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summerdiphylleia · 5 months

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The next right thing

Chapter 1: The 74th Hunger Games

Summary: Felicia has always been succesful at overlooking the tributes' names and faces, but ignoring Katniss Everdeen was proving to be a rather difficult task. And she hated herself for it.

pairing: coriolanus snow x wife!oc

Prologue / Chapter 1 / Chapter 2

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

“Are you ready, my dear? Our guests are arriving.”

Felicia stood against the bathroom counter, staring at the mirror. The same mirror that had been looking back at her for over twenty years. Two decades, wasting away in that mansion. It was hard to believe so many years had passed, but the reflection in front of her reminded Felicia of all the years gone by. There were wrinkles around her eyes, and the skin sagged a little around her cheeks and her neck.

She was often offered ‘enhancements’, as they liked to call it in the Capitol, but she refused all of them with a polite smile. She liked the way she looked, worn down as she was. Her eyes remained the same tender, amber brown, although they carried more wisdom and worry than before. Her hair still bore hints of the soft, buttery blonde colour she kept from her youth, but was starting to get lost within the handful of grey hairs she’d grown in the last couple of years. She usually had them fixed by her hairdresser, but didn’t brood on it so much. She took pride in carrying sixty years of age, and she didn’t mind showing it.

She turned around, and found her husband waiting with a hand extended for her. He also showed signs of ageing, even more so than her: his once impeccable blonde hair had turned completely white, and his face looked withered down; like her he had declined any offers of going under the knife.

But he had kept his height —he still very much towered over her— and every so often, when the Games were far off and politics sat low on his mind, Felicia could swear she got glimpses of his younger self on his eyes: on the way they curved into a smile after she teased him, on the way they shone whenever they discussed a subject he was keen on, on the way they kept on sharing that spark, that boyish grin, with a man from her past that hadn't been as yearning for power, as corrupted by it.

“Your bowtie is not properly fastened,” she chuckled, reaching towards him, “let me get it.”

He studied her, while she worked on fixing his tie, leisurely scanning her from top to bottom. She wasn’t wearing anything too fancy, a simple maroon dress embroidered with small golden flowers, and a pair of small heels matching in colour. Her hair was half up in a bow, and makeup sat simple, not at all too extravagant, on her face. “You look ravishing, dearest.” He whispered, lovingly. She kept focused on straightening his bowtie, but she could feel her cheeks turning the colour of her dress. She wished he wouldn’t say such things so often. It sounded so real.

Felicia simply hummed in response. “Arabella called,” she explained, in a soft voice, “she told me Max and her wouldn’t be able to attend today’s… gathering.” He stiffened at her words.

“As they couldn’t last year. And the year before.” He remarked. Felicia briefly glanced at him, and returned her gaze to his collar. “There,” she mumbled, patting on it, “all fixed. You look very handsome.”

He didn’t reply to her, and simply adjusted his suit. He didn’t share his words with her, but she could guess what kind of thoughts raced through his mind. Every time they drifted onto that particular issue, her mind replayed one conversation they had many, many years ago.

“What exactly are you accusing me of? Turning our infant children into rebels?” She snickered, chasing after him at an amused pace, but Felicia quickly regretted her words. Coriolanus went still, and when he turned around, the look on his face made her flinch. That was the only time she ever felt truly afraid of him. He didn’t just convey rage through his eyes, his whole body swelled on it. He suddenly grew inches in height, and his expression darkened, and she was nothing but a little girl once again. She felt all of her boldness flush away at the sight of him, regretting having allowed herself to yield into such insolence.

He strode towards her, eyes narrowing in a viperous manner, “don’t joke with that,” he hissed. She raised her gaze, her eyes met his, and anger dropped from his face all at once, and he swiftly glanced around. “Don’t say things like that out loud, you know better than that.”

She lowered her head. She did know better than that.

She hated losing her temper. Every time she lost control, he took it.

Felicia pursed her lips. “I’m sorry,” the words dragged out of her mouth, “but I’m setting my foot down on this. I don’t want them watching that… that thing.”

Irritation flashed through his eyes once again, then he turned his back at her, and started walking away. “Fine.”

That was the first time, but not the last one, that an orange pill found its way into her nightstand.

Felicia blinked the memory away. “Don’t dwell on it, darling,” she sighed, “they’re too busy with work, that’s it. I’ll call them and arrange dinner for the five of us some other time, alright?”

It was his turn to simply hum in response.

***********

The day went by in a blur. Felicia put on the same act she does every time she’s surrounded by such a crowd: she smiles, and laughs and comments on everyone’s gowns, and makes sure no guest ever has to stand with an empty glass on their hand; and she keeps close to Coriolanus and kisses him and pretends they are a perfectly loving couple. Surprisingly, that remains the easiest part of the facade.

She doesn’t really pay attention to anything in particular during those days, rather she seeks a void within her. To her, the reaping was nothing but an affair she needed to get through, as cautiously as possible. She doesn’t focus on any of the tributes, she always tries to ignore their faces; they would all die anyway. All but one. One lucky Victor. A lucky child she would get used to seeing in most of the pretentious parties she attended, usually accompanied by a disturbingly older man from one of the high positions in society, who didn’t need to care about keeping his hands to himself. Only seldomly she wouldn’t see said Victor around in such gatherings and, not long after their absence was noted, she would hear the news of their family passing away in some tragic accident. Those nights she went to sleep concluding she’d made an art form out of turning a blind eye.

The reaping came and went, and before she knew it she found herself in front of the whole Capitol, watching along the parade of the twenty four tributes. Once again, Felicia forced herself into haziness, avoiding to stare at any particular tribute. But the cameras kept on focusing on two of the tributes, though, and their faces were shown on the screens more often than not, even during the President’s speech. She recognised them, they were the two tributes from District 12. Felicia remembered her reapings. That girl… Katniss Everdeen, she’d volunteered for her sister, a little girl whose expression of fear made it obvious it was the first year her name was on the bowl.

Felicia scolded herself for remembering her name. It would hurt so much more when she ultimately learnt of her death.

***********

The gardens were in full bloom that time of the year, and Felicia often found herself walking around them, buntal hat on her head, and a pair of pruning scissors on her hand. That morning she was being accompanied by her husband, and Theodore, their youngest son. He was a tall boy, with piercing blue eyes, just like his father. His older brother, Maximus, had also inherited most of Coriolanus’s appearance. It was Arabella, the marriage’s only daughter, who looked the spitting image of her.

They were strolling around the rosarium, tending to the flowers, when Ivan, Coriolanus’ personal bodyguard, a big, brooding man with eyes of a hawk, approached them in a soft trot. “Mr. Crane is here to see you, sir.”

“Ah, yes,” her husband nodded, putting his scissors on Theo’s hand, “I’ve called for him.” Felicia turned her gaze towards him, annoyance creeping on her mien, but didn’t say anything. She forced her face into a welcoming expression, as Ivan brought the younger man to them.

“Seneca,” she greeted him in a kind tone, with a warm smile while offering her hand to him, “how lucky of us you’re visiting us.”

“Mrs. Snow, you look as exquisite as always.” He addressed her, leaving a kiss on her hand. He bore a worryingly stiff grin on his face. “Sir, young man.”

“Do tell me you’re joining us for lunch?” She urged him, with a cadence only her husband would be able to recognize as fake. “The cook is making some delicious salmon bites, you would be a lunatic for missing them.”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline, Felicia, the Games don't run all by themselves.”

She turned her lips into a cheeky pout, and then her face split into a grin. “Then you’ll have to let me invite you over some other time, so I can properly commend you for the wonderful job you’re doing on them.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He smiled.

Coriolanus and Felicia shared a brisk glance, and she took Theodore by his shoulder. “Come on, sweetling, let’s keep our path. There’s a rosebush over there that desperately needs our help.”

They waved the gamemaker goodbye, and moved on with their way. Theo looked at her like he wanted to say something else, but she discreetly shushed him, guiding him into a more isolated spot, away from the two men and prying ears of the greenkeepers.

The pair sat on a bench, next to a particularly unkempt bush, and she showed him where the plant needed to be trimmed and neatened.

“Mom, why do you hate Seneca?” The boy asked, cautiously, while indifferently working on the roses.

The question caught her by surprise, and Felicia couldn’t help but giggle, until she saw the serious expression on his face.“What makes you think I hate him?” She questioned him, puzzled.

“It is because he’s in charge of the Games, isn’t it?” He muttered, “I don’t like him either.”

Felicia put the scissors away, and gently stroked his hair. “Sweetheart, where is this coming from?” She asked.

“They make us watch the Games at the Academy, did you know?” He explained, meeting her gaze. She nodded. Of course she was aware. She knew it was only a matter of time before he started commenting on it. “Most of my classmates think it’s some kind of… show, like it’s nothing but entertainment.”

It pained Felicia to see the defeated look on his face, but she couldn’t help but think of how lucky she was to be having such a conversation with her son, condemning the Games from their very privileged position. She couldn’t bring herself to imagine what mothers in the districts were forced to tell their children. Once again, a sneaky thought crept into her mind. “What if you killed him?” She blinked it away.

“Well, you can’t blame all of them, honey,” she sighed, “it’s what they’re instilled.”

“I know,” he murmured, “I guess I’m just glad you taught us better than that.”

Felicia smiled, and wrapped him in a hug, leaving a kiss on his head. “You know you can’t say that kind of thing around others, right?” She whispered into his ear. He nodded. She grimaced. She had taught them right.

***********

The rest of the week went by just as fast. Felicia was demanded to be in the front of the crowd for the tribute interviews, and she did it gracefully. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t help but notice the tributes from District 12. They had bewitched all of the Capitol citizens, especially after the boy had come forward with his crush for Katniss. For the girl, she reminded herself. Everyone swooned over the star-crossed lovers, but Felicia could tell a performance when she saw one. And she had to recognise, it was a very smart one indeed, surely it was securing them with a good amount of patrons.

With the interviews gone by, and the tributes already within the arena, Felicia could finally numb the rest of the Games out. They were the only thing everyone in the mansion and the Capitol could talk about of course, but she had always found it easy to disappear into her tasks. She answered correspondence, decorated the mansion, went for fashion fittings, attended charity events, visited her two oldest children, occasionally helping them with their work at the hospital. It felt nice reminiscing about her days as a surgeon, when she actually felt useful for something.

She had Lan, her trusted bodyguard for over twenty years, update her on any news about the Games, in case she found it necessary to discuss such events with anyone of political importance, and day after day she was surprised she felt relieved to hear the District 12 tributes were still alive.

One day, she heard Cesar Flickerman come into television, announcing that if two tributes of the same district were the last remaining survivors, the two would be declared winners. And for the first time in over thirty years, Felicia sat down and watched the Hunger Games.

******

so, this might be turning into a series after all! I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

#coriolanus snow #coriolanus snow x wife!oc #coriolanus snow x wife #the hunger games #tbosas #coriolanus snow x reader #coriolanus snow x oc #president snow #president snow x wife!oc #president snow x oc #lucy gray baird #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #coriolanus snow wife #coriolanus snow x original female character #coriolanus snow imagine #coriolanus snow fanfiction #the hunger games fanfiction #coriolanus snow x y/n

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lias-writings · 1 year

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Interviews and bruises

pairing: bella x costar!gn!reader

summary: reader plays ellie’s love interest (fem!oc let’s name her max) in the new show the last of us, reader’s character is one of the main three so they are often in interviews with bella and pedro. bella and reader are in a secret relationship but even a blind person would see the chemistry between them. in one of the many interviews the couple has done the interviewer notices a bruise on reader’s neck.

warnings: hickeys, established relationship, pet name (love)

a/n: this has been in my drafts for like 2 months and I finally managed to finish it it’s kinda short and I still don’t really like it, might delete it later but I wanted to post something so enjoy!!

masterlist<3

“How am I supposed to cover this up?” You asked him worried while looking in the mirror at your bruised neck.

“Oh my god, im sorry love” Bella just chuckled at your worried face expression while you sent them a death stare through the mirror.

“Yeah very funny.” You rolled your eyes at her and continued your work with concealer, makeup and a lot of other makeup tools even tho you already knew it was useless.

“Maybe we could ask Maria to help you out? I mean we are supposed to met with her before the interview” Bella suggested.

“Yea yea whatever we’re kinda late so we have to go anyway.” You said in a hurry while looking for your shoes.

time skip

You, Pedro and Bella were currently sitting in comfortable chairs, answering all the questions about the show you all are in. Most of them were like “What do you liked the most about your character” or “Your favorite scene to shoot”.

Pedro Pascal, your costar was just answering on one of those questions while you turned your head to look at Bella, who was already staring at you. You couldn’t help it but slightly blushed under their sight, there was just something about his eyes that made you become a blushing mess. Bella aware of her ability continued their previous action.

You two would probably continue to stare at each other with heart eyes if you weren’t cut be the interviewer.

“Oh my god y/n what happened to your neck, were you injured or something?” He asked with a slightly worried expression on his face.

Pedro turned his head towards you and his jaw almost hit the floor before he bursted out laughing. Bella had to chuckle a little and you just froze and didn’t know what to say.

#bella ramsey x reader #ellie williams x reader #bella ramsey #pedro pascal #the last of us #hbo the last of us #beldro ramscal #bella ramsey fluff #lia writes 🌷🛍️

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strangersteddierthings · 6 months

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No Regrets - Part Two

TW: OC Character Death (dude doesn't even get a name). Steve reflects on killing both demo-creatures and humans with detachment. Mentions of Major Character Deaths but as a reminder, they don't stay dead! (Well, Chrissy and Fred do)

Part One🦇 Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four🦇Part Five🦇Part Six

Maybe he should feel bad about watching Robin grow smaller in the rear-view mirror, her face a mixture of disbelief and anger. Maybe he should feel regret for his actions, for the betrayal Robin probably feels right now.

He doesn't.

Looking at the bigger picture, at the regrets he actually does have in the waking world, this is small potatoes. A non-issue. Robin will forgive him in the end.

