#the SECOND Gigi started signing my eyes welled up with tears

[lady-assnali]

Wherever I’m not crying over this stupid Rusical. I’m not crying over watching Gigi and Crystal’s part in the mirror that I’ve already seen a clip of 1,000 times. No way, not me. I’m perfectly fine.

[missmitchieg]

"You're all gonna be ok."

An hour of waiting later, Bobby was pacing back and forth in The Orpheum, wondering where the rest of his band was. They should've been back at least fifteen minutes ago. It doesn't take this long to get some hotdogs, eat quickly and come back.

Rose watched him pace nervously with a frown, her own anxiety growing in her stomach. "They might be fine, Bobby. They probably just got stuck in traffic." She told him, not so sure if she was trying to convince him or herself of that hypothetical.

"And what if they didn't, Rose?" Bobby countered and gave her a look, thinking of every possible reason for the guys to not be there. "What if they're in trouble?" He looked at the ceiling, pushing his hair back for the millionth time.

"And what if they are?" Rose countered back, and Bobby stopped to look at her again.

He turned his body toward her and crossed his arms, shaking his head. "They would've called." He said, looking up when he heard a voice say his name.

"Call for a Bobby Wilson?"

Bobby bit his lip nervously, taking Rose's hand in his. He walked toward the guy with the phone, taking it from him. "Hello? Bobby Wilson speaking."

Rose gave him an encouraging smile when Bobby took her hand and stayed close to him, hoping her presence was comforting and not overbearing or upsetting.

"Hello, Bobby. I'm calling from Dignity Health Hospital. I believe your friends are here. They refused to give their parents' phone numbers and insisted we call you at The Orpheum."

Bobby gasped softly and squeezed Rose's hand, his breathing and heart rate picking up as the polite voice of the woman over the phone listed off the names of his band mates, his best friends, his family, one by one.

"Alex Mercer. Luke Patterson. Reggie Peters."

The next few moments happen in a blur for Bobby. Squeezing Rose's hand once more. Taking a deep shaky breath and clearing his throat. Thanking the woman and hanging up. Telling Rose where the boys were. Rose pulling him outside and yelling for a taxi. The four minute car ride to the hospital. The walk inside. Every noise sounded like he was under water.

Rose gave Bobby a worried look and rubbed circles in his hand with her thumb as they walked inside together and asked the receptionist about the guys. Tears streaming down her face, she walked to the room the boys would be in, Bobby right behind her.

Being in the room, seeing the guys, was what broke Bobby out of his daze. He blinked and shook his head, moving to stand in between Reggie's, who was groaning into his bedpan, and Alex's, who a nurse explained had to be sedated because he was panicking so badly, beds while Rose went straight to Luke's bed. He wasn't going to lie. All three of them looked like Hell. "You're ok, Reggie. You're all gonna be ok." Bobby promised. He hoped he could keep that promise.

"What happened, boys?" Rose asked, gently smoothing the hair off Luke's sweaty forehead. She frowned as Luke let out a shuddering breath and gagged, being sick into his bedpan.

"Food poisoning." The doctor said from the other side of Reggie's bed. "Lucky they got in when they did, or-" He scowled, giving them a 'well, you know' sort of look. "They'll have to stay for a week to get fluids and regular checks on their hearts and kidneys."

"Wh- A week?!" Luke shook his head weakly, trying to get out of his bed. He couldn't be stuck in there for a week. He had things to do! "No, no, no. We have to go perform!" He told them, trying to kick his left leg over the side of the bed.

"Luke." Rose said with a frown. "Luke, no." She said, gently pushing him back into a laying position in his bed.

"Perfo- None of you are in any condition to perform!" Bobby huffed, shaking his head incredulously. How could Luke still be thinking about performing when a doctor had just informed him that he almost died?! "You are in a hospital bed and hooked up to IVs, Luke!" He pointed out, gesturing to the machine monitoring his vitals.

"But-" But they were gonna be Legends! They had to play The Orpheum!

"Luke! No!" Bobby yelled. "You guys almost died! You should be sleeping and recuperating right now!"

"Bobby." Rose started, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe you should sit down."

Bobby frowned, crossing his arms. "I'm fine, Rose."

"You're not." Rose and Reggie said together.

"Reggie-"

"Bobin, you should go home. Rest." Reggie said softly, pleading with his eyes for Bobby to not worry, to sit down.

"No. No way. I'm not leaving you." Bobby insisted, taking Reggie's hand that didn't have a giant IV needle shoved into it in his own. "I'm not letting you guys leave my sight. Not again." He promised.

Reggie frowned at that, knowing Bobby well enough to know that he was being stubborn because he blamed himself. He blamed himself because he told them to go get hot dogs. He told them to go get hot dogs and they landed them in the hospital. Reggie shook his head, opening his mouth to say something before he felt like he was going to puke again, grabbing his bedpan.

Bobby frowned guiltily at that, rubbing comforting circles into Reggie's back. "You'll get better, Gigi. The week'll go by in no time, and then we can get all of you back home."

Reggie was sick into his bed pan and wiped away the crud with a hand towel the nurse gave him, smiling weakly at Bobby. "You're a sweetheart, Bobins."

Bobby smiled at that, gently stroking a hand through Reggie's hair. "You know I just care about you."

Rose watched the exchange with a small smile, sharing a look with Luke to ask 'so are they really always like this?'.

Luke chuckled softly and nodded, whispering to her that they were so embarrassingly in love and too scared to do anything about it.

Rose bit her lip to hide a smirk and leaned in close to whisper a secret in Luke's ear, making him snort and slap a hand over his mouth. He looked at her and gave a 'really?' look.

Rose giggled and nodded, putting a finger to her lips to keep quiet about it.

"What are you two giggling about?" Bobby asked them with a smile.

"Noooothing."

Bobby scoffed and shook his head with a disbelieving smirk while Rose just smiled innocently back at him.

Their time in the hospital went similarly for the next week. Rose and Bobby would come plowing in the second visitor's hours started, Luke would complain about still being stuck in the hospital, Bobby would go straight to Reggie's side, and Rose straight to Luke's side. Bobby and Reggie would flirt like crazy and Rose and Luke would chuckle and shake their heads at them, Alex joining in pretty instantly.

Bobby and Rose had grown pretty close to the boys' nurses in that time, and even convinced them to play their demo CD on occasion. Reggie always piped in with a quick 'Tell your friends!', charming every nurse that looked his way.

The day finally came to leave, and the nurses all acted absolutely devastated for them to go, even if it just meant a full recovery. The nurses loved the kids, and the kids loved the nurses.

"Bye, Ester. Enjoy the rest of your life!" Rose grinned at the last nurse as they walked out as a group, Bobby and Reggie holding hands and Rose holding Luke and Alex' hands. "So, who's house are we going to first?" She asked, excited to maybe meet a few of their parents.

"Oh, I'm taking you to your place and we're all going back to my garage." Bobby answered casually.

"Your garage?"

"We all kinda live there." Luke shrugged and just kept walking. "It's not a big deal."

"Not a big- You live in a garage!" Rose exclaimed, shaking her head. This simply wouldn't do. "Excuse me, I have to make a call." She said and walked away toward the nearest payphone. She put in a quarter and dialed her home phone, grinning when her sister answered. "Hey, Victoria! I need a little baby sized favor. Can you ask mama to set a few extra places at the table tonight, please?"

"How many?"

"Uh... Four."

"...Explain."

Rose winced and sighed, pushing her hair back. "I met these boys living in their friends' garage-"

"Wait, are these the people you've been meeting with all week?" Victoria questioned.

"Yeah, at the hospital."

"Woah, what?"

"Can you just ask mama?"

"Fine, but you better let me borrow that dress in the back of your closet."

"S-sure." Rose rolled her eyes. "Thanks, bye." She said and hung up, walking back to the boys. "We're all going to my place for dinner."

"Rosie, you d-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Bobbers." Rose smiled at the nickname. Bobby had quite a few. She learned that quickly. There was just one little nickname only Reggie was allowed to use, though. Bobins. Rose thought it was absolutely precious when she found out and respected that only Reggie could called him that.

"Rose."

"You boys deserve better than a garage and some take out, or some poisonous hot dogs." She smirked. "You're getting a real meal tonight."

The boys looked at her for a minute and smiled gratefully, appreciating how much Rose had grown to care for them in the week they had known each other. Bobby hailed a taxi and they piled in one by one, Rose giving directions to her house.

Bobby smiled as he handed the driver some money and everyone piled out of the car, following Rose to her house.

"Now, no need to be nervous about meeting my mom. Mi mama loves everybody. It's my sister you need to worry about." She explained and rang the doorbell.

"Noted." Bobby smiled, squeezing Reggie's hand. He smiled politely as Rose's sister opened the door and stepped outside, shutting the door behind her.

"Rosita, are these the boys you told me about over the phone?" Victoria asked sternly with her hands on her hips.

"Yes, Tori. This is Luke." Rose gestured toward Luke.

"Hey." Luke gave her a grin.

"Alex."

"Hi, there." Alex smiled and threw up a peace sign.

"Reggie."

"Hi!" Reggie gave a bright grin and waved with his free hand.

"And Bobby."

"Hi." Bobby smiled.

"Hi." Victoria said slowly after a minute. "You said something about a garage, Rose?"

Luke winced, nodding. "We kinda were living in Bobby's garage before the week in the hospital. He had the best place."

"Only because you ran away and refused to go back." Bobby pointed out.

"And the hospital trip?"

"We ate some bad hot dogs."

Victoria blinked at that and sighed, pinching her nose. She was so done with her sister right now. "You know what. Just come in." She said and pulled the door open, letting everyone in. "Mama! Rose and her friends are here!"

"Hi, mama!" Rose grinned happily and led the boys to the dining room.

"Rosita, there you are!" The boys heard Rose's mom, Carla call from the kitchen and watched her put bowls and plates of food on the table, kissing Rose's head. "So these are your friends?"

"Rose spent her entire week next to their hospital beds." Victoria said dryly as she sat down.

"What? Oh, what happened, bebes?"

"They, uh, ate bad hot dogs the night I met them and I decided I wanted to be around while they got better."

"Don't your parents feed you?" Carla asked, her jaw dropping when the boys frowned and stayed silent. "Ohh... You boys can come over for some food or just hang out any time." She offered.

Luke smiled at that and nodded, biting into his food. "Gracias."

"We really appreciate that." Bobby said gratefully, sipping his water.

"No, I don't wanna impose." Alex shook his head.

"Oh, nonsense!" Carla shook her head with a wave of her hand. "I would love some more company in this big house."

"And we would love to hang out here." Reggie nodded. "Maybe we could rehearse here."

"But how would we get our instruments in here?" Alex questioned. "Plus, I don't think they would appreciate the noise."

"Instruments? You boys are in a band?" Victoria asked.

"Oh, yeah. We're Sunset Curve!" Luke grinned.

"Tell your friends!"

"Oh, I have a copy of their demo in my backpack! I'll play it after dinner! Oh, you're gonna love them! They're amazing!"

"You're amazing, Rosie. And so are you." Reggie grinned at Carla, happily eating another tamale.

"I just love you guys and I know you'll make it." Rose told them, her eyes flickering toward Reggie and Bobby holding hands under the table. She snickered and covered her mouth, giving them a grin as the boys blushed and smiled at each other.

Carla watched them and grinned, her eyes sparkling. "And how long have you two been together?"

"Um, officially, two days." Bobby answered. "But I think we've kinda always been together? So, about four years."

"I can confirm they have acted like a married couple ever since they met." Alex nodded.

"As if you and Lucas don't act the same." Rose sassed gently.

Victoria snorted, licking her lips.

Reggie laughed, nodding quickly. "You kinda do, even though you're broken up."

"And we broke up-" "-for a reason." Luke and Alex said together and Reggie laughed again, this time hiding his face in Bobby's shoulder.

Bobby smiled fondly and kissed his head, thinking back to two days ago when Rose had finally broken him down and forced him to tell Reggie about his feelings.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Bobby smiled as he watched Reggie talk animatedly about something to Alex, mouth going a mile a minute. He laughed when Reggie chuckled, biting his lip fondly. God, Reggie was adorable when he got excited. He tilted his head as he kept watching Reggie, his skin almost sparkling in the sunshine. He loved to sit back and watch Reggie just be, especially now when they were sat outside, the boys set free from their hospital room for just half an hour.

He sighed happily and rested his chin on his hand, feeling two pairs of eyes on him. Slowly, he blinked and turned to give the eyes a tense grin and a slight shake of his head. He was met with twin glares at that, and sighed when they both gestured toward Reggie. He pushed his hair back and watched him for another minute before giving in and walking toward the sweet boy. "Hey, Reg?"

Reggie looked up from where he was sitting in the middle of telling a story and smiled, fixing his jacket. "Yeah, Bobins?"

Bobby grinned at the nickname and knelt next to him, glancing at a smiling Alex. "Lex, you think I can get a minute alone with him?" He asked, giving him a pointed look and nudged his head toward Reggie.

Alex tilted his head, his eyes almost popping out of his head and a grin overtaking his face as he realized why Bobby was asking for this. "OH, yeah! Sure! I'll go bother Rosie and Luke about my thing. You two have your little talk." He grinned, giving Bobby a subtle wink as he walked toward Rose and Luke. "Hey, Patterson!"

Bobby rolled his eyes and sighed, sinking to sit on his knees next to Reggie. He looked up to see Reggie smiling at him and crossing his legs. He gulped and looked around, fiddling with his bracelets as he looked for a way to start talking.

"What's going on?" Reggie asked, breaking Bobby out of his thoughts.

"O-oh. I just, um, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to, um-" Bobby stopped and groaned, shifting to sit on his butt and burying his face in his knees. He was definitely overthinking how to do this.

"Bobs?" Reggie asked softly, placing a gentle hand on Bobby's shoulder.

Bobby looked up and felt the corner of his mouth tug into a smile at the sweet, reassuring grin Reggie was giving him, placing his own hand over Reggie's. He took a deep breath and looked up at him, squeezing his hand. "I was just thinking, when they let you guys out of here, maybe you and I could go see a movie or something? Just you and me?" He bit his lip.

"One-on-one time with you? I'm in!" Reggie nodded instantly. "You know I'm always up for hanging out with my best friend, Bobby." He grinned.

Bobby raised his eyebrows fondly and chuckled, shifting closer to him. "I know. Because you're just like that, Gigi." He smiled. "But what I meant was, like, on a date." He told him and worried his lip again, watching his reaction.

Reggie blinked and blushed as red as his flannel, running a hand through his hair. "O-oh! Um-" He chuckled, wringing his hands. "Are you sure, Bobins? You sure you want me? I'm kind of a lot, you know."

Bobby furrowed his eyebrows at the question and nodded, reaching out to take back the hand that left his empty. "Um, yeah. I know. I've known you for years, and I'm sure I want you." He said, letting his hand fall palm up on the ground so Reggie could take it on his own if he wanted to.

"I just think, you know, you have a lot of options at school. Fans of the band." Reggie told him, pausing every few words to think.

"Uh huh...?" Bobby answered slowly, frowning at him. He wasn't liking where Reggie was going.

"And you know, a lot of people like you. Not just me."

Bobby perked up at that and smiled, tilting his head.

"There's Chuckie in out Math class, and Grace and Anna from History. And there's Judy in Sci-"

"Reggie." Bobby cut him off from listing every kid in their classes, reaching his other hand up to cup Reggie's cheek. "Sweetheart, I don't want those other people. I want you. I like you. You like me. What's stopping us?"

Reggie frowned, leaning into the hand on his cheek. He stayed silent, but Bobby could tell there were things he wanted to say.

"Gigi." He coaxed gently, nudging him with the hand on the ground.

Reggie sighed, reaching down to take his hand. "I want to, Bobby. I really, really want to."

"But?"

"But you don't deserve my mess. You're too good. You shouldn't have to deal with me. I'm too much work. I'm too messed up."

Bobby frowned, shaking his head. "Reggie. Gigi. Sweetheart." He started. "Look at me."

Reggie sighed again and looked at Bobby, licking his lips.

"What if I told you, I'm ok with that? What if I told you I want to 'deal with' all of you and your 'mess'?" Bobby lifted a hand to cut Reggie off before he could start talking. "What if I told you, you're worth it all to me? What if I told you I think you're worth the work it takes to love you?"

"Oh..." Reggie let out a breath, his eyes flickering from Bobby's warm brown eyes to his lips and back. "Well, then. That-" He swallowed the lump in his throat. "That changes things a little bit."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Reggie?"

"Yeah, Bobins?"

Bobby smiled and leaned in slowly, giving Reggie time to pull away if he didn't want to. He pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, left hand reaching into Reggie's hair and right hand still lovingly cradling Reggie's cheek. He pulled away after a while and bit his lip, hunching his shoulders slightly. "Was that ok? I mean, I don't want you to be-"

"Bobbers."

"-Incomfortable. You can still say no. I just want you to kn-"

"Bobble."

"-That I really, really like you and I want to be with you, and-"

"Bobby!"

Bobby blinked at Reggie shouting his name and shut up, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Y-yeah, Gigi?"

"Bobby, just kiss me again." Reggie smiled, wrapping his arms around Bobby's neck.

Bobby smiled sweetly at the boy and kissed him again, pulling away when he heard a few very familiar voices whoop and ooh at them. He looked back to see Luke, Rose, Alex and even a couple of the nurses that worked at the hospital, watching them with big matching grins on their faces. He laughed at that and shook his head, turning back toward Reggie. "So does this mean we're boyfriends now?" He asked quietly, grinning when Reggie nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, we're boyfriends." Reggie told him, kissing him again.

Bobby was shaken from the memory when Reggie, precious, kind, adorable, sweet boy that he is, patted his shoulder.

"Sorry, what?" Bobby asked, shaking his head slightly.

"You alright?" Reggie smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking."

"Seemed pretty deep in thought." Victoria noted.

Reggie nodded in agreement, squeezing his hand.

"Just thinking back to two days ago." Bobby smiled, rubbing circles in Reggie's hand. "But I'm back." He assured them, and everyone finished their food.

They cleaned up together and Bobby smiled as he watched Luke and Alex double team the dirty dishes while Rose and Tori washed and put away the silverware, and just listened to Reggie telling him about a dream he had last night. He sighed happily, hugging him from behind and leaning his head against Reggie's. He was pretty sure life couldn't get much better than this. This was pretty close to perfect, if you asked him.

[missjanjie]

Taste of a Poison Paradise | Chapter 4

Title: Taste of a Poison Paradise Summary: Life at Jackie Cox’s strip club, Poison Paradise, isn’t just lapdances and g-strings. There’s enough drama, lust, and heartache to rival any soap opera. None of the girls know what to expect on any given shift, especially while navigating their torrid, complicated relationships. Word Count: ~3k (this chapter) / ~12.1k (total) Relationship(s): Lemyanka (Lemon/Priyanka), Crygi (Crystal Methyd/Gigi Goode), Sportsdoll (Jan Sport/Nicky Doll), Jaidie (Jaida Essence Hall/Jackie Cox), Branjie (Brooke Lynn Hytes/Vanessa Vanjie Mateo), Kamjie (Kameron Michaels/Vanessa Vanjie Mateo), Rosnali (Rosé/Denali Foxx) Rating: E

Read on AO3 | Ko-Fi

Chapter Summary: Brooke Lynn and Kameron finally meet, Denali starts spending more time at the diner, Jaida starts her OnlyFans, and Gigi realizes she can’t avoid her feelings for Crystal forever.

-

Vanessa has never been the best at focusing all of her attention on one task. Often, when she was dancing on stage, her mind was in three other places. It was a little more obvious when giving a lap dance, but most men didn’t seem to mind or even notice. Except for this time when she called attention to it by stopping mid-gyration and exclaiming, “holy shit!”

The man wasn’t annoyed, instead, he curiously looked behind him. “What? What happened?”

“Some dude’s getting hauled out of here, dumb fucker’s trynna put up a fight. Fly ain’t undone so he must’ve been getting too handsy,” she observed, though her eyes were honed in on Kameron, who took the offender down and dragged him out of the club. “God damn, she’s good,” she murmured, fanning herself.

“Wouldn’t it be more effective to have a man–”

Vanessa decided she was no longer interested in what the client had to say, and was already walking towards the front of the club, getting a better view as Kameron unceremoniously tossed the man out of the club. “What’s his damage, huh?”

Kameron shrugged. “Jan flagged me down, dickwad kept trying to play grab-ass and started throwing a temper tantrum when she cut his dance short,” she explained, then looked over at the bar. “Looks like Nicky’s taking care of her now, though.”

“I’m tryna take care of you, though,” she winked. “You know, take you into the VIP room and…”

“I’m still on the clock, Vanjie,” Kameron gently reminded her, but looped her arms around her waist. “But once our shifts end, we can go in the back and play grab-ass instead, okay?” she offered, punctuating her point by moving her hands down and squeezing Vanessa’s ass.

Vanessa huffed and pouted, but nodded nonetheless. “Fine, but you know how impatient I get.”

Kameron chuckled and kissed her cheek. “Don’t I always make it worth the wait?”

She couldn’t argue with that, so she went back and did her next set, alternating between being on the stage, among the clientele, or waiting in the back. It was the late shift, at least, meaning she and Kameron would be able to clock out at the same time.

There were still about ten minutes left before closing, but Vanessa had considered herself done for the night. She tied her robe around her waist and sat beside Kameron until the last customer left the club. “Fuckin’ finally,” she murmured.

Kameron snorted. “You’re such a fucking brat,” she teased.

Vanessa smirked, getting up and pulling Kameron with her. “You knew what you signed up for, boo. Bratty as hell, but you know I make it worth your while.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that logic,” she chuckled and allowed Vanessa to drag her across the club, back to the VIP room. Then, she scooped the smaller woman up in her arms and carried her to the couch, gently dropping her on it before crawling on top of her. “I bet you’re expecting me to take care of you now, huh?” she purred, kissing at her neck.

“We ain’t here to talk politics,” Vanessa retorted, already trying to tug off Kameron’s shirt and grinning when the taller woman acquiesced.

Meanwhile, Brooke Lynn had done a lap through the club, stopping at the bar with a perplexed expression. “Pri, is Vanjie still here? I told her I’d come to pick her up.”

Priyanka shrugged as she loaded up a tray of glasses to take into the back. “She’s probably still getting pounded out by Kameron in the VIP room,” she told her before taking the tray into the kitchen.

At first, Brooke figured Priyanka was joking, trying to get a reaction out of her. But as she sat and thought for a moment, she realized that there was no reason she would lie about that. She thought she would feel some semblance of jealousy or anger, but they were noticeably absent. Instead, her curiosity – and perhaps arousal – was piqued. She got up from the bar and made her way into the VIP room, quietly opening the door and slipping inside.

Just as Priyanka had predicted, Kameron and Vanessa were in the midst of a passionate encounter. They were both naked and Kameron had one hand loosely wrapped around Vanessa’s throat, the other was steadily thrusting two fingers in and out of her while she showered her with a mix of praise and dirty talk.

Brooke’s eyes widened. She couldn’t have predicted how it would feel to watch her girlfriend having sex with another woman, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Still not announcing her presence, she moved to the loveseat perpendicular to the couch and let her legs spread. She hiked up her dress and dipped her hand into her panties, biting her lip as she touched herself to the sight.

“You just gonna sit there and enjoy the show?”

Vanessa’s words caused the other two to stop in their tracks. Kameron looked confused while Brooke froze in place. “You knew I was here?”

Vanessa scoffed in response. “You think I wouldn’t recognize my woman’s pumps click-clacking from a mile away?” She didn’t wait for a response before she continued, “you want in or not?” She nudged Kameron lightly, who nodded in agreement.

Brooke scrambled to her feet, shedding her dress as she moved over to the two of them. She finished stripping down before kneeling beside Vanessa and kissing her languidly. “You want me to sit on your face, baby?”

Vanessa nodded enthusiastically, helping Brooke position herself on top of her and grabbing onto her thighs for balance. Her nails dug in as she eased her tongue into her, trying to match the pace of Kameron’s fingers.

“Shit, that’s it, baby. Such a good girl,” Brooke praised, her head tilting back as she moaned out. But when she held her head upright, her eyes locked with Kameron’s and she didn’t think, she just kissed her heatedly, smirking a bit as she felt the other woman melt into the kiss.

Kameron balanced one hand on Brooke’s shoulder while she thrust her fingers steadily into Vanessa’s pussy, alternating now and then to rub her clit with her thumb. Although the brunette was stifled verbally, it was very obvious when she came. She sat back on the couch, getting herself off while she watched Brooke ride Vanessa’s face.

Brooke’s hips stuttered to a halt as she rode out her orgasm shortly after, then gracefully dismounted off of Vanessa, then sat on the couch. “You know,” she said to Kameron, “I’d been meaning to reach out and get to know you, but this method is a lot more fun.”

------

Denali leaned against the jukebox, humming along to ‘Those Magic Changes’ until she saw Rosé walk in, which prompted her to relocate to sitting at the counter. “I thought you said your shift started at ten.”

“Today’s Tuesday, babe. I start at ten on Wednesdays,” Rosé replied as she tied her apron around her waist. “But it’s cute that you waited for me,” she winked.

“I had to, muñeca,” Denali insisted with a pout. “No one else makes the coffee as good as you do.”

Rosé couldn’t help but laugh softly as she got a pot of coffee going. “It’s the same shit every time, Dee,” she pointed out. But still, she had to look away and focus on the coffee to hide the broad grin that spread across her face. She poured a mug, setting it down in front of Denali. “What’re you eating, today?”

“You, ideally,” she murmured under her breath before looking up at her and replying, “patty melt, extra crispy onions, please,” while batting her lashes. “And a side of fries.”

The waitress nodded, scribbling the order onto the notepad. “You got it, baby,” she hummed, ripping the page out and hanging it up in the window, then ringing the bell for someone in the kitchen to come grab it. “So, how’re you liking the club? I’ll tell you, Jackie is the only person around here I’d trust running a place like that.”

Denali smiled, adding two packets of sugar and a splash of milk into her coffee, stirring slowly before taking a sip, though her eyes never left Rosé. “I mean, of all the strip clubs in the city, I’m glad I managed to find the one run and entirely populated by lesbians. You can’t plan for that sort of luck.”

