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jodilin65 · 33 years

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1991 Thank God, I finally got my grocery shopping done. I used coupons for my coffee that I’d saved. Also, I used coupons for stuff I didn’t buy. The cashier took all of them. She also gave me $5 back in cash instead of food stamps. How nice. Kim gave me 6 postage stamps and also took me to a bookstore. There, I intended to buy two journals with my $10. I was sick of never being able to shop or buy anything for so long. Finally, I said, “To hell with it. I’m on my last journal so why not?” She threw $10 in my face and said it was a gift. I was shocked and ended up buying 3 journals.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1991 Once again I got up earlier than I intended to, but I did sleep 8 hours. I’ve been up since 2:30 and I’m waiting for Andy to call. He’s gone out to get himself a pack of cigarettes. We’re going to make some calls. He is, I mean, by using his 3-way. Of course, I never got to Food Mart last night but I figured Kim would back out anyway, even if I didn’t. Who knows if I’ll go tonight? At least I still have some food and right now I’m cooking chicken wings.

I wish I knew when I was moving and when all this court shit will be over. I want to move more and more as I’m isolated and abandoned more and more by Kim. I’m really pissed off about her getting me all psyched up about my ear operation. She really put on a good I’m-all-excited act and I of all people should’ve known better. I’m supposed to know people better and not rely on them, but her act had even me fooled. She really seemed just as excited as I was. You don’t do that to someone who’s always wanted to hear out of two ears. I feel so let down by her and so disappointed in her in so many ways. As I said, she has her own life and I respect that, but she should’ve told me she’d be too busy to do much of anything with me rather than lie. When I remember her saying how she moved me up here cuz Mark’s so quiet and boring it makes me laugh. What a joke.

Later…

Andy and I are making calls now together. We are using new phone names. He’s Paul and I’m Shauna instead of Daryl and Lisa. He’s going to leave a nice long message on Nervous’s boss’s machine all about Phoenix. It’s been so long since Nervous has heard from his favorite femmy. It’s about time, when he least expects it, to get a message. He’ll love it.

Later…

He is leaving Nervous’s message now and he’s reading from a magazine skipping every other word. Of course, he’s bringing up other fond memories such as how Sasha broke his desk drawer, Tracy borrowing $20 and the grand old time he had being our slave at the bitch. We’ve been calling people in PHX with funny last names. I also read to them from my journal skipping every other word. He’s getting tired so he’s calling Nervous cuz he’s probably at work now. However, Dick, his boss, will probably answer.

Later…

I just hung up from Andy who’s going to sleep now. We tried calling Feinstein’s Leather, but the machine still picks up. I was hoping one of them would answer but they probably know it’s us calling and are there but won’t answer. I called Nervous two days ago at Feinstein’s and he answered telling me he’ll call me within the next few days. I hope so. Two days ago, I also spoke to Fran and told him I couldn’t get a hold of him. I asked him for the number once again and sure enough, as I figured, he had accidentally given me the wrong number.

Man, oh man, is it raining out there. It’s been coming down hard now since I woke up. I’ve got this drab and sluggish feeling like most people get when it rains. I hate damp dreary days such as this unless it’s in the heat of summer. Then it’s more of a relief when it pours like this in the summer. I feel very tired as if I could take a nap. I’ve got to stay up, though. If I were to fall asleep I’ll be sorry and I’ll have my schedule fucked up again. On the other hand, I’ll set my alarm and only allow myself a 2-hour nap. After that, I’ll make myself get up.

Later…

I decided not to lie down. About 20 minutes ago, the phone rang and I thought it was Nervous’s boss calling to chew me out about Andy calling since they only knew how to get a hold of me. It was Tammy instead. She told me she ended up in the ER after an attack and told me everything they did. It was exactly what they did to me and they gave her Alupent and other stuff. They gave her shots, too. She said this all happened yesterday, but it’s acting up again. Now she realizes how scary it is, she told me. She said she can’t even smoke or move and I told her that’s the worst stage and the only way to get better is to go to the ER. Time is either your best friend or your worst enemy with asthma, just like with heart patients. Once it gets really bad like that, it won’t go away without going to the ER for an updraft and an injection of Ventolin. I told her to keep me posted.

What a boring day this is going to be. I wish I could get my shopping over with right now. Right this very minute. I also better go into Greenfield and sign up for fuel assistance from November-March. I’m quite sure I’ll be here through the month of November, so I’ll sign up. I hope to hell I’m not here through December and January as well. I’ll miss this apartment, but I’m so sick of being ignored by Kim 100% of the time. I only want to be ignored 70% - 80% of the time. Most of the time, not all the time.

I hope someone gets me an electric typewriter for my b-day or Chanukah.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1991 In an hour and a half or so, I’m going to go get my bangs trimmed. The girl that does my hair is cute but has extremely short hair and there’s another one who’s drop-dead gorgeous. Really long hair, a nice face, a nice body, and oh so straight. Is there anybody else like me in this world? I mean, this is the type to bet on and always win. Betting on if she’s straight or gay. If I bet she was straight before finding out how true that is I’d win all the time. This is the type you know without asking, and are 100% sure she’s straight. Of course, I’d never ask anyway. Also, she’s good looking so she’s definitely mean.

Damn! There’s nothing like having the average guy want me, the average gay woman rejecting me, and me not wanting the average gay woman. I don’t want just about any gay woman. I hate wanting a real woman and the gay ones look like men. Like I said, if I was looking for a relationship, that’d be unrealistic, but all I want is one night. One fucking night when I finally can experience lust and that real spark and then I’ll gladly go on carrying it in my head like always. Why is God so determined to stop me? How many more times must I go to bed with someone I’m not attracted to till he lets me have my way? If I can never go to bed with someone attractive, then God, give me the gift of not caring about looks like most people don’t. That way I can still have fun with a few one-night stands a year. I’m absolutely not going to get in bed again with an ugly or just a so-so person ever again. If I’d been straight, I’d get a zillion offers from all kinds of women. Thank God for one thing, though, and that’s that I don’t want a relationship and I’m not bullshitting. I’d never lie in this book and if I knew then what I know now, things would’ve been different. Like I said before, though, it’s normal in your late teens or early 20s to feel the way I used to whether you’re gay or straight. Everyone’s naïve and impractical at that age. But after you go through the experience of learning all about life and people, most people remain suckers and just can’t be independent and they’re desperate and they settle. I have self-respect. Same thing with singing and having a baby. I may have fooled myself about being a singer longer than I should have but I know now I’ll never make it. I don’t want to have a kid as much as I did but I do still think about it and was wrong about that, too. Yes, you do have to be rich to have a kid. If not rich, then close to it.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1991 I fell asleep yesterday at 3 PM and believe it or not I managed to sleep till 3 AM. I woke up a few times, though, and took my meds. I have to take them again soon. For the last couple of days, due to changing my schedule, I wasn’t quite taking them regularly. As the Theodur is for prevention against attacks, you need to keep it up at a certain level in the blood. I ended up feeling like shit cuz of this and almost had a bad attack. Overall, it’s so good to be feeling so much better and those vitamins Ma sent really do help. No more getting one cold or flu after another. I was skeptical about those vitamins helping as you usually feel no difference. People will do anything to make a buck.

Well, the time has finally arrived for Shadow to be fixed. Earlier this morning Kim gave me the cat carrier and I took him to the vet where he is now. Luckily it’s so close. While I was waiting for them to open, I could see this building from where I sat on their front steps. I got there a few minutes before 8:00 but didn’t have to wait too long. I’m to go get him at 2:30. I already miss him and I love that cat so much.

A funny thing happened as I was on my way there. This car pulled up beside me and I thought the guy was going to offer me a ride. Instead, he said, “Aren’t you the girl I met at the barbershop who’s going to be a country singer?”

I wasn’t sure if he was familiar to me or not and I had only been in there once to ask the guy who owns and works there about trimming my bangs. He was the only one I spoke to and we never talked about music and I never went back again.

So anyway, the guy just said that he wanted to know my name in case I make it someday.

If I really did not speak to him anywhere (I’d remember as I’ve got a great memory) then maybe he’s connected to the police, Maliheh or the advertising company. That’s all that was said to me anyway, then he pulled into the driveway of United Bank. Since he never did offer me a ride, which is the usual case when a guy pulls up that you don’t know, maybe something’s up. Speaking of Maliheh, I still haven’t gotten a subpoena to go to court in Northampton.

Later…

In about 15 minutes I’ll be leaving to go get Shadow. He was very good about the trip over there, but he and I both won’t enjoy it as much this time. It’s really raining quite hard out.

I hope Peter doesn’t call while I’m gone if he calls at all. I need to ask him some questions about my thermostat. It works, but not on auto like the AC does. I’ll also ask one of the guys who works out back to come up and take my living room screen out again. It’s filled with spiders and a huge web. He came up here the day ma was here with a brush and brushed off the screen but it didn’t do any good. This time I want him to do that again as well as Raid the screen. I’ll go leave a note on my upper door for the guy just in case he does pop in while I’m gone.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1991 I just spoke to Steve a little while ago and told him about CT. I also spoke with him more about my phone call case. I told him I spoke to Tammy. Yesterday Tammy spoke to Mark. Now I’m worried more and more and I just do not know what to think. So many people have said different things. Also, the same people have said one thing and then another. An example of that is, Chief B told me that I probably wouldn’t be fined as I can’t afford it. He also told me he doesn’t think they could afford to put me in jail and that the jails are overcrowded and it’s not the most serious offense. Carol, my lawyer, and Mark and Kim told me they probably wouldn’t put me in jail, but then in the Greenfield paper Chief B changed his story. He had said 2 years with a $500 fine or 5 years with a $1,000 fine. Also, Mark told Tammy that cuz the company I called is a big part of this town and cuz I’m in a small town, I may be fined or do some time and they’re really gonna push it as far as they can. Or I’d be on probation but maybe not allowed to leave the state for a while. Mark still feels I should get my tapes back in the end and I mentioned to Steve that my lawyer said the DA has to duplicate my tapes. He said that’s very true as it’s still my private, personal belongings. I’m determined not to let them win in this case as they’ve already gotten their number one wish - no more calls from me. Secondly, I can’t go to jail as I’ll get killed or beat to within inches of death. I would rather kill myself than be murdered. Having to defend myself against one girl in jail is one thing but not 3 or 4 or more girls. And you know they gang up on tiny girls in huge clusters and that most girls in jail are there for much more serious crimes. There are mostly big butches in jail who have beaten people or killed them and not in self-defense, either. A lot of them do it strictly for laughs.

Later…

I am listening to a bootleg tape of Linda I got from a record convention in Boston or Chicopee. It’s amazing how strong her voice is. All the time. Linda can always cut it in concert as well as in recordings. I doubt she’s ever sung like shit for one day in her whole life. Gloria, on the other hand, is usually not as good in concert. I have Gloria singing Don’t Wanna Lose You on tape from music awards and it was so pitifully bad. The look on her face, as well as her band members, was like, “Oh my God.” I have a few concerts on video of hers that are not too great, but that was the worst. I wonder how Linda can keep going and going without losing her voice or getting sore throats. Well, maybe I could answer that if I didn’t smoke and did my voice exercises regularly. As a smoker and one who doesn’t do her voice exercises daily, I’m a good singer. I know, however, I could be a great one if doing what I need to do to make that possible wasn’t so impossible. I know, at this point for sure, I’ll never quit smoking permanently no matter how much I want to or how sick I get. Oh well. You only live once.

A few nights ago I was feeling a little bummed, so I called NCC where I had a talk with a very encouraging and positive woman. Not only did she tell me she knew some very feminine professional and decent gay women, but she mentioned this thing called the Gay Alliance. It’s supposed to be geared towards having more stable and upper-class people meet. Besides support groups, they have dances and more feminine people in a safer, cleaner atmosphere. Less trash to sort through than you would in a bar. She told me that the reason why I feel as if there are no feminine gays, is cuz when you see a butchy one walking down the street, they’re so obvious. She then said I’d be surprised how many are walking around appearing very feminine. I still feel there’s one in millions and you know how I am. In some cases, this one especially, seeing is believing even though I’m living proof of one. I still say it’s bullshit and I’m a fluke of nature. Tammy mentioned seeing something like this in some paper out there so since I’m not gonna be here too much longer, I won’t bother. At least I hope to hell I’m not here too much longer, let alone jail. Now here’s the main point of the conversation I had with that woman, who, by the way, took my number to give to some people she knows, but I know better.

The woman named Nancy, now that I remember it, had an idea about Maliheh which I never thought of or considered after I told her the story. In my mind, I’d say she’s only got a 10% chance of being right, but I’ll write about it anyway. I have nothing better to do.

At one point during our conversation, I was telling her how every person I’ve ever wanted and tried to pursue, brushed me off or really slapped me in the face with serious rejection. The more I wanted someone, the more severely they rejected me even if I pursued them respectfully. Without getting pushy, I mean. I told her that is why when I want someone, I’ll never approach them again. Ever. I also expressed my belief that God is influencing these things to happen and that I didn’t know why. I could almost be sure that if I picked 10 ugly women and hit on them, 8 or 9 out of the 10 would be flattered and take me up on my proposition. The 1 or 2 that brush me off, would do so kindly. That’s more than bad luck or a coincidence to me. That’s a case of it’s not meant to be.

So anyway, I told her how interested Maliheh seemed and how she flipped on me when I left that “Dear John” message, as she called it. Nancy felt she had flipped cuz she really wanted me and still did and couldn’t handle my rejection. She said that people have strange ways of reacting. If this is true then I wonder why we never got together for a week. This happened after we met and not only did I sense maybe she wasn’t interested after all but knew God would not allow me to have her. Plus, yes I’m scared to death of people for so many reasons and that awkward feeling came over me despite how much I was attracted to her. So I figured, if I didn’t dump her, she’d dump me or time would go on with me never having her. I like to chase, guess and wonder but not forever. I also only want to capture for one night but I know it’ll never happen as long as I live. Like I said, to me, Nancy has a very very slim chance of being right with her theory. I believe she really didn’t want me after all and was truly pissed when she thought that I thought she wanted me. If she felt so hurt and rejected, then I’d think she’d try harder and not give up so easily and get as pissed off as one would get if they lost a winning lottery ticket for a million bucks. I’d like to believe Nancy’s right, but my past history tells me otherwise. There have been too many others who have found out I liked them through me or by someone else and believe me when I say they weren’t too happy. They were quite angry.

Maybe I should get a sign that says ‘I’m not straight, I just look it’ if I want to go out again.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1991 As I continue to reverse my schedule I’ve kept quite busy playing with Shadow on and off all night. It’s amazing how much I love that cat and how much he loves me.

I wrote a song called A Light in the Dark. I’m very happy with how it came out.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1991 I have spoken with Ma and Tammy both and have made a very final and definite decision. I’m moving to CT. I feel way too isolated here and have no way to save up for my goal. The expenses are just too high and it’s been the ultimate struggle of my life. There’s no bus line and Kim’s got her own life and is always very busy. I have no one and nothing. I’d hate to be involved with too many things and too many people cuz that’s how you get burned. On the other hand, when you’re completely isolated you’re safer, but you go insane.

I have to return to court on October 4th and if that’s not my final court date, I’ll just leave and say fuck it. Yes, I’ll lose any chance of ever recovering some or all of my tapes as well as my $80 answering machine, but I’ve got to split ASAP, and Andy can replace some of the tapes. Also, I wouldn’t want to, but I can live without an answering machine and can always get a new one someday. Plus, even if the DA were to say right this second, “Give Jodi O her tapes back and everything else you have,” they’re only gonna fuck with them by breaking them or conveniently losing them. sighs I’m so sick of people taking and breaking my things.

I will miss this apartment, and according to Tammy, the apartment they looked at is small but it’s a 2-bedroom, modern apartment where your heat is included. I hope I get the heat I pay for. I did with Carabetta and from what I heard they have that kind of heating system Carabetta had. No old fashion radiators. Also, it’s wall-to-wall carpet with laundry rooms and even an elevator. Since I don’t do first floors I guess I have my choice of second and third. If the third floor’s the highest, that’s what I want. So, as Tammy’s said, it’s small but at least I’ll have my family, a bus line, more things to do, and I’ll be typing for her for $30 or $40 a week and can save to leave the east coast.

I spoke with Andy the other night who made calls and he also blared some of the edits through the phone into my speakerphone and into my boom box. God, I’m so pissed just knowing only 10% of the material on all those will be recovered! All the time and money I spent on those tapes. Tapes that were totally blank. Songs from other people’s tapes I don’t have. Nervous and Fran convos I’ll never have again, crossings, and the list goes on. I’ll never trust anyone again and from now on anything private or personal is to be disguised to a T. I’m still so paranoid to write my own fucking life, thoughts and feelings in this journal, terrified that someone somewhere will, take, steal or destroy it.

I hate people, man! I hate fucking people! If I ever do meet new friends or eventually was able to settle for a so-so-looking woman in 10 years how can I ever trust them? No matter what she looked like, if I met a woman, how am I ever gonna handle it after Maliheh and all the others that fucked me over or just weren’t that great? How can I ever trust again? How can I ever believe or be confident in anyone again? How can I ever even have sex again? How can I ever get involved without pushing that person away? How can I get involved without running away scared? How can I ever have confidence in myself in a part-time relationship like I do as someone’s friend? How? How? How? How? How? How? How will I ever be able to handle a compliment without doubting the person? Will anyone be able to say they like or love me with me being able to believe them? Will I ever be able to trust anyone?

I think that over the last year after experiencing what I have and knowing what I do now I’ve come to know and accept that none of the above will ever happen. Even though 5% of the time I still wish I could have just one night with someone attractive. Someone I feel that sexual spark with. The type of character I usually can never get, I’ll never have sex again if my only choice is the same ongoing pattern. Never again is sex gonna be a boring chore. No spark, no sex. Just like with singing. No singing, no big 40-hour-a-week job.

Later…

Well, I managed to stay up until noon yesterday as I got my schedule screwed up again after 3 weeks. I only slept until 6 PM, though, as I woke up to the sound of Kim running her bathwater. My bathroom’s right across from the bedroom. And directly behind my bathroom is hers.

Tomorrow I was gonna go to the Big E with her but since I’ll never be able to go to bed and get up at 9:00 which is when she wants to leave, I won’t be going. She wants to stay till 4:00 or 5:00 which is much too long to need or want to be there. 3 hours or so would be different. Plus, she’s backed out on me so many times before that I don’t feel bad about it, and I said I’d do to those what they do to me from now on. Within reason, that is.

Now, I’m contemplating and toying with the idea of doing my writing in notebooks from now on. I’m not sure yet. Notebooks are cheaper and they’re easier to write in as the pages stay open better. Journals like these are more expensive but much prettier, durable and they’d last longer. Would I want to invest more money into something that very well may be taken away or stolen or something like that?

After being in Brattleboro and Valleyhead, remember how I said I’d always fantasize about being invisible? I’d lay in bed at home in Longmeadow late at night wishing I could snap my fingers and be there invisible. Once there, I’d go up to everyone who treated me like dirt and slap them upside the head. Well, now I wish I could be invisible and soundless, meaning if I screamed, talked or laughed no one would hear. Also any object I touched could become invisible if I so desired it to. If I could make this fantasy a reality for one single day I’d go to the police department and get my stuff, then go to any restaurants I could and steal the tips. I’d also be able to go to wherever my mother and other people I don’t like are and either punch them or just poke at their faces. Maybe rearrange a few items too. I’d also make sure I did this while someone else was there to see them freak out and think they’ve lost their minds.

Later…

I spoke with Jessie earlier about CT and she said she’ll definitely get those suits mailed out and see me in CT, if not here. I hope she puts enough postage on the envelope as I can’t afford to pay the difference. I’ll also get in touch with Steve, Jai and Paula. I won’t even bother to give my new number and address to Jimmy who I had a great talk. He got caught drunk driving so he lost his license and may also be doing jail time so he won’t be able to. He tried calling me but dialed the wrong number. Hank, I have not heard from in ages and when I call he never answers. Fran, I won’t bother with after I move. He changed his number like he does every other month which he had given to me over the phone. He either gave me a phony number or I copied down the wrong number. Chances are neither of the above is correct. He probably thought he was giving me the right number, but by accident gave me the wrong number. You know how stupid Fran is. Unfortunately, I’ve never gotten a call or a letter from Nervous, but it’s his choice to either contact me or not if he wants. I do wonder what he’s up to nowadays.

Later…

Hank called me an hour ago. He was in St. Francis Hospital in CT due to his heart. That’s what I figured. Hank gave me Mattie’s number and while he was on the line I called her and freaked her out with the edits. I wish Hank had 3-way and I hope Fran hurries up and calls before I move.

This time, when I tell Fran I’m moving, I will give him a phony number. He’ll probably try to get the number from Mom, but of course, she won’t give it to him. I have the feeling, however, that he’s lost Ma’s number and he’s always losing shit and lost my new number here when he moved to another floor in his building. That’s Fran for you. Luckily some people are stupid as it’s convenient for those who aren’t.

Later…

I made sure I stood up as late as I could and slept as late as I could. I ended up getting up at 7:00 this evening to reverse my schedule again. In another 2-3 days, I’ll be on days again. I need to be as I’ve got some errands and other things to do. Monday, Shadow’s gonna be fixed. I’ve got a form sent from Boston for half off as I’m low-income. Between Shadow’s shot and his being neutered, it should cost about $25. He only needs one shot, they told me, as he’s an indoor cat. Luckily males are cheaper to fix than females, but Kim gave me the money for this. That’s so nice of her.

Earlier I spoke with Tammy and told her everything about the calls, tapes, court and the search warrant. I wouldn’t have said anything if I knew it could be completely wrapped up by October 4th, but it won’t be. I didn’t want to upset her but she listened patiently and tried to understand and said she’d say nothing to mom and dad. It isn’t as if Mom and Dad would disown me, but you know how they are. They’d be very upset and I don’t blame them but they can’t really handle shit like that. Tammy asked for the number of Chief B, Mark, and my lawyer, and I gave them to her. She says she’ll call on Monday.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1991 Mom was here last Friday the 13th. If anyone has to visit on Friday the 13th, it would have to be her. A double curse for sure. It was hell at times, of course. One minute she’d be ok, the next bitchy and bossy. She tells me she understands my feelings yet I still feel as if she wants me to be what she wants. I feel as if she’s trying to control me and doesn’t want to see me take any chances or succeed in any way. I feel she could care less about me wanting a part-time lover or a kid or to be a singer.

Tammy and I had a good talk about that and she told me to keep my chin up and to do what I want to do. How can I, though? I feel I no longer have any choice but to settle for what I don’t want, be it a job or a lover.

Mom called me from Tammy’s which is where she went after she left here the next day saying she’s going to be back Wednesday and we’ll talk. When I asked her what we’d talk about she told me she’d like to see me near the family and that family’s important. Asking me to give up my dream for anyone is asking way too much and proves to me all the more that she’s out to control me. At this point, however, I know I’ll never have what I want so I’ll just start doing what everyone else wants. Now I know for sure I’ll never be a singer so why not move to Connecticut? Plus, I know even if I went to a bar 7 days a week, I’ll never have what I want, so it doesn’t matter that I’ll be 100% cut off from that either.

Later…

I screwed up my schedule again. I need to try and get back on days as ma will be here Wednesday and Kim and I are going to the Big E on Friday.

I forgot to mention after I last wrote that when ma was here she brought some food, of course. At one point she and I were opening a big huge can of chocolate pudding. Right before we opened this huge can, I put my guitar up against the stove and was dying to play. I hadn’t played in a few months, put the string on that Bob got me and cut my nails which were really long. So what did mom do after we opened the can? Walked right into it, knocked it over and broke two strings. She’s sending me all 6 strings which I’ll probably get tomorrow. There are two reasons I’m sort of glad she broke them rather than me. That’s cuz she can afford to replace them and I can’t. Also, she sure was a lot nicer after she did that. She even felt guilty enough, even without me accusing her of doing it on purpose which I did to blow off steam. That was cruel to blame her and take it out on her but I guess being the way she is made it easier to do that. Normally I wouldn’t do that to someone. As I said, ma brought some food and two tank tops and a pair of pants. She hemmed the pants and also took in that gorgeous dress I got a few months ago at the sides.

We went out and browsed around the Yankee Candle Co. and ate lunch outside at their picnic table. We also looked into some other shops which are newly built and were mostly of jewelry and knickknacks and plenty of old stuff. She bought me a bracelet and some beads and some of that colored yarn that’s more like string. Last night I made Lisa, Becky and Sarah a beaded bracelet and also began to make one of those colored cloth bracelets. The one with the backward 4’s that’s sort of is like macramé, that the bitch, Michelle that lived with me on Locust St. taught me.

Speaking of good old Jenny C, we had our day in court on Sept. 12th, and as figured, it was dismissed. Poor Jenny. She’s no doubt rip-shitting pissed. I mean, she really wanted to get me good. Andy laughed when I told him about it.

Besides making those bracelets, I made another string of all my different colored beads on a wire string. This is the 4th one and it has a pretty clear glass heart on it and I hung it in the kitchen window/door on a suction cup. I also made a placemat and intend to make 5 for Tammy, Bill and the girls but my first one’s just a wee bit too small. It would even look good hung on the wall. I made it by taking a rectangular piece of cardboard and cutting 18 little slits on the long ends. I took that stringy yarn and wrapped it round and round, hooking it into each slit, then secured it on the back with tape. Then I’d cut long pieces of regular yarn, double it and weave it over and under across the whole thing. After that was done, I cut the strings in the back half and tied them on the ends where I started weaving and finished weaving. Then I made tassels on the 4 corners.

Later…

Tammy and I, as I said before, had a long talk and she said that a lot of people made money when they first entered the music business by selling their songs. She said she heard this on MTV. I like the idea of that a lot but finding the address to send these songs to would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Andy said to try the library and look under music publishing. Good idea.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1991 The reason why I haven’t been writing much in a while is clear. I’m paranoid. So afraid my privacy will be invaded. Got I hope I get those tapes back! It seems all my life I always end up losing the things that I love and care about so much. I feel like this is just too much of a punishment. At home, in Brattleboro, in Valleyhead and other places I’ve always had to fight to hang onto the things I need and love. I always lose. I hate it. I hate that trapped feeling. I hate it when I lose people as well as material things. Friends or people I liked as well as was attracted to that could give a rat’s ass about me and how I feel.

I spoke to my lawyer who reminds me of Tracy K. I told her I was gay and she said, “Me too,” as if she needed to tell me. Shit, you can just look and see that as you can with just about all gay women except for me.

As I began to write the last time, till court began, I ended up talking with Chief B and Carol for nearly two hours after only intending to get my papers and leave. It amazed me how much they wanted to get to know and understand more about me. They were quite sensitive and understanding, too. The first thing the Chief and Carol said is how they’re open to all kinds of relationships and accept people as they are. We discussed that and all the stuff I love to do and why I feel hopeless and trapped. I even ended up singing for them and they asked me. That was nice. The Chief, who thinks I’m attractive and let me know that when he met me, took a picture of me. They gave me one, too.

Well, anyway, last Friday or Saturday night I did something quite bad. I mean, we’re talking about the most major setback and something I haven’t done since I was 17. That’s right. I cut myself. I actually cut myself. I lay in bed that night, desperately trying to suppress the urge to reach out, but knowing I couldn’t. Knowing no one was there. Wanting, wishing to be held, loved, communicated with. Trying to accept that I’d always be alone. Never ever being able to have the one-night stand every few months I want with what’s basically the wrong kind of women which is straight women. Feminine women. Trying not to think about Andy, Nervous, Steve, Jai, Paula, Jessie and Fran. Trying to block out the bad memories of the past. Bad memories of mom and any places she threw me away to. Trying to forget about music. Damn! It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I was supposed to move and have the beautiful apartment and area be enough for me, and not need or think about music, sex or anything fun in the past or something fun in the present. Once upon a time, Andy and I going to the parking lot late at night behind the temple was no big deal. Now I miss it so much. I’d just love to be able to do that right this minute. It’s funny the things we take for granted till they’re all gone and you miss them so much!

Tomorrow, I’ll write about the talk I had with Tammy and about the aerobics place next door.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1991 Well, here I am in court waiting for them to open up. This is the case with the advertising agency that had all those answering machines I called and played with.

I guess soon I’ll have to go to Northampton for Maliheh.

When I went down to the station to get the papers for today I ended up talking with Chief B and Carol for nearly two hours.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1991 I finally got myself on a day schedule and I’m gonna try and keep it that way for a while. Ma’s coming up in a week or so and I’ll also be going to court soon. I also need to go sign up for fuel assistance and I need my bangs trimmed big time.

Well, summer’s on its way out and it’s pretty chilly out now. Believe it or not, I put my heat on. They say it’s gonna be 70º out today and I hope so as now’s the time to do my sun tanning. I can’t tan when it’s unbearably hot and humid like it was a few days ago for 4 days unless I can swim in a pool or lake or the beach. Plus it looks so good and I tan easier now that I’m older. When I was younger I’d turn bright red and peel instantly.

Now, I have some good news I’m psyched about. Aside from this house with the first and second floor being the business and Kim and Mark and me up top, there’s a little tiny building next door. It’s part of the habitat too but it has only two floors and is much smaller. Each floor here is about 2600 square feet. The two floors there are about 600 which is just about the size of the Woodside apartment. The bottom floor is the fitness center and no one’s hardly ever there. There was a place on top for $300 a month which this guy who lived there moved out of. So, I left a message downstairs and George called me back and I told him all about Steve. So when I spoke to Steve he was psyched and he’s got an appointment with Peter M this Thursday at 10 AM. I can’t wait for him to move here! From what I’ve heard, it’s not as big and as fancy as my place and I don’t think Steve has a washer and dryer. If not, I’ll wash dry and fold his laundry with my detergent if he’ll simply help me tie up loose ends at the end of the month. Things like cigarette money.

I have more to write about later. Fran got 3-way.

0 notes

study-coffee-chicago · 4 years

Text

Stupid Game (A Halstead brothers + Halstead! sister imagine)

If you've read Someone I Used to Know by Patty Blount, you'll understand where I drew the inspiration from. Warning: includes sexual harassment and threats of sexual assault.

Fifteen days. Fifteen days left of this stupid and terrifying game. You could get through fifteen more days of their stupid game, after all, you were already halfway through. But, seeing as it was halfway done, they'd start to get more desperate. You needed something on you, anything. Pepperspray, mace, a knife, a razor blade--

"Y/N," you were snapped out of your thoughts by your brother, Jay, saying your name. "What are you doing up? I thought you had online first block today?" he asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee and grabbed a box of cereal from the cupboard.

"I do," you answered, stirring the peanut butter into your oatmeal once more. "Just wanted to get up and get some math homework done," you lied.

"You didn't do it last night?" Jay asked, raising an eyebrow at you as he sat down across from you.

"I know, I should've done it. But I was frustrated that I couldn't figure it out and figured maybe looking at it in the morning with fresh eyes would help."

"Fair enough."

"You're not mad I procrastinated?" That was one thing both he and Will agreed on when it came to you and school: procrastinating and not getting your assignments done was unacceptable. They said they didn't care about grades as long as you didn't fail-- and you weren't, you were getting all A's and B's-- but they did care about you trying your absolute best.

Jay shook his head. "No, sounds like you got it all figured out." He looked at his watch. "I gotta go. I'm gonna be late. See you when I get home."

Jay stood up and put his bowl and mug into the dishwasher. "Will you be home for dinner?" you asked...which was really code for if he was going to cook or if you were fending for yourself.

"I don't know. We don't have an ongoing case, so depends on today's case." You opened your mouth to ask if you could order takeout when he stopped you. "And, yes, you can get takeout. I just expect the receipt and change."

"I know, I know. Now, go save Chicago," you said, shooing him out the door.

"It's a team effort," he replied.

"Yeah, yeah. Say hi to Hailey for me."

"Will do!" he yelled to you over his shoulder.

You waited another five minutes until you knew that Jay wasn't coming back before starting your mission. You went into Jay's room and opened his closet. After peering at all the shelves, you had almost given up, when a piece of cardboard on the top shelf caught your eye.

"Gonna need a chair for this," you mumbled and then made your way back into the kitchen and dragged a chair into Jay's room.

After moving a few things, you pulled the box down and set it on the floor. "What are you hiding in here, Jay?" you asked yourself, having never seen this box. You knew it was Jay's though because J. Halstead was written on the side in black permanent marker.

Slowly, you opened the box, as if scared something was going to jump out at you or Jay was miraculously going to appear and tell you not to open it. But, neither of those two things happened.

"Holy shit," you muttered as you opened the box. You thought this stuff was stored away in a storage locker, but it was here all along.

Inside the box was Jay's military uniform, all folded up, along with his dog tags and a few pictures from his time overseas. You felt like you were looking at one of Jay's most intimate secrets, just by looking at this stuff. You wondered who in those pictures came home and who didn't. There was also a small leather journal, and tied to the side of it was a knife.

You picked up the journal and untied the knife from it. You'd be lying if you said that opening the journal and reading it hadn't crossed your mind. But, you viewed your brother as a war hero, and if there was anything in there that would change that view, you didn't want to know. You also knew he had seen some horrific things over there, not that he had ever given you any specific details on the missions, you just knew because of how hard some cases hit him, especially kid cases.

So, you placed everything back into the box just like you found it and put it back on the shelf. Except for the knife, that you kept.

It felt heavy in your hands. The red handle was faded, probably from all the sand that had rubbed against it overseas. You ran a finger over the blade, a little dull from not being sharpened in all these years.

You jumped as your phone alarm went off, alerting you that you had half an hour before you had to leave. You turned it off and placed the knife in your pocket. Then, you dragged the chair back to the kitchen and continued to get ready for school, the extra protection you now had would make you feel more protected for these next fifteen days, that you were sure of.

With the knife safely placed in your backpack half an hour later, you headed off to school.

***

Jay furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at his phone. Your school was calling him, which was odd. The only reason he thought that they'd be calling was that you didn't show up, you weren't a troublemaker like he was when he was in high school. The stakes were higher now, so you couldn't afford to mess up.

"Sarge, I gotta take this. It's Y/N's school," he said and then proceeded to walk to an interrogation room for some privacy in case the call was serious.

"Jay Halstead," Jay said as he answered.

"Mr. Halstead this is Ben White, principal of Central Chicago High School. I have Y/N in my office right now and I would appreciate it if you could come down here."

"Is she in trouble?" Jay asked, knowing if it were anything other than that, he would have told him.

There was a pause on the other end of the line as the principal tried to figure out what to say. "Somewhat. I'll explain more in person."

"Okay, thank you. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

He hung up the phone and exited the interrogation room and went back into the bullpen to grab his keys and coat.

"Everything okay?" Voight asked.

"Not really. Y/N got in trouble at school, so I gotta go talk to her principal."

"What'd she do?" Kevin asked.

"Don't know yet, said he'll explain when I get there."

"Just don't be too hard on her. She's a good kid, Jay."

"I know, which is why I'm shocked that she's in trouble at all."

Hailey placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay."

***

When Jay walked into the principal's office, it was just like he remembered it from when he was in trouble in high school. Most of his were for a few fistfights at lunch or just not doing his homework. Hell, when he looked at you, you were in the same position he was always in whenever your guys' mom or dad had to come to pick him up: hands in your lap, head down, and eyes trained on the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Mr. Halstead, take a seat," Mr. White motioned for him to sit in the other empty seat facing his desk.

"Please, call me Jay. Mr. Halstead's my father. Now, what's this about?" he asked, looking between you and the principal to see which one of you would be the one to tell him.

"Well, as you know we have a very strict no-weapons policy at the school. And, well, your sister, this fell out of her locker."

At this, you looked up, wanting to gauge Jay's reaction. Something flashed across his eyes for a moment, and then anger took over a few seconds later. "A knife? Really? And my Ranger's knife at that?"

"I'm sorry," you mumbled. But, you couldn't tell him what was going on. After all, it's not like the school would do anything about it, which wasn't for lack of trying because oh people had tried alright.

Jay took a deep breath, not wanting to blow up at you in front of anyone. "Why do you even have it?"

When you didn't answer him, he turned to your principal. "She said that she was snooping through your stuff, and she found the knife, thought it was cool, and wanted to show it to her friends."

Now, snooping, Jay could see. But showing a knife to your friends? Even having a remote interest in any type of weapon? Well, that just wasn't you and you both knew that. But, he knew you wouldn't tell him the real reason unless you were alone, even then it was a long shot.

"I see," Jay nodded. "Let's not beat around the bush here. What kind of trouble is she in?"

"Well, typically we have to call the cops on this type of stuff, but I figured since you were a cop, that this would do. Typically, there's also a three to five day suspension that comes with these things, but seeing everything she's gone through in the past years and that she has outstanding grades and never has even had a detention, I'm going to let her off with a warning. She just has to go home for the rest of the day," Mr. White answered.

"And this won't be on her record?" Jay asked.

"This won't be on her record," Mr. White confirmed.

"What do you say, Y/N?" Jay asked.

"I'm sorry," you apologized, looking up once again.

"And?"

"And it won't happen again." Jay cleared his throat, telling you that you forgot something. "Sir," you added quickly.

It was always something your dad had taught Jay and Will when they got in trouble, that they had to use either sir or ma'am in the apology. Up until today, you never had to use it, but here you were. There's a first time for everything.

"I'm sure it won't," Mr. White said.

"I'm gonna go get my stuff," you said to Jay before leaving the principal's office.

Jay rubbed a hand down his face and sighed. Then, he turned back to Ben White. "I'm really sorry about this. I don't know why she'd do anything like this. This isn't like her--"

"Jay, she's been through a lot," he sympathized. "She's probably just acting out. Every teenager goes through that. We both know you did."

Mr. White was a young teacher back when Jay and Will were in high school, and he got to see some of Jay's fights first hand. He even had to rip him off a kid once in the cafeteria.

"Hey, they were always for good reasons...And, I always won."

"Now that you're not a student anymore, I can agree with that statement." He heard the door to the main office open. "Just, don't be too hard on her, okay?"

Jay nodded and stood up and left the office. Now he had to deal with his sister and try to figure out what was actually the real cause of this.

