#syke x mc

[oh-saints]

the holiday (p.1)

george was supposed to come home and find her sister, cara, and her family. instead, he was left with a beautiful stranger until the british grand prix. with girlfriend no longer in possession and his parents going on a long overdue vacation, it was guaranteed george would have the most interesting break.

[loosely based on the film “the holiday (2006)”]

“why is something so wrong feels so right?”

george russell x architect!OC

word count: 4.2k

tw: mentions of cheating (but not the MCs); loneliness; suggestive contents; fluff? angst?

song: dreaming of you - cigarettes after sex; distance - christina perri; almost is never enough - arianna grande (feat. nathan sykes); august - taylor swift

note: JUST BECAUSE, you know? my kind of cheering myself up after arsenal lost the day before monday. there’s also tons of inaccuracy about george’s family because i believe that’s the private side of his life so i don’t wanna dive too much to that. BUT another GR63 work because watching him racing did me wonders and this is like a bonus because my first attempt to write hit 50 notes (!!), thank you so much guys xx

wisbech.

the place where he grew up, the place where his dream of becoming f1 world champion blossomed. it had been ages since the last time he came up north—his parents had moved down to south to be closer to him as his racing journey started to pick up, his siblings would always come down to his parents’ current abode whenever george was in town (or country, whichever may be the case). his sister, cara, now inherited their old house and lived there with her husband, chris, and her son, jack.

the last time he bothered to drive a long mile to the small city was when he attended jack’s christmas play two years ago, right before the pandemic brought everyone down with it. the season had already ended that time, giving him plenty of time to travel far, and his only nephew had been begging to have him at school—probably to show off to everyone his uncle was the rookie f1 driver everyone had been talking about. but he remembered vividly the calmness of the suburban as he ran his daily 10k one morning, a striking difference to the busy life he’d been leading since he turned 16.

today, he hoped the same tranquillity would wash all over him. the last thing he wanted to have right now was everyone tailing his every move, flashing camera at his face, running mouths to gossip about him—all the jazz that came with the business. he didn’t ask for forever; at least enough amount to have him focused for the next race weekend.

and surrounding yourself with your closest ones always helped. with his parents going on a long overdue trip (thanks, covid) to malta, his sister was the first person to pop into george’s mind after everything fell apart under his nose. as much as benji’s advice never failed, he really didn’t need his brother to laugh at his face first before going full-on serious brother mode, like a typical older brother would do to his younger brother. george would even try to endure chris’ dry jokes and jack’s chatterbox personality if it means that he’d get his piece of mind.

it was already a wonder how george didn’t manage to have a mental breakdown whilst driving to the countryside. he’d been expecting himself to cry, shout, scream—anything to get this heavy rock off his chest—as soon as he was away from the spotlight but he succeeded in reaching his old place just in time as the navsat’s ETA. maybe the title of “mr. consistency” was rightfully given, after all.

well, george doubted any other driver able to finish a grand prix within the top 5 after finding your girlfriend on the bed with another dick that wasn’t yours inside of her just the night before the race. like nothing happened, like it was any other race weekend.

“cara?”

weird. nobody answered him as he continued his way inside.

“chris? jack?”

it wasn’t like cara’s place at all to be this quiet and spotless. everywhere his oldest sibling went, she’d leave a trail of sunshine along her way. this house now felt… too large to be lived in, even though george knew this house had enough of space for more than 3 people.

“anybody home?”

just as george finished the sentence, the typical english cold air swept by him. he turned his head to the direction of the wind, his body went rigid at the thought someone had broken in the house and killed everyone in it like those thriller films, his fists ready to punch anyone who dared to have a go at him. but instead of a robber, his surprise came in another, entirely different form.

an alien woman was certainly not on the list of people who could shock him at that moment.

george was so shell-shocked that he didn’t know which one to digest first. the fact that there was a woman that wasn’t cara at all in cara’s pride of a backyard garden or the fact that the woman was still cantily clad in her sleepwear on a rainy english summer afternoon.

what the fuck is going on?

did he arrive on the wrong address? had cara moved from this house and he didn’t know? did something happen to cara, one that he didn’t know? with george being away so long and so often, his mother would’ve shared things with him so he didn’t feel so left out whenever all of them gathered around.

he was so torn between needing to find out the truth and needing to sit this entire thing down first.

fuck. george cursed himself for not calculating things thoroughly. knowing the press would soon get a sniff of the bombastic breaking news, george immediately texted cara his plans on seeking shelter at her house the day after he landed and turned off his phone right away for (a) safety measures as the mercedes private jet about to take off, and (b) he didn’t have the energy to entertain the badgering from his publicist as soon as he made it on the front page of daily mail.

“well, yes, richard,” the woman-in-question’s voice broke george’s reverie. she sounded so exhausted and angry at the same time. she sounded like him. “i’ve resketched the house from scratch, just as you instructed. what more do you want?”

if george wasn’t so perplexed, he’d definitely give her brownie points. there was something about established women earning off from what her brain was capable of that always nailed george in the heart. no offense to all the models he’d been involved with or all of his fellow f1 drivers’ girlfriend, though.

“with the upcoming deadline, that kind of radical change—you know what, have it your way, richard. demolish everything for all i care. i’m not going to let you ruin my holiday. have a good day.”

this time, the woman-in-question seemed like the one surprised as she turned around, only to find george’s presence looming over the glass door to the backyard. cat got her tongue for a full thirty seconds before she took a deep breath and said, “i’m sorry i didn’t see you there. i take it you must be george, cara’s brother?”

thank god she started to speak because george could feel his brain was having a shortcut circuit error. her back profile, as alluring as it was with all the gentle wind blowing her hair, didn’t do any justice to her front profile. she was breathtaking that george even missed the fact she knew who he was, the fact she might be waiting for him, and the fact that she knew cara (of which should relieve him).

“cara said you texted her you’d be coming when she already departed but couldn’t get a hold of you back, so i should be expecting you sometime today,” george was used to being complimented for having clearest eyes amongst the current f1 drivers but hers far surpassed his. if he wasn’t busy digesting the reality thrown at him, he wouldn’t mind swimming in the pool of her eye colour. “i’m raline, by the way. i’m currently on a house exchange with cara.”

everything was happening at the same time simultaneously and confusingly that george wanted to throw up. was this how aomame of IQ84 felt when she lived through two parallel universes?

“what the hell is house exchange?”

“well, for the next two weeks, she gets to live in my house back in LA, i get to live here. she said she’d try to be at the silverstone, though.”

“why?”

“because we all need some break from normalcy, i suppose?” raline shrugged nonchalantly, as if it was the most obvious answer. “i mean, our respective long-time partner cheated on us—”

“wait, what?” george’s head hit all-time worst migraine. “cara got cheated on?”

“oh, shit. please don’t tell her it came from my mouth.”

george didn’t know what happened to him the next 10 seconds. all the sudden he was already sitting on the barstool, a glass of water perching on the countertop in front of him. “you’re turning pale. are you sick? can i get you anything else?”

“is there any beer in the fridge?”

“or do you fancy a glass of whiskey?”

“now you speak my language.”

＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

“i see you’re back on the grid.”

george plopped his body on his old bed that was now too small for him. but he didn’t mind one bit, for the bed was a legendary, silent witness of his childhood dream and the suffering he endured alone behind the 4 walls in order to achieve the life he was currently living.

“i see you didn’t tell anyone of your problem and set off to LA.”

“did ral—”

“she didn’t say anything, i presumed much,” george cut his sister off because even if raline didn’t slip off of her tongue, he’d gathered as much. going on a house exchange trip was beyond cara’s character. “what were you thinking, cara?”

“i know, i wasn’t thinking,” his sister sighed deeply over the phone. “but i know i need to get away from wisbech as soon as possible. you know, to think about everything and what i should do next.”

“like myself, in a sense,” cara agreed to george’s statement right away. her youngest brother had always found a way to conclude things simply for everyone to understand since he was a child and she immediately knew he was meant for big and good things ahead. “you know you can always talk to me, right?”

“i know. i just don’t think i can right now,” cara answered and george sensed she wasn’t saying that to dodge his initial question. “you’ll be the first to know about every single thing when i’m ready.”

“promise me?”

“i promise you, giant. but don’t tell mum anything until i do, okay?” cara didn’t need george to say anything because she knew he was nodding somewhere behind the line. “now, what happened to you?”

george managed to chug the entire whiskey contained in his glass and poured some more for the next turn. “well, my girlfriend cheated on me so now she’s my ex and that’s that.”

“oh, giant. i’m sorry to hear that,” cara took a shaky breath and if it wasn’t because of her previous plead of not going there, george would’ve insisted her to talk about it. “i wish i can share my favourite whiskey with you now.”

“you could, you know?”

“george…”

“i know, it’s why i open the bottle myself. do you mind?”

“just left some for me, yeah?” jack’s voice was heard screaming to his mum he was home. “and share some with raline. i think she needs companion as much as you do.”

“right, about ral—”

“she’s of no harm, george. i can assure you that,” jack’s voice was getting louder each passing second. “but i’m sure you don’t have that much of energy to face jack now so i’m going to call you back, okay?”

the phone call went dead before george managed to let out a response and he was, once again, back friends with silence.

he looked around, waiting for the familiar sense of pride this room used to bring—his karting trophies, junior championship photos, the likes. he rubbed his face for how suffocating it felt this time, like it burnt his lungs every time he inhaled the air around him, and he felt like screaming for help. but he knew nobody could, not when the only one he felt like he could talk to was thousands of miles away enjoying LA sun, and it frustrated him beyond belief that it strained his chest. his hands went up to the painful part of his body, grabbed a hold of it so tightly in hope it eased the pain, but all was futile.

before george realized, tears had run down his face.

and for the first time since he cried in this very room after his homeroom teacher laughed at his face for thinking his dream of becoming an f1 driver ridiculous 10 years ago, mr. consistency helplessly broke down into the abyss of despair.

＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊

if george was any other person doing any other job than being an f1 driver, he surely would’ve missed the gentle caress raline called knocking.

“george?”

her weak attempt was enough to alert george, who’d been trained to react the fastest at everything thrown at him, awake. he knew he could jump straight up and open the door but he didn’t want to open the door looking like an absolute wrecking titanic. and the definite explanations that followed from raline.

“it’s way past dinner time,” raline continued, voice still as gentle as she was the afternoon but the information relied on was enough to make george shoot up from his bed. he turned to the clock beside his favourite lewis hamilton’s biography and it read 9:30. “your food’s getting cold.”

he held back a groan. aleix would definitely kill him for not reporting any of post-races exercise he should be doing, on top of not being contactable for almost the past 24 hours or so. not to mention his nutritionist, his team, his parents—oh god, his head hurt from the turn of events. he didn’t expect he would be knocked out cold for god knows how long. the exhaustion must’ve taken its toll physically and mentally, for the last time he over rested was the first race of his f1 career back in abu dhabi in 2019.

but fuck it, he still had another day to explain himself.

george rummaged through his closet and picked up the thick-rimmed glasses he wore once a dozen halloweens ago, when he tried to channel theodore from alvin and the chipmunk. he could only hope it did the trick this time against raline so he didn’t have to undergo the ever complex question of “are you alright?”.

“i hope you don’t mind pasta,” raline started speaking before he could reach the last flight of the stairs. “it seems like cara didn’t have a chance to do some groceries.”

“pasta sounds great,” george pulled up the high stool across the marble countertop where she was behind. “thank you so much. remind me to go to the market tomorrow.”

“i’m heating up your plate,” raline only acknowledged his previous sentence with a nod, then moved around the kitchen with cold precision, like she didn’t like to waste another second around the premise, and it scared him to be honest. “do you want some wine?”

if raline had noticed his swollen eyes and worn-out skin tone, she surely was damn good at hiding it. what she was doing now could rival angelina jolie’s the kitchen scene in mr. & mrs. smith.

“eh, sure,” raline shot him another question of white or red? before he could continue anything else. “i’ll have what you have. i don’t think my famished stomach can complain about anything that’s already served and ready to eat anyway.”

just in time, his stomach grumbled. george shot her an apologetic look at the same time she shot him a what is that? look, and the weird interaction made her laugh. george’s body warmed at the sight, not because he managed to emanate a genuine reaction out of her that was 180 completely different to his impression of her by far, but because she looked stunningly radiating. as if he’d just unlocked the laugh she kept away for so long.

as if she’d been liberated.

only then he realized he was going to share his sanctuary with someone as beautiful and confusing as raline for the next two weeks.

life really had a way to fuck you up, didn’t he?

＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊

next day, raline still didn’t confront him about the swell that didn’t seem to disperse from his eyes. instead, she greeted him “good morning, george!” with a sleepy smile and her gentle voice before she poured some coffee to his favourite cup, just as he walked in the kitchen after his daily cycling routine.

with her messy bun left some strands framing her facial features, a deadly combination if george had to say. so deadly he failed to notice how she could know it was him before he pulled himself up.

“i hope you don’t mind coffee in the morning,” raline put his cup in front of him, her fingers dainty and her movement seemed calculated. george found himself becoming more and more intrigued at the hot-and-cold contrast she was displaying. “or are you that stereotypical brit that drinks english breakfast tea in the morning?”

george genuinely was curious as to how raline looked like she was smiling without actually smiling. like her face was expressionless and rather cold but she radiated warm, friendly, welcoming persona he didn’t want to look away from. heck, george thought he couldn’t do so if he’d wanted to. was it her eyes? was it her pursed lips?

in fact, raline exuded an aura that only made george want to spill everything that had been wrenching his mind and heart to the table. unfiltered, uncensored. the f1 driver didn’t think he could hold himself altogether any longer and frankly, he didn’t want to anymore.

the revelation horrified him, however, for he had never encountered such a feeling towards a stranger he’d only met less than two days. towards a stranger he’d only met several days after he found his ex-girlfriend cheated on him. towards a stranger he’d only met when the wound was still fresh open. towards a stranger who shared the same kind of experience with him. towards a stranger who escaped her own pain back home. towards a stranger who also had too much already on a plate.

his heart clenched more at the thought he’d only impose more disturbances to her healing process. the meanest thing one can do to others, for him, is to impose more on other people than they can receive. the meanest thing george can do to raline was to impose her with his selfish desire that he couldn’t control in the first place.

