#noah said this one is for the kids who moved back home

[orionfalling]

when noah kahan said "drive slowly. i know every route in this county. maybe that ain't such a bad thing? i'll tell you where not to speed." and when he said "why am i so obsessive? hangin on to every sentence? this town's the same as u left it; your page was blank but i read it!" and when he said "honey come over, the party's gone slower n no one will tempt you - we know you got sober. there's orange juice in the kitchen, bought for the children. it's yours if you want it. we're just glad you could visit." and when he said "oh, this town's for the record now! the intersection got a target and they're calling it downtown." and when he said "i got dreams but i can't make myself believe them, spend the rest of my life with what could have been, and i will die in the house that i grew up in."

[bi-bard]

I Saw the End, it Looks Just Like the Middle - Tommy Shelby Imagine [Peaky Blinders]

Title: I Saw the End, it Looks Just Like the Middle

Pairing: Tommy Shelby X Reader

Based On: No Complaints

Word Count: 2,226 words

Warning(s): argument, mention of canon-typical violence, mention of separation

Summary: A face from Tommy's past comes home. When he tries to reconnect, he's quickly dismissed. If only his stubbornness would vanish long enough for him to accept it.

Author's Note: I completely changed who I was going to write this about because I wanted to write about Peaky Blinders.

NOAH KAHAN - STICK SEASON [WE'LL ALL BE HERE FOREVER] WRITING CHALLENGE MASTERLIST

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I always knew the dangers of returning to Birmingham.

It was a major reason why I never planned on doing such. Once I had gotten out, I had every intention of staying out. I was certain that I would never find myself back on those familiar paths.

My certainty never meant that I had lost my ability to see the signs that were all too familiar.

When I saw the kids suddenly running from the road, hiding away in buildings, I instinctively grabbed my partner's hand.

"Come on," I murmured, pulling him off to the side.

"What's going on?"

"I'll explain in a moment."

We crowded around the wall of a nearby house. I saw my partner looking at me. I leaned forward, dropping my voice to the lowest that I could.

"When people start clearing the street, follow them," I advised.

"Why?"

"The Peaky Blinders," I replied. "You move out of their way, no matter what. That's all you need to know. All you should want to know."

"You knew them, didn't you? You told me about them."

"Then you should know why my previous connection doesn't quite give me any kind of exemption."

He nodded.

I glanced out at the street. Walking down the middle of the street was Tommy Shelby. I took a sharp breath, trying to tilt my head down while keeping my eyes on him.

I hoped that he wouldn't notice me. And if he did, he wouldn't do anything.

Tommy's eyes caught mine as soon as he got close enough to see me.

If he was shocked, then he didn't let it show. If he was angry, then he didn't let it show. He acted like he saw me every day. As if that was simply where I was supposed to be. Where I had always been.

It made me uneasy.

However, I tried to ignore it. I showed my partner around as best I could without ending up face-to-face with anyone too significant with my past.

I hadn't truly wanted to come back. My partner had mentioned wanting to know me completely, including where I had grown up. It was a hard situation to confront. It was hard to see him walking through the streets where I had experienced some of the worst and best moments of my life.

I remember him telling me that he wouldn't push me back there. If it was too painful, then I had every right to tell him such. And he didn't. He respected my hesitance and fear and then respected when I said that I could handle going back.

I had found an old friend for us to stay with. They had promised to not tell anyone where we were staying. I trusted them.

My partner had fallen asleep relatively easily in the small bed in the small room. I hadn't been as fortunate. I'm not certain what was causing my thoughts to refuse to settle, but I knew that I felt as if I was going mad.

After hours of torment, I pushed myself out of bed very carefully.

I walked outside and stood in the cold air. I took a few deep breaths, closing my eyes for a moment.

"Still restless?"

I flinched at the sound of a voice. I turned to see Tommy standing there.

"You never slept easy."

"A change of scenery can be tough for one's mind," I replied simply.

"Barely a change, is it?" he tilted his head a bit. "Last time I checked, this place was home for you."

"That was a long time ago."

"Was it?" he raised an eyebrow at me. I didn't respond to that. "Who are you with?"

"My partner," I answered. Maybe that idea would deter him for the time being. "He wanted to see where I was from. What made me who I am."

"How sweet," Tommy's voice was void of all emotion when he spoke. "Just in time for the races."

"I thought it was a good enough excuse."

He nodded.

"Why are you here, Tommy?"

"Is it wrong to visit an old friend?"

"If I were a friend, no. We both know it is far more than that."

"I wanted to see you."

"How did you find me?"

"I have my ways."

"You had someone follow me."

"They said that you and your partner seemed very happy," he explained. No shame in actions. "'Innocent too."

I scoffed, not having any will to entertain this conversation any longer.

"I don't remember you being so... modest around me."

"I don't remember you being so similar to a stalker around me, yet here we are," I shrugged. He chuckled, shaking his head at me.

"Been too long since we've talked."

"Well, don't get your hopes up. I don't plan to make these visits a normal thing."

"Is that right?"

"Yes," I said bluntly.

He didn't respond to that.

"I'm going to ask you to leave me alone, Tommy. I'll be gone again before you know it."

I turned around and walked back inside before another word could be spoken.

I wanted to believe that this would work. I wanted to believe that Tommy was a respectful enough person to listen to me.

I should have never been so foolish.

The day of the races, I tried to keep my spirits high. I stood next to my partner and smiled. I watched him smile. For just a moment, we were merely two people. Two painfully normal people. I had been craving that feeling for so long.

If only it hadn't been accompanied by the constant reminder of who I was the last time that I had ended up at the races.

I wanted to ignore it. However, I was still glancing around too much. I was still looking for any sign that chaos was going to erupt. I was still stuck in my old ways.

And then, I spotted Tommy.

He was standing silently off to the side. He made no effort to hide that he was looking at me and not at the races. He didn't need to. No one cared about him.

I knew he was only there for some other purpose. Tommy rarely troubled himself with being in the crowd. Only when he had a plan in mind. Maybe that was why I felt the familiar sense of dread that something today was going to go horribly wrong.

We held eye contact for what felt like ages before he nodded and turned to walk away. I understood what he was asking of me. And I knew that acting like I didn't, would only cause more problems.

"I'll be back in a moment," I muttered into my partner's ear.

"Are you alright," he asked.

I nodded. "Yes. I just need a moment."

I walked away from our spots and down into the halls. I could faintly hear the music in a nearby room. I ignored it, instead weaving between people to get through the hall.

I found a small room. Empty. I looked a little further down the hall and found John leaning against a wall some ways away. They were responsible for this. Not just Tommy. He had dragged the rest of them into this.

I pushed the door open with a shake of my head.

Tommy was waiting inside, just putting out a smoke as I walked in.

I felt the tension suffocating me as soon as I faced him.

I tried to remain calm and speak as if my voice didn't feel blocked by my worry, "What do you want, Tommy?"

"Took you long enough-"

"Don't start," I muttered. "Just answer my question."

"I want to know where you went," he replied.

"I don't think that is any of your business."

"After all that's happened, I deserve to know-"

"You don't deserve anything from me." I stepped closer to him, getting right in his face in the hopes that the venom of my words would hit just that much harder. "You don't deserve a breath from my lungs or a word muttered under my breath. You don't deserve anything."

He didn't seem to react to me being so close to him. "Then why come to meet me?"

"To tell you to leave me alone," I said.

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care what you choose to believe, Tommy."

"I believe that you're bored," he continued as if I hadn't spoken at all.

I scoffed, "Tommy-"

He cut me off, "I think that you ran away and your life got boring."

"Would you rather I'd stayed," I asked. "If I remember correctly, you made quite a habit of telling me to go. My safety and such."

"I live a dangerous life."

"And yet you're upset that I found something better." I saw the smallest smirk pull at his lips as he shook his head. God, I hated that smirk of his.

"You enjoyed the danger," he muttered. "You know it, I know it. You stayed because it excited you."

"Stop it."

"You watched men die. You stayed with me through the threats and the fights. You were threatened and hurt, yet you refused to leave whenever I told you that you needed to."

"That was a long time ago-"

"Was it?"

I felt every word fall to the ground. Each one useless. Like dull knives or unloaded guns. Nothing good enough to do the harm that I wanted.

So instead, I scoffed at him.

I stepped back, getting ready to leave before he asked me any more questions.

Unlike that night on the street, Tommy didn't just let me walk away. Instead, he grabbed my wrist.

Before I could truly comprehend what was happening, he pulled me forward and pressed his lips to mine. My eyes scrunched shut almost on instinct. I stood frozen for a few moments before roughly shoving him back. I reached out and slapped him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Tommy," I asked.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that you don't care for me," he said.

"That's not the point-"

"Is it not?"

I shook my head and took another step away from him. "Do you know the person I was when I was here, Tommy? Genuinely?"

"I knew you as strong," he replied. "Brave. Protective. I believe Arthur admitted that you were scary once."

"You knew me as broken," I corrected. "You knew me as damaged. Rejected and desperate."

His jaw clenched.

"I don't think you understand how different I am now," I explained. "And how much better I am because of it. You knew the version of me that had been thrown out by every last person that claimed to care about me. The version that just needed to feel something other than pain. Terrified that one day, you'd wake up and tell me to go because you didn't want me, not for my safety. And that's not your fault... it's mine.

"I didn't even confront how bad I had gotten until a man broke in while I was in bed. You were fighting and I couldn't do anything. I remember that a bullet from his gun got buried in the wall. He tried to shoot me, but he had shit aim when he panicked. You tried to cover it. Hide it from me. It never worked. Every time I saw that room, my eyes always found that spot in the wall.

"After I left, I was so ashamed of that version of me. I hid them, lied about them, pushed away anyone that could possibly figure out an ounce of who I had been. And then... I met him. And he showed up at my doorstep the morning after I had sent him away. He did and does accept everything that I am. Even the parts that I didn't want to tell him.

"I'm not ashamed of who I was anymore. I'm not ashamed of how I felt for you. I am not ashamed of a single moment that I had with you. And yes, I am bored. Bored out of my mind. But I have no room or reason to complain about that. Because every time that I think of going back to what excited me... it is just pain and violence and chaos and... I can't do that again."

Something in his eyes shifted. No matter how much he wanted to hide it, I saw it. It felt like this was the first time that Tommy was seeing me. He wasn't seeing some flashback or merely revisiting some old memory. He was only seeing me.

And I saw what I could have sworn were tears form in his eyes.

I took a deep breath and stepped forward. I leaned over and gently kissed his cheek.

"Goodbye, Tommy," I murmured before stepping back.

I didn't hear him speak up until I got to the door of the small room, "Good luck."

I grinned to myself, not turning around. "You too."

And as I walked out, I felt my shoulders relax for the first time in ages.

I wasn't looking back at who I used to be with shame or neutrality. I was looking at that version of myself with more pride than I had ever felt before.

I was exactly who I wanted to be, and I would fully accept that... one day.

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[mackenzielovee]

parenthood part twenty two: subservient

a/n: it's been far too long, but here's part 22! i hope you guys enjoy.

warnings: swearing, verbal arguments, crying, alcohol abuse

ambivalence masterlist , parenthood masterlist

     “I just don’t know if it’s a good idea to come over today.”

You frown as you press the phone to your ear, more interested in what Maddie’s not saying. 

For a week now, she’s been canceling plans and keeping more to herself, and with Julian, you’ve given her the benefit of the doubt because she’s adjusting to life with two babies, now. However, talking to her on the phone, you can tell there’s more to the story than just the stress of their new addition, you just don’t know how to pry it out of her. 

You bite your lip, “Mad, I’m happy to be in charge of Julian for the day. That would give you a break to just relax.”

She snorts, “No, that would just mean I’m corralling Noah while Kelce throws beers back with Rafe. God, how do you do this by yourself?”

Her statement and her question throw you off, and instead of having a prepared answer of any kind, you stumble. 

“Um, well, I—”

“Sorry,” she blurts, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

You reposition yourself on the couch as you listen to Rafe in the playroom with the kids, keeping them both in and engaged so you could take the phone call. You want to tell her that you don’t ever do it alone, that Rafe is a great partner, but you have the feeling that none of this is about that. 

“It’s fine, you don’t have to apologize to me. Are you and Kelce okay, though?”

You ask your question hesitantly, and when she sighs into the phone, you know you’ve hit the nail on the head. 

“No,” she says simply, following it with, “He’s just— Noah, get that out of your mouth— sorry, he’s just in this phase where he’s acting like a frat boy again. I mean, I don’t get it. He’s the one who wanted another baby, and now, he’s talking about going out and getting plastered and saying that he wants to try that new bar on the mainland, and I’m like, when do you think we have time to do that with a three year-old and a newborn?”

You nod, even though she can’t see you, “Do you think it’s just an adjustment thing?”

“I don’t know, but I’m over it. I can count on one hand the number of diapers he’s changed since we brought Julian home from the hospital. He’s, like, losing it. We got into it last night and I told him that I was gonna just take the kids and go to my parents’ because I need help with the kids, and instead of offering help, he just told me to go. So, I told him I was gonna call you to help me move them, and he screamed at me not to tell anyone.”

“Screamed at you?” you gasp, trying to picture it in your mind. 

“Yes, Y/N. He’s never done that before. I don’t know, I’m trying so hard not to overthink everything, I just— Noah, stop it right— shit, I have to go before he chokes. Talk later?”

You swallow, not wanting to let her off the phone just yet but knowing she has to go. 

“Yes, call whenever,” you say quickly. 

“Okay. Love you, bye.”

“Love you,” you murmur, then pull the phone from your ear. 

You sit still for a moment and digest all of the words Maddie said; Kelce’s behavior, his screaming, and how she feels so overwhelmed that she wants to take the kids and go to her parents house. You had no idea things were so bad between them, and without thinking too hard about it, you make the choice to go over there and help her. To step up when she needs you; when Kelce won’t. 

Standing from the couch, you hurry over to the playroom and stop at the door, listening to the three of them play inside. You smile to yourself and silently thank the universe for giving you such a man, such a partner, then crack open the door and step inside. 

“Mommy, come play!” Josie exclaims, holding out a plastic tea cup to you. 

She has Connor and Rafe sitting on the floor playing tea party with her. You laugh at the sight and Rafe grins and shakes his head, then waves you over to join him.

“Can I just talk to Daddy for one second, Jo? Then we can play, I promise.”

She looks from you to Rafe, then nods her head. Rafe furrows his brows and stands from his place on the floor, crossing the room in no time. 

Josie serves tea to Connor while Rafe leans against the doorframe, allowing his eyes to scan every single one of your features. 

“What’s up?” he asks quietly. 

You sigh, “Have you talked to Kelce?”

Rafe tenses, but when he starts to think, the crease in his brows deepens. 

“Actually, no. I just figured he was busy with the baby. Why?”

You shrug, trying to figure out exactly what to tell him. You bring your finger up to lazily trace the logo on Rafe’s shirt as you debate, and when he reaches up and takes it, threading his fingers through yours, you look up at him. 

“He screamed at Maddie last night,” you tell him, “Apparently, he’s been drinking a lot and not helping her with the kids. She told him that she was going to take them and leave, and he didn’t fight for them to stay.”

“What?” 

“Yeah,” you shrug, “I think she really needs help, so, I was wondering if you’d be okay watching—”

“Of course I am, baby,” he stops you, pulling you in closer, “You should go. I’m sure she’s drowning. If you get there and you guys need anything, just call me.”

You sigh in relief and collapse into his chest, letting his arms wrap around you. He presses little kisses into the top of your head and you revel in them, unable to believe you landed such a partner. 

“Thank you,” you whisper. 

“You’re a good friend,” he replies, “I won’t say a word to Kelce until you tell me to.”

You nod and run your nails up and down his back, then pull your head up so he can give you a real kiss. He does, and you immediately hear the kids on the other side of the room. 

“Are we giving Mommy hugs?” 

Connor stands from the floor, despite Josie’s protest, and crosses the room. You kneel and pull him in to you immediately, listening to him erupt in a fit of giggles as you kiss all over his face. Josie squeals and runs over, too, jumping right on you. 

“I have to go see Aunt Maddie for a little while, okay? Can you guys be good for Daddy while I’m gone?”

They both nod, and Connor locks his arms around your neck. 

“I’ll watch Josie,” he volunteers. 

Josie frowns, “I’ll watch Connor.”

You laugh and give them both another kiss on the cheek, then pull them in for one last hug. 