***

You started to run up the stairs but were stopped quickly by Jay's stern voice. "No, come back down here. We're going to talk about this."

You sighed, knowing you were going to be in deep shit from him since you got nothing from the school. You handed him your phone, but surprisingly, he handed it back to you.

"I get to keep my phone?"

"You do, but that's only because I'm letting you drive to and from school and that's it. You go to school and you come straight home. No stopping for coffee, donuts, fries, nothing. I need you to have your phone on you in case you get in an accident." You nodded, knowing his logic was sound.

"How long?"

"Three weeks."

"Jay! But homecoming's in two and a half! And I'm going dress shopping with Emma this weekend!"

"Should've thought of that before you brought a knife to school, my military knife at that. Why were you looking through my stuff anyway?"

"Just curious, I guess." It was a lie and you both knew it.

"That's not the truth. What's going on? Come on, you know you can tell me."

Not this I can't. But, you didn't say that. "That is the truth, Jay. Now, how am I going to get my homecoming dress?"

"You don't need a dress if you're not going to the dance."

"You can't keep this from me--"

"Yes, yes I can. If it was detention for tardies or a failed test or hell, even a fight, this wouldn't be happening. But you brought a knife to school. Not only is that against school rules, but it's against the law. What you did was illegal, Y/N."

"I know and I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it this time, not with this. But, if you want to get a dress and go to the dance, maybe doing some extra chores can get you that."

"So, I don't have to tell Emma I can't come this weekend?" you asked, hopefully.

"Not what I said. You still can't go with Emma. If you earn back that privilege, Hailey can take you."

"But, Jay--"

"No buts. I put the offer on the table and I can just as easily take it off."

"Uh, fine."

"Now, I know you have classwork from the classes you missed today, so get to it. And, don't think I won't be telling Will about this."

***

You jolted awake from your sleep. Must've just been a nightmare, you thought. A really loud nightmare.

"You bastard!" you heard Jay yell.

Okay, so not a nightmare.

"Get away from him!"

Him? Who else was in the house besides you and Jay?

If it was serious, you knew Jay would have come to wake you up to get you out of the house or yelled your name by now. Slowly, you stood up and grabbed your phone. Then, you exited your room and walked across the hall to Jay's.

You heard more yelling and tossing and turning as you stood outside his door. After taking a deep breath, you slowly turned the knob and walked into his room.

When you saw the way Jay looked, you instantly knew what this was. "Let him go and no one gets hurt!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Jay turned towards you as if he had heard a noise in his nightmare which caused him to abruptly turn. His eyes were moving rapidly beneath his eyelids and his face was dripping sweat.

Luckily, he started to calm down. His breathing started to slow and he hadn't yelled for over a minute.

"Jay," you whispered, taking a step closer to him. "Jay. Jay Halstead," you repeated, this time a little louder.

Nothing. You took a risk and touched his shoulder. "Bastard!" he yelled, throwing a punch which caused you to jump back, his fist narrowly missing your face.

Now it was his as well as your breathing that was coming out jagged.

You couldn't wake him up. You couldn't risk touching him again.

Jay yelled out again, causing you to jump and run out of his room.

You pulled out your phone and dialed the familiar number, hoping that he hadn't gotten called into work.

"Hmmm, hello?" your oldest brother's voice came through your phone, thick with sleep.

"Will, I need you. Please come over."

"Y/N? What's wrong?" He immediately sat up in bed upon hearing the worry in your voice.

"Jay's he's having a nightmare and I can't wake him up and--"

Yelling could be heard in the background and Will cut you off. "Is that him?"

"Yeah." The next part, you said quieter. You knew it wasn't Jay's fault this was happening, but it didn't make your feelings any less valid. "Will, I'm scared."

You heard a door close on Will's end. "It's okay. I don't think he's ever sleep-walked from a nightmare. Just, whatever you do, do not touch him. Understand?"

"Yes." More screaming. "Please, just hurry."

You don't know how you got through those fifteen minutes without completely breaking down. And, in those fifteen minutes, it had gone from yelling to hearing a few things slam to the ground. You assumed it was just things on Jay's bedside table, like his alarm clock, water bottle, and phone that had fallen from him trying to throw punches every which way, but you were too scared to check. What if he was up and standing and could throw things at you? You couldn't do that.

The sight Will saw when he unlocked the door and walked into the house completely broke his heart. You were sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket with your feet tucked under you, and silent tears were streaming down your face. If Will hadn't known any better, he would have thought you were making yourself as small as possible as if to disappear.

Will knelt down in front of you so that he was at eye level with you. "Hey, has it gotten worse?" You didn't look at him and that was all the confirmation Will needed.

You let out a deep shaky sob, finally feeling like it was safe for you to make noise again. Will took that opportunity to envelop you in a hug. "It's okay. It's okay. He can't hurt you. It's not him that's doing this. He doesn't know he's home."

"I know he thinks he's in Afghanistan, but he, Will, he almost, if I didn't..." you trailed off, not knowing how to tell your brother that Jay had almost hit you.

"What did he almost do, Y/N? You know he'll want all the details when he wakes up, so just tell me. I promise I won't be mad at him."

You took a deep breath. "He almost hit me, Will. I touched his shoulder and he just swung and--"

"Did I or did I not tell you not to touch him?"

"This was before I called you."

There was another crash and you whimpered. Will gave you one last squeeze and stood up. "Whatever you do, do not follow me, Y/N. I don't want you to see this."

You nodded and tugged your blanket tighter around you as if that was even possible.

The ice was melting in Will's hands as he walked towards Jay's bedroom. He could hear yelling, well, they were more like loud sobs at this point. The floor next to his bed was covered in things that fell from his bedside table: his alarm clock, water bottle, phone, the lamp...which luckily hadn't been on and the bulb hadn't broken.

"Now or never," Will muttered to himself as he stepped towards his younger brother. Then, he flung the ice out in front of him, causing it to land on Jay, and jumped back as fast as possible.

"You bastard! Fuck!" Jay's eyes shot open, drinking in his surroundings.

"Jay," Will said, quietly alerting his brother of his presence before placing his hand on his shoulder. "You're home, in Chicago, you're safe." Noticing that Jay's breathing hadn't yet slowed, Will overexaggerated his inhales and exhales. "Breathe with me. In...Out...In...Out...Good..." And so they continued that until Jay no longer needed Will to guide him through his breathing.

"What happened?" he asked, looking to where his things were strewn on the floor.

"Y/N called me. You were screaming and she tried to wake you up, but couldn't."

Jay's eyes widened. "Oh, God. I didn't...Please tell me I didn't hurt her, Will."

"No, but you did come close. She said she touched your shoulder and you just swung. She jumped out the way, though."

"Oh, God. I almost hit her, Will. Fuck. I'm a horrible brother."

Will sat done next to his brother, despite his sheets being all sweaty. "You are not a horrible brother, far from it. She knows it wasn't you that was doing this. Your mind was somewhere else. Now, do you wanna tell me what happened?"

"It was, it was all because of that damn knife. I don't know why I even kept it in the first place, Will."

"You kept telling someone to let go of him and called someone a bastard. Who?"

"I- There was this kid. His dad was gonna kill him and put a gun to his head. I tried, but I couldn't, I couldn't..." Jay let out a strangled sob and wiped the tears that ran down his face.

Will started to run a hand up and down his back, something he learned long ago that soothed Jay after nights like these. "And the knife?"

"I used that to kill the boy's father. I should have just gotten rid of it when I had the chance."

"Jay, I'm sorry all of this got dug up."

"Yeah, me too. I'm not proud of the man I was back then. I thought I was over this."

"It's okay to fall apart sometimes."

Jay nodded, even though he hated when it happened because the bigger they are, the harder they fall. He bottles up all his emotions that when he finally falls apart, he explodes.

"I think Y/N would want to know you're okay," Will suggested.

You were still in the same position you had been in when Will left you when you heard footsteps approaching you and looked up. Jay's eyes were bloodshot and it was clear as day that he had been crying. You felt the couch dip as Jay sat next to you.

"I'm sorry," Jay said. Slowly, as if not to scare you, he wrapped an arm around your blanket-covered body.

"You scared me," you whispered.

"I know. Will told me. I'm so sorry." He scanned your face, making sure that Will wasn't lying to him when he had told him that he hadn't hit you. "I just need you to know that what you saw, that wasn't me, Y/N. It was my mind bringing me back to a very dark place. I would never, ever, ever knowingly scream at you like that or lay a hand on you."

"I know. You didn't even yell that bad with everything that happened at school today. But, it's all my fault."

"Y/N, look at me." You looked up, your eyes red-rimmed from all the crying. "None of this is your fault. Yes, seeing that knife triggered me. But, I could've just as easily seen it if the box fell over and the knife fell out."

You knew what he was getting at. He was trying to assure you that you and the knife were not what triggered him. It was the knife and the knife only.

"Can Will spend the night?" you asked, knowing that if it happened again, you wouldn't be alone when dealing with it.

"Of course. Now, go back to bed. You've got school tomorrow."

You nodded and stood up, knowing he was right. It was currently 3:30 in the morning and you had been up for an hour and a half and you needed to be awake by 6:00. And, you knew that you needed your focus to be razor sharp at school now that you didn't have any protection.

"Goodnight. I love you guys."

***

The weekend had come and gone and now it was Monday. As much as you hated Mondays, the ones before homecoming were becoming increasingly worse. Everything was fine until you had walked out of school, keys in hand.

"What the fuck?" you yelled as you were slammed into the side of your car, your cheek hitting the window hard.

Then, you felt a hand squeeze your butt. "Fifty points," he whispered in your ear.

Tears sprung to your eyes as you felt his hand reach for your keys. "Get the fuck away from her, Evans!"

Then, you felt him being ripped off of you, by none other than Jordan Atwater.

"Whatever," Derek Evans grumbled as he shrugged Jordan's hands off him. "I got fifty points and she just went from 200 to 250 for the rest of it." Then, he walked away and Jordan was quickly at your side.

"Are you okay?"

"No," you sniffled.

"Here, let me take you home, and then we can tell Kevin and Jay and they can come get your car."

"No! They can't know about this Jordan and you know that!"

"Y/N, he just did that forcibly and they just increased the point value for..." he trailed off, not wanting to say the disgusting words.

"Jordan, I'm fine. I can handle this."

"Fucking hell, Y/N. Do you know what I heard rumors about in the locker room?" You shook your head, not wanting to know at all, but knowing Jordan would tell you anyway. "He was planning on taking your keys so that you'd have to go with him. Some other guys were planning on following you home tomorrow."

"I can't- I don't know what to do, Jordan. It used to just be a stupid game, but now it's this and- fuck."

"I know, I know. Listen, how about I check on you after practice to make sure no one comes over?"

"Jay grounded me. I'll just get in more trouble if you come over."

"What'd you do?"

"Just something stupid," you answered. You knew that if you told him about the knife, he would most definitely tell Kevin.

He raised an eyebrow at you, but let your lie slide. "You're telling Jay tonight or so help me God, I am telling Kevin tomorrow before school."

"Can I just come over to your house?" you muttered.

Somehow, he heard you. "I thought you said Jay would be mad at you?"

"Then we can tell Kev and if Kev knows first, he can tell Jay because I don't want to be the one to tell him. He'll freak."

"Yeah. Tell you what? I'll pick you up at your house right after practice and then we can go to mine."

"Thanks for having my back, Jordan."

"Hey, that's what friends are for."

***

Jordan sucked in a breath as his phone dinged, alerting him that someone else had posted something on that stupid leaderboard for that stupid game.

"Aren't you gonna get that?" you asked as you sat next to him on the couch, assuming it was a text message notification.

"It's, uh, it's not important."

"If it's a text it's probably important."

Before Jordan even had time to react, you snatched the phone from the table in front of him. But, you quickly regretted your decision as your face paled and tears sprang to your eyes.

"Are they- are they all saying these things about me?" you asked, barely above a whisper as you handed Jordan his phone.

His eyes quickly skimmed the comment on the leaderboard in front of him and he sighed. "I mean, they've said some pretty horrible things, but this is up there with the most disgusting."

"What's most disgusting?" Kevin asked as he walked inside to see you two sitting on the couch, Jordan trying to keep his phone away from you despite you having already seen the comment. "Wait, aren't you grounded, Y/N?"

"Does Jay tell all my business to Intelligence?" you grumbled.

Kevin shrugged as he hung up his jacket. "Pretty much. But really, wat'cha doing here?"

You and Jordan shared a look that didn't go unnoticed by Kevin. "What's going on?"

***

"So you wanted to talk to me first so that I could help you break the news to Jay?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah," you mumbled, shocked by you hadn't broken down yet. It was probably just because you were scared to tell Jay, scared of how he would react to people who were doing this, and scared of how he would react to you not having told him until now.

"Let me call him. I think he still had to finish up some paperwork, so maybe he hasn't noticed that you're gone yet."

Kevin walked away to go talk to Jay in private and Jordan went to the kitchen to grab you both some water. Absentmindedly, you ran your fingers over your cheek, not doubting that there would be a bruise there tomorrow due to how hard Derek shoved you up against your car.

"Need some ice?" Kevin asked, having reentered.

"I'm fine," you quickly said, knowing that Jay and Will would be babying you about your face anyway.

"If you say so."

Jordan returned with the water and slid one to you. "Jay mad?" he asked his older brother.

"I mean, I told him Y/N was over here and that she has something to tell him and to not get mad at her."

"Great, that helps a lot," you replied sarcastically.

"I also told him we might have a case."

"Okay, so he knows it's bad then. I just don't wanna blow this out of proportion--"

"Girl, blow this outta proportion?" Jordan interrupted. "They're planning on assaulting you! I think you can blow this up however much you want!"

"I just don't wanna be the one to start this conversation," you admitted.

"We gotchu, girl, we gotchu," Kevin reassured you.

***

"You better have a good reason why you left the house-- without telling me I might add-- when you're grounded!" That was the first thing Jay yelled as Kevin let him into the house.

"Whoa, calm down, man. She's got a good reason to be here--"

"A good reason? A good reason being that she wanted to hang out with Jordan when I clearly stated that she was to come straight home after school!"

Roughly, he pulled a chair out from under the table to sit down across from you. You stayed staring at the wood of the table, not wanting to look him in the eye. "You have a good reason, Y/N?" he asked smugly. "Then look me in the eye and tell me that reason."

Jordan squeezed your shoulder in reassurance, which gave you the bit of confidence you needed to look your brother in the eyes. "I- there's these points and I was pushed and..." you ran your hands down your face in frustration, trying to stop your tears. "I can't do this."

"Is that a bruise forming on your cheek?" Jay asked as you removed your hands from your face, his eyes immediately softening. You nodded. "Care to elaborate?"

"A football player shoved me up against my car and then he- and then he grabbed my ass."

"Does this football player have a name?" he asked, looking to Jordan because he was on the football team.

"He does, but there's more and I'm gonna tell you that first because I don't think Y/N wants to."

"Thank you," you whispered to Jordan.

"So it's more than just a stupid kid playing grab-ass with my sister?" Jay asked, anger starting to seep out once more.

"There's point values attached to each grab," Jordan started. "Grab a girl, it's usually 50 points. Do some other things with her, there's more depending on what it is. Freshmen are strictly off-limits, so it's Y/N's first year dealing with it."

"How long has it been going on?"

"I think the game started totally five years ago. It happens for a month leading up to homecoming. Anyone on the varsity football team pays $10 to play, and whoever has the most points at the end of the month gets the money.

"And this year, they started a leaderboard online, where you can vote on doing different things. If it gets enough votes, it's up for grabs for points. And well, just take a look."

Jordan slid his open phone to Jay and he scrolled through the website, complete with a leaderboard. He looked at the most recent comments and scrolled to the beginning of the thread.

200 points if you can get the cop's sister to give you oral

Jay swallowed a lump in his throat as he read the title and continued to scroll.

100 for the actual act and another 100 if you get it on video

Deal

Definitely

Just don't get caught

She's small so it shouldn't be that hard

Think she had a crush on me last year, so this should be a piece of cake. Pay up boys

You're on, Evans

Then, he got to the comments after today's events had occurred.

Grabbed Halstead's ass in the parking lot and was so close to getting her keys, but Atwater stopped me. Buzzkill. It's gettin' close to hoco, so points for her are now up to 250

Eh, I'll just follow her home tomorrow and then get her before her brother gets home

Her lips will probably feel so good wrapped around me

Jay let out a shaky breath as he got to the end of the thread. "You're right, Kev. I think we might have a case on our hands. You wanna go home, Y/N?"

"I'm scared," you said as you looked up at your brother, tears streaming down your face. "What if they come to the house, Jay?"

"Y/N, I promise you that I will never, ever allow that to happen."

***

You were in the shower, but you could still make out the faint sound of Jay's voice. You didn't know who he was talking to, but you assumed it was either Will, Voight, or Hailey.

All the events of the past two weeks came down on you, crushing you like a ton of bricks. You knew this game was going to happen, but what you didn't know was that they going to do that 200, well now 250 points for you. At least, you hadn't known until Jordan told you and begged you to tell someone.

Since the start of this sick, twisted game, you made sure to wear something that always covered your butt, such as a long sweater or hoodie paired with jeans or leggings. But apparently, that didn't stop money-hungry and hormonal teenage boys.

The first time it happened, it was just a quick pinch when you were standing at your locker, nothing too alarming. Hell, you hadn't even known who it was. But then, once the 200 points were on the line, they started getting more and more aggressive, cornering you after lunch or after class, blocking you from exiting the locker bank.

You had heard the whispers of what Derek Evans planned to do, so you took matters into your own hands, hence stealing Jay's knife from the Rangers. People always said to go to the school, that they'd stop if enough people told. But, they never stopped. Girls had tried and tried last year, and nothing happened. Hell, you were so close to talking to the principal but were cornered right before walking into the main office, so you gave up. You figured you could just put up with it until it was over, despite how much anxiety simply going to school was now giving you.

You stepped out of the shower, dried off, and changed into your pajamas. Then, you glanced at yourself in the mirror: puffy and red eyes and cracked lips stared back at you. You hadn't even felt human since this thing started. You felt like a fucking object.

A fucking arcade game that told them that if they tried hard enough they'd win a damn prize.

The gut-wrenching sob that left your lips stopped Jay on his way to the kitchen. Jay made his way to the bathroom and knocked on the door, your sobs still ever-present.

"Y/N, can I come in? Please?" He asked quietly, using the voice he used when he had to talk to children on the job.

"I just wanna be a-alone right now J-Jay," you hiccupped.

Jay sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You know I can't let you do that. It's not healthy." He didn't get a response, so he just stood outside the bathroom, hoping you'd exit sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. And your breathing just got shallower and shallower. "Are you dressed?" he asked.

It took you a moment, but somehow you managed to tell him that you were.

Your vision was starting to go blurry and your feet and fingers were starting to go numb. The sides of your head were pounding so much that you thought it was going to explode.

Jay took a paperclip and unfolded it, then pressed it into the knob until a click was heard. The door was heavier than he had expected, alerting him that you were slumped against it. You felt yourself being pushed forward, but at this point, you didn't even care since you were too focused on not passing out. But, if you did pass out you figured, at least your mind wouldn't wander to all the recent events.

"Y/N, Y/N, open those eyes for me, okay? Just look at me. Focus on me," Jay urged you after he had squeezed himself through the door and was now crouching down in front of you.

"C-Can't-- Open eyes-- hurts," you said through shallow and fast breaths.

"Okay. I'm gonna squeeze your hand. Just focus on the touch and try and follow my breathing."

"What-- if I-- pass-- out?"

"I won't let that happen. Now in, out, in, out. Good. Now I'm gonna add a second. In, out, in, out..."

You continued to focus on Jay's voice as you slowly but surely started to regain feeling in your feet and fingers.

"Can you open your eyes for me?" Jay asked, once your breathing had returned to a semi-normal state for a few cycles. Slowly, you opened your eyes but quickly closed them. "Head still hurt?"

"Yeah."

"That'll happen when not enough oxygen gets to the brain. You can even ask Will to fact check me." You heard the doorbell ring. "Speaking of Will..."

"You didn't."

"But I did. He brought food, too."

"Jay? Y/N? You here?" you heard Will yell from down the hallway after he entered the house.

"Bathroom!" Jay replied, causing you to wince due to how close he was to your ear. "Sorry."

"What the hell happened?" Will asked as he rushed to crouch down in front of you, going into doctor mode when he saw your eyes were clenched shut. There was a pause as Jay mouthed panic attack to his older brother. "Okay, well I'm gonna go get you some water, hopefully that'll make your head stop hurting and then I'll check out that cheek of yours."

"Do you have to?" you whined.

"Kid, one day you'll thank me for this."

"I doubt it," you mumbled.

Will came back with a glass of water and slid it into your hand, making sure that your hand was firmly wrapped around it before letting go. After waiting about a minute after you'd finished the water, you opened your eyes.

"Better?" Will asked.

"Better," you confirmed. "Thanks."

"That's what big brothers are for."

"So that means you don't have to go all doctor on me?"

"Ha, that was funny. Now, sit on the counter so I can take a look."

You pushed yourself off the floor and then onto the counter, Jay standing up after you to stand next to Will. Great, now you had two worried older brothers both looking at the same thing. At least they weren't both doctors.

"Damn, it's already bruising," Jay said as he looked on.

Will hand gently touched your cheek. "Tell me if anywhere hurts." He touched from your jaw up to your cheek bone, but the only place you told him that hurt was between the two and a bit at the bottom of your cheek bone.

"You're lucky," Will started, "You hit it just a bit higher I might have to take you in for x-rays to make sure you didn't bruise or fracture your cheek bone."

"No hospital?" you asked hopefully.

"No hospital," Will confirmed. "Just lots of ice."

"Come on, let's go get that food Will brought before it gets too cold...and the beer for me and him gets warm."

***

You walked into Intelligence with Jay the next morning, trying to think of anything but the worried looks you were getting. "It's okay to be scared," Jay told you, giving your shoulder a squeeze. "And, I'll be there the whole time."

"Do you have to?" you asked him.

"Because you're a minor and I'm your legal guardian, they can't talk to you unless I'm there. So, yes, I have to be with you."

"Hailey," Voight's raspy voice carried through the bullpen. "You go talk to Y/N. Ruzek, go talk to Jordan."

"Jordan's here?" you asked, looking up at Jay.

"Yeah. Kevin wanted him to give a statement, too. Said he can attest to all the stuff that was said in the locker room."

"Oh." You didn't want to think about the things that were said. If you thought what they were posting was bad, what they talked about in the locker room you knew would be ten times worse.

You followed Hailey into the breakroom. Despite being here dozens of times before, it felt odd to you this time, eerie, as it was waiting to gobble up your deepest and darkest secrets and fears and share them with the world.

Hailey sat across from you and Jay sat next to you. "Jay, I need you to read this over and sign it since Y/N's a minor." She slid two pieces of paper over to him and he glanced at them and quickly scribbled his signature.

Hailey gave him a look that said you're not gonna read it? "I've told parents what this says before. I know the drill." Hailey nodded and took the papers from him.

"Start from the beginning, Y/N. What happened with Derek Evans?" Hailey prompted.

"I have a question." Here goes nothing. Hailey nodded at you to continue while Jay furrowed his eyebrows. He had been over how this was going to work with you before you even stepped out of the house this morning to try and ease your nerves. "Does it matter?"

"Does what matter? What he did to you? Of course, it does," Hailey answered.

"No, sorry. That came out wrong. "Does it matter that I had a crush on him last year...and kinda into this year." The crush only lasted two months into this school year though, when you found out he had cheated on his current girlfriend. But last year, oh last year your crush was in full swing and you took every opportunity you could to talk to the then junior, and there was no fooling anyone in that school that you had been head over heels for him.

"I'm sorry. I'm not following," Hailey apologized.

"Since I had a crush on him and he knew it, couldn't he take that as I wanted this?"

"No. It's only consent if both parties agreed to it."

"But maybe me having a crush on him would make him think that."

Now, it was Jay's turn to speak. "Did you take health class yet?"

"No, I take it next semester. Why?"

"The teacher will talk about consent there, but I guess we're doing it now." He looked at Hailey to make sure this was okay and she nodded at him to continue. "What do you think has to happen for someone to not consent?"

"One of them has to say no or stop."

"Is that the only way to be sure?"

"I mean, I guess."

"See, that's where you're wrong. It's not consent if you slap his hand away. It's not consent if you're too drunk to say yes. Same for drugs. It's not consent if you're coerced into it. And, consent can be revoked at any time. Any time. To keep it simple for you to remember right now, it's only consent if you and him both said yes to this. And, I know you didn't say yes to what happened to you and what they were threatening to do to you."

"So, even though I didn't say stop or no right away when he pushed me up against my car and grabbed me, I still wasn't consenting?" you asked.

"No," Hailey answered. "Did he ask to grab your butt?"

"No."

"Therefore, there was no consent involved."

There was a knock on the door and Hailey got up to answer it. "Halstead, a word," Voight ordered, motioning for him to follow.

Jay glanced at you. "Hey, don't worry, kid. Everything will work out one way or another."

Jay followed Voight into his office and closed the door. "What's up, Sarge?"

"The kid who grabbed your sister, well he's 18, Jay. Just turned 18 last month."

"So, we can press more charges?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Since all we have are threats and Y/N's and Jordan's word against his, most we can do is forcible touching. If he had acted on the threat, then that'd be a different story."

"So, you're saying that she had to be forced to have oral sex with this ass to press more charges? The threats aren't enough? Even though we clearly have proof of the threats from that goddamn leaderboard."

"I know it's not ideal--"

Jay threw his hands up. "Ideal? It's ridiculous!"

Voight was about to say something, but was stopped by a knock on his office door. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Boss, we got a problem," Ruzek said as he entered.

"What type of problem?"

"The Evans kid? Yeah, well his dad's the president of the school board."

"You're kidding."

"Wish I was, Boss."

"Jay, go see if Y/N knew about this. The rest of us are gonna figure out how to proceed with this new information."

Jay was about to enter the breakroom, when his phone buzzed. It was Will.

Any news? the text read.

Other than the fact that the Evans kid's dad is the president of the school board and we only have enough to get him on forcible touching, no nothing new.

Jay didn't even think about the fact that he was sharing information about an open investigation. To him, this was just him talking to his brother about the case that involved his sister.

Jay held down the power button to turn his phone off and then walked back into the breakroom. "Anything?" Hailey asked.

"Uh, yeah. But let's finish interviewing Y/N first. I know we had to stop since I left."

Jay sat back down next to you and Hailey started questioning you once again.

"Did you know that this game was going to happen?" Hailey asked.

"Yeah, that's why I started wearing long sweaters and hoodies, to try and cover up my butt."

"Okay, and when it start to turn into more than grabs?"

"Um, one day Jordan called me after school and he told me that Derek was planning to get me to..." you trailed off, not wanting to say it.

"I know you think it's disgusting to say, Y/N, but I need you to say what he said to you."

You looked up at Jay, feeling like a five-year-old who was about to say a swear word. "It's okay. We won't laugh or get mad."

"He uh, Jordan told me that Derek was going to get me to give him a blowjob...even if he had to force me to do it."

A few tears ran down your face. Even though your brother was a cop, telling the actual cops in an actual statement made it that much more real.

"Do you want a break? Some water maybe?" Hailey asked.

"No, I'm fine. I just wanna get this over with."

"Okay. Did anyone try and tell the principal? Any teachers? Other adults?"

"Girls tried, they really did. They told Mr. White, the principal, but he said that they didn't have any proof. And, he also said that they were football players and that some of them had shots at scholarships for D1 schools. Why would we want to wreck that for them, is what he had asked us. And, Derek's dad is on the school board, so we knew that even if it went further than the principal and to the superintendent or school board, that nothing would happen.

"I was gonna try to tell Mr. White once, but I was cornered before I got into the main office, so I was scared."

You turned to Jay now. "I'm sorry. I should've told you when this all started but I didn't want to get made fun of or have more things happen at school because what if they canceled football and it was all my fault and--"

"You need to remember that you did nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing, you hear me?" you nodded. "And what White did, basically saying that boys will be boys, that makes me sick. And if I had a way to arrest him, I would."

"Thanks, Jay."

A comfortable silence fell over you before you explained everything else, like Derek shoving you against your car and forcibly grabbing your ass. You also explained how Jordan had said that he was planning on taking your keys so you'd have to have oral with him to get them back and how other players were planning on following you home.

After that, you were out in the bullpen, when Trudy Platt came up the stairs. "Hank, Halstead, I need you to go this address."

Platt handed Voight a piece of paper, which you're assuming had the address on it. "Why? This doesn't have to do with our case. Couldn't patrol do it?"

"I don't think Halstead would be pleased if I put his brother in lockup, so I figured I'd have you two go check it out," she answered.

"What did Will do?" you piped up before Jay could.

"Let's just say him and Derek Evans each got a few punches in," Trudy answered. "I thought you two could be the ones to go down and get him."

"Thanks, Trudy," Voight said as he started to walk downstairs. But, he stopped when he noticed that Jay wasn't following.

"Uh, Hailey," Jay called. "Could you maybe take Y/N to Will's house while I do this? I just don't want her at home in case they somehow got our address."

"Yeah, no problem," Hailey answered, taking the spare key Jay handed her.

You four walked down the stairs and then each headed your separate ways. Once Jay and Voight were in the car, Voight turned to him. "Care to tell me how Will found the name and address?"

"Sarge, I have absolutely no idea." And then he remembered the text he sent. "Oh, oh shit. Listen, it was an accident. He asked me if we had any new information, and I told him that Derek was 18 and he must've just went from that. Sorry, I wasn't thinking. To me, this isn't just an investigation, it's an investigation that involves my sister and I was just giving information to my brother without thinking about the legal ramifications."

"I get it, Jay. I did the same thing with Justin."

"Are we really arresting him?"

"No, but we are gonna have a chat with Derek and his father."

***

"I want to press charges!" Derek Evans' dad yelled when Jay and Hank rolled up to the scene. "This man assaulted my son!"

"Yeah? Well, your son assaulted my sister, so I think it's even!" Will spat back.

"Let's just take a moment to talk this out," Voight said, stepping between the two.

"I won't talk until you put this man in handcuffs!"

Voight turned and nodded at Jay. "Sarge, you can't be--"

"I am serious, Jay. Now do it and bring him to the car. Now."

Jay gritted his teeth and put Will's hands behind his back. "You have the right to right to remain silent. If you give up this right, anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. If you do not have the money to afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights as they have been told to you?" Jay recited as he led Will to the car.

"Yes. Jay, what are you--"

"Just go with it," Jay hissed in his ear, causing his older brother to shut up.

Jay put Will in the back of the car and then got in the passenger seat. "Now, in a second I'm going to take these off and then I'm gonna go inside and talk to them with Voight. Do not, under any circumstances, get out of the car. You understand me?"

"Yeah, now can you get these off me? You put 'em on real tight, Jay."

Jay smirked as he took Will out of the car and undid his cuffs. "Payback for all the times you poked me with a needle." Then, he looked at Will's face. "Looks like the kid got a few good punches on you. There's gonna be a real nice shiner there," he joked.

"Shut up and go finish your job." Will rolled his eyes as Jay put the cuffs back in his pocket and left Will in the car.

When Jay walked into the Evans' residence he saw Derek, Derek's dad, and Hank all sitting down at the kitchen table. "Now, we know that your son has threatened to force himself on a girl at school, so this can go one of two ways," Voight started as Jay stood behind him. "We can either contact the media and tell them all about this little game he and his teammates like to play, but that he took a step too far, which would ensure he doesn't get into a good college. Or, you could transfer him out of his current high school and to a new one and this doesn't get out to the press. Your choice."

"You don't have enough to charge him, so why would I pull my son out of school his senior year?"

"Because, once word gets out, well no college wants a guy with a history of sexual assault on their football team. It sets a bad image."

"It's not like I even did anything!" Derek protested, while still trying to hold the ice pack to his lip that Will had busted open.

"Oh, didn't do anything? Let me enlighten you. You got the pictures, Sarge?" Jay asked.

"Got 'em right here."

Voight laid all the pictures of the leaderboard and the messages about you on the table. "The girl who Derek said he wanted to get oral sex from? That guy in the back of our car right now is her brother. Now, do you understand why the fight broke out, Mr. Evans?"

Derek's dad looked back and forth between the pictures and his son, trying to figure out how his son could do this. "Derek, did you say these things?"

"Oh, he did more than say. He slammed the girl up against her car and forcibly grabbed her backside," Jay said, not wanting to admit he was your brother or else there would be a conflict of interest in this encounter. And, even though Derek knew, Jay was the one with a gun so he figured the best idea would be to not piss him off.

Voight laid the picture of your bruised cheek on the table. "This is what happened because of that. She's lucky she didn't break her cheekbone."

"I'm- I'm sorry," Derek finally spoke up. "It was just supposed to be a fun game that we bet some money on who could get the most points."

"A game? A game is football. This is bordering on assault. We are far from a game," Jay told him.

"So, what's it gonna be? Take Derek out of school and transfer him or do I call the media? You have five seconds," Voight told him, pulling out his phone to silently tell them that he wasn't bluffing.

Derek's eyes widened. "I'll transfer! I'll transfer!"

"Derek, we need time to think about this--"

"No, Dad, I need a shot at a scholarship to go D1."

"Then it's settled. Thank you for your time."

Jay and Voight left the house and went back to the car. "What's the verdict?" Will asked.

"He's transferring schools," Voight answered and handed the folder of evidence photos to Jay.

"Why are you giving these to me?"

Voight shrugged. "Do with them what you want, Halstead. I wouldn't blame you, no one would."

***

"Hailey, can you give me and Y/N a second?" Jay asked as you entered you house and shrugged off your coats.

"Of course."

"You can stay out here. We'll talk in Y/N's room," Jay said.

You walked down the hall and went into your room and sat on your bed. "So, what's up? Did you arrest Derek?"

"Unfortunately, we didn't have enough evidence to do that."

You looked down at your hands. "But then it's just gonna keep happening, Jay. I don't wanna go back there."

"Back where?" he asked, sitting next to you.

"To school, it'll just be worse."

"Hey, no it won't because he's transferring schools."

"But the other boys will just keep doing it, Jay. I'm terrified."

"Hey, hey look at me." You looked up at Jay, trying to stop yourself from crying. "That will not happen, I can promise you that."

"But you don't know that."

"Just trust me on this one."

"Okay," you whispered.

"And one more thing," Jay started. "If it didn't already go without saying, you're ungrounded because I'm assuming you brought that knife to school to use in case anything happened. And, with what happened yesterday, I can't say I blame you."

"Thanks, I figured as much."

"Now, next time you need something for self-defense, we're just gonna get you some pepper spray."

"Good idea."

"Let's go back out to Hailey and you two can look at Pinterest or whatever for dresses or whatever it is girls do with that stuff."

***

The next morning, you woke up to message after message about school. There were links sent you entitled Football Player Assaults Girl Outside of School Because of a Bet and Principal of a Chicago High School Resigns Because of Complaints from Girls about the Football Team Sexually Harassing Them, but He Didn't do Anything about It.

You could not believe it. Just 48 hours ago you were freaking out about having to go to school for fear of a guy grabbing you or doing something worse. And now, you could go to school and feel comfortable. And, those boys wouldn't do anything else and if something did happen, you'd be able to tell the assistant principal--who was now acting principal--about what was happening and have something actually be done about it.

"Jay!" you yelled as you ran into the kitchen, almost bumping into him.

"Whoa, slow down! I almost spilled hot coffee on you!" he laughed as he set his mug down on the table and turned back to you.

"Sorry, sorry. Have you seen this? Someone leaked the leaderboard and now Mr. White resigned! I'll actually be able to focus in class now!" You slid the phone to him and he looked at the titles in the notifications. "I just wonder who did it."

"Told you I'd handle it." Then, he took a sip of his coffee.

"Oh my God, you were the one who leaked it?" Your eyes almost popped out of your head. Couldn't that get him in trouble?

"I never said that."

"You just sipped your coffee like that Kermit and the sips tea meme, so yeah, I think you did," you playfully argued.

"Well, technically, it wasn't me. I just passed on a copy of the pictures to a CI of mine, whose cousin happens to work for the Chicago Sun-Times."

"Bye-bye college football for all these assholes."

"And the city's a safer place because of it."

"Hey, what do I always say: Go save Chicago."

"Team effort. And this time, Y/N, you got to play a part in that team."

A/N: I know it's been almost a month since I've posted an imagine, but school is busy and I'm writing long imagines, which usually take me a week to write, so that's why. Oh, and happy Valentine's Day (bc that's in like 2 days). Go cuddle with your boyfriend/girlfriend if you have one. Or, if you're single (like me) go read some cute fluffy fanfiction and eat all the chocolate!

#writing #imagine #jay halstead #will halstead #chicago pd #fanfic #fanfiction #fic #chicago pd fanfiction #chicago pd imagine #jay halstead imagine #will halstead imagine #Halstead Bros #halstead brothers #halstead sister #halstead sister imagine #one shot #study-coffee-chicago

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step-on-me-natasha · 3 years

Text

Blade; chapter 3

summary: Parker "Blade" Wiles, a high ranking SHIELD agent with an aptitude for sharp objects, goes missing. When Blade is found again with a darker and colder demeanor, SHIELD, with the help of The Avengers, are tasked with finding out what happened to their colleague and friend.

OC is ace and uses they/them pronouns

pairing: Natasha Romanoff x OC! reader

warnings: needles (IVs), let me know if there are any others

RECAP:

“I'm doing the thing Florence Wiles could never do.” The room went silent. All the lab assistants stopped working. Everyone just stared at the two of you.

“Knock her out and put em’ under, I don't have time for this.” Madam barks and for the second time that day, everything went black.

*Meanwhile at the Avengers Compound

After the mission, the rest of the team got off the jet while Natasha stayed behind. Still in your seat, her eyes scan the room and land on your journal. She chuckles to herself because only you would have a bright purple journal. She knows she shouldn’t look through it but she does anyway. As she’s reading through the two entries, her vision starts to get blurry. She wipes her eyes and stands up and walks off the jet straight to her room.

“Hey Nat! How’d-”

“Not now Clint.” She snaps. She practically runs to her room and slams the door as she starts to cry. She sits down at her desk, turns to the next blank page in the journal, finds a pen and starts writing.