Rosé snorted softly. “Guess not. You live in the neighborhood?”

“Nah,” she shook her head, “moved to Flatbush from Chicago.”

“Chicago, huh? You get into any fights with anyone over pizza yet?”

Denali shook her head. “Can I tell you a secret?” she leaned in closer, speaking in a stage whisper, “I’ve always liked New York-style pizza better.”

Rosé leaned in closer when Denali did, their faces only inches apart, close enough for her to take in the scent of her perfume – something woody and spicy with a hint of something heady, something almost as intoxicating as she was. “Oh, she’s a culinary rebel, huh?”

She let out a soft breath of laughter, biting down on her lip. “It does sound kinda hot when you say it like that,” she mused. The distance between them seemed to lessen, albeit by the tiniest bit at a time. But then she became aware of the background noise. “You have an order in the window, I think.”

Sure enough, one of the cooks had been ringing the bell for several seconds in an attempt to get Rosé’s attention. “Oh shit,” she laughed, turning and grabbing the plate, setting it down in front of Denali. “Enjoy,” she winked.

“I sure will,” Denali grinned and batted her lashes, her eyes following Rosé as she went to wait on another table. She gazed at her from across the restaurant. She would make a move, she thought, as soon as the moment was right.

------

Jackie stepped out of her office and noticed Jaida on her laptop in the common area. “Whatcha working on, honey?” she asked, sitting down beside her.

“The next great American novel,” Jaida told her. “Nah, I’m finishing up my OnlyFans page. Denali gave me a crash course in how to get this shit done right. Turns out it’s more than just taking what I do on stage and doing it in my room for a camera.”

“I mean, you’re welcome to make whatever content you need to on the stage or whatever if it helps,” she offered with a slight smile. “Anything I can do to help, let me know, okay?”

Jaida smiled warmly. “You’re the best, Jackie,” she tilted her head in thought for a moment before continuing, “maybe you could review the content before I post it? I’ll know it’s ready for the public if it has your seal of approval.”

Jackie nodded, ignoring the warmth that rushed to her cheeks. She nodded quickly, enthusiastically. “Oh my god, yeah. I’m honored you trust my judgment like that.”

“Hey, you stocked this club with top-tier bitches, you’re clearly onto something,” she offered with a reassuring grin. “Check it out, though,” she turned her laptop towards Jackie, “she’s open for business.”

Jackie leaned closer to the laptop, committing Jaida’s username to memory. “Impressive, I’m sure this is going to go over well for you.” She got out, smoothing out her skirt. “I have to take care of some paperwork, you alright from here?”

Jaida nodded. “All good, do your thing,” she said and waved her off. After Jackie retreated into her office, she continued working on her page. She was sitting in silence, which was why she jumped when she realized she was no longer alone a few moments later. “Fuck, how did you do that?”

Gigi shrugged. “I’m not convinced I’m not a Victorian ghost that’s taken corporeal form.” She kicked off her heels and turned to sit cross-legged on the couch, facing Jaida. “Listen, babe, I can smell an ulterior motive from a mile away. You’re trying to show off for Jackie, aren’t you? What’s the tea?”

“Guess it does take one to know one,” she murmured, reclining into the couch and letting out a sigh. “Yeah, okay, maybe I am into Jackie,” she conceded, “but unlike you, I have a good reason for not acting on it – she hasn’t been out of the closet all that long, I’m not tryna bombard her with shit, you know? It’s a delicate situation.”

“My situation is delicate too,” Gigi insisted, only to sigh and quietly add, “okay, maybe not as much, but still. So you’re just gonna wait it out?”

Jaida shrugged. “I don’t wanna freak her out. You, on the other hand, are crushing on someone that popped out of the womb with Doc Martens on, so you have no excuse.”

Gigi flopped onto her back and let out a dramatic sigh. “I know, I know. I just wish there was a way to just… send out some feelers, you know?”

“I cannot fathom how someone can dance naked in a cage one minute and not be able to look a girl with a One Direction tattoo in the eye the next. Literally, all you gotta do is take that confidence you got in the cage or on stage over to Miss Crystal Methyd, it ain’t that complicated, sis,” she did try to stop herself from talking to her like it should have been obvious – Gigi was almost ten years her junior, she had to remind herself. “You just need to try to stop overthinking,” she added in a more calm and gentle tone.

It wasn’t that Gigi didn’t know that, it was simply much easier to think about than to implement. “I know you’re right,” she murmured and sat up. She looked at her phone, chewing on her lip. “Okay, I’m gonna do something before I talk myself out of it,” she decided and stood up. “I’ll report back to you.”

“Good luck, my lil ghost baby.”

Gigi took a deep breath as she walked downstairs to the main floor. Crystal hadn’t arrived yet, so she perched herself on the bar as she waited, swinging her legs and fumbling with the hem of her skirt. Her head popped up when she heard the door open and her heart started to race when Crystal came into her field of vision.

“Hey Geege,” Crystal greeted, playfully tugging Gigi’s ponytail as she walked behind the bar.

“Hi Crystal,” she replied with the lilted laugh that was only ever elicited by the bartender. She reminded herself of Jaida’s words as she got off the bar and followed Crystal behind it. Just use your stage confidence. Picture yourself naked, she reminded herself. “You’re looking hot today.”

Crystal arched her brow. “Thanks? It’s just my usual uniform,” she shrugged and smiled. “You look hot though, but you always do.”

“Thanks,” Gigi twirled her hair around her fingers, batted her lashes, she was doing all of the textbook flirtations she could think of, but she stopped just as quickly, frowning. “Fuck, why does this feel so weird?” she asked herself, but out loud.

Crystal’s perplexed expression deepened. “What are you talking about?”

Gigi groaned and stomped her foot. “I’m trying to flirt with you, but I don’t know how to flirt with someone I actually like because I haven’t in so long. But you’re here and you’re just… fuck, this was supposed to be easier.”

The confusion on Crystal’s face morphed into pensiveness. She was quiet for a moment, then took a few steps towards Gigi. “I’m gonna kiss you now, unless you stop me.” She waited, giving her ample time to back away or speak up. Instead, she got a quick, eager nod. So, she gently cupped Gigi’s face, pressing a deep kiss to her lips.

And Gigi melted into the kiss, relief washing over her body as her arms draped around Crystal’s neck. Her leg went up like the girl in every single rom-com she’d watched and for a moment she felt like she was sixteen, having her first kiss behind the school while cutting gym class. The magic of the moment was only broken when she sensed they were no longer alone. She turned with a glare. “What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ us,” Lemon retorted, gesturing between herself, Jan, and Vanessa. “We’ve been waiting for this to happen for ages.”

“You kind of owe us a satisfying conclusion after subjecting us to your mutual pining fuckery you subjected us all to,” Jan nodded in agreement. “We’ve been along for this whole journey whether we wanted to be or not.”

“What they said,” Vanessa chimed in for the sake of being included.

Gigi rolled her eyes, though she did not attempt to let go of or move away from Crystal. “You guys are so fucking weird,” she muttered. “But I guess it’s kind of endearing or whatever,” she added reluctantly.

“We’ll leave you guys to finish your moment,” Jan said gently, guiding Lemon and Vanessa out of the main room and upstairs to the common area.

Crystal watched them leave, then looked back at Gigi. “I love our friends,” she grinned.

“I could take them or leave them,” she joked. “Look, we don’t… need to put a label on this or anything just yet. I know this was sudden… I just needed you to know how I felt.”

“You’re overthinking things again, aren’t you?” Crystal looped her arms around Gigi’s waist. “Listen, I know you only allow yourself three emotions a year, so it means a lot that I got to be on the receiving end of one of them. And like, I’m pretty bad at talking about feelings too, so… I dunno, let’s just see what happens.”

Gigi exhaled in relief. This was why she had gravitated towards Crystal so effortlessly, they understood each other, they were on the same wavelength. “So… how about you come back to my place after work? We could get high, pretend to watch some movies…”

Crystal pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. “It’s a date.”

[artificialqueens]

Taste of a Poison Paradise, Chapter 4 (Multi) - Joley

Chapter Summary: Brooke Lynn and Kameron finally meet, Denali starts spending more time at the diner, Jaida starts her OnlyFans, and Gigi realizes she can’t avoid her feelings for Crystal forever.

ao3 link

Vanessa has never been the best at focusing all of her attention on one task. Often, when she was dancing on stage, her mind was in three other places. It was a little more obvious when giving a lap dance, but most men didn’t seem to mind or even notice. Except for this time when she called attention to it by stopping mid-gyration and exclaiming, “holy shit!”

The man wasn’t annoyed, instead, he curiously looked behind him. “What? What happened?”

“Some dude’s getting hauled out of here, dumb fucker’s trynna put up a fight. Fly ain’t undone so he must’ve been getting too handsy,” she observed, though her eyes were honed in on Kameron, who took the offender down and dragged him out of the club. “God damn, she’s good,” she murmured, fanning herself.

“Wouldn’t it be more effective to have a man–”

Vanessa decided she was no longer interested in what the client had to say, and was already walking towards the front of the club, getting a better view as Kameron unceremoniously tossed the man out of the club. “What’s his damage, huh?”

Kameron shrugged. “Jan flagged me down, dickwad kept trying to play grab-ass and started throwing a temper tantrum when she cut his dance short,” she explained, then looked over at the bar. “Looks like Nicky’s taking care of her now, though.”

“I’m tryna take care of you, though,” she winked. “You know, take you into the VIP room and…”

“I’m still on the clock, Vanjie,” Kameron gently reminded her, but looped her arms around her waist. “But once our shifts end, we can go in the back and play grab-ass instead, okay?” she offered, punctuating her point by moving her hands down and squeezing Vanessa’s ass.

Vanessa huffed and pouted, but nodded nonetheless. “Fine, but you know how impatient I get.”

Kameron chuckled and kissed her cheek. “Don’t I always make it worth the wait?”

She couldn’t argue with that, so she went back and did her next set, alternating between being on the stage, among the clientele, or waiting in the back. It was the late shift, at least, meaning she and Kameron would be able to clock out at the same time.

There were still about ten minutes left before closing, but Vanessa had considered herself done for the night. She tied her robe around her waist and sat beside Kameron until the last customer left the club. “Fuckin’ finally,” she murmured.

Kameron snorted. “You’re such a fucking brat,” she teased.

Vanessa smirked, getting up and pulling Kameron with her. “You knew what you signed up for, boo. Bratty as hell, but you know I make it worth your while.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that logic,” she chuckled and allowed Vanessa to drag her across the club, back to the VIP room. Then, she scooped the smaller woman up in her arms and carried her to the couch, gently dropping her on it before crawling on top of her. “I bet you’re expecting me to take care of you now, huh?” she purred, kissing at her neck.

“We ain’t here to talk politics,” Vanessa retorted, already trying to tug off Kameron’s shirt and grinning when the taller woman acquiesced.

Meanwhile, Brooke Lynn had done a lap through the club, stopping at the bar with a perplexed expression. “Pri, is Vanjie still here? I told her I’d come to pick her up.”

Priyanka shrugged as she loaded up a tray of glasses to take into the back. “She’s probably still getting pounded out by Kameron in the VIP room,” she told her before taking the tray into the kitchen.

At first, Brooke figured Priyanka was joking, trying to get a reaction out of her. But as she sat and thought for a moment, she realized that there was no reason she would lie about that. She thought she would feel some semblance of jealousy or anger, but they were noticeably absent. Instead, her curiosity – and perhaps arousal – was piqued. She got up from the bar and made her way into the VIP room, quietly opening the door and slipping inside.

Just as Priyanka had predicted, Kameron and Vanessa were in the midst of a passionate encounter. They were both naked and Kameron had one hand loosely wrapped around Vanessa’s throat, the other was steadily thrusting two fingers in and out of her while she showered her with a mix of praise and dirty talk.

Brooke’s eyes widened. She couldn’t have predicted how it would feel to watch her girlfriend having sex with another woman, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Still not announcing her presence, she moved to the loveseat perpendicular to the couch and let her legs spread. She hiked up her dress and dipped her hand into her panties, biting her lip as she touched herself to the sight.

“You just gonna sit there and enjoy the show?”

Vanessa’s words caused the other two to stop in their tracks. Kameron looked confused while Brooke froze in place. “You knew I was here?”

Vanessa scoffed in response. “You think I wouldn’t recognize my woman’s pumps click-clacking from a mile away?” She didn’t wait for a response before she continued, “you want in or not?” She nudged Kameron lightly, who nodded in agreement.

Brooke scrambled to her feet, shedding her dress as she moved over to the two of them. She finished stripping down before kneeling beside Vanessa and kissing her languidly. “You want me to sit on your face, baby?”

Vanessa nodded enthusiastically, helping Brooke position herself on top of her and grabbing onto her thighs for balance. Her nails dug in as she eased her tongue into her, trying to match the pace of Kameron’s fingers.

“Shit, that’s it, baby. Such a good girl,” Brooke praised, her head tilting back as she moaned out. But when she held her head upright, her eyes locked with Kameron’s and she didn’t think, she just kissed her heatedly, smirking a bit as she felt the other woman melt into the kiss.

Kameron balanced one hand on Brooke’s shoulder while she thrust her fingers steadily into Vanessa’s pussy, alternating now and then to rub her clit with her thumb. Although the brunette was stifled verbally, it was very obvious when she came. She sat back on the couch, getting herself off while she watched Brooke ride Vanessa’s face.

Brooke’s hips stuttered to a halt as she rode out her orgasm shortly after, then gracefully dismounted off of Vanessa, then sat on the couch. “You know,” she said to Kameron, “I’d been meaning to reach out and get to know you, but this method is a lot more fun.”

——

Denali leaned against the jukebox, humming along to ‘Those Magic Changes’ until she saw Rosé walk in, which prompted her to relocate to sitting at the counter. “I thought you said your shift started at ten.”

“Today’s Tuesday, babe. I start at ten on Wednesdays,” Rosé replied as she tied her apron around her waist. “But it’s cute that you waited for me,” she winked.

“I had to, muñeca,” Denali insisted with a pout. “No one else makes the coffee as good as you do.”

Rosé couldn’t help but laugh softly as she got a pot of coffee going. “It’s the same shit every time, Dee,” she pointed out. But still, she had to look away and focus on the coffee to hide the broad grin that spread across her face. She poured a mug, setting it down in front of Denali. “What’re you eating, today?”

“You, ideally,” she murmured under her breath before looking up at her and replying, “patty melt, extra crispy onions, please,” while batting her lashes. “And a side of fries.”

The waitress nodded, scribbling the order onto the notepad. “You got it, baby,” she hummed, ripping the page out and hanging it up in the window, then ringing the bell for someone in the kitchen to come grab it. “So, how’re you liking the club? I’ll tell you, Jackie is the only person around here I’d trust running a place like that.”

Denali smiled, adding two packets of sugar and a splash of milk into her coffee, stirring slowly before taking a sip, though her eyes never left Rosé. “I mean, of all the strip clubs in the city, I’m glad I managed to find the one run and entirely populated by lesbians. You can’t plan for that sort of luck.”

Rosé snorted softly. “Guess not. You live in the neighborhood?”

“Nah,” she shook her head, “moved to Flatbush from Chicago.”

“Chicago, huh? You get into any fights with anyone over pizza yet?”

Denali shook her head. “Can I tell you a secret?” she leaned in closer, speaking in a stage whisper, “I’ve always liked New York-style pizza better.”

Rosé leaned in closer when Denali did, their faces only inches apart, close enough for her to take in the scent of her perfume – something woody and spicy with a hint of something heady, something almost as intoxicating as she was. “Oh, she’s a culinary rebel, huh?”

She let out a soft breath of laughter, biting down on her lip. “It does sound kinda hot when you say it like that,” she mused. The distance between them seemed to lessen, albeit by the tiniest bit at a time. But then she became aware of the background noise. “You have an order in the window, I think.”

Sure enough, one of the cooks had been ringing the bell for several seconds in an attempt to get Rosé’s attention. “Oh shit,” she laughed, turning and grabbing the plate, setting it down in front of Denali. “Enjoy,” she winked.

“I sure will,” Denali grinned and batted her lashes, her eyes following Rosé as she went to wait on another table. She gazed at her from across the restaurant. She would make a move, she thought, as soon as the moment was right.

——

Jackie stepped out of her office and noticed Jaida on her laptop in the common area. “Whatcha working on, honey?” she asked, sitting down beside her.

“The next great American novel,” Jaida told her. “Nah, I’m finishing up my OnlyFans page. Denali gave me a crash course in how to get this shit done right. Turns out it’s more than just taking what I do on stage and doing it in my room for a camera.”

“I mean, you’re welcome to make whatever content you need to on the stage or whatever if it helps,” she offered with a slight smile. “Anything I can do to help, let me know, okay?”

Jaida smiled warmly. “You’re the best, Jackie,” she tilted her head in thought for a moment before continuing, “maybe you could review the content before I post it? I’ll know it’s ready for the public if it has your seal of approval.”

Jackie nodded, ignoring the warmth that rushed to her cheeks. She nodded quickly, enthusiastically. “Oh my god, yeah. I’m honored you trust my judgment like that.”

“Hey, you stocked this club with top-tier bitches, you’re clearly onto something,” she offered with a reassuring grin. “Check it out, though,” she turned her laptop towards Jackie, “she’s open for business.”

Jackie leaned closer to the laptop, committing Jaida’s username to memory. “Impressive, I’m sure this is going to go over well for you.” She got out, smoothing out her skirt. “I have to take care of some paperwork, you alright from here?”

Jaida nodded. “All good, do your thing,” she said and waved her off. After Jackie retreated into her office, she continued working on her page. She was sitting in silence, which was why she jumped when she realized she was no longer alone a few moments later. “Fuck, how did you do that?”

Gigi shrugged. “I’m not convinced I’m not a Victorian ghost that’s taken corporeal form.” She kicked off her heels and turned to sit cross-legged on the couch, facing Jaida. “Listen, babe, I can smell an ulterior motive from a mile away. You’re trying to show off for Jackie, aren’t you? What’s the tea?”

“Guess it does take one to know one,” she murmured, reclining into the couch and letting out a sigh. “Yeah, okay, maybe I am into Jackie,” she conceded, “but unlike you, I have a good reason for not acting on it – she hasn’t been out of the closet all that long, I’m not tryna bombard her with shit, you know? It’s a delicate situation.”

“My situation is delicate too,” Gigi insisted, only to sigh and quietly add, “okay, maybe not as much, but still. So you’re just gonna wait it out?”

Jaida shrugged. “I don’t wanna freak her out. You, on the other hand, are crushing on someone that popped out of the womb with Doc Martens on, so you have no excuse.”

Gigi flopped onto her back and let out a dramatic sigh. “I know, I know. I just wish there was a way to just… send out some feelers, you know?”

“I cannot fathom how someone can dance naked in a cage one minute and not be able to look a girl with a One Direction tattoo in the eye the next. Literally, all you gotta do is take that confidence you got in the cage or on stage over to Miss Crystal Methyd, it ain’t that complicated, sis,” she did try to stop herself from talking to her like it should have been obvious – Gigi was almost ten years her junior, she had to remind herself. “You just need to try to stop overthinking,” she added in a more calm and gentle tone.

It wasn’t that Gigi didn’t know that, it was simply much easier to think about than to implement. “I know you’re right,” she murmured and sat up. She looked at her phone, chewing on her lip. “Okay, I’m gonna do something before I talk myself out of it,” she decided and stood up. “I’ll report back to you.”

“Good luck, my lil ghost baby.”

Gigi took a deep breath as she walked downstairs to the main floor. Crystal hadn’t arrived yet, so she perched herself on the bar as she waited, swinging her legs and fumbling with the hem of her skirt. Her head popped up when she heard the door open and her heart started to race when Crystal came into her field of vision.

“Hey Geege,” Crystal greeted, playfully tugging Gigi’s ponytail as she walked behind the bar.

“Hi Crystal,” she replied with the lilted laugh that was only ever elicited by the bartender. She reminded herself of Jaida’s words as she got off the bar and followed Crystal behind it. Just use your stage confidence. Picture yourself naked, she reminded herself. “You’re looking hot today.”

Crystal arched her brow. “Thanks? It’s just my usual uniform,” she shrugged and smiled. “You look hot though, but you always do.”

“Thanks,” Gigi twirled her hair around her fingers, batted her lashes, she was doing all of the textbook flirtations she could think of, but she stopped just as quickly, frowning. “Fuck, why does this feel so weird?” she asked herself, but out loud.

Crystal’s perplexed expression deepened. “What are you talking about?”

Gigi groaned and stomped her foot. “I’m trying to flirt with you, but I don’t know how to flirt with someone I actually like because I haven’t in so long. But you’re here and you’re just… fuck, this was supposed to be easier.”

The confusion on Crystal’s face morphed into pensiveness. She was quiet for a moment, then took a few steps towards Gigi. “I’m gonna kiss you now, unless you stop me.” She waited, giving her ample time to back away or speak up. Instead, she got a quick, eager nod. So, she gently cupped Gigi’s face, pressing a deep kiss to her lips.

And Gigi melted into the kiss, relief washing over her body as her arms draped around Crystal’s neck. Her leg went up like the girl in every single rom-com she’d watched and for a moment she felt like she was sixteen, having her first kiss behind the school while cutting gym class. The magic of the moment was only broken when she sensed they were no longer alone. She turned with a glare. “What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ us,” Lemon retorted, gesturing between herself, Jan, and Vanessa. “We’ve been waiting for this to happen for ages.”

“You kind of owe us a satisfying conclusion after subjecting us to your mutual pining fuckery you subjected us all to,” Jan nodded in agreement. “We’ve been along for this whole journey whether we wanted to be or not.”

“What they said,” Vanessa chimed in for the sake of being included.

Gigi rolled her eyes, though she did not attempt to let go of or move away from Crystal. “You guys are so fucking weird,” she muttered. “But I guess it’s kind of endearing or whatever,” she added reluctantly.

“We’ll leave you guys to finish your moment,” Jan said gently, guiding Lemon and Vanessa out of the main room and upstairs to the common area.

Crystal watched them leave, then looked back at Gigi. “I love our friends,” she grinned.

“I could take them or leave them,” she joked. “Look, we don’t… need to put a label on this or anything just yet. I know this was sudden… I just needed you to know how I felt.”

“You’re overthinking things again, aren’t you?” Crystal looped her arms around Gigi’s waist. “Listen, I know you only allow yourself three emotions a year, so it means a lot that I got to be on the receiving end of one of them. And like, I’m pretty bad at talking about feelings too, so… I dunno, let’s just see what happens.”

Gigi exhaled in relief. This was why she had gravitated towards Crystal so effortlessly, they understood each other, they were on the same wavelength. “So… how about you come back to my place after work? We could get high, pretend to watch some movies…”

Crystal pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. “It’s a date.”

[whatsseobb]

Something Old, Something New (Crystal x Gigi Fanfic) - Chapter 12

AO3 Link

[A/N: Again, I am really grateful to everyone who has ever read this work of mine. I appreciate all the likes and the comments you have sent me. You all are the best. I love writing this fic so much and seeing you all enjoy it means so much to me. Thank you! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. You can message me or go to the AO3 link and leave a comment there so I’ll know what you think of this. Your comments brighten up my day. Again, thank you! Love you!! ❤️️ ]

Synopsis: Crystal finds an enchanting jewelry box from the antique shop. Day by day, she discovers different journal entries hidden inside the box. Where is it coming from? What exactly is the music box? Most importantly, who is G?

Chapter Twelve - The Portrait 

Two weeks have passed and there was not a day that Crystal drove to Clayton to look for Gigi. The first week was desperate. She stayed in the same area they were supposed to be meeting in hopes that her lover might have just forgotten the exact date of their rendezvous.  It was obviously unsuccessful. For the second week, she drove around the city taking a chance that anyone passing by might be or knew where her lover might have been. She was slowly losing determination and at the end of the second week, she would just go back to the same meeting place and wait there. She didn’t passed up any chance to write a note to Gigi. She made sure she tells her where she was currently but to no avail. Her presence was always missed. There were no replies nor any sign of her.

 “Crys, you need to stop at one point. Look at you. You need rest.” Jaida pushed her friend down to sit down on her bed as they all gathered to comfort her. During the days that she was roaming around the city, her friends took turns to accompany her, also to make sure she wouldn’t get lost as well. They never left her side.

“No. What if she turns up? What if I missed her?”

“It has been weeks, Crystal. Wake up.”

The four friends all gathered in Crystal’s bedroom, snacks and drinks all over as they tried to console their downhearted friend. It was a cold winter noon and it surely was felt inside the room.

Empty snack wrappers, drink bottles, pizza and tissue boxes occupied her bedroom floor. Clothes were all over the place as Crystal just picked up and threw her clothes before going back to search for Gigi. Even though her friends helped clean it up, as the next day came, it would just go back to the same messy bedroom.

The three took turns in accompanying Crystal during the evening. They would often find her writing messages and putting it in her music box or staring at the large portrait that the young lady made of her. She was pitiful, to say the least.

 “Should I look for Nicolette or Rose? They are her friends. Maybe they’ll know what happened.” The teenager rushed to get her laptop and tried to look for the names of her friends but they were impossible to find. It must’ve been a common name back in their days.

“I should drive to where Gigi lived before. What if she wasn’t able to leave? I’ll do that tomorrow. Come with me, Jaida.”

“Don’t you think you are just wasting your time? I mean, we believe that Gigi exists and we believe all your stories. But take a look at it. She hasn’t shown up even once nor gave you any reply.” Heidi chimed in as she was putting a warm damp towel on Crystal’s forehead to comfort her.

“But she said she will be waiting for me.” The curly-haired teenager lied flat on her bed, tears at the corner of her eyes as she looked at the ceiling, holding on to the last letter that her girlfriend sent her. They had an agreed meeting place, she was sure that she would turn up but she didn’t.

“It has been 60 years for her… Don’t you th-“ Rock was stopped in her tracks when Jaida nudged her by the elbow, signaling her to quit talking. Her friends were all thinking of the same thing. It really had been decades for Gigi, she might’ve forgotten about it or something else might have happened to her, they hoped not.

“Don’t I think what? Tell me.” Crystal rushed back up and was about to advance to Rock when her two friends calmly kept her back. Tears came rolling down her eyes as she went back to sit on top of her bed. She covered her face, her shoulders slumping down as she let out all of her emotions.