“And both of you need to watch your dad,” you tease, “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

     You pull up to Maddie’s and shut off your car, then turn and stare at the passenger seat filled with stuff. A bouquet of flowers — which you’re sure she hasn’t seen in a while — along with Target bags full of snacks, diapers, pacifiers, some new baby clothes, a blanket, and a few cute shirts for Noah that you couldn’t help but pick up. 

Gathering it all, you make your way to the front door and let yourself in using your key, then use Julian’s cries to guide you to the living room. Noah is running circles around the house; from the kitchen, to the living room, through the dining room, and back to the kitchen. 

“I know, I know,” Maddie says to him, bouncing him carefully, “I already fed you, and you have a clean diaper, I guess you just want your dad, huh? Me, too.”

As you get closer, you see she has tears in her eyes. You frown and enter the room, watching as she looks up and spots you. 

“Hey,” you greet her softly. 

“Y/N, what are you—”

“I brought reinforcements,” you say with a smile, holding up the flowers and the bags, “Mind if I help out?”

More tears fall from her eyes, and you immediately drop the items on the couch before making your way over to her. You give her a tight side hug, then remove the crying baby from her grasp. 

“Aunt Y/N!” Noah cheers when he sees you, halting his runs to come and hug your leg. 

“Hey, buddy,” you grin, “What’s up?”

“I’m running super fast in my racecar shoes,” he tells you, holding up his foot as proof to show you the new shoes. 

“Oh, that’s awesome. Do you want to go run outside in the backyard?”

He nods, and you look up at Maddie. She sniffles, wiping her eyes and nose on her dirty sweatshirt before granting you that permission. Julian, having calmed down slightly, nuzzles into your chest and closes his eyes to sleep. 

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” you promise her, “You should go shower and get a nap in.”

Her eyes well up again, “Julian needs to eat again in sixty-two minutes.”

You smile and reach for her, squeezing her hand, “I’ve got this. Go.”

She lets out a sob before giving you one last hug, then escapes off to her room so as not to show Noah this side of her. He’s already standing at the back door, tugging on it but waiting patiently for you to give him permission. 

“Come on,” you grin, “Let’s go run.”

     Noah runs circles around you until you grow dizzy. Julian falls asleep on your chest, and you rub his back without stopping for even a second out of fear that he will wake up. You check your phone and see that it’s almost time for him to eat, so you grab Noah’s attention and usher him over to you. 

“Do you want to help me feed Julian his bottle?” you ask. 

Noah smiles, “Yeah. I always help Mommy, and she says I do a good job.”

“I bet you do. Come on, let’s go.”

Noah leads you into the house and Julian stirs. His eyes open and you smile down at him, thankful when he doesn’t cry. He just stares up at you and wiggles around, trying to gauge his surroundings. 

Noah grabs the bottle from the fridge and hands it off to you to put in the warmer, then waits patiently at the counter for it to be done. You rock Julian and keep him happy, too wrapped up in both kids to notice the presence of another person until the front door slams shut. 

Instantly, Julian starts to cry. Noah turns around to you, seemingly forgetting about the bottle and looking up with wide eyes. 

“Who is that? Must be Daddy. Do you think it’s Daddy? I’ll go look.”

You frown, “No, stay with me. I need your help with Julian, remember?”

Noah nods, but when Kelce enters the kitchen he gains both of your attention. To your surprise, Noah doesn’t run to him. Instead, he turns back around and tries to peer over the top of the counter at Julian’s bottle while you clench your jaw and rock Julian in your arms, trying to get him to stop crying. 

“Jesus,” Kelce groans at the noise, then looks over and furrows his brows when he sees it’s you, not Maddie, in the kitchen, “What the hell are you doing here?”

You roll your eyes, “Was slamming the door really necessary? I had him calm, and Maddie’s taking a nap. At least, she was.”

“Oh, come on. That kid cries at the drop of a hat,” he grumbles, then walks over to the fridge and pulls it open, “Oh, grilled cheese sounds good.”

“Kelce, are you serious?”

You say it before you can even consider whether or not you should. He tenses and then stands up straight, closing the fridge and spinning around to face you. Julian starts to settle, so you know this argument has to be quiet, and you just pray Maddie can sleep through it. 

“Excuse me?”

You scoff, “I’m holding your crying son while your wife takes her first nap in weeks, and you’re debating making a grilled cheese? Seriously? What is wrong with you?”

Kelce’s jaw shifts, but instead of fighting back, he looks down at Noah. 

“Noah, go play in the front room,” he demands. 

“But, I was helping with—”

“Now,” he orders, pointing to the doorway of the kitchen. 

Noah frowns but does as instructed, leaving the three of you in the kitchen. The bottle warmer alerts you that it’s through, and you remove Julian’s bottle from it. 

He’s calm now, just staring up at you as you smile down at him. You start to feed him while Kelce just stands there, and you hope and pray that he’s uncomfortable, because you certainly are not. 

“Did she call you and tell you to come here?”

You glance over at him, “No. She just sounded desperate when she canceled plans with me. Again. So, I came over to help.”

“Right,” he mutters, “Because you and Rafe are the ones who do everything perfectly, right? And the rest of us just have to hope we can live up.”

“What are you talking about?” you furrow your brows, “Nobody ever said—”

“She did.”

You let his words hang in the air for a moment before you acknowledge them, trying to figure out what exactly he is trying to say. 

“Who did?”

“Maddie,” he mumbles, “I overheard her telling her mom all kinds of stuff about you and Rafe. She said that he’s so helpful and you guys are true partners. You know what she said to her mom about me? She said that I don’t dote on her the way Rafe does to you, and that she wasn’t even sure I wanted another baby.”

You swallow and rock Julian again, watching as he takes the bottle without hesitation. You’re sure Kelce’s feelings were hurt when he overheard Maddie saying those things, but you also know she would never say them without truly feeling them. 

“Well, you’re not exactly proving to her that you do. If all you’re doing is drinking and leaving the house—”

“Having Julian was my idea, Y/N. Why the fuck would she say I didn’t want him?”

You take a step back, “I don’t know, Kelce, but—”

“See? I didn’t want her to involve you, because you and Rafe don’t get it. You two live on this little island of perfection, and the rest of us are over here dealing with real life—”

“Excuse me,” you stop him, anger written all over your face, “That’s enough. Rafe and I have our own set of issues, even if you don’t see it.”

“Sure you do,” he mutters sarcastically, “Look, if she thinks I don’t want a second baby, then I’ll just prove her right. Because I’ll never be Rafe Cameron, Y/N. I’ll never be enough, because I’m always being compared to him.”

You frown, but you step closer to him. Close enough that he can peek down and see his son taking his bottle. He can see you, glaring up at him. As much as you want to sympathize with him for how he feels, you refuse to, because his shitty behavior outweighs his shitty feelings. 

“Listen to me,” you urge, “You are one of the best men I have ever known in my life. This little temper tantrum you’re on is so not you, and I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I am disappointed. You’re an asshole for getting drunk, you’re an asshole for leaving her here with a newborn and a toddler, and you’re an asshole for hurting your kids in the process of proving some stupid point to Maddie. You owe her the biggest apology of all time, and then, you need to sit down and tell her exactly how you feel. Because I swear, Kelce, if you don’t get your shit together right now, I will help her leave you and I will help her get full custody. I’ve seen what alcohol does to a man, and you will not raise these kids in that environment. Do you understand me?”

He swallows and looks to the floor, at his scuffed up boots and his dirty jeans. He doesn’t bother looking back up at you, but instead, he shrugs. 

“Alright,” he says, “I’ll do better, then.”

“Good,” you snap, “Now, eat something. You look like shit.”

This brings a low laugh out of him, and even though you’re still mad about his behavior, it brings a small smile to your lips. He turns his head and looks up at you — finally — then down at Julian. His lips part, and just as you’re sure he’s about to ask if he can have him to hold, Maddie appears in the doorway. 

She’s in fresh clothes and her half-wet hair is secured in a claw clip. She has socks covering her feet and looks more rested than she did when you showed up, but still looks chronically tired. 

“When did you get home?” she asks Kelce, her tone clipped, “Right around the time Julian started crying again?”

You step away from Kelce and to the other side of the kitchen, keeping your focus on Julian. 

“I didn’t mean to slam the door,” he tells her quietly.

“Yeah, well, he—”

“I’m sorry, Mads.”

She tenses, “For slamming the door?”

“For all of it.”

The room falls silent as Maddie digests Kelce’s words. You, feeling the tensenes, move toward the back door, then give Maddie a smile when she looks over at you again. 

“I’ll take Noah back outside,” you say quietly, “Noah!”

In his racecar shoes, he comes running into the kitchen. He halts when he sees both of his parents and gives his mom a smile, subconsciously inching toward her. For what you guess to be the first time in weeks, Kelce notices this movement, and he frowns. 

“Yeah?” Noah asks.

“Let’s go back outside and give Julian the rest of his bottle, okay?”

He nods in agreement and follows you out the back door, leaving his parents to work it out in the kitchen. 

     About half an hour later, Maddie emerges from the house and smiles when she sees Julian asleep in your arms. Noah is playing on the swings Kelce bought and built for him last year, not even noticing Maddie as she comes out. 

“Hey,” you say with a smile.

She sits down in the chair beside you, glancing at Julian again before she relaxes. 

“Hey,” she replies, then snickers,  “Girl, I don’t know what you say to these men, but you really work your magic on them.”

You snort, “Right.”

“I’m serious!” she defends, “You don’t have to tell me, but just know that I know.”

You look over at her and laugh when she laughs, shaking your head. When she takes a deep breath and crosses her arms over her chest, you can tell that she’s ready to tell you the seriousness. 

“So, what did he say?” you ask.

“He said that he didn’t want me to take the kids,” she says, looking out at Noah, “And that he feels inferior as a dad and a husband. Especially since Julian was born. He thought he could handle it, I guess, but the transition from one kid to two was harder on him than he anticipated. He told me that he overheard me tell my mom how good Rafe is as a dad and a husband, and apparently that was his final straw.”

You nod as you absorb her words, then examine her facial expression for a moment before you answer. She’s stoic, emotionless; like she’s just listing off facts instead of telling you about the problems in her marriage. 

“What did you say to that?”

She scoffs, “I told him to put on his big boy pants and change a fucking diaper for once.”

You can’t help but laugh, because that response sounds so much like Maddie to you that you can’t help but crack up. She gives you a smile, too, and continues on. 

“I also told him that I get it, but I need him to communicate with me. If I say or do something that offends him, he can’t just run off to a bar, you know?” 

You nod, “Yeah, that makes perfect sense.”

The two of you grow quiet then, and it’s a solid minute before Maddie sighs and squirms in her seat. 

“But, we’re going to be fine,” she tells you, “It was a temporary thing, and we can work through it. Even if he doesn’t know that yet.”

She side-eyes you and winks, which makes you laugh again. 

“I’m really glad about that. I’m rooting for you guys, you know. Always am.”

She smiles, “Thanks, Y/N. And thank you for dropping your entire day to come over here and save me from drowning in diapers and tears. You didn’t have to do that, but it means a lot that you did.”

You nod and use your free hand to reach for hers, giving her a squeeze as soon as you get a good hold on her. 

“You’d do the same for me,” you murmur, watching her nod. 

“Of course I would.”

Your phone buzzes on the side table at the same time that Julian starts to fuss in your arm. Maddie reaches for him with no hesitation and nods to you to check your phone in case it has something to do with one of the kids. You pick it up and see a text from Rafe, which you open immediately. 

Everything okay? Need us to drop off food?

You smile at his sweetness and type out a quick response. 

No, it’s all good. Be home soon. Love you. 

“Do you need anything before I go?” you ask Maddie. 

She shakes her head as she looks out at Noah, who is still happily swinging. 

“No. Thank you again, Y/N. Give me any night this week that you’re free, and we can have dinner.”

You smile, “That sounds great. Love you, babe.”

“Love you, too.”

You kiss her cheek, then Julian’s, then call Noah in so you can say goodbye. He gives you a hug and makes you promise to tell Josie he said ‘hi’. When you make your way inside, you find your purse in the living room and you grab it, pulling out your keys and sticking your phone inside. This process distracts you, and just as you reach the front door, you hear Kelce’s voice.

“Y/N.”

You turn around and face him, finding him showered, in clean clothes, and looking exhausted. Giving him a hesitant smile, you humor him. 

“Yeah?”

He returns your smile, “Thanks. And, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t owe me an apology, Kelce. Things happen,” you shrug. 

He shakes his head and then takes a few steps closer, tugging anxiously at the bottom of his shirt. 

“Yeah, but I really needed the reality check. It takes a pretty good friend to give that to someone, so, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” you reply, patting his arm, “Goodnight, Kelce.”

“Goodnight.”

He opens the front door for you and waits for you to get safely into your car, then closes it. You hope and pray that he’s going inside to his family; his wife and his kids, and that he’s attempting to be the best version of himself that he can be. For them.

     When you get home, you find the playroom and the living room empty. Confused, you wander into the kitchen, and all the breath is drawn from your lungs. 

All three of your family members, plus a very eager Bo, sit at the kitchen table with a feast of Chinese food in front of them. You laugh at the sight and move closer, not at all surprised when Rafe stands from his chair. 

“Hungry?” he asks in a teasing voice, 

“What’s going on?” you laugh, embracing him when he offers you his open arms. 

“We’re having dinner together, Mommy,” Connor says.

“Come on and sit down, I’m starving,” Josie groans dramatically. 

You laugh and give Rafe a kiss, then kiss Connor’s cheek and the top of Josie’s head on your way to your seat. Rafe starts helping Josie divide out her food onto her plate and you do the same for Connor before ultimately moving onto yourself. 

“So?” Rafe questions, raising a brow. 

“They’re fine,” you reply, “Kelce just needed a little push in the right direction.”

Rafe nods, “I’m glad they’re okay. And I’m glad you gave him that push.”

“Thanks,” you say with a smile, earning one back from him. 

     The four of you eat dinner and then make dessert, which you eat outside on the deck while Connor hunts for stars in the sky. They both fall asleep pretty soon after that, and you and Rafe both carry them upstairs to their beds. 

The two of you reconvene in the living room, silently agreeing to cuddle on the couch without having to exchange a single word. He holds up a blanket and allows you to crawl under it, then laughs when you immediately mold your body to his. 

“So, tell me,” he starts in, “What was Kelce’s deal?”

You shrug nonchalantly, “You, actually.”

“Me?”

“Mhm,” you hum, “He was feeling really overwhelmed making the transition from one kid to two, and, I guess, he overheard Maddie telling her mom how good you are with me and the kids, and it just made him feel inferior.”

“Oh, shit,” Rafe sighs, “Should I call him?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Rafe.”

“No, I just—” he stops himself and shifts, then starts again, “I just get how he’s feeling, that’s all. And I don’t want him to have any sort of unresolved feelings toward me, you know?”

You nod and cuddle closer to him, feeling his hand run down your back and slip innocently under your shirt. 

“Maybe give him some time,” you say after a minute, “He’s not angry with you, though. But, maybe give him a chance to fix things with Maddie and the kids before adding anything else onto him.”

Rafe nods, and the tips of his fingers run down your spine. You shiver and cuddle closer, which makes him laugh. 

“Good idea,” he replies, “Busy day at work tomorrow?”

“No. You?”

“No.”

You grin, “Wanna have lunch? Maybe fool around in your truck?”

He laughs and allows his fingers to slip through the waistband of your sweatpants, stroking your hip bone softly. 

“That sounds perfect,” he says with a cheesy grin, “It’s a date.”

“Lucky you,” you tease. 

He laughs again, and you swear you can feel your heart pounding in your chest at the sound. It’s perfect — as is he. 

“Lucky me,” he repeats, and you can hear it in his voice. The way he means it. The way he loves you. Even though he’s claiming to be the lucky one, you know that truthfully, it’s you. The luckiest out of everyone — because you’re loved by him.

*i no longer have a tag list. follow @mackupdates for updates! thank you for reading! <3

[evansbby]

I miss Gaza. I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss my home. I miss the walks on the beach with my cousins. I miss the corner shops where everything was cheap. I miss going to the mosque with my friends and family. I miss going to the park with my brothers. I miss my school. I miss my kitten Kiki. I miss the summers spent at my grandparents. I miss walking to school with my brothers and talking about what we're going to do afterwards. I miss going to the library every day and constantly reading new books. I miss picking out new dresses at the store. I miss riding my bike with my cousins. I miss my neighbor Mohamed who I would always play chess with. I miss Palestine, my home.