Hi Blade, it’s Nat, I know when you see this, because you will see it, that you’ll probably be mad at me for snooping but it was something i felt i needed to do. Your last words to me before you disappeared were “dont worry about me, I got this.” and part of me believed it. Foolish of me. I should’ve stayed with you. I know you're strong and capable and smart and you’ve been in a situation like that before, but god damnit I should’ve gone with you! Bucky thinks it's HYDRA, Tony thinks it's what's left of the Red Room. Men, ugh, So dumb. HYDRA has been wiped off the face of the earth and the Red Room is, as i said, retired widows living the life they deserved. I think it's something or rather someone else. Who it is, I don't know. But enough of this, I'm not here to write about who took you, I don't know why I'm writing. But, and I quote, “here goes nothing.”

The first day you walked into the compound, scowling face and all, I knew something was special about you. You stormed into the conference room, like you always do, and plopped in the chair you claimed your own. When everyone else joined you in the room you didn’t even look up until someone said your name and coughed. You stood up, said your name was Blade and sat back down. It was pretty funny if Steve “stick up his ass” Rogers wasn’t in the room. Something, I think Clint, said to “show your power” or something like that, and you walked out of the room and everyone followed you to the new high tech training room. You then found a bow staff, broke it in half, had Tony load the most advanced training sequence. You set a record, with the broken staff, in that training session, curtsied, and walked out the room.

Anyways, that's not what this is about, I wanted to write this to let you know that we, the team, are here for you. We care about you. I care about you. So, on that note, you better get your ass back here so we can eat some garlic bread and watch some shitty reality TV.

Love, Natahsa

She stares at her note for a little while, thinking about what she could’ve done to save you, to have you here with her. But instead of you being with the team, with her, you quite possibly, could be dead. She can’t think about that right now. She wipes her tears, closes the journal and gets ready to take a shower. After her shower she gets dressed in shorts, a hoodie and a pair of fuzzy socks. She makes her way out of her room to get something to eat while Clint slides in front of her.

“What's up with you? You got Barnes' broody scowl going on.” He says with a mouthful of food.

“That's cold Clint”

“shut up Barnes, you know it’s true.” He shouted back. “Anyways, seriously, is something wrong?”

“They’re gone Clint. They are gone and we don't know where they are.”

“Who?”

“Are you fucking serious Clint? Blade! Blade is gone! And we have no clue where they are or if they're alive! And you're making jokes right now?!” Her eyes start watering again.

“Oh no Nat, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't know Blade was missing, I thought I saw them walk in.” He says as he pulls her into a hug.

At that moment, Nat lets herself cry. She balls up the front of his shirt and just breaks down. “They’re gone, Clint, and I don't know what to do!” She says through her tears.

“Nat what do you need me to do? Let me help.”

“Find her Clint! Unbreak your arm and fucking find her!’ She cries.

*At the old HYDRA base

After the group of scientists knock you out, again, they put you in an armoured truck, with many following behind, to transfer you from this old base to the new MYST headquarters.

“Madam, what are we supposed to do with the new asset?”

“Tie them up. And make sure that it’s secured, we don't need it escaping again.” Madam orders.

The ride is long and bumpy and these scientists have been pumping you full of fluids and unknown liquids. Pull up to a gate with a pin pad. Madam gets out, puts a passcode in and the gates open up. They pass through the threshold and into what looks like a parking garage. They park the truck and roll you out.

“Hey, hey what's going on?” You say as you start to wake up.

“Ugh, someone take care of this! They woke up again!” Madam yells.

“Hey, no hey! Let's not do this again!” You say.

“That's not an option sweetheart”

“And why is that? Huh? I don't know what you want, other than a winter soldier”

“I want what HYDRA took from me.” She says “Knock her out and start over! We will begin testing strength tomorrow morning!” Madam says as she walks away.

“God, what a bitch.” a scientist mutters under her breath. Heh heh, I like this one.

“I know, at least you're not the one tied to a bed” You say back.

She gasps, “you weren’t supposed to hear that” “Well, I am a well trained spy and assassin, you learn how to pick up on small sounds.” you chuckle.

“Yeah well, still.” She says harshly. “Youre only here for one thing, and it’s my job not to fuck that up, so you weren’t supposed to hear that.” She says as she injects you with more unknown liquid.

You wake up in a new room, tied to a bed this time. Upgrades people, upgrades. Your eyes scan the room and land on two IVs dripping; one blue and one purple. I am going to die here.

“Ahh, you're awake.” Your head snaps to the right.

“Super soldier serum,” She nodded towards the IVs. “Whatever was left of what HYDRA perfected it, I got the last of it when it fell in 2014.” Madam starts.

“What's that purple shit?” You interrupt.

“That purple shit? Really? I've been working on that for years and the best you can do is ‘that purple shit’? Really?” A small scientist comes out from behind Madam.

“Oh sorry, I should be more sensitive, what is that weird ass purple liquid that is being pumped into me?”

“You're a rude person.”

“Yeah well, I'm currently strapped to a bed with strange liquid being pumped into me. I'm obviously not thrilled about it!” You shout.

“Okay, enough! You two are children!'' Madam yells. Children (derogatory).

“The purple stuff is a concentrated metabolism booster. It makes you heal 3x faster than just the super soldier serum. It makes you basically invincible.”

“Oh cool, does it give me laser eyes like Superman too?” wrong universe, shit.

“You are insufferable!” The small scientist exclaims.

“Thanks, it’s my main character trait.” You sass back.

“Oh my god, shut up already!” Madam yells. “Dr. Nichols, you go prep the room while I handle the new asset.” New asset? Get a better name.

You roll your eyes and scoff as the small scientist storms out of the room.

“Got something to say sweetheart?”

“No no, you do your thing”

“In about-” She checks her watch, “10-15 minutes, you’ll have a small device inserted into the back of your neck, specifically at the base of your skull.”

“Sounds painful”

“It is. The device will expand and it will attach to your brain, causing me to be in control.”

oh shit.

“Cat got your tongue sweetheart?” You stay silent. “Well, nice chat! I'll see you later!”

She leaves the room as your eyes start to water. Oh my god. There is no way I'm getting out of this. As you sit there, waiting for what’s going to come next, nats face pops into your head. And the fact that there is a chance that you’ll never see her again, talk to her, touch her again, makes the tears threatening to fall, fall.

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff fluff #Natasha Romanoff x ace!raeder #natasha romanoff fanfic #natasha x reader #black widow x reader #black widow fluff #black widow #black widow x ace!reader #black widow imagine #marvel x reader #marvel x ace!reader

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the-fourth-knower · 3 years

Text

Diary of a lost doe, part 1

A short fic where my character Annabelle writes in diaries

Fresh off losing her parents, Annabelle Flaches must contend with trying to fend for herself and her baby sister Angelica. And with Angelica talking to a mysterious green orb when she thinks Annabelle isn’t watching, things are only at the tip of the iceberg.

This is for me and Aquillis’s “half and half” AU, our ‘main’ AU. not to be confused with Aqui’s pack universe which is her underground re-write.

Due to the length I'm splitting this into two parts. This is part 1, part 2 is here!

Diary Enry 1, Day I dunno.

Okay here it is. First diary entry I guess. Gotta keep it brief, writing instruements are hard.

Been a few months since that day. We’re doing fine. Angie started another garden. Moved to a new spot.

Got some new things for the house. Old car door and a tire. Not sure what I’ll do with the tire gonna use the door as part of wall.

Finished roof this morning. Good thing 2, might rain.

Angie still sleps bad if not next to me. Writing while she’s curled up. Wasn’t for scars on ear and having to sleep in same clothes she’d look like we’re still home.

Gotta sleep now.

Diary Entry 2

Maybe got a job. Illegal probs but $ is $

Angelica talked more today. Good sign? Maybe she relapses back into not talking but progress.

I never thought i’d miss her annoying stupid “hey lets go explore a cave and not tell anyone bout what we’ll do” self. Never thought about losing mum and pa ei

Shit crying. Bye.

Diary entry 3

Diary didn’t get too wet yesterday.Don’t think bout mom and pa it ends badly.

I can’t afford to break down even if Angie’s sleeping

If I break down then Angie will get upset

I won’t put her through it

I won’t

…

Diary entry 54

Had to leave town but am 600 $ richer

Angie’s quiet again. But she didn’t complain bout us leavin

gonna go for a city maybe. more risk but more money and places to live.

Jadetown’s the city. Dunno too much bout it but mum liked it.

Should get there in maybe a cuple weeks or so

Angie’s sound asleep. No kicking or anything so that’s good

Hope the city’s okay. Angie hates crowds.

Need somewhere with not a lot of crowds to live at

…

Diary Entry 63

Been a hot second. Settling in Jadetown’s pretty hard.

Find a quiet spot in the slums. Pretty shitty now, but the two of us can make it work

Angie still isn’t talking, but she kept close to me while we made our way through the crowds. She seemed fine as long as she held my hand

Lost her a couple times, but not for long. She seemed upset bout it.

Sorry Angie.

I’ll do better. I promise.

...

Diary Entry 169 (it’s the morning but fuck it)

The nightmare happened again.

Angelica having her ear scared by those monsters. mum and pa being taken away in exchange for us being set loose

Only it loops around and around before it’s just cries and blood and knives and screams and crying and they’re all surrounding me judging me for just failing everyone because you’re a fucking failure

Haven’t had it a while. Don’t upset yourself, Angie needs you.

Diary entry 169? Night

Angelica almost killed some street thugs.

we caught some dumbass looking punks bullying some sort of chao. I think it’s a chao

I ran up to one like an idiot and gout in their face to know what they’re doin, and the things went dark. I got knocked out on my ass, apparenlty the big brute that led them butted me in the head. Asshole didn’t even let me get ready

I came to to Angie trying to shake me awake. When I looked around the punks were gone, there were plant vines all over, and the other kids that had gathered were a mix of crapped their pants and mouths on the floor

I asked angie bout it and she just said she took care of them and that the punks had run off

What the hell did she do? Usually I’m the one saving her? But she was having none of it today.

Oh the chao’s fine, weirdass chao though. Never seen chao that just cause flowers to grow around them or in their footsteps.

Made 30 $

Rib’s hurting and headache, Angie fast asleep. Time for bed.

Diary Entry 170

Chao’s bak.

Visited Angie’s garden for a while watchin me watchin it. It waved and left right around Angie gettin up.

Showed up again when we got back home. Angie hasn’t seen it yet. Good thing, she wanted to bring it with us. We can’t afford three mouths.

I don’t like it. We save its ass and now its stalking us.

Made nothin.

Ribs hurt less. Still a bitch.

Diary entry 171

Angie’s found the “chao”

She talked to it all morning when she thought i was napping. Couldn’t sleep, too afraid of bad dreams.

It doesn’t make chao sounds. Or it does but really weird ones.

Then it turned a green light ball for a bit and back into a chao

Angie liked that.

I don’t trust it. Even less.

Need to watch it.

Angie’s relaxed.

Made 5$.

Diary Entry 172 morn

Nightmare again

Diary Entry 172 night

Angie got excited, claimed that she “found Trevor”

he lived near us back in our old home

Had to tell her no, every red mouse we see is not Trevor.

She says that Trevor and his family were gonna move here, pretty inistent too.

Man she gets caught up on the smallest things

Made 20$

Diary Entry 173

Chao returned while i was working. Left Angie on her own

Shes seemed like she was having a fun time being able to talk with someone

She’s not made friends much. Maybe i’m being too hard on the ‘chao’

Still gotta watch it. It could be manipulating her

Haven’t told her I know bout the chao yet.

Should i?

Not now. Angelica is sleeping.

Made 5$

Diary Entry 174

‘Trevor’ spotting 2. Angie wanted to go bug the person. So we went and sure enough as we got closer Angie changed her mind. It was a rat, not a mouse she said.

How can she tell the difference?

No Angie and chao visit. Unless it was while i slept in. but why would she be secretive bout it?

Saw the punk bitch again today. Looked like he crapped his pants when he saw Angie and she glared at him. That’s my sister.

Made 60$

…

Diary Entry 364

Got a new diary. Last entry for this one. Things going well. Got a good thing going for myself.

Angie found a new plant today, and now she’s got it in her garden.

Loved the look on her face when I got it for her.

Made 50$

Angelica’s chatted with the Chao again. Sort of like, is her guardian I think. Or is that its name

Guess good bye diary 1. Really weird to do but it feels right.

Angie’s sleeping well enough on her own. She mumbles but that seems it.

Do I do a good job keeping her safe

Diary 2 Entry 1

Managed to find a new diary. Keeping the old one just cause, and because I have the storage. For a couple of street bum does, we’ve got a decent enough house going. Been able to put it together from bits and bobs lying around, Angie even threw in her hat and added her own touches.

Looks ugly as hell with the plants holding things together and it’s all a mish mash of junk and crap I found, but it’s our mishmash of junk and crap.

Also saved up enough and am making enough to afford more than one pen and even some pencils. So I can write more often. Just felt like writing

Angie’s started to get more vocal again. I think she’s catching onto the fact the way I’ve been making money is less than honest a lot of the time.

I’m not going to sell myself for it though. I’m not degrading myself with that and nayone who fucking tries is going to a hospital.

And if any of those freaks dare go near Angie there won’t be enough left for a morgue to pick up.

Oh, and the chao’s still around. I can feel it. Angelica loves it, I think. I don’t trust it entirely, yet. But, it hasn't been a danger for the past months. So I think it’s actually a good thing.. Angie calls it Guardian. Maybe it's our own Guardian Angel.

Made 65$ today.

Good journal entry me. You got talkative. Writative? Whatever.

...

Diary 2 Entry 23

Got into a fight today, that was fun. The punks from when I helped save Guardian decided to jump me when Angelica was at the house. Guess they figured they could jump me without little sis to back me up. Too bad for them, when I don’t get suckered I’m damn good at defending myself. Sent them packing. Got a bit bruised. Why is it always the ribs with those guys.

Admittedly. I didn’t have to beat the crap out of them. But talk shit get hit, I say. They shouldn’t have been trash talking me when I was walking by.

Angelica was upset when I got back. Should’ve expected that, really. Don’t know why I didn’t think she would notice me being hurt, she’s got a sixth sense for that sort of thing. Always has. Kinda weird.

But, she did try and heal me a bit. Somehow, she’s gotten better at it -Ever since she's met Guardian, she’s gotten more control over that healing ability she has. I just need to make sure she doesn’t overdo herself again.

I don’t know anything much bout healing magic or whatever it is, but I don’t think what Angie has is normal. I think she uses herself for it. Whatever healing she tries to do just eats away at her. And whatever it was was enough to frighten Pa to move us in the first place

I think part of me might blame ANgie for it. For getting us out of the safety of where we lived near Agateton and moving.

But if we didn’t move would we really have been safe still. And it wasn’t Angie’s fault she did what she did, it was Pa who pushed for it and Mum who went with it.

So do I blame them? I don’t want to. The monsters that took them and hurt Angie are the ones to blame.

But they wouldn’t have found us if we didn’t move near that forest. But Mum and Pa couldn’t have seen it coming.

Ugh. brain hurts. Fuck this mind screw bullshite

Spent 123.54$ today. Groceries and supplies. Tampons are stupid expensive but I want to have a decent supply for when we need them. Also some food.

Made 13$. Gonna need to work more to recoup.

No idea if Angie talked with Guardian. She still thinks I don’t know anythin bout it.

At least, I think she doesn’t. She gets defensive and acts like she doesn’t know what I’m talking about.

I wonder why she does that. Wonder if it’s tied with how I react to her saying she’s found Trevor for the umpteenth time.

Maybe I should press her bout it. But I don’t want to get her worked up over nothin.

Okay that’s enough, my mind’s getting wandering now and I stay up if I do that.

...

Diary 2 Entry 54

Someone showed up with a bunch of robots earlier. Cause quite the commotion, sent people running, the usual.

Apparently he set up shop in the rich quarter and is causing all sorts of troubles. People have been coming to and fro a lot the past few days.

Angie got worried over explosions. Had to calm her down, explain that whatever it was probably wasn’t coming here. She asked me bout the people there and if they needed help - told her that someone would take care of the rich fops. That’s what they do after all. Who gives a shit about two practically orphaned kids.

Not sure if she bought it. Gotta keep an eye on her. Might need to pull an all nighter.

And we don’t have any energy drinks or coffee. I could go grab one, no one is gonna give a shit if I do, not in this current environment.

Gotta stop for now. Gotta focus on Angie not some stupid book.

Entry 55

Angie’s missin

#Knower writes #Sonic #Sonic Fic #Sonic the Hedgehog #Annabelle Flaches #Angelica Flaches #didn't realize it'd be so long #guess that's what happens if I just let myself write something #but I had fun writing this #hope everyone enjoys this first part

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ayoitsnic · 3 years

Text

Platonic! Sam x Reader x Dean

Word Count: 2.5k

Trigger Warnings: None? Violence that's pretty typical for Supernatural

Summary: Sam and Dean found out they have a sister. They're very skeptical at first but upon meeting they find out that despite 2 totally different upbringings they have more in common than they expected.

*Disclaimer* I wouldn't normally describe y/n in fics but in this one I did so purposefully to show the similarities between the siblings. I've been told some people are a bit touchy on that.

Oh also this is the first fanfic I've ever written so I'd be happy with constructive criticism.

'This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son Dean 866-907-3235. He can help.'

'Shit' Y/N thought to herself as she was put through to her dad's voicemail. 'Wait....it said call his son....does that mean...? Wait do I have a brother he never told me about!?' Grabbing a pen and a pad of sticky notes she called again, this time hoping for voicemail so she could write that number down.

'This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son Dean 866-907-3235. He can help.'

She got his voicemail again, quickly scribbling down the number before hanging up and dialing it.

Sam and Dean were just finishing up a ghoul case in Indiana when Dean's phone began ringing in the glove compartment of the Impala. Reaching over from the driver's side Dean quickly found his phone, glancing at the caller ID "Unknown Number?" He questioned out loud. He assumed it was a scam caller, but answered it anyway just in case "Hello?"

"Is this Dean?" A female voice asked, sounding mostly nervous, but also just a teensy bit excited.

"Who's this?" Dean questioned skeptically, causing Sam to look over curiously from the passengers side

"I'm Y/N. I umm....this is gonna sound crazy but I'm your sister." She felt weird saying that. Until 5 minutes ago she was an only child. "I tried calling dad but it went straight to voicemail and said to call you if it was an emergency...I kind of need help.."

Shocked with the idea of possibly having a sister Dean pulled the car over to a screeching halt, putting the hazard lights on. He needed a minute to take that in. He put the phone on speaker so Sam could hear what was being said "No that's impossible. Dad already had one kid we didn't know about. No way he had a second." Dean said, obviously in denial.

"He what?" Y/N asked, a grin spreading across her face. Regardless of the circumstances that prompted this call, she was elated to find out she had more than one sibling

Realizing what he had just said, Dean shook his head "Nevermind. Where are you?" He asked as Sam began to flip through John's journal, looking for any hint that there might've been another Winchester out there. It didn't take long for him to find the missing pages not even halfway through the book. It would seem she was born long before Adam.

"I'm in the Poconos, in Pennsylvania." Y/N responded

"Okay well we're about 10 hours from there. We'll be there in the morning." Dean told her "Text me the address." The phone call ended and Y/N texted him the address. They weren't sure what the emergency was that she had to call their dad for but regardless of whether or not it was their kind of thing, Sam and Dean were definitely gonna haul ass to go meet this mystery woman.

The next day Sam and Dean found themselves in Northeast Pennsylvania before noon hit. When they finally reached their destination they realized that this woman had grown up so differently from them. She lived in one of those fancy gated communities. Well THEY considered it fancy. Y/N was used to it, but then again the bar wasn’t too high with the childhood Sam and Dean had. The houses were big, the yards green, you needed a pass from security to get in, the only thing missing were picket fences.

"Are we sure we aren't walking into a trap?" Sam asked Dean as they stood on the big white porch, ringing the doorbell. "Well if we are, we're certainly prepared." Dean had grabbed holy water and had his gun tucked into the back of his jeans. Sam, a little silver and the Demon killing knife. It wouldn't protect from /everything/ but it'd save them from most of their most common threats.

When Y/N opened the door you could definitely see the family resemblance between her and Sam. She was tall for a woman, standing around 5'10, had light brown, shoulder length hair. Her eyes though, those were a beautiful shade of green like Dean's. It was almost like looking in a mirror for the boys "Hey." She greeted, letting them in

"Which one of you did I speak to on the phone?" She questioned

"That would be me." Dean replied, raising his hand a bit "This is my brother Sam." Sam was still trying to get over the fact that it looked someone took him and hit copy/paste.

"Wow. Dad really got around didn't he?" She commented without thinking. "4 kids, good for him." Just like Adam whom Dean had very briefly mentioned the day before, John Winchester while still her father, wasn't in the picture that often. Sure he seemed like a cool guy the few times a year he would visit but they never really had a proper Father/Daughter connection. She did care about him, but at the end of the end of the day he was just a person she knew she could trust, hence she didn't think twice about making comments like that until she noticed the look on her brothers' faces when she said it. "Sorry, I want thinking when I said that." She quickly apologized, wanting to move on.

Upon entering, the whole house smelled like Palo Santo wood. She found the scent very calming. "Anyways it's a hell of a drive from Indiana. You hungry? I made pie." She offered.

Dean's face lit up at that "What kind?" He asked with a small grin

"Blueberry. It's my mom's recipe." Y/N replied as she motioned for them to sit at the kitchen table. While she took out a knife to serve the pie, Sam had swapped out her utensils for ones they knew were silver.

"So what was so important you felt the need to call us up here?" Sam asked. Y/N could already tell she liked Sam. He gave off good vibes.

Y/N stayed silent for a moment before telling them "My cousin was found dead the other night. He had his throat ripped out. Cops say it was a Mountain Lion but it sounded like something that might interest Dad. Where is he by the way? I tried calling him a few more times and it just kept going straight to voicemail. Doesn't even ring."

Sam and Dean both looked a bit sad as they had to break the news that their father had passed away and had been dead for quite some time now. Upon hearing that, Y/N didn't really react. She wasn't sure how to. Of course she should've felt something because it was her father, but at the same time, as mentioned previously, he wasn't around a lot. He was absent for most of her life just like he was for Sam and Dean's. Sure he was there for the big stuff like birthdays, her high school graduation, or prom night where he let her drive up in the impala, but it was the small stuff she wanted him there for.

"So you know about the whole 'fighting monsters' thing then?" Dean asked as he splashed a small amount of holy water on her leg under the table. Sam kicked him under the table for even mentioning it. What was he thinking!? She didn't even notice the holy water but the question caused Y/N to look at him weird.

"What the hell are you talking about? Mom always said he was a fed." This almost forced Sam to hold in a chuckle.

Despite looks from Sam telling him it was a bad idea to tell her what they really do and that it was probably a vampire that killed her cousin, Dean told her anyway. They already made the mistake of not being totally upfront with Adam. Dean wasn’t making that mistake again "Yeah, okay." She chuckled dryly "You fight monsters. Sure you do." Like any sane person, she thought they were bullshitting. "Next you're gonna tell me you've found bigfoot out something." She said sarcastically

"Actually Bigfoot's one of the few things that isn't real." Dean told her with a smirk

"Tell ya what, you fight monsters?" She motioned towards her two brothers "Prove it. Show me these monsters. Let's go find the 'Vampire' " she said with finger quotations "that killed my cousin."

"Oh no no no." Sam finally spoke up "I was against telling you about what we do to begin with, but I'm drawing the line at having you go out on a hunt. You could really hurt. Or worse, killed."

"What is this, some bullshit male chivalry thing? Do you think women can't do the job?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"No, no that has nothing to do with it." Sam quickly back tracked "It's just that you only found out today that monsters are real, you've never hunted before, and we don't want you getting hurt."

Y/N got quiet for a moment, contemplating how she wanted to respond to that. When she finally spoke, she leaned across the kitchen table and told the boys very calmly, like eerily calmly "He was my family. I'm going and we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice." It was loud and clear, in no uncertain terms that she would do anything for her family. That included killing vampires.

The group went silent again. Sam and Dean exchanged a few glances before Dean relented "Alright fine, but you follow our lead."

"Deal." Y/N nodded

It didn't take long to locate the vamp nest. Only a day or two. In that time Sam had given Y/N a full rundown of everything she'd need to know about Vampires. How they're nocturnal but that doesn't mean they can't wake up during the day, how the whole 'stake through the heart' thing doesn't actually work and you gotta cut the heads off, and how they normally live in groups.

Thankfully it was a small nest, only about 6 or 7 of them. When the 3 of them pulled up to the old, long abandoned Birchwood Resort, Dean popped the trunk revealing their weapons cache. Y/N looked surprised to see all that stuff, peeking over Dean's shoulder to get a better look. "I've never seen so many weapons in one place. That's awesome." She grinned as Dean handed her a machete. Sam looked at Dean, thinking to himself how similar she sounded to him.

"Alright, Sam and I are gonna go in. Stay out here and if you see any of them try to run out just chop the head off." Dean told her

"You're crazy if you expect me to stay out here and miss all the action." Y/N told Dean as she leaned against the side of her dad's car. She didn't care how long the old man had been dead. To her, that would always be his car. NOT Dean's. With a sigh, she looked up to the night sky and ran her fingers through her hair "Alright fine, whatever. You're the master. I'm just the padawan." She shrugged, kind of annoyed but not in the mood to argue. Sam chuckled at the Star Wars reference.

"This place is huge though." Y/N added "It's really easy to get lost in. You might be better off with someone who grew up here and is familiar with the area. I wonder where you could find someone like that." She hinted, as her and her friends would explore this place as teenagers. "I think we'll be okay." Sam declined. They really were set on having her outside. Thinking about it, she could definitely understand the decision. They'd probably see her as a liability.

Once Sam and Dean had found the nest, the massacre began. After killing half the nest Dean found himself pinned under a vamp, his weapon thrown across the room where he could reach it. "Sammy!!!!!" He called out but Sam was busy with 2 vampires of his own.

Outside Y/N had grown bored of waiting for the boys to return. How long did it take to kill a few 'Vampires'? 'Fuck it' she thought to herself 'I'm going in.' And that's exactly what she did. Looking around the place for her brothers she ran into 1 vampire. Too Easy. She cut the head off as it made a move to go after her. Looking at the decapitated head on the ground made her nauseated but she pushed on.

Before long she heard a commotion From inside one of the private cabins. Peeking through a window she saw the bad position they were in. Scared, and sick to her stomach she ran into the cabin. Swinging the machete in her hand she killed the vampire that had Dean pinned. It was a clean cut and came centimeters from Dean's throat.

He got up, grabbing his own machete to help out Sam. After the vamps were dead Y/N averted her gaze, trying to avoid looking at more dead bodies as she caught her breath.

"I thought we told you to wait outside!" Dean told her to which she instantly responded with "And I thought Sam said you guys would be okay on your own but I just had to come and save you. You should be thanking me."

With a sigh Dean nodded "Are you okay?" He asked, just making sure. "I'm fine. I'm covered in blood and I just killed 2 Vampires, but I'm fine." Despite the nausea, she grinned. The whole hunting thing wasn't supposed to be fun, but this was the most excitement she had in a long time. "Alright, I don't know about you guys but I would kill for a shower right now. If you want after that I know a great bar off main street. I could use a stiff drink."

Sam and Dean left 2 days later, having found a case in Virginia. "We are gonna keep in touch, right?" Y/N asked as Sam and Dean put their duffel bags in the Impala

"Of course we are." Dean agreed while Sam added his contact info to her phone. She of course already had Dean's info saved. "You sure you don't wanna come with us?" He asked which caused Y/N to shake her head lightly "As much as I would love to, I have responsibilities up here. Work, family, what's left of a mortgage to pay off...Maybe one day though." She offered a soft smile.

After hugging both boys and telling Dean to drive safe, they took off for Virginia. "Dude," Sam looked over at Dean "I know we were skeptical at first but can we agree she's definitely related to us?"

Dean looked at Sam weird “I don’t see it.”

“You’re kidding right?” Sam asked “Aside from the fact that she’s like a walking replica of me, she makes really good pie; you love pie. You saw how defensive she got when I told her it’d be safer to sty at home while we took care of the vamps. It’s clear she’d do anything for her family. Sound like someone you know? and while we’re on the subject let’s talk about the fact that she’s not a terrible hunter. She’s far from a natural and a little weak stomached, but for someone who’s probably never killed a thing in their life she wasn’t bad.” Sam listed all the different ways she was just like Dean.

“What was the first thing she said when she saw the arsenal he keep in the trunk?” Sam asked his brother who responded with “I dunno. What’d she say?”

“She said ‘That’s awesome. She sounded just like you.” Sam insisted

Dean sat silent for a moment, focusing on the road ahead of them before relenting “Yeah okay when you put it like that she’s definitely related.” He agreed

#Supernatural #Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #sam winchester x reader #Dean Winchester x reader #female reader

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sapphire374 · 3 years

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Soy Sol: Chapter 6 (Surprise! Surprise!)

Wattpad Link

Ch.1 / Ch.2 / Ch.3 / Ch.4 / Ch.5 / Ch.7 / Ch.8 / Ch.9 / Ch.10 / Ch.11 / Ch.12 / Ch.13 / Ch.14 / Ch.15 / Ch.16 / Ch.17

Luna drops her new skates onto the floor surprising Simón and Ámbar. They were worried something happened to Luna. They dashed to the lockers and see Luna concerned staring at Nina. Luna turns her head to face Simón. “Is it true? Is the Jam and Roller up for sale and may get shut down?” Luna questioned Simón. Simón takes a big gulp of air while anxiously thinking of an excuse. “No of course not Luna. Why would you think of such a thing” Ámbar says immediately, saving Simón. “I heard exactly what you guys said when I entered. I know it’s true,” Nina stated. “Yes Nina. You’re right, the Jam and Roller was for sale back when Vidia owned it but now it’s owned by some other worker of Vidia and it’s this whole complicated process of company shares and such. You guys wouldn’t understand. Nothing to worry about. You both know we wouldn’t ever lie to you guys,” Ámbar replied.

Luna and Nina both glared at each other. Nina was still in disbelief while Luna, believing her friends, said, “sorry for the misunderstanding. It’s just lately it seems like you both have been hiding something, so we were worried.” Hearing those words come out of Luna’s mouth made Simón very depressed knowing he was lying to Luna. He hates lying to her which is why he’s never done it, but he doesn’t want to break her heart especially after how lonely she had been feeling with Matteo gone and the whole situation that came about from it. Luna grabbed her skates, placed them in her locker, said goodbye to Simón and Ámbar and headed out the door with Nina.

Ámbar let out a sigh of relief than saw Simón’s frown while he stared at the ground. “Look I know it’s hard lying to Luna, but this is very serious. Who knows what will happen? The only thing we can do is hope for the best. Telling the others will only stress them out even more.” Simón knew Ámbar was right but hated the thought of lying. “You’re right… but they deserve to know. Before I thought this was the best decision for the rest but now, I don’t think so. I regret lying and making you lie with me. It was my idea, and it was a stupid one. We should’ve told them.” Ámbar felt bad for Simón. She didn’t like seeing him upset and always tried to comfort him or cheer him up when it happened. “No mi amor. It’s not your fault. We were just trying to help, that’s all. Yeah, it may be a good idea to tell them, but we’ve kept this lie for far too long that I feel like it’s too late now. Plus, we don’t know what’s going to happen so who knows maybe someone will buy this place and keep it the way it is.” Ámbar hugs Simón afterward, which puts a slight smile on his face. He loves her hugs and knowing how much of an incredible person she is. Seeing her the way she is every day and how she has truly changed to become a better person, has always made Simon so proud and he feels like he’s falling in love with her every time.

The Next Day

Gastón frantically paces back and forth in his kitchen knowing Nina had left about a minute ago to meet up with Eric. He hesitantly calls his friend Matteo for help. “Good morning hermano, how’s your morning been?” Matteo asks. “Bad. Very bad. Nina just left to meet with Eric. I still can’t believe I said yes to this. Plus, how can that guy still keep in contact with her AND want to meet up with her. It’s obvious he still likes her. I don’t know what to do but I feel like I should do something,” Gastón exclaims. “Wow slow down there. You’re talking very fast. Look I know you’re stressed but Nina would never go back together with that guy even if he still has a crush on her. Remember, she only dated him to forget her feelings about you, he was her rebound. She’s always loved you and only you,” Matteo reminded him. “I get that, but like I said, I don’t trust that guy. He shouldn’t be talking to my girlfriend, his ex. I just want to be there to protect her, and at least know what’s going on,” Gastón explained. “Well than your only choice is to follow them. Spy on them and see what they’re up to. If you hide in an area where no one notices you, you will be fine, trust me I know from experience.” Gastón stayed quiet thinking about Matteo’s idea. He didn’t want to seem super jealous and make Nina feel like he doesn’t trust her, but he also feels like it’s his job to protect her. She is the love of his life after all and doesn’t want to lose her again.

“Alright fine. I’ll do it. I’ve never done this before but for Nina I will do anything,” Gastón admitted. “I knew you were going to take my advice. Also don’t worry I can help you. I’m available this whole hour since Viviana isn’t planning to come to the studio yet,” Matteo replied. “You’re hanging out with that girl again? You guys seem to hang out a lot,” Gastón remarked. “You know this is only business related. We’re making a collaboration and my manager wants the song out asap. We finished it yesterday and are planning to make the music video today,” Matteo answered. “Sounds interesting. Just wanted to let you know since that girl seems like bad news.”

The Park

Nina sits at a bench waiting for Eric to arrive. After waiting ten minutes a hand slightly pats her shoulder. She turns around and to her surprise it’s Eric but not the same guy she knew since the last time they broke up. He’s completely changed. Who knew stardom can truly transform a person’s looks? He had long, soft, dark brown hair that resembled Nico’s old hairstyle while wearing black skinny jeans, a long grey shirt and a long black coat styled jacket with sleek, shiny black boots. His outfit looked a lot more put together and even expensive. “Eric is that you?” Nina questioned. “Yep, it’s me. Long time no see Nina. I’ve really missed you. It feels like it’s been forever,” Eric beamed with excitement. “Yeah, it has. You’ve seemed to change a lot. You look nothing like how you looked before.” Eric chuckled at Nina’s response. “Why thank you, I guess. Well, the thing is I changed up my whole aesthetic. When I flew to Brazil for that record deal, I decided to change. Not change who I am, my personality that is. It was just that I had felt more comfortable in my own skin. I truly felt like the real me. I was very excited with my record deal and the whole process; I even came up with a new artist name, Jandino. That’s what everyone knows me by. I just flew back to work with the Fundom and its Be U campaign. I used to work with LAIX but that is a long story.”

“Wow you seemed to have had quite the adventure there ‘Jandino,’” Nina jokingly said. “Would you like to take a walk and look around,” Jandino asked. “Sure, I guess.” Nina and Eric both stood up from the bench and walked around the park. Gastón finally had arrived and saw at the corner of his eye Nina and Eric strolling along a red-bricked path. He slowly walked closer to them and hid beneath a bush covered in yellow daisies. “Alright Matteo I’m here. They have yet to see me. I’m a little far away but close enough to hear the conversation,” Gastón says on the phone to Matteo.

“Nina, I wanted to tell you that I have my record deal, my fame and music all thanks to you. Without you I wouldn’t have been able to discover my passion and have the confidence in myself that I do now. You truly helped me, and I don’t know how to thank you,” Eric proclaimed. “This man disgusts me!” Gastón criticized on the phone. “Eric, you always had it in you. All you needed was a little push to help you realize how capable you were of achieving your dreams and turning them to reality,” Nina being modest. “I’ve always loved your words and how beautifully you speak. I hope you know how amazing you are as well and any man to have you is lucky to have such an amazing woman.” Eric than grabs her hand and kisses Nina on the cheek.

Gastón rebuked, “He did not just flirt with my girlfriend and future wife! Matteo I’m going to have to call you back,” Gastón fumed to the phone. “Wait Gastón what happened, que paso?” Gastón hangs up on Matteo and darts to Eric. “Who do you think you are to kiss and flirt with my girlfriend. I don’t care how much of a musician you are cause trust me I sing too and much better than you. Plus, I’ve graduated the top in my class in Oxford. Bet you haven’t done that, and may I remind you she broke up with you so get over it, she’ll never get back together with you.” Gastón smirks till he notices the irritated look on Nina’s face. He slowly regrets what he said. “I’m sorry but have you been stalking us?” Eric points out which makes Gastón really nervous. “No…. I just so happened to be taking a walk around the park and noticed you two. That’s all,” Gaston lied. “Look I don’t know what’s happening with you Gastón, but this is so unlike you. Why would you spy on me like that? I thought you could trust me. Plus, he wasn’t even flirting. He was thanking me,” Nina affirmed. “Really? Then why did he held your hand and kissed you on the cheek? Explain that Eric,” Gastón questioned. “The kiss on the cheek was a kiss goodbye. I have a meeting in about ten minutes and needed to go now,” Eric answered. “See Gastón. There was absolutely nothing to worry about. I can’t believe you did this.” Nina dashed out of the park. “Nina no wait!” Gastón yelled. “Look if I were you, I would run after her. Nina is like no other girl and you wouldn’t want to lose someone as special as her,” Eric advised. “You may be right about that, but I still don’t trust you,” Gastón furiously said.

Jim and Yam’s Apartment

Jim takes the last piece of clothing out of her bag and places it on a shelf in her closet. “Finally, I’m done. It felt like this unpacking would never end,” Jim joked. Yam giggled a little than grabbed her journal off her nightstand. “What you got there?” Jim asked. “Lately I’ve been going back to writing songs. I finished writing this one titled ‘Cuando’ last night,” Yam confided. “Ooooh can you sing it now? I would love to hear it!” Right when Jim bursted with excitement someone knocked on the door. “Here, I’ll get it,” Jim walks to the door and opens it to Delfi and Jazmín. “Hey chicas! We’re so excited! Summer has finally started! We can go shopping and eat at cafés,” Delfi stated. “And I can film more videos and post more for my Ja-Jazmín fans.” Jazmín proclaimed.

