#sam kiszka x oc | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

basiccortez · 2 years

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Me and Your Ghost ➢word count: 4.5k ➢warnings: smut, mentions of suicide, unhealthy coping habits, mentions of past character death, excessive drinking, hacking ➢ || Ghost masterlist || S&S masterlist || playlist ||

THIS IS AN AU. A complete work of fiction. Nothing in here is a reflection of how the boys act or how they are. It is purely an act of fiction.

“Fuck christ- you feel so good!” The brunette, who he had yet to learn the name of, moaned as he fucked her against the door of his private room.

He took a swig from his bottle of tequila, pressing his fingers to either side of her jaw and squeezing. She took the hint, opening her mouth and taking as much as she could of the tequila he spit into her mouth. She swallowed whatever landed between her lips, the rest spilling down her chin.

Sam realized the bottle was empty the second he went to take another swig, and groaned in frustration. He pulled out of the girl, and tucked himself back into his jeans, moving her to sit on the couch before heading for the door. He turned back for a moment, muttering an order for her to stay where she was before closing the door behind himself.

He made his way to the bar, tapping on the bottle as he reached the bar, signalling the bartender to replace his empty bottle with a fresh one. Most if not all the bartenders at the club had caught on to Sam’s antics these past years that they knew all the cues from him. The two switched bottles, nodding at each other before Sam turned around, bumping into a short redhead, his eyes immediately drinking her in as she apologized for not watching where she was going.

Within minutes Sam was leading her back to his private room. He took a long pull of the tequila as the girls eyed each other from across the room, and he ignored them both, sitting down on the couch and shimmying his pants down just enough for him to pull his still hard cock out before spreading his legs. He turned to the girl he had previously been fucking against the door, “Suck.”

She blushed a deep crimson before moving to kneel in between his knees and took his dick in her mouth, her tongue circling the tip. Sam sucked in a harsh breath, one of his hands gathering her hair to hold it back from her face.

“Good girl,” Sam muttered and then looked over at the redhead he had pulled in from the bar. He lifted his finger, motioning for her to come closer. Once she was in reach, he lifted his hand to wrap around her throat, pulling her down far enough to whisper in her ear, “Ride my thigh for me won’t you sweetheart.”

Six years ago, Cambridge MA…

Sam sighed, taking in the familiar sight of the busy college campus. He had been counting down the days until he could come back to Cambridge. He missed the crisp, sweet smelling fall air. Even though he had only spent a year here, Cambridge felt more like home than Nashville ever could. Danny’s eyes were elsewhere, falling on the young freshman girls that walked past them. Each of them would shyly look at him, and Danny would send them a smirk, making them giggle and blush.

“Don’t you just love fall semester?” Sam said, “The trees changing, the cool air-”

“The fresh girls,” Danny cut him off. Sam rolled his eyes, “Hey, not all of us are super nerds, okay. We need a little extra. . . one on one.”

“I’m excited for the girls too, but I’m excited about being away from everything,” Sam sighed, running his hands through his long hair.

The stress of the family business had hit him hard this past summer. After having that taste of normalcy being able to go to college, Sam had longed for the day his parents would drop him off in Cambridge, however, he didn’t expect the near assassination of his parents to happen right in front of his eyes. His parents almost forbid him from going back to MIT, primarily for his own safety. But Sam had threatened to hurt himself if he didn’t. Mrs. Kiszka couldn’t bear to look at the pain in her son’s face as he held the gun to his head. They reluctantly agreed to let him go back, only if Daniel went with him.

Sam wasn’t sure what time he had gotten home, or how he had gotten home for that matter. All he knew was that it was late, and he was drunk. It had been Sam’s recurring theme for the past three years; wake up late, stare at the computer screen, go to the club, get drunk and fuck someone. Except Sam had forgotten that he usually ended up crying or throwing up on himself in the middle of all that. Danny was the one who always made sure Sam had gotten home safely and was asleep on his side when he was too far gone to care about himself.

Sam had somehow managed to get himself home safe and sound. Danny had only woken up when he heard the loud giggles and Sam was trying to shush the females he had brought home with him. Danny wasn’t surprised when he walked into Sam’s bedroom the next morning, seeing him shirtless with two naked girls on either side of him. Danny walked right over to the curtains, pulling them open, letting the sunlight hit all three drunk humans.

“Ah, what the fuck, Daniel,” Sam groaned, covering his eyes with his hand.

“You’ve got work to do,” Danny said, and looked at the two girls in his bed, “Get the fuck out.”

“You can’t talk to us like that,” One of the girl’s said to Danny. Danny looked her up and down, staring at her naked body, and then looked at Sam.

“Since when are you into plastic surgery and fake tits?”

“Hey!” She scoffed, feeling offended by his words, “You gonna let him talk about us like that?”

Sam looked at his best friend and then to the girls on either side of him, “You heard him, get the fuck out.”

Both the girls mumbled under their breaths as they gathered their clothes and walked out of Sam’s room, slamming the door shut. Danny waited a second before speaking up, looking over to see his best friend already laying back down, his head underneath his pillow. Danny rolled his eyes, and walked over, grabbing the pillow.

“Dude, what the fuck!”

“No, you what the fuck! I thought you were done with this . . . playboy party shit?”

“I agreed to stop day drinking, I never said I was gonna stop partying.” Sam mumbled, “We all grieve differently, okay. Josh buries himself in work, you bury knives in people’s chests, and I bury my cock into whores.”

Danny crossed his arms over his chest, “We’ve talked about this Sam, it’s been three-”

“I fucking know how long it’s been!” Sam yelled, and ran his hands through his hair, “It’s been three years since Jake, but six years since her. I just. . . I need more time.”

Danny frowned looking at his friend. A lot has changed in Sam over the past six years, not only physically but emotionally as well. Sam wasn’t the same baby faced, long flowy hair, care free person he once was. Sam’s smile wasn’t as bright as it used to be, and his eyes didn’t get that twinkle anymore. His eyes were cold and dark, much like Jake’s were before he found the love of his life. Sam had gone into survival mode, numbing himself with drugs and alcohol so he didn’t have to face the monsters of the day. The second the buzz was gone, the moment everything around him came flooding back in. Danny knew people healed in different ways and it wasn’t always linear, but he was tired of watching his friend destroy himself.

“Well, burying yourself in a new whore every night isn’t going to help you heal. If anything it’ll probably just give you gonorrhea.” Danny sighed, and ran a hand through his hair, “Get yourself cleaned up. Josh wants to meet with us about something. Be in the office in half an hour.”

Sam nodded and watched as his best friend left his bedroom. Sam flopped back down on his bed and looked over at his bedside table. The picture of him, Danny, and the woman he loved sat on his bedside table. Sam picked up the frame and gently ran his fingers over the dusty glass. Her smile looked just as bright and warm in pictures as it did in real life. Sam looked at himself in the reflection in the glass, and frowned, setting it back down on the table, and pulling himself out of bed.

Six Years ago, Ireland…

Y/N followed her father and brother through the hallway, interrupting any chance the two of them had of starting up a conversation, even going as far as wriggling her way between the two of them as they walked into her fathers office. Galen was growing annoyed by her constant interruptions, almost as if she had tattooed the words to the college brochure on her eyelids. She was much like her mother in this way, pushing and pushing until she got her way.

“Please dad! I can’t keep doing school online, I want the full experience. I want to go to class, hang out in the library to do my homework,” She slumped onto the chair across from him at his desk, “I want to make friends.”

Galen watched as his daughter impatiently waited for his response, picking at her nails as she held her laptop over her legs. He knew she probably already had the dorm room application open, as well as everything else she could use as a bargaining chip to convince him to let her go, but the look on her was enough for him to cave, as per usual when it came to his precious little girl.

She was always his soft spot, his kryptonite, which was part of the reason he didn’t want her going across the ocean. Not many outside of their family knew she existed for the simple reason that she could be used against Galen so easily. The moment she was placed in his arms twenty some years ago, he knew there wasn’t a single thing in the world he wouldn’t do to make her smile. It had terrified Galen how easily he was willing to lie down and take a bullet for her, but if it meant not seeing her in pain, it was worth it.

“Fine,” He sighed, watching as her eyes immediately lit up, “but Cillian is going with you to move you into your dorm.”

Her grin was wider than he had ever seen it, her head nodded ferociously as her gaze flipped between her father and her brother, “Deal!”

“And you have to bring two guards of my choosing.”

“So I need to call… everybody apparently,” Josh mumbled, shuffling around the papers on the dining room table, once again on whether to hire live entertainment, or to just have a playlist. He was exhausted, overworking himself in a desperate attempt to distract himself from the overwhelming emotions that had plagued his life in the past few years. He was in charge now, he had to be strong for his family, for his business, for himself, or he would crumble, and he would not recover.

It was times like these he wished he still had Jake around, to ask him for advice, for his guidance on what he should do. Even though Josh had handled the promotional side of the business for years, it was always nice to have someone to decide on final things for him. Josh also missed Jake’s wife, knowing that all of this would’ve been done and handled if she was still here. She always ran a tight ship, knowing exactly what needed to be done and when and how much it was going to cost. Josh had been struggling to get the speakeasy open that she had been working on before her untimely death.

This ball Josh had been planning was something Jake actually had in the works years before when he was set to marry the Santiago daughter. He knew that he would need to do something to bring all the mafia members together and do a show of dominance, making it known that the Kiszkas were untouchable now. Josh had been putting it off for awhile, trying to get a handle on the day to day things before he took on a task like this. But his father was pushing him to do something. They were sitting idle, not in danger but not comfortable either. It was time for them to show the mafia world that the Kiszkas hadn’t died with Jake that day, that they were still there and alive.

Danny wandered into the room with a stack of files, immediately laying his eyes on Josh, who looked like he was about to punch a hole in the wall. Danny had moved from just being head of security to also helping out with promotional duties. Sam was no less than useless at this point in time, so the Kiszka mafia really fell onto Josh and Danny’s shoulders. Danny walked over to where Josh was standing, peeking down at the messily written notes in front of him.

“I think we should do live music, better atmosphere.” Danny said with a shrug, earning a sigh from Josh, who quickly picked up his pencil and crossed out the playlist option, “Preferably strings. You know those old time mafia men are going to want something classical being played while they drink their whisky from the 1800s.”

“Thanks Dan.” Josh muttered, sliding his chair out from the table and turned to face Danny.

“I saw these on the ‘to do’ pile, figured I could find some of these fuckers to send invites too. I’m not as savvy with the whole tech shit like Sam is, but I can do what I can. We should probably start sending them out if we want replies before the fundraiser happens,” He said with a chuckle, handing the folders and a small pile of invites to Josh, who cracked a small smile.

“I’ll get Sam to do the rest of it, he needs to do something besides stare at the security footage and sleep. Besides, it’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack with some of them,” Josh said, standing from his chair and stretching away the ache that had settled deep in his bones from sitting for too long.

“Or going to the club, sometimes it’s like he spends more time there than he does at home. Not sure when the last time he’s detoxed either,” Danny agreed, Sam’s habits as of late were a bigger issue than anyone wanted to admit. He had shut himself off from everyone, the only emotion he openly shared was lust, and that was reserved for the ‘catch of the night’ as Danny had begun to call them. He drank till he was numb, and ruminated in it until Danny or Josh forced him to go home, take a shower, and go to sleep.

If he wasn’t at the club, he was burrowed in his office, all the lights turned off as he sat in his chair, wrapped in a robe that Josh and Danny were convinced he hadn’t cleaned since the first time he put it on after Jake's death. He just sat and watched the security footage of the mansion, looking for ghosts that weren’t there, threats that lurked in the dark, but there were none. The Kiszkas had basically been silent since they buried the two lovers three years ago.

Since the shift in power from both the Kiszkas and the Santiagos, nothing had really happened on either side of the world. It was like everyone was waiting for the moment either one of them would fall. The Santiagos were admired for their strength, Paulo was praised for how well he handled taking over the family when Rafael stepped down. Josh had also received praise for stepping up and successfully completing the gun deal with Paulo. The Kiszka and Santiago mafias were now one of the biggest and most powerful families in the world, but they sat in silence, reeling from the deaths that brought them their power.

Josh walked into the office first, taking in the sight of his little brother passed out with his head resting on his desk. He shook his head as he continued on walking to the kitchen. He smiled at Emile as she was already brewing a pot of coffee and making the extremely hungover boy something to eat. Josh had been thankful that Emile decided to stay around after everything. Their mother couldn’t handle staying in the states for very long after they buried Jake. Sam needed the love of a mother, but Mrs. Kiszka was simply incapable of doing that. Instead, Emile stepped up, washing the vomit off his clothes, and picking him up from his own puddle of urine. She loved him like a son, and it showed in the way she was putting up with his antics. She knew that his heart was broken, she had seen this happen before.

Danny looked again at the list of names Josh had scribbled down. Most of them didn’t sound familiar, being Mafia families from around the US, Europe and South America. One name in particular stood out to him, as his breath caught in his throat. He ran his fingers across the dried ink, looking around the office, before folding the file and walking briskly out of the room. Danny ran up to his room, and shut the door, locking it. He sat on his bed, and pulled the file open. He picked up the black and white mugshot in his hand, her smile was still bright and warm even in a picture.

“That fucking clover. . .”

Y/N’s eyes were wide as she took in the sight of the buildings around her, so vastly different from the large open fields she was used to. This would be the first time she had gone to the states without her father by her side. The first time she would be able to explore by herself. Usually coming to the States was strictly for business, and she didn’t dare go anywhere that wasn’t with her father or a handful of guards by her side. She was so zoned out that she didn’t even realize the car had stopped, only refocassing when Cillian blocked the view from her window, opening the door for her.

She took the hand he had outstretched for her, sliding out of the car and taking a step forward, once again looking around at the buildings, and the students bustling around the dorm buildings, many doing the very same thing she was there to do. She could also spot the guards that were around, trying hard to blend into the surroundings, but was useless against her watchful eye. She rolled her eyes before grabbing her purse and putting it on her shoulder.

Cillian watched as she gawked at the sheer amount of people around her, until her gaze locked on a tall brunette standing across the quad with someone he could only assume was his friend. It was now Cillian’s turn to roll his eyes at his little sister, watching as the brunette man sent her a smile and she turned almost as red as her hair.

Cillian walked up to his little sister, snapping his fingers in front of her face a couple times, “You’re here for an education, not to have fun.” His tone pulled her attention back to him, noting the way he attempted to remain hard in the face, despite the mild taunting undertone in his statement.

She watched as Cillian turned back to the car, reaching into the trunk, “Is there a reason I can’t do both?” She had a smug smirk on her face as Cillian pulled a bag from the trunk, tossing it at her, “Besides… only the good die young, right?”

Her eyes drifted back to the tall boy across the quad, and much to her surprise, she caught his gaze. A blush crept over her cheeks, causing him to smile as she bowed her head to look at the man that was helping her unpack the trunk.

Danny had followed his friend’s gaze, seeing him smile shyly at his shoes, before peering back up at the girl who was talking to a boy next to her. Sam was determined at that moment to get to know her. He put the pamphlet back down on the table and fixed his flannel, taking a step forward, only to be stopped by Danny’s hand on his chest. Sam scoffed and looked at his friend who just shook his head.

“You know Sam,” Danny said, pulling Sam from his daze, “there are better looking women than a redhead. You know what they say about them right?”

Sam’s eyes were straining as he watched the bright computer screens in his dark office. After Jake’s death, Josh had moved into his office, leaving Sam alone in the other one. Danny hardly had a need for an office, so he rarely came into Sam’s. Sam had monitors set up all around him with various camera shots from different locations throughout the city and even the world. With just a simple click of a key Sam could look at the stock houses in Argentina, or the clubs in Paris, or the old mills in Kansas.

Sam looked over his shoulder, before hitting a key and turning all the cameras to various areas of the MIT campus. He would occasionally flip the screens to look over the areas he once roamed in search for that familiar red hair and green eyes. He’d recognize her anywhere if she would just show her pretty face. Instead, it was just random college students milling around, drinking in the front yard of Frat Houses, running naked across central campus.

“You know, in most law cases this would be considered stalking,” Josh said leaning up against the door. Sam quickly shut the screens down and went back to looking at Kiszka Enterprises property, “Don’t need to hide from me, baby brother. I know you’ve been watching that campus for years. Wouldn’t she have graduated by now?”

“Not if she's working on her masters. . .” Sam mumbled, “She said she wanted to get her doctorate in computer programming. So she’d still be there. . . if she’s even alive.”

Josh sighed and sat down in a chair across from Sam. No one had really ever talked about how this life affected Sam. Sam was the baby of the family, the most sheltered from everything and he liked that. Josh had slowly seen the bright light slip from his brother’s eyes over the past couple years. Nothing made him smile, nothing made him happy. He was obsessive over finding this old ghost, and it had only gotten worse since Jake’s passing. Jake could keep Sam busy enough so that he didn’t have time to sit and stare at security footage all day, but Josh was a different leader than Jake.

“I think she’s still alive,” Josh said.

“What makes you say that?” Sam asked him.

“Don’t you think if a student showed up dead on MIT’s campus, it would’ve been a headline somewhere? You would’ve seen it Sam, you would know.”

“Okay, and if she is alive. . . she might not even remember me. I mean, I was there one day and being dragged onto a plane, drugged out of my mind, the next,” Sam explained. Josh could remember that because he was the one that pressed the needle with anesthetic into his brother’s neck so they could get him on the plane back to Nashville easier.

“I’m sorry I did that Sam,” Josh said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Sam just shrugged in acknowledgment, “You two were pulled apart Sam, that doesn’t mean she just forgot about you, she probably did the same thing as you for a long time.” Josh stood from his chair, walking towards the door of Sam’s office before turning his head back to his little brother, “Who knows, maybe she’s been watching you this entire time and you’ve just been to blind to see it.”

Sam rolled his eyes, letting out a small scoff at the implication, “I highly doubt that.”

“Do me a favor, find these old bastards,” Josh said, tossing down a list of names in front of him.

Sam nodded and Josh patted his shoulder on his way out, shutting the door behind him and leaving Sam once again in the darkness of his office, the only light coming from the monitors. He fell back into his usual activity, staring at the screens, flipping through security feed, which now included the feed for the fundraiser location. Sam turned to one of his screens, pulling open an old coding document that he had been working on as far back as when he was at MIT. He started it just before the start of his third year in school.

He skimmed through it, easily identifying lines that he had written, and finding spots where she had taken over, correcting his errors, or making improvements to the code he had already written. By the time he reached the last few lines of code, he noticed his mouse twitching, scrolling back up without his input.

It was only after he stopped trying to fight with his mouse, that his eyes caught the inconsistency on the screen. Sam had opened the document since his time in MIT, but he never really added much, and what he did add was without fault, a conscious improvement to the work he had started years prior, but there was one line that stuck out from the rest, a simple line of code placed in exactly the wrong spot. His hand touched the mouse once again, hovering over the line.

Then it all blacked out.

His room was flooded in darkness for a split second before being engulfed in a dull green light, the code suddenly spreading over every monitor he owned, and at the end, he watched as the line of code corrected itself. Sam’s jaw dropped as he looked around his office, his mind freezing for a split second. He had never had a breach in his security like this, he wasn’t even sure what to really do. Instead, he stared at the caret as it blinked for a few seconds before dropping to a new line.

[I’ve been waiting years for you to notice that error ☘]

Sam frantically reached for his keyboard, but by the time his fingers brushed the keys, his screen blacked out once again, coming back as the security footage he had pulled up beforehand. He opened the document once again, seeing the corrected line, but no additional text, and no evidence on his computer that anyone else had access to his system. Sam took a couple deep breaths, trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened.

Someone or something had breached his system, and there was only one thing on his mind. Sam shut down his systems, leaning back in his chair, watching as everything shut down. He looked around his office, his brown eyes landing on the half bottle of tequila on his desk. He stood up, and picked up the bottle, dropping it in the trash before walking out of his office.

Note: blame it on the vibes, or whatever or the fact that I have finally finished this fucking series. but its back and if you saw me post this before. . . you didn't. but let me get one hate anon/hate post, ONE, and this will be taken down. I have a ZERO TOLERANCE for hate

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samkiszkasfacialhair · 5 months

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Rollin' and Tumblin' Chapter 4

Rollin’ and Tumblin’ Chapter 4

Masterpost

Pairing: Jake Kiszka and Female Reader

Summary: You’ve lived a sheltered and privileged life, only learning what it truly means to live and love after meeting Jake, a young man of unusual western sorts who was hired to work on your father’s farm.

Warnings: Injury (deep ax cut with blood), house fire, death of parents, death of siblings.

Word Count: 3.5k

Chapter 4

As the summer rolled on, your time with Jake did as well. Sundays became your sneak away days. There was no work to be done on Sundays but Jake still came to the farm. Every Sunday at noon, right after lunch, you’d meet him behind the barn and as long as you were back before dinner and relatively clean, no one would suspect a thing.

The only person who knew was Katherine, your lady’s maid. She had known about Jake since the very beginning and she was trustworthy. Through the years, she had kept all your secrets. After all, you’d known her since you were an infant. She was more of a friend rather than a lady’s maid. She was always prepared with a lie to be told if anyone asked for your whereabouts.