War Zone is like a ghost town compared to the first time Steve was here. Though, that should have been expected. The panic hasn't swept through town yet. So far, it's just one dead girl. Fred'll join her sometime this afternoon. Evening? Sometime later today.

Nineteen-year-old Steve would hate himself for not trying to help. For not doing his best to save Fred.

But.

Well, Fred dying will help Dustin, in the long run. Will help Eddie. And that's more important. That's the goal. The dream, if he's allowing himself to be cheeky in his own mind.

Steve's not heartless, or anything like that. Robin, his Robin in the waking world, still calls him a softy and worries his kindness will get him killed on the daily. He always puts the safety of the group above himself. The first to volunteer on supply runs or for scouting or taking watch through the night. He knows he can run on empty for much longer than anyone else he knows.

The end of the world has a way of skewing what kindness and softness are, though. Those first few months were the hardest. Steve wanted to save everyone they came across. Help as many people as possible, but rations run dangerously low that way. Clean water can become contaminated quickly by ignorant people. Not everyone handled the apocalypse with grace.

The first harsh lesson Steve had learned was two months into the end of the world. They'd ventured to Indy to find supplies. Medicines. Try and stock up on things they didn't need yet but wanted around for the just in case of it all. They'd found some survivors, which wasn't surprising in itself. The surprising bit was that these guys had made it on complete luck it seemed. They were loud. Jumpy. Panicky.

When Lucas and Mike, on scout duty, had reported back demogorgon activities nearby, one guy started to panic. Got loud and couldn't bring himself back down. Steve was closest, tried to shush him but he wouldn't be quiet.

"Move," Murray (may he rest in peace) whispered, seeming to have appeared from nowhere, shoving Steve away, nudging him out of the way. Murray stepped behind the guy, one hand covering his nose and mouth, the other arm around his neck. It made the guy panic more, fighting Murray and then Murray just-

Steve remembers he flinched at the noise, turning away to cover his mouth and calm his own panic. The noises stopped though. Steve had shot a horrified look to Hopper, but Hopper wasn't looking at Steve. He was looking beyond, at Murray and what he'd done, nodding his approval.

The demogorgons didn't find them that day.

"You can't help everyone, Steve," Murray said, once they'd started the trek back to Hawkins. "The safety of the group comes first, over just one person."

Lesson heard. Lesson learned. Lesson put to use four months later.

So. Fred must die, for the good of the group. Patrick, too, if Steve can't get to Vecna in time. He should be able to. Vecna will try and take Max first, tomorrow. Patrick the day after. If everything stays the same.

The clerk doesn't even blink at what Steve buys, or the quantity of what he buys, but his eyebrows do go up a little at the total.

Steve hesitates just a bit over the checkbook his parents gave him the first time they'd left him home alone at fourteen. For emergencies only, Steven. It's been sitting in his glove box, unused, since he turned sixteen. He's never wanted to have to explain what he'd used it for. Nothing had ever seemed like enough of an emergency to warrant explaining it to Richard Harrington.

He does find it a little odd that his mind is conjuring up the concept of money. Of all the little things to think about while he sleeps, he really didn't think his subconscious would bring capitalism back.

Steve rips the little check out of the booklet and hands it over. The clerk looks it over before giving a nod and finishing the cash out. Steve takes the receipt when it's offered, shoving it into the checkbook before shoving that into his back pocket.

The parking lot has one other person in it, who Steve is aware of the entire time he's loading the trunk of his car with gallons of lighter fluid, weapons, and padded camouflage. It's only after Steve's slammed the trunk closed and shoved the cart back towards the front of the store that the guy watching him speaks.

"Must be some bonfire you're planning."

Steve rounds his car and opens the door before answering. "It's spring break, man." He slides in, the door falling closed after him. He buckles up, starts the car, and heads home. The house will be empty, he knows.

He works in silence, unloading the car and organizing his haul in the dining room, eyes flicking to the clock. There's still a couple of hours before dark. Before he should go check if Eddie's still in the boathouse, or if the police did go find him.

He sets the timer on the stove for an hour and flops onto his couch and sighs. Just as comfy as he remembers. He can have a nap before making sure Eddie's in jail. Surely his dream will allow him that?

"Mmhm," Steve mumbles as his neck protests movement. He's slow to wake. His head feels like white noise. He thinks he was dreaming but he can't quite grasp at what it was... oh. Family Video and War Zone. Reliving a memory. He wonders if Robin is still mad at him for that day, ditching her with Dustin and Max. It'd been for a good reason and- Steve wrinkles his nose as he sits up, head still static-y. Was it for a good reason? He can't remember what else happened after that....

"He rises," Robin whispers next to him, spooking him. She comes into focus as he sits up straight, leaning out of her space to look at her. She gives him a smile, judging by the crinkle around her eyes and her cheeks rounding. The gas mask prevents him seeing her real smile and he misses it. He thinks about his dream, and getting to see all of Robin's face again.

Dreaming is bittersweet.

"I miss anything?" He asks, because it's a safe question.

"Scouts radioed. The way should be clear in another," Robin grabs his wrist and twists so she can see the time on his watch, "another twenty minutes or so."

The mention of the radio makes him think of Dustin, and how much he misses him. And thinking of Dustin makes him think of Eddie. Steve knows it's irrational for him to miss someone he never knew but that doesn't stop the ache. The almost of it all sits heavy in his chest.

"Right," Steve says. "Want to see how many rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors we can get through in twenty minutes?"

Robin shuffles sideways to be facing him and holds her hands up. "You always lose but okay."

They get about twelve rounds into it before Steve finds himself asking, "Hey Robbie. Do you remember Spring Break?"

Her hands freeze in the air, an aborted motion to make paper to beat Steve's rock. She locks eyes with him for a moment and he can see the worry there. "I- Steve. Is it- did you take a hit? Is it your head? Should I not have let you nap?"

No. No, he doesn't think he got hurt on this run. Well, his shoulder hurts from when he stumbled and slammed into wall during the last loading of the truck, but he hadn't hit his head. He thinks. "I don't know... I hit the wall hard, shoulder hurts, but I didn't hit my head. I don't remember hitting my head."

Robin stands immediately and begins jabbing her fingers around his skull. "Anything tender?"

"Nope. Just a messed up hairdo," Steve swats her hands away.

"Well, you can never be too sure. You are precious cargo. Why did you ask about the start of the apocalypse?"

Steve shrugs. What can he say? That he's forgetting the start of all their horrors? He can't say that, not without coming across like he's either crazy or bragging. Remember the week that ruined our lives and gave us all enough trauma to fill an ocean? Yeah, well, I don't so ha!

He can't be sure but he thinks Robin frowns beneath her mask. "We'll have to have someone look you over when we get back. Steve, if you're losing your memories..."

"I'm not losing memories," Steve lies. Head trauma is serious and he knows he can't take one more hit to the head. He won't be able to continue helping with supply runs or patrols if he is getting worse. If he starts getting migraines, they'll reassign him for sure. Something that doesn't let him leave the safety of their home base at the high school.

"Steve," she warns. He knows it's a warning.

He shakes his head. "I just. I had a dream about Saturday. Very vivid. Just made me think about it, is all."

Robin softens, sinking back down to sit beside him. She finally answers, "yeah. I remember Spring Break."

"I miss everyone," he confesses, because it's true. Because it's safe.

"Me too," Robin says, leaning her mask against his.

They wait in silence until the scouts call the all clear and they can head back home.

They make it back to Hawkins before night falls but just barely. The gates get rolled shut behind them and the unpacking gets started. The whole community has gathered for their return. This is their longest run to date with how far they had to go this time and Steve doesn't blame anyone for needing to see their loved ones as soon as possible.

"Robin!"

Steve turns just in time to watch Vickie launch herself at Robin. Robin must have seen her running, though, because she's already braced for impact and catches Vickie easily, arms grabbing at Vickie's thighs to support her weight as she wraps them around Robin's waist. Vickie places her forehead to Robin's as their excitement switches to tenderness and Steve averts his eyes to give them privacy in this moment.

"Steve, here," Ted Wheeler offers up a box to Steve, who takes it without question. "For the Daycare."

"You got it."

The Daycare is actually a wing of the school that used to be where the language arts classes were held. Daycare doesn't quite sum up what they use the area for, but calling it the Orphanage was too dark. Steve waits through the decontamination process. Once through, he takes the time to pull his mask off and enjoy the feeling of an artificial breeze on his face before heading to the Daycare.

"Please tell me there's something useful in that box," Annie Click says when Steve pushes his way into one of the rooms they use for school. Another room is dedicated to being a daycare, kids too little for learning, another is schooling for kids who would be in middle school, and the last room is lines with beds.

"Sorry, Mrs. Click, but I didn't pack it," Steve says apologetically.

"My problem to sort out then," she stands and Steve can see the determination in her through the weariness. She'd been a bitter old lady as his teacher but the world ending must have shifted her priorities. There's no one better suited to look after the kids than her, here.

Except maybe Joyce, but she's got bigger things to deal with.

He heads for the door when Annie calls out to him, "Since you're here, would you mind checking on the kids for me? Holly's supervising bedtime but she's lenient with her friends."

"Will do."

He heads across the hall and down a door to the sleeping room. The lights are dimmed and peeking in he sees a lot of kids sleeping, or pretending their best to be. Holly is sitting in a rolling chair near the door, one leg bend and pulled up on the seat as she rests her head on it.

Steve clears his throat to get her attention. She must have heard his footsteps because she doesn't spook. Just uses the foot on the ground to spin the chair to face the door. "Oh. Hi Steve."

"All good here?" He whispers.

"Yeah. Everyone's asleep."

"You can probably head home now. Your dad's back."

Holly shrugs one shoulder at him, spinning the chair back away. "Maybe later."

Steve takes the hint and backs away. His chest aches for Holly. All the kids had to grow up fast, given the state of the world, but Holly's hurts him most. He knew her in the Before, and she was there when Karen... Well, she's got a lot of weight on her shoulders at barely eleven years old.

To think. If they'd have been faster on that Spring Break. More diligent, thorough. Holly might have never known about the Upside Down at all.

More regret he can carry, he thinks, as he shoves his mask back on and heads back to the truck. There's more to be unloaded, and always work around to keep him so busy he doesn't have to think of the regrets.

He works so late into the night that once he gets back to his cot and collapses into it, there are no thoughts let in his mind as sleep claims him.

@i-less-than-three-you @nburkhardt @afewproblems @skepsiss @music9009 @apomaro-mellow @soaringornithopter @reighnofdreams @eddie-munsons-lunchbox @sirsnacksalot @livelifeliketheresnotomorow @sageclipse @schnukiputz @mbloggotdeletedsothisismybackup @lumoschildextra @juleswashere3 @yet-still-more-banched @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @yearningagain @starlight-archer @andrew-mini-ard @chaosgremlinmunson @aol19 @goodolefashionedloverboi @gutterflower77 @moomkin77

#steddie #my fic #time travel au #apocalypse au #it's both #is steve dreaming? time traveling while he sleeps? will his changes matter?#i mean im pretty sure we all know the answers to that but im pretending i can be cheeky about it all #also if u think i made a mistake in my plot or that ive forgotten my own lore just know... that maybe that was on purpose #butterfly effect AU might be a better thing to call this

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vettelsvee · 12 days

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WELCOME TO MY TORTURED DRIVERS DEPARTMENT (NIALL HORAN'S VERSION)

a formula 1 short stories compilation about my favourite drivers based on each niall horan song

my tortured drivers department masterlist

IMPORTANT INFO YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW!

this compilation will include short stories about sebastian vettel, lewis hamilton, fernando alonso, oscar piastri, mick schumacher, lando norris, george russell, carlos sainz, max verstappen and charles leclerc.

these works will be driver x reader or driver x fem!oc, and will contain smau, first and third pov, smut and au, mostly. however, i'm open to any topic!

we will be doing an album every week or every two weeks. to choose each album, i'll post a first poll about a certain artist, and then i'll post another poll asking you exactly which album do you want me to post about. ¡! each poll will have de duration of 24 hours, which means we'll need two days to choose an album

i'll try to post as much as i can. however, i'm a uni student and my schedule can change a lot. for this reason, i apologize in advance. also, english is not my first language, so there can be mistakes (feel free to let me know about them!)

taglist is open for all of you who want to join me in my very own tortured drivers department! just let me know in the comments of this post or each artists post!

FLICKER

HEARTBREAK WEATHER

THE SHOW

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leechlovely · 2 years

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Durance

If the Sorcerer requires a teacher of the arts, philosophy, and secrets they may call upon one such spirit. Look to the northwest and command he appear. The spirit is a man of constantly shifting form that speaks in many voices. He cannot lie but his words are tricky and deceitful as loneliness has made him resentful of his summoners.

I finally reached a place where I can love mirrorskin Max again! I’ve reworked his durance to have him be effectively a demon that his keeper can summon to teach about earth concepts. These meetings are miniscule in comparison to the amount of time Max has spent wandering the desert with only his steed as a companion.

#its him!#my beautiful boy #goop boyyy #he is a darkling mirrorskin/leechfinger cause thats hot as hell #world of darkness #changeling the lost #wod #ctl #oc: mirror max #shrike art

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astonmartingf · 1 month

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BEST OF INTERVIEWS: KATARINA LOMBARDI (WILLIAMS MERCEDES)

LICENSE TO DRIVE ; f1 driver!oc x platonic! f1 grid

. . . best interview moments with katarina during her time in williams mercedes (2016)

"How are you feeling? The star of the Australian Grand Prix. Points on debut, with P5, what an impressive start!"

Katarina smiles feeling giddy, "I wasn't really expecting anything, we were just told to score points, I started at P16 and when my race engineers told me I was in P10 it was already a lot of places, I overtook a lot, and then my engineer kept saying P9, P7, and I was trying to keep the pace, keep the tyres from degrading. And defending the position, in the end I'm glad we picked up a few more points with P5 and P8."

"Are you hoping for the same results in the following races?"