“Yeah, I saw you both were on the Be U campaign for the Fundom. You guys seemed to have done a lot of interesting stuff. Lately Jim and I, all we have been doing is either studying or practicing our singing routines and choreography. School has really kept us on our toes,” Yam exclaimed. “Very true, but you seemed to have forgotten you also have been doing interesting things as well. Like that new song you just mentioned about,” Jim squealed. “What song? Yam never said anything about a song,” Jazmín questioned. “No Jazmín. Before you guys arrived, Yam said she wrote a song called Cuando. I asked her if she can sing it,” Jim explained. “Oh, please, por favor can you sing it for us. We would love to hear it!” Delfi and Jazmín begged. “Alright, alright I’ll sing it.”

Yam picked up her shiny black guitar off the wall and placed it on her lap as she sat down on a chair beside her desk. As she began strumming the song, Jazmin picked up her tablet from her purse and started filming Yam sing. You can tell the song Yam sang was meant for a lover. “Cuando te vas a dar cuenta que te quiero tanto. Cuando te vas a inviter me para salir. Cuando te vas a dar cuenta que pienso en ti cuando estoy cantando. Todas mis canciones están escritas para tí. (When are you going to realize that I love you so much. When are going to invite me to go out with you? When are you going to realize that I think about you when I sing? I write all of my songs for you).” Jim, Delfi, and Jazmin glared at each other with giggles and smirks when they would hear that chorus of Yam’s song.

After Yam was done singing, the girls wouldn’t stop clapping. “Oh, c’mon girls it wasn’t that good,” Yam sincerely stated. “Yam don’t say that. That song you wrote was incredible!” Jim proclaimed. “Yes, it truly was. Now I really want to know who it was for. I do have my suspicions,” Jazmin chuckled and winked at Yam. “It was for no one. Why do you guys always think my songs are about somebody else,” Yam laughed while blushing. “Oh, please you literally said it in those lyrics. Plus, don’t think I don’t notice those looks you and Ramiro give to each other,” Jim stated. “Everyone can tell you two are in love with each other. I’m shocked you guys haven’t gone on a date yet,” Delfi confessed. “Honestly girls I don’t know why either,” Yam admitted.

Luna’s House

Nina barges into Luna’s room with a frown on her face. “Que pasa amiga. What’s the matter?” Luna asked. “No nothing,” Nina murmured. “Nina I’m your best friend in the whole wide world. I’ve known you for years. You really think I’m going to believe nothing has happened. C’mon Nina, speak to me,” Luna persisted. “It’s Gastón. Today I was going to see Eric since he wanted to meet up with me. It had been a while since we’ve seen each other so it was nice catching up and seeing what each other are doing. Well, we met up at the park but then, all of a sudden Gaston came out of a bush and started yelling at Eric out of jealousy. I couldn’t believe he would do such a thing. What shocked me the most was how jealous Gastón was, and how he didn’t trust me. I told him we were just meeting up as friends since we hadn’t seen each other in a long time,” Nina sniffled. “Nina, you know Gastón trusts you. Whenever I look at you two, it’s obvious what you guys have is true love. I think that Gastón was just worried that Eric was going to flirt with you, and you would get back together with him. Also, you can’t really blame him. Anybody would get upset knowing their partner is meeting up with their ex even though you two are just friends. It was a normal reaction. Well, maybe not the ‘stalking’ part but his reaction makes sense.”

Nina wiped off the tear on her face and realized what Luna said was right. “I guess you’re right. Any person would get jealous even I got jealous before when we first started dating, when I would see him with Flor or Delfi. The only thing I didn’t like was his act of rage and how he didn’t trust me,” Nina confessed. “True but I’m sure you guys will figure it all out.” Luna grabbed two outfits from her wardrobe and displayed them to Nina. “Alright so which one should I wear for my date with Matteo tonight. The long sparkly pink dress or the white romper with yellow flowers all over?” Luna asked. “Luna, it still bewilders me how you ask me always on what to wear. You know fashion is not my thing and I never know what to wear or put on,” Nina stated. “Oh, please Nina. You know I love having your input and you do dress very nicely I will say. I want to pick the perfect outfit for my date with Matteo today. I’m really nervous since it’s been about almost a year since we’ve went on an actual date. It feels like forever. We have a lot to catch up on,” Luna said. “I’m sure it will go great. Plus, lately Matteo has been quite the romantic. Getting you those sparkly, light up skates and all.”

Nina’s phone begins to ring. “Hello…. Yeah, I’m at Luna’s house…. You need my help… alright I’m on my way.” Nina ended the call with a surprised expression. “Who was that, Nina?” Luna asked. “Delfi asked me for help on her new video. She’s been writing the script and wants me to help out. She said she’ll meet me at my house. A little odd that she doesn’t want to meet at the Jam and Roller, but I guess she’s closer there so that’s why?” Nina questioned. Luna and Nina shrugged at each other. “Well, I guess that’s my cue to go. It was nice talking to you Luna. Te quiero amiga.” Nina got up from the chair and hugged Luna. “Te quiero tambien amiga.” Nina headed out the door and then stopped for a second. “Oh, before I leave, I recommend the sparkly one since you’re favorite thing to wear is sparkles, sequins, and glitter,” Nina giggled. “You know me too well Nina,” Luna laughed.

Once Nina left, Luna grabbed her sparkly dress, silver heels, butterfly bracelet, and her blue glowing ring Matteo gave to her. She’s always kept it and always puts it on since it reminds her of him. It hasn’t ever stopped glowing, and she doesn’t help but smile at the sight of seeing it beam since he told her that when it glows it means that he’s thinking of her. Luna’s phone begins to ring. “Hola chico fresa. Don’t think I haven’t forgotten about our date tonight,” Luna beamed. “Yes, chica delivery. I’ve been excited all day for it. I’m almost done shooting. I’ll be there in no time. If you’d like we can meet up at the restaurant?” Matteo asked. “Sounds like plan,” Luna replied. “Well, I have to go now. Bye mi amor.” Matteo hanged up and Luna gripped onto her phone seeing the time. She grabs her purse and heads out the door. “Ay mi medallita!” Luna exclaimed. She runs back to her room and grabs her luna (moon) and fresa (strawberry) necklace. She loves it so much and it always reminds her of the beautiful memory she shared with Matteo and their friends at her eighteenth birthday party.

Jam and Roller

Simon enters Ambar’s office. “Hola mi amor. Como estas. Hi my love. How are you?” Ambar lifts her head up. “I’m just filing. Everything seems to be going good here,” Ambar replied. “Sounds great. Have you heard any news on any offers or pitches?” Simón asked. “None yet. It’s ok though cause I have hope about the future.” Ambar’s response made Simon widely smile. “That’s the spirit my love,” Simon stated right before giving a kiss to Ambar.

Delfi walks towards Pedro with her tablet. “Now that summer has started I have so many plans on making new videos since now I’ve got time. The only issue is I have no idea which topics to talk about,” Delfi sighed. “I’m sure whatever you make will become a hit just like all of your other videos,” Pedro comforted Delfi. “Awww thanks my love. I hope something cool and exciting happens soon so I can have something to post about.” Pedro grabbed the blender and started pouring in the raspberry smoothie on to the glass. When Pedro looked up, he couldn’t believe what he saw.

“Nico?” Pedro shockingly said. Nico with two rolling luggage entered the front door of the Jam and Roller. Delfi and Pedro stared in astonishment at Nico standing at the front door as Pedro was overspilling the drink in his hands.

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chaotic-bells · 3 years

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I was tagged by @imbellarosa and @justalarryblog 😊 thank you! And sorry for the delay and rambling lol

my check in tag

This is a bit long... so I’ll just add the break not to bother people with my ramblings.

1. Why did you choose your url? I created tumblr because of a fanfic, and I've been reading them since I was 11. And I will always love fanfic. Fanfic is the answer to all life's problems and bad canons. I can't imagine living in the world where I don't have fanfic to continue a world I love or to fix issues in a world that was promising, or just to wait until the next bit of canon came out. You have to imagine I started reading fanfic when there were only 2 Harry Potter books available and I was waiting for the translation of the third one (that came out end of 2000, and yes I was reading fics by then). So yeah... I wanted something related to fanfics, and I really am terrible about online identities. Probably should've used something more creative, but oh well. I like it well enough now, it is one that applies to all fandoms I love.

2. Any side-blogs? If you have them, name them and why you have them. Yes, I have @randomsideposts as my attempt to create a tag system and save my favorite posts. I failed. I also have @kenshin-and-maki for my cats, and a third unnamed one as sort of a journal/vent blog, for those times I just need to write stuff down and I don't want to keep things to myself. No one follows me and that's the way I like it. It's kind of dark.

3. How long have you been on tumblr? A year and a half only lol a baby by Tumblr standards.

4: Do you have a queue tag? Me? Organization? What? Jokes aside, I don't really like queueing stuff. I'm either here or I'm not. I'll schedule a post for a random future time, just so I don't forget the post, but a time I know I'll be online to interact with it/the reactions to it. I do that when (for example) Louis posts and I see posts that are not related to that that I'd like to reblog, but not right at that moment.

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place? Because of a cute Larry fic where Louis and Harry become mutuals without knowing they're the other one. I liked the dynamic they described of how Tumblr worked and I wanted to see if it really was like that, because my previous experiences with Tumblr were... confusing enough that I didn't stick around for more than 20 minutes.

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp? It's Louis and Liam, who are definitely my favorites. Don't get me wrong, I love all the boys, but Liam and Louis (and their friendship) are just really special to me. And this pic is just... so cute. Also, @whatagreatproblemtohave and @evilovesyou demanded either me or @promisethatillnevertell change our profile picture, and that we should duel to see who would keep it because it was getting confusing lol (it was one of the outtakes of the House of Solo photoshoot). I would never fight Lou so I changed it. And I love it because it has my two boys 😁💕

7. Why did you choose your header? Because the livestream was so awesome and even if it's blurry i like it. Also, I never use the desktop version of Tumblr so it's probably a mess, but I like what I see on my mobile so it'll stay.

8. Whats your post with the most notes? Probably my Youtube comments about Louis? I know it has over 1k notes, which... wow. Also, my little wistful post about keeping the livestream format after lockdown did ok too.

9. How many mutuals do you have? No clue, but I love them all.

10. How many followers do you have? 900 or so.

11. How many people do you follow? 654 blogs

12. Have you ever made a shitpost? Who hasn't?

13. How often do you use tumblr a day? No clue, dozens of times. I won't scroll too far down, just enough to distract me for a couple minutes while I'm waiting for something to load or if my brain needs a break from work.

14. Did you once have a fight/argument with another blog once? Who won? I've argued before with a Liam blog at the end of the LP Show 2, but it was a misunderstanding, I didn't express myself the way I wanted to. Pretty sure a bunch of Liam blogs have me blocked because of it still. Other than that, I'm pretty peaceful, and I really try to just stay out of drama.

15. How do you feel about “you need to reblog” posts? I hate them. It is a passive aggressive way of someone thinking their opinion is better than yours, usually has a comment like "if you don't reblog you don't care about this" or "I don't care if it doesn't fit my blog asthetic, I'll reblog it anyway". Congrats? Do you want a star for it? I'll reblog it if I think it has important information, despite these annoying comments, but only once. If it's a post I've seen multiple times, then everyone saw it multiple times.

16. Do you like tag games? Love them, but recently I've been a bit lax. Once you start saving them in your drafts, it snowballs into unmanageable levels.

17. Do you like ask games? I love them, but whenever I reblog one I only get 1 or 2 asks. :(

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? I... don't really care enough about that to keep track lol

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual? Yes, but I won't put them on the spot

20. Tags? I don’t know if you’ve done this before, so feel free to ignore it? As usual @promisethatillnevertell @whatagreatproblemtohave @technicallysideacc @maybe-i-missyou @vintageumbroshirt @thedevilinmybrain @beckydoesthings

#tag games

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maddrmatt · 3 years

Text

A Beautiful Future: A Premonition or a Punishment?

New to this fanfic? Click here to properly begin!

Greetings, readers and fellow SoKai fans!

Time for a certain Princess of Heart to take the spotlight in this story!

Fair bit of warning though, I sort of used this chapter to showcase a few headcanons and speculations regarding the future of the series.

Also, there’s a little challenge within this chapter that you can take on if you wish.

Enjoy!

________________________________________________________________

Chapter 3: Writings of a Princess

Land of Departure

Dear Sora,

I know it’s been a while since I last wrote to you. I haven’t really had anything really important to tell you since I came here.

Now something incredible has just happened and I had to tell you first before anyone else. But before that, here’s a few updates on what’s been happening on this side of reality.

I’m still training hard. No offense to Merlin, but I think I’m getting way better with my Keyblade training under Master Aqua than him.

My days here at the Land of Departure are filled with learning various fighting techniques or improving my magic skills. And to test them, I often spar with Aqua, Terra or Ven. One day, I might even get a perfect score against one of them in our matches.

All of three of them and Chirithy have been very good to me. They’ve really made me feel like part of their family.

But as great as it’s been with them, they’re no true replacement for everyone back home. I miss everyone: Mom, Dad, Selphie, Wakka, Tidus, Riku, and you. Especially you.

Sorry, Sora. It’s just so hard every day knowing that you’re trapped in that fictional world. I really wish I could’ve gone there with Riku to save you. But after being out of action for a year and the fact that I couldn’t even land a single blow on that memory of Xehanort, I knew it was the better choice to stay behind and train even if I didn’t like it.

I really hope Riku finds you soon. We’re all so worried about both of you. Since nobody really knows anything about this Quadratum place, we’ve all thought Riku was a little hasty in just taking off there alone.

We still haven’t heard anything from Mickey yet either. Hopefully, he’ll come back soon from Scala Ad Caelum, and he’ll have found something we can use to help you and Riku. Until that happens, all the rest of us can do is wait.

Anyway, time to tell you the real reason for this latest letter, Sora. And you are not going to believe what it is. I can hardly believe it myself.

Last night, I had a dream. It was actually the first dream I’ve had since I came to the Land of Departure.

Not that I’ve minded not having dreams just in case they ended up being recreations of my worst memories. I’ve already watched you vanish twice. I don’t think I could bear to watch it happen again in my dreams.

But the dream I had was nothing like that at all. It was of a wedding, Sora. Our wedding.

It was an amazing sight. It was in this gigantic chapel that looked like it was in Radiant Garden, and it was filled with all your friends from around the worlds.

Many of our fellow Guardians of Light and closest friends made up our wedding party. It was hardly a surprise to see Selphie as my maid of honor or Riku as your best man.

You looked so handsome in the suit you were wearing. And judging from the stunned look on your face when you saw me coming down the aisle, I must’ve looked pretty beautiful to you.

It was truly incredible, Sora. It felt so real and so wonderful. I wished it never ended.

But, unfortunately, as it is with dreams, we all have to wake up eventually. And when I did, the happiness I felt ended up giving way to other emotions as I reflected on the dream.

First of all, I felt a little confused. As good as that dream was, I couldn’t help but wonder why I had it at all. I mean, wouldn’t you find a little strange to have a dream about a wedding especially since we haven’t even had our first kiss yet? It’s kind of rushing things a little.

But don’t get me wrong, Sora. I know, deep down in my heart, how we truly feel about each other. I wouldn’t have shared that paopu fruit with you otherwise. And when the time is right for it, the idea of getting married to you is something I will embrace wholeheartedly.

So, I thought more about the dream and believe it or not, I started to think that it was not merely just a dream. I wonder if what I saw was our future. It definitely did feel like that since there were so many unfamiliar parts in it.

For example, I had no idea there was a tradition in Radiant Garden weddings for the bride and groom to crown each other with symbolic flowers. Then again, I could have known that if the knowledge came from a memory from when I lived there. Maybe I attended a wedding there when I was young.

But what really stood out to me and made me believe that this could be our future was the many unfamiliar guests. I knew that because I’ve been studying the details of your last two journeys from Jiminy’s Journal and the Gummi Phone. And even though the Journal of your first journey was erased (Naminè’s still really sorry about that), I still remember everything about it from being in your heart through it all.

So, I was able to recognize who you had met and who were strangers. They were far too numerous to mention. But here are some examples that really stood out to me.

A tall woman with long black hair wearing a tan colored dress and a beautiful turquoise necklace with a raccoon, a dog and I think I saw a hummingbird flittering around her.

A pair of robots, one yellow and box-shaped, the other white and cylindrical, who were holding hands.

A couple that consisted of a redhaired woman and blonde-haired man who appeared to have some kind of hairless rodent on his shoulder.

A teenage boy and girl along with a younger boy and a company of animals such as a bear with gray fur, a panther, an elephant with a tuft of brown hair and a quartet of vultures.

A large family that appeared to be a mix of humans and skeletons along with a very colorful winged dog and a giant winged cat.

A boy with red hair (whose head looked triangular) along with another boy with green hair and a bunch of other teenagers as well as some kind of strange teal animal that looked like a cross between a duck and a beaver and a man with brown hair, poor posture and wearing a lab coat (who wears that to a wedding?).

A princess dressed in a beautiful green gown accompanied by a prince in a green suit with a blonde woman dressed in pink, a short old woman dressed in white and wearing sunglasses and a snake around her shoulders as well as an alligator who was carrying a trumpet.

A very unusual group consisting of two men and a woman with blue skin and pointy ears along with a dog-sized dragon, a centaur, and a winged lionlike creature with horns and a scorpion’s tail.

A girl with bushy brown hair among what appeared to be a family of giant frogs.

A woman dressed like she was some kind of islander with a burly man with numerous tattoos (I think I saw one of them move) over his body along with a pig and a chicken that didn’t look very smart.

A family who seemed to be some kind of royalty consisting of a princess in a simple green dress with long curly red hair along with three identical boys with the same kind of hair, their big, strong father with a peg leg and their very elegant mother.

A boy and a girl who looked like they were twin siblings who were accompanied by a pair of old men who looked like twins as well.

A redhaired boy in the company of a group of what looked like various human-sized bugs.

There were so many more, but I think I’ll stop here. With the large number of guests at this wedding, I could go on listing them for a long time. But it does seem there’s a lot more friends for you in the future.

Unfortunately, while I was mulling over the dream further, a horrible thought came to me. I started to wonder if the dream, as beautiful as it was, wasn’t meant to bring me happiness at all because it was actually showing the future that we could have had but now would never have. And the true reason of it was to punish me for my failures in the fight against Xehanort.

I know you wouldn’t like to hear this, Sora. But there are still days where I can’t help but feel responsible for your disappearance and think that if I had made some different choices, you’d still be here.

I know it was my choice to fight alongside you because I wanted to keep you safe the same way you’ve always done for me. But looking back, I now see it was foolish to assume that my training alongside Axel would turn me into a Keyblade wielder on yours or Riku’s level. And it was probably an even worse idea for a wielder with very little actual battle experience to go from basic training to a high stakes battle with nothing in between.

We may have been desperate to stop Xehanort before he went after the New Seven Hearts especially since he had already assembled all his darknesses. But we probably could’ve and should’ve explored some other options instead of going to fight the Organization right away after you woke Ven.

Since Ienzo told us that they had a replica body ready before we even left for the Keyblade Graveyard, we could’ve gotten Roxas or maybe even Xion out of your heart before the fight. In Axel’s words, they were the old hands when it came to Keyblades.

We also could have made a bigger effort to find and save Terra first even if our chances were pretty low. That would not only have gotten us a more experienced wielder, but it would’ve also lowered Xehanort’s ranks by one.

Maybe if we had done things that way, we would’ve had more experienced Keyblade wielders to fill out the Seven Guardians of Light. And even if it would be disappointing to be put in the reserves, it would’ve been worth it if it led to you being safe.

So, those are the reasons I believed that dream was a punishment. But you’ll be glad to know, Sora, that I only entertained those beliefs briefly.

After thinking it over some more, I decided that it didn’t matter what that dream’s purpose was. Comfort or punishment, I’m going to actually use it to serve my own purposes instead.

I’m going to let it remind me of what my ultimate goal is and drive me to be the best Keyblade wielder I can be. One that’s going to make the forces of darkness think twice before causing trouble and one that you and Riku will be proud to have fighting alongside you. And hopefully, that will lead us to a future like the one in the dream or at least one that’s pretty close.

In fact, after seeing that dream, I think I may end up actually proposing a couple of ideas to Aqua and Master Yen Sid. I’ve been thinking about them a lot and maybe now is the time to try to put them into action.

Since I need to get some real battle experience to become a stronger Keyblade wielder, I’d like to go on a journey throughout the worlds to gain some. Hopefully, Aqua will think it’s a good idea. And even though there’s been little sign of the Heartless and Nobodies since Xehanort’s defeat, there is one thing I really wish to do.

I’d like to try to find and identify the remaining three of the New Seven Hearts. After all, who’d better to find them than someone who’s part of the same group? And if we knew who they were and what their home worlds were, we’d be in a better position to protect them if someone tried what Maleficent and Xehanort did.

Who knows? Maybe all those unfamiliar faces at the wedding were not only friends you’ll make on future adventures, but ones I’ll make on my own adventures. Maybe even the remaining New Seven Hearts were among them.

I also have an idea that may be able to help in the quest to bring you home. If Fairy Godmother could bring me back to the Final World, I could talk to that girl from Quadratum again. She may not be able to remember certain things. But she might be able to tell us something about that world that could help.

Naminè might even be able to help with this plan. Even if you only met that girl briefly, that may be enough for her to be considered connected to you and therefore, Naminè’s memory powers can work on her.

Hopefully, the Masters will think that these are good plans. I really want to do any part I can to not only help bring you and Riku home, but also to protect the worlds as both a Keyblade wielder and a Princess of Heart. After all, with you two gone, someone’s got to pick up the slack.

Well, I think that’s enough for now. It’s nearly time for breakfast and then it’s training until lunch. But before I go, there’s just one final thing I’d like to say.

Whether that beautiful dream shows a wonderful future that is meant to be or not, it doesn’t matter. Because the only kind of future I’ll ever wish for is one in which we’re safe, we’re happy, and we’re together. That’s all I really need.

See you soon,

Kairi

________________________________________________________________

Much later, the training hall in the Land of Departure was filled with the sounds of clashing Keyblades and various shouts of magical invocation. While those sounds were nothing uncommon in that location, there was an unusual intensity that day.

As Aqua, Ven and Chirithy watched, a heated sparring match was taking place between Kairi and Terra. But much to their surprise, the more experienced Keyblade wielder was actually struggling as the young rookie was keeping him mostly on the defensive.

“Wow! Kairi’s on fire today!” exclaimed Ven.

“She is, indeed,” concurred Chirithy.

“Well, she has improved a lot in her skills since she came here. But you two are right. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this driven before,” said Aqua.

“You’ve got that right, Aqua. If she lands one more hit on Terra, this’ll be the first time she’s won by a perfect score,” said Ven.

As the match went on, Terra blocked blow after blow from Kairi. Then, strangely, she ceased her attack.

Terra saw his opportunity and charged toward her with a downward slash. The Princess dodged to the right narrowly avoiding the hit.

“Light!” she cried out as she fired a small but powerful Light spell at Terra’s side. He grunted as the magic struck him and knocked him off his feet.

“Point to Kairi,” declared Aqua.

“That’s three to nothing! Kairi wins!” exclaimed Ven as Chirithy clapped its paws together.

“Well done, Kairi,” said Aqua.

“Thank you, Master Aqua,” Kairi said as she walked over to Terra and helped him up.

After exchanging bows with each other, the Princess of Heart said, “I hope that didn’t hurt you too badly, Terra.”

Terra chuckled. “Not at all. It helps that you’ve learned how to restrain your magic during training. But I’ve got to say, Kairi that I am impressed. That’s the first time since you’ve come here that I’ve been unable to land a single hit on you.”

“You’ve certainly come a long way, Kairi. Today, you showed some truly exceptional skill and strength. You should be very proud of yourself,” said Aqua as she, Ven and Chirithy approached.

“Well, I’ve had a good teacher and some great sparring partners. But I think it really helped that when I woke up today, I just felt a little extra drive,” said Kairi.

“Yes. We noticed,” said Aqua.

“Why is that exactly?” asked Chirithy.

A certain smile came to Kairi’s face which caused her four friends to exchange knowing looks. They had spent plenty of time with her by now to know what exactly brought out that special smile of hers: thoughts of a certain someone close to her heart.

“I had the most amazing dream.”

________________________________________________________________

Notes from the Mad Doctor:

I thought the best way for Kairi’s spotlight chapter would be to do in the style of one of her letters to Sora. I’ve used it before as readers of my big fic Kairi’s Epic Journey would know.

So, in case it wasn’t obvious, the challenge I mentioned at the start is that list of unknown guests. It was quite a challenge to write all those characters by description alone. I hope you all will take a shot at identifying them. Some are pretty obvious, but some may be a little more difficult.

I hope I did a good job in trying not to make this chapter’s narrative too similar to the previous chapters. I actually tried having Kairi leap to the punishment notion before the premonition notion. But unfortunately, the flow didn’t work right.

Fortunately, the views on the punishment notion are a little different. Sora has absolutely no regrets for what he did and believes that he’s being unfairly punished for breaking rules he had no idea existed. Kairi, however, believes her punishment is deserved since she blames herself for what happened to Sora. Fortunately, both are able to use that dream to keep on fighting.

I hope you all aren’t put off that this is more like a series of one-shots centered around a certain plot device (the wedding dream) instead of a congruent storyline. That was what this project ended up being.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I also give my special thanks to @fandomchanger, @flynn-science, and @ladylucky for their likes on the previous chapters as well as @sokaiweek, @phoenix-downer, and @the-secret-place for reblogging the previous chapter.

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated! Stay tuned for what comes next because it’s going to be a real feel-good chapter!

________________________________________________________________

Onto the next chapter!

#kingdom hearts #kh fanfiction #sokai #sokaiweek #sokaiweek2021 #kairi #aqua #ventus #chirithy #terra #maddrmatt

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milfjensenackles · 3 years

Text

love, dean

1.3k words | read it on ao3

Sam suggests that Dean try journaling after losing Cas. Dean starts writing letters to Cas.

November 30, 2020

Sam told me I should try journaling, so here we are. Still seems like stupid hippie crap to me, but I promised him I’d write something down. He says that after everything we’ve been through, with defeating God and all that, it might be therapeutic to write down my thoughts. So here are my thoughts: journaling is stupid.

December 1, 2020

What am I even supposed to write in here? My feelings? I ain’t got any of those. That’s Sam stuff. Fuck this. Fuck everything. Cas is gone, Jack is gone, and Sam thinks it’ll get better if I jot down some notes? Whatever.

December 7, 2020

I want to drink, but I know Cas wouldn’t like it if I went down that rabbit hole again. So I’m writing down my ‘feelings’ instead. I’m doing this for Cas, though. Not my annoying little brother. I haven’t told anyone this, but Sam keeps asking what happened when Cas was taken by the Empty. He saved me. Cas made a deal with the Empty without telling me. That stupid bastard. He should’ve told me. We could have saved him. He said that the Empty would only take him if he experienced ‘a moment of true happiness’. Cas said that I made him care about the rest of the world. Me, of all people. I don’t know what he sees saw in me. I remember feeling like something was wrong. I knew something was wrong because Cas never cries, and he was really putting on the waterworks at this point. And then Cas told me I can’t write that down. That would make it real.

Maybe I’ll use this notebook to write what I would say to Cas if he was still here. Yeah. That’ll be good.

December 11, 2020

Cas,

Today Jack came to visit. He’s been working real hard lately. Being God has to be a tough job, huh? Good thing you we raised him so well. I can tell he misses you. Sam brought up the time we all watched a few episodes of Riverdale with Jack and you couldn’t understand why high schoolers had gotten involved with an organ harvesting cult. To be fair, I don’t get it either. Should we even be letting a 3-year-old watch that show? I wish you were here to answer that question. I don’t know to be a good parent. It always came to you so naturally. We all miss you. I miss you.

Dean

December 15, 2020

Dear Cas,

I adopted a dog. Her name is Miracle. I think you’d love her. She’s a shaggy little thing who loves to snuggle. Sam and Eileen are doing well. I think they might move out of the bunker soon. I’m happy for them, I am. I just don’t want to be all alone in this huge bunker. I don’t know what else to say. If you were here I wouldn’t have to worry about being alone.

Dean

December 25, 2020

Merry Christmas, Cas.

December 31, 2020

Hey Cas,

I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said before you died left. I don’t know how to be the man you thought I was. It’s gonna be a new year though. New year, new me, right? If you were here you’d probably say something about how time doesn’t change anything or whatever. I don’t I want I have no idea how to start this new year without you. I want to stay in 2020 forever, because at least then I could say that I saw you this year. The more time goes by, the more I feel like I’m getting further away from you. It scares me. I don’t want to forget about you. You were are my best friend.

Happy New Year, Cas.

Dean

January 5, 2020

Cas,

I’m so fucking pissed at you. How dare you tell me you love me and then go and die on me? I didn’t ask you to sacrifice yourself for me. I didn’t ask for any of this. You said, ‘happiness is in just saying it’, but what if I’m not happy with just saying it? What if I want to have? You said you couldn’t have me, Cas, but you didn’t even ask. You never asked. You should have asked.

Love, Dean

January 10, 2020

Cas,

I think I’m in love with you.

Dean

January 11, 2021

Hey Cas,

I’ve never understood all of these feelings until now. Maybe journaling is actually good for something. Don’t tell Sammy I said that. Writing that message to you yesterday was like chewing on glass. I don’t know why I’m like this. I don’t know why I couldn’t tell you while you were still here. I think I’ve loved you for longer than I’ve known. Maybe since Purgatory. Maybe before that. I don’t know. I feel like I don’t know anything anymore. One second you were here, and now you’re gone, and I have nowhere to put all of this. I loved love you, Cas. I just wish I hadn’t been too late.

Love, Dean

January 15, 2021

Cas,

I told Sam. About your sacrifice, about what you said, about my feelings. He seemed sad and happy at the same time. I told him I like you the same way I like women. Sam said that means I’m bisexual. He was really cool about it. I’m not sure I’m ready to put a label on it, though. I just want to be myself. And I know that I’m the best version of myself when I was am with you.

Love, Dean

January 16, 2021

Cas,

I am a bisexual man. And I’m in love with my dead best friend. There, I said it. Ya happy? I’m talking to a piece of paper. I’m going crazy.

Love, Dean

January 24, 2021

Cas,

Jody and the girls stopped by for my birthday. Claire and Kaia are doing really well. Jack was so excited to see them. It was nice to see him act like a kid for once. He’s got so much pressure on him right now. Claire called me an old man, which I guess is true now, huh. 42 years old. I never thought I’d make it this far. It seems unfair that life keeps moving on without you. We should’ve had the chance to grow old together, Cas.

Love, Dean

January 27, 2021

Cas,

I gotta find you, man. There’s gotta be a way. Sam’s been doing research on the Empty to figure something out but it’s driving me crazy that I can’t do more. I just want you to know that I’m not giving up. If you were here, you’d be able to help us think of a plan. But you’re not here.

Love, Dean

January 30, 2021

Cas,

We figured out a way to get to the Empty. I’m going alone. Sam is going to wait at the bunker to make sure the portal stays open long enough for me to find you. I didn’t tell Sam this, but I have no idea if I’ll make it out alive. I know I won’t come back without you, even if it means I have to stay there forever. I’d give everything just to make sure you know how much you mean to me. Hopefully, I’ll see you soon.

Love, Dean

February 14, 2021

Hey Cas,

You’re back. I got you back. I got to hold you in my arms for the first time in so long. It doesn’t even feel real. I missed you so much. I can tell there’s something going on between us, though. I think you’re waiting for me to say it first. You know I’m no good with words, which is why I’ve decided that I’m going to let you read these letters I wrote to you. So, Cas. I love you. So much. I’m sorry it took us so long to get here. Never leave me again.

Love, Dean

February 14, 2021

Dean,

I love you too.

Love, Cas

#destiel fic #deancas fic #destiel #deancas #spn fic #lauren writes

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creativeskullcreations · 4 years

Text

Buddy’s Problem part 2

Okay! Part two is done! Part three probably isn't gonna be until after the New Year, though, but it should be the final part.

Enjoy the story, and have a Merry Christmas! :D

As it turned out, being a campaign manager was pretty difficult, especially when Buddy had to travel to a whole different town for it. Filbo lived in a small farming town called Kinsing. Several other members of the expedition lived there too, though Wiggle, Gramble, and Cromdo lived in Gippsenburg. Either way, apparently Filbo wasn't very well known, having moved to Kinsing recently.

That was useful, and Buddy could totally work with that.

First was getting him nominated, which was easy as anyone could throw their name in. Filbo actually did that himself, though he needed some coaxing from Buddy to actually put it into the box. They then went out for burgers(not Bungers, thankfully) afterwards. They were joined by Beffica, who was shocked that Filbo was running for a real political position.

"Like, seriously? That's awesome you squeeb!" She gave him a soft punch to the arm, which he winced at. She didn't notice, or maybe just ignored it. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"Well, I mean, I ended up doing pretty good back at Snax- on Snaktooth, so I figured I might as well try for the real thing." He told her, rubbing the soon-to-be-bruise. "Worst thing that could happen is I'll lose to Robbzoni."

"Ugh, Robbzoni. He's the worst." She helped herself to Buddy's fries, even as he tried to yank the plate away from her. "He's the real reason we don't have anymore flowers by the roads. He kept stealing them, so eventually the town stopped replacing them."

"How the grump did you find that out, Beff?" Buddy asked before shoving the whole handful of remaining fries into his mouth. She just shrugged and went for Filbo's plate instead.

"I snooped, Bestie. Just like I always do. Did." She corrected herself quickly, looking away. "I, uh, used to do that."

"So..." Buddy searched for a new topic. "What do you do now, anyways?"

"Oh, I got hired as a reporter at CGN. It's a bit of a commute, but not so bad." She shrugged. "And my coworkers aren't so bad, either."

Ah, the rival for GNN. Buddy remembered all the fights that had broken out between reporters at events. He also remembered the time he raided their office with some of his coworkers and stole all of their paperclips. It was in retaliation for them stealing all the rubber-bands at GNN. Which was to get back at them for stealing all of CGN's staples.

Good times.

"Here." He dug out a bottle of pepper-spray and handed it to the shorter Grumpus. "You'll need this."

"Uh." She looked between him and the large canister. "... Thanks. I think."

"No problem." He took a long drag on his soda as the conversation drifted away from him. Which was just fine, as he was busy brainstorming anyways, writing down plans and ideas into his journal. So far he didn't have a lot, but he'd talk to Filbo about it later and see what they could do.

Maybe a party? Filbo always seemed to like them, back on Snaktooth, so maybe that would be a good way to win him some votes.

The rest of the time passed by in a blur. Events were held, debates, parties, even a couple of bake sales that reminded Buddy of his school days. Speeches were made, each carefully crafted to have the best effect on the small populace of the town.

Wambus was actually a big help with that. As a farmer himself, he knew what to say to get and keep the farmers on Filbo's side. So they ended up conferring with him a lot, which meant going to his and Triffany's house a lot.

He was a surprisingly good cook, honestly. The meals they shared there were some of the best Buddy ever ate. He really would miss those nights when everything was done here, but that was no reason not to continue the "quest" for Filbo.

It was one such night, where Wambus had grilled some delicious steaks and corn on the cobs. He also had some homegrown sauces that he'd brought from Snaktooth, which made Buddy a little uneasy. But, the older farmer seemed to know what he was doing with that so he let it go for now.

"You seem to be getting pretty popular, dear." Triffany was saying to Filbo as Buddy doodled in his journal. He flipped it around to show Wambus his idea of a steak-based Bugsnax, only for the farmer to just grunt in acknowledgement. That was good enough for him though and he put the book aside to eat some more.

"Heh, yeah." Filbo rolled his corn on the cob in some butter. "It's all thanks to Buddy, though. He's doing great on the whole 'campaign manager' thing."

"It's not that hard." Buddy shrugged. "Not like you're running for Minister of the Public or something. It's just a few events to plan, and, like, two debates."

"True, but it still seems like a lot of work." Filbo actually looked kind of concerned, but Buddy waved it off.

"It's... it's really not." He told them, even though it kind of was. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a full night's sleep, but it was definitely before Snaktooth.

"It would be tiring to be around all those people all the time." Wambus agreed. "I could never do that."

"Of course not, dear." Triffany agreed. "That's why you're a farmer."

"Yep."

Buddy watched the exchange with a small smile as Filbo took over the conversation, asking after the sauce crops. Whatever problems the couple had, he was glad they were working them out. He didn't want to even think about what would've happened if their marriage had broken up like...

Well, it wasn't good to dwell on it.

Wambus was right though; it was tiring being a campaign manager. He was almost glad the elections were ending soon, if only so he could get some more sleep. And then focus on finding a real job, as his savings were starting to run a little dry.

Still, as he watched his three companions, he felt content with how it was shaping up. Filbo was excitedly explaining all his plans for being Mayor, from replanting the flowers around the walking paths to finally getting the pot holes fixed. He even started explaining his plans to renovate the park in detail before Wambus finally reminded him to actually eat his steak.

"Oh, heh. Right." He cut a piece off, then opened his mouth to keep talking. Buddy took the opportunity to grab his wrist and shove the fork into his mouth.

"Eat it." He told him firmly, to quiet giggling from Triffany. Filbo shot him a glare, but obeyed, chewing quietly. Buddy then grabbed a forkful of his own steak to chew on, ignoring Triffany's pointed look.

The rest of the night passed without incident. In Buddy's opinion, it ended too soon. But then, it always did. And soon enough Buddy was back at his table in his apartment, drawing up more plans for the campaign. Luckily, the people seemed to really like Filbo. Or maybe they just hated Robbzoni that much more. Either way, according to the mid election survey Filbo was looking to be the popular candidate.

Still, he couldn't relax yet, there was still too much to do. The election itself was tomorrow. People would vote in the morning and the results would be announced both that afternoon, and in the next morning's paper. There would be one last speech before the vote though, and Buddy wanted to make sure it was perfect.

However as the time got later, and he had started the speech pretty later anyways, he found himself unwillingly drawn into sleep. Even as he tried to fight it off with copious amounts of caffeine, he inevitably passed out.

