#there are definitely a few scenes from the mom city fix it

[sighonaraa]

💧☀️

for this ask game!

💧 Rain - What's the most emotional scene you've ever written?

“All right.” Her Uncle Roy cleared his throat and unfolded the letter carefully. He had big hands, too, her Uncle Roy, like Jamie’s. But he could be gentle with them. He was always gentle with them, when he was with her. “Dear Phoebe,” he read out loud, and Phoebe closed her eyes, pretending that she was five years old again and knew this time that everything was going to be okay. “You’re a Kent now, and it’s much better than before.” Phoebe opened her eyes. Her Uncle Roy was staring down at the paper, his bottom lip trembling a bit. “It is,” she said. “It’s much better than before.” Her Uncle Roy didn’t say anything. He folded the letter back up, set it on the bedside table, and bundled her into another hug, one that stole all the breath from her lungs. He squeezed her, like he’d never let her go, like it’d take a thousand people to drag him away, and when he pulled back his cheeks were damp but he was smiling. His palm cupped her cheek, and she nestled into the touch. “I love you, Phoebe,” he told her. “Yeah? I love you very fucking much.” “I love you too, Uncle Roy,” said Phoebe. “Very fucking much.”

ouchy. from find a new place to be from!

☀️ Sun - What's your favorite part of your WIP?

ooooooh. for the sun is only a God if you learn to starve, my favorite upcoming part is the one where jamie has a very public breakdown in the locker room, gets blanket-burritoed about it, driven to isaac's house, and plied with fresh-baked brownies. also the entire team watches brother bear together and weeps about it.

[41319kbex]

Hell Hath No Fury (13/?)

I’m really glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter and felt it lived up to the expectations. Writing love scenes is honestly one of the hardest things to write to get it to come off the way you want it to and in a way that the readers can picture it. So I’m glad it worked! 

Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! I think I messaged everyone back who I could, but if I missed you, I’m sorry and it was not intentional! I honestly try to acknowledge everyone who leaves a review that is not a guest.

I still plan to do a more significant time jump to get through summer, but it’s not going to be in this chapter. This one starts about a week after the last one. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter, and Happy Easter to those who celebrate!

Still don’t own Castle…

xxxxx

“Kate…come back to bed…” Castle whined from where he was lying, still naked, in his bed. 

She chuckled softly as she came out of the bathroom, already wearing her underwear and bra, towel drying her hair. “We talked about this,” she reminded him with a smile, letting her eyes travel over him appreciatively, but she was not going to let herself get pulled back into bed with him now that she’d already had her shower. 

He grumbled with a pout, looking every bit like a petulant child. “I think we should reopen the discussion.”

“Castle, I’m going back to the city. I told you, I have dinner plans with Lanie tonight. I have lunch plans with my dad tomorrow. I have a doctor’s appointment for my ribs on Tuesday. And this is Alexis’s first week off from school. I know you’ve missed her, and you are going to spend the week with her without me here,” she recapped their discussion for him as she pulled on her jeans. 

“But my doctor said sex was good for my recovery…” he tried with a pout. 

She laughed and shook her head. “Nice try. But rest and recovery days are also an integral part of any exercise regime; your doctor would tell you that too…and after this week with me, I think your body definitely needs a few rest and recovery days,” she smiled. It was true; aside from meals, his therapy appointments, and a few walks along the beach, they had spent most of their time in his bed over the last week. In fact, the reason she still had so many clean clothes in her bag was because they had barely worn clothes at all, and when they had, it hadn’t been for very long. 

He sighed and finally got out of bed, making no move to get dressed though. “I’m going to miss you,” he murmured, gently tugging her hips to him before she could get her shirt on.

She looked up at him with a smile and gently kissed his lips. “I know. But that’s good,” she patted his chest and stepped out of his arms to pull her shirt over her head. 

“How is missing each other a good thing?” he whined, reaching for her again. 

Her arms looped around his neck then as she allowed him to pull her back into his arms. “Because this is still new…for you, for me, and for your family. Being here every day for the rest of the summer is going to be an awful lot like living together…and we are not ready for that; I’m not ready for that…and I highly doubt Alexis is ready for that. We all need some time and space to adjust,” she told him softly, pressing a kiss to his lips to keep him from feeling any kind of sting from her words. 

He breathed deeply when he broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers. “Fine.”

She smiled, her fingers gently toying with the soft, baby hairs at the nape of his neck. “I love you. And I will be back at the end of the week, ok?”

“Okay,” he nodded, finally releasing her. 

She moved toward the bathroom, grabbing his boxers off the dresser where they had landed last night and tossing them at his head. “Get dressed while I finish getting ready, so we can have breakfast with your mom and Alexis before I leave.” With that, she disappeared into the bathroom to dry her hair with the hair dryer and fix her makeup. 

xxxxx

The waiter had just brought their margaritas, and Kate had just taken a drink of hers when Lanie spoke. “Alright, so how was it?”

Kate set her drink back down and shook her head, not following what her friend was talking about.

“The sex with Castle,” she eyed her knowingly. “Don’t bother denying it. You had sex. You’re glowing. I know that glow. And judging from your glow, I’d say it’s pretty good.”

Her mouth opened to deny everything, but then she closed it and smiled slightly. Lanie already knew they were together from their last evening together, so she didn’t see the point. Besides, she was happy. “Pretty amazing, actually,” she admitted, taking another drink of her margarita. 

“Oh, amazing, hmm?” Lanie smiled. “So Writer Boy lives up to his reputation?”

Kate smiled slowly. “He’s still on restrictions…we have to be careful because he can’t physically do as much as he wants. But so far…yeah. His reputation is warranted.”

“Girl, if it’s this good now, just wait until you get the full Richard Castle experience,” Lanie grinned, taking a drink from her own margarita. “So I have to ask you…does his ass look as good out of those jeans as it does in them?”

“Better,” Kate answered easily, taking another drink. “Actually, his whole body looks better out of his clothes. So good that we barely spent any time wearing clothes this past week,” she added with a satisfied smile. 

Lanie laughed softly. “Well no wonder you’re all loose and relaxed. See, I told you before…just think of how loose and relaxed you could have been this entire time if you had just jumped that boy from the get go. Sex is a great stress reliever.” Seeing the other woman roll her eyes at that, Lanie smiled. “Seriously, Kate. I’m happy for you. You deserve to be happy, and he obviously makes you happy.”

“He does,” she smiled genuinely. “I’m in love with him, Lanie.”

“You act like that’s news,” she smiled. 

Kate shook her head. “No, I mean I’m completely and totally in love with him...to the point that it scares me. He’s it, Lanie. If this doesn’t work out…it’s going to break me.”

Lanie’s eyes softened. “Oh, Sweetie. You just got together with Castle. Why would you already think this won’t work?”

She shrugged. “It’s just what I’ve come to expect, and we’re two very different people. He’s this multi-millionaire best selling author…who has dated models and actresses and could be with any woman he wants. And I’m just this regular cop who has a lot of emotional baggage. I just don’t see how we work in the long term; on paper we don't work at all.”

“Girl, I’ma smack you. Do not sell yourself short, Kate Beckett. You are an incredible woman that any man would be lucky to be with,” Lanie started. “Yes…Castle has dated models and actresses and could have any woman he wants, and do you know who that woman is?" Seeing her friend shake her head, she continued. "You. He’s been crazy about you, probably since the beginning. He based a character on you. He built an entire book series around you. Those books? They’re love letters to you. He knows all about your past and your baggage, and he still thinks you’re extraordinary. He ran into your burning apartment to save you. He took a bullet for you, Kate, without hesitation. That man is just as much in love with you as you are with him,” she continued. “So stop doing that thing you do, where you automatically assume the worst and wait for the other shoe to drop, and just enjoy being happy, being in love with him.”

Kate sighed softly. “We’ve both been doing this dance for 3 years. What happens when the music eventually stops? What if all we were in love with was the dance?”

Lanie reached over to give her friend’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Who says the music will stop? What you and Castle have…it’s magic; yeah, the music might eventually stop. But the music could also keep right on playing, and you could keep dancing with Castle forever. Relationships aren’t lived on paper, Kate. They’re lived in your heart…and from what I’ve seen, both of your hearts want each other. Now I know this goes against everything you believe in, but stop listening to your head on this one thing, and just trust your heart.”

Kate smiled slightly. “Thanks, Lanie.”

“What are best friends for if they can’t talk some sense into you every now and then,” she smiled. 

xxxxx

“Katie!” Jim greeted his daughter with a careful hug, remembering her broken ribs. 

“Hey, Dad,” Kate grinned, hugging her father tightly before sitting in the booth.

“How are you doing? How are your ribs?”

“I’m good. My ribs feel a lot better, actually. I have an appointment in a couple days just to check, but they seem to be fine.”

Jim nodded. “That’s good. So what have you been doing with your time off, Katie? I haven’t really heard from you, but I know you aren’t the type to just sit around. All this time off is driving you crazy, I'm sure.”

Kate smiled slightly. “I’ve spent some time with Lanie. We just had dinner last night, actually,” she started. “I’ve…surprisingly spent some time in bed just relaxing and letting my ribs heal. I’ve been out on my bike a few times…you know I love to ride when I get restless.” Those weren’t complete lies. She had spent a lot of time in bed relaxing…she simply wasn’t telling her father it was in Castle’s bed or the ways in which he was helping her to relax.

“Good for you, Katie. You look great; relaxing is good for you,” he smiled at his daughter. “And how is Castle?”

Before Kate could answer, a waitress showed up to take their order, giving her a little time in which she could think about what exactly she wanted to tell her father. “Castle is recovering well; he at least looks normal now. Actually, he’s at the point where he’s starting to feel better and get restless. He can’t do everything he wants because the doctor has strict orders he has to follow, and he's not exactly the best at following directions.” That seemed innocent enough. “Alexis is out of school, I’m sure she’ll keep him in line. She’s much more mature than he is.”

Jim studied his daughter for a few moments. “So you’ve seen him then,” he commented casually. 

“Well, yeah. He’s my partner. And he saved my life,” she shrugged as though that were explanation enough as to why she'd spent some time with him. 

“So he’s back in the city?” he asked her with a small smile. 

Kate paused slightly. This was not the direction she’d planned on their conversation going. “He’s still in the Hamptons.”

“I see; so you’ve also spent some time in the Hamptons while you’ve been off work. You failed to mention that part earlier,” her father stated with a knowing look. 

“He has a guest room, you know. His house is huge.” Also not complete lies. His house was definitely huge, and she had initially stayed in his guest room...at least the first week. But he didn't need to know the specific details. 

Jim chuckled. “Katie, I told you before, how you want to spend your time and with whom in your personal life is none of my business. As long as he’s good to you, and you’re happy, that’s all I care about. And you look happy…genuinely happy. Whatever you’ve done over the last couple of weeks to be this happy is obviously working for you. You’ll tell me the rest when you’re ready,” he smiled. 

Kate blushed slightly. “I am happy. And there is no ‘rest’ to tell.”

“Did you tell Castle I wanted to take him to dinner?”

She nodded. “I did. And he’s game once he’s back in the city. I’m not sure when he’s coming back, though.”

He nodded. “Well when he’s ready, just let me know.” He took a drink of his coffee then. “So have you thought about spending some time at the cabin? I’ve got some time in a few weeks at the end of June if you want to plan to meet there.”

“That would be nice. Let’s plan on that.”

“And my offer still stands…you should bring Castle with you,” he smiled slightly.

“Dad!”

He laughed, holding up his hands defensively. “I’m just saying that bringing him to the cabin would be a lot easier than waiting until he’s back in the city for me to thank him. If you two really aren’t together, there is still the guest room, you know that. But for what it’s worth? I hope you are together. You deserve some happiness, Katie. I see the way you light up when I mention him, the way you smile when you talk about him, the way you laugh. He’s obviously good for you. He’s much better than your other boyfriends I’ve met. I actually like him.”

Kate blushed again and rolled her eyes. “I’ll think about asking him.”

“That’s all I ask, Katie.”

The rest of lunch was spent with Kate carefully avoiding any topics that could be somehow linked to Castle. Talking with her father about her relationships with men was not something she usually did, at least not until it was something much more serious. Although her relationship with Castle was the most serious she’d ever been about a man, it was still too new for her to talk to her father about. But later that evening when she talked to Castle, she asked him if he felt up to taking a road trip with her to her father’s cabin, and he’d agreed.

xxxxx

So this was a little bit of a break from all the Castle and Beckett togetherness, but I wanted to show Kate getting away some, because she does still need her space. It doesn’t mean she loves Castle any less or wants to be with him any less…but Beckett is still Beckett at her core; that’s not changing. Plus I love Kate’s relationships with Lanie and with her dad, and I love writing those scenes.

Hope you guys liked this one anyway.

[imzadi-caskett-huddy]

Hell Hath No Fury (13/?)

I’m really glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter and felt it lived up to the expectations. Writing love scenes is honestly one of the hardest things to write to get it to come off the way you want it to and in a way that the readers can picture it. So I’m glad it worked! 

Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! I think I messaged everyone back who I could, but if I missed you, I’m sorry and it was not intentional! I honestly try to acknowledge everyone who leaves a review that is not a guest.

I still plan to do a more significant time jump to get through summer, but it’s not going to be in this chapter. This one starts about a week after the last one. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter, and Happy Easter to those who celebrate!

Still don’t own Castle…

xxxxx

“Kate…come back to bed…” Castle whined from where he was lying, still naked, in his bed. 

She chuckled softly as she came out of the bathroom, already wearing her underwear and bra, towel drying her hair. “We talked about this,” she reminded him with a smile, letting her eyes travel over him appreciatively, but she was not going to let herself get pulled back into bed with him now that she’d already had her shower. 

He grumbled with a pout, looking every bit like a petulant child. “I think we should reopen the discussion.”

“Castle, I’m going back to the city. I told you, I have dinner plans with Lanie tonight. I have lunch plans with my dad tomorrow. I have a doctor’s appointment for my ribs on Tuesday. And this is Alexis’s first week off from school. I know you’ve missed her, and you are going to spend the week with her without me here,” she recapped their discussion for him as she pulled on her jeans. 

“But my doctor said sex was good for my recovery…” he tried with a pout. 

She laughed and shook her head. “Nice try. But rest and recovery days are also an integral part of any exercise regime; your doctor would tell you that too…and after this week with me, I think your body definitely needs a few rest and recovery days,” she smiled. It was true; aside from meals, his therapy appointments, and a few walks along the beach, they had spent most of their time in his bed over the last week. In fact, the reason she still had so many clean clothes in her bag was because they had barely worn clothes at all, and when they had, it hadn’t been for very long. 

He sighed and finally got out of bed, making no move to get dressed though. “I’m going to miss you,” he murmured, gently tugging her hips to him before she could get her shirt on.

She looked up at him with a smile and gently kissed his lips. “I know. But that’s good,” she patted his chest and stepped out of his arms to pull her shirt over her head. 

“How is missing each other a good thing?” he whined, reaching for her again. 

Her arms looped around his neck then as she allowed him to pull her back into his arms. “Because this is still new…for you, for me, and for your family. Being here every day for the rest of the summer is going to be an awful lot like living together…and we are not ready for that; I’m not ready for that…and I highly doubt Alexis is ready for that. We all need some time and space to adjust,” she told him softly, pressing a kiss to his lips to keep him from feeling any kind of sting from her words. 

He breathed deeply when he broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers. “Fine.”

She smiled, her fingers gently toying with the soft, baby hairs at the nape of his neck. “I love you. And I will be back at the end of the week, ok?”

“Okay,” he nodded, finally releasing her. 

She moved toward the bathroom, grabbing his boxers off the dresser where they had landed last night and tossing them at his head. “Get dressed while I finish getting ready, so we can have breakfast with your mom and Alexis before I leave.” With that, she disappeared into the bathroom to dry her hair with the hair dryer and fix her makeup. 

xxxxx

The waiter had just brought their margaritas, and Kate had just taken a drink of hers when Lanie spoke. “Alright, so how was it?”

Kate set her drink back down and shook her head, not following what her friend was talking about.

“The sex with Castle,” she eyed her knowingly. “Don’t bother denying it. You had sex. You’re glowing. I know that glow. And judging from your glow, I’d say it’s pretty good.”

Her mouth opened to deny everything, but then she closed it and smiled slightly. Lanie already knew they were together from their last evening together, so she didn’t see the point. Besides, she was happy. “Pretty amazing, actually,” she admitted, taking another drink of her margarita. 

“Oh, amazing, hmm?” Lanie smiled. “So Writer Boy lives up to his reputation?”

Kate smiled slowly. “He’s still on restrictions…we have to be careful because he can’t physically do as much as he wants. But so far…yeah. His reputation is warranted.”

“Girl, if it’s this good now, just wait until you get the full Richard Castle experience,” Lanie grinned, taking a drink from her own margarita. “So I have to ask you…does his ass look as good out of those jeans as it does in them?”

“Better,” Kate answered easily, taking another drink. “Actually, his whole body looks better out of his clothes. So good that we barely spent any time wearing clothes this past week,” she added with a satisfied smile. 

Lanie laughed softly. “Well no wonder you’re all loose and relaxed. See, I told you before…just think of how loose and relaxed you could have been this entire time if you had just jumped that boy from the get go. Sex is a great stress reliever.” Seeing the other woman roll her eyes at that, Lanie smiled. “Seriously, Kate. I’m happy for you. You deserve to be happy, and he obviously makes you happy.”