Katarina smiles thinking to herself, "Hopefully, as long as we score points we'll have a chance. The grid is very competitive this year, so any chance to pick up points in a consistent manner is always valuable to the team."

. . . 🏁🍒🏎️

"Katarina, how do you feel your rookie season is going? Are you ready to beat the records?"

"Thank you, I'm feeling fine, ready to race, it's a lot of fun, definitely." Her optimistic statement causes Sebastian to laugh next to her.

"Only she would find this fun, don't worry in your second year, you'll feel it coming to you." Max added, leaving Katarina shocked.

"Why would you say that Maxpen? It was one season, now you're acting like we aren't the same age. Is this the F1 effect?"

"Is it different from what you're used to?" Seb whispers from her right side.

"I mean, in comparison to Endurance Racing, it is a bit shorter, the stints. So maybe that's why I'm having fun. It's all new to me, and different from what I'm used to."

The other drivers in the conference nod their heads in understanding. "What do you think is easier? Formula One or Endurance Racing?"

This time Katarina paused and thought for a moment, "Wait... I don't think I'm qualified to compare both, I drove in a different class from the hypercars. I think part of the reason I'm enjoying it is because of the speed, I don't think it's the same as the Pro Class."

"Have you seen Mark? You race for the same team right?" Sebastian asks the younger female driver.

"I remember, it was amazing to witness that, seeing him win. I was so happy for the team." Katarina reminisces of her time in the WEC racing in the same team alongside Mark Webber.

"You're acting like you didn't win in your own class. You had an outstanding debut in WEC, I don't think she needs another outstanding debut in Formula One." Max teases Katarina from the other side of the panel.

"You should've joined me in Endurance Racing then." Katarina shrugs Max off, leaving the press and drivers laughing.

. . . 🏁🍒🏎️

"Katarina, congratulations on your first podium. After six races, you reached P3— how are you feeling?"

"I mean P3... I'm happy. I couldn't stop smiling, I think if we do things properly then things will get better." Katarina looks around smiling next to Lewis and Seb.

"It was close there— the race for the third."

Katarina nods her head in agreement, "Lewis and Seb were so fast, I don't think I could get P2, but I had to defend with Max, he was behind me and I kept checking my mirror to see him."

"I saw in the cooldown room, they were properly racing, Kat and Max— those were some good defenses." Seb adds, nodding his head towards Katarina.

"It feels like Formula 2 again, definitely happy I got the podium."

. . . 🏁🍒🏎️

"How does it feel to be racing in Formula One, here at Monza?" It was Katarina's first time racing back in her hometown since her F2 days.

"Frankly it still feels like home to me, this is my first time racing back and this is the region I grew up in. I'm excited to see how things go and hopefully we can score points and maybe get a podium, we'll see. Thank you." Katarina waves bye to the report before moving on to the next.

"Are you feeling the pressure here in Monza? Despite racing for the Finnish flag, this is your home race, how did that come to be?"

"I'm feeling excited, there's a lot of talk about me saying this is my home race. I still think it's only right for me to call this my home race, I do have a permanent address here, I grew up here— there's a lot of misconception about why I race for the Finnish flag despite my last name being Italian. I'm proud to be racing for the Finnish flag because of my mother who also was a racing driver, especially since I take my father's last name. At the end of the day I'm making my family proud whether I race for Finland or Italy so it doesn't matter too much what they think I should race for."

. . . 🏁🍒🏎️

"We heard that you're a big fan of Kimi Raikkonen, is that true Katarina?"

Katarina looks back and forth with the cameras in disbelief, "Where did you get that?"

One of the staff shows a video of Katarina as a child crying, wearing a Ferrari shirt with Kimi's name. Katarina laughs seeing herself, wondering where the staff found these.

"Who? Did my parents send this video? Oh nooo, I was so young. This is 2007 right?" Katarina smiles as she watches herself jumping down with tears falling down her eyes.

"I always watched Kimi when I was young, he was just like me, my mother knew him so when I was young I was just supporting who they liked. But when he moved to Ferrari I felt seen. When he won, I cried and yes, that is true— if the mood was right I would cry again, but I won't do that here so I'll just shut up."

The staff laughs behind the camera, as Katarina reveals a snippet of her life. "It's cute though... I think Kimi will love hearing about this story. Does Kimi know about this?"

Katarina squirms in her seat, nose twitching in embarrassment— "I think my parents told Kimi immediately after it happened. I don't remember but they constantly teased me about it."

. . . 🏁🍒🏎️

"Despite not being able to finish the race, you managed P7 in the WDC. How are you feeling?"

The fireworks in Yas Marina Circuit were still ongoing, despite the race ending a few minutes ago. Most drivers are doing interviews or in their team garages celebrating. Katarina however, still stuck on interviews.

"The DNF is sad, but the team told me to stop if I can't keep going on, the conditions are absolutely hard, and for my first time here that was an expected outcome. For the P7... I didn't expect that. We were waiting for the race to finish to know where we stand, and after finding out we're completely happy. It's a good result, there are many competitive cars and finishing P7 and P8 is good."

"There are rumors of you moving teams next year, are you allowed to say anything? Or is the team keeping it up for wraps?"

Katarina smiles mischievously, giggling to herself, "I don't know... Maybe you'll find out during the break what happens then. Where am I driving? We'll find out, I mean I know... you don't know so."

"You're going to tease us then?" The interviewer presses, hoping for more answers but Katarina laughs in reply.

"It'll be out sooner than later, you'll know during the break."

"Okay, keeping a tight lip on the move. We'll look forward to where you'll be driving next year. Enjoy your break!"

Katarina smiles waving at the camera, "Bye, thank you so much! See you next season."

#f1 driver oc #f1 female driver #f1 x oc #f1 fluff #f1 imagine #f1 fic #f1 fem driver #formula one x oc #formula 1 x oc

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rosewaterandivy · 2 months

Text

Everyone But You - a Life as We Know It au

Ch. 2 - I've Got That Lefty Curse

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Summary: hey, you know what a funeral is decidedly not for? gettin' your dick wet. | OR eddie munson's no good, very bad lay. Pairing: e.m. x f!oc w.c.: 4.9K warnings: NSFW / MDNI, immersive second person narration w/ a name and background but no physical description mentioned, grief, character death, funeral, jason carver mention, badly repressed emotions, poor emotional regulation skills, bathroom antics inspired by the moves of Paris Geller and that one scene from Catch & Release tagging: @powderblueblood for coming up with Eddie's nickname for the rover 😘

The garage door trundles open as Eddie twirls the keys in a flourish. You squint behind your sunglasses, bringing your phone closer to avoid the sun’s glare as you triple-check the directions to CPS.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me.” Eddie grouses as the car comes into view. It’s big, some kind of SUV, a Range Rover apparently, if his grumbling is to go by, one that is impeccably clean.

“What’s the problem?” You walk toward the car as it chirps to unlock, “Keys,” You point to his outstretched hand, “Driver,” You point to him and finally gesture to the car, “Vehicle.”

He scoffs and rolls his eyes, “Right, sure. Lemme drive this car that’s worth more than my life, that’ll go real swell!” He choruses in false cheer before his face falls, “Yeah, no. Think fast,” He lobs the keys toward you which you step to avoid, and the pair of you watch as they rattle to the floor.

“Well shit, Sherlock, y’know you’re supposed to catch things as they’re thrown at you.”

You roll your lips between your teeth and raise a brow, “I don’t drive.”

“Riiiight,” Eddie says, scooping down to collect the keys. “Of course you don’t, your majesty. Wouldn’t want to sully ourselves with something so pedestrian.” He yanks the driver’s side door open and hauls himself inside.

Settled in the passenger seat, you buckle your seatbelt and pair your phone to the bluetooth in the car. Eddie adjusts the seat and mirror before deciding on a Sirius station for the fifteen minute journey to downtown.

“For the record,” He says, pulling out onto the residential street, “I have a driver’s license, not a boating one. This thing is a goddamn behemoth.”

The car lurches forward as he navigates toward the stop sign at the end of the block, the seatbelt seizes against your chest, jerking you backward into the seat.

“Munson, sort your shit out! There’s going to be an actual baby whose well-being we’re responsible for in here, you know.”

He kisses his teeth and huffs in exasperation, “Sorryyy, I can’t figure out the damn clutch on the S.S. Fuck The Planet, princess. Jesus H. Christ.”

You make a mental note to have the insurance policy switched over and update the title on the cars as well. Swiping over to the notes app, you tap out a reminder and add a trip to the grocery store for good measure. The list is titled: HOW TO SURVIVE IN HAWKINS and has such gems as: whole foods - where?, research moving co.’s NYC, check out brownstone, contact attorney & set up will, utilities & electric??, and baby books!!!

While you prepped for the impending arrival of Zoë and a prolonged stay in the Midwest, Eddie prattled through the house like Jacob Marley’s ghost shuffling from one vacant room to the next. He’d sent something off to his agent and editor via email about pushing the deadline back for his current novel, and had thrown his duffle in one of the spare bedrooms upstairs, the one furthest from Chrissy and Jason’s room, naturally.

You’d settled in a room close to the nursery and across the way from Eddie. The guest bath was conveniently at the end of the hall just before the staircase. Neither of you bothered unpacking after Max left, just threw your bags upstairs and scrambled to the garage to pick up Zoë as soon as possible.

The ride smooths out, eventually, Eddie seeming to get a hang of the clutch or whatever it was, and soon enough you’re being escorted back to the caseworker’s office at CPS.

She instructs you to sign the form with your intention of temporary custody just until the court can set a date with the judge to award full custody. Until that time, a caseworker would be checking up on Zoë and your care of her, the findings of which would be presented to the judge at a later date.

“And if you’ll sign here as well, Mr. Munson.”

Eddie scribbles off his disaster of a signature just as Zoe is brought in.

“Oh,” You sigh, relieved as you rise from the chair. “There she is.” You adjust the strap of your tote on your shoulder and leave the room, gently taking her from a woman with a nod of thanks. Keeping your voice soft and low, you greet Zoë. “Hi, sweetheart. Hi sweet girl!”

It’s rare that Eddie ever hears you like this, voice pitched just so as not to hint at any sadness you may be grappling with currently. And Zoë, she looks so pink and cute— footsie pajamas decorated in little hearts.

“Oh, honey. It’s so good to see you.” You brush back her downy blonde hair just as she begins to fuss, blue eyes falling to Eddie, who is rendered speechless in the office. He sniffs to clear any welling tears and quietly thanks the caseworker before joining you in the waiting room.

“I know, I know,” You soothe, rocking her back and forth, watching as Eddie steps beside you.

Zoë continues her soft cries, not nearing meltdown territory yet, but rather expressing her confusion or discomfort. Eddie’s hand cards through her wisps of blonde hair as you turn and say, “Hey, look. Hey, look – it’s Uncle Eddie!” Which seems to placate her somewhat, as chubby arm reaches toward him.

Lifting her from your hip, you continue to narrate: “Wanna go see him? Good, he’s right here.” And place her squarely against his chest, his hands coming to grip her sides as she tucks herself against him, little fingers gripping the worn fabric of his shirt.

You watch as he holds his goddaughter, her soft cries falling away to nothing as she nuzzles into his neck. “Okay,” You breathe, “We should really get her home.”

The car seat, however, proves difficult. Eddie has grimaced and groused his way through various belt to lock combinations, determining all of them to be useless.

“Who designed this thing, a fuckin’ Space X engineer?”

Leaning against the car with Zoë, you decide fifteen minutes is more than enough time for Eddie to dick around with the car seat. “Shove over Elon, this is getting ridiculous.”

Seamlessly, you set Zoë in the car seat and buckle her in. “See?” You ask, a taunting lilt to your voice, “Was that so difficult?”

“Well, that’s because I eliminated all other possibilities, so obviously you—”

“Shut it, Munson. And drive.”

You’re nearly back to Loch Nora when a cop lights up behind the rover. “Really, today? C’mon man!” Eddie pulls off to the side of the road, going for his wallet before stopping short. “Oh, shit.”

“Oh shit? What do you mean oh shit?!” You whisper frantically, “This isn’t really on ‘oh shit’ type of moment, if you hadn’t noticed!”

“God, would you shut up for, like, two seconds so I can think?!”

“Please, let’s not pretend you think.”

An intentional elbow jabs into his ribs with enough force for him to hiss. He’s about to snarl something not fit for tiny ears back at you when two raps on the window shocks you both into silence.

Eddie reluctantly rolls down the window with a pained smile.

“Morning officer, what seems to be the problem?”

There’s a pause before a bellowing laugh. “Munson!? Well, of all the gin joints in all the world—”

Eddie’s face flushes pink, “Uh, right. Hi there, Hop.” He clears his throat, “How are… things.”

“Bout to ask you the same thing, kid.” He pockets his aviator glasses and leans against the door, propping one arm to rest on the roof. “D’you know you rolled through that light down on Main before turning onto Pinebow?”

“Uh, no. Sorry, must’ve been distracted.”

“I’ll say,” The officer peers into the car, gaze falling on you. “Morning ma’am. Mind getting me the registration from the glove box?”

“I, uh,” You supply, uselessly. Eddie leans over to do it himself before you can ask what a registration would even look like. Your eyes dart back to Zoë still sleeping soundly.

“I need to level with you Hop,” Eddie says, handing the paper over to him. “This is not my car, this is not my beautiful wife, and my license is expired.”

“It is!?” You ask, furious. How could he be so irresponsible? There is a child riding in the backseat! Before you can rip him a new asshole, the officer chuckles.

“Can’t say I’m surprised Ed. Shame about the wife bit though.” He reads the registration and passes it back to Eddie. “But considering the circumstances … I’ll let this one slide.”

“The circumstances?” You prompt, wondering how the hell a traffic cop would know about Chrissy and Jason’s accident.

“My condolences,” He says with a frown and furrowed brow, as if the very idea of their absence unsettles him. “It’s a small town, I’m sure everyone’ll know by day’s end.”