My world turned upside down when my parents told me we were moving, seeing them hastily pack up everything. I was eleven years old, not knowing why we had to leave our home. I remember hearing my mom cry in the other room on the phone with my aunt. I remember my dad driving in a hurry. Nobody wanted to tell me what was happening, but deep down I knew. And then we were in Egypt, my parents were scared that we'd get sent back, if it wasn't for my dad's connections I think we'd be dead by now.

Next thing I know we're on a flight to, in my mom's words, "the big tower clock country" (we were going to London in). Seeing my uncle waiting for us at the airport and talking to me about how much fun it is here and how I'd make lots of friends. All I could think about if there was a chance that l'd ever be able to go back home. Eleven years later and I still haven't been able to go back home. I had to learn to live with the racism, the Islamophobia, the zionists, the constant hate against my people. I had to learn to cope with the dead of my family members, my friends, my neighbor. Luckily some of my close family could also leave, but then a lot could not and I'm honestly not sure how many are still alive.

I'm incredibly grateful and lucky that I was able to get to a safe country, yet I still miss everything back home. I'm so incredibly thankful to everyone who attended the march for Palestine in London and overall just in any city over the world. Hurts my heart seeing Noah Schnapp holding stickers that says 'zionism is sexy' while Bella Hadid got death threats because she speaks up about Palestine. My point in sharing my story is to remind people that the Palestinians you hear about in the media getting murdered, ALL had lives, they all had dreams, they all had friends and families, they all had their whole world taken from them. They are innocent human beings.

I still hold out hope that one day, I'll be able to take my kids to see the Gaza that I saw. 🇵🇸🩷

I’m so sorry 💜 I know nothing that I say could even comfort you at all. But thank you for choosing to share this with me, I can feel the pain in your words. The pain of being forced to leave your home and being so young that you don’t even understand why. And being so scared and confused… my heart truly goes out to you and the millions of others in Gaza who have been displaced, or lost their homes, lost the land they grew up on, lost their lives or the lives of their loved ones. It’s an actual modern day horror, what we are witnessing.

This is real, individual people we are talking about. As you said, they all had lives, all had dreams, all had hobbies and interests the same as we do. And it’s crazy the luxury we have, us who have never known the struggle or heartbreak of being displaced. Of experiencing a literal genocide. I am so privileged to be able to sit comfortably in my bedroom knowing that no one could just come and claim it as theirs. That no fuckass rich white bitch from Brooklyn New York could just shack up in my house and call it HER land. (Sorry for my language, it just makes me so angry. The way some people are reacting across the world makes me so angry… and I know it makes you ever angrier and more upset.)

My heart goes out to you and I pray to Allah that you will one day return to a free Palestine. To a free Gaza and your people can rebuild what was so cruelly taken from them. The same people who were so cruelly dehumanised by the Zionists and their religious ethnostate of “Isr*el.” I have no sympathy for the Zionists or their supporters. I have no respect for privileged celebrities like Noah Schnapp and others like that woman from the big bang theory, who can sit so comfortably in their mansions and feel like they know what is going on and try to persuade others to support their Zionistic views. When there are brave Palestinian children, women, men, babies, all innocent, all dying and they think the world has turned their back on them. All they have now is their faith.

I’m speaking to you straight from my heart, I know I don’t know you. But what you’ve said has touched me so much and I wish I could do more. I’m happy that you were able to escape and your immediate family is safe, I’m happy your father had the connections he did. I mourn the loss of your homeland, but I’m praying for you and all your people. And I will not forgive or forget what every single Zionist (celebrity or every day person) has said, how they have acted, what they have chosen to support. Years from now they will say they were brainwashed, misguided, they’ll sweep it under the rug and they’ll be forgiven but I will not forgive them.

There is hope in my heart seeing how many people (1mill+) that showed up every Saturday to protest in London, and all over the world in support of Palestine. The strongest thing in this world is hope… and faith. In my opinion. And it hurts, because reading your vivid memories, and how well you remember your home… But I know it won’t be for nothing. Idc if this sounds sappy but I’ll hope and pray for a free Palestine, and for you to go home one day.

[jasmemes]

LYRIC SENTENCE STARTERS

all lyrics have been taken from my favorite matt nathanson and noah kahan songs

i am not scared of death, i’ve got dreams again.

it’s just me and the curve of the valley.

a minute from home but i feel so far from it.

it’s all washing over me, i’m angry again.

the car’s in reverse. i’m gripping the wheel.

i’m back between villages and everything’s still.

the things that i lost here, the people i knew. they’ve got me surrounded for a mile or two.

my whole life’s a movie, if movies made you want to jump off a bridge.

i’ve got one who moves me and one who sees through me and all i really want is a kiss.

i was born three thousand miles from where i came alive.

and i left without saying a word to start a new life.

i spent my whole damn life just trying to hide.

you can change every inch of your life, but you’re still just a boy.

i’m mean because i grew up in new england.

i’ve got dreams but i can’t make myself believe them.

i was only kidding when i said i liked a fight.

i was only kind of kidding when i said i liked a fight.

but sometimes you’ve got to start them yourself.

i had a dream you died.

what kind of man misunderstands a woman like you?

i’m the last of the worst pretenders.

i got tired of the frat boys with the brights on.

but it’s all we’ve had for always.

we’ll all be here forever.

we spent july in a berkeley basement.

there was so much i didn’t believe in and then there was you.

no one cares about the stories they’re not in.

we’ll fade out to whispers.

there’s no nostalgia here, it’s just now.

i was a fire that you started.

for once i knew everything that i wanted.

for a minute there, we were perfect.

we made the beautiful people wanna be like us.

some heart’s gotta break to let the light in.

i loved you even before i knew what love was.

everything else felt so unimportant back in your boston bed.

when you think about it i hope you blush just a little bit.

all the best parts still move me.

i could’ve powered the city every time that you kissed me.

we looked good back then.

just between you and me, part of me will always be in love.

we’re better off, no doubt.

what’s it matter now?

if i get too close and i’m not how you hoped, forgive my northern attitude.

i was raised out in the cold.

i was raised on little light.

i don’t miss you. i miss the way you made me feel.

and if i died tomorrow, would you feel me?

and you were only a minute of my time.

even through the pain, i can’t recall your face.

just the ache of knowing everything was gonna change.

got so close to love with you.

i know that the moment i chase is a race i’ve already lost.

it’s long ago.

you were only a break from the fear of being alone.

but i’m sure feeling the ache is better than nothing at all.

i know it gets hard just to breathe sometimes.

it’s the way she walks, the way she talks.

you and my imagination.

there was heaven in your eyes.

everything’s alright when she calls me back.

don’t you hold your head up high.

for bullshit, i do not have time.

and i do not exist to die. but live to die while saving you.

and i don’t get much sleep most nights.

i’m seeing you in every dream.

i was too afraid of living life in your footsteps.

i’m still angry at my parents for what their parents did to them.

but i ignore things and i move sideways.

at the end of the day, i know there are worse ways to stay alive.

i’m terrified that i might never have met me.

if my engine works perfect on empty, i guess i’ll drive.

it’s better to die numb than to feel it all.

and if all my life was wasted, i don’t mind. i’ll watch it go.

you were right.

i’m just a stubborn fool who’s living in the past.

i got a king sized bed and phd and the way it used to be.

the devil is in the details. he and i get on real good.

i’ve got a love that comes in colors.

i had a head full of tangles.

i had my heart full of splinters.

and you came around to save me.

now i drop to hold you.

grew up believing love was a grudge and home was a place you lived with your guard up.

people keep saying memories fade. mine are all drunk and they just keep calling.

the past is a long distance runner and i’m falling further and further behind.

takes me forever and ever to see the good in the people who see the good in me.

[apomaro-mellow]

Steve’s Disappearance Part 2

Eddie is pacing about the living room, debating whether it’s better to get takeout from Lucy’s favorite place or attempt to make her favorite meal. He’d never managed to do it right since Steve’s disappearance but maybe tonight was the night.

The phone rings and it’s Lucy. She’s not at Noah’s anymore but at Ashley’s, having an impromptu sleepover. He should’ve asked to speak to Ashley’s parents, make sure his daughter wasn’t imposing but he knew she never would. He should’ve made her come home anyway because they had things to discuss. But Eddie was clinging to any sense of normalcy and if his kid wanted a spontaneous sleepover then by all means. It wasn’t like the funeral was happening tomorrow.

Lucy was indeed over Ashley’s house and they were using her mom’s computer to look up any news from Hawkins that involved gang activity.

“There’s nothing!”

“So it’s like Noah said? Maybe they were at a weird costume party?”

Not satisfied, Lucy broadened her search for anything of note happening in Hawkins. The way her dads had talked about it, it was like a one-horse town. If something big went down, it’d make the news.

There was something about a mall burning down, that seemed unrelated. A laboratory admitting involvement with the accidental death of a teenager, and a slew of gruesome murders. That was her father on the front cover.

“Holy shit”, Lucy gasped.

Ashley shushed her.

He had joked about being accused of murder for years. It was always a joke! A joke! But there it was in black and white. He was eventually found innocent but Lucy understood now why he never wanted to go back.

“This is it. Someone had beef with my dad because of the murders he was suspected of. So they went took out my other dad as revenge.”

“I guess”, Ashley said. “But what are we supposed to do?”

“I tell my dad I know everything. And that I can help with the investigation now.”

“You think he’s gonna let you solve a murder? Not even your dad is that cool.”

Lucy knew she was right. And lately, she could feel her freedom slowly shrinking. Like he was afraid of something. “What do you got for bus money?”

“Barely anything and I’m not getting on a grubby bus this late. It’s like you never watched those stranger danger PSAs.”

Lucy did. She just found it ridiculous that EVERY adult you didn’t know was out to get you and yet somehow most of them looked like Uncle Wayne.

“Then we gotta call in a favor.”

Honestly, this person wasn’t even her first pick. The first was Uncle Dusty who indulged her so much he helped her make an actual rocket for the science fair. The fire had been worth it. But he lived out in Utah.

“Hey, Brittney.”

“Luce? It’s like 9 pm. Oh god was I supposed to babysit you tonight? Shit!”

“No, no, I just, I just wanted to talk, maybe ask you something.”

“Oh god. Here it comes. I’ve been waiting for this day. Lucy, you’re so strong but you shouldn’t bottle up your emotions like you’ve been doing and I want you to know that I’m here to help you through your fath-”

Lucy stops Brittney’s rambling. She didn’t call to talk about that. She called to ask her favorite babysitter to drive her and her friend an hour out to Hawkins. Now that she thought about it, it was odd her parents didn’t move farther away, if they had such a dark past there.

Brittney is hesitant, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to drive two preteens past dark to a town she’s never been in and the deal doesn’t sweeten anymore when Lucy says they’ve gotta get Noah too.

“Look, I’ll convince my dad to pay you extra each time.”

“.....I don’t know....”

Ashley takes the phone and says she’ll convince her 9 months pregnant mother to take her on as a babysitter when the infant arrives. Considering how loaded the family is, Brittney snaps at the chance. And so Lucy and Ashley pretend to turn in and sneak out, right to Brittney’s car. After picking up Noah they’re on their way to solve the mystery.

Eddie is watching a late night movie, feeling the typical bout of loneliness creep in and considering getting a pet when the phone rings for the third time that night.

“I must be Mr. Popularity today”, he says when he answers.

“Haha, I’ll ask what that means later but uh, this might be kinda serious, Eddie”, Robin’s voice is trembling as she speaks.

“What’s up?”

She asks if Eddie has seen one of the photos they looked at a couple days ago. The one with the four of them posed up.

“I’ve been looking and looking and it’s so iconic and I don’t have another copy so I was hoping it might’ve fallen under your couch or something cause we were absolutely blitzed that night like it was on the edge of irresponsible and-”

Eddie lets her go on as he searches all through the living room, the only place they would’ve had the picture. But it’s nowhere to be found. He tells Robin as such.

“Ooookay, so there’s an incriminating photo of us floating around. Don’t know what it implies but it can’t be good.”

“Maybe Nancy or Jon took it by accident?”

“Do you think maybe Lucy has it? It’s a pretty cool pic of her dads.”

The thought made his blood run cold. If his daughter ever found out anything about their past without someone to explain the whole thing. What would she think? What would she do?

“What are the odds that she tries figuring out what happened to Steve on her own like it’s a mystery?”

Robin reminded him that his little girl got nearly daily lessons on anti-heteronormativity, how capitalism was killing America, and how pitting marginalize people against each other only served their oppressors.

“Shit.”

“You might have a junior detective, Eddie.”

“Well, she’s not doing any investigating tonight. She’s at a sleep over.”

Robin didn’t say anything and then asked if Eddie knew about it beforehand. He answered no. She asked if he had spoken to the parents. Also no.

“Shitshitshit!”

“That’s what you get for raising a mini-rebel.”

[hb-writes]

Ch. 7 - The Judge

Why don't you let me be the judge of that?

When Harvey had informed his eleven-year-old sister that he would be sending her to a private school, a place with uniforms and high expectations and a whole bunch of kids she didn't know, she had basically said no thank you and continued on with her day, dismissing the whole idea as nonsense.

Charlie had known she would have to go to a new school. She had realized it a few days after they'd moved her stuff into Harvey's guest room, her room, but Charlie thought she would be going to public school. She thought she would be with the normal kids, like she had been in Riverside, where there had only been one school to choose from, anyway. The same school Harvey and Marcus had gone to. They'd even had the same 3rd grade teacher, all three of them.

Mrs. Coe hadn't been startled to see yet another Specter on her roster by the time she met Charlie, having a good enough memory that she'd been weary after Harvey and Marcus.

And Charlie had gotten very used to the idea of not being in school. She had gotten used to spending time with Harvey and Marcus, who had taken to visiting more regularly as she got settled. She had gotten used to being indulged and coddled. She had gotten used to trips to museums and zoos and parks and theatres. She had gotten used to wandering around the Pearson-Hardman offices like she owned the place. She had gotten used to spending time snuggled up next to Harvey, watching movies on the couch on the days when he worked from home.

It hadn't really occurred to Harvey back then that his sister was nervous to start a new school. Meet new people. She had charmed everyone at the office. If she went missing after a trip to the bathroom or the kitchen, he wasn't surprised to find her in the bullpen entertaining the associates, asking them questions about law school and what it was like to have a job. What it was like to live on their own. To have a boyfriend. To drink alcohol. To drive a car.

The girl had even completely charmed Jessica, something that Harvey still struggled to do on some days.

So, he hadn't really understood why she was being so strange about it, so bad about it, but it was the first time Harvey had really had to put his foot down with her. Because in the build up to her first day, it had been tantrum after tantrum. It had been two weeks straight of her pushing buttons Harvey didn't even know he had. Had it not been for Donna finally convincing her that uniforms could be cool—a certain magical wizard wore them, after all—he didn't know what he would've done.

And on her first day, Charlie clung to her brother as they stood in the headmaster's office—his old roommate's office. He had thought that fact alone would help things. It certainly helped him, knowing that Oliver would keep an eye on her. Knowing that someone she already knew—and liked—was there just in case.

But Charlie had barely said hello to Oliver, had barely bothered to lift her head to meet his eye as she gripped Harvey's hand with both of hers, leaning into his side as if she could fuse herself to him. As if she might avoid being left behind if she did just that.

Harvey tried not to make a thing of it, talking with Oliver as if his sister wasn't acting out of the ordinary. Her hands were slick with a clammy sweat, but Harvey held on, giving her a squeeze whenever Oliver's attempts to engage her in the conversation went unanswered.

"Oh, you must be the new student!"

Charlie jumped at the interruption, turning her head just enough to see two students staring back at her.

"Louisa and Noah, good morning," Oliver said, nodding to the two students.

"Good morning, Dr. James," Louisa answered. "I told you we'd be late, Noah," she offered over her shoulder. The girl stepped into the room and Noah trailed a step or two behind her, a subtle smirk on his face.

Charlie shifted even closer to her brother as the kids approached, trying to use him as a barrier, but Harvey put his free arm around his sister, shifting them both so they faced these two kids.

Harvey could feel Charlie's heartbeat racing as she settled under his arm, still refusing to loosen her grip on his hand, even in the face of her two new classmates. She didn't care what she looked like. She didn't care what they thought about her clinging to him.

"So is this our new student?" Louisa said, smiling at Charlie, as Noah stood behind her, his eyes rolling slightly with amusement before he, too, smiled, but Charlie didn't return the smile, didn't shift away from him, not even a little.