In just a few short weeks of spending time with Jake, you’d grown to truly care for him in ways you didn’t even know were possible. You did a lot of things together. He taught you how to fish, how to throw a baseball, and not to mention, he taught you how to make him feel good in certain ways, to say the least.

But despite all that, your favorite thing was reading to him. You would sit down at the base of the hillside and he would lay his head on your lap and close his eyes while you read him books and combed your fingers through his hair. He loved to be read stories. He said it reminded him of his mother who he missed a lot.

After bidding Jake goodbye on Sunday afternoons, you’d watch him work each weekday and count down the days until you could see him again.

This week, the day came sooner than expected.

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in late August. The weather was just starting to cool down and it was the perfect day for an outdoor lunch. Your mother’s friends and their daughters all came to your home for sandwiches and lemonade in the backyard.

The daughters were all girls you grew up with, some a bit younger than you and some of them your age and married with children who stayed home with nannies.

The group of you talked and sipped lemonade on the porch while everyone around you was working.

Housemaids served food to the tables of women in the shade while farm hands, Jake included, hauled and cut wood to build a fence over by the barn in the sun.

“What are you looking at, Claire?” you asked one of the girls at the table, as she peeked over the rim of her glass in the direction of the men.

Claire was younger, eighteen years old, and set to be married to the heir of a successful steel milling company in just a few months. She was silly and outgoing. She waved to the men and giggled, causing every girl at the table to turn their heads towards the barn to see who she was waving at.

Standing next to Jake was a man you'd never seen before. He was a taller, skinnier man, with brown hair falling down past his shoulders just like Jake’s except slightly darker and his was tied up into two messy braids. He was wearing denim head to toe and had on a dirty brown hat which he tipped at Claire in response to her wave.

“The tall one is rather cute,” Claire said dreamily.

The girls at the table giggled quietly as they continued staring at them while they worked.

“Yes, but the shorter one is handsome,” another one of your friends, Margaret, chimed in with her eyes set on Jake.

“Look at his legs in those pants,” she said as she stared at him, “I wonder what he looks like wi-”

“Margaret, be a lady! We’re having lunch!” Claire interrupted with a slight laugh in her voice.

The girls at the table giggled and whispered at Margaret’s unfinished comment and Claire’s sudden stop of it.

You let out a few fake laughs to join in with the group. Though Margaret didn’t get to finish her sentence, you knew what the rest of it was going to be and you knew the answer to it. You knew what Jake looked like without pants on. He looked good. Better than any of them could imagine.

But you sat in silence, holding your tongue and pretending not to be interested in any of the men back there, but especially Jake.

It took all you had not to gush over them and spill your secrets to the rest of the girls at the table. Part of you wished you could but the other part of you felt satisfied knowing you had what they wanted, regardless if anyone knew about it or not.

Eventually, the conversation transitioned onto something other than the men, which you were thankful for, and the afternoon carried on.

However it wasn’t long until the sound of Jake’s voice along with a thud of an ax hitting the ground broke through the air, causing your head to whip back around.

“Jesus! Fuck!” he called out as a pool of blood gushed out of his left hand, covered his palm, and dripped along his fingers.

The older women at the table gave him looks of disgust because of his language and continued on with their lunch, not paying him an ounce of attention- not even caring that he’d been hurt.

At the sight of him in pain, you felt your heart drop. You sat up in your chair for a better look. It took everything in you not to get up and run over to him to see if he was alright. You had to remind yourself to stay where you were and keep your thoughts in your head so as to not give yourself away.

Splatters of burgundy littered Jake’s shirt and he pressed a piece of blood soaked fabric tight over his palm.

As your father and Jake approached the back porch, you redirected your attention to your meal and tried your best not to look at Jake.

Your father snapped his fingers at Katherine and she stood up to speak to him. Katherine was a war nurse before becoming your lady’s maid. She knew everything from cleaning and healing wounds to getting blood out of clothing. If anyone could help in this situation, it was her.

He spoke quietly to her and before you knew it, she had gone into your house with Jake following behind her.

After excusing yourself from lunch, you entered your house to find Katherine in the first floor bathroom pulling a small first aid tin out of a vanity cabinet while Jake sat on the edge of the tub with his eyes on his hand.

You cleared your throat and Jake looked up at you and smiled.

“I’ll be done in just a moment, He needs-” Katherine began, not bothering to look up at you in the doorway.

“I can help him,” you said quietly, interrupting her.

At the familiar sound of your voice, she turned around from what she was doing to meet your eyes and smiled.

Quickly, she ran over to you and pulled you into the bathroom.

“Oh Miss, the sight of blood made you a bit nauseous, didn’t it?” she spoke loudly out the bathroom door, letting her voice carry down the hallway and towards the kitchen, “Please, head upstairs to get some rest,” she said, peering out into the hall to check for anyone listening or watching.

She flashed you both a smile of satisfaction before closing the bathroom door and leaving the two of you alone in your house for the first time ever.

Jake shook his head and let out a laugh through his nose, ‘That’s Katherine, isn’t it?” he asked.

Nodding wordlessly at him, you approached the spot Katherine was once standing in and opened the first aid kit.

“You know what you’re doin’, Darlin’?” he asked cautiously.

“Mhm,” you said as you placed the kit down on the edge of the sink and grabbed it as it began teetering off the edge.

Jake placed his right hand on top of yours. There was dried blood from his other hand on the top of it as well as in the beds of fingernails.

“My house ain’t more than a mile away. If you want to head there with me to do this properly,” he suggested.

His idea was probably best. You didn’t have any chairs to sit at or a table to work on in the bathroom and you couldn’t go to any other part of your house to do this without getting caught. Besides, extra alone time with Jake away from your house didn’t sound too bad either.

You made sure his hand was wrapped up to slow the bleeding and snuck him out the front door with ease.

He led you through a wooded area towards his home and within minutes, you approached a clearing in the woods with a small log cabin in the middle of it. It couldn’t have been more than two rooms wide. It had a brick chimney and a few steps which lead to a covered porch where you spotted a dark brown dog laying down by the door.

“It’s not much, but it's home,” he said smiling as you stood in front of the steps.

The dog sat up and barked at the sight of Jake.

You stayed put in fear as Jake knelt down on his knees to pet it.

“Hey girl,” he said softly to her as he rubbed her head with his good hand.

“This is Rose,” he explained, “She’s my brother Sammy’s. She’s sweet, she ain’t gonna hurtcha,’” he assured you.

You walked up the steps hesitantly and extended a hand to her as you stood behind Jake. She sniffed it a bit before licking it gently. You laughed as her tongue tickled your skin.

“You like my lady, Rose?” he said softly to her as if she would answer back.

He smiled at you, “I think she likes you,” he said before looking back down at her, “Well Rose, you’re a good judge of character,” he said as he gave her a final pat and stood up again.

He opened the front door and led the way inside to the tiny cabin.

Inside there was a wooden dining table with two chairs, two beds covered with quilted blankets, and fireplace with logs set next to it.

Jake was right. It wasn’t much. But despite it not being much, it was everything at the same time. It was warm and inviting unlike your house which was stiff, cold, and uncomfortable.

You sat down at a wooden table across from him and placed the kit down as he held out his wounded hand to you.

Slowly, you unwrapped the blood soaked fabric and he winced as you peeled it off his hand to reveal a deep slice in his palm that went from the bottom of his thumb up to his pinky finger. The bleeding had stopped for the most part but you could still see fresh blood as well as dirt and clumps of dried blood in and around the wound.

After getting a good look at it, you dug into the kit, pulling out a few bottles of solutions, scissors, and bandages.

Jake watched you as you read the labels on each bottle and set the correct ones aside.

You picked up a bottle of antiseptic and poured some out onto a clean cloth.

“It’s going to sting, okay?” you warned him as you brought the damp cloth closer to his hand.

He closed his eyes tight and nodded in anticipation.

With your free hand, you gently ran your fingertips up and down his forearm to calm him before pressing down on his wound with the wet cloth.

He hissed as the solution soaked deep into his raw, broken skin.

“Sorry,” you whispered as he breathed hard and bit down on his bottom lip.

You released the cloth from his wound and blew cool air onto it, watching his face relax and his eyes open once more as the pain faded.

After gently but thoroughly cleaning his cut, you cleaned the excess blood off his hands, applied a healing ointment and bandaged him up properly.

“How’d you learn how to do all that?” he asked as you carefully secured the bandage.

“Katherine was a war nurse. She used to tell stories of how she helped wounded soldiers. And anytime I’d gotten hurt as a child, she helped me. So I suppose I learned from her,” you explained.

And for the first time ever, you felt accomplished. You felt like you were worth something- like you could do things that mattered. You weren’t just a trophy for a man to have on his arm at parties. In that moment, you realized there was a lot that you knew how to do and it was because of Jake that you were able to do all these things. Because of him you could ride a horse, swim, throw a baseball, fish, and play card games. All things you’d never been able to do before. You felt good about yourself for the first time in a long time.

You replayed the times you spent together in your head before asking him the question you’ve always wanted to ask.

“Now,” you began, running your hands over the bandage on his hand gently, “I’ve told you all about me and my life. I want to hear about yours.”

Jake sighed. He had avoided talking about himself for as long as you’ve known him, only sharing a few tidbits here and there.

“Tell me,” you began, looking around the house and spotting two of everything, "It’s just you and Sammy?”

“Mhm, just me and Sammy,”

“And your parents? Certainly you have parents. You’ve told me about your mother a bit,” you said, prompting him to add to the conversation. After all, you’d only heard about his mother briefly.

He nodded, “I had a momma and a daddy. When I was little we had this house on a big plain in Texas,” he smiled to himself before his expression faded and he paused.

He looked down for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and continued, “But, when I was ten, there, uh, there was a fire. The whole house- up in flames. We got out of it, me and Sammy. We were the only ones. Lost my brother Joshua and my sister Veronica too,” he shook his head, “Last thing I heard was my momma callin’ out for ‘em. And, then the roof fell. I remember standin’ there with Sammy, watchin’ it burn,” he spoke softly with his eyes fixated on the fire burning in the fireplace just a few feet from him.

He closed his eyes and blinked a few times, moving his gaze back down to the table in front of him.

“Sammy cried. But I didn’t. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. I had to be strong for him. Sammy hardly remembers ‘em now he says. I guess he’s lucky in that way. I remember it all like it was yesterday.”

His voice cracked just a little as he spoke and he fought back tears before regaining his composure and continuing.

“But when it was over, and there was nothin’ left, we walked. I walked with Sam all the way from Texas to Tennessee, beggin’ for money and food along the way, hearin’ people talk about a city called Nashville. So we headed for it. Took a while. The winters were brutal and the summers were like a kiss from the Devil himself. But eventually, I got a little older, stopped begging and started picking up jobs, workin’ here and there to get a little money. Lived in Louisiana for a little, then eventually moved up to Mississippi, and then we ended up here. Learned how to tend land, take care of cattle, ya know- farm stuff. Sam would play with the rich school kids while I was workin’. They taught him how to read and write- Sammy’s smart. He’s good at buildin’ too- helped me build this here house we’re sittin’ in right now and he's helping me build that fence on your daddy's farm. Don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have him. He’s the only family I got. Ya know, you say you hate your family, but, you don’t know just how good you have it.”

It was silent for a minute. Jake kept his head down. You could tell he was thinking deeply.

“Jake, I’m sorry,” you whispered, reaching a hand out to cup his face. You didn’t know what else to say. There really was nothing you could say. You felt guilty. He had lived a hard life while you were given everything and still you were unappreciative. And even though there was pain deep in his heart, he was still the kindest, most loving person you’d ever met.

“S’alright,” he whispered, “Got ‘em in here,” he said as he placed his good hand on top of his chest, where his heart was.

He stood up, leaving you at the table as he walked over to his bed.

He pulled off his blood stained shirt and put on a clean one.

“But your parents,” he began as he threw his dirty shirt in a tin bucket, “They set you up to marry somebody and you don’t even like ‘em? Is that how they met too?”

“Unfortunately, yes. That’s how the world works, Jake,” you said as you began cleaning up the first aid kit and bloody fabric.

Now in a fresh shirt, he walked over to you and placed the bucket on the table and his good hand on the arm of the chair you were in, leaning forward and closing you in between him and the table.

“That’s not how the world works,” he said, raising his eyebrows at you.

“Alright then, how does the world work?” you asked, looking up at him like you were presenting him with a challenge.

“Well,” he began, “I don't know much about the whole world, but in my world, you meet somebody on your own, get to know ‘em a little, and then without realizing it, you come to find yourself…” his voice trailed off and picked up in a whisper, “falling in love with ‘em.”

He swallowed hard and you did the same. His eyes darted all over your face as he breathed softly through parted lips.

You both knew how you felt. It was just as Jake said. You were falling in love with one another. Better yet, already had fallen in love with each other.

“You ever been in love before, Jacob?” you asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

Jake opened his mouth to speak but the sudden sounds of Rosie barking outside and the opening of the front door made both your heads turn quickly to see the tall, skinny man with the braids standing in the doorway, looking surprised.

Sammy.

Quickly, you both stood up and you picked up the tin bucket to hand it to Jake.

“Just, um, let it soak in cold water for a day or two and then wash it well with soap,” you instructed him, trying to cover up how flustered you were feeling.

“I will,” Jake replied shyly before introducing you to Sammy who seemed to know exactly who you were.

Sammy was sweet as could be and a lot less serious than Jake. He had the same subtle twang in his voice as Jake but his voice was a little louder, and sounded just a bit more youthful too, playful even. But just like Jake, he was a gentleman.

They exchanged looks and Sammy quickly saw himself out the front door to give the two of you privacy.

“I suppose I better head home,” you said quietly once Sammy closed the door behind him.

“You know your way back? I would take you but I don’t want to cause you any trouble,” Jake replied, remembering what happened the last time he took you home.

Replying with a smile and a nod, you lifted your chin to kiss him.

He placed his lips on yours and gave you a gentle kiss. There was something about this kiss that was different from all the others. It was softer and sweeter than ever. It was almost as if it had love laced in it.

“Goodnight, Darlin.’ I’ll see ya tomorrow,” Jake whispered as he kissed the top of your head and opened the front door for you.

As you walked down the steps of the front porch, the sound of Sam’s sweet voice caught your attention.

You turned to see him sitting in a wooden rocking chair with Rosie at his feet.

“Take Rose with ya. She’ll keep you safe and she knows her way back,” he said as he lit up a pipe with a match.

You looked back at Jake who was leaning on the doorframe, smiling softly and nodding approvingly.

Sam lifted his chin to Rose and said “Get!”

Instantly, she got up and trotted down the stairs before you.

As the sun set, you walked home with Rose by your side. When you arrived back at your house, you gave her a kiss on the top of her head and sent her away and back home to Jake.

Author's Note: Again, sorry for the delay! I hope you enjoyed it and that little taste of cowboy Sammy! The next (and last) chapter will come sooner rather than later!

Taglist: @peepeepoopoopantz @sacredjake @writingcold @jakekiszkasbuttsweat @radmads-gvf @iheartjakekiszka @sadandgeek @vanfleeter @cassy-face (Cassy-face it wont let me tag you properly bff idk why) @myownparadise96

#greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet imagine #jake kiszka #jake kiszka fanfic #jake gvf #jake kiszka fan fiction #greta van fleet fluff #jake kiszka fluff #jake kiszka x reader #jake kiszka x y/n #jake kiszka imagine #jake kiszka smut #jake kiszka fan fic #jake kiszka fanfiction #jake kiszka x oc #sam kiszka fan fiction #sam kiszka imagine

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readyforthegarden · 10 months

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Silver Springs

Masterlist

Pairing: Sam Kiszka x Original Female Character

18+ only, Minors DNI

Synopsis: The year was 1976, the season was summer. The days were hot and the nights were hotter. Music was the best it had ever been, especially rock music. Sam Kiszka has been riding the high of being in one of the top bands on the scene, but when his bands tour is accompanied by another up-and-coming band, with a lead singer that gets on his very last nerve, will everything come crashing down or will they end up making music that changes the world?

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

Part Nine

Part Ten

Part Eleven

Part Twelve

Taglist: @joshsindigostreak @ascendingtostardust @sammysprincess @sammykiszkamyass @belovedsamuel @sunfl0wer-power @indigo-starcatcher @sammyscherub @earthlysorrows @lvnterninthenight @allieisacrybaby @losfacedevil @xserenax-13 @sarakay-gvf @shutupdevvie @myownparadise96 @watchingovergvff @gretavanfleetposts @sacredthefran @josiee-gvf @joshkiszkatoothgap @madneedshelp @gardensgatedaisy @kkdarling @demonrat444 @teddiie @writingcold @dannyandthekiszkas @gretavanbestie @lightmylove-gvf @tearsofbri @paleshadow-ofadragon @happy-harpy-stuff @like-a-woman-in-a-dream @starshine-wagner @objectsinspvce @josh-iamyour-mama @mountain-in-springtime @cal-a-bungaa @capturethechaos @jankandjonch @gvfpal @allybjt @hippievanfleet @weightofbrokenbells @joshkiszkasbadussy @malany-gvf @ruby0antlers @samofthedawn @sacredjake @aim4thedoublee @diditallforyouu @gvfmarge @highladyofasgard @sammysvanfeet

#sam kiszka #sam kiszka x reader #sam gvf #sam kiszka fanfiction #greta van fleet #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet fan fiction #jake kiszka #josh kiskza #danny wagner #sam kiskza x oc

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writingcold · 7 months

Text

Hi. Welcome to the Epilogue. It’s short, but mighty. I truly, truly hope that you have enjoyed my Bootleggers and Wildflowers. They have been so fun to write.

If you are just joining us, you can find the Master List to the series here

Here’s the last time I’m going to say it: @lvnterninthenight, @gardensgatedaisy and @whitesuitjake thank you from the bottom of my toes to the tip of my head for your assistance, patience and talents.

This is a work of fiction, and is totally mine. Please do not take it for your own personal use. I’ve put in hours of research, hours upon hours of writing, re-writing, screaming, yelling and vomiting over this epic of a story. But it is mine.

Content warning: 18+ only story. Fluff. Family. Hardship of the 1930’s and the Great Depression. But, mostly fluff.

Word count: approx. 3200

Epilogue - Cora

Summer 1933

The hard times started one year and two months after their wedding. Jacob and Cora had just welcomed their first child when it seemed the world went wild with grief and darkness. For the honeymoon, they had gotten into his newest car - a cherry red Packard Twin Roadster. Cora thought the car was wildly flamboyant. Jake teased that he loved seeing her frugal and modest nature crumble the moment she slid into the passenger seat, feeling the suppleness of the leather and the smooth ride across the road. And he was right. There were little luxuries that he injected into her life that she could not be without - a pretty tea set, a soft bed, touches through the quality fabric of her dresses, a variety of food in her belly every night. To see her family flourish in their new home was a blessing she promised to never take for granted.

If Cora had thought that she had gathered so much life in the two years she had lived before marrying Jacob, the first year of their marriage was like living life at a full sprint. The Baras’ Brothers General and Mercantile Store opened for official business while they were on their auto touring trip. Joshua, Daniel and Samuel launched the moment they could, offering Arbor Vitae their first real access to a wide variety of needs. Within a month, Sam opened an auto garage and gas service station next door. Molly carved out a bit of a tailoring shop on the opposite side of the street. Rosemary found her hands needed as men streamed in from the logging camps, swamping Molly with so many repairs that she needed assistance right away. Assistance that her mother was delighted to provide. Cora took the job of accounting for all the family businesses - a job that she was happy to manage from the home that Jacob had built at the edge of town.

She walked through the functional kitchen, a cup of tea in her hand. The quiet of the house filled her as she sat down at the rich oak dining table. Across the walls and sideboard, instead of art of a well-to-do wife, she had pictures of them all - all the family. It was difficult not to be reflective as the children slept and her hand on her very pregnant belly as the next little one stirred against her. Her smile tugged as she cooed down at the next blessing. She had been feeling little flutters all morning. Flutters she knew would make loud announcements in a short time to bring forth the next member of their family. Blowing out a soft, cooling breath across her tea, she looked across to the last photo Joshua had taken of her brothers.

Matthew, Jonathan and Georgie stood shoulder to shoulder with serious faces and crisp linen suits. It was taken just a few days before Matthew traveled to the east for the Autumn term at the college where his namesake had once made home. The eldest of her brothers had made quite the impression on his professors and had established himself amongst his peers. He was settling in Boston after the university there invited him to teach. Cora knew that their father’s spirit of sharing knowledge resided deep within him. It would be a good fit for the young man seeking to set his roots. Jon blossomed under Samuel’s tutelage, becoming quite the engineer and helping at the auto garage. The young man showed more than talent, but a mind for innovation as well. He felt strangled when he tried college, finding that he needed to be tinkering rather than pointing out the flaws in his professor’s methods and lessons. After two terms of university, Jon was snatched up by a large car company and moved to Detroit. Sam was as proud as he could be of his protege. Georgie, the last of the boys to be home with Rosemary, was preparing to leave for college soon. He would be joining Matthew in Boston, with a focus on the family business as his guide. He had taken an interest in the management of the shops, to which Jake was quick to foster. The Janas family lived a good, secure life. Quite the opposite of their situation only seven years prior. A blessing she held terribly close in her heart.