“coffee’s wonderful,” george pulled himself away from his reverie, realising raline was waiting for his response. he reciprocated her small smile, however his was bittersweet and his insides churned at the guilt because he knew she didn’t deserve his half-hearted ass attempt to conceal his feelings. “is there milk in the fridge?”

＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊

“where have you been?”

“what the fuck!” george jumped in his place at raline’s voice, almost closing the fridge door on his fingers. “can you stop being creepy?!”

“you’d hear me asking you three times already if your airpods wasn’t blocking my voice.”

raline shrugged from where she sat on the floor, her body leaning towards the coffee table in the middle of the living room as she scribbled down something. she looked nonchalant doing so, but george could see a glint of mischief on her eyes as she did so. three days later, and he could figure out she entertained herself by surprising george whenever she could—god knows how she could know when and where he was coming from. george was almost convinced she was actually a psychic devouring a woman’s body as a disguise.

“well the other time we were in the market, i wasn’t wearing anything in my ears and you still snuck up on me,” george opened up the fridge again, remembering what he was planning to grab a bottle of water before raline scared his wits. “care to explain that?”

“you were busy with your fans, were you not?” suddenly raline sounded angry and george couldn’t help but turn around his body, afraid of what he said might be perceived wrong. she didn’t even spare a look at him as she crumpled away the paper she was scribbling on earlier before she threw it away with full force. the poor paper hit the wall before it crippled away lifelessly on the ground, joining a dozen of other papers who’d faced her earlier wrath. “anyway, where were you?”

the return of her normal, gentle voice sent george into a whirlwind. was this woman possessed or something? if he was, he’d nail the coffin on his raline-is-a- psychic theory. “i was out running. need to do my daily 10k, that’s all.”

“10k? impressive,” raline looked up from the blank white sheet to look at george. her eyes went wider and rounder as she realized he was only wearing tight biker suits. george managed to catch her turning slightly pink before she turned away, choosing the boring paper was a better view than his running attire. “how do you that daily without passing out?”

“well, i’m an athlete,” the blush wasn’t fading out anytime soon, george could conclude as much, so he decided it was payback time. he settled down right beside her on the floor, so close their knees were touching and she could silently feel his breath on the back of her ear, overlooking what she was doing. “i’ve been doing that since i was a kid.”

the drop on george’s baritone sent shivers all over raline’s body so she decided to distract herself by drawing some more architecture designs. “what kind of athlete are you?”

“f1 driver,” no, no, no, please don’t get any closer. but as they said, the more you wished for it, the more God wouldn’t have it your way. raline could feel his skin—or what she thought was his skin—brushing featherly against the shell of her ear. “what kind of artist are you?”

“i—um—i’m no artist,” raline had to gulp down her nerves before she choked on it. unluckily, while doing so, the scent of his body odour protruded her sense and she had to close her eyes to gather herself. a mix of sweat, English cold wind and morning sun, his cologne, and his natural body odour. since when he could affect her like this? “i’m an architect, actually.”

“an architect? impressive,” she could feel the tip of george’s nose moving along to the hairs towards the back of her neck and she had to grip the pencil on her hand so she could focus on something. “how does it feel to have a brain as sexy as you?”

shit. george really went to nuzzle back towards her collarbone, tracing the long horizontal bone, ever so painstakingly slowly. “how does it feel to ride a car as sexy as you?”

oh, how much george loved a banter. he chuckled against the soft skin, discreetly inhaling the Chanel hair mist she sprayed on while feeling the hairs standing up all over her body at the sensation his teeth gave as they grazed the skin. “i bet you it’s sexier when you ride me on instead.”

she released a shaky breath as george planted a hand on her exposed thigh at the end of his sentence, thanks to the oversized sweater she always wore to sleep. “george…”

as much as george enjoyed getting his payback, he didn’t expect he enjoyed enticing these kinds of reactions out of raline. she was always beautiful since the first time he laid his eyes on her but nothing beat the prettiest sight of raline aroused and gaping lightly for air under his hands’ demonstration. it didn’t help to his pride that getting this out of her only from his nose and hands, imagine how she’d be when he poured his all in.

fuck. raline was turning more and more like an addictive aphrodisiac on him.

fuck. this was why he tried to stay out of the house whenever he could. he ran 10k, he set milestones on his biking distance, he drove back and forth to the mercedes training centre down south, he trained in the local gym, he ate his lunch—ironically, the one raline always managed to pack the night before he went out to the mercedes building in the morning—at random parks on the way home. hell, he even tended cara’s plants and flowers on the backyard even though he had the shittiest hands out of all his family, just minimize his interaction to raline.

raline, in one way or another, was cara’s guest, hence he should treat a guest with outmost respect. and his father taught him to treat woman as they’re their worth.

but jesus christ, may the lord help him.

it’s because george knew raline was worth golden, it was very difficult for him to hold back. not when he knew now she could be puny under his hands, not when he knew now how her body reacted to him, not when he knew now that while she didn’t exactly say no, she was more than welcoming of his advances.

to top it all off, not when he knew in the first place he was worthy of her.

it’s always the forbidden fruit that’s so tempting, no?

but maybe, he hadn’t been selfish enough all his life for everything he truly wanted.

just as george was about to channel his inner adam, his phone’s ringtone splashed a tsunami to their faces. george pulled away and dashed out of the house as if his life depended on it.

well, maybe not his life, but certainly for his inner peace and sanity.

[lizzybeth1986]

Tagging @haydenyoungappreciationweek and @sazanes for HYAW Day 4: Pets

(Heathcliff Young - Ephraim Sykes

Rosemary Park - Nikkita Chaddha)

Made this moodboard with my Pioneer Hayden, Heathcliff, and his MC Rosemary 😁 Replaying the PM series to catch the "skill" variations made me really understand how important pets are to the well-being of the entire group.

Dipper is very clearly a comfort-dog - you see that in the way she senses how Hayden or Sloane or Damien are feeling and provides them a safe space to grieve. Even UWU was created to provide wellness checks. All the LIs esp have different issues that affect their mental health, and I love how the narrative includes the pets in their attempts to regulate that.

In the Heathcliff x Rosemary-verse, I imagine that they still follow the three-days-a-week arrangement they have with Sloane, but also add another pet to the mix. Sloane finally gets her favourite cat, and Heath and Rosie also adopt a Golden Retriever much later.

Sloane's cat is named Félicette after the first cat that went to space, and the dog is named Laika. Laika was a rather peaceful dog when she was first adopted...but then she met Dipper. Heath often complains (jokingly) that Laika has become way more mischievous and it's all Dipper's fault 😂😂😂

In any case...the moodboard I made features only Dipper because I made these hcs AFTER I made the moodboard 😂

[crystalwillow]

Happy Christmas! [Skye x MC]

It was 6am on Christmas morning and all was peaceful. Well... mostly peaceful. Everywhere except one household. The Crandall’s. You see the thing about the Crandall’s is that they seem like your average family. But behind closed doors? ... woo boy, there’s a WHOLE other story.

“Skye! Get down here IMMEDIATELY!” her father boomed in a deep firm voice from downstairs, waking her from her sleep. She groaned as she rubbed her eyes yawning and making her way downstairs. “What.” She snapped at him sleepily. “What kind of person are you?! Why did you go around last night graffitiing the ENTIRE BACK YARD AND YOUR MOTHERS CAR!!!!?” He shouted getting right up in her face, behind him there was a clack of heels which just made Skye’s heart sink even more “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE YOUNG LADY?! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF YOUR BEHAVIOUR LAST NIGHT?!” She shrilled, also getting in her daughter’s face. Skye sighed “it wasn’t me.” She said lowly through gritted teeth. “Well then who was it?! Because Brian said he sa-“ her mother started to shrill again, but Skye snapped. And not like the time she snapped at the restaurant. This was worse. WAY worse. “JUST SHUT UP! SHUT UP YOU OLD HAG! ... JUST! SHUT! UP!” She screamed as her hand flew up stopping just short of making contact with her mothers face. Breathing heavily from screaming the three all looked at Skye’s hand “no. Mom I’m sorry! I wasn’t really going to- I would nev-“ she started saying as tears filled her eyes “Save it.” Her father snapped and pointed up the stairs “go to your room Skye.” He said impatiently, pinching the bridge of his nose “but I didn-“ Skye began to protest “GO. TO YOUR ROOM!” He boomed in her face.

She ran back up the stairs towards her room, passing her brother, Brian, on the way who just laughed at her, shoving his shoulder into her as he past. Skye entered her room and slammed the door. She sat on her bed and silently let tears flow down her cheeks, then, her phone rang. Sniffling and calming herself down she answered “hey Bailey, how are y-“ she started whilst wiping the tears from her cheeks. “MERRY CHRISTMAS SKYE!!!!” two familiar voices chorused down the phone together. A small smile crept onto Skye’s face. “Merry Christmas Jenkins twins” she tried to chuckled but cried instead, “Oh... Oh no, Skye what’s wrong? Did we upset you?” Bailey said concerned “No... No you didn’t do anything. It’s my parents. We argued this morning. Again.” She sniffed down the phone. Bailey and Casey were the only two people that Skye currently felt okay being this emotional around. They didn’t judge her, they just let her cry everything out. “Why don’t you come round ours? Spend Christmas here!?” Casey chimed down the phone “Yeah, that’s an excellent idea!” Bailey added. “I- I wouldn’t want to intrude...” Skye said shyly “nonsense, we’ll ask our mom now” Bailey said resolutely. There was a padding of feet and shouts of “mom!” And “dad!” On the other end of the line. Skye smiled a little, she was thankful to have friends like Bailey and Casey. They reminded her of the important things in life. Soon there was a woop and Skye perked up at the sound. “So...?” Skye said optimistically, “Soooo... Get your butt over here Skye!” Bailey shouted excitedly “And bring your comfiest pyjamas and slippers!” Casey added “okay. See you guys soon” Skye said with a smile “see you soon! The twins sung down the phone and ended the call. Skye got up and cleaned away the tear marks on her face.

Soon Skye was arriving at Bailey’s house and made her way to the front door. Before she could even knock Bailey came rushing out of the door which had been flung open and crashed into Skye, sending them both barrelling into the snow on the front lawn. “SKYEEEEEE!” She exclaimed happily, “oof!” Skye said as she fell backwards into the snow. The two giggled before Bailey pushed herself up, then offered Skye her hand. She took Bailey’s hand and pulled herself up. The two headed inside and got ready for the day. Once they were in their pyjamas, they gathered in the living room with the rest of Bailey’s family and took seats on the couch. “Alright. First Movie, A Christmas Story” Bailey’s dad said enthusiastically. As he put the disc in the DVD Player, the rest all grabbed warm blankets and snuggled together.

A few hours later they had watched a few good movies and Bailey’s parents had been cooking the main parts of the Christmas meal, all that was left to be cooked were the vegetables. It was late afternoon by the time they were all sitting there with rumbling stomachs “who’s ready for dinner?” Bailey’s mom chimed. “Yes please!” Bailey and Casey said together, rather enthusiastically “I’d love to eat. If... that’s okay?” Skye asked “Of course sweetheart. We wouldn’t let you go hungry” Bailey’s mom smiled at Skye. They all washed their hands then took seats at the table.

After they were finished with dinner they gathered back in the living room to play some board games and exchange gifts, as Bailey’s parents went to clean the dishes from dinner and store the leftover food safely and Casey went upstairs to get Bailey’s gift for Skye, Bailey turned to her firey haired friend and gave a small smile. “So, how are you doing? Feeling any better??” She asked Skye with a brow creased with worry, “Yeah... I’m feeling a little better. Thanks” Skye said sincerely with a smile. The two hugged as Casey came running back in the room “Where is it butthead?” He said jokingly as he looked at Bailey. Confused for a moment she stared into his eyes, then it clicked. “Oh! It’s in my closet on the shelf on the left at the back. It’s in a frosty night themed bag” she said with a not so subtle wink. “Got it” Casey said and ran back upstairs to Bailey’s room “AND READ THE TAG!” Bailey shouted after him “WILL DO!” He shouted back. Skye giggled a little and looked at Bailey “you guys are kinda funny” she stated, Bailey smiled as opened her mouth to reply but her parents came back into the room, followed by Casey a few seconds later.

“Who’s ready to open presents?” Their dad asked smiling. They all said yes “me and Bailey first! Me and Bailey first!” Casey insisted as he picked up a gift from under the tree “Mom, this is for you” he said and passed her a rectangular shaped box “careful! It’s breakable” Bailey added as their mom carefully unwrapped the box. As she opened it she gasped, eyes welling with tears “Guys...” she said quietly as she took the necklace out of it’s box, looking at the details “open it. Look inside!” Casey said eagerly. Their mom opened the locket and started crying, inside were four pictures. One of them as a family, on of the twins together, one of them with their mom and one of their parents. The outside was engraved with their mom’s favourite flower and the words ‘We Love You Mom’ .

