#so i call the landline. her mom answers the phone and says she’s just fallen asleep. i’m like ah. okay nevermind

[fingertipsmp3]

Just sitting here eating breadsticks in the calm before the storm tbh

[you-a-southpaw-doll]

His Salvation ~ A John Winchester One-Shot

Summary: Based on SPN, S1, E21 “Salvation”. John gets threatened by Meg the demon if he doesn’t give the Colt to her. Meg threatens him, and harms Leigh while still on the phone. John tricks Meg by handing over a fake Colt. John, thinking Leigh (who’s the only woman to help him with hunting, with the boys, with coping with the loss of Mary, and also the woman he loves) is dead, goes to give Meg the Colt. On the way there, he gets a call from the hospital saying his wife has been involved in an accident. It takes him a minute to realize that Leigh’s actually alive since their secret code was to call each other husband and wife if they ever got in trouble. The search for the demon that killed Mary is put on hold. There’s never the car crash that happens at the end of S1, so John doesn’t need to make a deal with the yellow-eyed demon to save Dean. 

Warning(s): Language. Angst. Threats - spoken, unspoken, well known, good,  and bad. Violence. Fluff. Leigh’s a badass. Not beta’d, so...there’s that. I only have Grammarly used on this. 

Author’s Note(s): Hey, y’all! I know it’s been a really long, hot minute since I last posted an update. Writer’s block is an absolute demon. Depression too. And with everything else going on this year, it’s just been crazy! But, here’s a John Winchester One-Shot! If I get enough feedback for it, I’ll do a part 2! But y’all gotta let me know! Hope everyone’s staying safe, staying negative from COVID, and that y’all have a Happy Holiday season! As always, I’m here, so feel free to reach out! 

Word Count: 3,828 words

Relationship(s): John Winchester x Leigh Sullivan (OFC) [romantic]. 

Characters: John Winchester. Leigh Sullivan (OFC). Dean Winchester. Sam Winchester. Demon!Meg. Mary Winchester (Mentioned).

Taglist: @negans-network @prettyboynegan @mychemicalimagines @spnnnxangelsx @rockinkel21 @misskittycat02 @band--psycho@ofxallxwexlost @iron-halt @thamberlinawrites @ravenwings73 @lettherebepink @stoneyggirl @sebs-padawan @cladd716

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Story Time:

John’s P.O.V. ~ Salvation, Iowa - 2006

“Meg.” Sam says into his phone, shock lacing his voice.

My head jerks up from where I’d had it resting in my hands after arguing with the boys, well Dean really, ‘bout them not being able to get me to answer the phone. I know I suck at phone calls. To be honest, I really can’t stand phones...they’re just too confusing for my 51-year-old ass, even if you’d never know that’s how old I am since I look like I’m in my late 30s, maybe late 40s. 

I’d much rather use a landline than a cell phone. It’s a miracle the ones I do have even stay charged. I have Leigh to thank for that. She’s been my saving grace, my salvation for well over two and a half decades. Hell, maybe even longer than that. She helped me raise the boys after my wife, Mary, died when Sammy was six months old, even though she was just barely outta her teenage years herself.

She was 15 when we first met 25 years ago and she became Dean’s babysitter and later Sammy’s. After Mary died, Leigh was right there, willing to help me with the boys as I set out on the mission to find Mary’s killer. I’d never wanted to get her dragged into the lifestyle of a Hunter, but she insisted, saying someone needed to help take care of the boys.

And...after rescuing her when her parents were killed by a werewolf a few years later, she stuck ‘round even more. By that point, she was 22, and made it clear she was an adult and could do whatever she wanted which just so happened to stick with the boys and I. So, I did what I had to, and we learned the ropes of being a Hunter together.

After Sam went to college a few years ago, it was just Dean, Leigh, and I. We continued on hunting. Sometimes, Dean would go on his own hunts, but Leigh would always stick right by my side, hunting with me. Somewhere around the time that Dean was in high school, Leigh and I ended up together.

I was hesitant at first, considering I’d known her since she was a teenager, but she pointed out that she was only 10 years younger than me and had always had a crush on me. So, after a rough hunt and a night of patching each other up, we’d fallen into bed together. From that point on, we were together. 

The boys approved even if Dean had been a little hesitant at first; he didn’t want anyone to take his mom’s place. No one would ever take Mary’s place, but there was no denying the role Leigh had in all of our lives. She’d been the one to calm me down after Sam left for college, something I’d always wanted for my boys, but after being a Hunter for so long, I was only worried ‘bout their safety.

That was why I didn’t want Sam to go to California, to Stanford. I felt if he were there, I wouldn’t be able to protect him as easily from the things that go bump in the night. But, Leigh calmed me down, telling me that Sam was an adult now, and could make his own choices as well as being able to protect himself since we’d taught the boys a lot of what we knew.

The only reason Leigh’s not here, with us, with me, is because she went to see our friend and fellow Hunter, Caleb up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and help him with a case. The boys and I are working a lead that, hopefully, brings us closer to finding Yellow Eyes, the man, well, the demon responsible for Mary’s death. 

Both Dean and I stare at Sam as we listen to his conversation with Meg. A woman who’d befriended Sam when he and Dean had a spat outside of a small town in Indiana a while back. She made her true colors show when she’d tried to have them killed. Only...she ended up falling out of a seven-story window.

There’s no way a human could’ve survived a fall like which means...she’s not human...she must be...fuck. She’s a demon. I get pulled outta my thoughts when I hear Sam’s voice and feel his eyes on me.

“My dad. I don’t know where my dad is.” He says.

I raise a brow, running a hand over my face and letting out a sigh. I stand and walk over to the motel window, looking out of  it for a moment before turning back to Sam in time to see him holding his phone out to me. I sigh again and take it.

“This is John.” I say, my voice deep and empty of any emotions.

“Howdy, John. I'm Meg. I'm a friend of your boys. I'm also the one who watched Jim Murphy choke on his own blood…”

My heart tightens in my chest at her words. Jim was a close friend, fellow Hunter, and a priest. He was also murdered yesterday. I found out from Caleb when the boys and I were heading up here to Salvation, Iowa. Jim’s death...hit hard. It wasn’t ideal to get close to anyone, not in our line of work, but sometimes it couldn’t be helped.

“...Still there John-boy?” Meg’s voice cuts through the phone again.

“I’m here.” I ground out.

“Well, that was yesterday. Today, I’m in Lincoln.” 

My heart tightens again.

“Visiting another old friend of yours.” 

My lungs stop working. 

“She wants to say hi.”

My knees nearly buckle as my stomach drops to my chest. No. No. God-fuckin’-dammit! No! I take in a breath, trying not to give away the turmoil currently going on inside me. ‘Specially not when I hear her voice through the phone. 

“John, whatever you do don’t give…”

I hear Meg shush Leigh and my heart breaks. 

“Leigh?” I let out in a deep breath, trying my best to keep my emotions from being relayed to Meg.

The boys both jerk their heads up and look at me, worry and confusion on their faces. I blink and close my eyes for a second.

“You listen to me.” I tell Meg. “She’s got nothing to do with anything. You let her go.”

“We know you have the Colt, John.” Meg replies, her voice even.

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ ‘bout.”

“Oh. Ok. Well, listen to this.”

My brows furrow and a moment later, my whole world comes crashing down. The sound of a knife or something equally sharp slashing through something followed by the sound of Leigh gasping and clearing drowning in her own blood fills the phone. I slump against the wall, my knees barely holding me up at this point.

“Leigh. Leigh!” I somehow manage to yell, nearly crushing the phone against the side of my face.

“Save the boys, husband.” I hear the love of my life croak out as she bleeds to death.

My heart breaks at the title, something I’d dreamt ‘bout hearing her call me for the last few years, but hadn’t happened, and was really just our code word we’d use when we were in a tough situation and wanted to let each other know everything was gonna be ok. Except. This time. It wouldn’t be ok. 

Not as I hear the sounds from Leigh slow.

“You hear that?” Meg taunts. “That’s the sound of your friend dying. Now, let’s try this again. We know you have the Colt, John. Word travels fast. So, as far as we’re concerned, you just declared war. And this is what war looks like. It has casualties.”

I growl. “I’m gonna kill you. You know that?”

She laughs. “Oh, John, please. Mind your blood pressure. So, this is the thing. We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing. And your friends, anyone who has ever helped you, gave you shelter, anyone you ever loved. They’ll all die. Unless you give us that gun.”

I take in a deep breath, not saying a word as I listen to her words and try my damndest to hear any sign from Leigh. Something to tell me she’s still alive. But I know...I know it’s not possible. Leigh’s dead. The love of my life. The first woman I’ve let myself love since Mary. The woman who helped raise my sons.

The badass woman who I was gonna ask to marry me once I’d ganked the evil son of a bitch that killed Mary. The only woman who had somehow broken down all the walls I’d built up. She was dead and I’d failed her. Failed to protect her. Failed to...fuck. I’d failed her. And I couldn’t fail her anymore by letting Meg and her demon friends kill more of mine and Leigh’s friends or any other innocent person.

“I’m waiting, Johnny.” Meg says. “Better answer before the buzzer.”

“Okay.” I sigh.

“Sorry? I didn’t quite get that.”

“I said okay. I’ll bring you the Colt.”

                                                             ***

Leigh’s P.O.V. ~ Lincoln, Nebraska

After Meg slit my throat, and I managed to croak out a few words to John, everything got darker with each passing second. By the time Meg hung up the phone with John, I’m barely holding on. I can feel my heart barely beating and breathing is almost impossible, but I refuse to give up. I refuse to die like this.

So, I make it seem like I had. This ain’t the first time I’ve faked my death. But it is the first time I’ve faked it while being alone. Meg being in the room doesn’t count. I mean being alone by not having the Winchesters nearby. Just barely holding on, I hold my breath and keep my eyes open, staring right at Meg.

I want her to think I’m dead and for her to stare right into my eyes as she does. I watch, not moving, not blinking, barely conscious, as she tosses the phone on my lap, and sneers at me.

“What the hell are you looking at?” She hisses before walking outta Caleb’s office.