Samuel’s service station was wildly popular with locals and tourists alike. The first year without Susannah had been rough to aid him through. The young man’s wounds were bone deep and bled often as he struggled to heal. The station helped return his mind to normal. His reputation of making cars go fast trickled through the various car clubs that traveled through town that first summer of business. He was approached by a driver asking about what he knew about endurance racing. The thought of traveling around the world to showcase his talent that had once been for illegitimate offerings was not lost on the young man. He would spend seven months of each year on the circuit then return home to hearth and home, the conquering hero. After the second season, he returned with a woman he had met and married in Poland. The happiness that had jolted the man’s heart filled every room he graced. It was another blessing that the family could count.

Molly and Daniel had settled in a house down the road from them. Pregnancies were hard on the sassy woman. The grief over losses culminated in the decision to become a doting aunt and uncle. Molly took pleasure in snuggling each child, but to have the ability to turn them back home when fussy was a luxury all its own. Daniel and Jacob ran the shops efficiently. Their partnership was close knit with more than enough work to go around. Daniel shone in the community with his patient nature and level-headed decision making. He had become a fixture on the town board with whispers of perhaps a mayoral term in his future. Molly would cackle behind closed doors about a former bootlegger and dancing girl becoming respectable in society without anyone the wiser. But she knew - it was a blessing. All of it and in between. A blessing afforded by sacrifice that was not willingly given.

Her eyes traced to the numerous pictures of her and Jacob. Her handsome husband and partner. Matthew Kelly arrived a week before the stock market crash that blackened October 28th, 1929. He brought such joy to their home that Cora was sure would rupture it from its sheer capacity. But then, tragedy. Unlike so many in the community, the Baras’ family weathered the perpetual storms with restraint and bonds that were stronger than steel.

Next to the photo of Jake holding infant Matthew was one of the twins. Stone faced, seated with bodies turned slightly towards each other, it belied the laughter that rang out once the camera flashed. Joshua, though invested throughout the community, became restless shortly after the dark days began to unfold. He was instrumental in immediately setting up aid to those who were affected, seeing to it that hungry mouths had food to turn to as well as having shelters built for families displaced from instant foreclosure. Joshua’s spirit grew restless in the small community that held few options for him. He drifted in his pursuits, moving further and further away from hearth and home, traveling the country in search of his niche. Always graced with the gift of words, Josh had discovered an opportunity to delve into his love of film. Instead of Hollywood, he found himself behind a camera, capturing the horrendous human suffering of the time. He was able to put pictures and words to those who were too smothered to be heard and seen. He became active in documenting atrocities of what would become a defining moment in history. Though he was far from home, Joshua marched to his family’s heartbeat always. Caring and sheltering those he could by bringing awareness to their strife. Cora grinned at the photo, knowing that Joshua was a blessing to her in more than just offering her a glimmer of opportunity that was doubtful in the beginning. Her husband’s brother saw within her something that could be pushed, nurtured and elevated to be a pillar of strength of his family. For that, she would always be grateful.

In the center of the wall, hung a beautifully framed photograph of the entire family, all together. Rosemary and Dorothy were the center with both sides of the family fanning out behind them. Though on the fringe, Junie could be seen holding the hand of Lucas for the very first time. It was a moment no one realized until the finished piece arrived in the lovely silver frame. Lucas provided her sister with the kind of quiet love Junie needed. The young man held her with such tenderness, yet protected Cora Rose with a fierceness that rivaled the girl’s mother. Lucas had started to expand on the little cottage next to Dotty’s, but the woman gifted the big house to them instead. Cora Rose became sister to Ada Marie the following year and the house would become what Dorothy Baroski wanted it to be - a home for a family. The shelter the woman had afforded Junie when it most needed, turned to the blessing of found family.

Cora’s belly constricted once more, hard, under her fingertips. The air in her lungs burned as she tried to breathe through the stirrings. Shifting for the eighth time in an effort to remain comfortable, her eyes strayed to the grand clock. The fourth hour chime would fill the home with a tone that was meant to prepare for the evening. However, she knew it would be a few hours yet before Jacob would return to her.

Their twins, Sarah Jane and Junie Belle, arrived in March of 1931. Tiny little things, the pair screamed their way into the home and their parents’ hearts. The picture of Jake holding both babies while she held Matthew on her hip was one of her favorites. A hint of a smile resided on her man’s face that happened to be there from the moment of the vows, never straying, never fading. Her Jacob. Her handsome husband. He was a better father than she could have hoped for. Echoes of her father resounded in her spirit as he would swish around holding the babies in his strong arms as they babbled and sang songs that floated out of the radio. He read to them every chance he received, spinning tales that she was sure had been his favorites as a child. He glowed in the presence of his children.

Though the dark did not seem to touch the Bara’s household, it ravaged their community. It was not uncommon for men from all over the region to gather on the main street and wait for jobs in order to feed their families. Men as far away as Eau Claire and Waukesha would show up and wait for the timber crews to glean from their numbers for logging to the north. A few were brought on to the farms for day help, but that was mostly just in the Spring and Autumn months when help was needed. Most were unsuccessful in their search for work, leaving an endless march of souls that were hungry and lost to the time at hand.

Junie would drive into town four afternoons a week with Dottie, bringing in extras from the garden and donating time in the soup kitchen. Jacob, on his walk home each evening after the shop closed at six, would stop in the kitchen to sneak in a ten dollar bill when no one was looking. He would take a few minutes to play ‘Look what I found’ with a few of the children, pretending to find tiny bags of lollipops or hard candy or toffee treats to share. He always felt he needed to give more. More time. More smiles to lighten the heaviness of the spirit of their community. In truth, Cora knew the man would give every last shred to shield them all from this dragon that threatened them.

The flash of pain blazed from her core, spreading down through her legs and up through her chest. She knocked her tea cup, spilling its ignored contents across the deep toned wood. Gasping for breath, she fought to steady herself while her body worked to bring the baby forth. The bloom rapidly subsided and she stood to retrieve a towel from the kitchen. As she sopped up the mess, she could hear Matthew stirring in his room. Shaking her head, she knew it was time. Moving to the hall, she lifted the phone to first call the midwife, Mrs. Totts. Next was a call to Molly’s shop to request one of them to alert Jacob and then to come and retrieve the children for the night. It was a well run plan that they had planned out and executed. As she hung the receiver, she bent, holding her belly and swallowing the pain the best she could so as not to worry the children.

Time ticked along with the mechanical sound of the clock that she stood beside with eyes trained on the door. Each tick brought a pinch to her breath while each tock, the heat of her labor spread further around her back. She could hear the girls waking in their room above her. There would be no way she would be able to climb the stairs to comfort them, welcome them back from their slumber. A soft gasp dripped from her lips as another flare struck her.

Her brain began to latch onto anything around her in search of comfort. At the edge of the sideboard was a photo of Jake and her with Marcus. It had been taken shortly after Matthew had been born when their dear friend passed through town. The sight of the man who treated her like his own daughter soothed her. Marcus held an orderly court in Iron Mountain as the waves from the Kiszka and Wagner reign blazed to a close. He talked about how times were about to change once more. The end of Prohibition would bring legitimate business back to the liquor trade, effectively cutting off revenue for ‘family ties’ as Marcus put it. He had hopes of retiring. He had hopes of finding a soft place to land amongst the trying times. She had hoped that perhaps in time he would find his path back to them.

“Mama?” Matthew called from the top of the stairs, his little voice filled with sleep and worry.

She bared her teeth as she tried to move towards the foot of the stairs but a sudden flush of liquid between her legs stopped her immediately. Her jaw dropped as her knees started to bend to lower herself to the floor.

“Stay there, Matthew,” she managed, trying to sound normal.

The screech of the screen door followed by the solid sound of the front door opening brought her heart a moment of relief. Molly’s eyes grew wide when she found her in between the hall and the dining room.

“Oh, Mama,” she breathed. “That close? Let’s get you up, dolly.”

Cora breathed out in pain as her friend helped her back to her feet and to a chair. “Get the babies. The stroller-”

“I know where everything is. Don’t you worry about a thing,” she remarked as she turned. “Jake’s right behind me. You call Mrs. Totts?”

Cora nodded in answer as her hands smoothed around to the base of her belly. The door flew open once more, admitting Jacob with a worried look in his eyes. She held up her hands to him.

“I saw Molly-”

“Up here,” she called. “Got a few things to do first. Get her to your room.”

He helped her to stand once more as a contraction struck. She fell against him, but he held firm. Breathing him in as her body struggled through the process, she could feel his heartbeat through the linen of his jacket.

“Ready?” he whispered, his fingers pressing into her back.

All she could do was nod. He helped her into the bedroom. “I left a mess,” she said, feeling her cheeks blush.

“Do not worry about that. I’ll get it,” he answered as he moved her to the side of the bed.

He proceeded to start in on the buttons of her dress before unhooking her stockings and taking off her shoes. He reached for the nightdress that she had worn for all three pregnancies and wrapped it around her before helping her into the bed with a firm hand and gentle kiss to her mouth. They heard Mrs. Totts walk through the front door with a knock as Molly worked her way down the stairs. Jacob sat on the edge, his body a bastion of strength for her to hold to as the storm raged across her belly. He whispered love and devotion into her hair as she tried to breath through the waves.

“Mr. Bara,” Mrs. Totts scolded as she made her way inside. “That is enough of you. Out.”

He laughed through his nose as he leaned into her, capturing her gaze. “I love you. I can’t wait to meet our newest cherished one.”

He pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth before the old woman could physically remove him from his room. She watched him go and turn back with a wave before closing the door. The labor was longer than with the others. She could hear Jacob becoming frustrated as he waited in the dining room. At times she could hear her mother’s voice. Others, Danny and Georgie. Just when she thought she was too tired to go on, she felt a calm wash over her. It was a strange sensation she got with each of the babies - a calm that soothed her spirit and refocused her nerves just before they were pushed into the hands of Mrs. Totts. Her heart grew quiet until the first note of a cry filled the room and relief filled every pore of her being.

The radiance of pure love was a welcomed friend in her family. Cora, exhausted, watched as Jacob took their newest son, Jacob Thomas, Junior into his arms and held him close, kissing him on his forehead in complete happiness. Mrs. Totts frowned as Jake maneuvered beside his wife as she left. He cradled Cora against him as she brought the baby up to her breast to feed him. It was a blessing that both would feel, together. This idea of togetherness in their family. The blessing of forever.

The End.

So if you enjoyed my story, please please please, share it. Reblog it. Comment. Let me know the good, the bad, the ugly, because I do love to hear every thought you have - it will help me to only get better. I appreciate it more than you know.

Thank you everyone for being patient and reading along with the story. I hope to have something a little different for you soon. Something gothic for October. 🎃👻

@lvnterninthenight @doodle417 @luverleaver @jakesgrapejuice @fictional-duchess @whitesuitjake @milkgemini @positivegvfthings @songbirds-sweet @streamingcolors-gvf @gretavanbitches @samsurfgreenbass @gardensgatedaisy @babyhoneygvfarchive @myownparadise96 @josh-iamyour-mama @starcatchercarol @loveisonaroll @jakesstarlight @reesetrippingthelight @builtby-gvf @ignite-my-fire @ohgodthefeeling-gvf @wetkleenex-gvf @gold-mines-melting @starsasone @puzzle-gvf @mysticalstarcatcher @montenegroisr @takenbythemadness @way-to-go-lad @cal-a-bungaa @lightmylove-gvf @thewritingbeforesunrise @leftjudgeempathsuitcase @brokenbells11 @imborrowedshesblue @vanfleeter @sammysvanfeet @jakekiszkasbuttsweat @jaketlove @redsierra1960 @gvfmarge @becinabubblegvf @wildbluesorbit @sinarainbows

#greta van fleet #gvf #jake gvf #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #josh gvf #sammy gvf #sam gvf #daniel gvf #danny gvf #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van fleet fanfic au #greta van fleet au fic #greta van fleet x ocs #bootleggers and wildflowers

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spinachcattt · 7 months

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PROMPTOBER!!!

SO i really wanted to participate in some sort of writing challenge this october, but i've never posted my writing. However, my girlfriend has gassed me up enough to build up enough courage to finally post them!

So heres the list!

Carving Pumpkins - Sam Kiszka Pumpkin Patch - Sam Golbach Fall picnic - Spencer Reid Painting ghosts in paintings - Robin Buckley Leaf pile - Steve Harrington The PSL debate - Spencer Reid Ghost OC in love with character - Jake Kiszka Ghost guardian in the afterlife - Josh Kiszka Couples costume - Colby Brock Drive in horror movie - Sam Golbach Fall baking - Jake Kiszka Carnival - Sam Kiszka Ghost hunting - Sam Golbach and Colby Brock Apple picking - Spencer Reid Hot chocolate - Spencer Reid Halloween decorating - Steve Harrington Fall walks - Robin Buckley Camping - Josh Kiszka Possession - Sam Golbach Stealing sweaters - Spencer Reid Antique store - Spencer Reid Halloween party - Steve Harrington Power outage - Colby Brock Trick or treating - Dad! Spencer Reid Library/Bookstore - Spencer Reid Thanksgiving with family - Jake Kiszka Coffee shop meet cute/drink order discussion - Spencer Reid Fall injuries - Danny Wagner Cold/flu - Spencer Reid / Sam Golbach, Sam Kiszka / Danny Wagner Nightmares - Spencer Reid / Steve Harrington

I have the first 3 written so i'll link them here :)

#greta van fleet #gvf imagine #sammy kiszka #sammy gvf #josh kiszka #josh gvf #jake kiszka #jake gvf #danny wagner #danny gvf #sam golbach #colby brock #sam and colby #spencer reid #criminal minds #steve harrington #robin buckley #stranger things #x oc

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ourtearsofrain · 4 months

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A Dangerous Duo (everyone)

Summary: Sam and Josh try drag.

Pairings: Danny Wagner x Sam Kiszka, Josh Kiszka x Male O.C., Jake Kiszka x Male O.C.

Genre: no clue, too long to be drabble but there’s no smut or angst or anything. Just a fun little fic about our boys trying drag for the first time.

Word Count: 6.2 k

Warnings: language? But what’s new with them

A/N: I would highly recommend reading Save a Horse and Ride a Cowboy as well as their previous fics, as this is a continuation of their stories within this Universe. I love Sebastian with all my heart, Sirena is an amazing drag mother to Josh and Sam.

“Yeah, just right there is fine. Thanks, Daniel.” Sam smiles as Danny sets his bags down where he had directed him to.

Austin follows close behind, setting Josh’s bags near Sams.

“Sure we can’t do anythin’ else to help, darlin’?”

“Nope, that’s it. Thanks, love.” Josh presses a quick kiss to his cheek as he passes him, setting the rest of his bags down.

“Jesus Christ Josh, how much shit do you have? You have at least twice as many bags as I do.”

Josh rolls his eyes at his youngest brother, “Go big or go home, Sam. In my defense, my second wig is fucking massive, takes an entire bag up.”

“I still can’t believe you guys won’t tell us anything about your routines. Please can we just have one piece of information like what songs you’re doing?”

Sam walks over to his boyfriend and places his hands on the sides of his face, bringing him close to his own with a loving look, teasing him with their proximity. “That would ruin the surprise, Daniel.” Sam drops his hands before turning away so he can’t see the pouty look on Danny’s face that always got him what he wanted.

“I know what you’re doing, Daniel. I’m not caving this time.”

Josh begins shooing the other boys towards the door, slowing making his way towards them so they had no choice but to back out of the room. “Anyways, we need to start getting ready so, and I mean this with all the love I have for you two but, fuck off.”

Danny turns towards Austin, shaking his head in mock hurt. “See how they just throw us to the curb once they got their use out of us?”

Austin laughs, joining in on the bit. “Knew he was just keepin’ me around for my muscles. I’ll reckon this was their plan all along.”

“Yep, you caught us.” Sam chimes in, bent over his bags as he searched through their contents for his makeup bag.

“Mhm, that was our whole devious plan all along.” Josh begins closing the door, shouting a final, “Kay see you later, love you, bye.” before closing the door in their faces.

Danny scoffs, loud enough for them to hear on the other side of the door, before dropping the act and turning as he and Austin begin walking down the hall. They bump into Sebastian and Jake, also carrying bags as they make their way towards the room Sam and Josh were occupying.

Danny practically jumps them, “Jake! Sebastian! Oh my god please just tell us SOMETHING about Josh and Sam’s routines. They won’t say anything and I know you know something about them. They keep making these little inside jokes with mischievous smiles and I am fucking dying to know why.”

Jake throws his hands up in defense. “Hey don’t look at me, Seb won’t tell me anything either.”

Sebastian motions as if he was zipping and locking his lips, throwing away the key with a secretive smile on his face. “I ain’t sayin’ nothin’, kid. All I’ll say is I hope you brought a shit tonna ones.” He winks at Jake, “Maybe even some fives and tens if you’re feelin’ generous.”

Danny groans in frustration, all hope of finding out his boyfriend and brothers plans leaving him.

Austin offers him a pat on the back, as if he were consoling him. “It’s alright, Dan. We’ll find out soon enough.”

“Easy for you to say. Josh may be a shit head but he’s sweet at heart so it balances out. Sam’s just a shit head, I don’t trust that fucker. When I asked about his songs he just giggled, and he never giggles so I know he’s up to something.” He looks towards Jake, whose eyebrows were raised at his comment. “You know I say that with all the love in my heart for him.”

A grin breaks onto his face, and Danny silently curses Josh for getting his twin to do theater in high school with him. “Yeah I know, Sam’s a shit head. I was just fucking with you.” Sebastian and him start to make their way past the other two boys. “Anyways, I’m gonna help Seb drop these bags at the room, wait up for me?”

“Of course.”

“Try and peek into the room if you can, they just started getting ready but I bet you could spot some clues.” Danny calls after them.

“Uh, uh. No way, mon beau. I got the bags from here, thank you for your help. Go join them, love. I gotta go help my daughters get ready.”

Jake pouts up at his boyfriend, attempting to sway him as he was also curious about what his brothers had in store for the show. Sebastian looks at him with a slight smile, unwavering in his statement to not spill their secrets, his hand outstretched and motioning to take the bags. Jake sighs, giving up and handing them to him before giving him a quick kiss.

“See you boys in a few hours. Love you, Jake.”

“Love you too, Seb. Have fun trying not to strangle them.”

Sebastian only laughs as he makes his way down the hall, already hearing the lively bickering of the brothers behind the door.

The three men turn, weaving through the maze of the back rooms before finding the entrance to the main venue, still empty as the doors didn’t open for another two hours. They find a table near the back corner, knowing their partners would find them and give them a little extra attention no matter where they sat.

“I’m gonna go get us drinks while we wait. Want anything?” Danny questions, standing and looking at the others questioningly.

“The usual’s fine with me, Dan. Thank you.”

“Same for me, thanks.”

“You got it. Be right back.”

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

“I swear to god Joshua I’m going to vomit.” Sam screeches, his voice filling the small room.

“I told you I had colored contacts, Sam. If you don’t wanna see it then just look away while I put them in.” Josh retorts as he brings his hands back up to his eye, struggling to put his contacts in as Sam squirms beside him.

Sam physically cringes, turning away from his brother as his entire body shivers, groaning in his disgust. “That’s not helping, I can feel you putting them in.”

“Maybe if you would shut the fuck up, I could concentrate and get it done faster, dipshit.”

“Alright ladies, settle down. Can’t have y’all killin’ each other right before your first show.”

Sam focuses on adjusting his first hairdo of the night, trying his best to ignore his brother next to him but finding it increasingly hard as they shared the mirror.

“Got it!” Josh says excitedly, blinking rapidly as his eyes adjusted. “How do I look, Sam?”

He makes eye contact with him through the mirror, the bright red of his eyes an unusual sight. Sam grimaces at the lack of the familiar warm brown of his brothers’ eyes. “Creepy as hell.”

Josh prods him in the ribs, sarcasm dripping from his words. “Yeah, that’s the only reason I chose this color, to creep you out.” He wiggles his fingers at Sam as he inches closer to him.

Sam jumps out of his chair, putting as much space between him and Josh as the small room would allow. “Nope, nope, fuck off.”

Josh laughs, dropping his hands as he stands, beginning to rifle through his belongings in search of his outfit.

Sebastian bends to check his wig in the mirror, already having finished his makeup and getting dressed long before they had. “Alright, finish up. Show starts in 30 and y’all are the first performers of the night.” He makes his way to the door, opening it and stopping at the entryway to offer a final, “See y’all out there.” Before leaving them to get dressed.

“Hey Sam have you seen my-“ Josh’s question is cut short as a soft piece of foam hits the side of his head. He bends to pick the foam bra insert up, “Yeah that.” He fully turns towards Sam, “Do you know where the other one is-“

Once again, Sam chucks the insert at him, this time hitting him square in the face.