When he woke up, it was to Filbo calling him. In a panic, he grabbed his papers and raced out the door, practically flying down the stairs and into his car. He broke several traffic laws, but he managed to get to Kinsing Town Hall just barely on time. As he ran inside, he tried desperately to sort through the garbled mess of a speech he'd written.

He made his way to the backstage area, where Filbo was talking to... someone. Buddy felt like he should know the other Grumpus, but his exhausted mind just refused to make the connection. In any case, as soon as the Grumpus had left he was rushing up to Filbo, rapidly spewing apologies all the way.

"Sorry, sorry! I think I still have some time to, uh, to-to fix this? Maybe?!" His voice rose an octave and he quickly cleared his throat and tried to laugh off the rising panic. "I was up too late I think. Working. On this." He gave another short laugh, internally wincing at how off it sounded.

"Hey hey, it's okay." Filbo had to grab his shoulders, forcing them down from where Buddy had unconsciously hunched into himself. "I've got this one." He told him. Buddy blinked in surprise, hands lowering and almost dropping his papers.

"... You... you 'got' this?" Just what did he mean by that? Was Buddy unneeded? Had he been unneeded this whole time?

"Yeah. Since you've been working so hard lately, I figured I'd just, y'know, handle my own speech for today. " He gave a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, I probably should've told you sooner-Oh!" He jumped at something the Grumpus on stage was saying. "There's my cue! See ya later!" He gave a quick wave before rushing off to get on stage, oblivious to Buddy's aborted attempt to reach for him.

'He didn't need me...' Quietly, Buddy dropped his speech into the trash. He then went for the snack table they had set up to get some coffee. 'I don't know why I even tried.'

The speeches were said, and then the voting happened. The surprising part, at least to Buddy, was that as they each voted the other members of the expedition would come up to them. A couple offered a "Good luck" or two, but none of them really left afterwards. They all hung around, and talked.

It made Buddy feel even more like he shouldn't have come. Filbo had plenty of people to keep him company for this, he didn't need Buddy Nobody did anymore.

So he sat just a little bit outside of the group, speaking only when someone talked to him directly. Other than that, he just drank his coffee quietly and wondered when would be a good time for him to leave.

It turned out never. The others never forgot about him for long enough for him to be able to slip away. Floofty in particular seemed intent on watching him, and they weren't blinking. He knew this because he straight up had a staring contest with the mad scientist, and they didn't blink once.

Soon enough, voting had closed and the votes were being counted. Poor Filbo was anxious through the whole thing, but never said anything about regretting running for mayor. Buddy was actually kind of proud of him for that, if he was being honest. He knew how hard the light blue Grumpus could be on himself, and he was glad he had gained some confidence at least.

Even if it was just another sign that he wasn't a help to him anymore. That he wasn't a help to anyone here anymore.

But, when they announced that Filbo had won, that he'd done it and beat out longtime Mayor Robbzoni, everyone present cheered. And not just the ones from Snaxburg, either, but everyone else who was hanging around. As everyone congratulated the new Mayor, and the MC announced when the official swearing in ceremony would take place, Buddy gave a quiet sigh into his coffee. Mentally, he ticked this quest as complete, but no new objectives came to mind.

"Hey, Buddy!" He looked up to see Filbo waving at him, and gave a small wave back. "We'll all going to Gramble's place to celebrate. You coming?"

Would he go? No. There wasn't anything for him to do there and besides, he had to get started on job hunting.

"... You guys go on ahead. I'll... I'll catch up with you later." There. Now he could go home and the others could get started on whatever came next for them.

Filbo hesitated a moment, searching Buddy's face intently. Then he shrugged and turned to follow the others. "Well, okay. If you're sure."

And then he was gone, along with the rest. Buddy put down his still full cup and stood up, dusting his fur off. He went to his car, a tiny little red thing that really needed to be traded in, and drove down the road back to Gippsenburg. He had a stop to make before he went home to his apartment, and then maybe he could finally work on forgetting everything.

#bugsnax #buddy's problem #the journalist #buddy copperbottom #filbo fiddlepie #beffica winklesnoot #wambus troubleham #triffany lottablog #floofty fizzlebean

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myhaikyuuthings · 4 years

Text

“Is this it?” pt 2

warning: angst, fluff pt 1 here

prompt: high school reunions are always messy, especially if you’re y/n

Nishinoya x reader

word count: 2330

a/n: i was listening to music and a sad song came on shuffle about lost love and i couldn’t help myself

‘Karasuno High School 10 year reunion’ screamed at you every time you passed the side table. It was in two days and you still couldn’t decide if you were going to go.

After the break up with Nishinoya you hadn’t been back to Miyagi, let alone the high school. The minute you graduated you went to stay with your grandmother for the summer, starting college directly after. You hadn’t spoken to anyone back home aside from your parents in ten years. There was no point in going.

With a sigh you knelt beside your bed and pulled a box out from under it. You moved to sit on your bed, lifting the lid for the first time in six years. There were movie ticket stubs, amusement park tickets, zoo brochures, even little notes. You took everything out one by one, laying them out. Underneath it all, the pictures.

Just like that, your feelings rushed back. You were so sure it would be safe to look now. Ten years is more than enough time to move on from someone, but you never did. You tried, you went on dates, blind dates, speed dates, tinder dates. No one ever made you feel the way he did. You reached for your phone, and for the first time in a decade you dialed the number and prayed it was the right one.

He answered on the second ring.

“Hi, may I ask who’s calling?” he asked, a woman’s laughter echoing in the background.

“It’s Y/N.. Y/N Y/L/N, I wasn’t sure your number would be the same after so long,” you said, holding your breath.

“Y/N holy shit, it’s been a while. You kept my number all this time?” he laughed, shushing whoever he was with.

“Ah no, it was in my old journal I found, how are you? How’s everyone been?”

“Did you really call me to catch up when the reunions in two days?” he teased you, it really seemed like he hadn’t changed much.

“I’m not sure if i’m going to come to be honest,” you admitted, feeling just a little guilty for it.

“You have to come! You have got to see who I married,” he whined, but you could hear the pride in his voice.

“Tanaka, you could always just tell me,” you whined back, laughing softly with him.

“No can do, if you wanna know how anyone’s doing you better be at that reunion. I know a lot of people want to see you.”

When you hung up, you spent the next several hours reading through your old diary and the letters Nishinoya had given you. You had saved all of them, down to the sticky notes with random faces doodled on them that he used to stick to your notes during class. You opened a bottle halfway through, letting yourself reminisce. It didn’t take long for your pillow to be covered in tear stains and the pain in your chest to resurface.

In the end, you decided to go. You even dressed up a bit, wearing a nice black dress with some heels. Your nerves were high as you walked through the gym doors. The last time you had been here, Noya was yelling about needing to perfect his receives. It scared you a bit how vividly you remembered every detail of your time together just from stepping into the room.

The first person you saw was Tanaka, still as bald as ever with his arm around Kiyoko. He caught your eye, smiling widely and gesturing you over. You walked over, saying your hello’s.

“Bet you didn’t guess I married Kiyoko,” he beamed, giving her shoulder an affectionate squeeze, “she actually said yes to me, can you believe that? Been together nine years now.”

“I’m actually not that surprised, she used to talk about you a lot when we were younger,” you sent Kiyoko a wink as she sputtered around her glass of champagne.

“I can’t believe you remember that,” she laughed, taking your hand, “I missed you, what have you been up to since you disappeared? I tried to keep up on social media but you didn’t post much about how you were.”

“I got my masters, I actually run my own business in my field now, that’s mainly it,” you give her hand a small squeeze, you had deeply missed your best friend, “i missed you too though, I’m sorry for just ghosting you guys like that.”

“I’m not gonna lie it was kind of shitty y/n, but I understand to a degree,” Tanaka admitted, scratching the back of his neck, “Now that the gangs back together though, don’t think you can get away so easily this time.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

You spent the next hour catching up with everyone, assuring them all you weren’t going anywhere this time. Most of them understood why you left, knowing how difficult it would have been to be around them with how close they were to Nishinoya. But Tsukishima made a good point, why didn’t you ever come back? Everyone agreed, wanting to know why you didn’t try to reconnect or respond to their messages once you moved on. You just gave a shrug, claiming it would have been too awkward. You know Sugawara saw through your lie though, he was always good at reading you.

“I’m going to go get another drink, I’ll be back,” you excused yourself as Hinata boasted about his team beating Kageyama’s recently, Kageyama threatening him with violence if he didn’t Hush.They had both changed so much but at the same time they were still the exact same. You really missed them.

Grabbing your drink from the table, you turned quickly and smacked right into someone. Your dress was soaked and from what you could see, so was his shirt. You released a string of apologies, trying to pass him napkins while drying yourself up. When he took the napkins from your hand, that’s when you noticed the name tag.

‘Hi, I’m Yu Nishinoya’ it read. Your heart stopped.

You couldn’t believe it. Was it really him? You refused to believe it. You glanced at his face and instantly regretted it. It definitely was him, and he was just as beautiful as you remembered. You winced seeing the shock on his face, not knowing what to expect. This was probably the worst way you could have met him again. He shook his head, seeming to shake himself back into action.

“Here come with me, they still have the towels in the same place,” he smiled, offering you his hand, “they’ll probably do a better job than these napkins.”

You took his hand, following him to the old clubroom and tried to ignore the raised eyebrow from Tanaka. He passed you a towel, turning to take care of his own clothes. You shivered slightly from the cold, regretting going for a second glass. Wordlessly Nishinoya removed his jacket, holding it out to you.

“No I’m okay I can’t take your jacket,” you rushed, suddenly grateful for how low the lights were as your face flushed.

“Just take it y/n, please? I don’t want you getting sick because I messed up,” he insisted, moving to drape it over your shoulders.

“I’m pretty sure I’m the one who messed up, I did turn around into you after all,” you laughed, accepting the jacket, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, and don’t worry about bumping into me I should’ve looked where I was walking,” he laughed with you, his hands still holding the edges of the jacket. The two of you just stared at each other for a moment before he dropped his hands. “Sorry.”

“How have you been?” you changed the subject, “It’s been forever.”

“Uh yeah, it has,” he coughed, turning to face the window, “I’m the coach for Karasuno now, I have been for about three years since Ukai decided to retire. You own your own business now right?”

“Yeah I do actually, how’d you know?” you asked, genuinely shocked that he knew.

“Just because we haven’t spoken in a decade doesn’t mean I haven’t tried to keep up on how you’re doing,” he smiled, but even in the dim lighting you could tell it wasn’t a happy smile.

The silence was only a few seconds, but it felt like hours. He kept looking out the window, and you kept looking at him. You put your arms in the jacket, placing your hands in the pockets due to the cold. There was a small box in his pocket. You froze.

‘He’s planning to propose to his girlfriend tonight,’ you thought, trying to fight off the horrible feeling in your stomach.

“So Nishinoya, other than coaching what have you been up to?”

“I spent a lot of time fishing after I graduated, helped Ukai out with the shop while he coached, then we kinda switched, that’s really it,” he shrugged, turning his attention back to you. “I’ve dated here and there but it never really lasted.”

‘What?’ you thought, stunned.

“What about you? Aside from your business you don’t really post online,” he chuckled, his own cheeks a dark red, “have you found the one?”

You did. Twelve years ago, and you lost him too soon. You couldn’t tell him that though, it wasn’t fair to him so instead you said, “I haven’t actually, no one ever felt right for me.”

He nodded like he understood. He probably did honestly, and you two went back to the silence. You nodded at nothing, looking around the room. When you glanced back at him you saw his eyes locked on your hands in the jacket pockets.

“Oh! Right um, if you don’t want me to hold onto the things in your pocket I can give them to you, I didn’t even think-” you rushed out, blushing furiously.

“Don’t worry about it, the only thing in their is yours anyways,” he cut you off, coughing again. You tilted your head in confusion while he just avoided your eyes. “You can open it if you want.”

Your curiosity got the best of you and you pulled out the box. The bump of your heartbeat against your ribcage didn’t help your anxiety. You slowly opened it, a shiny ‘N’ pendant staring at you head on. You glanced up at him, trying to figure out why he brought this. Not to mention why he still had it.

“I lied back then,” he blurted, smacking a hand over his mouth as soon as the words left it.

“What? Yu what are you talking about?” you were trying not to let your hopes get the best of you, heartbreak hurts enough the first time. There’s no reason for you to suffer again when you haven’t even recovered from the first time.

“When you asked me if I meant it,” he sighed, shaking his head at himself. “I don’t know why I lied, but I did and I don’t know why I’m even telling you this now or why I brought that necklace.”

“You lied,” you repeated, touching the initial softly, “if you lied, what did you really mean? Please Yu, I need to know.”

“Nothing is worth losing you, I wanted to go back in time and spend more time with you instead of practicing, or even just invite you to study at my practices so we could be near each other,” oh, why didn’t you ever think of that, “I wanted to restart those months. That’s what I meant, it’s what I should have said.”

You hadn’t realized you were crying until you watched a tear drop glide off your nose into the box. You quickly wiped your eyes, not wanting to cry in front of him.

“I wish you would have said that,” you admitted, giving him a sad smile.

You closed the box, putting it back in the jacket pocket. You pulled off his jacket, placing it in his hands. With a breath to collect yourself, you smiled at him one last time. “I think I’m going to head home, thank you for telling me the truth.”

You didn’t make it three steps before his hand wrapped around your wrist.

“I watched you walk away before and I have regretted it every second of every day for ten years, I can’t just let you leave again,” he said, his voice filled with emotion.

You closed your eyes, trying not to break down. Keeping your back to him, you moved to remove his hand from your wrist. He reluctantly let go, the both of you standing silently, tears falling freely.

“Noya-”

“I still want you,” you felt him take a step closer, nearly touching you, “I still need you, I’ll make it right I swear, I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you and haven’t stopped since.”

You turned to face him, jumping slightly when you realized how close your faces were. His face was red and blotchy from the crying, his cheeks wet. You reached your hand up, wiping away his tears. He leaned into your touch, closing his eyes.

“I haven’t met the one since we stopped talking because I always knew you are the only person for me,” you whispered, resting your forehead against his and closing your eyes.

He wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling your body flush against his. You felt his tears wetting your shoulder but you just cried with him. Holding him felt like waking up from a bad dream and realizing you’re safe. You have never felt as comfortable and safe in any aspect of your life than when he’s holding you.

“Can we try again, properly y/n,” he whispered against your neck, tightening his hold on you.

“I never stopped loving you either,” you replied, pulling back and giving him a teary smile.

When you two walked back into the reunion hand in hand, his initial hanging on your neck, it felt right. For the first time in forever, everything felt right.

#nishinoya #nishinoya yū #nishinoya x reader #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuu!! x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu reactions #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu!! imagines #haikyuu!! reactions #haikyuu!! headcanons

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bts-fic-mania · 4 years

Text

DAZED DAMSELS

PAIRING : BTS × Female OC

GENRE : Fluff | Romance | Comedy | Husband AU!

RATING : 13+

WORD COUNT : 11.4 K

SUMMARY :

Balancing between work and home has been quite a tiresome task, but still Min Ji has been managing and juggling through all of those responsibilities thanks to her lovely husband who's always been by her side as her backbone. Will this Wedding, Bachelorette party and a simple shopping trip add in a bit of spice to her life...?? Help her reminisce her past...??

Having the most important responsibility of all time can be nerve wrecking but Soo Jung is determined give her best friend the best wedding a person can ever wish for. But how is she gonna react to the fiasco and the most astonishing revelation of eternity...??

It's the biggest day of Ji Na’s life -'Her Wedding Day'. She never even dreamt that she'll marry the man who ruled the entire world's hearts. Her family and friends didn’t leave any stone unturned to make her wedding more memorable. She wouldn’t have had this much fun in a million years. Little did she knew that the universe had another special thing in store for her...

"Where are the Keys ?" He inquired, looking for them in his pockets.

"Tae, Open the door already !! I'm soo tired... My feet are gonna give out..." Min Ji whined as she slumped down on the floor, her back against the door.

"Yahh! Where did i keep them. " He said, still struggling to find the item.

"Yep. Gotcha." He jiggled the keys, then inserted the key inside the lock to open the door.

Both of them entered their home, tired and exhausted.

Min Ji plonked herself on the couch, face first while Tae went inside to place the packs with their clothings in their bed room, getting himself a bottle of water on his way back.

His phone began ringing the moment he sat down beside his wife.

"Hey Jungkook-Ah !" He let out, rather chirpily.

Min Ji wondered how he could be soo lively after their wearying shopping trip and soon she observed an elated expression plastered on his face.

He disconnected the call, a soft smile on his face.

"What ? What did Jungkook tell you that's making you smile so bad?" Min Ji asked teasingly, her head propped on her elbow.

"Jungkook invited me to his Bachelor's party which is gonna be held in a week. I'm soo excited to meet all my hyungs after such a long time." He sinked back into the sofa, his expressions were enough to reveal how happy he was at that moment.

"That's nice." She grinned, too elated to see her husband so riant.

"Ohh i completely forgot." He remembered. "Jungkook mentioned that his wife wanted you to attend her Bachelorette party too."

"Huh... But... I don’t even know her or anyone there, what will I do alone. I'll stay at home with my bed, my soulmate." Min Ji stated, casually.

"Ohh... So your bed is your soulmate then who am i ?" Tae asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Uhmm... You're my lovely, adorable and handsome husband." She complimented him.

"Yahh... Min Ji-Ah You need and have to go okay. Get out of this house and just enjoy your life, jagi. There's an entire world outside these four walls." He tried to convince his wife.

"You know how i feel in a crowd full of people I don't know. Even you won't be there. I'd be really bored." She retaliated. "Secondly, I've got nothing to wear and I'm no mood to go for a shopping trip anytime soon."

"I'd accompany you and we'd buy a gorgeous dress for my beautiful wife. Please Min Ji." He pouted.

'His puppy eyes were too hard to resist. Damn, he knows my weak points.' She thought to herself.

"Okay. FINE." She gave up.

'It was easy for him to make her agree with everything he wanted.' She thought, looking at his satisfied smile.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

Works been keeping Min Ji and Taehyung pretty busy lately.

Who says a Teacher's Job is easy...? For a teacher like them, who literally put in their whole and soul into their work, it's never been facile. Sadly, being a teacher is the most under appreciated job despite the burnout they go through, every single day.

Min Ji and Tae lazed around after being drained of all the zing.

They worked their asses off, the entire week, since they had to take a few days leave on the occasion Jungkook's marriage.

Min Ji flipped open her journal just to discern that she still needed to go and buy a dress that she'd wear for Jungkook's Wife's Bachelorette party.

' It's Sunday tomorrow and the Bachelorette's gonna be on Monday... So I'm gonna go shop tomorrow and drag Tae along too... YES!! It's Sorted then. ' She planned in her mind.

"Tae, We need to go look for a dress I'd wear to the Bachelorette's. So you need to accompany me tomorrow." She said, unaware that her husband who was sitting on the couch, besides her, his eyes fixated on the TV screen as he played 'Over Watch' did not acknowledge a single thing she said.

No response made her look at him and call him out again.

"Tae..."

"Taehyung..."

"Mr. Kim..." Min Ji spoke again, touching his shoulder to shake him, but he shrugged it off.

In spite of Min Ji's repeated attempts of trying to gather his attention, the boy didn't budge.

"YAHH!! KIM TAEHYUNG!!" She shouted, annoyed that her husband ignored her entire existence, completely focused on the game.

Taehyung jumped from the couch, stumbled down to the ground, puzzled and scared out of his guts. The controller dropped on the carpet by his side with a 'thud'.

Min Ji was trying hard to suppress a loud laughter as she saw her husband's pallid appearance.

"Bahahahahaha..." She laughed, hysterically.

Taehyung stood confused, trying to figure out what just happened.

"Min Ji-Ah..." He whined, putting his headphones down at the coffee table, picking up the controller, placing it on it's proper place.

Min Ji cackled while Taehyung smiled lightly, listening to her melodious haa-hee.

"Stop It... It was not that funny." He turned to her.

"I-hh It wah-hh was..." She held her stomach and tried to calm her breathing down.

"It was sooo funny. You should've seen the look on you face... Haha..." She beamed.

"Okay Okay... Fine... Now speak up, What's the matter ? What did you want to tell me ?" Tae inquired.

"I just wanted to inform you that we're going shopping tomorrow and you're coming with me." She let out, straight.

"Oh... Okay... But that's all?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yah!! You disrupted my game because of such a mere thing." He said, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning.

"Tae... Okay... I'm sorry." Min Ji pouted as Tae turned his head to his side, away from her.

"I was thinking that I'd order Japchae for dinner today. But since you're soo annoyed with me..... " Min Ji continued.

"Japchae!!" His eyes twinkled as he drooled, visibly.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

"Tae... Get Ready..." Min Ji whined, her husband still lying down, occupied on his phone, unaffected by what she told him.

"Kim Taehyung, I swear that I'm gonna burn your phone to ashes if you're not ready by next five minutes." Min Ji warned.

She giggled as she saw Tae immediately standing up, dropping his phone at the nightstand, stumbling on his way to the bathroom.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

Tae locked the main door as they stepped out of their home.

"T-" Min Ji was cut off by the ringing of Taehyung's phone.

"Hello Bogum." He said, signalling Min Ji to wait for a minute as he went a bit away to talk with his friend.

A few minutes later, Tae returned, apologetic in guise.

"Look... I know that I promised you that I'd help you with the dress but Bogum's father is in the hospital and he needs my help so i need to go. I've got no other option Mini... " He was sad.

Taehyung was really a genuine friend that everyone deserved to have. He was always up for it when his friends needed him.

"It's okay, Jagiya. I'll manage everything, here. Bogum needs you right now so you should go. Don't worry about me." She assured him as she placed her hands in his.

"I owe you one for this, cupcake." He spoke.

"What's up with these nicknames? Huh?" She teased. " And you don't owe me anything." She pecked his cheek.

"What did i do to have you in my life.?" He hugged her and her cheeks flamed up.

" Taehyung-ah, Bogum might be waiting for you... Goooo...."

"Bye. I Love You." He shouted, running towards his car.

"Yahh!!! This Boy!! " Min Ji smiled to herself and shook her head in disbelief.

'Seems like I gotta do this all by myself' She thought as she mentally face-palmed.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

Min Ji wandered from store to store looking for a suitable dress she could wear to the Bachelorette but in vain.

She was strolling through the hallway when a beautiful, metal black, bodycon, dress caught her eye.

She immediately entered the outlet, looked for her size in the dress and bolted towards the trial area.

As she was about to enter the corridor, her phone went off. She opened her handbag, looking for it and then,

"Ope!!" Min Ji squealed as she stumbled backwards but managed to retain her balance and save herself from the embarrassment of falling straight on her bum.

Min Ji bumped into another women who was storming out of the corridor, busy taking over her phone and both failed to realise the other's presence.

"Sorry!" The lady said as she bowed and dashed towards the exit.

"It's.... fine..." Min Ji said, which came out as a whisper since the woman was already out of the store by the time she uttered those words.

She shook her head and headed to the trial room.

"Yah!! Soo Jung-Ah!!!" A voice called out, behind a closed door, Min Ji just went past.

"Aye!! Come here and Help me." The voice spoke again.

Min Ji's motherly instincts rose after listening to the word "Help" so before she realized, she knocked on the door.

"Hey! There's no one outside here since you're calling out for them..." Min Ji continued "Are you alright ?? I can help you if you want me to."

There was absolute silence for good few minutes until the voice spoke up again, "Hey!! Could you please help me fix the zipper of my dress..? Since you can see my friend's already bailed out..."

Min Ji stifled a chuckle, "Yep...Sure."

The door opened which revealed the silhouette of a woman dressed in a wedding gown.

Min Ji couldn't help but remember the day of her marriage and smiled to herself.

"Here... It's Stuck!! " Her voice snapped Min Ji out of her daze.

She moved towards the woman, trying to pull it up but it didn't move.

She took a step away and stood there, analysing it, thinking of something that could be used repair it.

An idea struck her mind almost instantly as she reached out for some Vaseline from her handbag and applied it to both the edges of the zipper before pulling it up with a 'ZIG' and *VOILÀ*, it was fixed.

"Thank you so much." The woman smiled.

That's when Min Ji looked up at the woman's face but she couldn't help but feel that it look familiar.

"Do I know you? Have we met before? I think I've seen you somewhere." She inquired and let out a string of words before she could stop them from rolling off her tongue.

The look on her face turned sceptical as she could practically see the wheels turning inside woman's head.

"N-No... I don't think so." She immediately grabbed her shades before putting them on.

"Oh-Okay then... I should leave." Min Ji bowed and made her way out.

'Weird' she thought to herself.

Min Ji couldn't help but feel that she knew the women she just met.

But the thought subsided as soon as she tried her dress on. And she knew what she was gonna have on for the party.

She rushed towards the cash counter, bought the dress and made her way back home, happy to finally relax after an entire day full of exertion.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

Min Ji stepped out of the lift, trudging towards their apartment.

She was about to open the door when she noticed a hamper with a card by it.

She picked it up, trying to figure out who could sent it to them and walked in, shutting the door behind her.

She slouched on the couch and started unboxing it.

It contained Two Exclusive Perfumes: One Chanel and One Jo Malone with an Invite to Jungkook's Wife's whose name as mentioned on the card was KANG JI NA.

It stated that Min Ji had to be ready really early tomorrow (which meant waking up even before that,,,URGHHH....) since it wasn't just the party but a trip filled with activities including all of them staying there.

"OHH GOD... I NEED TO PACK UP EVERYTHING..." Min Ji bolted towards her room, ready to complete another task so she could lay down on her bed at the earliest.

❖ ── ✦ ── ✧ ─ ◈ ─ ✧ ── ✦ ── ❖

Here she was stressed the heck out of her life waiting for what these next few weeks hold.This was it. This was the day Kim Soo Jung, Head stylist of JK's company and wife of the famous actor Kim Seok Jin, was gonna be held at the helm of being THE BEST MAID OF HONOUR. Knowing her best friend Kang Ji Na was gonna get married to the love of her life after a period of creepy stalking and one sided administration (Really pretty adjectives used by Soo Jung to make Ji Na flustered Infront of Jungkook).

She was more than happy and overwhelmed at the fact that her friend's one sided endeavours bore into fruitition and before she knew those two were marrying each other. She has to say this is one of the most happiest moments of her life. She states dramatically to her husband, right after she enters the house with cake samples and seating herself on the couch, not wasting a second to search up her contacts for best wedding dress maker.

"I thought discovering cookies and cream flavour was your happiest moment." Jin retorts while sitting beside her on the couch, with a mischievous smirk on his lips.

"You know me so well Jinnie!!" She says smiling fondly and leaning in to give him a cheek kiss.

"Did you like to rush home from work and Wow... did you bring me some cake!!" Jin says while taking the package placed on the tea table.

"Those are cake samples for Ji Na's wedding" she says while Jin opens the box and gorges over one of the sample.

"Don't knock yourself out with those cakes I too have to try and decide the best one. How do you like that one, though ?" She asks.

"Oh it's soo good I was starving" Jin says with stuffed mouth and reaches in for another sample.

"No!!! Jinnie it's not for you to eat. I have to do the taste test and find the best." She whines poutyly while snatching away the box

Jin's face dulls down with disappointment.

"Okay you can eat those but you will have to tell how each one is and help me find the best." She says.

Jin's face lightens up. "You are the best Soo Jung-Ah!!" He exclaims while taking away the box.

And like that with just a mere snap of finger, Soo Jung's one of her many jobs was done. she pats herself internally while smirking at the victory of having her strategic plan work. She hands him over the taste quality rating list with names of each flavour.

Jin does whine about work given but feels it's worth the delicious cakes he tries.

She calls in the best of all wedding planners who is also Jin's childhood friend, wedding designer whom she worked with for a huge actress's wedding having advantage of discounts and instant work.

Now the biggest deal of all, The Best Bachelorette party.

Soo Jung had planned everything before a week of wedding rolled around. She went in with Ji Na and other bridesmaids for dress fitting, approved and checked up all the wedding arrangements made by Hoseok her wedding planner, mailed all the invitations. Everything was going according to her plan until she couldn't think of a good idea for bachelorette's, which she needed to sent invite for too.

Soo Jung racked her brain while tapping her pen continuously on the edge of her planner. She took few days off and was working continuously towards her maid of honour duties

Being frustrated she thought of going out meeting other friend as she was feeling coerced and needed air to breath.

She went in and waited in the café while ordering a sweet Caramel Frappuccino.

"You know I recognised it was you just by seeing that overly creamy drink on the table without even looking at your face." Yoongi teases her while settling himself before her in the small cabin.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Soo Jung says while enjoying her drink and humming in contentment.

Yoongi just chuckles and gets himself a simple Iced Americano.

"So how is your Best Maid of Honour campaign going? " Yoongi asks.

That's when she starts to worry again about something she came here to avoid.

"I am facing an idea block for the bacherollete party." Soo Jung sulks while worrying maybe her coming to this café only wasting the precious time she has.

"Just do as we boys are doing." Yoongi remarks while looking at his phone.

"Oh yaa I forgot to ask Jinnie. What are you guys doing?" Soo Jung asks expectantly.

"Las Vegas baby!!! We always teased our youngest about taking him to Las Vegas and getting him wasted before his wedding. We know he likes Hangover movie too much. So we had to fulfill his fantasy." Yoongi lets out with excitement.

Soo Jung deflates and starts to rack brain again for ideas.

"You don't seem to like that idea..?" Yoongi claims after lifting his gaze from to the phone and meeting Soo Jung's disappointed face.

"Nah that's too typical and so unlike Ji Na she hates clubbing and getting wasted. I want to do something she loves and something she can relax with as it's gonna be her big day." Soo Jung says while sipping her coffee.

Yoongi smiles at her thinking how she cares so much about the ones she love.

"I am sure you will find something." Yoongi says while patting her head.

"I hope so." She returns him a smile.

"Oh why don't you ask Namjoon as he is Ji Na's best friend and knows her for long time too." Yoongi suggests.

"Yahh! I am Ji Na's best friend, can't you see who is the maid of honour. I don't see Namjoon picking out dresses and bouquets for her." She remarks offended.

"He is the best man.....but I thought I was your best friend." Now it's Yoongi's turn to be offended.

"Whatever he is managing Jungkook's side so he doesn't count as her best friend right now... It's complicated Yoongi. But you will always be my little meow meow." Soo Jung teases him.

"Yahh how many times I have to tell you not call me that." Yoongi spits with mild anger yet internally feeling pleased.

"Come on... I know you love it." Soo Jung teases him with mischievous grin.

Yoongi answers her only with a slurping noise of his coffee.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

When Soo Jung reaches home she contemplates what Yoongi said. Namjoon really did know Ji Na way long than she did and having no other choice she had to step down her pride just a little bit and ask him for a few pointers regarding Ji Na's likes and dislikes.

Soo Jung waits until two telephonic bleeps and hears a hello from the other side.

" Hey Namjoon, this is Soo Jung." she introduces.

" Oh Soo Jung it's been long since we conversed.. How are your maid of honour duties going?" Namjoon asks.

" It's been great actually. You know I won't let my best friend down ever." Soo Jung remarks while emphasizing a little bit more than necessary.

Namjoon just gets amused at her kiddish saltiness towards him.

" Hmmmm..." He states after a period of awkward pause " So what did you call for...."

Soo Jung clears her throat "About that.... I was thinking of few bachelorette ideas and I did find many, like many great ideas that she may love but still do you have any suggestions about what she might enjoy." Soo Jung adds in the unwanted whipped cream to save herself after remarking herself as best friend cause clearly she doesn't have any great ideas.

"So much for being Ji Na's best friend...Huh?" Namjoon teases but doesn't give her time to retort. "She did say she loves hiking and camping." he says without giving much of a thought.

Suddenly a light bulb lightens above Soo Jung's head.

"Thank you very much Namjoon, I agree you win this time. Bye! " before Namjoon can tease her for her slip up she cuts the call.

She swiftly opens her system and looks for the hiking resort just near the venue.

She can't believe how perfect the whole deal is. Being a full day trip she wants it to be a surprise.

Soon she orders in to design and send her the invites in two days with complimentary perfumes.

Now that everything is sorted she thought she could relax but still she was a little stressed about how whole plan will turn out.

Next day she shopped secretly for everything she needed for the party and came back home, exhausted.

Having taken off she gave all her responsibilities to her assistant who was great at her work but still Soo Jung preferred to not risk it and checked before finalizing everything.

She started to work on her real job while settling herself comfortably on bed.

"Soo Jung-Ah! finally I caught in your natural habitat otherwise you were out as a light by the time I returned." He says while settling himself beside her and cuddling her up.

"Aww Jinnie I missed you too" Soo Jung said while keeping her work aside and started playing with Jin's hair while looking at beautiful black-brown orbs.

"You are doing great my wife. I can say you are The Best Maid Of Honour." Jin states while intertwining their fingers together, pressing a fond kiss on her hand that he held in his.

" Do you think this will earn you browny points and I will let you off the hook for whatever mischief you have planned for." Soo Jung remarks sceptically.

"Noo... Jagiya I mean it." Jin states with sincerity. "You have been working so hard I am proud of you." Jin looks at her with a smile.

Soo Jung has nothing to say to her husbands's soft demeanour so just smiles with cheeks tinted in a shade of pink.

"But yaa it was so evil of you to manipulate me into helping you to select a cake for you. Now my trainer wants me to work half an hour extra otherwise I might look like a dumpling on screen." Jin whines poutyly.

Soo Jung can't help but laugh out loud at the prospect of being caught and also feeling fuzzy over the fact that Jin caught on to her plan.

"It's okay Jinnie your fans will still coo over you saying how you look like a cute dumpling, All puffy." Soo Jung mocks his crazy fan following.

"Somebody seems to be jealous." Jin remarks with a mischievous grin.

"Why would I when I have the real deal and besides you aren't my favourite actor either." Soo Jung states while leaving the room to prepare dinner.

Jin falters at her sudden motion and starts whining about what she just said.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

The days roll by and soon the day of the trip comes around. She wakes up way earlier than anyone to pick up everything she needs and order the van to reach the venue.

Now all she has to do is pick up the bride.

Soo Jung gives Ji Na a heads-up and is glad to see she received her call.

Ji Na having a good life style habits unlike Soo Jung is way more in a better condition in the mornings.

Soo Jung is far from being a morning person but she has to push herself for her best friend.

She rushes her to the venue and see's most of the girls have arrived. Soo Jung invited all of the girl group members Ji Na trained and debuted with before starting her solo career. Even after going solo she tend to be in good connection with most of them.

Soo Jung see's a really pretty woman approach whom she kind of recognise from some where but can't put the finger on.

°°°°°°YESTERDAY; IN THE SAME STORE°°°°°°

Ji Na was assessing her gown when she heard a knock on the door of her trial room followed by her best friend calling her out.

Ji Na opened the door only to reveal a stunned Soo Jung who eyed her up and down, examing Ji na's dress.

Soo Jung was mesmerized to see her friend in a princess wedding gown.

"Whoa... You look FANTABULOUS!! " She exclaimed.

"Thank You" Ji na blushed at the compliment. "But Where did you disappear?" She asked strictly. "If it would've been for that lady I would've still been holding up the dress and standing lonesome, calling your name out like a fanatic in the empty area. But thanks to no one other than you, that lady was about to recognise me and my identity was just a bit away from being revealed." Ji na blabbered.

"JI... Calm down. PLEASE. My assistant called me to inform about a sudden fiasco regarding your Bachelorette party so I went out to sort them up a bit. I'm thankful that the women was at the right place at right time and happy that she wasn't one of your crazy fangirls." Soo Jung says, grateful.

Ji na passed her a mix of an annoyed and a 'yeah-yeah' look.

"I feel kinda Guilty tho..." Soo Jung continued seeing a big 'WHY ?' written on her best friend's face. "Actually, on my way out, I bumped into a woman and if she would'nt have had balanced herself, she could've fallen down. And i was in such a hurry that i didn't even apologize properly."

"It's okay, hun... Rhe next time you meet her, if it be, then you can repent over this." Ji na patted her shoulder. "But for now.... We need to look for dresses we'd wear to the Bachelorette now that my wedding gown has been finalized." Ji na reminded.

Both the women went out and started looking out for a dress as per their preference.

°°°°°°°° PRESENT; BACK TO THE TRIP °°°°°°°°

When she realised where she recognised the women from, she immediately looked away away, her back facing the woman approaching her, now.

Ji na saw Soo Jung standing awkwardly, so she approached her.

"What's wrong??" She asked.

"That woman from the shop, she's a guest at your party." Soo Jung confessed, embarrassed.

Ji Na looked over her friend's shoulder, "Ohh Shit!!", her eyes turned wide as she rotated in her stance too.

"You know her too?" Soo Jung asks a bit muddled.

"She was the one who helped me with my zipper the other day and then things were left on an itchy note." Ji Na clears it.

"So she was the one who you bumped into." Ji na says and Soo Jung nods her head as an answer.

The best friends stood there uneasily for a good amount of time until Ji na felt a hand tap at her shoulder which forced her to look at the bearer of the hand, but she whirls Soo Jung along with herself, both smothering a guilty look.

The woman's expressions falter a bit but transform into a smile soon. "Hey! I am Kim Min Ji, Taehyung's wife " She states chirpily.

The faces of both Soo Jung and Ji Na retorts into confused expressions.

"Hi... Sorry for yester-" Soo Jung gets cut in between.

"Sorry about what.....oh about the incident where we bumped into each other yesterday." Min Ji states calmly.

"Yup I was the one who suddenly left Ji Na alone. It's just I had learnt my assistant did this huge blunder....." Soo Jung starts to explain herself.

"It's completely fine... You don't have have to give me any explanation and no need to be awkward. You are Maid of Honour for lords sake... I can understand the pressure you have. The time's have passed by soo let's start anew, shan't we ?" Min Ji said as she put her hand forward in front of Soo Jung.

Soo Jung looked puzzled at Ji Na who was too shocked herself.

"Yeah... Yeah, for sure... You're right! Nice to meet you Min Ji... I'm Soo Jung by the way, Jin's Wife." Soo Jung smiled, taking Min Ji's hand for a hand-shake.