Harvey couldn't deny that a little bit of worry had crept into him at that. Worry and confusion and an overwhelming feeling of helplessness because he didn't know what to do here. These kids seemed nice enough. A bit forward, maybe, but nothing for Charlie to be cowering about. And she knew Oliver. She liked Oliver. Charlie loved school and books and learning. She'd read through everything she could get her hands on during the time he'd kept her home. He'd given her time to adjust. Time to settle into their new life. This should have been fine. He'd expected her to be a little nervous, but part of Harvey was wondering if she'd even stay. If she'd even last through the school day if he left her.

"Yes, Louisa," Oliver started. "This is our new student, Charlotte Specter. We refer to people by their names here at Hudson School."

Charlie didn't even correct him. Didn't even say to call her Charlie, another thing that worried Harvey. Another thing that confused him.

Donna had offered to come with them, to help with the transition. Harvey wished he'd brought her with them now. The woman had been a lifeline for him the last couple of weeks, offering insights he never would have come to on his own, offering advice.

Harvey had spent a lot of time asking Donna, and google, for advice, but his research hadn't covered whatever was happening now.

"Of course, Dr. James," Louisa offered. "I apologize."

The girl turned to Charlotte. She was wearing low-heeled shoes and a flowered headband to keep her long chocolate brown hair out of her face. Charlie and Harvey both could sense this kid was popular. Powerful. And from the safe haven of her brother's hold, Charlie looked the girl up and down in the very same manner Louisa was assessing her.

It had taken some convincing for Harvey to get his sister to agree to the uniform. It had ultimately been Donna's mention of a certain wizard that had made the idea of a school uniform cool. Or tolerable, at least. Harvey didn't have the first idea about Harry Potter, but he knew that it wasn't a compliment when his sister proceeded to call him a muggle.

Apparently complete with her assessment, Louisa took a step forward.

"Hello, Charlotte. I'm Louisa Sorenson, grade six class president." She glanced over her shoulder. "That's Noah. He's my vice president. Mrs. Henderson sent us both down to meet you and give you a tour."

Charlie just stared at the girl.

"I am so excited to have a new student here. Mrs. H said you're from a small town? That's exciting, you—"

"What's exciting…" Noah drawled as he stepped forward, standing next to Louisa, "is that you get my seat now so I don't have to sit next to Louisa anymore. Been waiting for seven long years for someone to transfer in with a last name that falls in between Sorenson and Tabor. You, my dear, are a saving grace and it's an absolute pleasure to meet you, Charlotte Specter."

Noah held out a hand toward Charlie and kept it there despite the fact that the girl still just stared at him. Harvey gave her hand a squeeze, half-surprised when he felt her grip loosen. He moved to tuck his hand in a pocket, watching as Charlie wiped her hand down on her school skirt before taking the outstretched hand.

Harvey stifled the urge to laugh. These kids were certainly something. Harvey didn't remember sixth graders being this eloquent in his day. The boys certainly weren't calling the girls 'my dear.'

Charlie pulled her hand back, still leaning into Harvey's side. "You can call me Charlie."

"Well, Charlie, it's nice to meet you." Noah bowed his head a short measure, placing a kiss to Charlie's hand before looking up, a smirk on his face. "I am forever in your debt. Anything you need, you name it."

"Alright," Harvey interrupted, "that's enough, Romeo."

Oliver cleared his throat, offering Noah's name as a warning. Noah held up both hands in surrender.

"Don't mind him, Charlie," Louisa said. "He's a bit much, but you and I can be friends. Rest assured, you'll be well taken care of."

Charlie glanced at Harvey as Louisa paused.

Louisa followed Charlie's gaze to the well-dressed man in front of her. She wasn't certain that he was Charlotte's father, young and handsome as he was.

"And this must be your…"

"My big brother. Harvey," Charlie offered while Louisa assessed Harvey with the same fervor she'd looked Charlie over with moments before. "He's a lawyer," she added, somehow sensing that it mattered.

It wasn't the most important part of who her brother was, not from Charlie's perspective. There were probably a hundred things she liked about him that were higher up on her list, but Harvey still felt an indescribable surge of pride at Charlie's meager words. My brother, the lawyer.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Specter," Louisa said, offering her hand. "Your sister is in good hands."

Harvey shook the kid's hand, again stifling the urge to laugh, though he couldn't deny the girl had a certain spunk he admired. Both kids did, really. Maybe Charlie would be fine.

"Wait, you're a lawyer?" Noah nudged Louisa off to the side. "Where did you go to school?"

Harvey was about to answer, but Charlie beat him to it, offering up his alma mater as Noah gave an approving nod.

"I'll be Harvard Law, Class of 2020," Noah offered with a smile. "I've been cross-examining since age three."

"You might be out of a job in a few years, Harvey," Oliver snorted, clapping Harvey on the shoulder. "Noah talked himself out of a detention just last week."

"Captain of the debate team," Noah echoed.

"Co-captain," Louisa amended, giving Noah a forced smile.

Charlie glanced at her brother, a question in her eyes. They didn't have a debate team at Pulaski Street School. Maybe at high school.

"Do you like to debate?" Louisa asked, continuing on without waiting for Charlie's answer as if despite the girl's silence, she knew Charlie would fit right in. "You should join us. We meet Tuesdays and Thursdays after school."

The school debate team still met on Tuesdays and Thursdays with Charlie, Noah, and Louisa all honing their debate skills twice a week, competing at city and state championships. Harvey wasn't going to be out of a job any time soon—they weren't that good yet—but he still braced himself as he clocked Louisa's pink peacoat through the window at morning drop off.

Ray hadn't even rolled to a stop yet, but Charlie was already shifting toward the door as Louisa approached them. The girl had clearly been waiting for them to arrive, lingering outside the entrance, and that usually meant that whatever she had to say required Harvey's ear and not Charlie's.

Harvey briefly scanned the small crowd for Noah. He was the more down-to-earth of Charlie's friends, calmer and a little less severe. Some part of the kid was still impressed by Harvey, a little wary of him, maybe, but Harvey thought that was a good thing. Harvey sensed that there was very little Louisa feared.

It wasn't a bad thing. Harvey thought Charlie had chosen her friends well, or rather, they'd chosen her and Charlie had decided to stick with them.

Louisa was intelligent and confident, unyielding—all qualities which Harvey respected. At twelve, the kid had somehow possessed an intricate understanding of, and flawless ability to navigate, their upper-class Manhattan world better than most adults. For years, Harvey had watched the girl try to teach her tricks to his stubborn sister with little success. Charlie had no interest in dominating Manhattan's elite, in playing those sorts of games, but Harvey was almost certain that she was resistant just for the sake of being resistant.

And because of that, Charlie found a little solace in Noah. Because he was a little more laid back, a little more of a listener, the type to sit back and read the room before pushing into a battle. His parents weren't from the city. They had both grown up in small towns—one of them upstate, the real upstate, not Westchester and the other one on the other side of the globe. He knew the city—and their posh little school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, specifically—was a bubble. And beyond that, the kid generally didn't seem to give two shits about what other people thought of him.

But it was only Louisa who greeted the Specters at the curb, opening the door before Charlie could do so herself.

"Good morning, Mr. Specter." Louisa leaned in the open car door, preventing Charlie from slipping out even though she had already gathered her bag and put one foot out the door. "Very nice to see you as always." She locked eyes with Harvey without even sparing a glance towards Charlie—a charming, perfect smile, revealing the deep dimples in Louisa's cheeks. "That's a lovely tie," she added, dipping her gaze toward the blue silk.

Charlie leaned back in the seat, gripping her bag tighter to her chest as she closed her eyes and took a breath. She didn't know what Louisa was after, but she recognized her friend's smile. Charlie recognized the charming, sprightly tone. All of it intricately employed to get Louisa whatever she wanted.

Charlie had seen it all play out before—with teachers and Louisa's father. With random people she encountered throughout her day. It seemed to Charlie that Louisa might be capable of bringing entire countries to their knees should she wish to do it. And she'd do it with minimal effort. A smile here. A well-made observation there. A subtle compliment to seal the deal. That, or a threat. Louisa made it look simple, but Charlie had never been able to master it. She wasn't certain she wanted to.

Harvey glanced at his watch before looking back to Louisa. He had a few minutes to spare, but not much.

"Good morning, Louisa."

Harvey's gaze slid to his sister, her eyes directed at the headrest in front of her as she hugged her bag to her chest, like she was wishing she could be anywhere other than here. Louisa smiled before following Harvey's gaze. Charlie tried to sink further into the cushions.

"You look exhausted," Louisa said as she studied Charlie's face, her clothes, her keen eyes raking up and down Charlie's appearance.

Harvey knew enough about the two girls to know that was a relatively nice way of saying 'you look like shit'. It still displayed a bit of care, but not much. Harvey took in his sister's appearance then, really looking at her for the first time since leaving the apartment.

Maybe Charlie did look a little tired. 'Frumpy' and 'punk' were two words that also came to Harvey's mind. He didn't know where Charlie got her sense of style from or how she got away with skirting the school dress code like she did, but he never heard a complaint from the school. Not about her outfits, at least.

Today though, the only pieces of clothing that seemed up to code were the maroon school cardigan and tie settled loosely around her neck. The white oxford shirt she was wearing was loose-fitting and long enough that it might have come from Harvey's closet and she was wearing black leggings underneath with a pair of well-worn combat boots. Her hair was mostly hidden underneath a black knit hat. She wore no coat, and wasn't carrying one either, despite the morning's chill.

Harvey hadn't noticed any of it until now. Caught up with his emails, he hadn't noticed what she was wearing. He hadn't noticed how quiet they had been for the duration of the ride. How quiet she still was now.

The kids routinely jabbed at each other, usually no worse than the snarky banter passed between him and Charlie could be, but it wasn't the type of comment Charlie would typically let go without retort.

But Charlie had ignored Louisa's comment. She just mumbled a quiet goodbye, not meeting Harvey's eye as she scooted towards the door, gently shoving at Louisa to clear the way.

"I've got a few meetings this afternoon," Harvey answered.

Charlie's head barely dipped in a nod as a bit of relief crested over her. If her brother was tied up in meetings for the afternoon, she'd have the office to herself. Maybe she wouldn't even have to see him until they went home. Maybe she wouldn't have to speak with anyone.

Charlie made to get out of the car, but Louisa perched herself on the edge of the back seat, forcing Charlie to scoot back in, losing any ground she'd gained at escaping Harvey's presence.

"Speaking of afternoons…" Louisa mused.

Charlie turned toward her friend, gritting her teeth. "Isa, we need to go to class."

Louisa dismissed her with a wave. "We have plenty of time."

They did. Charlie knew they were still a bit early for class, but that wasn't nearly the point.

"Well, I'm sure Harvey needs to get to work and Ray probably has places to be, too," Charlie said, shooing Louisa toward the door. "Let's go."

Louisa leaned around Charlie, a question in her suddenly sanguine gaze as she looked to Harvey. It was more intrigue than anything that had Harvey nodding his head.

"Make it quick, Louisa."

Louisa's resulting smile was tinged with victory. "Ok, I was just wondering if maybe you would consider allowing Charlie to come over to my place on Saturday?" Louisa asked. "It's been ages."

Charlie smacked her hand against her forehead and once again tried to shrink into the seat cushions. Louisa could read people well, but Harvey was good at neutralizing his reactions. And she hadn't sensed Harvey tense at the words. She hadn't sensed the chuckle rumble deep in his chest, not like Charlie sensed those things.

Harvey had to laugh at the incredulousness of it, at the gall. "It's been ages because she's grounded."

Charlie recognized her brother's tone, the way the words held an edge of annoyance, a slight thinning of his patience. Charlie had already told Louisa it wasn't going to happen. She'd missed out on two weeks of hanging out with her friends and she was due to miss out on a little more, but Charlie was close to freedom now. So close.

"Isa, get out of the car." Charlie tried to push Louisa through the open door, but she wasn't budging.

Louisa shifted to look beyond Charlie once again. "But Charlie needs to come over Saturday afternoon, Mr. Specter."

Harvey couldn't deny that his sister's friend had a certain boldness that he esteemed, but he cut through it all the same.

"The only place Charlie needs to be on Saturday is wherever I decide she's to be," he answered.

"I know, I know. Of course, you're right," Louisa offered, a smidgen of deference. "And I know she has plans with Donna. But that's at night. This is for the afternoon, but actually…if Donna has other things she'd rather be doing Saturday night, Charlie is more than welcome to stay over."

Harvey tilted his head as he looked at the girls. He could nearly feel the tendrils of a headache beginning to slither through his brain, but Louisa wasn't done.

"You know, Mr. Specter, and I mean no disrespect here, but I don't think that grounding is even the recommended consequence anymore. Socialization with our peers is just too important at our age to limit," Louisa shook her head, before shrugging. "I myself have never even been grounded and anyway, I think she's more than learned her lesson, right Charlie?"

Charlie didn't dare to answer, not that she had time to.

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

Charlie tensed at her brother's tone. Harvey had snapped harder than he meant to, but he didn't need parenting advice from a teenager. He exhaled, reaching for some scrap of patience before he shifted.

"Give me and Charlie a minute," Harvey said, his tone a touch more gentle even though his words were far from a request.

Harvey's eyes didn't stray from his sister as he spoke, or as Louisa shifted out of the car and stepped away. Harvey reached across the back seat to pull the door shut and Charlie scooted away, putting some distance between them.

It wasn't entirely out of Charlie's nature to have someone else do her dirty work. Maybe that explained why she had been so quiet the whole morning. Why she was still so quiet now.

"Did you really think that was going to work?"

Charlie could feel Harvey's eyes drilling into the side of her face, loaded as the accusatory words that accompanied them.

"She did that all on her own," Charlie said, her arms pulled tight across her chest. "I don't think you needed to snap at her like that, though."

"And what was that bullshit about you being the only kid to ever get grounded?" Harvey asked, skating over Charlie's reprimand. "Did she come up with that all on her own too? I think you know better."

Charlie shrugged. "Pretty sure I'm still allowed to bitch to my friends even if I'm grounded. I mean, unless you want to forbid that, too. I won't talk to you or Donna or Mike or Ray either if that would please you," she said, her eyes darting to the front seat of the car to where Ray was respectfully ignoring them. "You might as well hold my mail. No contact with anyone at all. I'll just—"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Harvey asked, his head tilted in confusion at his sister's sudden tirade. 

"Nothing." Charlie took a deep breath, her hand on the door handle. "It's nothing. Can I go?"

Harvey ignored the question. She knew well enough that they weren't finished. "Why is she so eager to have you over?"

"How should I know?" A lie, but Charlie didn't want to get into it. Harvey trusted Charlie with Louisa and Noah and she wasn't going to make her brother question the worthiness of her friends over something she wasn't even going to be a part of. And there was no way Harvey would guess, seeing as Louisa had asked for Charlotte's afternoon even though she really wanted her presence for the evening. "I don't even want to go so it doesn't matter."

"Really?" Harvey raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to go."

Charlie shook her head. "And it's not like you're going to let me even if I did want to go," she answered, turning her gaze out the window. Louisa had already gone inside. Charlie wasn't sure if she was annoyed or grateful that she hadn't waited.

"You're right. I'm not," Harvey said, annoyance surging as Charlie continued gazing out the window as if she wasn't listening. "Like I told Louisa, I'm the one who gets to judge when you've learned your lesson and right now you don't seem to have learned a damn thing."

Harvey's tone pulled Charlie's gaze to him, his words catching even if he thought she wasn't listening. She wouldn't say she had learned nothing. In fact, in the span of a few short minutes, she had learned what it was to want to punch her brother right in his smug stupid face, a feeling that was oddly foreign to her.

Charlie knew it wasn't that odd for a sister to want to punch her brother, even if it felt that way to her. Most siblings fought. They punched and hit and kicked, but Charlie had never really had any physical altercations with either Harvey or with Marcus. Her brothers were older—thoroughly grown by the time she had come around and even though she had seen Marcus and Harvey go at one another from time to time, neither of her brothers had ever laid more than a playful hand on her. There were other ways of fighting that felt familiar to Charlie though, ways of wielding carefully chosen words in order to make them into weapons.

"Judge, jury, and executioner," Charlie scoffed, knowing that the mumbled comment would bother her brother, would spark in him just a bit of the certain fury she felt surging through her veins. Maybe it would spark some of the same hurt and confusion, too. 

"Keep it up and you'll be—"

"Grounded until I get a PhD?" she mocked. "Whatever, Harvey. I don't care. Can I go to class now?"

Harvey's eyes slid toward Ray's in the rearview mirror. Ray's expression told Harvey that they needed to leave now unless they wanted to be stuck in traffic. Unless he wanted to be late. Harvey turned to his sister anyway. "You really think that attitude is going to help your case any?"

