#that and the story about him sleeping on the airport ground absolutely miserable and home sick

[cowboyshit]

sometimes I randomly remember hangman talking about how he was so sad/home-sick in japan and he lived off of little pre-sliced ham packs he bought at the convenience store and only stuck to his hotel room when he wasn’t wrestling

[pixiescriptures]

Found Family

Chapter One

Do You Believe In Magic?

TW: mild panic attack, mentions of bullying, mentions of homophobia

Calling it different would be an understatement, Felix thought as he glanced around the airport. He sighed, taking note of a multitude of unimportant things - the number of steps that he estimated it would take him to get to his luggage that he could see perfectly or the number of people surrounding him ( at least a hundred, he counted ).

Felix marched over to his luggage, determined to shove his way through if he absolutely had to, but he didn't, so that was good, because even Felix knew he was too small do to any REAL damage. As he lifted his luggage he heard one of his favorite voices shouting.

"Felix Lix Lix Lix Lix!" Taemin's voice was loud, accompanied by the sound of his boyfriend's laughter. "Minnie hyung! Kai hyung!" Felix shouted back, a bright smile plastered on glossed lips. He immediately dropped his luggage as Taemin's strong arms wrapped tightly around him, Kai's wrapping around him a second later. "Mmppf!"

When the older two let him go, Felix rubbed at his eyes harshly, trying to hide the tears. "Hey hyungs," he said, choking up a bit, "did ya miss me?" He tilted his head, fluffy blue hair flopping to the side, his pale nose scrunching as he grinned.

"You know it, Lixie!" "You bet we did, brat!" Two kinds of people, Felix reminded himself.

It was a long trek to the pair's car, but Felix found he didn't mind it, not when he was with the only people who seemed to care about him anymore. And sure, he realized he still had Pix's fans, but his fans didn't know him, didn't know what he looked like, and thank God for that.

"-lix. Felix?" Felix jumped a bit when he ran into his cousin's back, sighing, sorry, hyungie, I'm just really nervous right now." Taemin sighed, wrapping his arms around Felix.

"I won't let it be like Australia," the older mumbled and Felix would have broken down right there if he hadn't seen a cute boy with squirrel-like cheeks running to a blonde muscled boy who looked just like...

"No way."

"What Lix?"

"Uh...nothing." He lied. He was shocked that Chris of all people had been there, at the airport, but he knew for sure he wasn't the one Chris was there for - not when he saw how big the smile was when Squirrel Boy, as Felix had now dubbed him, ran up and hugged him.

Felix walked towards the small black car that Taemin had brought as to not catch attention and slid in, opening his phone and scrolling through Soundcloud, finding that his three favorite artists had collaborated and he let out a loud squeal. "Hyung, hyung! 3Racha collaborated with I.N. and Sky! It's so, so...WORDS!"

The two older boys smiled, happy that Felix seemed to be okay. Not that they knew what went on inside of his mind. All the panic swimming in his eyes was hidden behind a wall of faked happiness.

By the time they had arrived to Taemin and Kai's home, Felix had fallen asleep, extremely jetlagged and just wanting to sleep in a comfortable place. Kai got out of the car and gently lifted the small boy up, carrying him to his new room before stepping down to the couch with Taemin, resting against him.

"Nini," whispered Taemin, "I will do everything in my power to protect him. I couldn't in Australia and look what happened. He almost died because of those fucks, Nini." Tears began streaming down Taemin's face, the two unaware of Felix sat on the top of the staircase, listening in.

He'd woken up almost as soon as Kai laid him down.

It was late and Felix was tired but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. He stood up slowly so he wouldn't attract attention and went back to his room, unshed tears pooling in hazel eyes.

It was quiet and Felix hated it, hearing each step one of the boys took or each whisper they spoke. Not that he was trying to sleep, instead, he was currently unpacking his gaming items - the smaller ones that he could fit into two luggage bags. As he pulled out his keyboard, a small earring fell out of his bag and he knew what earring it was - even without looking.

He'd told himself he'd never wear it again. He told himself he hated that damn earring. That damn earring that Chris left before he abandoned Felix, alone, with homophobic bullies and a homophobic family. That damn earring that reminded Felix of the last words Chris had said to him. "I love you," rang in his ears as his breathing shifted from peaceful to chaotic.

His lips parted, as if he were going to speak, but as he tried to a loud sob ripped out of his throat and he shuddered, pressing his face against the scratchy carpet in an attempt to silence the loud, heartbreaking sobs that left his lips.

It didn't work, of course, and the two boys came running in. Taemin and Kai pulled Felix up off the ground, Taemin settling behind him so Felix could lean back. "C'mon bubs," Kai whispered, taking initiative since, out of him and his boyfriend, he was best with feelings.

"Breathe with me," he hummed, "inhale," he inhaled watching as Felix took a shaky breath, "exhale," he let out the breath, smiling as Felix did the same. "You're doing so good, bubs. So proud of you," Felix let out a shaky laugh.

"I miss Chris." He whispered. "I miss the way his eyes sparkled when he talked about a song he wrote, the way his laugh literally lit up my entire world. It was really hard, hyungs, when he left because...because he protected me for years. I could never stand up to them. And he was there. He was always there. And now...I dont even know if he's okay."

"And...And maybe that's what hurts the most. I want him to be happy but I don't know if he is," he let out a sob, "and its like...I thought he was the one, I really did. I thought I'd get this cute story like hyungs but apparently life just wants me to hurt and hurt and hurt."

After he was done talking, he sighed, burying his face in Taemin's chest. "I'll get a happy ending, right?"

----

< small Taemin pov >

----

What broke Taemin's heart wasn't the heartwrenching sobs that left his cousin's lips, or even the rant he went on after calming down ever so slightly. No, what broke Taemin's heart was the last words he said. "I'll get a happy ending, right?" It broke Taemin's heart because he couldn't say yes you will, he could only sit there and hold the trembling boy close as he whispered things like, "it'll be okay," and "you'll be okay," when he did not actually know that Felix would be okay.

First things first, you should know that Taemin doesn't believe in happy endings because no matter what, even if you've got someone you cherish and love, one of you dies first and the other lives on, miserable. Because even if you die happily, the people you loved are mourning you. And that isnt a happy ending.

So, no, Taemin couldn't tell Felix he'd get a happy ending because there is no such thing. He couldn't tell Felix that he'll live a happy life because he couldn't see the future. He wasn't sure of anything, and frankly, that terrified him.

His pleading eyes looked to his boyfriend who was sat up, picking up the things that Felix had left out. He was quiet, Taemin noted, and usually that meant Kai was thinking. Taemin briefly wondered if they knew anyone at school named Chris, but he realized he did not, so he was confident that Felix wouldn't see him there. That was good. That was a safe place.

During this thought process, Taemin realized that Felix's previously tense muscles had relaxed and his breathing had evened out, a sure sign that he was asleep. A smile replaced the frown that adorned his features as he picked Felix up, careful not to jostle him as he laid Felix in the King-sized bed they'd bought for him.

"I'm worried, Kai." The blonde whispered, tears pooling in his eyes. Kai pointed to the door, signaling that they should go somewhere else to talk, and Taemin agreed.

[ficbynic]

ALL COMING BACK TO ME - PART I

♫ Baby, it hit so hard Holding on to my chest Maybe you left your mark Reminding me to forget

Story page | Author | Talk to me | Read on Tumblr only | 

All Coming Back to Me is the sequel to Take Care. Read Take Care here.

