#she called us panicking and sounding like she was about to cry because our mum wasn't answering

[thethingything]

we are finally off the phone! I'd misjudged the time in the last post but in total it as 2 hours and 5 minutes. I do not know what half that conversation even was but holy shit so much of it was her basically making herself out to be so generous and caring and talking about how worried she is about our mum and how terrible it is that other family members don't help her with anything.

meanwhile she calls our mum and asks her to do all this stuff for her and talks to her like shit and guilt trips her into doing stuff and I know about so much incredibly fucked up stuff she did when our mum was a kid but she doesn't know that we know she's done all this.

also she normally keeps our mum on the phone for this long but doesn't keep us on the phone for very long and it's really weird suddenly being treated like our mum, but she called us because our mum wasn't picking up the phone (she's at work and can't do that) and it's reminding me of the thing where when we had covid in 2021 and our mum couldn't answer the phone, everyone started calling us and dumping every responsibility they'd normally dump on our mum on us instead and basically treating us how they'd normally treat her.

like oh the usual family scapegoat isn't available? time to pester her eldest "daughter" until they have a breakdown and almost end up blocking everyone and refusing to talk to the rest of the family

[lilyrizzy]

Okay for planr prompts - feel free to ignore this (obviously, of course, but it lessens my anxiety to reiterate it) - I am a little bit obsessed with this line from your last fic:

Max has had both of his parent’s numbers for years now, Daniel had given them to him in case of an emergency, in case Daniel got in a bad crash or got sick or something. He doesn’t think Max has ever used either number before today.

And I would love to see something where Max did call them about Daniel, for any reason. If that is a thing that would interest you as a prompt.

so I did actually write this on the plane & then totally forgot to post it for a bit, then wanted to try to make it better but ultimatley ran out of motivation. so sorry if it sucks!

cw: daniel is hurt (but he’s fine, eventually, i promise)

"Hello?"

Her voice is questioning but polite. She sounds like Daniel, except in the ways she doesn't, pitch too high, accent a touch too thick.

"Hello Grace," he says, and when she doesn't say anything, "it is Max. Verstappen, Max, I- Something has happened to Daniel."

"Max?" She says his name back to him like she has never heard it before, like he didn't share a team with her son for years, like Max doesn't share a bed with him now. Not that she knows the latter. "What do you mean?"

Max takes a deep breath, ready to repeat what the doctors told him, what he has practiced.  Eyes fixed on the rows of white plastic chair in front of him, he only gets as far as, "he has been hurt, he is in the hospital, he-" before she is interrupting, almost sounding angry.

"But you are not racing today."

She's right, of course; it is a Wednesday. But Daniel lying in a hospital bed has nothing to do with a car or a race track.

"It is not that, he- I think somebody was trying to take his watch, and maybe he did not want to give it to them, because- They- He is very hurt and right now, he is in the hospital." 

There is silence, and for a few horrible seconds, Max thinks he will have to say it all again.

Then she is gasping, saying, "no, no, no," terrible and sad, like how his own mum would sound when he would visit her and she saw he had a new bruise, only worse.

"Yes," Max says, feeling cruel, "and I think he would like for you to come. He-" Max's own voice cracks, and it's then he realises he's crying, that he has been since she picked up the phone.

"What happened, Max?" She asks, and he can hear her panicking movements in the background, the sound of keys jingling on a ring. "Who- Were you with him?"

Max shakes his head even though she can't see him, blinking furiously.

"No, but they called me, and I of course went straight away and-"

"They called you?" The background noise has been silenced, no more movement to be heard.

Max swallows. Stares at the clock on white wall, wanting to reverse the second hand. The minutes and hours too, while he's at it, to this morning, Daniel safe in their bed beside him.

"Yes, they- I am the person for Daniel, for incase of an emergency," he says, just as the arm ticks round to hit twelve.

She pauses, and those few seconds measure the weight of what Max has done. Now she will know, because there is no good reason for Max to be the person they call when Daniel is hurt instead of Michael or Blake, except for the truth of what they are together. He almost asks, 'is that okay,' because for that heart stopping moment, he realises it might not be.

"He is not awake right now," he says instead, desperate, "but when he is again, I think he would like it for you to be there."

Then there is the sound of a door opening, slamming shut. Grace calling out for Joe, muffled as though she is covering the phone with her hand.

"We will be there," she says, voice loud and clear again, as though one of them is waking from a dream. A nightmare. "Tell him mum and dad are on their way, and-" She hesitates and Max holds his breath.

"Look after our boy until we get there, okay Max? We will see you soon."

[jotaros-left-nut]

Josuke’s little girl

Your daughters name Y/d/n

You checked the house number for the 4th time before, this definitely the higashikata household, you rang the door and waited nervously for someone to open up, “Josuke, see who’s at the door”, you recognised that voice anywhere it was tomoko, I never been so nervous about anything before, I hope he’s happy to me see, after a year of only talking to him on the phone, the door opened it to reveal, your beautiful boyfriend in his school uniform, he has a comb in his left hand, when he saw you he dropped his comb to the floor and pulled you in for a hug, you put one arm around his slim waist, you missed the warmth of his body against yours, he looked down to see a toddler holding your other hand

“Who is this?” You picked her up and placed her on your hip, “This is your daughter Y/d/n”, you say bouncing her on your hip because she was now burying her little face in your T-shirt, she’s shy around new people, “Come in I don’t want her getting cold” he closed the door after the two of you and lead you into the living room, you took a seat on the sofa, he sat down on the seat next to yours, “Can I hold her?” He asked eyeing the little one who was still hiding her face, you nodded your head and picked her up and gave her to her father

He was so gentle when picking her up, He looked at her little face and could immediately see himself, her eyes were closed shut, she was so excitedly see him before, “Y/d/n, open your eyes” you told her in a soft voice, she shook her head no, “Don’t you wanna see what daddy looks like?” You asked the small child, “Daddy?” She whispered very quietly, excited to finally meet him, she slowly opened her eyes to look him, but immediately shut them again, there was a little smile on her face, Josuke smiled at her “Don’t worry, Y/d/n were gonna have plenty of time to get to know each other”, he told his daughter in the softest voice

“Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?” He asked watching the toddler who was playing with his oversized heat pin on his jacket, “When I went to study abroad I didn’t know I was pregnant for a long time, but when I realised, I pankier because, I will sound kinda dumb now that I’m saying It out loud but, I thought I was protecting you, I knew your mum would kill you and I didn’t want you to drop out” It definitely didn’t sound all that smart when you said it out loud “You wanted to protect me? you must have gone through hell all by yourself” he sounded so sympathetic “Don’t worry, I had some family helping me”

“So what made you change your mind and finally tell me?” He concentrated on his daughter making sure she doesn’t fall from his lap “Well I knew I had to tell you eventually and my program ended and” you were caught guard when Tomoko poked her head around the door, “Who was it at the door?” Her hard gaze soften when she saw you, she smiled at you as a hello, you smiled back at her but her eyes went wide when she saw a toddler on her son’s lap, “Whose baby is that?” she asked with worry in her voice, “This is our daughter, Y/d/n”, She picked the toddler up from her son’s arms and examined her, “She's got your blue eyes and her hair is already touching her shoulders she's definitely yours” she placed Y/d/n in your arms, “Mom, can you unfreeze my account so I can pay for baby stuff?” josuke asked his mother, with his hands pressed together in a praying motion

“Look, I have to go work, I’ll unfreeze it on the way and you better pay for baby stuff and only baby stuff, but we will talk about the living arrangements when I get back, For the baby’s sake I’ll call the school and tell them that you won’t be attending for a while, She left the room, you here the door open, JOSUKE!, ARE YOU THERE? He walked into the room. Aren't you coming to school today?, he “Hey Y\n it feels like I haven’t seen you in a while, is this your little sister? She is so cute” he crouched down in front, “This is Y\d\n, my, our daughter” Josuke told his close friend, “Does that mean I’m an uncle?” he sounded so excited “I guess so” Josuke replied to back back, “My...name...is ...Okuyasu, I’m your daddy’s best friend in the wwwhhhhooolllee wiiiddddeeee world” he playfully shook her tiny hands, “But you can just call me, uncle yasu”

“Do need to get some baby stuff?, because There’s a huge box of baby things from when my uh Mr joestar, bought all that stuff for Shizuka, I’ll get it” josuke got up from his chair and walked towards the garage, remember josuke telling me that Shizuka is his adopted sister, you thought to yourself, Okuyasu sat down where josuke was sitting, “Y\n can I hold her?” Okuyasu asked “Of course,” you said, she has to start getting used to being around people, it's better to start early you put Y\d\n to her feet, Okuyasu held his arms out for her, she was hesitant at first but, she slowly walked towards, he picked her up, “I'm gonna be the best uncle ever, he said to her holding the toddler on his hip, Josuke came pushing a pram into the room with 2 cardboard boxes labelled baby stuff resting on it, There are every type of, pacifiers, diaper and baby bottles in these two boxes and here's a pram” You smiled at him, “This is perfect Josuke thank you” you got up from the chair and pulled your boyfriend into a hug, can he be any more perfect? You thought to yourself, you stood up on your tiptoes and kissed his chin, he got the hint and leaned down to kiss you on the lips

The phone rang, Josuke broke the kiss to go answer it, “Hello...Oh hi, Koichi….No me and Okuyasu aren't coming in today….It's because I’m spending time with my….daughter...I know it was a shock too but there's no doubt she's mine... okay I’ll see you after school” he put the phone down, “It was Koichi” he walked back to us in the front room, and sat into the other seat, What are we gonna do about a baby crib?

-

A couple of hours have passed, You heard a knock at the door, you went to open it revealing, your boyfriend, and your daughter who was peacefully sleeping in his arms, with his free hands he pushing the pram, which contained two huge bags strapped to where the baby would sit and a baby crib box resting on top of it,

You took your daughter, out of his hands, so he can concentrate on getting everything in, “So how as she?” You asked your boyfriend who was pushing the pram behind you, “She was no bother it didn’t take long for her to open up to me, we were best friends in no time” you smiled at that thought, “Did You make sure to feed her and change her diaper?” You asked raising your eyebrow at him, “Of course, like her father she can eat a lot” A huge smile spread on your face, you picked up one of the bags but your boyfriend stopped you, “Let’s go upstairs”

“Okay, Are you sure your gonna be able to manage that?” He picked up the boxed crib and held it above his head, “Of course I can” you picked up the two bags that were heavy but you to managed and followed behind him, “How did the job thing go?” He asked, “It was alright, I must have given out about 30 cv’s, I’m just hoping a get a call soon” you replied dropping the bags as soon as you take one step in

“How did you get the money to afford all of this?” you asked your boyfriend, who Had put the box down and open it, He didn’t even look at the instructions, but begun suddenly, all of the pieces began to move and fit together as it was magic, you watched in amazement, you knew that josuke has a stand that you’ve never seen, but it will still cool to watch things move around, he leaned his body over halfway and pressed his hands at the bottom of it, “You can put her in here now, it’s sturdy”, he moved out the way so you can put your daughter in, she was still peacefully asleep

You turned to look at your boyfriend “I’m curious to know what you bought” you told your boyfriend talking in a hushed tone to not wake your baby, you picked up one of the bags and started looking through it “I bought someee, jackets, trousers, jeans, shorts, shoes, and I restocked some of my favourite hair products he told you “And for our daughter?” You asked your boyfriend hoping he remembered to get some stuff for Y/d/n, “Don't worry Y/n, I should never forget about the little one, there should be some jackets, shoes, skirts, dresses and some baby grows in every colour” you laughed surprised he bought so much stuff for a one year old

-

It was now nighttime Koichi has now met her, tomoko came back from work and talked to us about our future plans now we have a toddler to look after, now everyone was washed and in bed clothes, You was thinking, You were planning on going home but josuke convinced you to stay, so here you are laying next to him with your head resting on his shoulder “I wish I would have been there when you were pregnant, I would have rubbed your feet back and stomach, you know i would have done all of that for you” you were now gently playing with fingers, “I know, I wasn’t thinking straight I’ve missed you” you turned around so now you was laying on top of him, He started to run circles into your naked thigh,”I’ve missed you too, I missed how soft your skin felt” you later like that until you eventually fell asleep

-

Your opened your eyes and looked around, for your daughter who was supposed to be in her cot, but she wasn’t there, you panicked and called for your boyfriend but he wasn’t beside you, you got up and ran down the stairs in just his T-shirt that you borrowed from him, you sighed in relief when You saw him sitting there with Y/d/n sitting on his cross legs under a blanket, ”Morning Y/n, hope you slept well” he greeted turning to look at you, Y/d/n turning around to look at too, they looked like twins“I was so scared, I thought she wondered out of her cot”, you walked over to the two of them and picked your daughter up from josuke's lap, “Don’t worry Y/n, she was crying and you was sleeping so I thought that I would sort her out, I picked her up and I noticed that her diaper needed changing, I was so tempted to wake you up when I saw the saw all that crap she produced, but I decided that you not to, it wasn’t that bad, and I feed her but when I went to put her down she didn’t want me to, so me and her have just been hanging out” she smiled at the sight of the two of them she’s already so comfortable with him and it hasn’t even been that long

You join the two of them sitting your daughter in between the both of you, Josuke wrapped the blanket around you but was gentle of the little one, you leaned into your boyfriend and put your head on his shoulder, this couldn’t have ended up any more perfect, you thought to yourself as you watched the colours on the screen

[didsomeonesaydaddydraco]

What true love feels like - part 1 | Tom Felton imagine

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for...my very first TOM FELTON imagine. (Just kidding, I was probably the only one waiting lol).

Word count: 2129

Pairing: Tom Felton x reader

Note: This is going to be a mini series. I really hope you’ll like it. Section written in italic is a flashback.

When I was a little kid, I loved going to weddings. God knows how many times I was asked to be a flower girl or a bridesmaid. All the decoration, the music, the spirit of true love mesmerized me, and I usually find myself imagining my own wedding. I had it all planned out by the time I met Him. And when proposed to me after five years of dating, I knew my time had come. Everything looked exactly how I wanted it. The huge mansion was covered in white and blush pink decoration. The sweet scent of the innumerable amount of roses filled the whole place. Family members, friends and their dates were chatting and laughing together. The wedding registrar was already preparing by the arch made out of fairy lights. And the always rainy and chilly London woke up to one of the warmest spring mornings today. Even the weather was on my side.

- How are you feeling sweet girl? – my Mum asked me from the armchair, where she had been sitting on ever since the creator of my wedding dress came to the dressing room to help me put on my huge dress. I looked at myself in the mirror, admiring the perfectly made ball gown with the delicate waist line, hundreds of tulle layers, and sparkling sleeves. It was my dream dress.

- I’m not sure – I confessed to her – Am I supposed to be nervous?

- Nervous? – She looked at me confused – Honey, you might mistake your feeling with excitement. It’s normal for…

- I’m pretty bloody overwhelmed, Mum – I turned to her – Somehow, I feel like I’m going to make a huge mistake if I walk down that aisle.

For the last couple of months, I was too busy with planning the wedding that I totally forgot to take some time and concentrate on myself and on my feelings. I wanted everything to turn out as I imagined it when I was twenty. And everything was just like that. Except me. I woke up today with a knot in my stomach, no appetite and a very bad feeling. All I could think about was that I’m making a mistake.

- What do you mean? – Mum stood up from the chair and walked over to me so she could held my hand as a sign of support – Y/N?

I looked down at our hands, my eyes glued to the silver bracelet with the single white pearl charm hanging on it. I could still remember how his crystal blue eyes sparkled and how warm his gaze was when he gave it to me. We went to Rochefort-en-Terre for a little getaway. We wanted to be somewhere, where they didn’t know him, so we could be alone together. He saw this bracelet at a local family’s jewellery shop and he swore he just couldn’t not buy it. I had never took it off ever since then.

- I just wonder if he is really the one – I bit my bottom lip. I didn’t dare to look up to my Mum’s eyes. They paid everything for our wedding and never complained because of the expenses – I mean, we’re about to make a hopefully lifelong commitment. I just want to make sure I’m not making a mistake here. What if everything goes downhill after the wedding? What if we slowly fall out of love?

- Than you learn to love each other again – She put a finger under my chin, and forced me to look at her – Darling, you’re still young. Of course you have your doubts about a commitment like this. But here’s something to think about: the one that you truly love, will never make you wonder. There’s a difference in the way you love someone. There is the kind that you will fall in love with and this changes with circumstance and time. And then there is the love that you love with your entire being, it never fades, it’s timeless – she kissed my cheek – I’ll go and get your father. It’s almost time.

She left me there with my thoughts. He was such a great and loving person. Passionate about the things he loved. He was always there for everyone if they needed someone. He made me happy. He made me feel loved and respected. He gave me everything he could. And still, I was standing in the middle of the dressing room, questioning myself. I wanted nothing, but marrying my soulmate. I think the sign of a true soulmate isn’t someone you just want to do the super fun stuff with. A real soulmate is the person who makes any ordinary day fun. Some people make all these huge plans to do with their special someone, forget that. Find someone who you can take grocery shopping and still have a blast with. Find someone who makes you look forward to waking up on Monday. I think I had found it.

- Okay okay, listen – he laughed as he dragged me into the supermarket in the middle of the night. I had a very long day and my upcoming exams were stressing me out, but he wanted to help me relax and have a little bit of fun before I pull an all-night study session – Both of us will have exactly 5 minutes to find the best matches to the tasks. When I count to three, we both run to find the products.

- Babe – I whined and tugged on the sleeve of his sweater which I used as a PJ. We were both in our pyjamas, considering that he literally pulled me out of the bed while I was taking notes for my business law class – It’s almost midnight, and I really need to study.

- Shush – he silenced me with sass in his voice. It actually made me smile. He looked so adorable when he was acting like a kid – 5 minutes. 5 tasks.

- Alright, gimme the details – I rolled my eyes and put my hair up in a messy bun.

- First, go and find my favourite candy. Second, find something very random. Third, find something you think I should really try. Fourth, find something in my favourite colour – he led me to spot where we were about the start from.

- And what’s the fifth task? – I looked up at him.

- Find something which reminds you of our love – he kissed me quickly, but before I could kiss him back, he ran away like he was a cannon ball.

- Hey, cheater – I yelled after him, but my laugh gave me away. I loved that man.

I smiled at the memory. He always knew how to cheer me up, when I was down. But he also knew when he had to give me time and space too. I appreciated how he let me moan to him when I had a bad day, or how supportive he was about my dreams and goals. He never failed to be there for me and help me on my journey.

- Are you ready to go? – I jumped a little by the sound of my Dad. I was too deep in my memories and thoughts, I didn’t realize when he came in. He was standing by the door, my bouquet in his hand. He looked worried.

- What’s wrong? – I asked him. This morning he was fine and happy when we were having breakfast. In fact, he was excited about that he can annoy my brother and sister with the fact that their youngest sibling had gotten married first.

- Your mother told me about your unsureness – he smiled at me lightly. I sighed and sat down on the sofa carefully, not to wrinkle my dress. He sat down next to me and took my small hands in his huge ones – Y/N, if you’re constantly having to wonder where you stand with someone, maybe it’s time to stop standing and start walking.

- I don’t know what you’re talking about – I tried to fool him, but he was my father after all. He knew us better than we knew ourselves, so we could never get away with a silly little prank or if we tried to fake sick so we didn’t have to go to school.

- You think I haven’t noticed anything? – Dad laughed a little – June bug, you’ve been quite distant with him lately. He probably thinks that you were just busy with planning the wedding, but I see what I cannot see anymore. And that’s love. You’ve been looking at him like he was just a body, and not someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. And I want you to know, it’s okay – He squeezed my hand – Sometimes your heart needs more time to accept what your mind already knows.

I had to do the right thing. He might had been right about everything, but the whole situation was more complicated than that. That man really loved me. And he was probably already waiting at the altar, nervously looking around, looking at the entrance of the ball room so catch me there. I could see his smile in front of me. I could see him tearing up when my Dad places my hand in his. That man gave me his heart. I helped him pick up the pieces after his first love left him. He trusted me. I couldn’t break him. And Mum was probably right too. I can learn to love him again.

- I need to call him – I said rather to myself and not my Dad. He gave my hand a final squeezed and left me alone in the room. I was glad he didn’t ask me anything. I paced around the room, my dress flying around me while I was manically searching for my mobile. I was chewing on my lips and my heart was beating way too fast. How could I put myself in this situation? How could I do this to him? They were the longest five rings of the call before he finally picked up.

- Y/N? – His voice was surprised. He probably didn’t know why I was calling Him just right before I had to walk down the aisle to marry him – Are you okay?

No, I wasn’t. I forced myself to not to cry, because I didn’t want to ruin my makeup, but I could feel my eyes burning and my throat tightened. I was choking on my withheld sobs. I loved how his voice was smooth, a tiny bit raspy and manly, but playful at the same time. I could have listened to his voice all day long. Just listening how he told me everything about his day or what new projects he has been working on lately.

- I think we were meant to be, but we did it all wrong – I blurted out and collapsed back to the sofa. I let a single tear run down my cheek and drop on top of my pearl charm on my bracelet. I heard how his breathing fastened in the phone, like he was panicking. I was too. I didn’t know what was right or wrong. I desperately needed him by my side to feel his arms around my body, holding my close to himself. Feeling the warmth of his body calming down my shaking frame. I needed him to kiss into my hair and whisper in my ears that he has me and everything is going to fine – I just want to tell you, it takes everything in me not to call you, and I wish I could run to you, and I hope you know that every time I don’t…I almost do. And even though I’m unsure about most things in life, I am certain that I love you and will continue to love you forever.

- Y/N, what happened? – His voice was filled with worry. Knowing him he was already running his fingers through his hair, thinking about if he should come to see me right away or stay exactly where he was – Talk to me! What’s going on?

- I’m so sorry – I whispered into to phone. By this time, I couldn’t hold back my tears. And I didn’t even care anymore – I have to marry him…

- No, no you don’t have to – He was practically yelling. I only heard him yelling once, when he was completely lost in the ocean of feelings, and we were trying to figure out what was going on between us – Y/N, please…

- I love you, Tom – I said as a goodbye and ended the call. And with that, I ended something which I cherished for years. I ended a beautiful love story.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Pure Blood 40 (Sirius Black x F!Oc)

Warnings: Babies <3

Words: 2,644

Masterlist

Chapter 39 / Chapter 41

"Do you think he can hear us?" Sirius asks me, kneeling next to the couch. He puts a hand on my belly.

“Maybe," I lift my shirt a little.

"Hi baby,” He whispers with his lips close to my skin, tickling me. "I want to meet you.”

"We want,” I correct him.

"We want to meet you, and to know what name we’re going to give you, because we’re panicking.”

I roll my eyes. Since we knew it would be a boy we have put three options on the table. No matter how many times we vote, we can never decide, so Sirius thinks we’ll know when he's born.

“Your mother doesn't want to call you Perseus. I say it’d be nice, I could call you both Percy.”

“And I say that he’s going to confuse us. I like Leo.”

"We're going to win,” He whispers again, this time he receives an answer, the baby kicks where Sirius' hand is. "Ha! He is on my side!”

I laugh when I see his big smile, I put my hand on his.

"Did you ever imagine yourself in this place, Sirius?"

"With you or in general?"

“Both," He observes me.

“I never thought I was the type to get married and have children. When I met James and he told me what he longed for the most, I was sure that I would not go through the same thing. I'd be the funny uncle, but,” He grimaces.

"What?"

“You'll call me corny, but, before you know, being together, I could imagine it. You and me together with our little family. You were always the reason I would yearn for more,” He smiles.

"You're corny" I say with a hoarse voice making him laugh. He kisses my forehead and then returns to my belly.

"Don't worry, little Percy. Your mom doesn't cry easily, it's the hormones. She's fine,” Another kick. "And you shouldn't worry either, your name will be Perseus, maybe we’ll call your brother Leo.”

"Brother?" I interrupt him.

"Oh, come on. Being an only child must be boring. James always says so, we must give him a brother or sister…”

"And you’ll carry it in your womb for nine months this time?" I raise my eyebrow.

"Hey! You know that if I could, I would. I've been a great help, love.”

In that I cannot complain, Sirius has been very attentive in all my whims during pregnancy.

“We'll talk about a brother later, first we make sure this one comes out alright.”

“I take it as a yes. I'll remind you how fun it is to make one,” He winks at me.

I laugh out loud.

"I don't need to remember.”

***

August 18, 1980

"He has Sirius's eyes," says James smiling. In his arms he has little Perseus. "If I didn't have a son, I could say he's the prettiest baby I've ever seen," He jokes

"You can say it, neither Harry nor Lily are here,” says Sirius sitting next to me.

"I can't betray my son, Padfoot,” He looks back at the baby, who’s also watching him closely. "I already have the perfect nickname for him: Paddie."

"Oh no," I complain.

They both laugh.

“I’m very proud of both. They’ll be the second best family,” He tells us. The baby begins to move in his arms.

"Percy doesn't agree with that," Sirius says taking it carefully. When he sits back down, the baby is still uncomfortable. "I think he wants his mother…”

I hold him against my chest and he finally relaxes.

"I hope I don't have to fight for your attention like I did with Atlas when we first met."

"Sirius, he’s your son.”

"With all the more reason I say it,” He jokes and kisses my forehead. I shake my head.

"Anyway, tell James," I remind him.

"Oh yeah!" He look at his friend with a huge smile. "Persephone and I wanted to ask you and Lily if you would like to be his godparents?”

"What!?"

"Why are you so surprised?" I ask him.

"I thought you would ask Remus!”

"No, he’ll be for the next one,” says Sirius. I hit his leg.

"Stop saying we'll have another one!”

“So what do you say, Prongs? We’re Harry's godparents. Sounds like a good deal?”

“But it won't bother Remus? He has done more than I have for you…”

"We already talked to him, we made another deal,” I laugh, accommodating the baby. “We made a small arrangement to the name of Perseus.”

Sirius smiles.

“Perseus John Black-Singh. Sounds great, don't you think?" He says proudly.

James looks at us in surprise.

“Now I’m jealous. For your second son I want him to have a James somewhere,” He points out.

"Your son already has a James,” I frown. "No wait— Stop saying that we’ll have another child!"

“It’s a deal, James.”

"Sirius!"

***

"He's so small," Sirius whispers.

"And delicate…”

"I'm not going to drop it, Percy,” He frowns. "I won't drop Percy, Percy.”

"I told you it’d be complicated.”

“I'll have to think of new nicknames."

“Yes, of course…”

The baby squirms in his daddy's arms and babbles, leaving a trail of drool. We both laugh. His gray eyes watch us with fascination.

“I can't believe this little one is ours. I can't wait to teach him magic, or to play Quidditch…”

"You didn't even play at school!”

"But if he wants, we can try.”

“Fair enough. Come on, it's time to sleep,” The three of us went into the baby's room.

"Can I stay to hear the story?" Sirius asks smiling.

"Sure.”

I take out one of the books that Remus gave Percy. Sirius sits in the recliner and I sit in another. The baby squeals with happiness when he recognizes the colors in the book: The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

“Someone's excited…”

I start to read a story, but I don't get very far. I look up and they’re both sound asleep. Percy has his head resting on Sirius's chest and they both have their mouths open. I laugh at the tender image.

I spend a few minutes looking at them, analyzing the resemblance. Perseus has Sirius's eyes, his lips, and I'm afraid to say the same personality. When he smiles, it's like seeing my best friend again when we were little. I can't help but think that I would do anything to see that smile on both of them always.

