continuity error?

Get her, Jack. My smart boi. <3 <3

My Mom: “You better hurry it up there, Jack.”

Oh it’s evil Men of Letters dude. NOW I get why we went that far back.

Oh! AND the Thule. NOW I get why Dean mentioned killing Hitler again. Wow. Nice connections on this episode all around. Go writers.

...she did what now?

WTF??!!

HOLY FRICK!!!

HOLY S*** HOLY S*** HOLY S***!!!

Do NOT ask about tea or cookies after you just pulled sh** like that.

On a more positive note, the way Jack just said “son of a bitch” out of nowhere like that is so adorable because he, like, NEVER swears, but also that’s Dean’s saying and it just proves that he’s taking after his dads and just already growing up and AHHHH I LOVE HIM!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

Also Jack please go tell your dads what you found.

Okay so during the commercial break, my mom and I looked up wood nymphs and had this big discussion and here’s kind of what we came up with:

So we were trying to figure out if wood nymphs are supposedly evil, and we didn’t find much, but they do have super strength (which explains her ability to rip off that dude’s head…), and the ability to control wood and nature, which might explain why she can pull smoothies out of thin air.

So then we saw on the SPN Wiki page for this episode that part of the description mentions that the wood nymph would do anything for her family, and that makes me wonder if she has, like, ulterior motives to protect her wood nymph family? But also, she said the Men of Letters were her family, so that translates to Sam and Dean now, right? So theoretically, she wouldn’t hurt them, she’d be trying to protect them. Which means they should be fine, because she only hurts threats. But then my mom pointed out that maybe she considers Jack a threat and that’s a really good point, so now I’m worried all over again. She’s still acting weird with him, and even though I did like that little advice she gave about second chances, maybe it’s all an act? My mom thinks she, like, poisoned his sandwich or something with anti-nephilim juice in order to try to hurt him, but that was before she knew he was a nephilim, right? I don’t know. I think my mom makes a really good point. I hope my baby winds up being okay. :(

Okay. Back to the episode now. 

Ahhhhhhhh noooooo. Where are the boys when we need them?

Wait, DATE?? EILEEN??!!

No. He isn’t. Go away.

Sam look at yoooooooouuuu. <3

But also please take a moment to notice how uncomfortable your son is and ask him what’s wrong please and thank you. (And yes, I will keep saying son thank you very much.)

Ha! She wants him to get a haircut just like Dean does. The joke’s about Sam’s (and, by extension, Jared’s) hair will never not be funny.

Ha! “Language.”

YES!! EILEEN!!!

YES SAM!! GO GET YOUR GIRL!!

DEAN! XD

Okay the Sam and Eileen thing is adorable, and Sam and Dean’s banter is hilarious, but guys...look at your son please and thank you. :(

I’m so torn between wanting Sam to just be happy and enjoy himself and wanting him to help Jack ahhhhhh.

Sam can go on his date. I’m sure Dean can handle it.

Roses! Nice touch.

Ha! Dean with the supportive big bro action.

Such. A. Mom.

“Boys.”

Wait nooooooo.

Okay but Alex’s acting right there...tip top. So subtle. Jack is trying so hard to be sneaky and warn Dean about what he saw, and the way Alex is conveying pure panic but also showing how sneaky he’s being is AWESOME.

Also that little “sh*t” or “da**it” or whatever it was that he mouthed? Somehow so cute and makes me so worried at the same time.

“The Dean Cave”?? XD XD

Dean I am BEGGING YOU, please take a cursory glance at your son.

...da**it...

The subtitles say “suspenseful music plays” XD XD

Wait Jack noooo. Don’t go after her alone! Chase Dean instead!!

NOOO!! NOT IN THERE!!!

She’s totally gonna trap him in there.

...what?

She’s being so condescending shut the fudge up.

What? No.

Does he still not have a soul? Is that what he’s hiding? That wouldn’t make sense.

Oh wait. I get it now.

HE IS NOT!!! SHUT THE FUDGE UP LADY!!

LADY STOOOOOP! HE DOESN’T NEED YOUR SH**!! HE ALREADY FEELS GUILTY WOULD YOU QUIT IT??!! :’( :’( :’( :’(

HEY! NOT COOL!

I HOPE SOMEONE RIPS YOUR HEAD OFF B***H!!

They’re not. They know he won’t now.

SHUT UP LADY!!

HEY!!! STOP IT!!! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!

TAKE HER DOWN JACK!!!

He IS family!

...ummm...what??

GOD DA**IT!!

...my mom literally just said “told you so” about the poisoning. ...which also explains why she walked away to make another smoothie, because she WANTED him to find the video, says my mom. And yes, my mom was right, AND I HATE IT!! SCREW YOU LADY!! LEAVE MY BABY ALONE!!

It IS safe you B**CH!!

HE’S NOT A MONSTER!!! :’( :’( :’(

DA**IT!! DEAN PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!

Ha! He’s so excited about the sandwich and it’s adorable.

But also save your son!!

...wait what?

She’s...she’s really just gonna out herself like that?

Ha! YES!

Aww...Dean’s so disappointed. :(

BUT! He’s sticking up for his son! Because even if he’s mad at him for everything that happened to Mary (but also get over it, because she sucked anyways, Dean XD), of course he’ll still protect him.

Ha! The way he just takes it away…

Aww...poor baby. :(

He’s so disappointed. He deserves better. I feel bad for him. :(

HE IS NOT! SHUSH!

Aww...looking at the sandwich, but making the right call.

AWW! He’s trying. Best of both worlds.

Take the deal, lady.

DA**IT!!!

SERIOUSLY?!

SERIOUSLY???!!!

Screw you, lady.

HEY! NOT FAIR!

He is NOTHING like his father, thank you very much!

Well...now what??

Oh thank god, Sam’s home. He’s smart. He’ll find a way to get them out.

Her calling him Samuel is both hilarious and annoying, somehow. I think it’s only annoying now because I hate her with what she just did to my boys. XD

OOOOF.

She gonna out herself again?

Sam’s face when she said that about good news and bad news. XD

I suppose the benefit of having a bad guy who thinks they’re doing the right thing is that she’s not trying to hide it. So hopefully, if she outs herself again, Sam can deal with it a little better than Dean did, knowing Dean was not very successful lol. Dean let his love of her food get in the way. XD

She DID out herself!

Ha! “You were always the smart one.”

YES! Good job, Sam. Starting off strong. <3

YES! GOOD JOB SAM!! Nice manipulation.

Ha!

Can’t believe she’s asking about the date.

Actually yes I can. XD

Wait, why don’t WE get to hear about the date? I WANNA HEAR ABOUT THE DATE DA**IT!

Well, DUH, Sam, you think they don’t know that?

Dean OMG!! XD XD

SUPPORTIVE BIG BRO!! XD XD

In Dean’s defense, he knew she’d wait for Sam, so...it’s not like they were REALLY in danger.

Do NOT try shooting her. Are you kidding me right now?

...really Sam? REALLY?! You’re going to try to SHOOT her?? You’ve seen what she can do, and you’re going to try to SHOOT her? She got the jump on JACK. POWERED UP Jack. Really? Call me crazy, but I feel like that’s not gonna work.

Yes. Yes he is. ...so much for Sam being the smart one.

I want to be mad at them for getting distracted by the holidays, but also I can’t exactly blame them given their childhoods, so…

Ha! The way they both react to the Boxing Day breakfast. Such brothers. XD

There ya go. Good plan. MUCH better than shooting her. Thank you boys.

WAIT WAIT WAIT!! Is this where we’re gonna get the “you sure this is gonna work” “let’s say yes” scene from the promo?? I THINK IT IS!! (Okay, so I MAY have watched that particular five second scene a million and one times because it had my boys in it, but I love them okay?? Sue me.)

Hey. Chill, Dean. Don’t yell at him.

Aww baby. :( :( :(

He doesn’t think you’re a monster. He’s just upset. :( 

...uh oh. This convo is gonna be bad, isn’t it? :( :(

:’( :’( :’( :’( :’(

WAIT! “For a while” YES! THAT’S A GOOD THING!!

Oh wait. “Still am a little bit.”

“Evil Mary Poppins” XD XD

AWWW!! SEE JACK?! He DOES love you!! <3 <3 <3 <3

OKAY NEVER MIND THAT CONVO WAS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD!!! I need to break that down for a second.

That convo was short and subtle and to the point, but it says SO much about Dean and Jack’s relationship.

First of all, the fact that Dean decided to be honest with Jack instead of continuing to pretend everything’s fine shows how much he really does care about Jack and how much he still trusts him and loves him. He doesn’t open up often, and I’m glad he finally did.

Second of all, he may have been blunt, but there was so much affection hidden in the way he addressed all of that. I mean, he tells Jack that he used to be really mad, and he still kind of is, but then he reminds him that just because they’re in a rough patch right now doesn’t mean he wants to lose him. Yes, Jack made a mistake, and yeah, Dean’s finding it hard to get over it, but Jack’s family through and through, and that means that, no matter what, Dean’s going to look out for him. It’s the same way he treats Cas and, more notably, the same way he treats Sam. He’s giving Jack the family treatment. And THAT is a BEAUTIFUL thing.

All of that said, between all of the OG Team Free Will, Dean’s relationship with Jack will always be my favorite (probably mostly because they’re my two favorite characters, but also because they’re amazing together), so this convo makes me so freaking happy. <3 <3 <3 <3

Sam you are being not very sneaky. 

SERIOUSLY SAM??!!

I take that back. Sam is not being smart about this. *eye roll*

UGGGGHHHHH.

WHERE IS CAS WHEN YOU NEED HIM?!

Actually quick side note, one that I’m adding now that I’ve finished the episode: not having Cas around TOTALLY makes sense. Explanation included in the review.

“Because you are my favorite.” XD XD XD 

She shouldn’t still be making me laugh, but dangat she’s too funny. XD

Wait noooo. No torture allowed.

I KNEW IT!! I TOLD YOU!! I CALLED IT!! SCENE FROM THE PROMO!! XD XD <3 <3 <3

I LOVE DEAN AND JACK SO MUCH!! <3 <3 <3

Ha! Fixing his hands.

YIKES!

...but did the cuffs break at least?

HA! She actually converted him to not swear.

I love how Dean makes a point of swearing extra loud after he realizes what he did. I love him. XD XD <3

Oh frick, that didn’t break the cuffs? Are you kidding me? Stupid powerful magic…

OOH! Dean’s got an idea!

THOSE LITTLE SMILES I LOVE THEM!! <3 <3 <3 <3

OH SHUT UP LADY! Are you still talking??

...okay so...trauma.

Please listen to Sam.

YES HE IS SHUSH!

Just because he has blood on his hands doesn’t mean he’s not a kid. Just saying.

Okay so I kind of feel bad for her knowing what she’s been through, but also that does not excuse her behavior. However, I will take back what I said about someone ripping her head off. I suppose that isn’t really necessary.

That said, someone please do something. :( :(

WOULD YOU QUIT IT WITH THE FINGERNAILS SUPERNATURAL??!! I STILL HAVEN’T GOTTEN OVER IT FROM THE CHRISTMAS EPISODE IN SEASON 3!!!

My mom and I are both turning away owwwwwww.

STOOOOOOOOOOP!!!

Jesus Christ lady!!

“Pain is just weakness leaving the body.” Dean what?! XD XD

HEY! Smart! Way to go you two!! <3 <3

And still helping his son up YES! <3 <3 <3

Okay that could not have been a more in character moment between Dean and Jack right there. Between the “not so bad” and the helping him up and the helping him walk down the hall and Jack just following him along and I just...I LOVE THEM OKAY!! <3 <3 <3

AHHH!! SHE TOOK OFF SO MANY FINGERNAILS JESUS!!

SHUT UP LADY!!

YES!

...Dean honey that was the reset button…

There’s no way that did the job. Too easy.

Problem not solved!! Problem DEFINITELY not solved!!

Creepy green eyes!!

Oh she looks maaaaad. That’s not good.

HEY!!! What happened to not hurting family??!!

LEAVE THEM ALONE!!

Which family??!! Cause YOU’RE the one destroying them!

No he won’t.

“You hurt him, you hurt us.” GREAT line!! YES SAM!! <3 <3 <3

Oooh!! He’s getting to her!! <3 <3

Oop. There’s our backstory. Mr. Cuthbert wouldn’t let her go back. Not that I’m surprised, given what he did to Dean all those years ago.

Yes. Yes he did.

YAY! Dean jumping in to save his son. <3

NICE! Good call, Dean! <3

THAT FACE!! Jack’s face!! <3 <3

YES!!!! YES!!! GOOD JOB BOYS!! <3 <3 <3

Awww….poor Mrs. Butters…

Okay now I feel really bad for her. And a little guilty that I called her a b***h. I’m still kind of mad at her, but...her motives make sense.