“I swear to god I’m gonna shove this so far up your ass-"

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

Danny anxiously checks the time on his phone, relieved to see the show was scheduled to start in a few minutes. He lets out a shaky breath, his leg bouncing as he finds any outlet for his nerves.

Jake notices, gently elbowing him to bring him back to the moment. “Danny, chill. Don’t worry you won’t have to wait much longer to see what my dickhead brothers have planned.”

Just as he finishes his sentence the club lights dim, and a bright spotlight falls on Sirena as she enters the stage from the side. She immediately consumes all of Jakes attention and he sucks a sharp breath in as his eyes wander over his boyfriend. His gaze goes from her tall stiletto boots, up her legs covered by blood red, loose leather pants, continuing to her tight fitting high-collared shirt, a heart shaped hole at the center of her chest to show off her impressively contoured “cleavage”. The light catches on her spiked choker as his eyes continue their journey upwards, he takes in her long locs, the same blood red as her pants. His gaze finally comes to a stop on her black eyes, the colored contacts covering both the iris and whites of them. The crowd cheers as she takes her place, adjusting to the bright light and checking her mic before starting.

“First of all, thank y’all for comin’ out tonight! How y’all feelin’?”

The crowd roars in response as Sirena grins, waiting for them to quiet down before she continues. “Fuckin’ fantastic! That’s what I love to hear! I do got a few things to say before we start tonight. First, consent is fucking sexy! If you don’t want extra attention or interaction from a performer, just throw your arms up into an “X” and they’ll respect that. Consent also goes two ways, so make sure to not touch a performer without them initiatin’ that interaction. The second thing is, tip your mother fuckin’ performers! It’s expensive to look this cheap, y’all. And lastly, tonight is a very special night. I have the pleasure of introducin’ y’all to my first ever drag daughters who’re gonna start us off this evenin’!”

Austin lets loose a shrill wolf whistle as the crowd erupts once more, causing Sirena to shout over them. “So I better see some fuckin’ tips in the air cause they’ve worked hard for this shit! Swear to god I’ve spent more time with them these last two weeks than I have my own boyfriend.” She jokes.

“Without further ado, may I introduce you to Elle Fernanda and Callie Bungah!” She yells, stepping off the stage as the spotlight cuts out.

It quickly reappears joined by soft red lights, fixed on the split curtains at the back of the stage. A too-familiar electronic intro begins and Danny’s jaw drops.

“Oh my fucking god, they didn’t.”

Josh and Sam burst through the middle, perfectly lip syncing to the song as it starts, matching the attitude of it with their stage personas.

“I like the girls that do drugs (Drugs).

Girls with cigarettes in the back of the club (Club).

Girls that hate cops and buy guns (Guns).

Girls with no buns, girls that’s mean just for fun.

I like girls who make love, but I love girls who like to fuck.”

Both Danny and Austin’s jaws drop, blushes falling across their faces as they take in their boyfriends’ appearances. Danny can’t seem to be mad at Sam for his song choice as his eyes roam his body, looking so unlike Sam that Danny’s not sure he would recognize him if Sirena hadn’t announced that it was him. His long, wavy locks are pulled into two space buns, his bangs messy and unruly, purposely left out. His makeup is light, with thin wings of eyeliner, visible blush, and dark painted lips. As Jake had noticed with Sirena, Danny doesn’t miss the way the light catches on his spiked choker, eyes continuing downwards as the boys move on stage. He has a fishnet shirt underneath his high-collared tank top, both tucked into tight black leather pants. Danny almost laughs when his eyes finally find their way to his short black heels, knowing that if they were any taller, he would most defiantly break his ankle. He tears his eyes away from Sam, looking over at Austin to see his reaction to Josh’s outfit, to see the other boy staring, mouth still agape with his eyes fixed intently on Josh.

Austin doesn’t know where to look, his focus constantly shifting from different aspects of Josh’s appearance and outfit as he takes it all in. His curly, brown hair replaced by a jet-black coiled bun with two strands on either side of his face left out as bangs. Austin realizes Josh is only an inch or two shorter than his brother, noticing for the first time his tall, red, sparkly stiletto heels. His eyes travel up his legs clad in fishnet tights, his gaze lingering for a couple seconds on the short hem of his leather skirt. He manages to tear his gaze away, his eyes travelling up his exposed stomach, only covered by a fishnet shirt as his V-line cropped tank top barely covers his chest. Passing over the leather choker around his neck, Austin’s gaze finally settles on his blood red eyes, with thick red eyeliner to match it.

Jake watches his brothers performance as they weave through the crowd, snatching tips out of outstretched hands as they make their way steadily to the corner they occupied. He looks over to Austin and Danny, laughing when he sees them both enthralled by their partners, eyes wide and jaws dropped. “Hey guys, think you have a little drool coming out of your mouth there.”

This comment snaps them out of it, blood rushing to their faces as they scramble for their wallets, seeing their partners drawing nearer to their table by the second. They finally reach their table, making their way towards their respective boyfriends. Sam momentarily ignores the bill in Danny’s hand, instead grabbing his hips and slotting his body in between his knees.

“They say I’m too fuckin’ horny,

Wanna put me in a cage.

I’d probably fuck the hole in the wall

The guy before made.”

Sam thrusts his hips forward, emphasizing the words with each movement of his body. Danny freezes, his face red as his thoughts are consumed by nothing but Sam and his act. Sam smiles wolfishly at him before snatching the money out of his hand, turning and half bending over, shaking his ass before strutting away as if nothing had happened, continuing with his performance.

Josh is a little less lewd in his interaction with Austin, grabbing his tip and slowly running his hand up Austins arm, making a full circle around him before stopping with a wide stance in front of him, aiming a “gun” at him with his fingers and pretending to pull the trigger as the chorus plays “Girls that hate cops and buy guns (pew).” Josh smiles wide at him, winking before he turns, dropping down into a quick deep squat, pushing his ass out towards Austin as he stands before making his way through the crowd as Sam had done.

Both continue weaving through the tables, snatching tips out of the air as the song continues. They reach the stage, synchronizing their movements once more as they lip sync.

“I like the girls who like to lie that they came,

Girls who fuck on the train.

Girls who got so much hair on they ass, it clogs the drain.”

They both shake their asses at this before Josh splits off to the side of the stage, jumping high and landing a perfect death drop as the beat of the last chorus drops. Austin chokes on his spit as the crowd erupts, Josh rolling onto his knees continuing to dance from his spot on the floor. Sam turns, squatting low next to Josh, who falls backwards as he tosses his tips in the air, knees still on the floor as the song ends and the lights cut out.

Wolf whistles are heard amidst the deafening cheering and applause as the patrons rise from their seats to give them a standing ovation. Danny and Austin are the only ones still sitting, their minds still focused on the performance they just witnessed to notice they were the only ones not on their feet. The lights cut back on as Josh and Sam rise, Sirena taking the stage with a mic as they catch their breaths.

“Holy fuckin’ shit y’all! I’ve seen them practice that at least 50 times and even I am real fuckin’ impressed, that was fantastic! Lets give them another round of applause!” The crowd continues their applause as they take their seats, still cheering for them as Josh and Sam beam from the stage, acknowledging the crowds praise with thankful gestures. “How y’all feelin’?”

She points the mic towards Josh, still recovering from the performance. “Really fucking out of breath.” He laughs as he gulps down air, chest heaving from exertion. Sirena laughs before pointing the mic towards Sam on her other side.

“How bout you, kid?”

“Sweaty.” He grimaces before he continues, “Very, very sweaty… in very uncomfortable places.”

Sirena throws her head back as she laughs loudly, bringing the mic back to her lips. “Welcome to drag.” She turns to face the crowd again. “Now, my daughters are gonna go change and take a short break, but don’t y’all worry, we’ll be seein’ more of ‘em tonight.”

With that, Josh and Sam exit the stage, waving their goodbyes and blowing kisses to the crowd as they give their final cheers before they disappear backstage.

“We got a whole line up of amazingly talented queens and kings for the night, but, for the next,” she looks at her wrist as if she was checking the time, “Three minutes and 20 seconds, give or take, y’all are stuck with me.” The crowd whoops and hollers, and Jake brings both index and middle fingers up to his lips, letting a shrill whistle out. “So, I’d like to introduce y’all to your next performer… me!” She laughs, the crowd continuing their cheers as she hands the mic off to Sparrow just off stage before the lights go dark as she sets up for her song.

The intro starts, and Jake immediately recognizes the song, having heard it hundreds of times from many of Sebastians playlists.

“’Cause baby, now we’ve got bad blood.

You know it used to be mad love.

So take a look what you’ve done,

‘Cause baby, now we’ve got bad blood, hey!”

She steps off the stage, beginning to prowl the crowd as her persona completely switches when the song changes from Taylor Swifts part to Kendrick Lamars’.

“I can’t take it back, look where I’m at.

We was OG like D.O.C., remember that?

My TLC was quite OD, ID my facts.

Now POV of you and me, similar Iraq.”

She weaves her way through the crowd, snatching tips as she passes people, her eyes scanning the crowd as she makes sure to interact with the other patrons despite her internal desire to run over to Jake and give him all her attention. She manages to gather her restraint, keeping herself deliberately away from the corner him and the other boys occupied. Finally, with less than a minute and a half left of the song, she allows herself to lock eyes with Jake as she slowly makes her way towards him. She lip syncs with the song perfectly, letting herself take on a softer persona as the bridge shifts the vibe of the song.

“Band-Aids don’t fix bullet holes.

You say sorry just for show.,

If you live like that, you live with ghosts.”

She brings her hand up to slightly brush his hair back, her hand trailing down the side of his face and jaw, pushing it up slightly to bring his face closer to her own, ghosting her lips against his. Just before they make contact, she backs away, her arm continuing down his arm and grasping the bill in his hand, taking it from his grip and taking steps back, away from him as she grins. She keeps her eyes on him as she backpedals through the crowd towards the stage.

“Band-Aids don’t fix bullet holes.

You say sorry just for show.

If you live like that, you live with ghosts.”

She turns away from Jake, her face obscured from him as she sings the end of the bridge, taking a running start towards the stage.

“If you love like that, blood runs cold.”

Right as it ends, when she’s about to run into the end of the short stage, she jumps, flipping in midair as she lands a perfect aerial, landing and dropping to her knees as the beat drops, throwing her tips in the air for further effect. She lets them rain down on her as the crowd erupts, losing their minds at the move she pulled off. She finishes the song with every bit of energy she had started with, gratefully accepting the thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd. Her eyes search through the throngs of people, looking for one specific man. She finds him, eyes locking with Jakes as he stands applauding her, a massive grin on his face as he lets out various whoops. He whistles loud once more, spurred on by the eye contact with Sirena.

Feeling a tap on her arm, Sirena looks over to see Sparrow holding the mic out for her expectantly, snapping her attention back to the show from where it had strayed to nothing but thoughts of Jake. She turns the mic on, checking it before starting her thanks and next introduction. “Oh lord, thank y’all so much. That shit just busted my knees but I had a fun time doin’ it and I hope y’all enjoyed watchin’!”

The crowd grows impossibly louder, showing their support for Sirena as they take their seats. “Now, y’all gotta give me a minute to catch my breath but, in the meantime, we got a whole crew of performers lined up for y’all tonight!” She introduces the next performer of the night, her sibling, Sparrow. After his performance, she comes back on stage, introducing the next, continuing this pattern as the night goes on. Jake thinks he recognizes a few names, Shimmer and Faebelle being two of them, but is lost after that point as Sirena introduces drag queens and kings he had never met in person yet.

After the last performer, she resumes her place on stage, waiting for the cheers to die out before she starts. “Now, I know y’all are havin’ the time of your fuckin’ lives out there, and we’re doin’ the same up here; but, unfortunately, this night has to come to an end at some point. It’s only fittin’ that our two opening performers close the night as well so, it is my pleasure to reintroduce you to our last performers of the night, starting with Callie Bungah!”

The crowd cheers once more as Sirena steps off the stage and is replaced by Sam, now bathed in a soft blue light. Danny sucks a sharp breath in as he takes in his outfit change. With his brunette space buns replaced by two blond braids, his tight black tank top now a loose, soft maroon one, light blue overalls overtop it, with maroon converse replacing his short heels. Danny almost laughs as he realizes Sam looked like half “country girls” he saw around town. Sam searches through the crowd for Danny as the song begins, finding him just in time and raising his arm to point at the other man.

“You think I’m pretty without any makeup on.

You think I’m funny when I tell the punch line wrong.

I know you get me, so I let my walls come down, down.

Before you met me,

I was alright, but things were kinda heavy.

You brought me to life, now every February,

You’ll be my Valentine, Valentine.”

Sam grins at Danny as he begins making his way towards him as Danny wears a matching smile on his face, captivated by Sam and heart fluttering at his song choice. Sam ignores the other patrons waving bills in the air, his focus intent on getting to Danny. He once again places himself between Danny’s legs, his hands finding his forearms as he lip-syncs through his smile.

“My heart stops

When you look at me, just one touch,

Now, baby I believe this is real.

So take a chance and don’t ever look back, don’t ever look back.”

He places a quick kiss to Dannys lips, leaving behind a dark maroon stain before he grabs the tip in Danny’s hand and turning away to interact with the rest of the crowd. Danny’s heart flutters with pure love for Sam as he watches the rest of the performance, replaying their interaction in his mind even as the song ends and Sam reaches the stage, fists full of tips. The lights cut out as the song ends, returning to their dim white setting as Sam stands on stage, waving and blowing kisses to the crowd before exiting and disappearing behind the stage door.

Sirena takes center stage again, applauding Sam before bringing the mic to her lips. “Thank you, Callie! She disappeared backstage real fast, but imma assume that number was less sweat inducing than her last one.” The crowd laughs with her, whooping and cheering their support, and she gives them a moment to quiet before she continues. “Now, last but certainly not least, I give you Elle Fernanda!”

She steps off the stage, her place taken by Josh. Austin takes the sight in, thinking to himself that his new outfit was so fitting for him. His tank top is the same, the fishnet shirt gone and his hair now bright pink coils past his shoulders, a leather chocker adorned with a metal heart at its center, with his red contacts replaced by purple ones, his short leather skirt replaced by an ankle-length deep purple one, and lastly, his tall stilettos gone as he stood barefoot.

“Happiness hit her like a train on a track.

Coming towards her, stuck still no turning back.”

No one notices the tambourine in his hand until he raises it, hitting it perfectly with each beat, encouraging the crowd to clap along with him. He smiles wide when they do, stepping off the stage and beginning to weave through the crowd, grabbing tips with his free hand as he taps the tambourine against his hip. He manages to make his way through the crowd without dropping any tips, tambourine still hitting his hip as he spins and twirls along. He finds his way to Austin, stopping in front of him as he pauses the steady beat of his tambourine when the song reaches its bridge.

“And I never wanted anything from you.

Except everything you had and what was left after that too, oh.”

He resumes the movements of his tambourine as he gently grabs the money from Austin's hand, backing away from him as he moves through the crowd once more. He finishes the song with as much energy as he had in the beginning. He bows as the crowd cheers for him and is joined by Sirena on stage as the crowd continues their applause.

“Once again, Elle, thank you for that incredible performance.”

Josh smiles at her, offering one last wave to the crowd before he exits and goes through the stage door Sam had disappeared behind.

“Thank you all for comin’ out to support us! Hope to see y’all soon!” Sirena offers as a final parting comment, before following suit after Josh and disappearing backstage as the main lights come back on. Jake, Austin, and Danny make no move to get up, taking the final sips of their drinks as they wait for the crowd to disperse.

Jake checks his phone as a message from Sebastian lights his screen up, placing it in his pocket after responding before he recites the message to the other boys. “Seb says to just wait out here, they’ll all be out in a minute.”

“Do they need our help? With all the bags and all.” Danny questions.

“Na, Seb says they can make it from the room to here with the three of them.”

They sit in comfortable silence for a few moments before Jake breaks it with a question.

“So, how do you guys feel?”

Both Danny and Austin let out a breath, sighing as they recount their thoughts and feelings from witnessing their boyfriends in drag for the first time.

“Fuckin’ amazing. Josh was, wow. And that second outfit was just so… so him, y’know?”

Jake smiles, agreeing with his statement with a slight nod. “I know, he looked so happy and at-home up there, like he was born to perform.”

“What about you, Dan?”

Danny runs his hand through his hair before speaking. “Honestly? I’m not even mad that Sam chose “Girls” just to fuck with me. That was… fucking incredible. They both were.”

They sit together, making light conversation as they wait for the other three boys to finish changing. After about 20 minutes, they appear out of the stage door, visibly exhausted and arms full of their belongings. Their boyfriends immediately shoot out of their seats, quickly making their way over to the group to take most of their bags.

“You guys were fantastic tonight!” Jake says as he takes a duffel bag on each shoulder, another in his hand.

Sebastian offers a tired smile, “Thanks, mon beau.”

“Yeah, thanks mon beau.” Sam mumbles with a sleepy shit-eating grin as he leans on Danny, who presses a soft kiss to his forehead with a light laugh.

“Shut up, Sam.”

“Both of you, shhhhhhhh.” Josh says, pausing in his attempt at handing his bags over to Austin to raise a finger to his lips, eyes half open as he glares at them.

“Y’all tired?” Austin questions, already knowing the answer as Josh rests his head on his shoulder.

He mumbles a “Mhmm.” into Austins shirt, grimacing as he remembers that Sam and Danny had carpooled with them. “Ugh, and we still gotta take Danny and Sam home, don’t we?”

“They could just crash in our guest room, I don’t know about Austin, but Seb was planning on staying over tonight anyways.” Jake offers as they slowly make their way towards the exit.

Sam’s face lights up at the comment, as much as it could in his tired state. “Sleepoverrrr?”

Danny laughs at his tone of genuine excitement, wrapping an arm around Sams waist to steer him out the door. “Sounds good to me.”

The group reaches Austins truck first, saying their temporary goodbyes to Jake and Sebastian as they head towards Jakes car parked down the street. With Josh slumped against the window in the passenger seat and Sam leaning on Danny in the back, the ride to Jake and Josh’s house is peaceful and quiet. They reach their house before Sebastian and Jake do, Danny and Austin having to encourage the brothers out of the car and finally managing to get them to shuffle their way to the front door as Austin and Danny grab their bags.

Josh pulls his keys out, struggling with the lock before Austin gently takes them from his hands.

“Here, darlin’, let me.”

As he unlocks the door, the group is flooded with headlights as Jake and Sebastian pull into the driveway, causing Sam and Josh to bring their hands up to block their eyes as they squint at the harsh light. Sebastian stumbles out of the car with a little more grace than the other two boys had, taking a few of his bags as Jake handles the rest of them. They enter the house, all dropping their bags at the door and agreeing that it would be their problem in the morning to sort them all out.

Danny taps Sam as he leans against the wall, already falling asleep as he waited for his boyfriend. “Alright, Sammy, time for bed.”

He makes a pouty face at this, attempting to argue through his obvious exhaustion. “Nooo, mnot tired.”

Josh comes to his aid as Austin begins pulling him towards his room. “Me neither.”

Jake scoffs at his brothers, already falling asleep despite having been home for less than a minute. Austin and Danny only shake their heads, sharing a small smile at the well-known stubbornness of the Kiszka brothers.

Josh leans against Austins front, looking up and batting his eyes at his boyfriend. “Can we watch a movie? Pleaseee.”

“Yeah, I wanna watch a movie.” Sam butts in, trying his best to stay awake enough to argue.

Danny sighs, knowing it was no use trying to argue with them, even in their groggy states. “Fine. But only after we get ready for bed. You still have some makeup left on your face, love.”

Both brothers smile sleepily, making silent “Yaaaay”s at their victory.

“What movie y’all wanna watch?”

Josh immediately makes a suggestion. “Labyrinth. David Bowie’s outfit is fucking phenomenal. Have it on DVD somewhere.”

“Sounds great, darlin’.” The group begins to break off in pairs, each going towards a separate room to finish taking their still-stuck makeup and wig glue off. Austin directs his attention towards Jake and Sebastian, already halfway into Jake’s room. “Y’all joinin’ us?”

Sebastian looks at Jake, shrugging before answering. “Why not.”

With that final confirmation, they break off to get ready before piling onto Jake and Josh’s couches for an impromptu movie night.

Danny helps Sam remove his smudged eyeliner in silence, humming quietly as he goes along.

“Watcha hummin, Daniel?”

His response is quiet as he begins his work on Sams other eye. “Woyaya.”

“Isn’t that that one song Josh loves?”

“Mhm, stuck in my head for some reason.”

They continue in comfortable silence and it isn’t until Danny helps Sam into a pair of sweatpants and an old band tshirt he had left at their house long ago that Sam finally speaks up again.

“Did you like the show tonight?”

Danny gently grabs his shoulders, turning the other boy before starting to work on his unruly waves, brushing the tangles out with his fingers as he begins to pull them into a neat single braid down the center of his back.

“Of course I did, love. You were amazing.”

He smiles at this, thinking for a minute before continuing. “You’re not pissed I did “Girls” just to fuck with you?”