Although our baby looks a lot like Sirius, he also has a lot of me. And what excites me the most is that he’s a mama’s boy. Every morning when I go for him, he welcomes me with a joy so pure that it melts my heart.

I put the book on the shelf and slowly pick up the baby to put it in his crib.

"My baby," Sirius babbles at the movement, sighs and stretches his body. After making sure that Percy won't wake up again, I go back to the other boy and stroke his hair. He rests his forehead on my stomach and wraps his arms around my waist. "It was a good story.”

“It fulfilled his objective. Come on, it's also time for you to sleep,” I take his hand and guide him to our room.

After doing the whole routine, we both go to bed. I hug Sirius around his waist and hide my face against his neck.

"I've never felt so tired in all my life,” I laugh.

Since Percy was born, every night I feel all the hard work that is taking care of a baby.

“Same," He whispers.

Sirius stirred and now he's the one hiding his face on my neck, but he decides to leave little kisses on it. I chuckle.

"You don't seem very tired, darling."

"I left a little energy for my girl…”

"Well, your girl doesn't have any energy and tomorrow we have to go to Remus's house early.”

Sirius growls.

“What if we just leave Percy with him? You and I could have the apartment to ourselves and have a lot of fun…” He says kissing my cheek and then reaching my lips.

"It sounds quite tempting though," I gasp as his hand goes up my shirt. "We can’t, Sirius.”

“We can, you just have to—”

A cry interrupts him. I laugh when he growls again.

"Just what, Sirius?"

"Forget it. I lost it,” I laugh out loud. “Oh, don't get ahead of yourself, precious. I'm not done with you.”

"Good luck waking me up, darling."

He knows this battle is lost. When I fall asleep, it’s very difficult for him to wake me up in a good mood and he knows it.

"Now, now, Perseus. Dad is on his way,” He announces himself, leaving the room.

***

"One, twins, four..." I point to each baby sitting on the blanket on the grass. I frown. "Hey! Mine is missing, Sirius! "

“I don’t have him," He says, going out into the garden.

"Where is Perseus?"

"I thought they were all here!”

"Except for him,” I get up looking everywhere.

"We found the little runaway,” says Remus laughing with the baby in his arms. I feel my soul return to my body. "I almost saw him running towards the gate," He reports, handing it to me.

"You mustn’t go alone, Perseus!” I scold him. He stops laughing and then pouts.

"Mum?"

"Your mother is right. Next time, take Harry too,” says Sirius and I hit him on the arm.

"I can't handle two children at the same time," I complain, taking my son with the others.

"Harry, no!" screams Lily lifting her son off the ground where there are several plants.

"Oh, our little ones are already showing signs of being geniuses of mischief," says James putting a hand on his chest.

"Aunti, Phoney. Your baby is naughty,”Atlas informs me.

“I already noticed. Could you keep an eye on him? He’s still very small and can hurt himself.”

“Okay," Atlas nods and sits next to Perseus and then takes his small hand. I laugh at his actions.

"It's time to eat," says Apollo. "Atlas, go clean yourself.”

"But I must take care of Perseus!”

I look up at my brother.

"He's being a good cousin,” He smiles at me.

"Your aunt must also go home,” Atlas nods and obeys his father. I take the baby, but Apollo takes it from me.

"Hey!" I complain.

“You took my son from me when he was born. Now we are even.”

"Apo!" Percy laughs.

I roll my eyes.

"It's good you have two more,” I tease taking who I think is Hades, who at first freaks out, but when he sees me he smiles. I kissed his plump cheek.

“Phoney!" says his brother not far from us.

"But it isn’t easy, being the favorite aunt, huh?" Apollo scoffs, walking away with my son.

I frown and watch the two children trying to get my attention.

"Oh no,” I say when I see little Harry wanting to follow the other two. He squirms in his mother's arms trying to get down.

"No, honey, it's time to eat," says Lily.

"It's baby chaos!" I pout.

"I got you,” says Remus taking Hercules in his arms. I get up with Hades. “And then you tell me that I should have one— I can't imagine another baby right now!”

After the delicious meal, we all sat in the living room. The twins are asleep in his room, while Atlas, Harry and Perseus still have a lot of energy. The older one is explaining to the other two how they can make a tower out of their favorite blocks. Thanks to Merlin, Atlas is willing to share with his cousins.

"It's amazing how much Perseus looks like you,” says Apollo looking at me. "It's a copy.”

"I see more of Sirius in him,” I add laughing.

"You have to admit that Perseus makes the same face as you when something doesn't go as planned," says Jane.

"Oh yeah!" Remus points out. “When I picked him up he wrinkled his nose and, oh, merlin! It's the same!”

"I don't think that’s funny," I complain.

"Harry, no!” James says when his baby throws one of the blocks.

"He doesn't like that color either," Atlas reports smiling.

Percy and Harry laugh and they both take other blocks and throw them.

"I don't want to imagine what they'll be like when they grow up," says Lily, taking another block from Harry.

"Geniuses, I already said it," repeats James.

"It's good to see so many happy babies," says Apollo. "It's been a long time since I saw a big and happy family,” We both share a look. "I remember the mansion, full of laughter…”

"Although it was easier back then, I didn't have to pick up the mess!” I add making him laugh.

Apollo looks at his wife and then at the others.

“Believe it or not, when we were little, Singh Manor was child chaos. Isis and Balder were the ones who always broke things, Persephone would run after them imitating each evil and creating more disaster, I’d chased her so that at least she wouldn't get hurt, while Juno scold us all…”

"Even Dad was an accomplice on some occasions," I add, sighing. "I miss that."

I feel Sirius's hand on mine.

"The memories will stay with you,” says Jane. "We know that your families weren't easy at all, but those that you’re forming now will not suffer the same.”

“Whatever happens,” Apollo continues, “you can count on us, guys. You won’t be alone, and if necessary, we will take care of your children."

I lean back in my chair with a sigh.

"Mom?," says Percy, interrupting the silence. He moves a little to look for me.

"Here I am, baby," He sees me and smiles, then continues playing.

"It always happens," Sirius jokes. "Every time he loses sight of her when we're inside, he looks for her everywhere."

“Awww," They all say at the same time.

"Yes, very cute, but sometimes he starts crying very hard,” I add.

“Mommy’s little boy without a doubt,” We all look at the babies, oblivious to all the evil and chaos in the world.

I wish this could stay that way forever.

***

"I don't understand what's wrong," I complain trying to lull Perseus who hasn't stopped crying. "Sirius, I’ve tried everything!” I say about to cry myself.

"I don't know what he has either," He answers overwhelmed. “Maybe he's scared by the Halloween decorations. In the morning walk he was calm, maybe he saw something that scared him…”

"I don’t know. I'll call Jenna, maybe she can help…”

I hand over the baby and go to the phone, but it rings first.

"Hello?"

"Please tell me you have something to control colic for Harry?”

"What?" I say trying to listen to Lily between Percy's cries.

“I don't know who else to ask! Harry has been uncomfortable all day…” She says in distress.

"Percy too, he hasn't stopped crying, I was about to talk to Jenna—”

"When you have an answer, please ask her what I can give Harry?”

"Sure, don't worry. I’ll stop by your house later…”

“Thanks."

I hang up the phone, I decide it's better to go straight to the hospital with Jenna. If she has any medicine, I'll give it to Lily.

I tell Sirius my plan and get ready to go out, I don't want the two babies to suffer more from whatever is happening to them.

Taglist:

@avipshamitra   @auroraawrites @findzelda  @lizlil @siriusmuch   @chloe-geoghegan1 @reverse-hxlland  @may-rapp @the-specific-oceans @eveft  @secret-obsessions  @theeicedamericano @xkonpinkx    @inkandpen22​ @just-here-to-escape-from-reality​

@littledeadgirlwalking

@yunloyal

@bloodorangemoonlight

[tomtenadia]

Island Dreams - Chapter 30

Welcome to chapter 30. It's moving time and Rowan and Aelin finally enjoy their new house. This chapter also has a lot of domestic fluff. :)

There are two chapters left in the story and the epilogue and this adventure is almost over.

Enjoy.

--------

Summer had decided to linger a bit longer that year and Rowan was happy that the sun was shining. It was moving day and they needed good weather. Lysandra and Aedion had offered to help and now the two men were unloading the van that they had finished preparing the night before. Rowan had no idea of how much stuff they had until they had started loading the van. “Well, I guess I won’t need the gym for a while,” joked Aedion carrying another box in the house. “We’ll have a nice dinner tonight to recharge.” “A nice juicy stake.” Rowan flinched “No can do. Aelin can’t stand beef at the moment. She can tolerate chicken if cooked in a certain way, not good with turkey and pork depends on days. But for some reason fish is not an issue. So I am very limited in what I can cook.” “I’ll be happy with anything.” Aedion shrugged.

Then Rowan turned his gaze to Aelin and Lysandra, sitting on the grass drinking iced tea and probably gossiping. Aedion joined him “I would have died of an heart attack if anything like that had happened to Lys.” Rowan sighed “I had a panic attack at the hospital. Never had one in my life. I had one when I saw her unconscious in bed.” Rowan looked at her. The cuts were now just pink lines on her body and were healing nicely and the bruises had finally gone. The cut on her head was healing as well and the stitched had finally come off but the horrible scar was still visible until her hair around the wound would grow back, so Aelin had started wearing bandanas for when there were other people around. He had bought her a few colourful ones so she could chose according to her mood. “Lys, you are not pregnant. You could help.” Shouted Aedion. “I am helping by making sure Aelin is fine.” “Skiver.” Commented Aedion. “She is right, I need a lot of support” chimed in Aelin. The two women laughed and the men went back to their jobs. They had removed their t-shirts and now both Lys and Aelin were staring at them in appreciation. “I am glad we are in the middle of nowhere because I would be very upset to share such vision with someone else.”muttered Aelin and Lysandra laughed “me too. And now that Aedion got some tan on him…” Aelin laughed back. They stared at their men a bit longer then Lysandra stood “I am making lunch. They need sustenance.” She walked to them “Are you guys hungry?” Aedion cleared some sweat from the forehead with his arm “Starving.” “In the kitchen there is a bag on the table that has stuff I brought from the old house that needs to be used. There are cherry tomatoes and salmon flakes. I usually make a pasta condiment with them, Aelin loves it.” “Good.” She winked at them. “Thank, Lys.” Said Rowan to the woman. “It’s the least I can do. Those muscles need fuel.” And she left them with a laugh. Forty minutes later Lysandra called from the kitchen window that the food was ready. Rowan stopped working and went to her followed by Aedion. Together they brought the food out in the garden where Aelin was camped. Rowan brought a plate to Aelin and kissed her head “extra portion for you.” “It smells amazing.” Once everything was out and on the table cloth Rowan had placed on the ground, they all finally sat down for lunch. “This is actually quite amazing. Aedion and I have been having loads of meals outside since we moved her. It’s so nice. Definitely not something we could do in London.” Aelin placed the plate on the bump and Lysandra laughed “that’s handy.” “It is when you are so big that even leaning forward to eat can be a chore.” “How does it feel being stuck at home?” Aelin sighed “Is not that I have any other choice. Yrene has noticed some sign of placental abruption and sit and rest is all I am allowed to do until our girls are out.” And while she said that she took Rowan’s hand. He was with her at her last checkup when Yrene had given them the bad news. She saw terror in his eyes and she was willing to listen and stay put in order to avoid seeing that stare on him once again. Since her accident he had been far more protective and she had let him. Yrene had told her about his panic attack and her heart almost shattered at the image of him broken on the floor. “Well, Evalin is coming soon so you should be okay.” “Yeah, mum is coming in a week.” Aelin smiled. She was actually looking forward to seeing her mother again. It had been over a year and she realised she missed her. Rowan stood “Anyone wants seconds?” Aelin and Aedion passed him their plates. Lysandra stood as well “I am helping you.” She followed him in the kitchen and noticed his dark stare “Rowan, are you okay?” “Yeah,” his tone was flat while he filled the plates with more pasta. “Wanna talk about it?” “I almost lost her, them, Lys.” He let out, placing the spoon on the counter “If it hadn’t been for the belt she, they…” and he could not finish the sentence “I have never been more terrified in my life. I can’t leave her alone because I now have this irrational fear that something might happen. I am glad her mother is coming. It will allow me to go back to work and relax when I am not with her.” Lysandra saw his hands shake and she placed her on his “She is my best friend. I love her like a sister and when I got your call explaining what happened I cried for half an hour and I am glad I had no customers in the shop. Until I saw her I felt like I could not breathe.” He turned to her “don’t tell her any of this, please. She has enough to worry about without adding me.” “She knows, Ro. She knows you are worried and she probably noticed you are fussing more than usual and she is letting you because she knows it means a lot to you.” Rowan sighed “Thank you for being here today.” “Now let’s go back outside, we have to starving partners waiting for us, and Aedion gets grumpy when he is hungry.” They left the kitchen and went back to the garden “we bring more food for our bottomless pits.” “Hey, even Rowan is taking seconds today.” Aelin joked while grabbing her plate. “I am working, Fireheart, I need sustenance.” “We don’t want your nice muscle to suffer…” she kissed him tenderly.

It was late in the evening and after dinner when Aedion and Lysandra left and Rowan and Aelin stood in the mess that was their new house. “I guess that once we clear up all the boxes it will look much better.” Said Rowan, sitting on the sofa beside her and staring at the wall of boxes in front of them. “At least we have a kitchen, the bedroom and the bathroom. Our priorities are right.” “We’ll tackle one problem at a time.” He said placing a hand on her knee “I am wiped. We should go and enjoy our first night in our new house.” “I wish we could break in the new bedroom with some crazy sex but I guess it will have to wait.” He leaned forward to kiss her “it has to. Yrene said absolutely no sex.” “Spoilsport.” Rowan stood and offered his hands to her “come on, let’s get you three in bed.” “You really know how to woo a woman.” Rowan laughed and slowly they both walked upstairs. In their new home. Another tassel in their adventure together.

***

Rowan came back from the shop a bit later than usual. He had been teaching extra stuff to Lysandra. The woman was still helping him in the shop. Her job had been cancelled altogether and there were no openings at the hospital at the moment so she was more than happy to work in the bookshop and earn some money. “Aelin?” He walked around the ground floor but could not see her “Aelin?” Then he heard a thump and ran upstairs. He found her in the twins room, surrounded by pieces of wood and toys. “What are you doing?” His voice sounded panicked. That was the complete opposite of resting. “We have been so busy unpacking the house that we ignored the nursery. There is nothing ready and the girls will be here in four weeks. Aelin had been nesting for a few days now. She had become obsessed with tidying up the house, clean and get everything ready for the twins. All things she was not allowed to do as she was meant to be on bed rest. He sat down beside her “I can do it in a couple of days.” He pulled her to him. “We need to paint the walls, make sure we have all the clothes and all the stuff we need.” She rambled on listing all the jobs that need doing but Rowan was his usual calm self. “The nursery will be ready before they arrive, I promise.” “I tried…” and she started crying “I wanted to build the crib but with my big fat belly I can’t do much. I wanted to help.” Aelin leaned against his chest and kept sobbing. “Let me get changed into house clothes and I can start painting the room.” Aelin brushed her tears away with the back of her hand. “Do you want to use the pastel green we choose?” Aelin nodded. “Good.” He kissed her and left the room. Aelin gathered one of the stuffed toys on the floor and hugged it to her chest and then talked to her daughters “dad will make you a lovely room.” She looked around the empty nursery “nice and welcoming.” Rowan came back ten minutes later in shorts and a t-shirt “Ok, now you let me work in peace okay?” He passed her a box full of clothes “you can sort and organise the baby clothes. It’s an easy job and you can sit down for it.” She looked up at him “I love you.” He must have been exhausted. He had been unpacking the whole house by himself and gone to work as well and now he was painting the babies’ room. She started sorting through the clothes but then she stopped “we can’t use these.” Rowan turned “why?” “They are new. They have been in a bag since we bought them and then in a box. They are not clean. We have to wash them first.” Rowan sighed “put the clothes in a pile and I’ll wash them.” “I can do that.” Rowan got off the ladder and joined her “no you can’t. The laundry room is in the basement and you are not going there.” “I feel useless,” she started crying “you are doing everything. And you are working as well. All I do is sit and sleep.” He kneeled in front of her “That’s what Yrene needs you to do. Stay in bed, sit down, relax. Please.” Then he went to get a box “you can assemble the mobile for the crib. It’s easy.” “Yes.” She opened the box and gasped as she noticed the figurines “Rowan…” “I had it custom made. I found this amazing wood carver and I asked him to do this for me.” The figurines were all hand carved and beautifully painted. He had elves, a buzzard, a female figurine she was positive it was her and a knight with silver hair as well. It was something beautiful “Ro, this…” she had no words “this is gorgeous.” “I wanted them to have something original. I am no a fan of the plastic stuff you get in regular stores.” “I love it so much…”

It was two hours later when Rowan announced the room was done. Aelin had been keeping an eye but now that it was finished she was stunned. He had painted the pastel green they had decided and he had added stencil images of trees and clouds. The room looked amazing. He sat down beside her and Aelin laughed when she noticed the smudges of paint on his face and on his hair “launching a new style?” She ruffled his hair and kissed him. “Do you like it?” “It’s perfect.” She looked around the room then placed a hand on the bump “you have an amazing room, girls. Dad made sure of it.” Rowan eventually stood “Let’s go downstairs, I’ll make dinner.” Aelin shook her head “let’s order in. You have worked all day and then came home and did all this,” she motioned to the room “you are not cooking as well,” she shook her head again “you need to rest too.” “Can I at least phone the restaurant, place the order and collect it?” Aelin smiled wickedly “I am not sure you are qualified enough.” Rowan kneeled in front of her and kissed her “what, you think you are better than me at ordering food?” Aelin nodded, pulling him to her “I have a master and a PhD in it. I am a pro.” Rowan laughed and kissed her “Let’s go downstairs, the room needs to air.” He offered her a hand and helped her stand and slowly they made their way to the living room which had started to look a bit less like a mess. Rowan had been unpacking all of the boxes and together they decided which book place on the bookshelves in the living room. The library was still empty as they were waiting for the bookcases to be delivered. Right now it only had boxes in the middle of it waiting to be emptied. Between the two of them they had so many books that they could open a public library. Rowan was not worried. That job was not a priority. They would have to decide an order for shelving and they had to sort the books first. Aelin plopped heavily on the sofa and Rowan joined, then she grabbed her phone “Shall we have Chinese?” He leaned back on the sofa exhausted and nodded at Aelin and she noticed it and leaned over to kiss him. Then she phoned their favourite Chinese restaurant and convinced them to deliver to their address outside town. She was happy to pay extra and tip the driver as well. “They are happy to deliver.” “I could have gone to pick it up.” He added. “No.” He hand brushed his hair “Ro, you are exhausted. I don’t want you to drive all the way to Stornoway and back at night when you are seconds from falling asleep.” “Now, who is the one who is fussing?” He turned his head and gave her a wicked smile. “Fine. I am fussing but I am not letting you drive when you are this tired.” Rowan leaned forward begging for a kiss that she in the end gave him “I told Lys I am taking the day off tomorrow.” Aelin’s face lit up in delight “Good.” She flicked his nose “But we are sleeping in, then you can work all you want. But for once I don’t want you to get out of bed before ten.” “Nine.” “Ten.” She pushed, knowing full well that Rowan was an early riser and eight was the longest she ever managed to keep him in bed and now she couldn’t even use sex as an excuse. He sighed “you win. I’ll stay in bed with you until ten. But you stay in bed, rest and let me work. Do we have an agreement?” She huffed and yielded “fine, we have an agreement.” In that instant the doorbell rang and Rowan ran to get their food. He came back with all the containers and five minutes later they were tucking in in their food both ravenous and Rowan didn’t even complain when he realised all the choices Aelin made had little or no veggies. “I was thinking about options for our wedding.” She started, while biting on a spring roll “What about Mabon?’ Rowan looked at her in surprise and love. She had slowly embraced his beliefs without him ever pushing her. She had been curious from the beginning. She had explained him that she had never had any kind of beliefs and had been quite curious about his pagan side. She had been reading about it and asked him all sorts of questions. And now she had impressed him again “what do you know about Mabon?” She put her smug face on, one that Rowan adored “well, I know it’s the second of the three pagan harvest festivals, also I know it’s more modern pagan but I read about the wheel of the year and read about Mabon.” She started explaining “it’s a way to say thank you for the fruits that the Earth bore for us and get a blessing from the Gods.” She continued and noticed he was listening carefully “I know we planned to get married at Beltaine, which had a better symbolism and all,” she pointed at her bump “but that did not happen. So it seems Mabon is the best option, or we can wait till Samhain but I thought it was a bad idea.” Rowan dropped his food container on the table, grabbed the back of Aelin’s head and pulled her in for a fierce kiss “I’ll marry you any time of the year. As long as I get to call you my wife.” He kissed her again “but I love the idea of Mabon. The twins will be here so I am happy.” Aelin smiled “Are you sure?” He nodded vigorously “whatever makes you happy.” Aelin ate another spring roll “Then it’s settled. We are going for Mabon.” And all of a sudden she became alive and Rowan felt as if he could fall in love with her all over again. She grabbed a notepad she had abandoned on the table and a pen and started making notes “Wedding guests. Very small ceremony at Callanish. Intimate but I need to have Malcolm.” Rowan nodded. After what the man had did for Aelin after the accident he owed him, but he also really liked the man. “Then we can have a big ceilidh at Lews castle. Hopefully they are available on that day. And we need to find a ceilidh band. How does that work?” “Leave that to me.” “Good.” Then she started scribbling a bit more “I don’t want a big hoopla but I want some flowers a lovely cake and food for the party. But I want all local businesses.” She scribbled a bit more “your aunt. I’ll ask her. And I need to go back to that amazing seamstress who did my Summer solstice gown. She was amazing.” Rowan took her pen “You don’t have to do all of it tonight. You are on bed rest. You have plenty of time and wedding planning will keep you busy and out of boredom.” She smiled at him. “But I love all you said so far.” “Who is going to celebrate a pagan wedding. Is there a druid catalogue we can choose from?” Rowan roared with laughter “No, Fireheart. But I know a person who will be happy to marry us. She is a friend.” “Was she…” she was afraid to ask “Was she going to marry you an Lyria as well?” He shook his head “No.” His arm went around her shoulder and tucked her in close to him “she wanted the big hoopla. She was going for the full blown wedding in a church, with a lot of guests, a super fancy dress, expensive food and all the trimmings.” “Looks like you saved a lot of money.” She heard Rowan chuckle. Rowan kissed her head and realised Aelin was the only person with whom he could actually joke about what happened with Lyria. With other people he would usually shut down and avoid the topic. “Oh yes, she wanted the whole town to know she had bagged the most eligible bachelor. At least this before the accident.” She squeezed his hand. “Did you empty Chaol’s savings for your wedding?” “I actually wanted a small thing. Small and meaningful. Few friends, a private ceremony and few close friends for the party. I splurged on the wedding dress because I wanted to look awesome.” She explained “but he said he planned to get married only once and convinced me into having a big party. And I mean massive, Ro.” Rowan scoffed. “The man would have gotten married inside Westminster if he could.” She grabbed Rowan’s hand and placed it on the bump, the girls were active again “We almost had the whole of Scotland Yard, and a lot of my work colleagues, friends and family. It was overwhelming and it took ages to prepare. By the end of it I was ready to get married just to finally be free of all the wedding planning.” “I assume fancy honeymoon as well?” Aelin snorted “Maldives. He booked the honeymoon without consulting me as a surprise.” She groaned “I hated it. The whole two weeks.” “I thought you loved beaches.” “I do. But two weeks of nothing but sitting on our arses on a beach and do fuck all?” Rowan laughed “Some people would call that paradise.” “Well I don’t. I wanted to do Europe. Visit some capitals, soak in the history, visit museums, see Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Italy…” “We can do that. You and I.” “How? I can’t leave the twins on their own as newborns. They need me.” Rowan kissed her again “Once you are not nursing anymore. When they will start eating solid food, we’ll take two weeks off. I am sure your mom and my aunt will be happy to babysit for us.” “Are you sure?” His hand brushed her long blond hair and moved a wild strand behind her ear “Positive. When the time is right we’ll have a lovely honeymoon on the continent. I have been to Prague but not the rest and I’d make me very happy to discover it with you.” “Where ave you been all my life?” Her head leaned back against his chest, their hands still joined on the bump, enjoying their daughters’ movements. “Hiding in a bookstore on an island in the west of Scotland.” Then Aelin stood “come on, most eligible bachelor, let’s go to bed.” Rowan stood and started to clear the mess from their dinner but Aelin stopped him. “It’s late. Let’s go to bed. We can clean up tomorrow.” He gave up and followed her. “Did you have fans? Girls coming to see you compete and having the hots for you?” Rowan coughed “Actually yes. It was so annoying.” “Oh poor baby,” Aelin patted his cheek in a mocking tone once they reached the landing at the top of the stairs “must have bee horrible to be famous.” He kissed her “really horrible when you are an introvert and hate the spotlight.” They both got ready and Aelin climbed in bed and Rowan followed soon after “Did you do interviews and such?” “I did. After I kept winning I started to attract the attention. Then when my name was added to the list of people who would travel to Edinburgh and get the chance to become the Scottish swimmer to be part of the national team the town went ballistic. I was the only guy from Lewis. So I let you imagine.” “You were a celebrity,” she snuggled closed to him while laying on her left side and Rowan was in front of her. “Do you ever wonder how your life would have been if you had gone to the Olympics? Perhaps won a gold medal? Married Lyria?” Rowan sighed, grabbed her hand and placed it on his heart “Probably not as happy as I am now.” And he turned and lay on his back, his face staring at the ceiling and her hand still on his heart “most likely divorced as well.” He turned his head to her “I have a gut feeling that my marriage with Lyria would not have lasted long. I don’t know why.” He explained “I loved her. And when I proposed I did it out of love but later, much later when I finally started to accept that she had left me and did not love me anymore I started to think about our relationship and realised that my friends had been right all long. I was fooling myself and she actually never really loved me.” Aelin stared at him. He had closed his eyes and with the back of her hand she traced the lines of his face and saw a thin smile appear on his face. “I love you.” Whispered Aelin while her hand brushed a strand of hair away from his face “Even when this world is a forgotten whisper of dust between the stars, I will love you.” His face blossomed in a bigger smile, and his green eyes were now fixed on her “are you quoting our favourite book?” “You are mine.” She added, kissing him. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked at her “Is leatsa mi.” He repeated in Gaelic as his mouth trailed soft kisses on her neck. “Girls, dad is a sappy romantic.” She told the twins and heard Rowan scoff. “You started it.” “I know Whitethorn, but I am pregnant and hormonal. You are just sappy.” He grabbed the blanket and buried her underneath it “sleep or I will leave the bed at six tomorrow.” Aelin switched off the light on the nightstand and grabbed his hand, placing it on the bump with hers “night.” “Oidhche mhath, mo chridhe.” He felt a kick from his daughters and slowly fell asleep as well.

TAG:

@rowaelinismyotp

[secret-rendezvous1d]

how about an alex first christmas home with his wife or gf? if your uncomfortable writing this prompt i completely understand

Hello, hi!

Welcome to Blogmas 2020. A couple of days later than I promised, and I apologise for that, but here we are. 

Hopefully, the idea of how Blogmas 2020 is planned out will become a little clearer than how my very poor explanations explained it, haha.