Charlie met Harvey's eye, offering him nothing more than a quiet scoff as she reached for the door handle and slid out.

"Have a nice day, Ray," she offered before letting the door shut behind her.

LTLB Masterlist (Everything)

LTLB Masterlist (Chapters)

Chapter 8

[martinys-world]

The girl 9

Sorry for the late update. I have not proofread it. If you want to be tag please comment so that I can start taking people in it.

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

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When someone is in trouble a beam of some sort goes off. Like a beam for the key earlier. Sometimes it a little blue orb. Sometimes it’s a bright line on the ground. The leads the way. It’s completely random. Like it can be line then orb then line, it could be beam then line then orb. Once it was line 6 times then went to beam and orb again. They were all different scenarios. But one thing they have in common is that something need my help.

When any of my charms break it “shows” me a path to the one in need. Only i can see. K said he can see it sometimes but i also hang out with him a lot. Some my magic might run on him. When i told him about it. His reaction was “ like that episode of fairly odd parentswith the substitute Mrs. Sunshine.” When he say my confused face he said never mind. I was like okay.

After that ramble. I should get back on topic. The charm broke and now it is showing me an orb and it toke me to the roof top and leading me to the park i think. Maybe Central Park I don’t know, let alone care. Right now I was trying to focus on not falling or tripping. The orb leaded me to an opening and stop moving like a movie put on pause.

“ what am i here for?”

I heard a sound whine sound. Who ever it was EXTREMELY upset. It was coming from inside the park. Looking at the orb confuse. It went up and down as like it trying to say yes, or that what you are here for. Looking away from the glowing light.

“ i wish you can talk so it not just a guessing game.”

What I didn’t know was the orbs was shaking as if it was laughing. It kept laughing until it faded away into nothing. One thing I learned was expect the in expected, or it pointless to play what is it or what has happen. I try not to guess, but sometimes it’s hard not to guess. Sometimes i think it’s an abuse story or a child gets extreme lost. A drunk man getting robbed. I would never guess this. Not for a thousand years.

The scene smell like blood and tears. Seeing the yellow raincoat. I knew it was buster but his coat was duller and there was another color on it. The color red. That was not a good sign. The red was not just on him it was sprawled on the side walk. Somehow it gotten on the black lamp post. He was hugging something against his chest. Clinging to it for dear life. It wasn’t an object it was a being. I saw the brown and white colors. Oh no.

Buster was holding Altan for dear life. Altan was bleeding. “What happen?”

“Those pricks.”.

The pricks he talking bout a bunch of people that don’t like what they call the low life’s. The ones that don’t have homes or jobs. The ones where they pretend that nothing will be wrong. The ones that thinking engorging the problems will make it go away. Stuff doesn’t go away. People don’t go away. The worst part is that most of them are teenagers that are influenced by there parents. These teenagers are troublemakers. The adults are to busy working that they cant do the shenanigans themselves. So they let there kids do the trouble for them. There little stunts have been nothing but words, never any indication of violence. I would never expected this from anyone let alone someone just learning how to drive a car.

What hurt the most was I couldn’t do anything. I was no vet and there was no way he was going to live long enough to get to one. My extra equipment was left at Noah because i was in a rush here. Even if i run at full speed there and back. She lost to much blood to survive. No one likes to say the truth, but it was loud and clear.

Feeling hopeless and no solution in site. I kneel next to buster. I petted the injured one. Buster didn’t jump. He just let me be. The sound of sobs and hingeing in my ear was deafening. Trying so hard not to feel useless, i rub Altan head and told her she a good girl.

“Let my power shine make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was ours. Heal what has been hurt, change the fates design. Save what has been lost bring back what was ours. What was ours.

While saying/singing those words. My hand began to glow. Like it did with spelling but it wasn’t green like last time it was yellow. Yellow and bright. My body and mine were apart. I didn’t realize I was doing anything. The last thing I remember doing myself was rubbing Altan head. Tell how good she is. Then she began to kiss me. I was confused. What happen? Did i do that and it’s thing that k says i do. I zoned out the situation because it was too much for me.

Like always i had no time to think. I felt relief when i knew she was okay. I didn’t care that i didn’t know, what happens or how she was suddenly able to walk around. I was definitely crying my heart out. That feeling whatever it was, cut short. Buster was feeling more than happiness.

"What are you? How did you do that? "

I forgot buster was there. Why dose he look scared?

“What are you? "

He was backing up get away from me. The scene felt like a human and a predator. He was the human and i am the predator. But that was not the scene. if anything i am kitten getting yelled by his owner. Him being scared was scaring me.

"Buster. I am sli-" i began to say.

"What was that light. What else can you do. Can you control minds like you do bodies. Did you mess with my dog."

He was doing a defense mode. He was turning into a predator. He was ready to attack me. Altan was whining. She didn’t want us to fight. Trying to show use she okay. Like it would stop the fighting.

“Buster let’s clam down an-“

" don’t tell me to clam down. You did something that….. did something. go away. I never want to see you again."

The one word i would never use with Buster scared or afraid. In that moment i was terrified. This was not the buster i knew. This isn’t the Buster that always had a smile. The one i shared my money and food with because he was nice to everyone else’s besides me. This was not the Buster i platonically love. This has to be a dream right. When i close my eyes. I was going to wake up on the Diaz’s couch or in the back of Reek’s car. Just like i did this morning.

Buster held something in his hand. I could not tell you what it was, only that it was aimed at my head. I turn and was running my feet to the ground trying to get a move on. My hands landed on… water? Realizing my surrounding. Water was everywhere. My body was soaked, when did it start raining. When i gotten up i heard a clunk form next to me. I didn’t want to look behind me. Still believeing this was some type of dream but body didn’t have the same belief, began to run. To where I don’t know. I was too busy feeling scared and what ever else i felt.

At some point i began jogging and finally began to feel the cold. I couldn’t read the street signs because of how dark, plus with the rain everything became blurry. My backpack was at Noah’s place. That also met my phone was there. No contact with K. I felt lost and vulnerable for the first time in years. The unknow was scaring me. What could i do?

While my tears were blending in with the rain. I didn’t hear the noise behind me. I saw the light reflecting off the water before i noticed the noise. The light disappear. Then a car was next to me. I saw the sliver coat before the door open. I realized that no one was inside.

“ i would get in before you turn into water.”

Mirage. How did he even find me. I walk to the door and hop in. I was ready for tonight to be over.

When the door was close, the car began to move. We were probably going to Noah’s place again. I went to fetal position, it just felt right to hug my knees to my chest. I felt so much that i couldn’t comprehend. Did i lose buster. How am i a monster. Did i save Altan? There was so much that happen and I couldn’t make a sense of it.

"Want to talk about it?"

Shaking my head no, my eyes went to look out the window. It may have been blurred from the rain but it was better than my head. Nothing was said for the rest of that night. We both were driving down the cold empty streets. I couldn’t began to explain how i was feeling, but the streets represent part of my emotions.

Meanwhile

the only sound that was heard in the quiet night was a Nokia phone. It buzz against the couch, until someone pick up the said phone. when the button clicked was when they began to hear other voices.

“Sliver please explain, why you are jump on roof at this late at night."

" I would like to figure that out."

k eye turn into shock when, it was not the person he thought he would hear.

" Who are you?"

" My name in Noah?"

" Let me guess she left her whole bag at your place. then ran off randomly?"

" yep."

" Did her bracelet snap or was it something else?"

"bracelet, how did you know?"

" Not the first time, someone need her."

while moving the speaker part of the phone away from his mouth. k began to walk up some stairs.

"hey t and v. I know that you are getting off but let the next shift know that 1. I want camera on sliver, until I say other wise. 2. seen the live feed to the office?"

While multiple confirmations where said. K open the glass door to the room above all the computers. the sound of button being press. Papers being shuffle. the click of computer mouse. were muffle as soon as the door closed.

" Can you please explain what going on with silver?"

k put the phone on speaker while he sat down.

" I can't say anything, I am sorry."

"why not?"

" rule is sliver has to tell you."

"why not you, mr?"

" because you are part of sliver world. I would gladly tell you if i meant you but when star goes on these adventures, I can't jump in."

" why is that?"

" because she will go completely AWOL. she will not contact me at all. so I will have to do this massive hunt for her. It just simpler this way."

" what?"

" something happen her and she need to walk away for a bit."

" that how she in New York?"

" yea. the only way I was going to let her go bye herself, is that she keeps contact every 3- days unless other wise."

" you sound like a parent."

K was chuckle. " I guess somedays."

" how and when will she tell me."

" when she trust you."

there was nothing else said. K knew what he wanted to say, because K was there at one point in his life.

" I guessing she left her bag there?"

" yes. it's actually next to me."

" it won't be long now."

" what do you mean?"

" how st- I mean sliver works is that. she always have her bags on her. they are a life line in fact. leaving them there means she trust you enough to leave them."

K look at the screen. to see that sliver ran into the park. going back and relaxing again he focus his Conversation with Noah.

" what do you mean life line.

" well if she docent have her phone or not answer me. I would kill her. no, if, and, or, buts."

" you do sound scary."

K snorted at the comment. " sure lets okay with that." looking at the computer K notice a light in the little group. it was a sign that he was going to have a lot of cleanup to do. it was also as sign to cut his conversation.

" Look Noah, I have to go. Someone need my help here."

" this might sound crazy but this helps a lot."

" I know it will always feel like she docent trust you or that there something she doing but won't say, but look at the little things. she leave her bag with you. She is probably sleeping there. it won't be lone until she says something."

"okay"

That simple okay was sort of was a nod, that they understood each other. that Noah couldn't ask anymore question even thought he wanted to. K couldn't tell him, even if he wanted to. The phone ended on an understanding that they both have to do some waiting.

when k knew the call was ended. he pull open the draws next to him. he need to do something real quick before he forgot. he pulled out a stack of files. he saw that reek was the first file. he put it to the side. saw what said kris Diaz and Brenna Diaz. h tossed those with reek. he found what he was looking for. he grab a sticky note and put under Noah face's.

a good one. sliver trust? look into?

Closing the file. he put the family together pushing the files to the side. There was one underneath. It was someone wearing a yellow rain coat. he looked back at camera and notice the same raincoat.

" looks like I will add notes to you also."

holding buster file he got up and went to the door.

" sliver what did you do now?"

@lainekyuu @apexprime

[pinkthick]

Maybe a monster

Pairing: Simon Petrikov/Betty Grof

Simon Petrikov & Kid!Marceline

Summary: “Hey. Hey, Simon. Breathe with me.”

“Don’t” Simon snapped, before he looked horrified. "I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, I meant-"

Simon sat in the back seat of Noah's car, the world outside passing by in a blur. His mind was a tumultuous storm of confusion. He'd spent what felt like an eternity confined within the cold, sterile walls of the secretive organization, a place where they had forced him to feed on animal blood, slowly weaning him off the human craving.

Which they succeeded in, I suppose.

Betty was sitting beside him, her worried gaze fixed on him as she squeezed his hand gently, trying to offer him some comfort.

Noah was the one driving them home and the silence weighed heavy on the air, the tension in the car palpable. It was actually him who broke the silence, his voice filled with a sense of unease "How was Tiffany treating you?" he asked, his eyes briefly darting to the rearview mirror.

Simon furrowed his brow, struggling to recall who Tiffany was. The name seemed vaguely familiar, but his memories were a jumble. "Tiffany...?" he muttered, his voice hoarse and uncertain.

Betty sensed his discomfort and held his hand even tighter. She didn't want this conversation to go down that path. "Noah, maybe now isn't the best time to bring that up," she said softly, her eyes pleading with him to drop the subject.

Noah sighed, not realizing his mistake. "Oh, you don't know her name," he mumbled, his grip on the steering wheel tightening. "She was the woman who... helped you get used to animal blood. She wasn't that hard on you, was she?"

Simon's eyes suddenly turned crimson, a dark anger flashing within them. He clenched his jaw, his fangs pressing against his lips. " Helped me? How can you say that?" he hissed, his voice laced with frustration and anger. The memories of the torment he had endured from her were flooding back.

Betty felt the tension in the car escalate and squeezed Simon's hand with all her might, silently imploring him to calm down. Noah winced, realizing that his choice of words had been far from ideal. "I'm sorry," he stammered, choosing his words more carefully this time. "Help wasn't a good word, I suppose. But she was trying to make the transition easier for you, even if it didn't feel that way."

Simon's anger flared, and he felt an overwhelming urge to lash out at Noah. "Were you there? To see what she was doing to me?" he seethed, his nails digging into the palm of his hand as he fought to control himself.

Noah let out a weary sigh, keeping his eyes on the road. "No, Simon, I wasn't there. But I know the procedure. You think I don’t do it too?" He tried to convey a sense of understanding, but his voice was strained.

Simon's resentment simmered just beneath the surface. "So you tortured people," he accused, his words dripping with bitterness.

Noah's grip on the steering wheel tightened even more as he wrestled with the weight of Simon's accusation. "Simon, it isn't like that—“ he began, his voice low and apologetic, but before he could explain further, Betty intervened.

"All right!" Betty interjected, her voice tinged with urgency. "I was thinking maybe you tell us about the collar he's wearing." She pointed to the sleek silver collar around Simon's neck. It glistened under the soft interior car lights, and there was something about it that felt off to her.

Simon's attention was momentarily diverted from his anger as he touched the collar, his fingers tracing the cold metal. "I don't even know why they put this on me," he mumbled, his voice a mixture of confusion and resignation. "It's supposed to be some kind of tracking device, I guess. But I can't get it off, and it's been driving me crazy."

Noah nodded, his eyes focused on the collar. "It's a standard precaution," he explained. "They use it to monitor newly turned vampires until they're deemed safe. They can control it remotely, restrict your movements, and even incapacitate you if necessary. It's not pleasant, but it's something they do to keep tabs on you."

Betty's curiosity led her to another question. She leaned closer to Simon, her voice soft but inquisitive. "So the collar has some kind of microphone in it?" She was trying to understand the extent of the surveillance they had been under.

Noah nodded, confirming her suspicion. "Unfortunately, yes," he admitted. "They can listen in on your conversations, but don't worry too much. It's mostly the ones in charge of you who have access to the information. They use it to make sure you're adapting to your new life and following the rules."

Simon's anger simmered, and he clenched his fists, the idea of constant surveillance making him feel like a prisoner once more. "So they hear everything?" he growled, his frustration mounting.

Noah, realizing Simon's discomfort, tried to offer some reassurance. "If it makes you feel better," he began, "in about two months, they'll likely remove the collar. It's a probationary period they impose on new vampires. If you prove that you can live peacefully with humans and control your instincts, they'll grant you more freedom. That's the goal, Simon, to get you back to a normal life."

Simon leaned his head back against the car seat and let out a heavy sigh. "Great," he muttered, a mix of exhaustion and resignation in his voice. It felt like an uphill battle. He was already so tired, how can he keep going?

Betty turned to him, her expression filled with tenderness, and gently kissed his cheek. "Hey, everything is alright," she reassured him, her lips lingering against his skin for a moment. She wanted to convey her love and support, to let him know that they were in this together.

Noah, perhaps not sensing that he had said enough for the moment, chimed in again. "But the good thing is," he began, "you don't have to go back to our base. Unless, of course, you do something, which wouldn't be ideal—"

Betty couldn't help but interject, giving him a pointed look. "Thank you, Noah ." she said with a hint of exasperation in her voice. "I think we get the idea."

Noah, feeling the weight of the awkward moment he had caused, chuckled nervously. "Right, uh—I'll stop talking," he said, a hint of embarrassment in his voice. He focused on the road ahead instead, his eyes returning to the task at hand.

Simon couldn't help but chuckle as well, the tension in the car easing slightly. He appreciated Noah's concern, even if it sometimes came out in odd ways. He was an idiot sometimes.

Some things really don’t change after all.

With a little smile, Simon leaned his head on Betty's shoulder. She began to make soothing patterns on his hand, her gentle strokes offering him comfort and reassurance.

Simon and Betty finally arrived at their home, a sense of relief washing over them as they stepped out of Noah's car. Betty turned to Noah, a grateful smile on her face. "Thank you, Noah," she said sincerely. She knew that despite their differences, he had helped bring Simon back to her.

Noah nodded, a hint of a smile on his face. "Yeah, no problem," he replied, genuinely concerned about Simon's well-being. "Just, uh—take care of him, okay?"

Simon couldn't resist a teasing scoff. "Think I can't take care of myself ?" he retorted, his mood lightening.