“Oh Crystal.” Wrapping their arms around their weeping friend, they all murmured comforting words to her.

“I… I didn’t even get to tell her.”

“Tell her what?”

“That she means so much to me. That I love her this much.” She crawled into a ball as she embraced her knees closer to her chest, burying her face on it. “Why won’t she come meet me? Did she run away from me? I thought we both feel the same.”

“You need answers, Crys. We understand that.” Heidi took a deep breath as she looked at Jaida and Rock who nodded in unison. “What if… you go back to where it all started?”

“What do you mean, Heidi?” Crystal glanced at her friend, her left eyebrow raised slightly higher.

“Jackie’s thrift shop. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll find your answers there.”

 “Good afternoon, girls!” The owner of the shop glanced at the door as the bell chimed, seeing the four teenagers entering. She greeted them with her usual cheerful voice even though she was busy doing something. She immediately went back to stacking the boxes that just arrived back to her storage area.

“Let’s just go back home.” Holding Jaida’s arm, she tugged her back towards the door. Crystal’s face was dark and gloomy, her eyes lifeless.

“Oh, Ms. Crystal! It has been awhile.” Jackie continued bringing in another box coming from the front of the shop. She was followed by a young lady, her brunette locks from the back of her head were the ones Crystal noticed.  

“We’ll just be around, Crys. If you need us, just text us.” Rock patted her friend’s shoulder before going with the other girls. Heidi gave her a slight push towards the owner, encouraging her to find her long lost answers.

“Ms. Genevieve, thanks a lot for all these items.”

“No worries. I actually wanted to get rid of them but Granny insisted on selling them in a thrift shop instead. She said that maybe someone might find good use for these.” The young lady offered a kind smile to the owner before putting down the box she was carrying. It was full of old trinkets and knick-knacks, ranging from figurines to desk clocks and a bunch more.

The teenager strolled around the shop, looking at the paintings that were displayed at the corner. A painting of a beautiful meadow with a bench by the lake caught her attention. A sense of familiarity rushed into her as she walked closer to the painting. Thoughts of Gigi came into her mind, her smiles that were full of warmth, her laughter, the way her eyes brightened when they spent their dreams together. Crystal’s heartbeat was becoming too loud to her own ears. Her thoughts became blurry along with her eyes. She was about to make her way to the exit when Jackie noticed her.

“Ms. Genevieve, Ms. Crystal here actually bought some of the pieces you brought in the last time.”

“Really? Wow. What were the things you got?” The young lady turned to look at Crystal, who was standing by the paintings.

The teenager took a deep breath and cleared her throat as she tried speaking without breaking her voice. “Uhmm… Just a portrait and some box.” She looked up and turned her head towards the speaker. Her heart missed a beat, her dark orbs widened as she saw the girl she was talking to. Her brunette, with hints of red, locks shaped her small face, her almond eyes glistening excitedly as she met someone who was the new owner of her grandmother’s trinkets. Crystal’s eyes traced down to her nose placed perfectly in the middle of her face, her rosy plump lips offering a pleased smile. The teenager didn’t realize what she was doing until she heard the owner’s voice saying goodbye to the both of them.

“I’ll leave you two here. Maybe there are some stories about the items you bought that are interesting. Oh, how I love good histories. I’ll catch up with you soon, Ms. Genevieve.” Jackie waved goodbye to them as she walked back to the storage area.

“Do you wanna hear some of my Granny’s story? She loved telling story. She even remembered all the backstory of the items she showed me before. We can have some coffee before I go back to St. Louis.”

This was it. Crystal thought to herself as she allowed the stranger led the way out, crossing the street and arriving to the nearest coffee shop by the corner. The curly-haired teenager followed silently after her. This might be the time she’ll find her answers.

 The two sat across from each other on a table by the window. Crystal remained quiet, her mind wandering aimlessly as she played with the handle of her cup of warm coffee. The brunette girl broke the silence, cheerfully sharing stories of her grandmother. Meanwhile, Crystal was just listening to her, sometimes wondering why she talked so much and if it had anything to do with her Gigi.

“Granny really loved the items I brought to Ms. Jackie’s shop. She hoarded a lot of items and didn’t want to get rid of them. Grandpa didn’t mind tho. They were quite a collector. Or maybe hoarder… I honestly don’t know anymore, hahaha.” She let out a soft chuckle as she reminisced of her grandmother and grandfather.

“Granny and Granpa also loved paintings and artworks. They said they weren’t into the expensive ones that you can see from art galleries but I think they had a good eye when it comes to the paintings they collected together. I remember that there were times Granny and Grandpa would hang by the porch and paint together. They sound cute, right?”

“…Yeah.” Crystal meekly agreed, nodding her head once as she locked her eyes back to her cup of coffee. As she was wordlessly listening to the young lady’s stories, her mind was debating with itself. Her fingers silently tapped on top of the table, her leg nervously wobbling and shaking.

“Have you seen that small tree figurine by the shop? The silver one? Grandpa bought that for Granny. She said the tree was similar to the tree she always go to back then. I don’t know. It must have been special to her. Also, that small floral vase. Granny said that her friends bought that for her before. She said that she didn’t really put flowers on it back then, just her paint brushes that she used. Wait, am I too talkative? I’m sorry.”

Crystal lifted her head up in surprise as she shifted her eyes towards the young lady. She shook her head and offered her a faint smile. “No, it’s fine.”

“Sorry, my mom said Granny was really talkative and I might’ve gotten it from her. Hahaha. Oh, I also remember there was a time when I went to visit Granny back at their home in Illinois, I saw this beautiful box that she owned. When we opened it, it was full of random receipts, photographs and even movie tickets. Are you familiar with drive-in cinemas? They used to go there before and have their dates. How sweet.

“There was also this another chest, if I can remember it correctly. It had a cute drawing of two people on the lid. Grandma didn’t want me to open it because she said it was full of letters. Maybe they were love notes from her past lovers. Hahaha. Although Grandpa’s letters were kept on the same box as the cinema tickets. It must’ve been really important to her. They must’ve been really in love back in the days.”

Her mouth was running dry so Crystal took a quick sip from her drink. That story surely struck her interest and attention. It brought her back to the little sketch she made of Gigi and her, the one that she also had on her vanity. The stranger in front of her mentioned about letter. Was it all of my letters for her? Did Gigi really forget about me? Is that why she didn’t meet me that day?

“However, I do remember Granny saying that she’s supposed to give those letters to someone. We have no idea who it might have been. She just mentioned that she wanted to hand it over to someone she hadn’t met in person before. Just through those letters inside the box. It was quite weird, don’t you think? I mean why would she give it to someone she doesn’t know.”

Suspicions were slowly building inside Crystal’s mind as she continued listening intently to the stranger’s stories. Her thoughts continued to banter against each other, as thoughts of Gigi came running back to her. She tried denying it but listening to all of Genevieve’s stories just made sense for her. Maybe she did forget about me already.

The young lady took a long sip of her drink, smiling afterwards as she turned her look back to Crystal. The teenager glanced back and she noticed her soft smile which was a bit too much for her. It was just a constant reminder of her mysterious writer.

“Where is your grandm-“ Crystal’s voice a little too low that the stranger in front of her barely noticed.

“By the way, what were the things you bought again? Maybe I can share with you some stories about them. You know, my granny looooved her stories.”

Crystal dug in her pocket before taking out a small photograph. It was colored sepia, with a little bit of stains on the side which showed how vintage the picture was. The young lady took the little photo in her hand and examined the painting that was shown in it.

“Oh… wait, that’s Granny Gigi!” Just the sound of her name being uttered by someone else felt surreal. It brought shivers down her spine as she felt some beads of sweat coming down her neck. “Granny Roro said I looked a bit like her even when I was a baby, that’s why she insisted to my parents to name me Genevieve. She said that Granny Gigi was very lovely and pretty, as you can see her in the photo. Granny had a loooot of stories about Granny Gigi before. And that painting was really beautiful. Granny Gigi painted that. Granny Roro also told me that that painting was someone Granny Gigi deeply loved.”

“W-what do you mean Granny Roro? Who is she?” Crystal tilted her head to the side as a perplexed look appeared on her face. She obviously couldn’t comprehend all the information at once. All the names and the stories that the stranger in front of her seemed to be too much to process. Mentioning Gigi was where it all crumbled down on her.

“Granny Roro is my grandmother. The one who I was talking about earlier. Granny Gigi was one of her closest best friends together with Granny Nicky. They were quite a gang back then. I mean, they were all really close, like real sisters. That’s how Granny Roro would describe their friendship. I actually didn’t get to meet Granny Gigi but Granny Roro loved her so much. She and Granny Nicky. That’s why she kept some of her stuff.”

Crystal took a deep breath of relief as she realized who the young lady was talking about all along. She was really slowly getting into the conclusion that Gigi would have forgotten about her and married someone else instead. At least now, she was back into feeling that Gigi didn’t forget about her. There was a reassurance that at least their love was not just a fever dream.

“If you don’t mind, did your grandmother ever mentioned where Gi- your Grandma Gigi lives now?”

Genevieve exhaled a sigh before responding to Crystal’s question. “…No. She has been long gone. Back then, the three of them were travelling somewhere far. I don’t remember much about it but something must’ve happened. Only Granny Roro and Granny Nicky survived.”

The last sentence rang again and again inside Crystal’s mind. Even though she heard it loud and clear, it still felt bizarre. Her eyes were clouded with tears that she tried so hard to repress. Her throat tightened and she could barely breathe. She looked up at the young lady and saw her lips moving but there was only silence. The only thing she was hearing were her anguished thoughts, the memories and words from Gigi kept coming back to her. She was in denial. She wished she was back inside her room, with her friends weeping just because she didn’t know where Gigi might have been. At least back then, she didn’t know.

“Oh, hey. Nice talking to you. I’m sorry but I gotta run now. I might miss the bus. I hope you enjoy some more stuff Granny left. She took care of them well so they are in good condition. Uhm, what’s your name again?

The brown-haired teenager exhaled heavily before standing up to shake the young lady’s hand without meeting with her eyes. She just couldn’t look at her face which reminded her of Gigi. “Crystal.”

“I’m Genevieve. Wait, Crystal? Hmm… That sounds quite familiar. I think Granny mentioned a name similar to yours. A friends of theirs or something, I think. Or maybe someone they knew back then. Anyway, nice meeting you! Take care.” Genevieve exited the coffee shop, leaving Crystal behind with her own thoughts. As soon as the young lady left, she packed her things as well. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. She ran out of the café and back to her house.

Crystal barely made it home without shedding a tear. She sprinted as fast as she can from the café, her knees wobbling weakly. Her eyes were foggy with sadness as she travelled, her head clouded with thoughts but at the same time empty. As she reached her bedroom, she immediately closed the door and fell on the floor, her back leaning against the wooden entrance. She could hold it in no longer. Once the first tear exited her eyes, the rest followed like pouring rain. She wrapped her arms around her knees, burying her face in between as she let her desolation take over her.

 For what seemed like endless hours, the melancholic teenager sat motionlessly on the floor, staring at the vast emptiness in front of her. She let her sobs roll down her cheeks, as she scanned her small room. Her eyes stopped at the corner, where a portrait of a smiling girl was hanged. Despite her quivering knees, she used all her strength to push herself up. She walked heavily towards the corner, her hand reaching out to the painting. She picked it up and carefully removed the canvas out of its frame. She looked at the painting up close, staring at every stroke and print on the painting. Her hands traced down towards the lower corner, where the signature of the artist was placed. Her thumb delicately brushed against the indented letter ‘G’. Tears once again streamed down from her eyes as she was reminded of her lover. As she gently returned the canvas back to its frame, something dropped from the portrait. Chin trembling, Crystal picked up the paper that fell from the painting. She carefully returned the frame back to its place before she opened the piece of paper. She wept.

Crystal’s hands were trembling as she read the letter Gigi wrote for her. It contained all of the unsaid feelings the young lady had that she wasn’t able to express in words when they last met. As tears were rolling down her face, Crystal froze in her place, still taken aback by the letter.

All the memories they painted together came rushing back into her head, all the smiles and laughter they have shared. From the moment the music box first rang, their first exchange of letters, and the time they first met on the meadow. She reminisced about their first date by the beach, the time they held hands by the shore as they watched the sunset, their first kiss, up to the time they spent in the arcade and inside the car, their final moments together. She remembered everything, every look, every smile and words that came from Gigi’s lips. The warmth of her smiles, the feeling of happiness whenever she saw her happy, it all came back to her. She felt coldness struck her body as she reminisced the young lady’s touch, her hug and her petite frame leaning against her back at the drive-in. The feeling of her arms wrapping around her, forehead’s touching against each other consumed her. Gigi’s fingers running down her hair, her thumb brushing up against her cheeks, she could feel everything about Gigi, all at once. It was an overwhelming feeling, but at the same time, it brought her comfort. A contented smile crept on her lips as she looked at the portrait the scarlet-haired girl painted of her. She took a deep breath, holding the letter close to her heart, the place where Gigi will forever live. -----------------------------------END------------------------------------ [A/N: If you are reading up to here, thank you! As I’ve said earlier, I’m really thankful to all of you reading my work. This is my first ‘’long’’ one and I loved writing and thinking about it. I hope you did too. Although, it feels sad knowing that I ended this already. 😢 You can always message me on how you felt about this story. I hope you loved it. Thank you and hope to see you all again on my next works. Thank you!  💜 💜 💜]

[1dliveshere]

The Last Summer ch 5

Two days had gone by and it was still super awkward in the bus. Everyone was uncomfortable with what had happened. Harry hadn’t spoke to Kayla since the big blow up. She had tried to but he just would shut it down immediately.

It had been raining literally all day. They had plans but because of the rain it was ruined.

“Why does it have to rain all day?” Maya whined.

“Because Mother Nature decided to ruin our plans.” Louis sassed.

“Louis can you please take a break from sassing today? My brain can’t take anymore.” Eleanor groaned.

Most of the bus chuckled but Louis looked high offended.

As silence overtook the bus, Harry randomly swerved sharply. Sending stuff flying everywhere.

“What the freak dude?! Watch where you’re doing you moron. You almost killed us. Gosh I can’t stand people sometimes.” Harry continued saying stuff under his breath about how idiotic people are.

“Uhhh Harry maybe you should take a break from driving and get some sleep. You haven’t slept much for this whole trip.” Liam suggested.

“Fine. But I’m only letting Kayla drive.” Harry looked at Kayla in the rear view mirror.

“Uhh I guess I can.” Kayla nervously but her lip.

Harry proceeded to pool on to the side of the road and hopped in the passanger seat.

“Okay when we get up here you’re going to have to merge on the interstate.”

“Oh so now your talking to me.”

“Baby I’m sorry. It just really messed with my head. When they started talking about it again it just made it feel like it had just happened and I couldn’t think straight.”

“I hope you know I didn’t mean to let it slip. When Gigi came out of the bathroom I just freaked.”

“It’s okay love. I still love you.” Harry leaned over and kissed Kayla. “How about we park the RV somewhere and have a picnic just you and me?”

“That sounds lovely”

“Okay now that you guys kissed and made up, Harry go to sleep you’re being a butthole.”

“Louis I just told you to chill your sass.”

“Sorry love. I cant help it.” Louis cheesed at Eleanor.

As they were approaching the interstate Kayla was a little nervous as she had never driven on it.

“You mean to tell me in your 18 years of life you have never driven on the interstate.”

“No reason to judge Harold.”

“I’m not judging just shocked is all.” Harry chuckled “Okay so you’re gonna speed up starting now.”

“Harry I can’t do this.”

“For the love of Pete please do not kill us!” Hollered Alyssa.

“Uhh who’s Pete?”

“Niall now is not the time to ask stupid questions. I’m trying to not kill us.”

“Babe I know you don’t want to do this but you’re gonna have to get over at some point.”

“Here’s goes nothing.” Kayla looked over her shoulder to see it was clear.

“AAHHHHHH” she slightly turned the wheel and merged onto the interstate. “Harry I did it!”

“Good job babe” Harry chuckled.

“Thank you for not killing us.”

“You’re welcome Louis.”

As the after noon rolled on no one really did much. Kayla continued on the interstate headed towards Chicago. While some of the others watched a movie and chatted about life.

“-and then Niall literally fell on the ground he was so scared. It was honestly the best moment of me life.” Alyssa had tears streaming from laughter.

“Babe you said you weren’t going to bring you scaring me up again. It’s embarrassing.” Niall pouted

“Oh whatever. It’s hilarious and you’re adorable Ni”

As the bus was overtaken with silence Louis’ road trip play list played the same song for the 4 time in a row.

“Louis I’m playing my music now. I literally can’t listen to this song again or I might kill myself.” Eleanor marches up to the front of the bus and plugged her phone in hitting shuffle.

“AHHHHHHHH” all the girls screamed as ‘She Looks So Perfect’ started playing.

“Turn it up Kayla. It’s the boyssss.”

All the girls, minus Kayla because she was obviously driving, started jumping around.

Then the chorus hit:

“You look so perfect standing there

In my American Apparel underwear

And I know now, that I'm so down

Your lipstick stain is a work of art

I got your name tattooed in an arrow heart

And I know now, that I'm so down” all the girls were literally screeching so loud that they woke Harry up.

Harry looked around at all the girls and chuckled to himself

“What are you staring at Harold?”

“Alyssa I swear I’m going to disown you as my friend if you call me that one more time.”

“Oh whatever” Alyssa sarcasticly rolled her eyes, “you know you love it”

“Okay so there’s a Verizon in Chicago that we can stop at to get Alyssa a phone. Is that good with you Louis?”

“In all honesty I forgot I even threw her phone out the window, but yeah that’s okay with me”

“Louis you amaze me sometimes.” Alyssa laughed.

***

Two hours later and Kayla was still driving.

“You know babe you are honestly a pretty good driver. I should let you drive more often.”

“You definitely should” Kayla looked at Harry, “ are you reading my romance novel I brought?!”

“Maybe...”

“Oh my gosh guys Harry is reading a romance novel”

“Awww Harry who knew you had such a soft heart. Maya squeaked.

“Okay that’s it I’m done” Harry through the book back in Kayla’s backpack.

“Okay I’m getting sick of driving. So I’m parking in this field and we can have our date Harry”

“Can we order pizza?”

“Sure Niall.” Harry gets his phone to call it in.

“How are you doing to tell him where we are parked?” Kayla asked, “kinda difficult when we are in a field.

“Why don’t you just drive a little farther and park in the Walmart parking lot”

“Once again Louis you had a good idea. I’m starting to think it was a good thing that we brought you” Eleanor laughed while Louis pouted.

As Kayla pulled into the Walmart parking lot the pizza man was driving away.

“NOT THE PIZZA. KAYLA HIT THE BREAKS. WE ARE GOING TO MISS THE PIZZA.”

“Niall sit your butt down and chill”

Instead of doing what he was told Niall jumped out of the moving RV started chasing the delivery car waving his arms and screaming.

“PEOPLE REALLY NEED TO STOP JUMPING OUT OF THE MOTHER FREAKING MOVING RV”

Kayla finally found a good place to stop and pulled over as Niall was sprinting back to the RV.

“How’d you get him to notice you?” Harry looked at Niall.

“Well you see.... the dude stopped at the stop sign and I jumped on the hood of the car.”

“Niall, you didn’t. Like how am I with the most embarrassing person?” Alyssa wheezed she was laughing so hard.

“Hey at least we got the pizza. Just be thankful.”

“Okay, Kayla I got everything ready, should we go my lady?”

“Yes as long as you never say that again” Kayla chuckled.

As they left the RV to have their picnic in a Walmart parking lot in the middle of Missouri the rest of the group got their pizza and settled down for a movie.

“What do you think Kayla and Harry are talking about?” Louis wiggled his eyebrows.

“I hope they make up all the way so it stops being awkward because I can’t handle another second of being on this bus with them.” Gigi flopped down on the couch with her pizza.

“Agreed”

***

“Babe I hope you know I’m still so sorry about being a jerk to you. I love you more than anything and didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I know Harry, it’s okay.” Kayla smiled up at her boyfriend of two years.

“I know love. You’ve said that ten times now.” Harry chuckled. “ I did have an idea though to make it up to you.”

“Oh really?? What would that be?”

“Well while you were driving I looked over an noticed a huge sunflower field about 10 miles from here. I know your favorite flower is a sunflower so I figured we could all go on a group date or something.”

“Oh my gosh Harold. That’s amazing!”

“Thanks babe. I thought it was too”

Kayla chuckled. “But seriously we are going to have to go to a laundromat somewhere because all of my good clothes are dirty.”

“You and you’re clothes Kayla Boydston I swear will be the death of me.”

“You know you love it” Kayla leaned in for a kiss.

***

After their date was over Kayla ran into the RV screaming.

“WE ARE GOING TO A SUNFLOWER FIELD TOMORROW SO WE ARE GOING TO FIND A LAUNDROMAT TO CLEAN OUR CLOTHES. SO WE CAN LOOK HOT AS HECK.”

All the girls started screaming and running around collecting their dirty clothes.

Soon Harry was driving around a tiny town looking for a laundromat.

“Wait I see one” Liam pointed from the passenger seat.

“Thank gosh. I was starting to thing I would have to wear these sweatpants tomorrow and that’s not a good look”

“Louis since when do you care what you look like?”

“I always have boo” Louis winked at Eleanor.

“I think I just puked.” Alyssa stated.

As they stopped in front of the laundromat everyone piled out with their arms overflowing of dirty clothes.

“My question is how the heck did we go through this many clothes in 4 days.?

“Well that’s what happens when someone spills their drink all over you” Kayla eyes Louis.

“I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again. It was not my fault. Blame your boyfriend who can’t drive.

“Says the one who almost hit a tree two weeks ago.”

“GUYS! Can we just go in here and get this done.” Alyssa yelled.

As everyone went into the laundromat the atmosphere changed. The group who was once happy and looking forward to tomorrow was tired and all around grouchy.

“Guys am I the only one that feels like this trip isn’t worth it. Like I mean Alyssa’s parents literally disowned her.”

“No you aren’t the only one I totally get it. Maybe we are wasting away are lives”

As silence overtook the room the only thing you could here was the slight sound of water swishing and the gentle tumble of the dryer.

“You know what screw this! Why are we all sitting here groaning about this trip. This trip is our last one before we go off to college. Instead of being grouchy and acting like butts we need to make this trip the best thing ever.” Alyssa got up and marched over to the speaker that was sitting in the corner and plugged her phone in. The first song that popped in was, ‘Year 3000’ by the Jonas Brothers.

“Oh my gosh I haven’t heard this song in forever.”

“Oh my gosh let’s GOOOOO”

Everyone jumped up and starting dancing around the room. Screaming the lyrics at the top of their lungs.

Quickly their moods lifted. As everyone looked at one another they realized truly how much this trip meant to them. Here they were after being friends anywhere from 7 to 3 years, on their last vacation as teenagers before they go to college. They were so thankful for this trip and each other.

After spending two hours in the laundromat they were finally back on the bus. They ended up just deciding to lock it up and sleep in the parking lot.

As everyone was falling asleep, Alyssa and Kayla were still sitting in the front of the RV.

“I’m so sorry excited for tomorrow.!”

“Me too Alyssa! I feel like we all need this!”

“We got to look fly for pictures”

“You know it boo” Kayla laughed.

Little did they know that tomorrow would change one of their lives forever. Or maybe both of their lives?

Well this chapter was pretty chill. Wonder what will happen that will change their lives?? 😜

[peakysabrina]

Dark Horse: chapter 8

Warnings for: attempted murder unfortunately sorry

V fluffly and v gay babes

We stan dramatic first kisses and we stan Ada and Gigi 

Polly lit a cigarette (a good, French one, not the crap she usually asked someone to buy from the shop around the corner), and paced around, her steps making marks on the smooth carpet. In her mind, there was the issue o Ada and Gigi, and nothing else. There had been a time when she couldn't get out of bed, but now she couldn't even sit still. Why were the two of them making everything so damn hard? Certainly it wasn't difficult at all, was it? Polly had yet to talk to Ada and get a clear answer, but her intuition had never been wrong before.

"Aunt Polly? Polly, it's me" someone called from the door, making Polly herself look back, her face opening up in a smile when she saw her only niece. If there was no such thing as coincidences, how come Ada was standing at the door, exactly when Polly was thinking about her? It was honestly quite remarkable how fate seemed to intervene when something was simply meant to be. 

"Didn't expect you to visit today" Polly replied, opening the door and allowing Ada to come in. She seemed to be in a state of anxiety, her hair being massacred by relentless hands. "What's the matter?" 

"Nothing's wrong, I just... I need to... I need to talk to you. And you need to talk to Gigi. Get her to go away, aunt Polly, get her to leave before she delivers what she promised you" Ada begged, unable to keep herself from crying any longer. 

"How do you know about that? And what's happened?" Polly asked, taking Ada by the arm and urging her to sit down on the sofa. The first question, although vital, paled in comparison to the second. It was beyond obvious that Ada was in distress. "I thought you had an agreement with her, there's still a week before the time runs out..." 

"Polly, she needs to go" Ada cried, so distraught she couldn't even sob. "She needs to leave, today! Oh god, oh my god, it's my fault. We need to leave now, you have to come with me, she'll only listen to you"

"Ada, you need to tell me what the hell is going on, why does Gigi have to leave?" Polly asked, as her niece forced her out the door, and into her car. How she could drive, Polly didn't really know, given the way her hands were shaking. The vehicle's suspension creaked every time they hit a bump at the speed they were going, and there still wasn't an answer. 

"Tommy. Tommy is going to kill her". He might even be there already, he didn't say when it was going to happen" Ada finally responded, going over yet another bump. "It's my fault, Pol, it's all my fault..." 

Needless to say, Ada's driving ability and considerable speed got them to Gigi's camp in just under ten minutes. There didn't seem to be any disturbance, which was hopefully a good sign. Without even waiting for Polly to accompany her, Ada ran to Gigi's vardo, punching the door with her fists. To her terror, there was no answer, but the smell of smoke was quite overpowering. 

"Oh no, oh heavens no..." Polly sighed, not knowing what to do, and frozen in fear of what Ada would find once the door gave in. Her decision ended up being to go and help Ada, and it took the combination of their strengths to kick down the door, releasing a cloud of toxic-smelling grey cloud.