"Ms. Kang Ji Na or should i say soon-to-be Mrs Jeon Ji Na, the idol and bride-to-be. You looked soo familiar." Min Ji states with a warm smile.

"Hello Min Ji! I'm sorry, I'm just not used to be in public that way..." Ji Na confessed.

"It's completely fine..." Min Ji says as she leans in for a hug.

"I am glad you made it. It's really good to meet after so long. Jungkook tells a lot about you and Taehyung." Ji na states.

"I'm happy to meet you in person too Ji na..." Min Ji let's out.

AND THAT WAS ENOUGH TO BREAK THE ICE BETWEEN THEM.

"It's bizarre about how we never met even after the boys being such good friends..." Soo Jung turns to her for an excited hug.

"So what are we gonna do today..??" Ji na inquired.

"Let me present the amazing plans you have today, as this is your last day before you forget us for ethereal fiance of yours." Soo Jung teases and Ji Na can't help but start blushing.

The trip starts off with you guys changing into hiking attires to enjoy the mini hiking trip Soo Jung planned.

Ji Na seemed to be thrilled and very much after knowing the day Soo Jung planned.

All of the girls start excited for the perfect view the top most peak holds.

Hiking enthusiastically Soo Jung seemed to enjoy the trip. Being not much of active person herself the idea of hiking wouldn't much of a liking for her personally but when it comes to Ji Na she seems to be the opposite.

Soo Jung starts to breathe in the fresh crisp air and loved how the birds chirped pretty while she was surrounded by the lushious green trees with healthy sunshine peaked through the canopy when she looked up.

Everything seemed fine until..... halfway she suddenly remembered why she despised hiking.

Breathing heavy she tried to catch up with others but she can't permit it herself. She was just thankful Min Ji didn't leave her side purely through concern. Suddenly Soo Jung felt a cramp on her side.

She still tried to walk in failing a little by twisted her ankle. She just stood there cursing the person who mentioned to her that hiking was an amazing plan. 'Who was that Satan... Obviously it was Namjoon!!' she face palmed herself.

Min Ji faltered in her steps seeing Soo Jung was left behind. She approached her tired face.

"Are you okay, we can wait in the café which is just a minute away. Will you able to hang in till then?" Min Ji bent down to look at Soo Jung like a person would speak to a child hurt.

"I am fine....ouch..." Soo Jung moaned while trying to walk.

"Oh you seemed to have bent your ankle. It's fine let's just settle ourselves there." She says and guides Soo Jung to nearby artificial tree trunk fashioned bench.

"I can't believe I chose hiking of all activities. I know Ji Na loves it but I should I have known it would have been a bummer to me.....so much for asking Namjoon for advice." Soo Jung snorts.

Min Ji laughs at Soo Jung's childish bitterness.

"It's okay you can see Ji Na is having fun. So you did a great job. Don't be too hard on yourself." Min Ji comforts.

" Do you like hiking ???" Soo Jung asks for the sake of having conversation flow.

"I am neutral towards it. But I do love camping. I am looking forward to that." Min Ji remarks.

"Ohh I love camping too since I was a child. It used be the only reason I went camping. For amazing s'mores and playing funny yet memorable games with my friends. Those were some good days." Soo Just states while reminiscing her past camping memories which she can't forget about.

According to her those were the best of the summers she ever had.

"Same. I loved camping as a child too. It used to be the best part my summer. I used to love treasure hunting and all the team work we used to put in. It used to be so exhilarating as a kid." Min Ji states with admiration.

Soo Jung makes a agreeable noise.

"Which camp did y-" Soo Jung got cut off by Ji Na coming there way.

"Are you okay Soo Jung-Ah ?? I noticed you weren't with us in the café so I came back searching, did you hurt yourself?? " Ji Na asks concerned.

"No I am fine just sprained my ankle a little. Everything is good and dandy other than that." Soo Jung tries to cheer up to not worry Ji Na.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

Soon with her friend's assistance, Soo Jung finally reached the peak. When she takes in the beauty all her anger towards hiking washes away.

Now after having comforting spa treatments all of them get ready for the bon fire party arranged in the camping site.

Soo Jung brought in the most comfy sweaters with pjs to wear and she created a unique one with bride to be embroidery for Ji Na.

Then all of the girls gathered around the bon fire to enjoy marshmallows with some booze.

All of it brought back soo many memories and Soo Jung couldn't help but feel warm that she is feeling the same endearment she felt when she was a little girl. With all the girls camping huddled up and cozied in one blanket, all of them enjoyed some amazing barbeque with delicious s'mores.

S'mores aroma and sticky yet amazing texture always brought back her childhood.

At the end all the girls played some random games like never have I ever and chatted about random things while being tipsy.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

Next day they woke up, the sun peering through tent they crashed in and heard the most pleasing birds chirping.

Soo Jung exited the tent to see Min Ji and Ji Na already awake yet groggy sitting on the grass while sitting curled up by bringing their arms towards chest as if to protect themselves from the chill yet soothing spring early morning.

Soo Jung joined in while settling herself on the prickly yet fresh dewy grass.

She started to look at the beautiful butterflies which were on for their honey hunt. At the moment she felt the most peaceful in days.

"Last night was so amazing. I loved every second of the camping Soo Jung-Ah. Thank you for such an amazing surprise, Chingu-Ah." Ji Na said while hugging her Maid Of Honour lovingly.

"Anything for you..." Soo Jung returned a smile filled with warmth.

"How long do you guys know each other?" Min Ji asks curious.

"For five years or so right after she started her solo career I became her stylist and now her best friend. But it seems like I know her forever" Soo Jung remarks clearly admiring her friendship.

"Oh I was meaning to say this, I am a fan of your work and it completely reflects how creative you are, in the way you planned this trip. I enjoyed myself alot. It was just so.." Min Ji's fond ordeal is continued by Ji Na.

"Nostalgic... Right ?" Ji Na said.

"Yeahh.... Exactly..." MinJi let out.

"I felt that too" Soo Jung affirmed.

All of them start to giggle at the similarity and sat in comfortable silence remembering their childhood.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

The same evening the party kicks in the resort with loads of champagne. All the girls dress in their fanciest out fits looking all glamorous. Soo Jung gets ready along with Ji Na and Min Ji.

Ji Na's Dress :

Soo Jung's Dress :

Min Ji's Dress :

Soo Jung feel pleased to see everyone having fun and sips her drink in the corner.

All the start usher Soo Jung to make a toast. Soo Jung getting a little embarrassed just states how much she loves Ji Na and jokes about she might be the only fan who actually got to marry her idol.

Music started to create an amazing vibe for everyone to enjoy themselves. Ji Na's fellow idol friends performed one of their hit songs as a girl group and she herself joined in.

Soo Jung did plan few drinking game to get Ji Na wasted.

"Drink if you are married." Hwasa proposed which let to some of you take in the shot except for Ji Na who was forced into drinking any way as she was bride-to- be.

"Take a shot if you texted some one four hours straight." Irene remarks.

Soo Jung glares at Ji Na who seems to avoid taking a shot.

"Does it even count if you don't get a reply." Ji Na whines with defense.

"It sure does honey..." Hwasa states who is a little drunk herself and forces her to chug the drink. Everyone fall into a giggling fit even though things did not seem to be as funny. It's just every body seems to be tipsy.

"Take a shot if you met a movie star." Ji Na remarks with ulterior motive of revenge.

"Jin is not a movie star he is just an actor." Soo Jung remarks catching on her motives but fails as she is forced to take two more for denying.

By the time clock hits one all of the guests blacked out drunk chatting nonsense and some of them just moving to the beat.

Soo Jung cares for the safety of all the girls and ushers to their rooms to sober them up cause she really can't afford to ruin the wedding tomorrow.

After having a lovely day, Soo Jung feels a rush of relief wash over her. She relaxed for a while looking at her planner for further activities then realised she didn't check up on the boys.

She scrambles in for her phone on the nightstand.

Jungkook:What are... 2:55am

Ddeokdinnie:we are... Wednesday

Soo Jung opens in Jin's text first.

Ddeokdinnie[9:04am]: We are half way to Las Vegas

[ Photo sent]

Ddeokdinnie[11:01]:We just checked in to our rooms. We sure gonna show a nice time to Jungkook-Ah, but that kid seems to have his brain elsewhere. So much for bringing him up to be a fool he is now🤦🏻‍♂️.

Ddeokdinnie [1:55pm]: You seem to be busy.Enjoy!

Ddeokdinnie [2:05am]: i m gld u ennjoying.i miss u....

Soo Jung can't help but smile at the small miss you which seems to be written after having right shots of soju.

Soo Jung replies Jin that they are safe and adds in a miss you and love you.

Now she goes to the attend Jungkook's text as the lover boy seems to be really brought up by Jinnie. Soo Jung chuckles reminiscing Jin's hypocrisy and opens the text with no intend to reply just to exhilarate him. Clearly in non positive ways.

Tsundure turned lover boy[1:05am] : I know Soo Jung you might have taken her phone away give it back to my Ji Na.

Tsundure turned lover boy[2:55am]:What are guys doing. I just wanted to check in if Ji Na was having fun......Let me know how she is.

Soo Jung coo's over Jungkook's adorable concern and feels tempted to message him back. But she doesn't, wanting to tease him a little and knowing he would pester Jin or Tae for the information anyway.

Soo Jung soon forces herself to sleep as she still has a lot of responsibility as a maid of honour and reminds her that this is not the end.

Next day she wakes up to the harsh ringtone of her phone.

"Hello..." She answers with scratchy voice.

"Hey...Soo Jung, This is Hobi. You seem to be still asleep. Seems like yesterday was wild. I have arrived to the venue...."

Soo Jung glances her watch too see she is late.

"Oh God I overslept I should have not participated in those drinking games.....I will be there soo just give me five. You are already aware of plans please follow through." Soo Jung states while hurriedly rushing to her closet and hanging up before Hobi finishes his okay.

❖ ── ✦ ── ✧ ─ ◈ ─ ✧ ── ✦ ── ❖

The D-day came when the heart throb of millions of women round the globe Mr. Jeon Jungkook,kpop idol turned camera director was going to be someone's man and the luckiest girl who had been chosen for him by the gods above was none other than Ms. Kang Ji Na, kpop idol who is not as much as famous as jungkook but still made a little space in the hearts of netizens with her charm, dignity and hard work which never let downs her fans.

They both were more like a couple made in heaven. It was like as if a committee was setup in the ethereal heaven with various gods, goddesses and angels discussing over who should marry jungkook and how to make his wedding one of the best ones the universe had ever experienced.

There was golden silence in the room until the alarm popped out of no where and kept roaring like a wild cat.

Ji na gave it a few hits as if it were her own fiendish child weeping to get his things done and she trying to keep his mouth shut.

"Ji na, get up!!!" yelled her mom.

"Eomma...five more minutes..." moaned Ji na,trying hard to overcome the state she was in.

"You can't still be asking for five more minutes like you always do pabo...its your wedding day and you have loads to do." told her mom in one go.

On hearing that she gets up at the speed of light.

"AHHH!!! It's my important day. How did I forget?? Eomma, I still cant believe I'm getting married. Its happening..OMG I'm soo nervous." she says exhilaratingly.

Her mom is rather a calm lady unlike Ji na who couldn't hold up her emotions that well and state to tear up for no reason.

Her mom plants a kiss on Ji na's forehead as a sign to make her calm down.

"Eomma, can you pinch me...cause I cant believe I'm actually getting hitched up with Jungkook." says Ji na frantically.

Her mom considers it to be her one and only best and the last chance to take revenge from her daughter for troubling and teasing her from the day she was born.

She pinches Ji na so hard that her entire body suffers from redness and make her look like a cherry.

"AHHHHH!!!!!! Eomma not that hard..You shouldn't be taking your grudge on your young, beautiful daughter like this.." tells Ji na rubbing the spot where her mom gave her a mark that's probably gonna last till she dies.

"It was a pay back Ji na..its nothing when compared to how you made me suffer by living in LA and leaving me alone in korea.." exclaims her mom.

Ji na gives her mom a tight hug and a peck on her cheek..

The door which was kept ajar opens in the blink of an eye and there stands a 5 '11" tall, young man with black hair which doubtlessly looks like a dense enchanted forest.

Ji na looses her grip on her mom and jumps onto the man like a tigress coming for her prey and he catches her softly in his arms and Pat's her back.

"NAMJOONAH!! You arent supposed to be here." lies ji na who missed him a lot and wanted to see him very badly.

"What is Jungkook doing?" inquired Ji na letting loose of namjoon.

"He panicked when you didn't pick up his call..he called you numerous times and he ended up sending me here to check on you" complained namjoon.

"Oh shit!! I didn't check my phone from last night... SooJung and MinJi made me drink FIVE FULL SHOTS of soju at the bachelorette's. You know that I get drunk with just one shot ..it took me time to sober up" she exclaimed.

"Umm I see...I guess you guys had a lot of fun at the party while we kept wondering what you guys were doing and just wasted our precious time at ours." Namjoon complained rubbing his finger on his chin.

"Don't lie joonie!! You guys went to Las Vegas for your bachelor's while we stayed back at here. That explains how you guys enjoyed a lot more than we did." Whined Ji na holding both her hands firmly to her waist.

"I wish what you said was true. We indeed went to Las Vegas, but the party got messed up and Kookie ended up drinking like a monster, chanting your name and crying like a baby and we were thrown out of the bar for his behaviour..." Namjoon sighed.

Ji na couldn't control her cackle and laughed out loud, " I wish I could see him like that".

"Namjoon, I think you should leave now and help your brother. It's an important day for him, TODAY." interrupted Ji na's mom.

She quickly yeeted Ji na into her bath room asking her to get herself a shower. Namjoon smiled and made his way out of the room.

But before Namjoon left the room Ji na shouted, "OPPA!! Tell jungkook that I love him and I love you too oppa....BYE!!!"

Namjoon quickly peeked through the door and gave her a big smile showing off his cute dimples.

Ji na took off her clothes in the bath room and made her way into the shower. She drenched her whole goddess figure with water. After 5 minutes of standing like a statue in the shower, she grabbed the shampoo and manipulated it on her hair until her hair oozed out with foam.

She tried to style her hair with foam and acted like the character she was in and also tried to add up karaoke to her performance.

She finished her so called bathroom concert and dabbed her damp, trickling body with a fluffy towel and came out of her bathroom with a thick bathrobe.

As soon as she came out she was yeeted onto her bed by two beautiful women who were indeed her best friends.

"SOOJUNG , MIN JI ....you scared me to death... GOSH..." she stuttered.

The maid of honour, Mrs. Kim Soo Jung and The bride's entourage, Mrs. Kim Min Ji are twinning in a beige sheath silhouette and the hemline reaching their ankle.

"Here!! Ji na take off that robe" SooJung said plainly.

"YAHHH!!! What are your intentions??? I'm gonna complain about you two to my husband" Ji na joked.

The three of them kept laughing for a while.

"We came here to help you with your make up,hair and your dress Ji na" MinJi exhaled.

"Oh!!that's great, So we'll start now" smiled Ji na switching her mood.

Soojung helped Ji na style her dress . The wedding gown was a ball silhouette which had a transparent fabric at the back with a zipper and her bust being a bit revealing in the front . The gown was extremely long with beautiful embroidery sewn on the hemline.

The fabric at her back was see-through and glittery which made Ji na's beautiful back on display for everyone to watch.

Min ji helped Ji na with her bridal make up and fixed her long locks.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

The bride's family arrived at the hotel where the ceremony was about to take place. They were greeted into the hotel by the hotel staff.

Simultaneously, the groom's family also arrives.

Min ji and Soo jung swiftly grabbed Ji na's hand and they ran to their hotel room.

"YAHH! Leave my hand...it hurts" Ji na complains.

" I'm sorry Ji na, But you know it's considered bad luck for you both to see each other before marriage " explain MinJi.

Ji na keeps dreaming of her past about how jungkook hated her like hell and later falling hard for her after coming to know the real her.

A sudden beep of her phone breaks her reverie. Before Ji na could check her phone Soo jung yanks it from her hand.

..........................................................................................

25 Oct,2020

4.00 pm

I want you to meet me in room no.275 in 15. Come soon sweet heart. I'll be waiting for you.

Love- Jungkook

..........................................................................................

" Umm...so you guys are planning to meet before the wedding huh!! You very clearly know that we are never letting that happen" bawls Soo jung.

"But......I want to see him very badly." Pouts Ji na.

" Soo jung, let's prank Jungkook by sending Tae instead of Ji na" says MinJi enthusiastically ignoring Ji na.

"That's a great idea!! I'll message Jungkook telling him to put a blind fold so that he won't know its Tae.." grins Soo jung while texting Jungkook.

The both ladies end up dressing Taehyung into Ji na's spare wedding gown and decorating his head with a large wig. They lock Ji na in the hotel room and follow Taehyung .

Taehyung quickly knocks the door twice where Jungkook was waiting in and enters the room valorously while the two young ladies tip toe into the room and hide behind the couch for a better view of the drama they were gonna encounter.

Jungkook yanks Taehyung into his arms and holds him tightly not giving him enough space to breathe.

" Bae!! You've turned a lot more muscular than the last time I saw you. Don’t you think you've been gyming a lot these days?" Said the blind folded man, vigorously kissing Taehyung's neck.

Taehyung couldn't stop his guffaw .Jungkook takes off his blindfold on hearing a manly sound. To his damn, God for saken surprise, he found three familiar personalities rolling on the floor and laughing their heart out.

He feels extremely abashed and his cheeks turn red as an apple from the embarrassment he faced then.

" You really thought it was easy for you to meet Ji na before your wedding. Didn't you ?" Laughed Min ji holding her painful stomach .

Jungkook was completely speechless at that point and he couldn't utter a word to defend himself. The three of them kept teasing him and enjoyed themselves laughing at the awkward Jungkook.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

Now, the actual deal of the day was to come about. Jungkook and Ji na were just 30 minutes away from starting their new lives together and annexing their names with each other.

The wedding hall was pervaded with a horde of dignified guests seated on their respective tables on the either side of the aisle.

Jungkook's parents positioned themselves on the left side of the aisle on the stage while Ji na's parents installed themselves onto the right side of the aisle. Both the elderly couples were dressed in their traditional hanbok while the other family members and the guests designed themselves with modern western style.

The wedding hall was beautifully decorated with flowers and so the hall was filled with fragrance of those beautiful flowers. There were daisies, calla lilies, ranunculus, tulips, roses of different shades etc. There were wedding curtains here and there which camouflaged with the tint of those beautiful flowers. And not to forget about the sweet strains of classical music that drifted through the crowd.

Jungkook was stunning in a single-breasted charcoal tuxedo with a white wing collar shirt and a cute black bow tied around his neck line with some artificial white calla lily along with it's buds worn on the lapel of the tuxedo. He situated himself on the dais afore the aisle.

The guest tables were crammed with few costly goodies of dryfruits, champagne bottles, distilled water bottles and few pre wedding photo cards of Jungkook and Ji na.

The bride's maids accompanied Ji na to the aisle helping her hold her long gown. Ji na stood idle for a while at one end of the aisle meeting her eyes with Jungkook's who stood at the other end. All the heads turned to face the far end of the walk. The music stopped and the opening to the bridal chorus began to play.

Jungkook couldn't help but stare and grin at his gorgeous wife-to-be.

*****Jungkook's P.O.V*****

I couldn't believe my eyes. I know, Ji na is beautiful but I never thought she'd look absolutely stunning in a wedding dress. If I knew it before then I'd asked her to wear it every time we met. My eyes stopped listening to my brain and started to tear up in happiness .It was obvious cause it is the first time that my eyes encountered the most beautiful thing in the world,my dearest Ji na-Ssi. But I still managed to roll back few droplets just to ensure nobody would make fun of me after.

The dress perfectly fitted onto her. I couldn't help but notice her flawless love handles. I even cursed and swallowed harshly when Ji na stood before me like that.

She wore a Cinderella ball gown with embroidery on her bodice. Rhine stones and Pearls were sewn on her gown that matched her crystal head piece. She held a French rose silk bouquet. When she began to walk towards me my heart beat matched with her pace. It started beating so fast that I thought it'll probably gonna tear up my chest.

The way she looked at me when she started to walk towards me had sent an arrow that pierced through my heart.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

Ji na positioned herself beside Jungkook a feet away from him, but he managed to pull her towards him by her waist. She gave a warming look at him with a big smile on her face. And jungkook grabbed a chance to give a peck on her cheek.

"Cherished family members and honoured guests, I would like to thank each of you for coming out this evening", the preacher on the podium spoke.

" Let us begin by offering thanks to the lord on this wonderful day", all of them bowed their heads and he prayed.

The preacher led them through their vows and it was time for the exchange of rings. Both of them slipped their rings on each others fingers.

" By the power vested on me, I now proclaim you both husband and wife. Now, You may kiss the bride." the preacher ordered.

Jungkook leaned forward onto Ji na and kissed her plump lips placing his hands on her shoulder.

The emcee of the ceremony was elected to be Mr. Kim Seokjin, actor and best friend of Jungkook. He performed his duties very well from guiding the guests to introducing the cake cutting and bouquet throwing activities at the end of the wedding by cracking jokes in between that kept the guests entertained.

Jin announced the dinner and the hotel staff placed the delicious food before the guests guided by jimin who took the charge of catering .

Mean while Ji na and Jungkook left the hall to change their outfit into a comfortable one. The Best Man and Maid of Honour trailed behind them to help them.

Jungkook followed Ji na to her room but the bridesmaid's successfully shoo-ed him away.

They returned to the hall and sat beside each other on the podium. Jin handed over his mic to his beloved wife to give a speech and so the entertainment continued as each of their friends started singing,dancing and giving speeches for them. Jungkook even managed to pull Ji na to dance with him.

After the commencement of their evening, the guests were offered dessert and the couple went back again to change their outfits into traditional korean hanbok.

They returned the hall holding each others hand and greeted each and every guest at their respective tables. The guests stood up at their places pausing for hugs and kisses congratulating the young couple and giving them beautiful gifts.

Jungkook managed to invite south korean president and the first lady who just arrived at the time the newly weds were greeting their guests. The older couple congratulated the younger ones and handed over a venus flower basket which has a great reason to it's own. In Japan it symbolizes " till death do us part". They helped them reach out safely, greeted them once again for accepting their invitation and returned back into the hall.

Ji na then turned around throwing her bouquet behind her. The women collided with each other as they tried to catch it.

Jungkook and Ji na ran to the decorated Ferrari that waited for them. Taehyung and Jin tried to stop both of them from escaping, just to tease them.

Taehyung tried hard not to step on Ji na's long trail that brushed the ground as they ran. They were so quick to get away. Jungkook jumped in the driver's seat helping Ji na settle herself in the passenger seat. Jungkook took off as if it were a race. The ribbons, twisted coils whisked in the wind behind them.

The happily married couple left the hotel all by themselves to get few dates and chest nuts for the pybaek ceremony held at Ji na's in-laws place.

"I'm not gonna speak to you, Ji na . You hurted me...", said jungkook seriously steering .

"What did I do kookie?" Ji na cried out.

"Firstly, you didn't show up when I texted you. And worst of all you sent Taehyung instead. You know how they made fun of me", complained Jungkook.

" I sent you a sorry text later sweet heart", Ji na defended herself.

Jungkook gave Ji na a staid glare.

" And secondly, you've distracted me during the entire wedding with that sexy dress of yours and ofcourse your seductive figure. My mom caught me eyeing your provocative figure and she gave me a death glare...", pouted Jungkook.

Ji na chuckled and leaned forward to give Jungkook a quick kiss and settled herself to where she was before.

" Are you tryna give me a ROADHEAD baby girl. I'm ready for it . Go on", Jungkook laughed.

"STOP KOOKIE!!! You're so shameless. There are people here", shouted Ji na cutting her eye contact with Jungkook's and blushing all herself.

Jungkook halts his car at the parking of the store and both of them entered the store merrily.

Ji na let goes jungkook's hand in the store helping herself to find a small pack of nuts. After 15 minutes of struggling, she eventually finds the perfect sized pack.

She turns to face her husband to show him what she got. To her surprise she finds him standing at the bill counter with a large pack which is half of his height.

Ji na quickly grabs Jungkook out of the queue .

" What are you doing Ji na? You cant see I'm paying up there!! " Jungkook yells.

" Is this whole packet for the entire family? Pybaek's only for us bae. We dont need a larger pack." Ji na explains while throwing the large one to where it was before.

" I want you to collect as many nuts as possible with your skirt at pybaek so that we'll have many kids." Jungkook says in a matter of fact tone.

" This man's probably gonna kill me with those looks some day and he never forgets to embarrass me everywhere " she thought to her self hitting her palm on her forehead .

She grabs Jungkook by his hand,paying off at the counter for the packet and yeeting him into their car.

Jungkook trails behind her silently and gives her a soft kiss and they're off to their destination.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

Both the couple arrive at Jungkook's lavish house and his parents greeted the young couple into their house. Ji na handed over the packet to her mother in law .

Both of them entered the hall way which was crowded with their friends and family members.

" You were fast kid. Both of you ran as if you were eloping." said Jin bursting out his wind shielded laugh.

" I realized that if we both stayed there you and your wife were never going to let us breathe. So we had to do that." replied Jungkook with a poker face.

" Let us begin the ceremony. " called out jungkook's mom.

Ji na and jungkook sit facing eachother beside the table decorated with chestnuts and dates.

Ji na and jungkook hold a white apron from both it's ends and his parents threw them towards the newly weds. Jungkook gives his 100% , catching everything without missing a single seed. Ji na couldn't stop but give jungkook a kiss on his cheek for his extraordinary performance .

The number caught signifies the no. of girls (dates) and boys (chestnuts) they would bear in future.

Later Jungkook lifts Ji na on his back and gives her a ride to denote his strength which is a part of ceremony.

Jungkook places a chestnut between his lips and its Ji na's turn now to take a bite from his mouth.

All of their friends and family members cheer them and enjoy themselves with the drinks and so the wedding day ended on a happy note.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

The next day Jungkook wakes up first yet late after their first official first night from a state where Jungkook back hugged Ji na tightly, protecting her from the cold breeze and their duvet being tangled up between their legs.

He quickly gives Ji na a cute sleep peck on her forehead and goes out into their new kitchen to make her breakfast.

After a while, he comes back with two cups of caffé latte along with croissants and wakes his wifey up.

" WOW!!! I'm quite impressed. " exclaims Ji na giving him a kiss to appreciate his efforts.

" I did this only to get a kiss from you and now my mission is successful." he says joyfully plonking on the bed beside Ji na.

»»-—————--✧✦✧--—————-««

A sharp door bell breaks Ji na and Jungkook apart who were probably enjoying their best quality time watching a movie while cuddling each other. Jungkook curses even without knowing who showed up at their home, gets up angrily to attend the door.

As he opened the door he hears a loud thud followed by metallic sheet pieces, ribbons falling straight on his head.

When he recovers from the unexpected blast he sees his's and Ji na's friends standing with balloons, party supplies and beverages.

They hug Jungkook and run into his house without his permission. He stands there for a while with a poker face and ofcourse crying internally for the interruption they caused.

He closes the door and returns to where ji na is.

" Jungkook-ah, sorry for the intervention. It's been a long time since our last meet so we just came here to see you both. ", explains Taehyung.

'It was yesterday we last met . This bastard is getting on my nerves' Jungkook thought to himself giving him a fake smile and crying internally.

Ji na senses Jungkook's annoyance and tries to calm him down, simultaneously, greeting the guests trying hard not to show them how they actually feel.

" It's been so long we all sat together like this. So I thought it would be a great around every one and come to breach our lovely weds time." Namjoon wiggled his eyebrows teasingly while Jungkook got more pissed.

"Oh my God I just asked Jungkook to watch it with me. I myself was really looking forward to it. It's gonna be amazing view from our balcony.I am glad you brought in all of us together." Ji Na states excited but yet feels the longing gaze Jungkook gives.

" This was gonna be our thing, You spoiled it hyung." Jungkook whined poutyly but Ji Na pulled him closer to comfort the giant man child.

Soon every body gathered in the balcony. With some Chinese take out brought in by the considerate Jimin.

Namjoon started to adjust the telescope to view the shower more precisely to be able to witness it's beauty.

All started to anticipate the meteor shower to start soon as per the live news shown on the internet. All just cuddled up in their blankets and fell into random conversations.

Couples start to get sappy to which the single boys started to mock yet all were grateful to have their loved ones together to witness something that will happen only few times in a period of human existence.

"So what were you guys doing fifteen years back." Taehyung asks

"You know, we were just a bunch of dorky kids who wouldn't even care about once in a life time astronomical deals, it was characterized nerdy." Yoongi retorts sarcastically.

" That was the reason I didn't invite you guys then." Namjoon states silently while still peering through the telescope.

" Oh God!! I saw one. Guys!!! it's happening!! " Namjoon states excited as if he were the same kid fifteen years ago.

Soon the meteors start falling through distinct sky appearing like beautiful splinters of fire which can be explained as the fireworks made by nature.

Along with Namjoon all others start to get excited and some of them start jiggling around happily while holding to the balcony reeling.

The maknaes pushed their hyung to try and see the meteors a little nearer through the only telescope.

While staring with lightened smile MinJi states" I remember seeing this while camping when I was eleven with two of my best friends. It was one of the most beautiful thing I ever witnessed and that with them along with me. It's nostalgic seeing it again today", said with her eyes sparkling.

Soo Jung gets a little confused " What a coincidence I saw the meteor shower in a summer camp with my friends too."

Ji Na can't help but cut in and she felt a chill run down her spine for such an absurd coincidence the world has ever played on them.

"So Min.... Minty, Oh God Min Ji!! Are you MINTY POO?" Ji Na shouts shocked.

"That means, Soo Jung you are SOJU BUN !!" MinJi exclaims.

Now all of them just look at themselves in silence

"What are you long lost sisters or something..?" Yoongi remarks sarcastically while not being able to digest the trio's exaggerated expressions.

All of them just start giggling together as what Yoongi said was actually close to reality.

"Some thing like that, Yoongi... All of us went to the same summer camp when we were eleven that's where we know each other from." Soo Jung enunciates.

" Wow!! I can't believe this can all be coincidental and it's so absurd we didn't realize this till today." Ji Na states still in daze about the new found information.

" It's okay Jiffy Bugga..." Soo Jung teases.

" I can't believe we found each other again. I missed you guys so much after I left the summer camp. I still get dew-eyed thinking about our memories." Min Ji says while pulling the two girls for a group hug.

"W-Wha-Ba-Hahaha... " Taehyung cracks up listening to his wife's name. "Minty poo!! " He says breathely, earning a slap on his arm from MinJi herself.

"Soju Bun huh. Should have told me sooner." Jin teases Soo Jung while patting her head.

Soo Jung kicks him to his shin and he exclaims way dramatically than the actual pain.

" I just meant that I don't need real SOJU when i have you." He says, agonizing in pain while Soo Jung side eyes him.

On seeing their hyung suffer like that, all the boys who were previously laughing, instantly shut up while Jungkook who was about to taunt Ji na with her nick name clamps his mouth up too.

After the girls stop getting perplexed and emotional about there unexpected reunion they pull a toast for life and how things can turn out so unexpected.

❖ ── ✦ ── ✧ ─ ◈ ─ ✧ ── ✦ ── ❖

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readinglikechickensoup · 4 years

Note

Hiya, I was wondering if you'd be able to do a spies in disguise fanfic. I can't seem to find any Walter X lance fics with angst. My prompt would probably be something like Walter taking a shot for lance in the field. Or something along those lines where Walter gets hurt trying to save someone. Thank you!!

I’m sorry this took so long. I had to wait until I could get my hands on the movie. I hope you like it. Feel free to shoot me another request if it’s not quite what you wanted.

Words: 1,627 Warnings: Blood, violence, hospital, age difference (both are established adults)

The storm clouds were thick and grey like old fleece. Despite the climate control in the cockpit, Walter shivered and burrowed into his sweater and jacket.

“Cold?” Lance asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Only a little.” Walter’s teeth chattered together; he closed his mouth tightly.

Lance checked the autopilot, then got up and rummaged in his bag, pulling out a heavy wool coat. He held it out expectantly.

“But won’t you get cold?”

“Nah. This is a spare.” Lance shrugged. “Figured you’d get cold. Now put it on.”

Walter stood and let Lance help him into each sleeve. It fit like a glove. Buttoning it up, he looked into Lance’s smirking face. “How’d you know?”

“You’re the size of my bicep, Walter. You’re always cold.” Lance patted Walter’s shoulder and went back to his seat. “You’re the genius, you know. You should’ve thought Scandinavia through.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Walter flopped back in his seat. They were on a covert mission to neutralize enemy technology in the Norwegian mountains.

Lance crossed his long legs and fiddled with his phone. If it weren’t for the drag of nerves that always preceded missions, Walter could almost believe they were home.

Granted, if they were home they would be on the couch, Walter’s shoulder tucked into Lance’s armpit. Walter would struggle to read through the Journal of Materials Science, burning up everywhere their bodies touched. Whenever their eyes met, Lance’s would drop to Walter’s mouth, then quickly look away.

Walter was admittedly very bad at social cues, but he couldn’t help the question that was burning a hole in his mind.

It had been five years since they defeated Killian. Aside from solo missions and dangerous lab testing, they were rarely apart. Lance had even invited Walter to live with him.

They ate together and defeated baddies together. Whenever Walter fell asleep over a project, he woke up in bed, shoes off, under a thick quilt.

Whenever Lance couldn’t sleep, he let Walter sit by his bed, rub his back, and talk about science. Those mornings, he woke up tucked into Lance’s side, so warm and safe he couldn’t bear to get up.

A few days ago, Walter wondered out loud if he should find his own place. Lance stalked out of the room and set the house on panic mode.

Whoops, he said as thick steel covered the windows and outside doors. Guess you can’t leave.

Walter had rolled his eyes then (like Lance could stop him from leaving if he wanted to), but it begged a question: what did it all mean?

"Hey Lance.”

Lance looked up from his phone. "Yeah?"

"What…” He swallowed. “What are we?"

"Uh. World-renowned spies on their way to gently kick some baddie ass?"

Walter flushed.

Lance peered at him. "How hard did you hit your head?"

"Not hard." Walter twisted his hands together. Lovey landed on his shoulder and snuggled into his neck. "What I meant was...I'm not sure if we're friends."

Lance's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about? Of course we're friends."

"Yes. I know." Walter took a deep breath and looked into Lance's face. The warm brown of his skin and eyes. The cut of his cheekbone. "But are we...just friends?"

"Oh." Lance rubbed the back of his neck. "I’m eleven years older than you.”

“So?”

“So, eleven years is a pretty big difference. You were still in diapers when I started high school.”

“I was not still in diapers when I was three, thanks.” Lovey pecked at Walter’s cheek. He patted her absently. “I’m twenty-seven. My mom died when I was eight. I’ve been on my own since I was fifteen. I’m an adult.”

“A young adult.” Lance sighed. “Walter, we’re friends. Why do you want to ruin our friendship for something that might not even work?”

“Why would it ruin our friendship?” Walter demanded. “Isn’t romance just…friendship with benefits?”

Lance choked, recovered. Stared at his hands. “I don’t know about that. But I’ll level with you. I’ve never had a friendship like ours. And I’ve never had a…a romance that didn’t end badly.”

“I’ve never had a friend, before,” Walter admitted. “Other than my mom, I mean. But I think this could be good. Love is always good. Why can’t you trust me?”

"Because I...just...no."

The GPS beeped, indicating they were almost above the drop zone.

"Oh." Walter lowered his eyes, the old acid leaking into his veins. He read the situation wrong, again. Lance was trying to let him down gently. "It's me, isn't it? I'm too…too weird for you." He stood and shrugged on his parachute.

Lance stared, mouth slack. “That’s not—”

"It's fine.” Walter tried to smile. Failed. “Time to do this thing."

"Wait—”

"C'mon Lance. No time to waste." He leapt into the air, the wool coat taking the edge off the freeze.

---

Lance was in his element. He loved everything about missions—the cadence of fights, the rush of taking down a bad guy—even if he was throwing serious string instead of grenades these days. It felt better, after, anyway.

Lance fired string at the woman manning the control desk. She splattered against the wall. A computer beeped to his right, the steady count down of a bomb or a launch. He took a split second to look at the screen: a bomb launch.

He moved to the computer. Didn't see the woman yank her hand out of the glove that was stuck in the string and pull the gun from her pocket.

Lance heard the bang crack through the air, and then he was on the floor.

Only, he wasn't shot.

Only, her bare hand was plastered back against the wall.

Only, someone was on top of him. Someone with brown hair that smelled like pigeon feathers and chemicals.

Someone who wasn't moving.

"You okay, buddy?"

Walter wheezed a breath, a hollow noise. A wrong noise.

Forcing calm, Lance gently patted down Walter’s birdbone body. There was a damp hole in his coat, by his ribs.

No.

Lance pressed the button on his watch to call the field medic, then the one for reinforcements.

Cradling Walter’s body in his arms, Lance rolled in a slow, smooth motion, depositing Walter on the ground. As his back tapped against the ground, Walter whimpered.

“I’m sorry.” Lance unbuttoned Walter’s coat, unzipped his jacket. He pulled a knife from his pocket and cut Walter’s sweater open until he could see the gaping red mouth of the bullet wound in his side, going into a lung. Lance pulled off his jacket and pressed it to the wound as hard as he could.

"You're going to be okay, Walter, do you hear me?"

Walter smiled weakly, long canines poking into his bottom lip. "It's okay," he said, then muttered something Lance couldn't hear.

Lance's heart beat hard against his ribcage. "What was that, Walter? Stay with me."

A wheezing exhale. A too shallow inhale. Walter looked up at Lance with his bay-blue, gem-on-the-water eyes, color leaching from his skin.

"Stay with me. Please," Lance begged as Walter’s eyes closed and his breath shallowed.

---

It was the deep pain that finally pulled Walter back into consciousness. He blinked against the brightness of the overhead lights, throat scraped raw.

What happened?

"You were shot in your side." A nurse—Marlene Macon—came into focus. "The bullet fractured a rib, which pierced and collapsed your lung. You are going to be okay.”