Noah smirked, his tone teasing, "Nope. Go get some rest. You need it."

Simon and Betty exchanged a look, and Simon took Betty's hand in his. He turned back to Noah and said, "Just be careful."

“I will.”

As Simon and Betty entered their apartment, Noah discreetly took out his phone and called his superior, Tiffany. He had questions that had been gnawing at him. "So, why did you make me ask him this?" Noah inquired, his voice tinged with frustration. He wanted to understand the purpose behind the uncomfortable conversation he had initiated in the car.

Tiffany chuckled on the other end of the line. "Just wanting to see how he'd react," she replied, her tone suggestive of a hidden agenda but also filled with sly amusement.

Noah didn't sound convinced, but he knew better than to press the issue further. "Right," he muttered, a touch of frustration in his voice.

Tiffany continued, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "At least we know you can act like an idiot. This will come in handy in your next missions." With that, she hung up, leaving Noah to sigh in exasperation.

Noah couldn't help but share Simon's sentiment about Tiffany. She was indeed a difficult and manipulative woman, and he, too, had his own grievances with her. She just had a way of making everyone’s life difficult. He sighed and looked at Simon's file on the passenger seat next to him. He couldn't help but smile a little, realizing that his friend had made it through a challenging ordeal. He knew that Simon was strong, and he had faith that Simon and Betty would find their way through this together.

As he drove away from their apartment, he couldn't help but hope that things would get better for Simon. You got this man.

As they reached their apartment, the soft glow of the moon spilled into the room, creating a tranquil ambiance. She moved closer, her fingers tracing gentle circles on his back. "I'm glad we're back," Simon whispered, his voice barely above a murmur.

Betty's eyes filled with understanding and compassion as she looked at the man she loved. She leaned in, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to his lips. "Me too," she replied.

Betty's concern never wavered. She looked into Simon's eyes, her gaze filled with empathy, and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Simon's throat tightened, and he shook his head gently. "No. Not yet, at least," he replied, his voice trembling. The memories of the torture and captivity were still too raw, too painful to put into words. And besides, he didn’t want anyone hearing what he’s feeling or has been through while he has that goddamn collar on him.

Tears welled up in Simon's eyes, and Betty reached up to tenderly wipe them away. Her touch was a soothing balm, and she whispered, "Take your time, my love.”

Simon couldn't hold back the flood of emotions any longer. He pulled Betty into a tight, comforting hug, burying his face in the crook of her neck. She continued to offer words of solace and reassurance as he cried silently. Betty whispered softly, "You're so strong, Simon. You survived the worst, and now you have me, and I'll do everything I can to help you." She ran her fingers through his hair, her touch gentle and soothing.

As a newly turned vampire, Simon had gained strength and abilities, but in that moment, Betty felt like he was more vulnerable than ever. Not physically, but emotionally.

Simon clung to Betty as if she were his lifeline, tears streaming down his face as they sat on the floor of the kitchen. How did they get on the kitchen floor again? Weren’t they standing? She held him tightly, offering the security and comfort he desperately needed.

The blood pounded in his ears as his heart thudded in her chest. His hands shook and his feet tingled. His vision disfigured, as if he was looking through a fish-eye lens. He was still clutching Betty, his hands wrapped so tightly around her that his nails dug into her back. Nails—not claws, right? Breathing was hard. Too hard. As if he just ran a marathon. He cried harder, his chest growing tight as bile rose in his throat.

“Hey. Hey, Simon. Breathe with me.”

“Don’t” Simon snapped, before he looked horrified. "I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, I meant-"

“Simon. You're panicking. Breathe. We can talk later." Betty took a deep breath, making sure to exaggerate her breaths. "See? Inhale. Exhale. Come on, Simon, this is easier than finding artefacts."

Simon made a sound that was half laugh, half sob, but he copied her, inhaling and exhaling until his panic attack recedes.

"Better?"

Simon didn't even bother to reply, staring at her with a look of such terrible pain in his eyes that Betty had to look away. It felt like she was looking at a wounded animal, those eyes begging her to just get it over with already and end his suffering.

It took some time, but eventually, the storm of emotions began to subside. Simon sniffled and whispered, "Sorry." Betty continued to hold him close, her voice filled with love and understanding. "You know you have nothing to apologize for," she said gently.

Simon's voice was shaky as he confessed, "Fuck, I don't—I don't know why I reacted like that. Nothing happened."

Betty's response was filled with compassion. She squeezed him gently and said, "Just try to relax my love" Simon nodded, still trying to regain his composure. She continued as her fingers gently brushed his cheek. “What matters is that we're here together, and you're safe now. We'll face whatever comes our way, as long as we're together.”

Simon's heart felt a bit lighter with each passing moment in Betty's comforting embrace. He turned to her and said, "Can we stay like this for a little bit?"

Betty smiled softly, her love for him shining in her eyes. "As long as you want," she replied, holding him even tighter.

You’ll be okay, Simon. You’ll see.

Notes: Hope you guys enjoyed it. I kinda rushed this, will probably edit it later though. As usual, if you have any ideas leave them in the comments or just write what you think about this chapter. (I love comments)

Next chapter we’re back with Simon and Marcyyy. (And Ethan oops) 😭

Part 1/Part 2/Part 3/Part 4/Part 5/Part 6/Part 7/Part 8/Part 9/Part 10/?

Masterlist

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

@ahopelessromanticwritersworld requested: "I would like to humbly request number 19 from the kids prompt with Mickey and Reuben in the Werwolf au!"

|| prompt list ||

prompt: one is forced to take of a child and handles it much better than expected. when their significant other finds them, they're absorbed in a game with the child

au: werewolf

word count: 1125

warnings: domestic fluff, pregnancy mention, mickey and reuben being so in love

✎……masterlist on pinned

✎……sorry this took me so long, my darling <3

There was a knock at the door and Mickey jumped up from the couch to answer it. Reuben just chuckled at his mate, knowing how excited he had been for the past several weeks for this day.

Flinging open the door, he revealed his Alpha and Luna standing on the other side. Jake holding their one-and-a-half-year-old son on his hip, and Ronnie sporting a large baby bump.

“Hey, Noah, my little buddy!” Mickey greeted as he held out his hands for the tot.

And Noah went easily, little grin on his face showing off his dimples when he was finally in Mickey’s grasp. Noah was a cuddly kid. He would let anyone hold him if his parents allowed it. But if it was a member of the pack it was a whole nother story. Sometimes Jake and Ronnie wondered if he preferred the pack over his own parents.

Mickey moved away from the doorway, tickling Noah’s side to make his shoulders bunch up.

“Hey, guys, come on in,” Reuben said as he got up from the couch. 

“Oh, we’re actually here,” Ronnie joked, stepping through the threshold with a hand rubbing soothingly into her belly. “For a second there I thought we were invisible.” 

Mickey looked away from the baby with a guilty smile. “Sorry. You’re just not as cute.” 

“Hilarious,” Jake scoffed lightly with a smile, knowing it was true and setting down the stuffed full diaper bag at his feet.

Reuben came to stand beside his mate, hands in his jean pockets. “How’re you feelin’, Luna?”

“Very pregnant,” Ronnie replied on a sigh, “Ready to relax for a minute before pup gets here.” 

“Pup!” Noah echoed with a grin, finger pointed at Ronnie. 

“Yeah? Is your little brother in there?” Mickey asked, stepping closer so Noah could put his little hand on his mama’s belly. “Got any big plans for the babymoon?”

Ronnie shook her head as Jake came to stand behind her. Strong arms wrapping around her middle, chin hooking over her shoulder as he kissed lightly at her neck. Reuben smiled as he watched them. Listening to his Luna explain that they were just going to stay home, let Jake do the nesting he’s been itching to do for weeks now but couldn’t because of Noah. They were made to be parents, it seemed. Took to it like ducks on water.

Then Reuben glanced at his mate, who was bouncing Noah on his hip. And behind the excitement and joy, he could see a bit of longing there too. A bit of sadness, maybe. He could feel it. Deep in his chest, where his connection to Mickey laid. 

After a bit more small talk and catching up, Jake decided it was time to go with a nod towards the door and a grunt that made Ronnie affectionately roll her eyes. 

“Everything you need is gonna be in here.” She kicked the diaper bag lightly. “Diapers, wipes, extra clothes. Make sure you put the breast milk in the fridge. I know you have toys here but I packed a few of his favorites just in case. And seriously, don’t hesitate to call if you need anything, okay?”

“Okay, okay — now get outta here you two! Enjoy your last weekend as parents of one!” Mickey shooed them towards the door.

But he let them both get one last kiss and hug from their son. Then they were gone. Mickey and Reuben followed them out onto the porch, let Noah watch as they climbed back into their Subaru and drive away. His little hand opening and closing in a wave as they went.

It was a beautiful May afternoon, the sun shining bright in the clear blue sky, so Mickey and Reuben decided to play with Noah outside for a bit before he went down for his nap. It was mostly a lot of running around. Noah shrieking happily at the top of  his little lungs and laughing whenever one of them would catch him. But he seemed to be having fun and wearing himself out. 

But eventually he lost interesting in that game. Opting instead to look through their flower garden, which he knew not to pick from. Reuben and Mickey sat down in the grass not too far off with a huff. Mickey’s shoulder leaned into his mate’s side.

“God, he’s so fucking cute,” Reuben sighed as he watched him reach up for a flower, then retract his hand with a look like he was scolding himself. 

“I know,” Mickey agreed with a grin. “Who would’ve thought our Alpha could make such cute pups.” 

“I think it’s mostly Ronnie,” Reuben joked, and Mickey barked out a laugh with his head thrown back. Reuben kissed his cheek. “Gonna go get the little guy some water. Want anything?” 

“No, I’m good. Thank you though.” Mickey looked up at him with a smile. 

And he really couldn’t help it, Reuben ducked down and pressed a sweet kiss to his grinning lips. Then he got up and headed inside. 

The unit controlled air inside was refreshing to Reuben’s burning skin as he came in through the backdoor of their cabin. After digging through the diaper bag, pulling out the three pairs of pajamas and what felt like ten outfits that Ronnie had packed, he finally found Noah’s water cup to fill at the sink. It was nearing three, and the little guy needed to go down for a nap before dinner. At the very least, a few hours to rest. Maybe they could throw on Bluey — the only thing Jake and Ronnie would allow him to watch when he was over at someone else’s house. Any other time, they were pretty strict about no screens. 

As Reuben filled the sippy-cup, he could hear Mickey talking through the open window above the sink. Looking out, he smiled at the sight before him. 

They were playing some game. Noah pointing and babbling at his mate before he would turn away and do a lap around one of their garden plots. Little arms swinging at his sides and head tilting this way and that. Reuben laughed at the sight, wondering where he got that from. 

When Noah made it back to Mickey still sitting with his legs stretched out in the grass, he started babbling complete nonsense and pointing at him again. 

“You son of a bitch,” Mickey said like he had just been convinced of something before hopping to his feet. “I’m in.” 

Then Noah wrapped one hand around Mickey’s finger and started leading him around the garden. Reuben turned off the water with a smile.

When the weekend is over, maybe it was time to start talking about starting their own family.

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[virtchandmoir]

'Bringing the energy': How Scott Moir is moulding the next generation of ice dancers

Scott Moir hasn't lost his edge. 

January 10, 2023

Former Olympic dance figure skater Scott Moir, one half of the gold medal team of Virtue and Moir, now coaches teams from the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Moir works with Canadian ice dancers Jacob Portz and Alyssa Robinson as they practise at the Komoka Wellness Centre west of London on Friday Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

“We're going to kick Charlie's ass,” Moir, 35, quipped during a lively training session last week at Komoka Wellness Centre. “Quote that one.”

The one-liners, verbal jabs, laughs and hockey talk is so familiar to anyone who closely followed Moir’s career with his longtime partner, Tessa Virtue of Ilderton, to Olympic gold and the top of the skating world.

Later this month, the ice dance superstar-turned-coach will be in San Jose, Calif., to support one of his promising teams – Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko – at the U.S. national championships.

In the fall, he bet Ponomarenko, a die-hard San Jose Sharks fan, the Maple Leafs would beat them. When Toronto didn’t, Moir wore one of Sharks captain Logan Couture’s jerseys on the ice, then handed it over to his student.

“He loved that,” said the head coach and managing director of the Ice Academy of Montreal’s Ontario campus.

The American ice dance team of Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko work through their routine under the gaze of coach Scott Moir at Komoka Wellness Centre on Friday Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

This week, Moir will wear out a path to the Kiss and Cry area at the Canadian figure skating championships in Oshawa. His local crew is looking to take big steps after some international success.

Londoners Lily Hensen and Nathan Lickers aim to crack the Top 5 in the senior ranks while Ridgetown’s Alyssa Robinson and Calgary’s Jake Portz have that potential, too. Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker, who relocated from B.C., hope to grab a podium spot.

Kilworth’s Jordyn Lewis and Ilderton’s Noah McMillan want to earn a junior worlds berth and former novice champs Layla Veillon and Alex Brandys, both Londoners, are taking the next step up the ladder. Lewis and Veillon are also on the Ice Ignite synchro team seeking a junior worlds spot.

Internationally, Leia Dozzi and Pietro Papetti skate for Italy and Samantha Ritter and Daniel Brykalov represent Azerbaijan.

Senior ice dancers Nathan Lickers and Lily Hensen of London work on their routines under the guidance of Olympic champion Scott Moir and his mom, Alma Moir, at Komoka Wellness Centre Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

“The project here is to create two equal schools,” Moir said. “Montreal is, by far, the most dominant in the world. At the last Olympics, they had 10 of the last 20 skaters (in ice dance). That’s a lot. It’s a big ask, but I think it’s possible now.”

Moir studied the Montreal way when he and Tessa Virtue moved there for their dominant run to the 2018 Olympic title. They worked under old friends Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, then Moir brought the spirit of camaraderie and friendly, in-house competition back home.

“The kids have to create the atmosphere they want,” he said. “They cheer each other on. Even though a lot of them will go and be on the competition ice with each other, I learned the real magic is if you have each other’s back. There’s a balance to be struck.

“We (Moir and Virtue) didn’t have the same in Canton (Mich.),” he added. “We had it early when Charlie and I were really firing in 2010. I wasn’t the most mature young man in 2014, so I didn’t use that environment to my advantage. But we doubled down on it in 2018 (alongside the French team of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron) and it was to our advantage, for sure.”

Former Olympic ice dancer Scott Moir now has a thriving business coaching teams from the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Moir skates past his mom, and fellow coach, Alma Moir, at Komoka Wellness Centre on Friday Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

LENDING A HAND: Moir grew up surrounded by figure skating coaches. That family connection remains at the academy. His mother Alma, aunt Carol and cousins Sheri and Cara are part of the staff.

“It’s fun – it’s kind of hard to call him my boss now, though,” Alma joked. “He stresses a positive attitude to the coaches and an old (veteran) here sometimes, I have to do a check on how positive I am some days. It took a while for the kids to feed into it, but you could see the energy change from the summer to now.”

Moir has some non-family help, too, in Justin Trojek and soon-to-be-married Madison Hubbell and Adrian Diaz, a Spanish ice dancer. Hubbell, who finished third at the last Olympics with Zachary Donohue, called her immediate jump from athlete to full-time coach a rare transition.

“It was really after meeting Adrian and seeing his love of skating and different perspective that I started enjoying analyzing skating together,” the 31-year-old from Michigan said.

“When we trained together (in Montreal), one of my favourite things was Scott’s energy – whether it was doing back-and-forth cardio or competing on a daily basis. It can feel like a very solo sport and Scott made a point of including you and cheering you on with a compliment or kind word. He’s a big instigator in what I would consider more of a hockey mentality: rowdy, yelling and having fun.”

MOVING FORWARD: Moir, who’s married and has a two-year-old daughter, recently congratulated Virtue on her engagement to Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly. Once in a while, he admits he will press her for some inside info on his favourite team.

His skaters want to hear stories about Virtue, too.

“I looked up to Tessa so much and still do every day,” said Carreira, 22. “She came to the rink once and it was literally the best day. Getting to train with Scott Moir every day is a privilege. I grew up in Montreal and they were my heroes.”

Moir believes the much-loved on-ice connection he shared with Virtue can be taught technically, but he has no interest in churning out mere carbon copies.

“These athletes aren’t going to be able to be Tessa and Scott, because in four, eight and 12 years, Tessa and Scott aren’t going to be good enough,” he said. “They already aren’t. We wouldn’t have won the last Olympics. The sport is evolving, the skaters will and I have to, as well. It’s about making it their own. Everyone has a different look and story.”