Bailey passed her mom some tissues. As she wiped her eyes and sniffled she gathered the children in a warm embrace “It’s wonderful. Thank you.” She said with a smile. They heard another sniffle and turned to see their dad crying too “oh no... we made DAD cry” Casey said jokingly with fake horror on his face. They all laughed, even Skye. They exchanged gifts until there was just one left “Okay. My turn” Bailey spoke, turning to Skye. “I got gifts for all our friends but... you’re here and well... I know you’ve had your eye on this for a while and how much you wanted it. The amount of times we’ve gone to town after school just so you can stare at it is wild. But, I wanted to get you something special. Because you’re an amazing friend Skye. Here. Merry Christmas” she smiled as she handed Skye the gift bag. Opening it carefully she peered inside but the gift was wrapped. She looked up at Bailey skepticly and she smiled back. Carefully she took the gift out and placed the bag on the floor. She had only teared off a little of the paper when a smile cracked on her face and she threw her head back “Bailey! You didn’t!” She exclaimed, not worried about holding back the happiness in her voice as she teared open the gift. Bailey smiled as Skye looked at the gift happily. “I saved up all of my allowance and babysitting money since you started going on about it. With that and my bargaining skills, I managed to get you this AND a pair of really nice boots I think you’ll LOVE”

Smiling at the vampire figurine in her hand, she then looked at Bailey. “Thank you. You’re... You’re honestly the best...” she said choking up “Damn Bailey. Now you’re ideas have gone and made SKYE cry” Casey commentated. They all shared a warm laugh. After calming down, Skye placed the figurine on the coffee table. “Bailey. Thank you, I don’t do the whole heartfelt thing but. This means a lot. You... and your family. You’ve made this Christmas feel so much better. I don’t-“ she catches herself starting to go off course and just hugs Bailey, who hugs back. After giving them a minute Bailey dad claps his hands softly “Who’s for hot cocoa with marshmallows and one final movie before bed?” He asks looking round the room. A chorus of me’s fills the room.

That night about halfway through the movie, Skye looked around the room as the Jenkins’ slept peacefully on the couches, smiling to herself. She finally got a day with no fighting, screaming or stress. As she placed her mug on the table she looked at her gift fondly. Finally, she knew what a true Christmas felt like. “Merry Christmas Jenkins Family” she whispered as she settled down on the couch next to Bailey and fell asleep.

// Credit for this idea goes to @the-unconquered-queen //

[lifeofkaze]

An Art of Balance #34

Orion Amari x MC

A/N: The penultimate chapter everyone, can you believe it? How far we’ve come together. Just as a little heads up, I will be uploading the last chapter of this story (🥺) in one go with the epilogue. So if you happen to see the epilogue first, know there is a ‘little’ (totally not little) chapter still waiting for you.

Thank you to everyone who let me borrow their OCs, I did a little round up of everyone in this chapter. Lizzie’s wonderful friends are belonging to:

Katriona ,KC’ Cassiopeia: @kc-needs-coffee

Judith Harris: @judediangelo75

Ira Janda, Julian Bennett: @slytherindisaster

Azariah Steele: @cursebreakerfarrier

Henry McClarnon: @thatravenpuffwitch

Also massive thanks to my favourite girl @the-al-chemist for helping with the structure and reading over. You know I love you 💛

Word Count: ~ 5.600

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Chapter 34: Victory

“Hufflepuff is this year’s reigning Quidditch champion!”

Murphy hadn’t even finished shouting into his megaphone when Skye, Lizzie and everyone around them erupted into screams of joy. Skye flung her arms around Lizzie’s neck, hugging her mid-air, half sobbing, half shouting “We did it! We did it!” into her ear over and over again. Lizzie didn’t even have any words to articulate the rush of emotions running through her all at once. She felt euphoric, happy, exhausted and unbelievably relieved that her plan hadn’t backfired on them. Syke was right, they had really done it.

They had won the House Cup.

Still hugging and jumping up and down on their brooms, Lizzie and Skye were slowly drifting downwards, landing roughly on the soft grass. The impact almost knocked them over but they couldn’t care less. They were basking in the cheers coming from the hollering stands, their grins so wide their cheeks were hurting.

Lizzie could see Skye’s father and Professor Sprout giving them standing ovations and even Professor McGonagall was clapping, albeit not as enthusiastically as the rest. Murphy was beaming from ear to ear, remaining silent for once and letting the team have the full attention of the crowd.

One after the other their teammates were landing next to them. Lizzie found herself hugging Judith and even Everett in her enthusiasm; all of their animosities were forgotten over the raw joy of achieving their incredible last minute win. In this moment what had happened wasn’t important anymore; the only thing that counted was that they had reached their common goal and the Cup was theirs.

And then, all of a sudden, Orion was there, his eyes shining with pride and a beaming smile on his face. He swept her into an embrace and spun her around, neither one of them caring the slightest bit what anyone else might be thinking. Lizzie was laughing as she held onto him, feeling nothing but elation; she couldn’t imagine a more perfect moment.

Orion sat her down and Lizzie was swaying for a moment, feeling slightly dizzy from being spun around, too much sunlight and the feeling of Orion’s arms around her. Still smiling, he raised his hand to her face and cupped her cheek, his thumb running over her flushed skin. The expression in his eyes was so soft as they found hers, the butterflies exploding in Lizzie’s stomach seemed to fill her up completely; the fluttery feeling combined with the adrenaline rushing through her body made her feel as if she was still flying.

He opened his mouth to say something when a sudden movement to their side made both of them turn their heads; Judith and Skye had sneaked up on them and were on the verge of upending a giant barrel of butterbeer over their heads. Lizzie tried to move out of its way immediately, but Orion quickly got hold of her wrist and pulled her back.

“You’re staying right where you are,” he laughed before the ice cold liquid was hitting them. Lizzie shrieked and closed her eyes as the butterbeer washed over her face and found its way down the back of her jersey. She buried her face against Orion’s now soaked Quidditch robes and could feel the vibration in his chest as he laughed. She couldn’t help her smile widening as he held her even closer.

“I knew you could do it, Chaser,” he whispered against her hair.

Lizzie pulled away and smiled up at him; a light giggle escaped her as she was taking in their drenched state. “We did it all together.”

Orion gently brushed a strand of wet hair out of her face. “As a team.”

She covered his hand resting on her cheek with hers, her eyes finding his again. His long, dark hair was just as soaked as hers was, but he obviously couldn’t care less. Lizzie’s eyes flickered down to his lips for a moment; the soft smirk forming on them made her hold her breath. Her wish to kiss him right here and now was close to overwhelming.

But before she could give in to it, her gaze flicked over Orion’s shoulder to where she could see the members of the defeated Gryffindor team lying in the grass. The misery they were radiating was a stark contrast to their own overjoyed celebration.

She could see Julian comforting a broken looking Henry; Azariah was lying on his back, staring into the sky with a blank expression and the two Chasers were silently talking between themselves, shaking their heads in disbelief.

Charlie was sitting apart from them; his head was hanging low, his windswept red hair obscuring most of his face. The rest was hidden his hand covering his eyes, while the other was still clutching the Golden Snitch, that was gleaming in the sunlight.

The sight of her friend's devastation felt like a jab to Lizzie’s heart. Her face twisting with sympathy, she placed a hand on Orion’s chest and gently pushed him away. He followed her gaze with a slight frown, before he nodded in comprehension.

He inclined his head in Charlie’s direction. “Go to him; he is in need of a friend right now.”

Lizzie knew she should go and it wasn’t like she didn’t want to; she just didn’t want to let go of Orion again so soon. Sensing her hesitation, he gently nudged her forward.

“Go,” he repeated. “We’ll have our moment later.”

Finally breaking free of him, Lizzie walked past her teammates and towards the Gryffindors. She stopped by every one of them for a moment, either trying to cheer them up or offer some words of comfort. When she reached the lone figure of her best friend, she stopped and knelt down beside him.

“Hey.”

At the sound of her voice, Charlie raised his bleak eyes to look at her for a moment. “Congratulations, I guess,” he managed to croak out before hanging his head again.

“Thank you,” Lizzie answered sincerely. She put a hand on his forearm, squeezing it gently. “You put up an incredible fight. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before.”

Charlie shook his head as if he still couldn’t believe it. “Didn’t help much, did it? You won, we lost; there’s no way of talking around it.”

“It could have gone down either way; it was a matter of seconds.”

“I know,” he sighed. “I can’t believe I caught the Snitch only one bloody moment too late.” He choked out a bitter laugh and held the golden ball up for her to see.

“Looks like it’s me who gets the consolation prize in the end.”

He looked past her to her laughing teammates. “What are you doing over here anyway, champ? Don’t tell me you’re ditching your team for us moping lot?”

Lizzie sat down next to him onto the grass and nudged him with her shoulder. “I’m ditching my team for a friend who could use a bit of comfort right now,” she responded with a smile.

Charlie’s eyes trailed from her towards the Hufflepuffs again, who were busy hoisting a laughing Orion up on their shoulders.

“Even him?”

She had followed his gaze and nodded. “Even him.”

Charlie huffed but gave her a small grin, nonetheless. “That means a lot, Liz, thank you. But you deserved to win this time; you more than anyone.”

Lost in thought, Lizzie had been watching Orion celebrating with their friends. It was only now that she saw Charlie had been watching her in turn. Not sure if he was still talking about the match, Lizzie blushed a deep scarlet that almost matched Charlie’s robes; her flustered state made him grin mischievously.

“You’d better watch out though, pineapple,” he teased her, “there’s always next season. I’ll be damned if I let you defend that title; we’ll make sure the Cup gets back to where it belongs.”

Happy to see Charlie’s fighting spirit return, Lizzie dipped her head back and laughed. “Not if I can help it, Weasley!”

She scrambled to her feet and offered Charlie her hand. “Do I see you at the party later?”

It was a tradition to celebrate the closing of the Quidditch season with a big outdoor event down by the Black Lake. Generally considered one of the highlights of the years, it wasn’t only for the members of the winning House but for everyone in the school. As it was the last chance to have a bit of fun before the stress of their exams would take up all of their focus, most of the students had been looking forward to it for weeks.

Charlie, however, didn’t seem too thrilled at the prospect. He looked Lizzie up and down with a sigh.

“Would you accept a ‘no’ for an answer?”

“No,” Lizzie chuckled.

“Then I don’t think I have a choice, really,” Charlie smirked before wrapping his arm around her shoulder to march her back to her team. “I’ve got to celebrate my favourite badger girl, after all.”

*

Lizzie was probably one of the last ones left in the castle when she was finally able to make her way down to the lake. The sunlight had turned from bright to golden and was painting the landscape around her in an alternating pattern of light and shadow.

After the potion Ira had given her had worn off, the bone crushing hug from a sobbing Penny had made the pain of her injury flare up again with full force. When her knees had buckled from the sharp sting, Orion and Ira had been adamant she’d go to the Hospital Wing at once; her ribs had hurt too badly for Lizzie to even consider objecting.

Madam Pomfrey had been miffed when she had checked her up, muttering something about “This bloody Quidditch business” under her breath. To Lizzie’s relief, Ira’s initial assessment had been right and her ribs weren’t broken after all.

“I’d much rather you’d have come straight to me, Miss Jameson,” Madam Pomfrey had declared sternly. “Teenagers,” she had sighed,” always think they know better.”

She had been watching Lizzie reproachfully while preparing the ingredients for another painkiller potion, which was supposed to get her through the night.

Before she had left, Lizzie had made sure to check up on Brian; as it turned out, he wasn’t allowed to leave the Hospital Wing due to a mild concussion. He was miserable about not being able to celebrate with the rest of them, but otherwise he seemed to be alright.

“Kiss the Cup for me, will you?” he had asked her with a laugh as she had been about to leave.

Lizzie’s answer had been cut short by the scolding look of Madam Pomfrey, who had appeared by Brian’s bedside. “I thought there was an event you were desperate to attend, Miss Jameson,” she had chided her, albeit with the hint of a smile. “If you don’t want to spend the night here alongside your friend, you had better leave now before I change my mind.”

As she was walking along the path that would lead her to the Black Lake, Lizzie was enjoying having a little time on her own. It was a welcome change to the busy moments after the match, when her housemates had flooded the pitch and congratulations had been passed all around. It gave her the opportunity to let everything sink in.

They had won; they had really, actually done it.

Her team had come out on top; even after all the mess that had been going down this year, they had managed to get a grip and pull each other through. Lizzie felt overwhelmingly happy; never before had she been so proud of her team, of Skye, of Orion, even of herself.

She remembered the feeling of weightlessness when Orion had picked her up and spun her around; neither of them had cared about anyone else in that moment and it had felt so right; today, everything was feeling right.

Lizzie smiled to herself as she reached the shoreline, an unmistakable bounce in her steps. Whatever the evening might be bringing, she was looking forward to it; she had earned the right to just enjoy herself for a change.

When Lizzie heard two voices calling her name, she slowed her steps and turned around. It was Andre and Charlie, undoubtedly headed into the same direction as her. Tapping her foot in mock impatience, she waited for them to catch up.

Andre smiled brightly when they reached her. “Look who it is, Charlie.”

“The reigning Quidditch champion,” Charlie continued, now in a decidedly better mood after he’d had time to stomach the match. “May we escort you to your victory party?”

Both boys went up to either side of Lizzie and linked arms with her as they marched her along. She had to giggle at their overly solemn expressions.

“You may,” she laughed. “But why are you so late?”

Charlie rolled his eyes and jerked his head in Andre’s direction. “Someone needed to get dressed properly.”

It was only now that Lizzie noticed the giant badger on Andre’s blue shirt he was wearing under his jacket. She raised her eyebrows in astonishment and chuckled.