Many more blurbs, many more chats and a lot more festivities to come; my inbox will be open all through December this year for blurb prompts for Blogmas so don’t feel afraid to pop in a prompt to get written for tis year; all I can say is that if you’re asking for a lengthy prompt, I’m not the right person right now, haha. 

I’m welcoming absolutely anything for this year; any AU, any characters, any ideas.

Reblog, like, comment and share your thoughts with me. Please let me know what you think because feedback is always appreciated on here; much more appreciated now given that I’ve not written a lot in a long while. Please let me know what you think.

Enjoy! 

A song to listen to throughout the second scene; Bing Crosby, I’ll Be Home For Christmas

“Look at the size of those toms,” Alex gushed in awe, rushing from his place at the kitchen cabinet, where the kettle was whistling on the stove, to grab the woven basket full of fresh garden vegetables from his wife’s arms, saving a couple of apples and pears from becoming bruised by the floor. “They’re massive.”

“There’s something in the soil, I think,” YN teased, wiping her soil-covered fingertips on the pink and white polka-dot apron tied around her waist. Traces of wet mud and dry soil clinging to the material, tiny specks falling to the floor but nothing bad enough that couldn’t be sweeped with the brush and pan. “You should see some of the runners growing in the corner. Nice and long, they are. Perfect for dinner tomorrow eve.”

“How are the potatoes coming along?”

“They’re good, I was going to dig them and the carrots up tonight before the nighttimes cold comes in,” she said softly, standing beside her husband as he unpacked the fruit and placed them in the empty fruit bowl. The kettle coming to a gentle boil, soon being warm enough for them to make a warm cup of tea to drink by the fire to warm themselves up.

The vegetables left in the basket - varying from cabbage and cauliflower to Brussels sprouts and onions - needed a good brush down and a wash under water but looked good enough to enjoy as part of their meal the next day. A meal that would be enjoyed by her parents, Alex’s parents and a couple of good friends who hadn’t had time to make it back home for Christmas, missing the last train out of London for a few days and unable to find a kind-hearted soul to take them two hours up north. It was also a meal that YN had been panicking over for almost the entire month of December… her first time cooking a Christmas dinner and she wanted it to be as perfect as possible to end a year that needed some cheer.

With the war coming to an end, for a second time, she felt safe and happy. Much safer and much happier than the last time a war was declared to have finished.

Maybe it was the fact that the four-year long terror of air raid sirens and bombings and unexpected blackouts had come to its end; maybe it was the fact that Britain had won the war and there was no more fear to live by; maybe it was the fact that her husband had been one of the lucky ones to come home safe and sound, able to celebrate Christmas as normal without worry that he was going to be called back to fight in the trenches and on the frontline; maybe it was the fact that everything was slowly going back to how it had been and life was on track to getting better.

“Dad’s always saying they taste and cook the best after a night in the cold,” Alex shrugged, taking a bite of an apple and feeling the juice trickle down his chin, something that YN’s thumb caught and wiped away, “I’ll go and dig them up tomorrow morning.”

“I wanted to start peeling and cutting them now,” she frowned, looking at him with furrowed brows, “go dig them up for now, please, darling?”

He mirrored her expression and folded his arms, half-bitten apple still in his hand, a smile toying his lips.

“Do I have to? It’s getting cold out there, I’ve got no jumper on and I’ve just put the kettle on,” he playfully whined, pouting his lips.

Her own eyebrows furrowed deeper on her browline, a silent plea for him to do what she said because she was stressing enough and didn’t want to be panicking so early tomorrow morning. All along he was going to do what she asked him to do, no word of a lie, but he found pure enjoyment in giving her the idea he had no intentions of helping. He placed his half-eaten apple on the kitchen counter and took a step towards her.

“Alright, as long as you do me the best cup of tea possible.”

“Of course, aren’t all my cups of tea the best?” To which he nodded and she grinned, squeezing his cheek and leaving a blush pink behind on his cheekbone, “I love you.”

“I love you the most,” he hummed, pressing a kiss to her cold forehead, reaching around her to grab the basket and tuck it under his arm, “I’ll have a look at these nice, long runners you’ve been speaking so highly about, too.”

*

“Mum called earlier. She’s grown some strawberries and rhubarb and said she was making a pie for our dessert tomorrow. I told her that with how hard you’ve been working with the garden, on all the veggies, we won’t need a pudding to eat because we’ll be so full of Christmas dinner,” Alex chuckled, peering over the newspaper in his hands to catch a glimpse of a smile on her lips, eyes still trained to the book she was reading in the gentle, almost, silence.

The radio crackled quietly in the background of the living room, playing a Christmas song that had a frequent place on the station they had programmed to work properly. Adding a sense of merriment to the room they were sat in; tinsel hanging on a scarce Christmas tree, with ornaments made from paper and cardboard, and Christmas cards on the windowsill from family and friends. There wasn’t much they could do but it was enough for them.

“Your mum makes a good pie though,” YN admitted, placing her finger between the pages she’d gotten to, “she didn’t have to do that though. She’s already done a lot for me this year and the last four so tomorrow is, kind of, all about giving back to her and your dad and my parents, too.”

Alex’s family had been a huge constant in her life during the wartime.

His mother had been non-stop on the phone with her about new gardening tips that her friends had told her about and seeds to share amongst themselves to grow a healthy batch of fruits to bake with - because they baked, a lot, and his mother had sent her back home with a brain full of new treats to bake and recipes to try out - and they took care of a flower patch in the front garden of Alex’s home, which seemed to pass the time. His father had been just as helpful to her, whenever he wasn’t in factories or working in machinery, coming by to put shelves up for her or to fix a hole in the roof that had begun to leak. Always popping by with a loaf of bread from the bakery and a tin of meat, that YN would put together as a sandwich and they’d eat until he knew his wife would be questioning his whereabouts. They allowed her to stay when she was feeling lonely, always looked out for her during the raids and insisted she stayed with them to wait it out, always insisting that she stayed with them until Alex was home so she wasn’t suffering with loneliness or panicking when blackouts occurred.

It had always been his mother cooking a Christmas dinner, promising she didn’t have to do anything but sit at the dining table and enjoy a healthy meal with family, with no worrying or getting upset that her own husband wasn’t there to enjoy the family festivities.

So it felt surreal when YN saw Alex dressed in his uniform, on the train station platform with a bag swung over his shoulder, in and amongst crowds of reunited families, knowing that they were about to have their life back on track. A Christmas together.

“My dad’s made a good sherry for us to have. Mum said he’s been working on it for almost a year now. Growing currants in the front garden and chasing kids away when he saw them picking at his bushes as they passed,” Yn giggled softly, because the image of her father chasing active youths down a street was rather amusing to her, reaching for her bookmark to keep her place in the book resting on her lap, “she says she’s barely seen him because he spends his time at the allotments, with his friends.”

Alex snuffled a laugh and folded his paper up, setting it on the floor beside the crackling fireplace.

“We should get an allotment. Could build a shed there to hide in when it rains, have you come and sit and watch me dig the veggies up, let you grow some flowers there. We’d be the best there,” he grinned, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, “what do you think?”

“I think it’s a great idea, baby.”

“Christmases only get better from here,” he stood to his feet and wiggled his fingers in her direction, “let’s have a dance.”

She smiled shyly and stood to her feet, toes all toasty and warm from the fire, reaching for his hands as he twirled her under his arm and let her dress, all dark green and red (which she insisted was her most Christmas-y dress in her wardrobe) billow out at the knees. With the occasional step on his bare toes, and a trip over his own feet, they managed to move themselves around the room with such an elegant sway to their hips as the gentle voice of Bing Crosby filled the room, with the ever so delightful song that YN imagined must have felt so personal to so many around Britain. And she couldn’t help but think of how many others were dancing, singing and crying as the tune filled merry homes, both happy and sad.

And she didn’t want to let her mind wander to the agonising pain of not having a loved one, let alone a husband, arrive home safe for Christmas… but it was planted there and she never ever wanted an experience so heartbreaking.

“You’ve gone quiet,” he hummed and it was in that moment that he felt a dribble of tears against his neck, his feet coming to a stop as the music carried on behind them, “hey now. No crying, we said. This is a happy end to the year, eh? A happy one.”

“I know but,” she choked on a tear and pulled away to look at him, “I’m so lucky you came home to me. To us. But, some women, they never got to say goodbye to their husbands, their brothers, their fathers and grandfathers. They never got to see them for Christmas this year, last year and the years before that. They never knew what was coming,” she whispered with a hushed voice that felt like if she spoke too loud, she’d have the entire country hearing her, as if the music was bad enough to bring out the emotions.

“I promised you, didn’t I, baby?”

She nodded softly and his thumbs wiped away her tears, collecting moisture on the tips of his pads, their eyes locking for a brief second.

“I promised you I’d make it back to you and I did, safe and sound,” he held her face in his hands and brushed the tip of his nose to hers, his warm breath flushing over her face as she sniffled and sobbed, “I’m never leaving you again. Never ever. I promise, no selfish bastard is going to keep us apart, not even for Christmas.”

[dreamescapeswriting]

Code Word ~ JHS [Request]

➳➳➳Word Count: 3,046

➳➳➳Genre: MafiaAu

➳➳➳Pairing: Jung Hoseok x reader

➳➳➳A/n: Hiya sweetie, I know this isn’t EXACTLY what you requested but I hope this is okay for you

Hoseok used to be your best friend, you'd spend all your time together since you grew up living down the road from one another but as time went on you grew apart. He was busy with his music life and you got busy with your life. He moved out of his family home and went to live with his friends while you stayed behind. It was life, people grew apart and stopped talking but you were always going to be there for him if he ever needed you and you supported him with every decision he made even if he didn't know about it. But he did know about it, his mum kept him updated on everything you were doing in your life, she let him know when you moved from your family home and into town with someone you were seeing. 

Neither of you spoke to one another but you stayed updated on one another's lives, but Hoseok hadn't heard anything from his mum about you in months. She told him it was like you'd dropped off the face of the Earth and that worried him, he contemplated calling you all the time but stopped himself. If you really wanted to talk to him you would have called him first but he was still worried about you, it wasn't like you at all. 

The phone rang and you stared at it from across the room, 

"Who is it?!" The man who was dressed in all black yelled showing you the phone screen, it was just a number saved under two purple hearts. Hobi, you had one shot at this. 

"It's my best friend. If I don't answer he'll know something is wrong!" You yelled trying to get them to let you talk to Hoseok, the man in front of you turned to another smaller bald man and they nodded. 

"Answer it, no fucking funny business." The bald one ordered taking out a switch knife and pointing it in your direction, the ropes that were binding your wrists together were cut by the first men and you snatched the phone. 

"Hobi! Hobi! Hi! Hobi!" You yelled, but there was no answer on the other side of the phone, you could just hear chatter coming from the room he was sitting in. He'd butt dialled you, fuck.

"Yeah Hobi! I know you're busy so I'll call you back! I love you Hobi." You tried to yell a little bit but started crying as the man snatched the phone hanging it up and staring at you, 

"Hobi? As in- There is no way you know him." His disgusted look slowly turned into a dark smirk as he put two and two together, the bald one tied your wrists together again and stared at you. 

"Jung Hoseok huh?" You stayed silent not wanting to give them any information on your life, your face was forced to look over at your ex-boyfriend who was also tied up to a chair. 

"Answer the question gorgeous," You nodded at him tears rolling down your face. 

"Hobi I think your phone was ringing someone," Yoongi said, Hobi took his phone from his back pocket and saw he'd called you and you'd answered him. Then a text came through to the phone, 

We should talk again, I've missed you so much Oppa x 

He frowned, you'd never called him Oppa in your entire life, you refused to as kids because it always weirded you both out so why would you start now? He looked at the text again before deciding to write a reply to you, 

Call me later, in a meeting x 

Hoseok was still staring at the message when Yoongi got his attention again, he passed it off as nothing and put his phone back into his pocket. Despite not talking to you in a couple of years he was looking forward to your phone call later. He wondered why you were all of a sudden trying to talk when you hadn't spoken to anyone for a year and then he worried if you were okay. 

"I have to go." He mumbled getting up from the sofa inside of Yoongi's studio and taking out his phone, he had to know if you were okay. 

"I thought he was in a meeting, why is he calling?!" You looked up from the floor to see the men holding your phone, 

"Probably finished early." You spat out which earnt a smack across the face, you spat onto the floor and stared up at them. 

"Talk to him, tell him you're fine. That you're fine and you just want to catch up like old friends." The bald one, who you'd learnt his name was Bonnie, said to you looking at his friend, Dean. Dean cut the ropes from your hands and you took the phone from him. 

"Hobi?" You asked trying not to sound too panicked, as less panicked as you could sound with two psychopaths holding up knives and pointing them at you. 

"You alright? You called randomly so I thought-"

"I'm okay Hobi, how are you? How are the boys?" He went on to explain that he and the boys were doing fine but there was something inside of him that was telling him this was wrong.

"Do you remember our favourite word?" He quizzed hinting at the safe word you'd made up as kids to use if you were ever in danger but when you breezed over his question he knew something was wrong instantly. 

"I think we should meet up Hobi, I have a difficult thing to ask of you." You knew there was no way you could slip the word 'Octopus' into this conversation without it sounded suspicious, Bonnie and Dean were holding up a piece of card with an amount written across the front of it. As soon as they'd found out that Hobi was on the other side of the phone, and Hobi was Jung Hoseok from BTS they wanted money. That's all they showed up at your apartment for in the first place but you had none. Your ex had gambled it all away and left you to deal with the debt he was in with them. You never thought you'd have to deal with loan sharks and yet here you were, your ex was passed out on a chair from the beatings he'd gotten and they were getting money from you.

"Where should we meet, I know a great restaurant." You relaxed a little knowing what he was getting at, he knew. Of course, he knew. 

"A restaurant sounds great Hobi." You breathed out looking over at the men who were frowning, 

"Speakerphone now." Dean order putting the knife he was holding against your neck the blade digging into your skin just a little. 

"They'll have your favourite unless you changed it."

"No, it's still octopus Hobi," He panicked, he hummed. 

"I'll text you details, I've missed you Y/n." You hummed back, 

"I missed you too Hobi, I can't wait to see you." The phone ended and the men stared at you, 

"I wasn't going to ask him for a wire transfer, he isn't stupid." You ordered but Dean slapped you across the cheek making you cry out as he left a scratch with the knife he'd been holding in his hand. 

"You're going to get that fucking money if you want to keep living." You nodded at him and he looked at Boonie to see if you'd gotten a text yet but you just prayed that Hoseok knew what to do. 

Hoseok knew exactly what to do, he went straight to Namjoon with everything he had and demanded to get a plan in place, everyone knew BTS as the bang but no one knew who they really were, 

"You're sure this is what you think it is?" Namjoon questioned looking for a restaurant close to the BigHit building, Hobi nodded looking over at the leader. 

"Then we'll be ready," Namjoon called the rest of the boys into the office getting ready to explain every detail of the plan to them while Hoseok wondered how he was going to break the news to you about why he really left you behind and never called you.

The next day you were sitting in the small restaurant that Hoseok had text you the address of, Boonie and Dean were sitting on a table behind you so they could hear everything you were saying. 

"I want you to keep it quick," Dean ordered as he sat you down in the seat, you couldn't lie. You were beyond nervous, you had no idea if Hoseok would make a scene and it would end up with someone hurt or worse, you had no idea what to do in this situation.

"Y/n?" You looked up to see him standing there and you jumped up throwing yourself into his arms and wrapping your arms around his neck. 

"Octopus, Octopus, Octopus, Octopus." You whispered repeating it over and over again in his ear wanting him to take you away right there but you could see Dean in the corner of your eye his hand on his pocket,

"They're behind me." You whispered to him and he looked over at the men that were there. 

"I missed you too." He breathed into your ear rubbing the small of your back to try and comfort you.

"We have a plan, just do what you have to." He whispered pulling his arms away from you and sitting you down in the same place you were sitting in before. He stared at you and could see a fresh cut along your neck and face and he knew it was going to be as easy as they first thought it was going to be.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked as he looked over at you, your eyes kept dancing to the side of your seat and Hoseok could tell you were panicking about everything and he took your hand across the table. 

"I have to tell you something before we start." You stared up at him and he smiled at you, rubbing his thumb along your knuckles sending shivers down your spine. 

"What is it?" You asked him, Dean and Bonnie were getting uncomfortable behind you because you could feel the seat shifting whenever they moved. 

"I've been in love with you since we were teens," Your eyes darted up to his face and he smiled at your expression. 

"You have?" He nodded at you again, you didn't know if this was apart of his plan or not so you went along with it...If it was a part of the plan you could take everything back and tell him you were going along with everything but if it wasn't you were now telling him your true feelings for him and he was going to know everything you felt about him.

"I have too... Loved you I mean," You admitted looking into his eyes and almost forgetting for a second that there was a gun sitting in the back pocket of Dean's pocket. Hoseok felt his heart pound but he tried not to get distracted by what you were saying to him but he could tell by the look in your eyes it was real. The door opened and he looked behind him to see Namjoon who nodded at him, 

"Oh fuck, I forgot I have a meeting with Namjoon...Can we continue this later?" Your heart sank, did he not understand. 

"N-No Hobi, I have to-"

"Bring her along!" Namjoon yelled realising that you were panicking about being alone, you looked at them both and nodded.

"I'd love that." As you got up from the seat Dean wrapped his arm around your neck and held a gun against your left temple pressing the barrel against your skin. 

"No one moves!" Bonnie screamed in a deep voice aiming a gun at Namjoon who was holding his hands up in defence. Hobi did the same and stared at you, you were shaking in fear and he wanted to grab you. 

"What do you want?" Namjoon asked looking at you, you stared at the floor trying to ignore the pressing of the gun into your skin, you looked at the window and saw Taehyung was standing there but no one had noticed him yet. 

"We need money, her ex decided to borrow more than he could handle." Dean spat out and Hoseok looked at you, 

"So what does that have to do with Y/n?" You were shoved onto your knees and the gun was placed at the back of your head. 

"He promised us that she had money, she doesn't but then you called and you have money." You were avoided looking at Hoseok but he wanted you to look at him, 

"Where's her ex?" Namjoon called out taking charge of the situation, 

"Sleeping with the fishes," Dean muttered dropping to his knees beside you, he pulled your hair into a ponytail and forced you to look up at Namjoon who was wincing at how they were treating you but they couldn't move yet. Not with the gun that close to you.

"How much do you need?" Hoseok panted staring at you, it wasn't the plan to get the money to them but he couldn't stand watching them treat you like that.

"We want ₩40000000.00, for the trouble of having to kill someone to get the point across." You flinched as Dean tugged on your hair tighter. 

"But we'll knock some off if we get to keep her." Hoseok went to lunge but Namjoon stopped him from moving. 

"What about witnesses, aren't you scared people will talk about what they've heard?" The whole restaurant kept their heads down and you let tears fall down your cheek as Dean got closer to your face, 

"Pretty girls don't talk either, especially if they're six feet under." He cocked the gun back and you stared at Hoseok. 

"I love you." You whispered staring up at him and he shook his head at you, 

"Don't-" You threw your head back before Hoseok could finish his sentence and you hit the gun in Dean's hand knocking it out from his grasp and then kicking him in the shin. 

"You little bitch!" Bonnie screamed taking his hun but you grabbed the one from the floor and aimed it at him, he held his hands up and you frowned...You didn't even know how to shot a gun but if he was scared of you holding one that was all you needed.

"Put it down," Namjoon ordered and you glanced over your shoulder to see him, Hoseok, Yoongi and Taehyung all aiming guns at Dean and Bonnie. 

As soon as Bonnie and Dean were in handcuffs Hoseok sprinted to your side and took the gun away from you, placing it on the table and cupped your face turning it in every direction so he could see where you were hurt. 

"Hobi? Why do you all have guns?" He stared at you and then around the restaurant, 

"I'll talk when we get you home. Come on." You didn't move though you just stared at the floor thinking back to what your apartment was now. 

"I don't have a home Hobi, it's-" You almost gagged on the thought at what was there waiting for you when you got back.

"It's covered in blood and-" Hoseok pulled you into his chest before you could go into detail he could tell it was bothering you. 

"I'll take you to mine, come on." You walked out together and Namjoon watched as Hoseok held you as close as he could to his body. 

Hoseok explained everything to you from start to finish, the reason he left in the first place and why they were carrying guns. Everything clicked into place, the reason he never called was that he didn't want people to know you were involved, it could mean trouble for you and your family.

"You got into trouble anyway, I should have known." You laughed softly and stared at the cup of coffee in your hands, you didn't think you would ever sleep again after what you'd seen at your apartment but Hoseok didn't question you on it and he sent the police away when they came to question you. 

"Trouble is my middle name." You whispered laying your head on his shoulder, he wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you closer to him.

"I'll never let anything happen to you again, I should have been there to stop anything from happening-"

"Hobi, you don't have a crystal ball. You didn't know I would date such a lowlife." You scoffed making him chuckle, you looked up at him resting your chin on his shoulder. 

"I meant it though," There was no point holding back anymore you'd almost died so you might as well admit your true feelings for him.

"Meant what?" He took the cup from your hands and put it onto the coffee table in front of you he could tell how tired you were but you were trying to fight it. He had to the first time he'd seen someone die, he didn't sleep for three days. 

"That I love you, have done since we were kids." Your eyes were closed but you could tell he was staring down at you, 

"Good because I meant it too." You smiled lazily and then felt him move from the sofa you fell down onto the fabric and snuggled against it until you felt him pick you up. 

"We'll talk about it more in the morning," He mumbled carrying you up the staircase and towards his room, you hummed as he laid you down under the sheets. 

"Hobi don't leave me." You pleaded, reaching for his arm to keep him with you. 

"Alright, I won't." He got into the bed next to you and you rolled into his arms as if you'd been doing it for years. 

"I-I don't think I can be alone tonight." Your eyes shut again and he kissed the top of your head rubbing your hair as you drifted off in his arms. 

"You'll never be alone again." He promised kissing your forehead as you clung onto him. 

tagline: 

@snowy-meowl @yoongisdumplingcheeks @lynnthevirgo @yourguessisasgoodasminemate @kpopfanfictionhoes @lyoongx @btsiguess-kpop @fan-ati--c @mitzwinchester @callingmyangel @rjsmochii 

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Final Destination; AU Ghost! Queen x teen reader

*Author’s note*

Here is the final part of my Ghost AU fic trilogy. Now there is a LOT of action that happens here so you all better buckle up. Also the TRUTH finally gets revealed about what happened to the boys when they died. I want to thank you all for giving this 3 part fic a chance and for wanting to see a sequel to the original fic, and for you all being such good sports I delivered a 3 parter for the fic Legend of the Band.

Warning: Murder (VERY DESCRIPTIVE DETAILS but that’s not till close to the end), demons, fluff, angst, raging ghosts, Heaven and Hell mentioned. 

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@simonedk​

@platawnic​

@eileen-crys​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@queendeakyy​

@queensdivas​

@kairosfreddie​

@geek-and-proud​

_____________________________________________________________

Veronica slowly woke up from her sleep and the first thing she felt was the cold wind blowing against her night gown.  She slowly opened her eyes and slowly stood up confused about her surroundings.  Last thing she remembered was being in the hospital recovering from her scare, and now she’s outside.  As she stood up and walked backwards trying to see just where she was at, she got another start as she nearly fell 65m (213ft) to her death. She quickly backed up and she began to realize that she was on the Tower bridge

The very peek of the tower bridge to be exact.

The lights from the bridge lit up the road as she could see cars driving along the bridge going either way.

But Veronica was more scared cause she couldn’t remember how she got up here, or even why she would be up there in the first place?  She would get her answer when someone came flying across the sky.  A demon to be exact, but it wasn’t just any demon.  It had been the demon that Constantine had warned (Y/n) about, Beelzebub.

His fly-like wings making that loud, haunting buzzing sound that sounded like a swarm of flies.  He flew over the bridge and took out his large hunting bow as well as an arrow from his quiver.

“Time to give this town a little more light.” He notched the arrow into the bow and soon the arrow tip lit up in Hellfire. He kept his eye on one car in particular that happened to be driving by.

It was Robert’s car.  And inside it was Robert and (Y/n) heading home after visiting Veronica.

Beelzebub grinned maliciously as he released the arrow right at Robert’s car.  When it hit close to the back tire of the car, there was a sudden explosion that sent the car spiraling out of control.

Robert and (Y/n) screamed as Robert tried to regain control of his car.  But all that did was cause them to go halfway off the bridge.  The car slowly rocking forward and back.

About 3 miles away from the tower, John Deacon (with the help of Constantine) hovered over the roof of a building just in time to see the explosion.

“Oh god please no.” he softly pleaded.

Finally waking up from their whiplash, Robert and (Y/n) groaned and Robert turned to his daughter and said.

“Are you okay?”

“I think so.” The car soon lurched forward. (Y/n) shrieked and held onto her dad’s hand.  In his mind, Robert knew that there wasn’t enough time for him to save his daughter and get her out first before this car decided to plummet into the Thames.  So as he felt the car dip again, he grabbed his baby girl tightly and soon the car began to fall towards the Thames.

(Y/n) gripped onto her dad as tightly as she could, both of them preparing for their untimely death.  But as they got halfway, something stopped them.  (Y/n) opened her eyes and saw that they were now just hanging on mid-drop.  But both her and her father could hear the sound of buzzing.

It was then they looked up and they could see Beelzebub holding some kind of rope which held the car in play.  He then flew upwards towards the very top of the Tower bridge, all the while Robert kept holding onto his daughter as tightly as he could.

As quick as he could, John teleported towards the bridge.  But with not having enough distance practice out in the ranch, he would only come up about a couple rooftops at best.  But somehow with one last teleportation attempt, he stood right on top of the bridge however he was greeted with the worst sight he could possibly imagine.

Beelzebub stood a foot away from one end of the bridge. In his left hand he held a panicked Veronica by the throat, and in the other, the lifeline which held Robert’s car.

“John Richard Deacon. This is why only fools choose to stay on Earth. Because you never know when some celestial being, Demon or Angel, will come along with a difficult choice.” John stood there in horror as he watched his beloved scream in terror. “Let thy first and only wife die?”

Veronica’s slippers fell right off her feet as he raised her just a bit higher over the street.  All the while poor Veronica screaming and crying her eyes out.

“Or…..have thy kin perish before the mother and grandmother?” Beelzebub continued to mock as he now turned towards John’s son and granddaughter.

Inside the car, Robert continued to try and comfort his daughter who was weeping.  But when she looked out the cracked window she could see her grandfather’s spirit.

“Grandpa? Grandfather! Grandpa John please don’t let him kill us please!” Robert tried to keep his daughter calm but when he too looked out to where she was looking, he saw something he thought he’d never see.

He recognized this spirit from the pictures his mum showed him growing up.  He knew right away even with him being a black spirit, this was the ghost of his father.

“It can’t be.”

“Make your choice John Deacon, and see how a family man is rewarded.” Beelzebub said to John.

“Leave them out of this Beelzebub!”

“The matters of life and death can never meet. Now choose!” it was then he let both the rope and Veronica go.

“NO!!” John screamed.

How could he choose which one to save? If he saved the son he never met and the granddaughter he had come to love, he’d be risking and he would have to force them both to lose Veronica.  And it’d be a double hitter for Robert cause now he’ll have lost both his parents to horrific accidents.