JANUARY 2018 "I don't have more to say." He said it with conviction, as if he'd know for certain he was doing right. "You don't have more to say?" Her voice sounded weak. "No, I don't. We're done. Whatever we had, it's over." "But I gave you everything!" "Oh, really? What, then? What did you give me?" He stood up from his seat, arms rising. He was angry all of a sudden, nothing left of his calm demeanour. He was upset, after all. He wasn't as cool and collected as he pretended to be just a minute ago. "My heart!" She was now screaming in distress. "I gave you my heart! What more could you possibly wish for?" He huffed out a faint laugh. "Please." "You know I did!" He scoffed and shook his head. She was frantic. "Tell me it all meant nothing, then!" "It meant nothing!" He looked up, his eyes wide. "Tell me again. Tell me until I believe it!" "It all meant nothing!" "Scream it!" "It all meant nothing!!!" The echoes of his voice sounded cold and harsh. "You mean nothing to me!" A moving train. An airplane. A ticking clock. A toddler's cry. "You mean absolutely nothing to me, Em." "Em." "Em." "Em." "Em?" "Em?" "You hear me, Em?" "Emilie, wake up, honey. I thought you were awake." Emilie Larsen jolted up in bed, her eyes adjusting to the light in the room as she was faced with her Mum sitting on the side of the mattress. She gasped for air. Another one. Another nightmare. She had a similar one a few days ago. "I... I was." Emilie sat up and rubbed her eyes after realising her current whereabouts. Despite the rather cold temperature in the room, she felt hot. She was sweating. "I guess I fell back to sleep." "I was just calling to let you know I'll be out, alright?" Agnes told her, "I'll be back for lunch." "Alright." "Alright." Her Mum sighed, some kind of worried look on her face, hidden by a smile. "Are you that tired, honey? Just get back to sleep for a bit, then. Sometimes you just have to sleep it off." Emilie looked at the time on her phone lying on the nightstand next to her. Half nine. Half past nine, she meant. She then remembered she only got back upstairs in her bedroom after having breakfast a short while ago. It must've been only minutes that she'd dozed off. "I- I might. I don't know. I can't just sleep away the days, can I?" "Well, just make sure you take it easy, alright?" Agnes made her way to the upstairs hallway of the small but cosy house she inhabited with her youngest daughter. "I'll be back at around one o'clock, we'll have lunch then, okay?" Emilie nodded and listened to her Mum descending the stairs before making her way out of the house using the front door. She then allowed herself to crash back onto the mattress and an instant, sad frown appeared on her face, forcing Emilie to keep herself from breaking down. She had no energy for another fit of tears. The last couple of weeks had gone by in a blur. In a way, it felt like she had been back home in Holmegaard for ages. But sometimes, Emilie could hardly believe she'd actually left London behind. She had trouble comprehending the fact that that adventure was already over and done with. In a way, it felt like it all still had to start. It felt like the past three months hadn't been real. It felt like it'd been some book she read, or some show she'd seen on the telly. It wasn't as if it truly happened to her. She thought being on the plane and physically leaving England behind would take her mind off of things and give her the opportunity to try to forget about everything that happened, allowing her to leave England behind mentally, as well. And the night she returned, it kind of did. In a weird way, despite everything, it felt good to be back home in Denmark. It felt good to hear her own language again after three months. It felt good to be in her home country again. She could feel a weird sense of patriotism and pride the minute she exited the plane and walked the Danish grounds again. Tilda's advice from the previous night repeated itself in Emilie's head and she indeed felt proud of herself, walking the airport corridors, waiting for her large suitcase to appear on the baggage belt before walking through the doors to the arrival gate. She did it. She pushed herself out of her comfort zone and she did it. And now, she was back. Agnes and Jonas were there, waiting for her. Jonas ran for her as soon as Emilie entered the arrival hall, hugging her extra long and extra tight. He knew. He was the only one who knew. He was the only one who could somewhat relate to what Emilie was going through, simply because he'd been the only one Emilie allowed in on everything that happened. When she hugged Agnes, Emilie nearly felt like crying. But she was too tired to do so. So the three of them made a quick stop at Starbucks before returning to the parking garage, Jonas driving them home. Arriving at the house was definitely weird. Emilie'd never been away from home for so long, so everything felt a bit strange and foreign at first. Though Mum had made some delicious apple crumble, and the three of them had a nice evening enjoying the sugary goodness, it all became a bit too much when Emilie was finally alone in her bedroom, ready to go to bed.  The last thing Emilie expected was to cry herself to sleep the first night she got to sleep in her own bed after three months. But she did. Here she was, finally lying in her own bed again in the comfort of the house she called home, her Mum and brother present in their respective bedrooms and the prospect of seeing other people she loved again soon, but she was crying. A half unpacked suitcase was sprawled out on her bedroom floor, reminding her of everything she had to leave behind today. The fact she was at the Ainsley's just hours ago felt bizarre. Besides getting her toiletries out of the suitcase, Emilie'd already tried to unpack the rest of the things she brought, but she couldn't. It was as if everything smelled of Hampstead and couldn't be taken back to Holmegaard. Her clothes... The washed items were at the bottom of the suitcase, but right at the top were the things she hadn't had the time to wash before she left. They specifically reminded her of the past week. She didn't know if she could wear the grey jumper she wore when she last saw Harry ever again. Emilie also didn't know how she could go on pretending as if nothing ever happened. It was hard enough to last an evening not bringing up the heartache she felt when it came down to having returned to Denmark. She didn't know how she was going to get through the holidays keeping her mouth shut and pretending as if she was feeling fine. It was the next morning, the morning of Christmas Eve, when Emilie woke up with a headache and looked as if she had been out until four in the morning, now dealing with a huge hangover. Arriving downstairs, it became clear that Gitte had come over, which was a nice surprise. Jonas was already up, as well, which meant the family of four was finally reunited again after three months. Still, the vibe was somewhat off. Though trying hard, Emilie wasn't as talkative as one would expect and this seemed to confuse Agnes and Gitte a bit. It was clear that they didn't quite get why she looked as miserable as she did, either. That was until Jonas took full control of the situation because he couldn't bear watching Emilie try to keep a straight face and act like everything was fine, when he could tell it obviously wasn't. "Alright. This is not going to work. You're not going to able to keep it from everyone, Em," he started, standing up from his seat on the sofa and putting his cup of coffee on the table in front of him. Emilie remembered the wave of nausea taking over her once she realised Jonas was letting go of the promise he made, back in early November. The promise to keep his mouth shut. But she couldn't blame him for not being able to do that anymore. In her heart, she knew her family was supposed to know the aching she was currently dealing with. It wasn't fair to keep them uninformed. It wasn't fair to have to keep up appearances, acting all fine during the holidays, either. "I won't let you keep it from them any longer, it'll end up tearing you apart," Jonas continued, "Let's go over everything before Viktor gets here and he realises what kind of mess we collectively are as a family and he won't marry Gitte anymore." Ironically, Wednesday the twentieth of December had been Gitte and Viktor's five year anniversary and he'd proposed to her. They announced it to friends and family the next day. It turned out that while Emilie was in tears, making her way back from the Heath towards the Village in the pouring rain, the man her sister loved had been getting on one knee for her, gifting her a ring, asking her if she would please be his wife. It somehow made it even more difficult for Emilie to let her family in on what happened to her the past few days. She didn't want to take any attention away from the happy news by letting everyone in on her sad news. But there her little brother was, helping her out. "We've got something to tell you." He focused on his Mum and eldest sister. His behaviour was unusual and Gitte noticed immediately. "Jo? What's going on? You're scaring me," she stated, already frowning her brows. "No, it's... Well, just hear us out. It's... the reason why Emilie had the best time of her life in London and it's also the reason why she's been down since she's come back, and her eyes are red, and she looks like a genuine mess." He had Gitte's as well as Agnes' undivided attention now. "Can I tell them?" He turned to Emilie. "You're already telling them, aren't you!?" Emilie bit, her voice sounding louder than she intended. "Alright. Emilie," Jonas sighed, "Emilie dated someone. In London. Pretty much from the beginning. She met someone in October. They started dating, spending a lot of time together..." Two pairs of eyes went wide. Both Agnes and Gitte were surprised to hear Emilie'd met a guy, as they were never told about it prior. "And everything was going alright, wasn't it, Em? But now, the guy decided to be a complete dick and end things. He's backing out because Em had to go back home." Emilie looked down, fighting against her true emotions. She didn't want to turn this into some dramatic ordeal by breaking down. But to hear someone else put it like this, stung. "He's basically ended things out of nowhere a couple of nights ago. On Wednesday night, actually. He didn't even give a proper reason. Did he?" Emilie shook her head, her hand going up to her cheek to wipe a stray tear. "Oh, honey," Agnes let out, her face showing sadness as she walked up to her daughter to offer a hug, "I'm so sorry for you, that's such a shame." Gitte meanwhile displayed confusion. Emilie hoped she wouldn't feel guilty for her own happiness; that was the last thing she wanted. "We didn't know- Why didn't you tell us-" "Well, get ready for more," Jo went on, his eyebrows rising, "Because the guy... The person Emilie dated... The coward letting her go... It's Harry Styles." "What?!" Gitte let out. "No! Are you serious?" The tears in Emilie's eyes were evidence of the severity of the situation. "No way. That's- Oh, my God." "Yeah," Jonas sighed, his teeth suddenly clenching. He was angry. "Wait, what, who is it? Who is he?" Jonas awkwardly went on to explain the identity of the person in question to their Mum. He went as far as humming the hook of Sign of the Times, succeeding in Agnes raising her eyebrows as she was suddenly more than aware of the singer her children were talking about, the melody definitely ringing a bell. Even though Emilie could've hit Jonas in the head when he first brought up the subject, she turned out to be quite thankful for his honesty. She knew he was right when he said she wouldn't be able to keep it from the family. Despite everything, it was at least nice to not have to act like she was feeling great. Because she wasn't. And now everyone understood why. Emilie didn't have to put on a happy face or pretend that she was just tired from everything and getting used to being back in Denmark. She didn't have to hide her misery anymore, as everyone who mattered now knew what the misery was caused by. Christmas therefore went by alright. Emilie still felt like complete shit, but now that everything was out in the open, it gave her the opportunity to fully come to terms with it all. She spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Mum, Jonas, Gitte and Viktor, who was also informed, eating lots of food and trying to forget about what happened. By New Year's Eve, Emilie was doing a lot better. She'd been back in Denmark for a full week now, her suitcase was unpacked and put away, and with that, so were some of the memories. The end of the year was a great occasion to let go of everything that happened in 2017, and try to move on with life. Emilie finally met up with a few friends she hadn't seen since before she left for London, as they had been busy visiting family over Christmas. But New Years Eve was spent together, in a local bar, having drinks and dancing around to some cover band consisting of local lads. When the clock struck twelve, Emilie was actually happy. To hell with everything that happened the past few months. A new year was starting now. And she was genuinely curious for what it would have in store for her. ~~ A couple weeks into January, however, things didn't appear to be so easy. Emilie's mind often wandered off to Hampstead. And if it didn't wander off to Harry, it wandered off to Denny and Charlie, whom she thought and worried about a lot. On the day she left, she'd never thought she would miss the kids as much as she did now. Charlie, especially. Emilie often wondered about her; if she was happy with her new nanny by her side for most of her day, if she was learning any new words yet, if she was enjoying the nursery she was going to join in the new year...   Emilie'd been informed that Catherine and David chose the girl they had already been in contact with when Emilie was still in Hampstead as their children's new au pair. Her name was Stina and she was from Sweden. Catherine'd asked Emilie if it was alright to give Stina her phone number, in case she had any questions or needed a bit of assistance. Of course, that was no problem. On the one hand, Emilie liked still being connected to whatever was going on in the Ainsley household. She liked getting little updates from Stina and she felt glad that she was able to help Stina out during her first few weeks. But on the other hand, it meant she was still mentally involved with it all, which didn't make it any easier to move on. Some days, Emilie would wake up and the first thing she'd think about would involve the girls. She was practically still living her London life, and with that, the guy she'd come to fancy during her stay in Hampstead was also on her mind more often than not. The dreams were more than enough proof of that. Emilie could only pray that they wouldn't become regular. The last thing she wanted was to be reminded of London and everything that happened - especially during the last week of her stay - when she was supposed to get some much needed rest during the night time. ~~ FEBRUARY 2018 Weeks went by and Emilie was having as many good days as she was having bad ones. All by all, she couldn't believe she'd been back home for a month already. Days during which she was minding her own business, mostly relaxing at the house, watching Netflix, and helping her Mum with household chores, were alternated by days during which it was difficult to even get out of bed in the morning. Emilie knew she was supposed to be looking for jobs and everything, but she simply couldn't set her mind to it. The prospect of working a nine-to-five sounded anything but appealing. She didn't think she was ready. Therefore, she couldn't even bring herself to look for vacancies, let alone apply for jobs. In an attempt to still have a sort of productive day, Emilie agreed to meet up with Jonas on a Saturday afternoon. He was in Copenhagen with uni for a conference on Friday and Monday, spending the weekend in the city with fellow students, and Emilie figured the journey to Copenhagen was shorter and more pleasant than the journey from her hometown Holmegaard to Aarhus, where Jonas lived and studied. They met up at cute, little coffee shop in the afternoon. Emilie'd already wandered around the city for a few hours beforehand and would do the same after Jonas would be leaving to meet up with his friends again at the place they were staying. She'd go shopping for a bit, before probably ending up indulging on some fast food at Copenhagen Central Station, devouring it on the train, on the way home. It was nice to just get away from Holmegaard for the day. Emilie spent the vast majority of her time at home, and travelling to Copenhagen, albeit for just a few hours, felt like a nice breakaway. Plus, it was nice to see Jonas again after a few weeks. Although Emilie hadn't quite missed his characteristic sharp tongue, shown evidence of just ten minutes into their get-together. "Don't you think it would be, I don't know, beneficial for your general health if you'd stop carrying that bag around everywhere you go?" Emilie looked up into his eyes after his sharp comment. He was always so good at silencing others with just one remark. Given the fact he was studying political science, Emilie always figured he'd be a great debater, and a great politician. She knew he wasn't going to take that route later in life though. Jonas more than once stated that "politics suck". Still trying to come up with something to say in response to her little brother, Emilie looked down at the black leather handbag she brought. It still looked just as good as the first time she laid eyes on it at the store in Milan. "I'm surprised to find you take notice of the accessories I like to wear and carry around. Is there anything you'd like to tell me, Jo?" She knew it was a stupid comeback. Probably one of her worst ever. She just couldn't think of anything else to say in the heat of the moment and didn't want to let her little brother verbally murder her as per usual. Not after only one attempt. "Oh, stop," he shook his head, cutting to the chase, "We both know what I'm on about." "What?" "We both know it's not about the fact you're using a bag worth six months of rent, even though that's ridiculous. It's about the person that will always be associated with it." "Mister Gucci?" Jonas sighed. "I thought we were beyond the point of immaturely talking around the subject." "I just like the fucking bag, give me a break." "Right." "It's pretty, it's easy to use, it fits everything I want to bring and it looks good," Emilie listed, "I like having it." "You like holding onto the memories." She rolled her eyes. "You like holding onto him," Jonas went on, "And it's unhealthy." "Since when do you know what you're talking about when it comes to relationships?" Emilie bit. Another stupid comment, she knew. Any girl would be incredibly lucky to have Jonas in her life. He was the smartest, kindest, funniest, most amazing twenty-one year old boy she knew. The fact he hadn't had a serious, long lasting relationship yet was probably to do with girls not realising that and taking advantage of him instead, rather than anything else. Luckily, Jonas chose to ignore her. He brought the mug of steaming coffee to his lips, while Emilie was sipping on a chai latte. It was silent for a minute, before he continued. "You haven't been in touch with him, have you?" "Why would I?" Emilie asked in return, startled by his question. Her mind started spinning, a thousand thoughts immediately going through her head. Did something happen she was meant to know? Did something come out online she was meant to be affected by? "Jo?" He sighed. "No, never mind. I just- I..." "Jonas." "It was his birthday the other day." A weird feeling washed over her, resulting into Emilie's stomach feeling twisted. She knew. She knew it was. She wished she hadn't thought about it, but she had. The first of February. She'd somehow known his birthday before she knew him. Before she got to know him, that is. He was two weeks minus a day older than she was. "It was only trending topic worldwide," Jonas was meanwhile quick to defend. "And what did you think? You think I sent him a cutesy little text, wishing him a nice day? Are you out of your mind?" "No, Em, I just-" "He's probably already got some other girl taking care of all of that," she interrupted him, giving in to her stupid, groundless insecurities. By avoiding everything that could potentially have to do with him online, Emilie hoped she'd forever keep herself out of the loop when it came to the gossip surrounding him. It would be too painful to catch a glimpse of what he was currently up to in life. Just the other day, a weird thought crept its way into Emilie's mind and it hadn't left since. What would happen if she would just randomly stumble upon something? Unwillingly, by accident. Articles online about a new relationship, for example. It wouldn't be the first time Harry's love life would be discussed publically. What if she was just checking the news one day, scrolling through to the Entertainment section by accident and she was faced with a photograph of him with someone else. Emilie didn't think she would be able to take it. She suddenly felt the need to leave. She stood up from her chair, the legs producing a scraping sound against the tiles on the floor. "I'll be right back." She needed the toilet earlier but now was the perfect excuse to actually go and have a minute or two to herself. She needed some air. She needed to get her mind elsewhere. Ironically, she brought the fucking handbag. "What?" she let out before she walked off, seeing Jonas sighing as her hand held on to the black leather.   Their eyes met. "What's wrong?" "Nothing," she was quick to answer. "Nothing," Jonas repeated, though they both knew it wasn't 'nothing'. When Emilie returned a couple of minutes later, she wasn't even aware Jonas was occupied doing something on his phone, as well as hers, until she sat down and he tried to move the phone that wasn't his back to its original placement on the table inconspicuously. She then noticed. "Excuse you." She grabbed her device from the table and put it in her bag. "Just checking if you received the pictures I just sent you," Jonas defended. "Oh. Alright." She didn't have the energy to argue with her little brother despite the fact she was a bit annoyed by him going through her phone and invading her privacy like that. But then again, he was just making sure his messages were delivered properly. And even if he had been snooping around, he wouldn't find anything. There was none of that going on in her life anymore. In a state of despair, a couple of weeks ago, she had frantically deleted Harry's messages from her phone. They were all gone. Emilie sighed and politely summoned a waiter, asking him if she could have the triple chocolate chip muffin she saw in the showcase near the counter while entering the café earlier. She opted against it while she and Jonas ordered drinks, keeping the large amount of calories in mind. But fuck it, she was gonna have herself some chocolate. And she was gonna try to enjoy it.