Oh. Oh. The mission. The gun. Lance.

“What's your pain level?"

"Lance?" He coughed weakly. "Is Lance okay?"

"Right here, man." Lance stepped into the light. His normally immaculate suit was wrinkled, the white shirt brown with blood.

"Walter," Marlene said, "your pain level?"

"Two."

Marlene crossed her arms, fixed him with a look not unlike his grandmother’s “I know you took apart the TV” glare.

"Seven," he admitted.

"I'll let the doctor know."

Later, after more poking and prodding than he cared to remember, Walter was finally instructed to rest. Lance still sat in the corner, oddly silent.

"You can go home," Walter said. "I'm gonna be fine.”

"I'm not leaving until I can take you with me."

"That's not very healthy."

Lance stood, quickly. "You almost died in my arms. That's less healthy."

"This isn't a competition—"

"Why did you ask me if we were more than friends?"

Walter played with the threads in his thin hospital blanket. “I'm bad at reading social cues and wanted to be sure I knew what we were," he muttered.

The bed dipped under Lance's weight. "Is that the only reason?"

A deep lava-like shame burned in Walter's heart. "It's okay, Lance. We don't need to talk about this. I know you don't want me like that."

"Did I say that?"

"I mean, not in so many words, but--"

"Walter Beckett, did I say I didn't want you?" Lance demanded.

"No."

"No. Because I..." Lance took a deep breath. "So I got scared, okay? 'Cause this—this is like nothing I've ever felt before."

Walter chanced a glance up and met Lance's eyes, warm and shimmering in the fluorescent lights. "What about our friendship?"

Lance smiled, slow and curling. "I think we both know we're already more than friends. Question is, do you want to take this further?"

Hope fluttered in Walter’s chest. "Are you asking if I want to date you?”

"Well, do you?"

"Yes."

Lance leaned down and kissed him, soft and undemanding. Hand shaking, heart racing, Walter reached up and traced the hard line of his jaw.

When Lance pulled back, he wore a smirk.

"I love you," Walter said, wide open.

Lance’s smirk softened into a smile. “I love you, too,” he said, leaning down to press a kiss to Walter’s forehead.

#spies in disguise #wallance #walter x lance #readinglikechickensoup #requests #fanfiction

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cat-in-a-fedora · 4 years

Text

Reunion Falls

I think I found something for the reunion falls au of Gravity Falls on the original creator’s blog. The reblog and like functionalities weren’t working for some reason, and I couldn’t find it in the creator’s archive. I really like this, though, so I’m gonna put it here and give credit.

This was originally on @sailorleo, and I couldn’t reblog it for some reason.

`-i dunno, he’s like, really weirdly clingy, but when we’re together all he wants to do is talk about his band…

-dump him.

-dipper that’s the same advice you’ve given me for every boyfriend i’ve ever had

-then why don’t you ask mabel?

-fine, maybe i will. mabel, what do you-

-no actually i think dipper’s right you should dump him

-teen soos playing with baby dipper and getting all excited when he says his name

-it would work better if stan actually knew mabel was coming beforehand, but just couldn’t work up the nerve to tell dipper until the last minute. by some fluke, mabel arrives a day early, and makes contact with dipper while stan is out.

-stan tells dipper that at the time of his birth his parents weren’t expecting twins, and couldn’t afford to take care of two children at once. he only told the kid they were dead because he thought it might be easier to handle than the idea that his parents didn’t want him.

–

-what are you still doing up?

-’m makin’ a sweater for grenda. she’s bigger than me, so it’s taking longer. you had a nightmare?

-no big deal, it was just an anxiety dream.

-a what?

-it’s like a nightmare, but instead of being scary it just makes all your deepest insecurities a reality. grunkle stan says they’re the brain’s way of reminding you that life could always be worse.

-…that sounds dumb.

-yeah, well, life isn’t fair, mabel.

–

-that corduroy girl out sick today or somethin’?

-what? um, no! i was just, uh… i tripped. on a rock. a lot of rocks.

-oh c'mon, kid, you think i never got the snot kicked outta me in elementary school? i know a fist to the face when i see it. c'mere, let’s fix you up.

–

-what can i do, though? they’re all bigger than me, and if i tell the teacher i’ll just look like even more of a wimp.

-ha! if you don’t wanna look like a wimp, you should stop letting other people fight your battles for ya.

-but i can’t-

-now hold on. i know you can’t, you’ve got about as many muscles as a soggy piece of toast. but one thing i know about the world is that guys who were born bigger, stronger, and smarter are always gonna punch down. and guys like you an’ me are stuck right at the bottom like old gum. so if your wits can’t save ya, all there is to do is punch back up.

-….do you mean that metaphorically, or….

-i was wondering when i’d have to dig these old things up again! …see, kid, all I’m trying to say is, when the world fights, you gotta learn to fight back.

–

-oh, shit. we’re not getting anywhere like this.

-*gasp* dipper!!

-what??

-you just said the ’s’ word!

-so? we’re practically teenagers, mabel. we can swear.

-i have friends back home who won’t even say ‘crap’! you must be getting it from somewhere

-i don’t know what you-

-[wendy enters] AYYYYYY DICKWEEDS WHAT’S FUCKIN HAPPENING

–

-ugh, sorry about all that, man. i don’t know why robbie’s always such an asshole to you.

-you don’t think he’s like…..jealous of me, do you?

-HA! ohhhhh my god. oh my god you’re probably right.

-what, does he think I’m gonna like, steal you away? like he’s INTIMIDATED by me? …that feels kinda good, actually.

-oh man, can you imagine? dipper pines, casanova extraordinaire! refined older women such as myself just….COLLAPSING at your feet!

–

-grunkle stan, um…. where are my parents?

-uhh……….. they died.

-oh…. how did they die?

-they………………died.

–

-you know when you’re wearing just the vest without a sweater you kinda look like……. someone. it’ll come to me

–

-mabel, what did you do to the journal????

-what? you told me to pretend it was my diary!

-i said to PRETEND it was your diary, not actually use it as a diary!! you didn’t mess with the stuff inside, did you?

[cut to: a shot of the interior of the journal, filled with stickers and cute little drawings and tiny diary entries about boys and the like]

-…….nnnnnnnope.

–

-if you’re going to be a monster hunter, you’ve got to have a look.

-hey, i’ve already got THAT covered

-no, i mean a look that tells people you mean business. like what i’ve got!

-what’s more businesslike than a leopard wearing sunglasses?

-i can think of a few things. what about like, a jacket? or…. a jacket? something besides a big fluffy sweater.

-listen dip, we’ve only known each other for a few days so i’ll let you off the hook this time. but first rule of mabel? the sweater STAYS.

-ugh, fine, but you’re gonna overheat. hey, what about this? it’s big enough to wear over a sweater. and it’s got pockets!

-but does it have PERSONALITY?

-you can decorate it or whatever i don’t care.

–

-mabel, have you seen my gel?

-nope. why do you gel your hair, anyway?

-i don’t want my bangs to cover my birthmark.

-can’t you just cut them off?

-it’s part of the look.

-ohhh, the 'look’.

–

-soooooo dipper had a crush on you, huh?

-haha, yuuuuuup. he thought he was being super smooth about it too. 100% convinced i had no idea. oh shit, dude, you wanna see this valentines card he made me when he was like, seven?

-you KNOW i do!

-boom! check it. all the blackmail you’ll ever need on one piece of construction paper.

-oh my gosshhhhhhhhh…..wait, "love, ty"?

-oh yeah, ol’ dipstick used to go by 'tyrone’ before he was dipper. just between you and me, dipper suits him better. tyrone is too cool for him.

-why’d he switch?

-dunno, really. he used to hate his birthmark, people would make fun of him for it, yknow? and then one day he just started being super cool with it. he like, reinvented his entire image around the thing. you should’ve seen him before that though, always brushing his bangs down over his forehead… well, at least he puts some effort into his appearance now.

–

-FUCK!

-KID!

-oh no.

-where’d you learn language like that?

-i… uh….

–…..wasn’t from me, was it?

-n-no! it was from…. nobody! i mean, you hear stuff around, and-

-WAHAHA! this is great! now i don’t have to keep my mouth shut around ya! and it isn’t even my fault!

–

-mabel, take out the trash

-booooooo!

-…aren’t you going to do what he said?

-sure, just as soon as i finish kicking dipper’s butt!

-i will dance on your grave, mabel.

-but…he’s your uncle. you should listen to him before he gets mad, right?

-pff, what’s ol’ stan gonna do, throw his dentures at me? (don’t tempt me, kid) half the fun of being a kid is not doing what adults tell you to do! consequences be darned.

-…paz, really, stan loves us. he’s not gonna like, hit me or anything. yikes.

–

-dipper, seriously, what the heck happened between you and gideon!

-i told you, nothing! he’s just a creep.

-oh, is THAT why he won’t stop talking about you? even on our dates! it’s WEIRD. ….you two aren’t like, exes or-

-ew, no!

-haHA! you dated gideon! gideon and dip-per sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-

-we were FRIENDS, okay?? …sort of. i dunno. it was a long time ago.

-heyoooo my drama senses are tingling! now you HAVE to tell me! deets deets deets!

-uuugggghhhhhh fine

-dipper and gideon have been rivals since childhood, but back then it was on somewhat friendlier terms. they would get each other in trouble, start fights over nothing, ruin each other’s stuff, but they would always walk away with smiles on their faces, like an unspoken pact to annoy the shit out of each other forever. but things started to change after gideon found journal 2. dipper didn’t see him around with the other kids as often. his tactics got nastier. he started “winning” more often. things came to a head after stan started teaching dipper to box. one day when dipper and wendy were hanging out together, they ran into gideon, who took the opportunity to tease them mercilessly. when he started going after wendy, dipper socked him, hard, in the nose. “i dunno. i was really mad, but i think i also just wanted to prove i was strong. wendy was always protecting me, so i wanted to protect her back.” after that point, gideon declared them mortal enemies.

-stan and wendy were definitely elated at the fact that dipper punched gideon. stan probably tried to bake him a cake.

–

DOUBLE DIPPER

“BAM! look out party, this girl’s on a mission! and that mission is to find a summer getaway friend group. woah, huddling crowd of teenagers! that’s perfect!”

-paz is talking with everyone listening when mabel interrupts her. “heyo! guess who’s here, it’s mabel, and that’s me.” “…..that’s great, sweetheart.”

-mabel is really excited to make new friends at the party, but most everyone starts hanging around pacifica. mabel tries to make friends with pacifica but paz rejects her, saying “listen, youre new so i’ll fill you in. it might seem like people like you and are interested in you because youre 'quirky’ or whatever, but you’re just a cheap novelty. around here? i’m the one who matters. nobody ignores pacifica northwest. adoring fans?” paz snaps her fingers and the crowd begins to shove mabel out of the circle until she finally falls on the empty dance floor. defeated, mabel shuffles off to the only people not part of the crowd (candy and grenda) “you too, huh?” “don’t worry. when we burn, we burn together.” paz then steps up to the mic and points at them, shouting “hey everyone, check out this adorable new attraction! it’s the reject corner!”

“aww, we don’t need this. the true merit of a partymaster is knowing how to take the party with you. this calls for an impromptu sleepover!”

-mabel offers to cheer up her new friends by ditching the party and having a sleepover instead, candy remarks that they were planning a post-party sleepover together anyway, grenda says how she stole a raunchy romance novel from her mom- wolfman bare-chest. grenda shows off that the book has a full-color illustration of gerard, candy remarks how she wants one of her own, mabel remembers that they have an old copy machine downstairs.

-“i don’t understand. i’m having fun, but i still feel this burning desire to go back downstairs and make her suffer for her crimes. crimes against friendship and partying.” “hey, i know what’ll curb that thirst for vengeance! theft! look what i stole from my mom’s bedside table!” “grenda, you wild girl! this is perfect!” “and it comes with a full-color illustration! his pecs are holographic!” *all three girls scream* “aah!! he is so rugged and brooding, i want to take him home with me and make him my trophy husband!” “ooh, i think we have an old copy machine downstairs! that way we can all keep the poster! come on girls, let’s go make our dreams a reality!”

-the girls end up bringing gerard to life because fuck the laws of reality, he emerges and says “which of you fair maidens brought me into this realm?” candy points to mabel. “girls, i think the party is back on!”

-“hey, fursuit, i don’t know if anyone told you, but this isn’t a costume party. although that would explain YOUR outfit, mabel”, gerard gets angry and tries to defend her by attacking pacifica. pacifica gets a small scratch on her arm and shrieks “are those REAL claws?!” mabel and candy struggle with gerard and finally subdue him (after he loses an arm to the punch bowl) by stuffing him into a closet. “you can come out after you learn to stop being such a butt!!” candy makes some remark about “at least we didn’t make any more!” cut to grenda either using the copy machine or already surrounded by wolf men.

-after the gerard squad starts running wild at the party, mabel gets an idea. “grenda, they’ve already like, werewolf-bonded to you, right? so if you’re in danger, they’ll come and save you!” “..i know what i have to do. hey northwest, be mean to me!” “ok, ok, just… give me a minute. ….hey circus freak, you’ve got arms like a gorilla and a voice like a wrestler, so it’s no wonder that the only boys interested in you are a bunch of wolves!” “…..pacifica, that was really mean.” “YOU TOLD ME TO!!!”

-maybe have pacifica get on the mic again so all the wolves hear her insult

-“grenda I’m sorry you have the body of an amazonian goddess and a voice like ten angels singing one direction!!” “yeah, maybe if one direction were all chain smokers.”

-the girls use this plan to lure the wolfpack into the kitchen, where there’s a sprinkler system connected to the fire alarm. the plan is that once all of the wolves are present, mabel will signal for candy to pull the alarm. however, once mabel gives the signal, it’s revealed that candy has been captured. “i’m sorry, mabel…. their pecs were just so shiny!” “i’m sorry i dragged you into this, pacifica.” “yeah, i’m sorry you dragged me into this, too.” maybe have them cowering on top of the fridge. but just when it looks like all hope is lost, the sprinklers come on anyway. it’s revealed that the first gerard was the one who pulled it, sacrificing himself to save mabel’s life.

-“you will always be in my heart, mabel pines. and i hope…..that i will be in yours…..”

-“well, pacifica, maybe now that we’ve worked together as a team, we can come away from this knowing that our fighting was petty and pointless, having gained a mutual respect.” “are you SERIOUS? all this proves is that you’re a freak, and your friends are freaks, and even though I’m gonna make sure to stay as far away from your little circle of lost causes as possible, the next time we meet? you’re going DOWN, and I’m gonna make sure EVERYONE is watching.” “……welp! i didn’t gain anything from that! maybe next time.”

-“i’m sorry that all this happened, girls. if you don’t wanna hang out with me after this, i get it.” “are you kidding? that was incredible!” “i feel like my heart is on fire! but in a good way!”

-in the aftermath, the girls (sans pacifica) burn the book. as they watch the illustration of gerard smolder, mabel solemnly says “this ends once and for all.” “….my mom’s gonna want that book back.” “once. and. for all.”

IRRATIONAL TREASURE

-pacifica overhears what the twins are trying to do and tails them, then ends up getting captured along with them

-LET ME OUT OF HERE! I AM A NORTHWEST!

-i thought we just established that doesn’t count for anything anymore.

-pacifica yells at mabel for doing something as stupid as leaving a trail of candy wrappers, dipper interrupts to ask her why she always feels the need to shut people down like that. pacifica tells him that its her duty as a woman of status to let everyone know what their place is. “orrrrrr you just feel so threatened by the idea that you’re not as well-liked as you think you are that you need to make everyone else feel bad about themselves.” “WHAT was that?” “threatened?”

-mabel gets her nerve back and yells at pacifica that why would she ever want to be liked by a stuck-up shallow primadonna like her, and throws a hunk of peanut brittle at her, freeing trembly.

-after returning to town, the twins see pacifica being berated by her parents for disappearing and getting her clothes dirty. mabel feels sorry for her and goes over to explain that oh, it was actually my fault, i was trying to uncover dirt on the northwest family and pacifica stepped up to intervene, and we got into a fight. also we totally didnt find anything to shame the northwests so you can thank pacifica for that too. the northwests then threaten to sue the pines family for hurting their daughter, but paz holds them back, saying something about how it isnt worth it to waste time on poor people like mabel.

-this is the start of mabel and pacifica’s budding friendship, and pacifica’s redemption arc

SUMMERWEEN

-hey, little man!

-oh, hey wendy! ….and robbie.

-so….. chilling in the bushes without a costume on? what’s that about?

-nah, i’d say he’s got a pretty solid 'loser’ costume lined up already.

-i’m just hanging out with mabel and her friends, i guess. this big legendary monster thing says its gonna eat us unless we collect 500 pieces of candy but y'know. no worries.

-sick, dude. and you didn’t even have to go out and find this thing yourself? your sis must be like, a monster magnet.

-yeah, she…really is.

-well, i’d help you with the mission if i could, but i’ve got this whole 'aloof teenager’ thing to keep up, yknow? no trick-or-treating for these old bones. but I’ve got a few extra sweets in my purse if you need some more handouts! we can go find mabel, and-

-NO! i-i mean… no, don’t find her, its ok, i got it, give it to me.

-woah, chill out, you little freak! you’re not HIDING from her, are you? …is everything ok? and don’t say it is, because nobody sweats that much when everything’s ok. not even you.

-……i dunno, it’s like, i don’t mind having her around, but we’re always together and she wants us to do all these “twin” things now and I’m just not sure I’m ready for it yet.

-yeah, i getcha. its gotta be a lot to take in. hey, if you need somewhere to decompress after this whole candy deathmatch thing is over, tambry’s throwing a party at her house in a few. text me when you’re free?

-just try not to dork up the place if you show.

-robbie, if you don’t lay off I’m gonna punch you in the dick.

-i just….. twins are supposed to have this special bond, y'know? like a mind meld or something. and i just feel like i’ve missed so much. things could've….should’ve been different. and i came here because i wanted to make things the way they were supposed to be. i thought like, maybe if we were together we could pretend that its the way things always were and everything was ok. but i cant. its not.

-yeah, i… i’m sorry, mabel. everything just happened so fast, and i couldn’t handle it, and i avoided thinking about it, and….i ended up avoiding you, too. i’ve been kind of a crummy brother so far, huh?

-no, no, i get it…. i’m weird, and this is weird, and you’re one of those weird people who likes to be by yourself. and i understand if you don’t want to be siblings. but… can we at least be friends?

-i don’t see why we can’t be both.

TOURIST TRAPPED

-hey, mabel, i was wondering, uh…… how did our parents die?

-woah, what? they’re not dead! are they?? you’re freaking me out, dipper!

-'sup, hambone?

-oh, hey….. soos, right?

-you got it, lil’ dude! so, what’s eating you? besides the mosquitos anyway. nice, good one soos.

-soos, have you ever tried to do something that you thought would make everyone really happy, but instead it just blows up in your face and everything is awful and it’s all your fault?

-story of my life, dude. probably not on this scale though. just a minor everyday occurrence.

-they probably hate me, don’t they?

-what? no way! i just met you a few hours ago and i can already tell you’re like the least hateable dude I’ve ever met. you’re like if they found a way to combine a smiling puppy with an anime fairy princess.

-but i ruined everything!! that’s what they’ll call me in the history books. mabel, queen of ruining everything. everyone was fine until i got here.

-it’s not your fault, dude. mr. pines had to tell dipper at some point. and dude, if it makes you feel any better, i am PSYCHED to have you here. i was telling customers about it all day!

-thanks, soos, but…. i should probably just go home. maybe if I’m gone dipper and stan can just forget this ever happened and go back to normal.

-you kidding, dog? nothing’s ever normal around here. i know this is like, a huge bombshell, but dipper and stan love each other. they’ll work it out. …hey, my brain just came up with a totally neato idea! why don’t we pitch a tent and have a sleepover out here under the stars? we could swap stories, eat raw marshmallows, and if you still want to go home tomorrow morning you can.

-….only if you’ll try to throw the marshmallows into my mouth with your eyes closed.

-deal.

-hey, mom. yeah i got here ok! it’s great, the woods around here are so cool and mysterious! oh, and i met this really cute guy but he turned out to be a bunch of gnomes under a hoodie. i know!! wild, right!

-h-hey mabel….can i….talk to them?

-…oh, mom, dipper wants to talk to you. is that ok?

-….hi, mo- ..mrs pines. it’s dipper.

-“oh, you must be the friend mabel was talking about! she was so excited to meet you! i hope you two are having fun!”

-yeah, it's…. it’s good to have her here.

-“are you all right, dear? you’re sniffling.”

-yeah, i’ve just got a cold. it’s ok.

THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE MABEL

-mabel sees a commercial for the tent of telepathy on tv and gets excited, pulling dipper over to see the famous “psychic”. dipper is annoyed at best and just groans, expositing that he and gideon have been rivals since they were little. he says he’s been trying to catch gideon in the act of something, ANYTHING, for as long as he can remember, and now with the help of mabel’s journal he’s devised a new theory: that gideon might actually be a vampire! he’s always coated in lotion, has stark white hair, speaks like an old southern man, and it might also explain his psychic powers. but dipper isn’t allowed in the tent of telepathy anymore, and he hasn’t been able to get close to gideon in his personal life. mabel offers to go investigate in dipper’s place, but he warns her that it’s not worth it and gideon is a “creep”, offhandedly mentioning that mabel probably doesn’t have the investigative skills necessary to crack the case on her own. determined to prove herself, mabel goes anyway, in “disguise” as a journalist so she can ask gideon questions when the show is over. during the questioning gideon becomes enamored with her, and when mabel asks if he’s a vampire he flirts around the issue, suggesting that he is simply to win mabel over. it works, and she agrees to go on a date with him.

-mabel takes notes on gideon’s mannerisms in the journal while on dates

-over time, gideon begins to reveal his true colors, and mabel realizes that dating a supposed vampire doesn’t really make up for gideon’s behavior.

-actually i changed my mind about the vampire plot, probably dipper just tries to keep mabel away from gideon because of their checkered past together

BOYZ CRAZY

“….can i confess something?”

“yeah, of course.”

“I’ve never like….. LIKED anyone. I’ve dated plenty of guys, and even a couple girls, but i don’t think i felt what i was supposed to be feeling for any of them. i thought that eventually if i went out with enough people, i would start to like at least one of them, but…. i dunno. I’m starting to think that i’ll never fall in love. maybe i CANT fall in love.”

“well… that’s not the end of the world! love kinda. sucks. especially when someone doesn’t like you back.”

“ugh, that’s what I’ve been doing to all these people! for years! i suck. i keep trying to be like everyone else, but i just end up pushing people away. I’ve lost so many friends…”

“hey, it’s not your fault. robbie’s a turd, you know that.”

“yeah, i guess you’re right… i dunno, you ever feel like there’s something, like, fundamentally wrong with you? like something fucked up in the womb and now you can’t ever be a normal person?”

[dipper pulls up his shirt slightly, looking at his binder]

“yeah. i do”

DREAMSCAPERERS

bill: I WAS WONDERING WHEN I’D RUN INTO YOU! QUESTION MARK, SHOOTING STAR…. AND DIPPER OF COURSE!

mabel: whoa, hey, how come soos and i get special names, but not dipper? that’s not fair!

dipper: uh, mabel, that’s not really-

bill: THAT IS HIS SPECIAL NAME, KID! ALWAYS HAS BEEN. HE JUST ADOPTED IT A LITTLE EARLY IS ALL.

dipper: wait, what?. you…you were the one in my dreams? all this time, it was YOU?

-new scene-

dipper: it’s just… the name was a big part of my like, identity, yknow? i thought it was so cool and special and for the first time in my life i was starting to feel NOT like a freak. i thought i was being cool but i was just doing exactly what bill wanted! [pulls his jacket over his head] aaaargh, what have i been doing all this time?!

mabel: di- …..bro, listen to me. your whole like, supreme tough guy monster hunter thing? it’s PRETTY silly. but that’s what i like about it! it’s all you, and you own it! and nobody chose to make you like that but you! and you didnt choose the name dipper because bill told you to, right? that was still all you. so, i don’t know. even if the guy who made it up turned out to be kiiiiiiind of a major jerk i dont think that means all of that is ruined forever. and if you stop going by dipper i’m going to have to start going by shooting star as revenge. star for short!

dipper: ….i think i like you as mabel better.

mabel: aww no, i was already getting used to it! star sounds like the name of a princess, doesnt it? or a galactic warrior!

-BUT DON’T YOU WORRY YOUR GEL-COVERED LITTLE HEAD, KID! I WON’T BE BOTHERING YOU LIKE THAT AGAIN. YOU’VE PROVEN YOURSELF TO BE EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING AND USELESS. CONGRATS.

SCARY-OKE

-in this case obviously dipper wouldn’t want the agents around, since stan has taught him better than that.

-dipper decides that he’s finally ready to talk to his birth parents over the phone, but when he does they insist that they never had twins and mabel has always been an only child, and he realizes they don’t know who he is. everything he knows is once again called into question.

-mabel tries to get the agents’ help in figuring out the mystery behind dipper’s birth and proving that the two of them are siblings

-maybe dipper raises the dead as a way to threaten stan? like, oh you’re so afraid of the supernatural, what if i do this

-or mabel tries to lure the agents back to the shack by creating a supernatural disaster, like oh, say, zombies

-stan finally admits, with zombies breaking down the door, that he got mixed up with the supernatural and made some very bad decisions, although he isn’t specific about what happened. he relinquishes that he kept the truth from dipper all these years not for his sake, but because he couldn’t bear to admit that he was responsible for separating dipper from the family he should’ve grown up with.

THE GOLF WAR

-mabel and pacifica run into each other at the mini golf course, and after watching mabel sink the winning shot pacifica realizes she has feelings for her. furious with herself for developing a crush on somebody like mabel, pacifica challenges her to a rematch and vows to destroy her.

-dipper and stan are worried about pacifica’s behavior, but mabel assures them that she probably just wants a little one-on-one game and had to disguise it as a fight to the death since her parents were with her.

-pacifica gets to the golf course early to get some extra practice in, discovers the lilliputtians, and decides to use them to win against mabel, convinced that if she proves to herself that she’s better then her crush will go away.

-mabel becomes concerned with pacifica’s attitude and worried that she’s gone back to her old ways, bribing somebody to help her cheat. eventually she’s captured and tied up, and pacifica has to save her.

-in the aftermath, pacifica can’t stomach apologizing, so mabel does it for her. “hold on, dip. i think i know what’s going on here.” “what? no. you definitely don’t. whatever you’re about to say about me is completely and totally wrong.” “so i just want to let you know, pacifica…. it’s ok. i understand.” “understand what there’s nothing to understand” “yes there is! and i’ve felt that way before, too. even about you sometimes.” “wh…..huh? you have?” “yeah! all that pressure to compete really gets to you sometimes. but just because i beat you at something it doesn’t mean that you’re any less cool than you were before., ok? so i don’t want you to feel like you have to prove that!” “oh. yeah. yeah, that. yeah.” [awkward pause] “soooo…. you don’t hate me?” “of course not!” “ok good. that’s like, good to know. i don’t hate you either.”

-theyre playing truth or dare and mabel dares dipper to hold candy’s hand for the rest of the night

-mabifica bullshit: 'let me see those beautiful eyes’, holding hands post-confession in nmm, arguing about whether or not to run off into the woods together at night

THE LOVE GOD

-during a conversation with wendy, dipper casually mentions that he’d like a girlfriend. mabel overhears and decides to try and pair him up with someone. she enlists the help of candy and grenda for this secret mission, but notices that candy seems uncomfortable with it. eventually she admits that she’s had a crush on dipper for a while, and mabel is ecstatic. she conspires to set them up on a date at the woodstick festival. candy makes mabel promise not to tell dipper, but of course she can’t keep her mouth shut and blurts it out while the two are having breakfast at the diner. mabel expects dipper to leap at the chance, but instead he just feels awkward. he tells mabel that although he likes candy and thinks she’s great, he’s never thought of her like that. mabel urges him to give her a chance, but dipper argues that it will end badly. he spots candy nearby, freaks out, and runs for cover. it’s at this point that mabel meets the love god.

NORTHWEST MANSION MYSTERY

-“….and grenda can take a hit pretty well so she’d be the best choice for a distraction while i spray 'em with the anointed water from behind, but we might need pacifica to-”

“actually, dip, i was gonna ask if i could handle this one on my own.”

“what? why? we don’t know how powerful this ghost is!”

“because i, the wonderful mabel pines, am going to confess my love for pacifica tonight!”

“you only realized you liked her two days ago!”

“exactly! no time to waste when romance is afoot!”

“you don’t even know if pacifica LIKES girls!”

“well i don’t know if she likes BOYS either. she always seemed kinda indifferent to-

"even if she does, what if she doesn’t like you back? and you know what her parents are like, they probably wouldn’t want her dating another girl anyway…”

“why do you always have to shoot me down like this”

“…..i’m sorry, mabel… i just don’t want you to get hurt again.”

-“we did it!” “haha, yes!!”

-(internally) “this is the perfect moment, mabel, just go for it!”

-“umm, pacifica? now that we just beat this big scary ghostman together, there’s something i wanted to-”

-“YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS, FOOLISH CHILD”

-“….on second thought, I’m gonna go exorcise screamsville here first.”

-“that’s probably a good idea”

-{“WITCH! SERVANT OF EVIL!”}

-“i’m sorry. i didn’t want you to know this about me.”

-“ok, so, your family’s gotten mixed up in some bad stuff, that doesn’t mean-”

-“no, it does. you’ve always been so nice to me, and i never did anything to deserve it… hanging out with you, and dipper, and everyone, hanging around the shack….i started to realize that this isn’t normal. my parents aren't……normal. and now I’m just so scared that no matter what i do, i’ll end up just like them.”

-“….pacifica. i know you. your outsides may be crusted over with gold coins and expensive body lotion and hairspray, but your insides are made of bubbles and kitten kisses and rainbow dolphins high-fiving each other. your parents are a couple of stinky poo-heads inside and out and you’re not anything like them.”

[pacifica, crying, kisses her]

-“oh no. this was a mistake. I’m leaving.”

-“pacifICA WAIT”

-“what would you say if i said i was in love with you?”

-“i’d say you only wanted me for my money”

-“oh pacifica, your heart is gold enough to last me a lifetime!”

-“shhhhhpsshh stop!!”

-[mabel kisses her on the cheek]

-“no but really stop i don’t want my parents to see”

-“ohhh yeah sorry”

THE LAST MABELCORN

-things start out much like they do in canon, but when mabel meets the unicorn and it tells her that she’s not pure of heart she jumps to the conclusion that bill has “tainted” her in some way by taking over her body. the abuse metaphors here are obvious. she sadly returns home and begs ford to help her in some way, and he takes her down to his study. meanwhile, dipper sets back out with the girls in mabel’s place.

-“…..but it wasn’t me….” “what?” “i…..i have to go.” “mabel, wait!”

have it so like, she’s not necessarily visibly distraught when she talks to ford, or even to her friends, but more determined to “fix” herself, hiding the worry that she’s a bad person beneath her insistence that it must be bill’s fault.

“GRUNKLE FORD! bill gunked up my soul and i need you to fix it so i can be pure of heart again!” “…mabel…” “please please please PLEEEAASE!”

-“no offense, but you break the law daily, you two have kind of a…. mutual violent streak, and you……” “don’t say anything.” “and if being involved with bill really did disqualify mabel, then I’ve been doomed for years.” “you’re also not a 'maiden.’” “good point.”

-“man, this is bullshit.” “i know. how are we gonna find someone more pure than mabel?” “no, i mean. the game’s rigged. nobody’s completely 'pure of heart’ or whatever, and how do you even measure that? that glitter-snorting poser doesn’t ever have to give up the goods because she’s asking for something that doesn’t exist.” “…so how do we get the hair?” “well, i say if princess unattainabelle back there doesn’t wanna play fair, we shouldn’t have to either. alright, kids, who’s ready to add a few more bad deeds to the naughty list?” “YEAH!”

-meanwhile, mabel’s mind begins to be encoded. “i can’t undo what’s already been done, mabel. but i can make it a lot harder for bill to hurt you again.”

-mabel’s thoughts: “do you a favor” “have craz and xyler ever kissed?” “adopt every kitten in the world” “PACIFICA PACIFICA PACIFICA”

-mabel ends up putting the helmet on ford because she starts to have intrusive thoughts worrying that he could be possessed by bill, and she decides that proving herself wrong would put them to rest. “ugh, shut UP, brain! this is why we don’t talk anymore.”

-when mabel reads his thoughts, she freaks out and, unlike dipper, actually succeeds in hitting ford with the memory gun. he’s knocked to the ground and she approaches him cautiously as he rises back to his feet. when he explains that he’s not bill and the gun didn’t work anyway, mabel starts crying and hugs him. “its ok, mabel. you did the right thing. when dealing with an enemy like bill, you can’t fully trust anyone, not even the people closest to you. …maybe if i’d known that when i was younger, we wouldn’t be in this mess now.”

-“….i’m a bad person.” “oh come on, you don’t still believe that unicorn, do you? i thought dipper told you she was full of it.” “no, i… did something really bad today. i thought bill did something to gunk up my heart but it was really just me all along.” “wow, what did you do?” “nn. you’d hate me if i told you.” “mabel, you could kill a dog in front of me and i wouldn’t hate you. and if you don’t tell me i’ll just assume the worst.” “i AM the worst.” “ohhhh my god. …..ok, let’s say that bill did break your soul for all eternity or whatever. so what? you’re still my girlfriend. and in case you haven’t noticed, i’m pretty messed up too.”

ROADSIDE ATTRACTION

-“aww, come on! think about it…. just us girls, alone under the stars…” “eww, fine! i’ll come if you stop being gross”

-“i can’t believe my own sister got a girlfriend before me!”

-“romance ain’t a contest, kid.”

-“…yeah, you’re probably r-”

-“just kidding its definitely a contest. one you’re losing.”

-“he was… flirting with me! i think he actually likes me back!”

-“AAAAAAAAA!!” “get it, girl!” “candy wins!” “i wouldn’t get your hopes up, chiu. he’s probably just being a tool.”

-“pacifica, how could you?” “why must you deny true love?” “hey, dipper’s my friend and i think he’s great, but he sucks. I’m just being realistic.”

-“oh, no. i think i just agreed to take candy out on a date.”

-“….aaaaand do you LIKE her?”

-“well, yeah…………….as a fr-”

-“UGGGGGHHHHHH I KNEW IT. listen, 'dopper’, you got yourself into this mess, and its not up to me to help get you out. you deserve it for toying with a woman’s feelings, anyway.”

“candy…. saved my life. even after i broke her heart. she’s so cool…………………………………oh, SHIT.”

-“it’s ok, dipper. if dating pacifica has taught me anything, its that the way to a woman’s heart is through emotional angst and near-death experiences. and we get those every day!”

-“you deserve this and i have no sympathy for you.”

–

DIPPER AND MABEL VS THE FUTURE

same basic setup, with mabel hitting up all her friends for party plans, but the focus is on having to return home without all the friends she’s made rather than anxiety about growing up (although that’s still a factor). in addition to discovering candy and grenda won’t be around, she also finds that pacifica’s parents are becoming suspicious of her frequent outings so she’s trying to lay low for a little while, so she won’t be able to hang out for the last week of summer.

ford invites dip along for the alien hunt, and doesn’t exactly offer dipper the chance to be his apprentice, but is impressed with his adventuring skills and the fact that dipper has been training in the art of mystery solving for years. au dipper is quite a bit braver than canon dipper after all, and quicker to spring into action right after ford. theres still a bit of hesitation involved, and when ford praises him for his courage, he laughs and remarks that mabel would’ve jumped right away without any thought. ford then confides in dipper that although mabel uses her heart before her head, he can still see how scared she is inside and thinks it would be best for mabel to return home and cease connection with gravity falls, because he’s seen first-hand how much bill has hurt her already and he doesn’t want it to get any worse. he also tells dipper that he can tell mabel’s heart isn’t in any kind of study or quest for knowledge like he is, she’s just a kid having fun, and he can tell that its mostly because she wants to impress dipper and it might be better for her to focus her energy on her own interests, which can’t happen if she stays in gravity falls. dipper reluctantly agrees, saying that he’s always sort of worried about the same thing. of course, this is the part that mabel hears over the walkie-talkie.

for all that mabel and ford’s relationship is better, he still sees her as a child while he sees dipper as more of an equal. he warns dipper that letting mabel become dependent on him, or he on her, is a bad idea, because one day they’re going to have to go their separate ways, and mabel might not be able to handle it (implying that she’ll do something drastic to keep him around, like stan did to him).

theres a scene midway through the episode of pacifica sulking on her bed, hugging a pillow to her face. her mother’s voice calls her for dinner from downstairs, and she groans and gets up. looking in the mirror, she realizes her mascara has run and she scoffs and rubs at her eyes. when she opens them up again, the mirror is full of eyes. “something wrong, blondie?” it cuts off there

after mabel runs away into the woods at the end of the episode, pacifica emerges from the bushes in her full incognito gear, saying she came to warn her about bill. that bill tried to make a deal with her but she refused everything he offered, and that he’s getting desperate and is going to try again with someone else, probably before the summer ends. she tells mabel that if neither of their families want them, they’ll run away, out of gravity falls, together. when mabel realizes she has the rift, she groans, annoyed that she has to go back home and return it. but pacifica insists that this actually makes the plan better, that if they leave gravity falls with the rift it can be kept safer… and that, maybe it would be better if pacifica held onto it, since bill is targeting mabel. mabel agrees and hands it over…. at which point pacifica takes a moment to admire it, and then smashes it to the ground. she laughs, takes off her sunglasses, and is revealed to have been possessed by bill. then the world ends.

WEIRDMAGEDDON 1

-after ford is captured, dipper runs into grenda, as in literally runs into her, while she’s attempting to chase a monster in process of carrying off candy. the two travel together for the next three days, finally deciding to explore the mall in search of mabel and the others. on the way there, though, the two are ambushed by bill’s lackeys. before the fight can begin, grenda tosses dipper out of harm’s way and shouts for him to go on without her while she holds off the monsters. dipper reluctantly escapes, leaving grenda to an ambiguous fate.