But if he saved Veronica, she’d have to live with the fact that her one and only son and granddaughter had to die a watery death.  John couldn’t bare to have Veronica lose her only 2 babies, she was born to be a mother and grandmother.  And losing both Robert and (Y/n) would be devastating after all that she’s been through with the loss of him.

Finally John made his choice.  He flew down towards the left and quickly grabbed Veronica. Once he had her, he quickly flew towards the other side of the bridge and grabbed the rope holding his son’s car. As all four Deacons dove towards the sea, John used his psychic powers to keep the car levitating midair and he continued to hold onto the rope.  Veronica continued to scream and shriek as she clung onto the spirit of her husband and already John was feeling his mental grip on the car starting to fade.

From above, Beelzebub stood on the tower glaring and let out a hiss.

“Foolish soul.”

Thankfully for the Deacons, a barge boat was just about a half mile away from them.  A spotlight shined on them and soon a voice called out from the speakers.

“Ah-hoy up there! We’re gonna bring the barge right under you!” But soon the thousand fly wing flaps of Beelzebub was heard as he began circling around them.

“HE’S COMING BACK!” Veronica screamed in horror.

“Veronica listen, I need you to climb down to Robert and (Y/n).” John told her.

“I can’t!” Veronica sobbed.

“Yes you can.” John urged her.  His mental grip began to slip and soon they dropped about 4 inches from their normal position.  Veronica screamed till John took back his grip and continued to hold the car. “Ronnie please! Our babies need you! Please.” She looked up and even through the pure black eyes, Veronica recognized the love he once had when he found out all those years ago that he would become a father.

Veronica sniffled and let out a soft whimper as she began to climb down John.  He moved her closer to the rope so that she could have an easier transition and he told her.

“Hold on tight. And go as quick as you can!” Veronica got a good grip on the rope and slid down just an inch before freezing up at the height she was looking down at.  As Beelzebub flew closer and closer to them, John looked down at Veronica and said.

“Hurry!”

“I can’t! I’m too scared!”

“Just look right up at me Ronnie! You can do it!” suddenly John was stabbed right in the back with Beelzebub’s iron staff. And due to it being Iron, John’s spirit began to glitch up which caused his psychic hold on the car to collapse and he only had his physical grip on the rope.  As John got stabbed, it forced the car to swing sharply to the left which caused Veronica to swing along with the rope, almost losing her grip.

She held on as tight as she could as she tried to go down the rope even more as her husband told her too.  Once John was fully manifested again, he gripped the rope with both hands now but as he turned around he saw Beelzebub flying right in front of him.  His staff raised and this time instead of a single stab, he thrusted his staff into John’s chest which caused him to glitch again.

But also made him release his grip on the rope.

When his focus went back to the rope, he took hold of the staff and removed it from his body and reached out towards the rope. The second he grabbed the rope, Veronica lost her grip of the rope and went plummeting down towards the sea. But she was soon caught by her own son (who had taken advantage of his broken window).

Robert held on tight to his mother as both him and (Y/n) both worked together to try and pull her inside.  John who was trying so hard to keep a grip on the rope, but it was slowly sliding off inch by inch and the barge still wasn’t close enough to the car.

Inside the car, (Y/n) looked up towards her grandfather praying and hoping that he could hang in there just a little longer.

“Enough games. This ends now!” Beelzebub soon revealed a reaper’s scythe and flew right towards John.  Knowing that with just one swipe of this, John’s soul would pass on and he could finally be rid of all the Deacons.

John’s eyes widened but just before Beelzebub could even swing the scythe, suddenly a sonic guitar sound shot right at him, stirring him away from John.

“Up here coward!” Beelzebub and John both looked up and there levitating in the air was Constantine.  In his hand he held Brian’s red special but it was his eyes that caught the demon’s attention.  They were pure white.

“So the rest of the band has come at last? And I see you’ve used a meat suit.”

“Call it an equal partnership.” Brian’s voice spoke through Constantine.  His eyes then turned from white to blue as Roger’s voice then spoke up.

“But don’t think this’ll be a simple meet and greet. You mess with John Deacon, you mess with us!”

“In fact; you mess with one Queen, you mess with all of us Queen’s!” Freddie’s voice soon said as Constantine’s eyes once again changed from blue to yellow.  After tuning the Red special his eyes once again shifted back to white as he let out another sonic guitar riff which sent another ghostly wave right at Beelzebub, distracting him long enough so that John could save his family.

Finally John began to slowly lower the rope down and finally the car landed safely on top of the barge.

The crew on the barge quickly ran towards the car and helped (Y/n) out first before helping Veronica and finally bringing Robert out of the beat up car.

From above, John released the rope and looked down at his family, relieved that they were safe and sound.

*My POV*

After the crew on the barge asked if we were okay or hurt I looked up towards my granddad and smiled up at him.

“So this is what you’ve been up to?” my dad asked. I nodded.

“Yeah. I got to finally meet granddad and his friends.”

“I just—I can’t believe it’s really him.” He said in awe.

“Believe it my boy. He may not look how he once was, but only one man has ever made me feel that safe in any situation.” Nana said as she came up to us.

Suddenly I noticed that the demon Beelzebub was now flying right back towards grandad and it looked like he had iron chains to use as a rope.

“GRANDDAD WATCH OUT!!!” I cried out but it was too late. We watched in horror as the chains went around his throat and he was now being flown across the sky to god knows where with an iron chain around his throat.  Constantine flew right over towards us and I asked him. “Where did that demon take him?”

“They’re heading for the Tower hamlets cemetery.” Roger’s voice spoke out of him.

“Wait…..Roger?” Nana asked.  Constantine smiled and Roger spoke through him.

“Hey Ronnie, been a long time eh?” I then saw his eyes change from blue to yellow as Freddie now took over.

“Don’t worry, leave this to us Ronnie dear.”

“I’m coming too!” I proclaimed.

“Absolutely out of the question!” dad exclaimed.

“You better listen to your dad on this one love.” Constantine’s true voice soon spoke up. “I told you, I don’t let normal humans get in too deep with what I do. And you’re already deep enough as it is. Stay with your nana and father and get somewhere safe.”

“If I’m already this deep in then let me go in all the way! That’s my grandfather out there and he’s in danger! I refuse to lose him just when I STARTED TO GET TO KNOW HIM!!!!” my voice steadily got louder till I screamed at him.  My breathing became sharp and heavy as my eyes flickered with tears. “Now take me with you.”

“Why must women always be so stubborn?” he muttered.

“Welcome to our world Johnny boy.” Roger soon spoke up. His eyes then shifted from blue to white as Brian’s voice said.

“It could be dangerous (Y/n), are you sure?”

“Please Brian. If you got the chance to meet your granddad, would you want him to suddenly be taken away from you by some demon bastard?” He looked down then extended out Constantine’s hand.

“Don’t let go no matter what. This won’t be like back on the farm.” I took his hand when my dad said to me one more time.

“(Y/n)—”

“Dad please. If you were my age you’d—you’d do the same thing.” He walked towards me and for the first time in years, he actually gave me a proper hug.

“Just be careful sweetheart.” I leaned my head against his chest and promised him that I would.  After he separated from me, Constantine and I flew up to the sky and headed towards the Tower hamlets cemetery park.

*3rd Person POV*

At the cemetery, Beelzebub flew John over the vast forest and graves till they came up onto a small tomb.  Then like a whip, he threw John right through the tomb.

John tried to keep himself a float but due to the iron stabs he took and his psychic powers still on the fritz, all he could do was phase through the walls till he finally landed on the ground with thump and a roll.  He let out a groan as he slowly tried to stand up.

“Misery, pain, and suffering. That’s what you and your friends have chosen.” Beelzebub’s voice soon spoke up.  He looked up and he saw the fly demon standing right before him. John weakly stood up as Beelzebub continued on. “I offer you a choice, and you still cling to your mortal life.”

The fly demon grabbed John’s arm and twisted it before punching him straight in the chest.  He then did an uppercut before doing a right hook right into John’s face.

John panted breathlessly and wasn’t prepared for the iron staff to suddenly knock him right off of his feet sending him flying out of the tomb back out into the open graveyard.

Beelzebub soon flew up in the air with the staff raised high above his head, almost like he was ready to smite a dragon.  Quickly thinking John phased through the ground which left Beelzebub to stab his sword into nothing but grass and dirt.

John silently appeared a few feet behind him and put his arms parallel of each other which sent a strong air current over Beelzebub, forcing him to flip around till he landed on his side.  Next, John’s began to move in an elegant manner (think of Scarlet Witch) as the next thing Beelzebub knew, he was being wrapped up in vines and weeds.

It didn’t hold him much longer cause the next thing John saw was that his fly-like wings, snapped his bounds off of him and he now turned towards John.  He charged right at the ghost and the two of them began a close hand to hand combat.

John kept his guard up and mostly dodged the punches coming at him but a knee to the face as he ducked down sent him flying. Before he could even stand up, Beelzebub grabbed him by the hair and tossed him like a ragdoll before taking out the iron staff again and smashed it right across his face sending him flying right towards a statue of the Virgin Mary.

John weakly looked up.  Never before had he been this beaten up in either his living or his deceased years.  He slowly raised his hand up but before he could even do a single psychic attack, Beelzebub stepped on his hand and sneered out.

“You’ve played your last concert John Deacon. Had you not been so selfish your family’s death would’ve been quick and painless but now that you’ve really pissed. Me. Off. I’m gonna finish each of them—nice and slow.”

Now John was enraged.

“The Deacons and I,” he revealed a three point death scythe that stuck out like a pitchfork. “We’re gonna have a hell of a Night.” John slowly stood up as he kept his eyes on the demon before him.

Beelzebub then went to stab John right in the face but John actually grabbed the three point scythe and held back his demise. The two monsters literally shaking as one tried to thrust the scythe while the other held it back.  John’s form glitching with rage as his eyes shifted between black and red.

Finally with a ghostly wail, John sent Beelzebub right off his feet, sending him flying almost 3m.  John then lifted his hand so that the weeds could bind themselves around Beelzebub’s feet to trip him up and send him right on his face.  He then looked at a large weeping angel statue and used his powers to slowly tip the Weeping angel statue towards him.

Trapped and bound with no ways of escaping, Beelzebub screamed as the statue fell right on top of him, smashing to nothing but rubble. To even add more injury, John looked at any nearby statue which was enough for them to come tumbling down right on top of Beelzebub, crushing him under rock and stone.  

Soon there was nothing but rubble and dust circling around their spot of the cemetery.

Finally getting the strength to pull himself out of the rubble, Beelzebub’s hand was the only thing to peak out.  Slowly he pulled himself out, stumbling as he tried to regain his footing.  The cemetery was eerily silent and pitch black, and John Deacon was nowhere in sight.

He slowly turned around in a circle trying to find the ghost of the young bass player but couldn’t find him anywhere. Suddenly a Banshee like scream came from behind him as he was grabbed by the throat and flown up high at crazy fast speed.

He was slammed through a small tomb and fell to the ground rolling on the floor.  Then he felt himself being pinned against the wall with his hands extended outward.  Landing in front of him was an enraged John Deacon.  He teleported right in front of the fly demon roughly holding him by the throat.

He didn’t speak a word, just sent one powerful punch into his ribs, hearing the loud snapping of his ribs breaking before sucker punching him across the face.  As a portion of his upper body slacked to the left, John brought him right back to position one and sent another punch, this time harder at the demon’s face.

Punch after punch after punch.  Giving into his anger and hatred with each punch until a voice snapped him out of it.

“GRANDPA!!!”

*My POV*

Once we landed in the cemetery I could already see what looked like a scuffle.  Tombstones knocked over, statues torn down, and close by I could hear the wails of a banshee.  Freddie, Brian and Roger soon left Constantine’s body and Freddie said.

“That’s Deacy alright. Those painful, agonizing wails can only come from one person.”

“He’s already giving into the hate. Seeing you, your father and his wife being hurt has caused him to unleash his full potential. If he kills that demon, I’ll have to kill him cause a ghost that angry is a bloody dangerous one.” Constantine said.

“No just let me talk to him. I can save him!” I raced off following the painful, hate-filled wails.  Freddie, Rog, and Brian floating right behind me and Constantine racing close behind.

We arrived at a tomb where a large hole stood at the top of it.  We raced inside and I could already see my grandad punching the demon across his fly-like face.  Each punch we all could hear a sickening crack of bone.

“GRANDPA!!” I screamed at him.  His head snapped towards me and I could already see him glitching with rage and his eyes were now pure red.  Slowly I walked towards him with my hands up. “I know you’re in there somewhere, I just need you to listen.”

I took a step literally every other minute just so that I wouldn’t unleash the rageful ghost he now was.  The once friendly appearance he had, was now more demonic.  

His hair now looked like a raging fire instead of floating calmly like a river, his face now contorted to something right out of the Nun or Poltergeist, a face between his actual human form or showing his inner skeletal form, and the glitching didn’t help either, in fact it made him even more menacing looking.

Then of course there were his eyes.  The pure, demonic red eyes that made me want to sink to my knees and plead for my life to be spared.  I almost hate to compare but it was like my grandfather had become the Devil himself.

“Nana, dad and I are fine. See? Just shaken up and a little bruised but we’re all okay. So you need to stop this.” Suddenly I felt myself being pulled right towards him and his long, skeletal fingers wrapped around my throat giving it a squeeze.

I could see Constantine going for something but I wheezed out.

“Don’t. you. dare!” I turned back to my granddad who just looked at me like a crazed, possessed spirit.  He didn’t even recognize me at this point. “Please,” I pleaded. “I finally just got to know you. If you kill that demon now, I’ll lose you forever.” He didn’t speak a word, just slowly kept turning his head side to side like a demonic puppy.

I slowly reached my hand out to cup the side of his face and whispered one last time.

“I love you grandad. Please come back to me.” He continued to glare at me for a few more minutes before suddenly his grip on my throat released.  His constant glitching began to stop but he still had a tick.  I walked closer to him till finally I just embraced him and nuzzled into his chest. “I want my shy, sweet gramps back.”

I felt his arms wrap around me and he squeezed me as tightly as he could.  I looked up and was finally looking at my granddad again.  His form no longer glitching with rage, his eyes back to the pure black they were, and his face no longer contorted or demonic.

It was just him in his ghostly self.  Tears filled my eyes as I sobbed happily.

“I’m so sorry (y/n).” he choked out with regret. I shook my head no and embraced him tightly.

“It’s over now. It’s all over.” He separated from me to look down at me and he looked me over worriedly.

“You’re sure you’re not—”

“I’m fine. And so are dad and nana. You saved us.” He smiled and cupped my face in his hands.  His eyes full of love and admiration.

“My granddaughter.” He praised lovingly.

“My granddad.” He soon began laughing before frantically kissing all over my face.  I giggled softly as he kept kissing me before finally ending it with a kiss to my nose, just like nana always did when I was a little girl.

Freddie, Roger, and Brian soon came over and they embraced their friend and brother.  Thanking God that granddad didn’t succumb to the rage and turn into a bad ghost.

I then turned towards Constantine who now stood before the fly demon Beelzebub and began chanting out some ancient chant. Then almost like a scene out of Harry Potter when Barty Crouch Jr. was revealed, the demon’s face began spaz out and shift.

Soon the face revealed a man with a tache, a tuff of hair on his head and his skin was rotting away.  It was like looking at a zombie from the Walking dead.

“Paul Prenter.” Roger hissed out.  He turned his head towards us and he said.

“Freddie, boys, oh thank god for you all.”

“For what?” snapped Brian.

“For sparing me. I never wanted to do any of this! Please you must believe me! Lucifer is—is powerful.”

“Don’t bullshit us Prenter right now you’re just taking the piss!” Roger hissed.

“How would he know of Veronica? About my son and granddaughter?” granddad asked.  Before Prenter could even say a word, Constantine soon spoke up.

“I think I can explain that. See I have been diving into what happened to you four for years. For over 4 decades people have speculated on just what happened to the once rising band Queen. But 2 months ago I came across someone who said they knew the truth of what happened that day.”

“What’s the true story?” I asked.

“I had gotten an anonymous tip from Belfast and it was there I met an old man named Michael Prenter. Who after 45 years since the murders had to finally confess his sins that he knew who the real killer was.” It was then he turned towards Paul.

Prenter looked down almost shamefully till a sickening grin spread across his face and he softly cackled.

“So that bastard of a brother of mine finally squealed like a pig eh? I knew I should’ve killed him too when I told him. But then again Mother would’ve been heartbroken had her favorite son suddenly turned up dead.”

“You……you killed us?” Freddie spoke with heartbreak, shock, betrayal, and sorrow.

“It was Reid’s mistake to have us go so far out of the city. No one could hear the screams, I only meant to kill just three. You were just enough for the record.”

“You ended us just before our careers could really take off. All these years Queen could’ve been one of the greatest bands of all but you took that from us! AND FOR WHAT!?” Freddie snapped.

“Freddie please—I love you.” Granddad and I looked at each other scoffing and rolling our eyes.

“You ruined us Paul. You stole our lives and away from our families. Now you may not be able to repair that, but you can pay for what you did.” Freddie hissed lowly in a threatening way. “Nearly killing Deacy’s family is like killing our family. And that will not go unpunished.”

“No Freddie please! I did this for you! For us!”

“You did it for yourself you dirty, rotten Rat king! Get rid of him Constantine dear.”

“About time I got to get rid of something.” He muttered as he lit up his lighter and burned a piece of paper with an Anti-demon insignia on it and he began chanting out an exorcism.  He tossed it right at Paul’s feet and he started twitching and the fire started to encompass him.

His screams of agony echoed throughout the tomb. Granddad tucked my head into his chest so that I wouldn’t have to see what happens to a soul during an exorcism. All I could hear was Paul’s agonizing screams and the sounds of the fire consuming his soul alive.

Then the tomb went silent.  There wasn’t anymore screaming, no flames roaring, no more chanting.  It was just quiet.

“It is finished.” Constantine said.

“The bastard deserved it. Now I hope he’s burning in hell.” Roger said.

“Don’t worry, he is.” Constantine assured him.

“(Y/n)!”

“(Y/n)!” the two voices were from my dad and nana. I ran towards the back of the tomb and said.

“We’re in here!” they came around the tomb and I raced over to them and immediately raced to my nana who embraced me first before my dad came up and embraced us.

“Are you alright?” nana asked me.

“I’m fine nana, I’m okay. Constantine got rid of Beelzebub—or well Paul Prenter. He’s gone. And nana he was the reason granddad and his friends died. He killed them while they were at Rockfield farm.” Nana turned towards granddad who looked down solemnly.

“So that’s what happened? But how come the police never told me it was a homicide?”

“Paul maybe a slime but he was clever. His brother told me that the way Paul had done it was not just one way. His brother said that the first one he killed was you John, simply smothering you in your sleep till you gave out. Next one he killed was Roger.  Yours was the most rageful according to his brother. He said that Paul had beaten you in the head with one of the guitars you all brought.”

“Jesus, no wonder why for the first few decades I felt my head banging.” He said as he placed a hand to his head.

“Brian’s was the swiftest. A total of 20 stab wounds mostly around the chest and face. Which explains why that cut on your cheek still seeps out ghost blood.” Brian raised his hand to the cut on his cheek and watched as the blood danced across his fingers before fading away.

“I—I think I remember that. I remember someone standing over me, bloody and……..oh god.” Brian went speechless.

His white eyes shined with pure shock and it made me want to just go up there and give him a hug (even though I knew I couldn’t).

“He left you for last Freddie Mercury. The one he was passionate about, but the way he had done you is probably the cruelest I had ever seen.”

“What did he do?” he asked gravely.

“Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“If you don’t tell me I’ll force it out of you.” Freddie hissed.  Constantine sighed heavily before finally revealing how the frontman of Queen died.

“First to ensure you wouldn’t wake up during the first three murders. He slipped you a few sleeping pills in your drink the night after recording the album. When you woke up, you first saw the blood from Roger’s room. That’s when you found your best friend dead on the bed, head almost completely smashed in. You then ran to Brian’s room only to find that he too was dead. Hoping that he too hadn’t been killed, you then ran to find Deacy over there. At first you thought he was asleep, buried underneath the pillows but when you felt just how cold he felt, you realized that he was dead as a doornail.”

Oh my god. This—this was…….I can’t believe Paul would do something like that. And to have Freddie wake up the next morning to see that his best friends in the whole wide world were dead.

“And that’s when he killed Freddie last?” nana asked.  Constantine nodded.

“Four gunshots right in the chest. The last shot entered right into your heart.”

“But what I don’t understand is if the main reason why my dad and his friends died was homicide, then why didn’t they ever find the bodies?” my dad asked.

“That’s where he got clever. Paul Prenter sat there for days while your bodies began to decompose. After the 7th day, Lucifer himself came to the farm and told Prenter how to perfectly dispose of the bodies by burning them. Using a spell that he had been given by the devil himself, Paul was able to cast a spell as your bodies, including any normal remains such as bones, teeth and clothes, would turn to ash. Poof. No more Queen. And thus the theories began to rise about what had happened to the band that was last seen at Rockfield farm studios.”

Nana turned to granddad and slowly walked towards him.  He looked at her almost shamefully.  As the two of them now stood face to face for the first time in 45 years, he said to her.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I—I did this to you. You could’ve moved on from me, had a new life. Had more children. I caused you so much pain Ronnie. I don’t deserve……”

“Stop right there John Richard Deacon.” She snapped sternly. “You—you did nothing wrong. None of this was your fault. There’s only one man, who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, would have children with, and only one man I have ever loved. And you’ve literally proven to me that not even death could part us.”

Granddad slowly reached out to her and gently stroked a strand of her short white hair out of her face before resting his hand on her cheek.  Nana nuzzled her face into his hand as she held onto his arm.

“You’re still as beautiful as the day I first met you.” aww.

“Now I know you’re spewing lies.” Nana teased.

“I never jest when it comes to you. I always knew you’d be beautiful, even as we grew old and grey together.” God my heart! Then the two of them leaned towards each other and finally kissed one another after being taken away from each other.

I placed my hand over my heart and felt tears fall down my face.  Now I finally got to see just how much nana loved him.  From the stories she’s shared with me these past three months, I was finally seeing with my own two eyes of the love these two clearly shared with each other.

They really were meant to be.

Their kiss was so soft and warm it was like seeing something out of a romantic novel.  Their lips brushing against each other’s even after separating, their noses gently nudging the other’s, and both of them wearing the warmest, sweetest smile they both could ever make.  Eyes gleaming with love and happiness.

I turned to my dad who looked like he was about to cry.  Finally seeing his parents back together, it was probably a dream come true for him. For years in his late teen all the way through adult years he’s tried to keep any mentions of granddad a secret so it wouldn’t upset nana.  

Now he’s finally getting the chance to see his parents expressing the love they shared and clearly still had even after all these years.

It was then nana and pops turned towards us and he extended his hand out as he called my dad over.  My dad suddenly grew nervous so he looked to his mum for guidance. She smiled lovingly and nodded, assuring him it was okay.

He then turned to me asking me through his expression if it was okay.  I gave him a gently shove and he walked towards the father he never got to know.

When the two of them stood face to face it was scary to suddenly realize just how much my dad looked like granddad (if he had gotten the chance to age past 24).  Pops just stared at my dad in disbelief before he finally cupped his face in his hands.

“You’re so big.” Was the first thing granddad choked out.  There was soft laughter everywhere and dad choked out.

“Yeah uhh……” he cleared his throat. “God I—I only dreamed about this as a kid. I—I had so many things to tell you but I…..I don’t know……I’m so sorry dad. I—I gave up on you. The mere mention of your name broke mum so much that I just…..I couldn’t bring myself to tell (y/n) about you. Can…..can you ever forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive my son.” Pops gently wiped away a hidden tear that fell from my dad’s face. “But let me give you one piece of advice; Fatherhood is never easy. There’s no shortcuts, no easy-way-out. When your mum found out she was pregnant, I was scared to death cause of the financial situation we were in. But I was willing to go with it, cause I wanted to be a father, even though I was terrified.”

“She’s always told me how much you were wanting to see me once the album was done.”

“And I would give anything in the world to have had that chance to hold you. To be the father I wanted to be. I never wanted you to grow up fatherless like I did. I would’ve given you siblings if you asked me.” The two of them laughed, god even their laughs were similar. “Now I know things have been difficult with you since your divorce. But you shouldn’t hide within your work. I can tell you this, no matter how popular Queen would’ve gotten had we released our 4th album, no matter what success came our way, I would trade it all away for you and your mother. Because nothing is more important than family.”

The two of them looked towards me.

“She’s coming to the age where she’ll be a full grown adult. So don’t ever let her say she thinks you don’t love her anymore. Because that’ll break your heart.” My dad nodded as he immediately embraced his father and wept.

I had never seen my dad cry so much—wait scratch that, I’ve never seen him cry at all.  Seeing my dad weep openly like a child in his dad’s arms broke my heart. Tears dripped from my eyes and I could see nana covering her mouth as she was openly sobbing at the sight she longed to see.

Both her boys together and embracing each other.

After they shared their moment, pops pressed his forehead against my dad’s and the two of them stayed in that position for awhile before granddad finally gave my father a kiss at the center of his forehead.

They separated after one last hug and that’s when granddad turned his attention toward me.  He came towards me and immediately placed his hand to my cheek. I pressed my hand against his cold, ghostly black hand and kissed his palm.

“Now knowing the truth I finally get why you felt so familiar the night we met. You have both your father and grandmother in you. Your father’s hair, but you have your grandmother’s eyes, nose, and golden heart. As well as the same beauty that attracted me to her the night we met. Which means Robert you better keep a sharp eye on her.” Once again there was laughter in the air.

“Don’t I know it.” Pops turned back toward me and I said to him.

“I wish I had gotten the chance to know you when you were alive. You and the guys.”

“So do I. I can only imagine how much I would’ve looked forward to being a granddad. I would’ve spoiled you rotten every time you came to Veronica and I.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling her.” Nana spoke up.

“But I am happy to have gotten to know you at all.” Granddad said as his thumb gently stroked my cheek.

“Guess I really need to thank Brandon for forcing us to go to the studio. It must’ve been fate or something.”

“Whatever it was, I’m glad you did go along with it. I got to see the most beautiful grandchild in the world, finally got the chance to see my son, and be reunited with the woman I love.”

The sun then began to rise and the night sky began to shift into the dawn’s light.  But what soon caught our attention was a star-like brightness that shined on the back gate.  It slowly opened up and that’s when Brian asked.

“What is that?”

“The entrance to your next life.” Constantine spoke up.  We all turned to him and he continued, “Now that you four know the truth and got closure, you can finally move on. Your souls no longer bound to Earth anymore.”

“You mean—they can pass on to Heaven?” asked nana. Constantine nodded.  I turned to my granddad and the guys (can I call the rest of Queen my uncles at this point?).

“So—does this mean I’ll never get to see you guys again?” Freddie came up to me and he said.

“We’ll never truly leave you darling. Because legends never die.”

“He’s right. We’ll always be with you kiddo, here,” Roger said as he pointed to my head first. “And here.” Then he pointed right at my heart.

“And so long as you keep our music close, and the memories you had with us at the farm closer, we’ll never truly leave you.” Brian finished.

“I’ll miss you guys.” I said.

“Oh dear we’ll miss you too. You have been the best thing to happen to us in 45 years since our death.” Freddie said. The three of them surrounded me and put me in the middle of a group hug.

Amazingly this time, I was able to feel the three of them finally touch me.  Once they also realized that their hands and arms no longer went through me, their embrace grew tighter (especially Rog’s and Fred’s).