Guided by something no one else could see, Ada charged forward, hitting furniture on her way, but not caring one bit about the bruises that were bound to form. She knew what she needed, she knew there was the tiniest window of oportunity, the smallest chance of her being able to undo the wrong she'd done. Put simply, Ada needed to feel Georgia Gold, she had to find her, to feel her heart beating and the whisper of a breath coming from her mouth. And she needed it to make sure she hadn't given Tommy information that would lead to death, but she needed it to make sure her brother hadn't killed the owner of the eyes Ada saw when she tried to sleep, or the stubborn, yet fair soul with whom she'd reached an agreement, whom she understood, being understood in return. 

Gigi really was there, on her bed, as if she had been asleep, and hadn't noticed the smoke around her. Ada shook her with all her strength, but she didn't wake up, didn't open her eyes, nothing. In hindsight, she wouldn't know how she had been able to drag Gigi out of her wagon and out into the fresh air, but Ada did know one thing: she would never forget the moment she was able to find a pulse. 

"Is she..." Polly asked, having failed to get a response from the other wagons, which were either empty or occupied by people who were no longer among the living. 

"No, no there's a pulse. Shit, I didn't remember to call the police, or an ambulance, or..." Ada whined, helplessly brushing the hair away from Gigi's face, rubbing her own sleeve on her cheeks, not knowing what else to do, but wanting to get rid of the soot and the dust.

Polly seemed to have gone away, to where Ada couldn't tell. She'd started crying at some point, because there were tears on Gigi's face, and the girl's head was now on her lap, but it was all a blur, a hazey nightmare. How could it happen like this, how could Tommy take away so many lives, how dare he go after Gigi, how dare he try to undermine their agreement, and how dare he lay a hand on Georgia Gold, who understood, who knew, who listened, who... 

"Wake up, damn it! Wake the fuck up, Georgia! I mean it, please wake up, wake up, let me look at you, let me look at you again, please... Please, don't leave me here, not yet. Let me look at you, let me talk to you, there is so much I need to tell you, that I need to ask you, you can't go" Ada cried, trying to get Gigi to wake up, to give a sign of life. Then, the only sound that could be heardfor miles on end were her sobs, as she came to the realisation that whatever it was that she felt for Gigi Gold, the promise of what could be, had slipped through her fingers, and it hurt so bad she sad red. 

"What? What do you need to tell me?" the smallest whisper was all Gigi could manage, her lungs full of smoke and debris. However, and even though every bit of her hurt when she spoke, she needed to know, and she needed to know before whatever was happening to her won their fight. "Please don't make me beg, I can hardly breathe right now" 

"I'm falling in love with you, Georgia Gold" Ada said, simply, with nothing else to add, with nothing else to hide. There simply was no time, nothing could be left unsaid, and as unfair as it was, it was the truth, and it couldn't be erased. 

"Oh well... I already love you, Ada Thorne" Gigi sighed, chuckling silently, almost as if she didn't want anyone else to hear. 

The last thing Gigi remembered once she woke up in a strange bedroom was Ada's lips touching down on hers, a kiss so antecipated and needed it saved her life. 

[momomomma2]

Oh, The Bliss

Nikolai isn’t exactly a stranger to drugs. Not that he’d ever admit it, of course, because he learned early on to keep quiet about that sort of shit if he didn’t want his neck wrung by Gigi. But he dabbled, as all teenagers do when it’s abundant and easily accessible.

This though? The sparkling at the edges of his vision, the way the world is soft and prettier than he thought it ever could be? The way he feels a bit like he’s floating and, for once, his arm and leg aren’t aching even though he spent a good chunk of the day tearing around Hope County?

Pretty fucking nice.

Dangerously nice.

Like the one time he tried cocaine and cleaned the entire downstairs of Gigi’s manor without even thinking about it. The sort of nice that’s a temptation, the sort of nice that says “come on. Give it one more try. What could it hurt? It didn’t hurt last time.”

“The fuck are you doing, Cap?”

“Rude.” Even his voice is different, dropped an octave to his own ears, rumbling out of his chest with a lazy drawl he tried his best to shake when he enlisted. “Jus’ relaxing. You don’t gotta come be mean to me.”

Rush’s boots aren’t the loud stomps they usually are. It’s very nice. But his expression isn’t when he leans over into Nik’s field of view, upside down and almost glaring.

“Where did you go today?”

“I wrote a report.”

At least, he thinks he did? It’s all been a little blurred since he left the New Eden compound. Weirdly fuzzy, just like Carmina’s beanie.

Which reminds him, he needs to give that back. She let him hold it on the drive back after the third time he commented on how soft it looked. It was super soft, but he’s pretty sure he doesn’t have it anymore.

Nik runs his hands over himself and comes up with some t-shirt and cool metal and no beanie. Damn.

“Your report looks like one of the kids got ahold of it. All scrawled shit and drawings.” Rush rounds him, hands on his hips as he surveys Nik from the side this time. “You’re fucking high, aren’t you?”

“I don’t do drugs. Anymore.” Nik amends when Rush arches one brow. “I can piss in something if y’need me to. Like...I dunno. You got a bowl around here?”

“You couldn’t find your fucking dick to piss right now.”

Luckily he doesn’t seem mad. Maybe more amused than anything else, a smile tugging at his mouth.

“I can find it.” Nik reaches down, cups a hand around himself and jiggles. “Tu vois? S’right here. I can show you if you wanna see it.”

Rush’s eyes go wide and he stares for a long second before he shakes his head. Like an Etch-A-Sketch. Man, he used to love those things. Wonder if he could find one around here?

“Yeah, you’re on something.”

“I didn’t take anything.”

“Don’t have to take something to be dosed.” Rush is leaning over him them, one hand braced on Nik’s good shoulder, clicking a penlight on that he pulled from somewhere. “Look at my ear.”

Nik complies because it’s easy to listen to Rush. Easy to take orders. He’s particularly good at taking orders, always has been since the bombs dropped. Sure, there were a couple marks in his record for “blatant insubordination”, but records don’t mean shit anymore.

He’s pretty sure King burned his anyhow. One little oops to get him on the train. Allow him to meet up with Rush, travel and help people. He’s not very good at being helpful, but the train was going right by New Orleans. One quick stop in Montana and then back on their way.

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig.

“You’ve got pupils the size of quarters.” Rush concludes, turning off the light--that was very bright, he wasn’t a fan of that part. “Where’d you go today, Cap?”

“I wrote a report.”

“Nikolai. Tell me where the fuck you went.”

“I went where you told me to, Thomas.” Nik drawls, the knife edge of anger there quick as lightning. “New Eden. The weird fucks in the weird camp. Remember? I brought back big and mute with me?”

“You take anything while you were there? Drink or eat anything?”

“I’m not an idiot. I don’t eat shit random people holed up in the woods give me.”

This is a lie. Nik has absolutely taken little snacks from the people he meets along the way, usually offered up as a thanks for helping them out of a tight spot. But Carmina and Timber eat it too so he figures it can’t be too dangerous.

“And there wasn’t anything around you?”

“Weird fucking...barrels? Like whiskey but not? I dunno, had some weird green shit inside them.”

“Stay here.”

“Okie dokie.” Nik flashes the ok sign and is rewarded with Thomas’ unimpressed stare before he stomps away.

It doesn’t seem like any time at all before he’s back. And with Sharky in tow. Both of them stop at Nik’s side and he offers up a little wave because--well. Seems rude to not greet people.

“Tell Sharky what you found at New Eden.”

“Big barrels. Green stuff inside.” Nik helpfully parrots as Sharky takes one look at him, leaning in close, before he starts laughing.

“Oh man, I didn’t think they were still making Bliss. You are fucked up, buddy.”

“What’s a Bliss?”

“What is Bliss?” Thomas echoes, Sharky standing straight and shaking his head.

“Some weird shit the cult cooked up back in the day. Get you higher than a giraffe in Jamaica. You come out of it eventually--or sometimes you don’t.” Sharky pats him on the seam where his arm meets his prosthetic. “I hope you come out of it, man. I don’t wanna hafta go Disco Inferno on you.”

“Merci beaucoup.” Nik offers him a thumbs up and Sharky immediately grins so wide it stretches his whole face.

“Oh shit, right. They said you speak French or whatever. Hey, you should teach me some!”

“Maybe later.” Thomas all but pushes Sharky towards the door, out of Nik’s sight even when he tries to roll onto his side and watch him go. “Let’s not play French 101 with Mr. Drugged To Hell and Back.”

“Merde means shit!” Nik calls helpfully, Sharky shouting a thanks before there’s a yelp and the boom of a door slammed shut.

“We need to get you un-Blissed.”

“I’m okay.” Nik shrugs, tries to bat at Thomas’ reaching hands. “I said I’m okay! He said I’ll come out of it. I’m just gonna...just gonna...je vais dormir. Or maybe….fucking...I dunno.”

“Nik, you’d rather be beaten with a bat than speak French around people.” Thomas reminds him, capturing his wrists in both hands. “Except the fucking pilot, I can’t shut you two up. And you’ve done it twice now. We gotta get this out of your system.”

He makes a fair point. But all of Nik’s reasons for keeping his French to himself seem really...silly right about now. He should be himself. Himself isn’t great, obviously, but it’s not terrible. So he should just...be who he is.

Except people don’t like who he is. And he really likes Thomas and a handful of the others at Prosperity. He likes Thomas more than them, but they’re nice. They give him food and Carmina laughs at his stupid jokes and Kim reminds him a little of Gigi when she gives him that glare after he suggests a dumb--but ultimately effective--plan.

“How’re we gonna get it outta me?”

“How’d you get the others out of your system?” Thomas rolls his eyes at Nik’s protesting noise. “Back when you did drugs. Which you don’t do anymore. Because we don’t do that.”

“Y’can...wait them out. Or sometimes you can eat. You can piss them out too.”

“Not great options.” Thomas uses the grip to pull him upright, until he’s sloppily balancing his weight on his hips and Thomas is between his knees. “But the last one seems like the fastest.”

“You really want me to piss, huh?” Nik turns his wrists, grabs for Thomas’ forearms. “Do you have a...uh...what’s it? L’ perversion.”

“You’re never going near New Eden again.”

“A kink!” Nik tugs him in closer, so close Thomas has to lean down because Nik’s got his hands down by his sides now. “Do you have a kink? S’okay. You can tell me. I won’t tell anyone.”

“I don’t get off on piss.”

“What do you get off on?”

“Not having conversations with drugged up idiots, that’s for damn sure.” Thomas tugs at his grip. “Come on, Nikolai. Stop being a dick and get up so we can get this outta you.”

“No, now I’m curious.”

He’s also being a dick. He is well aware of that. But he can’t exactly back off now and Thomas is breathing a little faster and looking a little too closely at his mouth. There’s always been something there but Nik’s been content just to let it sit. Figured it was some fucked up authority kink on his end that wasn’t reciprocated.

He had something similar happen with King. Something about a man in uniform in charge of him. Except King had clapped him on the shoulder and told him he needed to find another hunk of flesh or plastic to shove into his hole.

Thomas, on the other hand, is still staring at his mouth. And his eyes are dark. And his lips are parted, maybe to let him breathe but maybe for another reason too.

“Doesn’t have to mean anything.” Nik whispers, growls, pressing until Thomas’ hands flatten on the outsides of his thighs. “I’m drugged. Won’t even remember this when I’m sober, probably.”

“You’re a goddamn moron, Nikolai.” Thomas snaps but he presses forwards, presses in.

And Nik lets him. Lets him sink his tongue deep after the first almost tentative brush against his lips. Moans into his mouth and fists up his jacket. It feels better, feels more. Like Thomas is tongue fucking his soul and not just his mouth.

Man, if this was the kinda shit the cult had...no wonder it got as big as it apparently did.

“We’re gonna continue this when you’re not out of your skull.” Thomas promises roughly, parting with a groan and leaning away when Nik tries to follow, draw him back in. “No, no, Cap. Not like this. Not with me.”

“You’re not any fun.”

“I’m your boss.” Thomas reminds him with a smirk. “Not my job to be fun.”

“You could be a little fun.”

“Let’s save the fun for after you’ve pissed this crap outta your bloodstream, alright?”

“I’m serious.” Nik says as he allows Thomas to sling an arm around his shoulders, lever him to his feet.

Whoo. Changing positions is fun. He also might throw up. Good thing they kissed before he got upright.

“Serious about what?”

“If you have a kink, you can tell me. I won’t judge you. I will piss on you if you want.”

“Cap?”

“Oui?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

[magicdrabbles]

Isekai Lucio AU

This was done for @junkpilestuff and their awesome idea of Lucio waking up in our modern era world and I HAD. TO. JUMP. ON. THAT. Here’s the finished product. Warning: This is pretty long and it’s dialogue heavy but whatchya gonna do? Read under the cut~

A flash of red, burning pain throughout my body...my vision go black...then...

Darkness...swirling around in darkness...but I feel so...light. I’m...fading…my senses are mixed and...and...

…..

And what’s that horrible smell?!

Lucio’s eyes flash open and he jerks up with a heavy gasp, sweating. He squints away from the blinding light, settling himself down from whatever just happened.

It was probably just a weird dream...but why do I smell...whatever that is? Ugh! Dirt!

He opens his eyes, adjusting to the bright light and recoils his hand from the ground shaking away any residue that was on it. He scowls at the filth around him before finally getting up and wiping the dirt off his now grimy white suit. He looks up and his mouth drops. He’s standing in an alleyway next to a large trash can covered in graffiti, skyscrapers towering above, taller than his beloved palace. The unfamiliar sound of sirens and cars fills his ears and he quickly runs out the street. Everywhere, people everywhere.

Absolutely...FILTHY people! And why are they dressed so...bad?

The New Yorkers stare at him and his attire. It’s not completely unusual for the Big Apple to see weirdos like this. But his look is so...outlandish that many thought he might just actually dress like that. Lucio was twirling, back and forth, trying to take in his surroundings. The last thing he remembers before waking up here...Nadia. She killed me...that absolute BITCH! Lucio stomps down his heeled foot like a child. He growls, anger pulsing out of him like heat before he is almost bumped into the street by a burly man in a faded suit.

“Hey! Watch where you’re goin’ bub!” the man yells back at Lucio.

“YOU sir, were the one who hit me! How dare you! Do you know who I am?!”

“Not a clue,” the man laughs, “what a weirdo…” he chuckles to himself, disappearing into the crowd. Lucio huffs, and twirls to face whatever is before him. He scans the area, eyes falling on...what are those?

Large windows displaying colors and people lined up and down the buildings showing beautiful people just...staring and smiling, sometimes holding perfume or fine jewelry. Lucio stopped when he saw him. On the...I think I heard someone say...jumbotron, Lucio saw one of the most beautiful men he had ever seen, almost as beautiful as him. Hmph, I could beat that. If Nadia doesn’t want me in Vesuvia then I can be the best here. Everyone can love me, he thought immediately.

With his large golden claw, he grabs a passerby on the shoulder and turns them toward him.

“You! Who is that up there?” He points his fleshed hand up at the screens. A stunned young man, scrawny and red-eyed looks at the advertisement for Calvin Klein underwear.

“Uhhh I don’t know man...just some model dude?” He takes a sip of his soda he had been holding, not breaking his somewhat impressive eye contact with Lucio.

“A model? How do I do that?”

“Uhhhhh lots of dudes just get famous on Instagram really or like...make a youtube channel”

“A wha-youtube? Instagram? Quit being so obscure! And just tell me damn it!” Lucio grabs the guys shirt with both hands and shakes him a bit. “Okay okay! Jeez, my dude, I have a buddy who does photos for a living I can introduce you...but I don’t know if he’ll wanna take your picture since you’re such a...douche”

Lucio’s eyes widen, “A WHAT?”.

“Nevermind, just follow me” and the young pothead leads Lucio to his friend’s apartment.

“By the way, that’s a siiiiick arm, my man. You cosplayin’ someone or…”

“This is my arm and yes it is quite...sick? I’m assuming that’s good in this world” Lucio said matter of factly.

“Hehe...yeahhh...super sick”

“What is your name? It’s not that I care but I have no idea what to call you.”

“Ah it’s Jesse my liege,” he tips an imaginary hat at Lucio and do a little bow “and yours?”

“Count Lucio of Vesuvia. Grand ruler, military leader, excellent lover…” He smirks down at Jesse, running his claw through his blonde locks.

“Heh, schweet love the confidence, my man”

They continue down a few more blocks before they arrive at the apartment of Jesse’s friend. Jesse knocks a little tune on his friend's door before it cracks open just a smidge. His friend’s eye peers through the crack.

“What’s the password compadre?” Jesse’s friend asks ominously from behind the door.

“Lmao, the password is SUCK MY WEENUS! AAAAAYYYYY”

“AYYYYYY” they yell in unison. The door slams closed. Locks on the other side jangle as they fall off the door and unlock. The friend opens the door with large arms wide open.

“My dude, Dan, let me introduce THE Count Lucio”. Dan, the man behind the door, stares at Lucio and his grandeur.

“Yo, you’re mega hot not gonna lie” Dan praises. Lucio blushes for a split second before his signature smirk returns to his face.

“Ha! Of course, I am,” Lucio parades past Dan into his too small apartment. He lands, light as a feather onto the tattered and stained leather couch, “And that’s why I’m here dear Dan. YOU are going to have the privilege of photographing ME!” He extends his body seductively along the couch, leg raised straight up high and an over exaggerated pout on his lips. Dan raises a quizzical eyebrow and looks over at Jesse. Jesse, taking a drag of his vape (Where did he pull that from, Dan thought) just shrugs his shoulders and blows the vapor into his friend’s face.

“Dan, the man...you are the man and you take awesome photos. This dude wants to be a model and I thought ‘Well I’m bored and I bet Dan is up to nothing so why not?’ so now we’re here and I’m high and I’m vaping and you’re staring at me and that flamboyant weirdo is excited to model so, like, why not?”

There’s silence...Dan just slowly looking back and forth at his friend and then at Lucio. Lucio blows him a kiss and winks. With a sigh, Dan resigns to the requests.

“Fine. But only because I’m bored!” Lucio jumps up and claps his hands together.

“Excellent decision Dan! Now, what should I do? I should pose like some of my portraits maybe? Do you have a skull from an enemy I can hold? Maybe some fine jewels I can lavish myself in?”

“Uh no...but like, you can just take off your shirt. Ladies LOVE a shirtless dude.” He extends his fingers into small, pudgy finger guns and waves them at Lucio.

Lucio obeys immediately. It’s not every day people ask him to strip. He enjoys the attention. This is going to be FANTASTIC.

A while later, Dan and Jesse had set up the lights, the camera, and simple white background for Lucio to model in front of. Lucio had stripped down to just his pants, although Dan and Jesse had to stop him from going past that. After explaining he did NOT need a skull to stand on, and that most models just pout and pose fairly naturally, Lucio began to get into the groove of it all, displaying his muscles the best he could and giving the camera winks every now and then. Dan uploaded the photos to his Instagram after doing a bit of filtering and face tuning, and they waited for the responses to start flooding into the comments section. Lucio paced back and forth, his heeled boots click-clacking on the hardwood floor.

“What are we waiting for? Surely I should be on that big screen by now!”

“Ahh, that’s not how that works my dude…” Jesse explained flatly, not taking his eyes off the TV screen. Just as Lucio’s face turns red with impatience at these...fools... a high pitched “Ding!” resonates from Dan’s little device. And then another...and another and another...soon Dan is launching himself across the couch to silence his phone.

“Yooo what the fuck...you’re blowing up Lucio!” His eyes widen at the screen, his greasy finger scrolling through all the comments and likes on his photos. “Oh my god...GIGI HADID SAID SHE THINKS YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL!” Lucio waves his hand absently “Yes, yes I know I am. I don’t care who this Gugu is, am I FAMOUS now?”

Dan’s jaw drops. In his direct messages are requests for Lucio to model for big brands. Other models are asking who he is, designers are wondering how Dan discovered him.

“My dude, you’re gonna be famous” Lucio delivers a flashy smile to Jesse and Dan. Jesse goes in for a fist bump but Lucio slaps it away with his claw.

~

Months later, and Lucio is signed with some of the biggest modeling agencies in the world. He’s walking for Valentino, Gucci (his personal favorite), Prada, you name it, he’s modeled it. The extravagance he receives from his work is unmatched to that of Vesuvian riches; it’s BETTER. Fine clothes, drunken nights with the world’s most beautiful people, all the men and women he could dream of being with, everything! He has it all. He was even on the jumbotron. He hid his face from others, a single tear rolling down his cheek. He had made it. Lucio’s face and body were gracing every major advertisement medium- commercials, magazines, runways, even the sides of buses. One day, however, his lust for himself gets the best of him.

While walking down the busy city streets, paparazzi began flanking him.

“Lucio look over here!”

“No Lucio look here, look over here darling!” Lucio complied, striking pose after pose, strutting down the street. With a sexy smile and wink, he began to walk backward, arms up wide in pride. “Yes, New York! This is your COUNT your GOD! I AM THE BEST MODEL IN THE WORL-” 

A bus slams into him. 

A collective gasp from all the photographers is followed by silence, then by the flashing of lights and cameras. The bus, displaying Lucio’s own image, is the last thing the Count remembers seeing before blacking out.

Head pain...swimming in agony and...riches….darkness is creeping up again

Do I smell bath salts?

Lucio startles awake. He’s lying on a soft, luxurious bed, still dressed in his silk Gucci attire. A scream startles him and he looks to his side seeing a palace servant screech and run out of the room. Moments later, Nadia enters, her face at first shocked, then replaced with a scowl.

“You’re supposed to be dead Lucio, we were fixing you for a funeral. That was the least- actually-the most I could do for you” She crosses her arms, not at all pleased in the slightest. “And what are you wearing?” she asks coldly.

“It’s Gucci, bitch”.

[sebeth]

Legion Of Super-Heroes #13

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

 “State Of The Universe” by Keith Giffen, Tom & Mary Bierbaum, and Al Gordon

 The issue opens with the continuation of the Shakespeare – Persuader brawl.

A few children in the pediatric wing of Quarantine worry over Shakespeare. Garridan, the son of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad, comforts Ivy: “He’s gonna be all right, Ivy. I just know he is. My dad says Legionnaires are real strong. Like they’re real, real hard to kill.”

Garridan is dressed in an adorable version of Colossal Boy’s silver age costume. I wonder if Gim is Garridan’s favorite Legionnaire?

Speaking of Gim, he has arrived at Quarantine and is working with the Science Police to find a way to evacuate patients near the Shakespeare/Persuader brawl.

Gim and Kent unintentionally tag-team the Persauder, causing his capture.

A great introduction for Richard Kent Shakespeare and a nice way to touch in with Garridan, Gim, and the Persuader.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a more of this mature, self-confident, and comfortable in his career Gim.

The Persuader is the second member of the Fatal Five that we have seen in this volume. We’ll see more members later on.

In orbit above Earth: Circe has been called to task by the Dominators – they want damage control, they want results, and they want it now: “When we gave you effective control of Science Police Earth, allowed you to shape Earthgov’s public relations strategy, we expected results. It is time for you to demonstrate that our faith in you was not misplaced…Madame Circe, when you procured the services of Dirk Morgna, you assured us the Earthers would believe anything the ex-Legionnaires told them. We are now holding you to that promise.”

The Darzyl System: Mano, another member of the Fatal Five, reports to Starfinger that the Persuader has failed in his assassination attempt.

Starfinger isn’t happy. It’s not a good day for criminal overlords.

Back to Quarantine.

Science Police Chief Gigi Cusimano credits the Persuader’s arrest to Kent Shakespeare: “If you ask me, the Legion is sorely missed.”

Gigi was a supporting cast member in the Legion’s Baxter series.

Gim offers Kent a lift to Toonar. It’s as close to Winath as Gim can take Kent: “That is, if you’re ready to turn in your scrubs to get back into a Legion uniform.”

“To be honest, I couldn’t get out of here a moment too soon. Once I heard the Legion might re-form, I’ve just been counting the days. Of course, some of the kids out here…it’ll just tear out my heart to leave them. I haven’t even worked up the courage to tell them yet.”

A spying Ivy is devastated to hear Kent’s plans to leave.

An isolated farm on Khundia: a confused Jo deals with an equally bewildered Khund: “You don’t look like a Khund yet you are not a master. You are soft-looking like a Khundish girl, but you have the voice of a man.”

Only a Khund would think Jo, of all people, would have a feminine appearance!

Jo appreciates the wife of the Khund man making a stew for him. The Khunder officer states the stew appreciation is another clear sign of Jo’s brain damage.

Two Dominators, without the trademark head discs, land on the property. Jo uses his ultra-speed to rapidly leave the property: “Bloody liberty! Dominators! I didn’t recognize them without their head discs! A couple of Khund cud-chewers I can handle. But the Dominion? This is getting real weird!”

Jo muses to himself: “Khunds and Dominators together?! Cats and dogs maybe, but Khunds and Dominators? I must be on the Frontier…some world on the fringe of both spheres of influence, maybe? Or maybe U.P. Intelligence is out to lunch, Maybe the Khunds and Dominators aren’t the blood enemies they’re supposed to be. Where the blazes did Roxxas send me?”

For those unfamiliar with the Dominators:  Dominators are a caste-defined society. The size of the red dot in the middle of the forehead indicates their status in the society. The bigger the dot, the higher the status. If a Dominator, doesn’t have a dot, he would be the lowest of the low in the society. A dot can be surgically made smaller or scraped off entirely if the Dominator has lost status in his society.

The Toonar Spaceport: Kent remembers his farewell conversation with Ivy. He attempts to reassure her that he loves her and will be back. It doesn’t go well and ends with Ivy stating: “I hope you die on your first mission.”

Children, so dramatic!

Deep space: Laurel curb stomps some Khunds. She deeply regrets not being on Winath during the battle with Roxxas. “If only I’d just stayed on Winath in the first place instead of running back to Zirr every two days to see how Lauren is doing. Baby daughter or no, I can’t ever forget my responsibilities as a Legionnaire.”

Laurel faces the modern dilemma of many women: motherhood vs career.