Danny laughs, pressing a small kiss to the back of his head before wrapping his hands around his chest and pulling him close against him. “I wouldn’t say I was pissed at your song choice, but I was definitely surprised, sweetheart. But no, you were fantastic, so that made up for it. You little shit.”

Sam laughs quietly, his exhaustion muffling his words. “Mmmm you don’t mean that.”

Danny offers him a light squeeze as he nuzzles his face into the other boys neck. “I don’t.” Danny places a soft kiss to the side of his head before breaking their embrace, taking Sams hand in his own as he leads him out of the room. “C’mon, no falling asleep on me. Movie, remember?”

Sam only offers a small “Mhm.” as they make their way towards the living room, already finding Labyrinth queued up by Jake who now sat leaning against the corner of the couch with Sebastian tucked snug under his arm. Danny takes a seat on one of the small, two person loveseats next to the main couch, with Sam flopping down, half laying on Danny as he gets comfortable.

It’s not long before Austin and Josh stumble out, taking the other loveseat on the opposite side of the couch as Jake makes a move for the remote.

“See Jakey, I told you it wasn’t “too much” seating.” Josh mumbles out, referencing the argument they had had when they first bought the house on if two loveseats and a couch was overkill.

“Shut up and watch the movie.” Is all he gets in response as everyone settles in and the opening credits roll.

They are silent for the rest of the film, with Josh and Sam falling asleep against their partners not even 15 minutes into the movie, Sebastian following suit soon after. The three boys that remained awake share various chuckles and head shakes of “I told you so”, knowing they would all give them lighthearted shit about it in the morning.

They all fall into a deep, comfortable sleep by the end of the movie, peacefully tucked against the safety of their partners as the end credits roll.

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

Songs mentioned:

Girls- The Dare

Bad Blood- Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar

Teenage Dream- Katy Perry

Dog Days Are Over- Florence + the Machine

Woyaya- Osibisa

#greta van fleet #gvf fic #fic #greta van fleet fan fiction #josh gvf #daniel gvf #jake gvf #sam gvf #danny wagner x sam kiszka #josh kiszka x oc #jake kiszka x oc #drag queen #lgbtq

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seenoversundown · 7 months

Text

Dueling Cameras

Warnings: N/A

Word Count: 1.2k

Oh Klahoma - Jack Stauber " Go on and hand me your clothes, Take a picture or two, I can see you"

“Come on Willa,” Sam yelled from across the house.

“I’m grabbing my shoes and I’ll be ready!” I responded.

As I come to the front of the house I find Sam squatting down to put Penelope's leash on. Those two are always inseparable.

“Y’ready?” He says when he notices me watching them.

“Absolutely, let's go.” I say as I give him a quick kiss.

As we ride to the fair, I look out the window while Sam sings along to what’s playing over the speakers.

“Workin’ on our night moves.

Tryin’ to make some front page drive-in news.”

I look over to him sitting in the driver's seat. “Still stuck in your head?”

“I’ve spent too many nights helping Jake close the bar,” Sam says with a laugh.

We drive the rest of the way that’s only broken when Penelope starts to whine. When we finally park, Sam is quick to get to Penny and let her out the back door. I get out and start to close the door when I notice Sam’s camera bag sitting on the back seat. Knowing he was too focused on Miss P and will probably be upset when he notices he's left it behind, I grab it.

Sam’s a little bit ahead of me when I finally do catch up to them. Before catching up completely, I pull out his camera and take a quick photo of them from behind. He’s always been attractive to me, but it wasn’t until a year or so ago until I finally admitted it to myself.

Click.

It isn’t long until the three of us step foot inside the state fair. I take the lead and start heading left, straight to the pumpkin patch.

“You really want to carry around pumpkins for the rest of the day?” Sam asks, giving me a questioning look.

“Well, if we wait until later all of the good ones will be gone.” I said matter of factly.

A hearty chuckle comes from Sam as he throws his arm over your shoulder. “Whatever you want, my little bird.”

We walk like this until we reach the patch full of yellows, oranges and whites. Penelope's quick to pull us towards a cluster of decent looking pumpkins.

“Good work, Penny-girl.” I say, leaning down to pat her between the ears.

Click.

Hearing that soft click, I’m a little surprised. I thought I had Sam’s camera. Turning to look at him, I see a shit eating grin spread across his face.

“New toy.” Is all he says while holding up a small film camera.

“I should’ve known.” I reply while playfully rolling my eyes.

“Yes, you should’ve.” Sam presses a kiss to my cheek. “Always gotta document my girls.”

My heart always does a little flip when he calls us that. His girls. I run ahead and whip out the other camera.

Click.

A bewildered look crosses Sam’s face while Penelope just watches, her tail whipping the air.

“Fancy a game of dueling cameras?” I say in my best posh accent.

I’m rewarded with a deep belly laugh from Sam that liquifies my insides. My favorite sound, I can’t help but think.

“Game on.”

I take off running father into the patch, Penelope's barks trailing behind me. Sam’s laughing out loud, and I can’t help but laugh along with him. One of my favorite things about this man is how free he lets me be. Never once has he tried to clip my wings, he’s only interested in helping me fly.

Throwing my arms up in the air I stop where I am and spin, laughter is tumbling out of me in waves.

Click. Click.

Sam lets go of the leash and she’s quick to join me, her happy barks filling the air.

Looking back at Sam, I realize he isn’t standing in the same place anymore. The pumpkin patch is steadily getting busier, and I can’t spot him as I glance around.

Suddenly, arms are on either side of me and my feet are whisked off the ground, I can’t stop myself as I scream upon take off.

“Got you,” Sam says in my ear.

“Unfair!” I say as he puts me down. I cross my arms across my chest and give him a fake pout. “You came outta nowhere.”

“Always gotta keep you on your toes.” A quick kiss is pressed on the tip of my nose. “Now, let’s get what we came for. Those roasted seeds are calling my name.” He’s quick to grab the leash as we finally settle on an area of pumpkins to choose from.

“How about this one?” Sam holds up a classic orange pumpkin that’s perfectly round.

Click.

“If that’s your choice. This one’s mine, I think.” I take my turn to hold up a yellow pumpkin that’s more oval-like. “I have a great idea for the face I wanna put on this bad boy!”

“I think I need to reevaluate my choice,” Sam says with a laugh. “How about this one instead?” Similar to my yellow oddball, he’s found one of similar shape but in orange.

“Oh, Samuel. That’s a fine specimen indeed.”

A bark cute through the air, we both look to find Penelope sniffing a smaller white pumpkin.

Click.

“It seems as though Penny-girl has chosen her pumpkin, too.” I say.

We make quick work of purchasing our small family of pumpkins. , excited to get them back home. I have Penelope's leash in hand as we walk back through the fair. Admiring the rides and all the bright lights that are seemingly getting brighter as the sun goes down.

“Willa,”

With a smile, I turn my head quickly at the sound of Sam’s soft voice cutting through the noise. He’s only a few paces behind me with his camera up to his face.

Click.

“What do I get for winning this round?”, Sam says in a cheeky little tone, a smile plastered across his face as he catches up to us.

“Mmm.. I have an idea”, deciding to play along, I hit him with a little wink. I motion for him to lean down, planting a kiss on his lips, holding him there for an extra beat. Maybe two beats.

“Well”, he starts, “let’s get you home then, shall we?” Grabbing my hand and taking off to the car, moving a bit quicker than before. Rose and I trailing behind him as we approach the car. Letting her into the backseat before I get in, Sam’s already starting the car.

As soon as I slide into my seat, he throws the car in drive. His right hand immediately intertwined with mine, resting on my leg. The sight makes my heart swell, until I look over at him in the last minutes of daylight. His hair is a little disheveled from the wind and the brisk walk, but the soft smile resting on his face as he focuses on the road was really the prize for me.

Click.

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joshsindigostreak · 4 months

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Sorry for the spam I’m just so excited all four stories have their own moodboards now 🥹

#josh kiszka #jake kiszka #sam kiszka #danny wagner #greta van fleet #running through the garden #moonburn #o pioneers #I see hell in your eyes #josh kiszka x reader #jake kiszka x oc #Sam kiszka x oc #Danny Wagner x oc

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sacredmachine · 9 months

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Kiss the Sun (chapter one)

Pairing: Sam Kiszka x Danny’s Cousin!OC(Grace) Warnings: Underaged drinking (let me know if I missed anything)

(Italicized text indicates a flashback)

Summary: Grace and Josie's plane ride is uneventful as Josie naps but Grace's thoughts remain fixated on Sam, reflecting on their lives back in Frankenmuth.

The plane ride was dull, to say the least. Grace and Josie had barely spoken as Josie opted for a nap that lasted the entire plane ride while Grace stuck to the movie she’d rented.

She’d barely paid attention to the movie as the sound of it lulled through her headphones. All she thought of was Sam, Sam and his stupid self.

“You can’t do that! It’s illegal!”

“Who says?! Huh?!”

“According to the rules listed,” Jake pulled out the piece of paper, dramatically pointing to the rules, “You can not stack +2s on top of each other!”

“Bullshit!” Sam yelled as he stood up and slammed his cards on the table. “We’ve played like this since we were kids! You only say no because you’re winning unless I make you draw more!”

“I’ve always played like this!” Jake now stood as if the two would challenge each other to a duel at any moment.

Josh simply laughed as he passed his brothers, who were undoubtedly drunk as the rest of the party raged around them.

What started as a bonfire at the old Heeley Farm thrown by one of their friends had become a party in the barn as the fire had died out. Josh had grabbed another beer for himself and Jake but decided against it when he saw that Jake was clearly too drunk for another. He’d lost track of Danny about an hour ago but assumed Grace was worrying about him.

Looking back at the remnants of the large bonfire that was now more the size of a campfire, Josh saw two figures, one laying on the log bench and the other sitting with their head in their hands. Josh sighed as he made his way over to the smoldering fire, two beers in hand.

He saw Danny passed out on the log bench and Grace, who looked up from her hands and stared into the flames of the fire as she seemed to wonder if it could show her the future or possibly solve all her problems with a simple question. Josh plopped himself ungracefully next to her but she paid him little attention. He passed her the extra beer before taking a swig of his own. “What’s on your beautifully intricate mind, Gracie?” She mumbled, bringing the bottle of beer to her lips.

“Nothing, really. It’s stupid.” She mumbled, bringing the bottle of beer to her lips.

“Well Daniel’s out like a light, you’re secrets are safe with me.” Josh said, wrapping his arm around Grace’s shoulders.

“Yeah right, anything I tell you goes straight to Jake. You might be a lock box but Jake is a blabbermouth.” She laughed, leaning her head onto Josh’s shoulder.

“Hey! I don’t tell Jake everything!” He feigned offense as he took another glug of beer before silence fell between them. “How about this, because I can tell whatever it is is eating you alive, you tell me your secret and in exchange, I’ll tell you a secret.”

Grace gasped, “The great Josh Kiszka has secrets! I thought you didn’t have anything hidden!”

“Okay, okay, but I am not a completely open book as many would believe.” Josh took another sip, “So… go on. A secret for a secret.”

Grace looked behind them, making sure no one was around, as well as a very long glare at Danny to make sure he was, in fact, sleeping. “Fine, it’s Sam.”

Josh instantly tensed up, “What did he do?”

“Nothing, exactly.” She started, “It’s just that for like years, I’ve had this stupid crush on him and he has yet to notice. I guess I just… I don’t know, it’s stupid. It wouldn’t work, it can’t work. It’d put the band in jeopardy. If we broke up and it was nasty, Danny would be torn the band would be over, their friendship would be over.”

There was a beat of silence as they both sat there, staring at the flames. “Damn, that is a lot, but I totally called that.”

Josh started laughing, Grace instantly felt confused and offended, “Called it?!”

“Well, yeah!” He said, still laughing, “Jake and I called that you two liked each other years ago.”

“Well just because you “called it” with Jake doesn’t mean you can go and tell him!” Grace said, shrugging off his arm.

“Hey! I promised, didn’t I?” He held his hands up in surrender as Grace scoffed before moving back next to him.

After Grace took a few more chugs of her beer she looked up at Josh, “Well, Mr. Wonderful? What’s your darkest secret?”

“You know I am quite wonderful.” He lolled his head to the side. “But a promise is a promise, I like guys.”

Grace was mid-sip when she heard the words and she choked, not expecting them. “Josh! What the hell?!”

“What? You said “deepest secret!” What did you expect?!”

“Not that!”

“You can’t tell anybody!” Josh seemed immediately defensive.

“What? Of course, I won’t tell anybody!” Grace said quickly. “So… what does this mean? Are you like…”

“I don’t know! There’s too many logistics that go into all that. I like A guy. That’s the only label I’ll put on it.”

“Fair enough.”

There was another beat of silence, “When I say you can’t tell anyone I mean you can’t tell anyone.” Josh emphasized the last word.

“Well, you’ve told your family right?” Grace asked cautiously. Josh kept silent. “You’ve told Jake, at least, right? You tell Jake everything.”

“Listen it’s a very recent development and with the town we live in-”

“You told me before you told Jake?!” Grace seemed shocked beyond belief, although the alcohol was not helping her to keep calm.

“Shhhhh!” He let out quickly while putting his hand over her mouth. “You’re literally the only one that knows.”

“You have to tell Jake at least!” Grace whisper yelled, “I can keep a secret but it’s gonna eat you alive to not tell him.” They both knew she was right and Josh nodded.

“I’ll tell him, I’m just… nervous.” He mumbled, looking down at his hands.

“Josh. He’s your brother, he’s literally your other half, he’s going to be nothing but supportive.”

“I know, I swear, I’ll tell him tomorrow when we’re both sober.” He said straightly, a smirk growing on his face, “But you have to tell Sam about your crush.”

“No! You know Jake will support and love you no matter what! Your whole family will! Sam? I’m not ready for that rejection!” She laughed as they both stood, silently considering their options on how to get Danny home in his comatose state.

She smiled at the memory of Josh as the movie played and she couldn’t help but think about Sam and how much she dreaded getting off the plane.

But that moment had come, the plane had landed, they’d walked to baggage claim and collected their bags, and they’d exited the airport to see Danny waiting for them with a car. Josie excitedly ran up, jumping to hug her brother as he opened his arms, her suitcase long forgotten.

Grace laughed and shook her head as she approached. Danny laughed as he and Josie squeezed each other tightly, “Oh my god! I missed you!” Josie said excitedly before Danny put her back on the ground.

Danny looked at Grace, “Well you don’t have to look like you don’t want to see me.” He jested as Grace smiled and moved forward, getting wrapped in a hug by her tall cousin.

“It was a long flight.” Grace reasoned as she pulled back.

“Ah, that jet lag will kill you.” He joked as he moved to help the girls with their bags, throwing them in the back of the car.

The car ride to the boys' house wasn’t long but it felt like an eternity as Grace dreaded seeing Sam once again.

#greta van fleet #gvf #josh gvf #josh kiszka #danny wagner #jake gvf #danny gvf #jake kiszka #sam gvf #sam kiszka #sam kiszka smut #sam kiszka x oc #sam kiszka x reader #greta van fleet x reader #greta van fleet x oc

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satans-helper · 7 months

Text

Reaching for Stardust - Part VIII

Read Looking For Space here // Playlists here // Read on wattpad

Word Count: ~3200

Warnings: none:)

A/N: I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I love love stories...especially this one <3

---

When we got back home, I was dying to talk to Bev and the boys. First, I consulted Bev, who went through a series of facial expressions so profound I faltered here and there throughout the entire retelling of the vacation. I could see the anger there when I told her about Josh’s secret and how he revealed it and her being upset on my behalf was validating. I hadn’t been out of bounds for merely being caught off guard and upset myself about what he’d kept from me. But then the same recognition, relief and forgiveness I had felt was shown on Bev’s face and I didn’t have to worry about her judgment, though I had worried about that quite a bit prior to seeing her. I’d worried that she’d take things to a drastic level. Thankfully, she didn’t and I was able to walk away from the conversation feeling an enormous amount of love from her that melted into the enormous amount of love I felt from Josh.

The boys weren’t coming back from their little Midwest tour for another week so I had to settle for a Facetime call with Jake, the one I was most anxious to discuss things with. I settled onto the couch, eagerly awaiting for him to pick up–when he did, I couldn’t help but grin wildly, the excitement of merely seeing his face enough to override my nerves.

“Hey, you,” Jake greeted in that kind, husky voice that had a natural soothing quality. He squinted, inspecting me through the little screen. “You don’t look that tan.”

I scoffed and looked down at my arm. “I got some color, Jake, jeez. Blame the phone camera for not being able to see my glow.”

Josh tilted his head one way, then the other, still looking at me hard. “Glowing from something else besides the sun?”

“No, I’m not pregnant,” I told him with a roll of my eyes. “And we’re also not engaged yet–technically–if that’s what you’re after.”

“Seriously? I thought he was gonna pop the question during this trip.” Jake sighed. “I mean, come on. You two should already be married.”

“Um, well, I agree,” I began, crossing my legs and beginning to fiddle with a stray thread on one of my socks. No doubt Jake knew I was the one who’d put the barrier up between Josh and I and marriage and I didn’t feel like getting into that then. “But he did bring something else up during the trip. I was wondering if he’d talked to you about it beforehand, actually.”

“What?”

“He had a job interview at a college in Savannah. He thought about us moving there.”

Jake’s brow furrowed and I couldn’t tell if he was just perplexed or a little upset or both. “Really?” was all he said, and then I knew he was feeling hurt. Not the same as the hurt I’d felt–different. Perhaps even deeper. Josh absolutely never kept secrets from Jake throughout their entire lives.

“Yeah. It took me by surprise too,” I told him. “I’m also surprised he didn’t mention it to you. It’s not like Josh to be able to keep his mouth shut for like, anything.”

Jake chuckled softly, then his face fell into a frown again. “I know. That’s very strange. I suppose I’m glad he didn’t tell me and not you but–”

I sighed. “Yeah. I know.”

“He really didn’t tell you anything?”

I shook my head. “No. Nothing until we were right outside the university. It scared the hell out of me, Jake,” I confessed. It was always so easy to talk openly with him–I was grateful for that, for how much our friendship had grown over the years. “Suddenly he drops this bomb and I couldn’t make sense of it all right then and there. We talked more, obviously, and it’s not even like he’s dead-set on moving there but–”

There was a gentle look of deep understanding in Jake’s eyes. “But he thought about it. A lot, apparently.”

“Exactly. I don’t want to live there, honestly. Maybe somewhere else someday. But I’m not ready to leave here yet.”

“That’s completely fair. I don’t know if I feel great about the idea of my own twin being that far from me either.”

I smiled a little. “Also fair. You should talk to him, too. I think he’s got a lot to say to you that he’s been holding back.”

Jake sighed. “I don’t want Josh to hold anything back from me.”

“I honestly don’t believe any of this secret keeping was on purpose. It’s just not in his nature.” I wanted to explain more to Jake but knew those were Josh’s words I’d be speaking. He was the one who needed to bring his twin up to speed on all he’d been thinking and feeling. “So, suffice to say, I don’t think we’re moving anywhere new.”

“That’s good. I’m all for change, but I don’t think I can handle another big one right now.”

“Me either. Except for getting married and buying a house, hopefully.”

Jake smiled. “Hopefully? It’s happening.”

I leaned back, stretching and holding the phone up with one outstretched arm. “Should we all just start a commune? Y’know, buy a big piece of land, all live together because we’re painfully codependent, all of that good stuff.”

“That sounds very Josh-like,” Jake said with a laugh. He looked more relaxed then, though I could clearly see the signs of exhaustion on his face. His undereyes looked darker and his entire face held a kind of sleepiness; I questioned it and he gave a slightly reassuring smile. “Touring is a lot. What we do now is different from how it was before–a few shows here and there in town, a few in Detroit. It’s definitely a bit tiring, but we do really love it.”

“Good. We knew you guys would blow up.” I sat up again, resting my elbow on my knee. “We just miss you. What are we gonna do when you guys are gone for like, a year?”

“There’s breaks. We’ll see each other.”

I loved hearing the assuredness of Jake knowing they’d grow more and more into their success; still, it always felt like a lot to process. “I’m not omitting Josh and I being roadies from the realm of possibilities,” I told him. “This codependency is a killer.”

Jake laughed again. “It’s just love. That’s all it is.”

–

After Josh came home, we talked from beginning to end–again–through his thought process about the job and the move. He talked as if they still held potential for a little while, but when he brought up how he and Jake had actually talked as well between classes, the dismissal of the two things came to light. He didn’t want to move states away and I believed him when he said it–he didn’t even need to reassure me. I could hear it in his voice and see it in his face, this kind of relief that I was sure came from not only finally revealing it all to me in Savannah but also, finally, talking things through with his brother. The bond he had with Jake, as well as with Sam and Danny, always came first in my mind even if Josh didn’t see it that way and I was fine with that. Jake and Danny were processors and held wisdom in their minds even when they weren’t quite ready to share it; Sam, on the other hand, reacted to things quickly and didn’t shy away from the full expression of his feelings. All of them held their own advantages when it came to communication and hard decisions, influential in their own rights.