They each hugged and kissed me individually next telling me their goodbyes, thank yous and I love yous and I did the same back to them.  I turned back towards my family to see pops whispering something to Nana in her ear before taking her hand in his and planting a soft kiss to it, as well as giving her one last kiss on the lips.

He then turned towards my dad, cupped the side of his head and whispered in his ear next.  Dad nodded before the two of them embraced each other tightly.  After the two of them released the hug, granddad kissed my dad’s forehead before turning around towards me and extended his hand as he said.

“Come here poppet.” I walked towards him and placed my hand in his.  He leaned down towards my ear and whispered.

“I shall always be with you until we’re together again.” I nodded and he gave me a soft kiss right on my cheek.

The four of us then did one final family group hug with granddad having his arms around all of us.  I was in the middle nuzzling into his chest, dad leaned against granddad’s right side while nana took the left, placing her head right where his heart would be.

After what felt like eternity, granddad forced himself away from us as he walked towards Freddie, Brian and Roger who now stood before the opened gate into heaven.  The four of them looked at us and they waved goodbye.

The three of us waved a tearful goodbye back and I blew them a kiss.

As the four of them turned their backs to us I could hear Freddie say.

“I just hope it won’t be boring up there.”

“All I hope is that there’ll be lots of lovely angels up there.” Roger spoke out.

“Typical Roger, even in death you still can’t help yourself.” Brian said.

“Ever the play boy in life or death.” Granddad’s voice echoed before finally all four of their spirits disappeared into the sunlight. My dad and nana came up beside me and they each had an arm wrapped around me and the three of us watched as the gates soon closed and the sun rose higher and higher into the sky.

I turned around to see Constantine walking away with his hands in his pockets.

“Constantine!” I called out.  He stopped and turned back towards me. “Thank you. For everything.” He grinned and simply said.

“Just another day in the office love. Now—try not to evoke anymore demonic deities or spiritual apparitions.”

“I’ll try.”

“Good day to you then Deacon family. And I hope to never see you lot again.” And with that he walked away.  Then finally we left the cemetery and hailed a cabbie home.

*Epilogue*

I’ll tell you this much.  After the events of March. 19th, things were different from that day on.  My dad and I patched things up.  He left his company and became an author.  His books got some recognition but it was his 3rd book titled LEGEND OF THE BAND that was his best seller.

He wrote it as a fictional piece so that we could respect the privacy of his father and how Queen truly died.  But we also had tragedy hit us.  

Five years later, nana passed away peacefully in her sleep.  We thought it was best for her to be buried where her husband’s body was last seen.

We drove up to Rockfield farm and we buried her right near the building where the recording studio was.  During her funeral I played granddad’s song he made for her, “You’re my best friend” as a way to let granddad know that she was coming for him.

I would go to London University and study criminology.  I slowly go up the ranks and by the time I turn 35 I become the leading detective in the Cold cases division.

I help hundreds of families find closure on the deaths of loved ones they’ve lost for decades.  With every case I solve; I see my story back when I was just a teenage when I finally got to meet my long deceased grandfather and the band members of Queen.  Because of me, no one got to wonder what ever happened to their loved ones and we bring justice to those that forced the families to grieve for as long as mine has.

As I now lay there in my bed at the tinder age of 97 sick and fading, I would question whether I did enough.  But as I close my eyes and hear the voices of my father and grandparents, as well as my uncles it puts me at ease.  I had done my job and now it was time.

The next time I woke up, I was a 17 year old teenager again and right there at the gates of Heaven I see my father, Freddie, Brian, Roger and my grandparents.  All young and vibrant.

This time my grandfather and uncles were back to how they were when they were human back in the 1970s.  All of them wore soft smiles and extending his and out to me was my granddad.  I walked towards him and placed my hand in his.

He pulled me towards them and I was once again engulfed in a family group hug.  I smile as I buried my head between my nana and granddad.

Finally at peace and happy with my family in the gates of Heaven.

[jaehyunspeachparty]

daddy jaehyun

iii.xxi. (a)

You wake up and you are confused. It wasn't your bed that you were lying in but everything looked so familiar. You sit up and feel nothing, not even your body. When you look around you realize that you were in the old room where you grew up. And then you remembered that you were pregnant. But you feel nothing, absolutely nothing. Everything was deaf. You put the blanket aside and see blood. Your whole abdomen was covered in blood. At that moment you panicked. Why are you bleeding? Are you losing your babies right now? With a lot of effort, you hoisted yourself up. You hold your stomach and your hands were already covered with blood. You start to cry because you don't know what to do anymore. You brace yourself against the wall and you go to your old house. You continue to leave a trail of blood behind you and when you look down, you recognize your mother. She sat at the dining table and drank her breakfast martini. "Mum, my babies." You call down to her and try to go down the stairs. "Mum, I'm losing them." You start to cry and your mother looked up at you for the first time. She was very calm and put her glass down. "Mum, I need help." You clasp your belly tight and come closer to your mother. "Mummy, please." You try to reach for her, but she got up disgusted. "You only want to prove to me with your children that you are a better mother." She looked at you contemptuously and it was the typical look you always see from your mother. "Mum please, it's not about us. I can't lose more children. Please help me." You feel how your body hurt and you were still surrounded by fear. But your mother just laughed and left. Her laughter reverberated until you startled.

"Y/N?" You hear your name and it wasn't your mother. What happened? Slowly you open your eyes and you can recognize him. You were so relieved to see his soft, dark eyes. "Jaehyun?" It was difficult for you to speak, you had incredible pain in your throat and your voice was very hoarse. "Hey, I'm there, everything is fine now." He smiled and stroked your cheeks. But you still found it difficult to orient yourself. Why is he there? Where is your mother? "Jaehyun?" Now it all came in your mind again; all the blood, the pain. You get panic because you still couldn't feel your body. And the last time you woke up in a hospital room, your baby was shaved out of your womb. And now you were lying there again, not feeling your body. Have you lost your children? "Are the babies dead?" You try to move, but everything was so difficult for you. It was like you were stunned. "No, the babies are fine." Jaehyun laughed and cried at the same time. But you still didn't know what had happened. He took your hand and put it on your stomach. And then you feel a very gentle kick. It was all just a dream, you only had a nightmare. You started laughing and you were so relieved. "You can feel them now from the outside." You laugh with relief and put your second hand on your stomach. "Yes, I've already played with them already." Jaehyun smiled, but still, there were tears in his eyes. And at that moment the question shot into you. "But if the babies are fine, why am I here?" You look around you and your whole body was connected to devices. "Someone drugged you." And at that moment you could see so much anger on Jaehyun's face. But you're trying to remind yourself of something. "Drugged me?" You have little memory and try to connect things together. "They had to pump your stomach out because they were afraid that the drug would be digested and thus get into the placenta. They said that some drugs in the date rape drug could cause that the fetus develops severe muscle disease." Jaehyun now lay down in bed next to you and hugged you. "What? Did the twins get anything?" You look down at you in panic, but Jaehyun stroked your belly soothingly. "No, because they were not quiet for a second. Their activities show that they are doing well and tests have all been good so far." He smiled and kissed your forehead. "That means our babies are fine? Where are Miga and Sunoh?" How gladly you would now hug your two children. You already miss them so incredibly. "They were with Winwin and now with Kun. He will bring them here." He smiled softly and you keep trying to solve the puzzle in your mind. "Y/N, do you know who put the drug in your drink?" His eyes were more concerned now and parts of the evening were slowly coming back in fragments. "I only drank water." You can remember how you got a glass of it in the kitchen, but then it went black again. "I'm sorry, I don't remember anymore." Your head felt so heavy and it was hard to think. "The doctor said that your memory will slowly come back. Don't worry." He kissed you and you stayed there for a while.

The gynecologist and a few other doctors came to see you during the day and examined you. They explained everything to you and the results showed that you were lucky. Since you had vomited right away, a large part could already be washed out and the children got nothing. You and Jaehyun could see your babies again on ultrasound and you can see how lively they were. Both kicked wildly around and you could feel your body, and thus the babies, again. You were so happy to watch it. And Jaehyun was also in love with them. They continued to control the babies, but the doctors were sure that the drugs hadn't went into the placenta. "It was Eunbi, by the way, that made you vomit. She intercepted you before more could have happened. You should call her." Jaehyun explained it to you and you were glad you were not mistaken in her. You smiled and were just happy that your twins were healthy. And before you could talk more, you hear your son's crying from the hallway. "I think the children are there." Jaehyun laughed and got up from your bed. You sit up too and can't wait to see your children. When the door opened, Kun came in with Sunoh over his shoulders and Miga by the hand. "Look there is your mummy." He pointed to you and Sunoh became calm at that moment. "Mummyyyyyyy." Miga also ran to you and climbed onto the bed. Kun then dropped Sunoh on you. "So the little boy took our nerves a bit because he always cried for you. My wife is no longer sure whether she wants children." He sighed and looked desperately at the little boy, who was now snuggling up to you contentedly. "Oh, I'm so sorry Kun. He's been so affectionate since I’m pregnant." You stroke his little head and slowly his eyes shut too. Apparently, he got tired of crying all day. "No problem, we know how it is anyway." "But thanks Kun, we are glad that you and Winwin could have a look at the children." Jaehyun was really grateful and Kun nodded. The two never had a close friendship, but they all always held together. "Are you all right?" Kun quickly turned to you before he had to go. "Yes, everything is fine now." You stroke your children's hair and feel your babies kick. Everything is perfect now. "I'm glad to hear that. I just have to keep going. But I hope everything will be fine." He smiled and then left the room. "Mummy? Why does your belly look so weird?" You were only halfway through your pregnancy and it started to get tight in your stomach and you could already see where the children were moving. "These are the babies." Jaehyun came to you and used today's ultrasound to show Miga where her new siblings are.

"What if we call one Eunbi if the twins become girls. Because thanks to her, the children are healthy." It was already evening now, but Jaehyun stayed the whole time with Sunoh and Miga in your room. "Yes, that sounds good. Now we still need one girl name and two boy names. Although after the current incident, I would prefer two boys." Jaehyun sighed and stroked Miga's head, who was sitting on his lap and playing on his phone. "I don't know how I can survive that. All the worry about my girls." He continued to look at Miga and you could see how afraid he was. "I hope I had to go through this so that our children never have to experience it." You smile, but Jaehyun still looked worriedly at you. "It should never have happened." Jaehyun's eyes were angry, he rarely looked that way. And you're worried about him and his wrong decisions. "Jaehyun, nothing happened." You try to calm him down, but his rigid and determined look never goes away. "Someone had put drugs in your drink for a reason." He was so angry and you could see so much hate. But before you could say anything, someone knocked on the door. It was Eunbi who shyly entered the room. "Hi, how are you? Am I bothering you?" She stopped shyly in front of your bed and just looked at you. "No, absolutely not. Look, Miga, Sunoh! Eunbi is a friend of Mummy." The two greeted her and Eunbi giggled shyly. "Just ignore Jaehyun, he's angry right now." You're kidding but Jaehyun didn't find it all that funny. "Y/N, you don't take it seriously. Someone wanted to rape you. Eunbi, do you know who she talked to last?" You could always see it on his hand when Jaehyun was angry because his body twitched with anger and he always made a fist. "Let her be, she will also ..." You wanted to defend her, but then she interrupted you. "Matthew and such a weird friend talked to you in the kitchen. I wanted to get you out of the situation because you looked like you weren't comfortable." And suddenly you freeze and you remembered it. "Matthew?" You ask again to be sure, but Eunbi nodded. "What about him? Was it him?" Jaehyun came up to you and you continue to think about it. "He threatened me a week or so ago. He wanted to date me and I told him I was married. He didn't believe me because I wasn't wearing a wedding ring and held me. When another person came by, he was startled and I was able to get into the car quickly. He hit it but I was faster. " Everything came to your mind more and more and you thought that it could only be Matthew. "Why didn't you tell me about it?" Jaehyun looked worriedly at you and you hesitate. "Johnny got the news of his child that night and then ... I didn't know if I should tell you because you would get angry otherwise." "But it's normal for me to get angry. Someone is trying to hurt you." Jaehyun was desperate. "Please now ... I know what you're capable of. Don't do anything rash." He stared at you and you know your husband too well that you know what's going on in his head. "Y/N ..." He gritted his teeth and his breath was short. He was almost scary. "Before you do anything, think first about the consequences, about your children, about your job." You warn him, but he was completely beside himself.

Jaehyun brought Eunbi home even though he was shaking with anger. Miga asked innumerable questions during the drive anyway and thus held the conversation. "Kind of weird. Y/N is in the hospital and Matthew is at home here enjoying his life. And according to Korean law, I hardly see any way that she can accuse him." She sighed and was still worried. "He lives here?" Jaehyun spoke for the first time while driving. "Yes in this house." She pointed to it and suddenly Jaehyun stopped. "Do you know which room?" He stopped the engine. "No don't. Y/N doesn't want that and you could be prosecuted." Eunbi knew what he was up to. But Jaehyun took a cap, black mask, and gloves from the glove compartment. "Please think about it. You could lose your job." She looked at him desperately and Jaehyun stopped for a moment. He had his hands on the steering wheel and he only asked one question: should he really do it?

daddy jaehyun masterlist

[fandom-imagines]

Twins

Fandom: Overwatch

Pairing: Jesse McCree X Reader

Warnings: Abusive ex boyfriend, violence, semi-smut?

Words: 2248

Summary: After seeing Jesse McCree again after 11 years, some secrets are revealed.

It was weird, being back here at Overwatch headquarters many years later with my old colleagues. The HQ was the same, nothing much had really changed besides it being cleaned up a tad bit since the previous time I was here all those years ago. Most of the members hadn’t changed much too, besides me of course but I guess having two kids would do that to a girl. Speaking of those too little rascals, my mind began to wander slightly wondering how the two twins were doing hanging out with Hana, most likely playing video games. I had left Jacob and Jessica with Hana to do whatever they pleased as Hana had decided against going to the reunion party, favouring to stream for her fans.

“Y/F/N, I haven’t heard that name in years.” A thick southern accent sounded from behind me.

Oh shit.

“Jesse.” I said, forcing a smile as I turned to face him.

“Always wondered where you’d headed off to, darling.” He smiled back, his also forced as he placed emphasis on the term darling.

Of course, I expected this reaction. I had completely abandoned him eleven years ago.

Panicked, I paced frantically back and forth across the tiled floor of my bathroom, my bare toes occasionally brushing the blue rug in mine and Mccree’s shared bathroom.

“Shit, shit, shit.” I mumbled, tugging at my hair in an attempt to release some of the panic.

Obviously, it didn’t work.

My eyes looked up from the ground to the sink, spotting the positive pregnancy test placed on top of it which began to stress me out further.

The one time me and Jesse had gotten drunk and had some ‘fun’ this had to happen. The one time.

My brain, clouded with panic, immediately went to the one idea that I probably shouldn’t have done.

Run away.

So, I did.

I headed to the commander’s office, explaining the issue and how I wanted to do what was best for me and my soon to be born baby. He understood, allowing me to leave but not before agreeing to not mention it to anybody, not even my boyfriend. And that was the last I ever saw of Jesse Mccree, until today…

“Well, you know…” I gulped, eyes looking anywhere except his pleading ones. “Duty calls.” I shrugged.

He gave me a fake nod along with a smile.

Despite the eleven years away from him, my feelings hadn’t faded one bit. He was still the handsome cowboy I fell in love with when I was young and probably would always be in love with but, after I did what I did, I didn’t expect him to feel the same.

“How have you been?” He asked politely, making me loosen up a little.

Maybe he isn’t as angry now. It must have been a shock seeing me.

“I’ve been okay.” I smiled slightly, “How have you been Jess?” I asked, the nickname slipping so casually off my tongue, not feeling foreign at all making both our eyes widen.

“I-I’ve been okay too.” He stuttered, pink darting up onto his cheeks.

“Good, good.” I said, looking towards my purse as my phone began to ring.

“Excuse me,” I excused myself, the clicking of my heels sounding behind me as I headed outside of the venue, still feelings his eyes on me.

“Hey, Hana. What’s up?” I answered upon seeing her caller ID.

“Hey! Jessica and Jacob fell asleep, do you want me to bring them to your room when you’re back?” She asked.

“I’m on my way back now, I’ll pick them up don’t worry.”

“Okay! See you soon.” And that was the last thing I heard before she hung up.

A smile on my lips, I headed to Hana’s room to pick up Jessica and Jacob.

~

With the two brown-haired twins fast asleep in their room, I headed to sit in my bed and watch some television.

I was about halfway through some random show when a quiet knock on the door caught my attention. My eyes darted to the clock, reading the numbers 1:14.

Who on earth could be knocking on my door at this time? Better yet, why?

I checked on the twins quickly before opening the door to a drunken Mccree.

“Jesse?” I asked, eyes wide.

“Heya, darling.” He grinned, making my heart warm.

“You’re drunk.” I stated, stepping out into the hallway, closing the door behind me so that we wouldn’t wake Jacob or Jessica up.

“And you’re beautiful, no matter how much you’ve grown.” He slurred, wrapping his arms tightly around me. “I’ve missed you, darling.” He hugged me as I felt wetness on my back.

Is he… crying?

“You don’t mean that, Jess… You’re just drunk.” I sighed, prying his hands off of me, much to both our dismay.

“Mummy?” Jessica’s quiet voice whispered behind us as she opened the door, her white bunny in hand.

Once again, both Jesse’s and my eyes widened, McCree suddenly sobering up.

“W-Who’s this?” He asked, eyes still wide.

“This is Jessica.” I said, eyes fixated of Jessica as her hand slipped into my own.

“Who’s this, mummy?” She yawned.

“Nobody, sweetheart. Go back to bed.” She smiled as I patted her hair, just as Jacob walked into the hallway.

“C’mon, Jess. Mum said back to bed.” He smiled, taking Jessica’s hand from mine and pulling her back into the room.

“Are they-” He began, before I cut him off.

“Look, Jess. We’ll talk tomorrow if you still want too. Just, go sober up and get some sleep. I don’t want to have this conversation when you’ve been drinking.” A sigh escaped my lips while he nodded, turning to walk down the hall without a word.

Jesse…

~

The entirety of the following day was spent wondering whether or not Jesse would still want to talk to me today. I had a feeling that he would, but I wasn’t certain. I had completely abandoned him, after all.

Despite not knowing, I asked Hana to look after the two siblings for the night, not knowing when/if he would show and I didn’t want to wake them if they were sleeping.

It was around 9pm when as quiet knock came from my door which I hesitantly answered, seeing a red eyed McCree outside.

“Can I- Can I come in?” He asked, at which I nodded, widening the door to allow him to enter.

We took a seat on the blue couch that was tucked away in a corner, our knees pressed together making my heart race at the contact.

“Look, I’m just going to be blunt here,” he started, making me nervous, “are they mine?”

I looked to the ground, avoiding his gaze as I nodded.

“Is that why you left?” He asked quietly, hand grabbing my cheek as he asked me to look at him.

I gave another nod.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was scared.” I mumbled, tears welling up in my eyes.

His puppy dog eyes softened at the sight of me crying.

“Don’t cry, darling. C’mere.” Jesse sighed, pulling me into a tight hug as I sobbed into the crook of his neck.

“I missed you.” I cried, gripping him tightly as if it would be the last time I could ever hold him because, in my mind, it could be.

“Me too, sweetpea. Me too.” He said, pulling away to wipe my tears.

“I-I’m sorry.” I blubbered, feeling oddly ridiculous but also nice that I could get this off of my chest which is something I’ve wanted since I left.

To get rid of the guilt.

“Shh, it’s okay.”

~

It took a while for me to calm down, but with his touch and comforting words, I did.

Now we were sat here in silence, both of us not knowing what to say. I was avoiding all eye contact, feeling incredibly weak for crying in front of him.

“Darling,” McCree whispered, placing his hand on my cheek, “look at me.” He smiled, lifting my face to meet his eyes.

We stared at each other for a second, before his lips crashed against mine as he pushed me to lay down on the couch, his arms holding him above my body while he kissed me, a feeling I loved each time.

“Fuck, darling. I love you.” He groaned into the kiss as his lips made their way down to my neck.

“Me too, Jess.” I moaned as he kissed me, occasionally sucking to leave marks.

His hands moved down to my t-shirt making my eyes widen.

“J-Jess, I can’t. I’m sorry.” I stuttered, gently grabbing his hand.

He immediately stopped, sitting up, pulling me with him.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay, darling.” He smiled; hands placed reassuringly on my shoulders. “Don’t worry about it, okay?”

All I could do is nod.

~

“I’ll see you again, right?” He asked as we stood outside my door.

“Of course, Jess.” I smiled, leaning up to kiss him.

“Good.” He grinned, kissing me again before leaving.

As I closed the door behind me, I leant against it with a wide smile which was soon dropped when I read the text on my phone.

Unknown Number: Glad someone is happy.

~

Panic clouded my room as I paced around the bathroom, just like all those years ago.

Don’t run, don’t run, don’t run.

“It’s okay, Y/N. He can’t hurt you anymore. He has no hold on you.”

But that damned message kept running through my head.

Was he watching?

Is he going to hurt the twins?

Or Jess?

Or me?

“Nono, I can do this. I can look after them.” I spoke into the mirror, staring at my reflection before raising my fist and hitting it, the glass shard shattering all over the floor, some in my hand.

~

“Mummy!” Jacobs voice shrieked as he walked into the room to see me unsuccessfully attempting to patch my own hand. “What happened?”

“Just an accident, J. Don’t worry.” I smiled, groaning as I failed again.

“You should go see Angela, Y/N.” Hana said, giving me a sympathetic look as she entered the room with Jessica.

I gave her a quick nod, heading to go see Angela who would definitely lecture me.

~

Once I was all patched up, I headed back to my room.

Hana had agreed to look after the twins again so I could take a moment to collect myself, but they’d be returning soon. The second I opened the door, I was pinned against it?

“Who said you could be happy without me, huh?” A demanding voice yelled, hand hitting the wall beside me making me flinch.

Looking up, I spotted him.

My ex.

Not by choice, but an ex nonetheless.

“I’m not yours anymore, Damien. In fact, I never was.” I spat in his face making him snarl, hands harshly gripping my wrists, pinning them above me.

He put my wrists in one hand, his other hand lifting my shirt to reveal multiple cigarette burns which Damien had inflicted on me for the greater good; the greater good being the protection of my children.

“So, he’s the dad, huh? The cowboy?” He chuckled darkly, placing a hard slap across my cheek which I knew would leave a mark, if it hadn’t already.

“Let go of me.” I demanded, doing my best to make me voice remain monotone to hide the fear and panic I was feeling currently.

“No.”

“I think the pretty lady asked you to let her go, buddy.”

Both our gazes darted towards the door where Jesse stood with our kids.

“What you gonna do if I don’t, cowboy?” Damien smirked which soon disappeared the second Jess pulled out his peacekeeper.

“Well you see,” He said, spinning it around his finger. “I do happen to know how to use this. Not only that, but I’m pretty sure I’d get away with it because it is technically protecting my girl.”

While Damien was distracted, I took the chance to knee him where it hurts, making him groan and kneel down giving me time to punch him across the face.

“Never and I mean never touch me again.” I spat, stepping over his body which was now curled up on the floor as I headed towards my family.

“You okay, darling?” Jesse asked, stroking my hair while Jessica and Jacob hugged me tightly.

“I’m fine, Jess. Thank you for coming.” I smiled, blushing slightly.

“Anytime, sweetpea.” He winked, walking over to Damien to give him a harsh kick to the face making Jacob and Jessica giggle as they did the same.

“C’mon, lets leave this loser.” Jess smiled at me, taking the hands of the twins but not before giving me a peck on the cheek.

~

In the end, both Jessica and Jacob were told about Jesse and I; not to the full extent but to the point they knew enough and they loved him. I think it may have partly been for the fact that he had potentially saved my life, but it could also be how lovely he is to them and me.

~

“Hey, darling.” Jess’s voice called from the other room.

I quickly walked there. Jacob and Jessica were with Hana and Lucio so it was just the two of us together in our room.

“I never did get the chance to ask you this before everything happened but…”

I watched him get down on one knee.

“Will you marry me?”

[beamsmom]

Fics I've written for sunakomo week 🌻 it's completed you can find em here

Day 1

Prompt: "it's nice to meet you"

Suna's POV 

A denim jacket over the shaggy sweatshirt that has life-changing lines imprinted on it, no gender just swag, that's what it reads, the broken amends of the crucified ripped jeans that my parents hate, I proudly wear those and I pick up my skate, glancing one last time in the mirror.

 "Uhh, how am I still single? " 

Yeah, my very first thought. 

I swirl around to some beats, throwing some TikTok dance steps. I open my window and slip down my skate in between my arms, trying to step out numb on my toes keeping it quiet as much as I can and my one foot trip on the roof and my body rolls down through the slanted wood and hugs the holy mother earth echoing a thudding sound while my limbs pain me down. 

I shouldn't be outside at this hour, wait what time is it again ?, gazing up at the sky I reckon the moon's position.

"It's 2 or 3 AM"

I embark on finding my skate and my eyes catch a scene that hurts me more than my back. 

Some dog is chugging on my skate. It isn't some normal dog, it's the most beautiful creature, a pitbull. That thing has the aura of some ragious God dog. I step forward and horror rapidly runs throughout my spin. 

What a great day. I spread my lips wider ready to start a fight with the dog's owner. I swivel my head on either side scavenging them.  I'm not really a ragious person but I'm off beat now and then and that's now and then is too often. 

I kneel and give the damned dog an astounding smile. " You aren't eating my skate, give me my skate, please" and the dog growls right at my face, rendering its sharp fangs, daring me to open my mouth again. I waved both hands in the air, accepting my defeat. 

Okay, somehow it appears mad, his eyes are red bloodshot and he leers ragious and that thing engraved its fangs deeper on my plain Rick and Morty mimed board. 

Ouch ouch ouch 

Enough with playing the nice guy, I'm gonna have to do what has to be done. I hold the other side of the skate and force it towards me. 

Why the hell is this small shit so strong? Why isn't his owner around?? 

"Give me my skate," I yell and it barks at me. 

"See dog-" it barks again but this time it's louder. 

"See, SIR, I'm already sneaking out, if you're barking, gonna wake my parents up, I'm going to be grounded for a couple of months and we don't want that, do we ?" 

"Give me my skate, you piece of sh-t, wait, once your owner gonna be here, they'll pay for your deeds, f-ckface" 

I hear someone from the back. I cocks my head in their direction. It's bland and dark. I can't see anything but a stepping silhouette and his voice sounds ethereal.

Why am I getting carried away, I have to yell at them? 

"I'm so sorry," he says, bowing down. 

A boy who is probably of my age, he's wearing a tee which goes as yes I'm wearing a meme and white sweatpants. Adorable.

"Wait-, you didn't give me a chance to be mad at you" I pour, crossing my hands at my chest. 

"What?" he obliviously stares at me through his lashes. 

"I mean, nothing" I choke up on my own words, and all of sudden my heart beats fast and it's about to come out of my mouth. His face, his damned face. I never thought it could be possible to feel this physical attraction to someone. Wait are we gay panicking over a stranger, yess most definitely we are. 

He hesitantly pierces his lips together and our eyes meet and I have always been competitive in everything, so I have no intention of breaking it. He twitches the corner of his mouth and walks towards me. He leans down, plucking the other side of the skate from my hand.