I wait for a solid 15 seconds, even though it feels like an eternity, to make sure she’s truly gone before I force my thumb to press five buttons on my phone, hoping it’s right. A second later, I hear the call connect as it starts ringing, the noise amplified by the speaker. Another second passes before I hear the call truly connect.

“911. What’s your emergency?” The operator asks.

“Ambulance.” I croak out. “Now. Please.”

“Ma’am? I’m sorry. I need you to repeat that. Can you speak up?”

“Ambulance. Now.” I try to say louder.

“Ma’am? What’s your location?”

I try to get the address to Caleb’s out, only hoping the operator can make sense of it. I know my GPS is turned on, so hopefully, she can trace it. 

“Ambulance.” I manage to get out once more.

It’s a miracle I’ve managed to hang on this long, let alone get this much out. But, of course, every miracle ends at some point. As soon as I get the word, everything goes black.

                                                            ***

I come to, briefly, to bright lights, loud noises, and a bunch of people standing over me. 

“My husband. John Winchester. Call him.” I say, hoping it’s loud ‘nough.

One of the people standing over me says something, but I don’t hear him. Everything goes dark again as I pass out again.

                                                            ***

John’s P.O.V. ~ Lincoln, Nebraska

Getting outta my truck, I answer my phone without looking at the caller ID. I don’t care who’s calling me. Not anymore. Everything’s numb. Yes, I have my sons, but for the second time in my life, I’ve lost the woman I love. The boys warned me that this was a suicide mission. There’s only one reason Meg would want me to come alone with the Colt, but I told them I didn’t care. 

Sam looked at me with understanding in his eyes since he knew what I was going through from where he’d lost his girlfriend, Jess, a few months ago. Dean tried to argue with me, but I just gave him a look and he shut up. We arranged for me to bring Mega a fake version of the Colt in order to buy the boys some time so they could finish out the hunt and finally kill Yellow Eyes, once and for all.

I flip the phone open and press it to my ear as I stare up at the warehouse where I’m supposed to be meeting Meg.

“What?” I say into the phone.

“Is this John Winchester?” The man on the other end says, making me tense up.

“Yes. Who is this and how did you get this number?”

“Your wife. Your contact was in her phone.”

I furrow my brow. “My wife?”

“Yes, sir. Your wife. I’m sorry to tell you that she’s been attacked, but she’s at Bryan Medical Center West Campus.”

“Wait. What? My wife? Attacked? She’s alive?”

“Yes, sir. She is. She’s in surgery now.”

“I’ll be there soon!” 

With that, I hang up my phone, feeling my heart beat faster in my chest.

“She’s alive.” I whisper to myself. “My fuckin’ badass girl. She’s alive.”

I glance around, spot a water tower on the roof of the warehouse, and after checking my pockets for the rosary beads, I head up there. I bless the water, turning it into holy water. If Meg’s a demon, she’s gonna fuckin’ pay even more for what she put my girl through. After blessing the water, I head inside the warehouse.

I make my way to one of the large, empty rooms, knowing that’s where Meg’ll be. Guess I’m early. She’s not here yet. Fuck. I just want to get this over with. Looking around, I realize I can rig something up to put the water lines on a makeshift timer. So, I do. Then, I scrawl out a note, telling Meg how sorry I am I missed her, even though it’s not true, and that I hope she rots in hell. 

That part’s true. 

Once I have the note written and the timer set up, I lay the Colt on the floor with the note, and then book it back to my truck. Even if this isn’t how I wanted things to go with Meg, I don’t give a shit. Even though I haven’t slept in two days, and am running off of straight caffeine, I don’t give a shit. Leigh’s alive, and I’m not gonna waste another minute not by her side.

I tear outta the warehouse parking lot, rushing to the hospital. As I drive, I call Dean.

“Dad?” He asks. “How’d it go with Meg?”

“She’s alive.” I blurt out, talking ‘bout Leigh.

“Meg? You left her alive?!”

“No! I didn’t see her. Something came up. I left her a note. She might come for y’all…”

“Left her a note? Why? What came up?”

“I got a call from the hospital. Leigh...Dean...Leigh’s alive.”

“She is?!?! What? How?”

“Yes. She is. So, I’m heading to the hospital. I’ve got to be by her side. But. I wanted to let you know. In case Meg shows up.”

“We’ll keep an eye out for her, dad. Don’t worry. You stay with Leigh. We’ll come as soon as we’re done here.”

“Thanks, son.”

Our conversation ends a few moments later. I pull into a parking spot at the hospital a few minutes later. As soon as I’m parked, I have the keys outta ignition and in my pocket as I rush outta the truck and into the hospital. I take a deep breath once I’m inside, trying to calm my nerves. The last thing I need is to appear even more outta it than I already am.

I run my fingers through my already messed up hair and then down my face, taking another deep breath in. When I’m done, I walk over to the nurse’s station.

“Excuse me, miss?” I say in what I hope is a soft, non-shaky tone.

The young nurse looks up from her computer. I give her a small smile.

“Yes, sir?” She asks, blushing a little.

“Hi. I got a call. My wife...she was attacked...they said she was here?”

“Wife? What’s her name?” Her fingers resting on her keyboard.

“Leigh Sullivan.”

She nods and quickly types my girl’s name into the computer. Whatever she sees on the screen has her eyes widening more than the Grand Canyon. My heart falls deeper into the pit of my stomach. 

“What? What is it?” I ask, my fingers gripping the edge of the counter so tight that my knuckles turn white.

“Nothing, sir. I just...your wife, sir…” She starts.

I swallow deeply, expecting the worst. “Yes?”

She looks up at me. “Sir, your wife is one of the most badass women I’ve ever heard of. To survive having her throat slit and still making a 911 call? I respect her.��

I let out a deep breath. “So she’s still alive?”

“Oh! Yes. I’m sorry. She is. She’s outta surgery now too.”

“Thank fuck. Can you tell me what room? I got a badass woman to see and tell her she’s loved.”

The nurse smiles. “Of course, sir. She’s in room 214.”

“Thank you.” 

I give her another smile and then head to room 214. Standing in front of the door, I urge myself to try and calm down. The last thing Leigh needs is to see me panicking. Slowly, I open the door and step inside. As my eyes adjust to the darkness of the room, I take everything in. The Hunter in me looks for anything unusual.

Seeing nothing outta the ordinary, the normal part of me focuses on the figure lying in the hospital bed. My heart breaks as my feet shuffle forward. Leigh’s lying there, hooked up to a bunch of different machines with a thick band of gauze ‘round her neck. Aside from that, she looks like she’s peaceful, almost as if she’s just sleeping.

I slump down in the chair next to her side, and immediately take her small hand in both of my much larger ones. Bringing it to my lips, I kiss her knuckles, not paying attention to the tears rolling down my cheeks. It’s been years since I’ve cried. I haven’t allowed myself that luxury. But now...I can’t stop it.

I don’t want to. I thought I’d lost Leigh, but my girl...she’s a fuckin’ fighter. I hold her hand tightly, not wanting to let go.

“Leigh? Baby, I’m here.” I tell her, my voice shaky and full of emotions. “Wake up for me? I wanna see those beautiful eyes, that stunning smile, and hear you tell me that I’m a fuckin’ dumbass. So, wake up? For me? Please?”

When she doesn’t respond, I place another kiss to her knuckles. I didn’t really expect her to wake up. Not right now at least. She’s been through hell. She needs her rest. Hell, I need my own rest too, and I end up falling asleep in an uncomfortable hospital chair, Leigh’s hand in mine, and my head by her hip.

                                                            ***

Over the next week, I stay by Leigh’s side. The boys eventually show up a couple of days later, looking just as exhausted as I do. Dean tells me that he killed Meg, says it was payback for what she’d done to Leigh. Sam stays by Leigh’s side, holding her other hand. Four days after the attack, Dean looks at me.

“Dad?” He starts.

I look up at him. “Hmmm?”

“You should go shower, get something to eat, get some actual sleep.”

“I’m not leaving her, Dean.”

“I know, Dad. But, you need to take care of yourself. You haven’t really been sleeping, and I know for a fact that you haven’t taken a shower in nearly a week. You’re starting to stink. We both know that Leigh wouldn’t want to see you like this.”

I sigh. “I’ll take a shower in the bathroom there.” I point to the bathroom attached to Leigh’s hospital room. “Can you go get my bag from my truck? The one with the clothes, not the guns.”

Dean nods. “I’ll do that. And I’ll run out and get some food too, while you shower. Sammy can stay with Leigh.”

I run a hand over my face, nodding. “Fine. But I won’t take a long shower. I don’t...I just gotta be here when she wakes up.”

Both of my boys nod in understanding. Dean leaves the room while I stand and look at Sam.

“I won’t leave her side, Dad. Go shower. You stink worse than that hunt we were on when all the showers in the town stopped working ‘cause of the monster.” He says.

Unable to stop the small, soft chuckle that escapes my lips at his words, I nod. I lay a hand on his shoulder, a silent gesture of comfort before I lean down and place a soft kiss on Leigh’s forehead. 

“I’ll be right back, baby. Your old man’s gotta go get cleaned up so you don’t ditch his ass when you wake up.” I whisper, half jokingly.

She doesn’t respond, but I don’t let it crush my hopes. Not any more than they’ve already been crushed. I make my way to the bathroom, and turn the shower on. While I’m in there, Dean cracks the door.

“Dad? I’m putting your bag by the door here.” He says.

“Thanks, son.” I call out as I wash my hair and beard.

He just let out a grunt in response and the door shuts once again. Dean’s always been more of the silent type unless he’s being a smart ass, but when it comes to him hurting, he’s always been more silent instead of letting his emotions completely show. After I’m as cleaned up as I can be in a hospital shower, I step out, dry off, and tug on a pair of semi-clean jeans, an old tee, and one of my plaid button-up shirts that Leigh loves the most.

I open the bathroom door and glance toward the bed. I see beautiful hazel eyes staring back at me.

“Leigh.” I rush over to her side. 

I lean down and gently capture her lips with mine. After a few seconds, I pull away and look into her eyes. 

“I love you, Leigh.” I whisper.

She smiles slightly with droopy eyes. Even when she’s like this, she’s so fuckin’ beautiful. 

“You don’t have to say anything but I wanted you to know.” I smile widely. “I’ll say it forever if you’ll let me. Get some more sleep. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

I kiss her forehead as her eyes close. Yep. I’m definitely proposing soon.