Hey yay! She healed him!

Wow, this nymph is POWERFUL. Now that she’s nice again, can we, like, actually keep her? Cause that’d be an awesome ally to have.

Aww...Jack being the one to voice their forgiveness. So pure, especially since she was after him all that time. <3

Awww….Dean wants her to stay. He’s so upset. XD

But he also gets it. :) <3

OMG!! That shot with all three of them looking at her and those sweet little smiles they give her as she’s talking about home. There was just so much...genuineness in that! I loved it! <3 <3

Jack being the voice again. <3

Okay, she looks hecka cute in that outfit.

Oof. That makes sense lol. It would be way too easy if it didn’t revert back.

...inter what now?

Oh shoot...that just proves Chuck destroyed all the worlds...lovely….

Awww!! <3 <3

Ha! Her little words of wisdom to them! To reiterate: SUCH. A. MOM. XD XD <3 <3

Sam and Dean’s smirks at each other when she tells them to do the same things they’ve been telling each other to do for years--eat your vegetables and cut your hair. XD

Awww….that little extra nose crinkle and smile at Jack when she tells him to save the world. <3

I also just realized that this breaks my theory that anyone who meets Jack instantly falls in love with him because of how adorable he is. Though, I guess she’s a little different given that extra little motivation to protect her family in the only way she knows how. Plus, trauma.

Oof. Bye bye extra magic.

Aww...this convo between Jack and Sam. <3 <3

Aww Jack… :( :(

You weren’t stupid, baby. You all fell for it. :(

Aww….he’s looking for faith from Sam.

And Sam just gave it to him. <3

I know the line seems desperate, and in a way, it is, but the way that Sam gave him a little smile shows that it’s more than that. They are desperate, and Jack is their only hope, but also, Sam knows Jack can handle it, because he does have faith in him. It’s a short convo, but it says so much.

That tin has a birthday cake for Jack, made by Dean. Calling it right now.

“He loves that apron.” XD <3 <3

I KNEW IT AND I LOVE IT OMG!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

THAT’S SO ADORABLE!!! And that is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT Dean’s way of telling Jack that he still loves him, and that he forgives him. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

THEIR LITTLE SMILES!! <3 <3 <3

I’M SCREAMING!!! ALL OF THEIR SMILES AT EACH OTHER I FREAKING LOVE THIS FAMILY!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I SERIOUSLY LOST ALL FUNCTIONALITY JUST NOW TO THE POINT WHERE I’M ADDING THIS COMMENT LATER BECAUSE AHHHH!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

AWESOME ending shot. It’s a great way to end a much more light-hearted episode while also setting us up perfectly for knowing that things are about to get heavy and serious. I bet whatever Jack wished for, it has something to do with taking on God.

Okay, so...those reactions were a lot longer than I was anticipating, and I want to apologize, but also, I did warn you. XD That said, review time!

I loved this episode! It was absolutely hilarious, but also sweet and touching. It mixed some crazy and fun moments with some of the most subtly emotional ones, both negative and positive. I absolutely loved all the Easter Eggs, and I loved watching the boys have a chance to celebrate holidays in a way that they never have before, especially with Jack. The facial expressions in this episode killed me. Between all of the little smiles and dorky excitement, I was laughing and smiling right along with the characters. Some stand-out moments/things for me: 

That convo between Dean and Jack. I already broke it down above, but seriously, I love how they did that. As a huge fan of Dean and Jack and their relationship, the way that those two interacted this episode was beautiful and really sets up the fact that they’re going to need to lean on each other for support as a whole family in the coming fight, and I loved that. <3 

Sam going on a date with Eileen! <3 Initially, I had a theory that Sam and Eileen would end up together at the end of all of this, but when she left a few episodes ago, I threw that idea out the window and it made me sad. So the fact that they went on a date and got to see each other again--even if we didn’t get to see it--makes me so happy and brings back my hope that they’ll end up being together. <3 That said, I am 100% going to write a fanfiction of that date, since Supernatural chose to keep it from us. XD

The acting really stood out to me in this one. Maybe it’s just because it’s been so long since I’ve seen them doing something new, but I honestly feel like J2 and Alex nailed it even more than usual. I mean, their facial expressions were seriously so amazing in this episode. Between the really dorky moments and the subtle emotional moments, I felt like their faces were always saying so much and I loved it. <3

One thing I want to address is the lack of Cas. I know a lot of people were upset that he wasn’t in it, especially since the boys were celebrating so many holidays with Jack, and while I agree that it would’ve been beautiful to have him there, it makes perfect sense that he wasn’t there based on the trajectory of the episode and everything that happened. For starters, if Cas had been there, the wood nymph business would’ve been solved INSTANTLY. Cas is always extra suspicious of people, so if she didn’t trust him because he was an angel, the odds of her getting the jump on him would’ve been slim. And yes, she did poison Jack with the smoothies, but, as this episode continued to point out, Jack is still a kid, so he’s still much more naive and gullible. Plus, he’s upset and guilty and confused and just generally vulnerable now that his soul is back, so it was easy for him to trust and be manipulated. But if Mrs. Butters had tried to do the same thing to Cas, (and I’m picturing that one scene with the milkshake in Peace of Mind here) there’s no way he would’ve fallen for it. More importantly, with how worried he is about Jack, he would’ve been really vigilant about the way she was talking to him and everything, and he probably would’ve caught the poisoning long before it could really hurt him. And you can argue that Sam and Dean probably should’ve picked up on it, which is true, however, even they admit that they get distracted in the fun of it all. While it would’ve been great to see Cas in on the festivities, he wouldn’t have been quite as distracted by it as the boys were, and with his vigilance, there’s no way any of them would ever have gotten hurt. He’d be watching Mrs. Butters like a hawk, and the second she did something suspicious, she’d be gone. That said, I can understand if people want to say that’s dumb, because if they didn’t want Cas to defeat the villain so easily, they shouldn’t have had a villain that could be so easily defeated by Cas, and I’m sure some people feel like that’s a stupid excuse. To which I also offer this. After seeing those convos between Dean and Jack and Sam and Jack, and knowing that the episode ends with the three of them celebrating Jack’s birthday, Cas’s absence makes even more sense: this episode wasn’t about him. I love Cas, but it didn’t need him. See, Cas already has an undying love for Jack. While Cas definitely saw Mary as family, he never had the same emotional connection to her that Sam and Dean did--for obvious reasons. But he definitely had--and still has--a very strong emotional connection to Jack. He’s always been the most involved in being Jack’s father--again, for obvious reasons. But even after the Mary incident, it was Cas who went to find him, who tried to help him, and who wanted to protect him. Cas always loved him and always trusted him, and he always will. But Sam and Dean lost a lot of trust for Jack after what happened to Mary...and this episode fixed that. Because Cas wasn’t around, it gave Jack a chance to prove himself to Sam and Dean again. Sam had already pretty much forgiven him, but Dean was definitely on the fence. He even says it. But the fact that Dean had that conversation with him and said everything he did proves that Dean still loves him, and it gave Jack the reassurance he needed that, while Dean is still mad, he doesn’t hate him, and he doesn’t think he’s a monster. And while Sam and Jack were on pretty good terms, Jack was still worried that Sam couldn’t trust him--that Sam didn’t have faith in him anymore. But when Sam tells him that he knows he can defeat God, Jack gets confirmation that Sam does still have faith in him. And after all of that, after celebrating all of those holidays together, and having both of those conversations, to then end that with Sam and Dean celebrating Jack’s birthday? That’s what this episode was about. Sure, it was a silly monster of the week episode. Sure, we got some adorable and hilarious moments. And sure, we got to see them celebrate things that they never got to celebrate in a real way before. But underlying all of that, we got to see Jack become part of Sam and Dean’s family again. We got to see them bond. And knowing that this is right before they all prepare to take on God--Jack needed that. The boys needed that. They needed to all trust each other again. And the fact that they celebrated his birthday at the end proves that they do. They’re a family again. They have each other’s backs. They trust each other. And they love each other. And as much as I love Cas, and as much as I would’ve loved to have seen him be a part of their holidays, he didn’t need to be. But those three did. And that’s why Cas wasn’t in the episode. So, frankly, full points to the writers for making that happen. While they gave us a fun episode, and they may have left out a fan favorite character, it created an underlying theme that’s really going to matter as we get into the big stuff of Season 15. And that’s awesome.

All in all, I thought this was a great episode, and I’m so glad that this is how we get to jump back into the season. Not only was this episode hilarious and fun, but it was also a great set-up for the coming battle and for all the hard and serious things that are bound to come in the next several episodes.

Rumor has it that this was the last “silly” episode of the show, and while that’s a sad thought to think about, it totally makes sense with what they did with the episode, and frankly, I think it’s a beautiful silly one to have ended on and a great way to lead into everything that’s coming next.

My Rating: 10/10

[agentsofsupernaturalmarvel]

Bruises and Forgotten Lunches // Joshua Bassett

IN WHICH: Tim Federle, creator of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, forgets his lunch and has his niece bring it to him. On leave/vacation from work she meets the cast at lunch and departs after. Only someone doesn’t want to not see her again.

Characters: Reader x Joshua Bassett, niece!reader x uncle!Tim Federle, Olivia Rodrigo, Larry Saperstein, and Matt Cornett

Words: 1.8k

Warnings: Possible swearing, talk about violence, injuries, kidnapping (is lightly mentioned due to reader’s job), and fluff

A/N: To fit this the minimum age to be an agent is not 23 but instead 20. Just a simple one shot that is not fully edited.

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Masterlist

Being an FBI Agent had you going on cases throughout the United States while you were working out of the field office in Salt Lake City. A recent case you spent with you team ended with you with a concussion and mandatory time off, which sucked since you were the youngest on the team. Supervisor in Chief Charlie had been adamant you not work in the field until you were medically approved to go back.

That led you to drop off your uncle’s lunch at his workplace, which was a place that was tough for you to be near. You wouldn’t have agreed to drop off the forgotten food if you had been informed that Tim’s new job had him on a set at a high school.

“Uncle Tim.” You sighed, finally finding the man sitting in a chair holding a script and pen in his hand. His green eyes meeting the ones that had followed his every move as a kid.

“Hey, Kid!” Tim grinned raising to grab you in his arms, “Your mom texted me about your free time. Are you okay?”

“I got punched in the head by a suspect.” You spoke, “fell onto the cement and woke in a hospital.”

Tim’s face fell at your words, “I had no clue it was that serious. I’m sorry I was working when that happened.”

“It’s okay.” You soothed the older man. Your parents had you when they were in their early twenties completely unplanned but wholly loved by both sides.

Uncle Tim was born after your mother by a few years and in his grade twelve year when his sister brought her long-term boyfriend home. That night involved a lot of screaming and crying when the Federle found out their college student daughter was pregnant. While your parents went through with the pregnancy, obviously, Tim often offered to babysit for free when they had to work. You had a special bond with Tim to this day, he’s like a big brother and a second dad at the same time.

“Do you want to hang around? There’s a snack table to grab food from and have lunch with me.” Tim offered barely glancing at the school, but he didn’t know why schools made you uncomfortable now.

“I’m not sure. You guys look super busy.” You started but failed when Tim shook his head at your words. He motioned to follow him to a set up of long tables under umbrellas in the warm weather, a group of people sat there.

“Guys, this is my niece Y/N. Bean this is the main cast of the show.” Tim spoke, getting the actors to wave and smile, “She was an awesome niece to drop my lunch off.”

Tim yanked you into his arms to lightly rub his knuckles on your head ever so careful with the head injury you received.

“What happened that you got a bruise on your temple?” A tan guy with vivid blue eyes questioned leaning forward in his chair. His plate had a piece of pizza left, but he focused entirely on you.

“Work hazard.”

“Do you box?” A male with bright ginger hair questioned next leading to the others at the table to listen carefully.

Tim snagged a seat to unpack his lunch while listening to you, “I haven’t heard the story either fully.”

“I can’t legally tell you!” You joked to your uncle, “You’ve been saying that since I graduated! I should better introduce myself than he did. I’m Special Agent Y/N Y/L/N with the FBI, this lovely token was given to me by an unsub in a recent investigation.”

“FBI-“

“Guys we should really introduce ourselves.” One of the younger girls spoke with a wry smile, “I’m Olivia, and these nosy nuisances are Josh, Larry, Matt, and Sofia.”

Each of the smiled in response before wanting to finish the rest of the story but were interrupted when Tim pushed half his sandwich over; the same routine since before you could remember.

“I’ve been with the FBI for about a year now and just off my probationary period. Before that, I worked as a cop for a year after graduating high school early.” You gave a vague back history and a few details, “I’ve been fortunate to not have been shot before, other than taking it to the vest which hurts a lot. This is the worst I’ve had with a concussion for someone I was pursuing. I’m on medical leave for a few days.”