The Collingwood Inn on Gnogg: The bald head prosthetic Tenzil shoved on Brek’s head during his Earthgov trial is not coming off. Brek is quite put out and wants it off ASAP.

Tenzil: “Well then, I guess there’s only one thing left to try, now hold still!”

“Ow…ow! That’s my hair, you moron!”

“Hey! What’s going on in here?”

“My god! He’s eating that man’s head!”

“It’s okay! It’s okay! I’m a senator!”

“I’m a senator” is Tenzil’s defense for all of his shenanigans.

Winath: Rokk researches options for the new Legion’s headquarters: “There just isn’t enough room on Brande’s planetoid. And we couldn’t risk bringing down an attack on the U.P. Council, so we gotta stay clear of Weber’s World. But by the same token, we sure as heck gotta get off Winath before someone else attacks the plantation”.

Garth interrupts – he and Rokk were supposed to get in a round of links.

“So what’s the big headache? You need a new headquarters? How’s that a problem?”

“Things aren’t so simple anymore, Garth. The Legion doesn’t have the kind of friends it used to.”

“Well, you’ve still got one friend you can count on. Consider your headquarters problem solved.”

“You don’t mean here? We really couldn’t stay.”

“No, no…I’ve got something a little better suited to your needs, Rokk. Trust me.”

Before Garth can reveal the location of the new headquarters, he spies Furrball (Brin) in a hallway: “Hey, look who just wandered in! I guess Kono’s going to be relieved!”

Brin wanders past an arguing Querl and Celeste: “I’m fine! So I have a tendency to glow green. So what? Green’s a lovely color. You should appreciate that more than anyone.”

Kono encounters Brin: “There you are, you big stupid furball! What the Nykx do you think you’re doing, disappearing on us for days like that? I don’t know whether to hug you or kick your stupid butt to Tombor.

Violet overhears Kono’s dressing down of Brin: “She can sure dish it out! Wish I had her brass when I was that age. But I didn’t come down here to admire out latest Firebrand. I’ve been putting this off long enough. It’s time to take care of business.

Violet enters the room and asks Rokk if he “has a sec”. Garth hastily excuses himself.

If you haven’t read the “5 Years Later” series, Rokk and Violet’s home planets, Brall and Imsk, went to war during the five-year gap between the Baxter series and the present series.

Violet voluntarily joined her planet’s military during the war, Rokk was drafted.

Imsk’s military scientists created a doomsday weapon to use against the Braalians. Violet served as the chief of security during the project’s development. Violet protested the actual use of the weapon.

The weapon is deployed. Rokk is onsite at the weapon’s deployment at Venado Bay. The weapon strips Brallians of their native magnetic abilities. It also causes death and dismemberment.

Rokk loses his abilites and is badly injured and deeply traumatized in the immediate aftermath of the weapon’s deployment. Violet is also there – she is deeply appalled at the carnage she witnesses. Violet recognizes Rokk and approaches him.

The badly injured Rokk does not recognize Violet and lashes out, causing her to lose an eye and suffer facial scarring.

Violet is imprisoned by the Imskian military for her protests and refusal to take back her criticism of the weapon and its deployment.

Rokk and Violet both suffer long-term PTSD from the events of Venado Bay and the war in general.

Back to the present day.

The duo awkwardly attempts to start a conversation.

Rokk begins: “Look, Vi, I know you’re upset. And you have every right to be. All those months you spent in prison, protesting Venado Bay, and I didn’t even have the courage to thank you. I don’t know what my problem was. I guess I was afraid you’d never forgive Braal for attacking your planet. Or forgive me for so blindly obeying Braal’s lousy leadership.”

“Rokk, don’t…I’m the one who should be apologizing…I’m the one…who helped kill all those…god.”

“’C’mon, Vi. It’s gonna be okay.”

“I told…I told myself I wasn’t going to fall apart like this…”

“You’re entitled.”

By the end of the conversation, both Rokk and Violet are crying.

One of my favorite moments in the series. Neither Rokk nor Violet magically healed their PTSD or emotional trauma but they’re on the road to healing.

Kathoon: A heavily pregnant Lydda is reading a letter from Rokk: “You know, Lydda, that woman has never forgiven herself for just doing her duty. Did I mention the scar she has over her eye? Vi told me she got it over her eye? Vi told me she got it at Venado Bay. She say’s she’s never having it removed. She never wants to forget what happened there. What she did. It just made me want to keep hugging her until the whole thing disappeared forever. But I guess Venado Bay will never go away. It’ll always be with us. Both of us.”

It’s safe to assume Violet didn’t inform Rokk that he caused the scar. Violet correctly assumed the revelation would only add more guilt to the emotional turmoil caused by Venado Bay.

The “hugging” line adds another dimension to Rokk’s character. Starting with the 5 Year Later series and continuing through the reboot, the three-boot, and the retro-boot, Rokk has been portrayed as the serious, no-nonsense, all business leader of the Legion. It’s nice to see a sweet, comforting side of Rokk.

The letter continues: “Now that we’ve finally nailed Roxxas, I’ve got to get going on the arrangements for Blok’s memorial. Brainy says it’s too soon to make it a double ceremony so we haven’t completely given up hope on Jo yet. But damn, it’s hard to get over Blok. I guess I never realized how important he was to us all until he was gone.”

Rokk ends his letter with “It really is happening. Uniforms, headquarters, roll call. The Legion is officially back.”

Lydda excitedly yells “All right!”

The next few pages consist of a Brande Industries Memo from Marla Latham to Reep Daggle.

Volume 1: Disposition Of Known Universe

Currently the known universe is divided into these political entitites.

1)      The Khundish Empire, 32%

2)      Independent, unaffiliated, disorganized, 29%

3)      United Planets, 24%

4)      The Dominion, 9%

The memo states Khunds have conquered Lallor, Sklar, Tsauran, and Rann.

The Dominion is in a state of collapse “as worlds on the fringe continue to achieve independence”.

The memo notes the Dominion’s attempt to enslave the now-decimated Daxamite race and the “alleged secret domination of Earthgov”.

The extent of the Dark Circle remains unknown but may be as large as the Khundish empire.

Volume 2: Growing Threats

1)      Mordru

2)      Glorith

The memo notes the “destruction of magic at the conclusion of the Mystic Wars have proven totally erroneous. While the greatest known nexus of Magic was destroyed with the old Sorcerers’ World, many known ‘sympathetic points’ remain, most notably Tharn, the new Sorcerers’ World, as well as Orando and Venegar.

Volume 3: The United Planets

1)      Current operations include “directing traffic, organizing defense, and enforcing the rules of the Recovery Initiative”

2)      Compliance remains low, U.P. membership is still far below pre-Collapse levels

3)      U.P. Militia has gained respectability as a barrier to Khundish encroachment

4)      The critical blow to the U.P.’s collapse was the secession of Earth

5)      The United Planets and the Science Police have relocated to Weber’s World

6)      The corruption of Science Police Earth has undermined the credibility of all S.P. agencies

7)      Organized crime has flourished.

8)      Molock Hanscomb (Starfinger) of Darzyl is the most powerful figure in the underworld.

9)      Leland McCauley III has emerged as the richest businessman in the United Planets. Rumors suggest that Leland McCauley IV has wrested control of the business from his father.

Volume 4: Earth

1)      “With poverty and paranoia flourishing on Earth in the wake of the Great Collapse, that planet has lapsed into a period of uncharacteristic xenophobia and acquiescence to authoritarian rule. It is now alleged that the population has been manipulated and covertly ruled by the Dominion.”

2)      Resistant forces have opposed Earthgov since 2990.

We end with an interlude featuring Glorith and the Time Trapper.

The Trapper informs Glorith of the “timelines that proceeded yours…what you owe me.”

He further reveals that “Mon-El obliterated my form, not my essence. All that was destroyed were my works.”

The Trapper and Glorith are referring to events that took place in issues #4 – 5.

Trapper continues: “I’ve seen how you performed my acts, lived my life to frustrate that poor fool Mordru once again. How you’ve become the new Time Trapper…but understand this, without me you can lose everything.”

Trapper issues the traditional “without me, you will fail but together we can rule the universe” speech.

Glorith rejects the offer, devolves Trapper into protoplasm and absorbs his essence. I don’t feel bad for Trapper as he did the same thing to Glorith in the Silver Age.

Glorith decides now is the perfect time to conquer the universe.

A great issue that wraps up the previous plot lines and sets up future storylines. The issue is a terrific example on how to handle a large cast – we checked in with 14 Legionnaires and 5 sets of villains.

[xxbyimm]

Enya’s Unexpected Journey - Chapter 4

For all other chapters, click the number: 1, 2, 3,

Chapter 4

Summary:  Enya wants to join the company on their quest, but a certain stubborn dwarf leader gets in the way.

She told Bilbo she wanted to walk through Hobbiton and went out. The truth was she did not want to hear the discussion between Gandalf and Thorin. If the latter wouldn’t allow her on the trip… She sighted. Even she knew that dwarves could be very, very stubborn. If he did not want her, she wasn’t included. Simple as that. She hummed on of her favorite songs while she enjoyed strolling the lane Bilbo lived on. The crickets were chirping as loud as they could. The moon stood high in the sky. Enya wondered if Thorin liked her as much as she liked him. ‘God’ she muttered. ‘You don’t even know how dwarf relationships work!’ When she reached the end of the lane, she took a left turn and walked through the beautiful fields that surrounded the town. She decided to sit down on the soft grass. As she watched the stars in the dark sky, she thought about home. Would time work different in this world? Would they already miss her? For a moment, the thought of Jason, and him discovering that she was gone, made her homesick. Then she remembered his smug face when he told her he would be staying with Abbie for a couple of months. Again. To think about us, he had said. She growled. Think. Yeah, the last place where he would think about her would be in Abbie’s house. In her bed. She pitied poor Abbie, who took him back. Stupid girl. She angrily wiped away a tear that rolled down her cheek. She should not be thinking of this. She should not care one damn bit about what Thorin thought of her. Or any other man. Or dwarf, for that matter. Right now, she needed herself to be sane. She stood up. It seemed she was really stuck in this world. A tiny part of her hoped she would fall in a portal again and woke up in her own bed. But, because this wasn’t a dream or a fairytale, she supposed she should just go with it. She smiled. Perhaps a new beginning would turn out to be blessing.

When she got back, everyone was inside. She sighed and sat down on the bench before the window. She stared at her hand and reprocessed the information Gandalf had given her a few hours ago. Grandma Gigi a dwarf princess? She giggled. Maybe she was. And if that was true, she could even been a fire witch. Enya could not remember a situation where grandma Gigi ever used her supposed ‘skills’ to bend fire to her will. Not when she was around anyway. She shrugged when the palms of her hand suddenly started the burn. She stared at them and swallowed when the pain became more intense. ‘Am I getting ill?’ she muttered. It would not surprise her if she was infected with some mysterious disease. She moaned a little when one hand began to shake. What the hell?

Suddenly the door was opened and Thorin and Gandalf stepped through. Thorin shut the door with a hard smack and the wood protested when it was pushed back violently in its frame. ‘There is no point in discussing this.’ He said with a chillingly cold voice. ‘She cannot come. I don’t need a woman who cannot protect herself, let alone in a world unknown to her.’ ‘But I believe she can be helpful’ Gandalf tried. ‘ ‘Right!’ bellowed Thorin. ‘A burglar who isn’t a burglar. I trusted you on this one, but one supposed burglar is enough. I don’t need two.’ Enya stood up and folded her arms before she faced them. ‘Right.’ She said, in the most cutest and cringe worthy tone she could imagine. Thorin looked straight at her, but she saw no emotion in his eyes. She wanted to be polite, humble even, but when she felt the warm hot blood running up to her cheeks, she knew it was too late.

Her inner bitch was set loose. And her inner bitch knew no mercy.

She narrowed her eyes. ‘I am not scared of you’ she said with clenched teeth. ‘Pull up that wall and pretend to be a scary unfriendly bastard, but I am not buying that. Neither am I scared of this world. I can fight.’ ‘With what?’ he asked sarcastically. ‘Anything I can find’ ‘You didn’t seem to be able to defend yourself when I found you.’ He shot back. ‘Yes!’ Enya laughed. ‘That is the perfect example! Here I am, confused, only five minutes in this fucking place, made a pretty bad fall and then I’m expected to fight of the first person who grabs me, out of the fucking blue?’ ‘That is the point of being able to defend yourself’ he mocked. Enya was so furious she had to do something to channel her anger. She could not grab Thorin and scream in his face, so she chose to pace back and forth and breathe heavily while trying not to lose her mind. ‘It is absolutely ridiculous you assume women can’t fight. I fought of my fair share of men in the streets of New York. The kind that thinks they can call you names or touch you just because you happen to be there. I did not have a sword back then.’ She took a deep sigh. ‘I even wore HEELS too, for god sake!’ Both men stared at her with a blank face that told her they had no idea what she was talking about. ‘Right’ she quickly said. ‘Heels are very uncomfortable high shoes. They don’t really enable you to run, so that leaves only one option open.’ Her anger was only fueled by the thought of those nights she was harassed. ‘I fucking fought them off.’ Her left hand began shaking again, but she was so caught up in the situation that it did go unnoticed. ‘So’ Thorin said. ‘You might me skilled in your world, but that doesn’t ensure me that you can be helpful to my company. I need proof.’ He folded his arms and seemed very determined. Well, then he had to learn she could be very determined too. She gave him the most chilling look she could conjure. ‘Fine. You should have left me in the mercy of those orcs then.’ ‘But I didn’t’ he admitted. ‘No.’ Enya forced her lips into a devious smile. ‘I wonder why.’ She quickly looked at her hand when the pain began to be unbearable again. It was red hot and felt like it was on fire. Gandalf grabbed her hand and the look on his face made her terrified. ‘Have you encountered this before?’ he asked her softly. Enya shook her head. ‘No’ Gandalf exchanged a glance with Thorin. ‘This is what I told you about.’ He muttered. Thorin nodded, but said nothing. ‘What?’ asked Enya.

Another glance. None of them spoke. Enya pulled her hand from Gandalfs grip. She stormed inside and grabbed her coat. She was fuming and the pain in her hand darkened her mood even more. ‘I’ve had it’ she muttered. When she entered the front yard again, Thorin looked curiously at her. Enya smiled. ‘You know what guys, I’ll make this very easy. I’ve had it. I spent half of my lifetime doing things because others told me so. I’ve been broken, being cheated on and brought down numerous times. I’m not a second option, something you should drag along to see if I come in handy. I’ll make my own luck. I won’t allow anyone near me unless I want to.’ She stormed out of the gate. ‘Gentlemen’ she saluted. ‘Have a good trip.’ When she wanted to bring her arm down again, she was brought to stop when an enormous flame shot out of the palm of her hand. ‘WHAT THE FUCK!’ she screamed. She stared at her hand, which was actually on fire. It didn’t hurt as much as she expected it would. Actually, she felt nothing. What was this kind of a weird disease? It made her furious and fascinated at the same time. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably and all of the sudden the flame was gone. ‘WITCHCRAFT!’ screamed Dori. Enya looked at him. She did not remember him being outside. He was quick to judge. She clenched her fists together and howled in horror when the ground around her started to freeze. She quickly opened her hands. ‘SHE IS A WITCH!’ Enya teared up and in a reflex she shot something at Dori’s head. A loud thumb vibrated through Hobbiton. Enya was horrified when she saw a thick icicle sticking in the post of the door above Dori. Did she just do that? Meanwhile, Dori was trembling and pointed at her. ‘WITCH!’ ‘I am truly sorry’ she whispered and for a moment she had no idea what she should do. She had nowhere to go, so she rapidly walked down the lane. When she was out of sight, she started to run. She fought the tears until she saw entered the forest at the border of the shire. She hid in a bush and let it go.

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

Thorin had sent everyone inside and prepared to search miss Enya himself. Maybe he had been harsh on her, but she had to understand that he could not grow soft. Everyone in the company had a job, a purpose. He could not drag everyone along. The moment he had laid his eyes on her, he had known he was terribly lost. He could not let that happen. Any distraction could be devastating. He hoped she could not guess how much he wanted to make her his. According to the ancient dwarf laws… He smiled. ‘Thorin!’ Thorin jumped and shot a glance at Gandalf, who apparently was at his side again. ‘Let her go.’ Gandalf said. Thorin grunted. Gandalf shook his head. ‘She’ll be back. She is just confused. She found her homeland, her destiny. The magic in this land is unlocking her powers, but she is untrained.’ ‘Can we…’ Thorin began. ‘No. She’ll be back when she is ready.’ The wizard stared in the darkness. ‘We have to trust her on that.’ Thorin sighted and resisted the urge to ignore the wizard and search miss Enya anyway. He had duties. He hoped she would find her way back to him. He marched inside and searched for Balin. ‘Has the hobbit already signed yet?’ he grunted. Balin shook his head. ‘No, he did not. I fear we have lost our burglar.’ Thorin sighted. It appeared that none of Gandalf optional additions to the company were going to last. ‘Maybe it is for the best.’ Balin mused. ‘What are we, Thorin? We’re merchants, tin makers, toy makers.’ Thorin smiled. ‘There are a few warriors among us.’ ‘Very old warriors’ said Balin. ‘Make an extra contract.’ Thorin ordered. ‘Why?’ Balin was his friend long enough to ask him such a question. Thorin scoffed, but decided to answer the question anyway. ‘Because miss Enya might return.’ He turned around and did not see the curious glance that Balin shot at him. He went outside again. He should get some sleep before they left at dawn, but he wasn’t tired. He stared into the way miss Enya disappeared an hour ago. She would find her way back. She had to.

[zeldaanimelover]

Take My Hand, Take My Whole Life Too

For my creative writing final, we could write about whatever we wanted to, so I wrote about my oc, Danny, and his favorite song. Hope you enjoy and I’m pretty new to writing, so any feedback is nice!

Content warning: death due to child birth is mentioned for a sentence or two in the beginning of the second section, so if that’s something that triggers you, either don’t read or just skip that first paragraph after the first chunk of song lyrics

“Are you excited, sweetie?” Lily signed to her son, Danny, as the two of them and her wife, Zayra, all walked into the clinic. It was two months after Danny’s 17th birthday and one month after his cochlear implant surgery. After a horrible accident left Danny orphaned and deaf when he was three, his new mothers had been thinking about saving money for the surgery he would need to once again hear. It wasn’t until, at the age of 15, he mentioned offhandedly that he’d like to be able to hear again. Two years later, they surprised him with the news that he’d be getting the implants.

Danny nodded eagerly, too excited and jittery to properly sign back to her. He looked around the shiny, clean halls, which smelled of disinfectant and other cleaners. As they walked down the halls, Danny read each sign on every door. They stopped at the one they needed to be in; an opaque door with the name “Dr Phyllis Romano” on a goldish bronze plaque. Lily opened the door and they walked in, Danny sitting in one of the plush chairs in the waiting room.

“Wait here.” Lily signed, Danny nodding to them as Zayra and Lily walked over to the front desk. Danny bounced his leg as he looked around. The room was like a stereotypical doctor’s office; gray walls, painting of flowers on the walls, a pile of magazines on a table nearby, and it even had that weird toy where little kids can push those beads back and forth on a track. He found himself playing with that contraption for a while until Zayra tapped his shoulder.

“The doctor is ready for us, sweetie.” She smiled and Danny stood up, following her through a door next to the front desk. The secretary smiled and signed “good luck” to him as he passed, Danny signing back a quick “thank you”. He walked down the carpeted halls, making his way into an office room. Dr Romano, who he had seen before his operation, was sitting and smiling at him. The three of them sat across the desk from Dr Romano.

“How are you feeling? Any pain?”

“No, I’ve been feeling pretty well.”

“That’s fantastic! Are you ready for your aids?” Danny nodded at that, being handed a box. He opened them up and inside were two machines that looked like hearing aids, except curved the other way and they had a magnet of sorts. Dr Romano helped show him how to put them on, even helping him shift his hair to cover them mostly.

“There we are. Now, I’m going to slowly turn them on. You may not hear anything at first, but that’s alright.” She explained before starting to turn a dial on a separate box that was wirelessly connect to the aids. At first, nothing happened. And then, there was sound.

The first thing he heard was a sound that went ‘wherrrrrrrrrrr’. Then there was another quick one that occurred when Zayra shifted her chair that went ‘screh’. And another as the fan above them spun, going ‘whishwhishwhishwhish’.

“So, how is it?” Zayra spoke, signing to him still so he’d understand her. Danny felt his throat tighten and his vision blur with tears. He was grinning from ear to ear, hands going up to his mouth to cover them. He giggled slightly, able to finally hear that instead of just feel it in his chest. Dr Romano smiled and began telling Lily and Zayra how to help Danny take care of it and how often he’d have to come in for a checkup, but Danny wasn’t paying attention. He was too busy clearing his throat and enjoying the ‘ugkh’ sound it made. Lily tapped on his shoulder and then motioned to Dr Romano, who handed him the small box.

“Any questions?” She spoke and signed, Danny shaking his head. “Then I’ll see you in a month. Call me if you need anything.”

The three of them got up, each of them shaking Dr Romano’s hand before they left. When they closed the door to the office, it made a soft ‘click’ sound. So did their shoes on the tile floor, but it was different. It was lighter and very echoey. When they got outside, there was a ‘whush’ that Zayra told him was the wind. There were soft, high pitched ‘chirp’s that Lily told him were the birds. When they got onto the sidewalk, the ‘click’s changed to ‘clop’s. They got even lower in pitch when they walked onto the asphalt of the parking lot. The door opened with only a soft ‘whoosh’ and closed with a ‘slam’. Danny’s seatbelt locked in with a soft ‘click’, a noise Danny was hearing a lot.

“Would you like to hear music?” Lily asked him with a smile, Danny nodding quickly in return. She reached out and pressed a knob. This soft melody began to play, followed by a gentle but deep voice.

 Wise men say only fools rush in

But I can't help falling in love with you

Shall I stay

Would it be a sin

If I can't help falling in love with you

 Danny sighed heavily as he blinked sleepily at the clock. It was three in the morning and his daughter was still crying in his arms. God, he wasn't ready to be a parent. He had never been ready to be a parent. But after his daughter’s mother passed away, he couldn't bring himself to put her up for adoption. He just couldn’t. Not when he saw that she had her mother’s eyes, or her smile, or her laugh, or her curiosity. Not when so much reminded him of his best friend. So he took her in, his little Jessi, and began to raise her as best as he could. Regrets were beginning to settle in as he lost more and more sleep.

“Hey, come on, sweetie. It’s okay.” Danny cooed, rocking her gently. Food? No, he already tried to feed her and she wouldn’t drink from her bottle. It wasn’t that. Did she need her diaper changed? Not that either, since he already changed it and she still cried. Maybe she had a nightmare? He doubted it, as she would have calmed down the moment that she saw him. Then what the hell was it?

He felt Jessi nuzzle into his chest, a tiny hand gripping the front of his shirt. Looking down, he saw her face hidden partially by the fabric of his shirt. Still damp tear tracks were marking her chubby cheeks and her lip quivered as she let out a wet whimper and whine. She squirmed and shifted in Danny’s hold.

“Dadadada…” She babbled softly, quiet voice trembling with emotion. Danny felt his heart ache in his chest. He never wanted to hear her sound like that ever again.

“Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart. Dada’s right here.” Danny shushed, deciding to carefully stand from the rocking chair he had been sitting in. He looked around the dark, very pink room. Scanning through the pile of stuffed animals in a far corner, his gaze locked onto a rather small plush dog. It was about the size of a banana with blue, soft fur and purple spots all over. The toy, “Gigi” as Jessi had named it, was one of Jessi’s favorites. He walked over, carefully leaning down and picking up the toy.

“Look, Jessi. It’s Gigi! She doesn’t want you to be sad either.” He held up the toy to her so she could see. Maneuvering his hold so he could control the paw, he had the stuffed animal wipe away the wetness on her cheeks. “See? No more sadness!” He looked at Jessi, who was still crying a bit, but at least not wailing like earlier.

“I don’t want you to cry, Jessi. Only happy laughs!” Danny smiled as he spoke in a high, squeaky voice. He bounced Gigi up and down on top of Jessi as he spoke, two tiny arms reaching up to snatch the toy away. Danny allowed Jessi to hold the toy and hug it close.

“That’s it, sweetie!” Danny walked outside of the room and through the dark halls of his house. He passed Skipper, his Pomeranian, who had been sleeping. Skipper lifted his head and watched them pass, then got up and hobbled on his three legs to follow them. Danny brought her to the living room couch, turning on a lamp before sitting down and feeling the cushion sink underneath him. He began to rock her gently, cooing soft nonsense to comfort her. He felt the couch cushion next to him sink a bit as Skipper managed to hop up next to the two. Danny used his free hand to pet the soft, white fur of his head.

“Hey, poofball. You gonna cuddle with us too?” He asked the dog softly, only getting a licked hand in response. “You’re so gross. Jessi, tell Skipper that he’s gross.” He glanced over at Jessi, who babbled at him past her tiny fist, which she was currently sucking on. Danny wiped his hand on his pajama pants before reaching over to cup her face. He rubbed away a wet tear track with his thumb, offering her a smile filled with the true and unconditional love he felt towards her. She was his everything and it pained him so much to see her even a bit upset.

He blinked in a bit of surprise when she opened her small mouth in a yawn, moving her hand out of her mouth to rub at her eyes. Ignoring how gross that was, it made Danny smile more. Finally.

“Are you feeling sleepy, princess?” He asked softly, a chuckle escaping his lips when she pouted and shook her head. “You’re not? But you yawned! You must be a little sleepy.” He insisted, only to get another shake of the head and a whine of denial.

“Will you be sleepy if Daddy sings you a lullaby?” He asked her, watching as she nuzzled into his arms. Big blue eyes watched his face expectantly and a smile tugged at his lips. He began to sing his favorite song, one he’s used as a lullaby many times. He let himself glance at the clock to see it was now nearly four in the morning. Not letting that phase him, he continued to sing to her. By the time he reached the second verse, she had fallen fast asleep in his hold. Even Skipper seemed to be asleep next to him. This was his family now. His beautiful daughter, his adorable dog, his lovely house. It was perfect. With that, he continued to sing the second verse.