[msjr0119]

The Greatest Show

Rewrite The Stars

A new series- all chapters are based on each song from ‘The Greatest Showman’

Characters belong to Pixelberry except MC - Amber Smith-Beaumont and Brett Parker

Warnings: Swearing, slight smut

Tags - using combined tagged list, if you want to be removed please let me know 👍🏼

@pedudley @kacie-0156 @loveellamae @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @cmestrella @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs @yukinagato2012 @dcbbw @qammh-blog @nz1091 @cordonianroyalty @custaroonie @seriouslybadchoices @rainbowsinthestorm @princess-geek @jared2612 @desiree-0816

*****

“Riley!”

“Who the fuck is this? Put Amber back on.”

“It’s me, Liam.” There was silence on the other end of the phone, as well as silence surrounding Liam.

“Ri?”

You know I want you. It's not a secret I try to hide. But I can't have you. We're bound to break and my hands are tied.

“I don’t know anyone called Liam. I’m sorry, can you put Amber back on the phone please.” Amber now realising that Liam was the man who broke her friend’s heart changed her perspective about him. Damien gave out a sly laugh after piecing the pieces of the jigsaw together.

“So Riley was the commoner. This does complicate things.” He said as he smirked at Bastien. Leo gulped as the others whispered about Liam and Olivia’s relationship- wondering what this would mean for the two of them. Sneaking away, he needed to distract the Duchess before all hell broke loose.

“Riley. You know exactly who I am. Don’t lie to yourself.”

“Listen arsehole! I don’t know you. I don’t want to know you! Put my friend back on the phone or I’m coming to Cordonia.” Liam smirked, knowing she’d put her foot right in it.

“No one mentioned anything about Cordonia. So do tell me, how to do you know about a little unheard Mediterranean country. Amber said she was in Canada to her ex.”

“Fuck you Liam!”

“You’ve already done that, those few days in New York. Correct me if I’m wrong?” Hearing her sigh, Amber was shocked that Riley hadn’t hung up yet.

“Liam pass me the phone back, before I commit treason. Ri, I’ll ring ya back. I need to have words with a certain ‘fucker’.” Liam looked disgusted at Amber, tightening his grip on the phone- Drake shot him a look, making him realise that he should quit whilst he was ahead.

“Amber I’m off to work. I’m working the early shift tomorrow I’ll ring you back on this number tomorrow afternoon my time. I love you.”

“Love you too.” Hanging up, she noticed Damien and Bastien trying to hold in their laughter.

“How could you do that to Riley? To Liv? I thought Leo was the playboy prince?”

“Amber you don’t understand, I love Olivia. I fell in love with Riley too. You can’t exactly criticise me- you was in a relationship and having sex with Drake.” Drake felt her tense up, “Amber leave it. Please. We can go back up to my room.”

“Difference between you and I PRINCE Liam, is that my ‘boyfriend’ hurt me beyond words. I know how you can instantly fall in love, I have with Drake. But I dumped Bretts sorry ass before sleeping with Drake. You don’t know half of what happened once you left do you?” Shaking her head, she felt like she was going to be stuck in the middle of a love triangle. Riley was her closest friend, but Olivia had also claimed that title during her time in Cordonia.

“I don’t know what? Go on Lady Amber, do tell me.”

“No Liam, it’s in the past - if you don’t love Olivia don’t string her along. Don’t string Riley along either- she will kick ya ass Prince or not. I’m going to bed. Damien is there anything else you need to say?”

“No Amber, I’ll talk to you tomorrow about what we are going to do. Meet me around say ten?” Amber nodded.

“Amber, I’ll meet you in your room. I need to calm Liam down.”

“Okay.” Kissing her on her cheek, he focused his gaze onto his best friend.

“Come for a drink Li.” Passing his friend a scotch, his eyebrows raised- hoping his friend would confide in him. Ever since they were children, they had always told each other everything and anything.

“What’s up Drake? I have a ball to get back to.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me? I thought we were best friends? What about Olivia? I know I don’t particularly like her- but come on Liam. How could you do that to them both?”

“I didn’t mean to fall in love with two women, Drake. With Riley it was different. I can’t explain. She’s beautiful. I’ve got a picture of us at the Statue of Liberty - every so often I’d look at it. Then I realised that it wasn’t meant to be. I look at how you and Amber have instantly clicked, how you are clearly falling in love with each other. I’m so confused Drake.” Showing Drake the photo, it did show Liam looking happier than ever.

“Is that why you was ‘snappy’ when you returned from New York? Because of her? You blamed it on the stress of becoming the crown prince and going through the social season.”

“Of course it was. I couldn’t confess the true reasoning. My father hates Olivia, imagine if I told him that I’d also fallen in love with a commoner. I’d be sending him into an early grave.”

“Li, you’re going to be the King. You are going to be making decisions for the rest of your life. But before you become King, you need to decide where your heart really lies. Like Amber said, don’t string them both along.”

“What has she done to you Drake? You’ve turned into a softy.”

“She unexpectedly came into my life. I’ve enjoyed spending time with her. I’m falling in love with her Li. For the first time in my life, I can see a future with someone.” She unexpectedly came into my life. I’ve enjoyed spending time with her. I’m falling in love with her. Drakes words were exactly how Liam felt about Riley.

“Do you think I could sneak away without anyone noticing?”

“What?”

“Leo owes me. He can cover for me for the regatta tomorrow.”

“Cover for you?”

“I’m going to go to New York now. Can you ask Leo to step in, say I’m sick?”

*****

Amber slowly walked towards her room, before being grabbed by someone. Ready to punch the person, she stopped just in time.

“Your majesty.” Amber curtsied, as he bowed back to her.

“Lady Amber. Where are you going?”

“To my room. Why do you ask?”

“I’ll escort you there. I would like a few words in private.” Fuck he’s going to ask why I haven’t stuck to our agreement about ‘wooing’ Liam. Amber nodded, just to be polite. Really she was just wanting to spend time with Drake and ring Riley off the landline in her room. Arriving at her room, she allowed Constantine in. Offering him a scotch, he nodded and thanked her.

“So it has come to my attention that you are in a secret relationship with Drake. Is this true?” Gulping she felt like her heart was about to jump out of her chest. Her mother always brought her up to be truthful. He couldn’t exactly throw her out of the country now knowing the truth about her father.

“Myself and Drake are close. Yes that is true. Why?” Constantine knew she wasn’t telling the full truth.

“I don’t mind you having a relationship with him. There is a typical Cordonian marriage agreement. If you marry my son, you can still be in a relationship with him.”

“With all due respect your majesty, I wouldn’t worry about Liam marrying Duchess Olivia.” Seeing his eyes widen, she instantly regretted what she had just said. Shit Olivia is going to kill me.

“So you have stuck to our agreement then?”

“Not quite, no. He is in love with someone. As well as Olivia.” Fuck, I’m totally dead now. Shut up Amber! Maybe Leo should have sutured my lips together.

“Do I know this person?”

“No.”

“Thank you for this information Lady Amber, I shall speak to my son at the regatta tomorrow regarding this. You look more and more like your mother every time I see you. I was very fond of your mother. As we all were. Is she well?”

“My mother and father are well yes.” Constantine looked at her confused. He knew Barthelemy was her father- but he had passed away. As for the man who everyone believed to be her father, he had also passed away. “I speak to my Mom on the phone every so often. When I found out the truth that ‘uncle’ Barthelemy was my father- I rung her immediately. Countess Madeleine lied to me, she told me that Jackson was my father.”

“Excuse me, but you know about Barthelemy being your father? Amber, he passed away.”

“That’s what you all think. He ran off to the states to marry my mother. They are both very much alive and well. Only myself, Maxwell and Bertrand know the truth. Well you also know now. Bertrand was disgusted when they wed, it was Bertrand who decided it was for the best for him to fake his death. To avoid any scandals. To not cause a poor reputation for House Beaumont.” Constantine knew Amber was being sincere, truthful. He believed Barthelemy was one of his closest friends- he was now frustrated that he couldn’t confide in him.

“Do you have your mother and father’s address, I’d like to visit them both.”

“No, I don’t. I’m sorry. I rarely speak on the phone to them. When I did ring her, I was going to ask her to meet me when I returned to New York. I wanted them both to answer questions I have.”

“Lady Amber, you will always have a home here- as do they. You don’t have to return back to New York. I’ll leave you to get some sleep. See you at the regatta tomorrow.” Amber nodded and smiled softly at the King before he left.

****

Drake scrutinised the ballroom for Leo, not finding him anywhere he headed straight to the princes quarters. Knowing Liam would potentially throw him in a cell if he didn’t ask Leo to cover for him. About to knock on the door, he heard voices- Leo and Olivia. The voices soon became louder, more like moaning. The crashing noises echoing through the walls. Drake’s eyes widened- Leo and Olivia? Fuck. Deciding to just find Leo in the morning, he needed to see Amber.

*****

“Leo, someone is going to notice that we have disappeared.”

“As I said, Liam is distracted with; Bastien, a private detective, Amber and Drake. Amber’s ex has caused some trouble, if Liam is a good king to be - he will be a while discussing how they are going to prevent Ambers ex from doing anything further. You’ve never been this timid before.” Kissing her neck, his hands roamed her body. Olivia abruptly pushed him away.

“That’s because before the social season began, you was the crown prince not Liam. He loves me. He’s choosing me.”

“Liv, he’s been sleeping with an American behind your back.”

“I already know Leo, she’s called Riley. He has a photo of the two of them on his phone. He was ringing and texting her all the time. I blocked her number.”

“You sly bitch. Why didn’t you call him out?”

“Because this way I can still have you both. The typical Cordonian marriage arrangement. I love you both.”

“Liv..... What if we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine. Nothing could keep us apart. You'd be the one I was meant to find. It's up to you, and it's up to me. No one can say what we get to be. So why don't we rewrite the stars? Maybe the world could be ours tonight...”

“You think it's easy. You think I don't want to run to you. But there are mountains. And there are doors that we can't walk through. I know you're wondering why. Because we're able to be just you and me within these walls. But when we go outside. You're going to wake up and see that it was hopeless after all....”