“That’s a really nice gesture, Andre, but that’s not quite the right colour.”

Andre merely shrugged, however. “I’ve got to uphold some housepride at least or else Erika might kill me.” He glanced down at his newest design. “That one’s risky enough as it is.”

*

As expected, the party was already in full swing when they arrived. Several stalls had been set up at the shore of the Black Lake and the houselves had given it their all to provide them with delicious food and drinks. They were all centred around a giant bonfire that was blazing brightly in the slowly descending darkness of the evening.

The stalls were decorated in yellow and black banners, as were the comfortable looking seats that had been grouped together all over the place. The image of the Hufflepuff badger was a common sight wherever Lizzie was looking. To add to the atmosphere, numerous strings of fairy lights had been put up in between the branches and down the stems of the trees.

The place was packed with laughing and chatting students; Charlie and Andre went to get something to drink and Lizzie found herself wandering around the site, looking for any sign of her friends.

She spotted the familiar strawberry blond head of KC over to the side of the bonfire. She was sitting in one of the cushioned garden chairs with a bottle of butterbeer in her hand. Her head was dipped back in laughter at something Rath had just said; knowing the tall blonde girl, it had undoubtedly been some wry remark about the course of the game.

Where KC was Murphy was never far and sure enough, he was lounging in the chair next to her. He was gesturing wildly towards the two girls with sparkling eyes, confirming Lizzie’s suspicion that they were indeed still talking about the match.

Sitting next to Murphy, Orion was attentively listening to the ongoing discussion. He was looking as deeply relaxed as Lizzie had ever seen him. As if sensing someone’s attention being on him, he turned his head. As their eyes met, a smile tugged at his lips and he motioned for her to join them with the smallest movement of his head. The shift of Orion’s focus didn’t escape KC; she nudged him with her foot before bending over to him and whispering something into his ear, making Orion laugh and shake his head.

Lizzie felt a smile forming on her face. There was nothing she would have liked more than heading over to her friends right now. For the first time since she had arrived at Hogwarts last September, she felt completely certain of what she wanted; it was as if reaching their shared goal today had cleared her mind of all the doubts that she had been carrying with her.

But there was one thing she had to do first. Although it was incredibly hard to do, she turned her back on her friends and scanned the crowd for a different face.

After a moment, Lizzie spotted who she had been looking for; through a gap in between several groups of people, Lizzie could make out the familiar figure of Rowan. She was on her own and - just like Lizzie herself - she seemed to be searching the crowd as well. When their eyes met, they started walking towards each other.

“I’ve been looking for you!” both girls exclaimed simultaneously when they had reached each other, before they burst into laughter; it felt easy and carefree, almost like it used to be.

“Congratulations on winning the House Cup; you were amazing!” To Lizzie’s surprise, Rowan hugged her tightly. “Penny, Tonks and I were almost dying watching you play; what a match!”

A touch of worry flickered over her face as her eyes dropped to Lizzie’s ribcage, where the Bludger had hit her. “How are your ribs? Ira told us they’re bruised pretty badly.”

“She’s right, but nothing’s broken or anything,” Lizzie shrugged. “Madam Pomfrey gave me another painkiller potion for tonight, but it will probably hurt like hell tomorrow.”

Lizzie didn’t want to talk about her injury right now. She thought about how the whole school must have seen Orion embrace her after the match; Rowan must have done so, too. Lizzie was sick and tired of this ridiculous fight with her; she wanted to sort things out with her friend once and for all.

She took a deep breath. “Listen, Ro, we need to talk.”

Much to her surprise, Rowan responded immediately. “Yes, I know. That’s why I’ve been looking for you; I wanted to apologise.”

Lizzie had already opened her mouth to reply when her brain registered Rowan’s unexpected words. Not knowing what to say, she blinked in confusion.

“You want what now?”

Rowan’s gaze dropped to the ground and she rubbed her arm uncomfortably. “When that Bludger hit you and you were hanging from that banner, I was so scared for you,” she muttered quietly, her eyes still trained on the tips of her shoes. “I mean, we all were, of course; Penny even nearly cried. But Orion was there to help you immediately and even from the Hufflepuff stands you could see how afraid he was for you.”

Rowan raised her eyes to meet Lizzie’s. The different emotions shining in them were hard to pinpoint; it was a mixture of sadness, resignation and, strangely enough, something resembling relief.

“And seeing the two of you after the game was over…” Rowan’s voice trailed off and she swallowed the lump in her throat. “It’s just so obvious how much he cares for you.”

Lizzie slowly breathed out, not quite daring to believe what she was hearing. “So you’re not mad?” she asked tentatively. “I promised you to stay away from him after all.”

Rowan sighed. “Yes, and you did. I’ll be honest with you, I really thought if we could just pretend like none of this had happened, it would make me feel better; and maybe even make the two of us better again, too. I was so hurt and angry at you; you are such an admirable person, Lizzie, so many girls want to be just like you,” Rowan sniffed and her voice broke slightly, “I just didn’t want you to have him on top of it.”

Lizzie felt her own voice becoming breathy. “You don’t have to be like anyone else, Ro; you’re perfect just the way you are.”

But Rowan shook her head and pressed her lips together. “No, I’m not. I deliberately hurt you to feel better about myself. But it didn’t work, I only felt bad for asking something horrible like this from you and making all of us unhappy in the process.”

Her shoulders slumped as she hung her head. “I acted like the worst friend imaginable, I’m so sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” Lizzie asked incredulously. “If anyone should apologise, it’s me. I never should have risked our friendship like I did, I should have been honest with you from the beginning.” She laid her hand on Rowan’s arm and smiled when she lifted her head again. “Believe me, Rowan, no matter what you think, you’re always important to me.”

She hesitated to go on and gathered her courage before she continued. “But Orion is, too,” she said timidly. “It’s not for show or about wanting to be with someone I’m not supposed to be with. I really care about him.”

“I know,” Rowan sighed and pushed her glasses up her nose, “I guess I was more intrigued by the idea I had of him than by him himself.”

An encouraging smile formed on Rowan’s face. “But you, Lizzie, you know him, the real him. Not the Quidditch captain or the guy who loves broom balancing and nebulous answers, just him. And believe me, you matter to Orion as well, anyone can see that; you two belong together.”

Not knowing what to say, Lizzie took a step forward and threw her arms around her best friend’s neck. “Thank you.”

She was more than relieved when Rowan returned the hug. “What for,” she laughed before letting go again. She placed her hands on Lizzie’s shoulders, turned her around and pushed her forward.

“Now go and find him before I change my mind.” Rowan’s eyes swept over the crowd and a concerned frown appeared over the top of her glasses. “I need to check on Tulip and Tonks, they were talking about tinkering with some firecrackers earlier.”

She adjusted the Prefect badge on her jumper, gave Lizzie another smile and quickly vanished in the crowd. Lizzie watched after her for a second before she turned around as well.

Just as she started walking towards where Orion was still sitting with their friends, Penny jumped on her out of nowhere grabbing her arm.

“There you are!” she squealed. “Where in Godric’s name have you been?”

Lizzie wanted to reply but didn’t get a chance before Penny forcefully dragged her towards a big group of people standing close to the central bonfire. She was constantly babbling with excitement. “He is here, Lizzie, can you believe it! Ethan Parkin is here. At our victory party! This is incredible, he is incredible, all of this is incredible!”

She tugged at Lizzie’s arm impatiently. “Come on now, he has been asking about you several times already!”

As they were approaching the huge crowd that had gathered near the blazing fire, Lizzie could make out Ethan and Skye standing at its centre. The House Cup was sitting next to them on the grass, its silver handles decorated with black and yellow ribbons. The giant trophy was coming up higher than Skye’s knees; when Madam Hooch and Professor Dumbledore had handed it over to Orion at the ceremony on the pitch, Lizzie had been able to see how he had momentarily struggled to lift it over his head; Lizzie and Skye had only managed to do the same when they had tried it together.

Now, Skye was glancing down at the Cup every now and again, still unable to believe she had finally achieved what she had dreamed of ever since. Her father, on the other hand, paid the glinting trophy no mind; his hand was resting on Skye’s shoulder, his face beaming with pride. He was talking animatedly to his awed onlookers; Lizzie could see Skye was blushing and trying not to roll her eyes. She sighed inwardly; Ethan Parkin was probably talking about his favourite subject: himself and his illustrious adventures with the Wigtown Wanderers.

But when Penny pushed them through the crowd towards the front, Lizzie was surprised to hear that Ethan Parkin wasn’t gushing about his family’s club after all; instead, he was recounting the course of their match in such painstaking details it could have put Murphy to shame. He took a special joy in painting all of Skye’s free throws, goals and special manoeuvres in the brightest colours to the adoring masses; her last move in particular had him bursting with pride.

“If you ask me, that Keeper stood no chance from the moment she got her hands on the Quaffle,” he was declaring just now. “It’s a special technique my Skye has, Parkin family secret, of course; just knew she wouldn’t fail her shot.”

He interrupted his monologue and his eyes lit up as they discovered Lizzie. He nudged Skye with his elbow.

“Look who’s here, Skye; seems like we finally found your missing mate. Wondered where you might be at, lassie.”

Lizzie motioned to her ribcage. “I had to go and get my ribs checked.”

“Aye, that one looked like it hurt. I know what a Bludger to the rips feels like, but let me tell you, a good player always pulls through, no matter what.”

He clapped a heavy hand on Lizzie’s shoulder. “Well done, lass, you did a fine job out there. You lot can learn from this one,” he proclaimed to his fans, still squeezing Lizzie’s shoulder. “Takes some strength of character to recognise when your teammate’s abilities are greater than your own; right decision of Lizzie to pass the Quaffle to Skye, it was the key to their victory.”

Like Skye before, Lizzie was trying not to roll her eyes. “If you say so, Mr. Parkin.”

“How often do I need to tell you, call me Ethan.”

Lizzie smiled noncommittally. “At least one more time, Mr. Parkin.”

He laughed jovially and turned to his fans again, recounting some other detail of their match; Lizzie wasn’t even listening anymore. Using her father’s distraction, Skye took her chance and pulled Lizzie away from the crowd for a moment.

Looking back over her shoulder, she rubbed her neck in embarrassment. “Sorry dad’s so enthusiastic. Don’t listen to him boasting about me, you were smashing today.”

“As were you,” Lizzie smiled.

A smug grin stole onto Skye’s face. “Yeah, we did quite a good job, didn’t we?” Seemingly out of nowhere her expression turned serious again. “But don’t you think I don’t know what you were doing.”

Out of nowhere Skye nudged Lizzie’s shoulder, maybe a bit more forceful than she had meant to.

“Ouch! What was that for!

Skye ignored Lizzie’s complaints. “You were at your favourite distance for that last goal; you always make that shot.” She set her index finger onto Lizzie’s chest to accentuate her words. “Don’t you ever dare to risk a win like that again, you hear me, Jameson?”

Before Lizzie could say anything in her defence, Skye had hugged her tightly. “But thank you anyway.”

Lizzie grinned when Skye abruptly let go of her only seconds later. “What’s that now, Parkin? Are you going soft on me or what?”

Skye huffed and laughed out loud. “You wish, Jameson!”

With a last genuine smile at her friend, Skye returned to her father’s side. Lizzie couldn’t help but smile to herself taking in the scene. Despite all the pressure he had put his daughter through, knowingly or not, Ethan was now looking down at Skye with overwhelming pride; Lizzie wasn’t sure if she had ever seen Skye being happier than in this exact moment.

She stayed with the Parkins for a little while longer until Lizzie felt it wouldn’t be impolite to leave anymore. She was tired of Ethan’s constant droning, even if it was about Quidditch.

Lizzie was impatient to finally get her chance to talk to Orion now, but when she turned to the place her friends had been occupying earlier, she found it deserted; none of them was anywhere to be seen.

Not really knowing what to do, Lizzie started aimlessly strolling around the party, hopping from group to group, chatting with all sorts of people here and there.

So many happy faces were smiling at her as she moved through the crowd, congratulating her and clapping her on the back. Even her Gryffindor friends were seemingly enjoying themselves in this cheerful environment.

Lizzie could see Azariah laughing with Charlie and Andre, his arm draped around Ira’s shoulder; the curly haired Hufflepuff had her head resting against him and smiled from time to time. A bit further on, Julian and Henry were joking with each other, both raising their butterbeers in her direction when they saw her walking by. Sitting a little more secluded from the rest of the crowd, Lizzie could even spot Judith and her boyfriend Talbott; she was surprised to see the evasive Ravenclaw boy make an appearance at such a busy place, but then again, judging by the adoring looks he gave his girlfriend, there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for Judith.

Upon seeing all of her friends so relaxed and happy, a warm and fuzzy feeling was spreading inside Lizzie’s chest. As she leaned against a tree and took a sip of her butterbeer, however, she couldn’t help but feel a bit lost without having one of her own close friends to talk to.

Completely lost in her thoughts, the sudden sound of a familiar voice close to her ear almost made her jump out of her skin.

“Looking for someone, Chaser?”

Turning around, Lizzie found Orion standing behind her with a smirk on his face. Trying to ignore her wildly beating heart, Lizzie broke into a smirk of her own.

“What makes you think I’m looking for someone?”

“Aren’t we always looking for something or the other?” he responded casually, but the smile on his lips was mirrored in his eyes..

“I guess you’re right,” Lizzie mused, “but the someone I’ve been looking for is rather hard to catch tonight.”

Orion laughed quietly, the warm sound making Lizzie’s heart skip a beat. “I take it you’re drawing from your own rich pool of experience. You’ve been as elusive as a beam of sunlight this whole year; always visible, but impossible to get hold of.”