| Next part > | | Story page | Author | Talk to me |

[noona-clock]

Something’s Brewing❄️☕ - Part 8

Genre: Coffee Shop!AU

Pairing: Jungshin x You

By Admin B

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

One week later, Jungshin’s brother dropped you off at the airport far too early in the morning (Jungshin had, of course, paid him by filling up the fridge and pantry before leaving since he would be staying at the house with Simba while you were gone). You were, unsurprisingly, very chipper and eager to go. Jungshin was still waking up.

You checked your bags before heading to your gate, and with about an hour to kill, you fished your Kindle out of your bag and began to read.

“What’re you reading?” Jungshin murmured, leaning his head on your shoulder and closing his eyes.

“It’s called Manhunt. It’s about the search for John Wilkes Booth right after he assassinated Lincoln.”

“Mm, cool.”

“I’ll wake you up when it’s time to board,” you whispered, kissing his forehead.

“Thanks.”

You felt the exact moment when Jungshin fell asleep; his head got a bit heavier on your shoulder, and then a few moments later, he started breathing more deeply. You smiled to yourself, reaching over and very gently resting a hand on his thigh.

Ugh, you just loved him so much. You were so freaking excited about this trip.

When the flight attendant came over the loudspeaker to announce it was time to board, you put your Kindle away then reached over to pat Jungshin’s cheek.

“Jungshin,” you whispered.

His brow furrowed, but his eyes stayed closed. “Hmm?”

“It’s time to get on the plane, honey.” You kissed his nose, kind of forgetting there were people around.

He let out a sigh, sitting up a little. “Okay,” he croaked.

You boarded not too much longer after that, finding your seats and putting your carry-on bags up in the overhead compartment. Jungshin, ever the gentleman, allowed you to sit in the window seat. He really didn’t care about sitting next to a stranger, and he could always lean over you if he wanted to see the view.

Once you were seated and buckled, Jungshin slid down in his seat so he could lower his head onto your shoulder again.

“Awww,” you chuckled softly, bringing a hand up to pat his cheek. “Sleepy baby.”

Jungshin reached up and took your hand, linking his fingers through yours and holding it in his lap. This made it difficult for you to put in your earbuds and listen to music, but did you move your hand away? Absolutely not.

The plane took off without any delays, thankfully, and you were on your way to New York in no time.

The flight was a little less than two hours long, which was honestly the perfect amount of time for you. You weren’t terrified of flying, but you didn’t enjoy it, either. You listened to your music the whole time to help keep you relaxed, and holding Jungshin’s hand helped, too (even though he was asleep for all two hours). 

Of course, when it came time to do your skincare, holding his hand wasn’t very helpful. But, again, did you move your hand away? Absolutely not.

When you finally landed, you put your free arm across Jungshin’s chest to keep him from falling forward. He woke up immediately, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

You took one earbud out, smiling over at him. “Morning,” you said softly. “We have arrived.”

“Really?” he murmured, sitting up straight and looking out the window. You were, indeed, back on the ground. Not that he’d been awake when you’d left the ground, but he trusted you.

“How was the flight?” he asked, stretching out his arms as well as he could.