“Thank you for doing what you do for us to be safe.” Josh spoke up first mesmerising you with the infectious smile that pulled up slightly more on one side. His brown eyes connecting with yours in a while that floored the group.

“I’ve wanted to serve in terms of justice since I was a kid first as a lawyer, but then my grade five year had a professional day, and a kid’s FBI parent talked to us. That was the reason I decided to join the Academy.” You supplied smiling at the boy, “I’m the youngest on my team.”

“Bean graduated high school at sixteen and went straight into University in that same fall. By nineteen, she was training to be a cop and then raised to successfully join a career that terrifies everyone in the family.”

“Why play an FBI Agent when I could be one in real life?” You playfully winked at your uncle gaining only a chuckle in response, “Well you guys are probably about to start, and I really have to get going. I may be on medical leave, but I have paperwork to do.”

That being said, you left the group to their own devices to call a cab, you weren’t allowed to drive with the concussion. You were surprised when someone called you name and went to tap your shoulder; their hand was yanked and pulled until he was kneeling with his arm held against his back.

“Okay, yup really shouldn’t have tapped an agent’s shoulder.” He coughed relaxing when he’s arm was released from the uncomfortable position, “I’m sorry about that.”

“What can I do for you, Josh?” You questioned the actor with one raised eyebrow that pulled the fading bruise.

“I was wondering if I could have your number?” Josh bashfully questioned struggling to keep eye contact when his cheeks were turning a light pink. You had a feeling he didn’t do this often.

“Just so happens I’m not your assigned FBI agent.” You joked chuckling when his eyes widened, “I’m kidding. We don’t do surveillance on a person for no reason.”

“Oh.” Josh sighed, nodding his head as he tentatively held out his phone for you, “Good to know.”

You chuckled putting your name in for him and sending a swift message to you, so you had his number too. The boy beamed when you got into the cab and practically swayed in the language of love when he closed your door.

Over One Year Later

It was a tough case involving a teenage girl kidnapped with details that made you feel sick with the people that sadly populated the world. You were glad to be home after the week in Montana in your little apartment. Your shoulders were slouched as you shut and locked the door.

“Hey.”

You simply smiled and walked straight into his open arms that you severely needed after the long week. Josh and you had been dating over a little over a year, you officially started dating a month after meeting and constant talking.

“Hi.” You mumbled into his shoulder, leaning back to sniff the air, “Did you make food?”

“Yeah, I tried this new recipe your Mom sent, and I did a good job.” Josh spoke, leaning cheek on your head, “I’m sorry you had a tough week.”

“There was a young girl.” Your voice broke, “We saved her, but Josh, she’s gonna need support after what happened.”

Josh hugged you closer swaying at he did so and the way you loved.

As an FBI Agent, you worked out of the Utah field office in Salt Lake City and served Utah. Along with Utah, you served Idaho, Yellowstone National Park and the recent state you were in Montana. Josh filmed High School Musical: The Musical: The Series for most of the year and lived the other part in California. To save money and with your long hour jobs, he moved in for the filming months.

“Just think in a few weeks we’ll be in Oceanside with our family.” Josh mumbled in your ear, bringing a bright smile to your face.

Your love story was more fast-paced than what was typically expected, but with almost two years together, you both knew. Six months ago, Josh proposed with a heartfelt speech and plan which got your acceptance. Planning a wedding while working full time and with his filming schedule was hard, but you did it.

“I can’t wait to be your wife.” You mumbled leaning back to kiss him.

You never anticipated being married at twenty-two and Josh as twenty-one. Still, it was happening, and you were so excited.

“We still need to talk about if you are going to request a transfer to LA.” Josh spoke, leading you through the apartment to the bedroom. He waited as you placed your gun in your lockbox and changed out of your work clothes into a pair of sweaters and a shirt.

“It depends on where it would work for you.” You spoke smiling as he clasped your hand in his, immediately his thumb ran across your engagement ring. It was a habit he picked up, and you simply adored it.

“Filming for High School Musical is four months out of the year and then promo varying on the amount.” Josh thought it over you both grabbed the dishes to set at the moderately sized table, “Would you be happy?”

“I’m happy wherever you are.” You cheesed at the blushing guy across from you as you both served the meal he made, “We can keep the apartment for when you are here filming too.”

“Good idea.” Josh spoke, “Look at us, adulting.”

“About as adult as you can get when we had a Disney dance party last week.” You joked leaning over the table to share one last kiss before you tabled the talk of the wedding and life beyond to just be with each other at the moment.

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[pyroclastic727]

Owl House Predictions 1-B

Created before The First Day premiered. If I get at least ten of these right, then I get a cookie. Information comes from the trailer, the episode descriptions, and the minigame relics on the Disney website. If you want proof for each theory, ask me in the comments.

The First Day

Luz samples each track at first and can’t decide. She tries to pick potions but mixes magic to end up in the Delinquent Track

Viney uses magic from the blue track with the DNA hand in order to become the monster shown in the trailer.

Luz looks up to Viney and tries to mimic her actions

At the end of the episode, Luz is forced into one track.

Really Small Problems

Luz, Willow, and Gus hang out together in the marketplace. King feels left out and devalued because of his height.

King gets a potion from Tibbles, that’s supposed to make him tall. It’s a trick, so it ends up making Luz, Willow, and Gus into miniature versions of themselves

At first, the three get lost. Then, instead of King finding them, Tibbles does.

Tibbles kidnaps Luz, Willow, and Gus, intending to use them as entertainment and sell them. Eda and King have to rescue the three of them, returning them to normal.

Understanding Willow

Willow and Amity fight over their past. Luz wants to understand it, but neither girl goes into detail. It gets to the point where Luz has to choose between her friendship for Willow or her crush on Amity

Instead, Luz steals a magical artifact from the school: the tweezers that extract memories. She uses them on Willow.

Memories are shown as windows on trees. A person crawls through a window in order to watch a memory. 

We are shown pieces of all their memories, one at a time.

Luz’s memories are of her family and schooling. We see how badly people treated her, and how much of an outcast she felt she was. We also see how her relationship with her mom is strained: sometimes they get along, and sometimes her mom hides creativity, almost as if she’s keeping a secret from her.

Amity’s memories are about her family and pressure. We might get hints at the half-human theory, or the Eda-is-her-mom theory. We see her parents hurting her emotionally, and how any slip-ups were treated with cold disapproval.

Willow’s memories are of bullying and depression. We see how she started as a cheerful, optimistic kid. Then Amity left her, and she became insecure about her abilities. Then Amity bullied her, and she let it get to her. She joined the Abomination Track because either she or her parents wanted her to be cool like Amity. But that isn’t what she’s good at. 

Willow and Amity are ex-friends, but it’s written like they’re the type of exes where they had mini-crushes or platonic crushes on each other, but they were too young to recognize them as such.

Luz damages one of Willow’s memories when they’re in her brain. Amity is panicked because they messed up, and this is her second rulebreaker adventure with Luz, after “Lost In Language.” Luz and Amity have to repair her brain. They see something they shouldn’t see. 

Luz and Amity have to take Willow to Eda, searching for a solution. She helps them heal Amity. Gus is there, too, because that’s the promo picture I’m basing this off of.

Willow and Amity make steps towards making up.

Eda hints at her tragic past. Luz asks about it, but doesn’t press it, because she has boundaries.

Enchanting Grom Fright

It starts with a lunch scene, where Willow and Gus tell Luz about Grom. She thinks it’s like Prom. Either they tell her what it really is, and she’s shocked--or they assume she knows what it is really like, and she never learns.

Her next step is to get a Grom date. She tries to ask Amity, but doesn’t know if Amity is interested. So she stalks Amity, hiding in lockers and peering around corners, trying to build up confidence.

Grom turns out to be a dance and a competition. It’s like prom, except it’s not a popularity competition. Witches have to show off their powers, and whoever is the least powerful is given the Grom Tiara. The Tiara shows the wearer their worst fears. 

Or, Grom is a trial contest. Only the bravest witch volunteers to wear the Grom Tiara and face their worst fears.

Amity knows what Grom is really like, and she’s nervous. She aims to be the best, and reap whatever reward they give the best witch--or to survive the Grom Tiara. So she’s worried, which Luz probably misinterprets.

Luz messes up asking Amity out. They don’t go together, even though they clearly want to.

Or, Luz asks Amity out, and Amity is shocked because Grom isn’t like that. Luz thinks it’s a lack of interest and she’s upset.

Throughout the Grom, they dance and switch partners. Luz has snippets of conversation with Amity, where each person realizes that they might have misunderstood. Before Luz can figure out what’s wrong, a contest is declared. 

If Grom is a power contest, Luz loses the contest. She has to wear the tiara, and she must face her fears.

If Grom is a trial, Luz volunteers to wear the crown, not knowing what it does. She experiences the same problems.

Luz’s fears are about losing what she has. She sees her mom coming through the gate. She sees herself losing King and Eda and Amity. She is stuck at camp, or at her old school, and they’re missing. She stares at a picture of her, Eda, and King. She listens to songs that reminds her of Amity. She draws pictures of her friends and found family, with her in the middle. Her mom finds them and takes them away.

Amity helps her snap out of it. Later, Luz is upset, and Amity has to comfort her. Amity slips up and says something gay, and Luz teases her.

Wing It Like Witches

This is the Quidditch Episode

It starts with Luz, Willow, and Gus talking about Owl House Quidditch. Luz is excited to try it. 

Eda is less enthusiastic. She has a bad experience with it, and encourages Luz to not do it.

Luz learns about Boscha’s claim to beat her. Then she has to do it.

The game has a deadly twist: if she loses, she can actually die. She is dismayed to find that Amity is on the opposing team. 

I literally don’t know sports so that’s all I’m going to speculate about this episode

It ends with some important thing that sets up the main conflict for the last two episodes. Probably Emperor Belos or Lilith doing something sketchy

Agony of a Witch (this is where I would say my predictions are not at all accurate)

The class goes on a field trip

Luz hangs out with Amity at first. Then she gets distracted, as she does, and wanders off

Luz finds something she shouldn’t see: the Emperor’s Coven’s magic system.

The Emperor’s Coven collects all the magic that other covens can’t use. It harvests the magic, making Emperor Belos more powerful. 

Luz tries to stop it but gets trapped. She is temporarily successful. Her uniform becomes multi-colored to signify this.

Eda goes there to rescue her. She has to enlist Lilith’s help. Naturally, it’s a trap

Eda and Lilith get in a fight about their past. Before they can reconcile, Belos finds them and fuses them.

The three-headed Hecate monster from the trailer is comprised of Eda, Lilith, and one other person. It is either Emperor Belos, Camilla, or a secret relative of Eda and Lilith’s. If it is Camilla, then the previous episode would be when she crosses over into the Demon Realm. If it is a secret relative, then the previous episode would reveal that identity

Young Blood, Old Souls

Luz has to defeat Emperor Belos’s big plan

She has to enlist the help of Willow, Gus, and Amity. Amity’s parents tell her not to do so, since they’re big donors to the Emperor’s Coven. She rebels against them for the first time in her life.

Edric and Emira help, somehow. I feel like Tiny Nose will reappear as well

Luz and her mother meet, and Luz has to choose whether to stay or go. It’s not an easy decision

Lumity is not confirmed, since they have a new season

Defeating the big plan reveals something far worse. I don’t know what

[edgeofmyniall]

one: “break up with your girlfriend...i’m bored”

story page | thoughts | taglist | playlist

“I know it ain't right, but I don't care. Break up with your girlfriend, yeah, yeah, 'cause I'm bored”

Los Angeles- the city of angels. Or the city that feels the need to fit in as Ginger sees. She loves the big crowds of people walking, skating down the sidewalk, or taking pictures at the touristy spots. She didn’t mind the bumper to bumper traffic she fights almost every single weekday morning and evening; she has seen and met some interesting people on the freeway. She loves watching the wildflowers bloom through the cracks of the cement in front of her house. She isn’t meant to fit in with the co-inhabitants of Los Angeles. And she’s okay with that.

Ginger sticks out like a sore thumb- red hair, pale skin, and freckles to boot. She never blends in with the sea of blonde and brunette faces. She’s also loud, cheerful, and talks to complete strangers. She loves to laugh and will tell you that her main hobby is to learn about dinosaurs. Her parents swore she would become a teacher or a librarian, but when she was accepted into the University of California, Los Angeles for their business program, both Jack and Pennie knew that she was right where she belonged.

And it was no surprise when Stella and Ginger moved in together. Cousins, Stella and Ginger grew up more like sisters. With Stella’s dad constantly traveling and her mother not in the picture, Stella lived with her father’s brother and his family. Stella and Ginger shared a bedroom at the top of the stairs in the small farmhouse. Ginger and Stella were not afraid of the farm life; growing up they helped feed the animal, and eventually, Jack and Pennie gave the girls two horses for their own.