Hop puts his glasses back on and steps back from the vehicle. He nods to you with a small smile, before his eyes narrow on Eddie. “You need to get this taken care of, Munson.” Slapping the roof of the car, he turns on his heel and walks back to the cruiser, “See you Friday!”

Eddie waves him off and pulls back onto the road. Offering positively zero explanations as to why this man you’d never met before today would be showing up to the house later this week.

“Munson, why does that cop think he's coming by the house later?”

“Hmm, oh, Hop? He’s not just a cop, he’s the Sheriff.”

As if that made it any better.

“Do I want to know why you’re friendly with the boys in blue, er, khaki? Thought you were the commander and chief of ACAB.”

“That,” He says, punching the button to open the garage as the house comes back into view, “Is a story for another time. But for now, just chalk it up to the fact that Hawkins is a verrrry small town, princess.”

By Friday, your bags still remain unpacked by the door to the guest room. It would be so easy to call a car, book a flight and just leave, like it had never happened in the first place.

You’re pretty sure that’s what Munson is expecting you to do. He doesn’t trust you, nor you him. How can you? It’s not like you were ever friends. And it’s not like you’ve seen him in that way since—

A soft knock from the door has you turning to find him holding Zoë in the crook of his arm. She’s smiling and sleepy, fresh from her bath. One that had left you positively drenched, prompting a hasty retreat to find a change of clothes.

“They’re, uh, driving up now.” Eddie mumbles, and though he hasn’t said it, hasn’t complained one bit, you can see how exhausted he is. Essentially dead on your feet from your first night with Zoë.

She’d cried and wailed all night, or so it felt, and you were sure you’d wake up to a noise complaint or violation of the HOA’s quiet hours or some such shit. Eddie had volunteered to stay with her that night, elected to sleep on the couch in the nursery because he’s “slept on worse.”

He’s said it as if he didn’t already have dark circles under his eyes, as if they hadn’t been awake for over 24 hours, and you want to refute it, to say you can keep the baby monitor on you instead, but the look in Eddie’s eyes tells you this isn’t just about staying the night with Zoë.

It’s that he wants to make sure Chrissy’s daughter is safe, to protect her daughter in the way he wasn’t able to protect his best friend last night.

“Could you just sleep in—” You tilt your head toward Chrissy and Jason’s room, it’s closer to the nursery anyway. But you don’t get to finish your thought before he’s swept in to the room and settled Zoë in her crib for the night. The conversation effectively over.

“Right,” You say, peeling off the door frame to leave, “Forget I asked.”

But that was last night, and you’d be remiss to say that you’d made it much longer on your own. The room was far too quiet, the sheets too stiff, and you couldn’t find your sound machine to save your life.

It’s two o’clock when you stumble into the nursery, nearly tripping over Eddie’s prone leg because he’s too tall for the small couch, but he doesn’t wake. You make yourself comfortable on the plush white rug, the one Chrissy had sworn felt like a cloud and rest your head on the pillow you’d snuck in from the guest room.

Maybe it’s the white noise machine looped to Zoë’s crib, or maybe it’s the proximity of being close to her that brings a sense of calm that’s enough to lull you into sleep. And maybe, it’s the soft snores and snuffles that fall from the tangle of limbs precariously close to slipping off of the couch.

Regardless, you and Eddie had somewhat survived your first day as guardians. Had struggled through feedings and diaper changes, nap time, and seemingly endless loads of laundry. You’d read Chrissy’s parenting books and ordered more to be delivered tomorrow. Eddie had returned victorious from a Target run and you’d each set about slapping sticky notes and scribbling furiously on a huge tear away calendar— you’d even assigned colors: you were purple, Eddie was neon green, Zoë was pink, naturally.

Max, Eddie’s friend and the estate attorney, had apparently rallied the troops for a family dinner for that evening. You and Eddie were to do nothing, under strict instructions from someone named Nancy to relax and focus on Zoë. You could hear the front door opening as people made their way inside for dinner.

Gently, Eddie passes Zoë off to you and helps you wrap the sling around your torso. After watching several tutorials on YouTube, you felt confident that everyone would feel more comfortable this way. Plus, your arms were killing you— who knew carrying a baby around could be so tiring?

Once downstairs, introductions are made. Eddie names off everyone in attendance as they stare at you like a new exhibit at the MoMa, or maybe the zoo is more accurate. Immediately, you can see that you don’t belong. Everyone is dressed down casually in jeans and t-shirts, their shoes kicked off by the door.

Whereas you, on the other hand, announce your presence with the click-clack of your heels on the floorboards. Swan into rooms with impeccable posture and sport dresses never more than a season old, unless they’re archival vintage, of course. A bold lip and manicured nails, not a hair out of place.

To the assembled people of Hawkins, you sure cut the figure of a Stepford wife.

“Hi,” A voice pipes up from the man to your right, “I’m Ste—”

A metallic clang sounds out, muffling whatever he had to say. Quickly followed by an exasperated, “Oh, goddamit!”

You smile at him, “The pleasure is all mine. Dean, you said it was?”

“I, uh,” He stammers out, unable to land his gaze anywhere on your person.

“Right,” You say primly, hearing more cursing from the kitchen, “If you’ll excuse me.”

And, of course, the source of the cacophony is none other than Munson himself. He’s got the hood fan going on the stovetop, and there’s smoke pluming from the oven. Company has been here all of ten minutes and he’s already going to burn the house down.

You grab the sheet pan he’s using to dissipate the smoke from the alarms on the ceiling and narrowly avoid smacking him upside the head.

“I never took you for an arsonist, but hey, there’s a first time for everything.”

He coughs into his shoulder, his hand waving through the air uselessly. But before you can tell him to shove over and let you handle things, people stream into the kitchen. Eddie is shuffled from the stove by a kind woman named Joyce, only to be pulled away by an older man, his uncle Wayne, while Hopper takes over in the kitchen.

Windows are opened by Max and Lucas, allowing the smoke to dissipate. And eventually, Joyce offers to take Zoë and put her to bed after her dinner of mashed peas and carrots. Begrudgingly you let her, dropping a kiss to her downy blonde curls before she’s whisked away.

Dinner is nice as is the company, even if conversation is a bit stilted and awkward given the circumstances. You don’t say much and no one expects you to, but every so often Wayne will catch you gaze and offer a small smile. It’s easy to appreciate his silence, to see it as a comfort because god knows his nephew is normally anything but.

You’re on your second glass of wine for the evening, listening to Robin as she details the various hijinks of what she refers to as the Scoops Troop. But she keeps mentioning someone named Steve and you have half a mind to ask her who that could possibly be. Dean, for all his lack of being mentioned in these stories, laughs along good-naturedly.

It’s when you yawn for the second time in five minutes, that Eddie suggests: “Hey, you should go up and get some sleep.”

You scowl, confused and pleasantly buzzed but stand up all the same. “Fine, but no promises, Munson.”

It had been decided that you’d give the eulogy for the service today. Eddie sits with Zoë in his lap – she's dozing off and you’re thankful – and when Eddie stares up at you, you can feel your heart in your throat. Initially, it seemed that Eddie would deliver the eulogy, this was, after all, his hometown and this church was full of people he’d known most of his life.

But when he’d come to you two nights ago after Zoë had finally fallen asleep, shaking like a leaf with crescent hollows beneath his eyes that the moon would envy, and he’d said in a voice so broken and empty: “I just can’t do it. Please don’t make me.”

And so you didn’t.

Halfway through, while the crowd is chuckling sadly, politely, at your anecdotes about Chrissy and Jason. Things are going well until Zoë begins to hiccup and throws a tantrum. Ellie, Chrissy’s mom, scoops her up into her arms easily and carries her out of the church. Over her shoulder, Zoë’s arms stretch out toward the front of the church, her face crumpled as she cries for her mommy and daddy.

Me too baby girl, me too.

You force yourself to look back at Eddie, and his eyes meet yours. It's a moment of understanding that goes straight to your gut and steals the breath from your lungs; Chrissy wasn’t ever coming back.

The wake is held at the house, a tasteful catered affair courtesy of Jason’s parents. Everyone thought it best for Zoë to be in a familiar setting to try and stick to her routine. People mill about downstairs stopping every so often to shake your hand and offer their condolences, thoughts and prayers, or claim that their hearts are with you during this difficult time.

It’s all you can do not to scream as you hold Zoë like a life raft. So, instead of snapping something at someone’s handsy uncle who has had you cornered for the last five minutes or so, you talk to Chrissy in your head.

What were you thinking Chris? This wasn’t the plan at all, in fact, you’ve jumped the gun by about sixty-odd years y’know. If you care to recall, we said we’d outlive our husbands and buy a place on the Cape. Descend into spinsterhood in style, and then haunt the shit out of that property, as is our right.

Ellie checks in on you with a soft touch to the arm, ushering pervy uncle toward the hors d’oeuvres. Small miracles. You can feel the tears gathering on your lashes, and you know that your tolerance for these platitudes is quickly dwindling. You haven’t seen Eddie since he fed and changed Zoë an hour or so ago.

He’s been distant since that night, the one where you’d refused him and drawn your line in the sand.

Catching sight of Robin, you tell her that Zoë is going for her nap and she promises to make your excuses. She latches on to that guy she seems permanently attached to, (Dean, you wanna say?) and they begin to spread the word in an attempt to clear everyone out.

You take the stairs slowly, not wanting to shift the dozing girl in your arms too much, as you step onto the second floor landing. Turning into the nursery, you set her down on the changing table and rid her of her funeral dress.

No little girl should ever have one, much less be given the opportunity to wear it.

Back in her comfy pjs, you sit on the rocking chair and kick off your heels. Zoë nuzzles against your neck as you hum softly. Sooner than you’d anticipated, the rhythmic rocking to and fro has eased her into sleep. Rising as gently as you’re able, you lay her down in the crib, turn on her sound machine, and step out of the room with baby monitor in hand.

Downstairs, you can hear rumblings of conversation overridden by a male voice: “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here!”

Chuckling, you duck into the guest bathroom before any of the hangers on can spot you as they take their leave. Back hitting the door, you allow yourself a moment or two to breathe. Surrounded by people all day on what has arguably been the worst day of your life to date. Smoothing down the skirt of your dress, you pull the shower curtain aside and step into the basin of the bathtub. Once settled, you draw the curtain closed again and let your head rest against the tile wall.

“Why did you leave me alone like this, Chrissy?” You say, voice ricocheting off the bathroom tiles. “You know I can’t handle anything without you.”

Not two minutes later, and someone comes barreling in. Huh, guess you never did lock that door.

Before you can alert them of your presence, a high-pitched giggle sounds out followed by the scuffling of feet. The door is shut, and the lock is thrown as the giggle turns into a high, breathy gasp. They sound closer now, if the wet sounds of tongues battling for dominance is anything to go by.

Rearing back, you sink into the corner of the tub and will it all to go away. The noxious, ringing laughter continues unabated only punctuated by the sounds of a belt buckle clinking against the sink, a zipper being pulled down.

If you were so inclined (which you are decidedly not), you could simply turn your head to the left and feast your eyes on the shadow sexual escapades of one—

“Oh, Eddie.”

For fuck’s sake! As if this day could get any worse.

But, oh wait, it does.

“Sock it to me!”

Biting the heel of your hand to quell the rising laughter, your eyes blow wide at her litany of ‘sock it to me’s’ – it’s as if that’s the only thing her poorly wired brain will allow her to say mid-coitus. Eddie’s laughter, understandable given the circumstances, devolves into an attempt to shush his conquest from what has got to be the most unimaginative dirty talk you’ve had the misfortune to be privy to.

When she finally reaches her peak (“Yeah! That’s so good!”), you’ve already mentally catalogued the ways in which you could have a) killed yourself in the interim, b) killed Eddie, and c) killed this poor woman, in all likelihood saving her from a life of mediocre sex at funerals.

“Thanks.”

Well, at least she’s polite.

“Uh, you’re welcome.”

Eddie sounds embarrassed, voice tight and you can imagine he’s doing that thing where he drums his fingers against his thigh, impatiently waiting for this all to be over. His lips are probably tucked between his teeth while she washes her hands, eyes anywhere but on her.

There’s the sound of the door being unlocked and the throw away line of “Call me,” and with that, she’s gone.

The sink runs again, Eddie muttering to himself under his breath, and for the briefest of seconds when you dramatically pull the shower curtain open, you could’ve sworn you saw something akin to regret (or was it disgust?) as he looked at himself in the mirror.

“Fuck!”

He jumps back, startled at your Houdini-esque appearance. All too calmly, you step out from the bathtub, gaze fixed on him all the while. You pluck the joint from his fingers and stow it in your pocket.

And you haven’t launched into him yet, so maybe this isn’t the verbal crucifixion that Eddie thinks it’ll be. There’s a curl to his lips that says he’s going to be a problem, that he’s going to make a joke out of this, as if he hadn’t buried his best friend earlier today and then gone and screwed a cater waiter in the bathroom of her house during the wake.

“Well, well, well, if it isn't my Lady Disdain,” He drawls, arms loosely crossed against his chest, “Are you yet living?”

It is only in deference to Zoë that you don’t go scorched earth on his ass right then and there. There’s a soft squawk from your other pocket where the baby monitor is as she likely rolls over in her sleep.

“I am only going to say this once, Munson, so you better get it through that abomination you call a skull.”

Briefly, someone attempts to enter the bathroom, the door nudging open only to be forcefully shut as you, in an impressive feat of balance, slam one Manolo Blahnik clad heel against the door and shove it closed.

“Occupied!”

You wait a beat or two, leg slotted against the door to be sure that whomever was on the opposite side did not attempt further entry.

If only your yoga instructor could see you now.

Releasing your hold on the door, you flip the lock and take measured steps back to Eddie who is now crowded back against the pedestal sink.

“Did ya have some fun? Get you rocks off? Add another notch to the bedpost?” You seethe, and he knows better than to interrupt when you’re like this. “What a fitting way to send off Chrissy, huh? By defiling her home because you lack something called self-restraint.”