“He does,” she smiled genuinely. “I’m in love with him, Lanie.”

“You act like that’s news,” she smiled. 

Kate shook her head. “No, I mean I’m completely and totally in love with him...to the point that it scares me. He’s it, Lanie. If this doesn’t work out…it’s going to break me.”

Lanie’s eyes softened. “Oh, Sweetie. You just got together with Castle. Why would you already think this won’t work?”

She shrugged. “It’s just what I’ve come to expect, and we’re two very different people. He’s this multi-millionaire best selling author…who has dated models and actresses and could be with any woman he wants. And I’m just this regular cop who has a lot of emotional baggage. I just don’t see how we work in the long term; on paper we don't work at all.”

“Girl, I’ma smack you. Do not sell yourself short, Kate Beckett. You are an incredible woman that any man would be lucky to be with,” Lanie started. “Yes…Castle has dated models and actresses and could have any woman he wants, and do you know who that woman is?" Seeing her friend shake her head, she continued. "You. He’s been crazy about you, probably since the beginning. He based a character on you. He built an entire book series around you. Those books? They’re love letters to you. He knows all about your past and your baggage, and he still thinks you’re extraordinary. He ran into your burning apartment to save you. He took a bullet for you, Kate, without hesitation. That man is just as much in love with you as you are with him,” she continued. “So stop doing that thing you do, where you automatically assume the worst and wait for the other shoe to drop, and just enjoy being happy, being in love with him.”

Kate sighed softly. “We’ve both been doing this dance for 3 years. What happens when the music eventually stops? What if all we were in love with was the dance?”

Lanie reached over to give her friend’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Who says the music will stop? What you and Castle have…it’s magic; yeah, the music might eventually stop. But the music could also keep right on playing, and you could keep dancing with Castle forever. Relationships aren’t lived on paper, Kate. They’re lived in your heart…and from what I’ve seen, both of your hearts want each other. Now I know this goes against everything you believe in, but stop listening to your head on this one thing, and just trust your heart.”

Kate smiled slightly. “Thanks, Lanie.”

“What are best friends for if they can’t talk some sense into you every now and then,” she smiled. 

xxxxx

“Katie!” Jim greeted his daughter with a careful hug, remembering her broken ribs. 

“Hey, Dad,” Kate grinned, hugging her father tightly before sitting in the booth.

“How are you doing? How are your ribs?”

“I’m good. My ribs feel a lot better, actually. I have an appointment in a couple days just to check, but they seem to be fine.”

Jim nodded. “That’s good. So what have you been doing with your time off, Katie? I haven’t really heard from you, but I know you aren’t the type to just sit around. All this time off is driving you crazy, I'm sure.”

Kate smiled slightly. “I’ve spent some time with Lanie. We just had dinner last night, actually,” she started. “I’ve…surprisingly spent some time in bed just relaxing and letting my ribs heal. I’ve been out on my bike a few times…you know I love to ride when I get restless.” Those weren’t complete lies. She had spent a lot of time in bed relaxing…she simply wasn’t telling her father it was in Castle’s bed or the ways in which he was helping her to relax.

“Good for you, Katie. You look great; relaxing is good for you,” he smiled at his daughter. “And how is Castle?”

Before Kate could answer, a waitress showed up to take their order, giving her a little time in which she could think about what exactly she wanted to tell her father. “Castle is recovering well; he at least looks normal now. Actually, he’s at the point where he’s starting to feel better and get restless. He can’t do everything he wants because the doctor has strict orders he has to follow, and he's not exactly the best at following directions.” That seemed innocent enough. “Alexis is out of school, I’m sure she’ll keep him in line. She’s much more mature than he is.”

Jim studied his daughter for a few moments. “So you’ve seen him then,” he commented casually. 

“Well, yeah. He’s my partner. And he saved my life,” she shrugged as though that were explanation enough as to why she'd spent some time with him. 

“So he’s back in the city?” he asked her with a small smile. 

Kate paused slightly. This was not the direction she’d planned on their conversation going. “He’s still in the Hamptons.”

“I see; so you’ve also spent some time in the Hamptons while you’ve been off work. You failed to mention that part earlier,” her father stated with a knowing look. 

“He has a guest room, you know. His house is huge.” Also not complete lies. His house was definitely huge, and she had initially stayed in his guest room...at least the first week. But he didn't need to know the specific details. 

Jim chuckled. “Katie, I told you before, how you want to spend your time and with whom in your personal life is none of my business. As long as he’s good to you, and you’re happy, that’s all I care about. And you look happy…genuinely happy. Whatever you’ve done over the last couple of weeks to be this happy is obviously working for you. You’ll tell me the rest when you’re ready,” he smiled. 

Kate blushed slightly. “I am happy. And there is no ‘rest’ to tell.”

“Did you tell Castle I wanted to take him to dinner?”

She nodded. “I did. And he’s game once he’s back in the city. I’m not sure when he’s coming back, though.”

He nodded. “Well when he’s ready, just let me know.” He took a drink of his coffee then. “So have you thought about spending some time at the cabin? I’ve got some time in a few weeks at the end of June if you want to plan to meet there.”

“That would be nice. Let’s plan on that.”

“And my offer still stands…you should bring Castle with you,” he smiled slightly.

“Dad!”

He laughed, holding up his hands defensively. “I’m just saying that bringing him to the cabin would be a lot easier than waiting until he’s back in the city for me to thank him. If you two really aren’t together, there is still the guest room, you know that. But for what it’s worth? I hope you are together. You deserve some happiness, Katie. I see the way you light up when I mention him, the way you smile when you talk about him, the way you laugh. He’s obviously good for you. He’s much better than your other boyfriends I’ve met. I actually like him.”

Kate blushed again and rolled her eyes. “I’ll think about asking him.”

“That’s all I ask, Katie.”

The rest of lunch was spent with Kate carefully avoiding any topics that could be somehow linked to Castle. Talking with her father about her relationships with men was not something she usually did, at least not until it was something much more serious. Although her relationship with Castle was the most serious she’d ever been about a man, it was still too new for her to talk to her father about. But later that evening when she talked to Castle, she asked him if he felt up to taking a road trip with her to her father’s cabin, and he’d agreed.

xxxxx

So this was a little bit of a break from all the Castle and Beckett togetherness, but I wanted to show Kate getting away some, because she does still need her space. It doesn’t mean she loves Castle any less or wants to be with him any less…but Beckett is still Beckett at her core; that’s not changing. Plus I love Kate’s relationships with Lanie and with her dad, and I love writing those scenes.

Hope you guys liked this one anyway.

[chanelframedglasses]

Chapter 1: All the Stars

Thirteen hours of mixing later and it just clicks. You have no idea what the hell you’re actually making music for. All you got was an email with a vague description and a ton of zeroes. And, hell you admit it, you would make music for a teenager’s passion project as long as there was money. You pulled off your headphones and fixed your hair, huffing. The studio was stuffy but the window was open and the lights of the city against the night sky relaxed you. You took a quick break from music and opened Twitter, the one app you promised yourself you would delete.

Twelve years ago. Before your songs started blowing up in the underground scene, before you were caught up in the swirl of hip-hop and lo-fi fans, followers and drama you took no actual part in. That app. You shrug off the feeling of ‘I’ll do it later’ and scroll a good few times before you fully zone out, ignoring the droning bullshit littered across your feed from weirdos with shit takes and fangirls that want to get into someone’s pants. That didn’t last long though, you get a facetime call that makes you sit up straight and fix your hair once again in the camera before accepting it.

“Girl! How’s the music coming?” Your producer, and best friend Trey, is on the other end of the line, looking as if he just got finished doing a full body mask. And knowing him, he totally did. You roll your eyes and chuckle a bit. “No hello first?” He rolls his eyes back and lays back on his bed. “Not until you tell me what the progress is.” You stare at Trey and he stares back, you both say nothing for a solid 15 minutes as you stare each other down. “Hey, Girl how you been?” Trey finally says, and you smile and sit up in your chair. “I still don’t know what the hell I’m even making this song for!” You put your phone down so you can use both your hands again, Trey getting up from his bed and walking to where you would assume to be his kitchen. “And you won’t tell me shit either, Trey.” You point out, and he shrugs.

“It’s for a movie.” He says, and that gets your attention. A movie? You’ve done things for YouTube outros and some kid’s birthday video. But never a movie. Well shit, tell mama you made it! “Treyy!! You know I hate when you lie to me, don't do that!” And he looks at you as if you kicked a dog he has never owned. He’s serious. Dead serious. Well goddamn look at you. Go girl. Big time!

“Hell naw I’m not doing it.” Is what you actually said because, be real with yourself, you’re just an inner city black person and your music is not going past the hood and Definitely not reaching Hollywood. Trey drops his spoon. “Uh-uh girl get to fuckin WORK did you see how many zeros was on that check?! DO not play with that type of money friend, how we gonna get out the hood?!” You snort laugh, because honestly, “Who the hell is we? It would be MY money.” He rolls his eyes. “Won’t be no one's money if you don’t make these damn songs, bitch.”

Disgustingly, He was right. That was money you could use to finally get out of where you are, not saying you don’t love home, but you would never pass up an opportunity like this, little you would slap sense into you, and your mom? She’d slap the melanin off your skin faster than you can say sorry for ruining this opportunity for yourself. And besides, your music was searched for out of probably millions of other people. It would be a waste to not try and put yourself out there, and several zeroes with your name on it could go to wingstop for the squad. Damn. You gotta make the music.

With break time over, you get back to work. Mostly wondering what or who decided that some bum from northeast somewhere or other who makes flashy anime themed songs for YouTubers who swear enough to reform a nun was the top choice for a movie that could possibly break box office numbers. Was SZA and The Weeknd on leave or something? Regardless of circumstance, you got that email, you double triple and quintuple checked it for legitimacy, so you have to get this done. The deadline is lenient, only because the movie has yet to be announced. Doesn’t mean you aren’t sweating bullets at the thought of having your name in the credits.

Who all gonna be in it? Any actors you know? Or follow on instagram? Or save photos of on Pinterest? Will you get to be at the premiere since you worked on music for it? All these questions are keeping you from getting things done, so you decided that it would be so much better to just call it a day. You’ve been up since 4am downing coffee and eating absolutely nothing. You have no idea why you overwork for something with no deadline, but you do it every time. So the first order of business is to eat something, then try to sleep. And by sleep you obviously mean stare at tiktok until you pass out, of course. So you took the leftovers you saved for this moment and heated it up, and maybe tomorrow you should get a salad because this is the fourth time you had leftovers from the Jamaican place down the street. In your defense though, you think to yourself to justify your horrid spending and diet habits, jerk chicken makes you happy, and happiness is better than anything else sometimes.

After you eat you brush your teeth and do your nightly routine. You’re thankful Trey for thinking of you and getting you a bonnet in your favourite colour, silk lined and tight so it stays on in your sleep a few nights ago. You put it on and get cozy in bed, fan on and running as white noise, plug your phone in and open TikTok while you pull the blanket over your face just enough so that only your nose and eyes can be free. Several scrolls through Tokshop ads and the occasional personal drama of the day, you get another email. You open it, because duh it’s work. Wiping your eyes and squinting to read it, you see something that damn near makes you wake up immediately.

TO: (private email) FROM:(donotreply)@(mailaddress) ABOUT MOVIE TRAILER (URGENT) Hello. We are glad you agreed to do work for this project. As we are wrapping up the trailer soon, we would like to ask formally if we can borrow one of your already released samples for the trailer? Please reply to this email as soon as you receive it. Thank you!

After you read the email, and reply yes before it really hits you, you find yourself sitting up, now wide awake yet again. This just got more real.

[dismightyman]

I finally have the time so imma drop some Vice stats cause she deserves it (this is gonna be long I’m sorry)

She’s 5’9 and honestly a little bitter about it cause her whole family was like 6’4 and above

Not many scars as most of the time she’s behind the wheel or in the air

Which doesn’t mean she can’t absolutely destroy someone when she wants too, she just doesn’t get the opportunity as often as the other Taskforce members

She prefers to be on the ground in a vehicle to flying. She’s an okay pilot but is truly a wizard behind the wheel.

She has a very dry sense of humor, so occasionally in the middle of an op you might hear her make a comment about the weather or talk about what’s happening like it’s rush hour in a busy city and not an active war zone.

She is very ride or die, the minute she feels like she’s found her forever home in the taskforce she is down to fuck shit up for any member of her team, zero hesitation.

Her love language is definitely giving gifts lol as soon as she feels like she’s been accepted into the taskforce she’s constantly giving people things, nothing crazy. But she’ll start carrying specific bands of cigarettes for the smokers, she’ll grab food from the mess and bring it to people just so they don’t have to walk all the way there. She’ll have Hair ties for the people with longer hair just in case they need it. It’s her version of showing she cares, that she’s thinking of them.

Her grandfather was a bit of a figiter so he taught her how to use scrap and bend metal and make little things to pass the time, eventually she got really good at making origami with really thin sheets of scrap. After a bad mission those will end up in the hands of her team too, tho not as open as the cigarettes. It’s too close to home for her to acknowledge our load but the team knows it’s her.

And now the origins lol

Growing up her dad was a criminal who helped move “product” for whoever had the cash for it and her mom was not in the picture.

So she lived with her grandfather most of the time. He was an old Vietnam veteran pilot (which is where the teeth came from lol) and taught her everything she knows about machines, inside and out. He was all she had most of the time and loved him to pieces. Her sense of humor, her wit, almost everything she was, was based around him. She did everything he did, fixed cars, flew the frankly death trap of a helo that he managed to get a hold of and fix up. Even did a little boonies racing with the boys when she was old enough.

Occasionally her dad would make appearances, a few weeks at a time and before she knew any better he had passed on some of his “magic” as he called it. Slight of hand, how to make something “Disappear”, how to add some special pockets to things. She started carrying her dads brand of cigarettes in her pockets-

(Lucky strikes. He always thought that was funny. “A little extra luck never hurt anybody” he’d say with a grin.)

-Hoping every time she could maybe get him to stick around a little longer if she was useful. When that didn’t work she’d pack around more things. His favorite whisky, gum, you name it. He’d just pat her on the head and keep moving to greener pastures.

It wasn’t until after he got caught up in the scene and was killed that she saw that “magic” for what is was. He was trying to teach her to be just like him, to take up the “family” business. It disgusted her but she realized this skill was all she really had left of her dad and she could never break the habit. Always kept a pack of Luckies on her, just in case.

Just before she graduated high school her grandfather passed away, it was his time but still it was devastating. He was her everything and now she had no one. So in an effort to keep his memory close and find some semblance of community she joined the army.

She kinda floated for a while, making some friends here and there but not really finding the family she craved. For the most part she kept her skills to her self. The driving and her “magic”. Didn’t want to stand out, to make herself different from the people she’d gotten used to. Sometime in the middle of all that her squad mates noticed her penchant for making things disappear and reappear. It was almost muscle memory for her at that point, she didn’t even realize she was doing it.

One night, they were out on patrol when one of her squad was mentioning wanting a drink and out of nowhere Vice produced a little shooter. Everyone was flabbergasted, eventually someone made a joke about what else she had and suddenly a pack of cigarettes, a can of chew, and two more shooters appeared. After that they’d just ask her what’s on the menu when they wanted something.

Thus Vice was born.

(that’s kinda all I’ve come up with lol I’m not sure how she joins the taskforce so I’ll have to think on that but here’s a deep dive on my girl)

[napollya-inspiration]

atomic blonde au

I kind of want to start a series about writing this fic just because I can. I make no promises of finishing it. I just think that my process for this will be so different - as I mostly adjust the process to each fic that's pretty normal for me - but this has been baking for the past 6 years.

A big part of why I want to write this is to explore something I kind of touched on in Tangled Up, which I wrote in 2017. That fic needs some heavy editing from my perspective today, but I started to deal with the dynamic of Gaby being East German and getting mixed up with Napoleon as an American and Illya as a Russian and what that would mean for her. How do her sentiments differ from theirs as someone who got into the spy business to get out of the GDR?

“He’s a Russian.” She said like it explained things. “What do you mean?” “I am from East Germany.” She looked around for a moment and stopped. “Look, they say Russia is our big brother. But not in the way big brothers can be protective and super cool. More in the way big brothers can be oppressing and authoritative. Maybe even abusing.” She said in a hushed voice but with a stress that convinced Napoleon she meant every word. It made sense. Very few of the East Germans loved the Russians or what they had done to their country. The fear of the Stasi at all times and the propaganda education didn’t help. “Are you afraid?” He asked, honestly concerned. “No, no.” Gaby started walking again. Her tone lightened. “Illya is incredibly soft, although he may not look like it. Excerpt from Tangled Up

Again, I would improve a lot of things about this fic today, but this was me scratching the surface of a dynamic that I know from growing up in what used to be East Germany. Don't get me wrong, the wall had been down for ten years when I was born, but I felt ripple effects even as I was growing up. My mom was 18 when the wall fell. I had a history teacher who used to patrol the border. My parents hadn't ever eaten a kiwi until they were 20 and had no clue how you ate one when they got it from the store. My grandpa's brother escaped to the West and doesn't talk to my family anymore.

It's very much a reality of growing up German.

This is what I love about Atomic Blonde. Sure, the plot is awesome, but you can see the country being reunited as a backdrop. While all countries continue to hunt and kill each other, the Cold War "ends."