“If he loves this Riley, you and I can be together. All I want is to fly with you. All I want is to fall with you. So just give me all of you.” You know I want you. It's not a secret I try to hide.

Leo pinned her against the wall, crashing his lips on to hers. Just think about it Liv, he whispered as he placed kisses along her neck- causing her to throw her head back.

“Just fuck me Leo. I can’t resist you as always.”

*****

Amber rung Riley up, hoping the dive bar was dead as usual and that she’d be able to answer the call.

“Hello?”

“Ri, it’s me.”

“How the fuck are you with him?”

“He’s the Prince of my cousins country. My cousins that are actually my brothers. Riley, Maxwell and Bertrand are nobles. They live in Cordonia not Canada.”

“Oh great....”

“How’s work?”

“Shit. Are you ever coming back? Fucking Liam. I thought I was getting over him. Then bang, he’s there. With you. He has the cheek to ignore my texts then act as if nothing has happened.. he’s still mr fucker, mr fuck face.”

“Riley, I saw how upset he was. I’m not taking his side. I just assumed he was loved up with Olivia, it was a shock.”

“Fuck him. He’s in the past. I’ve got no link to him anymore. Babe I’ve got to go, please come home soon. I need a night out!”

“I am coming home sooner rather than later. I love you Ri.”

Drake opened the door, watching Amber hang up- he had heard the last part of the conversation. His heart instantly broke. Clearing his throat, she noticed she had company.

“Hey, how did it go with Liam?”

“Fine. He’s not feeling too well though. Erm Leo and Olivia are fucking. And now you’re going to leave me.”

“What? Leo and Olivia? Are you kidding? Drake.... I...”

“No I’m not kidding. It’s fine Amber, you don’t need to explain. I knew it wouldn’t last forever. Take care of yourself...” Before Amber could respond, Drake left abruptly. I’m going back to get my things to move here. To be with you.

*****

Liam arrived in New York along with Bastien, not knowing how Riley was going to react if he found her. The SUV parked outside the dive bar- he knew he needed some Dutch courage to talk to the woman who he let down. The two men entered the bar, it was quiet- Riley was sat on the bar as she was that first night she met him. Liam felt as if his heart was skipping beats. She’s still as beautiful as I remember.

“Can we have two scotches please.” Riley looked up, her eyes widened- those eyes locking with hers. The eyes she had become accustomed to all those months ago. Shaking her head, she had hoped that it was her imagination playing tricks on her.

“No. You are barred. Get out.” She snapped at him, all the anger she had kept inside was ready to be released.

“Riley! Serve the gentlemen now!” Her manager shouted at her, before apologising to Liam and Bastien. Looking at the clock it was 9.45am. She still had a few hours before she finished and Daniel would take over. Slamming the drinks on the table, she provided them with a stern look. Turning around, Liam grabbed her wrist- his baby blues pleading with her to just hear him out.

“This is Bastien, my guard. I just want to talk to you Riley. Please.”

“No Liam. What the fuck are you doing here? Is Amber with you?”

“No she isn’t. I’m here to talk to you. Bastien will leave us alone if you’d prefer.”

“Liam, I don’t want to talk. When I wanted to talk, you ignored me out of the blue. I needed to tell you something. But it doesn’t matter now. What we had was a fling. A stupid fling.”

“It wasn’t for me.”

“Liam... you’re a prince, you are marrying someone. It was a fling. I have to work.” Watching her wipe her tears away, he ordered Bastien to pay her manager to let her have the day off. He knew she would refuse to talk to him any further, but it was worth a try.

“Riley, it’s quiet. You may as well go home.” Riley noticed her manager, wink at Bastien. Shaking her head, she knew she would be an idiot refusing to leave work early. But she definitely wasn’t going to entertain Liam. Exiting the bar, she looked over her shoulder. Phew he’s got the hint, he’s gone.

“Riley!” Spoke too soon.

“What? Just leave me alone Liam.”

“I’ve got cronuts.. come back to the hotel I’m staying at. Just to talk. I need closure if you decide to never talk to me again.”

“Liam there’s nothing more to say. Go back to Cordonia. When you left....a month after... I found out.... I was....pregnant. I miscarried. That’s it. End of story. Goodbye Liam.” You don’t know half of what happened once you left do you? Remembering Ambers words, he now realised that was what she was referring to. Remaining silent, he didn’t know how to respond- placing a comforting hand onto her arm, she flinched. Natural instinct was to hold her in his arms as he did all those months ago. Ask her to confirm if the baby was his, even though deep down he knew it was with her explaining about it. Feeling like he had failed her and their child- he regretted losing contact with her. Eventually Liam pulled her towards him, she fell into his embrace- hearing his heartbeat increase, she looked up towards him. Caressing her cheeks, he wiped away the tears from her face- tears beginning to form in his eyes too. They needed to talk, he knew she was stubborn but he was going to make it his aim to attempt her to open up old wounds. Until she did, he didn’t want to return to Cordonia. Resting his forehead against hers, their breathing was now in unison- the need to kiss her, was difficult to resist. Leaning closer, their lips were inches apart.

“Riley!” Creating a larger distance, Riley turned her head. Liam still held on to her waist. He was wondering why her body had become all tense all of a sudden.

“What do you want?” Liam looked between Riley and the stranger, sensing tension- he would protect her even though he had no idea what was happening between the two people in front of him.

“Have you heard from Amber?” Riley looked at Liam, providing sorrow in her eyes. Knowing she had to protect her friend.

“No! So fuck off Brett! Leave us all alone! What are you going to do? Beat me to pulp again, like you did with Daniel. Like you did with Amber all those times?”

[roninishere]

Frantic || six ||

(Gif not mine)

WARNINGS:  Language, Soft Billy Hargrove, teen pregnancy, assholes, more daddy issues, rush wiritng, shit ending, my horrible grammer and word count is… 2273

Frantic

||

    Things got a bit easier after Billy Hargrove convinced Raven Henderson to stay here in Hawkins. On the flip side, as good things came along, so did the bad.

    Once Billy returned home, he was met by his father who was already waiting for him when he arrived. Seeing his father at the dinning room table, Billy slowly closed the door behind him with a deep sigh.

    "Take a seat son." Neil's stern voice made Billy's skin crawl with chills down his back.

   Doing so, Billy dropped his bag at the side of his chair, and took a seat at the table, across from his father. He knew he was in for a load of trouble; rose his voice at his father the day before, left, didn't come home, and finally was home with a big goofy smile on his face.

    "Where were you? Last night?" Technically, Billy didn't have to answer, Neil knew the answer, he just wanted to hear those words come out of his mouth.

   Able to read past his fathers bull, he rolled his eyes before answering "I was at Raven's."

    Slamming his fists down on the table, Billy immediately flinched at his fathers actions cowering a bit back in his chair "I specifically told you to stay away from that girl! You should have just let her leave!"

    "I couldn't dad, I love her." The words immediately left the boys mouth and he didn't regret them. In the short amount of time he's been around Raven, he's fallen helplessly in love with her. Not because she's the mother of his child, but because he feels like himself with her. That no matter what he could say or do, she could never turn her back to him. Everything she's done to this point, has been for him.

    Sighing deeply, Neil's hands clenched up into fists shaking his head at the nonsense he was hearing "No you don't. You don't know what love is."

    "Yeah, well either do you! You didn't give a damn about mom and you definitely don't give a shit about me!" Billy finally told his father standing up on his feet with a finger pointed at his father.

   Knowing he crossed a line, he hadn't seen the fist that connected with his cheek...

||

    Finishing up the paperwork at the station, Florence went over her schedule and had her help out with some small tasks that she easily did. Going over things she needed, and had to wear, she gave Raven her new badge and booklet.

    "I'll see you tomorrow Ms. Henderson." Florence smiled as she held her hand out, Raven shook it with a bright smile. "See you tomorrow Flo! Thank you."

    Gathering her things into her bag, she pulled her bag on. She knew Billy had basketball practice so they agreed she'd walk home because it was so much closer than Benny's Diner.

    "Hey kid, where's that Hargrove kid?" Hopper hadn't seen the camaro pull up or Billy roar the engine to grab Raven's attention.

   "He had basketball practice. I told him I'd walk."

   Hopper didn't like the idea of having a pregnant woman, regardless if the kid is seventeen and young. With a sigh, he recognized that it was one of the slower days at the station so he rocked forward in his seat grabbing his hate and keys. "I'll drop you off kid, I gotta go get something to eat anyways."

    Wanting to argue, she held her tongue back actually wanting to speak to Hopper about a couple of things, and more like she needs his opinion. Once they got in her car she pulled her seat belt on, and when they got on the road, she stated "You know."

    "It took me a while to put it together, is it yours or his idea to not say anything?"

    That was a complicated question because they hadn't even discussed it since she said they'd come up with the excuse that she's tutoring him. "Mine," She chewed on her nail as she had her elbow leaned on the car door "I just thought it'd be easier for everyone to say terrible things about me cause I am a terrible person. And then Billy, there's a great side of him and I don't know, I didn't want to drag his name in mud with me."

    "You're not a terrible person, you just can be a bit rebellious. You're different. To be completely honest, I don't think you could have gotten in a situation with anyone else. Neil's kid isn't the brightest or the best, but it's the way he looks at you. It's the same look I use to look at my ex-wife. He cares about you and there's a bright future for you guys. I'm really happy." Hopper being the big old dad he is makes Raven smile to hear a grown adult tell her that.

     Someone that has been through hell and back telling a kid that she's doing great and knows everything will be fine.

    "So you guys got anything planned for the break?"

   About that..."I was thinking about getting some plane tickets and take him back to California for the break. It'd be nice to see where he's come from, and to get out of here for a bit. What'd you think?"

    "That's not a bad idea. I think you two need to go enjoy a bit of life because when that kids' here, it'll be hard to do that type of stuff."

  Okay, so she wasn't crazy for wanting to do that for her and Billy for Christmas. Check.

   "I thought so," she paused to enjoy the sight of small children playing in the snow "how are they?"

    He didn't have to ask who she was speaking of. Glancing over at her view, the families traveling to the nearest store and playing in snow and by the look on her face, it made her think of her family. "They're doing alright, Claudia came by the other day to ask me how you were. Said something like your dad isn't allowing her to come see you. And Dustin, well, he's doing good. He's staying distracted with his friends."