Stella let her southern accent fade away over time at college because no PR rep should have an accent, but Ginger...she clung to the articulation of her speech as if it was the only thing she had left of home. And Ginger sometimes felt like she was the only one with the country accent in LA, and she is okay with that.

The city of constant sunshine has turned into a dreary grey thunderstorm. Ginger looks out her office window and watches the passers-by scramble to find anything to cover them from the unexpected downpour. She likes to watch the lightning strike the ocean, but she’s too far into the city to see the roar of waves. She watches the raindrops race down her window to the pane before she returns to her work. 

It is the sudden knock on her office door that pulls Ginger out of her trance of numbers and calculations. It’s one of her favorite co-workers- Sheila from downstairs. Gingers smile toothily as Sheila, the aging woman, slides a chocolate donut across Ginger’s desk. “Stole this before Rex got to ‘em. Figured you wanted one.” Sheila winks at her friend before biting into her glazed treat. 

“This...is why...you’re my favorite,” Ginger says in between bites. She covers her mouth, but the frosted glaze still sticks to her lips. Ginger and Sheila eat their afternoon snack in silence. This is a ritual for both of them. A break for the steady course of the day; a gasp of fresh air for both of them. Sheila doesn’t say much as she leans on the doorway, and Ginger is glad to be in a room with someone besides herself. 

Ginger is a people person; moreover, a people-pleaser. She likes to make people happy. She has a knack of knowing when someone needs her to talk with and when she needs to be there in silence. She radiates positivity to her family, friends, and co-workers. She needs to remain happy for the sake that if she gets too into her head, she retreats. She becomes quiet and loses herself in her head. She remembers her heartbreaking and everything she’s stuffed into a bottle comes blowing out.

“You ready for the meeting next week? I haven’t even thought of my idea.” Sheila breaks the silence as she wipes her hands on her napkin. She sits down in the chair in front of Ginger’s desk. It’s lined with framed pictures and Polaroids of those closest to her. “I mean, how can we improve clientele if all we do is come up with new ideas every day?” 

“If I knew that becoming a marketing manager meant I had to come up with not one, but two new grand ideas, I would have become a house sitter. Telecommunications, Inc.: Where two ideas are better than one,” Ginger forms an imaginary rainbow with her hands as she laughs sarcastically with her co-worker. 

“How’s that new Capital file coming, anyway? You were so excited to get the job, you about cried,” Sheila picks the lint off her pants. For her, small talk is heaven when it’s with Ginger because she’s the one who's doing most of the talking. And Sheila likes that about her friend. She lives through Ginger and her stories. But what she’s reminded of when she comes to Ginger’s office for their daily break is that her own children don’t talk to her as much as her co-worker does.

“Yeah, well that was before I knew how much they spent on stupid shit like a virtual reality system that they used for like, a day! For promo!” Ginger’s eyes grow as her voice begins to get louder. “I mean, I know Ariana is great and all, but they gotta stop spending their money on stuff that doesn’t matter. I’ve sent the CEO an email-”

“Not the CEO,” Sheila gasps theatrically, biting into Ginger’s storytelling. It makes the middle-aged woman feel young again when she talks to Ginger- the only person who doesn’t fake their perkiness.

“Yes, the CEO. And he has me running numbers for a new promotional scheme. Hopefully, he likes it,” Ginger thumbs through the papers she’s organized and pulls out a spreadsheet to show to Sheila. “A couple thousand dollars on billboards is good, ya know, people driving will see it, but no one listens to the radio anymore. It’s all on their phones.” 

“You’d be surprised. Tell your cousin I said hi,” Sheila winks before getting up and leaving Ginger’s office. It’s finally quiet and Ginger shuffles her papers back in order. The phone rings and Ginger’s eyes go wide as she reads the caller ID: her boss. Their break is over. 

~~~~~

“Stella? You home?” Ginger lays her keys onto the kitchen counter as she calls out to her cousin. She shares a house with her best friend and Cousin, Stella. Ginger hears the music blaring from Stella’s room upstairs. Stella has either had a bad day or her and her boyfriend were having sex. Ginger knows best to let her be alone for a while so she decides to start their dinner for the night and call up her mother. 

“Yes, mom. Stella’s fine. Yes, they’re still together. No, I haven’t. The guys out here,” Ginger waves in the air with her free hand, “they’re terrible. I mean just horrible. Self-absorbed. Yeah well, Stella got lucky. It’s not every day you meet a celeb AND they actually like you.” The music stops and a door opens upstairs. Ginger smiles as she hears her cousin’s heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. “Oh by the way,” Ginger pauses dramatically as she plans for the big reveal. “I got promoted.” Screams of joy come from both her phone and from behind her. Stella stands in the kitchen with her hair in a messy bun and only a t-shirt and shorts as she squeals. “Holy shit! You did it! Oh sorry, Aunt Pen.” Stella wraps her arms around her cousin. While Ginger and Stella share a lot of similarities, their physiques are not what they share. Stella is small: short, tiny waist, and her voice on a normal day is barely above the pitch of a small cat. The only way Stella got the job as a public relations person, Ginger once came to the conclusion of, was her bigger-than-life personality. The brown mop of a bun waves at Ginger as she lets go of her hug. Stella grins ear to ear as she giddily jumps. “That’s so great! You deserve it, doesn’t she, Aunt Pen?” Stella calls out to her aunt over the speakerphone. 

“Yes, yes, yes she does,” Pennie’s tears cannot be seen, but they are heard. “Oh Stella, dear, your father keeps calling us to see if we’ve heard from you. I’m to give you the message to call him ASAP.” Pennie quickly relays the message before Stella rolls her eyes and promises to call her uncle’s brother. “We’re going out for drinks tonight! To celebrate the joyness of life!” Stella points to the ceiling before taking off upstairs. 

“Guess I’ll talk to you tomorrow then. Love you, Mom. Give Daddy my love.” Ginger tells her mother goodbye before finishing up the dinner she had previously started. She guesses she’ll be eating this for lunch. 

~~~

Within the hour and a half that it took to get both Stella and Ginger ready, Stella already began to compose a plan to include their friends in the celebration. They had planned to meet at their usual place before heading out to the bars: Preux and Proper. The restaurant itself was a gimmick of New Orleans where Ginger had visited once when she was on spring break in college.

By the time the girls arrived, everyone was there. A long table had been prepared for the twenty or so people at the table. All of them were familiar to Ginger and Stella, but only one who stood up to greet them as they walked to the table: Stella’s boyfriend.

“There are me two girls! Was just talkin’ about ya,'' Niall wrapped his arms around Stella’s hourglass waist and pulled her in for a small but deep kiss. “Missed you today.” Stella looked up to Niall and let out a small giggle before going around the table to give her usual hugs.

“And you! Gin, congrats,” Niall pulled Ginger in for a massive bear hug. Her throat was closing up and a knot in her stomach began to bounce around. As she enveloped her arms around Niall’s back, she breathed in his scent: spearmint soap with a little musk hinting about. She sees Niall as an older brother more than her cousin’s boyfriend, but she doesn’t deny the fact that he’s handsome and some nights she dreams about him.

“Thank you, Nialler.” Ginger lets go of her embrace, but for a moment, she thinks he’s holding on a little too long for this to appropriate. “You look spiffy.” 

Niall, in his floral white shirt and navy blue dress pants, stands with his arms on his hips and poses. “It isn’t every day you get promoted, Gin. You look...nice.” Niall’s pause caught Ginger off guard. It was like he tried to choose his words, but it still came out all wrong. She looks down at her leopard shirt, ripped jeans, and black heels as if she forgot what she was wearing. 

“Oh, thanks.” She smiled awkwardly. It’s around Niall that she doesn’t know what to do or say. 

“Here come sit by me,” Niall holds his hand out above the empty chair next to him. 

“Wouldn’t you want Stella to…” Before Ginger could finish her question, her cousin had sat down next to her best friend, Emma, which was still straight across from Niall. Ginger takes her seat and begins to look at the menu, trying to avoid any more interaction from Niall. 

“Whadya gettin’? The usual?” Niall chuckles at his teasing, only making Ginger pull the menu closer to her face to hide her smile.

She had failed.

~~~~

“Gin? You alright?” the whisper of Niall pulls Ginger out of her trance- empty thoughts and dissociation from the group. She feels swallowed whole at the moment. She’s usually fully involved in the conversation, practically taking over it, but tonight, she’s alone- an outcast in the world inside her head despite the celebration of her accomplishment. She faces Niall and smiles gently. Her heart is in her throat when she comes to the realization that his thumb is on her bare kneecap and she can feel the summer heat of his palm through her ripped jeans. 

“Yeah. Sometimes I live in my head. I’m okay. Where were we?” Ginger looks down at her half-eaten plate- bacon cheeseburger and onion rings. The staple meal of Ginger.

“Let’s start with dinner, yeah?” The Irish accent has grown thicker under the influence of Guinness. Ginger looks back at Niall and she feels slightly uncomfortable at how close Niall’s face was to hers. “Stella is tellin’ us about you two got banned from the rec field for life.” He smiled eagerly; his eyes crinkle and the last rays of the setting sunshine in his blue eyes. Ginger looks at her cousin and realizes that Stella could care less how close both her cousin and boyfriend are. 

“But I do need to talk to ya when you get a chance.” Niall locks eyes with Ginger. Eyes dilated, he looks drunker than he really is. His words slur slightly, but he’s more buzzed than anything. Could it be from their simple embrace? It couldn’t be. “It’s about Stel.” 

“Yeah, sure.” Ginger’s voice cuts through the tension between the two of them. May it be the tequila or the forbidden wanting, Ginger blushes after Niall winks at her. He ruffles Ginger’s red curly locks before laughing at the punchline of Stella’s joke, going back to his place at the table. Ginger was the punchline of her cousin’s jokes- she always was.

~~~

By the time the checks come around, Ginger is feeling heavy. She can barely keep her head up and her arm is feeling like lead. Voices dance around her as she shuts her eyes tight trying to make the outside upper terrace stop spinning. Maybe it’s from the many times that Niall’s hand faintly touched her skin or the fact that she had a few margaritas in her system- the one thing Ginger wanted to do was go home and sleep. 

“Yeah, as I was sayin’, Stel babe, I’m buying Ginger’s dinner, and yours.” Niall’s voice echoes through Ginger’s skull, pounding her brain. She can’t seem to open her mouth to argue that she was perfectly fine with paying her own bill.

“It was my idea; I’m paying,” Stella says defensively. “She’s my cousin.” Stella squints her eyes despite the night has rolled in.

“And she’s me friend,” Niall’s thick accent rolls off his tongue like a sinner confessing. When the waiter comes back with cards and receipts, Niall smiles deviously. “Don’t know why you’re arguing with me anyways, it’s already done.” Niall signs the paper and stands. “Where to next?” 

“40Love?” Mully asks. “I know the owner.” A loud boom of laughter overtakes the terrace, and Ginger finally feels the after-effects of the day beginning to wear on her. 

“I’m going home because unlike you all I have a real job” The group laughs at Ginger’s joke before she stands and sways. The floor is spinning underneath her and she has an overwhelming sensation to giggle. Stella stands and hands Ginger her water, but Niall steadies his friend. “I have to… I have to…” Ginger can’t form the words, but she can picture what she wants to do in her mind: get under her sheets and bring out her vibrating friend while she thinks of the Irish devil that has his hands on her.

“How many drinks did she have?” Emma asks; her face scrunches at the sight of Ginger trying to catch herself. Ginger takes mental note to flick off Emma, but she can’t decide which one to do so.

“Three? I think?” Someone else answering Emma’s question. “You know she can’t hold her ‘hol.” The uncalled-for comment pairing with a thicker accent could only mean one thing: snot-nosed Deo. 

“She can’t walk by herself,” Stella says when she finally reaches her cousin. “And I need to go with Sean. There’s a client…and-” 

“Go,” Niall cuts off his girlfriend. He shifts Ginger’s arm around the nape of his neck and pushes the wild red curly hair out of her face. Ginger inhales the masculine scent of deodorant. “I’ll take her home. Meet you there?” Niall’s voice seems a little aggravated, Ginger thinks. She’s probably ruining his plans. Good, he’s ruined her life with his stupid niceness and his stupid handsomeness and his stupid laughter.

Niall starts to turn away to make his way down the stairs before Stella calls out to him.

“Be careful. See ya in a bit.” Stella leans up to kiss Niall, and now that she’s in close proximity of the two, she notices Niall doesn’t pucker his lips out all of the sudden but does so after a moment of hesitation. “Love you.”