It's definitely something I want to bring into the fanfic. The surreality of the divided city. I already posted this snippet from the WIP, so I don't feel bad about it, but the way I start to introduce this dynamic is through Napoleon's musings as his plane descends on Berlin.

Out of all the places, Berlin is one of the dirtiest to spend your time as a spy. Nowhere else is the density of spies per capita this high.  And it shows.  Napoleon despises it. The desperation of the West German Citizens holding onto their city and being fed by the West like a helpless infant with spoons that are literal airplanes. And then there’s the desperation of the East Germans, fenced in by their own government and longing for the American dream like it was going to fix anything. And above all, every fucking government trying to profit from their collective desperation.  When a hundred and sixty yards-wide missile field divides a city, you know to be rather careful where you step.

Fun fact: you can see how Berlin used to be divided to this day if you look at it from above at night:

Let me know if you are interested in this kind of behind-the-scenes content!

[typical-simplelove]

White Horse (Taylor's Version) -> Andrei Svechnikov

Requested by anonymous: Hey, I'm the Andrei Svechnikov ask!! I don't know if this is too vague (and if it is, I'm so sorry and please don't worry about writing it!) but could you write a story for the song White Horse by Taylor Swift? Like the one where her boyfriend cheats on her but she has to choose to let go for her own sake? Thank you so much for reading my ask!

Summary: After a humiliating breakup, you move to Raleigh to get away from the small-town drama, and that's where you meet Andrei. Andrei Svechnikov, the one that makes your mind spin even though you've sworn off dating.

Author's Note: Special thanks to @rosesvioletshardy for helping me out with one of these scenes; it definitely wouldn't have been finished without your help. To the anon, thank you so much for requesting this (my requests currently aren't open, btw) because I had a ton of fun working on it. I hope you enjoy this!

Warnings: gender-neutral!reader; airports; breakups; cheating

Word Count: 4.7k (including song lyrics)

Say you're sorry, that face of an angel Comes out just when you need it to As I paced back and forth all this time 'Cause I honestly believed in you Holdin' on, the days drag on Stupid girl, I should've known, I should've known

“Folks, we have landed here in Raleigh,” the pilot announces over the PA system. “We will be heading to the terminal in just a few moments. Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened until the seatbelt sign is off. You may, however, use your phones and take them off of airplane mode.”

Taking a shaky breath, you pull out your phone from where it’s sitting in your purse—your carry-on—and turn it on. Once it’s on, you type out a text to tell your mom that you’ve landed safely. You know she didn’t want you to leave your hometown, but after everything you’ve been through, you couldn’t stay. Not after what they did to you.

You were supposed to get married three days ago. You were supposed to get married and start your life with someone who you thought was the love of your life. It was supposed to be the happiest day of your life, but when you found out they were cheating on you, it was over. You wanted a happy-ever-after story where everything worked out like the movies. They cheated and tore you down.

You couldn’t remain in your small hometown where all the watchful and pitying eyes would glare down at you as you walked by. Everyone in town pitied you. Their watchful eyes would glare down at you as you sat at the local coffee shop while you drank your morning coffee. You couldn’t take the whispers behind your back when you were at the grocery store. The snickers behind your back when you’d shop for new clothes were too much to take. You were ostracized in your own home and couldn’t take it anymore, so you applied for a new job and moved to Raleigh in a matter of seven days. It was only going to get worse, and you knew that you’d never be able to fully move on in your hometown.

After getting off the plane, getting your luggage, and finding a taxi, you were finally en route to your new apartment. You had three suitcases but no boxes. You moved into a fully furnished apartment because you knew it would be little to no hassle. You wanted this move to be as seamless as possible.

You lug your suitcases up to the apartment and stand in your new, narrow hallway. The apartment was nice. It was content and would be able to give you everything you’d need to hypothetically make Raleigh and this apartment your home.

You drag your suitcases to their proper rooms and start to unpack things. Sure, you could wait and explore the city, your new home, but you’re not feeling it. All you want is to sit on your new couch with a pint of ice cream and pretend you loved your new home. You wanted to pretend that everything was okay and that moving here was magically going to fix everything. It wasn’t, but it was a start. A start at fixing your broken heart and maybe that was what you needed.

That I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet Lead her up the stairwell This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town I was a dreamer before you went and let me down Now it's too late for you and your white horse To come around

“Trust me,” Marci, one of your coworkers, begins. “You’re going to love this bar.”

You smile through the pain in your heart. You really didn’t want to go out and drink, but Marci insisted, and because you were new in town, you really couldn’t say no. You might as well get to know your new city. “Why’s that?”

“The guys here are gorgeous. The ladies, too,” Marci points out. “You’ll find someone to get lucky with tonight.”

“I, uh, I'm actually swearing off from all dating.”

“Ooh, messy breakup?”

“Very.”

“What happened?” Marci prods. She graciously accepts her drink from the bartender before you both head to a table to talk.

“I was engaged to someone,” you begin after downing half of your drink. “High-school sweethearts. We were together in high school and then broke up shortly before we started college. In true fashion of my hometown, we both moved back and got back together. They proposed two years ago, and we were supposed to get married about a month ago. He cheated on me, though. I left and moved here to try to get away. I’m not ready to date anyone right now.”

“Hey, no worries. That person was a jack-ass, but let’s just get drunk and have fun, yeah?”

You nod in approval. Getting drunk and having fun was something you wouldn’t mind doing. You couldn’t get drunk back home because all the snickers and whispers and looks you’d get were too horrendous to live through.

A few hours into the night, Marci makes her way over to someone she finds interesting and leaves you at the table by yourself. You normally wouldn’t like sitting alone in a bar, but sitting at that table with a cold drink in your hands watching your only friend in Raleigh have fun was enjoyable. It was similar to something you’d do back at home, and it felt nice to feel comfortable in something so familiar.

That silence and aloneness didn’t last long as a brunette with piercing eyes sat at the empty seat at your table. You don’t say anything as you smirk into your drink and you ignore the man who took the seat. You’re staring ahead at anything but him; you can tell, however, that he wasn’t used to this reaction. From what you can deduce, this guy seems to get people to grasp his attention immediately once he seats. You didn’t want anything from him, so you weren’t going to give him any satisfaction he was looking for.

“Hi,” he finally says with a shaky breath. He was not having whatever this treatment was.

“I’ve decided to quit dating, so if that’s what you’re here for, then you can leave,” you blatantly state. You weren’t going to have any part of what he wanted from you.

“Oh,” he says with an edge to his voice. “So, I can’t ask, ‘why is such a pretty person sitting by themselves?’”

“Mm,” you say with a smile and sparkle in your eye. He’s a charmer, okay then.

“Or, ‘can I get a picture of you, so Santa knows what I want for Christmas this year,’” he continues.

“You may, but it won’t mean anything.”

“Okay, well, I’m Andrei, and if you don’t want to go on a date with me, then how about friends, yeah?”

“Andrei,” you say slowly before introducing yourself. He repeats your name as you did with his but in a mocking tone.

“Now, why are you so against dating?”

“I had a really bad breakup, and I’m not ready to open myself back up.”

“Fair enough,” Andrei says. “Well, this means then we’ll be the best of friends.”

“Are you sure? I’m like pretty broken,” you point out.

“Nothing wrong with broken,” Andrei says with a bright smile.

“Maybe not,” you answer with a small smile and take a sip of your drink. Maybe the move did have some positives.

Maybe I was naive, got lost in your eyes And never really had a chance My mistake, I didn't know to be in love You had to fight to have the upper hand I had so many dreams about you and me Happy endings, now I know

“And this is where I live,” you tell Andrei as you open the door to your apartment. When you both step in and take off your shoes, Andrei just bursts out into laughter. “What?”

“This is the most uniform and least personalized apartment known to humanity,” Andrei explains. He looks around your apartment and can’t help but find it funny.

“Look, when I moved here, I just needed an apartment fast, and an already furnished apartment was just what I needed.”

“Do you have any ability to, I don’t know, change anything?”

“I’m allowed to move furniture around and stuff, and if I want to change any furniture, I just put these ones into the basement. I think I can put up decor and stuff. If it makes you feel any better, I bought all my own kitchen appliances.”

“That really doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“I’m sorry. What do you want—”

“Get your computer,” Andrei commands. You furrow your eyebrows and just head to your work bag and pull out your computer. Once it’s open and turned on, you turn to Andrei who motions for you to sit. “Open Ikea.”

“Like a store?”

“No, the website,” Andrei says, exasperated. “Oh, this is going to go great.”

“Hey, don’t blame me,” you defend. “I have no idea what’s happening right now.”

“We’re going to make your apartment a little bit more you,” Andrei explains. “I’m sure you can find some lamp shades or a chair or something you like on Ikea. Or, we can go to a different website. Target or HomeGoods or something.”

“Why don’t we just go into an actual store?”

“I don’t want to go into a store,” Andrei whines.

“So you’re going to make me spend all this money on home decor, but you won’t let me do it the way I want?”

“Who said you were paying for it?”

“Because it’s my apartment?” you say as if it were obvious.

“This will be my welcoming gift for you,” Andrei states. “Whatever, can you just open the websites so we can shop?”

“Yeah, yeah,” you say and open the Ikea website. You click on the decorative accessories and begin to scroll through the items.

“Oh, what about this one?” Andrei immediately says when he sees this piece.

“Why the hell would I need a wooden, decorative hand, Andrei?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. It’s cool!”

“Nope, we’re going to keep scrolling,” you state and continue scrolling through the website.

“I like this one,” Andrei interrupts again after only seconds when he sees a different piece.

“My goodness, Andrei, no way am I having this in my apartment.”

“It’s amazing. Oh, you should buy it!”

“Moving on,” you say and continue scrolling. This was going to be such a long process. When you don’t find anything you like under these filters, you find a different filter and continue to scroll through the Ikea website. “I’m going to go to Target. I don’t like anything here.”

“Okay,” Andrei says and carefully observes as you type in the new website. He never knew that something like typing a website into a computer could be so endearing. Lightly shaking his head, Andrei knows that he has to find a way to calm his thoughts to continue being your friend. He wasn’t going to push you in any way that you weren’t ready. Leaning back against the chair, Andrei rests his arm across the back of your chair as you begin to scroll through the “Home Decor” category. The action sends shivers down your spine as you try to concentrate on the computer screen in front of you.

“I could use some blankets,” you remark as you click on the “Cozy Shop” filter and open it in a new window.

“Or poufs,” Andrei says when he notices the category. Following his words, you open the poufs link into a new tab. You start to scroll through the “Cozy Shop” and try to find something in your apartment that’s a “bit more like you”, as Andrei said.

After scrolling through the Target decor section, you end up with three blankets, three pillows, and a pouf. Once you’re ready to enter your credit card information, you reach for your wallet, but you pause when you hear the scratching of your computer being moved against the table.

“Andrei,” you say when you realize he’s going to pay for the decor.

“You heard what I said,” he immediately states. “It’s a gift to you, okay? No questions asked and no arguing.”

You nod and thank him. Now, with all the new additions to your apartment, you would always have a personalized touch but also a reminder of Andrei—the one who is making your move to Raleigh seem better.

I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet Lead her up the stairwell This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town I was a dreamer before you went and let me down Now it's too late for you and your white horse To come around

“Are you sure you’re allowed to do this?” you question as you watch Andrei unlock the doors to his usual entrance to PNC Arena.

“No, yes, maybe, I don’t know,” Andrei says with his familiar cheeky smile. You look into his eyes and see the teasing lit in his eyes.

“If I get in trouble, I swear Andrei, I will no longer be your friend.”

“You’re such a goody-two-shoes sometimes; you know that?” Andrei teases. You roll your eyes as Andrei opens the door. “I got the key from a trainer. When I told them you’ve had a pathetic time here in Raleigh, they immediately offered up an empty tour of the arena.”

“There’s no one here?”

“Not a single soul except for you and me,” Andrei answers and takes your hand. He pulls you into the building and begins to show you around the training facilities on game day. In each room, he takes you in and points to everything that he’s used. After going through the training facilities and the locker room, Andrei leads you to the ice where you both take a seat at the bench.

“Wow, from down here, this place is huge.”

Andrei glances down at you as you take in the expanse of the arena. He knows, he knows that you don’t want a relationship with anyone at this moment, but the way you’re taking in everything with wide eyes, Andrei can’t help fall for you even more.

“How do you not get overwhelmed when this place is packed with fans?” you question. “I mean, I’m overwhelmed just sitting here with you and there aren’t any fans here.”

Andrei shrugs. “Maybe because this was always a dream for me? I always dreamed of playing in a stadium with tons of people. The noise and the atmosphere always excited me. Every time I step foot on the ice or sit on the bench and I hear the loud cheers, it’s exhilarating. Every time, I get chills, and it’s crazy because I get to live out my childhood dream.”

You smile. “You’re cute, you know that?”

“I mean, yeah, I know, but what prompted that?”

“Your speech, your words. It’s cute.”

Andrei wraps his arm around your shoulder. “Is your time in Raleigh just a little bit better?”

“Yeah, it is,” you answer with a smile. So much better.

And there you are on your knees Begging for forgiveness, begging for me Just like I always wanted but I'm so sorry

“You know how we were supposed to hang out?” Andrei blurts through the phone even before you give a greeting.

“Yeah, why?” you say as you pull into Andrei’s apartment’s parking garage. You stop in front of the gate and wait for the remainder of his words before you buzz him to get him to open the gates.

“Some of my teammates are over, and they can be a little much sometimes. I don’t want to overwhelm you. You know, I thought they would have left by now, you know, the time we were supposed to hang out, but they haven’t left yet. I don’t know if I’ll be able to kick them out. They’ll start asking about why I’m kicking them out, and I’ll have to tell them. Then, they’ll start teasing you and think we’re dating which is the exact opposite of what you wanted. Maybe it’s best if we just—”

“Andrei,” you interrupt his babbling.

“Right, you should be able to have a say in all this.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll just drive home, okay? We can meet up another time.”

“Wait, you’re already here? Now I feel bad. Just give me a moment, and I’ll ask the guys if they’re okay with you joining us.”

“Andrei, it’s okay,” you tell him, but you know your words fell onto deaf ears. His phone is probably sitting on a table or something where Andrei abandoned it to go ask his teammates if they’re okay with you hanging out, too. Honestly, Andrei’s ramble just moments prior was endearing, it was cute, and it made your heart flutter knowing that he cared enough to have all those thoughts.

“They said they’re okay with you coming up,” he tells you before he lowers his voice to a whisper. “They’ve all started with the questions asking if we’re dating and the teasing, so if you want, I can tell them to lay off it.”

“Andrei?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be okay. Just buzz me up so I can get into the parking garage, and we’ll take it from there.”

“Okay,” Andrei answers, hesitantly. He says a quick goodbye and hangs up the phone. Six minutes later, though, you’re still sitting outside the parking garage gate waiting for Andrei to buzz you inside. Did he forget? You get your answer a few minutes later through a phone call from Andrei. “Hey, where are you?”

“Waiting for you to unlock the gate?” you say with a tinge of annoyance.

“Oh, shit, sorry,” Andrei answers. You hear a few giggles on the other end of the phone and a voice saying “damn, Andrei, pull it together.”

You’re welcomed into his apartment a few minutes later after parking your car and taking the elevator up to his place.

“So, you’re the person who’s been taking up all of Andrei’s time recently,” Sebastian says after Andrei introduced you to everyone.

“I guess? How many other friends does Andrei have who just moved to Raleigh after a broken engagement?”

“Oh, you’re the tenth this year,” Teuvo jokes.

“And here I thought I was special,” you continue to joke and turn to Andrei with a cheeky grin.

“I hate this so much right now,” Andrei grumbles to himself as he brings you a glass of water. You thank him with a pat on his thigh when he takes the seat on his couch next to you.

“Why? We found our new best friend. What could you possibly hate about that?” Martin teases which elicits Andrei’s face to grow red.

You lean your head towards Andrei’s ear and whisper, “if you want me to stop teasing, I can.”

If possible, Andrei’s face goes even more red at your proximity. He doesn’t need to look at his friends to know that they’re all giving him smirks and knowing glances. Yeah, Andrei continues to stare at his glass of water sitting on the coaster (you forced him to buy) on the coffee table. “You’re good,” he mutters in response. You soothingly rub your hand on his thigh which only flusters Andrei even more.

“Let’s put on a movie,” Sebastian interrupts when he sees Andrei’s face and flustered state.

“Good idea,” Andrei says and immediately bolts up to grab the remotes. Thankfully, you don’t notice how hastily he got up from his seat next to you because everyone else in the room noticed how fast Andrei got up. He was always a calm, cool, and collected person, but around you, it seemed, he was the exact opposite. Andrei could deny his feelings for you all he wants, but anyone with eyes —even without 20/20 vision—can see the effect you have on Andrei. It was scary how one moment, Andrei was smiley, and the next he could barely open his mouth to get a sentence out.

Once the group settles on a movie, Andrei takes his seat next to you and casually rests his arm on the top of the couch above your shoulders. Everyone notices with ease how easy it was for you and Andrei to settle into that position and comfort. Like an old married couple. That’s how easy and casual it was for you both to settle into that position. One would call it cuddling but in public.

Although you and Andrei weren’t dating, it was obvious there was something there. How long until one or both of you realized it? Would it be too late when you both came to the realization, or would someone get hurt?

'Cause I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale I'm gonna find someone someday Who might actually treat me well This is a big world, that was a small town

“This take-out better be as good as you say it is,” you say as the smell of Andrei’s favorite Malaysian restaurant fills the entire elevator.