"Ponny, please baby take this out of your mouth, see I can't do this in the middle of a night, please, you're causing trouble to them" 

The dog finally let go of the skate and oh god and the condition of it. I can cry a river just right there. He pats his dog and puts back his leash.

He is too sweet, if it were my pet I probably would've yelled and snatched the thing away without even thinking. 

"Hey I'm so sorry, ponny can get hard sometimes. She's just too much to deal with, I'm so sorry, I'll pay for your skate"  his eyes are apologetic. He appeared genuinely upset about my skate. 

"No it's fine, I can fix it" I try to soothe him. Although I respectfully su-k at comforting people, it's the effort that counts. So bare with me.

"For real ?" He beams at me and I see sprinkles and stars in his eyes and oh man he's the human version of a golden retriever. 

~~a part of me want to pat his head so bad~~ 

"Yeah, I just have to change the board and repaint it" I replied, picking up my broken board.

"I can help you with that," he sings.

"Um, honestly you don't have to go through all that because of me" 

"No, no it's fine"

"Well, we can meet at my house after school, I guess"  

"Yeah sure," he enunciates.

"You know I used to have a pet as well" for the first time, I tried to hold a conversation with someone. So I thought it'd be great to tell him a story about my pet hamster.

"Yeah?" he replied, exhibiting a smile.

"His name was hamster" 

"You name your hamster, hamster," he asks and I nod in response, cause the choice I had was to either call him the rock or the hamster, I chose the one I liked the most.

"Well it was better than calling him the rock" 

He laughs and I catch myself staring. He is intriguing.

"I'm Komori motoya" he offers a handshake.

I take his all small fingers under my hand's embrace, "I'm suna rintaoru" 

"It's nice to meet you, rin-san" 

"It's nice meeting you too" 

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow ?" 

"Yeah you will" 

"Night komo" 

"Good night" 

I turn back and crash into someone," watch out moron" if I've known the words that are going to slip out of my mouth are my last words I would have chosen them more wisely. My mum is standing there, exhibiting no emotions, "rin". Oh god. 

"Hii mum, what are you doing outside at this hour," I say, trying to break the awkwardness creeping up in the environment. All of a sudden I can sense the humidity in the air, my shirt clings to tacitly on me. 

"You're grounded for a month," she warns. 

"Yes ma'am, wait it's like I can't go out but someone can come in, right ?" 

"Well, I guess" 

"Sure" 

She quirks a brow towards me, " have you found someone? I mean finding out romantically since you've never asked that question and I'm speaking from my experience of grounding you several times"

"Perhaps, that's something is for the future" 

"Don't get hurt, okay ?"

"Don't play the nice mom after grounding me for a month" 

She shakes her head and gestures to me to get back inside.

The end

[donda-strife]

Male reader and Luca the selkie part 2.

*sorry for the long period of time without continuing, I had finished this chapter but then didn't like how it looked so I decided to re-write it. Please let me know if there's any warnings that need to be added and any feedback is welcome. This is part 2 of 3, hope you enjoy.*

(y/n) = Your name

(y/n)’s pov:

 Darkness, its everywhere. Every now and again I hear strange noises but I can’t see anyone. Some things touching me and the strange noises are getting louder and louder. “llo… llo… (n)… uo hear m…” the strange voice started slowly whisper until it got louder. I want to shout for help but It feels like some-ones taped my mouth shut. Something grabs onto my hand and starts to rub it like mum does when I’m scared. I want my mum, where is she? “s… squ… Squeeze… hand” the strange noise commands in a reassuring voice. I start trying to move my hand but It’s not working. I keep trying but nothings happening and slowly I start to feel really tired. “(y..).. (..n).. (y/n)… Squeeze… ums hand baby” The strange noise finally starts to turn into something.

 “mum!” I try to shout but nothing comes out. Trying one more time I squeeze with all my might and feel my hand close a little around my mum's hand. Slowly I open my eyes only to shut them again quickly because of a bright light. Opining them again I look around to see a some strangers standing over me and squeeze my hand harder. Looking in the other direction I see mum but she looks different. She starts crying and cups both her hands around mine.

 “hello, I’m Doctor Reynolds. Can you tell us your name please sweetie?” one of the strangers asks. I look over at mum to see if it was OK and she nods her head. “I’m (y/n)” you say and look away in embarrassment. One of the strangers starts to coo like our chickens as the other one looks at something. “Can you tell me how old you are?” Dr Reynolds ask again. Nodding, I show them my fingers and smile slightly “I’m seven and a half.” He looks at me and smiles a little while the other keeps making clucking sounds. “I’ve got one more question and then nurse Heeler will give you a check up ok?” Dr Reynolds asked as I nodded my head.

 “do you remember what happened before waking up?” he asked. Opening my mouth to answer I froze. Frowning I look at mum in confusion then back at Dr Reynolds and nurse Heeler. “I was playing with our cat near the cows and then she started to go into the woods and I followed her.”I lied because mum gets sad when I wander off. mum frowns and squeezes my hand in reassurance as the stranger nods their head. “Do you remember anything else?” he ask and frown when I shake my head.

 They start to write something down as nurse Heeler brings some scary things towards the bed. She explains what everything does and makes me laugh because her head bobs like a chicken while she concentrates. “(y/n) I need to talk to your mum outside for a second ok?” Dr Reynolds asks crouching down so their looking into my eyes. I quickly look at mum panicking and grab hold of her hand not wanting to let go. mum starts to shush me quickly and moves over to give me a hug. “It’s ok (y/n), your big brother will be here and he’ll protect you” She says motioning Jackson who puffed his chest out trying to look stronger. She slowly pried my hands off of hers and followed Dr Reynolds out of the room, turning to check on me before the door shut.

 Jackson jumped onto the chair your mum was just in and reached over to pick up my hands in a gentle manner. Nurse Heeler started cooing at the sight of us which started to make me blush and Jackson to look away. She pulled over a cart with shiny items on it and picked up a file from a pocket on the side. “you two are the sweetest chickpeas I’ve ever seen.” Nurse Heeler cooed while picking up a stethoscope. Instructing me to lift up my shirt and with Jacksons help she check on my breathing. After a while the door opened and mum walked in slowly with a small smile on her face. Dr Reynolds followed her, shut the door and walked over just as nurse Heeler began packing up.

   “Well (y/n), I have some good news” Dr Reynolds started “You can leave with your family in a couple of days” He smiled in a knowing way. I smiled planing all the things I was going to do when I got home. “We’ll visit every day when we can honey” mum said before kissing me on the head. “What about daddy? Where is he?” Frowning, I asked while looking up at her. She frowned and looked away, her voice breaking a little while trying to speak. “w.. well baby, daddy has been… busy on the farm. He’ll come see you soon thou… I hope” she whispered the end part so quietly I almost didn’t hear her.

 After a while Nurse Heeler went out and came back in with a juice box and a small pack of cookies. Quickly I looked over to her and started to drool at the sight of the sugary treat being offered. Before mum could say a single word I moved as fast as I could to grab the treat only to cry out in pain at the sudden movement. Everyone in the room frowned a the sound which caused Nurse Heeler to put the treat down to look at my bandages. Whimpering from the pain I look longingly at the cookies ignoring the scolding my mum is giving me. Nurse Heeler, satisfied that I hadn’t torn a stitch, handed me the cookies and left the room. Opening the bag, I look over at Jackson to see him looking at the treat, hand him some and enjoy the treat together. Soon it turns darker and everyone has to go home for the night leaving me alone for the night with only my stuff toy as company.

 Slowly the days pass with the only people visiting me being mum, Jackson, Nurse Heeler and Dr Reynolds. Finally I’m being released from the hospital, mum is helping me get dressed while trying not to put pressure on my bandages or ankle. “you look happy” Mum smiled and helped me put on my shirt. Nodding my head I smile up at her “I’m looking forward to seeing daddy” I say. She frowns and bends down so she can look in my eyes. “Honey, your daddy loves you but right now he’s… not thinking straight.” she squeezes my shoulders in a reassuring way. Not understanding I just smile at her and nod like I understand.

 Leaving the hospital I smile and wave goodbye to Nurse Heeler, who was frowning a little and Dr Reynolds who was smiling in a knowing way back at me. After a car ride we arrived at the farm, Mum got out the car, helped me out and gave me a pair of crutches to walk with. Jackson quickly ran up to great me and I hobbled up to him as fast as possible so we could hug. Looking around, I hobbled towards the house with Jackson and mum walking behind me I start calling out for dad. Not hearing a response I continue towards the house, slowly move up the porch steps with help and open the door. Moving through the doorway I call out for him again only to jump from a loud muffled noise coming from the basement.

 I started towards the basement door and reach for the handle only to have the door swing open suddenly and be pushed away from the basement. Looking up my smile slowly into a frown as dad stands towering over me with a snarl on his face and he slams the door behind him. “Stay away from this door!” He snarls out and locks the door before storming away. Mum comes up behind me and quickly moves me away from the basement while shooing Jackson away. She helps me upstairs and sets me down on my bed as I start to tear up at what just happened. “I’m sorry honey, just… stay away from the basement and everything will be fine” She says while trying to stop me from crying.

 3rd person pov:

 After what happened (y/n)s been stuck in bed as he can’t move until his ankle is fully healed leaving him in the house alone while everyone works on the farm. Multiple times he hears noises coming from the basement, sometimes its quiet sobbing and other times its loud clanking. One day Malcolm comes into the house before everyone else and can be heard stomping towards the basement and slams the door behind him. Suddenly, loud almost animal like screams can be heard coming from the basement as well as loud banging noises. Holding his hands over his ears, tears stream down his face as (y/n) try to block out the noise only for it to become muffled. He keeps telling Ella what he’s hearing only to have her try and shush him before anyone else can hear with a terrified look in her eyes.

 During one of the times (y/n) begs Ella to check out the basement for monsters Malcolm must have heard as the very next day lots of padlocks appeared on the basement door. The screaming and howling has been happening more and more recently. As the days slowly fly passed the noises have been happening more and more, they’ve even started when Ella and Jackson is in the house. Every time Malcolm emerges from the basement he looks less like himself as bags start forming under his eyes and his hair has become greasy and unkempt.

 The first time (y/n) was able to hobble downstairs with little help for dinner Malcolm ignored him and focused only on his plate. Malcolm glanced up at (y/n) while cutting up some food and a light went off in his head. (Y/N) wasn’t like the rest of them, wasn’t fit to live on a farm and it was his own fault. He let his father tell (y/n) crazy children’s tales, he didn’t have (y/n) work on the farm enough like Jackson, he didn’t punish (y/n) enough so he’d listen about the forest like Jackson and he didn’t protect (y/n). Malcolm got up from the table and went to the closest phone he could find to set his plan in motion tomorrow.

 (Y/N)’s pov:

 Frowning, I looked around the living room trying to find something to do as dad told me to stay in the living room today instead of my room. Every now and then he’d walk into the room with a smile on his face while moving things around just outside the doorway but never looking in my direction. Both mum and Jackson are working on the farm leaving me alone with him for the first time since I got home from the hospital. I gripped my favourite teddy close as dad carried a suit case through the living room and placed it with the other stuff he gathered. The phone started to ring and he left to answer it leaving me alone to wonder about what’s going on.

 Slowly standing up, I used the crutches to move towards the door to find out what’s happening and why dad was smiling. Finally at the doorway, I look down in confusion as the stuff by the door is mine. All my teddies are haphazardly thrown in a box along with some of my toys, story books and the suit case full of my clothes. I jump as the phone clicks and dad starts making his way back towards the front entrance. “(y/n) I thought I told you to stay in the living room” dad says moving towards the front door. “Sorry dad, I.. I just wanted to use the toilet” I lie, acting like I didn’t see anything. “Go back to the living room when you’re done, I need you for something special” Dad smiles and watches me hop passed him towards the bathroom.

 Just as I start to use the toilet the dogs outside start to bark at something and dad shouts at them to be quiet. Listening quietly I hear dad talking to someone and the sound of a car door shutting. Moving towards the window, I try to look out only to be to short to look out it and almost fall over in the process. Catching my balance, I slowly open the door and move towards the stairs. “(Y/N), you done yet?” Dad shouts coming back into the house. Nodding my head, I head down the stairs and move into the living room.. Sitting down, I pick up my teddy and fiddle with its arms wondering what dad wants me for.

 Before dad can come back in mum runs in crying her eyes out and pulls me into her arms shaking her head. Jackson quickly joins the hug, quietly sobbing and I slowly start to realise something is wrong. Dad watches until he decides it’s been long enough and pulls me out of mum and Jacksons arms. “Remember that special thing I need you to do?” He asks, carrying me towards the front door. I look over his shoulder to see mum and Jackson slowly following behind making me start to panic. “A friend of mine needs someone to help her around the house and in the garden. I’ve told her you’ll help her” Dad says opening the door.

 Standing in the drive way is a small woman who looks to be in her late 60s next to a beat up truck covered in dents and scratches. As dad carries me closer I finally realize why mum and Jackson are crying and start to shake my head. “I don’t want to” I say starting to cry as dad reaches the truck and opens the door. Dad ignores me and places me in truck as mum sobs loudly in the background. He quickly throws my crutches in the trucks bed and crouches at the door to look into my eyes. “be good for Mrs Harriet” He says and ruffles my hair before shutting the door. I start crying harder as he walks away and Mrs Harriet buckles up in the drivers seat.

 She gives me a sad look and slowly starts to pull away from the farm causing me to start wailing about not wanting to leave. “I’m sorry about what’s happening honey, I promise to help you see your family as much as possible” Mrs Harriet says as the truck speeds up. Looking in the cracked side mirror I see mum slumped to the ground crying, Jackson watching me leave and dad closing the door behind him. Clutching my teddy as close as I possibly can my sadness turns to fear wondering what’s going to happen to me.

 3rd Person Pov:

 20 years later an old beaten truck shambles up a dirt driveway heading towards an old looking farm house. Stopping the truck, a 27 year old man opens the door and steps out staring at the house with a look of displeasure. He pulls his cap down to partly cover the scar on the side of his face as he shuts the truck door. Suddenly, the front door slams open and a older woman comes flying out tackling the man into a hug. Standing at the front door is a man watching it happen with a small smile. “my baby.. I’ve missed you” The woman sobs, clutching the man tighter. He hugs her back and smiles. “I’ve missed you too mum” He whispers. Looking up he continues to smile and nods at the other man. “Jackson” He says as the other man moves closer. He reaches the duo and joins the hug. “Nice to see you (y/n)” Jackson says patting (y/n)’s back.

[artificialqueens]

I Choose You, 2/2 (Vanique) - Ortega

a/n: oh my god HELLO!!!! i thought i’d never finish this in time but the lord loves a trier so here we have the second half of my Vanique behemoth (the first being 2003!). this might be the most self-indulgent and pretentious thing i’ve ever written. who knows if it’s good! certainly not me. i very much hope u all enjoy it anyway.

(p.s. the title is from I Choose You by Kiana Ledé. listen to it it’s very good. the acoustic version, not the one with the rapper feature. that one sucks ass.)

trigger warning: there’s some homophobia in this, both internalised and…externalised (is that a word?), including use of the d slur, so please read at your own risk. there’s also mentions of bereavement but not of any of the main characters. I promise u this fic is not as depressing as i’m making it out to be xo

fic summary: Vanessa Mateo and Monique Heart start Year 9 as entirely different people. At least, that’s what Monique firmly believes. Vanessa suspects they’re not as different as Monique would like to think.

***

High school is high school, and nothing is ever simple. The idea that Vanessa had had about hanging out in Summer was soon pushed to the side. Monique was dropped in favour of hanging out with Akeria and Silky. In all fairness, Monique was too busy riding the carousel of shopping trips and sleepovers at her new friend’s houses. Monét’s house is her favourite though because it feels like a castle- it’s surrounded by a gate with a combination instead of a key and in the lobby there’s a sweeping marble staircase and an actual pillar and an expensive-looking sculpture in the corner. Monét’s parents are kind and caring and they supply the girls with endless snacks and fizzy juice and face masks. Monique imagines it’s like what staying at a hotel is like. She wouldn’t know, she’s never stayed anywhere other than her old house with her Mum, the high flats, or Vanessa’s house.

She feels guilty about not hanging out with Vanessa. They text, but it’s not quite the same; she knows Vanessa hates writing in any format so it’s a little harder. They could phone, but they just…don’t. Still, despite their distance that night at Vanessa’s in the tent still plays on Monique’s mind. The whole thing was weird. Vanessa had wanted to kiss her, and in Monique’s mind that was only something you wanted to do with a person if you had a crush on them. Monique knows what a lesbian is, and she’s sure Vanessa isn’t one. She’s damn sure she isn’t one either. Aside from liking girls, lesbians dress like boys and they have short hair and they’re definitely not as beautiful as Vanessa. They’re different, and Monique is different enough. She isn’t a lesbian. She doesn’t fill any of the criteria.

So when Vanessa comes back after the summer holidays and begins Year 9 with hair that stops at her jaw and an undercut as well as a set of pink traintrack braces, the whispers start right away. Monique hears two boys talking about her at first, as she’s putting her books from second period away in her locker. She hears brash laughter, Vanessa’s name, the words “dyke” and “rug muncher” and “lesbian” all spat out venomously, and Monique’s heart hurts. She wants to tell them to shut up, wants to tell them they’re wrong and that Vanessa is pretty and soft and none of those things. Vanessa is just a normal girl. Hell, the only reason she’d wanted to practise kissing with her was so that she could be good for boys.

It’s lunchtime when it gets brought up again, and by that point it’s all round the school. Brianna starts the conversation mid-chip, speculating between chews.

“Have you guys heard that rumour going around that Vanessa Mateo is a lesbian?” she almost whispers, and Monique rolls her eyes. Not this.

“Oh my God, no! Tell us!” Asia says excitedly, pushing away her plate of suspicious-looking penne bolognese made up of too-soft pasta and too-watery mince.

“What’s there to tell, sis? That’s all there is.”

“She’s in my Spanish class. She definitely looks like a lesbian,” Antonia widens her eyes in disbelief, and Bob cackles a laugh.

“What the fuck does that even mean? Looks like a lesbian. They’re just girls who like girls, lesbian isn’t a fucking…skin tone.”

Brianna casts a glare at her from the other end of the table. “Oh, come on, Bob, you know what we mean. She’s got that haircut and the shaved bit at the bottom. And have you ever seen her wear skirts to school?”

“Gee, short hair and trousers make you a lesbian. By that logic half the fucking boys are lesbians.”

The girls splutter a laugh, which Monique joins in with half-heartedly.

“It’s not just that, though. You know she’s friends with that Akeria Davenport…Silky Ganache. You ever see her with any boys? I wouldn’t be surprised, you know,” Monét shrugs, having seemingly thought it through enough to pass judgement. Asia laughs.

“You never see us hanging out with boys.”

“Yeah, but there’s six of us! There’s only three of them. Maybe they have like…threesomes,” Antonia gasps, her eyes sparkling wickedly. The girls all follow suit, gasping and widening their eyes and clucking like hens. Monique feels sick. The whole conversation feels wrong. She doesn’t want to be part of it any more.

As if she’s read her mind, Monét cocks her head at her. “Monique, didn’t you used to be friends with her? You ever get lesbian vibes from her?”

“Oh my God, yeah? She ever try and kiss you?” Brianna asks, open-mouthed. Monique feels the colour drain from her face. Luckily there’s a shout from the other end of the canteen that cuts the girls off from the conversation they’ve been having.

“Bob!”

The girls stop talking, turn around to see Tomi and Katie standing smiling in that fake as fuck way that Monique loathes. She knows they’re probably behind most of the rumours about Vanessa and that puts her back up even more. Bob seems unbothered, and she’s regarding them in a lazy sort of way. Monique swears she’s seen a lion watch a gazelle with the same expression.

“Yeah?” Bob asks simply, humouring them. The two girls giggle behind their hands.

“We just think your hair is so gorgeous. Can we touch it?” Katie simpers, tucks her blonde hair behind her ears unflatteringly. Bob turns briefly to Asia and gives an earth-shattering roll of her eyes. Monique can feel Monét bristle beside her defensively and she puts a hand on her shoulder in reassurance.

Bob smiles indulgently at the rejected extras from White Chicks standing in front of her. “You can try, see what happens.”

Tomi has her hand out and then falters, clearly noticing Antonia glaring at her like she’s daring her. Monique’s never actually witnessed her throwing hands but she knows that’s how she got her detention last year, after a boy in the corridor made monkey noises at her. Tomi clearly decides against it and the two girls curl their top lip at them all instead, slinking away. Bob turns around to shout after them.

“Wait! Tomi! Can I touch your hair? I’ve always wanted to know how it feels to be a weak, limp, lifeless, greasy Rapunzel!"

The girls erupt in hysterical laughter, and the rumour is forgotten for now.

Or at least it is until two o’clock in the afternoon. Monique’s not been thinking straight all day and it shows when she turns up to Chemistry when she’s meant to be in English, the lower sixth formers all looking at her as if she had two heads when she opened the door to the lab and had to slink back out again. So she’s running down the back stairwell panicking, knowing she’s going to have to explain why she’s late. The stairwell is empty with everyone already in class, but aside from the noise she’s making as she thunders down the stairs Monique can hear two other voices at the bottom. Two boys’ voices, and they don’t sound kind. They’re spitting out insults, and Monique heard the crash of something heavy against the floor- a book, a folder. It’s against Monique’s better judgement to investigate- she should really get a teacher- but she can’t stand bullies, so she gets to the last set of stairs and peers over the bannister to see what’s happening.

The sight makes her heart drop, because it’s Vanessa. The two boys are yelling at her, blocking her path every time she tries to move past them. She’s not crying but she’s all hunched in on herself, almost concave with her arms hugging herself and her head positioned towards the ground. The boys are relentless with their taunts and Monique can’t bear to hear any more.

"Hey!” she shouts, her voice all too loud in the silence of the stairwell. It echoes and ricochets off the walls, and the boys narrow their eyes as they look up at her. She meets Vanessa’s eyes. She seems just as shocked as the perpetrators. Monique’s started, so she follows it up with, “Leave her the fuck alone.”

The boys laugh, begin to mock Monique amongst themselves. She doesn’t want to play her ace, but as their words bury themselves deeper and deeper under her skin, Monique’s face turns into a snarl. “Or am I gonna have to call my brother?”

The boys seem to make the connection between who they’re talking to and the implication Monique has just made, and she’s happy when a glimpse of fear passes on their face. One of them has the bravery to speak up again. “Your brother won’t do shit, soon as he steps in our ends he’s dead."

"Well, I can always call him and you can tell him that for real. Or, even better…” Monique shrugs, pulling her phone out of her blazer pocket and scrolling it lazily. “…I can have him here by lunchtime and you can say it to his face?”

The boys frown at her and seem to make the mutual decision to let the situation drop, but not before one of them spits on the floor at the bottom of the stairs Monique is standing on. She lets out a sigh. She knows her brother’s reputation precedes him and it’s not a pretty one. She knows he’s infamous and that the teachers were all happy when he finally left, saw the look on all their faces when they reached her name in the register on that first day and could practically hear what they were thinking. Oh shit, that’s his sister. She’s not proud of having used her brother as a threat but as she looks down and sees Vanessa’s kind, grateful smile, she knows it was worth it. Monique wants to hug her, wants to pat her back and tell her that she’s not in any danger anymore and that it’s all okay but she doesn’t because things aren’t the way they used to be. She descends the steps and lets Vanessa pick up her folder, waiting until she’s back up standing with her arms hugged around it and the tiny smile still on her face.

“Thanks.”

Monique wants to blush. She’s maybe already doing so. “It’s okay.”

There’s a pause. Vanessa’s smile wavers and she pulls her lips in on themselves, holds them between her teeth for a moment before letting them go. She looks to the ground awkwardly. Monique wants to say more, she wants to say everything, whatever the hell everything is. Instead she says nothing.

Vanessa rubs the back of her neck awkwardly. It’s just the two of them at the bottom of the stairwell now, and it looks like she’s about to release something she’s holding back. “Uh, hey. You ain’t tell anyone about…you know-”

“No, I didn’t,” Monique replies instantly, firmly. They both know what she means. Vanessa nods curtly. They’re standing alone, nobody else around to pass judgement or start a rumour or look at them funny. Monique wants to just…talk to her. She doesn’t open her mouth again, but she wants to. She can feel her speech rising in her throat, and she’s about to say something. She still doesn’t know what.

“I should get going, I’m late to English,” Vanessa suddenly makes the decision for her, nods at Monique in thanks again before turning on her heel and pushing open the double doors at the bottom of the stairs.

Monique is left standing there and the silence seems to echo around her.

She goes back home instead of class.

***

Year 10 starts and the unthinkable happens.

Vanessa’s sitting in P.E. at the time. She’s not at all academic- she knows this, it’s evident from all the extra help she gets and how she’s in the bottom set for everything- so she likes P.E. because she just plays sports, tries to win. All the girls and boys in the year have it at the same time and they split off- boys get taken out onto the astroturf in the pissing rain to kick a ball about for an hour and the girls stay inside and do basketball or volleyball, dainty ladies’ sports that make Vanessa mad because she knows she could whoop any boys’ ass at football. Anyway, Monique’s in her set and so are all her friends. Vanessa doesn’t like the girls she’s friends with- they’re too stuck-up for her taste, and she likes the fact that Silky and Akeria are down to earth and don’t have any airs or graces. But she still casts an eye over to Monique every so often, just to look at her. She thinks about the fact they used to be best friends, used to share everything with each other. Her cheeks burn when she thinks about the time she asked Monique if they wanted to kiss. She still hasn’t made herself confront that properly yet, still hasn’t addressed the very obvious elephant in the room of her brain. That can wait for another day, though. Everybody already says she’s a lesbian anyway, she’s been getting flack for it for a solid year now, so she supposes when (if) she comes out she can’t get bullied more than she already is.

Monique’s dark eyes are framed with eyeliner and mascara, and her perfect cheekbones are highlighted with a dust of gold. Vanessa’s jealous. She runs her hands over the spots that’ve bubbled up on her forehead self-consciously, reminding herself to spread more concealer over them when class is over. Monique’s so beautiful and it isn’t fair. Vanessa is so busy thinking and so lost in her own head that she doesn’t even notice their guidance teacher’s arrived at the door.

“Can I speak to Monique, please?”

Vanessa watches Monique’s eyes grow wide as her friends all wind her up and make ominous noises at her as she leaves. Vanessa wonders if Monique’s in trouble. She was always the biggest goody two-shoes in Primary, and she’d always get so nervous whenever Vanessa did something mischievous. Vanessa smiles at the memory but it’s quickly forgotten when their teacher tells them to get into partners and she immediately grabs Silky, leaving Akeria to pair with Mercedes, a shy girl who’s terrible at everything P.E. related and would truly be the booby prize if there was ever a partner-related game show.  

Vanessa forgets about Monique until lunchtime when she’s sitting with the girls in the cafeteria and scanning the hall judgmentally. Her eyes fall on the table Monique and her friends usually sit at, and they’re all eerily quiet. They sit with their heads in their hands, stare into their plates of food and pick at them, and nobody says a word. Monique isn’t there. Come to think of it, she didn’t return for P.E.

“Sheesh,” Vanessa scoffs, gesturing over to them. “Who died?”

It’s a joke she’ll regret making, because all over Monique’s facebook wall that night when she gets home from school is post after post after post of sympathies and apologies and heart emojis and kisses.

Because Monique’s Gran has died.