-during that time, candy finds pacifica huddled in a pile of rubble, and urges her to come help find the others, but she’s reluctant. “look, mabel’s not here anymore, alright?! she’s gone. bill got her. so you can stop pretending to like me.” “candy does not pretend. not when it comes to friendship.” “….if you just left me here, nobody would have to know.” “on your feet, northwest.”

“augh, my poor hair… it’s got like, twigs and shit in it.” “do you want me to cut it off?” “what? no. why would i do that.” “it’s a symbol! in stories, girls cut off their long hair when they are going on journeys and breaking free, leaving the past behind… it is cool and majestic and– pacifica, YOU should cut off MY hair!” “wait, seriously? …ok, whatever, fine, do your weird impulsive nerd thing. you got any like, scissors?” “let me see….. six, seven, eight pairs! i also have a knife.” “candy, what the fuck.”

-dipper finds wendy, pacifica, and candy all hiding together in the mall. dipper is surprised and relieved to find that candy is safe and she talks about how she bit the monster’s hand to get it to free her, proudly revealing that one of her teeth has turned completely red as a result. dipper admits what happened to grenda, and while pacifica and wendy look worried, candy remains adamant that she’s strong and will be all right. hesitantly, dipper asks if any of them have seen mabel. the room goes quiet, and pacifica confesses what happened, that bill came to her and threatened to possess and torture mabel again if she didn’t let him use her body. she thought that if she agreed, she’d become a ghost like mabel did and be able to use a puppet as a vessel in time to warn somebody. instead she simply blacked out, and when she came to she was just in time to see mabel being sealed in a bubble and taken away.

-at some point pacifica confesses to dipper that bill never threatened to hurt mabel. she made the deal willingly because he promised her that mabel would be able to stay in gravity falls if she let him borrow her body, and she was just so scared of losing her, and everyone.

-candy’s arm is broken in the car chase and ensuing wreck against gideon’s crew. in the aftermath, pacifica uses the remains of her jacket to make a sling.

ESCAPE FROM REALITY

mabeland is nearly the same as in canon, though maybe with some minor alterations to reflect the events of the summer. dippy fresh is replaced by a series of “dream dippers”, versions of dipper that mabel had imagined he might be like before actually meeting him. most are unrealistically cool, but one in particular is just someone who would be the ideal brother, always looking out for her and wanting to be with her. in the end of course, mabel has to look at all of this and decide that real dipper is the one she wants. (theres also a fake pacifica who shares all of mabel’s interests and is hopelessly in love with her, always flirting and offering romantic gestures, but without any of the sass and personality that make her who she is. pacifica ends up snapping her neck.)

mabel introduces the dream dippers one by one like they’re contestants on a game show, but one spot is left empty. dipper asks who it’s for, to which mabel nervously replies that it’s more convenient to have something extra just in case. later on, in the wilderness of mabeland, dipper overhears mabel talking to someone. “i don’t understand. everyone can finally be happy here. wendy can break all the rules she wants and never get in trouble, candy can be herself without people making fun of her, pacifica can get away from her parents, and dipper…. well maybe i can understand why HE wants to leave, since he apparently doesn’t want to deal with me….” suddenly, dipper hears his own voice reassuring her that everything will be alright, and he’ll stay by her side forever, that the summer never has to end. she says “do you really mean that?” to which he replies “of course. you know i’m the best brother ever.” the voice is revealed to be perfect, ideal brother dipper.

crushed by this, dipper retreats to the pond, where instead of being approached by wendy he’s approached by candy. she sits down and asks him what’s wrong, and he tells her how awful he feels that he couldn’t have done better for mabel. she assures him that he’s a wonderful person, and mabel’s being silly for not wanting someone like him as a brother. she then tells him that she was being silly for being mad at him, too, that she’s realized he was right all along, and she should’ve forgiven him earlier. “really? …'cause i was totally with you on the whole 'i was a jerk’ thing.” then candy ups the ante, going on to talk about how oh, he’s so much smarter and braver than her, and she was just upset because she thought she stood a chance with him, but she’s such a loser, she could never- dipper stops her there, worried. he continues to insist that it was his fault, he WAS being an asshole, and he should’ve apologized to her a long time ago, but he was nervous “because…. i DO like you, candy. like, like-like you.” he tells her to stop berating herself, that he likes her because she doesn’t let anybody change how weird she is and that she’s not acting like…. herself. it’s at that moment that he realizes what’s going on. as “candy” begins dissolving into bugs, a fist collides with her head and she explodes. its revealed to be grenda, who managed to find her way in because “the door was unlocked.”

when it comes to the trial, mabel’s memories are similarly flipped through, but instead of having a twin to be there in her time of need, she had nobody. she’s never had anybody like that until she met dipper.

TAKE BACK THE FALLS

-candy and grenda’s symbol is a disco ball. “…and this one could mean a person who can see the fun in any situation! or just a party animal.” “hey, that’s me!” “that’s me too!” “it’s both of us!! SYMBOL SISTERS!!!” [grenda lifts candy up onto her shoulders and they each take a hand, candy on her right side since her left arm is broken and grenda on the left]

-“we’re proud of you, daughter. saving the world will be perfect for salvaging our reputation! i still think those pines kids are a bit of a bad influence on you, though.”

-“oh YEAH? how’s THIS for a bad influence?!” [she pulls mabel into a passionate kiss] “news flash, dad! your perfect daughter’s a big fat gross lesbian! and when i grow up I’m gonna marry this riffraff right here, and change my name to pines too!! so DEAL WITH IT!!!”

stan still loses his memory as he did in canon, but dipper is the most visibly distraught and won’t stop begging him to remember. he tells him how even though they fought a lot over that summer, he loves him so much and he’d never ask for a better grunkle. he desperately tries to jog his memory with baby pictures, but they need to trigger more immediate memories first.

the solution for mabel to stay in gravity falls would be to fabricate a lie that dipper is ford’s grandson, ford being the twin that faked his own death to escape a life on the run, but they’ve just come back to reconnect with the family (since dipper lost his parents apparently), and mabel didn’t want to tell her parents at first because she was afraid they wouldn’t want her staying with an estranged family member/ex-con. but she’s made so many great friends and she loves this town and wants to stay with her “cousin”.

while the northwests go house hunting, mabel invites pacifica to stay at the shack until they can find a new home.

rather than leaving for a new adventure, ford and stan decide to stay at the shack and rest for a while, just settle into their new family dynamic. soos, melody, and abuelita all still move in, and so the house is renovated to make room for the huge family.

with the journals destroyed, the mystery squad now has to start from square one…. but dipper tells mabel that she doesn’t have to do anything to impress him anymore. that he’s ready to try just being a kid again.

#gravity falls #reunion falls #gravity falls au #interesting #i think tumblr might have actually glitched on me

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royalcordelia · 5 years

Text

This Home is Vast

Summary: Delphine Lacroix wants to write a tale of adventure and romance, so naturally she writes the story of how Uncle Gil and Aunt Anne fell in love.

“The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” - Maya Angelou

1908.

Delphine Lacroix had a meager few memories from her very young days of girlhood. There were some things she wished she could recall, like the wide, bright eyes that her mother had and the melodic tenderness of her voice. Sometimes it’s enough for other people to have those memories for you, Aunt Anne had said when she was very small. I made sure I memorized every little bit of your momma so that when I tell you stories, you’ll feel her with you. Close your eyes, chickadee, and I’ll tell you of her wedding day. It’ll be like she’s right here

And it was. When Anne spun her words into yarn of gold, Delphine could close her eyes and imagine her face on her mother’s, and soft arms around around her chest. Dellie would lay with her head in Anne’s lap and listen to all the stories the freckled girl could muster, even the ones that weren’t about her mother - tales of adventure, courage, strength, and grace. She could find pieces of herself in the protagonists that Anne spoke of because, It’s important to see yourself in the people you aspire to, Dellie. I see these traits in you, and I admire you for them.

But aside from afternoons curled up into Anne’s side, the youngest days of Dellie’s girlhood were distant from her. She wished she could write down the things she did remember, tell a story of the home she’d flowered in.

“Uncle Gil?” she asked. From where she stood at the window, she could see Uncle Gil look up from his clothbound text and smile.

“Yes, honeybee?”

“Do you have any empty journals in your study that I could use? I want to practice my writing.”

Gilbert closed his book and leaned forward, always pleased to hear his niece take on new academic endeavors. Even at the humble age of ten whole years, she was as bright as both her mother and father, and had somehow learned Gilbert’s insatiable motivation.

“Of course. Are you planning on writing one of your Aunt Anne’s tales of ‘grand adventure and romance?’”

Dellie turned around and leaned on the window frame, pursing her lips as she considered her options.

“I want to. But I think I also want to write a story that I know, one that I lived through. I haven’t been on any grand adventures.”

“Now that’s not true. Come here,” Uncle Gil replied, pulling her into his lap. Dellie leaned her head onto his shoulder and let out a sigh. Even when she preferred to keep her worries private, Uncle Gil had a way of snagging the truth right from her.

“All the heroes in Aunt Anne’s stories ride to far off places and battle the greatest forces of evil ever known by mankind!”

“You’ve tamed plenty of tempests,” Gilbert countered.

“Like what?”

“You marched right up to the Avonlea school board and demanded that you be allowed in the school with the rest of the kids. I think that was very courageous.”

Dellie frowned, burying herself as deep into denial as she would go.

“That was nothing.”

“It wasn’t nothing! You’re the first child who looks like you to ever go to the Avonlea school.” Gilbert bounced her on his knee to ease her drooping mood. “What about the time those women in town were saying something mean about your mother? You poured their lemonade down their dresses.”

Dellie’s lips formed into a pout that had her Uncle Gil wrapped around her finger even from when she was a baby. “Daddy punished me for a whole day after that.”

“Because it’s impolite to ruin dresses, not because you weren’t brave. He didn’t want to tell you, but he was so proud. You’re more like you mother than you know.” Gilbert pressed a kiss to her cheek. “How’s that for a story idea?”

Delphine twirled one of Uncle Gil’s curls with her pinky while she considered this, but ultimately shook her head in adamant finality.

“I want to save my story for when I’m older, so I can write bibliography of my life-”

“ Biography , darling.”

“- and make it a best-seller, like Aunt Anne’s book on Avonlea. But I think there’s one story I know just as well as my own.”

“Oh yeah? Which one is that?”

Delphine smiled with trickster eyes she learned from her uncle, then poked his nose.

“Yours and Aunt Anne’s.”

1899.

Back in the days of Gilbert’s apprenticeship with Dr. Ward, the aged man had seen the weary circles beneath the boy’s eyes and cocked a brow.

“Girl trouble?” he asked with a hint of humor. Gilbert fought the urge to shoot a panicked look toward the door, the other side of which held a very quiet secretary. Yes, there had been girl trouble - what with Gilbert trying to figure out the cause of his seemingly endless tachycardia. No, his tired eyes were not the result of his own uncertainty.

“Delphine is teething. Poor thing hasn’t slept or eaten much in days,” Gilbert confessed.

“That’s a simple fix, my boy. Why didn’t you ask me sooner?”

This was how the Blythe-Lacroix home had been saved by a simple scrap of paper with a list of safe, at-home teething remedies. Gum massage, a cold spoon, a damp washcloth… At the kitchen table where he always seemed to sit with Delphine, Gilbert pulled a spoon from ice cold water and placed it into the baby’s open mouth. The tension on her tiny forehead disappeared, and her relief seemed immediate.

“Dr. Ward acted like I should’ve known this already,” Gilbert lamented, rubbing Dellie’s back as she cooed. “But the medical journals don’t really report on anything other than bacterial transmission and obscure cases of rare disease. Where’s a fellow supposed to start with the basics?”

Dellie took out the spoon and waved it in Gilbert’s face, before sticking it right back into her mouth.

“I suppose you’re right. I should’ve learned these things from my mother. Not like I would’ve enjoyed asking dad about these things, even if he was still around.” Gilbert paused, pressing a kiss to the top of the baby’s head. “Don’t worry, Dellie. You can always ask me anything. No matter what it is. And I’ll tell you all of my secrets so that we’re equal.”

The little baby could not know then that she would grow to share every little secret with this scrawny uncle of hers. He would know of every fear that clutched at her heart, and he would soothe them with his steady reassurance. He would let her reveal all of her misbehavings, and absolve her of her childhood guilts with forgiveness that came as easy as breathing. He would understand on the day that she’d confess that she’d fallen in love with a white boy at her college, and how desperately she wanted to earn his respect (Gilbert knew she’d already had it). Those days were a long ways away, but he’d know it all.

If he wanted it to be fair, he had to begin the exchange himself. So he did, with his tender words.

“Delphine, I think I’m falling in love with Anne.”

Dellie ceased her cooing, staring up at her apprehensive uncle with understanding eyes. Gilbert peeked up at the doorway to make sure Bash wasn’t eavesdropping before quietly continuing.

“It doesn’t feel like I thought it might. I always knew that I wanted to be around her, and that she was really pretty, but lately…” Gilbert sighed. “She’s just seriously beautiful. And so smart and courageous. And she’s so good with you and never has anything unkind to say about anyone.”

Dellie grabbed his finger with her whole hand and shook it excitedly.

“I know what you’re thinking. What about that blonde lady you met one time? Winnie is...a friend. She’s charming and nice, no one can deny that. But Anne appeals to a different part of me - complements and cherishes it. She held my hand and it felt like she was supposed to.” He scoffed. “I don’t know, I sound absolutely ridiculous.”

“I don’t think that’s ridiculous at all,” Bash interrupted from the doorway. Gilbert jumped, pulling Dellie a bit closer to his chest, then glared at the intruder. “Sorry, Blythe, I didn’t mean to overhear. I just wanted to check up on my daughter.”

“I think she feels better. She hasn’t cried in a while,” Gilbert stated shortly, handing over the girl who’d reached grabby hands up towards her father. Bash settled the baby on his shoulder and sat down at the table opposite of Gilbert. The young boy looked like he was steeling himself for battle, but kept his lips locked together.

“So...Anne, huh? Can’t say I blame you.”

“I don’t want to talk about this,” Gilbert said sternly, but only half heartedly, the way people quietly cry out I need to tell someone !”

“Why not? You’re not embarrassed are you?”

“Of course I am!” Gilbert snapped. “Or...I don’t know. No, I’m not. At least, not because of her, she’s amazing. It’s embarrassing because I see her and…”

“Spit it out, Blythe. It’s okay.”

Gilbert released a shaky sigh. Then, he muttered, “These days I can barely breathe when she’s around, and it’s all I can do to keep myself from grinning like an absolute idiot. It’s entirely overwhelming and I don’t like it.”

Bash smirked the way he did when he thought he knew something Gilbert didn’t.

“I’ll grant you that it’s overwhelming, but let me give you my advice on something. Look at this darling baby girl.” Bash lifted Delphine up in the air, and she giggled in delight. “Every time I see her, the air gets stolen from my lungs and I smile like a moke. There’s nothing more overwhelming than the love I have for my daughter, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Gilbert, your budding love for Anne with an E? Cherish it. Nurture it. Let it grow. I promise it will be worth it.”

Gilbert turned his gaze down to the table, fighting the rising blush on his cheeks.

“See, even little Dellie agrees?” Bash added, waving the baby’s hand. Dellie giggled as she bounced, causing a little smile to dimple the corner of Gilbert’s lips.

“So, what do I do?” Gilbert asked after a silent moment.

“I don’t know, Blythe. That’s for you to figure out.”

But the realization had been enough excitement for the young lad that night. He nodded, then pushed himself up by the heels of his palms.

“I’m off to get some sleep before another tooth pops up,” Gilbert said.

Bash placed his hand on Gilbert’s shoulder as he passed by, giving it a reassuring squeeze, then shoved the boy off in the direction of his quiet room.

1903.

Five-year-old Delphine saw things that no one else did. The endless orchard in her backyard was a vast kingdom of magical apples, guarded by tree soldiers who protected her against all the evil monsters that lurked past the corn field. Tiny faery people danced around the enchanted apples, and talked to Dellie when she was lonely and anxious for what Anne called “a bosom friend.”

“Do you have bosom friends, Anne?” Dellie asked one day when Anne was kneading sweet bread in the kitchen.

“I do! I’m very lucky to have a few kindred spirits.”

Delphine tried out the mouthful of kindred spirit on her tongue, but was quick to remember to adhere to her point.

“Who are they?”

“Well, for one, your uncle Gilbert.”

Delphine jumped from sitting to kneeling in her chair with a cry of glee.

“Uncle Gil is your bosom friend!? ”

“Of course he is,” Anne laughed. “Bosom friends are people that know you very, very well. They’re kind to you and make you smile. They’re people who belong in your life.”

“What do you mean belong? ”

Anne wiped the back of her wrist across her chin, smearing flower over her starry freckles, and thought about it.

“Remember that Venus Fly Trap I showed you in a book a few days ago?” Dellie nodded, always paying close attention to anything Anne had to say. “Would you ever want a flower like that? Would something like that ever belong in your garden?”

Though Delphine had been stunned speechless by the by the carnivorous flower, her face twisted into disgust at the thought of ever owning one. She shook her head slowly, scowling as if she’d smelled something sour.

“What flowers would you rather have instead?”

“The pretty blue ones from momma’s garden!” Dellie decided.

“Exactly. Just like flowers, some people just belong in your life. They’re the people that you like to see and be around. You sometimes don’t know why you need them, but they’re there. A bosom friend isn’t just any flower from the garden. It’s a friend that makes your heart swell up big like a balloon because you’re so happy to be with them. It’s someone you really love.”

Delphine took in this flurry of information quietly, considering with all the seriousness her young brain could muster.

“So you really love Uncle Gil?”

Anne flushed, knowing that Delphine didn’t know quite what she was asking, and forced a smile on her face.

“I do, Dellie.”

The little girl spun to look in the doorway with the brightest smile she’d ever donned. Anne looked up from her bread, meeting eyes with Gilbert who was gazing at her with eyes heavy with some unnameable emotion.

“Uncle Gil! Did you know that you’re Aunt Anne’s bosom friend because she loves you very much?”

Gilbert’s eyes snapped to Anne, but he was quick to cover up his surprise.

“I did!” he replied easily, though his eyes spoke a message that was much more timid.

“Then is she one of your bosom friends? ‘Cause you love her very much too?”

“That’s right, honeybee.”

But he wasn’t looking at Delphine. For a moment, Anne felt like leaving her doughy bread on the table and running back home to Green Gables. Gilbert loved her as a friend, certainly, but the way he’d say it just then meant more, and that terrified her. But as soon as he gave her a small smile, Anne’s worries melted away. A barely perceivable thought flitted into the back of her mind - What if she didn’t mind the romantic look in his eyes? What if it’s what she wanted? Unable to fight the urge to return the shy smile, Anne’s gaze lingered on him without her realizing it.

Delphine, on the other hand, was entirely oblivious to the moment transpiring between the two blooming adults. She grew bored with the silence, and hopped onto the floor, scurrying across the room to the door.

“Kay! Well, I’m going to go look for bosom flower friends in the Enchanted Orchard,” Delphine said sliding out.

“Be back before supper!” Gilbert called before the door could slam shut behind her.

Later that night, when the sun had begun to hug the horizon in a far off place Dellie wasn’t allowed to travel to - Daddy had told her so - she skipped back to the house with a handful of flowers that she wanted to give Aunt Anne. That way, Aunt Anne could have more bosom friends, since sometimes Uncle Gil was a little serious. But what she found in the living room gave her pause.

There was Aunt Anne and Uncle Gil standing in the middle of the living room, so close together that Delphine was sure they’d hug each other. Isn’t that was bosom friends did? He was tall compared to her, and Anne had to look up to stare into his eyes. They were speaking to each other, but it was too quiet for Dellie to hear. Most of the time they used words that were too big for her to understand, anyways.

She’d had never seen people act like this before. Uncle Gil’s hands held Anne’s, but instead of looking happy, Anne looked like she’d seen something very scary. Surely Uncle Gil didn’t scare Anne. They always smiled when they were together. Dellie had a vague thought that the scene looked right out of her fairy tale books, and Aunt Anne was the most beautiful princess in all of Avonlea. Her prince looked like he agreed.

Just as Gilbert bowed his head and grazed his lips against Anne’s, Delphine broke the silence with her unmistakable, curious voice.

“What are you doing?”

The pair split apart across the room quicker than a stray cat darting from sight. Uncle Gil leaned on the window, hiding his face from Anne with a vengeance. Even Dellie could see the gears turning in his head, but she didn’t know why.

“What do you have there?” Anne deflected, voice shaking.

“I brought you some flowers so you would have lots of bosom friends.”

Anne let out a half-hysterical laugh and leaned over to hug the blessed child, a tear sliding down her cheek.

“These are lovely, Delphine, but I don’t need more bosom friends! Not when I have you! ”

Delphine’s own eyes became misty at that, and she clung to Anne with determined fierceness. Later that night, Dellie told her father all about her new bosom friend and how excited she was to see her again.

But Aunt Anne did not come back to the Blythe-Lacroix house for many, many months.

1904.

Anne once told Delphine that she had a thing called empathy. She’d taken the little girl’s hands in hers and kissed the backs of her palms. It means that when people are happy, you’re happy. And when people are sad, you’re sad. You feel the things they do, and it makes you such a beautiful soul. Empathy then became Dellie’s new favorite word. She explored outside and felt the peace of the trees, and the exhaustion of Uncle Gil’s bees as they labored away. She felt the warmth of the growing flowers and the joy of some of the neighbor kids laughing in the forest. She took on the world’s heart and made it her own, and by the time she came home, she was ready to just be Delphine.

Dellie moved through her quiet house, smiling at the lingering scent of fresh bread Dad had made a few hours ago. Just as she was about to head to her room for a nap, she heard a quiet sniffle come from inside Uncle Gil’s room.

She knocked on the door - as she’d been taught by stern faces - but Uncle Gil didn’t answer. Nudging the door open with worried fingers, Dellie’s heart plummeted to the floor. Uncle Gilbert was lying on his bed, a few tears dripping from the corners of his jaw. His eyes were blank, but when he saw Dellie standing in the doorway, he turned his face away and quickly wiped away his tears.

“No, it’s okay, isn’t it?” Dellie rambled. “You always tell me it’s okay if I cry. You can cry too...if you want.”

She couldn’t see his face, but she did hear the quiet sob that escaped his lips. For a moment, Delphine wasn’t sure what to do. Uncle Gil always had an explanation, a reassuring word, but this time he was the one crying. It would’ve been easier if he said that he was okay, because then the utter sadness blooming in Dellie for her uncle would’ve disappeared. Suddenly, she didn’t like having empathy anymore. She just wanted Uncle Gil to feel better.

Climbing into the bed, Delphine hugged Gilbert from behind and nuzzled her nose into his back. Gilbert’s hand came up and grabbed hers lightly.

“Why are you crying, Uncle Gil?” she asked quietly. His back rose and fell against her as he took in a deep breath.

“Sometimes you lose things, honeybee, and you cry because they’re gone,” he whispered.

“What did you lose?”

Uncle Gil didn’t answer. Delphine wondered for a moment if he’d heard her, but stopped herself from asking again. When she was this sad, she never liked to talk about it. She liked to be quiet. So for a few long minutes, Delphine held Gilbert the way he’d always held her when she cried.

Eventually Gilbert turned around, bashful because of his red eyes. But Delphine didn’t laugh or tease. She only wiped away the tear streaks with her thumbs and pressed her lips to his cheek.

“I love you, Uncle Gil.”

Another tear slid down Gilbert’s nose.

“I love you too, honeybee.”

She thought for a moment, then offered, “When I’m sad, I like to be around my friends. Should I go get Daddy for you? Or Aunt Anne?”

Something in what she said made Gilbert’s face darken with heartsickness, but he had the strength to shake his head.

“You’re all the company I need,” was all he said.

(When she was all grown Delphine would ask Gilbert about that occurrence - her, exploring his expansive library, and him, completing patient records. The question had left her lips in the quiet of the night: why had he been crying alone in his bed all those years ago? Was it because he missed his father?

But Gilbert only peered down at the gold band around his finger and gave a sad little smile. No, he’d said. That was the day he’d first proposed to Anne. It hadn’t gone well, and though it ended up okay in the end, the devastation that broke Gilbert’s heart in half had been very real.

“It must’ve been hard. To be strong for me when I was so young and didn’t understand,” she murmured.

Gilbert shook his head.

“You understood, Del. You understood better than anyone.”

These quiet talks in his office were decades away, but the moments leading up to them were ones that Delphine would hold onto always. )

1906.

Knock knock knock.

Anne’s fog laden eyes rose from the tea kettle, but she didn’t have the strength to turn around. Still, it could’ve been Doctor Ward, or Elijah, or...someone important. She just needed a few more moments to collect herself.

“Delphine, could you see who that is, please?” Anne paused before adding, “If it’s a stranger, I’ll answer it.”

The little girl of nearly eight had been solemn at the table, sipping her tea to keep herself from asking questions. Questions, it seemed, made Anne cry. What was Uncle Gil sick with? Why can’t I go see him? Is he going to die? She’d asked them all once, and that had been enough to learn that she should never ask them again. At Anne’s request, though, she rose from the table and swung open the door.

Before her was a very tall, very beautiful woman who looked like one of the dolls girls brought to school. Her hair reminded Delphine of stories of Goldilocks, and she smiled down at the little girl with warmth that made Dellie shrink away. Returning to Anne’s side, she muttered, “I’m sorry, I don’t know who it is.”

Anne nodded, and she turned with heavy movements, only to jolt at the face in the doorway. In all the different instances Anne had seen Winifred Rose, she’d never been displeased to see her. But something about the hopeful, desperate look on the woman’s face made Anne’s stomach turn sour.

The women were silent for several moments. Winifred seemed to be aware of the thin ice in the kitchen, and maintained her position in the doorframe.

“To what do we owe the pleasure, Miss Rose?” Anne stated, perhaps unfairly caustically.

“I heard Gilbert is sick.”

Delphine’s eyebrows shot up. How did this woman know Uncle Gil?

“I’m sorry, but you can’t see him,” Anne replied.

“And why not?” Winifred had matched Anne’s stern tone.

“Because he’s sick. He’s contagious. ”

“It’s typhoid, Anne. I’m not going to drink his bedside water. I just came to-”

“To what?”

Winifred didn’t answer right away. A tender spot in Anne’s chest made itself known, revealing some of her hidden fears. What if Winifred Rose was here to make amends with the young man she’d turned away all those years ago? Would he be happy to have her by his side? Anne clenched her teeth. What right did this woman have? To come into this house now when he was already halfway gone, when Anne had been the one nursing him, changing his chamber pot and wiping his sweat? What right did Winifred Rose have to come in and suggest that she-

Delphine’s hand buried itself in the skirts of Anne’s dress, and Anne brought an arm up to wrap around Dellie’s back. No matter how scary it was that Uncle Gil was sick, or that Anne was fighting with a woman in the kitchen, Delphine always felt safe as long as Anne was beside her. It was the innocent child at her side that reined back Anne’s fury.

“I came to say goodbye,” Miss Rose said finally. “Dr. Ward said the case is dire. I just wanted to see him one last-”

But just like that, the rage was back. Anne tore away from Delphine and stepped into Winifred’s space, jabbing a finger into her perfect pale face.

“Do not speak that way around her. She’s already frightened enough,” she whispered sharply. “Do not come into this house and suggest that he won’t recover.”

Understanding washed over Winifred, and she peered over Anne’s shoulder at the frightened daughter of a widow. Maybe Anne hadn’t only been speaking of Delphine.

“Anne,” she began, voice compassionate. “I know this isn’t fair to you. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have to be strong for Delphine. I know that you love him, and to have to watch him wither away with all your history still unresolved must be awful. Trust me, I know what’s it’s like to have regrets, but I didn’t come here today to resolve any. I came by to say goodbye to a friend, and to check up on another. You’re a stronger woman than I am, Anne Shirley Cuthbert. It’s unfair, all of it. And I’m sorry.”

Anne’s eyes were concrete, and she glared at Winifred as if she were the plague doctor delivering Typhoid directly to Gilbert. But she wasn’t. She was an old friend, one who cared for her and Gilbert very much, even if she did surface for Anne all of her tired insecurities.

“That’s not true,” Anne stated, face still hard. “If you loved someone enough, you’d do it for them. You’d see you could weather it.”

Right at that moment, a cry of agony resounded through the house from the room above. Agony and fear filled Anne’s eyes, and she looked like she might collapse into Winifred’s arms, but she heard a tiny whimper behind her.

Delphine Lacroix was shaking, frightened for her life and for her uncle’s. She wished she was in some other house where she couldn’t hear him in so much pain. It was all too much, she didn’t want to be here-

Anne knelt to the ground and wrapped Delphine in her warm arms. The little girl wept and wept into Anne’s shoulder.

“Shhh, honeybee. Remember what I said? Deep breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth,” Anne soothed. “He’s going to be alright. He’s stubborn, just like us, you’ll see.”

Eventually Delphine’s tremors lessened and she pulled back. Anne kissed her forehead before rising to her feet. Behind them, Winifred’s face had grown pale.

“How long as he been like this?” she uttered quietly.

“Two weeks, getting worse by the day. The doctor says it won’t be long now.” Delphine shuddered. Long now until what? “You can’t come into the room, but you can see him from the doorway. Would that please you, Miss Rose?”

Winifred nodded, only moments away from taking it all back. For a life spent seeing sick people every day, she’d never been so frightened. Delphine took her by the hand and followed behind Anne up the hollow, rickety stairs.

Even when the door to Gilbert’s bedroom opened and released the scent of disease out into the hallway, the little girl at her side did not falter. Not when her uncle was thin and colorless under his blankets. Not when he released a groan of pain in his sleep.

Sebastian was at the young man’s side, wiping sweat from Gilbert’s brow with dark eyes. Anne took the cloth from his hands, gesturing for him to sit down across the room and rest. She leaned over Gilbert’s bedside, taking in the withering face of the man she loved beyond all measure, and bit her lips against a sob. When Anne leaned over and pressed her trembling lips to Gilbert’s forehead, a tiny tear slipped down Dellie’s cheek.

Finding her voice, Delphine began to recite a prayer she’d forgotten she knew under the softness of her breath.

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. And where there is sadness, joy…”

Uncle Gil would always joke that her prayer saved his life - along with the heavenly favor of her mother who’d had a partiality to prayer. But he also attributed his health to the tender attentions of Anne, and when he learned she’d barely left his side in his illness, he all but dissolved into bliss.

It was in the days following the turn of Gilbert’s illness that Delphine realized just what Aunt Anne was to Gilbert, and what Gilbert was to Aunt Anne. She’d known it instinctively, realized she’d been watching them grow all along.

But if she needed any confirmation, she had it the day the weather turned warm and the rain broke away - just thirteen days after Uncle Gil’s fever broke. Dellie was walking along the outer edges of the orchard collecting flowers for the house when she saw Uncle Gil pass by a few rows over. At first, Dellie was merely delighted to see him up and walking away without swaying in dizziness. It was only when he let out a loud cry of laughter that she realized he was walking as fast as he could toward something.

Anne met him halfway, falling into his arms with a grateful cry that made all the apple blooms on the trees keen to the sound. If Gilbert had been healthier, he might’ve lifted her up and spun her around, but his muscles were still gaining their strength back and Anne seemed to be the one doing the supporting. She was glad to do it, and she showered his face and hair with kisses and tears.

In the warm Avonlea sunlight, surrounded by the apple trees Gilbert’s father had planted all those years ago, Anne took her love by the face and finished what they’d started in his parlor all those years ago. Their kiss swept the wind into the trees and birdsong into the air. It was strange to a child’s eye, but Delphine still recognized euphoria when she saw it.

1907.

Delphine could count on one hand the things she really knew about weddings. One - she knew that when Uncle Gil and Anne had their wedding, they would be husband and wife, like Momma and Dad had been. Two - she knew that Aunt Anne would wear the prettiest white dress Dellie had ever seen. Three - she knew that Anne had to have something, blue. Dellie wasn’t sure why this was, but she decided to give Anne her prized blue button, the big one that came from one of Momma’s old coats. Four - she knew that Uncle Gil and Anne weren’t supposed to see each other before the wedding. She was still trying to find a fifth thing she knew for sure, since she never trusted what the girls said at school.

That’s why when she heard Aunt Anne’s laughter on the back porch the day of the wedding, she froze in her tracks. Peering outside the window overlooking the porch, Dellie found Anne and Uncle Gil hugging against one of the beams. His face was buried in her neck, and Aunt Anne laughed with a sunny grin. Gilbert held the side of Anne’s face and pressed a kiss to her other cheek, whispering a sweet secret into her freckles. Roses flooded onto Anne’s face, but she kissed him anyways, smiling into his lips.

Delphine had seen enough. She swung the door open and tapped her foot like a parent catching a misbehaving child. Uncle Gil pulled away from his love, but kept an arm wrapped around her waist, smirking down at the stern little girl.

“Yes Delphine?”

“You aren’t supposed to see each other!” she exclaimed.

“Oh sweetheart, that’s just a superstition,” Aunt Anne explained, though Dellie’s nose crinkled at the word. “Besides, I’m here to collect you. You wanted us to get dressed together, remember? Like princesses.”

Dellie’s resolve crumbled a little as she remembered why Aunt Anne was here. She’d always wanted to watch her mother dress in all the old dresses that were left in her trunk, the hidden gems with the baby blue lace and soft fabric. Anne’s wedding dress was a lot like it, extravagant with all its elegant details and beads, and she’d been dying to see Anne get dressed in it.

“Alright,” Delphine decided eventually. “I don’t understand why you aren’t allowed to see each other anyways, so I guess it’s okay.”

By the end of the day, Delphine could fill a book with all the wonderful things she’d learned about weddings. She learned that brides sat in front of their mirrors while they did their hair, speaking the way women in love do about the future. Anne was quiet, her thoughts only on the incomparable man who was likely adjusting his tie in front his own mirror. Miss Diana and Aunt Marilla chatted as they tied Anne into her dress and adjusted the lacy skirts to perfection, but Delphine could only stare up in wonder. She felt a strange homesickness for the woman she’d grow to be, even if she couldn’t name the feeling, and ached to one day wear a wedding dress of her own.

She couldn’t explain why her throat was oddly caught as she watched Uncle Gil and Aunt Anne stand in the Blythe Orchard together. Maybe it was the way they clutched at each other’s hands, or breathed out their hellos to each other the way people said prayers. It could’ve been the birdsong in the trees that sounded just what Dellie imagined angels sounded like when they sang. With the sweet morning sun on her face, she could not be aware of her own wisdom - how somewhere in the depths of her heart, she recognized the coming together of two souls. And when Uncle Gilbert slid a glimmering golden band on to Anne’s finger, Delphine finally understood what marriage meant.

The fragrance of the sweet apple blossoms swept over Delphine’s nose as she listened intently to the reverent vow that one day she might repeat herself.

“I take you, Gilbert Blythe, matched to my intellect, proponent of my happiness, friend of my heart, to be my life mate and my husband. I promise to have you and hold you - for better, for worse as long as we both shall live.”

Uncle Gilbert repeated the words smiling so much that Delphine’s own grin split her face in two. When he pulled his bride into his arms and kissed her, cheers of jubilation sounded from their friends, family, and small Delphine, of whom no one was happier.

1908.

“I didn’t realize then that Aunt Anne would be moving into this house,” Delphine admitted to Uncle Gil as he listened to her finish her story. “I really liked going to your wedding. I wish I could go back to that day and do it all over again.”

Uncle Gilbert smiled warmly, rubbing Dellie’s shoulders affectionately.

“Me too, honeybee, me too.” Suddenly, Delphine took his cheeks into her hands and stared seriously into his face. His cheeks squished against her hands as he smiled. “What are you doing?”

“Memorizing every little detail about you so that I can write it down. Now I think I might need Aunt Anne’s help, there’s a lot of pieces of your face to know.”

“I’m sure I’d be happy to help out,” called a warm, familiar voice. Dellie dropped her hands, launched herself out of Uncle Gil’s lap, and fell into Aunt Anne’s warm hug. She loved the way Anne ran her fingers over her hair, and smiled into Anne’s apron when she felt a kiss deposited on the top of her head.

“How was your trip to Kingsport?” Dellie asked when she pulled back.

“Very productive. My publisher is quite pleased with this new draft of Averil’s Atonement, ” Anne answered nonchalantly. She turned to her side where Gilbert had wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She kissed him gently, fixing a sprig of hair in his eyes. “Hello darling.”

Gilbert slid his arm to her waist, glancing down at her flat stomach to see if there had been any growth of the baby sleeping there. It was still much too early to expect any sort of noticeable difference, but the presence of his own child in the room was delightfully distracting. He was anxious to meet the baby, to hold her and see her play with Delphine, to teach her everything he knew.

“It looked like I walked in on a serious conversation. What are you two scheming up this time?”

“Delphine has it in her head that she’d like to start practicing her prose composition. I can’t possibly begin to imagine where she learned that from.”

Anne grinned at this - this news delighting her even more than her publisher’s satisfaction.

“I want to write about your love story with Uncle Gilbert!” Delphine explained excitedly. Anne snuck a pleased glance at her husband.

“That’s my favorite story! You’ll let me be your editor, won’t you?” Anne pleaded. Dellie laughed and nodded, slightly embarrassed at her Aunt’s eagerness.

“I have to write it down first!”

Gilbert’s ears perked up at this.

“Speaking of which, give me just a moment.”

Uncle Gil hastened from the room, only to return a few moments later with something in his hands that made Dellie’s pulse quicken. She beheld the journal of caramel gold with a momentous feeling in her chest. As Gilbert handed her the journal, he knew he was handing her a world of possibilities, and an endless expanse of possibilities. She could write the mysteries of the Universe, or solve suffering with her words. When she grew older, if she wrote for real, she’d gift the world with her uncomparable spirit in a way that would cause ripples in her readers.

But for now, Gilbert thought there was nothing he’d love to read more than the story of how he fell in love through the bright eyes of his wondrous girl.

#anne with an e #anne of green gables #shirbert #awae spoilers #shirbert ff #tessa writes #please lemme know what you think!#I had fun with this one #this is also on ao3 but if i link it this won't appear in the tags #but it's there I promise!!

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