“It is,” Andrei says. “My teammates brought me this food when I first moved here. Trust me; you will love it.”

“I hope it tastes as good as it smells,” you say as you both exit the elevator.

“Here, let me grab that for you.” Andrei grabs the bag from your hand as you both walk towards your apartment.

“No, I’ve got it.” You pull the bag away from Andrei’s grasp.

“Uh-uh, nope,” Andrei teases and reaches for the bag. When he can’t grab the bag, he begins to tickle you. The tickles erupt laughter from you as you both continue to walk down the hall to your apartment. You’re telling Andrei to stop as you try to reach for your keys in your pocket. Just as you lift your head to get ready to unlock the door, someone standing there sends shock waves through your entire body. “What’s wrong?”

“Leave,” you tell them as you shove the take-out bag into Andrei’s hand. “I don’t want you here.”

“Babe, come on,” your ex-fiance tells you. “It’s time to get back to our old lives.”

“Our old lives ended when you cheated on me with half the town,” you bitterly spit. At those words, Andrei realizes that this is your ex-fiance, and he immediately gets protective over you.

“Come on. Let’s just go talk this out,” they insist.

“Hey, they said to leave, so go!” Andrei yells.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” the ex-fiance yells before turning back to you. “Let’s go get coffee and talk.”

“No, you and I ended a long time ago. I want you gone.”

Your ex-fiance shakes their head and gets down on their knees. “Babe, please. Come on. We can work this out. Don’t give up on us.” They take your hand in theirs and continue to beg for another chance. You stare down at them in distaste. You wanted their hands off of you, and you wanted them gone from your life. All your life, you thought about what it would be like for someone to want you so badly that they beg for you. Now that it’s happened, though, you don’t want it to be the person currently doing that.

Andrei places his hand on your shoulder as a sign that he’s there. You turn to him, and the world stops immediately once your eyes rest on his. He was the one you wanted. He was the one who you loved and wanted to start forever with. It was Andrei, not them. It was always going to be Andrei.

“Get up,” you tell your ex. They get up as you said, thinking it was a good sign. “I want you out and gone. Get out of my city.”

“No, babe, don’t do this.”

“They told you to leave,” Andrei says and pushes your ex out of the way. You and Andrei walk into your apartment and ignore your ex still standing there. “You dated that doofus?”

You laugh. “Unfortunately.”

“I hate that they hurt you like that, but I’m so glad you moved here.”

You smile at the man in front of you. “Yeah, me too.”

Everything would be okay, now, because you had Andrei and you were home.

There in my rear-view mirror disappearing now And it's too late for you and your white horse Now it's too late for you and your white horse To catch me now

“What’s the plan for today?” Andrei asks when he walks into your apartment. He plops himself on your couch next to you as you’re flipping through the channels.

“Just hang out,” you say.

“Okay,” Andrei answers and grabs the blanket sitting over the side of the couch and lays it across his lap. You scoot over to him and lean into his side. Very vaguely, you hear Andrei make a sharp intake of his breath. You furrow your eyebrows in confusion but continue to stare ahead at the television. He’s been doing that a lot, you recollect. Every time you would go near him, Andrei would go red in the face or suddenly take a sharp intake of his breath. You want to question him, but you know that it wasn’t the time to do so.

“So,” Andrei begins but says nothing else.

“So,” you repeat, not sure where he was going with his words. He doesn’t say anything after you, so you assume the conversation is over and turn back and pay attention to the show you’re watching.

“Have you, you know, actually, never mind.”

“No, no tell me; I want to know,” you insist.

“No, it’s stupid and ridiculous.”

“Oh, please, Andrei. Nothing you say could be stupid and ridiculous.”

“Have you decided to start dating again?” Andrei asks.

“I haven’t really thought about it,” you remark. You haven’t thought about it because you’re hoping that Andrei would ask you out.

“Oh,” he responds, crestfallen. “Do you know when you will think about it?”

“I guess when the right person comes my way,” you state. “Why do you ask?”

“Do you think you’ve met the right person?”

“What’s with all the questions, Andrei?” you tease. “Is there someone you have in mind for me?”

“I was, uh, I was hoping I could be the one to ask you out,” Andrei blurts out. He turns to face you. “I know you had a lot of shit to figure out when you moved back here, and I hope that I was able to help you with that. I know you only wanted me as a friend, but I still fell in love with you. I’m not telling you that anything has to come from this, but I need you to know because I need to know if there’s a chance in the future. I love you more than you could ever know.”

You meet Andrei’s hopeful eyes. His eyes were laced with hope and happiness and love, while yours were laced with question and confusion. You were shocked at the news, but it elated you. When Andrei’s eyes furrow at your expression, you know how happy you are wasn’t displayed.

“I’m going to head out,” Andrei tells you remorsefully. “I’ll catch up with you another time, okay? I love you.”

Your eyes stare as Andrei walks away and out of your apartment. You were shocked, and that shock translated to you not knowing what to do. It took you a moment to realize what was happening before you bolted up from your chair and ran after Andrei.

“Hey, Andrei?” you call out from your doorway. He turns from where he’s walking down the hallway and gives you a small, knowing smile. You close and lock your door before you run down the hallway to meet him. You lace your hand in his and say, “I love you, too.”

Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa Try and catch me now, oh It's too late To catch me now

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[rafescoke]

New Girl ; Rafe Cameron

masterlist

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x reader

Summary: Just as Rafe thought his life couldn’t get any worse, a new girl moved into town. 

Warnings: Straight smut! Mentions of trauma, extreme love-hate relationship, fluff

A/N: thank you so much for 600+ followers wtf ily <33

p.s; you know the drill. . . send requests!

One thing that Rafe was sure of; he was no tour guide, or anything of the sort.

Sure, he got himself into trouble; vandalising the principal’s office and destroying school’s properties, but that was it. He didn’t try to include the part where he goes to parties to get high and wake up the next evening with a painful headache, that was more to his personal life and he believed no one in the education system could have the advantage to be mad at him for it. 

“I simply just won’t do it,” Rafe shrugged, sighing against the chair. “Look, why don’t you ask Topper to help this new kid? He’s good in class.” 

“You answered yourself, Mr. Cameron,” the counsellor sighed, placing a file on top of the table lightly. “He’s good at school work, and you’re not. That’s why we’re going with you.” 

So that was the core reason as to why Rafe was waiting impatiently for the arrival of the new student, whom he didn’t even care about to know the gender. All he wanted was to sit at the back of the school and light some joints. 

“Mr. Cameron, this is Ms. (Y/L/N).” 

Rafe took a look at her. He bit the insides of his cheeks, thinking how she didn’t even make an effort to dress properly for her first day in a new schoolz 

An oversized tee and denim shorts. Really? 

“Hi,” she smiled, extending her hands. “I’m (Y/N).” 

“Rafe,” was all he said, before handing her her timetable for the semester. 

She scanned the paper, nodding slightly and pointed at a word. When she realised how Rafe wasn’t listening, she cleared her throat. 

“What?”

“I got Biology with Mr Garcia. Where’s Room 3?” 

Rafe scooted closer next to her, and the smell of strawberry cheesecake wafted into his nostrils. He took a step back, seething. 

Who would even wear a cakey perfume? 

“Uh, that’s like, at the end of the hall?” He answered, but it was more like a question. He looked at the direction he was noting, and nodded again. “Definitely the one at the end of the hall.” 

“You really don’t care, do you?” She asked, crossing her arms. “Where’s my locker?” 

Rafe took another look at her timetable, searching for her locker number. 

372. 

He turned to look at his own locker, finding the number, and letting out an ‘oh’. “Yours just 4 lockers away from mine.” 

“Thanks.” She muttered, and Rafe sighed before fixing the left side of his bag strap dangling from his left shoulder. “Is that it? Can I go?” 

“Not so fast, Rafe,” the counsellor sighed, stopping him by his chest. “You’re supposed to stay with her for the week. Help her get around. And you’re supposed to show her around the school compound now.” 

Rafe looked up to the counsellor with a pained expression and then back to (Y/N), his chest heavy. “Fine. Let’s go. What do you call yourself again?” 

Right before lunch, Rafe stayed over in his class for a few minutes before going out to the hall. He didn’t want to see the new girl, and he didn’t feel like being her assistant anymore. 

But the world wasn’t that fair. 

(Y/N) grinned, walking towards him. “Can you show me the cafeteria?”

“How do you even know my class?” He muttered, keeping a distance between them. The last thing he ever wanted was to let the news of him being with the new girls circulating around the school, or worse, the whole island. 

“My class is directly in front of yours. We parted just now.” 

Of course she would remember that. 

. . . 

A week went by quickly, and before Rafe would know it, he didn’t see (Y/N) anymore, and he was content with it. 

Until her family decided to become neighbours with his. 

“What do you mean the (Y/L/N) bought the house next to us?” He groaned, watching as Rose and Ward prepared to greet themselves to the new family.

The last thing he wanted was to show her around the fucking island like he was some kind of a hotel worker. 

She was in a yellow sundress, and Rafe couldn’t help but notice the way her (H/C) glowed under the sunlight. She looked similar to her mother, both bringing pastries as a way to introduce themselves. 

“Hi, we just moved next door,” Mrs (Y/L/N) said, showing the Camerons her pearly white teeth. Rafe wondered if she ever got them done, because it’s not possible for a human to have such white assets. 

“Hi, welcome to Obx,” Ward gushed, accepting the pastries happily. “Rafe, take the other cake.” 

(Y/N) looked up at the sound of his name, and to Rafe’s amusement, began gritting her teeth. He took the cake with a smirk, happy that he got her all worked up. 

He would definitely have the best time of his life taunting the shit out of this girl. 

. . .

“Hey, wanna ride a boat?” 

“Topper, leave her alone,” Rafe sighed, fixing his cap so it was facing backwards. “She’s not interested.” 

(Y/N) perked up at this invitation, never actually riding a boat alone if it wasn’t during a holiday since she was originally from the city. She walked towards her neighbour’s deck, her skin illuminating the golden sunrays. 

“Sure.” 

Rafe mentally groaned, having to deal with the girl now, but he wasn’t sure if he was angry or jealous. It wasn’t him to be jealous easily, but after a week of becoming her tour guide, he guessed he deserves some kind of a credit from her. Topper didn’t do anything, but she was gladly accepting his invitation. 

Their usual stroll along the stream of the island was not like usual, since the air was now filled with the annoying chatter between (Y/N) and Topper. Rafe could never relate with them, only wanting to relax his mind and sleep it off. 

“So you’re a city girl? That’s great!” 

“Sure Tops,” Rafe wondered, smiling delightly. Anything to get into a girl’s pants. . . 

“You know what, (Y/N)?” He called from the place he was resting, and he waited a few seconds before continuing his speech. “If you’re looking for a boyfriend, Topper’s not the guy. He hasn’t moved on from his ex-girlfriend.” 

Sure, he would get a lot of shit from Topper for saying that, but he was done with the pointless flirting between them. 

“What about you?” 

Rafe opened his eyes, watching her from behind his sunglasses. He shifted his position, “What about me?” 

“Have you moved on from your ex-girlfriend?” 

Has he moved on from Kie? He wasn’t entirely sure. Their relationship was brief, but she was all Rafe had. When she decided to go all full-pogue, he knew there was nothing left of them. 

“I don’t date.” 

“I can see why,” she said, and Rafe swore he heard some kind of mirth behind her tone. 

“Have you?” 

“Moved on from an ex?” 

Rafe nodded, opening his eyes slightly. 

“I guess.” 

“Good for him.” 

“Excuse me?” She gasped, pushing him lightly. “You’re an asshole.” 

She leaned closer onto him, and for a second Rafe thought about letting her in his bubble, but he quickly shoved her away. “Watch it.” 

“I’m just trying to tell you about that fucking fly on your face.” 

“Yeah? Liar.” 

(Y/N) huffed, stomping back to Topper, and Rafe laughed silently. 

1-0.

. . .

Fuck. 

If he would’ve known about the police raid in Topper’s party, he wouldn’t have come to his house at all. But here he was; all pushed up against the metal chair of the police station, his hair messy and his eyes bloodshot. 

“We’re taking a urine test, son,” Shoupe said, sighing. “There’s always something wrong with you.”

Rafe thought about (Y/N) suddenly, and how she was probably back home and watching some kind of a rom-com. That’s totally her; all cuddled up with a pink teddy bear probably named ‘Bear-bear’, constantly wiping the tears off her face over the sad breakup scene of a movie. 

Rafe was forced to strip out of his shirt and jeans before entering the small cubicle, and having to go through this same procedure for quite a few times now, he didn’t mind giving a show to the workers. 

He quickly zipped his jeans bag, handing a female worker a cup filled to the end with his urine. He yawned, already knowing the results, so there was no use being nervous about it. 

He was picked up by an angry Ward an hour later. He groaned, getting in the car to prepare himself for the same lecture about his future and how he shouldn’t jeopardise it, but he was shocked when Ward didn’t utter a word at all. 

It was very uncomfortable, but he guessed he was just tired. 

“Good morning.” 

Rafe rubbed his eyes against the bright sunlight, feeling the pain from his head slowly soaring throughout his body. He squinted his eyes at the figure in front of him again, trying to blink the blurriness away. 

“What the fuck?” 

“Your mom told me to call for you,” (Y/N) said, looking away from him. Rafe looked down to his body, seeing his shirtless self, and laughed.

Of fucking course she would be uncomfortable with him being shirtless. 

“She’s not my mom,” he grunted, removing the covers off of him and checking his phone for the time. 

12.43p.m. 

“Fuck,” he muttered, and his eyes turned to her again. “What are you doing here again? Leave.” 

“Waiting for you.” 

“I’ll be downstairs in a few seconds,” he muttered. He didn’t need her to be some kind of maid for him. 

(Y/N) muttered some curse word, hoping that riled him up, but she would be stupid if she thought a random curse word would make him Rafe Cameron angry.

It would take a lot more to raise an expression from Rafe Cameron, and a curse word definitely wouldn’t. 

. . . 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” 

His boat was not working, but he had just filled her up the night before. This was the newest model too, and he couldn’t afford asking Ward to fix his boat again. Not when he was caught with being on drugs from his urine test last week, and the only reason he got out of the trouble was because of Ward again. 

“Is it not working, Rafey?” 

Rafe looked up to the sound. (Y/N) was watching him with a sly grin, shielding her eyes with her hands from the sun like she was some goddamn queen that would melt from the heat. 

“What did you do to my boat?” He groaned, trying to turn the ignition again. 

“What did I do? Come on, why do you always think so bad of me? That’s kinda ru—”

Before she could continue her taunt, Rafe climbed the deck, inching closer towards her and smeling that goddamn cake smell again. 

Hell, he’ll buy her a new perfume to stop breathing in that fucking smell. 

“That’s kinda what?” He whispered. He was so close to her now, and he could hear her breath hitching. He smirked, his heart soaring. 

“You’re kinda dumb for a kook, Rafe,” she sighed. She dangled a familiar key in front of him, and when Rafe took a closer look, he noticed it was the key to his boat. 

She threw the key into the water and Rafe watched it plopped, moving straight towards the deep end. His eyes flared at her again, his chest heaving. 

“Hope you have a spare key.” 

1-1. 

. . .

That should be good, he guessed, for being in a tie with (Y/N). But he doesn’t like someone being in the same league as him, so it must be 2-1. 

And the 2 from him. 

But that was for another day, because Kiara Carrera was in front of him. He fixed his cap so it was facing backwards again, and then putting his hands into his pockets for good measure. 

“Hey,” he greeted her. She smiled at him grimly before looking back at the menu, clearly uninterested. “How’re you?” 

“I’m. . . great,” she breathed. “Why?” 

“Just asking,” he shrugged, “Do you wanna go out for some drinks sometimes? Like the old times?” 

Rafe curled his toes, waiting nervously. 

“Um, I have to check with my parents first,” she replied. “But, Rafe, you know, it’s been. . . a year.” 

“Of course,” he laughed, trying to hide the sudden emotion inside him. “I meant hanging out as a friend.” 

“Of course!” She suddenly exclaimed, “If you would bring (Y/N) with us.” 

“Oh, I don’t-”

“You don’t?” 

“I- fine. I’ll bring her with me. Is tomorrow okay?” He sighed, already foreseeing the future. 

And it’s full of shit. 

“Tomorrow.” 

. . .

“Wow, I am not going to third wheel you and someone, Rafe,” (Y/N) laughed, resting her back against her chair. 

“Please,” Rafe begged, sighing. He didn’t know how much begging he could do anymore, not when he had so many things to do. He took a deep breath again, “I’ll do anything for you back.” 

“Including hooking me up with JJ?” 

“Yes- no. No. What the fuck? Where did you even know this guy?” He expressed, his eyebrows furrowing. He was not going to let her a pull a Kie, though they weren’t dating. 

“He helps mower the lawn.” 

Of course. JJ Maybank would never pass the chance to get some money while checking out girls. 

“I’m not helping you to get together with JJ,” he sighed. “Can we go for a better option? Like Landon? He’s rich.” 

“I’m richer,” she yawned. “Okay. Fine. Topper.” 

“No,” he shook his head. “Not going to happen.” 

If she ever thought about him allowing her to date his best friend, she has to be a lot smarter than that. 

He didn’t know why he wouldn’t allow it. Maybe he was scared of Topper hurting her. 

Or maybe he just couldn’t imagine her with someone else.