“Not too bad, actually.”

“What’d you do? Did you get any sleep?”

“No, I just listened to music and had my own little spa.”

“Say what now?”

“I did a sheet mask and put on some heavy duty moisturizer. My skin always gets so dry after flying, so I learned to bring some skincare with me and do it on the plane.”

“Can’t wait to see that on the way home.”

“Hey, you can use some if you’d like. Not that you need it. Your skin is amazing.”

“Is it?”

“Um, yeah. Trust me, it is.”

“Hmm. Well, thanks, I guess.”

You slowly got off the plane after getting your bags back down, and picking up your checked luggage proved to go no more quickly. All in all, the whole process, from landing in the airplane to getting a taxi outside the airport, took almost an hour.

Finally, around 1pm, your taxi arrived at The Library Hotel. You had been excited before, but now you were truly in a state of heightened anticipation. You followed Jungshin inside, wheeling your suitcase behind you, and standing next to him at the front desk. You marveled at the lobby, itching to explore the rest of the hotel and especially to see your room.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Lee,” the hotel clerk smiled after Jungshin had handed him his driver’s license. “Your room is ready, so let me get your keys… You’ll be on the 9th floor as you requested, room 900.001.”

“Thank you very much,” Jungshin smiled, taking the keys as the clerk handed them to him.

“Ninth floor?” you asked as you headed toward the elevator. “You requested? Which topic is on the ninth floor?”

“You are so impatient, you know that?”

“Yes.”

“The ninth floor,” he said once the elevator doors had closed behind you. “Is the history floor.”

“Really?!” you gasped, smiling.

“Of course. I wouldn’t let you stay on any other floor.”

“Have I said ‘thank you’ for this trip yet?” You knew you had, at least ten times, but you couldn’t help yourself from saying it again.

“Yes,” he laughed, leaning in to kiss you quickly before the elevator doors opened again.

You found your room easily enough, and Jungshin slid the key into the key slot.

“M’lady,” he said, opening the door and holding it open for you. “Your royal suite awaits.

You entered, biting your lip to keep from smiling like an idiot - though you were fairly sure you were failing miserably. You found the bookshelf by the bed, immediately heading there to see what kind of books were there.

“Ooh, World War I, World War II, the Civil Rights movement… This must be the 20th Century room.”

“I wasn’t sure which one you wanted, and there was no specific American History room…”

“No, this is perfect,” you assured him. “I am not going to complain about anything on this trip. I’m just so thankful you’re taking me.”

Jungshin came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his chin on your shoulder.

“You deserve it, my love.”

You turned around in his embrace, sliding your arms around his neck. “I don’t deserve any of this, especially you, but I don’t care at this point. I’m just rolling with it.”

“Will you stop saying stuff like that?” He squeezed your waist, frowning down at you. “It’s not true!”

“Okay, sorry. I will, I promise.”

“You owe me a kiss.”

“Yes, sir.” You stood on your toes, tightening your hold on his neck and pressing your lips to his. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Are you as starving as I am?”

“Oh, no doubt about it. There’s a burger place over at Bryant Park not too far from here. Also, a sushi place if you’re feeling sushi.”

“Sushi sounds amazing, actually.”

You fished your favorite pink baseball cap and your glasses out of your bag before you left; you hadn’t put on makeup and was now too lazy to even bother. So a hat and glasses it was.

Your first afternoon/evening went as well as you could’ve hoped; your sushi was amazing, and since the restaurant was so close to the New York Public Library, you popped in to have a look around. 

Jungshin took quite a few pictures, mostly candids without your knowledge, but he did have you pose on the steps of the library, and you took a couple selfies. You also usurped his camera and took some pictures of him, too. New York City was just the perfect backdrop for pictures.

After spending at least an hour in the library, you headed down Fifth Avenue to do some shopping. 

One thing you really loved about Jungshin was that he actually liked shopping. He didn’t get bored when you went into a store, and he gave his honest opinions about things you picked out. 

You hit up Zara, Urban Outfitters, Barnes & Nobles, and finally H&M, refraining yourself from doing any major damage. You were here for an entire week, after all, and it was only the very first evening. 

On the way back from your mini-shopping binge, you passed a sandwich shop called ‘Wichcraft, and you decided the name was too clever to pass up. It was already dinner time, too, so it really was perfect.

With stomachs full of sandwiches, you and Jungshin headed back down Fifth Avenue toward your hotel. You were both fairly exhausted from your flight and your afternoon excursions here in the city, so an evening spent cuddling in bed sounded more than delightful right about now. 

You arrived at your hotel, put your shopping bags away, got ready for the night...and then promptly fell onto the bed.

“Well, I would say we made good use of our time today,” you said, yawning.

“I would agree. Two good meals, a historic landmark, and shopping? We’re basically pros at this tourist thing now.”

“We are!” you laughed, rolling onto your side to face him. “I can but also can’t believe this is our first trip together.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Mm,” you nodded. “I can believe it because we haven’t been anywhere else. But I can’t because it feels like we’ve been together forever.”

“And yet it’s only been six months.”

“Right?! Crazy.”

After you talked a little more, you begged him to get out his laptop and upload the photos he’d taken. You wanted to share one of you at the library on Instagram. 

You had, of course, been posting a lot to your Instagram story, as had Jungshin, but the pictures Jungshin had taken looked so good. 

You picked one of the candids you didn’t hate (one of you putting a book back on the shelf) and had him AirDrop it to your phone. Once you had added all the filters and adjusted all the settings to your liking, you typed out your caption. 

You chuckled as you wrote, hiding your phone from Jungshin and telling him he’d have to wait until you finished, just like everyone else.

Finally, you pressed the ‘share’ button, causing the notifications to pop up on Jungshin’s phone.

yourusername just shared a post

yourusername just mentioned you in a comment

He immediately liked the picture, as usual, before reading the caption.

yourusername Observe! A rare sighting of a pink-headed Y/N in her natural habitat. #thatbooknerdlife #belleismyspiritguide @nypl | Photo by @leejungshin91

“How do you come up with captions like that?” he asked, chuckling.

“Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear.”

You got a notification then, picking up your phone to see Taylor had left a comment.

cnbluefan This is so cute!!! @leejungshin91 is such a talented photographer. I’m already loving following along with you guys! Makes me want to visit New York! Can’t wait to see more pictures and posts on your stories. P.s. your captions are the best 😂

You read it out loud to Jungshin, and he knew right away he had to reply!

leejungshin91 @cnbluefan I literally just asked her how she comes up with these captions!! 😂🤔 also thanks for the compliment 🙏

Jungshin posted his own picture of him walking up ahead of the camera, the busy streets and buildings providing a nice backdrop. He couldn’t think of a caption so he simply put

leejungshin91 🏃🏙 #nyc

📸 by @yourusername

You put your phones away then, and you picked out a book on the Kennedy assassination from the bookshelf by your bed.

“It’s story time,” you smirked, lifting up the covers and snuggling under.

Jungshin chuckled, rolling his eyes a little as he cuddled up to you. He, of course, fell asleep as you were reading, but you really didn’t expect anything different.

The next morning, you awoke around 7. You’d woken up a few times already, but it had been too early for you to justify actually getting up. Now, you started to slip out of bed to take a quick shower, hoping not to wake up Jungshin.

You didn’t even manage to set one foot on the floor before your plan was destroyed. His arm was laying across your middle, and when you sat up, he let out a sleepy groan and tightened his hold on you. Letting out a sigh, you laid back down, turning to face him.

“I need to take a shower,” you whispered, even though you knew he wasn’t fully awake.

“Mm,” he hummed, his brow furrowed.

God, he was so cute, what were you supposed to do?

...Well. You could think of one thing.

You scooted closer, your noses brushing, and you gently placed your lips on his. You let one hand roam down his chest until it got to the hem of his t-shirt, your fingers slipping underneath. You needed to take a shower anyway, and he needed to wake up, so…

You continued to kiss him, managing to push him onto his back so you could straddle his hips. When you took his hands and put them on your thighs, you finally felt him stir.

“Good morning,” you murmured against his lips before tugging at his lower lip with your teeth. He groaned softly, just barely kissing you back. You moved your hands back to the hem of his shirt, lifting it up and eventually getting it over his head.

“What’re you doing?” he muttered, his voice thick with sleep.

You bent over him, placing your lips on his bare shoulder then moving them down to his chest. “Kissing you,” you answered, your lips brushing against his skin.

“But it’s so early.”

“Okay, I’ll stop.” You sat back up and moved to get off him, but his hands - still on your thighs - tightened their grip.

“I wasn’t complaining. Just stating a fact.” His eyes were fully open now, and his fingers danced their way up your thigh, playing with the hem of your pajama shorts.

“So, I can continue kissing you?” you asked, innocently twirling the drawstring from his pants around your finger.

“Please do.”

You resumed kissing his chest and shoulders, but that only lasted for about thirty seconds before Jungshin flipped you over onto your back and had his way with you…

Over an hour later, you and Jungshin were on the hunt for a good breakfast spot. You were both wide awake and feeling refreshed after a shower, and you were feeling particularly good about your outfit and makeup today. You were just wearing a plain white t-shirt with a light leather jacket, ripped jeans and your white Converse, but you felt so chic for some reason. 

Maybe it was your purple lipstick. Come to think of it, it probably was. Purple lipstick always made you feel just a bit more confident.

After finding a quaint coffee shop not too far away and feasting on croissants and hot, caffeinated beverages, you started on your adventures for the day.

Today was art museum day; you had plans to visit The Met and MoMA, and if you had time later, The Whitney. You had found some cool-sounding restaurants for lunch and dinner, and any and everywhere you went was sure to be picture and Instagram worthy.

As far as first days of a trip go, this one was pretty perfect. You walked all the way up to the Upper East Side, strolling along the edge of Central Park before arriving at The Met. 