It was when they were descending down the stairs inside the restaurant that Ginger begins to laugh at herself before making the comment: “You didn’t say it back, asshole.”

~~~~

It seems like forever to get back to the house, but Ginger is glad to see her small yellow home at last. She likes that color: it reminds her of sunshine and happiness. Ginger makes a note to pull the weeds out from her small flower garden, but it’s highly unlikely she’ll remember in the morning. Niall helps her out of his car and walks her up to the front door. “Why didn’t you kiss her?” Ginger asks as she stands against the white post of the small front porch. Niall’s eyes go wide as he fumbles the car keys in his calloused hands.

“What?”

“Why...didn’t...you...kiss...Stella?” Ginger slows down her words as she rolls her eyes. Oh, God, that makes the queasiness worse.

“I did?” Niall’s brow quirks and he doesn’t understand Ginger’s question. “You saw it.”

“No...you hesitated. You waited. You didn’t kiss her.” The lump in Ginger’s throat is back and it’s sobering up the loose thoughts of the alcohol. “Why?” Niall swallows hard before unlocking the white door, pushing it open. He looks at Ginger with a lost stare and his lips form a thin line. She notices his chest fall quickly before his nervous habit of picking his nails begins. Despite Niall dating her cousin, Ginger is fairly close to him. They get along well, and she’s the reason Stella and Niall met. Niall considers Ginger to be one of his best mates. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I was...um,” he clears his throat, and the longer he avoids the question, the quicker Ginger sobers up. “I was thinking about kissing someone else.” 

“Who?” Ginger squints hard to keep Niall in one place that her eyes nearly close. Her heart is in her mouth and she’s afraid of his answer. “Is that why you wanted to talk to me about Stella?” Niall nods before shuffling his feet. In a moment of vulnerability, Niall's confidence quakes. 

“I don’t feel like being with her anymore. I’m just some status and good sex to her. There’s no emotional connection for me anymore.” Niall’s words hit Ginger like an aftershock. Her heart is knocking against its cavity. “I wanna be with someone else.”

“Have you thought about talking to her?” Ginger looks at Niall’s hair, avoiding his eyes. It’s now, more than ever, that she wants to run her hands through his soft brown tendrils.

Niall holds back a laugh, “Yeah good one. That’ll go nowhere. It’s either we argue or we fuck. Absolutely no substance to our relationship” He holds up his hands and air quotes the final word.

“Then break up with her. If you’re not happy, go be happy with someone else.” Ginger’s words are sincere and soothe Niall, but there’s a hint of anger in them. Ginger doesn’t want to be a part of this. She wants to be left out. She doesn’t want to ruin her cousin’s happiness...or Niall’s.

“Then I wouldn’t see you.”

“Yes, you will.” But those words that were spilled out hit the floor and bounced right into Ginger’s stomach. They hovered over her making her feel heavier than before. She felt her mouth become dry and her mind started to race. She couldn’t do this. Not with Niall. Not with anyone. Ginger shook herself out of her mind and realized Niall, watching her, is waiting for an answer. She swallowed and walked past Niall, closing the door in his face. 

There was his answer.

~~~~

taglist:  @oyesmendes​ @kare38 @stayclose-holdsteady @thicksniall

[snowbellewells]

Self-Promo Sunday: Keep You Closer (Can’t Let Go)

Most of the time, I try to pretend 6x10 and 6x11 didn’t even happen in OuaT. It was like they almost gave me everything I had wanted: them returning to the EF, Henry getting to be a knight, Emma experiencing being a princess and having been raised by her parents -- but then turned it all horribly on its head so that I couldn’t enjoy any of it.  Needless to say, right after the episode (before I learned to just try not to think about that little plot side trip too much) I had to write fix-it/missing moment fic to soothe my pain. That - and a well-timed first listen of a country song - brought about this little fic.

This is a post 6x11 one shot, picking up almost from the very end of that episode, minus the sidetrack to August's typing shed. I just needed them to have a moment of private reunion…

(The lyrics at the beginning and end are from Florida Georgia Line's song "H.O.L.Y." and that’s the one which actually gave me the idea for this story with its little line about "…healing hands where it used to hurt…")