“Well, here I am.” She sighed in mock exasperation and rested her elbow on Orion’s shoulder. “But alas, the one I was looking for isn’t.”

Orion chuckled, clearly unimpressed by her teasing. Lizzie fought to not lose her composure as she felt his hand on her back, his touch giving her goosebumps all over.

“Is that so?” he whispered into her ear before drawing back again. “I fear you’ll have to make do with me.”

Lizzie tilted her head and grinned. “I think I can live with that.”

The atmosphere between them felt different; even when they had been nothing but friends, they had never spoken to each other in such a light, teasing manner before. However, this new dynamic felt completely natural. All the tension and strain that had hung between them for the better part of the year had vanished into thin air; Lizzie was loving every second of it.

Her breath hitched as she felt Orion adjust his hand on her back, his fingers grazing lightly over her spine.

“In fact,” he conceded, “Rowan mentioned you were looking for me.”

Surprised, Lizzie raised her eyebrows. “She did?”

Although Rowan had said she was alright with it, Lizzie was still glad to see that she had actually meant it. The thought of not having to lie to anyone anymore felt wonderful and strange at the same time.

“I’m as surprised as you are. I take it, the two of you were finally able to make peace?”

Lizzie sighed with relief. “Yes, neither one of us was what you’d call a perfect friend lately.”

Orion’s smile grew softer. “Perfection is a matter of perspective, isn’t it?”

Unable to think of a witty response, Lizzie’s cheeks blushed a deep scarlet and her eyes dropped to the ground. The atmosphere had shifted yet again, and she could feel the butterflies dancing in her stomach; she wasn’t entirely sure whether they were stemming more from nerves or excitement.

She was spared an answer, however, when a high, whistling sound suddenly cut through the air, directly followed by a mix of shrieks and laughter. The unmistakable cackling of Tonks and Tulip was clearly discernible above it; Lizzie recalled Rowan’s concern about seeing them meddling with some firecrackers.

Unimpressed by the commotion, Orion shot her a sideways glance. “What do you say, let’s leave the crowd to themselves and their fireworks for a bit?”

Lizzie tore her gaze away from the colourful sparks erupting over where the two troublemakers were undoubtedly working their magic and smiled at him.

“Sounds like a good plan, Captain.”

They left their spot under the tree and moved through the crowd that was flocking towards the commotion. Orion was walking in front of Lizzie, quickly gaining ground on her as the stream of people was thickening.

Breathing in deeply, Lizzie gathered her courage and lightly placed a hand on his arm before he was out of reach.

“Wait for me, will you?”

Orion looked back over his shoulder and waited for her to catch up with him. When she was closer, Lizzie let her hand travel down from where she had touched him to his hand, interlacing her fingers with his. Her heart was beating frantically as she felt the slight pressure of his fingers against the back of her hand.

Neither of them saw the surprised looks they were attracting as they broke free from the crowd, nor the badly contained smiles of their friends as they passed them. And even if Lizzie had noticed, at this very moment, she couldn’t have cared less.

[sincerelyella]

RAMifications Chapter 2 -  Almost Is Never Enough

Book: The Royal Romance (AU)

Pairings: Liam x MC (Ella); Drake x Alyssa Devereaux

Song Inspiration: Almost Is Never Enough by Ariana Grande & Nathan Sykes

Characters belong to Pixelberry; MC Ella Brooks belongs to me; Alyssa Devereaux was created by the brilliant mind of @burnsoslow​ and used with permission.

A/N: This entire idea came from Burnsy and her unBEARable series featuring her OTP Drake x Alyssa. This is Ella’s backstory and how she met the love of her life King Liam of Cordonia. This doesn’t follow much of TRR books, there is still a social season but not all of the players are present. Throw canon out the window! If you have not read unBEARable by @burnsoslow ​ (catch up here) I suggest you go and read that first. There are SPOILERS in this series!

Catch up here

Warnings: Swearing and some 🍋 - just a little.

Words: 3205 (it could be worse)

“Ella, I need you.”

Ella sighed with annoyance. “What is it Aaron? I’m off remember?”

She heard him sigh on the other end of the phone. “I know,” he said softly. “I’m sorry but the prince contacted us and ordered several bouquets to be delivered this evening.”

“So you guys need help getting the bouquets together? How long do you think? Couple hours? I still have some studying to do tonight.”

Aaron cleared his throat nervously. “No, we actually were able to get the bouquets done. But the prince specifically asked for you to deliver them.”

Ella’s brows furrowed in confusion. “The prince? Why would the prince-” Suddenly her eyes grew wide. Is Liam …

“Ella? Hello?”

“Umm, sorry, sure I’ll be there in a bit.”

“Thanks so much Ella, I’ll see you soon.”

Ella hung up the phone and let out a breath. It’s probably just a coincidence. She quickly changed out of her pajamas and put on some flats, jeans, and a plain black t-shirt. A quick look in the mirror to make sure she didn’t look completely haggard and ran out the door.

**

Liam was nervously pacing around in his quarters with a glass of scotch in one hand. This wasn’t too obvious right? He ran his other hand down his face and took a sip of his drink in an attempt to calm himself but it didn’t work. He had specifically told the staff that if someone were to come and deliver flowers tonight to escort them to the main ballroom and let him know.

A knock startled him out of his thoughts, he put down his drink on the kitchen island and went to answer the door.

“Your Highness,” a member of the staff said with a bow as Liam opened the door. “The florist is here with the flowers you ordered, sir.”

Liam nodded. “Thank you, I’ll be down in a minute.” He shut the door, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Liam reached over to open the door again, walked out into the hallway and headed for the ballroom.

**

Ella followed the palace staff member and rolled the cart of bouquets into the ballroom. This room is huge, no wonder he needed more flowers.

“His Highness will meet you shortly.”

“Thank you.”

Ella’s eyes wandered around the room, taking in the large crystal chandeliers and ornate gold crown molding.

“Hello again.” She heard his deep voice behind her, she turned and the breath she took in got stuck in her throat. He black dress pants, a white polo shirt that outlined his chiseled chest and loafers. Holy fuck. Ella’s eyes widened and wandered down his chest, down his legs and all the way back up to his eyes.

“Hi, uhh … Your Highness,” she stuttered, she attempted a curtsy and hoped she didn’t look like a moron. “You … are the prince I take it?”

Liam had an embarrassed look on his face and nodded sheepishly. “Yes, well I don’t really introduce myself along with my title, except to maybe foreign dignitaries,” he explained.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry about the other day, I almost ran face first into … the prince,” she said slowly, then felt horrified from hearing herself say it out loud and began to babble. “I’ve never actually bowed or curtsied to anyone before since we don’t have royalty in the States and … I’m just so sorry.” I wish the ground could just swallow me up right now. She felt the heat in her cheeks so she tucked her chin down and tried to hide behind her hat.

Liam noticed her starting to blush and hide her face; he chuckled and walked towards her. “I was the one that almost ran into you. Also, you don’t need to bow or curtsy, nobody is around,” he waved his hand to show off the empty room. “I ordered these bouquets for the ballroom and right outside the door. The flowers looked like they were … wilting.” Smooth.

“Oh!” Ella shook her head slightly to remind herself why she was there. “Yes, I can put these around the ballroom, if you like.” She busied herself taking a bouquet and looking around for where she can place it.

Liam studied her as she bent to pick up the flowers and walk around the room, the way her jeans fit tightly against her round ass and hugged her shapely legs. How her shirt wasn’t too tight … but tight enough to make his imagination run wild.

Ella continued to distribute the bouquets around the large ballroom with her and Liam making small talk, him helping her with placing them. Finally, the last couple bouquets that were to be displayed outside the ballroom doors were left. “Here, I can grab one and you can grab the other,” Liam offered and Ella nodded.

They both approached the same bouquet and grabbed it at the same time, her hands on the vase and his on top of hers. They both felt the instantaneous jolt in their hands as they touched and as their eyes met over the flowers their gazes locked. Ella’s mind went absolutely blank. She couldn’t look away if she tried. Her lips slowly curved into a small smile. “I got this one first,” she whispered.

Liam nodded, but his brain doesn’t register what she said. He kept his hands where they were, never taking his eyes off of hers. He unconsciously started to stroke her knuckles with his fingers. She’s so soft. His eyes dropped down to her lips and he licked his own. He watched as her lips started to move, and he realized she was speaking to him.

“Oh, my apologies, what did you say?”

She giggled softly and repeated her words. “I said I got this one first.”

Liam shook his head out of the daze he was in. “R-right,” he reluctantly let go of the bouquet and turned to pick up the other one next to it. They made their way out the double doors of the ballroom and he put one on one side while Ella placed the other one on the opposite end. They turned at the same time and somehow ran into each other. Liam grabbed Ella’s hips to steady her while she grabbed his upper arms.

“We just … keep bumping into one another,” Liam murmured. Her lips are right there. He leaned down and pressed his lips to Ella’s softly, sweetly, timidly. Suddenly it was over and he quickly pulled back and let go of her waist. It was so abrupt that Ella flinched at his reaction and looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Oh my God, I am so … sorry. Ella … I …” he trailed off. “I shouldn’t have done that, it was a mistake.”

“Oh,” Ella looked at the floor, trying to hide the hurt from showing on her face. She took in a breath, looked up and made eye contact with him. “It’s fine, you don’t have to apologize, no harm done,” she gave him a tight smile. “I should get going, you have a good night, Your Highness.” Ella attempted another awkward curtsy and hurriedly walked away. God I looked like an idiot. Just keep speed walking, Ella.

She made it into the truck a split second before the tears started to fall. Fucking shit! She punched the steering wheel and wiped her tears with the back of her hands. She took a deep breath in, started the truck and pulled out of the palace driveway. Why am I even crying? I hardly know the guy.

**

Liam watched as Ella walked hastily toward the front doors of the palace and he put his fingers on his lips. What the actual fuck were you thinking? He let out a sigh and walked back to his quarters, deep in thought. The problem wasn’t that he kissed her, the problem was he wanted to do something more than just kiss her. Ever since he ran into her, quite literally, she had plagued his thoughts. He saw fireworks whenever he saw her, when she spoke he felt like he was swimming in an ocean of her. It’s like he couldn’t get enough. And when his hands were on her waist a few minutes ago, his self control slipped. What now? He still wanted to call and order flowers, have her deliver them. But he also saw her face after he told her it was a mistake to kiss her. She probably doesn’t want to see me. He shook his head, unlocked the door to his quarters and settled in for the night.

**

Drake and Alyssa walked through the palace hallway, carrying on light conversation just in case anyone was around to hear them. She was, by all technicalities, still a suitor in Liam’s social season. They had to keep their relationship a secret for now and it was killing them. The pair went on talking about Drake’s upcoming move and the new job that he would be starting in a couple weeks.

“Are you excited?” Alyssa squealed.

Drake gave her a side glance. “Sure, I’m excited to start a life outside of the palace. To not be known as Prince Liam’s best friend.”

“Also, to start life with your new girlfriend?” she whispered.

“Of course I’m excited about that,” he murmured. “I really wish I could kiss you right now.”

“Just kiss?” Alyssa pouted, her bottom lip sticking out.

“Don’t do that,” he warned, as he stared at her mouth. “You know what that does to me Devereaux.”

Alyssa grinned wide. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she taunted as she turned seductively and hurriedly walked in the direction of her room with Drake hot on her heels. Suddenly she stopped walking, Drake almost running into her.

“Ahh! What’re you doing?”

Alyssa looked around, taking in the hallway. “Have you noticed all these flowers around?”

He rolled his eyes. “Now why would I notice that?”

Alyssa huffed in frustration. “Drake. There’s entirely too many flowers around the palace, more than usual. I feel like I’m in a conservatory of flowers.” She grabbed his hand, tugged him towards the front door and they both saw a dark haired woman in jeans and a plain white t-shirt bringing in bouquets and floral arrangements. They overheard her speaking with one of the staff.

“I’ll be back tomorrow as ordered, Thomas.”

Thomas nods. “Yes ma’am. His Highness needs his daily flowers,” they both laughed, waved at each other and the woman walked out the door.

Alyssa’s eyes widened and whirled around to Drake. “Liam has been ordering flowers everyday,” she whispered loudly, the wheels in her head turning.

“What’s going on in that brain of yours, Devereaux?”

“We’re totally going to Inspector Gadget this shit!”

“We’re … what?”

“Come on!” She dragged him back down the other hallway, but he dug his heels into the floor.

“We were going to” - he nodded his head over to the opposite hallway where her bedroom was - “do some things before you got all these harebrained ideas.”

Alyssa arched her brow. “Were we though?”

It was Drake’s turn to tug her down the other hallway. “Yes. We. Were.” Alyssa grinned and let him pull her. Once they got to her door she unlocked it, looked around the hallway to make sure nobody saw them, pushed it open and used Drake’s body to slam the door shut.

“Devereaux!”

Alyssa slid down his body, undid his belt, popped the button on his jeans, pulled it and his boxers down and his cock sprang free. She took him into her mouth and Drake let out a loud groan. “Go go gadget dong!” she said, muffled since her mouth was full.

“What … the … fuck Lyss?” he started laughing so hard no sounds came out, just an occasional snort. Alyssa fell backwards, unable to catch her breath.

“We … were … gonna Inspector … Gadget this shit!” She laughed harder.

“You’re … fucking … crazy.” he gasped in between laughter.

Minutes later, Drake started to calm down a bit. “I love you, Devereaux.”

She got back up, still chuckling, and stood on her knees in front of him. “I love you too, now where were we?”