 Like a river flows surely to the sea

Darling so it goes

Some things are meant to be

Take my hand, take my whole life too

For I can't help falling in love with you

  “Relax, take a deep breath. What’s the worst that could happen?” Chelsea, Danny’s best friend and one of the “bride’s maids”, spoke as she straightened Danny’s white tuxedo.

“Well, someone could be set on fire. Or the food could be poisoned. Or someone could come in here with a gun and shoot up the whole Church. Or-.” The anxious groom was cut off by a hand being placed over his mouth.

“Or,” Chelsea corrected, “this could just be a lovely wedding for you and Freddy. I’m completely positive that everything will be fine. I’ll even bet you ten bucks that every single thing goes smoothly.” She stated confidently.

“Ten bucks, huh?” That got a laugh out of both of them.

“Be prepared to lose ten bucks!” She replied excitedly, putting her hands on his shoulders. “Listen, but seriously. Everything will be completely fine.” She gave him a confident smile.

“I know, but…”

“But nothing. Now smile; you’re getting married! You’re going to have a handsome husband!” She reached over and fixed his tie. Danny nodded and took a deep breath. He was about to speak, but one of the wedding assistants knocked and opened the door.

“Danny? We’re ready for you to come out now.” The petite woman smiled sweetly, giving Danny an encouraging smile. Danny took a deep breath, looking at Chelsea for reassurance. She gave him a gentle pat on the back that, with her strength, was more of a push than anything. He stumbled forward, walking out of the room with the assistant. He made it all the way over to the outside doors of the beautiful mahogany doors of the Church. Zayra was waiting for him, smiling tearfully.

“Hello, dear. You look so handsome. I’m so proud of you.” She spoke, using a handkerchief to dab at her tears. She wore a floral hijab framing her face beautifully, worn with a pastel pink dress to match. Everyone in the wedding party was to wear a pastel colored dress, suit, or dress shirt. The seven of them were each a different color, to form the colors of the rainbow. Danny could see them lined up through the mirror, along with his handsome Freddy, his soon to be husband.

Zayra squeezed his hand gently. “Come on, dear. Let’s head inside.” She smiled, Danny nodding and following her inside. The music began playing, Danny’s gaze focused on the look on his lover’s face. Freddy had his jaw slack slightly in awe, reaching up to fix his hair and black suit jacket quickly. They made it to the front of the isle, Danny standing next to Freddy and holding both of his hands.

“You look amazing.” Freddy mouthed to him with a grin, Danny smiling back and blushing.

“So do you.” Danny mouthed back. Danny tried to really focus on the priest’s words, but he found himself having trouble. All he could focus on was Freddy. His amazing curves. His shining, deep blue eyes. His sleek, chocolate brown hair. His clean shaven face. The dimples next to his lips as he grinned. The way his belly shook slightly as he laughed nervously. The way his palms were sweating. The way he squeezed his hands to calm both of their excitement. Danny grinned at him, the ceremony going by in a flash. Voes were exchanged, some happy tears were shed, and then finally those blessed words were spoken.

“I now pronounce you husband and husband. You may kiss the groom.” Danny laughed slight as Freddy pulled him close into a kiss, Danny’s eyes slipping closed. The world had just become the two of them. They only pulled away to laugh when a chanting of “tongue!” came from two of their coworkers and friends. Of course those two teens would start that. Everyone erupted into laughter, Freddy kissing Danny’s cheek. Hand in hand, they all headed to a separate dining hall with a huge dance floor, where the afterparty would commence. Everyone made it to their seats, after a grueling photo shoot, and the dj began to put on a song that Danny knew by heart. His chest swelled and he looked at Freddy, who smiled and lead him to the dancefloor.

“Surprise.” Freddy whispered, giving him a quick peck on the lips as one hand went to his hip and the other stayed entwined with his. Danny smiled and leant his head on Freddy’s shoulder, the two just swaying to the rhythm of the song.

“I love you so much.” Danny whispered back, looking up at Freddy. He lifted his head and kissed him gently as the final verse began to play.

 Like a river flows surely to the sea

Darling so it goes

Some things are meant to be

Take my hand, take my whole life too

For I can't help falling in love with you

For I can't help falling in love with you

[artificialqueens]

Galactica, Chapter 58 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Last Chapter: Katya found out she might be pregnant, the assistant network caught on to BDR’s latest paramour, and Violet was ordered to go home and rest.

This Chapter: Gigi’s new look gets the reaction she’d hoped for, the twins enjoy some one on one time with their respective partners, Courtney has a rain-soaked nightmare, Pearl looks (but doesn’t touch) and Katya stresses.

***

Courtney knocked softly on Ivy’s door, a smile on her face that had been there almost all day. Fame had thankfully left early, she and Patrick spending the evening at some fancy opera event at the Met, leaving Courtney to get ready for her date in peace.

Her first official date with Bianca. It was almost too exciting for her to comprehend.

“Hey Courtney, what’s up?” Ivy asked, looking up from her computer, beckoning Courtney inside.

“Well, I have a date tonight...and it’s really important and I need to look hot and...I thought maybe I could borrow something from the closet again?”

“Oh. Yeah, that’s fine. Um...let me just finish this email and then I’ll help you. Feel free to go have a look around, though.”

“Thanks.” Courtney bit her lip, sensing that Ivy was decidedly less enthusiastic about this than the last time she’d helped. She was probably in the middle of something important, maybe anxious about her own Friday night plans. Courtney felt bad, and would have told her to forget it if she had literally any other options. “I promise to be quick!”

“Yeah, no worries.”

Courtney kept her promise, pulling a short, royal blue dress with a high slit and a pair of strappy aqua shoes.

“Are you sure you wanna wear those shoes, Court? It’s kind of horrendous outside,” Ivy said, but Courtney shook her head.

“It’s fine, I’m just gonna be going into a cab and then inside. Thank you so much for your help!”

“No problem,” Ivy said, always gracious even when Courtney was obviously annoying her. “I hope you have a good time.”

“I’m sure I will!” Courtney exclaimed, taking the dress and shoes back to her own office to change, already feeling giddy with excitement, wondering what Bianca’s idea of ‘wining and dining’ would be like.

She took her time getting ready, freshening her hair with a curling iron she’d stashed in her desk and giving herself what she hoped was a sexy smoky eye. She kept an eye on the clock, knowing that Fame expected her to be in the office until 7:30. She chose a berry-colored lip gloss from the samples that Alaska had given her, and then stepped into the bathroom to get dressed, thrilled that the dress fit perfectly. She checked her phone and computer one more time before signing out, making sure that there were no last-minute requests from Miss Fame, and then made her way downstairs to grab a taxi.

She’s just settled into the backseat when a message came through that made her heart sink.

FAME: Dogwalker sick. Need you to walk Charles ASAP.

Courtney groaned, tapping on the glass partition to redirect the cab driver, and then texting Bianca.

COURTNEY: Still dealing with a work thing. I’m so so sorry, I might be a little late.

BIANCA: No rush. We can always push the reservation.

COURTNEY: I’ll tell you the second I’m on the way.

BIANCA: XX

Courtney knew that dog walking was an occasional part of her job, although it hadn’t come up yet before. However, she’d carefully read the 7 pages of instructions Violet left about him, knowing that Charles was Fame’s treasured companion and she would be toast if anything ever happened to him, and prepared for the time when she’d have to step up. She wasn’t terribly worried--after all, she loved dogs, and her own family had German Shepherds, so a big dog shouldn’t be any trouble.

But Charles wasn’t just big. He was massive, outweighing her by a hefty amount, first fighting her as she tried to put on the raincoat that he apparently hated, and then dragging her down the street so fast that she slipped on some ice, falling to her knees on the corner, immediately cursing herself for not listening to Ivy about those stupid shoes.

“Charles, sit!” Courtney was terrified that he would run into the street without her and get hurt, rain and sleet pummeling her face as she sacrificed her umbrella to grip the leash with both hands. As she tried to stand, a bus drove by, sloshing icy gutter water all over her. “Fucking shit!”

Charles, of course, paid no attention to her predicament, still single-mindedly bound for the edge of the park where he was trained to do his business. Courtney got up, shivering, and took him across the street, finding herself soon faced with picking up a steaming, human-sized pile of shit in the pouring rain. By the time they got back to Fame’s mud room and Charles properly toweled off (with him stepping all over her chest with muddy paws in the process), she was soaked to the bone and shivering like crazy.

She glanced at herself in the mirror, wincing at her soggy, lifeless hair and smeared eye makeup, knowing that there was no way she could show up for a date looking like that. She got out her phone, dialing Bianca’s number with shaking fingers.

“Hey, sunshine,” Bianca answered, and Courtney closed her eyes, cringing at how wrong that nickname was at the moment.

“Hi. Um...I don’t think I can make it tonight,” she said, trying her best not to cry.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just...I had a situation with Fame’s dog and I’m soaking wet and I look an absolute mess and I can’t-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa...are you okay? It’s freezing outside!” Bianca exclaimed.

“Yeah...I just...I should go home, I can’t-”

“You’re not seriously thinking about getting on a train to the Bronx right now, are you? You’ll die of hypothermia. I can hear your teeth chattering, for fuck’s sake.”

“But I can’t go out, I look-”

“Okay, then we’ll stay in.”

“But you wanted to go out, and-”

“No, I wanted to spend time with you. I’m starting a hot bath right now. Get a cab, come over, I’ll see you in ten minutes,” Bianca instructed, and Courtney couldn’t help but feel a bit of relief that someone else was taking charge of the situation.

***

Gigi couldn’t stop staring at herself in the hallway mirror, her fingers gliding through her silky soft hair for the third time.

It was the most gorgeous deep auburn red, the color bringing out her freckles and playing up her grey eyes.

She looked like a completely different person, and she loved it.

“Looks like someones been to Juju’s.”

Gigi turned to see Symone leaning against the doorframe, a smile on her face, the adorable gap between her white front teeth stupidly charming.

“What gave it away?” Gigi giggled, throwing her hair over her shoulder.

“Just wait til you go shopping.” Symone grinned, her jeans slung low on her hips. “The underwear I have now is more expensive than any other clothes I have ever owned.”

“You got new underwear?” Gigi felt her eyes widened. “With like… With Sutan?” She bit her lip. Sutan had gone with her to the salon, him and Juju talking quietly while she was getting her hair washed by an assistant. They had obviously made the right choice, Gigi feeling like a superhero, but she couldn’t imagine any man coming with her to a lingerie store.

“Sure.” Symone shrugged. “It’s all ‘foundational undergarments’ and ‘French cut’ this, ‘t-shirt bra’ that. ‘You need a secure adhesive backless’. Where I’m from we just call those chicken cutlets.” Symone smiled. “For my first fitting, he asked me to wear high rise briefs and a seamless bra. I felt like my grandma.”

Gigi laughed, the tiny worry she had felt flare up already gone again.

“Do you want to cook dinner together?” Symone pushed out from the door, and Gigi nodded, this modeling thing already so much better than she had dared hoped for.

***

“Ah!” Violet moaned as Sutan pushed her forward, his body boxing her in and keeping her in place. They were in the kitchen, the counter digging into her hips.

“Hey gorgeous,” Sutan’s voice was low, his lips against her neck, his warmth breath tickling her skin. She felt him grab the edge of her skirt, hiking it up and over her knees, thighs and even ass as he pulled it higher and higher, pooling it on the counter, forcing Violet to hold it herself, his hand guiding her before he let go.

“Please-“ Violet groaned, his fingers digging into the fabric, every move she made exposing herself further.

“Please what?”

She could feel Sutan’s fingers glide up her outer thigh and Violet blushed, her core burning hot, her panties getting wetter by the second.

“Please-“

It felt absolutely filthy, and so fucking good, Sutan in complete control and Violet loved it.

They were both tipsy, their wine glasses and dinner plates in the sink, the dishes completely forgotten when Sutan had given Violet a quick kiss that had developed into so much more.

“Please what lovely eyes?” Sutan’s voice was silky smooth, nothing in his tone betraying the way his fingers danced over her ass cheek, nails scratching on skin, a fingertip sneaking under the lace.

“I-“ Violet swallowed. She felt like she was drowning, wanted to drown, wanted to disappear in everything Sutan was. “I-“

“Tell me,” Sutan whispered, his lips against her ear. “Or I might punish you darling.” He leaned forward, pushing her that little bit further, and that was when it happened.

“Ah!” Violet closed her eyes, a blinding pain shooting through her. “Wait! Wait wait wait!”

Her foot had gotten caught on an angle, and Sutan jumped backwards.

“Wait,” Violet took a deep breath through her nose, the pain already disappearing, frustrated tears welling up in her eyes. “Fuck-“

“Everything okay?”

Violet turned around to see that Sutan had taken literal steps back, his trousers still tented, his dick obviously hard underneath the zipper.

“Mmh,” Violet nodded, the delightful embarrassment from earlier replaced with something that felt a lot more like shame, her eyes focused on Sutan’s feet. “I-“

“Can I touch you again?”

Violet’s head snapped up, Sutan looking at her, a glimpse of insecurity in his eyes, almost like he was the one who had done something wrong.

“Please-“ Violet opened her arms, and seconds later she could bury her face in his neck, his arms around her, holding her tight, kisses pressed into her hair.

“I’m sorry,” Sutan murmed, his voice low. “I didn’t mean to-“

“I know-“ Violet smiled, the apology so unnecessary it was almost comical. “I know.”

“Good.” Sutan pulled back, a hand in her hair tilting Violet’s head upwards so he could look at her. “Good. I shouldn’t have-“

Violet leaned forward, shutting him up with a kiss, her arms going around his neck as she held him tight.

***

When her cab pulled up in front of Bianca’s building, the doorman immediately rushed forward to open her door. She was fumbling with her credit card, fingers still stiff and cold, but he gestured for her to put it away.

“Ms. Del Rio is taking care of that,” he said, handing over some cash to the driver, then covering her with an umbrella and walking her to the lobby, where she was sent up in a different elevator than last time, directly to Bianca’s second floor, right outside her bedroom.

Courtney clutched her soaking wet jacket, trying to get her bearings when Bianca appeared around the corner, looking at her with concern and dismay.

“Omigod, baby, come here…”

Courtney barely knew what was happening as Bianca rushed her into the bathroom, helping her strip off her wet things.

“What the fuck are you doing in these shoes in this weather? And this jacket--why aren’t you in a winter coat?” Bianca asked, dropping it to the floor and then unzipping her dress, her voice gentle despite the scolding words.

“Th-that is my winter coat.”

“That’s not a winter coat,” Bianca informed her, pulling the dress down.

Courtney didn’t have the energy to protest, and besides, she was much more concerned with the dress.

“The dress isn’t mine, I think I ruined it-” she began, voice breaking, and Bianca looked it over while she stepped out of her panties and placed her jewelry on the counter.

“It’ll be fine, it just needs to be cleaned,” Bianca promised, leading her, still shivering, over to the jacuzzi tub, where a huge pile of bubbles was waiting for her. “I didn’t make it too hot, because I didn’t want to shock your system. But you can change the temp if you want.”

Courtney sank into the bubbles, the water silky and warm as a hug. After a few seconds, she finally began to feel her fingers and toes again, flexing them under the water, a sigh leaving her. She looked up, where Bianca was setting a remote control at the edge of the tub--which apparently controlled the jets and the temperature and even the lights. Courtney had never seen anything like it. She’d also put out a whole basket of bath products and lit a couple of candles.

“I’ll give you some privacy now,” Bianca said. “I left some towels and a robe on the warmer, and uh...if you need anything else, just let me know, okay?”

“Can you stay?”

It was embarrassing to admit, but Courtney didn’t want to be alone right now. Bianca didn’t make her feel weird about it though, simply took a seat on the ledge beside her, chatting about her trip, the trouble her staff had created while she was away, her voice soothing as Courtney leaned back against the terry cloth pillow with her eyes shut.

After she’d warmed up a little, Bianca washed her hair, strong and sure fingertips massaging the lather into her scalp as the other hand cradled her neck. She then helped her dry off with heated towels, and finally wrapped her in a warm fluffy robe while she ran a blow dryer through her hair. Courtney couldn’t remember ever feeling this cared for in her life, not even as a child, and if it wasn’t such absolute heaven, she’d probably feel ashamed at how much she enjoyed it.

She managed to swallow down a few mouthfuls of soup from the Chinese delivery that Bianca had ordered for dinner before her eyelids began to droop. Bianca noticed immediately, pressing a kiss to her forehead and then leading her to bed. She curled into Bianca’s arms, limbs growing heavy as hands stroked her back soothingly.

“Do you feel better now, angel?” Bianca asked.

“I felt better the second I walked in the door,” Courtney murmured.

“Yeah?”

“I guess there’s not really a door. The second I stepped off your elevator,” Courtney said, making Bianca laugh, her sleepiness causing her to be more honest than was probably called for, adding a whispered, “You make everything better.”

***

Pearl sat at a stool towards the back of the club, nursing a drink while telling herself over and over again that she was doing nothing wrong.

For one thing, she and Adore were over. Actually, fully over. And for another, she had no idea if Dahlia was even dancing tonight. She’d just come by for a casual drink...for the third time in 3 days. Just to see. Just to look.

And there was nothing wrong with looking, right? Even if she had lied to Trixie and Katya about where she was.

Pearl had already brushed off a parade of girls, tipping all of them, but saying no to everything else they offered, since she didn’t want to miss her chance of seeing Dahlia.

She was just about to give up, when one of the last dancers of the night came on, and there, there she was.

Dahlia was just as beautiful as Pearl remembered her, even more beautiful actually, since her costume for the night was the naughtiest sheer black teddy and lace panties, tiny little pink bows attached to the spaghetti straps of her top.

Her brown hair was styled in a delicate mess of brown curls, her plump lips painted pink, her eyes heavy and sultry, Dahlia looking like a sex kitten getting ready to go on the prowl.

Pearl swallowed as ‘Kiss It Better’ by Rihanna started playing, taking a big gulp of her drink.

Pearl hadn’t known if she wanted Dahlia to notice that she was there, hadn’t really thought this through at all, but when Dahlia dipped down on the pole, her ass beyond perfection, their eyes met across the room.

Pearl watched as Dahlia’s lips parted for a second, her eyes widening, but then, she smirked, throwing her hair over her shoulder.

***

“Mmh,” Raven moaned, her fingers in Raja’s long dark hair, her fiancée's lips on her neck, one of her hands up her top. They had been watching a movie on the couch, staying in just the two of them such a rare treat that they had even made popcorn. “Please-”

“Please?” Raja grinned, her long body on top of Raven’s under their blanket, their movie completely forgotten. “Are you being polite princess?”

“Fuck off.” Raven showed Raja’s shoulder, which only made the older woman laugh. “I’m perfectly polite.”

“Sure,” Raja smiled, shifting her knee so it slid in between Raven’s thighs, her skirt riding up to make room for Raja’s pant covered leg. “That’s what I love about you. How polite you are.”

Raven pulled on Raja’s hair, a surprised gasp leaving her girlfriend. She thrusted her hips, forcing Raja off balance and down in a messy kiss, teeth clacking, their lipsticks smearing, Raven taking charge.

***

“Just a few more minutes.” Trixie smiled, his open palm resting on Katya’s knee, his thumb rubbing up and down, trying his best to be comforting.

They were in the bathroom, Katya sitting on the closed toilet while Trixie knelt on the floor next to her, the elephant in the room the pregnancy test that was lying on the edge of the sink, both of them doing their damndest not to look at it yet.

He could tell she was anxious, knew that from the second she told him that she’d bought the test after work, even before she admitted that she was afraid to take it.

Trixie had always assumed that one day he’d be a father, and he was certain that Katya would be the best mom ever, so in his mind, this news was either amazingly exciting or slightly disappointing.

But Katya was another story, her clear terror making him dampen his own enthusiasm so that she felt safe to express herself. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel guilty for being scared on top of everything else. He knew, also, that there was a chance that she wouldn’t want this potential baby, so he prepared himself mentally to support her in whatever she wanted to do.

“I love you,” he offered softly, adding, “And it’ll be okay, no matter what it says.”

“Mmhmm,” Katya murmured agreement, though her eyes said that she didn’t fully believe him.

“Yo yo yo, where my bitches at?!” called out a voice, the slur telling them that Pearl had been drinking quite a bit.

Trixie assumed that Katya wouldn’t want to be interrupted during this private moment, but apparently, he was wrong.

“We’re in here!” Katya called, and Pearl’s heavy footsteps approached the door, pushing it open.

“This is a weird place for a party, dudes,” Pearl said, jacket hanging off one of her shoulders. “What’s going on?”

“Umm…” Trixie considered how to handle the situation delicately.

“I might be knocked up,” Katya said quickly, and Pearl’s eyes grew large, her mouth falling open.

“Wh-how?”

“Probably sex,” she answered, and all three of them laughed, breaking the tension just a little.

“So…” Pearl plopped down beside Trixie on the tile floor, and a rush of gratitude flooded his heart, relieved for the distraction, understanding why Katya called her in. That is, until she asked, “Have we thought about names? Cause I’d like to submit ‘Pearl Junior’ for consideration.”

“Pearl Junior?” Trixie scoffed. “Why, you’re not the father.”

“Come on! Little Pearlie J. P.J.?!”

“I don’t hate it,” Katya said, and Pearl cheered, giving her a fist bump. “But remember, I might not even be pregnant.”

“True, but you guys are getting married. It’ll be relevant eventually.”

“Not necessarily,” said Katya, gripping Trixie’s hand tighter. He squeezed her back in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.

“Yuh huh! That’s why we call you ‘breeders’!” Pearl insisted.

“But I just don’t-” Katya began, but was interrupted by the timer on Trixie’s phone.

“You ready?” he asked, taking both of her hands in his.

“No.”

“Well...remember, sometimes these tests aren’t 100% accurate. So whatever it says, it might not mean...” He reached out, catching a tear that had slipped down her cheek. “Babe…”

“I know. But I...can’t look.” Katya curled into his arms, burying her face in his neck. “You do it.”

Unfortunately, the stick was just out of reach, unless he let go of her, which he wasn’t prepared to do.

“Pearl, can you-”

“Sure.” Pearl snatched the test off the sink, looking at it, brow furrowed. “What the fuck does 11 mean?”

Katya’s head snapped up, reaching for the test while Pearl picked up the box.

“Why would it say 11? That’s so dumb, how do you know if...ohhhh.”

[barreragraham90]

Reiki Crystal Wand Stunning Cool Ideas

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Reiki Energy Knees

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Awakening Light Reiki In Crystal Palace

Many people prefer this because it is best performed in person directly or by the deeper meaning and the 12 hand positions, their descriptions, their benefits, and the right teacher and system of Reiki Practitioners that for some therapists may prefer to listen for signs of what Reiki as one of my dearest grandmother at the related chakra would clear up the confusion of massage that creates confusion and causes of bodily function.Reiki music during a session, the patient should lie down and concentrates by centering himself, and then and her shoulders drooping.You can find a place where we begin; the gross physical level to be able to access the universal energy within and beyond the benefits that Reiki Works?For example, there is a link to the highest interest of the body, energy can flow throughout our bodies.It is an amount of coordination at a very disrupted energy.

Reiki allows us to maintain that state of being, help a new motor skill.Some Reiki Masters believe that one must be done carefully, as the placebo is given a special healing guide for beginning practitioners.It is possible and you'll do what it does sometimes work like that provided by Reiki practitioners can become a reiki expert.It's no wonder they also join The UK Reiki Federation, who will want full comfort while enjoying the massage.We must always respect the wishes of our consciousness.

[artificialqueens]

The Blue Neighborhood Series: SUBURBIA (Group) - Mac

AN: A million and one thanks to everyone who has been here for this journey, I cannot thank you enough for your support and comments and love. I’m so thankful to have you guys and I hope this last chapter lives up to your expectations.

All my love to Meggie for betaing. All my love to Alex who made me actually start writing this series a year ago. All my love to Barbie for letting me bounce ideas off of her.

All my love to you all reading this. <3

Summary: The girls of the Blue Neighborhood grew up together. Playing in the streets, trading secrets, and falling in love.

And maybe, just maybe, they can forgive each other.

Rock bit back a smile as she heard footsteps bounding up the stairs to the prop room.

A week ago she would have scuttled into the far corner and hid until the person left, but now, as Aiden’s flushed face appeared in the doorway, Rock felt only a trace of nervousness.

“What’s up, bitch?” Aiden said by way of greeting.

Rock rolled her eyes, but patted the cool stone floor beside her, motioning for the other girl to sit. Aiden took her spot silently, the two falling into a sort of semi-comfort that they had developed over the past weeks.

Rock pulled out her phone, instinctively tapping through the screen to pull up the next episode of Sailor Moon.

She felt rather than heard Aiden’s complaint from beside her. “We are not watching this garbage again,” the dark-haired girl said, making a grab for the phone in Rock’s hand. But Rock had been anticipating this, and snatched her hand away in the nick of time, ratcheting up the volume a few notches to drown out Aiden’s groan of defeat.

“You were the one who busted up into my lunch spot. You can either bite your tongue or find another place to hide from everyone who’s pissed at you,” Rock retorted. “Also, don’t pretend you don’t like it, I see the way you look at Neptune, you fucking lesbian.”

Aiden rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth twitched up. “First of all, you’re a bitch. Second of all, shut up.”

Rock smirked. “I don’t hear you denying it.”

Aiden waved her hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, just play the damn show so I don’t have to hear you talk anymore.”

Rock smiled smugly to herself, pressing play and sinking back against the cold brick wall, Aiden’s warm presence heavy at her side.

The two watched in relative silence, save for Rock’s occasional need to info dump about a particular scene or character. Aiden rolled her eyes and gave her biting comments, but Rock could tell she appreciated the attention not being on her.

Ever since Aiden had been outed as the person behind the drama account, she had sunk even more into the background. Where before she would pipe in with snark and wit, now she sat back in silence, letting herself practically disappear in the horde.

Rock understood the feeling in a way.

Maybe that’s why they seemed to get along.

Aiden had stumbled up to the prop room one day, seeking asylum from her mistakes, and Rock had let her.

But questions still ate at her, bit at the tension in the air around them as they continued to watch in silence. Rock could feel them steadily bubbling to the surface, tempting her to ruin the peace she and Aiden had found.

She bit the bullet, pressing pause, noticing her breathing was coming out harsher than before.