You admired all kinds of historic art, and the place was so huge you spent over two hours there. 

As you headed back down to MoMA, you decided to walk through Central Park to take some pictures. You spent quite a bit more time there than expected what with all the beautiful scenery and opportunities for pictures (plus, you’d had to trek over to the other side of the park to see the John Lennon memorial), and by the time you were headed to MoMA, both of you were absolutely starving.

You checked your phone and saw one of the places you’d found earlier, PizzArte, was just around the corner. Everything sounded good to you right now, but pizza sounded especially good, so it wasn’t a tough decision to make.

As you ate, you looked up all the musicals and plays currently on Broadway, hoping you could get tickets for something tomorrow afternoon or evening.

“OOH, Anastasia!!!!” you cried when you saw it on the list.

“Like the cartoon movie?”

“YEAH! I forgot that already opened! Can we go see that, please?!”

“Whatever you want to see, we will see,” he assured you, winking.

“Well, except Hamilton. Tickets aren’t available until November, I checked.”

“But we’ll still go see the theater.”

“Right! Excited about that! Okay, let’s look at tickets…” You found some fairly good seats for relatively cheap, so you bought them quickly. 

And you consequently spent the next few hours being way too excited about it. Including when you were in MoMA. You admired the art respectfully, of course, but every so often you would tug on Jungshin’s sleeve and whisper ‘We’re going to see Anastasia tomorrow.’

When you exited your second art museum of the day, you decided to make your way back to your hotel for a breather. You still had plans to visit one more art museum down on the other side of town, so you needed to recharge before heading out for the evening.

As you were resting up in your hotel room, you obviously took the opportunity to go through all the pictures you’d taken and post your favorites on Instagram. You chose one you had taken of Jungshin at the pizza place as well as two of your favorite pieces of art from the museums and a selfie of the two of you in Central Park.

yourusername Day ☝ in NYC: Pizza ✅ Art museums ✅ Central Park ✅ Good times ✅

Jungshin decided to save his Instagram post for later, opting instead to call one of his assistant managers at The Grind to see how things were going. He ended up talking to him for a while, and if you weren’t back at the hotel doing nothing, you would’ve been kind of annoyed. He was supposed to be on vacation, after all. But you weren’t doing anything important, so it really wasn’t a huge deal.

Once you felt fully (well, almost fully) rested, and your phone and camera batteries were all charged, you headed to the nearest Subway station to make your way toward Greenwich Village where the Whitney was located. You were also looking forward to going to Chelsea Market since it’s where all the Food Network studios were, and Jungshin was excited to walk along the High Line and take more pictures.

Since The Whitney was open until 10pm on Saturdays, you decided to hit up the High Line while it was still light outside. You were a little disappointed to find it was just a glorified sidewalk, but Jungshin had too much fun taking pictures with the greenery and the buildings. He was so cute and happy, you forgot you’d even been disappointed in the first place.

Dinner was next on the schedule, and Chelsea Market did not disappoint. You had Asian inspired tacos and marveled at the warehouse aesthetic of the building. There was even a spot with pretty fairy lights hung on the wall that was the perfect background for a picture. 

Jungshin forced you to stand in front of it, telling you what to do and how to pose since you really had no idea. You basically had your own little photo shoot right there, but the pictures turned out awesome, so… Totally worth the public embarrassment.

You eventually headed toward The Whitney (though you made a quick stop in a Sephora on the way there because -- Sephora), taking in the sights and sounds of Greenwich Village on the way. The Whitney was definitely one of the “cooler” museums; smaller and in a more hipster location while also featuring lesser-known modern artists. But it was just as awe-inspiring as The Met and MoMA, and you were glad the two of you had made time to visit.

You hopped back on the Subway after exiting the museum, heading up toward your hotel in Midtown. It wasn’t quite dark outside yet, but you’d had a full day and were both ready to settle in for the night.

Jungshin, of course, uploaded all his pictures from his camera as soon as you got back into your room. He was extremely pleased with how they’d come out, and he honestly had a hard time picking which one(s) to post. He knew he could post more later as some #TBTs, but still. 

After much debate and some input from the model (a.k.a you), he decided on posting two pictures from the fairy lights room in Chelsea Market. They were two very similar pictures: close-ups of you, except one was a more casual pose, one hand on your hair by your ear and your eyes downcast as one side of your mouth pulled up ever so slightly in a half smile-half smirk, while the other was one of you genuinely laughing. You’d been laughing at yourself, of course, but for all anyone else knew, you were laughing at something funny Jungshin had said.

He edited the pictures to make both your lipstick and the fairy lights behind you pop before uploading them to Instagram.

leejungshin91 When you find a girl who puts up with your photography obsession (and who just so happens to look stunning on camera) 👌😍💜 @chelseamarketny

You just rolled your eyes when you read the caption, fighting off a blush. “Whatever,” you murmured.

“What do you mean ‘whatever’?” Jungshin exclaimed, tackling you back onto the bed. He kept you pinned there until you admitted you were pretty and photogenic which didn’t take long once he started tickling you.

You were able to free yourself after quite the struggle, darting into the bathroom and locking the door so you could get ready for bed. When you emerged, you went to your suitcase and grabbed your laptop and earbuds, bringing them with you to the bed.

“What’s that?” Jungshin asked, eyes wide and brow furrowed.

“...My laptop?”

“Why do you need your laptop?”

“Because I want to catch up on my YouTube subscriptions.” It had been a couple days, and you were sure you had more than a few conspiracy theory videos and makeup tutorials to watch.

“But… I wanted to cuddle.”

“I can cuddle and watch YouTube at the same time! It’s called multitasking.”

“Okay,” he sighed, lifting up the covers for you. You snuggled in, plugging in your earbuds, only sticking one in your ear on the opposite side of Jungshin.

You propped your head and shoulders up against your pillow, Jungshin lying down beside you, resting his head on your arm and his own arm across your stomach. 

He tried nuzzling your neck, caressing your side with his thumb, wrapping his leg over yours, but your focus never wavered from your videos. Finally, he tilted his head and started kissing your jaw, savoring the feel of your skin against his lips. You simply brought a hand up to cover his face, though you did say ‘I love you’ very sweetly.

Obviously, he was getting nowhere, so he decided to just look at his phone until he got sleepy. He knew not every night had to be fun, but still. He couldn’t help but be a tiny, teeny bit bummed. 

Tomorrow was a new day, however, and you had talked about doing typical tourist things - Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Ground Zero, and the like. He was quite looking forward to it.

Even though You and Jungshin didn’t get the next morning started off in exactly the same way as the previous one, it still turned out to be an extremely enjoyable day. 

You did end up being the epitome of NYC tourists, complete with ending the night seeing a Broadway show - which was fantastic, by the way. You kept grabbing onto Jungshin’s arm because you loved this movie growing up, and seeing it on stage was a bit emotional for you.

You decided to walk back to your hotel after the show since it really wasn’t that far, and the night was beautiful. If only you could see the stars; then it would be perfect.

“So, what was your favorite part of day two?” you asked as you waited to cross a street, clinging onto Jungshin’s hand and arm.

“Hmmm… I really enjoyed the Empire State building,” he said, though he looked like he was still thinking. “Ellis Island was really cool, too, though. ...Yeah, I think I liked those two the best. OH, I also really liked where we went for lunch.”

“George’s! Yeah, that was delicious.”

“What about you? What was your favorite part?”

“Anastasia,” you replied immediately as you started to walk across the street.

“I figured,” he chuckled, glancing over at you. “It was really good.”

“I would like to see at least one more while we’re here,” you said, furrowing your brow as you tried to remember which shows were playing. Besides Hamilton.

“We can look tonight and see what we can find.”

“Okay!” You squeezed his hand, skipping a little bit in excitement.

“You’ve been in a really good mood since we got here,” he pointed out, smiling.

“Well, yeah. I’m here with you doing all this fun stuff. How could I be in a bad mood?”

“You’ve got a point.”

You tugged on his hand, pulling him closer to you and kissing him quickly as you walked. “I love you,” you said softly.

“I love you more.”

“Oh, god. NO. We are not starting that again.”

“Sorry! Sorry, I won’t, I promise.”

When you got back to the hotel, you looked up the other shows on Broadway, finally deciding to see School of Rock on Tuesday night. You were both a big fan of the movie, so it had been an easy decision.

“You sure you won’t tell me what we’re doing tomorrow?” you asked again, trying to look extra cute and adorable to try and break him down.

“I’m sure,” Jungshin replied for the seventeenth time. “We’re doing it early on in the day, so you don’t have to wait too much longer.”

If you couldn’t coerce him by being cute, maybe you could go the other way on the scale.

You closed the lid of his laptop, moving it to the side table before you straddled his hips. “There’s something else I don’t want to wait for…” you said softly, brushing your lips against his.

“I’m still not telling you.”

“Damn it!”

“But I will gladly take what you were about to offer.”

“You can wait.” You moved off him, getting under the covers and lying down facing away from him.

He simply shook his head, smirking to himself before settling under the covers, too. 

The next morning, you didn’t wake up until 8 (though you did wake up a couple times during the night). You were still the first one awake, though, and since Jungshin wasn’t cuddling you at the moment, you were able to get out of bed and take a shower without disturbing him.

Jungshin woke up not long afterward, turning his head to see the bed was already empty save for him. He could hear the shower running in the bathroom, and he entertained the idea of going in there to join you… But then he thought better of it. He would probably end up telling you all the surprises he had left in the trip, and that would be no bueno.

Instead, he got out his phone and waited for you to emerge. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long, because right after he pulled up Instagram he heard the water turn off. The door opened a couple minutes later, and Jungshin glanced up from his phone to smile at you.

“Morning, sunshine.” It was the first time he’d spoken, so his voice still sounded a bit groggy.

“Morning!” You replied, “How’d you sleep?”