“Hey, that’s not—”

“What, is that not accurate Munson? Because from where I was sitting, it sounded like you couldn’t wait bust your nut into the next woman who batted her lashes at you, who maybe, juuuust maybe,” You take one step closer, a mere breath away from him. “Suffers form an undiagnosed brain injury and lowers herself to slum it with the likes of you.”

“Tell me how you really feel, sweetheart,” He sneers, “All those years of therapy seem to be doin’ wonders for your self-esteem. Because you’re too high and mighty to count yourself one of the crowd, right?”

“You have no right—”

“I have no right? Are you kidding me? I'm not the one who shuts down at the first opportunity, who would rather run away than stay here and deal with this!"

"It's not like I’ve left! I'm here, aren't I?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to know that?" He demands. "We are not just playing house here! And you can’t pretend that we’re not partners in this. If you’re so scared, why didn't you say anything?”

You storm toward the door, unlocking it as you turn the knob to leave. To get away from him and his pitying looks, his judgment.

"Because I don't need you!"

Eddie’s hand covers yours, “Maybe I need you!" He snaps, almost shouting. "Maybe I need you to work with me instead of against me. Maybe I need you to stop doubting yourself, because there's already so much to worry about and I can't help worrying about you. Maybe I need you to stop being so damn independent and self-absorbed. Maybe I need you to realize that you're not the only person here who lost a best friend."

The heartbreak on his face is so painfully clear that you can feel it in your chest; you can't believe you didn't noticed it before.

The door creaks open.

"Hey, are you guys – oh, sorry."

You turn from Eddie to see Robin on the stairs, hesitating. You clear your throat and blink away any tears, as you step through the door. "Can I help you?"

"I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You're not interrupting," You say, turning toward her and smoothing down your dress.

"Okaaaay." She looks doubtful. "Everyone’s cleared out, leftovers are in the fridge. I checked on Zo and she’s still zonked out."

You nod, “Thanks, for everything.”

“Happy to help.”

You wait until her footsteps fade away, and the front door shuts. Gritting your teeth, you watch as Eddie steps away from you and avoids making eye contact, your jaw clenched tightly enough to hurt.

There's something empty and aching at the base of your throat, and no matter how much you swallow, it won't go away.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fafic #eddie munson x oc #stranger things fanfic #modern!eddie #fic: eby

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tessa-liam · 2 months

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Introducing: 'A Time for Us'

The Royal Romance, AU series

Liam Rys x F!OC Thalia Courtland, Olivia Nevrakis

Premise: King Liam, at the time of his coronation, was prepared to fulfill his duty by selecting his queen from the group of suitors.

In light of the 'love of his life', Thalia Courtland, being the target of a scandal; she was deemed ineligible for selection by the Royal council.

To buy time to find Tariq to clear her name, Liam made the decision to select his childhood friend, Olivia Nevrakis, Duchess of Lythikos, as his 'temporary choice'.

However, during the year-long search tor Tariq, Liam, Thalia, and Olivia unwittingly formed a mutual bond, and a 'throuple' was established.

Smoke and Mirrors, 'The Black Ledger'

“You know, Olivia, I really respect your work as the head of the Royal guard. You have done a remarkable job at protecting the Royal family and the Crown since the arrest of the former head guard.”

Olivia was surprised by the compliment, never being one to seek or appreciate praise.

“Oh, well, thank you ... I appreciate your commendation.”

Amalas noted her solemn expression and wondered if her former lover was doing well personally.

“I think you should know ... I never stopped caring for you, Livvie. Despite what happened, you will always be special to me.”

“I understand. We were so much more than you let us be.” Olivia smiled sadly as she shifted her focus and watched Liam and Leo as they entered the study.

Turning the Page, 'A Step Back in Time'

"You have the power of position, make Madeleine feel it."

"Most importantly, you hold the King’s heart...show the world, show Cordonia, show Madeleine what that means...you will bring her to her knees." Olivia sneered.

"There she is...there is my little blossom!" Maxwell cried, running towards Riley and engulfing her in a bear hug.

"It's good to see you too, Max. You look well." She laughed as he spun her around in the air.

"I'm not letting go until you promise to never leave me again."

"Alright, alright, put me down!" Riley giggled, feeling the warmth and affection of her Cordonian best friend.

Marabelle, 'The Game of Kings 2'

Sophie and Liam's performance was electric, their teamwork flawless as they dominated the field.

Sophie felt a sense of pride as the crowd cheered her on.

She couldn't believe she was actually doing this. It was exhilarating.

Sitting alongside King Constantine, Barthelemy watched his neice admirably; his thoughts singular...

'She will make a remarkable queen'.

📌Perma-tags:@ao719 @txemrn @queenmiarys @sfb123 @twinkleallnight @alj4890 @differenttyphoonwerewolf @harleybeaumont @busywoman @karahalloway @kingliam2019 @imjusthereforliam @lovingchoices14 @kyra75 @tinkie1973 @emkay512 @malblk21 @kristinamae093 @charlotteg234

📌Liam x Riley,MC/ OTP: @jared2612 @irisk12 @thesvnsins @walkerdrakewalker

📌Liam x Riley, OC: @emersyn-in-cordonia @mainstreetreader @belencha77 @iluaaa @mysticalfangirl @queenwalton @bascmve01 @umccall71 @choicesfrog @amandablink @ownworldresident

📌Liam x Sophie: @charlotteg234

#tessa liam writes #liam rys #the royal romance #trr #trr fanfic #choices fic writers creations #wip wednesday

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melswifeasf · 1 year

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Safest in your arms pt 2

previous chapter || next chapter || series page

Pairing: Georgia Miller x Fem!OC

Summary: Samantha tries to take her mind off a certain blonde.

Warnings: (18+) MDNI cursing, drug use, age gap relationships (18 and 30) grooming, sexual themes.

IT WASNT IDEAL HAVING TO BE THE OLDEST DAUGHTER.

especially not when you had to pick up your siblings from school everyday. Samantha was never the type to complain but it was getting hard to do so when Maxine wouldn't get in the damn car. with not much of a choice she had to park and wait for the girl to be done talking to the girl she now knew was named Ginny. it was all she could talk about on the way to school and Samantha had already grown tired of the name.

thankfully Marcus went out with Padma so she did not have to worry about having to hear him complain about how their sister takes too long. the girl was listening to the song playing through the speakers that was being controlled by Jade. Nia and Mathew were in the back. Oliver and Natalie had a date so they weren't planning on hanging out with them.

"seriously, how long does it take for your sister to say goodbye" Nia complained from the back seat as she scrolled through her instagram feed. Samantha rolled her eyes in annoyance, she wished she could just honk until Max got the hint and hurried the fuck up but she did not want to draw any attention to her.

"she's lucky i'm not leaving her ass behind" Samantha muttered and threw her head back against the back of the seat.

"why don't you?" Matthew chuckled. the boy was sitting in the middle and watching whatever it was Nia was doing on her phone. at first she glared at him until he looked away but after a couple of seconds he would just pry again so she gave up.

"because i don't want to hear her nagging about it for the rest of the day" the raven haired girl answered with a huff. Jade was in the passenger seat also scrolling through her feed and every once in a while she'd show a picture to Samantha and make a sly remark about the post.

at one point the girl laid her head on Jades shoulder through the console to see what she was looking at. Maxine was taking her sweet ass time and she figured they'd be there a while. she was caught up on Jades phone and didn't realize a certain someone had pulled into the school parking lot across from them. that is until a whistle sounded from the backseat.

Samantha looked behind her slightly confused only to see Matthew staring at someone outside with a huge smirk, the girls head whipped around. a silent and thankfully inaudible gasp escaped her lips at the sight. the woman she had shared a blunt with the night before was a couple feet away from bed. Georgia was wearing an all white pantsuit and a black sun hat along with glasses, it all really made her look like a housewife and if Samantha were being honest, she loved it.

memories of her laugh and voice and everything they said just a couple hours ago flashed in a fury. the blonde was staring at her daughter who was just wrapped up in a conversation with Max. up until Brody approached them staring right at the blonde mom, all of Maxine's friends following his eye sight. Samantha could see Ginny storm away angrily, she seemed to have said something to her mom before she got in the car as quickly as possible.

her eyebrows furrowed at the sight. she wondered if they had a bad relationship and if they did, why. last night she smoked weed with the mother as if it were nothing which made her believe she wasn't a strict mom. or maybe she just didn't care because Samantha wasn't her daughter.

"god i'm in love" Nia sighed out dreamily taking Samantha out of her mind.

the raven girl chuckles at her friend, "id expect that from Matthew but not from you" she said looking at her friend from the rear view mirror. Nia shrugged carelessly.

"what? i would literally let her run me over and then i'd thank her for her charity" the curly haired girl said with a smile.

they all laughed at her words, "yeah, okay" Jade chuckled.

the events that took place the night before hadn't been mentioned to the group and Samantha was starting to wonder if she should say something. on one hand she needed to tell someone desperately but on the other it somehow felt like a secret. they didn't really do anything wrong or inappropriate but somehow it felt like Samantha had to keep it to herself. it was stupid though.. right? she could tell her friends they smoked and that's that, it's not a big deal. besides, they weren't exactly the kind to gossip, they only hung out with each other because they didn't like anyone else.

"can i tell you guys something and you all won't freak out?" Samantha said turning her body to the side so she was looking at all of them. Jade looked at her friend slightly worried.

"of course" she said quickly.

Samantha swallowed nervously, why was she acting like this? they'd probably just give her props for scoring a smoke sesh with the hot mom across the street and move onto the next conversation topic. "so i kind of had a smoke sesh with her last night" she rushed out her eyes moving from one face to another to see how they'd react.

they all looked equally confused by her words and one second turned into two and then three and four until finally Matthews loud laugh reached their ears. "holy shit. no way. howd that even happen?" he asked extremely amused.

the raven haired girl shrugged, "honestly? i don't even know. i was just smoking up front like always and she was just chilling on her balcony. i went over there to ask her if she'd keep me smoking on the dl and she said she would but only if i shared and yeah that's pretty much it" she nodded.

Nias eyebrows raised in surprise before she broke out into a huge grin just like Matthew. "damn, Sam. now i'm jealous your making moves on my future girl" she said earning and eye roll from the raven girl.

"shut up," she groaned in annoyance. Matthew laughed and held his hand up for a high five and Nia hit it with her own hand. "seriously though," she spoke once more her tone of voice indicating she really was serious. "what do you guys think that means?"

"honestly? probably that she saw the opportunity to get free weed from a teenage girl who's got the hots for her" Matthew shrugged

Nia nodded in agreement, "he's right" she said pointing at him.

in the end she was right when she said they'd just change the conversation topic because soon after they began to gossip about some girl who's pregnant in Matthews third period. she tried to listen into their conversation but she just couldn't wrap her head around it. was Matthew right? did Georgia just see an opportunity to get high for free? she wasn't sure why that idea hit a certain spot in her heart but it did and the tightened in her chest simply wouldn't go away. maybe it was just the fact that Georgia was using her, although she'd feel that way if anyone used her in general. at least that's what she told herself.

five minutes later Samantha realized they were still waiting on Maxine and decided she had enough. the girl buckled herself in and put the car in drive. the white Camry slowly pulled up to the front and the older sister rolled her window down. she saw Nora point at her and Maxine turn quickly after. "let's go" she said.

Max groaned, "but i'm still talking to Nora"

Samantha shrugged, "i don't care. i have to drop you off and then i have a shift at six so get in the car, Max"

the brunette rolled her eyes, "whatever" she sighed and said her goodbyes before marching toward the car angrily.

her shift was from six to ten. it was like any other work day and the three teens she drove home from school kept her company for an hour before Oliver dropped Natalie off and stayed for another hour. once it was eight Oliver and the other three teens left making him drive them all home. it usually always consisted of either the twins or Samantha driving them around. Matthew always offered to take his car but they didn't fit (and they were always afraid of fucking it up) and neither Jade or Natalie had one.

even though it was like any other work day she did see Ginny on a date with Hunter Chen. no idea how that happened but as soon as she got home Max bombarded her with questions, asking if she had seen them and what had happened between the two. in all honesty it looked like any regular date, they got fries to share and they seemed to be talking freely. there really wasn't anything to say about them, it was kind of disappointing. she would've loved to see one of them embarrass themselves or catch them making out in the bathroom.

Samantha shook her head at the thought, not everyone's first date was like here, she thought. the girl was in her room, she had just taken a shower and was in shorts and an oversized shirt. Ellen and Clint had gone to the school board meeting meaning Samantha and the twins went out to eat and she had to hear Max rant about how hot Georgia was and how Hunter and Ginny would make an amazing couple. it was just weird seeing Marcus so uncomfortable at everything Max was saying. she tried not to read too much into it though, if anything did happen between the two she'd rather not know about it.

the girl laughed at Matthews message from the group chat.

Teen titans

Matty: you gonna have another

smoke sesh wth the milf Sam?

Sam: ha ha. i'll make sure your the

last to know if i do;)

she felt her phone flood with more messages but decided to ignore them as she went to her closet and got out another bud. she already had two rolled, she was going to smoke one at work but she was too distracted by her friends talking about Ginny to do so. now she had an extra and she wasn't sure what to do with it. truly she did but she wasn't sure if the blonde woman was still awake at this hour.

the raven haired girl walked up to her window and pulled back the curtain, the house across the street was dark, much like it had been the day before. she bit her lip deep in thought, chances are she's asleep or not in the mood to talk to a high teen yet another night. but what if she was awake? and what if shes just waiting for her to come out. she groaned in frustration and walked away from the window, she grabbed the sweater she had worn the day before and threw it on before going back to the window and unlocking it. without much of a struggle she slid it open and began to climb down.

she hit the floor with ease and turned around, the girl sprinted down the street and toward the quiet house. the blonde woman wasn't there like she had been the day before and a defeated sigh left her lips. she felt stupid for even feeling this way, they smoked once, it wasn't something special or monumental that meant anything to the woman. she was just a teen that had the hots for her, just like Matthew had said. she felt stupid for even thinking otherwise, she was a seventeen year old who had a crush on her neighbor, what a fucking cliche.

she looked down at her white shoes and bit her lip, she'd probably just smoke them both by herself or save the other one for the party this Friday. with that the girl turned around ready to walk back to her house but she was quickly stopped from doing so. a light flickered on and a door opened behind her. she furrowed her eyebrows confused at first but any questions were quickly answered by a familiar voice.