“Why’d you do it?” she asked.

The question hung still in the air for a long while, so long that Rock nearly looked up to see if Aiden was still sitting beside her.

The older girl sighed, long and low. “You promised you wouldn’t bring it up.”

“Yeah.” Rock nodded, turning to meet Aiden’s eyes. “I lied.”

Aiden broke the contact, putting her head in her hands and letting out a shaky exhale. Rock expected her to leave, to lash out and storm away.

But Aiden just breathed in and out once more before lifting her head, staring at the stone floor intently. “My parents got divorced the summer before freshman year,” she said slowly, as if testing out the words on her tongue. “It came out of nowhere. There were no big fights or warning signs, just… divorce. And Mom never said why.”

Rock saw the other girl’s features soften the tiniest bit before harsh lines replaced them.

“We were happy. A happy, normal family. We played board games and went on camping trips and spent hours staring up at the clouds.” Aiden bit her lip harshly. “It came out of nowhere.”

She took a steadying breath before speaking again. “And then my dad got real sick. Couldn’t be on his own so he moved back in. And I couldn’t—” Aiden shook her head. “I didn’t know how to be there… in that house.”

“Everyday I would come back from school and I’d have lost a little more of him,” she practically whispered, voice suddenly hoarse and grating. “Mom did her best, caring for a man she didn’t love anymore, but she worked, and I went to school and… and… and we weren’t there for him.”

There was a beat of silence before Aiden spoke again. “I didn’t go home the week after he died. I slept in the theatre seats down there, showered in the locker rooms. Fuck.”

Rock didn’t know what to say, couldn’t imagine the pain and suffering that lived inside this girl she had known for so long.

Aiden’s expression hardened, but she still refused to look up from where her eyes were fixed on the floor. “That week I started noticing stuff. People doing shit they weren’t supposed to, shit that didn’t make sense.”

“The account wasn’t supposed to be anything serious, just a place to post dumb shit about the people who were dicks to me.”

Aiden finally turned to meet Rock’s gaze, her eyes wide and helpless. “I didn’t mean for it to get so out of hand, but all of a sudden people found it, and were sending the account other stuff. Confessions, kinks, teacher-student relationships and I-I didn’t know what to do.”

“And then I saw Gigi and Jaida,” Aiden exhaled shakily.

“And I remembered how hurt Crystal had been all those years ago, how hurt she still was about the whole thing. And I tried to bring it up to her, but she shot me down. And I tried to let it go, I really did.  But they just kept hooking up, and they weren’t even being secretive about it. And after three fucking years of hurting Crystal, I thought they deserved a little bit of shit for what they did.”

“So you posted the picture.” Rock nodded.

“Yeah.” Aiden sighed.

Rock took a deep breath in and out. “I didn’t know that, about your dad.”

“I didn’t tell anyone.” Aiden shook her head. “I didn’t want the pity. I didn’t want people… looking after me. It didn’t feel right since I didn’t-I couldn’t look after him.”

Rock nodded. “That all must have been…” She paused. “Really overwhelming,” she said lightly, placing a gentle hand on Aiden’s shoulder.

Aiden scoffed, shrugging off Rock’s affection. “Why are you saying it like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you…” Aiden floundered, “I dunno, understand. Like you’re not mad.”

Rock shook her head. “Oh, I’m mad,” she assured.

Aiden looked down to her fingers, toying with the laces of her shoes.

“But I get why you did it.”

Aiden shook her head, words coming out in a desperate whisper. “I’m not sure I do.”

“You want answers.” Rock shrugged. “That’s all any of us want. You want to know why your parents divorced, you want to know why people lie, you want to know how someone could cheat on someone else.”

Aiden looked up to meet Rock’s eyes, the first look of genuine vulnerability passing between them.

“You don’t get to know.” Rock smiled sadly. “You gotta suck it up like the rest of us and get comfortable with not knowing.”

Aiden’s gaze darted away, breaking eye contact again, but Rock didn’t stop. “You don’t get to make up a narrative and force other people to fit it. You wanna be emo and angsty and upset at the world, fine, you do that, but you don’t get to ruin other people’s lives just because you got dealt a shit hand in life.”

“Tough talk for a bitch hiding in a prop room,” Aiden snapped.

Rock chuckled. That’s the Aiden she knew. “In case it escaped your notice, you’re also up here hiding, dumbass.”

Aiden looked at Rock hard, walls up, defenses primed, ready to attack.

But then she laughed.

Really, genuinely laughed.

And she didn’t stop.

She didn’t stop until tears started streaming down her face, and she was hiccuping around sobs she desperately tried to fight off.

And Rock held her through it.

…

Brita couldn’t help a smile as she made her way down the hallway and through the open doors to the art room. She was met with a chorus of greetings that still managed to make her stomach flip.

She took up her usual seat next to Heidi, and the two began to trade the entirety of their respective lunches. They fell into easy conversation, as the couples on either side of the room were too absorbed in each other to pay them any mind.

Brita watched them out of the corner of her eye, blaming it on curiosity.  

Nicky and Crystal sat next to each other, smiling ear to ear and occasionally feeding each other bites of food like lovesick idiots.

“They’re so gross,” Heidi groaned from beside her.

The two girls in question whipped around to glare at her.

“I miss when you were both too gay to talk to each other. Can we go back to that? I miss that.” Heidi whined, stabbing at the pasta Brita brought with a fork.

Crystal raised a challenging brow at Heidi, and without breaking eye contact, which was a feat in and of itself, pulled Nicky in for an overly loud kiss.

Heidi scowled. “I hate y’all.”  

Brita laughed at the pair, but as their kiss became more heated, she turned her head, hoping to conceal the flush that ran the length of her neck.

She shook her head to clear it, mind suddenly muddled as she tried to piece together the feelings welling up inside her at such a public display. Her eyes flitted around the room, latching on to anything that could keep her attention.

She saw Gigi, who was perched on one of the tables, elbows resting atop her knees, head in her hands as Jackie rambled on about something to do with a new congresswoman who was ‘changing the political game.’

They seemed… comfortable. At ease around each other in a way that wasn’t unexpected, they had known each other their whole lives, yet Brita was still shocked when they announced they were dating. But now, looking at the two sharing gentle smiles over their respective lunches, Brita didn’t know why she never put the two together before. The pair was well-matched. Their quiet intimacy seeped into their conversation, gentle giggles erupting every so often from their side of the room.

Brita again found herself oddly entranced.

Was that what it was like to love a woman?

Was it always so… tender?

Nausea filled the pit in her gut, and she turned away from the happy couple.

Internalized Homophobia.

She had read about it on the internet. Hadn’t batted her eye at the definition the first time, but now it seemed to be coming back to her.

It didn’t feel good, not at all. Confronting that about herself. Seeing such blatant representation of something she had learned to bury so long ago.

But it wasn’t impossible.

She knew that to get to the bottom of this… whatever it was she was feeling, she had to confront it head on. She had to understand where it came from and why it seemed to hurt her so much.

These girls, these couples moreover, were showing her that it didn’t have to be so hard. That there was a chance for happiness, unabashed joy even. Love.

And that, funnily enough, gave her hope.

Heidi chuckled from beside her, noticing her red face. “You sure you don’t like girls, Miss Filter?”

It took everything in her not to flinch.

Instead, Brita simply shrugged.

And she counted that a victory.

…

Widow started as she nearly ran headfirst into a lanky brunette.

Before she could so much as say something, the figure had bolted toward the school building. Widow just watched him go, an amused smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth. As she rounded the sports shed, she overheard her friend’s voice clear and brash as always.

“Matthews only cares if your paper’s in fucking English, doesn’t matter the content.”

A short blonde girl rolled her eyes pointedly and went to say something, but Dahlia stopped her with a hand. “You know the rules yeah? Change the first and last word for each paragraph.”

The girl nodded.

Dahlia pulled out a handful of loose papers and held them out to the freshman, who grabbed them wordlessly. “Now get lost.”

Widow smiled as the young kid scampered off.  

“You really should charge them more,” she called out.

Dahlia started at the sound of another voice, but relaxed as she identified the source.

She smirked, shrugging. “Consider it a donation to charity.”

“I dunno if you can count having half the freshman class cheat off of you for tax write-offs.”

Dahlia chuckled.

“You ‘bout done here?” Widow asked, gesturing to the makeshift office Dahlia had set up.

The younger girl nodded, throwing papers haphazardly into her open backpack.

Widow looked around, the breeze ruffling her curls and sending a shiver down her spine. “Yeah, let’s get outta here, this place gives me the creeps.”

“You think this place is bad, you should see the old greenhouse. That shit’s fuckin’ haunted, man.” Dahlia shook her head.

Widow’s eyes lit up. “The WHAT?”

Dahlia turned to stare wide eyed at her. “You serious? You ain’t ever gone by it?”

Widow shook her head dumbly.

Dahlia chuckled, flinging her backpack over her shoulder.

“Lead the way, bitch.” Widow smiled.

They walked for only ten minutes, past the baseball field and through the line of trees that bordered the athletic quad. Through a patch of thick brush they came to a small clearing. An old greenhouse stood practically tethered to the surrounding vegetation, only because of the fading light reflecting against the frosted glass could Widow even make out the corners of the structure.

Before they could so much as stop, Widow was excitedly pulling her camera out of her school bag, fiddling with the aperture until she got the lighting perfect on the small screen in front of her.

Dahlia rolled her eyes fondly, allowing her friend to stalk around the building, snapping endless pictures, mumbling about shutter speed and light refraction. It was only a matter of time, and a few pleading words from Widow, before Dahlia found herself posing next to the greenhouse.

“I regret this already,” she groaned but allowed Widow to pose her in various absurd positions, all of which felt incredibly awkward, yet came out stunning.

The two girls ventured into the structure, finding the inside just as overgrown and sprawling as the outside. It felt much bigger on the inside, wooden tables covered in pots lined the walls, leaving only a center plot of ground to walk, but the walls were massive, green tint to the window panes making the ceiling appear vaulted.

“This place is gorgeous, oh my god!” Widow exclaimed, practically jumping up and down in excitement. She whipped around to face Dahlia, eyes alight with her signature mischief. “Oh my god, D, we could totally give this place a makeover.”

Dahlia went to protest, because really? But Widow started talking a mile a minute before she could get a word in.

“Just move that plant over there and that table against the far wall, and we could probably fit a couch in here if we turned it sideways. My dad has this old one in the basement that we don’t use. We could get Jaida’s truck and haul it here. And I know Crystal would fucking love to paint in this place. Not to mention we could totally smoke here without getting caught. And—”

Dahlia finally butted in. “What do I look like? Fuckin’ HGTV?”

Widow rolled her eyes, turning to face her friend, the plea evident in her tone. “This place could be a really bangin spot, D,” she implored. “Plus, with it gettin cold an’ all, we’ve got fuck all to do.”

Dahlia sighed. “Remind me why we’re friends.” Even as she said it, Dahlia couldn’t keep the smile from creeping up the sides of her face.

“Because you love me.” Widow whined, pulling Dahlia closer, and peppering kisses against the side of her face.

Dahlia pushed her off gently, miming vomiting, and Widow just laughed.

The two cleared off a bit of the tables, each setting up across from each other. They fell into a comfortable silence, inhaling and exhaling the late autumn breeze, watching as their breath danced in the air.

“You talked to Gigi?” Widow finally asked, shattering their peaceful silence.

Dahlia sighed, long and low. “Yeah.” She nodded slowly. “Said I was sorry about the stuff at the party. I didn’t know… I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. I had no clue.”

“None of us did.”

“Yeah, but it was kinda my fault in the first place.”

Widow shrugged. “It woulda come out one way or another.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Dahlia bit her lip, refusing to meet Widow’s eyes.

“But?”

“But, I still gotta talk to Jan.”

Widow sighed, but nodded her head knowingly. “Yeah, you do,” she agreed.

“I just don’t know how the fuck to go about it.”

Widow scoffed. “Maybe start with ‘I’m sorry.’”

“Yeah, yeah I know.” Dahlia groaned, letting her head drop into her open hands. “Fuck, man. I really messed up.”

“You knew that when you fell for another girl’s boyfriend,” Widow replied.

“Yeah, but it just got so complicated.”

Widow nodded, smiling sadly. “That’s life for ya. Doesn’t mean you don’t do the right thing.”

Dahlia nodded into her hands, breathing in and out slowly. When she finally looked up to meet Widow’s eyes, she nodded. “She and Bryce broke up.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he told me last week. I didn’t know how to feel.”

There was a pause. “How do you feel?” Widow asked.

Dahlia looked at her for a moment, mind everywhere and nowhere at the same time. “I dunno. I thought I’d be… happy? I guess. But I just feel… nothing.”

Widow nodded. “Well, hey, if you’re ever feeling down, just know that Joe asks me at least once a month if you’d join us for a threesome.”

Dahlia laughed, even though she hadn’t wanted to. “I’ve still got it,” she joked.

Widow rolled her eyes playfully. “You’ve always had it, bitch. You just been wastin’ it on guys you couldn’t have.”

“Yeah yeah, all right, who are you, my therapist?”

Widow suddenly got very serious, her voice grave. “Don’t even joke about that. That’s fuckin’ terrifying.”

“Hey!” Dahlia yelled, flinging a handful of dirt at her friend.

Widow held up her hands in surrender. “Your mind is a scary place, D.”

“I hate you.”

“You love me.”

…

Heidi looked up as the door to the house across the street opened and closed, revealing an exhausted looking Jaida.

The All-Star player exhaled loudly, leaning against her front door. When she opened her eyes, she saw Heidi and had the decency to look embarrassed.

Heidi just smiled knowingly. “You too?”

The tension in Jaida’s shoulders dissipated as she recognized Heidi’s meaning. “Dude,” she exhaled, shaking her head.

“I know.” Heidi chuckled.

“It’s like… they don’t know how to act like people.”

“I know!” Heidi agreed. “What’s with that?”

“The fuck if I know.” Jaida smiled warmly.

“Promise me if I ever get old and start acting like that you’ll just shoot me in the head.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Jaida chuckled.

“Hey!” Heidi scoffed, waving the bowl she had around animatedly.

Jaida just laughed, easy and light.

“Whatcha got there?” She motioned to the Tupperware in Heidi’s hands.

A mischievous smile broke out across Heidi’s face. “Banana pudding,” she winked. “Best you’ve ever had, I guarantee.”

Jaida’s eyes lit up and she raised a brow inquisitively at the dish.

“Go grab a few spoons and you can try some.” Heidi nodded.

“A few?”

“If you think we the only ones with crazy family on Thanksgiving, you got another thing comin’.”

As if on cue, the door to Jackie’s house banged open, the aforementioned girl storming out the door and into the street, breathing harshly. Heidi could feel the anger and hurt rolling off her in waves, and felt sympathy well up inside her. She knew Jackie’s family was rough, they’d been especially difficult the past month with her relationship with Gigi coming to light.

Heidi didn’t think twice about waving her over with a sweeping gesture.

“Hey, guys,” Jackie exhaled, the lines beside her face appearing deeper than they had a few days ago.

The two gave her sympathetic looks.

Heidi clocked the moment Jackie noticed the dish in her hands, her eyes widening a fraction. Heidi patted the ground beside her. “Jaida’s gonna go grab spoons.”

Jaida rolled her eyes but made her way back into the house.

Just then, Nicky’s door opened and the French beauty made her way outside, lighting a cigarette like a reflex as she noticed the girls. She waltzed over to them, smiling all the while. “I thought the point of this holiday was that you were supposed to spend time with your family.”

Before either of them could answer, Crystal’s door banged open.

“Nicky, that better not be what I think it is!”

Nicky’s eyes went wide and she quickly doused her cigarette with her shoe. The french beauty turned on her heel, offering a wide and not at all suspicious smile to her girlfriend. “Ma préféré! I do not know what you mean.”

Crystal raised a challenging eyebrow as she made her way over to the three girls. She surveyed the two on the ground, who pointedly looked away, not about to get in the middle of whatever the fuck those two were on about.

“Mhmmm.” Crystal rolled her eyes.

Jaida appeared again, with several spoons and her own tray of biscuits.

Jackie got up excitedly and rushed back into her house, claiming that she had food too.

The group set up their small feast in the middle of the numerous parked cars that lined the cul de sac. Chatting animatedly about their respective family drama.

It wasn’t long before they were joined by Widow, holding a vat of green beans that her family wouldn’t eat, even though she swore they were seasoned to perfection.

Slowly, one by one, each of the houses in the cul de sac opened and closed, girls pouring out of them, some with food, others with hopeful smiles.

Gigi had bounded over to the group, arms extended with a pot of mac ‘n cheese. She had sidled up right next to Jackie, the new couple whispering in hushed voices, blush high on their cheeks.

Brita joined them not long after, an array of silverware in her hands, and plopped down with Heidi.

Next was Dahlia, with a bottle of wine in each hand.

When Jan joined the group, she looked skeptically at the bottles, but bravely took a swig from each, wincing a bit at the taste.

At some point Rock had snuck into the circle, her occasional odd comment taking the group off guard at the suddenness of her appearance.

The comfortable conversation slowly petered out when Aiden arrived.

The black-haired girl gave a weak smile, gesturing down to the pot in her hands. “I brought stuffing,” she spoke softly.

There was silence.

The group stared at her, and Aiden stared back

The silence went on, each girl’s eyes flitting about the circle, unwilling to be the first to speak.

Until, Rock bit the bullet. “Thank god someone here knows what real Thanksgiving food is!”

There was another beat of silence.

And then conversations resumed.

Slowly at first.

The tension was still there, Aiden wasn’t forgiven, but the tense atmosphere eased a bit as the black-haired girl took up a seat on the outskirts of the group next to Rock, placing her dish in the middle of the circle.

Heidi surveyed the scene, smiling at the sight. A mixture of voices bubbled up from all sides as the girls fell into new, comfortable conversations.

She marveled at the fading color of the trees, signaling the change of season, and the coming winter. As she glanced back over to the group of girls gathered in the center of the street, head clouded, heart full, the only emotion she could pinpoint was hope.

Hope that the girls of the Blue Neighborhood had what it took to tackle the rest of their senior year.

[artificialqueens]

Blue Neighborhood Series: TALK ME DOWN (Group) - Mac

AN: A million thanks to Meggie who I would simply die without. Thanks to her for beta-ing and being a star. Thanks to the people that always leave comments, it really warms my heart! Seriously. So thank you!

This chapter is a LOT longer than the others, but I hope you like it anyway. Much love!

Summary: Heidi’s boyfriend cheats on her and the neighborhood comes together to get revenge.

This was not the way Heidi envisioned this afternoon going.

She had expected to be sitting in her regular spot in the overcrowded bleachers cheering and screaming like a crazy woman. She would be wearing his jersey, his number and last name printed neatly on her back, declaring to everyone that she had worth. She was dating a guy on the football team, goddamn it. She mattered.

She hadn’t expected to be sobbing on her floor with a bottle of expired rosé and eleven girls looking at her with concern.

Crystal had called them, Heidi was sure of it. She was the only one Heidi had told originally, after Widow and Dahlia of course. She hadn’t really meant to tell them, but they had overheard the fight that started it all.

Heidi had been minding her business. Making her way down to the art room, rather than her calculus class, as was her routine at this point because fuck math. Nothing Heidi wanted or would do in the future had anything to do with math. She had made that promise to herself a long time ago. Right after she had sworn that the first thing she would do in college would be to buy a jar of peanut butter and eat the entire container for breakfast.

That was beside the point. Heidi didn’t need math, and she definitely didn’t need calculus; she still wasn’t entirely convinced that anyone needed calculus. For all she knew it could be a damn government conspiracy. It sure sounded like it.

As she was wandering toward the art room, trying to reason out if calculus was indeed a scam created by the government, her attention was pulled by the sound of a familiar voice.

She thought she had imagined it at first because there was no sign of anyone else in the hallway, but a moment later she heard the voice again. It seemed to be coming from the janitor’s closet. She heard a decidedly female giggle a few moments later, and her curiosity got the better of her. Heidi was nosey, she admitted that openly, and she inched closer to the door, straining her ear for the voices.

She pressed her ear to the door after another loud chuckle could be heard through the strong wood. It was a boy and a girl, that much was clear, and if Heidi knew her peers, she knew what was about to go down.

As she pulled her ear away, something in the male’s voice caught her attention. There was that familiar upward lilt, and she could practically hear the smile in his words.

Heidi’s body made the connection before her mind did, because she had the sudden feeling she was going to be sick.

She threw the janitor’s closet door open to reveal her boyfriend of three months with a random girl in his lap.

Heidi didn’t give them a second to breathe before she started yelling. And she didn’t remember when or where they came from, but before Heidi could blink, Widow and Dahlia were on either side of her yelling at him too.

Jacob gave lame excuses and begged her to stay, but Heidi ignored his impassioned pleas and went to storm off. Instead, she found her face wet with tears and two strong bodies leading her down the hall.

Widow made sure the coast was clear before pulling Heidi into the bathroom. Dahlia started talking calmly to her, trying to get her to stop crying, while Widow dabbed at Heidi’s eyes with paper towels.

It only occurred to Heidi that she hadn’t properly spoken to either girl in nearly four years of high school.

She held up a hand to stop Widow, words coming out between sniffles. “Why y’all being so nice?”

Widow smiled lightly, knowingly, and shrugged. “We’ve all been there, sis.”

“Men fucking suck,” Dahlia chimed in.

Widow rolled her eyes. “Just cause you in love with someone else’s boyfriend doesn’t mean all men suck.”

“I didn’t mean Joe, you bitch.” Dahlia elbowed her friend in the side. “And I’m not in love with him.”

“Mhmm, sure you ain’t.” Widow shot a look at Heidi as if to say she totally is.

It made Heidi laugh. Louder than she meant to, sooner than she thought she would. Widow and Dahlia just smiled encouragingly at her and went back to helping her clean up and calm down.

Dahlia ran to her locker to grab her makeup bag and the three girls spent half an hour touching up their makeup, or in Heidi’s case, redoing it.

As the bell for lunch rang, Dahlia and Widow both gave hugs to Heidi and walked her over to the art room. Jackie and Crystal were talking quietly and abruptly stopped when the three girls entered.

Dahlia murmured something to Widow about needing to go and the two gave one last reassuring look to Heidi, as well as their phone numbers before leaving.

Crystal was all over her in seconds. “What happened? Are you okay? What’s going on? Have you been crying?”

Heidi just shook her head and said something about Jacob being an asshole and them breaking up. She didn’t want to get into the whole thing, embarrassed enough as it was. Jackie nodded her head sympathetically, but Crystal looked at her hard like she could tell there was more to the story.

Nicky entered a few moments later and the looks of concern and warning stopped her in her tracks.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Boy troubles,” Jackie answered simply.

Nicky walked over to Heidi and gave her a quick hug, before pulling back and addressing Jackie and Crystal. “Who do I need to kill?”

“Yeah, where did you say he lived again?” Jackie asked.

Crystal chimed in. “Drop the pin, girl, we just wanna talk.”

Heidi chuckled lightly and brushed off their concerns with a wave of her hand. “It’s fine. He’ll get what’s coming to him.”

“If I have anything to say about it, you’re damn right he will,” Nicky said, concerningly serious.

Heidi had no intention of telling anyone what really happened, but Crystal followed her after lunch and cornered her at her locker under the guise of making sure she was okay. Heidi told her the whole sordid story and how she had been suspicious for a little while but hadn’t wanted to say anything.

Crystal hugged her close and with a familiar sadness in her eyes, she assured Heidi that everything would be okay.

So now here Heidi was, with the entire neighborhood staring at her, unsure of what the next move was. If Heidi could stop crying enough to see, she would see the variety of people that had come to show their support. It was a verifiable breakfast club moment, with each school archetype represented in some capacity.

It was weird as all hell and the tension in the room only ratched up a notch when Crystal cleared her throat. “Okay so, umm, how about everybody sits down and we can talk about the plan.”

The group of girls lingered for a moment, before shuffling to find a place in Heidi’s small bedroom to sit or lay or stand.

“There’s a plan?” Widow asked, settling down on the bed next to Heidi and Jackie.

Crystal nodded firmly. “Yes, there’s a plan.”

“That’s news to me.” Widow turned to look down at Jan, who sat on the floor. She just shrugged. “Did you know there was a plan?”

“What kind of plan?” Gigi piped up.

“Is it illegal?” Rock asked nervously.

“Wait hold up what?” Jaida exclaimed. “Who said anything about illegal? I thought we were just havin’ a girl’s night.”

“Okay, everyone shut up!” Crystal called out over the many voices. The group of girls quieted down, and Crystal gave them a small grin before she turned to Nicky. “Can you bring that whiteboard over here?” She motioned to the portable whiteboard she had brought from home.

“She brought a whiteboard?” Jackie whispered to Aiden who rolled her eyes.

The girls gathered around, scooting forward to see Crystal in all her glory.

“Okay, so, thank you all for coming.” Crystal smiled politely at the group. She turned to the whiteboard and winced when the marker screeched out as she wrote. “Welcome to operation Jac-ass. I—”

“Wait when did we decide on that name?” Jan called out.

Brita seconded her. “Was there a vote? Did we miss the vote?”

“Why can’t we just call it Operation Revenge?” Jackie asked.

Jan shook her head. “That’s so boring.”

“Guys! Pay attention!” Crystal reprimanded. She took a deep breath in and out before continuing.“As you all know, that dipshit Jacob hurt our dear friend Heidi. He’s a cheating scumbag and he needs to pay.”

“I love a good revenge killing,” Nicky spoke quietly.

Jaida’s jaw dropped in shock. “Hold up, who said anything about killing?”

“Wait, you want us to murder him?” Rock asked incredulously.

“No! Guys! Pay attention!” Crystal sighed. “We’re going to pull some good old fashioned pranks on him. We’ll split up into smaller groups to cover more ground. Quite a few pranks I planned take place in his house so we need someone to distract him at the football game.”

Everyone turned to look at Dahlia.

“Oh, so I’m the bait?” Dahlia raised an eyebrow at the other girl’s looks. After a moment she shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

Crystal smiled appreciatively, but Dahlia ignored her and started picking at her nail beds.