    "I'm glad they're doing good."

||

    After getting settled at home, Raven made a couple of calls to ask around for those plane tickets and went ahead and made an appointment for the gynecologist for during the week.

    Checking marking off some things on her list, she slightly jumped at the sudden knock at the door before getting up to see who it was.

    Opening the door, it exposed a very non confident Billy with multiple cuts and blood on his shirt.

   "H-hey Princess...mind of I can stay here? Permanently?" By the fact he wasn't looking at her in the eye said it all. His dad kicked him out, and so much guilt overcame her as she could only imagine how it went when he got home.

    Opening her door to him, she helped bring his things inside. It wasn't much, his clothes mostly but it was very quiet. He didn't say anything when she patched up him, again, and after, he sat at the island. His eyes never left the counter as Raven ordered pizza over the landline. Once she set the phone back on the wall, she rubbed her hands on her pants as she walked over to him. Normally she wouldn't say anything, but all they had was each other until this baby arrived.

   Setting her hand on his shoulder, she stood next to him "Billy..." His glossy blue ones met hers, and the nod she gave him, he buried his face in her chest letting out those years of built up emotions in the form of sobs and tears. "I'm sorry," She laid a kiss on his head through his messy curls of his mullet, and ran her fingers through it down by the nape of his neck. "I'm so sorry."

    He held onto her tightly as he continued to sob for about few more minutes, and pulled back. He kept his arm around her waist with his head as he got to his feet "We'll be okay, we'll be okay." Billy kept repeating trying to convince himself that they'll be okay.

||

   "Are you nervous?" Nervous herself, the silence was killing her, so she thought she'd shift to ask Billy who was pacing back and forth.

   Once she asked him that question, he stop pacing, shaking his head almost too quickly "No, me nervous?"

   "Liar," She teased laying down on the little bed waiting for the gynecologist, they both couldn't wait to find out the gender of their baby. Growing tired of pacing, Billy finally took a seat next to Raven, his elbows resting on his thigh as his left leg was bouncing up and down. Where the hell was this lady at? "I hope it's a boy."

   The weird look on his face was kinda priceless, a boy? "I hope not, he'll be just like me."

   "You're only an asshole because your dad. We can assure that doesn't happen, parenting is everything." Maybe not the right choice of words, but she got the point across. Billy never wants to be the man his father is, there's good in him, just takes time to move past it.

   With a deep sigh, he calmed down nodding as he took her hand in his own, squeezing it tightly when the gynecologist entered with a file and a big smile. “Hello, I'm Renee," she came in shook hands with her “Raven Henderson, and you must be the father."

   “Billy." He shook her hand, and took his position back next to Raven, waiting with her curious eyes. Renee looked between them with some judgemental thoughts.

   “Nice to meet you, so let's see how's the baby doing and find the gender yes?"

    Getting nods, she applied the gel on Ravens belly causing her to shiver. Setting the device on, everyone's eyes were glued to the ultrasound as soon as they heard a few beeps.

    “Oh wow," Renee said making Billy and Raven nervous with an immediate 'what?' "You are having healthy twin boys."

    Hold up, what? Twins?

    In disbelief, the excitement was way above that, Raven's face lit up instantly with Billy. Boys, Raven wanted boys, healthy is amazing, and there will be two. Enjoy the moment, he told himself when he felt himself start to stress about things that he couldn't control at that moment. He chuckled smiling when Raven immediately asked for copies of the ultrasound. After getting them some copies, she went over everything for them, such as the delivery date and to make sure she comes back in a couple of months for a check up.

||

   "Now, I know today's been a lot for you, but, I have a surprise for you." Raven told Billy as she searched for it in her bag, and handed him a envelope with a little shit grin on her face.

   Obviously noticing the grin, he was curious of what kind of mischief she was creating "What's this?"

    Weeks, she's with held this surprise from him, and she was going to exploded and just tell him herself "Open it!" She told him losing a lot of patience. "Alright, alright. Jesus," Opening the envelope, he pulled out two plane tickets to California with a bewildered look, "what's this?"

   "I figured we both could get the hell out of here for a bit, and I really want you to show me where you grew up. Plus, I've never been to the beach before. We leave tomorrow." Hearing all of those words leave her mouth, Billy gave her the biggest smile ever, and couldn't believe that she never amazes to surprise him. 

   First off, she bought the tickets. Second, she obviously put some real planning into it because they leave tomorrow, and third, she wants to see where he was raised and learn more about Billy's life. The real Billy Hargrove, not the crazy asshole sex Billy, even though that's how this all happened haha.

   "You're serious?" He still couldn't wrap his head around this reality. They're going to California?!

   Nodding, she confirmed what she said "Yes Billy, we're going to California for Winter break, get your shit packed."

   "You're the best!" So badly wanting to kiss her, he went for a kiss on her cheek instead, before getting his things packed. It didn't take him that long either, but it took Raven FOREVER. Not because she was a girl, but because she had no idea how to pack for California weather. Looking at the side of the closet with her clothes, she had her hands on her hips letting out a huff of frustration.

   What do people in California even wear? How cold it there this time of the year?

   "Billy..." She whined finally giving in "what is the appropriate attire for California?"

   Quickly snatching the camera off the counter and snapping a photo, he laughed at her glare at him before putting his hands up being caught "No big bulky jackets, but take a sweater, no thick clothes. It's chilly there, but not snowing." Pulling out some outfits he thought was perfect, he helped folding them before he nearly forgot.

    "Crap, I need to call Kevin and see if he'll let me see if he'll let me borrow one of his dad's cars." Kevin, she's heard him talk about Kevin a couple times when he would talk about his days in California.

   Hearing Billy getting all excited over the landline to Kevin, Raven glanced over at the ultrasound photo thinking, we're gonna be fine.

|| 

Hey guys! Sorry for the late and shitty update, but I’ve had so much going on lately, and I have no making imagines and fanfic I need to finish. If you don’t already know, I leave on the 30th of this month for Bootcamp, so I will be trying to wrap up the fanfic, so bare with me :) 

-Cammy

Tagline: @50-shades-of-boredom  / @shelby-company-limited / @lalalindsay25631888 / @http://overrthinker.tumblr.com/ / @http://illatimes.tumblr.com/ @https://kaykay4454fan.tumblr.com/ / @https://dacres-koala.tumblr.com/  @http://endofthefuckingfangirl.tumblr.com/ @https://frickin-bats.tumblr.com/

Did I forget anyone in the tagline?

[fangirlingforbellarke]

Clarke’s the Man Chapter 1

Summary:  Clarke Griffin is in a real jam. Complications threaten her scheme to pose as her cousin, Finn Collins, and take his place at a new boarding school. She falls in love with her handsome roommate, Bellamy Blake, who loves beautiful Raven, who has fallen for Clarke as Finn! The Bellarke remake of She’s the Man.

I've been toying around with this idea for forever it seems like. I finally sat down and started writing. I'm not sure if this is an AU people would be interested in reading as I can't say I've seen many versions of this done before. If I get enough people that are interested in seeing more, I shall continue the story! I’d love to hear your thoughts on whether or not you’d like to read more!

You can also find this on AO3

There were a lot of things Clarke was expecting when she stepped onto the field. It was supposed to be the first day of practice, and as the captain of the girl’s team, Clarke was expecting to help the new girls on the team find their groove and make them feel like part of the team. She expected being underestimated as she had a smaller, stockier frame than some of the other girls. She expected being given a hard time because her long time boyfriend, Roan, was the captain of the boy’s team, their goalie.

Clarke Griffin had been voted captain for two very important reasons. One she was a good soccer player. Two, she was a solutions kind of girl. She thought of all the possible scenarios that could happen and thought of ways they could all be resolved. It had worked out for her this long. Her teammates trusted her to make the hard decisions.

Of all the issues Clarke had thought of, the one she didn’t think of was her soccer team being cut. There had been a notice on the locker room door, but she thought it had been a stupid prank done by the boy’s team. She’d ripped it down, threw it in the trash, and changed into her practice attire without a second thought.

Now, Clarke stood looking out at the field as the boys were now practicing and taking up the whole field rather than the half they were usually designated to. Looking around, she found the boys’ head coach watching the girls from across the field, a smirk on his lips.

Turning briefly back to her teammates, she said, “I’ll be right back.” Then she hurried across the field, not even bothering to go around the boys as they practiced. She just trooped right through them, two of her teammates, Fox and Monroe, close behind her for support.

“Ladies, you’re disturbing my practice,” Coach Shumway told them, not even bothering to look at them as he surveyed his own team.

“What’s this I hear about the girls team being cut?” Clarke asked angrily.

Coach Shumway shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “From what I hear, the school board is making cuts to programs around the school. They make more money off of fans coming to watch the boys team than they do the girls team. I also heard not enough girls signed up. That might be problem number one.”

Shumway was a sexist pig, Clarke decided, and she knew it would do no good to keep talking to him about that. He took pleasure in the fact that they couldn’t practice anymore. Clarke had gotten the feeling that he had always felt threatened by how good the girl’s team actually was.

“We’ll scrimmage for it,” Clarke offered. “If the girl’s win, you have to include the girls on your team.”

The laughing fit Shumway had shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did. She hadn’t expected him to act so childishly. If he was so confident in his boys’ abilities, this should be a no brainer. Instead of answering her, Shumway yelled out for Roan.

Clarke wanted to smirk. He was calling for her boyfriend. Roan was always telling her how good she was and how most of the girls were better than a lot of the boys on his team. He’d been working with her all summer to get her ready for the school year. He’d back her up on this.It was Clarke’s turn to smirk at Shumway.

Roan hurried up their little huddle, a couple of his friends trailing behind him, curious as to what the girls would want. “What’s up, Coach?” he asked as he joined them.

“Clarke here wants to know if she and the girls can be on our team,” Shumway informed him with a knowing smile that Clarke wanted to slap off of his face.

Roan glanced at her with a confused look on his face and asked, “Wait, babe, are you serious?”

“The girl’s team was cut,” Clarke explained. When Roan didn’t say anything, she frowned as she continued, “You’ve said yourself some of the girls are better than half the guys on your team!”