**

It had been a few days after Liam kissed Ella and she was still tasked with delivering the flowers to the palace. Thankfully, she never saw him while she was there, and to be honest she was grateful. She didn’t know how she would face him after their kiss the other night. Just get in and get out. She delivered all the flowers to the palace but didn��t distribute them like she did before. The staff just instructed her to leave them wherever they wanted them, so she followed their directions. Ella pushed the cart into a room, walked out and shut the large embellished door.

“Uhh, excuse me!”

Turning, Ella sees the same beautiful woman with dark hair that she saw in the cronut shop a few weeks ago, standing next to the tall, scowling man that was sitting next to her.

“Oh! Hello, did you need to get inside here?”

The woman shook her head. “I’m Alyssa, this is Drake.”

Ella smiled. “Nice to meet you both, I’m Ella.”

“Likewise! We just wanted to come say hi! You were the one who delivered those pink roses here for me a few days ago, right?”

Ella thought back to her first time at the palace. “Yes! Actually I did, that was my first visit here.”

“I wanted to thank you for that,” she looked up at Drake and smirked. “Those were the … softest roses I’ve ever felt.”

Drake turned a deep shade of red, raised his fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. “Um, it’s nice to meet you, Ella.”

Alyssa giggled and looked back at Ella. “I’ve seen the flower truck here every day since then, I’ve never seen the palace have so many floral arrangements and bouquets.”

“Oh, I think the prince had something to do with that. He orders them everyday and my boss told me he requested I be the one to deliver them.” Ella looked down at the floor, biting her lip, then looked back up at the couple.

Alyssa didn’t miss the subtle change in demeanor. “Really? Did … something happen with you two?” She casually tried to start a conversation to get more intel, knowing something was going on with them.

Ella looked at the woman and she seemed really friendly and bubbly. “Ahh, well … he kissed me the other night and … then he apologized and said it was a mistake.” 

“Oh my God! For real?” Alyssa turned to Drake. “We have to get them together!”

“Devereaux, I don’t know about that …”

“That’s okay, really … he’s a prince,” Ella stammered, hoping the subject would be dropped.

“Just because he’s a prince doesn’t mean anything! We can totally do this!” Alyssa was practically yelling in the hallway, clapping her hands.

She has so much energy, Ella chuckled to herself. Then she remembered she had to return the truck. “Hey guys, it was really nice meeting you, but I have to go return the truck,” she explained apologetically.

“Okay, well it was nice to meet you, Ella! I’m sure we’ll see you tomorrow,” Alyssa winked at her and they all waved as Ella walked outside.

**

Liam sat in his quarters, looking out the window at the front of the palace and seeing the floral truck parked there. He still called the florist asking them to deliver bouquets and floral arrangements; he still requested Ella bring them to the palace, but he couldn’t bring himself to go see her. I can’t do this, I have a social season. He closed his eyes, pressed his fingers to them and let out a breath. He knew his duty to the crown and his people, his father wouldn’t let him forget it. He had to choose a queen to rule alongside him, and it couldn’t be Ella.

He was brought out of his reverie by a knock on the door. He walked out of the living area to answer it and there stood Drake and Alyssa on the other side.

“Hey Li, how’s it going?” Drake and Alyssa had big grins on their faces.

“Hello,” he said suspiciously looking from Drake to Alyssa. “What brings you by?” he stepped to the side to let them inside.

Alyssa stepped forward. “Well, we’ve noticed … ” - Drake coughed - “Okay … I have noticed that you’ve got a lot of flowers and stuff around, more than usual.”

“Yes,” Liam eyed her questioningly.

“Soooooo, we did some detective work …” - Drake cleared his throat loudly and Alyssa rolled her eyes - “Okay … I did some detective work and dragged Drake with me.”

“Alright,” Liam said slowly, trying decipher what Alyssa was hinting at.

“And found out the cute floral delivery girl Ella has been coming here every day to deliver flowers. Isn’t that … weird, Liam? Why does the palace need flowers delivered every day?” She looked at him with a small smirk and an arched brow.

Liam shrugged convincingly. “Who knows why, it is a big building. They might need flowers to decorate different rooms.”

“Mmmhmm. Right. Well, I spoke with her, Liam.”

His eyes snapped up to Alyssa’s from the floor in surprise. “Wh-what? You spoke to her? What for?”

“She said you kissed her, apologized and said it was a mistake,” she gave him a disapproving glare. “What’re you doing Liam? You like her, don’t you?”

Liam sighed and gave up his nonchalant act. “Yes. Yes, I feel something for her. But you both know I am unable to pursue anything. I have a social season, I need to find a queen,” he let out an exasperated breath.

Drake finally broke his silence and stepped forward. “Li, there’s something we need to talk to you about.”

[robotsandzombiesarebi]

Hss class act fanfiction

Looking at the same sky - part 3

(Skye x MC)

[A/N -- If you would like to be tagged in these chapters in the future, let me know and I'll make sure you're on the list.]

Skye read the message and felt a strange mix of relief for being able to talk to Bailey after the conversation she had just had with her mother, and nerves because of the words her girlfriend had used

'Can I call? We need to talk about something 🖤'

Running though several scenarios in her head, Skye threw herself on to her bed and wiped at her dampening eyes. She sent a thumbs up emoji back and waited for the phone to ring. Within seconds, her phone lit up, playing 'Love will tear us apart'. Looking at the screen, Skye saw that it was a video call coming through and quickly hit 'Decline'. Sending a quick message, asking Bailey to wait a few minutes, she dashed to the mirror to check the make-up on her eyes was intact and pulling off the tatty pyjama top she was wearing, covering herself instead with her black bathrobe. Settling back on to her bed, after running her fingers through her long red hair, she opened a video call with Bailey.

Within seconds, Bailey appeared on the screen. Her eyes were heavy and her smile was plainly forced. Skye mirrored her expression, trying to hide the way her last conversation made her feel. Bailey worried about her enough. She didn't need outdated thinking and unveiled homophobia from her family adding to it.

"Hey Bailey." She said softly, clearing her throat after to help her voice. Bailey was clearly checking her own reflection on her camera, subtly wiping at the bottom of her eyes and trying harder to school her smile.

"Hey Skye. I miss you" Her attention was now clearly on Skye who smiled contentedly at her.

"Its hardly been an hour. But I miss you too, especially when you're sweet."

"So always, right?" Bailey let out a small laugh that caught in her throat as she spoke.

"Yeah. You're always cute I guess." Skye smirked. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well..." Bailey began. As she thought of the best way to approach it, she saw the poorly hidden, scared look on Skye's face. "What's wrong?"

The question startled Skye. Realising she should never have accepted a video call, she gave up trying to keep herself together. A glance at her door showed no shadows in the light under it. It wasn't unusual for one of them to decide to listen in so they stay in control of everything. Skye explained what had happened since they parted. Brian snooping, her mother's critique, her dad's obliviousness to her. By the time she had finished, her cheeks were streaked with charcoal tears. Bailey looked calm, taking in everything Skye was saying, giving her time to finish before reacting, but her eyes betrayed her anger. She was furious. They talked through it. Bailey helping Skye to process what she was feeling while listening to everything her girlfriend needed to get off of her chest.

Skye exhaled slowly, composing herself and ready to move on.

"You never said what you wanted to talk about" She said dryly.

"Oh yeah..." Bailey paused. "I was going to ask..."

"Hmm?"

"Are you wearing anything under that big ol bathrobe?" She giggled.

"Seriously?!" Skye gasped with a deep blush creeping over her face. "No..."

"No?!" Bailey choked out, her blush surpassing Syke's.

"I meant, no, that's not what you wanted to talk about"

"Oh right... yeah, I definitely knew that. It's ok, we'll talk tomorrow. It's nothing to worry about right now anyway."

"You sure?" Concern shook Skye's voice.

"Yeah. Are you ok? The last thing I want is you worrying." Bailey asked, searchingly.

"I am. I think I'm just tired at this point."

"It takes a lot out of you, huh?"

"Sometimes. Talking to you helps. You always know what to say."

Bailey blushed harder than before at the praise. Suddenly feeling a little relieved, knowing she would still always be able to talk to her, she could always be there for her that way.

"I'm here to help." She said with a salute to her camera. "You should get some sleep though. If you wake up, just call me, ok? You're not disturbing me, I promise."

"Okay. I will, if I need to." Skye assured her.

They said a short good night and ended their call, not before Bailey blowing Skye a loud kiss, then waiting expectantly for Skye to catch it, which she did with an eye roll. Skye settled under her covers easily, one hand tucked under her pillow, the other cradling her phone. She scrolled social media for a while, until her phone chimed with a notification from Bailey. Skye opened the picture that was captioned "There's nothing on under this bathrobe either"

When the picture opened, it was of Bailey's dog, Biscuit wearing her purple fluffy gown against his plush white fur. It made her smile, more than she had all night. Bailey could do that. Only Bailey.

'I really love her.' Was the last thought in Skye's mind as her eyelids hung heavy and she drifted in to a peaceful sleep.

--------

The next day, Skye was getting dressed and checking the time constantly. She always met Bailey at 10:45am. It gave her a perfect amount of time to leave her house without issue. Her dad leaves early, so does Brian. Her mother, being a woman of leisure, didn't leave the house until she was good and ready. The bar at the brunch place she met her 'friends' at on the weekends opened at 10:30, so she would leave 15 minutes before, giving Skye 10 minutes to leave her room and get out of the front door before Brian came home from the gym, stinking and overdosed on testosterone. She got out without a problem and took a slow walk in to town. As she got to the arcade, she saw Bailey hitting the side of a crane machine which had a plush toy hanging precariously over the edge of the prize slot.

"Why not just put in another quarter?" Skye commented from behind her, making her jump and knock the machine, causing the plushie to fall within reach.

"Yes! I never lose!" Bailey chuckled turning to Skye and holding out the toy for her. "Here, he's all yours."

"Oh, that's ok. I don't want to take your prize." She mumbled. Looking at the toy, she could see it was clearly a knock-off version of the doppelganger monster from the movie she had shown Bailey on the first (and last) night she had visited her bedroom.

"But I wouldn't have won it if you didn't make me knock in to the machine. Besides...." Bailey held out the little stuffed monster to her again. "...You're my prize."

Skye was use to the corny jokes, the cheesy one liners, the awful attempts at flirting. Her girlfriend was awkward, it was a fact. She usually compensated for this by saying whatever first came to mind so she didn't overthink what she was saying. It made Skye feel more secure, knowing that Bailey meant everything she said without any hidden intent.

"Your prize for what?" She asked shyly, gently taking the toy and fighting her smile back.

"Hmmm... putting up with Ajay. I should definitely be compensated for that."

"Don't forget Danielle." Skye smirked.

"The girl who made me look like I would risk someone's life for a role in a play. I had totally forgotten about her, thank you." She laughed, shoving Skye's shoulder slightly.

The two of them shared a sweet kiss and walked in to the arcade, hand in hand. After playing their usual favourite games they moved over to the cafe area to get some lunch. Skye ordered their food, refusing to let Bailey pay while Bailey tried to get the busted tablet attached to the table to work. Skye sat beside her, sliding her a red basket of fries and a soft drink.

"Any luck?" She asked, nodding at the tablet.

"No, but..." Bailey gestured to the window. "...How about some classic entertainment?"

Outside, Skye saw Brian, flocked by some of his friends, all of them wearing similar gym clothes, surrounding a small group of girls. Brian was the only one speaking by the look of it, until the entire group of girls burst with laughter as walked off practically holding their sides. Brian, who's face now matched his hair perfectly, stormed off in the other direction with his friends trailing behind. Skye and Bailey shared a smile before falling into a fit of loud giggles.

As they are their lunch, Skye began to notice how quiet Bailey had become. She wasn't even eating much, just pushing her food around instead.

"Bailey!" Skye called out.

"What?!"

"You're not this quiet. What's wrong?" She asked as she stared in to Bailey's eyes, trying to find an answer.

"So. Remember I said we needed to talk about something?" She muttered.

"Yeah. Then I dropped all that stuff about my family on you..."

"No. I wanted to know how you were. You didn't drop anything on me, Skye. It's not a burden, ok?" Bailey interrupted.

"Ok. Thank you. Yeah, I remember."

"Well. It's kind of serious. I don't really know what to say." Bailey looked down, avoiding Skye's eyes. "I don't want today to be ruined. I don't want to ruin any day with this, but..." She took a deep breath. "The sooner I say it, the more ready the two of us will be for it."

"Am I supposed to be scared right now? Because I am."

"Skye, I have to move. Away from Cedar Cove. Away from Berry..." Bailey's eyes misted and her breath caught as she spoke. "I'm so sorry"

Suddenly, there was no sound. The arcades went quiet, the sounds of people talking dimmed until they were mute. Bailey was still apologising, but the sound struggled to reach Skye's ears. The whole world seemed as though it was losing its connection and Skye's senses suffered it alone. Midway through what Bailey was trying to get across, Skye grabbed her by the loose green shirt that hung loosely from her and pulled her in to a tight embrace. Bailey's hands rested on Skye's back, drawing small circles against her frame. It was too much. There wasn't anything to say to make this better. It was bad, and no amount of 'sorry' could make it better. It wasn't Bailey's fault, this clearly broke her heart too. After a few minutes of the two of them holding eachother as though they would be pulled apart this second if they dared to let go, Skye spoke up, softly.

"But... I need you. Please... don't." The words were strained in her throat and her arms tightened around the girl who was her only beacon in the dark that surrounded her life.

"Skye. I'm sorry, I didn't want..."

"PLEASE!" Skye screamed without a single thought of who would hear her. "Please...?" She cried.

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

TBC in the next chapter....