“Then we have no deal,” she replied simply, gazing at her newly painted nails. She gazed at Rafe who seemed to be thinking hard from the top of her sunglasses. 

He groaned. “Fine. I’ll help you with Topper. But I’m warning you; he. Has. Not. Moved. On.” 

“Oh, he will.”

. . .

Kie was all up on Rafe.

He didn’t know what had gotten into her, because she was never this. . . strong-willed. 

Kie had her hands placed against Rafe’s chest, kissing him tenderly and sometimes running her fingers through his hair. 

Rafe sucked in a breath, watching as she part. Her mouth formed into a grin, and Rafe couldn’t help but grin back. 

“Wanna do it?” 

Did he? Of course he wanted to “do it”. He had been wanting to do so since forever. He would be crazy to say no to that invitation, and he was definitely sane. 

He looked at (Y/N), who was awkwardly perched up on the sofa, tucking her legs under her and watching some kind of a movie on her phone. Her eyes looked up to Rafe, and she quickly looked away. 

“In one of the rooms?” 

Kie seemed to look around the boat for a while, like he was looking for someone, but there were only two of them. And (Y/N). 

“Fine,” she huffed, and pulled him towards one of the rooms by his wrist. 

Kie pushed him onto the bed, and Rafe wondered how she got this side of her. Throughout their 6 months of dating, she never showed him this, so this was a bit of a shock to him. 

“Hey, hey,” Rafe gripped her wrists, holding her still. “We don’t have to rush.” 

“I want to,” she said, and leaned closer. “I thought you wanted this?” 

They began making out, his hand slipping down her back to grab her ass, only to be met with her vibrating phone in her back pocket. 

“I’ll get it,” he mumbled against the kiss, and pulled her phone out.

A picture of JJ Maybank’s smiling face right next to Kie greeted him, and his name was perched on top of the screen, signalling his call. 

Of course. She never wanted to fuck him. It was always to make someone jealous. That explained the gritted teeth Kie would make when he mentioned JJ earlier. 

He sighed, pushing her away so she ended up by his side. “I gotta go.” 

“Huh?” Kie sat up straight, looking from Rafe to her phone. She saw the caller, cleared her throat, and held up a finger to tell him to wait. 

He should’ve known. 

. . . 

Rafe never liked the annual Obx’s drive-in movie theatre, because he really didn’t get the hype of watching a mainstream movie that he had watched with Wheezie a lot of times before in his car. 

This year, it was way worse; they decided to have some kind of a horror themed drive-in movie theatre, and the best part of all; (Y/N) was going with Topper. 

Rafe groaned for the thousandth time at the rapping of a clown against his car window. He gave the clown his middle finger, telling him ‘watch it, you’re scratching my car’, and moving his attention back to the screen. 

Annabelle had disappeared from the room the two nurses had placed her in, and the volume quietened before booming again when the doll had appeared in the living room, perching on top of the sofa. 

He rolled his eyes, and took a look at (Y/N) and his best friend laying in the back part of his jeep from the rearview window. 

They were cuddling. 

“Fuck off,” he grunted, throwing his hands into the air. A human-sized Annabelle pulled on the shotgun’s door now, and Rafe gave the actor another middle finger before yelling a ‘fuck you’.

“This is ridiculous,” he said to no one in particular. He stepped out of the vehicle, knowing damn well he would be the target of the ghosts now, but he couldn’t care less. All he wanted was to step away from all of this and maybe refill his soda. 

He made his way to the back of the lot, getting his money out beforehand. Some type of a wannabe Michael Myers came up, to which he quickly put a hand up to stop him. 

“Don’t. I’m not in the mood.”

Michael Myers seemed to get him, because he left to scare someone else. 

“Refill,” he sighed, giving the worker his cup. “Coke.” 

“You mean like literal coke?” 

Rafe looked behind him, surprised to see a red-faced (Y/N) holding a popcorn bucket. He licked his teeth. “Why? Have you tried it before?” 

(Y/N) went up beside him, muttering about putting more caramel in her popcorn to the worker before looking at him. “You seem mad.” 

“I’m not.” 

“You are.” 

“That’s because you’re all up in my business,” he scoffed. He turned to look at his coke, but the worker was still filling the cup up. 

Good. Did the machine break or something? 

“Where’s the girlfriend?” She asked. She was clearly amused by his sudden tightness, but he quickly softened, as to not rile her up. 

“Where’s the fuckbud- I mean boyfriend? Sorry. It just slipped.” 

(Y/N) nodded, her mouth forming into a grin. “If you’re jealous, you can just say that.” 

“Wait, wait, of what, exactly?” 

She shrugged. 

“Yeah, exactly. No. For all I care, you guys can get married and move to fucking Antartica and have mini (Y/N)s and Christophers running around.” 

The worker placed the newly refilled coke and caramelised popcorn on the counter, and Rafe wondered why she would receive her food at the same time as his when had come here first.

He rolled his eyes, grabbing the drink and walking back towards the car. 

(Y/N) jogged to catch up with him, her popcorn bouncing against her chest. “You’re rude, do you know that?” 

“Jesus Christ, we’re still on this?” He mumbled. He was still walking, but he wanted her to catch up so he slowed down. He guessed it would be the perfect ending to his night to taunt her until she’s all worked up. 

“I just can’t think of a reason why you’re acting so fucking rude to me.” 

“Yeah? Think again.” Rafe sipped on his coke, feeling the carbonated drink sloshing down his throat. He felt content, but he wasn’t sure if it was from the coke or from the girl beside him. 

“This is—”

A nurse with a bloody front suddenly appeared before them, using some kind of a spray to maximise the size of the fire from a lighter. (Y/N) screamed, turning away from the heat, and Rafe quickly caught her before she could end up on the floor. 

“Fuck, fucking move,” he yelled to the nurse, who seemed to be satisfied with her work. Rafe turned to (Y/N), trying to check on her state. 

“Yo, yo, you good? Why are you shaking?” 

She was trembling really hard against him. She had her arms around Rafe’s neck, her popcorn splattered on the ground. She jolted when a scream came from the speaker. 

“Come on, let’s get you to the car,” he mumbled, helping her walk. She kept her face hidden in the crook of his neck, and Rafe had to try his best to balance both of the girl and the Coke in his hands back to the vehicle.

Topper was no longer in the back seat, perhaps looking for Sarah (Rafe wasn’t a bit surprised at this). He was glad his best friend wasn’t there, because the last thinf he needed was two people freaking out on him. 

“Okay, chill, I got you,” Rafe grunted, placing the Coke in the cup holder before seating the girl beside the driver’s seat. He sighed before climbing into the driver’s seat and locked the door in case some kind of a crazy maniac tried to freak her out again. 

“What’s wrong?” 

She didn’t answer, not that Rafe expected her to. She looked like she was reminded by some kind of memory, but Rafe didn’t want to dwell so much on it. 

If he could, he would reverse his car out of this lot back to their homes, but he was one of the first cars to arrive at the drive-in theatre, so it was impossible to get out. 

He sighed, placing his hands against his lap. “You can tell me, you know.” 

She finally looked up to him, and Rafe’s breath hitched from the sight of her red eyes. He softened. 

Whatever it was with that fire, it had triggered some kind of a memory in her. 

He placed a hand against her lap, but not moving so; just a splat of his hand against her soft skin. He had meant for that as comfort, but he realised how creepy the situation was. He pulled away, clearing his throat. 

So they stayed until the end of the movie, just the two of them, and Rafe was sure she wasn’t even watching the remaining parts of the movie. He pretended to watch, but he was really just staring at her the whole time. 

Will she ever let her hair down like this again? Because he liked it. 

When the movie ended and the cars were starting to move, Rafe slowly reversed the car so as to not shake her awake. But she was a light sleeper, and she woke up as soon as he hit the brakes. 

She rubbed her eyes, “Where are we going?” 

“Home,” he answered. “You’re okay?” 

She didn’t answer, and Rafe knew she wasn’t.

. . .

Two weeks after the incident, they never spoke of it again. 

Rafe tried to get an answer out, but to no avail. He didn’t get why he was trying his best to help her, because he, too, needed help. 

“Nah. I won’t invite her. If you want (Y/N) to come, then you’ll have to invite her yourself.” 

Wheezie’s shoulders slumped, “But you’re close to her!”

“I’m not, and she hates my guts,” Rafe replied honestly. Because that was the truth, right? She didn’t even want to tell him about why she was so scared of fire. 

“Invite me to what?” 

“(Y/N)!” Wheezie ran to hug her, to which (Y/N) laughed before patting her on the crown of her head. “Tell her, Rafe!” 

Is she fucking serious? 

“Tell me what?” (Y/N) looked up to Rafe strangely. 

“Wheezie wants to have a movie night, and she wants you to watch with us.” Rafe sighed, hating how he couldn’t just ignore Wheezie. She was definitely Rafe’s favourite, being so close to her brother ever since she was born. 

“Oh, is that true?” She smiled, looking at Wheezie. “Should I come and wear my best pajamas?” 

“You’re not sleeping over, your house is literally 5 minutes away. 2 if you run.” Rafe rolled his eyes. He went up to the counter to pick up a sandwich before biting into it, tasting the creamy eggs and ham. He licked his lips. 

“She can sleep with Sarah, right, (Y/N)?” 

“If she wants me too. . .” 

Rafe rolled his eyes again, “Sarah won’t be with us for tonight’s movie night. She’s starting to hang out with the pogues.” 

“Why are you so against the pogues?” (Y/N) asked, when Wheezie left to write a reminder of tonight’s event in her diary. 

“Why can’t you just shut your mouth?” He sighed. “It’s all bla bla bla bla. Can’t you see you’ll be happier without having to open your mouth every few seconds?” 

(Y/N) bit her lips, and for a second, Rafe had to look away from the look she was giving him. 

Shit. Why was he even looking away? 

She turned to go away, but was halted by Rafe’s fingers around her wrist. She groaned, turning her attention back to him. “What?” 

“You still haven’t told me about the night of the drive-in theatre.” 

“Good,” was all she said, before she went back by the sliding door to her home. 

. . .

“Rafe would be mad if he saw me watching this.” 

“It’s rom-com! And it’s totally PG-13. Trust me on this, okay? Anne Hathaway, yeah, that girl, yes, she’s going to get prettier throughout the movie.” (Y/N) smiled, popping popcorn into her mouth. 

Wheezie sighed, placing her head against (Y/N)’s shoulders and yawned. “Like what? Princess Diaries?” 

“Yes, but this is The Devil Wears Prada. You’ll love it!” 

A beam of light filled the mini movie theatre of The Camerons, signalling the late arrival of Rafe Cameron. He brought two chocolate bars, a Coke (again) and some chicken nuggets. 

“Move,” he said, motioning to Wheezie. 

“There are more seats around here!” Wheezie hissed, crossing her arms. “I’m not leaving (Y/N).” 

“You’re not leaving her, silly, you’re just scooting more to the right.” 

“What’s in it for me?” She raised a brow. 

“Nuggets?” 

She scooted to the side, giving more space for Rafe to place himself beside an annoyed (Y/N). 

Out of all 7 medium-sized sofas in the theatre, he decided to pick the one the two girls were sitting on. 

Rafe handed Wheezie the plate full of chicken nuggets, looking at (Y/N) before watching the screen. He groaned, “What’s this? Trash?” 

“A masterpiece, so shut up,” (Y/N) replied. Rafe huffed, amused, and unwrapped the chocolate bar. 

“Want some?” 

“No.” 

“Come on,” he cooed, placing the chocolate before her eyes. She grunted, pushing his hands away. 

Rafe took that as his final warning. He didn’t want to annoy her even more, knowing that she will probably not talk to him anymore. He decided to wait until half an hour later, just to taunt her again. 

“I’m going to get more popcorn,” Wheezie suddenly said after an hour into the movie. She excused herself to the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone. 

(Y/N) sighed. Great, just like how she wanted. 

“What do you want from me?” Anne Hathaway’s voice blared from the speaker, and Rafe looked at (Y/N). 

“What do you want from me?” He asked, repeating the dialogue. (Y/N) watched him from the corners of her eyes, not getting any delight from this. 

“For you to shut up.” 

“Really? That’s boring,” he sighed. “Do you want to know what I want from you?” 

“Sure.” 

“I’m thinking of a few things. Maybe you, on my lap.” 

(Y/N)’s breath hitched, but she tried her best not to look disturb. She shifted in her seating position. 

Rafe leaned closer, feeling her heat. “Your turn.” 

You know what? Fuck it.

(Y/N) turned to look at him fully in his face, leaning even closer that a part of her was practically on top of him. “Do you know what I think of you, Rafe?” 

His eyes dropped to her lips, and he swore his heartbeat quit beating. 

“I think about you, Rafe,” she whispered. “All pressed up against me in my bed, whim-”

“More popcorn!” 

(Y/N) returned to her previous position, bewildered. She fixed her hair, and her eyes were back to the screen. 

If Wheezie were to hang out with a pogue right now, Rafe wouldn’t give a fuck. 

“Well, the ending’s shitty,” Rafe exclaimed, clapping his hands. He watched as the end credits rolled, and took a look at Wheezie. 

He nudged her, sighing. “Wake up, Wheeze. Go to your room.” 

She groaned, searching for her fallen glasses. Rafe helped her to put them on, and gave her another poke. 

“I want to watch the movie.”

“The movie’s finished. It’s time to sleep. Go.” 

Wheezie groaned, muttering how it’s not fair that her brother could stay up with (Y/N) to watch more movies, but she guessed she was too tired for another round of movie anyways. 

“What’s the next pick?” 

“Horror.” 

“Nah.” 

“Why?”

“‘Cause you’re going to freak out on me again.” 

“I won’t,” she assured him. “Let’s go with Hereditary.” 

Rafe’s fingers and (Y/N)’s were almost touching. He was still bothered by her comment before Wheezie came barging in, and he was still desperate to hear her reply. 

“(Y/N)?”

“Hm?” 

“What were you trying to say?”

(Y/N) stopped watching, and looked at him. “What?” 

“About you thinking of me.” 

She blushed. “Nah.” 

“Come on,” he nudged. When she didn’t move, he tried placing his hand against her thigh. 

(Y/N) stood up suddenly, and for a second, Rafe thought he had fucked up. He watched as she went to the door, locked it, and went back to their place. 

“You locked the door.” 

“Yeah.” 

Rafe licked his lips, smirking slightly. “Ah, I see the game you’re playing.” 

“What game?” She raised a brow, only turning to the screen when a scream blared from the speaker.

“Hey, look at me.” Rafe tugged on her chin, forcing her to look at him, and his eyes actually looked into hers. He noticed the (E/C) colour of her eyes now, and he swore he had never looked at something more appealing. “Tell me.” 

She stayed quiet, not moving a muscle. 

Rafe sighed, getting impatient. He leaned closer now, this time his lips merely an inch away from her cheeks. He could feel the heat radiating from her. 

“Tell me, baby.” 

“You getting all close to me isn’t helping, Cameron,” she sighed, laying her head against the sofa. 

“Still playing hard to get?” 

“I’m not playing anything.” 

Rafe slowly placed a kiss against her temple before trailing down to her cheeks. She sucked in a breath, and Rafe smiled. 

“Still playing?” 

She nodded. 

Rafe’s lips touched hers by a bit, and she let out a moan she had been trying her very best to contain. Rafe chuckled, pulling away. 

“Still playing?”

“Shut up.” 

“That’s a yes? Or a no?”

“That’s a fuck you.” 

“Oh,” Rafe smiled. “Thought you never asked.” 

His kiss was gentle. So soft, and (Y/N) had never felt something like that before. The kiss deepened when she let out a soft moan, riling Rafe even more. 

He pulled her up onto his chest, letting her hands rest against his chest before pulling her away. Her lips were red, and there was a string of their saliva hanging from both of their lips. 

“What do you want, (Y/N)?” 

“You.” 

“Huh?” 

“You.” 

He smiled, tugging on her shirt. “Off.” 

She wasted no time to remove her shirt, exposing her new black bra she ordered online a few days before. Rafe sat back, his eyes dark. 

“Jesus Christ.” 

He kissed her neck, trailing down to her collar bones before stopping directly on her chest. His fingers fiddled with the bra clip, being so used with this already, and removed the piece of clothing with ease. 

(Y/N) instinctively covered her chest, her chest heaving. 

Rafe looked up to her, his eyes softening. “What’s wrong?” 

“Am not comfortable.” 

“Oh, that’s alright, we don’t have to do—”

“No, Rafe, I want this. I just don’t think I’m perfect enough for you.” 

Rafe let out a breath, placing a soft kiss against her stomach. She closed her eyes, throwing her head back. He guided her hands away, exposing her perky breast to the entire theatre to see. 

Rafe was glad he was the only guy present. 

“Fuck, you’re beautiful.” 

“Shut up.” 

He looked up into her eyes, wetting his lips. “I’ll do anything to fuck you right now.” 

(Y/N) grinded against him, causing a groan to escape from his throat. He held her waist in place, not wanting to trigger his release. 

“Do it,” she whispered. 

The movie became a background noise as he fumbled with her shorts, grunting when he couldn’t figure out the knot. 

He positioned himself before her, and looked up into her eyes again. Her chest was heaving, and she looked nervous. 

“You’re okay?”

“I’m a virgin.” 

Oh fuck. 

Why would she even say that? He couldn’t even contain himself anymore. 

He pushed himself into her, letting her get used to the feeling. He waited for her nod, signaling that she was okay and hadn’t changed her mind, and thrusted into her again. 