“Excuse me?” exclaimed one of Roan’s friends behind him, looking genuinely hurt by this remark. Was it really so hard for them to see what was written on the wall?

“Roan, what’s she talking about?” the other friend asked.

Roan rushed forward and started trying to shuffle Clarke, Fox, and Monroe away from prying ears. “Clarke, you can’t be serious. You can’t play for us. Let it go.” The fact that he said it so casually, as if soccer was as important to her as it was to him, made her blood boil. How dare he act like this wasn’t a big deal, as if her team’s futures weren’t on the line.

Yanking herself out of Roan’s grasp, she narrowed his eyes at him, “You’re so two-faced.” Turning to Shumway, she yelled, “How are the college scouts supposed to recruit us if we’re not playing?”

“You should have thought of that before now,” was all he replied.

“We’re not asking for any special treatment. Just give us a chance,” Clarke pleaded, walking back towards the coach, looking between Roan and Shumway.

“Girls will play for us when pigs fly,” Shumway told her.

Roan cringed. He clearly didn’t necessarily agree with his coach, but he also wasn’t budging on the topic, either. Clarke had never been more disappointed in him. “You can’t be on the team. End of conversation, babe,” he told her.

Shaking her head, Clarke took a step forward to spit out, “End of relationship.” With that, she turned on her heels and stormed off the field, ignoring the taunts from the guys behind her.

“Come on!” Roan called after her, hurrying towards her, “Don’t be like this. You have to understand!”

Clarke wanted to hit him upside the head, “What I understand is you’re throwing away a two year relationship because you’re a sexist dick.”It hurt knowing she didn’t see this about him until now. How could she have been so blind?

Shumway blew his whistle, calling the teams to get back to practice. Clarke gestured towards the field and walked back up towards the school without looking back. She wouldn’t give Roan that satisfaction.

She found her team sitting in the locker room, and she did not enjoy breaking the news to them. They’d worked just as hard as the guys. It wasn’t fair their team had been cut. This was their senior year, and most of them had been hoping for soccer scholarships. Now they had nothing.

They were out of luck. No other options other than to go home. So after packing up their lockers, they did. School didn’t start for another two weeks, and Polis had their opening soccer match with Arkadia Academy, one of the best schools in the state to start off the school year. It was usually Clarke’s favorite match of the year.

With two weeks of time on her hands, Clarke wasn’t sure what she was going to do. No boyfriend and no soccer to keep her busy would be an adjustment. She’d been playing soccer since she could walk, and her and Roan had been together for a couple of years. It would be a weird adjustment.

“Want to come over to my place, and we can all mope around together?” Monroe asked as they left the school and started down the street.

“I’m down,” Fox agreed.

Shaking her head, Clarke replied, “Can’t.My cousin’s in town, and I need to hang out with him.” He was smart and funny; he’d be able to make Clarke laugh and momentarily forget about her woes.

“Which cousin?” Fox asked.

“Finn,” Clarke supplied as she shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other.

“You mean the cousin you look scarily alike?” Monroe asked.

Clarke frowned, “I don’t know why you guys always say that. Finn and I don’t look that alike. I don’t see it.”

“Please, you two could be twins if he was blonde and had a mole on his face like yours,” Fox teased, bumping her with her hip.

“Are you saying my boobs and awesome butt don’t give me away?” Clarke joked, bumping Monroe in turn.

“Your breasts are one of the only things that gives you away,” Monroe answered with a smirk. “But Finn has a nice butt, too, so that’s not really in your favor.”

“Gee, thanks,” Clarke grumbled.

“Tell him and your mom we said hi,” Fox said as they got to the next intersection and went their separate ways.

Clarke and Finn had grown up as distant cousins at best. His mom and Clarke’s dad were siblings. They hadn’t been close growing up, and only reconnected at her father’s funeral a couple years ago. Clarke’s father had married into money and Jake’s sister married a guy from the wrong side of the tracks. The two families just hadn’t meshed well.

Clarke and Finn had grown closer after the funeral, becoming friends. Finn was actually staying with Clarke and her family over the week. He was going to be leaving back to Arkadia in a couple of weeks just in time for the start of his new school, and Clarke wanted to make sure the two of them had time to spend together before he left.

The house phone was ringing as Clarke entered the house, which was odd. No one ever called the landline. That’s what cellphones were for. She wasn’t even sure why they had a landline still set up, but her Mom insisted. Probably for instances such as this.

“I’ll get it!” She called as she hurried into the office and grabbed the phone expecting the call to be about something important. “Hello?”

“Finn?” asked the voice on the phone. The voice belonged to a woman and was vaguely familiar, though Clarke couldn’t place it at the moment.

“Uh, no, This is Clarke, who is this?” she replied.

“Oh, right. Clarke. I’m Finn’s girlfriend, and I’ve been trying to reach him all day,” the girl answered. Clarke vaguely remembered Finn mentioning a girlfriend named Echo.

“I’m not sure where he is at the moment. Have you tried his cellphone?” Clarke asked.

“Obviously! Otherwise I wouldn’t be trying this number,” Echo said in the bitchiest tone Clarke had ever heard.

“Well, you might want to try leaving him a voicemail. He’ll get back to you when he can.”

“You know, your cousin is lucky to have me in his life, and if he wants to stay in it, he better call me.”

“I’ll be sure to pass on the message if I see him,” Clarke assured Echo in a mock tone.

Echo didn’t even give Clarke a chance to say goodbye because she hung up, the dial tone annoying Clarke’s ears. She made a mental note to talk to her mom about having it disconnected. She knew her dad used it a lot for business when he was still alive. Now, however, no one used it.

Annoyed with her day so far, she trudged up the stairs to the second level. Hearing a noise in Finn’s room, she  knocked on the door once before opening the door, and she found he was stuffing clothes wildly into his duffel bag. His room was in a bit of disarray at the moment.

“What are you doing?” Clarke asked curiously as she plopped herself down on a part of the bed that wasn’t covered in music books or clothes.

Finn glanced up and smiled at her, “I just got the best phone call,” he told her. He didn’t elaborate as he got distracted flipping through a folder filled with his music sheets.

“Well?” Clarke prompted. “Are you going to tell me what it was about?”

“There’s a music festival in London. One of the bands dropped out, and they asked if we wanted the spot. But I have to leave now,” he answered, barely looking up at her.

“That’s fantastic!” Clarke exclaimed. After what Finn said sunk in, she had to shake her head. “Wait, London, England?”

“One and the same!” Finn nodded his head excitedly.

“Is Arkadia Academy going to defer your enrollment?” Clarke asked, ever the pragmatist.

Finn Collins had just transferred to the elite academy in Arkadia. It was well known for their soccer team, and it was usually always ranked first in the state. She always thought the school was a bit too preppy for her tastes. Besides, her current school in Polis had the better academic record and her mother would never transfer her just so she could play soccer.

Abby Griffin was very much against soccer. Clarke was a debutant, and Abby wanted Clarke to be a beautiful, charismatic, and graceful addition to society. Soccer did not fit into those plans. Her mother would probably throw a party when she found out the soccer team had been cut. If Clarke thought her mom was in her face now about the different debutant events and balls before, it’d only get worse now that Clarke had more time on her hands.

Clarke wanted to bang her head against the wall just thinking of it. Balls and charity events weren’t how she wanted to spend her high school years. But her mother didn’t quite understand that, yet. Abby had good intentions, Clarke knew, but they just weren’t on the same page.

“I was kind of hoping you could help me with that,” Finn said, cutting into Clarke’s thoughts. “Couldn’t you call in, pretend to be my mom, and just tell them I’m sick? My mom would never let me go to London if it’ll cause me to miss school.”

“You know you were kicked out of your last school for skipping. Do you really think it’s a good idea for you to start the new school year skipping?”

“Sometimes you have to break the rules to follow your dreams,” Finn replied.

“Do you know the percentage of music artists that actually make it in the music industry?” Clarke asked frankly. Once Finn got something into his head, he wouldn’t change his mind. But that didn’t stop Clarke from trying.

“Probably the same as female soccer players or artists,” Finn retorted

Clarke frowned, “Your mom will kill us both if she finds out.”

“Then she better not find out,” Finn said. When he saw Clarke was still dubious, he continued, “My mom will think I went straight to school from here. As long as I make sure to call her a couple times, I don’t think we have anything to worry about there.”

“I guess,” Clarke relented. “I wish you could take me with you. I could use a vacation.”

“School hasn’t even started yet, and you want out already?” Finn asked,

“They cut the soccer team,” Clarke explained, shrugging her shoulders.

“Ah,” Finn nodded in understanding. “Guess you better get used to wearing frilly dresses. I saw your mom come home with a couple new dresses today.”

Groaning, Clarke buried her face into Finn’s pillow. Would the day’s madness ever be over? Finn chuckled at her, but finished packing.

“Oh, before I forget, that was Echo that just called,” Clarke told him.

“Someone actually uses that landline?” Finn asked in surprise.

“Did you give her that number?” Clarke wondered aloud.

Finn shrugged, “I might have when we first started dating so she could get ahold of me during emergencies. That was years ago, though.”

“Well, she wants you to call her back,” Clarke said. When Finn groaned, Clarke continued, “Why do you even date her?”

“She’s hot!” Finn said as if that explained everything.

“Ugh!” Clarke threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “Why are men such idiots!”

Finn laughed before zipping up his bag. “I gotta get going. My flight is in a couple of hours, and you know how bad traffic can be.”

Clarke nodded and stood up, pulling Finn in for a hug, “Good luck. You guys are going to do great!”

“Sure hope so!” he agreed. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he pat Clarke on the shoulder before leaving.

Clarke went to the window and watched him hail a cab. She watched as he placed his bag the trunk before slipping into the backseat. He glanced back up at the house and smiled, giving a small wave. Clarke wasn’t sure if he could see her or not, but she gave a half of a wave back.

Sad that her cousin had to leave prematurely, she made her way towards her room. Her mom caught her before she could open the door, “Was that Finn I heard leaving?” she asked. “I thought he was staying until Sunday?”

“I guess he wanted to spend some time with his mom before going to school,” Clarke replied, trying to move around her mother, but her mother just stepped into her way.