“There’s so much to think about,” Josh mused. We were sitting on the balcony, watching the sun begin to set; I was studying the way the light hit the leaves, pondering what our next move would be–quite literally–until Josh turned to me and took my hand. “What are you thinking about right now?”

“I’m thinking about how much change might be too much change,” I told him, looking into his eyes. “Maybe trying to buy a house right now isn’t the best thing. There could be other things to focus on. And maybe we could move to Detroit sometime in the future.”

He smiled. “Other things to focus on–like a wedding?”

I smiled back. “Yeah. Like a wedding.”

Once again I found myself mapping the trajectory of our life and all the future choices I could think of in my head; the slight squeeze of Josh’s hand around mine made me slow down. “Maybe we don't have to plan every little thing,” I said, mostly directing that at myself. I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder. “I miss being more spontaneous. Being an adult sucks.”

Josh chuckled, jostling me a bit. “Only sometimes. Besides, we were adults when we met.”

“Kind of. Also kind of silly kids.”

“We’re still that way. We always will be.” Josh bounced up to his feet and took both my hands, pulling me up with him. “Let’s go have dinner on the beach. That’s spontaneous, no?”

It was warm but the air was cooling and would certainly be chilly soon, even more so once we were on the water; the thought of the strong breeze against our skin as the low waves rolled to shore propelled my emphatic “yes.” So we scraped together some sandwiches, chips, a tupperware container of fruit and the six-pack that had been hanging out in the fridge for a little too long. The sun was lower as Josh drove, a half-dome of golden-orange on the horizon as we headed west toward the lake and, by the time we parked the car, a cool, calm dusk was in full force.

Josh led the way down the rocky, sandy bank, through the tight cove of trees and to an entirely empty part of the beach. The sun was far to our left, merely a sliver over the water, and the deepening of the blue sky melted with the calm water, immersing us in a whole world of blue. Josh had returned to that quiet state that unnerved me, but he didn’t look nervous–he looked like someone who was holding in a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” I questioned as we settled down on a blanket. I popped open two beers, handed one to Josh, and prodded the container of fruit open.

“Nothing,” he said, but then he began laughing wildly like I’D said something hilarious.

“Not another secret?” I pressed, actually joking.

“No. No secret,” Josh said with a wave of his hand. He nestled right against my side and took a drink, looking ahead at the water. “We’ll have a better view of the stars here.”

I looked up, past the wispy layer of grey clouds and into the darker part of the dusk where a few stars had begun to shine through. Josh’s weight on me, the darkness and the soothing sound of the water were lulling me into a daze and I knew I could have easily, literally fallen asleep had it not been for Josh abruptly shooting forward to grab his backpack again. It felt like the time he was going to propose–I expected a ring to be pulled from that backpack pocket, but he only took out a pack of cigarettes.

“Really?” I asked teasingly.

He put one between his lips. “Yes, really.” After he lit it, he passed the pack to me but I waved it away.

“We’ll share,” I told him, and Josh handed it to me after he exhaled. The whispers of smoke spun into the air and away while I took a drag; I felt nervous then, my expectations unmet but the knowledge of the upcoming proposal happening sometime, somewhere remained. I did wish many times that I hadn’t been so resistant to marriage. Josh had been ready sooner than I had, but I knew in my heart it hadn’t been much sooner. Sometimes I felt like I’d made him waste all that time with me–why should he have stuck around for someone unwilling to make the ultimate commitment? What had I been so resistant to anyway?

After we ate and drank some more beer, we walked along the shore, barefoot through the cold water. Josh held my hand and we looked for constellations and lone stars and planets–I spotted Arcturus, bright and white, and the Big Dipper above while Josh excitedly pointed out Virgo.

“It’s really incredible,” he said while we paused, both of our heads tilted back to look in wonder at the infinity that lay above us. “All of that–all those stars, planets, galaxies and we’re all here on Earth. There has to be other life out there. I don’t know why anyone says otherwise.”

“Sometimes it feels scary,” I admitted. “Not that there’s other life out there, but just how big all of this is. I don’t think we’re insignificant though.”

“We can’t be. And everything can’t be random.”

I squeezed his hand. “Definitely not. The universe knew what it was doing when it brought you into my life.”

“It did.” I watched Josh bring his gaze down to the water, turning to look past me. “Check out that boat–they’re way far out.”

I turned to look at it and I was a little mystified at how small the distant light on it was, how far away whoever was commandeering the ship was from us; I couldn’t hear the motor, only the sound of the waves and then Josh clearing his throat. When I turned back to him, he’d disappeared from my eyeline–no, he was down on both of his knees and looking up at me.

“Josh–” I began to say but I didn’t know what to say next. My heart sped up suddenly, racing hard in my chest and into my ears, and a wave of dizziness came over me so fiercely that I placed one hand on his shoulder to steady myself.

He smiled. “I’m so very glad I can still make you swoon, darling.” In his hands he held a small black box, so shiny it looked like it was carved from obsidian itself. “I want to do that for the rest of our lives.” Even in the dark I could see the glimmer of his eyes and the flush spread across his cheeks, his own nerves alive as much as mine were, I was sure. “You are absolutely everything to me and I want to go everywhere and do everything with you forever.” Josh took a breath and laughed a little before his slightly shaking hands–the sight of which made my heart swell with so much adoration I felt dizzy all over again–opened the box. I glanced down at the ring but it was a blur; I was too focused on his beautiful face and watching his lips create the next string of words: “I’ve wanted us to be bound together for eternity for so long now, love. Will you marry me?”

I dropped to my knees in front of him, threading my fingers through his hair, pulling him in to kiss. It was just my instinct then–to kiss him with all the love I had in my body, to hold him close enough that he knew I’d never let him go, not caring that the water was cold and soaking my pants. All I could feel was him. Josh hummed against my mouth and I pulled back to finally verbalize my answer: “Of course, Josh. I love you so much.” I kept my hands on the back of his neck but looked down to really see the ring and, when I did, all I could say then was, “Oh my god.”

It was gorgeous and I was speechless as I looked at it. The moonlight cast its glow on the white gold band and the teardrop diamond that was surrounded by tiny blue gems–all of it was perfectly suited to me. I kept gawking and Josh chuckled, then took it out of the box and took my hand, sliding it onto my ring finger as he quietly said, “I hope I got the right size.”

He did. He nailed it. I lifted my hand and gazed at the beauty of it some more, still trying to find the words to express all the gratitude and even surprise. Sure, I’d known the proposal would happen. But maybe nothing ever prepares you for the feelings that come along with it regardless, and from the adoration and the gratitude came a swell of feelings I couldn’t name, but it was all so overwhelming that I started crying.

“Oh, no, sweetheart,” Josh cooed, wrapping me in his arms as I brought my hands to my face, weeping into them and shuddering against his body. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing,” I whimpered, getting the ring wet with my own tears as I tried to wipe them away, but they kept coming. “I’m so happy, Josh. I just–I’m so sorry–sorry it took so long.”

Josh rubbed my back. “Don’t be sorry. Please don’t be sorry. I’m not sorry about it.”

When the tears slowed, I hugged him back, resting my wet cheek on his shoulder. “You’re not?”

He giggled. “No! We’re together and we always have been. That’s what matters.”

I lifted my hand to look at the ring again. “This is too much. It’s too beautiful.”

“It’s just right. It’s just for you. Do you like it?”

“I love it. It’s perfect.”

“By the way,” Josh said, then turned to kiss my forehead. “It’s a lab-grown diamond. No blood spilled for that one.”

I sniffled. That was so him. “That’s good. Thank you. For all of it.”

Josh gently guided both of us back up to our feet. He held my hands, looking down at the impossibly gorgeous ring he’d placed on my finger. “You really like it?”

I watched the diamond sparkle–literally–in the moonlight and the tiny sapphires glow like the water before us. “I love it so much. You could’ve gotten me a twist tie for all I care but, Jesus Christ, Josh–this is stunning.”

He smiled. “I thought for a long time about what it would look like. It reminds me a little bit of the pendant you got me for our first anniversary. That may have influenced my decision making a little, too.”

“You know how much I love when we match,” I told him, taking away my right hand to wipe a few leftover tears away. My heart still felt so full and there was so much inside me I wanted to say, but eloquence didn’t feel possible then. Instead of trying to speak further, I kissed him again.

The lingering kiss over, Josh nuzzled into my neck. “I love you, mama. I’m so happy you said yes.”

I wrapped my arms around him and closed my eyes as his curls brushed against my skin with the same gentleness as the breeze. “There’s no universe in which I’d say no.”

---

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basiccortez · 2 years

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Toxic ➢previous chapter || next chapter ➢word count: 5.k ➢warnings: mentions of torture, mentions of abuse, unhealthy coping mechanisms, mention of past character death, mentions of unprotected sex ➢Ghosts Masterlist || S&S Masterlist || playlist

THIS IS AN AU. A complete work of fiction. Nothing in here is a reflection of how the boys act or how they are. It is purely an act of fiction.

It was raining when the plane touched down on the tarmac in the small private airport. She could remember the last time she was at this airport, except she was leaving everything behind her, and going back home to essentially start a new life. Y/N O’Phalen’s green eyes took in the surroundings, the black SUVs, the nicely dressed men with guns tucked in their waist bands. She sighed and looked over at her parents who were in a conversation, as the plane settled on the ground.

“How long are we here for?” Her older brother, Cillian asked.

“A couple days,” Maeve said, the matriarch of the family. Her beautiful brown hair made her stand out from the rest of them. All three of the O’Phalen children had deep coppery colored hair that glistened in the light, “Y/N will stay behind, start tampering with the information and files the federal agents have.”

Y/N sucked in a breath and clenched her jaw, “There a reason I have to be the one specifically to do it? Cillian can do it too.”

“You know that what they have is more sensitive to you,” The leader of the family spoke up, Galen. His cold blue eyes made her shiver. She knew that she was the only one who could work fast enough to get in and tamper with the evidence and information without being caught. Cillian was smart, but not nearly as smart as her.

Y/N stood up first, making her way towards the door of the plane. One of her body guards helped her down the stairs of the plane as her family followed behind. She watched as her father helped her mother down the stairs, keeping an arm around her. Y/N had always admired her parents' love, knowing that finding love in their line of work was few and far between. It usually ended in heartbreak and misery. Galen and Maeve had been lucky.

“We’ll be in and out, you’ll be back home with your baby before you know it,” Maeve said, reading the look on her daughter’s face. It was the first time in almost six years that Y/N had been so far away from home, and it was an eternal battle to not run away and have the plane turn back home.

“Y/N,” Cillian called out to her. Y/N turned and walked over to him, “Aidan just rang.”

Her heart stopped and her mind went to the worst case scenario, “What’s wrong?”

“Cian is sick. He’s running a fever.”

“I need to go,” Y/N said and pushed past Cillian only to be stopped by Galen, “Da,”

“No. He’s okay, he’s home with Aidan and the maids. He will be okay,” Galen explained and Y/N looked over at her mother, trying to reason with her.

“Listen to your father,” Maeve said, “You’re here for business.”

“It’s also my job to be a mother,” Y/N argued. She sighed looking at her parents, knowing that neither one was going to budge and let her get back on the plane to go home to her son, “If he gets worse, I am on the first plane out of here and back home. Fuck all the-”

“Remember why you are here, what you are here trying to protect,” Galen said. Y/N nodded and looked down at her shoes. He sighed, and gently led her over to the black SUV waiting to take them to one of the Kiszka hideaway houses.

— — — ♰♰♰ — — —— — — ♰♰♰ — — —

Between Danny and Sam, it only took about a week to gather addresses and send them out. Josh had made a list of mafia families that were arriving, and placed them in various stock houses around the Kiszka mansion. Danny let Sam do most of the work on finding the families, knowing that he could work quicker at it than Danny could. Besides, Danny tasked himself with trying to figure out why Josh would invite the Irish Kings. Her name and picture had been on Danny’s mind for the past week, the recurrent dream that he hadn’t had for years had come back, making him wake up in a cold sweat at night.

“Josh,” Danny said, stopping the mafia leader in the hallway. Danny looked down the hall, before pulling him into the office, “We gotta talk about the Irish Kings.”

“What about them?” Josh asked, not looking up from the ipad in his hands, “I don’t really have time to argue about it, Daniel.”

“Why the fuck would you invite them anyway?”

“I had no choice, we’ve been business partners with the O’Phalens for years. They got cold feet after my father stepped down and were ready to burn the whole bridge when Jake died. I have to prove that we are still worthy of doing business with them.” Josh explained, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“You know what they did. You know what she means! He has no fucking clue about any of it,” Danny said in a hushed whisper. Josh clenched his jaw and looked away from Danny.

“Look, whatever happened six years ago is a ghost of the past. You need to get over whatever personal vendetta you have against them. Remember, the fucker that killed your parents is dead. Galen wasn’t the one who ordered the hit,”

“I don’t give a-”

“Hey,” Sam said, standing in the doorway of the office. Danny stepped away from Josh, and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his dress pants. Danny looked down at his dress shoes, not bothering to look up at his friend as Sam stepped into the office and gave Josh the list of addresses, “Took a little longer than I thought, guess I’m kinda rusty.”

“I don’t think it’s rust,” Josh said looking at the printed ink, “These old fucks have been in hiding for God knows how long, I’m amazed that you found all of them.”

Sam smirked to himself, “It’s easy when you’re me.”

“Yeah, yeah, now go get your dick sucked,” Josh said and walked out of the office leaving the two friends there. Danny shuffled awkwardly, looking up at his friend. Their relationship had been strained in the past three years with Sam’s new habits. Danny had his fair share of club nights and girls in college but it all changed when he fell in love with her.

“I’m going out tonight,” Sam said, “Josh probably wants me to have a babysitter, so you’re more than welcome to come with me.”

Danny nodded and looked around the office. He really didn’t have an excuse to say no to him, usually he was busy training guards or working on things for Josh, and could just brush Sam off. But Sam hadn’t asked Danny personally before to go out, in the past it had just been a given that he would go with the Kiszka brothers. Danny fiddled with the ring on his middle finger and let out a sigh.

“Sure,” He agreed, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

— — — ♰♰♰ — — —— — — ♰♰♰ — — —

Cambridge MA, six years ago . . .

Danny locked his phone and turned his head to see Sam at his desk, hunched over his laptop. He slid off of his bed, shuffling over to Sam and placing a hand on his shoulder, “Alright, shut that shit off, we’re going out.”

Sam looked up at him, confused, “Why, I’m in the middle of doing homework Daniel.”

“I don’t care, we have been summoned to a party. Come on, there will be hot chicks, alcohol, I’ll even listen to you complain about the music for at least ten minutes.” Danny said, lightly shaking Sam's shoulders.

Sam thought about it for a minute before letting his head fall back, letting out a groan, “Fine.”

Danny pumped his fist in celebration before turning and opening his dresser to pick out something to wear.

By the time the two were walking up the steps of the house, the party was in full swing. Sam and Danny made their way inside, picking up cups of some awful concoction that would at least get them drunk. Danny followed through on his promise, listening to Sam complain about the music for a while before being pulled away from the wall by a pretty little brunette and her friend.

Sam remained against the wall, occasionally engaging in small talk with a fellow student or two that were taking a breather before heading back into the crowd. He noticed the rotation of girls that Danny had, grinding with someone new seemingly every time a new song came on. His eyes scanned the crowd, wondering why he had even followed Danny, when he saw it, a vibrant head of red hair making its way through the crowd. He straightened up, readying himself to kick off of the wall, when he saw who she was headed for. His shoulders deflated when she reached Danny, tapping him on the shoulder. The moment his friend turned to her, she was hidden from Sam’s line of sight.

“You know, I never did believe it when I heard the phrase ‘it’s a small world’, but I guess I was wrong.” She said, her eyes tracing over Danny’s frame, “Don’t make a scene, Daniel.” Danny rolled his eyes as he grabbed her body, pulling her back against his chest to blend in with the rest of the college students. He swayed their bodies to the music for a couple seconds, before speaking to her.

“What are you doing here?” Danny asked, his tone sharp as he glared down at her.

“I could ask you the same thing.” She said, raising a brow at him.

“I’m not telling you shit-” Danny said, being interrupted halfway through his sentence by her hand flying up in front of his face.

“Hold up, they’re playing my request. Figured this could be your song, seeing as you’ve found yourself quite the roster of girls here.” She dropped her hand, flashing a smug grin as ‘Womanizer’ by Britney Spears began to play, “I’ll see you around.”

She pushed off of Danny’s body, and Sam watched as she disappeared into the crowd, and Danny stomped his way over to him. The second Danny reached the wall, he was complaining, “Can we go, I’m done with this.”

Sam chuckled, raising his brows at his best friend, “What? Don’t like Britney Daniel?”

— — — ♰♰♰ — — —— — — ♰♰♰ — — —

Sam always complained about the music in the club, no matter what was being played. Danny had always allotted him ten minutes when they first walked in to get all the complaints out, but he was surprised when Sam didn’t have a single thing to say about the loud bass thumping through the speakers. Instead, Sam placed a hand on Danny’s shoulder and wandered over to the bar to get himself a drink. Danny watched him until he walked downstairs to the dance floor, getting lost in the sea of people. Danny ordered himself a drink and then returned to the balcony to keep an eye on Sam.

Sam had drawn out the terrible pop song as he felt the girls dancing on him. His hands were roaming the body of a short dark haired woman, who smelled like cheap perfume and vodka. Sam took a swig of his drink, and wrapped his hand around her throat. He pulled her back against him, and tilted her head up, gripping her chin, making her open her mouth. He spit the alcohol in her mouth and then kissed her. She moaned at the feeling of his lips crashing against hers. Sam pulled back from the kiss and looked up, noticing a flash of red hair.

There were certain sounds that Danny would always remember, one of them was the fake American accent, that was way too comical to be true. Danny cursed himself as he looked over his shoulder and saw her red hair as she sat at the bar ordering a drink. Danny pushed himself off the balcony and walked over to her.

“Hey, Max, two Irish car bombs,” Danny said, standing next to the red head. She smirked and looked at Danny, “Sorry. . . hit too close to home for you, Clover?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t get my hands dirty with explosives,” She said to him, dropping the fake accent, and letting her thick Irish accent come out, “Nice to see you again,”

“What are you doing here?” Danny asked, his eyes scanning along her figure. Her outfit was a stark contrast to those he used to see her wear. A latex crop top and tight black jeans hugging every curve she had. She watched as his eyes looked her up and down, and smirked. She stood up from her barstool and walked over to the railing of the balcony.

“I have business to attend to, figured I’d show up in time to attend the fundraiser.” She explained, her eyes flickering down to the dance floor below them, easily spotting him amongst the crowd, “He’ll be there I assume.”

“He will. What’s the business you need to attend to?” Danny asked, looking at her.

“Family stuff, people have information that I’d rather them not be in position of, I intend to change that.”

“This wouldn’t by any chance have to do with-”

“Yes, exactly that.” She interrupted his sentence, locking eyes with him, the two of them sharing a silent understanding not to speak of it.

“Still keeping secrets. . .”

“I wouldn’t talk about secrets, Daniel, last I recall you still have some skeletons in the closet.” Danny clenched his jaw at her words. She always knew the right buttons to push when it came to the curly haired bodyguard. She checked her watch, finished polishing off the last of her drink before placing the glass on the bar and turning to Danny, “You still like to dance Danny?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, watching as she pulled her phone from her pocket, unlocking it and looking up at the lights before pressing a button. In an instant, the lights changed to a brilliant green color, and the music changed. Her smile widened as she watched his expression change.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He groaned, throwing his head back in an almost pained laugh as she backed away from him.

Down on the lower level, the change of lighting caught Sam’s attention, stopping his makeout with the black haired girl, and standing up from the couch to search for Danny, as the opening to an all too familiar song began to play through the speakers

“Superstar, where you from? How's it going?”

He began to laugh upon realizing exactly what song was playing, his eyes finding Danny at the bar already looking down at him. He was about to turn and walk up to join Danny at the bar when he saw her red hair again. He was for certain that it was her, there was no mistaking it from the music change to the flash of green lights. Danny watched as Sam followed her with his eyes, and quickly ran down the stairs to intercept him from chasing after her. Danny’s body collided with Sam’s right as he was making his way down the back hallway.

“What the fuck?! Let me go,” Sam said, trying to push his friend off of him.

“No, I can’t let you-”

“Back off, Daniel,” Sam said, mustering up some strength to shove his best friend. Danny was caught off guard by it, and stumbled, letting Sam get past him. Sam quickly ran out the back door, just as he watched as she revved her motorcycle, her red hair sticking out underneath her blacked out helmet.

“Clover?!” He yelled for her, but she took off into the night, leaving him even more confused.

— — — ♰♰♰ — — —— — — ♰♰♰ — — —

He had been watching the screens for days, his eyes feeling like they were ready to cross. Their division had gotten word about the Kiszka family deciding to have a ball, many world leaders and officials were going to be there. But he was more focused on the criminals who were flying in. More specifically, the family that flew in from Ireland.

“It was her, you should’ve been there last night,” One of the young women in the office talked about. She was new to the case, having been brought on to replace one of the agent’s who had died years ago, “I don’t even think we need to open plan decoy, she’s here!”