Former Olympic dance figure skater Scott Moir coaches American skaters Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

Carreira and Ponomarenko, whose parents Marina and Sergei won 1992 Olympic ice dance gold, are developing that mature skating connection that served Virtue and Moir so well. But Moir isn’t designing similar programs for Veillon, 16, and Brandys, 17.

“You can’t coach two athletes the same way and you motivate the man and woman different,” Moir said. “That’s the fun of coaching. I don’t come here to walk down memory lane. I come here to learn, too. How can I teach this kid a counter even though I was a good counter turner? Now, I need to figure out a different way. It’s a challenge and my coaching staff challenges me. Hopefully, this momentum turns into a snowball and keeps rolling.”

The bond is already encouraging.

“Even though I’m one of the youngest, you completely forget an age gap,” Veillon said. “You get to come to the rink every day and skate with some of your closest friends. The coaches are amazing, they want the best for us and we have such a fun time.”

ONE-ON-ON WITH COACH SCOTT MOIR

Former Olympic dance figure skater Scott Moir demonstrates some footwork for one of his teams at the Komoka Wellness Centre on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

Has your approach to the sport changed since on-ice retirement?

“I was much more performance and result-based. I wanted to win. I studied the points and what needed to be better to be on top. My experience with Tessa, as a coach, showed me if I strategize properly, it can work. I was a little riskier as an athlete, because it’s you out there. You’re the one who puts your heart and soul into it. Now, I feel I owe it to the kids. You feel responsible, but you still have to be a little dangerous. That edge is what gives us an advantage. The goal is not personal-best skates alone. It’s taking advantage of your opportunity. Go for it and take the lessons of being able to perform in front of people, because you have to really bring it on this stage.”

What’s the goal of the Ice Academy of Montreal’s Ontario campus?

“To make great people. It sounds so stupid, but we believe success is a byproduct. You’re a good person first, support your teammates, demand the best of yourself, never stop wanting to grow and be ready to learn. It’s not a trade-off. I used to think you can drink the Kool-Aid and be your best self, but I wanted to win. Patrice, Marie-France and Romain (Haguenauer) showed me it all goes hand-in-hand. We’re an elite school and we want to be on top of the world. As we develop these kids and these skills that will serve them well in life, we want to become excellent athletes able to stand on top of podiums. We don’t have a ton of great skating schools in Canada and our success doesn’t mean we can’t have great schools in Scarborough, Vancouver and Calgary. We’re the most dominant skating country with the most rinks. I hope we can get the footprint a little bigger so we can affect more athletes. Hopefully, we can compete against our Montreal teammates and push their boundaries, too.”

How can you affect the skating experience for your students beyond the technical elements?

“I had success in my career, but I got bogged down in the negatives over many years. Who knows if we would’ve beaten Marilyn (Davis) and Charlie, but I think my outlook on skating kept me from being my best self leading up to 2014 (silver medal in Sochi). I’d love for the kids to hear my wisdom and not have to go through the black period I did. At the same time, it’s their journey and they need to have their own path. I can have a direct impact on the negative parts of the sport that don’t need to exist. There are parts of the sport people may think of as ugly or the judging, but being able to be happy about yourself no matter what people think can be a positive. In this age of social media and all that s—, it’s important. Even before the scores, are you personally happy? Did you give everything you had? I’m hoping to prepare for them to deal with those issues the right way.”

How do you impact a generation of skaters who didn’t face the same challenges you did?

“They motivate very differently. It’s tricky for me. I grew up in the other one. My dad was fair and hard on me. If I deserved it, I got it and I deserved it a lot. He didn’t baby me and I thrived. I have fantastic parents. I had some coaches that were a little harder on me and when you go through the Russian schools, of course, that’s the way it is. I loved it. There were also dark parts it created that I also had to deal with later in life. I think there’s a way to expect the most out of these kids and have them expect it, but through love and support. There’s a balance. You can be critical and deliver the message the right way. This generation motivates from exciting things. You’ve got to keep it fresh and keep them rolling and feeling good. My first couple of years, I got bogged down in hammering on them, because I like being in the trenches. The kids felt it was super heavy and it didn’t work. I started being more positive and bringing the energy every day and you see them lift up with results much better. We’re trending that way and it’s natural for me, too.”

Are you able to watch old videos of you and Tessa Virtue skating without finding every little fault in it?

“My perspective of our career is probably the most jaded. You can’t really watch yourself without it. Watching it is getting better and better, actually. You forget the cues you’re supposed to be doing and I’m able to just watch Tessa much more than what I’m doing wrong, so that’s enjoyable. I watch it with a different eye now that I coach. I was very critical and it wasn’t fun to watch tape before, but it’s getting better. I think for the sake of ice dance – and I think that’s why 2018 was such a success for us – the sport evolved. We came back, dove in, pushed ourselves and were able to come away with Olympic gold again. It would be foolish for me to step in and say if I can create 10 Scott Moirs, we’re going to be successful. I don’t believe that.”

—The London Free Press

[bi-bard]

A Minute from Home but I Feel so Far from It - Tenth Doctor Imagine (Doctor Who)

Title: A Minute from Home but I Feel so Far from It

Pairing: Tenth Doctor X Reader

Based On: The View Between Villages

Word Count: 922 words

Warning(s): mention of bad childhood

Summary: The Doctor showed (Y/n) the beauty of the universe. (Y/n) adored it all. Now, (Y/n) is mere moments from seeing their family and hesitates. The Doctor is curious why going home seems to terrify (Y/n) so much.

Author's Note: Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. We did it, folks! Last imagine! Let's hope this one's good!

P.S. this is totally not what I think would happen if the Doctor ever tried to drag me back to hometown (that was so sarcastic).

PART TWO HERE

STICK SEASON - NOAH KAHAN WRITING CHALLENGE MASTERLIST

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

There was something comical about watching the Doctor fly the TARDIS.

It was meant to be flown by more than one person, and since he refused to teach me how to fly, he was left running around the console like a cartoon character. I thought of characters like Tom & Jerry and Wile E. Coyote. I was almost certain there was a little cloud of dust forming behind him as he went.

But then the TARDIS would land, and he would seem so confident and in control. It was like a switch being flipped on and off. Granted that 'in control' thing would fade once we stepped outside and we weren't usually where or when he wanted us to be.

This trip was no different.

He leaned on the console with the same "I'm so impressive" smirk on his face.

"What," I asked when he didn't start rambling about where we were. "Where are we? Or when? Or both?"

"Best place in the universe," he said, motioning toward the door.

I furrowed my eyebrows at him for a moment. "Alright..."

He nodded toward the door.

I scoffed before turning around and going to the door.

I pulled the door open and popped my head through to get a look around.

I almost immediately pulled my head back and slammed the door shut, stumbling a few steps back. I froze after that. It felt like I couldn't move or talk or anything.

"What's wrong," I heard the Doctor ask. "Did I drop us in the wrong place again?"

When I didn't speak up, he walked over to me. He stepped around me to open the door.

"I swear, you try to take someone on a nice visit home, and this thing always ends up dropping into some kind of battle- woah!"

I grabbed the back of his jacket when he went to step outside. I pulled him back before slamming the door shut and standing in front of it.

"What'd you do that for?"

"What'd you bring me home for," I snapped.

"I... I thought it'd be nice to offer you a chance to visit," he explained quickly. "You don't mention it much, but I don't need you suddenly getting homesick-"

"I wouldn't have gotten homesick."

That wasn't a lie either.

There is this weird effect that small towns seem to have on people. It formed two main categories.

The first would be the ones who peaked in said small town and lived there for the rest of their lives. They probably married their high school sweetheart and had three kids with weirdly spelled names.

The second would be the people who ran for the hills as soon as they could. They were often the ones made to feel miserable for not being absolutely obsessed with the town and the people in said town.

I was part of the second group.

Kids were assholes, adults didn't care, and I was trapped.

The Doctor was my escape from all of that. I was convinced he knew that. Apparently, I was wrong.

"(Y/n)," he muttered. "What's going on?"

"I... I should be excited to visit, I know, and I know you meant well," I replied. "But... I can't. I can't be here."

"Hey, hey," he reached out and touched my arms. "Why? What's wrong?"

I couldn't form the answer. I hadn't realized how much shame I had taken in that part of my life. I didn't want him to know about it. I didn't want his view of me to change because of it.

The Doctor let out a quiet sigh, dropping his hands from my arms. He ran his hand over his face.

"I've seen you face some of the scariest things in the universe," he said. "Daleks and Cybermen and Weeping Angels-"

"That's different!"

"Why," he asked.

I looked down for a moment.

"(Y/n)?"

"When I face those things, I have you with me... but here... I..."

I felt myself freezing up again. Whatever being decided my immediate fight-or-flight response should be freeze would have hell to pay when I finally made it to the afterlife.

"I'm still here," he promised after I had been silent for a few moments too long. He stepped forward slowly. "I'm still going to be right next to you."

He slowly reached out his hand, a grin forming on his face. I looked down at his hand. It was like I was studying it, seeing if this was some kind of trick or a trap.

"Just like any other trip," he added.

I looked back at his face. His grin only seemed to grow when I made eye contact with him. I couldn't help but grin back at him.

I reached out and grabbed his hand. He immediately pulled me to the door.

"I want to see everything," he said excitedly as he pulled the door open and pulled me outside. "Every store you used to visit and where you got coffee and where you would run off to read-"

"Doctor," I planted my feet as he tried to lead me down the road. He looked back at me. "I think it's only fair that I get to lead the way on this trip, don't you?"

There was a pause before he let out a happy laugh. He used his free hand to gesture to the road behind him. "Lead the way, please."

I chuckled and started walking forward.

I could tell that this was going to be the best trip home that I had ever had.

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

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[satashiiwrites]

wip whenever

yeah this is getting long. No there’s no end in sight. Yes I’m enjoying the Sheriff’s POV.

Tagged by @outtoshatter for a wip whenever. Thanks for the tag lovely. Tagging (no pressure) @tkwritesdumbassassins @monsterrae1 @redhoodiskra @missanniewhimsy @whimsyswastry @kikiroo and how about @scoobybuddie. No pressure as always if you want to play along, this is just for fun.

Wip whenever banner by the talented @radio-chatter

Title: Suspicions, from the Firefighter!Derek AU series

Fandom: Teen Wolf, borrowing of a few characters from 911 Lonestar that pop in from time to time.

Working summary:

Noah had his suspicions about the Hale fire.  With Laura Hale dead and animal attacks increasing exponentially, he knows that Derek is not the problem but possibly an answer to the question of what is going on in Beacon Hills. 

Tags/warnings: timeline what timeline? ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE people! Firefighter!Derek (see series). Whump and angst for Derek! Sheriff Stilinski figures it all out, TW canon levels of violence and mayhem. FIRST DRAFT (ish).

Noah gets to go home at a regular time for once. Stiles is home and does the whole dog and pony show of being annoyed about his grounding, but he still makes dinner all the same—tofu stir fry and brown rice. 

His son is not punishing Noah for grounding him. He is quote-unquote “worried about his dad’s health” and giving Noah a heart-healthy meal to make up for all his dietary indiscretions when Stiles can’t monitor him. His son’s spies—Roberta and Bobbie—had told Stiles about the trips to the local diner for lunch three days in the last week. 

Even Claudia and her crunchy granola self would have said that the stir fry lacked flavor, if healthy, and was somewhat sad looking. Noah just tries to swallow without tasting it after the first few bites. 

“So, what’s new at school?” Noah asks, making conversation. 

“Not much.”  

Stiles is mostly pushing his own stir fry around his plate instead of eating it. Noah knows that Stiles actually likes the healthy food that he makes, so something is bothering his kid. 

“And Scott?”  

Hit landed. Stiles’ jaw clenches, and his eyebrow twitches, telling Noah that Scott is the source of Stiles’ current agitation. 

“He’s dating this new girl, Allison.”

“A new girl? “Allison, who? I don’t think you’ve mentioned her before.”

“Allison Argent. Her family just moved back to town—she lives in the Heights.”

The Heights was the wealthier part of town and a new subdivision that Mitchel Martin had developed about fifteen years ago. The last name Argent was familiar somehow but not ringing any immediate bells. However, the face his son had made told Noah that Stiles wasn’t one hundred percent happy that Scott was dating her. 

“Is this Scott’s first girlfriend?”

Stiles rolls his eyes at him. “You know it is, Dad.”

Ah. It looks like Melissa might owe him twenty bucks as she’d been sure Stiles would finally get a date from Lydia Martin before her son would find a girl, given Stiles’ five-year plan that they’d both laughed over. “Scott ditching you for her?”

His son huffs, annoyed, and waves his fork around in agitation, punctuating his speech. “Yeah. Everything’s Allison this and Allison that. Ohh Allison, you’re pretty brown eyes and long flowing hair.”

Noah nods. He remembers what it could be like when he and his friends first discovered girls (and boys). The rearrangement of priorities could strain even the strongest of friendships, and Stiles had picked Scott over Jackson in the third grade when Rafael and Melissa had divorced. Since then, it’d been Scott-and-Stiles for everything, and now it wasn’t, and Scott was leaving Stiles behind for a girl. 

“He ignoring you for her?”

“Yeah. He’s being stupid over her.”

“How so?”

“Doing stupid stuff, Dad. Showing off,” Stiles grumbles, then takes a vicious bite of tofu, jaw working the food aggressively. “Doesn’t think of consequences.”

“What kind of consequences?”

Stiles pauses, eyes dropping to his plate and suddenly fascinated by the little pieces of vegetables, and shrugs. “Just school and stuff.”

Noah suspects the ‘and stuff’ is more than just hanging out with Stiles and maybe explains why Stiles has been poking his nose into things he shouldn’t as of late. However, Scott had called the tip line, so where did Derek come into this?

“So, how’d you meet Derek Hale?”

Another direct hit—Stiles looks up at the mention of Derek’s name, and a faint creeping blush starts covering his son’s neck. “Just ran into him,” he squeaks. 

“And when was that?”

Stiles is again fascinated by his food. “A few days ago.”

Noah wonders if Stiles has figured out he plays for both teams yet.

“It was pretty cruel—what you and Scott did to him, accusing him of murdering his sister.”

Stiles has the good grace to look embarrassed. “Yeah. That wasn’t nice of us.”

“I expect better from you, kid.  She was his only family.”

The guilt he’s shoveling piles on and Stiles now is completely abashed about his actions. “I didn’t think.”

“Well, next time do.  You’re smarter than this. Think things through.”

“Yes, Dad.”

Figuring he’s made his point, Noah switches topics. “So what sort of report am I going to get tomorrow when I go to your teacher conferences?”

Stiles gulps. “Um… depends on what you’re wanting.”

“Turning in work on time, no behavioral issues,” Noah starts to list off.

“You uh… might want to redefine the no behavioral issues…”

Well, at least it sounds like Stiles is turning in his homework on time.

[simmerdowndee]

episode one part two: senior year

After school, I went to meet up with my two best friends, Laura and Noah. Laura and I met in elementary school, and have been besties every since. We both met Noah in middle school when he moved here from Sulani.

Laura: So...... are you going to tell us?

Dakota: Tell you what??

Noah: The new kid, who is he? Laura said she seen you run into him.

Laura is so nosy, omg.

Dakota: There's not much to tell. I ran into him and apologized. That was it.

Noah: I saw you in class, you were definitely distracted.

Of course they both gang up on me

Dakota: I didn't get his name, but he seems pretty nice.

Laura: You think he's cute don't you?!

Laura: You do, you think he's cute!

I'm starting to think I need a pair of new besties.

Dakota: He is cute, yes.

Noah: I KNEW IT!

Laura: YOU HAVE TO START TALKING TO HIM!!!

Dakota: Calm down, I literally just met him today.

Laura: He could take you to prom!

Dakota: I don't think we need to worry about that yet seeing the year just started....

Noah: He's definitely going to be your prom date.

Dakota: Guys, lets just go back to studying, please?

They aren't going to leave me alone about this. I mean, I would like to get to know him more... but on my own terms.

I got home and finished up any homework I had. I like to spend the nights with my dad watching tv shows and movies. Its peaceful and no one is asking me about a boy I just met....

This is going to be an interesting senior year, I can feel it.

[babeyvenus]

My Future

Derek Hale x OC

Samantha, Stiles and Scott are always joking about the impossible. Who wouldn't when your best friend's dad is the sheriff of Beacon Hills? All jokes stop when they realize the impossible is indeed possible.