He watched as you sat down at the desk near the foot of the bed to do your makeup, admiring your outfit - a striped shirt, black ripped jeans, and a light wash jean jacket. “Same way I always do,” he replied. “What about you? Did you wake up at all?”

“Yeah, a couple times. Around 1 and 4, I think.”

“You know you can always wake me up if you need to. If you need me to scratch your back or something.”

“I did think about it, honestly, but you were totally knocked out. You looked so cute.”

Jungshin blushed, finally getting out of bed to go brush his teeth and get changed. “No, really, you can wake me up. I’m not grumpy when I wake up.”

“You’re right, you’re not. Huh. I never really noticed that.”

“I’m not really a morning person, but I’m not grumpy in the mornings, either.”

You did your makeup while Jungshin got ready, putting on everything you normally did. But when you got to your lipstick, you were stuck.

“What do you think, babe?” you asked, taking out a red lipstick and a pink lipstick. “Red or pink?”

Jungshin came up behind you, resting his hands on the back of your chair. “Definitely red. Red and black is a classic combo.”

“Red it is.” You put the pink lipstick away then opened the red, leaning in toward the mirror and applying it carefully.

“You look really good today,” he said, looking at you in the mirror.

“Aw, thanks.”

“I mean, you look good all the time. But today you just look… There’s something about that outfit. And the red lipstick is the perfect touch.”

“I feel like guys always like red lipstick,” You pointed out, standing up and turning toward him. “Usually when I wear it, a guy will comment on my makeup. And that never happens.”

“Guys are weird.”

“I know, right?”

You headed out once you grabbed your purse, planning on going to another nearby coffee shop for breakfast.

“So,” Jungshin began when you left the shop with your pastries and drinks. “We need to be at The Battery by 11.”

“The Battery by 11. Okay.” You immediately started trying to figure out what you could be doing, but you had no idea. You figured it was probably a tour since you had to be there by a certain time.

“The Battery is down near where we were yesterday, down by where we got on the boat for Ellis Island and stuff. So, let’s head down there now, and I’m sure we can find stuff to do while we wait.”

“Sounds like a plan, my man.”

You went back to the same Subway station as yesterday, following the same route you took previously. You looked up what else you could do, and you gasped when you saw the National Archives were across the street.

“Yes, we can go.”

“You are literally the best boyfriend in the whole entire universe, I’m not even joking.”

He chuckled, blushing a little bit as he reached over to pat your knee. “You do tell good jokes, though, just for the record.”

When you arrived down in the Financial District, you headed right to the National Archives. You were so in your element, it wasn’t even funny. You even got into a conversation with an employee there which Jungshin had never witnessed before - you willingly talking to a stranger, that is.

Jungshin noticed when it was 10:30, and he tried to tell you it was time to leave as delicately as he could. But he knew you wouldn’t be disappointed when you reached your final destination.

“Will you tell me what we’re doing now?” you asked once you were outside and headed toward Battery Park.

There really wasn’t any more time to keep it a secret, was there? He took your hand, biting back a smile. “We are going on a tour called ‘Hamilton’s Wall Street.’”

“As in... Alexander?”

“That’s the one. We’ll get to see important places on Wall Street and around this area and hear about what he did.”

“Nuh uh, that is so cool!” You squeezed his hand, jumping up and down a little as you walked.

You were enraptured the moment the tour started, hanging on the tour guide’s every word. And when he asked a question about something - anything - you always knew the answer. You quickly gained the reputation of being the nerdy smarty pants in your tour group, and Jungshin was so proud.

You talked a while at The Battery before moving on to Federal Hall and Trinity Church. The tour ended at Fraunces Tavern, a place Hamilton apparently frequented, where you ended up just staying for lunch. Once the tour guide left and you and Jungshin were sitting at your table to eat, you reached over to take his hand.

“That was unbelievable,” you said, smiling widely. “Thank you so much for doing that.”

“I thought you would like it.”

“No, I didn’t like it.”

“You loved it.”

You just smiled again, nodding your head once as you tangled your feet with his underneath the table.

Once you finished lunch they headed toward the Brooklyn Bridge, one of your favorite things in all of New York. On the other side, you headed toward Brooklyn Bridge Park and decided to just relax and take it easy. You still had three more full days left in the city; plenty of time left to be busy. Now it was time to slow down and live in the moment. 

You didn’t take your phones out, Jungshin barely took any pictures. You simply walked, talked, sat, admired the scenery, and enjoyed each other’s company.

That is, until you got hungry. You whipped out your phone then, finding a Polish diner nearby with really good reviews.

After feasting on kielbasa and pierogis, you figured out a Subway route to get back to your hotel and hopped on the next train heading midtown to settle in for the night. 

Your trip was just about halfway over now, and you could safely say it was one of the best vacations you’d ever been on.

You couldn’t wait to see what the next few days had in store.

Part 9

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Not Your Destiny: Chapter 1

Marked Book 1: Not Your Destiny

Chapter 1

[ First | Next ]

Hayley’s breath is a series of soft huffs, echoing in rapid repeat inside the car. There are tiny sparks haloed around her head, her eyes seeming to glow a gentle gold in reflection. Ángel licks his lips and tries to think of something to defuse the situation.

“If you look to your right, you’ll see the ice cream shop that Tanner and I used to bike to every weekend in the spring and fall, ever since we were twelve.” As soon as they had the freedom to bike further than each other’s houses, leave the street they grew up on, that was the first place they went. “Not during the summer, though; it was too hot for that. Summers were for air conditioning and video games.”

A low breath eases from Hayley’s lungs, almost like a wheeze.

Ángel throws his left arm out the window, points to a low white building, all newer construction, with a dark tiled ceramic roof. “The library,” he says. “Because Tanner and I were nerdy enough that when we said we were at the library, we were actually at the library. I have to stop in and see Mrs. Hannigan every time I come home, and she’ll tell you the story about when she found me sleeping in the stacks. She tells it to me every time, like I wasn’t there for it.”

He always liked Mrs. Hannigan, who would quietly wake him and wait on the steps with him when he was young and his father was late picking him up. Ángel’s fingers flex on the steering wheel, slowly tensing as he gets closer to home. Hayley picks up on the tension, wheezes again on her next breath.

Ángel pulls over, parks in the library lot.

“Hayley,” he says softly.

“I shouldn’t be with you.” Sparks flicker in her eyes. “Take me to the airport. Put me on a plane. They’re going to hate me.”

He reaches for her, bridges the distance them so that he can stroke the backs of his fingers down her cheek. “Hey,” he murmurs. “They’re not going to hate you. How could they hate you? I love you, right? Abuela’s been dying to meet you, and Papi’s going to adore you. And you and Tanner—you’re my best friends. Of course you’re going to get along perfectly, right?”

Hayley nods slowly, fingers twisting together in her lap. “Maybe we shouldn’t have—”

It’s too late for that now, but Ángel doesn’t want to point that out, not when Hayley’s already upset about it. “Abuela will say it’s because you’re not Cuban; she holds out hope I’m going to meet a good Cuban who’s smarter than me, stronger than me, and all around better than I should even hope to have in my life.”

Hayley’s eyes go wide.

“And the thing is, she’s going to love you anyway, and then she’ll blame me for the Ritual going wrong,” Ángel tells her with a slow smile, because he’s pretty sure it’s true. “Just remember that the first thing to say whenever anything happens in my house is that it’s Ángel’s fault.”

Hayley’s hand thumps lightly against his chest. “Don’t talk about yourself in the third person.”

“Don’t panic about my family.” Ángel curls his hand around the nape of her neck, pulls her closer until they can tilt forehead to forehead. “We can do this. We’re here for two weeks, then we drive back to PHU. We’re going to have a great time, and trust me, you’re going to love the Cruz/Martin combined family Christmas. We know how to party.”

Hayley’s smile flickers. “Okay. Sure, okay, I’m ready. I just—”

She doesn’t have to finish. “Me too,” Ángel agrees. Whether they’re exactly on the same page or not, Ángel knows they’re close enough. 

He uncurls his fingers from the nape of her neck, and she slowly sits back, takes in a deep breath and holds it. She exhales in a shiver of sparks bubbling from her lips.

“Might be good if you didn’t shock my family, though,” Ángel says lightly, and Hayley thumps his shoulder.

“I’m getting all the out of control bits over with while we’re still in the car,” she says. “I don’t want to upset your dad’s pacemaker.”

Pacemaker, kidney damage, liver issues, and a heart valve that could use surgery; Papi’s not in great shape, but Joey does her best to keep him healthy. She’ll never be Mami, but Ángel treasures her for the fact that she loves Papi.

He pulls back out, drives silently through the remaining blocks into his neighborhood. He passes by Tanner’s house, spots both Tanner’s truck in the driveway, gleaming despite the rust, as well as Mary’s newer sedan. It encourages Ángel, and he makes his way three houses further before he pulls into the driveway behind his father’s old SUV.

His stomach churns; despite all the platitudes for Hayley, he’s terrified of this reunion. He knew he’d be nervous when he first planned this a month ago. Bringing Hayley home for the first time is a big step. But everything’s upside down now.

The door to the house opens, and Emerson spills out first. He’s grown into his height, legs and arms waving less than they used to. He seems less like a stumbling colt, more like a graceless gazelle as he rushes down the steps to the car, stopping just shy of yanking Ángel’s door open.

Hayley’s eyes are wide, shifting from Emerson to the crowd waiting just beyond him.

“No point in delaying.” Ángel pushes the door open, lets Emerson yank him into a back-thumping hug. There’s a moment when he feels something pop at his ear, and he pulls back to look worriedly at Emerson. “You okay?”

“I don’t seize every time, any more,” Emerson says. “It’s getting better. They’ve even said I can mainstream my classes next fall, so I get to start high school. Which is awesome.”