His hands stayed around her waist to guide her, watching as her mouth slightly parted as he deepened inside her. She bit her lips, her nails clawing onto his shoulders. 

“Oh my god.” 

“Fuck,” he groaned, feeling his own forehead clammy. He didn’t notice her hands that had left his shoulder. She cupped his face, placing wet kisses against his cheeks. 

“You’re so good for me, baby,” he whimpered, allowing her hands to guide his. She placed them around her breast as she rode him, and Rafe had never felt better. 

If he has to taunt and annoy her more to get into this level again, he’ll do it again. Without any hesitation.

“I’m so close, baby, fuck,” he groaned. He gave her another longing kiss, looking down to where their bodies connect, and moaned loudly. 

Just before he reached his end, he pulled her away, not wanting to plant himself into her. (Y/N) tried to wrap her fingers around his penis to which Rafe jerked at for  being so sensitive. He pulled her hands away, his chest heaving. 

“Don’t,” he grunted. His load shot out of his member, wetting the sofa underneath them, and Rafe quickly slapped his shaft against her core to get her to reach her end. 

“Rafe, I-”

“Let it,” he whispered, watching as she tilted her head back, exposing her neck. “Let go, baby.” 

She trembled slightly, finally reaching her high, and collapsed on top of the heaving boy. Rafe stroked her hair, pulling her into a lying position, and planted another soft kiss against the back of her head. 

“The movie’s still on.” 

“Watch the next part, it’s amazing,” Rafe whispered, still holding her close. They were both naked, still coming down from their highs, but Rafe had never felt better. 

(Y/N) turned to look at him. “You’re still an asshole.” 

He placed a soft kiss against her lips. “Your asshole.” 

-

@okayshoto @joselyn001 @onceuponateenagetrash @dyingsleeping @iwannabeapogue @meaganjm @rafesobxs @flossy2929 @unfortunatekiwitrash @scottybitch @asimpwriter @amaya124 @tommy-tommo @thatshithurted8 @fallincindy @marvelwhor3 @rafeswh0ree @kookap @supernaturallydc-blog @blank-velvet @alaniskauany @kiiim8 @witchywrter @kaitlyn2907 @heyimflo @overcookedpastasause @tsukkiswifeey @spidey-d00d @anonymousobxfan @gotmeinloveagain @chicagoblackhawkslover96 @lexi-writes @classydragonthingknight @belongtoyou-u @badbussylol @savannah-elliott @angelreyesgirl100 @haterpenny @beehappyyy @alwaysclassyeagle @maybankslut @kayleea122 @clearbolts @lovelyxtom @christianaevans @jemimah-b99 @opierdalacz @dangerdolns @wildflowerliv @classygirlything21 @pogueslandia

[issaxcharlie]

Spectacular!

Pairing: Alive! Luke Patterson x Fem Reader

Summary: Inspired by Nickelodeon’s Spectacular! Luke Patterson needs the money for his bands demo, and miraculously, that same night he gets an offer to fix his problem. The catch? Rockstar boy has to join his school’s show choir and put up with their fearless Female Lead Singer. (don’t come here searching for accuracy remember it’s inspired by a movie)

Note: I had a lot of fun with this one, hope you like it! Oh and it’s a little long so keep it in mind +8k👀💜

Say this is not her scene would be to fall short, but she has to make sacrifices to find greatness. The first thing she notices when she walks into the little club, is that it's packed. The people look excited and somewhat desperate and she doesn't blame them. The pamphlet marked they were supposed to start at 8:00 p.m. and it's already 8:40. She makes her way carefully until she finds a perfect place in the middle of the room.

The musicians take the stage visibly anxious, especially Alex who cannot stop moving his hands trying to probably calm himself down. Reggie and the rhythm guitarist take their positions. They look at each other one last time before beginning to play the enveloping sound of the pop-rock song. The bass line sounds insane and she hasn't heard Alex play drums in years, he’s exceptional. They could both play without their singer all night and she wouldn't mind.

The space in the center of the stage that belongs to who she came to see today, completely empty. The bassist seems about to take the first verse when Sunset Curve lead guitarist and vocalist Luke Patterson appears on stage.

She has seen him multiple times in the hallways laughing with her childhood best friend, Alex Mercer and her lab partner, Reggie Peters, but she has never spoken directly to him. Still, it's hard not to notice how handsome he is and how much of a charismatic personality he has.

“I'm living my life just the way I like, they say I get a little too loud. Try to push me in a box, over analyze. But I'm never gunna turn it down”

His voice is enchanting and mesmerizing, a sound that immediately reminds her of the best rockers in history and his movements and energy are electrifying. In seconds the entire audience is jumping and dancing to the beat.

“They say never and I say right now!” Y/N analyzes him excitedly. The passion with which he sings and plays his guitar reminds her of when she is on stage, although the two of them dedicate themselves to totally different things, their love for music is the same. She definitely has a lot of work to do to polish him and make him the perfect performer she needs, but if there's anyone who can accomplish the impossible, it's her.

“No one's gonna stop me tonight! Thank you, we are Sunset Curve, tell your friends!” The presentation ends and Sunset Curve leaves the stage. The girl moves quickly to catch up with them at the back of the club, but when she finally arrives, screams can be heard from two of the members of the band.

“I know you don’t like me, Bobby. But trying to sabotage the show by giving me the wrong time is just the most stupidest thing you've ever done!” The guitarist looks furious, his muscles are really tense and Y/N can't help staring at his biceps way more than she probably should.

"This fight of egos between the two of you has to stop, we can no longer continue to be in the middle." The bassist cries out, tired of all the bickering.

“You no longer have to, Reggie. It’s time to decide. The lousy rocker or me. Remember that the money for the demo is mine before choosing... I'm not sure Patterson's lyrics can compete without the money to record them.”

The guitarist looks down at the ground, a mixture of anger and sadness on his face. Alex and Reggie turn to see each other for a second and then position themselves on either side of Luke, no sign of doubt on their faces.

“We’ll find a way without you. Let’s see If you find one without us.” Reggie declared with a little smirk. Bobby grabs his stuff and gets into his truck without looking back, completely furious.

"Some things Bobby was angry about are true and you have to improve them. You are not a solo artist, you are part of a band." Alex points to Luke as soon as the truck is out of sight, but before he can respond the blonde intercepts the girl at the door.

“Y/N?” The three of them turn to see her, Reggie smiles at her while Luke looks pissed off.

“Hey guys, I came to talk to Luke.” Luke frowns in surprise while the other two gape for a few seconds.

"Really?” Y/N turns with a murderous face towards her friend, who puts his hands in his pockets and begins to walk. “...Okay. Meanwhile Reg and I are going to figure out how to get the drums in Luke's car."

"If you come for an autograph please be quick, I don't feel like socializing." The guitarist declares to the wind, not wanting to pay attention to the stranger who approaches him in the middle of the alley, no matter how cute she looks.

“I’m not a fan.” She confesses in a firm voice, trying to measure the situation.

"Oh, then I'll go. See you later beautiful." He's about to leave when her voice stops him.

“Patterson, come back here!” There's something about her tone that makes Luke suddenly interested. He turns to see her carefully, her chin is up, her shoulders back. Her lips are press together and her eyes look determined and he can't help but admit that the confidence she projects is really doing something to him.

“2 minutes, firecracker.”

“I’m Y/N Y/L.” Faced with no comment from the guitarist, she decides to continue. “I need a male lead singer for my group and I think you might be the perfect fit, after I'm done with you, of course."

He’s unable to believe what he hears. “A band? I think you know pretty well I'm already in one.”

“It’s not a band, it’s a group. THE group If I can say so myself. Spectacular!” She affirms with the first smile he sees her that night, and he can't believe it is possible that she can look even more beautiful.

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit with the spectacular thing? At least tell me the name or what kind of band is." She rolls her eyes and he chuckles in response, thinking it was adorable and hot at the same time.

“I already told you, Spectacular! It’s a show choir.”

“Is this a joke? Did Bobby sent you?”

“No and no. I know it’s not really your style, but I’m telling you I can make it work. I heard a bit of the conversation you had with the band, the prize of Nationals is 10,000 dollars. I'm willing to give you half for the demo, if we win, obviously. And I can assure you we will if you accept and do absolutely everything I say.”

“Firecracker, are you trying to tell me that all I have to do to raise the money is put on some stupid cowboy or tiger-print outfit and humiliate myself in front of an entire audience with my best jazz hands? Wow, sounds like a dream!” Maybe he got a bit too sarcastic, but meh, as pretty as she is, she's still a stranger.

“My name is Y/N, and I'm not appreciating your tone of voice.” By this moment the girl seems tired of the musician, who feels the frustration in her and tries to be more gentle.

“I- I’m sorry. Thanks for the offer, but I don't feel as desperate yet as to end my reputation in that way. I hope you find what you are looking for, but that’s just not me. I'm just a guitarist.” She nods, entwining her arms against her chest. He admires her for a few more seconds and turns to his car, where his friends are already waiting for him to help with the drums.

Before getting behind the wheel he turns to her one last time, but she is nowhere to be seen.

Fights between Luke and Bobby weren't new to the band. The big-headed attitude of both collided practically all the time and things had been getting worse in recent months with the more overconfident attitude of the guitarist, but they never imagined that they would end up in this situation.

The days go by and the boys are running out of time. They have to deliver the demo to the Orpheum offices in two months so that they can be taken into account for the great concert they will hold at the end of the year presenting the best new talents in the city. All they've heard from Bobby is that he's trying to build his own band but without much success. Still, he doesn’t fold his hands and continues to try on his own.

The three remaining members of Sunset Curve are in Alex's room lying on the floor with their instruments around trying to think of solutions, when Y/N's voice coming from outside refreshes the blonde's memory. “What did Y/N want to talk to you the other day?”

“Who?” Luke narrows his eyes in confusion.

“Y/N? The captain of the school’s show choir? She went to talk to you after Bobby left the band. Small, fire in her eyes, a lot of attitude.”

“OH, Firecracker! So that group is our school's choir? that's even worse. She tried to recruit me, even offered me the money for the demo if we win the competition in which they will participate.”

“What? She wants you in Spectacular? What did you said?” Alex heard that his friend's ex-boyfriend broke up with her and joined last year's national champions, but he never imagined that she would try to replace him with someone like Luke. Luke is distracted by a melody and doesn’t answer his friend's question.

"Why does your mom always leave her music on when she leaves to work?" The music is definitely not his style, they are always usually pop songs or even songs from musicals, but the singer's voice is one of the most beautiful he has ever heard so it never bothers him.

“It’s not her music, is Y/N.” Alex responds, wondering what the young woman is up to since she is never usually home at this hour.

“Who?” Alex's eyes widen, not able to believe his friend.

“Really? I already told you!” The guitarist tilts his head and shrugs. “Firecracker?”

“What does firecracker have to do with this?” Alex opens his balcony curtains and the silhouette of a young woman singing and dancing through her transparent pink ones comes to their visions.

“She’s so good bro, I thought it was a record too.” Reggie looks at her with a big smile as Alex rolls his eyes at Luke.

As soon as he sees her, the musician is in a trance, admiring the grace and energy with which she moves, wanting with all his might to remove the pink curtain that does not allow him to see her properly.

The song ends and a well-known melody begins to play with prominent bass and drums. “Guys, shut up! I’m trying to hear her sing.”

“It’s not us, man.” Reggie answers almost screaming with how loud the girl’s music is.

“What do you-” Luke turns around and sees his friends with their hands raised, the cables finally connecting in his brain. "She is listening our song?"

"Not just listening, she's also destroying your career, her vocals are amazing." The black-haired boy adds, smirking and running to connect his bass.

Luke excitedly opens the balcony window and sings the pre-chorus as loud as he can to get the singer's attention. “Call me in the morning to apologize, every little lie gives me butterflies.” She immediately turns around and smiles at the guitarist's cocky smile. She opens the curtain and the window and her sunset curve t-shirt is the first thing the band notices.

“Something in the way you're looking through my eyes, don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive.” Luke sings seductively towards her, each word fully dedicated to the woman in front of him.

Reggie accompanies them with his bass while Alex looks at his friends incredulously, an "Are you fucking kidding me." Comes out of the blonde almost like a whisper when he identifies the shirt that the girl wears as his.

Both sing the chorus together and the chemistry is unquestionable. Alex had never thought of this two together because at first glance they seem completely different, but thinking about it a little more deeply they couldn't be more similar. They are both passionate, headstrong, live for the stage, and are ridiculously talented and confident.

“Fight so dirty, but you love so sweet. Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth. Late night devil, put your hands on me. And never, never, never ever let go.”

The performance between the duo is playful, driving, sexy and intense and Alex and Reggie can't help but feel like they're interrupting a private moment. As soon as the song ends, the girl moves closer to the window, blows them a kiss and closes it.

"Where did that woman come from?" Luke whispers as he tries to catch his breath. Nobody had enchanted him so much just by singing, well, nobody had enchanted him, period. But she’s definitely something.

“She has been my neighbor since we were 6 years old, we used to be best friends but we both drifted apart when we entered high school. She’s amazing, the best performer in the city.” Alex informs him and then Reggie adds his own piece of valuable information. “She’s my lab partner. Fun, smart, beautiful, the whole deal. A true gem.”

“Answering your question, I said no to her offer. But I guess the group of someone this rad can't be that bad. And we really need the money." The drummer purses his lips and nods. His friend definitely took the hook.

"Honestly, I always wanted to audition, I guess the three of us could try in, to support you obviously."

“Of course man, she sounded desperate when she asked, and if the shirt and song is any indication she is definitely a huge Sunset Curve fan. She tried to fool me by saying she wasn't a groupie, as if that was possible after seeing us perform.”

His friends leave the house and Alex plays on the drums the secret signal he had with the girl when they were younger, a minute later the girl appears in her window with an amusing smile, dressed in her classic blue pajamas.

“Really?” The drummer chuckled and his friend’s smile grows even bigger, a little laugh leaving her lips. “The shirt was a nice touch. A little much, but that idiot must have fallen for it completely. I want it back by the way.”

“You can see right through me. You know the invitation is open, right? I would love nothing more than to have you there.” He has known her his whole life, and realized early on that she was just trying to get his friend's attention to reconsider her offer by raising his ego, and he honestly doesn't mind. It's about time Luke met someone of his caliber. Perhaps her influence could do him good.

“I- thank you. I guess we’ll see. See you tomorrow.” She blows him a kiss and closes the window. Tomorrow sure is going to be an interesting day, Sunset Curve joins Spectacular.

Having to face Spectacular! And telling them they still don't have a male lead singer who can compete against Damian was not easy. Her options are running out and she honestly doesn't know what to do to save them.

Damian on stage is the best, it pains her to admit that she has never seen anyone like him. At first she thought she could continue without him, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that he is just impossible to replace.

Everyone continues to practice the routine, clearly discouraged after her bad news and it honestly breaks her heart. She knows how much the group means to everyone for different and personal reasons and she can't let them lose this. So whatever she has to do, she’ll do it so they can have the leader they deserve.

“I thought the children in the choir would have more energy, this is just sad, firecracker.” She hides her wide smile before turning to the owner of the voice, who is entering the auditorium with his best friends. Money really talks, otherwise she can't explain what would make him appear here.

“Dude, can you please play nice? This is important!” Reggie looks flustered and scolds Luke probably louder than he planned. The guitarist just ignores him and winks shamelessly at her. Seems her little plan from yesterday was successful, now she just has to play the situation in her favor.

“Mercer, Peters... Patterson. Can we help you with something?” The performer shows a perfect poker face, Spectacular continues to practice but they can't help but turn their attention to the rock band.

“I came to accept your proposal, but only If we can include Reggie and Alex in the deal. I guess as long as I’m in whatever I ask shouldn't be a problem." He crosses his arms and gives her a confident smile.

“I could actually do with a few more members, specially as talented as Reg and Alex. As for you, you've already turned down my offer Lucas, but if for some reason you don't graduate this year, make sure you audition the next one. Now, let’s start boys." Y/N moves within inches of Luke to gently close his open mouth with her index finger, and gives him a small wink before turning and taking the other two musicians each on each arm and pulling them closer to where the group is still practicing.

“Y/N, you can’t be serious.” The skilled singer continues to ignore him as she explains to her new members something Luke can't quite hear.

The musician frustrates and walks until he is directly in front of her. “Y/N” He groans.

“I'm not firecracker anymore? That is just sad.” Luke looks upset, but she's determined to not let him have what he wants after what he said at the club, so if he wants the money that bad he's going to have to prove it.

“I’m going to explain you something quickly so you can go and stop wasting my time. I’ve seen your band play, I know how good these two are at singing, which means I don't need you anymore, nor do I have to put up with your rockstar wannabee attitude. I need someone that I can connect with and have the chemistry that leaves everyone forgetting how to breathe, and after yesterday, I just don't think that's you.” Right now she is grateful to be such a good actress because yesterday's act melted her legs, even though they were separated by the balconies. This man is unreal, totally unfair.

"I do, I wouldn't be surprised if they kissed at any moment." The bassist whispers as Alex looks at him with an incredulous face, he just slowly shakes his head from side to side and continues to see the leader of their band and their new leader in a starting contest, is kind of an amusing sight since Luke is definitely not used to having to face someone like him.

“It’s like you said, you are just a guitarist. Thinking you could handle something like this was ridiculous of me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a group to direct."