“You’ll never guess what I bought today!” Abby told her happily. It hurt that Abby wanted Clarke to like the bells and whistles of being an elite, high class lady, but Clarke wanted the complete opposite. She had no interest in becoming another stepford wife for someone.

“If it’s another dress, I’m not interested,” Clarke informed her matter-of-factly, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Won’t you at least just look at them? You might change your mind!” the hopefulness in her voice made Clarke cringe.

“I’m not in the mood to have this conversation, Mom. Can we do it another time?” Clarke rubbed at her temples, the start of headache coming on.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Abby’s face fell to genuine concern.

“The school cut the girl’s soccer team,” Clarke answered after a moment of silence while she warred with herself if she should actually tell her mother. Her mother would feel bad for her but would ultimately be happy about the decision. Now Clarke could focus on being a debutant.

“That’s awful!” Abby exclaimed. “Did they say why?”

“Not enough girls signed up, and apparently the school makes more money off the boys team than the girls,” Clarke answered as she shoved her way past her mother and opened the door to her room, throwing her bag down next to her bed.

Her mother followed her, though she stayed near the doorway. If there was one thing Clarke was grateful for about her mother, it was that she always respected Clarke’s privacy. “Do you want me to make a phone call? The school board might listen to me.”

“No, but thank you, mom. I don’t want to create any tension with the school. I’ll just have to figure something else out,” Clarke replied.

“Now that you don’t have soccer, you can focus on the ball that’s coming up! You in a beautiful dress, Roan on your arm! It’ll be great!” Abby assured her.

“Well, hate to rain on your parade twice in one day, but I broke up with Roan,” Clarke informed her as she fell onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“But why?” Abby asked, concern lacing her voice.

“I don’t feel like talking about it, okay, mom?”

“But he’s so handsome and muscular and built,” Abby listed off all his physical attributes just like that made up who he was. She was being just as bad as the men she had to deal with today.

“Then you date him, Mom,” Clarke retorted angrily.

“Will you try on the dresses at least?” Abby asked, flipping gears back to the original conversation.

“Sorry mom. I’m not in the mood.”

“You know, you might as well be Finn.” With that, her mother turned on her heels and stormed out of the room.

Clarke closed her eyes, trying not to think about how bleak her future looked at the moment. There had to be a way to fix this. Other after school programs she could take to keep her away from her mother and all the dresses she’d try to throw at Clarke.

Her cell phone went off, startling Clarke. Reaching for it, she found she had a text message from Monty inviting her over to his place for movies and pizza, which sounded much better than crying in the shower. So she changed out of her soccer attire and into jeans and Tshirt, hurring over to their place.

She managed to elude her mother, which was a miracle in and of itself. She had expected an interrogation before she left Her mother was probably still hurt about Clarke’s lack of interest. A feeling of guilt washed over Clarke, but she just buried the feeling down deep beside all the other feelings she’d been suppressing.

Several hours later, Clarke was laying on the coach with her head propped up in Monty’s lap. Their other friend Jasper was sitting on the floor playing cards with Monroe and Fox. The girls had just gotten done venting about their day, and the guys were trying to comfort them.

“You don’t think your mom would let you guys transfer to Arkadia?” Monty asked them.

Monroe and Fox shook their heads. Fox answered, “Arkadia is way too expensive for my parents to afford to send me.”

“Mine would never be able to afford the tuition either,” Monroe sighed.

“You mom could easily afford to send you, Clarke,” Jasper said. “Why don’t you transfer?”

“My mom won’t transfer me because Polis has the better academics and high society debutante events. Polis is the better school to groom me to be a lady,” Clarke answered. “If I went to Arkadia, I’d be living on campus away from her. She’d never let me go.”

They all nodded their heads in agreement. It was a shitty position to be in.

“But I’ve been toying around with an idea that I want to run by you,” Clarke told them, sitting up on the couch and turning to face them all.

The all turned in their seats, setting down the cards to give Clarke their undivided attention.

“Ok, this is going to be crazy, but just hear me out,” Clarke said, pausing for a moment before continuing. “My mom and I were sort of arguing about the dresses and my lack of interest, and she said something that gave me an idea. She said I might as well be Finn.”

The four of them were all frowning. Finally Jasper asked, “I don’t get it?”

“What if I got to Arkadia as Finn?” Clarke exclaimed excitedly.

“You want to be your cousin?” Monty asked dubiously. “I’m confused. What’s your plan?”

“I’m going to go to Arkadia Academy as Finn, make the boy’s soccer team, and beat Polis’ boys team in two weeks.”

“Have you taken some crazy pills today?” Monty asked.

“More like she’s been hit too many times in the head with soccer balls,” Jasper clarified.

“You guys know I’d be able to do it,” Clarke insisted.

“Right,” Monty agreed in a tone of voice that said he definitely didn’t agree “Except for your boobs- no offense, the mannerisms, the voice, the mentality-”

“No one there would even know the difference,” Monroe cut in, a smile playing at her lips as she started coming around to the idea. “No one’s met Finn, yet. It’d be perfect.”

“They’d no he’s a she!”

“Come on, guys! If I get caught, that’ll be on me. But wouldn’t it be great if we could beat the system?” Clarke asked.

“It’d be so satisfying,” Fox agreed.

Monty and Jasper were quiet before glancing at each other. “Fine,” they agreed begrudgingly.

“But it’s going to take some time. We’ve got to make sure everything’s set up properly, alter some photos,” Monty said.

Jasper continued, “You have to finder some binders, some clothes, false hair, a wig. You’ve got very feminine features that will be hard to mask.”

“I can do it,” Clarke assured them. “Thankfully, Finn also has some feminine features that could work to my advantage.”

Monroe and Fox agreed. “Tomorrow, we’ll go shopping and get all the things we need. Tomorrow night, we can set up the photo session?” Monroe asked, planning ahead.

“That should work. Once we get the photos, I’ll hack into their system and do the switch. Then you’re on your own,” Monty explained.

It was remarkably easy to find all the supplies they needed, a little pricey, but Clarke could afford it. Monty and Jasper had been able to hold up their end of the deal, and now Clarke was packing up her bag and trying to come up with a plausible excuse to tell her mother on why she’d be gone for the next two weeks.

As she hurried down the stairs out to the waiting cab, she prayed her mother would be busy or not hear her leave. It’d be easier to lie over the phone than in person.However, her luck did not hold out, and her mother happened to be in the office when Clarke came downstairs.

“Clarke?” Abby called, getting up and hurrying into the hallway. “Where are you going?”

“I decided to go stay with Finn until school started. His visit was cut short, and I’d like to spend more time with him,” Clarke replied, turning back around to face her mother.

“Clarke, we’ve hardly spent any time together this summer. I don’t think it’s wise of you to leave. You can spend next weekend with Finn, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go for two weeks,” Abby insisted and went to grab Clarke’s things.

“Mom, I’ve been thinking about what you said. I know you want me to be a debutante. And Finn’s girlfriend Echo will be there. I thought she could show me the ropes for the whole debutante thing,” Clarke said, lying through her teeth.

“This is so exciting! You’re going to have so much fun! There’s so much to do! There’s the ball, the luncheon, and the carnival next week, which Finn promised he’d go to. So make sure to remind him about it,” Abby told her, going through all of the things Clarke would need to go to.

“I will,” Clarke nodded her head, pulling her bag out of her mother’s hands.

“Oh!” Abby smiled as she cupped Clarke’s face between her hands. “You’re going to be a lady!”

Clarke managed to smile and force out a laugh, “Yup! Sure am!”

Abby pulled Clarke in for a hug, “I’ll miss you, sweetie.”

“I’ll miss you, too.” Then Clarke pulled away and hurried out the front door before her mother changed her mind.

She sighed in relief after giving the Lyft driver directions to Monty’s place. She’d get ready at his place before Monty dropped her off at her new school. She couldn’t wait to prove to everyone just how much of a force Clarke Griffin was. Polis would regret the day they didn’t take on the girl’s team. This wasn’t just for Clarke. This whole endeavor was to prove girls could keep up with the guys.

It was a challenge Clarke looked forward to.

[windysharpe]