{Also available on AO3 and on ff.net}

~~~~~~***~~~~~~

“Keep You Closer Can’t Let Go” 

by: @snowbellewells​

"I couldn't find a day, I didn't feel alone

I never meant to cry, started losin' hope

But somehow baby,

You broke through and saved me

You're an angel, tell me you're never leavin'

'Cause you're the first thing I've found I can believe in…"

After the commotion on the street subsides, the hooded figure from her vision has disappeared (Gold and Belle's son, as it turns out, because – of course it is, why not?!) and her pulse stops hammering in her ears, Emma Swan finds that she is still genuinely hard pressed to loosen her grip on either her son or her pirate. She finds that she has to a bit though, as Henry is starting to squirm and complain good naturedly that he's glad to see her too, but he still needs to breathe. Her father jostles in, needing to hold his daughter for a moment as well and reassure himself of her return, and in short, they can’t make it home for the night clasped in an awkward four-way hug as they are.

Of course, once that initial embrace of adrenaline-fueled relief and joy is broken, there is much to do – as there always is. They have to figure out where Gideon might have vanished and if there's an immediate danger from him, if they should track Gold down and try to force answers from him, and they also need to acclimate this new and different version of Robin to what must seem to him a strangely cockeyed modern world. When everyone has been introduced to him though, Emma is willing to leave that to a still flushed, rather wide-eyed Regina. For a moment – and she tugs on Killian's hand, shooting him a look he returns knowingly, giving her the sense he gets exactly what she is thinking with his affectionate smile – she wants to tease their mayor about 'yearning looks and doe-y eyes', but she holds back. The former Queen has not had her actual True Love himself returned to her, but rather some sort of alternate copy, and that is going to be more than enough for the other woman to shoulder. While Regina may be due some good natured ribbing in return for past snark, Emma can't find it in her heart to dish it out just now.

She wants to speak to August as well, but that will keep for tomorrow; now she wants nothing more than to go home and hold her family close. They all troop back to the house by the water, stumbling exhausted up their front steps. David at last reluctantly parts ways with them to relieve Granny of babysitting duty and check on her younger brother. Emma promises they will come for a late lunch the next day and seriously discuss what they're going to do to right her parents' curse once and for all. It is long overdue for their focus, and she sees it in her father's weariness and heavy heart.

She relishes another tight hug from him with his hand cradling the back of her head. It lends more comfort than she would readily admit after just being in a realm where he was gone and she could never have such an embrace again. Her heart warms with gratitude once more to know that alternate world wasn't real, wasn't permanent, as she watches her dad head off down the street to his and her mom's loft apartment.

Wearily, after stepping into the house with her True Loves, she shucks her leather jacket in the entryway, offering a faint smile of thanks to Henry as he wordlessly takes it from her to hang on the hooks by the door. When he comes back and hugs her tightly, clinging for a few moments in a way he hasn't for quite some time, tears start in her eyes for her brave, goodhearted boy swiftly becoming a man before her eyes. She holds onto him just as tight, swaying back and forth and murmuring soothing words under her breath. She's just thinking that he will love to hear about his Wish Realm self – a newly minted knight and prince of the kingdom riding out on quests wherever he is needed – when, with a sheepish grin and a surreptitious snuffle, Henry seems to want a bit of space to recover himself. "I'm gonna go call Violet and let her know you're back. She was worried about you too," Henry says. And then he's gone – clumping up the stairs all big feet and overlong, lanky limbs; the thumps from the floor overhead still sounding until they hear the muffled thud of his bedroom door close.

Shaking his head as if pleasantly amused by the lad's exuberance and changeable teenage moods, Killian is swift to take her hand and lead her forward into the living room. He doesn't have to do much urging to get her worn, dazed self to settle in the corner of the couch where she usually snuggles up, but she does shoot forward again and start to protest when he kneels before her and starts to remove her boots. "Killian, stop! You don't have to – "

But he gives her a terse shake of the head, searching her eyes with his encompassing gaze as he catches her hands reaching forward to halt him and brings them to his lips, pressing kisses to her knuckles. "Let me, Swan…Emma…please. I didn't know where you were…what was happening to you… Just let me do this?"

Sighing, she deflates, allowing him his way in whatever offers him a modicum of comfort and normalcy. In truth, she is so glad to be with him again, here together in their home, that in itself is enough to relax her nearly into slumber.

She closes her eyes for a moment, resting her head against the back of the couch, and savoring the feel of his strong hands caressing her aching feet as he bares them, wishing they could always be this close – that the world outside would finally leave them alone for even a few hours at once. Reaching her hand out sleepily, she runs her fingers through his dark hair, urging him up close enough to kiss fully and then mumbling against his lips, "Come here Pirate. I need to feel you next to me."

As requested, Killian is beside her in an instant, but before he can wrap her up in his arms and lull her sufficiently into a much-needed sleep, Emma stills him, reaching out herself to trace his beloved features, once more looking as she has come to know them. She smooths a shock of his coarse fringe back off his forehead, lovingly stroking the strands for a moment as if they are great treasure.

Her fingers move on to dance over his temple and the bridge of his nose, and for a moment her pirate's brow quirks in puzzlement, wondering what she is doing, but not willing to speak or break this quiet spell between them. As her fingertips trace the old healed cut high on one cheekbone and then the outline of his full, strong mouth, his eyes slip closed; relaxing under her ministrations much as she had done with his minutes before, surrendering himself to her need to touch, to assure herself that he is right within her reach.

Emma can't quit touching him. She needs the warm, soft feel of his skin beneath her hands as assurance that she won't blink and find him taken from her again. It's only when her small, deft hands slip inside his half unbuttoned shirt, and Killian feels her caressing each mark and brand, outlining each muscle and sinew, that he senses something else has happened beyond their painful separation, something that she is now trying to convince herself is over – or wasn't real at all – through feeling as well as sight, by cataloguing every dip and curve of him, to make sure he is as he should be.

Still, Killian makes no move to stop her, to ask questions, until Emma undoes the last of the shirt's fastenings, pulls it from his arms and off his torso with breathless help from him, and then presses herself against his bared skin, ear to his pounding heart, face buried in his scarred chest, and he feels a little shudder go through her, the one small outward sign of what he is more and more certain must be some dreadfulness she is hiding.

"What is it, Emma?" he whispers, hand coming up to smooth over her golden fall of hair, now loosed from its near-constant ponytail for the night and hook resting at her hip lightly.

From where she has curled herself nearly into his lap, his princess murmurs against his collarbone, "I don't want to let you go. Just stay here a little longer. Please, Killian?"

The soft, reverent pads of her fingers trace over his skin, scratching through the dark hair across his chest and stomach and around to his shoulders and back, along various marks of floggings, a survived stabbing, burns and the other traces of an abnormally long life full of violence and pain. Yet, as she does so, as those gentle fingers touch the places he still struggles to lay bare, even for her eyes alone, a soothing balm, an air of healing rolls over the scored and mottled skin – reaching both and easing their frayed sanity in each other's presence.

"I'm right here, Love," he manages hoarsely, lips in the soft hair at the crown of her head. "As long as you wish…There's nowhere else I would want to be."

"Good," she husks, the smallest of more normal smiles quirking the corners of her mouth up as she finally stops seeking every inch of him feverishly and wraps her arms around his torso, clearly preparing to settle in for the night.

There is a peaceful stillness between them for several moments before she offers, not looking at him, but still speaking into his skin, disinclined to pull away from her pirate, even for moment. "There was another you…in that realm. And he was…"

She pauses, obviously searching for words, and though Killian is now achingly curious, wondering if that is what has brought on her desperate need to be so close, to examine each detail of him now, he senses a bit of lightness is in order. "And was I still my devilishly handsome self?" he teases.

Her brow arches sardonically at him and she hums in her throat. "In a manner of speaking," she settles on finally. Then her face sobers, and his chest squeezes at the bereft looks that crosses it once again, "but that's just it…you weren't you. And seeing you there before me – but not – made me miss you even more. I needed you – the real you – so much it hurt." Her hand inches between their bodies to press against her own heart as if holding in the still physical pain.

He takes that hand in his gently and clasps it to his chest. "I am here now, Lass. Trust me, I won't leave you."

"But how long before we're torn apart by something we can't control? Before we lose each other again?" she beseeches plaintively, her voice small and broken, the fear plain in her green eyes.

"It doesn't matter," he says firmly, holding her gaze and blatantly offering the same comfort she gives him with her love and her trust. "Wherever we are sent, whoever tries to separate us, you will always find me. I have faith in that. And, Emma, I will always always find you."

When they both drift off to sleep some minutes later, tangled together in a tight embrace that the worst villain couldn't have unraveled with the most powerful curse, she has chosen to believe it as much as he. That vow, that security, has enveloped and healed them both.

"You're the healing hands where it used to hurt,

You're my saving grace, you're my kinda church…

'Cause you're the first thing I know I can believe in…"

Tagging: @kmomof4​ @jennjenn615​ @searchingwardrobes​ @whimsicallyenchantedrose​ @thislassishooked​ @let-it-raines​ @spartanguard​ @tiganasummertree​ @therooksshiningknight​ @thisonesatellite​ @shireness-says​ @mayquita​ @gingerchangeling​ @blackwidownat2814​ @lfh1226-linda​ @resident-of-storybrooke​ @darkcolinodonorgasm​ @hollyethecurious​ @teamhook​ @revanmeetra87​ 

[bravomckenzie]

fluff alphabet: bobby mckenzie

i must admit that i haven’t written anything fic-ish since i was a teenager in the midst of my 1d stan days so i’m kinda nervous to post this lol. thank you to @ravena-dottir and @therealityofthematteris for being supportive and saying i should go ahead and go for it and post this. 🥺 also i’m sorry if it’s bad!! be gentle with me!!! it’s also pretty long and whether that’s a good or bad thing is up to you hahahah.

A = Attractive (What do they find attractive about the other?)

Bobby loves the way you light up a room. He loves the way your eyes crinkle when you smile. How your laughter is loud and unapologetic - it’s music to his ears. As for your body, he loves every inch of it but if he had to pick, your thighs & butt.

B = Baby (Do they want a family? Why/Why not?)

Bobby can’t wait to have kids, especially with you. He’s excited to send them special baked treats in their lunches and to wave them off as they get on the bus each morning. He hopes they look like you.

C = Cuddle (How do they cuddle?)

We been knew Bobby loves to be little spoon, so besides that - He loves to face each other in an embrace. His arms wrapped around your neck and yours around his waist while you scratch his back & chat until you both drift asleep.

D = Dates (What are dates with them like?)

Despite waking up beside you every morning, Bobby never stops trying to woo you. He still flirts with you the way he did on the first day in the villa. He feels like the luckiest man alive to have you, and he’ll do anything to keep you. The romance is still alive, no matter where you are or what you do. From wearing your nicest clothes in a fancy restaurant, all the way to your pajamas on the couch for a movie night. He never fails to impress you.

E = Everything (You are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world…))

You are my home. Bobby had never known someone who felt like home... at least until he met you. Home is wherever he is with you. You’re his comfort and home base, where he goes when he needs a soft place to fall.

F = Feelings (When did they know they were in love?)

Bobby knew he was in for it the second he laid eyes on you. He felt a spark before you even spoke. He knew you were special from the moment he met you. You slowly became the only thing he thought about. He found himself just staring at you, lost in your beauty. Your laughter became his favorite song. He wasn’t joking around and being funny for everyone anymore, he was doing it for you. After you left for Casa Amour, he realized that. He realized you were all he wanted. He missed just the sound of your voice. He had never felt that way in his life. He knew then that you were the love of his life. Bobby didn’t come to the villa with the intentions of finding forever, but he realized he had found it with you.

G = Gentle (Are they gentle? If so, how?)

Bobby’s gentle touch was something you quickly noticed about him. The way his hand would gently rest on the small of your back. How he would softly tuck your hair behind your ear before he kissed you. But sometimes, he gets lost in you and the kisses become harder, the grips become tighter. He’s the best of both worlds.

H = Hands (How do they like to hold hands?)

If Bobby is able to be touching you, he will be. (That’s one of my headcannons for him. I imagine that touch is his love language.) He rarely lets go of your hand in public. He loves for everyone to see that you’re with him. He finds comfort in your fingers intertwined. He loves the way your hand looks in his.

I = Impression (What was their first impression?)

When you walked out in front of him on that first day in the villa, he assumed he was your last choice. You were the most beautiful person he had ever seen and he was just him. He didn’t know that he instantly caught your eye and sometimes, he still doesn’t believe you when you tell him that. You’re not just the girl of his dreams, but the girl of his wildest dreams. He thought that girls like you didn’t like guys like him. He was just the class clown and you were the head cheerleader. But at the same time, he wasn’t going to let any of that stand in his way. He knew then that he was going to spend that summer with you, and if he didn’t, he would’ve spent the whole summer trying.

J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous?)

Not at all. Bobby enjoys other guys looking at you. He knows that every eye is on you when you walk in a room and he loves it. He wants them to see that he’s the one you’re with. Other guys flirting with you boosts his ego. He takes it as a compliment himself. When the two of you are out at a bar together and guys send you drinks, he looks their way and raises the glass with a smile to say thanks before drinking it himself. When they compliment you, he tells them they have good taste while he wraps his arm around you as a subtle hint to back off. It amuses him. Any guy would love for you to be their girl, but you’re not. You’re his and he knows that... and he loves for them to know it too.

K = Kiss (How do they kiss? Who initiated the first kiss?)

You initiated your first kiss, not because he didn’t want to, but because he was scared of messing up. He didn’t want to screw it up before he got a real chance at impressing you. He was surprised when you kissed him, in the best way possible. Your confidence and boldness impressed him. He had always been in control and setting the pace for the relationships he had in the past, it was new and foreign to him, but above all, it was exciting.

L = Love (Who says ‘I love you’ first?)

He did. Bobby is the kind of person who is all or nothing. He dives in deep. He gives everything his all. He also sees no reason to ever not be 100% open and honest with the important people in his life. He had to tell you that he loved you. He needed you to know, no matter how nervous he was to finally tell you.

M = Memory (What’s their favourite memory together?)