Y/N hopes she hasn't pushed the rockstar too much, but remains firm in her tactics and turns to the others to continue with the rehearsal. She signals them to put the most similar song to the Sunset Curve sound that she can remember at the moment to make Alex and Reggie feel more calm and to see if she finishes catching Luke’s interest, who still doesn’t move from where he is with his eyes fixed on her, which she takes as as a good sign.

The moment the song start, both sunset curve members smile, and Luke's voice is heard from behind. “So you're the girl, I heard the rumor.” He sounds powerful and captivating and immediately sets everyone's eyes on him. She doesn’t give him the luxury of turning to see him, but he is not going to give up and in a quick and agile movement he turns her by the hand.

“Why don't you break my heart, make it hurt so bad. Come on give it your best, nothing less, I insist, I want it just like that.” The girl should have thought more about her choice before asking for a song like this. Every word that comes out of the musician's mouth is addressed directly to her with an intensity in his eyes and movements that should be illegal.

She tries to get out of his way but he makes it pretty clear that he's not singing to prove himself to the group, he's doing it to prove something to her. Specifically, to prove her wrong.

“Stare me down, intimidate me. Oh baby please you'll never break me.” He comes dangerously close to her, basically inches apart, his eyes fixed on her lips and smiling flirtatiously as he sings, his eyes glinting mischievously.

She enters the song so as not to make him feel like she’s defeated and starts dancing with him to the rhythm, their movements matching effortlessly as they move across the stage.

She pulls herself back as far as she can, but Luke surprises everyone by doing a body roll on the floor, his arms looking more gorgeous than ever in that sleeveless shirt as they take the full weight of his body without any problem, his eyes never losing contact with hers. All the girls start to do small screams while Y/N's cheeks turn red at her thoughts. He slides on his knees towards her and gets up as he puts his foot on her to make her lose balance and catch her right at the end of the song.

“Why don’t you break my heart.” They've been in a trance since the song started and it's like it's just the two of them in the auditorium. Their lips are almost touching, neither willing to give up eye contact or move from their current position, until the applause and shouts of excitement bring them back to reality.

“I have chemistry with everybody that I sing with, firecracker.” He whispers to her lips before shifting the girl's full weight to his right arm to raise his left one to her face and carefully close her mouth with his finger, winking with a cocky smile before lifting her up.

Immediately everyone begins to advocate for him with all kinds of arguments that ranged from how sensual he was to how much of a presence he had on stage. Her best friend’s comment is the one that catches his attention the most. "You have even more chemistry with him than Damian, I didn't think it was possible." That definitely sounds interesting.

Y/N pretends to listen to her teammates before saying Luke can enter the group. The truth is that she knew from the first moment she saw him perform with Sunset Curve that he was a star, but this facet without the guitar and irradiating passion from his pores was something that left her speechless.

Still, she knew all the work that would go into preparing the band and it really was exhausting. For them to understand that they couldn't just sing like they do at the club, that there are rules to follow, dance steps they have to learn, facial expressions they have to master, notes they have to hit perfectly, wasn’t easy but they succeeded.

Along the way, she regained her bond with Alexander, her friendship with Reggie grew stronger, and each day she felt closer to Luke. She has been practicing a duet with him for weeks now, and the chemistry that they have set to burn the stage more than once. It was hard for her to ignore how the guitarist's hands feel on her thighs as he lifts her or the way he wraps himself around her, breathing softly down her neck or brushing his lips teasingly over her cheekbone. Both are very physical to show affection so small contacts such as hugs or caresses, as well as small kisses on the cheek or hand were very recurrent. They had also gone out multiple times alone and with their friends, from the cinema, the park, to see them play, to small parties at home, to midnight talks.

Reggie was the one who had her alone the most because they were lab partners, but no matter how hard the bassist tried to get information from the girl, he never succeeded. The truth is that not even she knows what is happening with the guitarist, she is for the first time in her life letting herself be carried away and enjoying the moment, and she’s loving it.

Luke and Alex are in detention after the brown haired boy made a mess in the classroom by putting together a little concert with the help of the blonde, and as they die of boredom, his mind can’t help to go to her for the 14th time of the day. "How did she end up in the show choir?"

Alex is blank for a few seconds but analyzes the question and realizes who they are talking about. “Spectacular used to be the most important show choir in the country, led by her mother, may she rest in peace. Y/N always wanted to be a part of it and when she lost her, it became a goal. She suffered a lot to get to the perfect star we see today, especially because her father is rarely there since he works outside the country. She has practically had to face alone auditions, injuries, she had to learn to sew, comb her hair and put on makeup for the show, sing for hours her solos with no one to encourage her, without mention that the current director could not care less about the group and practically leaves all the work to her. That’s why she’s so be fearless, she kind of has to."

“I didn’t know.” The sight of Y/N as happy as ever with his mother when he took her home for lunch the week before appears in his memory. She looked radiant as she ate his mother's famous stew and listened to stories of little Luke as he gently stroked her thigh while songwriting with his other hand. When was the last time she got to experience something as homelike as that? Luke probably doesn’t want to know.

Alex's sad voice brings him back to the conversation.“I was supposed to be there, you know? At first I was. We were going to audition for Spectacular together, but that summer I met you and Sunset Curve was born, and I didn’t have the time anymore so I abandoned her. I knew how important it was for her to have me there, and I didn't even go to her audition. And do you know how many times she has reproached me? Not even one.”

Luke knows that Alex would never hurt her on purpose and that the situation was probably much more complicated than he expresses it, so he reassures him and lets him know that she loves him and is proud that he took his own path. As soon as the blonde calms down, he begins to tell him multiple stories about when he and the girl were kids, the songwriter takes out his journal and begins to add lyrics to the song he has been working on, more inspired than ever.

“You are falling so deeply for her, man. I’m happy for you both.” His friend comments to him while reading the verses written on the paper. He totally is.

“Bowling, nice. I'm going to finish you off, Patterson.”

“As sexy as your confidence sounds, I'm not going to let you win.”

“I'm pretty sure you've never gone bowling.” Alex adds with furrowed eyebrows.

“Your point is, Mercer?” She wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue. Reggie chuckles amused.

"How can you be so sure that you are going to win?"

“Oh, my dear cute blonde. I’m good at everything.” She makes a slight remark on everything with her eyes fixed on the guitarist, who chokes while blushing.

She smiles cheekily at him and confidently steps into the room, Sunset Curve behind as Alex and Reggie tease Luke for being completely whipped.

Happiness doesn't last long when the first thing they see inside is Damian Miller along with a couple of his new teammates. The moment their eyes meet, Y/N seems to melt, but not in the good way.

Her firm and perfect posture now all bent as she embraces herself with her arms and tries with the strength that has left to hold her gaze at the person who took everything from her without much more than an empty sorry.

When she feels the guitarist at her side again, she unconsciously stretches her hand to intertwine her fingers with him, who tilts his head to see their hands together and then to see her face.

She is not doing it to make Damian jealous, but to feel supported. And when Luke realizes it, he can't help not feeling angry at the boy in from of them. In the month that he has been with her, he has never seen her doubt, fear, or believe anything less than that she is unstoppable. And today for the first time ever he sees her intimidaded, and the fact that it's because of a jerk like this makes it even worse.

He rubbs her hand to make her feel less anxious and when she turns to meet his eyes, he brings his index finger to her chin and winks at her, hoping she gets the message. She seems to do it because she immediately smiles playfully and begins to look more relaxed.

The guitarist is aware that Damian was his firecracker's first boyfriend, and he also knows how much he betrayed her love and trust. No matter how strong the woman is, her reaction is completely normal and valid, and that she has the confidence to be vulnerable and let him be there for her means a lot to him.

“Princess.” Damian whispers as he moves closer to her, his eyes fixed on Y/N and Luke's clasped hands.

“I’m not your princess, Y/L is just fine. Listen, Damian. I could pretend this is not uncomfortable and boring but, I don't want to. So yeah, excuse us.”

She pulls the hand that joins her to Luke to make him walk and Alex and Reggie follow behind them, looking at her ex boyfriend with little smiles of pride. Alex knows how much Damian turned off Y/N’s spark and seeing her put him in his place makes him feel so proud.

"So someone is going to teach me bowling or what?"

“I’ll do it baby, but another day. Today we came here with a different purpose.” Luke points to the large Rock the World machine located in a comfortable corner space.

“Of course, is always about music with you, eh Patterson?” She smirks, getting a little closer to him.

“Pretty much, but I can tell that attracts you, Y/L.” He wrinkles his nose, his lips parting slightly.

“Hell yeah it does.” he smirks, not at all expecting her to admit it so openly but he definitely should have seen it coming.

“Good thing I’m into dominant firecrackers then.”

“Could you stop flirting for a second and start playing? I have plans to destroy Alex and your daily session of sexual tension is not going to ruin it.”

Both smile at Reggie while Y/N takes the games microphone and Luke the guitar. The song that Y/N chooses is She’s so gone by Naomi Scott, and it goes without saying that the boys have never played it in their lives but they love a challenge.

The mastery with which the girl interprets the song makes a good number of people come to see the round, including her ex-boyfriend and his new friends.

“Here I am, this is me, and I'm stronger than you ever thought I'd be. Are you shocked? Are you mad? That you're missing out on who I really am.”

The singer sings the verse directly towards Damian, as his friends start pointing out and teasing him. Reggie goes over to tell Luke he thought he would join her, but the guitarist only replies, "I want to see her shine."

She gets carried away with the music and draws Luke to her, jumping and twirling to the beat of the music. The guitarist hyping her up every single second og the song. At the end the night was incredible, the four of them spent it singing, dancing and even bowling, which Y/N ended up dominating from the second round.

Luke thought that there would be no better time than that night to show her what he had been working on, so after saying goodbye to her he went to Alex’s where he had left his journal.

Before he can say goodbye to the blond, screams are heard from the house next door. “I wasn't trying to embarrass you, Damian!”

“No? So what were you doing shaking your hips against the rock boy?”

“I don't have to explain anything to you, but I think it's pretty obvious why I wanted to be against that body, have you seen it?” She says it playfully with her eyes fixed on the guitarist, who is walking with the blonde to her door, her eyes glinting wickedly in the dark. He chuckles, knowing it's the girl's way of reassure him and she smiles as she sees his expressions relax.

“Everything alright, firecracker?” Luke does not stand in front of her like a brave prince, he stops a meter from both of them and asks before intervening, and that makes her heart melt. Because he wants to hear her first, he trusts that she can take care of it and has the confidence to tell him if she needs help, which is also completely valid. And it's something she has to work on, know that there are also times when it's okay to trust someone. That you don't always have to carry the weight alone.

“Go away, punk. My girl and I are in the middle of something.” The three of them start laughing at the ex-boyfriend's intimidation attempt, who seems to get angrier with every laugh that comes out of their mouths.

“I’m fine baby, but you guys could show him the way out? I’m tired of his bullshit.” She asks the boy with a cute smile, and he would disintegrate over the nickname if her horrible ex-boyfriend and her best friend weren't there.

"Don't touch me, I’ll go. Right now the numbers are not working in my favor so we will fix this where it really matters, on stage. Let's see if this attempt at a singer can save you from total humiliation, because let's be honest Y/N, you are nothing without me."

The faces of both members of Sunset Curve begin to tense, Luke's fists completely white from how much he's clenching them. For her part, the singer, who is already used to that type of comments from her ex-boyfriend, only tells him "yes, yes, you're right. It was a pleasure Dami, never come back." while pushing him to the other side to make him go away.

The nickname comes off her tongue in the most natural way in the world, she doesn't even seem to notice it and Luke feels some annoyance hearing it. As if someone had hit him in the stomach. But immediately the discomfort goes away when the girl turns to them again with a big smile and runs to hug them excitedly.

“Thanks for coming to check me out, guys. Things can sometimes get out of control with him.”

"We will always be there for you when you need us, okay? I actually went into Alex's house to get something I wanted to show you but it's late, I’ll come back tomorrow." The blonde turns from his friend to the other, a tired smile appears on his lips as he passes Luke his journal to place his arm on his childhood friend and lean on her.

"No, don't go please. Damian was pretty mad and... I don't want to be alone." She can be very dramatic at times but the fear in her voice sounds sincere, and remembering the scream that brought them outside in the first place Alex imagines how scared she really was before seeing them show up and his heart clenches at the thought.

“O- Okay, sure.” He sounds nervous but the excitement is evident in the way his left leg keeps moving, just like when he's on stage.

“I do have to go in, you already know mom. Will you be alright with just Luke?” He already knows the answer from the girl's radiant gaze but it doesn't hurt to confirm. She hugs him tightly with her arms around his neck and whispers a "Yes, I love you but go away already." which makes the drummer laugh out loud while high-fiving his other friend goodbye.

The third wheel enters his house and finally they are alone. She smiles and takes him by the hand to enter the house. Luke takes a moment to admire it, everything is in place but there are several instruments throughout the living room. A keyboard on the couch, a guitar next to the TV, even a tambourine on the table.

"May l?" He walks over to the guitar and turns to see the girl nodding and pointing up the stairs for him to follow. Her room is quite similar to her style, white is the predominant color but there are many details in pink and gold, as well as multiple yellow lights giving a romantic tone to the room at midnight.

“Do you want to show me now?” she asks eagearly, with joined hands, closed eyes and pursed lips.

“Y- yeah... of course.” He sits on the rug and puts the guitar aside, then puts his notebook between his legs and when he finds the sheet he is looking for, he carefully tears it off. The girl looks at him adoringly, the happiness of having him with her making her heart beat louder in her chest. She sits across from him making sure to brush his legs and waits for him to speak.

“Here.” He looks nervous, his cheeks totally flushed as he avoids eye contact for the first time since they met.

Y/N takes the sheet in his hands and a huge warm smile appears on her face when he sees the guitarist's terrible lyrics. BRIGHT written and highlighted several times in the title.

“It’s for you.” Luke whispers while bringing his face closer to hers, making her shiver.

“You wrote me a song?” She doesn't know what to say. Since her mom, no one had done anything so beautiful, considerate, and selfless for her. Something so vulnerable and full of love.

“Don’t be mad, but Alex told me a little about how you ended up in show choir, your friendship with him, your mom.” He turns to see her looking for her reaction, she just nods to tell him it’s okay to continue. “A sweet story about a little girl with the voice of an angel who loved to sing love songs. And you know what was in my head all that night? That even though I've never written one, I would write millions of love songs for you.”

Some tears fall from the girl's face, she carefully places the lyrics on the guitar and throws herself on the guitarist, who falls in surprise against the carpet, making sure to grab her by the waist so that she falls safely on his chest. She rests her arms on either side of his head and brings her lips against Luke's, brushing them gently.

Luke doesn't move a muscle, not wanting to do something to make her uncomfortable, when he suddenly hears her talk. “And what about teeth? I mean is not the sweetest love story ever told but-”

The boy chuckles, Y/N's curious eyes a few inches away. “Alex wrote that one after his first breakup, Reggie and I did the melody.”

“Good. Guess we’ll have to start making some experiences to help you write all that songs.” At that moment she finally pushes her lips against his, both in a moment of euphoria at the taste of each other. She presses her body against him and he bites lightly with his teeth on her lower lip to shove his tongue against her mouth in response. Her little hands pulling his hair hard as his hands go down her butt. Both of them enjoying what they had been dreaming of for so long.

When the two finally separate they fall in a comfortable silence, she starts to admire his facial features, delicately running her fingers through his nose, his mouth, his cheekbones, until he interrumpts her. “I knew you want me from the beginning, I could see the lust in your eyes. Everything about the choir was a complex plan to get me under you.” Luke affirms with his best poker face, and sees clearly how her eyes fill with light while a pure laugh escapes from her now swollen lips.

“And as always, I achieved the goal. The hot local rockstar is sleeping on my bed tonight.” No matter how hard he tries, he can never catch her off guard and he always ends up being the one blushing. She kisses him softly before getting up and taking the song lyrics back. “Luke, do you mind if I sing a bit of the song?”

“Of course not, it's yours. I will accompany you with the guitar, from the pre-choir?”

She nods and begins to sing the words he wrote for her. “Life is a risk but I will take it, close my eyes and jump. Together I think that we can make it, come on, let's run.”

She is reading the choir as she sings and the urge to cry reappears. He's basically telling her that she no longer has to go on living life alone, that she can lean on him, she can trust him to fight by her side. That it can be us instead of I.

“And rise through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together. Bright forever.”

As soon as they finish singing Luke puts the guitar aside and goes over to wipe the tears from the girl's face. “I know that at first glance it doesn't seem like a love song, but..."

“But it is. It’s perfect, thank you Luke.” She didn't know that someone other than her could make her feel so special, but he proved her wrong, again.

The night before was like a dream. Y/N sleeping with his shirt while he wrapped her completely in his arms, singing softly in her ear and leaving little kisses on her neck every few verses until she fell asleep. At this point there is no way to deny how completely in love he is with her.

“Man, we need to talk.” His blonde friend wakes him up from his daydream and starts pulling him down the hall to an empty table in the cafeteria, where Reggie is already waiting for them.

They both sit down and Alex takes a deep breath as he plays with his fingers, trying to form coherent sentences with the words in his head. “Bobby called last night.” Luke's gaze instantly shifted to disgust, while Reggie looks quite shocked.

“So? What did he want?” Luke whispers, trying to sound disinterested.

“He sent some of our videos to an important person at Destiny Management and they are interested in the band. He said that if we comply with certain requests he will give the money for us to record the demo this Friday so that it’s ready for the appointment."