"you got more weed?" the voice said making a smile turn on the tan girls lips. she turned back around and looked up to see Georgia looking down at her with an amused smile.

"had an extra, better then smoking alone, right?" she answered holding up the two blunts in one hand for the woman to see. Georgia rolled her eyes in slight amusement and motioned for her to come up. Samantha did so with butterflies in her stomach and a heart that seemed to want to beat out of her chest. the anticipation was too much and her hands were slightly shaky along with her breath. she hadn't felt like this in forever and it felt weird.

she climbed the railing a lot easier then she did the day before and when her feet landed she didn't let out a dramatic sigh of relief, even though she really want to. the blonde was sitting with her legs folded to the side, she had on a robe and a pair of shorts like the day before. and just like last night they didn't leave much to the imagination. Samantha tried her best to not stare, though. she sat down next to the blonde with a shy smile and took out the two rolled up blunts. she handed one to Georgia who grabbed it happily.

"i see you've upgraded" she commented as the younger girl took out her lighter.

the shorter girl shrugged, "had one left over and your a good smoking buddy" she said and motioned for the blonde to put the blunt up to her lips. Georgia did so and watched intently as Samantha flicked the lighter on and brought it up to it. she could see the freckles litter the girls skin, she didn't have any makeup on just like last night and she could see the slight eye bags under her eyes. the shorter girl trapped her lip in between her teeth as she focused on getting the blunt to burn. she could feel Georgias eyes on her and she was turning her best to ignore her.

finally the blunt lit and she pulled away almost instantly, she brought the one in her hand to her own lips and burnt it a lot quicker than she did with Georgia. she inhaled and then exhaled the smoke, a wave of calmness setting inside her. none of them spoke, all that could be see between them is the smoke they were each letting out of their mouth. they waited until they smoke about a fourth before Georgia decided to talk, she could see how nervous Samantha was and figured she wouldn't be making the effort to initiate a conversation like she did last time.

"Ginny went on a date" she said and blew the smoke out of her mouth. Samantha tried her best to not show a reaction, she was looking down at her shoes. her knees were up to her chest and she was hugging them with her arms.

"oh" Samantha nodded calmly, almost as if this was the first time she had heard about it.

Georgia raised a brow at the girl who still wouldn't look at her, she didn't buy it that Samantha wasn't already aware of it. she had seen first hand how much Max talked and there was no way it didn't come up at least once. "you didn't know?"

Samantha finally glanced at the blonde and shook her head, "oh no i did, i just wasn't sure if you knew" she shrugged.

Georgia looked at the girl even more confused if that was even possible. it took her a second to realize what she meant by her words, "you keep your dating life from your mom?" she accused, her eyebrow still lifted in question and Samantha chuckled.

"of course" the blonde was slightly shocked not only be her answer but by how carelessly she said, almost as if it wasn't a big deal at all. Samantha looked at Georgia when she realized how quiet she went and laughed at her reaction. "it's just easier," she shrugged "i can bring girls home and say they are just friends"

"and you think she believes you?"

Samantha shrugged again, "probably not but she'd never ask" she said and took a long drag.

Georgia nodded, "so you're the favorite?"

Samanthas back shook as she let out a humorous laugh "hah no. i just earned her trust, i never gave her a reason to have to ask questions so she just doesn't" she said and ran her hand through her hair lazily.

Georgia nodded in understanding. she watched the way Samanthas free hand would tick every couple of seconds, it seemed to be uncontrollable and Samantha didn't seem to be aware she was even doing it. that made her think about her conversation a couple hours earlier. they were in the same spot she is now with her daughter smoking the weed she confiscated from Marcus. the irony. she thought about how Ellen told her Samantha and Max were gay and how she and Clint were supportive of it. she never mentioned either of them having a girlfriend though and that made her wonder about the girl Samantha was always in the car with. the girl she was sitting beside at Blue farm when they first met or on the hood of her car when they were with their friends. there were so many times she saw them together and wondered if they were together. "are you dating that girl with black hair?"

Samantha looked at the woman in question, who was she talking about? the only girl she could think of that Georgia had seen her with was Jade but that was ridiculous. they'd never done anything to make anyone think they were dating. "Jade?" she asked with furrowed brows.

the blonde finally pried her eyes away from the raven haired girl and glanced down at her hand. "i don't know" she said simply.

Samantha chuckled at the thought of anyone thinking they were a thing. it's not Jade wasn't her type but she just never wanted the group dynamic to get messed up. it was already feeling really weird with Matthew and Nia, she didn't want to add onto it. "no. she's my best friend" she explained.

the blonde nodded and blew the smoke out of her mouth, it was godly. "she's pretty"

Samantha nodded in agreement, "oh incredibly so" she confirmed "but that would fuck up our friend group dynamic and we just don't care for it"

the blond hummed, "so your not dating anyone?"

with a shake of her head the girl responded "not right now. i don't really date if i'm honest" the words were leaving her mouth with a lot more ease, she was high to the point in which she didn't really think about her answers before saying them. in fact by now she had put out the small blunt and left it in the ashtray between them. she wondered if Georgia smoked cigarettes as well. she was never a fan of them or the smell but simply the thought of the blonde beside her holding a deadly stick in her hand and smoking it made her stomach twist.

the blonde looked at the girl confused, "why not?"

Samantha shrugged, "it takes up a lot of time" she sighed with a slight shrug. she dropped her head onto her knee caps for support.

Georgia laughed "aren't you a teenager?" she asked almost as if what Samantha had just said sounded unbelievable to her.

"sure, that takes all AP classes, works and has to make time for her needy siblings and friends"

"you work?" the blonde questioned.

the girl nodded, "at blue farm"

she looked at Samantha confused, in fact at this point at this point the look on the woman's face was engraved in her head. it seemed as if everything Samantha said confused her. maybe it was just the high. "the twins don't" she stated.

she chuckled "the twins also don't have their own car or are able to go out at night without an explanation"

Georgia smiled with a nod, "so you've got it all figured out huh?"

Samantha shrugged a bit sheepish "i guess," she said and watched as Georgia hit the blunt lightly to get rid of the ash piled at the end of it. she was taking her time smoking and even though Samantha didn't know it was because she still felt a slight fuzz from when she smoked with Ellen. she realized Georgia wasn't going to talk, maybe excepting Samantha to elaborate more so she did, a lot more serious now. "i don't know, i did date someone last year but it was in secret and it got kinda fucked up"

finally Georgias attention was intently set on her at her previous words, "and who would that be?"

Samantha almost laughed, she wouldn't be getting an answer this quickly or at all, really. "wouldn't you like to know"

the blonde pouted, "oh come on, i'm not one of your friends, like i'd know or tell anyone" even though she looked incredibly cute and a part of Samantha was burning at the thought of Georgia begging her to know something about her life. it was almost ego boosting.

"i don't know about either of those, you probably know them by now and how can i be sure you won't go and blather go Ginny"

Georgia laughed loudly, "please, like i ever tell her anything"

Samantha looked at the blonde slightly amused at how she reacted, "maybe you have a point about that"

the blonde looked at Samantha intently expecting her to add to her sentence but the raven haired girl simply looked at the blonde with a smile that even though she shouldn't, she found incredibly endearing. "so your just not gonna tell me?"

Samantha shook her head. "nope." she said and stood up. "i'll see you around though Georgia" she said and winked at the blonde. Georgia looked at the girl climb down her balcony in slight bewilderment, mod expecting her to just up and leave her alone in the middle of a conversation. the raven haired girl glanced at the blonde one last time before running to her house with a huge grin displayed on her lips.

in that exact moment she knew she was fucked.

the rest of the week passed in a flash and friday came faster than expected. all four girls decided to get ready at Samanthas house. Oliver and Matthew had gone to the store to pick up a bottle to pregame and Samantha was more than ready to get wasted and not have to think about anything else other than who she's taking home. the raven haired girl was curling her hair, makeup already done. Nia had helped with her eyeliner and even offered her lipstick but Samantha declined. Nia only looked at the girl with a knowing look and continued on with her own makeup.

Jade and Natalie were already done, Jade was vaping on Samanthas bed whilst Natalie was talking to her. it didn't take long for the bedroom door open and Matthew and Oliver walk in with a black backpack. "what'd you get?" Samanthas asked and set the curling wand down. she ran her fingers through her hair to break the curls and make them look more natural. once she was done she stood from her vanity chair and looked at the two boys.

"vodka and fireball" Matthew said with a huge grin. he took the bag off his shoulder and threw it on the bed, the bag landing beside Jade who straightened up and began to unzip it.

"seriously? fireball? what the fuck?" Jade asked holding the bottle in her hand, practically reading everyone's thoughts.

"what?" Matthew chuckled, "it's the quickest and easiest way to get drunk" he said with a slight shrug.

Oliver laughed and hit the boy on the back twice, "yeah, the quickest way to end up on Anna's bed" he said referring to Matthews crazy ex. the boy shook his head with a horrified look.

"fuck no. i just didn't have any cash on me" he said and Samantha laughed.

"you could have told me, i have money" she said holding up a fifty. Matthew shrugged and sat down on the girls bed, his eyes lingered on Nias frame for a second too long before he craned his neck to look at Jade.

"you look very pretty" he complimented the girl with his signature smirk.

Jade laughed loudly, "fuck off. there'll be plenty of girls willing to have sex with you there"

Matthews mouth fell open in shock, "ouch. i was just giving you a polite compliment"

"to get into her pants" Natalie murmured bringing the vape Jade just had up to her lips. Oliver smiled proudly at his girlfriend and sat down on her lap, who was sitting on the beanbag at the corner of the room.

"i love you" he admitted and kissed her lips.

everyone let out a dramatic groan at the sight, "get a room" Nia said and grabbed the closet pillow near her and threw at her brother and his girlfriend. Oliver laughed as he held his hand up and caught it easily.

"you guys are so single. seriously, every single one of you needs to get laid asap" he said pointing at each of them.

"oh god, i know" Samantha admitted with a frown and walked toward Jade. the taller girl welcomed her with open arms, a genuine smile on her lips as she caught the girls body with her own and let her stay there.

Nia glanced at them and then turned to Oliver who was already looking at her. a second later Matthew stood from the bed and grabbed the bottle of vodka. "who's up for shots?" he asked and held the alcohol up.

Samantha's ears perked at the statement and she pulled away instantly, not fully just to the point in which she wasn't practically laying on the girl under her. "fuck yes. i need to get drunk as soon as possible" she said and took one of the plastic shots Matthew was handing out.

the teen boy went around with the bottle pouring everyone except for the twins a shot. they were both driving and they all had an agreement that the designated driver could never drink, even a drop of alcohol. once they all had their cup filled Matthew held his up in the air. "to the best senior year ever" he said making Jade and Samantha laugh.

"you are so corny"

he rolled his eyes, "come on, i'm serious"

the two glanced at one another with an amused smile before they turned toward Matthew and held their cup up as well. "to the best senior year ever" they repeated Matthews words and all hit his cup before bringing the cup to their lips and downing the liquor in one go.

once they had all swallowed Matthew put the bottle away and slung the bag over his shoulder. "we ready?"

they all nodded, each grabbing their perspective things and following the boy out of Samanthas room. the raven haired girl was wearing a long cardigan over her black mini dress. she'd rather not have her mom see her wearing a dress that barely covered her ass.

"hey guys," Ellen said smiling at each of them who greeted the woman back enthusiastically. "your leaving?" she asked directing her words to her daughter.

"yeah." she nodded with a smile.

the blonde nodded, "okay. just be back by two" she said earning a nod from her daughter.

"okay, Nia will probably bring me home" she said pointing at her friend who held her hand up in a slight wave at Ellen. the blonde mom smiled at Nia in appreciation.

"okay honey, just please be safe and call if you need anything" she said and Samantha held up a thumbs up. she kissed her mothers cheek and waved at her dad who recuperated the gesture. they each said goodbye to the woman as they shuffled out of the house.

"i love Ellen" Oliver said with a huge grin.

"you say that every time you come to my house" Samantha rolled her eyes.

"and i will never get tired of it. she's the best, i mean she asked no questions and let's you go out until two without you having to beg. i mean seriously, im in love with that woman" he concluded making his girlfriend smack his arm softly with a shake of her head.

"yes, Oliver. we know you have mommy issues now get in the damn car" Nia rolled her eyes at her brother and shoved past him.

Samantha got in the passenger seat of her friends car whilst Jade got in the back. Matthew had decided to ride with Oliver considering he had been victim of having to listen to their 'girl talk' more than once. the raven haired girl let out a cloud of smoke from her nose and mouth as she rapidly texted Marcus to leave the back door open.

"so," Nia spoke glancing at her friend who threw her phone on her lap. "are you actually going to get laid tonight or was that just all talk?"

Samantha threw her head back in a laugh, of course she'd ask her this. ever since her breakup with a certain girl last year she had been wanting her friend to move onto someone else. in all honesty Samantha had slept with other people since but they never led to anything further than them leaving their number and her throwing it in the trash the next day.

"i don't know," she shrugged, "i hooked up with Kim from spanish didn't i?" she asked looking at her friend.

Nia snorted out a laugh, "and when she asked you if you wanted to go out the day after you said no so that really doesn't count" she shook her head.

Samantha sighed, "so what i'm hearing is that you don't want me to get laid but that you want me to get a girlfriend" she confirmed.

Nia shrugged, "maybe? would that be so bad? you have to get over A-"

"don't" Samantha snapped immediately cutting the girl off before she could even get another syllable out. Nias mouth closed shut in that instant watching as her friend turned to look at the road with her arms crossed.

the girl sighed heavily, "look, i just think it isn't healthy that you can't even say her name anymore. why don't you hook up with Sophie?" she offered and Jade wiggled herself between the consoles. she turned her head toward Samantha and pointed a finger at her as she nodded her head.