In the villa, Bobby’s favorite memory with you is your trip to the grocery store. He was so excited to be in the real world with you. He cherishes that first taste of life outside the villa. It was when he really knew that this wasn’t just a summer fling.

Outside the villa, the day you met his family. He had never seen his parents welcome anyone the way they did you. Bobby had only ever brought one other girl home to meet his parents and it didn’t go well. You both were a little nervous (not that he let you see it) considering that and some of your....shenanigans they had to watch on national television. You weren’t sure what they’d think of you. The way they wrapped you in their arms made you feel silly for ever thinking that though. He’ll never forget the pride he felt when his dad commented that you were even better in person than you were on TV or the sound of his mom’s voice telling him that she knew you were the one from the very first day in the villa.

N = Nickel (Do they spoil? Do they buy the person they love everything?)

Bobby isn’t concerned with material things, neither are you. Your love languages are far from gifts. You both tend to show your love through touch, but especially Bobby. A hand on your thigh in the car means more to both of you than a bracelet. But when it is time for gifts, the both of you go all out. Neither of you have to tell the other what you want as gifts because you both just know.

O = Orange (What colour reminds them of their other half?)

Bobby if he could only pick one, he would say the color yellow because to him, it’s the happiest color. But there isn’t anything in this world that doesn’t make him think of you. You’re every color.

P = Pet names (What pet names do they use?)

Lass, of course. There’s an occasional sprinkling in of things like baby/babe, beautiful, darling, etc.

R = Rainy Day (What do they like to do on a rainy day?)

If he’s not building blanket forts in the living room with you, you’re cuddled up on the couch watching something together while you wait for whatever he’s got baking in the kitchen to be ready.

S = Sad (How do they cheer themselves/others up?)

Bobby firmly believes that laughter is the best medicine. When you’re down, he’s quick to find something to make you laugh. You do the same for him. You both always forget what it was that upset you in the first place.

T = Talking (What do they like to talk about?)

Bobby wants to talk about anything and everything. He wants to know your opinion on everything under the sun (and you’ll give it to him!). He asks you random questions seemingly out of the blue. He wants to know everything there is to know about you. He loves hearing your stories as much as you do his.

U = Unencumbered (What helps them relax?)

Cooking and baking! You can always find him in the kitchen at the end of a stressful day. Those previously mentioned shenanigans help too.

V = Vaunt (What do they like to show off? What are they proud of?)

You. you, you, you... a million times you. You’re his proudest achievement. He’s no stranger to PDA. Like I said, he wants everyone to know that you’re his. He knows they want what he has. Besides that, he loves to show off his baking skills. He’s always doing the most and being extra about his creations, just because he can.

W = Wedding (When, how, where do they propose?)

That next summer after the villa, you and the other islanders planned a group vacation. You wanted to spend at least part of the summer with them again for old times’ sake. He knew he wanted to do it then, in front of all the people who had become like your family in that one summer. They were the people who watched the two of you fall in love and he felt it was only right that they be there when he proclaimed his eternal love for you.

X = Xylophone (What’s their song?)

Say You Won’t Let Go by James Arthur & New Year’s Day by Taylor Swift

bonus: Creep - Radiohead always makes him think of you! also shameless self promo of my bobby playlist which includes all three of these songs lol

Y = Yes (Do they ever think of getting married/proposing?)

You and Bobby talk about your wedding constantly, planning long before he technically proposed.

Z = Zebra (If they wanted a pet, what would they get?)

A rescue dog! A medium to large sized pup. You’re definitely dog people. I imagine it would be a cute and scruffy mixed breed.

[spnreactions]

Alright! Let’s get started! 

This is actually copied and pasted from my main blog, where I posted this last night. From here on out, though, I’ll be posting them on here first and then re-blogging them on my main blog, because I can. 

And, fair warning, I get very excited and very into this show, so the reactions list will probably be pretty long. XD 

And now, without further ado, let’s watch 15x14: Last Holiday. <3 <3 

Oh we’re starting!

...did I miss the “then” title card?

Oh wait there it is.

Dude we’re going FAR back on this “then”. I wonder what that means?

My poor baby crying again. :(

DEAN’S APRON OH MY GOD I’M DEAD! XD XD <3 <3

“It was. In the 50s.” Point taken.

My poor baby. :( :( :( :(

Oh so killing Amara is officially a plan? Okay then.

“I’ve killed Hitler.” I can’t believe he’s still talking about that! XD

Actually I can believe he’s still talking about it, I take that back.

DEAN WITH THE MARIO BROTHERS OMG!!

Okay, I know this episode has something to do with them celebrating holidays because of a fairy or nymph or something like that, and this is already feeling like a light-hearted, fun, domestic Winchesters episode. I hope it stays that way. <3

Have you tried turning it back off and turning it on again? Hit reset.

HE READ MY MIND!

MEAT MAN!! XD XD

Ummm...okay then.

Also SCOOBY-DOO UNDIES!!! DEAN YOU DORK!! XD XD <3

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Jack is my favorite and Dean is my second-favorite.

“Language!” “That’s it I’m getting my gun.” XD XD

I can already tell that so many of my reactions are probably just gonna be me quoting and then laughing. XD

They don’t seem very concerned? Shouldn’t random people not be able to get in?

This lady is such a mom omg.

Mrs. Butters? XD

Wood nymph. Got it.

“Shouldn’t you be in the woods somewhere? Nymphing?” XD XD (P.S. That was my mom’s favorite line in this episode. XD)

You what now?

Necessities of life?

Hmmm….I like her, but she weirds me out. Something is off.

Dean’s “oof that’s awkward” face. XD

“2020.” Hearing that year said out loud just feels...oof. Just oof.

Poor nymph…

Wait, haven’t we seen those symbols before? Maybe I’m making that up.

HA! “It’s kind of been one apocalypse after the other.” He’s not kidding.

OOOOH!! HERE COME THE HOLIDAYS!!!

WAIT WHAT IS THAT TELESCOPE THING?

WAIT WAIT WAIT WHAT??!! A MONSTER radar??!! Dude WHAT?! Man, they’ve needed something like that for YEARS!

Wait wait wait...relatively nearby….it’s not gonna ping because of Jack is it?? SHE’S NOT GONNA HURT JACK IS SHE??!!

Oh okay nevermind. Just a vamp nest.

Say what now?

We can...that just...umm...okay then??

“Heck...heck yeah.” XD XD XD

Yeah I’m with Sam on this one. She seems innocent, but, like…

Dean does have a point though.

But also things like this never last. It’s too good to be true.

MY BABY!!!

“She’s probably harmless, but just in case, watch yourself”?? Dean that was a terrible way to do that but okay.

Snickerdoodles. XD

My poor baby looks so lost. :(

I mean...Dean makes a good point there. But also the son of Satan is adorable and she’s suspicious. But anyways.

“Ignoring your trauma doesn’t make you healthy.” SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT OMG!!! XD XD XD <3 <3 <3 <3

...Jack is hiding something? IS JACK HIDING SOMETHING?!

...do we know what Jack is hiding??

The only thing I can think of is that he knows about Cas’s deal with the empty, but he had a soul when that happened, and it wasn’t really eating at him then. Is it eating at him more now for some reason??

IS JACK HIDING SOMETHING??!!

Jesus christ this is gonna bother me…

Okay but when has that ever actually worked, Dean?

Awww….

I’m guessing they didn’t tell her he’s a nephilim? If they don’t really trust her--which they don’t--they shouldn’t. Is there a chance she knows already? I feel like she wouldn’t be acting like that if she did.

Vamps watching a movie with vamps. Classy. XD

...ew…

At least they’re drinking from bags instead of from humans I guess?

Nice slicing at the same time, boys.

Huh. Well. That was easy. Too easy?

CHRISTMAS! XD <3

THE TRAIN OMG!! XD XD <3 <3

Their faces. XD

HER DANCE!

Okay she’s kind of adorable not gonna lie.

“We are so keeping her.” XD XD

DEAN’S LITTLE EXCITED HANDS ON THE RAILING OMG I’M DEAD!! XD XD <3 <3 <3

If I can’t get adorable Jack right now, I’m okay with adorable Dean. XD <3 <3

Sam is still suspicious, but Dean is totally into it.

“Enjoy the world you’re fighting for.” That was really quick and so subtle, but d*mn that’s a good line.

MY BABY!!!!

HIIIII JACK!!! I MIIIIISSSSSED YOOOOOUUU!!! <3 <3 <3

Uh-oh. I don’t like the way she said “what are you”. DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY BABY!!!

“He’s a millennial.” XD XD

DEAN IN THAT NIGHTGOWN OMG!!! I know it was in the promo photos, but seeing it in the context of the episode is even funnier. XD

Sam’s gagging at his bro’s “down there” bits lol.

Oof. She is VERY absentminded by Jack and whatever he is. No likey.

...hmm. I still don’t trust her with Jack.

“Poppycock”???

HA!! “I’m worried about your cholesterol.”

And Sam and Jack’s little smiles at that omg. <3 <3 <3

“We got one!” IS THAT A HILLYWOOD PARODY REFERENCE/GHOSTBUSTER REFERENCE??!! Because IT FEELS LIKE ONE!!!

The way they’re running to their rooms to get ready omg.

And that cut to them being dressed and going.

LUNCHES!! XD

Their faces! XD

The cinematography in this episode is AWESOME. Go Serge Ladouceur (and yes, I looked that name up. XD)

No crusts. Blessed knives. “I just waxed it.” She IS a mom!

Wait no. Take Jack with you. I don’t trust her with him.

“What shall we do with you.” LEAVE HIM ALONE IS WHAT!

Oh. They’re doing dishes.

WAIT DON’T TELL HER THAT JACK!

...I don’t like the way she’s talking to him.

Oof. Mary. *gags*

Jack you’re adorable and I love you but please stop being so gullible and stop sharing so much personal information.

WAIT NO! I know you feel guilty, but DON’T TELL HER YOU KILLED HER!

...dangat.

...oh. That was actually super sweet, and honestly the EXACT thing Jack needed to hear. ...maybe she’s not so bad?

...wait what? She just...pulls those out of thin air?

Ha! Another hunt

THEIR FACES WITH THE LUNCHES! ESPECIALLY DEAN’S!! XD

Aww! Thanksgiving! <3

Where is Cas during all this? Talking to his angel friends I guess?

That finger gun at Sam omg.

It’s so EASY for them wow.

Halloween! Fitting given our current season.

Their little smiles awww!!

THE BEERS TOGETHER HOLY FRICK!!! IT’S JUST LIKE WHAT TEAM FREE WILL 2.0 DID WHEN JACK CAME BACK! AND what the boys and Mary and John did in Lebanon! NEVER GETS OLD!! I LOVE THIS FAMILY!! <3 <3

...I still don’t necessarily trust Mrs. Butters. BUT I LOVE SAM AND DEAN AND JACK!

Those faces for the lunches just get better and better.

GRENADE LAUNCHER!!

MJOLNIR OMG NO WAY!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE HE STILL HAS IT!!! THIS EPISODE HAS SO MANY EASTER EGGS OMG!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Also that is an AWESOME shot.

BIRTHDAY!! Awww… <3 <3

OOF. Poor Dean. XD

Jack’s laugh and then immediately being like “oop” and bringing his head down but still chuckling when Dean glares at him I CAN’T. XD XD

I LOVE THIS FAMILY!! <3 <3 <3

AWW!! She made extra for him!

Okay, I like her. But I’m still cautious.

Oh. THERE it is.

What’s she doing??

Jack’s got you lady.

My mom is wondering why she has to walk away to make another smoothie when before she was just producing them. I’m wondering if maybe she has to near the ingredients to whip it into a smoothie magically, but that seems weird...continuity error?

Get her, Jack. My smart boi. <3 <3

My Mom: “You better hurry it up there, Jack.”

Oh it’s evil Men of Letters dude. NOW I get why we went that far back.

Oh! AND the Thule. NOW I get why Dean mentioned killing Hitler again. Wow. Nice connections on this episode all around. Go writers.

...she did what now?

WTF??!!

HOLY FRICK!!!

HOLY S*** HOLY S*** HOLY S***!!!

Do NOT ask about tea or cookies after you just pulled sh** like that.

On a more positive note, the way Jack just said “son of a bitch” out of nowhere like that is so adorable because he, like, NEVER swears, but also that’s Dean’s saying and it just proves that he’s taking after his dads and just already growing up and AHHHH I LOVE HIM!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

Also Jack please go tell your dads what you found.

Okay so during the commercial break, my mom and I looked up wood nymphs and had this big discussion and here’s kind of what we came up with:

So we were trying to figure out if wood nymphs are supposedly evil, and we didn’t find much, but they do have super strength (which explains her ability to rip off that dude’s head…), and the ability to control wood and nature, which might explain why she can pull smoothies out of thin air.

So then we saw on the SPN Wiki page for this episode that part of the description mentions that the wood nymph would do anything for her family, and that makes me wonder if she has, like, ulterior motives to protect her wood nymph family? But also, she said the Men of Letters were her family, so that translates to Sam and Dean now, right? So theoretically, she wouldn’t hurt them, she’d be trying to protect them. Which means they should be fine, because she only hurts threats. But then my mom pointed out that maybe she considers Jack a threat and that’s a really good point, so now I’m worried all over again. She’s still acting weird with him, and even though I did like that little advice she gave about second chances, maybe it’s all an act? My mom thinks she, like, poisoned his sandwich or something with anti-nephilim juice in order to try to hurt him, but that was before she knew he was a nephilim, right? I don’t know. I think my mom makes a really good point. I hope my baby winds up being okay. :(

Okay. Back to the episode now.

Ahhhhhhhh noooooo. Where are the boys when we need them?

Wait, DATE?? EILEEN??!!

No. He isn’t. Go away.

Sam look at yoooooooouuuu. <3

But also please take a moment to notice how uncomfortable your son is and ask him what’s wrong please and thank you. (And yes, I will keep saying son thank you very much.)

Ha! She wants him to get a haircut just like Dean does. The joke’s about Sam’s (and, by extension, Jared’s) hair will never not be funny.

Ha! “Language.”

YES!! EILEEN!!!

YES SAM!! GO GET YOUR GIRL!!

DEAN! XD

Okay the Sam and Eileen thing is adorable, and Sam and Dean’s banter is hilarious, but guys...look at your son please and thank you. :(

I’m so torn between wanting Sam to just be happy and enjoy himself and wanting him to help Jack ahhhhhh.

Sam can go on his date. I’m sure Dean can handle it.

Roses! Nice touch.

Ha! Dean with the supportive big bro action.

Such. A. Mom.

“Boys.”

Wait nooooooo.

Okay but Alex’s acting right there...tip top. So subtle. Jack is trying so hard to be sneaky and warn Dean about what he saw, and the way Alex is conveying pure panic but also showing how sneaky he’s being is AWESOME.

Also that little “sh*t” or “da**it” or whatever it was that he mouthed? Somehow so cute and makes me so worried at the same time.

“The Dean Cave”?? XD XD

Dean I am BEGGING YOU, please take a cursory glance at your son.

...da**it...

The subtitles say “suspenseful music plays” XD XD

Wait Jack noooo. Don’t go after her alone! Chase Dean instead!!

NOOO!! NOT IN THERE!!!

She’s totally gonna trap him in there.

...what?

She’s being so condescending shut the fudge up.

What? No.

Does he still not have a soul? Is that what he’s hiding? That wouldn’t make sense.

Oh wait. I get it now.

HE IS NOT!!! SHUT THE FUDGE UP LADY!!

LADY STOOOOOP! HE DOESN’T NEED YOUR SH**!! HE ALREADY FEELS GUILTY WOULD YOU QUIT IT??!! :’( :’( :’( :’(

HEY! NOT COOL!

I HOPE SOMEONE RIPS YOUR HEAD OFF B***H!!

They’re not. They know he won’t now.

SHUT UP LADY!!

HEY!!! STOP IT!!! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!

TAKE HER DOWN JACK!!!

He IS family!

...ummm...what??

GOD DA**IT!!

...my mom literally just said “told you so” about the poisoning. ...which also explains why she walked away to make another smoothie, because she WANTED him to find the video, says my mom. And yes, my mom was right, AND I HATE IT!! SCREW YOU LADY!! LEAVE MY BABY ALONE!!

It IS safe you B**CH!!

HE’S NOT A MONSTER!!! :’( :’( :’(

DA**IT!! DEAN PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!

Ha! He’s so excited about the sandwich and it’s adorable.

But also save your son!!

...wait what?

She’s...she’s really just gonna out herself like that?

Ha! YES!

Aww...Dean’s so disappointed. :(

BUT! He’s sticking up for his son! Because even if he’s mad at him for everything that happened to Mary (but also get over it, because she sucked anyways, Dean XD), of course he’ll still protect him.

Ha! The way he just takes it away…

Aww...poor baby. :(

He’s so disappointed. He deserves better. I feel bad for him. :(

HE IS NOT! SHUSH!

Aww...looking at the sandwich, but making the right call.

AWW! He’s trying. Best of both worlds.