When Vanessa realises she pushes her phone away, turns over in bed and brings her knees up to her chest. Her head is spinning. All Monique has is her Gran- well, her and her brother, but she’s known so much pain and heartache in her life and all she has ever wanted is a happy family. Vanessa knows this. She wonders what will happen to her. Her brother must be around 19 now, so he could get granted guardianship but God knows he’s never been the most ideal role model. He loves Monique though, deeply cherishes his sister. Everything Monique’s been through, so has he. Maybe Monique will be put in foster care? Vanessa doesn’t know. Everything about the situation makes her feel sick to her stomach. Apart from all of that Monique has to deal with the grief of losing the woman who raised her, who was a mother and father rolled into one.  

Vanessa makes a decision, turns over in bed and snatches her phone back up. Her stomach is churning as she types out what she wants to say. Everything feels wrong and absolutely zero consolation, but she sends it anyway. She has to send something.

V: hey

V: i’m so sorry to hear about your Gran

V: i hope your doing okay

Vanessa stares at her phone for the full five minutes until it vibrates again, lights up with a message from Monique.

M: Thanks

Vanessa’s previously-rising heart suddenly drops. The reply is disappointing, but she doesn’t know what she expected. Monique has lost the closest thing to a parent she’s ever had. It’s not exactly the right time for a cosy reunion. Still, Vanessa misses her. She knows she could help Monique feel better, she was always able to make her laugh when she was sad.

V: i’m always here if you need someone to talk to

V: i know we don’t talk as much as we used to but your still my friend

Vanessa stares at her phone until her retinas start to burn. Is she even Monique’s friend any more? She wonders what they would talk about if they got to talk again, wonders if they ever had anything in common at all. The thought isn’t a nice one, and Vanessa goes to sleep that night with tears stinging her eyes and a terrible dull ache in her heart.

***

Monique doesn’t remember Year 10.

That sounds silly, as day 1 of it was only 365 days ago, but she doesn’t. She’s blocked it all out, bad memories of grief and pain that she’d rather forget. Even though her life has been full of struggles, the last year has truly taken the biscuit and she doesn’t ever want to think about it again.

There are always silver linings, though, no matter how awful the situation is. Monique’s brother is granted parental responsibility and he makes the effort to turn their lives around in whatever ways he can. They apply for a new council house, one in a slightly nicer area, and it has a garden and a number on the door and lots of windows to let in light. It’s the nicest place Monique has ever lived, and the summer before Year 11 the pair of them decorate it with furniture they find at the recycling centre and fix at home, and free stuff they pick up from Facebook Marketplace, and they paint the walls bright colours to keep their spirits up. Money is still a problem, though, but Monique is thrifty. She’s timed when the supermarkets put their yellow reduced labels on food, she can make her one free school sandwich last for lunch and dinner if she needs to. She charges her phone in class so she doesn’t have to use the electricity at home and she knows that if you put rocks in the pockets of the clothes you donate to Cash4Clothes then you get more money for them. They’re getting by- not easily, but they’re surviving.

Monique’s friends look after her, making sure she’s okay on those days when school is just beyond her and the only thing she can do is lie in bed. On the days she does manage into school the girls flank her, surround her like a shield against the staring eyes and whispers of the other kids. She still hears the odd murmurs of “her gran died” and “she doesn’t have any parents” and “her brother looks after her”. She knows they’re not malicious, but they still sting. So she’s glad when it gets to around October and people stop whispering about her and go back to whispering about Vanessa instead.

Because she’s got a girlfriend.

Brooke Lynn’s in lower sixth. God knows how she met Vanessa- probably at a house party or drinking in the park at some point, Monique supposes. She’s tall and statuesque and everyone is afraid of her, partly as a result of her resting bitch face and partly as a result of her intimidating good looks. Brooke is a living Barbie doll- pale skin, blonde hair, long lashes, full pink lips. Everything Monique’s not.

She’s sickeningly PDA with Vanessa. Monique sees them together at lunchtimes; the pair of them holding hands or with their arms around each other as they sit with their two friendship groups merged together- Monique didn’t think Silky and Akeria would have anything in common with straight A students Nina and Scarlet but she supposes that Scarlet’s girlfriend Yvie’s been put in isolation a similar amount of times to Silky so they’ve at least got that to bond over if nothing else. They laugh uproariously and chatter loudly and Brooke Lynn and Yvie eye girls like Tomi and Katie with suspicion and dislike, the two girls not even daring to make a comment about the two same-sex relationships at the table.

Monique hates Brooke Lynn. She doesn’t know why. She’s weird because she’s a lesbian but she doesn’t even fit in with what a lesbian should be with her long, blonde hair, makeup, short skirts. But then again, Monique reminds herself, neither does Vanessa really. They both just look like…normal girls. She wonders how that can be. Vanessa looks so happy all the time even though most of their year group hates her, or at least makes snide comments about her behind her back. How the hell is she so damn cheerful? Maybe Monique is just jealous. Jealous of the way Vanessa has an accepting group of friends and an accepting Mum and is comfortable being out even in school, unlike Monique who has to banish those thoughts to the dark of her mind because of course she’s not gay; she joins in with her friends when they talk about cute boys and talks about the celebrities she has a crush on. But she doesn’t really mean any of it. When she looks at the boys her friends all drool over, she just feels…nothing. She’s wondered to herself about her own feelings, even got as far as typing “girls kissing” into Youtube but closed the app before she could click on a single video, too embarrassed to go any further.

Nothing’s wrong with her. She’s fine, and her Gran always told her that God didn’t make mistakes. So she pushes and pushes the feelings down as Autumn turns to Winter and Spring turns to Summer, and before she knows it she’s finished her exams and is starting Sixth Form. Her brother’s proud of her- he hadn’t stayed in school that long, of course- and her Gran would be proud too. Monique’s sure her Mum would be as well, wherever she is. And her Dad. Whoever he is. Her exam results are decent, and she takes solace in the belief that maybe she’s clever, maybe she can forge a different path for her and her brother than the one she was born into. She’d like to be a nurse- nurses help people, and her Gran was looked after by one before she passed, so she decides that Sixth Form is going to be spent getting the grades she needs to get to university. Imagine. Her at uni. The first in her family and maybe even the first in her neighbourhood.

Still, it’s Sixth Form and she can at least have a little fun. She’s invited to her first house party along with the girls- Connor from Upper Sixth is hosting because his parents are out of town and Bob’s managed to blag them all an invite, so they get ready together and get Antonia’s cousin Shea to get them all alcohol from the off license, the six of them all giggling as they drink bottles of Lambrini in the street on the walk over to the party. When they arrive the house is packed, the music is loud, and everything is dark inside. Everyone already seems to be drunk and Monique finds herself guzzling the cider almost sickeningly quickly as she attempts to play catch-up. She’s surprised that some of the boys start talking to her and her friends. She’s never really received male attention before. She’s still not even kissed anyone; nothing’s changed since she was thirteen years old. Connor is showering her with attention and he’s maybe even flirting and all Monique’s friends say he’s attractive and Monique’s hoping she’ll feel something for him over the course of the conversation she’s having with him in the kitchen, her head all light and the alcohol coating her mouth. Eventually she sees that he’s moving to kiss her and she’s going to say no, turn him down gently but-

Vanessa’s here. She’s in the hallway looking at her, and Monique feels her eyes almost burn a hole in her heart. Her and Brooke broke up in the Summer- it was messy and all over Facebook, and Vanessa took it badly. There’s something to her gaze that Monique doesn’t recognise and she’s not sure she wants to. All she knows is the way she’s looking at her makes Monique focus her attentions on the boy in front of her, pulls him in for a kiss that’s sloppy and way too much and Monique feels nothing, beyond fucking empty inside, but the rush she gets when she opens her eyes mid-kiss to find Vanessa still looking at her is inexplicably exhilarating.

Except when she goes to bed that night she lies on her back and cries silently until she feels the tears stream into her ears. Why couldn’t she feel something for Connor? Why can’t she feel anything for any boy? Why can’t she shake this nagging feeling that something about her isn’t right, made differently to everyone else? She wishes she had Vanessa to talk to. She would know what to say. She’s been through all this already, Monique supposes. But Monique doesn’t want this. She doesn’t want to be happy like Vanessa is, she wants to fit in, she wants to keep her head down and not attract any attention and just be fucking normal, normal, normal.

Monique goes to sleep with a damp face and a stuffy nose and a feeling of self-loathing she can’t shake.

This feeling isn’t helped by what she finds when she wakes up on Monday morning. She’s checking all her socials as she’s walking to meet Monét and she’s got three new CuriousCats. The first reads,

Opinions on Asia O’Hara hehehehe

Monique laughs at Asia’s obvious fishing for compliments. She types,

the best friend EVERR and so pretty, ilysm!!!!!

The second one makes her stomach flip over.

did u get with Connor Monaghan on Saturday lmao

She thinks about it before typing and sending her response.

yea lol

She scrolls to the next one and her heart stands still.

Do you like girls

Monique is aware she’s stopped walking; she’s standing in the street like an idiot with every muscle and bone frozen in her body as her eyes dart across the screen again and again, reading it over and over. Why did somebody even send her this? Are there rumours going around about her too?

Quickly, she types out an ew no and publishes it. That should be the end of it. That’s it. She’s said she’s not, and that’s that. But there’s a concrete mixer of emotions and thoughts that swirl around in her mind and in turn churn up her stomach. She thinks about her kiss with Connor at the party, how she’d watched Vanessa instead of closing her eyes. The look on her face when they’d made eye contact. The way Monique feels as if something inside her is broken and can’t be fixed despite the fact she’s so normal on the outside contrasting with the way Vanessa is living happy and carefree despite constantly being made fun of and getting weird looks.

God, why does she even keep thinking about Vanessa all the time? They’ve not had a proper conversation in years, but Monique still remembers the way she’d texted her when her Gran died, the way she cared, the way she still called her her friend. Monique wonders if she’d still say the same thing. After all, she’s never said a bad word about Vanessa, never bitched about her or laughed about her behind her back.

Vanessa had said she still cared about her. Monique still cares about her too.

Monique is so in her own head that she doesn’t notice Monét standing waiting on her at the corner of the street until she almost walks past her. Monét grabs her arm to stop her and Monique very nearly swings for her until she realises who she is.

“Hey, bitch, slow down! It’s just me,” she laughs, and Monique gives a nervous laugh, still rattled by the anonymous question. “God, your head’s buried in that thing.”

“You sound like my Gran. Hey, Gran, I’m cold! Cause you always on that damn phone,” Monique impersonates, making Monét laugh. It coaxes a smile out of Monique too to remember how funny her Gran could be.

“What’re you lookin’ at anyway?”

Monique frowns, tells Monét about the message she got. Monét rolls her eyes and shakes her head in response.

“God, it’ll be fuckin’ Katie or Tomi pissing about and starting rumours. Just ignore them. Everyone knows you’re not gay anyway after Saturday night,” she waggles her eyebrows and tries to make a joke, but Monique’s still worried about the start of her sentence.

“But I don’t wanna be a rumour! I don’t want people talking about me!” she clamours, feeling ever-so-slightly helpless. Scratch that, hugely helpless. Monét pokes her in the arm just as school comes into view.

“Hey, Mo, chill! Nobody is gonna talk about you, everyone knows it’s a crock of shit! Just relax, alright? Ignore it, don’t let it ruin your day.”

That’s easier said than done, though. Monique’s mind is a mess and she can’t tell what’s real and what she’s making up. She walks past Tomi and Katie on her way to her locker and she thinks she hears them say her name but when she looks back at them they’re totally disinterested. In English, she’s sure everyone is staring at her when she walks into class. At breaktime she’s convinced the whole school knows. So when it gets to Biology and she’s sure, she’s positive, that she hears her name being whispered by someone in the row behind her followed by the word gay she thinks she’s going to be sick. The whole school knows, everyone is talking about it. Monique feels her chest tight, her mouth completely dry. She tries to take a deep breath but it feels as if she physically can’t do it. She doesn’t know how, but she manages to ask out of class and the moment she’s allowed she runs out of the door, hurtles down the stairs and into the girls’ bathroom, hyperventilating and clinging to one of the white porcelain sinks so hard she feels as if her knuckles are going to break. Her breathing makes her feel as if she’s a chew toy that someone is squeezing and squeezing over and over again, coming too quick and too shallow but she can’t stop; she’s stuck in the worst kind of cycle and she doesn’t know how to break it. She’s aware of the door creaking open, somebody saying her name in surprise but Monique can’t tear her gaze away from the crack beside the plughole to even see who it is. She feels the person take her hand off of the sink, squeeze it gently, and this forces her to look around and see who it is.

And of course it’s the one person who she doesn’t want to see right now.

Vanessa’s dark eyes are full of concern and care, and there’s furrows in her brow around the cracks and blemishes on her skin. Her bottom lip is worried between her teeth which are caged in by her pink traintracks, even though Monique knows they’d be beautiful and straight if she got them off.

Vanessa’s gaze is trained on Monique’s shaking hand now, and she’s holding it open with Monique’s palm outstretched towards her. It’s weird that Monique feels so exposed by that action alone. Vanessa’s got one of the fingers of her other hand positioned beside her thumb, a raggedy painted red nail standing out bright against her skin. “Focus on my finger. You’re gonna breathe in when it’s goin’ up one of your fingers and you’re gonna breathe out when it’s goin’ down.”

In the absence of anyone else to lean on, or indeed any rational thought, Monique simply obeys. Vanessa traces around her hand with her finger, slowly and gently, and it allows Monique time to calm down and breathe. Vanessa’s touch is grounding and soothing and eventually, when it’s clear Monique has calmed down, she watches as Vanessa wordlessly laces their fingers together, strokes her palm with her thumb. Monique’s heart is ricocheting off her ribcage, but not in the same way it was before. Now it’s as if her heart feels too big, like she’s been left out in the sun to melt, and Monique finally gets it.

This is how the other girls feel about boys.

“You okay now?” Vanessa asks her quietly, her voice hesitant and quiet and gentle and so out of character. Monique listens to the silence of the room. There’s nobody else there, nobody hiding in any cubicles. There’s only the drip of the tap and the hum of the air conditioner and Vanessa’s kind eyes and her long eyelashes.

If everything is as simple as an empty room and a silence like purgatory and a beautiful girl’s eyes, then maybe kissing Vanessa can be as simple as all that too.

So Monique does. She leans forward, closes her eyes before their lips meet softly, and neither of them do anything for a moment until Vanessa sort of pushes her lips against Monique’s own so then Monique pushes back with hers and then they’re kissing each other, Monique’s lip balm against Vanessa’s sticky gloss. They’ve still got their hands entwined and even though they’ve been so distant for the past few years she still ends up feeling so close to her because Monique knows Vanessa, but even though she’s got Vanessa’s soft lips on hers and her fingers curled around her own the magic starts to dissolve away and Monique remembers where they both are, who they both are, and how serious and completely not simple any of this is at all.

She pulls away, frantic and panicked, ripping her hand out of Vanessa’s like she’s touching fire. Her heart is going too fast again but it’s not a nice feeling like before; she knows she’s been away from class for too long, knows she needs to get back. She doesn’t want to look at Vanessa as she leaves, doesn’t want to be reminded of the last five minutes, doesn’t want to be reminded of what she is, of who she is. Vanessa takes her by the elbow gently, tries to turn her around.

“M’nique, hey-”

Everything collides together in Monique’s already crowded mind and the result is a crash of Big Bang-style proportions, one that makes her shove Vanessa away with both hands on her shoulders. Monique regrets it instantly, knows she’ll have to deal with the shock and hurt and betrayal on Vanessa’s face etched into her mind for as long as she’ll be able to remember it.

“Go away, Vanessa!” she cries, squeezing her eyes shut and curling her hand around the doorhandle. “Just stay the hell away from me!”

“Hey, you were the one that kissed me!” Vanessa bites back, her fists clenched by her sides in anger. If Monique looks at Vanessa long enough she can see tears beginning to form in her eyes but she’s trying her hardest to look at the floor, to not keep eye contact for long.

“No. I’m not like you, I’m not a fuckin’ weirdo, I don’t kiss girls, I’m not a dy…” Monique starts off insistent and strong but she has to hear herself tail off as she falters, the word she was about to say feeling barbed and sharp in her mouth, not right, a razor blade held on her tongue that she wants to spit out but now has to swallow.

Vanessa’s face has twisted in hurt and it’s impossible to ignore the tears trailing down her face. “You’re not a what, bitch? A dyke? Fucking say it, it don’t hurt me any more. Can’t hurt me any more than what you just did.”

Monique stands frozen and silent. She’s not sure what to say or do. Vanessa walks towards her and Monique flinches back against the wall as Vanessa reaches for the door. She gives Monique one last withering look up and down, the hurt in her eyes betraying the anger in her body.

“I really hoped that one day…you know what, forget it.”

Monique tries to forget it. But, almost as if it’s trying to make up for the fact she lost all of Year 10, her mind replays and replays the whole situation every day, until it’s the last day before the holidays and she knows she won’t have to see Vanessa around school for another six weeks, won’t have to face up to what she’s put in a double-locked safe in the back of her mind with a combination she’s so dangerously close to remembering.

***

Vanessa can’t quite believe she’s halfway through her final year at school.

In fact it’s a miracle she’s still even going to school. She’s got three GCSEs to her name (five No Awards, one D, a C in English which she has no idea how she managed and a C* in Maths, her proudest achievement to date). She’s been working away at an A-Level in Health and Social Care over both of her two years at Sixth Form now, and re-sitting the GCSEs she’s failed. Vanessa has no interest in either health nor social care, but it’s allegedly the easiest A-Level there is so she’s signed up for it regardless. What she’s really going to do after school ends is go to college, get her HNC and HND in beauty therapy with Silky while Akeria studies business management and then they’re going to open a beauty salon together, ’Dreamgirls Beauty’. It’s a plan they’ve had since Year 11, and it’s amused Vanessa to see Akeria and Silky begrudgingly calm down, to stop wreaking havoc around school and actually have to study and work hard so the three of them can achieve their dreams.

She’s actually enjoying her last year of school too. She knows part of the reason she’s stopped getting so much hassle from the others in her year group is because of her transformation after Summer. Her Mama finally saved up enough for flights back to Puerto Rico so they’d spent the Summer there with her family and Vanessa returned full of happiness, love, and fried plantains. All the home cooking and enormous meals have filled her out a bit and she doesn’t know exactly when she’d developed curves but she’s not exactly complaining about them. The sunshine has done wonders for her hair and skin too, the latter becoming clearer and darker and the former becoming longer and shinier. Adding to all this that she got her braces off and learned how to properly do makeup by averaging one NikkieTutorials video a day and she’s suddenly not just some small, spotty girl who fades into the background anymore. She’s confident, she loves herself, she’s genuinely happy.

And that’s more than can be said for Monique.

Vanessa doesn’t care. She doesn’t give a rat’s ass about Monique Heart, doesn’t give the girl a second thought. Certainly doesn’t think about the kiss they shared last year in the bathrooms which was so very obviously such a huge mistake. Doesn’t think about her long locks of hair she got dyed bright fiery orange over the Summer which compliments her eyes so well, doesn’t think about her huge bright smile and screech of a laugh that gets flashed at her friends whenever they say something hilarious. Doesn’t think about her lips even though she knows what they feel like, doesn’t think about how perfect it felt to kiss her after hiding a crush for so many years.

All of this is a lie of course.

Monique seems happy, any outsider would say that, but Vanessa knows different. If Vanessa looks at her long enough she can see the way her shoulders slump when she doesn’t have her friends around her and she’s left alone with her thoughts. She can see the small frown that appears on her face, lost in her own head and drowning in overthinking. She can see the way her smile falters after she laughs before it drops off her face completely. Sometimes Monique meets her gaze and gives Vanessa a look that communicates words in a language she cannot understand.

Still, Monique is hiding a secret that Vanessa already knows even without being told.

Vanessa had always naively and childishly imagined that she and Monique might get together one day. She’d almost confessed that to Monique that day when they’d kissed, before she decided to hang onto the last shred of her dignity. She’d loved Brooke so deeply but she knew that heartbreaks were a rite of passage, a part of life that some people had to bear the burden of. She’d always thought that if she and Brooke weren’t meant to be then her and Monique surely were (and how ridiculous a thought is that, given the fact they barely speak?).

But Vanessa likes to think she still knows Monique. Her biggest fear is needles, her favourite food is anything cooked on a barbecue. She’s always loved girlbands and near the end of their friendship Monique had told Vanessa her Gran had got her into trouble because she’d made twenty-five phone calls in one night to vote for Little Mix in the X Factor final, so Vanessa can safely assume she still listens to them and probably Fifth Harmony as well. She knows that Monique is caring and kind, even despite that day in the girls’ bathrooms. Still, though…Vanessa doesn’t know. A person can change and grow so much over a few short years, and Monique’s been through a lot.

It’s dark and cold outside but Vanessa is warm in bed as she scrolls her phone, absent-mindedly returns to her messages with Monique like she’s done many times since the day she kissed her- Vanessa always reminds herself that no matter what Monique had said, it was her that kissed Vanessa, not the other way round. She re-reads her words over and over like the prayers she chants at Mass on Sundays:

M: Vanessa I’m so sorry

M: I didn’t mean to hurt you I’m just going through so much right now

M: I’m trying to figure myself out but it’s so hard

M: I really miss you

She hadn’t replied to any of them, a fact she deeply deeply regrets because perhaps if she had then they could’ve been something, she could’ve helped Monique with whatever feelings she’d been dealing with, is maybe still dealing with. But it’s been months and months and months now, and Vanessa feels the moment has passed.

That is, until she gets a message on CuriousCat.

Opinions on Monique Heart

When she sees it, Vanessa’s breathing catches in her throat. She feels as if Monique’s eyes are on her and watching her, because really, who else would’ve sent that ask in? Okay, it could’ve been one of her friends trying to stir shit up, but Vanessa knows how it works on CuriousCat and usually the anons are quite easy to work out (which is why she’s still so amazed that Monique never seemed to know it was her that had asked her if she liked girls). Her fingers hover over the screen as she tries to figure out what to type. Unlike the other girls in her year, Vanessa doesn’t bullshit over CuriousCat- if she’s asked an opinion on somebody she calls a spade a spade, and she’ll never forget the hassle she got when somebody asked her her opinion on Tomi and Vanessa had outright labelled her a racist cunt. She wants to say that she’s gorgeous and beautiful, and that she misses being her friend, and that she’s been crushing on her for a while but never had the courage to speak to her because they both move in different circles now and nothing could ever happen.

But obviously, she doesn’t.

Instead she thinks up a white lie, tries to tell the truth without telling the truth, and instead replies:

dont want to say something ill regret

She yells goodnight to her Mama and switches off the lamp beside her bed, turns over and pulls the covers up to her chin. Just as she’s drifting off, a repetitive sound drifts into her consciousness. It sounds like hailstones that are falling from the sky just one at a time. She can hear somebody shouting in the street- probably just somebody drunk stumbling through the estate, it happens a lot- until she makes out who the voice belongs to. Opening her eyes, she sees tiny pebble after tiny pebble hitting her window, and all at once she’s shooting out of bed to look out of it.

The yellow glow of the streetlamp is a spotlight and Monique is taking centre stage on the pavement outside Vanessa’s house. She’s dressed in a huge black hoodie which is paired with blue tartan pyjama bottoms and she’s wearing her black Nike trainers, the same ones she wears to school with the scuffs and the holes and the laces that look like a dog has chewed on them. She’s hurling pebbles and her face is twisted into an upset and mournful frown. Vanessa doesn’t realise she’s crying until she hears her yell again, hears the crack in her voice and her words thick with emotion.

“Open the fuckin’ window, Vanessa!”  

Vanessa does as she’s told, feels her own face scrunch up into a frown. She hisses down to Monique. “Stop fuckin’ yelling, my Mama’s asleep!”

Monique looks up at her, face illuminated in the artificial light. Vanessa sees the tears streaming down her face and her heart feels as if it’s breaking. She grabs her dressing gown and shoves her feet into her slippers, tiptoes as quickly as she can down the stairs and out into the street. She shoves one of her school shoes that’s beside the door into the doorframe so it won’t slam closed behind her, and then she feels the cold night air envelop her as she steps outside. There’s already frost forming on the ground, a tiny layer of wet cold over everything. It’s so dark that the only thing she can properly see is Monique as she walks up to her iron fence, absent-mindedly sticks her feet through the bars and curls her fingers around the rust.

“What the hell are you doin’ here?”

Monique’s face is angry as she addresses her. “What’s the something you’ll regret? Huh? What’s so bad that you can’t fuckin’ say it? You’ve always got something to say, you’re always calling people out. So what the fuck is it?”

Vanessa’s back is instantly put up. “An’ what if I don’t tell you, you gonna throw names at me again? You gonna kiss me then pretend like I kissed you? Nah you won’t, because that would mean havin’ to address your problems an’ act your fuckin’ age for a change instead of caring so much about what other people think of you that you won’t let yourself be who you are!”

Monique is staring at her wide-eyed and Vanessa thinks it would’ve been easier if she’d just slapped her across the face. She is thinking rapidly about what she could say to save the situation and her heart drops like a rollercoaster when Monique gives a sob.

“I’m so fuckin’ scared, ‘Ness,” she says through a shudder of a breath, and Vanessa wants to reach out to her but she’s frozen onto the fence, an ice sculpture in the freezing air. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, and…you’re so happy, and you’re different, and I just…I don’t want to be talked about, I don’t want any of the whispers or the mean words or anybody judging me but I’m so fucking…sad and empty and the last time I remember feeling really, properly alive again was when I kissed you that day and…fuck-”

Monique dissolves into sobs which she muffles with hands wrapped in hoodie sleeves. Vanessa has been through all of this already. She has been through the denial, the Catholic guilt, the repression, letting the thoughts drip, drip, drip into her consciousness then locking them away and ignoring them but the thing about a drip is that there’s always the threat of the dam breaking and when it does, a tsunami of repressed feelings creates a flood and the tears are streaming uncontrollably from Monique’s eyes. Vanessa thaws, reaches forward to take one of Monique’s hands away from her face, and when their eyes meet she can see a speck of hope in Monique’s gaze like Vanessa has a life belt and a raft.  

“M’nique,” she says softly, and the girl’s sobs quieten. “Sometimes you just need to ignore the thoughts that make up the what-ifs. You need to stop imagining fiction and just focus on the facts. At some point…you need to allow yourself to be happy.”

Monique snuffles. “But what if I try that and I’m still not?”

“What if you try and you are? Monique,” Vanessa sighs in exasperation, trying to word it better but being unable to find anything more.

And then the thought strikes her.

Actions speak louder than words so she leans over the gate and pulls Monique close. This time there’s no lipgloss, no chapstick and no overthinking; there’s her lips on Monique’s, and she’s been here before so she kisses her just like she kissed back last time but now she’s less hesitant and nervous. She’s sure. She’s never been more sure of anything in her life. Monique is kissing her back and their hands are entwined just as they’d been the first time. Everything is the same, and yet at once all so different.

When she pulls away (because the fence is digging into her stomach and it’s making her a little too breathless), Monique doesn’t let go of her hand. There’s a hint of a smile on her face, one that makes Vanessa feel as if they’re both going to be okay.

“I never thought we’d get here,” Vanessa laughs a little. She’s emotional, and if she doesn’t check herself then she’s going to start crying but the tears are out before she knows it along with her words. “I know that we ain’t properly spoken in years. But I also know that I love you. I care about you so fuckin’ much, M’nique, I never stopped carin’.”