“High school is not awesome,” Ángel says dryly. It was, in its own way, but high school is also something he’d like to remember fondly in the distance, aside from everything to do with Tanner.

“High school is going to be more awesome than being stuck in a room with just the teacher, me, and three other kids at risk of severe health issues every time their Talent acts up,” Emerson mutters. “I’ll take teenage drama over that.”

“Seriously, it’ll be good for him.” Tanner reaches past Emerson, and Ángel clasps his hand, yanks him into a hug and holds on tight. It feels good to be back. “Missed you,” Tanner mumbles, and Ángel nods without saying anything.

Papi clears his throat, and Ángel steps back, looks at the people gathered around his car. Tanner’s mother, Mary, is with Emerson, and Ángel’s stepmother Joey stands with Papi and Abuela.

He frowns, looks back at the car.

Hayley still sits in the passenger seat, one hand on the door handle, her eyes wide. Her tongue darts out to lick her lips and she smiles slightly. Lifts one hand, wiggles her fingers.

Ángel leans back in, motions to her. “No one’s going to bite,” he promises. “Just might hug you until you can’t breathe, but that’s normal around here. We’re a hugging family.”

Hayley unlatches the door with a click, emerges slowly. She barely manages to get out of the car before Emerson’s there, throwing his arms around her shoulders and pulling her in to hug her. “Oh, hi,” she says, her face pressed against his chest. “You’re Emerson, right? Tanner’s brother? The one who—”

She stumbles to a stop, sparks lighting around her head, and Emerson laughs.

“The one who has seizures and whose only Talent is creating bubbles of light that pop really loudly? Yeah, that’s me.” Emerson steps back, offers a hand to her and shakes it solemnly. “Don’t worry, I know that Ángel’s told you everything about being family here. That you’re practically family. I mean—”

It’s his turn to stop, cheeks bright spots of red. A blue bubble rises behind him, pops over his head in a shower of color as Emerson winces. “Sorry,” he says.

“No, it’s okay. I mean, it’s really okay. We’ve kind of spent the last twenty hours talking about it, and how miserable it is and we both still really want to be here and I’m so excited to meet everyone that Ángel’s been telling me about. He’s wanted me to meet Tanner for absolute ages but—”

“I don’t travel well and Tanner won’t leave me,” Emerson finishes the sentence for her, patting her shoulder. “He’s a good brother.”

“Tanner.” Ángel grabs his friend’s wrist, draws him forward. “This is Hayley. And Hayley, this is Tanner. And that’s Papi, and Abuela, and Joey, and Mary, and that’s pretty much everyone you need to know.”

Tanner spreads his arms, tilts his head in silent offering.

Hayley huffs a sigh. “What the hell. You keep saying I’m family.” She moves in for the hug, wraps her arms around Tanner as his hands fall against her back. Her face presses into his chest, and she makes a small squeaking sound.

“No.” She gets her hands up between them, pushes Tanner away. Her eyes are wide, sparks circling her head, snapping from her fingertips. She shakes her head. “Fuck. No. No.”

Tanner stares at her in confusion, hands still raised in the air. He blinks in confusion. “What?”

Ángel has no idea. He reaches for Hayley, jerks back when she steps away, turns to him still shaking her head.

“I….” She swallows hard, twists her hand and shows the inside of her wrist to Ángel. The staff with two snakes wound about it is clear and bright, the skin on the edges stung red as if from freshly pricked ink. Her eyes water when she blinks. “I….”

“Oh, hey, is that the staff of Caduceus?” Tanner reaches for her arm, takes it gently so he can look more closely at it. “Ángel, dude, you never told me your girlfriend was pre-med.”

“I’m not,” Hayley whispers. “This is—it’s just—fuck. Ángel. I’m so sorry.”

Ángel’s feet are glued to the ground, his heart jack-rabbiting so fast that blood pounds in his ears. He wants the earth to rise up and swallow him down, because this is not possible. It can’t be. Not this, not now. Not him.

“Ángel?”

Papi sounds worried, and Ángel can’t find the words to answer him. He holds one hand up, turns his head so no one but Hayley and Tanner can see the prick of tears in his eyes. He blinks through the liquid haze, but he still can’t seem to see anything but the ink, hear anything but the pounding of his own heart.

“It is best if we go inside.” Abuela’s voice, firm and calm. “Tanner, help Hayley take her things up to the guest room. Emerson, Marcos needs help with the grill. Josefina, Mary, you will start in the kitchen. I will be in soon.”

“Ángel?” Hayley doesn’t move, watching him.

It’ll be easier when they have each other to talk to about it.

He just wants her to be happy.

The words are dry as ash on his tongue, and he gestures at the house. “Tanner can show you to the room. Tanner, be prepared to struggle with her six bags. They’re heavy.”

“Three,” Hayley corrects automatically. “The rest are like carry-ons.”

“Dude.” Tanner lays a hand on Ángel’s shoulder, and Ángel’s gaze shifts to look at the exposed inner skin of his wrist. Stylized sparks in a shower like fireworks, the skin still red around them, and Tanner seems absolutely unaware of the change.

Ángel swallows, shakes his head. “I’m fine. Make sure Hayley’s all set, okay? Give you guys a chance to talk to each other. I’m sorry, it’s been a rough few weeks.”

“Go.” Abuela’s tone brooks no nonsense, and a moment later the others all go inside, Emerson helping carry Hayley’s things. The trunk sits open, Ángel’s bags still in the back.

He leans on the edge of the trunk, lowers his head and tries to breathe.

“It is the best of worlds and the worst of worlds when your dearest friends fall in love with each other,” Abuela murmurs. “I’m sorry.”

Ángel’s shoulders shake, his fingers tight over the rubberized seal around the bottom edge of the trunk. He shakes his head quickly. “It’s not love. Not yet. It’s some kind of fucking destiny and they don’t even know each other. I still love her. She still loves me.”

“And you love Tanner, yes?”

“First love,” Ángel mutters under his breathe, sure Abuela can’t hear him. He inhales, nods once. “Like a brother, yes,” he agrees. “I’ve wanted them to meet for a long time. They’re the two most important people in my life after Papi and you.”

Abuela sniffs, a snort that is far too indelicate for someone of her age. “You might want to include Josefina in your list of important people, or she might be offended.”

“She’s fifth, along with Emerson and Mary.” It’s not like Ángel keeps an absolute list, and the priorities shift and change depending on the day. But these are his people. His core. The ones who help keep his feet on the ground on the days when the world really does feel like it’ll swallow him whole. “Aren’t you going to say you told me so?”

“No, of course not.” Her voice is gentle. She slips an arm across his back, squeezes him gently. She’s tiny, his abuela, her head barely coming up to his shoulder. He remembers when she seemed so large to him, and he wonders if she’s shrunk while he was growing. Even after only six months she seems older than when he left.

He turns and leans back against the trunk to half sit, accepts the hug she offers and holds on as if he were still a small child, and she could make the hurts of the world disappear. “You said it would work,” he grumbles.

“I said if you were truly meant to be, it would work,” she corrects gently. “Tell me true, were you entirely surprised? She is exactly like you, Ángel. It is as if she were cut from the same cloth, placed in a different body at birth, and then you found each other once again. We are not meant to be with ourselves, Ángel. We are meant to find those who complement us. Who challenge us, and make us the best of ourselves.”

“She challenges me.” Ángel winces as Abuela pats his shoulder sharply. “Okay. Maybe not challenge. But it’s so perfect. So easy. We know everything there is to know about each other, and I do love her.”

“You don’t have to stop loving her, do you? She’s going to stay a part of your life,” Abuela points out. “You will be there for her and Tanner, through their trials and tribulations.” She reaches for his wrist, turns it up so she can see the inside, and gently brushes her thumb across the cloud of grey. “I have heard of this happening once.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“It was a story,” Abuela says. “A cousin of a friend of the boy who married my sister. It was nothing more than hearsay, and not a thing to be trusted.”

“Did everyone getting married do this when you were young?” Maybe these are questions he should have asked before the ceremony.

“Not everyone, but many,” Abuela said. She shows him the arrow that still marks the inside of her wrist, the tip pointing up her arm, the fletching across the lines of her wrist. “We knew, Ángel. We knew before we ever began the Ritual.”

“We knew,” he says stubbornly. “We both knew.”

“You were wrong.”

It’s true, and Ángel knows it in his gut, where truth twists painfully until he feels like he wants to puke with the strength of it. “Yeah, well.” He glances at the house, wonders what Hayley is telling Tanner and how he’s reacting. He knows he should go inside, be there for both of them. His best friends. Their worlds have shifted again, and he’s supposed to support them.

He doesn’t think he can, not right now.

“Abuela, tell Papi I needed to go out.” Ángel pushes away from the trunk, makes sure she’s clear before he closes the door. “I won’t be long, I promise. I’m just going to drive into town. Maybe go to the library, harass Mrs. Hannigan for old time’s sake.”

“You’ll miss lunch.”

It’s not a no, and it’s not telling him not to go. Abuela’s gaze is soft and gentle. Understanding. 

“I’m probably going to miss dinner,” Ángel counters, smile wry. “I’ll text Hayley and Tanner. And I’ll call Papi and explain, I promise. I just need some time to myself and I’m not going to get it here. And they—” His gaze shifts back to the house, as if he can see through the walls to where they are. “They need time, too. Without worrying about me. Because this is a good thing for both of them. And I’m glad I brought Hayley here, that she’s met Tanner. This is good, Abuela. It’s going to be good.”

It’s just not good right now, and in Ángel’s heart of hearts, he wonders if it’ll ever be good for himself. Or if maybe this will work out perfectly for them, and he’s left on the outside looking in.

“I’m going to go now.” He yanks open the car door, pauses when Abuela touches his arm.

“I understand,” she says, and Ángel almost believes she does.