there was a love song in our future

Where do I even put any of my things now that I don't have to hide them? I suppose I can get CD shelves instead of hiding the discs under the floorboards. I can hook up the colored lights around my room instead of hiding them all in my closet, packing them all away when I had to leave the house on vacation so she doesn't find them. Hang the disco ball in the living room, maybe. She would hate that. It doesn't matter now. My boyfriend comes over when we have band practice and casts judgement on all of my new decorations. I let what he says hit my heart and bruise it even though I tell him to screw off. I can only imagine the look on his face when I show him my new room was the same look my mom had when she found the loose floorboards in my childhood bedroom hiding all the rock music a strict Korean mother could never approve of, was taught every Sunday in church she was not allowed to approve of. The band goes home and I have my secret monthly phone call with you. It's the one hour per month where I feel like myself. While the phone rings, I wonder if we were Icarus in this story. Did anyone really deserve the spectacular show we put on? You called me the rockstar, the sun, the girl on the run. Who knew you’d be the one with waxen wings? Maybe you flew too close to me and burned alive. Maybe that’s why you ran. Maybe we never deserved the love we got. Maybe this all happened by accident; god had to correct his mistake. That’s what my mother told me when she caught me crying about him at age 18. I'm 23 now and I don't cry anymore. I don't think I can; the world beat it all out of me. With a drumstick in one hand keeping a steady beat on the coffee table and the landline in the other, I tell you about my new apartment. The shower has terrible water pressure, both sinks leak and I carried the mattress up the stairs myself and dented the wall in the hallway in the process. I did everything myself. When I told my boyfriend I was going to carry the mattress up a flight of stairs, he’d laughed and said I’d pay money to see your shrimpy arms carry a whole bed up some stairs. You tell me it's very rock and roll, knowing it'd make me smile. You say you wish you could see it, wish you could've helped set up. Neither of us say my boyfriend should've been there, even though it’s true; it’s unspoken and unnecessary. You do say you miss me. I tell you something to distract you, knowing if I let the dam break, the water will never stop flowing. There's a piece of you with me everywhere I’ve gone, even in the places you've never stepped foot in. I miss my mom, I miss the dam, I miss so much about the life I had before you had to leave. You're my ex-boyfriend, but I don't care the repercussions of my current boyfriend finding out about our conversations; I feel seasick when I haven't heard your voice in too long. I shut off the lights. I close the blinds. I tell the dam that I fucked it all up just to hear his voice go soft and sweet like all the sugar I was never allowed to eat in my mother’s house. You say, oh, darling, I can't see how it's possible for you to fuck anything up. I hear I love you in your voice, words neither of us have ever said since the first conversation we’d ever had. Those words poured out of me, true, simple, too much of a fact of this universe to not be said out loud at least once. I will never forget the surprised smile that bloomed like a botanical garden, like a greenhouse across your mouth, holy and alive. We’ve never said those words in that order since, not to our mothers, not to the significant others we’ve used as replacements, placeholders, and certainly not to each other. I miss you, goddamnit. It tumbles out of my mouth without my permission. Now that I'm allowed so much, I need it all. The dam is broken. The water rushes in every crevice of the town we met in, allowing the love we carefully composed on sidewalks, music shop back rooms, doorways, living rooms, to float. I know he hears I love you, too answering him back from my bass drum heartbeat that's been echoing inside me since the first time I put stick to cymbal. He certainly remembers, he was standing next to me, eyes fond and a guitar in his hands. Ah, still cursing god, I see. If your mother could hear you now. His voice is dripping honey, so palpable I can almost reach out and taste it. You told me before you left for the other side of the country with an acoustic guitar and a lopsided smile that I deserved the whole wide, wild world and that you were going to do your best to give it to me, whether you could touch me or not. I wish I believed you then. I led myself to believe that distance would destroy us and killed what we had before it did. But now, alone and scared for the first time in a long time, I wonder why I didn't. Your eyes burned alive with flame and smoke, so much so that my mother, strict and scared that love of anyone else will take me away from her, could see it just as much as I. She loved you too, despite her best efforts not to. My immigrant Korean mother loving a white boy who had fallen for her daughter; if only my poor excuse for a father could see her now. She thought you would be the one to take me away from her. So did I. Maybe you were, in some strange way. I loved you then like I love you now, even though I belong to someone else. I'm just not sure if that matters still in the worlds we've gotten caught up in, thousands of miles apart. I hope it does though, because in my heart, I take a chance with my drumsticks and all my dreams that you were there for the birth of and hitch a ride to California. In my heart, deep down within me where those dreams I learned to ignore live and breathe, even now, I fly. I hope your waxen wings are still intact from when we flew too close to the burning, blazing sun. My beautiful boy. I hope you want me to come back for him.

[trashboytozier]

Love Will Tear Us Apart

I - Friday I’m In Love

Virginia Clark had just stepped out of the shower, hair still tied up to dry on top of her head, when her mother called her downstairs to answer the phone. She had rushed down the steps with one hand holding the towel around her body in place, already knowing who was calling and why and trying to hide the grimace on her face from her mom. Good news though: She didn’t even look her daughter’s way as she handed off the pale blue landline to the barely 18 year old, walking off to her room without another word. “Eddie,” Virginia whispered as soon as her mom was out of earshot. “You weren’t supposed to be leaving for another hour!” In the background of the call she heard loud laughter, followed by a soft thud and Eddie sighing through the line. “Yeah, well, Trashmouth has almost snitched on us twice already, and my mom is getting really sick of him.” Richie sounded off in the background again, and while she couldn’t hear his words she knew he was saying something about how Mrs. K could never get sick of a stud like him. Eddie didn’t even pause to listen to him. “We’re about to leave in five, okay?” She looked desperately down at her still-wet body and huffed. She didn’t have a choice. “Okay, whatever. That’s fine, Eds.” “For the last time, V, don’t call me that!” But she had already hung up, turning and hurrying up the stairs to try to get dressed in the barely 10 minutes she had before the boys ( her boys , as she called them) to get from Eddie’s house to her bedroom window.

She made pretty good time, clipping back her hair to dry and shrugging on an oversized white shirt and pajama shorts before staring into the mirror on her nightstand and trying to put on just enough mascara and lipgloss that the boys wouldn’t notice she did it. She had never thought she was a very pretty girl, but she tried her hardest to make her dark eyes and barely full lips stand out. She was pulling on a pair of socks when a small pebble rapped against her window. Yanking them up to her knees, she hobbled over to the window, quickly brushing her long, brown hair in front of her shoulders. She took a deep breath in her chest, sliding it open and peering down at the boys standing next to the oak tree next to her window. “Hey, losers!” She called down softly, and they both laughed as Eddie grabbed the ladder that was nailed to the trunk. Virginia’s father had built her the treehouse when she was 13, all long legs and freckles, the summer the two boys climbing up and inside it were hanging out in sewers and abandoned houses. Her dad didn’t want her out in the streets, so he built the house for her to play in without leaving the neighborhood. Now, five years later, its back window, little more than a square hole in the wall, led to a thick limb that ended right at her bedroom window. “Stop! Richie, that’s not funny, you dumbass!” Eddie half-screamed from inside the treehouse, in response to some torture Virginia hadn’t witnessed. “I could have fallen and broken something!” Slowly, the small boy climbed through the small window, carefully walked a few steps, and eased in through the windowsill. He wore his own set of pajamas: A pale blue t-shirt and long pajama pants with a small squiggly pattern. He smiled at Virginia, and she pulled him into a hug, his head pushing into her chest. “I missed you, Eddie!” She said as she squeezed his shoulders and he laughed into her shirt. “I literally saw you three hours ago!” “I know, but I still missed you.” And she had. Eddie was her best friend in the whole world. They had matching pastel pink friendship bracelets. He had spent almost every weekend at her house since freshman year, and she had even been the first person he told when he decided to come out to his friends last year. She had been so excited to hear it (even if she had already known for months) that she had bought every teen girl magazine from the store by her house and they had filled out “Does he like you back or is he just a nice guy?” quizzes for hours. They just clicked, and they looked like it too, her baby pink socks contrasting with the light blue green and yellow of his pants as they stood hugging in her bedroom. “All my music’s on the desk over there. Pick a good one for us, okay, Eds?” She suggested, and he walked over to the corner of the room, thumbing through the cassette tapes stacked in neat piles. Each one in the first three piles was labeled in sloping, loopy cursive, Virginia’s signature penmanship, and Eddie smiled a little at the sight of it. The first tape in the last pile, though, sported a messier, block lettering. There were small stars drawn in the corners of the label. “A SUMMER SOUNDTRACK BY TRASHMOUTH TOZIER” was scribbled across it. Eddie didn’t notice the corners of his mouth turn down as he picked it up and read the next beneath it - “BEEP BEEP BABY” and the stars were replaced with messy, rushed hearts. He felt his palms begin to sweat. Beneath that: “FRIDAY IM IN (DEEP SHIT)”. Eddie turned back to the piles before, that song by The Cure humming in the back of his head, having heard it a million times around Richie himself.

Virginia sat down on her bed, clasping her hands over her legs and placing her chin on her knees as Richie’s long, lanky legs and arms rusted their way inside the window. She giggled a bit at how ridiculous he looked, and he grinned at her, eyebrows raising at her skinned knees. “Been using those too much, huh, Virgin- ya?” He teased, using her least favorite nickname. She frowned up at him. “If I had, you’d never know,” She answered, bouncing a little in place as the shaggy haired boy threw himself down into her mattress. He was still wearing the same clothes he wore to school that day: a plain white tee underneath some ridiculous Hawaiian shirt with bright pink flamingos on it and dark jeans. He kicked off the same pair of combat boots he had worn for the last two months straight as she turned to Eddie. “You got anything yet?” “Sure do,” Eddie called back, popping in a tape and sitting beside Virginia on the edge of the bed. Softly, their shared favorite song by Joy Division played through the stereo, and the next few hours all blurred into the soft, fuzzy remembrance of a teenage good night. Eddie laughed when Virginia stole Richie’s glasses and did a spot-on impression of him. Richie stood up after four songs and took control of the music duties, which neither V nor Eddie minded, as they could both have listened to his guitar-heavy wistful love songs all night long. Virginia painted her and Eddie’s fingernails, shut up Richie when he started to pick on the smaller boy for the pale pink polish, and even convinced him to let her paint a single nail - his right middle finger. When it was finally 2 in the morning, she yawned, long and hard, which made the other two boys yawn, longer and harder, and everyone agreed it was time for bed. Eddie and Virginia both did their best not to look as Richie stripped down to his boxers and t-shirt, both of their breath hitching in their throats.

For months, when she first started sneaking the boys into her room on Friday nights, Eddie and Richie both would be exiled to the floor, which a single pillow and scratchy blanket each. Then, after a while, Eddie would share a bed with Virginia and Richie would sleep next to them on the floor, sometimes crawling up onto the mattress in the night when he couldn’t sleep. Now, over a year later, they all piled up in her queen sized bed together, a mess of limbs and body heat - Eddie on the far right clutching a pillow to his chest, Virginia in the middle rubbing her soft, cold feet against each other until she drifted off into sleep, and Richie on the far left, farthest from the door, with Virginia’s hair spread across the pillow before him, filling his senses with the smell of coconut and fresh strawberries. Virginia pretended not to notice Richie’s hands inching underneath her shirt. They never did anything under there, surprisingly, just warmed themselves against her rib cage, and she felt more comforted by them than threatened. Eddie pretended not to notice Virginia’s soft snoring in his ear or her tendency to wrap her leg around him in her sleep. Instead, he found himself trying to pick out the sound of Richie’s breathing, his lungs labored from the cigarettes he smoked every day now. Richie pretended not to notice a lot of things, but most of all he ignored the way Eddie would peek over his shoulder at him every few minutes, big brown eyes catching his and then fluttering away. Virginia never looked back at him, no matter how hard he blew her hair out of his face or pinched the back of her ankles with his toes. She would always just kick him softly with her heels, a silent acknowledgment and discouragement in one. As they all drifted off into sleep, Eddie realized with his last conscious thought that Richie had put on the “FRIDAY IM IN (DEEP SHIT)” mixtape as that oh-so familiar song by The Cure started on the stereo, just loud enough to hear. Richie’s hand on Virginia’s stomach twitched, and his knuckle brushed Eddie’s back through his thin cotton tee. He pretended not to notice that, too.