"yeah, i actually kinda miss hanging out with her. plus she's actually in our grade and there's history there" she said making Samantha laugh.

"yeah and my sister has a massive crush on her so she'd kill me for that"

the two girls in the car groaned at her words, "seriously, Samantha? when are you going to stop doing everything simply because it'll hurt Maxine's sensitive ass feelings?" Nia asked looking at her friend with a suddenly more serious expression.

the raven haired girl stayed quiet at that. she didn't exactly have anything to respond to that. she knew she coddled Max's feelings a little too much but she couldn't think of herself being the reason why her sister was hurt. she'd hate herself for doing that. besides, it's not like she could ever see Sophie that way. they had known each other since kindergarten and she had only ever been able to see her as a friend.

"not Sophie" she said simply and turned her eyes back onto the road. Jade and Nia looked at each other then Nia nodded.

"fine. but you have to give someone else a chance"

"and i will" Samantha agreed.

quiet giggles echoed throughout the dark and empty house as lips met one another in slight fury. hands were groping the girls waist and the other was holding her neck. the raven girls hands were wrapped in blonde locks and her lips were kissing the girl back hungrily. even though she had heels on the blonde holding her was still too tall and it was getting harder and harder to kiss her without tripping over her feet.

she pulled away from the kiss, her chest heaving and her lips swollen with red lipstick that belonged to the girl in front of her. the blonde - Emma, she thinks that's her name looked just as disbelieved as her. the girl had on a sparkly skirt and black tube top that showed the slight swell of her breasts, her hair was a mess and her cheeks were flushed. Samantha was sure she had on a matching color. "everyone's asleep so we have to be quiet" she said and the blonde quickly nodded.

an excitement filled her stomach at the thought of what was about to happen and she grabbed Emma's hand tightly, the two tried their best to tiptoe upstairs. even then Emma couldn't keep her hands off of the shorter latina. once they were on the top step Emma shoved the girl into the wall and leaned down to press her lips against the shorter girls heatedly. Samantha let out a small whimper in surprise, she let the kiss go on for a second before she shoved the blonde off by her shoulder softly.

"my room." she said simply and dragged the girl through the hallway until they were finally met with her door. she reached for the knob and twisted it to reveal her empty bedroom. the lamp on the girls nightstand was left on so she could see where to step, there were clothes scattered on the ground that were left when she was deciding on what to wear.

Emma's hand travels down to the girls buttocks where she squeezes firmly. Samantha giggles against the girls lips, she pulls away for a second before connecting their lips once more. she moves backwards until her back hits the closed door, she moves her right hand down the door until it reaches the doorknob, she twists the lock and then withdrawals her hand to place it back on the blondes shoulder.

"we have to be quiet" Samantha mumbled in between kisses, Emma nodded quickly and chased the girls lips. the raven haired girls lips moved against the blondes, greedily almost as if they were would be pulled apart at any second. Emma shoved her tongue in Samantha's mouth and the raven haired girl felt a rush of heat run down her body.

"fuck" she whispered and pulled away, Emma chuckled as she tried to control her breathing. Samantha leaned up to ghost her lips against the blondes in a teasing manner, Emma was about to connect them but the raven haired girl pulled away with a teasing smile. she grabbed the girls hand and walked backwards, leading her toward the bed. the girl had a smile on her lips, walking toward the bed until the back of the blondes knees were touching it and Samanthas back was facing the window.

she pushed the blonde down onto the bed with a smirk earning an amused smirk from Emma. Samantha took her heals off and kicked them to the side, Emma watched her intently and her breath stopped for a second as the shorter girl bent down, some of her chest being exposed as she climbed onto her lap. Emma was more than okay with her actions as she placed her hands on the girls waist and watched as the girl looked down at her with slightly parted lips and hooded eyes.

"you look so hot right now" Emma said lowly, Samantha's eyelashes fluttered as she looked down at her. her dress had risen up and was exposing almost all of herself from waist down. if she wasn't looking at her with those eyes, Emma would've already looked down to take a peak.

"yeah?" Samantha whispered in a sultry tone. Emma nodded immediately and the raven haired girl smiled, she reached for the blondes hand that was on her waist and moved it toward her front. the blonde glanced down at their hands and watched as the shorter girl trailed her hand inside her dress until she was met with her laced panties. a whimper echoed throughout the room as the blonde pressed down, Samantha arched her back at the feeling and Emma took the opportunity to lean up and press her lips on the girls neck. slowly Emma's free hand caressed the girls arm until she was touching her dress strap and began to pulled it down. the raven girl smiled and pushed the blondes head further into her neck whilst her left hand pushed her other dress strap down to help Emma pull it down.

once her chest was exposed Emma pulled away from her neck and looked at the pierced nipples in front of her. Samantha smirked cockily at the blondes reaction, after a year she had grown used to people reacting like this.

Emmas mouth latched onto the girls nipple making a breathy moan escape Samanthas lips. as the blonde was distracted on her body the raven haired girls mind drifted to something else or rather someone else. she wondered if the blonde was on the balcony, waiting for her to come out and have another smoke sesh. wondered if she was in her room doing things she shouldn't even be thinking about, wondered what if would feel like to have her mouth on her instead of Emma's. maybe unintentionally it was why she even chose Emma to take home. she was blonde, pretty and kind, the type of girl anyone would love to bring home to their parents. she just wasn't the girl Samanthas was thinking about.

instead she was thinking about the woman across the street who was watching the two teens hook up from her balcony. Samantha had thought of just that happening when she left the curtains open before she left for the party.

her smirk widened and she pushed the blonde down by her shoulders. Emma looked up at Samantha with pure excitement and shorter girl reached over her to turn the lamp off.

she didn't have to look out the window to know she was looking at them. she just knew. and she wouldn't be giving her the chance to see any part of her, no matter how much she wished she was on Georgias lap and not Emma's.

#georgia miller #georgia miller x reader #ginny and georgia #maxine baker #marcus baker #ginny miller #gxg #lesbian

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everythingne · 4 months

Text

out of the woods — LS2

After a short break during her time as a Ferrari reserve driver, loud-mouthed driver Dhanishka Dubey resurfaces when she moves up to f1 under Ferrari. She’s back to terrorize her ex, none other than Logan Sargeant when she conquers him once again this season, just like before, just like always.

But when faced with your first love, and your only love, it's hard to let those feelings past. Especially when a relationship was prematurely ended, especially when she's everything you aren't, especially when you never got over his love.

logan sargeant x ferrari!ex!oc

fc: iffat marash (adult) hamda al qubaisi (young)

warnings/notes: mentions of past car accidents, multiple incorrect dates, butchered pasts for logan and oscar, [] used to denote other languages being spoken, yes the title is taylor swift ok, the oc is indian, however the author is NOT, pls pls pls correct me on any inaccuracies ♥️ let me pretend logan didn't have a bad season by putting him on par w oscar. this is for MY mental health !!

(part two)

14 NOVEMBER, INSTAGRAM

scuderiaferrari made a new post!

liked by oscarpiastri, landonorris, logansargeant, and 238k others…

scuderiaferrari: welcoming dhanishka dubey to the f1 team from her past position of reserve driver this season! she will be the first ever bahraini f1 driver, and the third woman to take to the grid. dhaniska is currently sponsored by @ monsterenergy and @ colourpopcosmetics, she’s bringing a bright, energized feel to our team this season!

dhanishkadubey: so so excited to be here!

charlesleclerc: sometimes i still hear carlos… singing in the distance…

⤷ dhaniskadubey: smooooooooth operatoooorrr

⤷ carlossainz: you both act like i died, i just changed teams.

⤷ charlesleclerc: rip smooth operator <;/3

user2: this is so a jab at williams .

⤷ user3: how ??

⤷ user2: @ user3 dhanishka is logans ex girlfriend

⤷ user3: OOOO

⤷ user4: NO WAY???

oscarpiastri: pls don’t run me off the track again (i will beg if i have to)

⤷ dhanishkadubey: no promises ossie ♥️ (get on ur knees)

⤷ oscarpiastri: AYO??

danielriccardio: DANNY 2!!!

⤷ dhanishkadubey: DANNY 1!!!!

dhanishkadubey made a post!

liked by charlesleclerc, logansargeant, landonorris, and 298k others...

dhanishkadubey: might be the prettiest thing i have ever worn?? happy diwali to u all and a (late) happy 22 to me ♥️ (yea, i AM feeling 22.)

tagged: anyadubey

anyadubey: ily<3

user1: MOTHER IS MOTHERING EVERYONE!!

liamlawson: u look like a very nice disco ball ! happy diwali

⤷ dhanishkadubey: u look like a very nice young man ! thank u!

user2: god we don't need this conceited bitch on the track.

maxverstappen: happy birthday, happy diwali, and welcome to f1!

⤷ dhanishkadubey: thank you max !! looking forward to challenging you this seaon :)!

user3: shes going to get someone killed

14 NOVEMBER, TWITTER

28 FEBRUARY, BAHRAIN

"It's a pre-season dinner, how badly can it go?" Anya asks me, eyes darting down to my sari and then back to my face as she works on pinning the pleats to my shoulder as I adjust them and secure their positioning.

When she’s done, she squeezes my arms as she stands next to me in her much more casual western clothing. We look like opposites, me in a bright red sari and her wearing a black dior sweatshirt and jeans. She grins, “you look stunning by the way."

"Thanks, Anya," I give her a little side hug, passing her to continue fixing myself up in the mirror ahead of us. I huff as I adjust my earrings and bracelets, tacking the former down with eyelash glue, "I just worry if like… Logan says something.”

“You’re gonna let a man, a white man no less, make you worry?” Anya paused, hands on her hips as she looks at me in the mirror of our parents home, the little cookie cutter complex we lived in the corner plot in.

“Plus what would he even say?” Anya crosses her arms, “that whole thing wasn’t even your fault.”

“I know but… I was still Trident’s golden child when it happened. People are always gonna assume I had something to do with it. I’m lucky the FIA didn’t take anything away from me, I’m honestly lucky the team admitted I had nothing to do with it.”

“Does Logan blame you?” Anya leans on the doorframe to my bathroom, “because that’s the only opinion that matters.”

“He might. I… it made him break up with me. So, I don’t know.” I sigh, “but it’s just one guy, I still have Oscar, Charles, Carlos and Daniel.”

“I still don’t get Danny.” Anya muses, and when she sees my confusion she waves a hand, “No, not him, as your nickname.”

“Oh, a reporter called me ‘Dan-ish-ka’ and not ‘Dun-ish-kah’ and someone on Twitter thought she called me Danny and it just—rolled from there.” I laughed softly, turning back to Anya as I motioned for her to move out of the door so I could grab my bag and such. She did with ease, moving to grab the keys to my (but hers when I wasn’t home) Porsche Taycan.

“And, that’s when there were rumors I was joining Red Bulls Junior team as well, instead of Ferrari’s, so it all just kept stacking.” I grabbed my purse off my bed and dropped in a small perfume container, my lipstick, and a few other essentials, “people called me ‘Danny 2’ and it got to Daniel Ricciardo himself, and that’s how we started talking.”

“Oh that’s actually so cute.” Anya grins, following me out to the kitchen where my mother is forcing my father to help her make biryani while she’s fixing up the bar for a party they’re having tonight.

“Alright, [Momma, Dad, how do I look?] Do we like the red one better than the silver one? Anya helped me pick this one out, [she thinks it’s some sort of new style with the solid color.]” I call in the usual mix of Marathi, Arabic, and English out household uses. As I pause in the kitchen, Anya’s fixing my sari out of her own nervous habit. My mother gasps, pushing past my father to take me into her arms with a bright smile.

“Oh! Dhanishka, wow! [You look amazing! I love this one,] is it new?” My mother looks me over and I nod, seeing the hint of my father’s smile from the kitchen that makes my heart sing. He rarely showed his support on his face, but since everything with Trident and the subsequent fall out and mental break, he tried his hardest to show his love for me and Anya. He did a good job.

“Yeah, [it’s from Manish?]” I say, turning back to Anya who nods.

“All of my girls, [so stunning.]” My father grinned, wiping his hands off before giving me a loose hug as to not get anything from his hands on my outfit, “Do you need anything to eat before you go?”

“No, [dad], I’ll be fine. Thank you.” I squeeze his shoulder, and my mother makes me stand back so she can take about a dozen photos of everyone with me. Once the photos are done, we wave goodbye, and it’s off to the restaurant they’ve picked.

I would’ve settled with anything in Manama, honestly but eating at somewhere down by the Four Seasons is perfect.

Anya drops me off to the front of the restaurant and I slip in, greeting the staff and letting them point me in the right direction. My hands are slick as I pull out my phone from my bag, Charles letting me know he was coming in right behind me, and I turn to see him, Max, and Carlos.

“Dhanishka!” Charles grins, leaning down to give me a quick hug, “Oh, this is the one you sent me? It looks nice.”

“Thank you. Figured I’d come in looking like I at least belong in the country I’m in, since I don’t quite fit in with the people yet.” I shrug, fiddling with the red fabric in my hands, feeling the beading against my knuckles. Catching my worry, Charles turns to the two who awkwardly greet me with half hugs and congratulations on driving along with them this season.

Once everyone’s stepped back, Charles nodded to them, “You guys go ahead, we’ll see you in there.”

Carlos and Max move behind a curtain and into a doorway, but Charles grabs my arm gently and pulls me back into a hallway leading to the bathroom, hands finding mine and squeezing them.

“Stop overthinking this, it’s a room with a bunch of stupid men. Basically the same thing you’ve been dealing with for like—over ten years.” Charles looks at me and I huff, pulling my hands back from him and fixing my hair for the third time since we’d gotten to the hallway.

“I just—what if someone brings up the crash? Or me racing with Trident?” I stammer and he shakes his head.