Take the deal, lady.

DA**IT!!!

SERIOUSLY?!

SERIOUSLY???!!!

Screw you, lady.

HEY! NOT FAIR!

He is NOTHING like his father, thank you very much!

Well...now what??

Oh thank god, Sam’s home. He’s smart. He’ll find a way to get them out.

Her calling him Samuel is both hilarious and annoying, somehow. I think it’s only annoying now because I hate her with what she just did to my boys. XD

OOOOF.

She gonna out herself again?

Sam’s face when she said that about good news and bad news. XD

I suppose the benefit of having a bad guy who thinks they’re doing the right thing is that she’s not trying to hide it. So hopefully, if she outs herself again, Sam can deal with it a little better than Dean did, knowing Dean was not very successful lol. Dean let his love of her food get in the way. XD

She DID out herself!

Ha! “You were always the smart one.”

YES! Good job, Sam. Starting off strong. <3

YES! GOOD JOB SAM!! Nice manipulation.

Ha!

Can’t believe she’s asking about the date.

Actually yes I can. XD

Wait, why don’t WE get to hear about the date? I WANNA HEAR ABOUT THE DATE DA**IT!

Well, DUH, Sam, you think they don’t know that?

Dean OMG!! XD XD

SUPPORTIVE BIG BRO!! XD XD

In Dean’s defense, he knew she’d wait for Sam, so...it’s not like they were REALLY in danger.

Do NOT try shooting her. Are you kidding me right now?

...really Sam? REALLY?! You’re going to try to SHOOT her?? You’ve seen what she can do, and you’re going to try to SHOOT her? She got the jump on JACK. POWERED UP Jack. Really? Call me crazy, but I feel like that’s not gonna work.

Yes. Yes he is. ...so much for Sam being the smart one.

I want to be mad at them for getting distracted by the holidays, but also I can’t exactly blame them given their childhoods, so…

Ha! The way they both react to the Boxing Day breakfast. Such brothers. XD

There ya go. Good plan. MUCH better than shooting her. Thank you boys.

WAIT WAIT WAIT!! Is this where we’re gonna get the “you sure this is gonna work” “let’s say yes” scene from the promo?? I THINK IT IS!! (Okay, so I MAY have watched that particular five second scene a million and one times because it had my boys in it, but I love them okay?? Sue me.)

Hey. Chill, Dean. Don’t yell at him.

Aww baby. :( :( :(

He doesn’t think you’re a monster. He’s just upset. :(

...uh oh. This convo is gonna be bad, isn’t it? :( :(

:’( :’( :’( :’( :’(

WAIT! “For a while” YES! THAT’S A GOOD THING!!

Oh wait. “Still am a little bit.”

“Evil Mary Poppins” XD XD

AWWW!! SEE JACK?! He DOES love you!! <3 <3 <3 <3

OKAY NEVER MIND THAT CONVO WAS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD!!! I need to break that down for a second.

That convo was short and subtle and to the point, but it says SO much about Dean and Jack’s relationship.

First of all, the fact that Dean decided to be honest with Jack instead of continuing to pretend everything’s fine shows how much he really does care about Jack and how much he still trusts him and loves him. He doesn’t open up often, and I’m glad he finally did.

Second of all, he may have been blunt, but there was so much affection hidden in the way he addressed all of that. I mean, he tells Jack that he used to be really mad, and he still kind of is, but then he reminds him that just because they’re in a rough patch right now doesn’t mean he wants to lose him. Yes, Jack made a mistake, and yeah, Dean’s finding it hard to get over it, but Jack’s family through and through, and that means that, no matter what, Dean’s going to look out for him. It’s the same way he treats Cas and, more notably, the same way he treats Sam. He’s giving Jack the family treatment. And THAT is a BEAUTIFUL thing.

All of that said, between all of the OG Team Free Will, Dean’s relationship with Jack will always be my favorite (probably mostly because they’re my two favorite characters, but also because they’re amazing together), so this convo makes me so freaking happy. <3 <3 <3 <3

Sam you are being not very sneaky.

SERIOUSLY SAM??!!

I take that back. Sam is not being smart about this. *eye roll*

UGGGGHHHHH.

WHERE IS CAS WHEN YOU NEED HIM?!

Actually quick side note, one that I’m adding now that I’ve finished the episode: not having Cas around TOTALLY makes sense. Explanation included in the review.

“Because you are my favorite.” XD XD XD

She shouldn’t still be making me laugh, but dangat she’s too funny. XD

Wait noooo. No torture allowed.

I KNEW IT!! I TOLD YOU!! I CALLED IT!! SCENE FROM THE PROMO!! XD XD <3 <3 <3

I LOVE DEAN AND JACK SO MUCH!! <3 <3 <3

Ha! Fixing his hands.

YIKES!

...but did the cuffs break at least?

HA! She actually converted him to not swear.

I love how Dean makes a point of swearing extra loud after he realizes what he did. I love him. XD XD <3

Oh frick, that didn’t break the cuffs? Are you kidding me? Stupid powerful magic…

OOH! Dean’s got an idea!

THOSE LITTLE SMILES I LOVE THEM!! <3 <3 <3 <3

OH SHUT UP LADY! Are you still talking??

...okay so...trauma.

Please listen to Sam.

YES HE IS SHUSH!

Just because he has blood on his hands doesn’t mean he’s not a kid. Just saying.

Okay so I kind of feel bad for her knowing what she’s been through, but also that does not excuse her behavior. However, I will take back what I said about someone ripping her head off. I suppose that isn’t really necessary.

That said, someone please do something. :( :(

WOULD YOU QUIT IT WITH THE FINGERNAILS SUPERNATURAL??!! I STILL HAVEN’T GOTTEN OVER IT FROM THE CHRISTMAS EPISODE IN SEASON 3!!!

My mom and I are both turning away owwwwwww.

STOOOOOOOOOOP!!!

Jesus Christ lady!!

“Pain is just weakness leaving the body.” Dean what?! XD XD

HEY! Smart! Way to go you two!! <3 <3

And still helping his son up YES! <3 <3 <3

Okay that could not have been a more in character moment between Dean and Jack right there. Between the “not so bad” and the helping him up and the helping him walk down the hall and Jack just following him along and I just...I LOVE THEM OKAY!! <3 <3 <3

AHHH!! SHE TOOK OFF SO MANY FINGERNAILS JESUS!!

SHUT UP LADY!!

YES!

...Dean honey that was the reset button…

There’s no way that did the job. Too easy.

Problem not solved!! Problem DEFINITELY not solved!!

Creepy green eyes!!

Oh she looks maaaaad. That’s not good.

HEY!!! What happened to not hurting family??!!

LEAVE THEM ALONE!!

Which family??!! Cause YOU’RE the one destroying them!

No he won’t.

“You hurt him, you hurt us.” GREAT line!! YES SAM!! <3 <3 <3

Oooh!! He’s getting to her!! <3 <3

Oop. There’s our backstory. Mr. Cuthbert wouldn’t let her go back. Not that I’m surprised, given what he did to Dean all those years ago.

Yes. Yes he did.

YAY! Dean jumping in to save his son. <3

NICE! Good call, Dean! <3

THAT FACE!! Jack’s face!! <3 <3

YES!!!! YES!!! GOOD JOB BOYS!! <3 <3 <3

Awww….poor Mrs. Butters…

Okay now I feel really bad for her. And a little guilty that I called her a b***h. I’m still kind of mad at her, but...her motives make sense.

Hey yay! She healed him!

Wow, this nymph is POWERFUL. Now that she’s nice again, can we, like, actually keep her? Cause that’d be an awesome ally to have.

Aww...Jack being the one to voice their forgiveness. So pure, especially since she was after him all that time. <3

Awww….Dean wants her to stay. He’s so upset. XD

But he also gets it. :) <3

OMG!! That shot with all three of them looking at her and those sweet little smiles they give her as she’s talking about home. There was just so much...genuineness in that! I loved it! <3 <3

Jack being the voice again. <3

Okay, she looks hecka cute in that outfit.

Oof. That makes sense lol. It would be way too easy if it didn’t revert back.

...inter what now?

Oh shoot...that just proves Chuck destroyed all the worlds...lovely….

Awww!! <3 <3

Ha! Her little words of wisdom to them! To reiterate: SUCH. A. MOM. XD XD <3 <3

Sam and Dean’s smirks at each other when she tells them to do the same things they’ve been telling each other to do for years--eat your vegetables and cut your hair. XD

Awww….that little extra nose crinkle and smile at Jack when she tells him to save the world. <3

I also just realized that this breaks my theory that anyone who meets Jack instantly falls in love with him because of how adorable he is. Though, I guess she’s a little different given that extra little motivation to protect her family in the only way she knows how. Plus, trauma.

Oof. Bye bye extra magic.

Aww...this convo between Jack and Sam. <3 <3

Aww Jack… :( :(

You weren’t stupid, baby. You all fell for it. :(

Aww….he’s looking for faith from Sam.

And Sam just gave it to him. <3

I know the line seems desperate, and in a way, it is, but the way that Sam gave him a little smile shows that it’s more than that. They are desperate, and Jack is their only hope, but also, Sam knows Jack can handle it, because he does have faith in him. It’s a short convo, but it says so much.

That tin has a birthday cake for Jack, made by Dean. Calling it right now.

“He loves that apron.” XD <3 <3

I KNEW IT AND I LOVE IT OMG!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

THAT’S SO ADORABLE!!! And that is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT Dean’s way of telling Jack that he still loves him, and that he forgives him. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

THEIR LITTLE SMILES!! <3 <3 <3

I’M SCREAMING!!! ALL OF THEIR SMILES AT EACH OTHER I FREAKING LOVE THIS FAMILY!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I SERIOUSLY LOST ALL FUNCTIONALITY JUST NOW TO THE POINT WHERE I’M ADDING THIS COMMENT LATER BECAUSE AHHHH!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

AWESOME ending shot. It’s a great way to end a much more light-hearted episode while also setting us up perfectly for knowing that things are about to get heavy and serious. I bet whatever Jack wished for, it has something to do with taking on God.

Okay, so...those reactions were a lot longer than I was anticipating, and I want to apologize, but also, I did warn you. XD That said, review time!

I loved this episode! It was absolutely hilarious, but also sweet and touching. It mixed some crazy and fun moments with some of the most subtly emotional ones, both negative and positive. I absolutely loved all the Easter Eggs, and I loved watching the boys have a chance to celebrate holidays in a way that they never have before, especially with Jack. The facial expressions in this episode killed me. Between all of the little smiles and dorky excitement, I was laughing and smiling right along with the characters. Some stand-out moments/things for me:

That convo between Dean and Jack. I already broke it down above, but seriously, I love how they did that. As a huge fan of Dean and Jack and their relationship, the way that those two interacted this episode was beautiful and really sets up the fact that they’re going to need to lean on each other for support as a whole family in the coming fight, and I loved that. <3

Sam going on a date with Eileen! <3 Initially, I had a theory that Sam and Eileen would end up together at the end of all of this, but when she left a few episodes ago, I threw that idea out the window and it made me sad. So the fact that they went on a date and got to see each other again--even if we didn’t get to see it--makes me so happy and brings back my hope that they’ll end up being together. <3 That said, I am 100% going to write a fanfiction of that date, since Supernatural chose to keep it from us. XD

The acting really stood out to me in this one. Maybe it’s just because it’s been so long since I’ve seen them doing something new, but I honestly feel like J2 and Alex nailed it even more than usual. I mean, their facial expressions were seriously so amazing in this episode. Between the really dorky moments and the subtle emotional moments, I felt like their faces were always saying so much and I loved it. <3

One thing I want to address is the lack of Cas. I know a lot of people were upset that he wasn’t in it, especially since the boys were celebrating so many holidays with Jack, and while I agree that it would’ve been beautiful to have him there, it makes perfect sense that he wasn’t there based on the trajectory of the episode and everything that happened. For starters, if Cas had been there, the wood nymph business would’ve been solved INSTANTLY. Cas is always extra suspicious of people, so if she didn’t trust him because he was an angel, the odds of her getting the jump on him would’ve been slim. And yes, she did poison Jack with the smoothies, but, as this episode continued to point out, Jack is still a kid, so he’s still much more naive and gullible. Plus, he’s upset and guilty and confused and just generally vulnerable now that his soul is back, so it was easy for him to trust and be manipulated. But if Mrs. Butters had tried to do the same thing to Cas, (and I’m picturing that one scene with the milkshake in Peace of Mind here) there’s no way he would’ve fallen for it. More importantly, with how worried he is about Jack, he would’ve been really vigilant about the way she was talking to him and everything, and he probably would’ve caught the poisoning long before it could really hurt him. And you can argue that Sam and Dean probably should’ve picked up on it, which is true, however, even they admit that they get distracted in the fun of it all. While it would’ve been great to see Cas in on the festivities, he wouldn’t have been quite as distracted by it as the boys were, and with his vigilance, there’s no way any of them would ever have gotten hurt. He’d be watching Mrs. Butters like a hawk, and the second she did something suspicious, she’d be gone. That said, I can understand if people want to say that’s dumb, because if they didn’t want Cas to defeat the villain so easily, they shouldn’t have had a villain that could be so easily defeated by Cas, and I’m sure some people feel like that’s a stupid excuse. To which I also offer this.  After seeing those convos between Dean and Jack and Sam and Jack, and knowing that the episode ends with the three of them celebrating Jack’s birthday, Cas’s absence makes even more sense: this episode wasn’t about him. I love Cas, but it didn’t need him. See, Cas already has an undying love for Jack. While Cas definitely saw Mary as family, he never had the same emotional connection to her that Sam and Dean did--for obvious reasons. But he definitely had--and still has--a very strong emotional connection to Jack. He’s always been the most involved in being Jack’s father--again, for obvious reasons. But even after the Mary incident, it was Cas who went to find him, who tried to help him, and who wanted to protect him. Cas always loved him and always trusted him, and he always will. But Sam and Dean lost a lot of trust for Jack after what happened to Mary...and this episode fixed that. Because Cas wasn’t around, it gave Jack a chance to prove himself to Sam and Dean again. Sam had already pretty much forgiven him, but Dean was definitely on the fence. He even says it. But the fact that Dean had that conversation with him and said everything he did proves that Dean still loves him, and it gave Jack the reassurance he needed that, while Dean is still mad, he doesn’t hate him, and he doesn’t think he’s a monster. And while Sam and Jack were on pretty good terms, Jack was still worried that Sam couldn’t trust him--that Sam didn’t have faith in him anymore. But when Sam tells him that he knows he can defeat God, Jack gets confirmation that Sam does still have faith in him. And after all of that, after celebrating all of those holidays together, and having both of those conversations, to then end that with Sam and Dean celebrating Jack’s birthday? That’s what this episode was about. Sure, it was a silly monster of the week episode. Sure, we got some adorable and hilarious moments. And sure, we got to see them celebrate things that they never got to celebrate in a real way before. But underlying all of that, we got to see Jack become part of Sam and Dean’s family again. We got to see them bond. And knowing that this is right before they all prepare to take on God--Jack needed that. The boys needed that. They needed to all trust each other again. And the fact that they celebrated his birthday at the end proves that they do. They’re a family again. They have each other’s backs. They trust each other. And they love each other. And as much as I love Cas, and as much as I would’ve loved to have seen him be a part of their holidays, he didn’t need to be. But those three did. And that’s why Cas wasn’t in the episode. So, frankly, full points to the writers for making that happen. While they gave us a fun episode, and they may have left out a fan favorite character, it created an underlying theme that’s really going to matter as we get into the big stuff of Season 15. And that’s awesome.

All in all, I thought this was a great episode, and I’m so glad that this is how we get to jump back into the season. Not only was this episode hilarious and fun, but it was also a great set-up for the coming battle and for all the hard and serious things that are bound to come in the next several episodes.

Rumor has it that this was the last “silly” episode of the show, and while that’s a sad thought to think about, it totally makes sense with what they did with the episode, and frankly, I think it’s a beautiful silly one to have ended on and a great way to lead into everything that’s coming next.

My Rating: 10/10