“She’s smart though,” He said, as he stood up from his desk. He looked at the various pictures of mafia families he had pinned to a board. Strings, note cards, sticky notes, and colorful tape were all covering the board with small notes on who everyone was and what their links to the crimes were, “We need to use something against her. She was around six years ago with Agent Castillo. She’d rather die than give up information on her own family.”

“That’s it!” The woman exclaimed, and walked over to the picture on the wall, “Her own family.”

He froze, looking at the picture of the little boy. He smirked and walked over to it, removing the pin and holding it in his hands, “We’ll give them the night, let them get to see each other again. Then we give her a call.”

— — — ♰♰♰ — — —— — — ♰♰♰ — — —

Sam was up early the next day, which was surprising to everyone in the mansion. The maids and butlers were used to Sam waking up around two in the afternoon and sauntering out of his room in need of a drink. But Emile was surprised when he came down, dressed in a suit, his hair tied back in a neat bun, and asking for coffee and a bagel. She was happy to see the young boy look more like his old self and not the shell of the person he used to be.

Sam went straight to his office, logging into his computers and going straight to the CCTV of the club last night. He pulled up all of the cameras, surrounding himself with black and white videos of the hours that he and Danny were at the club, trying to catch a glance of the red headed woman who was there. Sam scanned the footage, slowing it down and zooming in when he thought he saw her.

“Fuck,” Sam cursed, “You’re too fucking smart for us, Clover. . . but not that smart,” Sam bit his lip as he clicked on one last camera, one that was positioned in a bottle of alcohol on the bar. Sam sat back as he watched the moment she walked towards the bar, his heart dropping as she looked right at the hidden camera, and then the footage goes dark, “Fuck!”

Sam sat down at his desk and ran his hands through his hair, pulling on the locks, trying to think of what he could do. He lifted his head up and looked at the image of her, her features so perfectly presented in front of him. He gently touched the screen almost as if he were to reach in and caress her soft face. Even through the black and white footage, he could see her electric green eyes and dark red hair. Sam sat back in his chair, studying her face over and over, watching that three second video of her walking to the bar and smiling at the camera before it all goes dark.

Josh was on the verge of a mental breakdown as he was trying to finish the checklist for the ball tonight. He had been working on this project for over a year, between trying to find a location, locating the mafia Kings, finding enough security, and everything else that came with hosting some of the world’s richest criminals under one roof. Josh was really feeling the sting of the pain of not having Jake around. He had always prided himself with being organized, but there was something about not having the presence of a strong leader like Jake. The closer and closer the ball got, the more and more Josh found himself talking to Jake, asking him for some sort of guidance.

Josh was looking over some order of champagne on his Ipad when he walked by Sam’s office, seeing his stare at the monitors in front of him. Josh looked down at his watch and then back at Sam, confused as to why he wasn’t dressed in his tux to go to the venue for the ball.

“Yo, what the fuck? We are leaving in 15 minutes!” Josh said, walking into Sam’s office, snapping him out of his daze.

“Huh?” Sam said, jumping and turning to face his brother, “What, what time-”

“Go get fucking dressed!” Josh yelled at him.

“So-sorry,” Sam said, shutting down his system and standing from his chair.

“Look, I’m not sure what the hell is going on with you lately, and frankly I don’t have the patience to really care,” Josh said, grabbing Sam’s arm and stopping him, “But you need to get your head screwed on tighter. I can’t protect you, I can’t save you, I’m too busy trying to save myself right now. So figure your shit out, or I guess I’ll start planning your funeral next.”

Josh let go of Sam’s arm and walked out of the office, still muttering something about the champagne order, worried they didn’t get enough. Sam watched him walk away, and then back at the picture of his screen. He shook his head and left the room, making sure to lock the door and then went to his room to get ready for the ball.

The venue was decorated beautifully, with gold, red and white sprinkled throughout it. The old Gambino mansion was a safe haven, tucked in the woods of Tennessee, not many knew of its existence, unless they were in the mafia world. Even though most of the preparations had been done prior to the ball, Josh was still walking around making sure everything was perfect. He, like Danny and Sam, were wearing perfectly tailored black tuxes. Josh had added stitching of red flowers into his coat, making him stand out from the other two. Everyone was dressed in their best, giving off the Old Hollywood/Great Gatsby vibe that Josh wanted. Sam could care less as the very first thing he did when he walked in was order himself a drink.

“Ah, my favorite brothers-in-law,” Gianni Santiago smirked as he walked in and saw the Kiszka boys.

“Gianni, you old bastard,” Josh smiled and hugged him, “Been too long.”

The Kiszkas and the Santiagos kept in touch after the funeral. Paulo had been the most distant out of the three boys, burying himself into his new position as head of the family. Narciso had found himself taking over all of his sister’s business from her multiple clubs in Italy, to the fashion line she had been working on before coming to the States to marry Jake. Gianni, though still the wild card, had been over to visit the Kiszkas and his sister’s grave more than any of them. Danny and Gianni had made a special friendship, both of them bonding over shared trauma.

“How are things?” Gianni asked.

“As to be expected, I’m sure Paulo has told you all about it,” Josh explained and Gianni rolled his eyes.

“Yeah. That fucker has a bigger dick up his ass than my old man ever had. I think it's because of her death. . . He still blames himself.” Gianni looked down at his maroon colored loafers, “Anyway, where are the drinks and the bitches?” Gianni smirked at Sam and Danny. Sam walked over and threw his arm around Gianni, walking away and talking about possibly visiting the club if the ball sucks.

The three of them found a spot in the corner of the large ballroom, near the bar and decided to stay there as they drank expensive whiskey and caught up on the last year or so of their lives. Sam watched as Josh walked around the room, greeting the mafia Kings and their families as they entered. Sam knew how important this night was to his brother, so he decided to cut it easy with the alcohol consumption. Sam was only half listening to the conversation between Gianni and Danny, when he felt Gianni nudge him.

“Who invited the Moss King?” Gianni said and pointed to the striking emerald green outfits, pale skin and red hair of the members of the O’Phalen family.

Danny clenched his jaw and brought his drink to his lips, “Josh’s idea.”

Gianni laughed and said something else, but Sam paid no attention as he watched her walk down the steps, her green dress flowing behind her as she held onto another man’s arm. Her red hair was pinned back, exposing her neck, which Sam wanted to place soft kisses along. She walked with her head held high, something Sam had always loved about her, as she reached the bottom of the stairs and then greeted Josh, placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

“She’s real. . . She’s alive. . . ” Sam said and tried to step closer to her, but was stopped by Danny. He looked at Danny with wide eyes and Danny just shook his head. Sam watched as she followed Galen O’Phalen, the head of the family, over to meet various Mafia Kings, each of them greeting her with a hug and a kiss, “She’s. . . ?”

"It's not my story to tell," Danny mumbled and took his hand off of Sam's shoulder and walked over to the bar with Gianni.

Sam was frozen as he watched her. She was still as breathtaking as ever, and she still seemed to conduct all the attention on her. She glanced over at Sam, giving him a sad smile, and Sam felt his heart break in his chest all over again. All he wanted to do was to hug her, to kiss her, but the woman in front of him wasn't the same woman he remembered from all those years ago. This woman was different.

She smiled at something that Paulo said, and then glanced over, catching Sam’s eye. She looked up at the balcony, and then back at Sam. Sam followed her eyesight again as she looked at the balcony and then nodded. He watched as she excused herself from the men and then waited a couple minutes before doing the same and going to find her.

— — — ♰♰♰ — — —— — — ♰♰♰ — — —

Cambridge MA, six years ago . . .

By the time Danny was finished grumbling to Sam, the song had changed, and Danny was once again being beconned by one of his many girls. Danny looked back at his friend, the person he was supposed to be protecting, making sure he was okay with him disappearing back into the crowd. Sam knew that Danny had already surveyed the area, making sure it was safe for Sam to be at. Sam hated it, but he knew that it was important for Danny to do his job.

“Go enjoy yourself, it was one song.” Sam said, waving him off and watching as he was pulled back into the crowd. Danny clapped his friend on the back as some fake blonde came up and grabbed his hand. Danny’s eyes went straight to her ass as they pushed through the crowd.

Sam smiled, watching as girls swarmed to his friend, and after a few more minutes of leaning against the wall, he decided to go outside for a breath of fresh air, and a smoke. He kept his eyes on his feet as he made his way towards the back door of the house, making sure not to step on anyone's toes as he shuffled through the crowd.

The sliding door was shut, so as he slid the glass door open, he caught the attention of a familiar red haired girl. His eyes caught hers, and a small smile forming on her lips caused Sam to trip on the frame of the door. He caught himself, straightening out before shuffling over to the railing where she was standing, a blush spreading across his cheeks.

“Quite the entrance.” She said, her accent catching him slightly off guard. Sam blinked a few times, his mouth opening and closing as she watched the gears in his head turn, trying to come up with something to say.

“Yeah… you know what they say…” He started, rubbing the back of his neck, “I don’t know what they say about stumbling when trying to talk to a pretty girl.”

Another giggle fell from her lips, her cheeks reddening at his comment. She lifted a hand from the railing, holding it out to him, “Y/N.”

He smiled,”Sam,” placing his hand in her own, he gave it a small shake, “I saw you earlier, I was hoping we’d run into each other.”

— — — ♰♰♰ — — —— — — ♰♰♰ — — —

Sam moved quickly as he walked down the dark hallways of the mansion, searching for her. His heart was beating fast as he had awaited this moment for six years, although he pictured it very differently. He wasn’t in the very expensive tux he had on, surrounded by mafia members, no, he was back in Cambridge at the little cafe down the street from his dorm room. And she wasn’t dressed in an expensive dress, she was probably wearing ripped jeans and some shirt she had stolen from his room.

Sam paused for a moment, as he turned the corner, seeing her pale skin illuminated by the moonlight, as she stared out in the dark forest. She looked interily ethereal, like a goddess, something Sam had only seen in his dreams. She could hear his footsteps, and broke out of her trance and looked at him.

He wanted to hate her, he had planned out what he was going to say to her the moment they met again. He had practiced the angry words he wanted to say to her for just disappearing without a trace. But all that left his mind the moment he was standing within arms reach of her. All he wanted to do was pull her in for a kiss, to hold her in his arms in case this wasn’t real. In case this was all a dream and his mind was just playing another cruel trick on him.

“Y/N. . .”

She turned to face him completely, and smiled, “I knew you’d find me eventually, Sammy.”

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capnjaket · 6 months

Text

The Opposite of Lost - Chapter Three

a/n: Welcome! Please listen to 'Diary' by Bread later on in the chapter!

Pairing: Josh Kiszka x Female OC

Warning: Domestic abuse themes ahead.

Word Count: 7k

Chapter Three

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆ Joshua

Even though I am a morning person, I always seem to be late for school. But today, I had managed to pull through, and get the boys in the car so we could be on time to see Rosemary. We pulled up in the senior parking lot and all walked out in search of her. Thankfully, we found her pretty quick, standing under a tree with another senior girl, Sasha. I remembered her to be only ever lovely and kind, which put me at ease.

“Hey Rose!” Sam yelled upon our approach.

“Oh, hey guys!” Rosemary said, looking at us, then turning to smile back at Sasha.

“Dannyyyyyy!” Sam immediately got distracted and ran off to see his friend who we literally saw yesterday.

“I’ll see you around, Rose. Nice to meet you.” Sasha returned Rosemary’s warm smile and nodded to Jake and I before walking away.

All the seniors were quickly directed towards the gym, where we were given our timetables. As Rosemary walked back to us after receiving hers, I snatched it up and we compared them all.

“Sam will be in your art class, then creative writing with me, and math with Jake. Solid.” I said, analysing the sheets.

“Great, so I’ll get a break from you all in world history.” We all laughed.

I showed her where her locker was, then we walked to mine so I could grab my stuff and show her where the art room was.

“So I was thinking, maybe on Saturday you could introdu—” I started to ask, but was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Joshyy!” Florence came bounding towards me, jumping into a hug with her legs around my waist.

“Florence?” I said, putting her down. “You told me you were moving away..?”

“Surprise!” She said, “Turns out I can stay until the end of senior year.” Florence searched my eyes for some elated reaction from me.

“Cool.” I said with a tight smile. “I’ll see you later. I need to walk Rosemary here to class. She’s new.” I turned to see Rosemary kindly waiting, nervously picking at her binder. Florence eyed her for a second, then gave her a little smile.

“Ok then bye Joshy!” She tilted her head to the side and looked up at me for a beat, then spun around to walk the opposite way.

“She seems to really like you.” Rosemary teased as we walked towards art.

“Oh stop it. She’s just like that.” I quickly mumbled.

“Whatever you say.” I rolled my eyes.

“Alright, here you are. I’ll meet you here when class ends and take you to creative writing.” I said, motioning to the door before walking backwards for a few steps, then turning to walk down the hall to my class.

We discussed our classes on our way to creative writing, Rosemary telling me about the immediate trouble Sam got himself into by mucking about. We found seats diagonally across from each other, pretty decent considering we came in a little late. She seemed to really be interested in the course work for creative writing, listening intently at our teacher. I for once listened too.

At lunch, we introduced her to our little group - Jake, Zach, Jita, Lilah and I. Sam and Danny occasionally joined us, but mostly stayed with their year group. Jita, Lilah and Rosemary seemed to get along quite well, though Rosemary was still a little shy.

I enjoyed the dynamic of our group; Jita had been our long-time friend, but I noticed her slight lenience towards Jake towards the end of last semester, so I was excited to see how that played out - especially since Jake has always had a crush on her. Zach and Lilah were dating, Zach being on the soccer team and Lilah on the volleyball one. They were both very competitive, which meant they basically waited each other out to see who would fold and admit their feelings for one another, which finally happened this past summer. The girls were both really smart, which helped a lot to keep the boys on track since we were all completely unorganised.

The remainder of the day went smoothly, with me showing Rosemary where world history was and Jake taking her to math with him.

The first week or so went on like that, everyone getting back into a school routine, and Rosemary adjusting to our school. I still walked with her to most classes, not that I needed to, but she never asked me to stop, so I didn’t.

“You guys want to come watch us jam tomorrow afternoon?” Jake suggested that Friday at lunch.

“I can’t man I gotta watch Lilah’s game.” Zach replied, putting his arm around Lilah.

“Self-explanatory for me.” Lilah added.

“I’ll come! You will too, right Rosemary?” Jita said.

“Sure! I can’t wait to hear you guys play again.” Rosemary addressed us.

“Yeah me too.” Jita glanced towards Jake then quickly looked away, trying to conceal her smile when Jake looked straight back at her, his cheeks slightly blushed. I caught a suspicious Rosemary subtly squinting at them both with a small smirk.

Jita had arrived a couple of minutes ago, and we were all hanging out in the garage. Sam and Danny were moving the drum kit on to a rug so they could try and drag it to move it in the future, since it takes so long to move. They were making laughably slow progress. They were almost finished when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” Jita jumped up from her spot on the couch and jogged up the stairs. A minute later Rosemary walked down behind her. Rosemary was wearing a weathered green flannel half tucked into her shorts, her hair out.

“Hi Rosemary!” Sam shouted from across the garage, where he stumbled to get up and walk over, loudly crashing a cymbal on his way.

“Hey Sam.” She said, letting him hug her with a giggle. Jake followed in with a hug, as did I. It was the Kiszka way.

“Take your seats ladies. The show will begin shortly.” I pointed to our couch facing all the equipment. They both sat and chatted quietly as we finished setting up. Once the amps were all plugged in, I went over and shut off the main lights, leaving the twinkling fairy lights on along with a couple of lamps.

The boys started tuning up and getting their levels right on the amps, and finally, we were ready. We played through most of our usual set, and a little more Clapton because Jake was in the mood.

“Will you play Little Wing?” Jita suggested, looking intently at Jake.

“Ugh! Such a good song!” Rosemary commented as Jake began to play. The girls both danced in their spots on the couch, nodding their heads to the slow beat.

“What would you like to hear Rosemary?” I asked once the song had finished.

“Something of yours.” She said simply.

“Talk on the Street it is.” I looked back and nodded to the boys and we played the song. Rosemary had this glint in her eye during this one that she didn’t have for any other song. It felt different. I felt it too - playing our own music was something really special, and she could tell.

“Alright, anyone for some pool?” Jake questioned to the group when we finished.

“You know you’re gonna lose again, right?” Rosemary hopped up and walked straight to the table, hi-five-ing me on the way past.

“Oh it is on!” Jake gave us the stink eye.

“Join us Jita so it’s even.” I said, grinning as I followed Rosemary to the table.

Sam was as hopeless as ever, though Jake and I pulled through a bit more this time. Danny and Rosemary were a close match, taking much more daring shots, and sinking simpler ones easily. Jita was on Jake and I’s level, and was great at badmouthing the others. Everyone had to pretend not to see Jita and Jake giving each other looks the whole game because they were annoyingly enamoured by one another.

“Rosemary how the fuck are you so good?” Sam groaned as he watched another striped ball sink.

“Natural talent. Doesn’t seem to run in your family.” She replied.

“Woah” “Yo-” My brothers chorused.

“Hey! I’m literally on your team!” I protested.

“Just kidding! Jesus.” She laughed.

Danny somehow ended up taking the win for their team, after much build up and stress coming from our end.

“Suck it losers.” Sam yelled as we wallowed in misery.

We all went to sit around the couch and chairs, tiredly chatting away as it got darker. Rosemary and I sat together on the floor with our backs against the wall. After a while she nudged me while Sam was telling us about some teacher he pissed off at school.

“Hey Joshua.” Rosemary whispered. “Where can I get some water?”

“Oh. I’m such a bad host. I’ll show ya.” I got up and lent her a hand to stand. “We’re getting some water, anyone want anything?” I addressed the group. They all shook their heads.

Rosemary followed me up to the kitchen, and I turned the light on, the light growing dimmer since the last time we were up here. I opened the fridge to grab the cold water bottle.

“Glasses are in the cabinet to your left.” I directed her. When she reached up, her flannel sleeve rode up to her elbow, exposing a large scatter of bruises along her wrist and up her arm, almost in the shape of a hand. She grabbed two glasses and turned back around to place them on the counter in front of me, her flannel still caught up her elbow. She didn’t notice my continued stare at her arm, too focused on pouring some water. She finally looked up at me to see my arms reaching to inspect her injury carefully. Her eyes darted to her wrist and she hastily slid down her sleeve. She suddenly breathing very heavily, staring into my eyes like a deer in headlights. I furrowed my brow at her in silent conversation, and she slightly shook her head, then blinked and shook her head again with more vigour, breaking eye contact.

“Sorry, uhh… I’m all good don’t worry I fell this morning.” She looked out the window. “Looks dark out. I’m going to head home. It was nice to see you. Tell thanks to the boys and Jita.” She backed herself towards the front door. I followed her as she did so, reaching out to pull her into a hug at the door. She took a minute before settling into the hug, then she wrapped herself around me tightly.

“Can’t leave without a proper good bye..” I said earnestly into her shoulder. “See you on Monday.” I released her and she practically sprinted out the door to her car.

“Where’s Rose?” Sam questioned as I walked back into the garage alone.

“She didn’t realise how late it was until she looked out the window outside. It’s getting pretty dark.” I replied, faking calm.

“I should go too, Mom will want me home if it’s dark.” Jita stood up, patting Sammy on the shoulder. “Bye boys!” She waved, which we all reciprocated.

“I’ll walk you to your car.” Jake offered, jumping up to catch her, and they forwarded out. We all rolled our eyes.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆ * ❀ 。• ₊°。

On the last weekend of March we held an end of summer campfire at our house. Our close circle were coming, along with some other friend groups we knew within the seniors. Ronnie and her friends were invited, and Sam and Danny had some people coming too.

We had set up to have it mostly outdoors, putting heaps of chairs outside on the deck, and more around our fire pits. It was nearing six o’clock, when people would start arriving, so we put on some music and chilled out until people started showing up. I put on my usual plain shirt and pants with a beaded necklace, but I knew I’d need a jumper of some kind later.

At around seven, most people were already here, though I still hadn’t seen Rosemary. I started to lose some hope, and Sammy mixed up a few salty dogs for us so I sat at the fire, trying to focus on enjoying the night anyway.

Florence turned up around 7:30, and I was pretty tipsy by that point. She kept moving into the seats nearby me every time someone left one, which kind of irritated me, but I let it be, she was having a good time, and I didn't want to start anything bad tonight.

I sat watching the fire, adding logs every now and again (I was in charge) and I kept thinking about Rosemary. I wished she was with us. I could feel my emotions running higher on the alcohol, and started feeling stupid for thinking so much about Rosemary. I needed to get out of my head, and the guys were all chatting about some girl drama at school and I'd heard enough, so I decided to go grab some water and my jacket from inside.

“I'm going inside for a sec anyone need anything?” I said. The second I stood up Florence basically jumped to her feet.

Everyone kinda hummed but Jake tapped me as I walked past and whispered, “The old guitar?”