“I’ll deal with it. If anything happens, I’ll help you. I’m in your corner.” Charles takes my hands once more, squeezes them, and then lets go of them, “now, are you ready?”

“As long as you’re next to me, yeah… yeah I can do this.” I nod and he grins, moving ahead to open the door for me. I follow him, taking a slow breath before nodding and moving into the little reserved dining room. At the sight of me, a few conversations halt and I scan the room before noticing Oscar moving away from Logan to come greet me.

Logan’s… the same. Blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin, crinkles in the corners of his eyes and a permanent smile line as his lips fall from a grin when he spots me. I take him in, his crisp blue suit with the jacket discarded—sleeves rolled up to his elbows, tie a bit loose and fuck, he looks confident and calm. He’s nothing like me in this moment, almost like we’ve swapped.

“Dhanishka.” Oscar steps in my eyeline, breaking the stare down between me and the American boy, and I smile at the Australian as he gently takes me in a hug.

“Good to see you, Oscar.” I close my eyes in the hug, and he steps back.

“Nice—fuck what’s the word—sa..” He holds up a hand when I go to tell him and then snaps, “Saree!”

“I’ve trained you well.” I laugh, complimenting his black suit, noting the decorative papaya colored inside of his jacket and little McLaren ‘81’ lapel. He says Lando has the matching ‘4’ and I make some joke that’s lost over Daniel chanting my name as he comes over to give me a tight hug.

“How’s my mini-me?” He asks, making sure the beading doesn’t hook on his suit as he steps back, I laugh and tell him I’m good, leaving out the part where my ex has been staring at me since I came in the door and I’m about half a second away from yelling at him to look elsewhere.

Luckily, Alex pulls Logan’s attention away— flashing me a small apologetic smile before bringing him over to the little minibar on the opposite side of the room.

“Do you drink?” Charles asks, hand on my elbow and I nod. My parents were lax with drinking and stuff as long as it wasn’t a holiday where I shouldn’t be. He grins and guides me to my seat, Oscar, Daniel and now Carlos tagging along. As I'm settling down to sit, Oscar on my left side with Lando on his left, Charles asking me what I’d like to drink. After a quick peruse of the menu, I settle on a margarita, and he whisks off to the bar to get it while Daniel sits across from me.

“You’re nervous about Logan, aren’t you?” Daniel leans across the table as he speaks, Carlos sitting next to him and taking a sip of a drink. Lando leans to ask Oscar something in a hushed tone besides me, and my eyes flicker to their whispers momentarily before settling back on Daniel.

“I just don’t want someone to bring up Trident, for either of our sakes, its a sore subject.” I huff, looking around the room, everyones clumped off in the groups I expect to see, a few stragglers between each group either drifting to the table or the bar.

"I'm sure if someone tries, it'll get shut down pretty quick." Oscar turns to me after filling Lando in. Charles sits on my other side, setting down my margarita and taking a sip of whatever drink he'd been coerced into drinking. I assume Max had something to do with it when I eye the gin and tonic in his hand.

"I know, I know. I just worry." I hum, bringing the margarita to my lips as a few more people settle. Logan is sitting a few seats down on the other side of the table, giving us both a clear view of the other. I know it's not intentional, but it makes my skin crawl.

Oscar has Lando switch seats with him, claiming he doesn't wanna hear whatever the two will shout over him, but I know it's so that he can help distract Logan. I remind myself tot hank him later.

I set down my margarita glass, standing up to formally greet Yuki as he comes to sit next to Daniel and I notice Logan's eyes firm on the glass. As I sit back down, I know why he's staring and my cheeks warm. Red lipstick stains the edge of the glass, something that I used to use to stain his lips back when we'd sneak kisses between Trident and HWA's paddocks and in hotel elevators.

And he might have had power over me because I was afraid of causing a fight at my first event with the F1 drivers, but being civil and lying down never got me anywhere in racing. So, when his eyes linger on my lips, I 'accidentally' make a show of pulling out my purse and setting it on my lap. My dark red nails clicking along the zipper as I pull it open and pull out a compact mirror and the same tube of red lipstick he'd bought be back in 2021. Logan bought it days before the crash, a Valentino refillable lipstick, more expensive than I deserved. He'd proudly given it to me, claiming his mom had the idea after my long term lipstick had finally run out. It was still shade 22R. The only shade I ever wore.

Even if Logan had bought the lipstick, I still liked it. It looked nice on my lips, complimented my skin, transferred just enough for my liking.

Across the table, Logan's eyes dilate in a sort of recognition as I swipe the tube across my lower lip. My dark eyes watching his light ones out of my peripheral as I watch myself in the my little red compact Valentino mirror. I'd bought it since it matched the tube of lipstick, and I know he recognizes that too. His bottom lip disappears under his teeth in a soft hiss. I know he knew exactly what lipstick it was. He'd bought be the first one, I just got it refilled after.

And if I purposefully fuck it up, using my finger to fix it just to rile him into silence as he looks away flustered, no one else comments on it. Except a cheeky grin from Daniel who muffles a laugh into his palm, pretending Carlos said something to him.

I have the upperhand at the moment, and it eases my panic. Charles looks over at me, sending me an odd look as a click my mirror shut a little louder than I probably should, but a just send him a tiny smile in response and he doesn't question it as I drop both items into my Coach purse and hang it on the back of my chair once more.

Once everyone's settled, it's Max who stands and thanks everyone for coming and thanks Charles for helping him organize the little dinner. Menus are passed around by two waitresses who speak in soft voices as they explain the specials to us in groups, and then we're off to pick our food and mingle. I settle on a 'keto bowl' type dish with salmon and a small appetizer of these little potato wedge things Daniel claims I have to split with him.

And I get a stronger drink because each time Logan even looks in my direction it makes a knot form in my stomach.

"Are you gonna ignore him all night?" Lando turns to murmur to me when we're getting our appetizers. It's been twenty minutes of odd tension and I can tell Lando's getting a little irritated by it.

"I've ignored him for three years. I can do it now." I say back, a little sharp, but when I see Lando's not asking out of irritation but rather worry, I soften and whisper, "It's fine. I..."

Trailing off, my eyes find Logan's accidentally, and it's like I can't look away. It's the second time we've made eye contact, and maybe its the margarita swirling in my stomach and pumping liquid courage through my veins, but I can't look away. It's like we're trapped for a moment, breaths caught in our throats. His voice fails in whatever story he's cheerily recounting to Oscar and Alex, and I see the former look towards where Logan's staring and he makes a bit of a worried expression.

I swallow, Pierre screeching in laughter pulling us from the moment, and I turn back to Lando as Logan rips his eyes away to look at Oscar.

"It's just... hard." I muse and Lando nods, he doesn't say anything about Logan after that as I turn back to Charles who gives me a tiny reassuring nod and then introduces me to the aforementioned Pierre who's come to stand behind us. I keep myself turned away from Logan for the rest of the meal, appetizers swallowed quickly between Daniel and I, Yuki and I sharing drinks and stories as we wait for dinner, I'm at least seven drinks in and happily going for an eighth.

My high tolerance doesn't fail me, but my bladder is close to doing so. With as much tipsy grace as I can muster, I slip out and down the hall to the bathroom, and when I'm done there I stop to freshen myself up in a mirror in the hall. I reapply my perfume, check my teeth, and wipe off a faint smudge of lipstick on my nose from when I had taken a rather large bite and smushed my lip up.

I hear the door click shut and glance over, throat going dry at the sight of Logan. I turn back to the mirror, digging in my purse for my lipstick once more, and he silently passes behind me without a word.

Somehow, that hurts more than anything.

But it's not like I'm making myself available to speak, so I finish tidying up my lipstick, and go back into the room. I grab more drinks for most of the table, thanking the bartender who comes around to help me bring all the drinks to the table.

Entrees arriving at the table passes me in a blur, I'm somehow shoved in a story with Yuki, Zhou, George, Esteban, and Max. I don't even know what they're really saying as everyone's laughing and speaking over one another, but I just enjoy being included.

I eat slow, laughing along with Daniel when he pops into whatever debate Lando, Carlos, and Charles, have pulled him into. And when the hyperactivity dies down as more of us get a bit sluggish from drinking, I eat a bit quicker to finish up my food so it helps my stomach have time to digest before I leave and helps my tipsiness lessen.

I check my phone, it's about ten thirty when we finish eating, and then it's kinda just a free for all hang out for a while. A few people start trickling out after it hits midnight. I know some of them have training tomorrow, as do I, but I kinda can already tell I'm not getting much rest tonight. Alex leaves in a group of about half the table, and I'm helping Charles and Max clean up as the rest slowly trickle out. Eventually I'm escorting Charles to a car as he waves goodbye to Max with a drunken laugh on his lips. Once the driver is on his way, I pluck my phone out of my purse and look through my messages. Anya's on her way, running late due to having to park her car far away since we had a lot of guests at the house.

"You shouldn't... ah," A familiar voice chimes and I look over to where Logan stands. He's far enough away to not be intruding, but close enough to shift towards me a bit as some random men pass behind us on the nearly vacant sidewalk, "You shouldn't stand out here alone, Dhanishka."

Him saying my name makes my heart leap into my throat and I pocket my phone, speaking gently, "Thanks for the concern, but I assure you I'll be fine. Anya's just down the road."

"Still, you know my mom would beat my ass if she knew I left a girl out here alone." He pauses, "Especially if it's you." And his voice trails off. For years his mother had helped raise me, my parents still spoke with her frequently—hell, she and her husband were at my house right now. And I know he’s right. But I can’t say anything past the bump in my throat. My silence makes him shift as he adjusts his grip on his jacket over his shoulder. It was an exceptionally chilly night for some odd reason. A cool breeze ripples across my shoulders. Bahrain was a desert, the lowest we got was 10 degrees celsius, nothing like the zero it was settled at now.

"You can stay." I say after a while and he visibly relaxes, still watching me out of the corner of his eye. The 'few minutes away' Anya texted me feels like a joke as the time stretches on and on and the cold bite of the air gets worse. I try using my saree as a bit of a scarf, but the red fabric is thin and does little to help.

After ten minutes, my teeth start to chatter as the street empties of most people and cars. It's a short hour or so lull when not much will happen at all before people start morning commutes. Beside me, I hear Logan huff. He moves closer and I look over to see him settle his jacket across my shoulders.

"Don't need you getting sick before the first race." He says softly, now far closer than he has been all day. I know I thank him, because I feel the words leave my throat, but I can't hear it over the blood rushing past my ears.

He'd broken it off with me, I never loved another. I still wore the same shade of lipstick and the same perfume, the same songs played on my Spotify whenever I had a chance. Taylor Swift blasting in my ears on long drives, Eminem for parties, Beyonce or Shakira for hyping myself up. I followed the Miami Dolphins loosely because I knew he loved them, and after all this time I found my heart still could be held in his hands. No matter how hard I tried to ignore the feeling of blush spreading across my chilly skin.

After a moment of us just staring at each other, the dim light being broken by passing cars, he whispers, "You can't ignore me forever. As much as you want to, the media is gonna stick us together the first opportunity they have. And... I know I remind you of Trident. I know I remind you of that 'crashgate' shit and maybe I should since you took my victory away."

"You and I both know I had nothing to do with that accident." I turn back to Logan, now fully facing him. I feel suffocated, the scent of his cologne on his jacket covering my perfume, like some sort of silencer washed over my voice. He still wears the same brand from back in the day, from when I stole his jackets and hoodies rather than being gifted them. It felt like a sick metaphor. Somehow we were the same after all this time, yet we would never get to be that again.

"Oh, come on." Logan laughs through a taught frown, threading a hand through his hair, "Now, I can believe that your team principal planned for your teammate to crash into me if I was ahead of you without you knowing. But when they told you to let your teammate overtake you for no reason, you didn't stop to ask why?"

"I did ask why, did you read the FIA reports?" I say back, wind whipping across the street and blowing my hair in front of my eyes like a blindfold.

"Or how about when the accident happened? Why did you keep racing?" He asks, sharp, and I can tell it's something thats been brewing. Years of silence on my end after he'd snapped with tears in his big blue eyes, telling me he 'couldn't do this anymore' and I let him walk away.

But I held my ground, as I always had to do. On my own once again, ostracized, I step closer and rip my hair away from my face in frustration that it wont stay back, "I was told I had to, Logan! I begged them to let me know what had happened to you and they refused! I didn't care about Viscaal! I cared about you!"

"Then why did you let me leave?!" He shouts and the whole street goes silent. We breathe heavy, almost chest to chest, eyes boring into each other with unshed tears. It's a gaping hole in my chest he claws at, trying to scrounge up answers I've buried six feet in the ground. I hear the sound of a car pulling up, I know its Anya without looking.

"What was I supposed to do?" I whisper, ripping his jacket off my shoulders and shoving it into his chest, "Beg you to come back? Apologize a hundred times? You didn't want to see me, you didn't care. I let you go because you wanted to go, and I'm fine with that."

He stares at me and I sniffle, cursing when I realize I've let the tears fall, and I continue, "I never would've let them do that to you if I knew. If I knew, I would've gone right to the FIA, you know that. Don't drag my name like the media already has, please. I can't take it from you of all people, Logan."

We stand in silence for a few more moments and then I turn around, passing in front of Anya's car to get in. I pause with my hand on the handle, watching Logan watch me with this expression in his eyes I can't read. Maybe I was wrong, maybe Logan and I weren't the same anymore, but I don't stop to think too hard as I rip open the door and throw myself down. When I slam the door, Anya puts the car in drive without pausing to ask anything, and pulls away as I desperately try to not watch Logan in the rearview.

"Can we just... drive?" I ask after a long silence and my sister nods, cracking the windows to let the cold air circle around us. I take a slow breath and tilt my head up, swallowing down my emotions until I feel a cool numbness roll across my skin. A familiar numbness.

It's going to be bad again, I can feel it in my chest.

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dhanishkajpg: shade 22R. his favorite. red. the color that's always bested him. (viewing translation from arabic)

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