[phillmatic365]

Information Is 365 #HipHop365 NEW @tissueinthetape Podcast Episode 219 and The Heat Holderz brought backup,. Our Hampton Family, Silas Grant kicked with us. We talked,  new fatherhood The Information Age -tease DC politics, culture and sports (even Dallas Cowboys talk) plus . . . _-_Most Beautifullest (we got the funk so come on down) - The best thing that we have seen since our last live show image.jpeg 2:31 Tyra Banks talks new 'SI' cover _-_Tit for Tat (pound for pound, toe to toe, blow for blow, round for round) - Just my thoughts, right or wrong whatever I was feelin' at the time _-_Dream or Nightmare for Steve Harvey: replaced as host of NBC's Little Big Shots after his daytime show got cancelled (hold up wait a minute) Steve Harvey on Losing His Talk Show: 'I've Got 3 More' Melissa McCarthy replaces Steve "I really believe God can do anything. I ask God for OUTRAGEOUS things. I live by Ephesians 3:20, the book of Deuteronomy and so many others. You can't out-faith me, you can't out-believe me. My faith doesn't waver. I wouldn't have made it this far without Bible scriptures." _-_Zion - beast or bust: poised to join Elton & Kyrie as the only Duke players to go #1 overall in the NBA Draft Is the NBA draft lotto rigged? _-_Heat Check (they hotheads and the bullets iz heat seeking) - Phil mentions new music from Diamond D & Maryland's own Logic w/RJ Payne & King Shampz update. Killa Cal - Let's Go Champ _-_Heat Check (they hotheads and the bullets iz heat seeking) Chelly The MC - Northeast Baby _-_Made You Look (now let's get it on all in perspective) Showtime's Of Mics and Men Netflix x Ava's When They See Us May 31 Netflix's Beats June 19 (Anthony Anderson & Uzo Aduba) Netflix's Wanda Sykes: Not Normal May 21 HBO's What's My Name - Muhammad Ali out tonight (Antoine Fuqua) ______________________🔥🔥🎙🔥🔥_______________________ #TissueInTheTapePodcast #theinformationage #washingtondc #Hampton #wizards #redskins #cowboys #HipHop #EverythingisHipHop #HipHop365 #RespectHeatHolderz 🔥 (at Washington, District of Columbia) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxvEpGLA4rE/?igshid=sd9p6prk67xi

[forwhateveritsworthyoudidgreat]

IN DEPTH FANDOM QUESTIONS

Send me a show/fandom and ill answer - MAJOR CRIMES Top 5 favourite characters: Sharon Raydor, Andy Flynn, Louie Provenza, Andrea Hobbs, Fritz Howard Other characters you like: Doctor Joe, Amy Sykes, Julio Sanchez, Doctor Morales Least favourite character: Sharon Beck Otps: Sharon Raydor/Andy Flynn (aka Shandy)

Notps: Provenza/Sharon Favourite friendship: Andrea Hobbs/Sharon Raydor Favorite Family: The Raydor Family

Favourite episode: Season 4 Episode 5 Favourite season/book/movie: Favorite season 5 Favourite quote: “Whatever happens next, know that I love you.” Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: Andy Flynn asking Sharon out on a “date” When it really disappointed you: The list is long and not exactly the show itself but the creator. Saddest moment: Sharon shooting Dwight Darnell in the courtroom Most well done character death: Russell Taylor (R.I.P) Favourite guest star: Daniel Di Tomasso Favourite cast member: Mary McDonnell Character you wish was still alive: We don’t have that much deaths on the show so only one I can think of is Russell Taylor One thing you hope really happens: Sharon  and Andy getting married and living in a cabinet away from everything Most shocking twist: Phillip Stroh’s escape When did you start watching/reading: Since The Closer season 5 then continued to watch MC Trope you wish they would stop using: Really can’t think of anything One thing this show/book/film does better than others: Doesn’t mix fiction with real life. Everything is in line with the law and LAPD rules. Funniest moments: Christmas episodes are always funny  Couple you would like to see: Buzz/Emily Raydor Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: Julianne Moore as Sharon’s sister  Most boring plotline: Can’t think of one at the moment Best flashback/flashfoward if any: --- Most layered character: Sharon Raydor Scariest moment: Rusty’s *almost* kidnapping (Wade Weller case) Grossest moment: We don’t have that or I can’t think of one. Best looking male: Buzz Watson Best looking female: Mary McDonnell Who you’re crushing on (if any): I have a crush on middle aged actresses. So Mary Mcdonnell! Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): Andy waving his hand to Sharon while on his way to  surgery Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: What happened to Phillip Stroh? Is he coming back? At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: The moment I set eyes on it. Truly.

@thexfilesmostunwanted

Just to pay you back go for The X Files sweetheart hahahahah :D

[lizzybeth1986]

Since I have way too many PM universes and at least four of my MCs have fics featuring them...I thought I'd try to simplify things a little by making a post here of the MCs, their relationships, the personality types they are dating etc 😅

x - signifies a romantic relationship

& - signifies a platonic relationship

Scholar!Hayden (Hazel Park x Iris Young)

MC: Hazel (f! Black MC)

MC FC: Justine Skye

Hayden: Iris (f!Asian Hayden, Scholar)

Hayden FC: Jung Ryeo Won

Hayden's Personality: Mysterious | Sweet | Sincere | Logical

MC's relationships: Only with Iris.

Other Relationships: Steve and Nadia, Sloane and Alana are in relationships as well (actually Steve and Nadia are married in all these universes).

Fics in this Verse:

Metamorphosis (Hayden x MC)

Noot Noot (Sloane & MC, Sloane & Hayden)

Closure (coming soon!) (Hayden x MC, Hayden & President Thompson)

Headcanons:

Hazel Alana Park - Character Sheet

Hazel and Iris' Children

Adventurer!Hayden (Basil Park x Sage Young)

MC: Basil Park (m! Asian MC)

MC FC: Eric Mun

Hayden: Sage Young (f! Black Hayden, Adventurer)

Hayden FC: Lupita Nyong'o

Hayden's Personality: Outgoing | Rebellious| Humourous | Impulsive

MC's relationships: With Sloane, Sage, Alana, Khaan and Damien. He never breaks off with Sage, and she knew from the start that he was polyamorous. He begins dating Sloane even before she reads out her love letter, and begins tentatively dating Damien after they rescue him at Tokyo HQ. Khaan and Alana he gets together with shortly before they defeat Eros.

Other relationships: Steve and Nadia are married, Sloane dates both Khaan and Alana, Sage enrolls in university for a meteorology course and meets a girl who she also dates there.

Fics in this Verse:

The Stars (Are Out Tonight) (Sloane & Hayden, Sloane x MC, Hayden x MC)

Harvest Moon (Hayden x MC, Sloane x MC)

Saffron Sugar, Turmeric Spice (Hayden x MC, Hayden x f!OC)

The Stuff of Exploded Stars (coming soon!) (Sloane x MC)

Once in 50,000 Years (coming soon!) (MC x Sloane, MC x Hayden, Sloane and Hayden in other relationships)

Joker!Hayden (Hawthorne Park x Zinnia Young)

MC: Hawthorne Park (m! Black MC)

MC FC: Daniel Kaluuya

Hayden: Zinnia Young (f! white Hayden, Joker)

Hayden FC: Chloë Grace Moretz

Hayden's Personality: Mysterious | Rebellious | Humorous | Logical

MC's relationships: Hawthorne begins dating Hayden and Damien as per the canon timeline (Zinnia all along, Damien at Berlin), but begins dating Sloane after their boatride together in Paris.

Other relationships: Sloane actively dates Alana as well after the Eros defeat. She later bumps into an old friend from her childhood at Queen's and reunites with him. Zinnia eventually finds Dames and casually dates him at some point.

Fics in this Verse:

Placeholder Apology (Hayden & Dames)

Apology: Take Two (coming soon!) (Hayden & Damien)

Coffee Brown Eyes (Sloane x MC, Sloane x Alana)

Pioneer!Hayden (Rosemary Park x Heathcliff Young)

MC: Rosemary Park (f! Asian MC)

MC FC: Nikkita Chaddha

Hayden: Heathcliff Young (m! Black Hayden, Pioneer)

Hayden FC: Ephraim Sykes

Hayden's Personality: Mysterious | Sweet | Humourous | Logical

MC's relationships: Frankly this is the one universe I haven't thought a lot about yet, but I do know Heathcliff and Rosemary get married over a year after they first met. I don't have a clear idea about who the other characters in this universe are dating either.

Fics in this Verse:

Sea of Love (Hayden x MC)

Headcanons

Pets

Faceclaims for my other characters:

There's one OC in this, and another one I haven't developed much yet! Hopefully when I do have a clear idea for Sloane's childhood friend in Queen's I'll add him as well.

In order:

Sloane Washington - Nelly Muse

Damien/Dames - Chayanne

Alana Kusuma - Marion Jola

OC - Nilukshi Sigera - Yureni Noshika (the Sri Lankan girl from the meteorology course that Sage dates)

[lizzybeth1986]

Sea of Love

Book: Perfect Match

Pairing: Heathcliff Young x Rosemary Park (Hayden x MC)

Rating: Slight M for hints and innuendos, but mostly PG.

Summary: It's been a year since Heathcliff and Rosemary got together, and Rosemary has something special planned...

Song Inspiration: Sea of Love by Phil Phillips and the Twilights.

A/N: Heathcliff's personality is Pioneer (Mysterious | Sweet | Humourous | Logical). The cake mentioned here is a chai cake with orange-cardamom frosting, inspired by this recipe. The picture in the moodboard is from the same site too.

(Faceclaims:

Heathcliff: Ephraim Sykes

Rosemary: Nikkita Chadha)

Note to self: must send extra thank you note to Steve. With handmade cookies.

In the last one year that they'd been together, Rosemary knew enough about Heathcliff's cooking prowess to leave him in a kitchen without fear of burning the whole house down (and if it was party rice you were craving that day, you'd be in for a treat). She also knew that - until a couple months ago - she couldn't say the same for his baking.

Heathcliff had really pulled out all the stops to make this anniversary dinner perfect. Creamy chicken flavoured with garlic, thyme and sundried tomatoes (was this the recipe Delish had dubbed the "Marry Me" Chicken? Rosemary's hand ghosted over the side pocket of her trousers), and white wine. How he'd managed to keep this a secret until she came home from work was anyone's guess.

That wasn't even the best part. He'd baked. In front of her was an amazing, homemade chai spiced cake, with orange-cardamom flavoured frosting. It looked like it had come straight out of Steve's gorgeous bakery.

Heathcliff knew how much Rosemary loved her homemade chai masala blend (he even made an effort to stop saying chai tea, after she'd glared at him the first few times). He knew cardamom was her go-to spice for sweets (and saffron if she really wanted to splurge), and she looked at orange peel the way Heathcliff looked at...well...any pizza that didn't have pineapples on top of it. This dessert was like every food dream she'd had since childhood, all condensed into one plate. And Heathcliff couldn't have done it without listening. And remembering. And learning how to make it.

And then acting like that was no big deal.

That wasn't even the best best part! That prize had to go to his attire. His clothes were the perfect blend of casual, classy and sexy - as usual - but the icing on top of the cake was his "Kiss the Cook" apron.

What was a girl to do but oblige?

"Come here, you," she said, pulling him to her by the apron, tracing a line down the column of his throat with her lips. He shivered at the contact...for the first 30 seconds. Then he squirmed, laughing.

"Stop that, Rosie," he whispered, all cinnamon spice and hushed laughter. "You know that tickles."

"I know," she whispered, smiling against his skin. He responded in kind, raining openmouthed kisses along her jawline and her collarbone, gently biting at the joint between her neck and shoulder. Rosemary's pulse began to race.

"Keep that up and we won't be leaving this house all week, Heath."

His throaty chuckle reverberated against her skin. "Well, you don't see me complaining."

"Oh, but I will," she said, running a finger over the skin below his neck, beneath his shirt...then let it drop and pulled away.

"But -"

"Enough surprises from you today," there was no mistaking the smirk on her face, as she pulled out an old silk scarf, "It's my turn now."

--

"When's this blindfold coming off?" Heathcliff could hear Rosemary's windchime laughter, feel her soft hands as she guided him through a familiar, grassy path.

"A few paces more, I promise," she said. He could feel softness of mud give way to the crunch of gravel beneath their feet - that was how he knew they were no longer at the park near their home.

It was funny how even though a year had passed, he could still smell the rain exactly the way it was when they first met. Could still see the awning that he pulled her into to keep dry. Could still hear the footsteps of that old lady in the park, gazing fondly at them, telling them she saw in their eyes the same fire she felt for the man she loved.

Heathcliff hoped the old lady was resting in front of a cozy fireplace now, content in that man's arms. That she was still happy, still in love, still believing in the magic of love at first sight. Because she could tell already what they wouldn't realize until much, much later. That this love was a love meant to last the test of time.

They suddenly stopped. Somewhere in the distance, Heathcliff could hear the gurgle of water.

"Alright," Rosie was speaking now, "You can take that off."

The soft gurgles were from the lake. The same lake he'd taken her to on their first date. In the moonlight it was ink-black and glittering, the air smelling of just-bloomed gardenias.

Most of Heathcliff's memories before that first date were a little dim, and he wasn't even certain that little factoid he'd told her about "knowing a guy" who could allow them to use the boats at night was even true. All he remembered was Sloane mentioning it somewhere on his first day, which taking notes.

It appeared Rosemary was intent on jogging his memory of that night, because right in front of him on that lake was a boat, edged with flowers.