The pair of them are crying now, and Monique pulls Vanessa in to kiss her again. Vanessa feels her murmur it back against her lips- I love you, I love you so much. I missed you.

It’s still dark, and the streetlamp is still the only light outside Vanessa’s house, but everything seems a little brighter.

“It ain’t safe to walk back to your ends now. C’mon.”

Vanessa takes her friend’s hand, leads her back inside where it’s warm and safe. Her bed is tiny and there’s only really room for one person but they make it work, Monique pressed against the wall and curled up with her arms around Vanessa, Vanessa with her head resting against Monique’s chest and her arm slung protectively over her. She feels Monique give her a little squeeze, press a kiss to the top of her head.

Monique gives the relieved and heavy sigh of someone who’s been rescued from deep water. She wriggles a little in bed to get comfortable and, seemingly satisfied, she whispers into the dark. “G’night, Vanessa.”

Monique’s arms feel comforting around her, and she chooses to settle in them. “Night, M’nique.”

[enchantingkittengaditor]

Deep Water | 03. August

Summary: With fame comes pain. A fact that Caitlyn knows all too well. But when she is the one thrust into the spotlight instead of one of her relatives or friends, she struggles to keep her head above water. Especially when her frenemy Harrison is destined to become her co-star in an animated version of her favourite book. She has to hide her family’s past. He has to hide his feelings and truth. They can’t trust anyone not even each other and if their secrets ever come out, they’ll end up in deep water. This Story follows the trials of the three Watson sisters as they battle to keep part of their past secret.

Warnings: Mentions of Violence, Slight mentions Torture and Swearing

Character Page          |          Masterlist

AUGUST 3rd:  Brenten

A phone was ringing on the stack of phones in the middle of the dining table.

“It’s Brenten’s,” Finn said in victory.

“So he pays?” Millie asked trying to get her head around the game we often played.

“Yup,” I said sadly, grabbing my phone, “Hello,” I answered.

“Hey, Brenten. I know that I’m on tour and everything but I may or may not be coming to Atlanta because I have a project and I wondered if you would be interested in doing dome of the drums for it?” I heard Alice’s voice come from the other end of the phone.

“Wha-Wh- Sure,” I answered. “New album?” I asked her.

“Yup and Cat said you’d be down for it. I can send you the sheet music. Maybe Finn wants to do guitar?” She said, I could hear the strained smile in her voice.

“Of course, Cat did,” I rolled my eyes at the thought, “I can ask Finn if you want me to,” I asked her.

“Yes please,” She said happily, “I’ve got to go, rehearsal and all that Jazz. I’ll email you the sheets, can you text me his answer?” She asked.

“I’ll ask him now for you,” I told her. “Hey, Finn! You wanna play guitar on Alice’s new project?” I asked him.

“Alice?” He questioned.

“Cat’s sister aka Taylor Swift, dude,” I told him again rolling my eyes.

“Sure, it’ll be fun,” He told me.

“He’s in,” I told her.

“Thanks,” She told me, “I’ll send you all the details. Cat says hi!” She hung up, probably getting back to dance practice or lunch with her sisters.

“The bill,” THe waiter said placing it down on the table.

“Brenten,” Finn said with a smug look on his face.

“Dork,” Cat said walking into the sound booth.

“Your sister said it was her project,” I whined.

“It is. I’m producing an album by Cat,” Alice said with a proud smile. “Plus if you two do a good job on hers you can do my next one.”

“So, my album is an experiment for you?” Cat asked her.

“Exactly little kitty cat,” Alice told her.

“What are the songs called?” I asked her, interrupting their sibling fight. “Any about Harry?”

“No,” She said not convincing enough.

“What are the songs, Caitlyn?” Finn asked.

“Pheonix, Thin Air, In the Dark, What you Love, and History,” Cat said.

“All sound like they could be about a certain brunette,” I teased.

“Can you please just play the notes and do the thing,” Cat asked us.

“Your sister is a grammy award winner and you call playing instruments notes and thing,” Finn asked her.

“I know what it’s called I’m just jetlagged from Oxford,” Cat told me.

“Shouldn’t Alice be in Kansas?” I asked her.

“Yes, I just came to set up everything and make sure you listen to her,” Alice said, smiling and waving goodbye to her sister.

“Why Atlanta?” I asked her.

“Oh, right, I’m filming something soon in New Orleans and decided that I could come here to do this, plus it’s easy for Alice to come and visit,” She smiled at me.

“At least it’s music,” I muttered to myself.

AUGUST 10th:  Jasmin

Home, sweet home. Well as sweet as a home with six siblings can be.

“JAS!” My little brother yelled as I dropped my bag on the wood flooring of the entrance to our house.

“Hey, where’s mom?” I asked her.

“Kitchen,” He said, suddenly losing interest in me.

“Hey mom,” I said giving her a peck on the cheek.

“How was America?” She asked as I sat on the barstool by the kitchen island.

“It was good. I just wish you could have come, you would’ve loved Alice’s Rhode Island house and comic con,” I told her.

“I wish I could’ve been there too. But with everything I couldn’t. Anything else happen?” She said handing me a cup of tea.

“Cat’s soulmark also happened to turn colour. She shot an entire TV show. Brenten’s doing his thing in Atlanta and Harry nearly killed me several times,” I told her. “I’m going to go up to my room and get some rest, Jet lag and everything.”

“When you wake up, there’s food in the fridge for you,” She said as I went up the stairs to my room.

My room was nice but I was busy messing around on my phone, listening to music and getting into PJs before I went onto Instagram. I forgot to post about comic con. Of course, I did. Should I go back and do a latergram or do I simply ignore it?

I scrolled through the endless photos of me and my friends having fun around San Diego and messing with people and each other. I found three photos that I thought looked decent to post and comment on before going for my nap.

My phone woke me up.

“Cat,” I mumbled rubbing my eyes.

“I need to talk to someone and the only other person near me is Harrison and I can’t talk to him about this,” She said quickly, panicking.

“What is it?” I asked her.

“Harrison kissed me and I didn’t hate it,” She whisper yelled over the phone as if she was worried about someone ever hearing her.

“Really?” I laughed. “Cat that’s not the end of the world. People kiss all of the time.”

“No, I blocked out the memory. Not recently but like two months ago and it may have happened again and I’m freaking out. I hate his guts and then in LA he touched my arm and it changed colour and now I’m really panicking,” She said, I could hear the tears in her voice.

“Where are you now?” I asked her.

“Atlanta, at a hotel, Harrison’s next-door other than that no one,” She told me.

“Ok, breath, do the sky thing. And watch a movie or go get Harrison. I know that you hate him but he can help you more than I can. Love you, but I can’t help over the phone at,” I checked the time on my phone, “5 am.”

“Thanks,” She said the panic still lingering in her voice.

AUGUST 11th:  Harrison

Knocking on the door woke me up from my sleep. Who the hell knocks that frantically at midnight? I got up, rubbing my eyes and stumbling to the door to see my blonde co-star having another panic attack.

“I’m kinda freaking out,” She said shaking her hands nervously. I habit that I’d noticed when she had her last panic attack.

I didn’t need to say come in, I just needed to move to the side to let her in for her to know it was alright. “Why are you freaking out this time?” I asked her.

“Anxiety Memories,” She told me, still hyperventilating as she paced around the room.

“What about?” I asked her, still half asleep.

“Everything seems to be crashing down around me and I got a text from mum and now I’m freaking out more than I usually do,” She said between heavy breathing. Still shaking her hands.

“What text did you get?” I asked her suddenly more awake than I had been previously.

“Dad’s getting out of  prison and the news found out and now I-” Her hands waving around too quickly, “-I don’t know what to do. Bea said he tried to contact her and I’m really,” Her hands were waving faster. I grabbed them in an attempt to calm her down. “I’m really freaked out.” By now tears were streaming down her face.

“Hey, breath. Sit down and breath,” I told her, leading her to the edge of the bed. “When your ready tell me about it.”

She just sat there for a few minutes calming her breath and sobbing into my chest. I could hear my phone going off with notifications from people telling me about what this panic attack was about.

“Dad got let out because of something, the press found out and since the whole we haven’t talked about him and they jumped to the conclusion that he’s dead. They’re coming after us,” She whispered.

“It’s alright. I-We’ll help you through this,” I told her rubbing her back. “We can all get through this together. I’ll support you no matter what. You may not like me, but the whole mark thing means I’ll always be here for you.”

“Thanks,” She murmured.

“Do you want to stay here tonight?” I asked her softly.

“Yes please,” She whispered to me.

“Alright,” I said moving up the bed so that we could actually lie down and started creating a pillow wall like the last time we had to share a bed.

“Is it OK if we don’t do that? I just need a hug, even if I hate your ass,” She said, a small sliver of her old self returning after the brief lapse of it.

“Sure,” I said giving her a small half smile.

“Thank you,” She said as she started falling asleep in my arms. This is something that I could get used to if she stoped hating me. I just have to make sure she’s alright before I leave tomorrow. 

In all honesty I didn’t get much sleep that night, I was too focused on controlling my breathing and trying to figure out what could have been the memory to cause her to get like this. And trying to make sure it wasn’t awkward when she woke up to see she was in her enemies arms.

The sun was shining through the blinds when I woke up the next morning to my alarm going off. Cat tried to turn off the alarm but only ended up hitting my nose and face repeatedly, just making me giggle.

“Urg,” She said opening her eyes, “What time is it?” She asked.

“It’s eight thirty,” I told her.

“And why am I in your room?” She asked again.

“You came to the door last night having a panic attack and you wanted to stay the night,” I told her getting out from under her head and went to open the curtains.

“It’s really bright,” She said sitting up.

“How is your hair that neat?” I asked her, only noticing that her hair wasn’t a crows nest like most peoples when they get up.

“Magic,” She said half drunk on sleep. “It just is. A family secret. Why didn’t I mention the fact you’re only in your underwear last night?”

“You were crying and didn’t notice,” I told her.

“Thank you,” She said getting up off the bed herself and going toward the door.

“You want to get breakfast? I can drop you off at the set before I go to the airport,” I suggested.

“Sure, but can you take me to the airport too. I have to catch a flight to New Orleans for filming,” She said while at the door.

“Cool,” I said.

AUGUST 13th: Caitlyn

“Good morning,” Aubrey greeted me on set.

“Good morning. First day of our pilot episode, you nervous?” I asked him, handing him a coffee as I sat in the make-up chair.

“No, except if we don’t get picked up,” He ansered, “You?”

“Not at all. Well not this, other things but-” I started to answer a mile a minute.

“How many coffees?” He asked me.

“None. I hate coffee. But I’ve had 18 colas in the past ten hours and haven’t slept since the 11th,” I told him.

“You need to sleep,” He said.

“Probably but I can’t. It’s like there’s something missing. That and the news has been keeping me awake for ages. That and doging calls has become my full time job,” I told him sadly.

“How are your sisters handling it all?”

“Alice is focusing on tour and ignoring it all. Bea is focusing on filming her new show. Dot’s focusing on tennis and Ellie is unaware of it all, mum’s protecting her. Well, she’s at summer camp her in the US so it’s more like no cable or internet is protecting her. And I’m constantly having panic attacks and missing someone whose guts I hate but gives good hugs,” I unloaded. “All while being an emotionally repressed closteted english sixteen year old.”

“Fuck dude. That’s a lot on your plate,” he said looking at me over his phone.

“I’m also filming this, something in LA, doing voice stuff and having to finish doing my last few scenes for a disney show that I’ve been doing on and offn for the past few years, before anxiety knocked on my door and said ‘I’m going to ruin your life.’ AKA I lost my damn mind. Oh and school.” I laughed to myself.

“You need to take a break for yourself,” He told me.

“I would but, my family never takes breaks. My sisters are insane, my cousins are even more so. We don’t take a break because if you take a break you can fail and fall from grace. And rule number 13 is if you fall from grace you may never return to the stature you had and rule 14 if you fail and fall you are no longer a proper lady,” I recited.

“Rules?” He questioned.

“My grandmother’s rules about being a proper lady. The rules we’re meant to live by or else,” I informed him.

“Your family seems… intense,” He told me.

“That, my new friend, is the understatement of the century,” I told him.

“Are you going to do anything insane while on set?” He asked.

“Not anything that you need to worry about. The biggest thing would probably have a panic attack,” I informed him.

“If I see you having one, I’ll try comfort you,” He said.

“Good luck with that,” I muttered going back to my phone.

Out of the corner of my eyes I could see him laugh slightly before going back to his own phone.

[prorevenge]

Found my girlfriend was cheating on me with a close friend, so I had him arrested and ghosted her.

TL:DR will be at the bottom but hold onto your hats, this is going to be a long one.

Backstory (incoming sadness)

My wife Rachel and I grew up in a largish town of close to 30,000 people. We knew each other at an early age (roughly 6 or 7, can’t specifically remember). We were practically inseparable. At 16, we started dating each other. When we turned 18, we moved away for work in a city just a few hours drive away. By 20, we were married and had bought our first house. At 22, we discovered that she was pregnant with a boy. It was then disaster struck.

About 5 weeks before she was due to go on maternity leave, a large shelving unit collapsed and crushed her. I was told that both her and our child were killed instantly. Two of her colleagues had also been injured in the accident, one left paralyzed, the other loosing his leg after it had to be amputated. The company she was working for, had in a cost cutting measure, decided to continue using old shelving that had been written off as unsafe instead of replacing it. I still haven’t quiet forgiven those executives and management personnel that made that decision, because they cut short the love of my life as well as killing our unborn child.

It wasn’t long after I was told I had a ‘choice’ on how to proceed with what her company called “compensation”, but I called it blood money. They wanted to settle out of court to avoid a lawsuit. I, on the other hand, was out for their blood. [Just to clarify here, this is not the revenge, this is still backstory]. Fortunately, due to the coverage that it got, and involving several politicians, the case was settled quickly in court (roughly 3 years) in which the payout for all parties was close to 10 times the amount that they had initially offered. A lot of fines were given to them for breaches on work, health and safety, executives were sacked, others were jailed, etc. [A story for another time maybe, when I feel comfortable sharing.]

In this time, I was still working my job in telecommunications. My mother, bless her soul, had moved in while all this was happening to help me. I think I would have fallen apart if she hadn’t been as involved as she was. It was around this time, I was offered a promotion, but it involved a lot of travel around the state. I made a request to have an office in my home towns branch, as I wanted to not only take care of businesses in the state, but in my home town also as there was no business representative located there to which they agreed. After a few months, we settled into a routine of one to two weeks in the city office, one week in my hometown and one to two weeks visiting the rest of the state. After a year, I decided to buy a house in my hometown, so I wasn’t having to stay at my parent’s place every week or so that I was home and that I could come and go as I pleased. This is important for later in the story.

It is about 4 years later that our story begins. (Sorry if the backstory was a bit long)

I had just returned from one of my trips on Friday, and was checking in some stuff at my office when Harry, the branch’s managing director, walked in. We had grown up together also, but had gone to different schools but since coming back had developed a very close friendship. He asked how things were, and then asked me if I wanted to come to a house party that he was having that evening. Short notice and all, but I said yes. I felt like a few drinks with friends were in order. It was there that Harry introduced me to Katherine. She was a new hire at the branch where my hometowns office was located and was getting to know everyone being new in town. We hit it off immediately. As much of a cliché as it sounds, it was almost as if Rachel was in front of me, instead of Katherine.

I won’t bore you too much with the details, but after 2 years of dating, we decided to take the next step and she moved into my hometowns house. Everything up to this point had been going really well. Katherine and my parent’s got along and Rachel’s parents also approved and were happy that someone could make me just as happy as Rachel had done. All was going well for close to a year when things began to change. Skype sessions were cut short suddenly, neighbours would tell me about how a car, described to me like it was Harry’s, was always seen parked in the back alley near my house whenever I was away, some clothes that weren’t mine were in my wardrobe. All signs pointed to her cheating, but she said that nothing was happening. She said that Harry would come over occasionally to discuss business, etc, but never stayed the night. I chalked it up to me being paranoid and continued on as if nothing was wrong, but there was always this feeling that something wasn’t right.

It was close to 6 months after that I discovered that she had been lying to me. I had just finished closing a rather large contract with a new company and negotiations had wrapped up earlier than I had anticipated. So instead of sticking around for the next few days, I decided to pay for an early flight home and surprise everyone. Fast forward a few hours and I drive into my hometown and down the alley behind my house so that I could get into the house without being seen and surprise Katherine. Some part of me was curious however as to whether this mystery car was there.

Sure enough, there was a car that was blocking the back entrance gate. I was confused for a moment wondering if it had just been a neglectful neighbor parking only to realize that it was indeed Harry’s car. If it hadn’t been for the high hedge line that I had put in a few years back for privacy, I may have well driven past my own place. Pulling up behind his car, I got out and thought it was strange that he was there so late. As she claimed that he always had left by now. As I approached the back of the house I saw something that stomach drop. In my kitchen, Katherine and Harry were going at it hammer and tong. I froze. Time stopped. There was my close friend, having sex on my kitchen bench with my girlfriend.

I didn’t know what to do. So many questions where running through my head. Was this real or was I dreaming? Why were they having sex in my house? Feeling defeated, I turned and left without them seeing me. I sat in my car for what felt like an eternity. I was crying. Hard. But the sadness quickly turned into anger. The same kind of anger I felt towards those that were responsible for Rachel’s death. I wanted to hurt them. Badly. As a pacifist, I don’t believe in violence. It was then I knew I was going to punish them and destroy their lives. And what better time to start than now.

I moved my car back up the alley, far enough away from my driveway that I could still see Harry’s car, and then walked back to the gate where I could see into the house, and called her phone. They were still going for it when it rang. They both looked at the Caller ID and did a double take when my name came up. I could see that she was considering answering it and they let it ring out. After a few moments they were back into it again and I dialed once again. This time she did answered. As she was answering I hung up and made my way back to my car. As soon as I did, she called me back. She asked why I was calling as late as I was, and I told her that I was about 10 minutes from home and didn’t want to scare her coming in. She, obviously, was shocked and acted happy that I was coming and the call ended very quickly after she said she was going to get up and get changed into something. I said bye and hung up.

A few moments later, Harry came peeling through the gate and still half naked, jumped into his car took off like a bat out of hell. I smiled a little, knowing the fear that both of them would be feeling from being so close to being caught. I waited a few moments before turning my car into the same place Harry had been moments earlier. The night was fairly uneventful afterwards and It wasn’t until after she was asleep, that I got up and went to my office down the hall. I couldn’t sleep. I needed to plan. And plan I did.

The Revenge

My mother always taught me to be a pacifist and to allow cosmic karma to take its course. But on this occasion, I decided that karma could use a helping hand. I decided to punish them separately but destroy both of them. I knew that Harry had a drug habit. Nothing major, but he kept it very private. I only knew about it accidently after seeing some coke and weed left out in his place but pretended I hadn’t seen it when he had made attempts to cover it up. I began calling some of my more unsavoury clientele and made a few discreet enquiries into obtaining some samples that they were willing to part with. A few days later, I had a decent enough stash for my plan to work. About a month later, I had friends, including Harry around for a barbeque night. After making sure that I sufficiently liquored up Harry, I told him to stay the night and sleep it off.

In the early hours of that morning, I took the drugs, and an assortment of my personal belongings, and placed them at various places around his car, with the biggest stash in his tyre well. Confident that he wouldn’t find them over the few months as the rest of my plan took affect, I locked the car up and went inside to sleep. I also placed some more drugs and personal items in his house after driving him home because he was still to drunk to drive. A few days later, I staged a break in, by smashing the back pane of my back door into my kitchen and leaving it open before heading back to the city for a flight. I had several messages the moment I landed. One from my clearly panicked mum, who had found the back door smashed open and had called the police, one from Katherine in tears, and one from the local police asking me to call. After returning all the calls, I informed the police I was away on business, and that I would be back the following week to talk with them.

While away, I got Katherine to stay with my parents until after I got back, and asked my Dad to organize one of the local security companies to install cameras and an alarm system after getting the go ahead from the police as to not ruin the scene of the crime. After getting home, I did the usual ‘my God I can’t believe this has happened’ and ‘why would anyone do this?’ routine. After doing a thorough check of everywhere, ‘finding’ that the items I had taken were ‘missing’ and filing a police report, I had the security companies rep talk Katherine and I through how the cameras and alarm system worked.

Then came the question I had been waiting for. The question of what happens if we are doing some business and don’t want it recorded. She acted a bit shy asking this question. But I knew exactly the reason she was asking. He assured us that this was a question he got asked a lot, and we were shown on the home computer, if we wanted to be doing things without it being recorded, how to stop the recording for certain camera’s, so that we could protect her modesty. As I was walking him out, I asked him if camera’s were turned off, could a notification be sent out, just as a security precaution. He came back in and helped me through how to set up email notifications and left shortly after. Fantastic. All I had to do was wait.

At this stage, I approached r/legaladvice for some help in relation to couples law in my country. I needed to make sure that my upcoming plan could legally be done and that I would not be forced to pay out any money or equity to Katherine as I didn’t know if we were classified as a De Facto couple or not. Being the sole benefactor of Rachel’s estate, I didn’t want to be left with any nasty surprises where Katherine could take any of the estate away from me. Shout out to those guys and gals there as they helped me get in contact with a great lawyer who assured me, due to the fact that although we had been dating for close to 4 years, we had not been living together long enough to be classified as De Facto, and because I was paying all the utilities on the property that she was living in and didn’t pay rent, showed that she had no legal standing to make a financial claim against me. Just to be sure though, he drew up what I felt was a pretty ironclad document just in case there was any legal trouble.

The following week, my work had approached me, and offered me a promotion to move back to the city and run the team that I was a part of, meaning I wouldn’t need to travel as often and be in the one location and due to the success of being located in my hometown, that they were considering having 3 to 5 representatives spend one to two weeks in the larger surrounding towns including my hometown as a part of my team. I said yes, and began the process of beginning my transfer, which would take about 6 weeks. Perfect. More than enough time to gather all my evidence.

Upon getting back to my hometown the following week, I began to start in motion the rest of my plan. I asked Harry to approve one weeks worth of vacation for Katherine for two weeks time. I wanted to send her and a friend or two away on a retreat before I made the biggest decision of my life for a second time. He jumped up and gave me a huge hug, congratulating me on being prepared to take the leap again. I hugged him back tight, but not the way I think he imagined it at the time. He agreed and blocked out the week for me. I asked him not to say anything to anyone, as I wanted to make it as big a surprise as I could. I knew, that it would spread like wildfire around the office regardless, but that was my plan.

That night, I told Katherine that I had booked her and two friends to go to a tropical spa resort, all expenses paid for a week. No questions asked, pick two friends, and come back to the biggest surprise of her life. She screamed like a kid who had just been told that all the candy in the shop was hers to have.

I then told her that the following week, I was going to spend it in the city, preparing for a large client who was one of my biggest accounts, and needed some people in my team to help before flying out the following week and I wouldn’t be home until the Monday that she was leaving, so I wouldn’t be able to see her, which seemed to disappoint her, but I told her it would be worth it when she returned. What I failed to tell her, was that I had decided to take 2 weeks vacation on the other side of the country, mentally preparing myself for the shit storm that was about to erupt the moment she stepped foot on the plane as well as enjoying my first stage of freedom.

On Sunday two weeks later, I flew back and began driving home. Once getting there I done a quick pass by my house and sure enough, Harry’s car was there. Like the first night I had caught them, I parked a little way’s back, and checked the cameras. Asleep, in my bed. No surprise honestly as I had recorded them constantly do this over the 2 weeks I had been away. I then made my first call to the police blocking my caller id. I told them that I was one of my neighbours and saw someone hanging around in their car in the alley behind my house and occasionally passing something through windows to passing cars while also looking into my yard and I was concerned that they were dealing drugs and or going to break into someone’s property. I gave them his license plate and description. They said they would have someone there in a few minutes so I thanked them and hung up.

I then called Katherine and told her I was about 10 minutes from home, and that I knew she was flying out tomorrow, but desperately wanted to surprise her. Looking back at the footage now, I laugh at the commotion that I am surprised I didn’t hear. In a few short seconds, Harry was half dressed and flying out the back door to his car. At that point, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect scene. As Harry was peeling away, one of the police cars rounded the corner behind me, saw Harry driving away fast, and gave chase.

After pulling in, greeting an excited Katherine, and doing all the couple things, she fell asleep again. I, on the other hand, couldn’t sleep a wink. The next day, her and her friends were bundled into a car. After they drove away, I had to wait a few hours, but I began to execute my plan. I called my friend who was a removalist, and apologized for the late notice but needed my place packed and moved on Friday. After agreeing on a time I told him that he would need to take certain boxes to a storage facility, which he said wasn’t and issue. Then I began packing Katherine’s belongings.

Later that day, I got a call from the police for me to come and identify some property that they had apprehended from a suspect the previous night that fit the description of property I had reported stolen. I grinned to myself, happy that my plan for Harry had grown to fruition and replied that I would be there shortly to collect it. Of course, when I got there, some of the items where still unaccounted for, due to the fact that they must have still been in his house and they hadn’t searched there yet. By this stage, the town was buzzing with news. Events in my hometown don’t stay secret for long. Harry was disgraced and promptly fired for his possession of drugs and stolen property, and our respective bosses on behalf of the company had extended a formal apology towards me during the week.

That night I went to my parents house and told both mine and Rachel’s parents what had happened, omitting certain details, and that I was moving back to the city after being promoted, but Katherine wouldn’t be a part of it. They were pretty upset initially that I hadn’t let them know what was going on, but were happy that I was handling everything maturely and hadn’t sunk to their level, thought they didn’t agree with ghosting Katherine. But after some drinks, laughs and tears, I went home.

On Friday afternoon, after a busy week of organizing cleaners for the following week, the real estate to put my house on the rental market, and various other tasks at my hometowns office, I packed some things into my car, and drove to my parents place and said goodbye before the drive. Before leaving, I went to Becky’s house. Becky had been one of Rachel’s closest friends growing up. She was the only other person who knew that knew what was happening, minus the details about Harry. Without her help, I wouldn’t have been able to organize everything as quickly as I had. I gave Becky a large manila folder with my gathered evidence of her cheating, as well as the letter and a few other legal documents from my attorney stating that she was ordered not to contact me, and the details of how to access her belongings located at the storage unit I had rented out. After a quick goodbye, I left and drove back to the city.

On Sunday, I woke up to several missed calls, voice messages and text messages. Turns out, Katherine had come home early after being alerted to something being afoot in town, only to find an empty house and a for rent sign out the front. Freaking out, she had gone to my parent’s, who closed the door on her the moment that they answered, forcing her to call everyone until she managed to somehow be contacted by Becky and told that she had a package for her. I was told that she didn’t take to well to that, as I fully well knew at that point from the numerous angry texts and voice messages from her accusing me of setting up Harry, of being deceitful, etc. I was worried that she might show up at my front door, but nothing ever happened.

Five weeks later after leaving and been promoted, I write this out for you dear reader. Granted its long, and it took a few rewrites to shorten it down from my initial 14 pages (double what this story is now), but I feel that most of what I said was important enough for the story.

TL:DR, After my pregnant wife was killed in a workplace accident, I moved to back to my hometown and connected with a woman who after moving in with me, cheated on me with a close friend. I set him up to take the fall for drug possession and after sending her away on a spa retreat, rented out my house and left town for a promotion while exposing her as a cheater.

(source) story by (/u/ceolsean)