[ First | Next ]

[gelato-of-the-day-blog]

February 13, 2017

    Finally back from Prague! Couldn’t be happier! Missed this city so much. Prague was definitely interesting. Not what I expected. It looks like a mix between Disneyland and Harry Potter World. And we had fun (kind of) but I don’t need to go back there again.

    We left bright and early on Thursday morning for the train station. Actually just early, not bright, because it was before sunrise. All 4 of us wheeled our carry on bags past the Duomo and through the cobblestone streets of Florence very noisily. We had assigned seats on the train that were not only not together but mostly in separate cars. When we got on I noticed that my bag would not fit in the overhead space and I had no idea where I was supposed to put it. Luckily, no one ended up being in the seat next to me so I could keep my bag there. The ride was pretty peaceful. I listened to my music and looked out the window at the Italian countryside. Very enjoyable. And much better than the swampland views off the NJ Transit. We got to the airport in 2 hours and had a lot of time to kill so we decided to look for breakfast food. I guess they don’t really have that in Italy or at least not in the airport. So I had pizza before 11 a.m. The flight was easy. Only like an hour and a half. My only complaint would be that the seat in front of my was basically touching my face and not even because it was leaning back. The rows were just that close together. But what do you expect when you fly an airline like Vueling? I would’ve been claustrophobic if I didn’t sleep for most of the flight. When we landed I looked out the window at the snow on the ground and thought, “Okay so this is the Czech Republic.” That is definitely a place I never thought I would be. We got our bags, met up with Chandler, and called Ubers (both good and bad that they had Uber there). For our Airbnb, it was owned by a company, not a person, so we had to meet at their office. Me, Sab, and Olivia Ubered there. When we got there, we rang the bell outside a tiny building. We were buzzed in and my first thought was, “This is a trap.” The place looked abandoned. I thought we were about to be kidnapped. Then a guy came towards us and brought us into an office that looked like it belonged in a different building. It was bright and modern looking and the 2 employees there were both very nice. They gave us our keys and we walked to the apartment.

        The apartment was basically in the middle of Old Town Square, which is a main square in Prague and large tourist attraction. And the apartment itself? I can describe it in 3 words: doors and keys. There were 6 doors separating the street from the inside of the apartment. 6. Yes, very safe but, no, not very practical. We were hysterically laughing trying to get in. Each key was color-coded for the different doors. Clear for the main front door, yellow for the first “cage”, black for the second “cage”, green for the next door, then blue, then finally red to actually walk into the apartment. We timed ourselves going in one time and used both sets of keys so one person unlocked and another locked the doors behind us. We did it in 2 minutes and 41 seconds which is ridiculously impressive. We got sushi for dinner and then got ready to go out. Prague is very cheap. The conversion rate is ridiculous; it’s like $1 = 27 crowns (their currency) so everything seems like a lot of money but it’s not. Another thing about Prague. It is absolutely freezing. Comparable to a Michigan winter. And not the joke one they are having now like a real polar vortex winter. This made the night pretty terrible for me. We went to this pregame bar called Bombay where I saw everyone I’ve ever met and a few people I’ve never met but am friends with on Facebook. It was packed in there so we went across the street to this other bar for a little bit and that place was like a real tough Czech bar. I’m pretty sure it was in the basement of a tattoo parlor. We didn’t stay long. We finally got an Uber to the club everyone was going to and when we got there they were holding up a sign saying “Sorry. Club is full.” We stood on the sidewalk outside for at least 30 minutes before we could get in. I was in open toed shoes. Miserable. Oh! Another thing! Czech people are mean. Like soooo mean. The guys working at the club were actually pushing and yelling at people. It was ridiculous. All I wanted to do was go home. I stayed for like 10 minutes then left. The bad thing about Uber is that (like many European cities) Prague has many squares that cars can’t drive through. And our apartment was in one of those squares. So we were dropped off not close and then had to walk in the cold again. Again, miserable.

        The next morning (Friday) me, Sab, and Courtney bundled up for our private tour of the Jewish Quarter with Martina. She met us outside our apartment and was so cute and nice. She showed us some beautiful memorials and temples and told us so much about the history of Jews in Prague. All of it was so interesting. The tour was 3 hours and we were really tired afterwards. Our feet hurt so badly so we met our friends at Bakeshop for brunch and ended up just sitting there for hours. We were originally sitting with a bunch of SDT girls but they all left and then it was just the 3 of us at a big table so some boys asked if they could sit down. They started talking to us and eventually asked if we wanted to go get beers with them at this place across the street. We all thought why not and decided to go. 2 of them go to Michigan and 2 go to UF and none are studying in Prague. They were all just visiting. We sat at this place called Beer Story that looked like the basement of Espresso Royale on South U. Also, this is not even an exaggeration, the whole time we were there the only music they played was Taylor Swift. Bizarre. We had a lot of fun making new friends though!

        Then we had to go to the club for that night (Lucerna) to get tickets to get into the club. The guy there said they weren’t selling anymore tickets until later and the capacity was 1,000. That did not seem like a lot to us so I asked when we could get tickets and he told me 8:00 p.m. We went back to our apartment to shower and then at 7:15 left to go wait on line for tickets. On our way out, the black key broke in the lock of the door and we thought we were going to be trapped forever. Jaclyn was luckily able to get the piece out using a fork and we never locked that door again. We made it to the club early enough to be the 3rd people on line. By 8:00 there were probably about 30-40 people waiting. That’s when the guy said that they were selling tickets until 9. There was outrage. The next hour was torture. I was starving. Everyone was pushing and yelling. The line got to be probably hundreds of people long and every was just pushing forward. And of course people were trying to cut. I was standing on my toes because I was being pushed forward and couldn’t get my heels on the ground. Again, miserable. We were finally able to get the tickets and get out of there but it was too late. The damage had been done. I was getting a migraine. We got to dinner and I tried eating as quickly as possible and drinking water but nothing helped. I wasn’t able to go out. I’m still so angry about it. I didn’t really care about missing anything but it was just the fact that I waited on line so I could go out and doing that gave me a headache so I couldn’t go out. Ugh.

      The next morning (Saturday), Olivia and Chandler joined our tour with Martina. She took us to the castle, the John Lennon wall, and the Charles Bridge. I didn’t realize that the entire tour was going to be outside. For 3 hours. By the end we were all actual blocks of ice. I honestly though I would never feel my toes again. When it ended we said goodbye to Martina (miss her), and went to have lunch and get warm in the closest place to us: the Hard Rock Café. Actually zero complaints about it because it was warm and I got chicken fingers so pretty solid lunch for me. After that we went to see the Dali and Warhol exhibits. The Warhol stuff was so cool. I took a million pictures and I’m wondering how many is too many to Instagram. Also wondering how much it would cost to decorate my house with a bunch. We also met some boys there who asked us what our plans for Passover were. Kk. Then we all needed to go home and crash for a little bit. We wanted a quick dinner so we just went to the closest place we could find and it turned out to be Italian. It was also not so great. We’re already getting snobby about food and wine. We ate quickly and then had to get an important Prague delicacy before we left: a Trdelník (pictured above). Actually so overrated. I honestly didn’t really like it but it looks pretty. We went home to get ready to go out. Sara and her friend came over and then we all made our way to the Roxy for “Czech It Out”. It was like a concert at a club. Sam Feldt (I’m sure most of you don’t know who that is. He’s a DJ) was performing. This was the only night I had fun. Well it was fun after we got in. There was a huge line just to get in and by a line I mean a large mass of people pushing each other. I thought I was going to be trampled like one of those Black Friday situations. We were all being crushed to death for like 15 minutes and after yelling at a lot of people and pushing really hard I eventually made it through the doors. Just why Prague?? I really only know one song by Sam Feldt (Feels Like Home) and was excited for him to play it. He went on at 2, ended at 4 and never played my song! I’m actually still mad about it. I mean he did a great job, played some cool songs that I liked, played a lot of songs that aren’t his, but really? He couldn’t just play the one song I wanted to hear? It was fun though and we danced and at 3:30 decided it was time to go. But on the way out we ran into our bar friends (the guys from the day before)! They wanted us to stay so we danced with them a little until they kind of ditched us and then it was really time to leave.

      The next morning (Sunday), we had to check out of our Airbnb by 11. We packed up and went to Bakeshop again and hung out there until we had to go to the airport. The security there was actually stupid. I had to take all of the toiletries out of my bag and then I asked the woman if I had to take off my shoes and she said no. I walked through the thing and it beeped and she said, “It’s your shoes. Walk through faster this time.” So I did. And obviously it beeped again. So instead of taking off my shoes they decided they needed to pat me down. You literally said it was my shoes. Why not just make me walk through without the shoes? So stupid. Courtney also had a minor fiasco with her train tickets but we got it all figured out. We did the flight and then took a train from the airport and had to switch trains but we finally made it home. I can’t even describe the feeling of relief and happiness I felt when we stepped out of the train station and onto the streets of Florence. Like actual bliss. Walking past the Duomo and everything I missed so much was physically calming. We stopped for GELATO on our way home (obviously) and the people at Venchi probably thought we were moving in with all the luggage we had.

      This morning (Monday), I woke up to a million texts telling me my family had gotten a dog without me. They basically waited until right when I left, the moment when I would be away the longest, to get a puppy. So maybe I’ll get to meet it when it’s already big enough to eat Zeke and I miss the entire puppy stage. Thanks fam! Honestly wouldn’t even have gotten out of bed today after that if it hadn’t been so nice out today. It was like 60 degrees and sunny. A complete turnaround from Prague. We had lunch and ran some errands but mostly had a chill day to recover from the long weekend. We ate at Antico Noe and learned once again that you cannot eat outside here because you will be attacked by birds. I fell out of my chair in a very public place and it was definitely embarrassing. Not really looking to starting classes again but I guess this is technically school. Class is as good a way as any to celebrate Valentine’s Day. At least I got my Lambertesca gals!