Chapter 44: Hellhound

After Sam had gotten better, she was discharged and immediately went to see the sheriff who seemed to be awake a little better.

The older Stilinski smiled at the girl as she peeked in the room. "Hey, Sam.", he greeted. She smiled, happy to see him okay. "Hi.", she responded and came to sit next to him.

"I heard you got discharged. What happened?", the sheriff asked. Sam rubbed behind her neck. "Kinda got poisoned… and I was kinda sick for a while."

Noah's eyebrows furrowed. "How'd that happen?"

Sam frowned. "Theo."

His face changed to a disappointed expression. He knew he was affected by Theo's actions too, but he only hoped his kids didn't get hurt.

Sam noticed his silence and smiled. "I'm just glad you're okay. When I found out what happened, I didn't know what to do. I wanted to help heal you, but my body wouldn't even let me move unless I needed to puke."

Noah's expression softened. "You don't have to worry about me, kiddo."

Sam's smile grew a bit more. 

Hours had passed and the boys had come back with Kira, along with the sheriff being discharged.

The teens met up with Stiles' dad. They had gotten news that someone had found a new group of dead bodies under the substation that the boys were at the other day.

They watched as nurses walked by with bodies in black bags on gurneys and brought them into the morgue.

"Who found them?", Stiles asked his dad. Despite the improvement on the sheriff's health, he still looked exhausted.

"Argent.", he replied. "And he said the Doctors were down there."

Sam frowned. "He also said you guys might know what this thing is." He trailed off. "They said that victims were killed somewhere else and then dumped in those tunnels."

"Hey," Scott said, "what if the Dread Doctors are hiding the bodies."

"Why would they do that?", Kira asked. The teens had updated her on everything that had previously happened after she left.

"Maybe they're covering for it.", Stiles suggested. He looked at Scott. "Protecting it as a parent would."

"Protecting what?", Sheriff asked.

"A werewolf," Scott replied.

"The Beast of Gevaudan.", Sam said. "Also known as the Beast," Kira added. The sheriff just looked at the kids, so confused.

"We know. Horrifying.", Stiles said.

"We better figure out what we're gonna call Parrish.", his dad said. "Because it looks like his dream is coming true."

The sheriff had the kids go to school after missing out on so much.

Suddenly, the PA system came on, "By order of the Sheriff, a county-wide curfew goes into effect tonight at sundown.", they heard, shocking the students. "All after-school activities are canceled until further notice. Students should go directly home at the end of the school day."

Their eyes widened as two cops with rifle guns walked past them in the hall and other students looked at them worryingly.

Sam and Scott saw Stiles talking to a cop and they quickly joined them. "You don't think this is a bit much in terms of firepower for a high school?", Stiles asked the deputy.

"Your Dad's the one that issued us these things," he said. "and he wouldn't officially say why."

Stiles looked at his friends with an annoyed expression. He couldn't blame the sheriff, though. He almost lost his job because he couldn't solve the murders caused by the supernatural issues. 

"Did he say anything unofficially?", Scott asked.

"No.", the deputy replied. "But everyone's got a theory."

"What's yours?", Stiles asked. "I shouldn't even be talking to you guys.", the deputy dismissed, ignoring Stiles' question. "Don't you have class?"

"Come on, Strauss," Stiles said. "What's your theory?" Strauss glanced over at the other two deputies standing at a distance before he leaned towards the teens and whispered.

"Do you guys believe in the supernatural?" The teens looked confused, feigning innocent curiosity.

Turns out that some of the cops suspected the incidents to be of supernatural occurrences.

The teen quickly dismissed the deputy, laughing it off before leaving the school. Sam followed Scott who found Liam. The supernatural boys looked at each other in surprise as they looked over towards a door.

"Is that it?", Sam asked them. Scott nods as they had found a door to a room that led to the Dread Doctors.

Scott took a breath as he slowly placed his hand on the handle. He slid the door open and they froze once they were faced with a gun pointed at them.

They let out a breath once they saw Chris. "Holy shit…", Sam muttered, a smile growing on her face in relief. 

Chris seemed relieved as well and placed back his gun into his belt. Scott suddenly frowned as he sniffed.

Chris caught on. "You didn't," Scott whispered.

"I had to," Chris replied. The teens peeked around Chris' shoulder and saw a familiar face.

Sam glared at Chris. "Really?" Who stood behind them was Chris' father, Gerard. He lost a lot of weight. He looked malnourished, and very pale.

"Hello, Scott. Samantha.", the older man greeted.

Sam growled and Scott's eyes turned red. "That's a new color on you, Scott.", Gerard said and looked at Sam. "Seems the bite kicked in as well."

"You want another one?", Sam threatened.

"Who's the old guy?", Liam asked. "Gerard.", Sam replied.

"At the moment," Gerard chuckled. "they would call me a necessary evil. But yes, my name is Gerard."

"What were you thinking?", Scott asked Chris.

Chris frowned. "That we need him."

"He's right.", Gerard agreed. "If you want to catch a werewolf-like the Beast of Gevaudan, you're going to need more than one Argent."

Scott looked at Sam and she sighed. This again. She hated using the Argents for their issues.

Chris stepped forward, "He knows all the stories. All the folklore. Everything is written and everything passed down."

Scott stepped forward as well. "You sure about this?"

Chris sighed, "Take a look." He motioned the teens to follow him. They walked into another room and saw a painting on the wall at the far end of the room.

They walked up to it. There was a drawing of two beasts attacking each other. One of them had flames coming out of its mouth and bright orange eyes.

That beast would be considered Parrish, but Scott wasn't sure. The other Beast looks like a giant werewolf, a bit bigger than the flame engulfed beast. Both had one of their arms up, ready to attack each other. The bigger beast had a hold on the smaller one and had his hand wrapped around its arm.

"The one on the right is the Beast of Gevaudan," Chris explained. He looked over at Scott and Sam. "Do you know what the other one is?"

They both shook their heads.

"The Hellhound," Gerard said. "The guardian of supernatural places. They're both creatures of the night. But you may know them as ordinary people during the day."

"And most likely neither of them knows what they are.", Chris added.

"Kinda like Jackson…", Sam muttered, making Scott look at her in realization.

"What is it?", Chris asked the boy.

"Stiles and I found a message in Latin…", Scott explained. "Damnatio Memoriae."

Chris's eyes widened as he looked back at his dad. "They want it to remember itself.", Gerard informed.

"That might give us time.", Chris said. "Time for what?", Liam asked, worried.

"To prevent this.", Chris replied as he stepped up to the painting. He placed his hands on the wall and lowered his head. Then he started kicking the walls and destroying the tiles as they hit the floor.

Sam frowned as she looked at the mural. Her eyes widened as she nudged Scott and pointed at it after Chris had finished.

The two beasts weren't just fighting. They were fighting on top of a pile of dead bodies in a field. Chris stepped back as they all just stared at the drawing in shock.

"Who are they?", Liam asked. "Us.", Sam replied. "It's all of us."

Liam looked at Sam and Scott in panic. Immediately, Scott started to talk with Chris to figure out how they would stop the Beast.

However, Sam tuned them out as her ears were filled with sounds of distant screams and growling. Her heart raced as she stepped towards the painting and held her hand out to touch it.

The moment she touched the painting, she was now in the lacrosse field. There were people running around and screaming, tumbling over dead bodies and scattering.

She turned and saw the Beast standing in the middle of the field and growling loudly.

She frowned as a bright orange light caught her attention. Once she turned around, her eyes widened to see Parrish engulfed in flames.

Parrish walked up to the girl, a blank look plastered on his face. "Death is coming.", he muttered and she took in a gasp, her vision coming back to the Dread Doctors operating room.

She let out a sigh, as Scott placed a hand on her shoulder. "What did you see?", Scott asked.

"The lacrosse field…dead bodies…and the beast. I'm starting to think this is gonna come true.", she said, looking at the painting and pulled out her phone to take a picture.

Gerard and Chris exchanged a look of understanding.

The next day, Sam rushed to the Sheriff's station. She had to get answers. Parrish was the hellhound? How? Why?

Once she got in, she made her way to Parrish's desk while he was looking over some papers.

"Can we talk for a sec?", she asked the deputy. Parrish looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Jordan, this is serious.", she said, frowning. His eyes widened and he stood up, motioning her to follow him, and she did just that. "What's wrong?", he asked.

"Well… you wouldn't happen to have any type of apocalyptic dreams, would you? No dead bodies at the school? No beast on the lacrosse field?", she asked.

He looked at the girl with wide, confused eyes and shook his head. "No, why?"

She sighed. What did that vision mean then? Was it wrong? Was he not the hellhound?

She took out her phone and showed him the picture of the painting. "Look, this is you and the Beast fighting each other."

He looked at the picture with furrowed eyebrows. "When I touched it, I saw the Beast standing on the Lacrosse field. There were screams and people running away and then you showed up in flames. Saying something about death is coming."

His eyes widened, "Does anybody else know about this?"

Sam shook her head, "I figured I'd just go straight to the source."

He frowned and looked at the picture then back at her. "Why would I say "death is coming" ?"

Sam shrugged, "I've got no clue either."

It wasn't good. Parrish had no idea and they were back to being frustrated with not knowing the beast's next move.

Malia came back with Deaton and Braeden after battling her mother.

Apparently Deaton had been captured and held hostage this entire time. It was relieving news that he was back and safe.

"Unit Five heading northwest on Crescent reporting an incredibly large…something.", the trip heard Hayden's sister say.

"I've got eyes on the same thing.", another deputy said. "Unit Six to Dispatch. We have a situation downtown."

The teens felt their nervousness wave in the jeep.

"Multiple fatalities."

"Copy, medics on the way.", another deputy answered.

Deaths already. This wasn't supposed to happen… 

"Do you have a perp insight, Unit Six?"

"10-4," Dispatch replied, "can you say what kind of animal?"

"Some kind of rabid animal."

Hayden's sister's voice came through, "Unit Five to Nine, trust me, that's no animal."

 "Looks like a 10 91E.", they hear.

Sam gave Stiles a raised eyebrow. Stiles shook his head. "Animal attack." She nodded in understanding.

Stiles grabbed the radio and pressed the button, "All units stay back. Do not engage. I repeat, do not engage."

The teens jumped, hearing Stiles' dad on the line. "Stiles, get off the radio." His dad replied angrily. "All units alert. Wait for backup. Repeat, no one goes near this thing."

"Unit Nine, I've got it turning off Oakridge southbound on Beachwood.", they heard Hayden's sister say.

"All units, this is dispatch.  We've got a 911 call with additional sightings on Mitchell. This thing is either moving fast, or split in two."

Sam frowned. How fast was this thing moving? "Wait a second." Stiles spoke up. "Beachwood to Mitchell?"

"It's headed for the hospital…", Sam said in realization. 

Stiles quickly took the radio and spoke into it, "Dad."

"Stiles, get off of this channel.", the sheriff fussed. 

"Dad, just listen to me, okay? It's headed for the hospital, all right? He's headed for Beacon Memorial." Scott's eyes widened. Melissa was working tonight.

Stiles pressed in panic. "You hear me? It's headed for the hospital.", he repeated, speeding up.

Scott hurriedly called his mother and she quickly answered.

"Hey, what's wrong sweetie?", Melissa asked. "You gotta evacuate the hospital, now!", Scott replied. "Okay, they're making an–" 

She stayed silent. Then all of a sudden, sirens went off. "I think Dispatch just called in." 

She hung up. The trio all looked at each other in despair.

"Need eyes on Parrish.", they heard the sheriff once more. "Does anyone have Parrish's 20?"

The dispatcher's voice spoke, "All units, we have a 911 emergency call reporting a man on fire running."

Parrish. 

"Clark, disregard.", Sheriff Stilinski said and the teens sighed in relief.

The trio quickly ran into the hospital after arriving and looked around. They jumped at the sound of a cocked gun and turned around to see Stiles' dad. 

Sam frowned as she looked at the gun he held. "That's not gonna do it.", she muttered and froze as she felt a heavy presence moving around in the hospital.

The beast was already here.

Shit.

They stayed silent as they heard a thud and a growl.  They looked above them, hearing the growls get louder.

Sam tried to detect which floor the beast was on and who else was there. There were other people up there. Patient, doctor or otherwise.

"Fourth floor.", she muttered and led them up to the fourth floor.

Once they arrived, they saw flames in lighting up in certain areas of the hallways. That was definitely Parrish's work.

The hallway lights flashed and dimmed, causing a difficulty with seeing things clearly.

The sheriff stepped in front of the teens, holding up his gun and looking around as he led them down the hallways.

Just as they were about to turn a corner, a huge fireball flew past them. They looked to see where the source of the thrown ball had come from and saw Parrish being thrown back into a wall, his flames quickly dying out.

Parrish looked back at them, his eyes sparkling a bright orange. He was wounded. He had three large, deep claw marks on his chest.

His eyes slowly dimmed out as he began to fall into unconsciousness.

The sheriff walked over towards Parrish with Sam following behind him. Parrish's eyes were open, just blank. "Parrish? Are you okay? Deputy!", the sheriff exclaimed, calling the young deputy. Parrish awakened and looked at Sheriff Stilinski.

Parrish looked at both the sheriff and Sam in confusion as his body quickly healed. Her eyes widened. She didn't know he could do that…

Now he just looked dirty.

Sam looked back at Scott and Stiles, getting up and following them. Scott's attention was focused on the floor and Sam followed his gaze. A large bloody paw print was plastered on the floor. It had to have come from the beast.

However, the large bloody paw prints turned into smaller bloody footprints. Scott and Sam raised an eyebrow at each other.

Who was the beast?

[emblazons]

What do you think about the way Byler has been marketed recently? Between volume 1 and 2 there was a lot of promo and Noah seemed crazy excited about it, saying things like “you should definitely ship that” which made a lot of people think something was going to happen in Volume 2 only for it to be the most (temporarily) soul crushing outcome. But now both Noah (and Finn) are playing up the whole “I don’t know maybe, maybe not” thing, with a lot of emphasis on Will’s happiness being more important than anything and I’m wondering why that’s the case. It just strikes me as weird since the era of extreme Byler hype was for the sad season and now they’ve dialed it back for s5. This isn’t byler doubt or anything since the most important thing is the story and how it’s being written and that clearly points to Byler endgame, but since these guys are trained in what to say in order to not spoil, why do you think Noah promoted Byler so hard between volumes 1 and 2 while knowing what the end of s4 was like, and what do you think is the reason for the switchup now?

Honestly? I think it’s just a result of them not having a single bit of confirmed press points for talking about S5, and wanting to hedge their bets for how they speak about it moving into the longer part of silence between seasons—especially knowing that the primary “we want to flesh this out” focus for The Duffers (and the story) right now is this play in London.

I think a lot of the promo that Noah did between volumes and immediately afterward was geared at making it clear there was something going on between Mike and Will, combined with a bit of fun. The fact that the only “proper” interview he did (aka one that was designed to be picked up by major outlets / give as many people involved in reading articles about the show as possible some common-core feedback to go off of) was that Variety interview where he clearly said “will is gay and in love with Mike” makes that clear, because even if they are “for byler,” most people will never hear what Noah, Finn or any of the cast had to say at fan-con panels, or will ever care to know they happened.

Even for dedicated fans of ST who aren’t diehard bylers though, it’s clear that (for all it matters to us here), the primary story is on pause as it’s written + being made—a fact of life that most longtime fans of any media know means there will be relative quiet, because actors don’t have any hard new information to work with. You see that clearly in the fact that right now, Noah and Finn have been promoting other things (other projects like Pinocchio + WYFSTW or personal endeavors like Tender Fix)—which most likely means any ST related comments they make will be intentionally vague / their own “headcanons” because there isn’t any new narrative to promote, or press guideline telling them what is/isn’t off limits for S5.

As much as it might seem like “a change in their enthusiasm,” it’s not anything worth writing home about—just a sign that we’re in the silent era between seasons + that the duffers (despite writing S5 & gearing up to film it) have their eyes set on fleshing out a different part of the story. It’s a pretty clear place in any fandom, if you’re used to being in them, imo—which is why I encourage people not to hold too tightly to what actors say about these things anyway, considering they (like us) are waiting for story + press guidance as the Netflix machine slowly moves back into creating/finishing ST.

Thanks for the ask! And I encourage anyone looking at Noah’s comments at today’s event for any deep and meaningful insight into S5 byler to breathe and remember he’s literally just an 18 year old kid giving you his own spoiler-free between-season headcanons, not a duffer brother or the writers room. I’ve seen people lose it over cons and honestly—especially this far out—you really have to keep perspective lmfao.