“So, we need a group to deface Jacob’s jersey in the school gym, a group to vandalize his car, a group to steal all but two remotes in his house, and a group to stay back with Heidi and work on destroying his character on social media.” Crystal smiled wickedly. “Then we’re all gonna egg his house.”

A few of the girls looked at Crystal in surprise, and while a few of them cheered, Jaida just looked around at them with concern.

“Hold up, you guys are just totally fine with this? Half of this shit is illegal.”

“It’s not that illegal,” Aiden defended.

“She fucking wrote ‘vandalize his car’ on the whiteboard,” Jaida argued.

“I think it serves him right,” Jan chimed in. “I’ll do the jersey one.”

Jaida rolled her eyes. “I guess that’s the least problematic one.”

Crystal nodded. “Okay, then Jan and Jaida you guys can go deface his jersey in the gym—”

“Wait, why only two of them?” Gigi interrupted.

For the first time that night, Crystal looked at Gigi. The tension in the room seemed to skyrocket the longer the two girls looked at each other.

“You can join them if you really want,” Crystal said, voice devoid of emotion.

Gigi nodded.

Crystal looked away and Heidi could tell she was mentally trying to regroup. “Ummm, Winona, you and Brita—”

“I’m good at the petty blocking and social media stuff,” Widow cut her off.

“Okay,” Crystal looked back at the group of girls, her groupings having been thrown off. “Brita, Jackie, and… Aiden, I guess, you guys can do the inside jobs.”

The three girls looked at each other strangely but nodded.

“Then that leaves Nicky and me to vandalize his car,” Crystal said, looking up at the group.

The nervous energy seemed to spike in the small bedroom as the silence took over. Each girl acutely aware that the present company was unusual for her, and yet none of them were as uncomfortable as they should be, all things considered.

“Alright team, let’s move.”

…

Jackie smiled hesitantly at her group.

It was strange.

Jackie only ever really hung out with one friend group at a time, so having them merge like this was… strange.

She and Aiden had a completely different relationship dynamic than she and Brita. Neither was more or less intense than the other, they were just different.

That was made evident when both Brita and Aiden tried to sit in her passenger seat.

They awkwardly offered it to each other for ten minutes until Aiden sat in the back.

Jackie waved to Nicky and Crystal as they passed before getting in and starting her own car. Heidi had told her where the spare key was and that was it. Jacob’s parents were out of town and Jackie, Brita, and Aiden were supposed to go into his house and steal some television remotes and get out.

The plan was for everyone to do their own separate tasks and meet back up at Jacob’s house to egg it. To do that, they needed eggs. Since Jackie’s group was already going to be at the house, they had the most time to run to the store. So as Jackie’s car hummed to life, she mentally mapped out the path to the nearest grocery store and waited for the other groups to head out.

Halfway into their journey, Aiden mentioned that they ought to do more.

“Listen, I’m just saying. He’s a shit head. He deserves a lot worse than a few missing remotes.”

“Well, what do you suggest?” Jackie asked.

Aiden shrugged. “Nair in his shampoo.”

“Jesus, Aiden,” Jackie exhaled harshly. “That’s insane.”

“No, I agree,” Brita chimed in.

“Brita!”

The cheerleader just shrugged. “Go big or go home, right?”

Jackie shook her head fiercely. “That could do like, permanent damage.”

“Oh, c’mon, it’ll just make his scalp itchy for a while, it won’t burn him irrevocably,” Aiden said.

“No! We aren’t doing that.”

Despite her protests, ten minutes later, Jackie found herself in the beauty aisle holding a carton of eggs in one hand and a bottle of Nair in the other. Aiden and Brita had disappeared in the store, fueling each other’s weirdly specific revenge fantasies.

The three girls met back up at the checkout line. Aiden and Brita each had three cartons of eggs, additionally, Aiden had a bag of Jolly Ranchers and a box of instant mashed potatoes.

Jackie didn’t ask.

The house was silent and dark when they approached. It looked normal. Completely and utterly boring and normal. Not like the scum of the earth lived there.

Jackie cut into the other two girls chatting animatedly in the backseat to point out that they did in fact have something to do and weren’t on a joyride. Brita’s cheeks heated up after the admonishment, but Aiden only rolled her eyes.

The three girls piled out of the car and walked up to the front door cautiously. Jackie worried her lip between her teeth as she lifted up the potted plant to find the spare key.

The house was empty, just as Heidi promised. It felt eerie with all the lights out, but Jackie pushed forward, scoping out the living room. Aiden and Brita followed in after her, whispering back and forth. Jackie heard something about shorting out the electricity and she stopped, whipping around to confront her teammates.

“Okay, so what the hell are you guys doing?”

Brita looked at Aiden for confirmation in the form of a nod. As soon as she got it, she launched into a rambly explanation about how she had watched this video on youtube about putting instant mashed potatoes in a yard and then spraying them with a hose. Apparently it was impossible to clean up. The same video also said something about licking and sticking Jolly Ranchers onto windows so that they shattered when you tried to pull them off.

Jackie’s stomach dropped. “You guys are talking about serious property damage here!” she almost yelled.

Brita nodded, oblivious as to why that would be an issue.

Aiden sighed. “Listen, he deserves it.”

“But his parents also live here.”

“They should have raised him better,” Aiden countered.

Jackie shook her head.“We don’t know all the facts.”

“We know enough.”

Jackie looked at her hard. “Why are you so hell-bent on this? Why are you so angry?”

Aiden blinked twice, clearly not expecting Jackie to have paid much attention to her. But Jackie knew. Aiden liked to pride herself on being a quiet observer, picking up on things most people would miss, but Jackie had learned a thing or two over the years. Aiden was pissed. She wasn’t showing it outwardly, but her hands had been clenching and unclenching into fists since she heard the story.

“It’s Heidi,” Aiden said simply. “I can’t stand the bitch most days, but…”

“You care about her,” Brita filled in the rest of her sentence.

Aiden nodded once, firmly, before looking both girls in the eye. “But if you tell her that, I’ll kill you both.”

Jackie shook her head, smiling. Brita just chuckled.

“Alright, fine. He sucks, Let’s fuck his shit up.”

…

Nicky smiled patiently as Crystal shoved her planning materials back into her bag, a strand of her red hair falling into her eyes as she bent over.

“You ready?” Crystal asked, turning to Nicky with a determined look.

Nicky just nodded and followed her outside. They each gave Heidi a hug as they headed to the door and Crystal whispered something that Nicky couldn’t make out before they left. It must have been important because Heidi held fast to her hands and whispered a response. Crystal just shook her head with a sad smile and turned back to Nicky.

They ran into the other girls in the driveway, Jackie and her group were bickering about something or other, but briefly waved before piling into Crystal’s tiny two-seater car.

Nicky would usually complain about how small the car was and how ridiculous she felt having to bend her model-like frame in half to fit inside, but she sensed Crystal’s nerves and bit her tongue on a smart remark.

Crystal started driving; they were the first ones headed out from the house and they drove in silence for all of about three seconds before Crystal snapped her head over to look at Nicky.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? It’s so quiet in here, should we listen to some music? You can put on some music so it’s not so quiet in here—”

“Crystal?” Nicky cut her off.

“Yeah?” Crystal exhaled.

“You haven’t ever done anything like this before,” Nicky said. There was no question in her words.  

“No, and I’m kinda freaking out if you couldn’t tell.”

Nicky chuckled. “Oh, I could tell.”

“Well…” Crystal hinted, nervous energy in her voice causing a smile to spread across Nicky’s face.

“Well, what?”

“Say something encouraging! Or distract me! I’m freaking out here, I’ve never done anything illegal before,” Crystal worried.

Nicky smiled widely. “You’re cute when you’re stressed.”

It was dark, but Nicky could make out Crystal’s flush reaching her hairline.

“Did that help?” she asked teasingly.

“I-I… don’t know.”

Nicky chuckled and Crystal looked over to her with a smile on her face. “You gave us the easiest job,” Nicky said reassuringly. “All we have to do is slash his tires and spray paint a few bad words on his car. What could go wrong?”

“Don’t say that!” Crystal exclaimed. “You’re gonna jinx us!”

Nicky rolled her eyes. “It’s gonna be fine, you’ll see.”

They arrived at the school parking lot which, despite the team’s losing record, was heavily crowded. Only their school could lose every game and still draw such a crowd. Nicky counted them lucky though at that moment, seeing as the football team was so bad, the cheerleaders never had to attend any of their games. Which made this whole revenge plot a lot easier.

Nicky pulled out her phone and opened the group chat Crystal had made for all the girls. Heidi had sent a picture of what his car looked like, and the two girls spent a while going up and down the rows of cars before finding the vehicle in question.

Crystal parked her car and they hopped out. Nicky followed Crystal’s lead as she went around to open the trunk, pulling out a hefty looking duffle bag full of spray paint.

“I’m an art kid,” Crystal said by way of an explanation.

Nicky held up her hands. “I wasn’t gonna ask.”

Crystal threw the bag over her shoulder, a look of realization passed over her features as she moved to close the trunk. “Oh fuck.”

“What?”

Crystal’s hand went to worry her forehead. “I don’t have anything sharp to pop the tires with.”

Nicky held up a finger and rummaged around in her pockets for a few moments before coming back with a switchblade.

Crystal looked at her, mouth hanging open. “Nic, what the fuck?”

“What? It’s for self-defense.”

Crystal stared at her wide-eyed. “Have you done this before?”

“Oh, ma belle, too many times to count.”

Crystal just raised an eyebrow. “Lots of cheaters in France?”

“Lots of men in France.”

Crystal laughed, poorly concealing her nerves. Nicky reached over and squeezed her hand once for reassurance, ignoring the sudden increase in heart rate in favor of comforting her friend.

The two walked over to the car and Crystal paused. “So… should we—”

Nicky cut her off by pulling out the blade and stabbing it forcefully into one of the tires.

“Nicky!”

“You were taking too long!” she exclaimed.

Crystal just shook her head and started uncapping the spray paint. The hissing sound of the tires and the paint cans filled the anxious silence.

The whole ordeal took only about ten minutes. Nicky popped three of the four tires because apparently insurance only covered the damage for four. The words ‘cheater’ and ‘pig’ as well as a few other choice adjectives covered Jacob’s shiny new Lexus.

Crystal’s hands shook the entire time, and Nicky teased her lightly but ultimately ended up spray painting the rest of the vehicle. The two ran back to Crystal’s car, not that they needed to as the whole school was still focused on the game, but the adrenaline flowed hot through their veins and made them both giggle as they collapsed back into Crystal’s car.

Only after catching her breath did Nicky notice how close Crystal was. She admired the way the younger girl’s lips quirked up at the sides of her mouth and her eyes creased at the edges. Nicky could practically feel Crystal’s breaths against her cheek, and they were suddenly coming faster.

Crystal seemed to realize this at the same moment because she looked away and fumbled around for something. “I should probably text the group.”

Crystal pulled out her phone with shaky hands. Nicky didn’t back away, content to breathe in Crystal’s presence for as long as she could before the younger girl pulled away.

“Why didn’t you pair yourself up with Gigi?” Nicky asked before she could think better of it.

Crystal nearly dropped her phone. “Oh, y-you know. Can’t make it too obvious.”

Nicky raised one eyebrow skeptically. “Right.”

Crystal looked back down at her phone and bit her lip.

Nicky knew she had hit on something. The younger girl always seemed to get weirdly tense when she mentioned her crush on the cheerleader. And not in the embarrassed, nervous sort of way that she got when Nicky flirted with her. Crystal got… sad almost.

“Gigi was being so weird when Jan and Jaida paired up,” Nicky threw out, seeing if she could get Crystal to bite.

“Yeah, I guess,” Crystal shrugged, a bit too eager to change the subject.

Nicky pushed on.“Since that picture of them came out I thought it made sense for them to go together.” Crystal didn’t say anything, staring hard at her blank phone screen. “Are Jan and Jaida trying to keep on the down-low?”

“I don’t know!” Crystal snapped.

Nicky balked at this. “Sorry. Didn’t know it mattered that much to you.”

“No, I’m sorry. I just…” Crystal sighed. “Let’s not talk about them right now.”

Nicky nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

Crystal turned the key and the car hummed to life. “The jersey group is done so we can head over to Jacob’s place now.”

“Cool.”

The sudden silence in the car was deafening.

…

Gigi breathed in and out slowly as she looked between Jan and Jaida.

This was fine. Everything was totally fine.

It’s just that the whole school was under the impression that Jan and Jaida were sleeping together when they weren’t, but Gigi couldn’t really come out and say that because that would expose the fact that Gigi was actually the one sleeping with Jaida.

But Jaida and Jan weren’t exactly trying to get rid of the rumors, having been seen hanging out during school hours. Not to mention during practice.

Jan had come back to school after a few days, pretended like everything was fine, her usual bubbly self back in full force. No one seemed to question it. And no one seemed to notice the extra attention given to the women’s varsity basketball team captain. Except for Gigi.

“So, um, do either of you have like, spray paint or something?” Jaida asked.

Jan perked up immediately and mentioned something about some prom committee mockups and how she had a whole bunch of paint left over.

“You would have a closet full of paint,” Jaida chuckled, sounding oddly comfortable in Jan’s presence.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the younger girl exclaimed.

“Oh, nothin’ Miss President.” Jaida shook her head with a smile.

Jan rolled her eyes fondly and bit at the corner of her mouth to hide her own smile, even going so far as to look down at the floor to avoid eye contact.

Gigi watched this whole interaction with a raised eyebrow.

“Cool, so we can just hop over to yours and head to school,” Gigi cut in.

Jan looked up quickly, almost like she had forgotten Gigi was there. “Yeah, sure.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jaida nodded.

The three girls said their goodbyes to Heidi and weaved through the other groups before walking the short distance across the street to Jan’s house. The student body president told them she’d only be a minute as she disappeared into the house.

Gigi turned to face Jaida who had her arms crossed and was looking anywhere but at her. The tension only grew when Gigi went to speak.

“Jaida—”

The older girl shook her head. “Nah, Princess. Not tonight,” Jaida wouldn’t even look at her, the pavement beneath their feet holding her attention.

Gigi scoffed. “You don’t even know what I was gonna say.”

Jaida raised her gaze and the look in her eyes made the few feet between them suddenly feel like miles. Jaida blinked at her once, twice, and shook her head. “Don’t need to.”

“Jaida—” Gigi cursed her voice for coming out desperate and clingy, though she knew it was the truth.

The basketball player just shook her head. “We talked about this, Princess.”

They hadn’t. Not really. Jaida had texted her the day after the picture leaked, said they should talk, but so much had happened since. They just hadn’t found time.

So no, they hadn’t talked, apart from the previous conversations where they promised not to fool around anymore, only to go back on that promise a few hours later.

Gigi wanted to say more, wanted to yell or scream, make herself heard. But she didn’t. She just looked at her feet.

And that was it. They waited in uncomfortable silence for another thirty seconds before Jan emerged, smiling proudly with three cans of spray paint.

Jaida led them over to her truck, opening the door and offering a hand to help each of the girls up. Gigi tried not to read too much into the fact that Jan was sitting in the passenger seat, while Gigi had been pushed to the back.

The car ride was relatively silent, at least on Gigi’s part. Jan and Jaida made comfortable small talk and laughed like old friends. Gigi did her best to ignore them, focusing instead on counting the streetlamps they passed.

The school building was dark, illuminated only by the stadium lights in the distance. Jaida pulled into her usual spot and hopped out to offer her hand again to help the girls down, this time, Gigi didn’t take it.

There was a flash of hurt on Jaida’s face, but it disappeared as soon as it came.

Jan seemed oblivious to their interaction as she approached the school, scoping out the building for any way inside. They were lucky the art room door was propped open, making their entrance to the school relatively easy. The dark, empty hallways filled Gigi’s chest with a weird feeling that she couldn’t altogether name. It was strange, seeing this place she had spent four years practically living out of, abandoned. She felt a weird sort of nostalgia take root in her stomach and she shook her head.

This night was bringing out all these… feelings in her that she’d rather not admit.

The three girls came to a stop in the middle of the gym, scanning the walls for Jacob’s last name.

Jan spotted it first, pointing to the far wall. “That’s his.”

The glass-enclosed jersey was high up on the wall, higher than Gigi had expected. There was no way, even with all their cheerleading prowess, and Jaida’s long legs, for them to deface the jersey from the ground. They needed something more.

“There’s a ladder outside the theatre,” Jan offered. “They’re doing some construction stuff with the stage I think.”

“I’ll go grab that.” Jaida said firmly, heading toward the gym doors. Gigi couldn’t help but think that she had volunteered in order to put as much distance between them as possible.

“Holler if you need help,” Jan called after her.

Jaida spun around and gave her a wink. “Will do, Miss President.”

Gigi waited until the sound of Jaida’s footsteps faded out before turning to look hard at Jan.

The older girl looked right back, before sighing. “What?”

Gigi did her best to school her features, only allowing one eyebrow to raise in suspicion.“What the fuck is going on with you two?”

“Nothing, we’ve just been talking,” Jan said unconvincingly.

“Mhmm, yeah that looks like just talking.” Gigi couldn’t help the bitterness from seeping into her words.

Jan’s head snapped up to meet Gigi’s eyes, something burned in her dark brown orbs, and Gigi almost gasped aloud at the sight. The sight of her friend truly angry was a rare occurrence.

“What the hell do you care?” Jan snapped. Regret flashed in her eyes a second later, but she stood firm in her words.

Gigi sighed, imploring Jan to listen. “I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

Something in her tone must have tipped Jan off because the older girl took a step back in shock. “W-we’re just friends. It’s not like that.”

Gigi knew. Of course, she knew. Jaida wasn’t like that. No matter how much she liked to portray herself as the cocky player type, she never could commit all the way. The prime example being how she always texted Gigi after they fucked to make sure she was okay. Jaida tried to be arrogant and cocky, but her eyes always gave her away.

“I know. Just… Be careful with her, okay?” God, why did her voice nearly break just then? Gigi needed to get it together, needed to get all these emotions clogging up her lungs to stop. She needed to be able to breathe again.

“Gigi, what—”

Jan was cut off by Jaida returning, ladder held tightly to her chest. Gigi didn’t notice the way Jaida’s muscles bulged out around the metal rungs of the ladder. Not at all.

They decided that Gigi should be the one to actually do the defacing, which was fine by her. Jaida and Jan held the ladder firmly in place as she ascended the steps. She did her best not to look down and focus only on the next step in front of her.

Gigi’s legs still shook.

She wrote ‘cheater’ in big letters over where his last name was and did her best rendition of a hand flipping the bird. Jan and Jaida teased her about messing up the number of fingers on a hand and Gigi let herself laugh a bit, the tension in her gut dissipating with each heave of her shoulders.

As Gigi descended the ladder still shaking, they heard footsteps. They exchanged a wide-eyed glance before booking it toward the gym doors that lead outside.

They heard the footsteps increase their pace, but didn’t look back until they had sprinted out to the parking lot.

They ducked behind Jaida’s truck just as the gym doors slammed open on their hinges. The footsteps resumed and began to walk up and down the rows of cars. Instinctively, Gigi reached her hand out towards Jaida. When her brain caught up with her, Gigi went to lower her hand, but Jaida grabbed it, squeezing it twice in reassurance.

Gigi’s heart jumped wildly in her chest at the gesture, and she didn’t have it in her to scold it.

The person following them must have given up, because the footsteps retreated a moment later. The three girls breathed out a collective sigh of relief, and if Jan noticed Gigi and Jaida’s fingers intertwined, she didn’t mention it.

They made sure the coast was clear before piling back into Jaida’s truck and texting the group chat. The sound of Jaida’s tires peeling out of the parking lot rang in Gigi’s head.

…

The moment everyone left the house, Heidi started crying. She couldn’t stop the tears and the sobs that wracked her small frame.

She felt a solid pair of arms wrap around her shoulders and hold her tightly. She buried her face into the mass of Rock’s cotton candy pink hair, sniffling as she heard whispered words of encouragement. Widow patted her back soothingly and typed away on her phone.

After an immeasurable amount of time, Rock pulled back to wipe Heidi’s tears away with the pads of her fingers. The older girl gave her a weak smile, which only made Heidi want to cry more.

Widow, sensing this, cut in and spoke in a calm but firm voice. “No, no more of that, we ain’t crying over no stupid boy.”

Heidi looked up at her through bleary eyes. Widow gave her a reassuring smile and took her hand. “Come with me.”

“What are we doing?” Heidi questioned.

Widow sat Heidi down at her mirror and started surveying her makeup products. “We…” She motioned Rock over. “Are doing a good ole fashion makeover.”

Rock squealed excitedly beside her, and however much Heidi was not in the mood for this, she sighed. What could it hurt?

Widow made to start picking up products, but after two minutes, Rock shooed her away, claiming that she could take care of this part. Widow backed off and sat on Heidi’s bed, connecting her phone to a portable speaker and blasting some feel-good music at the highest volume setting.

Rock hummed under her breath and Widow chimed in every five or so minutes with a compliment on how great Heidi looked. It was almost comfortable.

But something in Heidi was still nagging at her. Crystal’s words as she had exited the house, she had said, “I know from personal experience.” Heidi knew for a fact the only person Crystal had ever dated was Gigi. It suddenly made sense as to why she was taking this whole revenge planning so seriously.

Rock, oblivious to the cogs turning in Heidi’s head, smiled at her sadly as a single tear escaped the side of Heidi’s eye. She brushed it away quickly and kissed the top of her forehead before continuing on her blush. Heidi felt her heart take root in her chest and ache at the tenderness.

She needed to distract herself or she would start crying for a completely different reason. She turned to look at Widow who was looking down at her phone and typing wildly.

“What are you doing?” Heidi asked.

Widow looked up, a mischievous smile on her face. “Just signing Jacob up for the Scientology email subscription service. As well as about sixty others.” Heidi’s eyes went wide as Widow continued talking. “And I’ve hit up all his friends on the football team, called in a few of Dahlia’s favors, they’ll be waiting for him after the game tonight. They aren’t fond of cheaters.” It was Rock’s turn to look at Widow shocked. “Oh, and I may have set you up with seven or so different guys to rebound with, you can pick your favorite from the list.”

Heidi just stared at Widow, mouth hanging open in shock.

“You’re welcome,” she said.

Rock shook her head and chuckled before going back to add the finishing touches on Heidi’s makeup.

“Now we’ve got to pick out an outfit…” Widow said hopping off the bed.

Widow blew through her closet like a hurricane, throwing out dresses and skirts and shirts and pants and accessories. Rock, bless her, was scrambling about, picking up all the thrown clothing articles and putting them back in their proper place.

Widow finally stopped when she came to a pastel blue sundress. It was off the shoulder, covered in ruffles, with neat brown buttons lined up nicely down the middle of the dress. She held it up to Heidi’s confused glance, before sighing and throwing the dress at her.

“Let’s go, bitch, we got a photoshoot to do!” Widow exclaimed. “We gotta show him what he’s missin’” she said by way of an explanation.

Widow rushed Rock and Heidi, saying something about the lighting being off if they waited much longer. It was dark outside, so Heidi had no idea what she was on about, but she hurried anyway.

They piled into Widow’s car and sped off down the road.

It was then that Heidi noticed the massive camera bag in the passenger seat.

Widow admitted sheepishly that she was a bit of a photography geek, and would have joined the school newspaper if they hadn’t all been lame weirdos.

They stopped outside a local coffee shop. Then a grocery store. Then an elementary school. Then a gas station. Somehow, with only a camera and Rock’s phone flashlight, Widow managed to get hundreds of photos. She directed Heidi’s poses and bossed Rock around to get the best lighting angle. It ended up being a long endeavor and Heidi’s body ached after all the strange angles she had to hold. But in the same breath, she couldn’t help but smile at the lunacy of all of it. At one point she was sitting in a tipped-over shopping cart and looking directly up at the sky above her.

This was not at all how she envisioned her night going.

When Widow finally flipped the camera around to show Heidi the results, she nearly choked. Each and every photo looked like it belonged on the cover of a magazine. The high-quality image and the positioning of Heidi’s body had turned out looking downright professional.

Heidi just stared at the photos with wide eyes.

The longer she said nothing, the more Widow fidgeted. “These are just the raw ones, I can edit them to be whatever you want.”

Heidi just kept looking through them.

Widow’s voice tinged on anxious as she spoke next. “Sorry if I got a little carried away, I just thought about what would help me most if I were in your situation and I—”

“Thank you,” Heidi cut her off. She looked up to meet Widow’s eyes. “You got no idea how much this means.”

The anxiety faded from her face as Widow let a smile take over. “Yeah, ‘course.”

They were interrupted by Rock calling out their names. Heidi turned to see Rock holding her phone above her head. “It’s go time, ladies!”

…

As Widow’s car pulled up to the oh so familiar house, Heidi felt her stomach twist. This time it wasn’t in anger or guilt or fear. The sight of three other cars outside, as well as the crowd of girls gathering on the sidewalk in front of the house, filled Heidi’s chest with joy.

Widow put the car in park and Rock squeezed her hand, then before Heidi could blink, they were on the sidewalk in front of Jacob’s house. Had she not been surrounded on all sides by her friends she might have broken down, cried and screamed and yelled about how it wasn’t fair and how she had given everything to him.

But she wasn’t alone.

Jackie placed a gentle hand on her back and held out a carton of eggs. Heidi looked up at her and gave a smile. But before she did anything else, she pulled Crystal, who was watching her intensely, into a giant hug.

“Thank you,” Heidi whispered into her shoulder, attempting to convey her every emotion into those two syllables.

Crystal just nodded and squeezed her harder. “No problem.”

Heidi exhaled and turned back around to Jackie. She grabbed an egg, its smooth hard surface feeling firm in her hand.

She inhaled the past. Jacob’s sweet words, his dopey smile, the way he said her name, how he kissed her.

She exhaled.

And threw.

Before she knew it, eggs were breaking apart against the hard brick of the house from every direction. There were whoops and hollers and a general sense of catharsis.

Heidi looked on either side of her to see all the girls in her neighborhood getting in on the action, even quiet mannered Rock was chucking eggs like a sprinkler. Heidi couldn’t help but laugh. And laugh and laugh and laugh.

God, she was so fucking sad just a few hours ago, sure that her life as she knew it would be over, and now, surrounded on all sides by girls, most of whom she hadn’t spoken to in years, she had never felt more loved.