“Why can't you get it?” I frowned. But he subtly motioned to Jita, who was sitting real close, playing with the rings on his other hand. “Fine.” I trodded off. I guess I did offer in the first place so I couldn't be mad, and I also knew how much this time with her meant to him.

As we walked up the path I could see Flo swaying in my peripheral, and shortly after she knocked into me. I made sure she got up the stairs alright and walked into the kitchen. I studied her, glossed eyes, flushed cheeks and heavy looking limbs. I decided it was not going to be that kind of night for me since I didn't want to look how Florence looked right now if or when Rosemary came. I drank some water to sober up a bit more and grabbed myself a jacket from my room while Flo drank the water I handed her. When I came back in she already had another alcoholic drink in her hand.

“Josh I’m cooooold,” Flo moped, staring at my jacket. She really was shivering, and I was a gentleman, so I walked back to my room and grabbed her a hoodie of mine and we walked back to the fire, Jake’s guitar in hand. I had to put my arm around Flo to keep her straight as we walked since it was hard to see now.

Everyone’s eyes lit up a bit when we came back down, and I thought it was because they saw the guitar, but their eyes were focused behind me. I turned around to see Rosemary walking down the stairs from the deck towards us.

She smiled kindly at me as I peeled myself from Flo so I could hug her.

She was wearing this embroidered western jean jacket over an off-white button up and bell bottom jeans. Her hair was stuck up into a bun that hung low on her head, barely held together by the tie. She had incredible style, and yet it felt as though she had thrown it together nonchalantly. She was just cool.

“Hey Joshua.” She whispered.

“Hey Rosemary.” I whispered back, and we all sat down.

Jake played some songs while we all sang along, everyone with a drink in their hand except for me and Rosemary. Sam was growing restless of hearing the same songs all the time, and his drunken state made him start to get very agitated. He kept shuffling in his seat and making annoyed noises. Then he made his intentions clear.

“Jita can you play guitar?” He said.

“No Sammy.”

“Lilah can you play guitar?” He continued around the circle.

“No.”

“Zach can you play guitar?”

“No.”

“Rosemary can you play guitar?”

“… Yeah.” She shifted slightly as everyone turned to her.

“Play for us! Pleeease? I can’t listen to any more of Jake’s songs they’rrrrrverplayed” He slurred rubbing his palms in his eyes.

“I don’t know, Sam, I-”

“I want to hear it too Rose! Here.” Jake got up and held out the guitar.

Everyone gave joyous looks to Rosemary as she tentatively grabbed the instrument from him.

“It’s not like you’ll remember anyway I guess…” She quietly mumbled. “I hope you guys like Bread.”

She played a song I’d never heard before - I assumed it was by Bread, whom I knew of but that was about it. The melody was gorgeous, and she sung quietly, floating above her graceful guitar plucking.

I found her diary underneath a tree,

And started reading about me,

The words she'd written took me by surprise,

You'd never read them in her eyes,

They said that she had found,

The love she'd waited for,

Wouldn't you know it?

She wouldn't show it,

And as I go through my life

I will give to her, my wife,

All the sweet things, I can find,

I found her diary underneath a tree,

And started reading about me,

The words began to stick and tears to flow,

Her meaning now was clear to see,

The love she'd waited for,

Was someone else, not me,

Wouldn't you know it?

She wouldn't show it,

And as I go through my life,

I will wish for her, his wife,

All the sweet things she can find.

“WOW.” Sam broke the silence while everyone sat shocked. After a beat, we all clapped and praised her.

“That’s such a cute song,” Flo called across the fire while snuggling towards me on our now shared log.

“It was very pretty Rose.” Danny said from next to Sam, holding up his drink in salute.

It was clear that Rosemary was a very skilled guitarist. It looked very natural in her arms, just like it did in Jake’s, or the other boys’.

But as the congratulations wore down, I couldn't help but feel like no-one listened to the lyrics. The song was horrifically sad. Realising your crush loves someone else? And then being kind enough to wish them well? My heart ached. While I sat there overthinking the song, Flo pushed further against me, putting her head on my shoulder. I looked up to see Rosemary staring right at us with a sad smile. Suddenly everything became a bit more clear. I furrowed my brow. Was the song about me? Now I thought about it, the situation didn’t look too good - She had seen me walk with my arm around Flo, her wearing my sweatshirt, and now almost sitting on my fucking lap. I didn’t even know if Rosemary liked me but if she did I sure as hell didn’t want to send this message. Goddamn it. At least I was sober enough to realise what might be going on.

I sat and pondered for all of two seconds before I stood up and walked down towards the tree line in our backyard. I muttered some excuse to leave and told Flo she’d fall over if she tried to follow me.

There was a small stream just at the edge of the trees, and I leaned against one with my arms folded. Listening to the trickling stream, I took my time to breathe and enjoy the glistening moonlight on the water as it danced past.

The voice in my mind went straight to Rosemary upon the sight; She'd like this spot. Ok, so I was really crushing on her. And I’d just completely fucked it all over.

“Fuck” I whispered to the woods, starting to bite at the skin of my thumb as I failed to calm myself down.

“Language”

I stood bolt upright from the tree and turned to my left to see Rosemary, leaning against the trunk across from me.

“So what's got you sulking about down here?” I could barely see her face in the darkness, but as pointed as her comment was, it still sounded sincere. “I didn’t think my guitar was that bad.”

“Just…” Fuck what do I say what do I say what do I say “Some… big emotions. It's fine don't worry - I just needed a breather.”

“Good spot for a breather.” As she shot me an infectious smile to cheer me up, but I already couldn't contain mine at the thought that she liked the spot too. Just like I thought she would.

“No drinking for you tonight?” I questioned her empty hands.

“I gotta drive home. Would kill for a beer though just not tonight.” That was my sign to definitely stop drinking for the night.

When we got back to the fire we sat next to each other. We didn’t really talk, we just sat and listened to Danny play the guitar while others had their own quiet conversations. I tried not to think about the earlier events.

At some point it was getting too cold to stay outside even with the fire roaring, so those that were left packed it in and headed for the living room. Our group of very inebriated teenagers dragging themselves up the deck stairs into the house was a sight, one which Rosemary and I chuckled about as we helped out here and there so they all didn’t end up like dominoes. Sam needed quite a bit of help because halfway up he decided he was done and wanted to take a nap in the middle of the staircase. I had to stand below the stairs and talk to him face to face as he slumped down with his head resting on one of the steps.

“Sam you need to get up we need to get inside.”

“I’m fine it’s plenty comfortable!” He insisted.

He continued insinuating that the reason we were telling him to move was because we thought he wasn’t comfortable. We ended up each taking one end and lifting him by his wrists and ankles until he gave up his stubbornness and trudged inside.

We all took our places in the room, and Rosemary ended up sunken into one of the couches between Sam and Danny as I sat on the floor across from them all.

“What’s this from?” Sam curiously dragged his hand along her wrist after absentmindedly toying with her jacket sleeve. A large bruise was revealed, wrapping all the way around her wrist and onto her hand, even bigger than the last I saw on her. I hadn’t seen it in the dark outside earlier but in here it was clearly visible.

Rosemary stumbled over her words, finally landing on “I fell from a tree.” Which sufficed for Sammy, and any other drunken listeners, but not for me.

“You’re in the wars lately.” I said. She knew I didn’t believe her, and I could tell when she whipped her head up at my comment.

Everyone left shortly after that, and I guessed she slipped away unnoticed by me as others were going, because I missed the feeling of her hug as I drifted into sleep that night.

A couple of weeks later, on Saturday night, we went out for a band meeting at the diner. We strolled in pretty late, it was already dark out, but as we filed into one of the booths, what we didn’t expect to see was Rosemary, working.

She walked right up to our table looking down tiredly at her small notebook and wiping down her apron to get ready to serve us. She didn’t even look up until Danny spoke.

“How long have you worked here?”

As her head shot up, our faces dropped from smiles to frowns of concern. Her left eye was stained a deep red and purple colour, the bruise accentuating her dark under-eyes and painfully blooming under her brow bone. Her eyebrow even looked like it had a bleeding nick on it.

We sat in silence - the question didn’t even need to be uttered for her to know what we would’ve asked.

She huffed a breath and looked me dead in the eye, though it looked spaced out, as if she was… caught red handed.

“I hit my head. I fell down the stairs.”

“God, did you land on a fist?” Sam joked

“I don’t know what you want to hear, I guess the banister was not as soft as you’d hope.” She replied, almost turning a bit bitter. But on the surface she said it in a light-hearted, joking tone – too light for my liking. I could almost see the cogs turning in Jake’s head as he stared with a creased brow. He looked to me in question, and all I could give him was a warning look and a cock of my head to let him know we’d need to discuss it later. He subtly nodded in understanding.

“Anyways, to answer your question Danny, I have worked here for almost a month now, this is that job interview I was telling y’all about. And speaking of, what do you all want to order?”

She ignored me after that - wouldn’t look me in the eye, or really even address me directly. But to everyone else, she seemed almost completely normal. I really wanted to talk to her, alone, so I got up to go to the ‘bathroom’ after we’d all eaten. She was standing at the edge of the counter near the entrance when I put my hand on her shoulder to get her attention. She flinched. Her whole body shrunk down at my touch, and I immediately took my hand away with a frown.

“When’s your break?”

“Can I see your phone?” I showed her the time. “Uhh right now actually.”

“Do you wanna come sit at our booth? You don’t have to.” I offered

“I need some fresh air actually. Care to join?”

“Sure”

She led me through the back door where there was a step we could sit on that faced the surrounding woods.

“I feel like I never see you anymore. I’m like always working, and now school’s back I barely have time to go hiking.” Rosemary didn’t turn to face me as she spoke.

“Yeah. We’re pretty busy with the band too, and Jake works. But, we’ll be there tomorrow if you’re around.”

“I might just be.” I studied her as she smiled and looked at the ground.

“Did you really fall down the stairs?” Her face hardened and she looked back upwards, but still not towards me.

“I’m fine Josh please don’t worry about me.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m fine. Trust me.”

“You don’t look fine. And you won’t even look at me.”

She rolled her eyes and turned to face me, placing a hand over mine.

“Joshua. I fell down the stairs and hit my head on the banister. I’m not looking at you because I don’t want you to keep staring at it. And yeah, it hurt but I’m okay.”

I couldn’t accept it. I grasped her hand in mine in plea.

“If you’re lying to me and you’re hurting in there somewhere, I’m sorry. I just want you to be safe.”

She took a deep breath, and turned back to my eyes, giving me an appreciative half smile.

“Okay that’s enough Joshua.” She patted me on the hand. “Thankyou.”

When we got back home, I walked down to the creek again to clear my head. I needed to get over myself – she told me not to worry, and I needed to believe her. But I just had an inkling. And it wasn’t a good one. I soon heard the soft crunch of footsteps as Jake came down from the house.

“Is she okay?” He said softly.

“She told me the same thing she said earlier. Told me not to worry.” I looked up at my brother, and it was only then that I realised my eyes had been watering.

“But I don’t now, she had bruises on her that first time she came here, Jake. And at the bonfire night too.” Jake frowned under the hand he had covering his eyes and forehead. “I – I just can’t believe her Jake, it looks like – “

“I know what it looks like. And I think the same thing. We need to keep a close eye on her, but there’s only so much we can do if she doesn’t tell us anything. And besides, she could be telling the truth.”

“Maybe”

We were lying to ourselves – we both knew she was not telling the truth.

“Look, don’t beat yourself up about it. Your burning glare at the bruise won’t make it go away. You should get to sleep, you might get some quality time with her tomorrow at the trails remember?” He smirked at me as I broke into a bit of a smile at the thought. “You gonna finally ask her out soon?” He nudged me as we walked back up the garden.

“You gonna ask Jita out soon?” I snickered as he put his hands up in defence.

On Sunday we left bright and early for the national park for some much-needed break from the garage and school. I felt a wave of relief when Jake pointed out Rosemary’s car sitting the dirt in her usual spot. As we approached, we realised the windows were slightly ajar, and inside there was a sleeping Rosemary, soundlessly laid out in her front seat with a jacket gracelessly draped across her. Her long hair splayed over her head, and the only way you could tell she was alive and sleeping was the subtle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

“Rosie!” Sam screamed as he ran up and banged hard against the top of the car.

“Sam you little fucking shit she was sleeping.” I shoved him to the ground. Little shit.

Rosemary sat up, rubbed her eyes and rolled down her window as we all peered in apologetically.

“Sorry Rose!” Sam said from down in the dirt.

She peeked her head out the window to wave at him.

“All good Sammy I forgot to set my alarm anyway! You guys go right ahead I’ll see you in a bit I just gotta get sorted here.”

“Alright we’ll be on the north trail.” Jake looked at me, patting Sam on the back and starting towards the trees.

“Did you sleep here overnight?” I leant my arm on the door to hold it open as she slipped to the side with her hiking boots in hand.

“Yes I did. I stayed out on the track too long to drive home. You know how much I like it here.” She focused on tying up her shoes, sitting on the edge of the car seat.

“No other reason?”

“No. Okay I’m ready.” She got up and closed her door. “I know a shortcut that can get us to the landing on the north trail before the others, but we have to be really stealthy, okay?” Rosemary said as she continued to the end of the dirt parking lot and past the trail entrance.

“Mission accepted. Let’s go”

A bunch of careful trekking and hiding in bushes later we had reached the summit, with no sign of the boys.

“I’ll give it about five minutes. We moved pretty fast I think they will take a while.”

“Alright then lets setup in a bush so we can scare them.”

We were tucked tightly on the ground, sitting cross legged with our legs squished on each other.

“Josh, why do you spend so much time with me?” She leant her head on my shoulder, which wasn’t far to move in our current proximity.

“I … like spending time with you…?”

“Yeah but I feel bad. Shouldn’t you like… get back to Florence? You guys really have something! I feel like I’m in the way.” She picked her head back up.

“What? No don’t worry about it okay? I like you as company much more than her right now.”

“Bullshit! You have such a chance with her.” Oh. I thought. So I don’t have a chance with you? “She’s beautiful. All you gotta do is start making some moves! Although, it seems she’s already pretty set no matter what you do.”

“You got that right.” Smirking, I pulled a hand through my hair.

“Oookay and there’s the ego.”

“Oh shut it. I don’t like her.” I like you.

“Whatever you say.” I didn’t have the nerve to keep arguing, not with the impending arrival of my brothers on the horizon, and not until I knew I could be sure she was okay at home, or wherever she was getting hurt. We sat watching and trying to hold in our laughter as the boys rounded the bend to the landing, our vantage point perfect.

“Dude do you have the sandwiches? I’m so hungry.” Sam moped as he sat down on the edge of the lookout.

“Does it look like I have the sandwiches?” Jake grunted as he showed his empty hands and absence of a backpack.

“Ugh Josh must have them. I hope they’re not too long.” Rosemary and I silently snickered until I grabbed one of the wrapped sandwiches out and signalled that I would throw it. Her eyes lit up but then she leaned in and whispered with her lips almost touching my ear.

“You throw a couple of rocks off to the side and while they’re distracted, I’ll put the sandwich where they’re sitting. Just throw enough that they get up.” We could barely hold it together at this point, and Rosemary being able to run and get back at this rate was looking very difficult. We pushed on anyway. I gathered a stash of rocks from around us and started aiming, then I finally fired.

Jake was the first to notice, asking Sam “Did you hear that?”

“Please let it be Rosie and Josh I’m starved.” Sam replied. At my second throw, they both shot their heads over towards the bush I had successfully rustled. I waited a bit for them to look away so I could throw another without them seeing, and when I finally did, they got up to investigate. Rosemary darted out in her usual silent nature and placed the sandwich right where they were.

“Do you reckon it’s some sort of animal?”

“I want to see what it is – surely it’s bigger than a squirrel, I want to see something cool.”

“The fuck?” Jake turned around, finally acknowledging the sandwich that sat perfectly on the rock, just as Rosemary got out of sight. She basically fell into me with the speed at which she ducked back behind the bush. I thought for sure the sounds we made as we crashed together would startle the boys and give away our position, but it seemed they were much more interested in the mysteriously appearing sandwich. They scanned the tree line for us, but we were just hidden enough that we escaped their gaze.

“Sweet!” Sam dove right into eating the sandwich. “The gods have answered my prayers. I know you’re there somewhere Rosie! You can come out now!” I threw two more rocks in different directions, giving them the impression that we were surrounding them. We finished our games by each grabbing a stone and throwing them straight at the boys’ heads.

“Ow, God!” Sam held his head in defence, scrambling to try not to let go of his precious sandwich.

“Alright, you’ve had your fun, now let me have my sandwich.” Jake yelled towards us as we popped up from behind the bush.

“What’s the magic word?” I held the sandwich just out of his reach.

“Please.” He huffed. I handed it to him with a wink.

I turned to Rosemary. “Have you had breakfast? I already ate mine in the car and I have an extra.” Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jake smirking and rolling his eyes. I hadn’t eaten a sandwich in the car.

“Are you sure?” I nodded. “Thanks.”

We spent the rest of the morning chilling around, looking at different things that Rosemary thought we would like. We eventually had to say goodbye, but we all had a great morning. Everything felt like it was back to normal. Except Rosemary’s black eye.

I texted her that week and made sure she was free on Friday night so we could hang out. When I arrived at her door at six to pick her up, I could hear someone yelling, really loud – angry loud. His croaky voice reverberated through the front door where I stood. My hand quivered in the air before the door, and just as I tapped it against the vibrating wood to knock, the door swung open, and Rosemary rushed out, almost running me over, clearly not expecting me to be standing there. Her glistening red eyes locked with mine as she nodded towards the car. I followed her with bated breath, not daring to look back into the house, where the yelling continued. She grasped the passenger door as I unlocked it and hopped in, driving off without a word.

I could tell she was trying really hard not to cry; her breathing forced and deep, nostrils flared, and her wide eyes focused on a spot on the floor. I just kept driving. I didn’t know what to say yet, so I saved it until I got where I needed to be. When I finally reached the end of the old dirt road and pulled up to the secluded ridge, I got straight out and circled the car, opening her door and beckoning her to join me at the edge. The spot was in the corner of a property of an old uncle of mine, where a wooded hill rose in the back paddock. There was a small road that led to the top, and the hill quite harshly dropped on the other side, with a little clearing in the trees for the dirt road. It was high enough to be able to look onto a bit of the back streets of Frankenmuth.

Her tired eyes lit up slightly at the sight, lights of small properties speckling the dimming area.

“I guess I don’t really know all the best spots in this place after all.” She murmured, looking out into the town.

“Local secret.” I said casually, sitting down on the ground. We both stared into the distance as I finally broke the silence again. “You wanna tell me what’s going on?” She didn’t reply. “I know there’s something really bad happening. We both know that now. I just want you to be safe. If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s okay. I just care too much about you to see you like this.” I inspected her for any sign that she might say something. I felt like I might be prying too much. “Do you want to be alone right now?”

“No. Please stay with me.” She whispered ever so quietly.

“Okay. I’m going to grab a blanket out the back of the car to wrap around us. I’ll be right back.”

“I don’t want to talk about it just yet, if that’s okay.” She said, pulling the blanket over our bodies.

“I understand.” She didn’t jump right into any conversation or small talk that I threw at her, so I just did what I knew. I talked, told stories. In hopes that it would distract her, maybe make her feel more at home. Anything to make Rosemary feel even a fraction better. As I spoke, I nudged my upturned palm against hers, and she took it, and so we sat, holding hands while I told her complete nonsense.

“… And we had a dog, too. Jake and Sam wanted to name it some stupid name, I can’t even remember what it was. Ronnie and I had a great plan to call him Fish. We thought we were hilarious. Somehow Mom and Dad agreed with us.” I laughed at the memory, peeking over at Rosemary. My face dropped as I noticed the moonlight reflecting on her wet cheeks. She noticed I had stopped talking and looked over, wiping her nose.

“I’m sorry I just—"

“No it’s not your fault. You’re allowed to feel emotions. I’m sorry. None of this is your fault.”

“Thankyou.” She took a deep breath, blinked a couple of times, then started. “I had dogs, too. And horses. The dogs were Aussies, they would follow along on the ground as we rode the horses, and when we got in the car they would follow us too, running as fast as they could, from one end of the farm to the other. I don’t know how they didn’t get driven over.” She quietly giggled. “But that was them, my girls, Winnie and Pepper – they were always up for adventure. Didn’t matter where we were, all Pa and I had to do was whistle and they’d come running.” Every now and then she would look over for something my reassurance, and upon seeing my enthused smile, and feeling me squeeze her hand, she would look away and keep talking.

“Wish I could say the same for Fish. He was kinda stupid.”

We conversed for a while more, but it got cold eventually; the blanket that I had draped across our shoulders doing less and less to stop the cold wind from biting our skin. Rosemary said “Alright, you can take me back to mine now.” And we got into the car and I drove back to the suburbs.

“If your dad tries anything again, I swear, you’re coming straight home with me and staying until we find something better.”

“He’s not my dad. My Uncle.” Oh. “It’ll be okay now, he’s asleep. Please don’t worry. And I’m being more careful now. I’ll see you at school. Thank you for tonight.” She quickly rambled, got out and started walking, as if it was too late to change her mind.

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