She placed her long, slender arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his back. "Blue roses for your shyness. Jasmines because you still make me laugh when I feel low and Gladiolus for the rare moments you show me how you really feel. Gardenias because you're sweeter than sugar syrup in a gulab jamun -"

"Hey!" Heathcliff said, playfully punching Rosie on the arm. His face felt incredibly warm.

"What," Rosemary pouted, all feigned innocence, "You know I love gulab jamun."

Heathcliff said nothing in response, just grinned as he parted her lips softly with his own, savoring the lingering taste of cardamom and orange peel on her tongue. The kiss soon turned heated and passionate, their bodies pressed against each other and their hands everywhere. He was dimly aware they might be caught and almost didn't care.

Rosemary moaned against his mouth, then practically ripped herself from his embrace, fingers still playing with his curls.

"Heath," Rosie said, her voice still coming out in halting, shallow breaths, "no more making out until we leave the boat. There are ways I'd like to get wet but falling into a lake isn't one of them."

Heathcliff let out a shocked burst of laughter at the pun, then allowed her to guide him into the boat. She settled in his arms for a few minutes when they were comfortably seated, before eventually picking up oars on the opposite side. Heathcliff's eyes softened at the memory - she'd done the same back on their first date too, telling him she didn't want him to row alone.

They rowed in companionable silence, before he heard her mumble and hum a familiar tune.

Do you remember

When we met

That's the day

I knew you were my pet

Heathcliff grinned. "Don't let Dipper hear that."

Rosemary scoffed. "You're the literal worst."

"Remember that restaurant we went to?"

"Yeah...Jade, right? That Asian fusion place. Such overattentive staff. Like they were literally swooping down to fulfill your every demand."

He had to admit - and he was a normally patient man who liked giving people the benefit of the doubt - even he had gotten annoyed. "They shut down six months ago. Wonder how much of that had to do with Eros getting a complete overhaul. They got a ton of patronage from that place."

"Pity," Rosemary replied, uncharacteristically focused on her rowing, "the food was pretty good."

"I barely remember the meal," he said, gazing at her fondly, "The company was far, far better."

Rosemary blushed, allowing herself a small smile.

They settled back into comfortable silence again, punctuated by the sound of the water, and Rosemary's soft humming. She looks so unbelievably beautiful in the moonlight, almost exactly the way she did all those months ago, in her beautiful pink lace dress, eyeing him underneath those long lashes. Her mood was different tonight, though - he could see beads of perspiration on her forehead and above her upper lip, and she was chewing at the lower one in that way she did whenever she was nervous.

"You okay?" He asked her. This was her surprise, she knew he loved it...why was she still so tense?

"I'm fine. I'm fine," she said, voice almost coming out in a squeak.

It didn't help that he'd been nervous all day too (he just had a better time hiding it). He'd planned to sit her down and talk to her after the surprise dinner...except she had sprung a surprise of her own instead. He breathed in the heady scent of the flowers before he spoke again.

"Rosemary?"

"Hmm?"

"Penny for your thoughts?"

She laughed, her voice still shaking from nervousness. "Okay. But only once we get out of this boat. I have something to say and I don't want to say it with us toppling over and getting all sodding wet."

Heathcliff raised his eyebrows. "What's this thing that you can't say sitting down?"

Rosemary eyed the pier, gulping. "Well...looks like you won't have to wait too long to find out. But before we get out...before I say this...can you kiss me?"

He shifted closer and buried his hand in her hair, knowing the slow caress of his fingers on her scalp would always calmed her. Their lips melted into each other, tongues tangling and exploring and pressing insistently. He caught her bottom lip gently between his teeth, reveling in the noise she made at the back of her throat. Her eyes were unfocused, and her lips swollen and rosy when they were done...and it only made him want to kiss her again.

Even if this was the last kiss they shared...even if the thing he kept in his pocket came to nothing...even if she never wanted to see him again after this...he knew they would both at least cherish this.

They got off the boat, walked towards the park. Sat at the place where an old lady had sat once.

And then Rosemary did the unthinkable. She knelt down.

"Heathcliff Young," she began, then stopped, clearing her throat. He felt like he knew what was coming, and suddenly every part of him felt numb.

"Heathcliff Young. I've tried this speech fifteen different ways all through last week. All the things I've practiced saying come out sounding silly, or cliche, or just downright...not us. So I think I'll just say it straight.

"I barely remember what my life was like before you came into it. Before you entered my world, before you won me over with your humour and honesty and your patience, and...God, to live with me you truly need to have a whole lot of that last one."

They laughed together, and Heathcliff found his grip on her hand tightening.

"From the moment we met I couldn't see myself with anyone else, and now that we've faced the worst together and lived together and destroyed kitchens together...I don't think I ever can see myself with anyone else. I don't think I ever want to....oh Heathcliff, don't cry."

He let out a watery laugh, sniffing. "Happy tears. They're happy tears."

She giggled back, tears glistening in her own eyes, then took out a box from her pocket. He could feel his fingers tingling from the anticipation. She opened it to reveal a beautiful platinum ring, thick and firm, studded on the side with diamonds.

"Heathcliff Young," she whispered, still on her knees, "will you marry me?"

"Damn," he replied. She frowned. "you got there a lot faster than I was planning to."

Her face fell. "What...what do you mean?"

Oh...oh no. She thinks I'm saying no.

"Well...I've been carrying something with me too. All month, actually."

He took out a box from his own pocket, revealing a gem-studded platinum ring. The sapphire and tiny diamonds winked at her in the moonlight.

"Oh...oh my God." Rosemary took a step back, covering her mouth with both hands and half-laughing, half-crying with delighted disbelief. "Oh my God! You too?"

"Yep. Had a big sappy speech planned and everything," Heathcliff grinned and wiped away his tears. "Looks like you beat me to it, baby."

Rosemary let out a strangled laugh, throwing her arms around his shoulders. "I guess I should take that as a yes."

He snorted. "Yes."

She put his ring on him first, marvelling at the perfect fit (she'd tell him later that it had taken her all week to measure his ring finger without waking him up). He smiled as the ring he got her, found its rightful home ("same, Rosie," he'd reply, "same.")

Rosemary buried her head at the crook of his neck, breathing him in. Heathcliff tightened his arms around her. This wasn't how he was expecting their anniversary to go...but somehow she managed to make it far, far better than what he'd envisioned.

Then again, that was what Rosemary did with everything.

"Can't wait to return home with us wearing this," she said, admiring her ring, then added cheekily, "Wearing only this."

Heathcliff groaned. "Keep that up and it'll wind up happening right here on this park bench instead."

It was amazing that after all this time, after taking one of their biggest decisions as a couple, they were back to teasing the hell out of each other. He laced his fingers through hers, taking her hand and leading them home. He could see her smile every time his thumb brushed the ring on her finger, and his (deceptively mechanical) heart soared.

Note to self, Heathcliff thought as they walked home, must send Nadia an extra thank you note. Both for the ring suggestion AND for recommending chai cake.

--

Tagging:

@haydenyoungappreciationweek @sazanes

[phillmatic365]

NEW @tissueinthetape Podcast Episode 219 and The Heat Holderz brought backup,. Our Hampton Family, Silas Grant kicked with us. We talked,  new fatherhood The Information Age -tease DC politics, culture and sports (even Dallas Cowboys talk) plus . . . _-_Most Beautifullest (we got the funk so come on down) - The best thing that we have seen since our last live show image.jpeg 2:31 Tyra Banks talks new 'SI' cover _-_Tit for Tat (pound for pound, toe to toe, blow for blow, round for round) - Just my thoughts, right or wrong whatever I was feelin' at the time _-_Dream or Nightmare for Steve Harvey: replaced as host of NBC's Little Big Shots after his daytime show got cancelled (hold up wait a minute) Steve Harvey on Losing His Talk Show: 'I've Got 3 More' Melissa McCarthy replaces Steve "I really believe God can do anything. I ask God for OUTRAGEOUS things. I live by Ephesians 3:20, the book of Deuteronomy and so many others. You can't out-faith me, you can't out-believe me. My faith doesn't waver. I wouldn't have made it this far without Bible scriptures." _-_Zion - beast or bust: poised to join Elton & Kyrie as the only Duke players to go #1 overall in the NBA Draft Is the NBA draft lotto rigged? _-_Heat Check (they hotheads and the bullets iz heat seeking) - Phil mentions new music from Diamond D & Maryland's own Logic w/RJ Payne & King Shampz update. Killa Cal - Let's Go Champ _-_Heat Check (they hotheads and the bullets iz heat seeking) Chelly The MC - Northeast Baby _-_Made You Look (now let's get it on all in perspective) Showtime's Of Mics and Men Netflix x Ava's When They See Us May 31 Netflix's Beats June 19 (Anthony Anderson & Uzo Aduba) Netflix's Wanda Sykes: Not Normal May 21 HBO's What's My Name - Muhammad Ali out tonight (Antoine Fuqua) ______________________🔥🔥🎙🔥🔥_______________________ #TissueInTheTapePodcast #theinformationage #washingtondc #Hampton #wizards #redskins #cowboys #HipHop #EverythingisHipHop #HipHop365 #RespectHeatHolderz 🔥 https://www.instagram.com/p/BxvEYlNgeIj/?igshid=1sesiasi5acls

[phillmatic365]

NEW @tissueinthetape Podcast Episode 219 and The Heat Holderz brought backup,. Our Hampton Family, @silasgrant kicked with us. We talked,  new fatherhood The Information Age -tease DC politics, culture and sports (even Dallas Cowboys talk) plus . . . _-_Most Beautifullest (we got the funk so come on down) - The best thing that we have seen since our last live show image.jpeg 2:31 Tyra Banks talks new 'SI' cover _-_Tit for Tat (pound for pound, toe to toe, blow for blow, round for round) - Just my thoughts, right or wrong whatever I was feelin' at the time _-_Dream or Nightmare for Steve Harvey: replaced as host of NBC's Little Big Shots after his daytime show got cancelled (hold up wait a minute) Steve Harvey on Losing His Talk Show: 'I've Got 3 More' Melissa McCarthy replaces Steve "I really believe God can do anything. I ask God for OUTRAGEOUS things. I live by Ephesians 3:20, the book of Deuteronomy and so many others. You can't out-faith me, you can't out-believe me. My faith doesn't waver. I wouldn't have made it this far without Bible scriptures." _-_Zion - beast or bust: poised to join Elton & Kyrie as the only Duke players to go #1 overall in the NBA Draft Is the NBA draft lotto rigged? _-_Heat Check (they hotheads and the bullets iz heat seeking) - Phil mentions new music from Diamond D & Maryland's own Logic w/RJ Payne & King Shampz update. Killa Cal - Let's Go Champ _-_Heat Check (they hotheads and the bullets iz heat seeking) Chelly The MC - Northeast Baby _-_Made You Look (now let's get it on all in perspective) Showtime's Of Mics and Men Netflix x Ava's When They See Us May 31 Netflix's Beats June 19 (Anthony Anderson & Uzo Aduba) Netflix's Wanda Sykes: Not Normal May 21 HBO's What's My Name - Muhammad Ali out tonight (Antoine Fuqua) ______________________🔥🔥🎙🔥🔥_______________________ #TissueInTheTapePodcast #theinformationage #washingtondc #Hampton #wizards #redskins #cowboys #HipHop #EverythingisHipHop #HipHop365 #RespectHeatHolderz 🔥 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx2KfgcAuoQ/?igshid=12c2x08w34z9u

[phillmatic365]

NEW @tissueinthetape Podcast Episode 219 and The Heat Holderz brought backup,. Our Hampton Family, Silas Grant kicked with us. We talked,  new fatherhood The Information Age -tease DC politics, culture and sports (even Dallas Cowboys talk) plus . . . _-_Most Beautifullest (we got the funk so come on down) - The best thing that we have seen since our last live show image.jpeg 2:31 Tyra Banks talks new 'SI' cover _-_Tit for Tat (pound for pound, toe to toe, blow for blow, round for round) - Just my thoughts, right or wrong whatever I was feelin' at the time _-_Dream or Nightmare for Steve Harvey: replaced as host of NBC's Little Big Shots after his daytime show got cancelled (hold up wait a minute) Steve Harvey on Losing His Talk Show: 'I've Got 3 More' Melissa McCarthy replaces Steve "I really believe God can do anything. I ask God for OUTRAGEOUS things. I live by Ephesians 3:20, the book of Deuteronomy and so many others. You can't out-faith me, you can't out-believe me. My faith doesn't waver. I wouldn't have made it this far without Bible scriptures." _-_Zion - beast or bust: poised to join Elton & Kyrie as the only Duke players to go #1 overall in the NBA Draft Is the NBA draft lotto rigged? _-_Heat Check (they hotheads and the bullets iz heat seeking) - Phil mentions new music from Diamond D & Maryland's own Logic w/RJ Payne & King Shampz update. Killa Cal - Let's Go Champ _-_Heat Check (they hotheads and the bullets iz heat seeking) Chelly The MC - Northeast Baby _-_Made You Look (now let's get it on all in perspective) Showtime's Of Mics and Men Netflix x Ava's When They See Us May 31 Netflix's Beats June 19 (Anthony Anderson & Uzo Aduba) Netflix's Wanda Sykes: Not Normal May 21 HBO's What's My Name - Muhammad Ali out tonight (Antoine Fuqua) ______________________🔥🔥🎙🔥🔥_______________________ #TissueInTheTapePodcast #theinformationage #washingtondc #Hampton #wizards #redskins #cowboys #HipHop #EverythingisHipHop #HipHop365 #RespectHeatHolderz 🔥 https://www.instagram.com/p/BxvD8qqgD-f/?igshid=m82lgwbge0z0