“And I guess you told him we don't need him or his money. What did he answer you? He cried?" the guitarist asks with an amused face, but his friends just look at each other.

“Don't you think we should think more about it? What happens if we don't win nationals? We’ll have lost something as sure as Bobby's deal for nothing."

“She’s my friend and I love her but I have to agree, Luke. As difficult as it is, our priority has to be Sunset Curve, not Spectacular"

“But-”

“They are right, Luke.” All three look at the girl, as pale as If they had seen a ghost. “Spectacular is my dream, And I know I'd do anything for it. It would be unfair of me to get angry because you’re fighting for yours. Don't hesitate, if anyone can find a way out of this it's me.”

“But, the duet...”

“I’ll just have to be the melody and the words. I’ll be fine, and honestly I'm so proud of you guys, I know you will be rock legends one day.” All three feel guilty but don't know what to say or do to make it right. She goes over to hug the drummer and the bassist who take her in their arms with all their strength, a “I’m so sorry” from the blonde accompanied by an “I know” from the girl can be heard. Then she stands in front of the guitarist and kisses his lips intensely, but breaking away painfully fast. The guys leave lovers alone for a moment of privacy.

“I believe in you, baby. You are destined to be a star, forget everything else, even me. Take the moment and knock them off their feet.” She kisses him lightly on the lips and walks a few steps back. “This month was the happiest of my life in a long time, thank you. Guess I’ll see you guys around.”

“Why do you sound like you are saying goodbye? And a horrible one? I thought you were good at everything.” Luke walks over to her again and places his hands on her cheeks, rubbing them gently. His voice is shaky and his eyes are glassy, she snorts at his sudden taunt, a little smile covered with the tears.

“Once everyone gets back to their own business, do you think you'll still have time for me? Alex is my damn neighbor, and we couldn't keep in touch.” And Luke gets it. She is used to being alone, to people not being permanent in her life. Neither her parents, nor her best friend, nor her boyfriend, nor anyone else has stayed. So this time to protect herself she decided that he too was going to leave, that it would be foolish to think that he of all possible people would stay.

“I‘m not letting you go baby, you're the only one I would let to boss me around.” The girl laughs when she remembers the millions of times she had to correct him and how he always ended up making her blush in some way, especially when they danced. She can't remember telling him but dancing with him has been the most special thing she has ever experienced. She danced with Damian for years and it never felt like the first time Luke put her long, strong hands on her waist and pulled her close to him. She can only hope to feel that way again one day.

“You are my one and only, firecracker. We’ll find a way, neither of us is a quitter.”

They say that actions are worth a thousand words, and Luke had definitely missed his first chance to show Y/N that he was serious about them by not getting in time to wish her good luck before she left with the group to the city of the competition, a few hours from there. He couldn't help but feel more miserable when he returned to the studio and found a small yellow sheet in his journal.

“You got this, rockstar. I have so much faith in you, so go make me proud. And I don’t want you feeling guilty, okay? I always want to see you shine, baby, no matter what. Your firecracker, Y/N.” Luke laughs softly, dazzled by her attempt to be sweet. If she trusts him so much, why doesn't he return the favor? She assured him they could win and when she says something, she follows through.

Why ruin his life with all of Bobby's ridiculous demands while ditching his girl in the process when he can go sing with her and do band things their way, without selling their soul to the devil. He sits on the couch thinking about what to say to the boys when they both rush in and pick him up, one from his feet and the other from his arms.

“What the hell are you two planning this time?” Luke sounds annoyed but does nothing to stop them from moving him, they throw him into the back of the car and he hits his head, getting him to kick them before they close the door.

"I'm not going to let her down again, I can’t."

"Yeah, and surely we can win, the number is spectacular... do you understand what I did there?”

Alex rolls his eyes and Luke smiles. They drive at full speed to Luke’s for him to take all his things and when he returns to the car, stands thoughtfully by the window.

“What are you doing?!” Alex is not having it, looks like a vein is going to burst from stress any second now.

“Do you think we’ll make it?” Questioned the guitarist, clearly nervous.

“If you stop asking stupid as fuck questions and get in the car, maybe.” Luke pouts but listens and finishes loading everything in the trunk.

The road is full of music to try to calm all the nerves, there was also plenty of time to rehearse the number over and over again, Luke analyzing in his mind every move he had to make, from time to time his bossy girl correcting him in his head. The only difficult thing was probably changing into the costumes, especially for Alex.

They arrive directly to register and the band turns pale when they hear the powerful and breathtaking voice of the singer who is playing her solo right now, a heavenly version of 'Never enough’. By the time they are ready to go, the main number has already started, the imposing woman in the very center of the stage with one of the boys of the group, who although does not have the voice of the guitarist, is making a good effort. Damian is on the other side, staring at her with a superiority smirk and Luke can't help but want to punch him.

“I never realized how anyone could make everything so right, I was so sad, you brought me back.” Alex quickly indicates to him how to enter the stage from the back, and Luke prepares to jump in time for the chorus, taking care of not being seen as he climbs the platform. The song is an old pop-rock song from the 80s, specifically chosen to make the guitarist's voice shine. He and his firecracker sat listening to music for hours until they finally found it, the girl's eyes shining with excitement as she imagined all she could do with the potential of the melody.

“You give me something to believe in, after all that we've been through.” He appears on the platform just in time, the lights and smoke coming out right in his grand entrance. Y/N turns immediately upon hearing her voice and he dances his way towards her.

“The love you give, it all comes back to you. You give me something to believe in, you can see the real me. And here with you is where I'm meant to be.” both singing together the remainder of the chorus and dancing to the beat. The biggest smile he has seen in his girl since he met her on her beautiful face. With that he feels satisfied with his decision, whatever happens, win or lose, it was worth it.

“And here we are together side by side, and nothing seems impossible tonight.” the duet between them is electrifying as always, he puts his hands on her thighs and lifts her with ease, both of them moving and enjoying themselves as if they were the only ones in the place. The dance ends as the first time they danced in the auditorium when he showed her that he was the right option, he holds her with one arm, their lips inches from touching but holding the magnetism back for a few more seconds until finally leave the stage.

As soon as they are backstage Y/N throws herself at Luke, wrapping her legs around his hips and devouring his lips with hers. “Someone missed me.” Luke whispers catching his breath.

"I can't believe you guys did this for me." Expressed the girl as she turns to see her other two friends, still wrapped around Luke who has her tightly held with his huge arms around her butt.

“We trust you as much as you trust us. We know that you will win, you worked like nobody for this moment.” Affirmed the blonde, giving her a small kiss on the forehead.

“I feel like I won already.” And she did. She won the trophy, the money for the demo, friends, and a ridiculously gorgeous rockstar who drove her crazy in more ways than one. All this years working hard were finally worth it... and Damian throwing a tantrum in the middle of the stage felt good too, not gonna lie.

“When are you going to ask me to be your boyfriend? As much as I love you more than anything, a man has to have some pride, you know? We've been together for like 5 months and I'm getting desperate.” They are both lying together on the girl's bed, their legs intertwined as he makes little circles with his fingers on his girl's stomach.

She raises her head resting her hand on his bare chest, her thoughts impossible to read. What are you talking about? I'm waiting for you to ask me!” He chuckles, prepared to tease her. “Bu-”she interrumpts him, pushing the hand that is resting on him to sit down. “Ba-”

“Wait a second, Lucas!” He bites his lip, he never liked being called by his name but for some reason it sounds incredibly sensual when she says it. “Yeah, baby?”

“D- did you say you love me?”

“I did, and I do. Everybody knows you've got me trapped in your claws.” He jokes to make her laugh, and he succeeds.

“I love you too, so much.”

“I know baby.” He winks teasingly at her. “Returning to the topic, you are the most bossy and confident person I have ever met, and you want to tell me that you were waiting for me to take the first step? Doesn’t sound like my firecracker. You literally pretended to be a sunset curve super fan to get my attention.”

"I totally did, I was awesome, first thing next day you were at the auditorium.” She says proud while Luke rolls his eyes with a smile. “But if it makes you feel better, I'm 100% a fan now, and...You are completely right, for once.”

She takes a deep breath, intertwining her fingers with his. “Lucas Patterson, I want you, if we're being honest, probably from the first time I saw you at that Sunset Curve gig we met at. You are annoying, cocky, passionate, and I love you with all my heart. Be my boyfriend... please.”

“There it is, that’s my girlfriend.” His eyes full of lust after hearing that she wanted him from the first night, he draws her closer to him to push his lips against hers, his girlfriend's tongue quickly dancing with his.

"Oh my god, we already talked about this, close the damn window, I don't want to hear it!” The blonde cries from his balcony, the couple can't help but laugh before joining their lips again.

Thank you for reading ✨

Taglist: @writerinlearning, @ghostofmgg @strangerthanfanfiction713 @thebloodthirstyvampress, @kinda-really-lost, @kcd15, @magnet-girl, @aliandthephantoms, @stxrkspidey, @pinkrockstar19, @s0uz4s, @shycupcakealissa @cookiebuba, @fangirlangioma, @sageellsworth05, @twist3dtinkerbell, @sunsetcurvenotsunsetswerve, @caitsymichelle13, @ifilwtmfc @luckylouiebug, @bibliophilewednesday, @totomoshi, @siennanoelle01, @lunashadow6955, @bookfrog247, @morganayennefertyrell, @kiss-themoongoodbye, @rachelle3musicals, @imsydneywalker, @really-dont-forget-it @agentstarkid @talksoprettyjjx @kaitieskidmore1 @lukeys-giggle @katie-navarro @crybabyddl @cocopuffs0211 @marvel-ousnesss @txrii @tuttigunner @dpaccione @justalittleweirdoo @mrstodorooki @averyharrypotterlife

[rattyoakenbitch]

karate kid: “because of you” ₊˚ ⸝  johnny x reader

❝but it can all get a lil’ crazy, unless there’s something to hold onto. for me, that was true love.❞

gif credit: n/a song: lana del rey - because of you

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

pairings: johnny lawrence (1984) x reader

warnings: angst, language, mentions of sex, themes of depression, the overuse of the word ‘baby’ lmfaooo

summary: despite johnny’s reputation, you still weren’t expecting him, your first and only, to be unfaithful. but you were only a blind fool in love, after all.

“.. What the hell is going on here?”

You stood back on the beach overlook with your friend, watching the scene unravel before your eyes.

Below you, there Johnny was, along with his little Cobra Kai gang. The small crowd of teenagers around him shouted and cheered as he brawled with a smaller kid in a red sweater, who was obviously getting his ass beat. 

“Dammit, Johnny, stop!” 

A familiar high pitched, girlish scream caught your attention. Your eyes scanned the crowd until they stopped on Ali, who you knew to be Johnny’s old flame. Despite them being over for a while now, you knew Johnny still had feelings for her. But it was something you buried in the back of your mind. You were too in love with Johnny to acknowledge or care about the fact that he hasn’t moved on. 

Now, watching what was happening, you didn’t know what to think or how to feel. You’ve barely talked to Johnny at all over the week, and now you find him here?

Instead of intervening and chasing after Johnny, you gestured for your friend to follow you back to the car and head elsewhere. She didn’t protest and based on the heartbroken expression on your face, she knew better than to question you. Now was not the time to talk it through. 

Since that night, things were not the same. You explained your situation to your parents who were aware of your relationship, or now former relationship with Johnny. Johnny would call a few times a day, but you never bothered to pick up. His calls started to get more and more frequent, so you ended up blocking his number. Because of this, you started to fall out with the Cobra Kais, who you made good friends with because of your relationship with Johnny. So knowing you’d run into them at school, you stopped attending and would spend the days locked up in your room, only going out to use the bathroom or get something from the kitchen. By now, Johnny knew something was up, and went as far as to pick a fight with your dad whenever he’d drop by your house, asking to see you.

“Come on! I just wanna see Y/N, dammit!”

“She’s none of your business anymore, young man. Now get the hell off my property!”

“Man, fuck you! Let me see her! I need to talk to her!”

“You have three seconds, Mr Lawrence!”

“Y/N, I know you’re in there! I know you can hear me!”

The days became gloomier and gloomier. Weeks had passed and you hadn’t talked to anybody. You shut everyone out and would spend the days alone in your bed, wallowing in your own self pity.

How could you be so foolish?

To think you could be the one to fix Johnny. 

To think he loved you as much as you loved him.

To think he would want a future with you as much as he wanted your clothes off.

But the reality hit you; you were just a rebound. And you let him use you. It was all your fault. 

An overwhelming feeling of nausea and anxiety overtook you. You jumped off your bed and ran to the bathroom, pushing open the toilet lid and vomiting. You flushed the contents down and got to your feet to straighten yourself up. You looked at yourself in the mirror, your eyes widening in disbelief. You didn’t even recognize your reflection.. The person looking back at you was a stranger.

You lifted your hand up to touch your face as you analyzed your appearance. You had dark bags under your bloodshot eyes, your hair disheveled, skin pale and dry. 

“That’s just great.”

Sighing, you stooped down to the sink to rinse your mouth out and splash water on your face. As soon as you were finished, you flicked the light switch and trailed back to your room. However, you were stopped in your tracks by the sound of your father’s voice. 

“Y/N..? Oh, wow.. Wow, girl, I haven’t seen you in days.. How are you feeling now?” He stared down at you, searching your empty face for answers. You avoided his gaze, crossing his arms and looking down at your feet. He sighed, “The school called. You need to return by this Monday.”

You felt your heart sink. You looked up at him, opening your mouth to speak until he cut you off.

“I know you’re still healing but... This isn’t good for you. When you get back to school, you’ll at least get to hang out with your friends again, right?” You weakly shrugged, causing him to let out another heavy sigh. He patted your shoulder. “It’ll get better and soon, you’ll be back to your normal self!”

“What day is it?” you asked.

“It’s Sunday..”

You groaned, “Oh, gosh.” 

“Hey, hey, hey, you’ll be fine.”

You rolled your eyes. “Yeah, definitely. I’ll run into my ex and his little posse, who I ghosted, and then have to explain to my friends why I look and feel like shit. Great. Thanks dad,” you scoffed sarcastically, and stormed off into your room, slamming it shut.

Today was the today. Exasperatingly, you dragged yourself out of bed, showered, brushed your teeth, and tied up your hair into a long braid that cascaded down your back. You figured you’d put on a bit of concealer to hide your dark circles, and topped that off by applying dark red lipstick. You dressed yourself in a white shirt, the collar sticking out of the green sweater you layered on top of it. You matched that with a white pleated skirt that stopped mid thigh, and slipped on a pair of black knee high socks. 

Finished with your look, you shrugged on your backpack and headed downstairs, putting on your Mary Janes before pulling open the front door. You ignored your mom’s calls and ran out to the driveway, about to get into your vehicle to head to school. However, the plans seemed to change when a familiar red car idling on your street caught your attention. 

Your heart began to thump loudly in your chest when you met Johnny’s burning gaze as he waited for you in the car. Knowing how stubborn and persistent he was, you immediately gave up and got into the car, slamming the door shut. 

“All right, so you gonna explain where the hell you’ve been?” Anger and rancor dripped off his voice. You knew this would happen.

Turning to look him in the eye, you treated him with the same attitude. “Oh, that’s just golden! Where have I been? No, Johnny, where the hell have you been? I was trying to reach you for over a week until I found you at the beach with Ali.. Not to mention you were picking on that poor kid.”

As soon as you mentioned Ali, Johnny’s demeanor changed. He laid back into his seat, his jaw clenched. He was caught. 

“Did you seriously think I wouldn’t find out?”

When he wouldn’t reply, you broke the silence. “I don’t wanna argue with you right now, let alone talk to you. Now just drive me to school or I’ll be late.”

He scoffed. “Since when did you care about being late? You were absent for more than a week!”

“Jeez, wonder why,” you retorted. “You know what? This was a mistake.” You pushed open the car door, about to step out, when Johnny gripped your wrist, pulling you back. 

“Wait, don’t go,” he said softly, begging you to stay. Worry filled his big baby blue eyes as he waited on your decision. “Please, Y/N.” You could never say no to him, especially when he was giving you that look. You got back into the car and shut the door, but faced away from Johnny. You swatted away his hand, causing him to recoil and put both hands on the wheel. 

“If we’re gonna talk, let’s not do it here,” you said.

After that, you both stayed silent as he started the car, driving off to wherever. As you drew nearer to your destination, the surroundings started to look more and more familiar. It hit you; this is where you and Johnny had your first kiss, and maybe a little more than just that.. You found yourself smiling at the memories. Then again, maybe some things are just better as memories. 

You were laid beside Johnny on his car, watching the sunset. When the sun went down, instead of heading back home, you ended up stargazing together. You both entirely forgot about your surroundings and the time, getting lost in conversation. Conversation turned into kissing, which eventually lead to something much more heated. 

“You’re so damn beautiful, baby. I can’t believe you’re all mine,” Johnny hummed, beaming and grinning widely. You giggled, continuing to pepper his pretty face with kisses.

“Well, you better believe it then, babe,” you said in between kisses. “Cause I’m not going anywhere.” 

Johnny sighed in satisfaction, pulling you closer to him. “Good, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Johnny managed to catch your lips, capturing you in a deep, passionate and loving kiss. He held you tightly against him as you straddled his lap like his life depended on it. 

Johnny pulled over, snapping you back into reality. You overlooked the city as he shut off the car engine with a heavy sigh, preparing himself for whatever was to come out of this conversation.

“So? You got anything to say for yourself, Lawrence?”

He took a moment to think, before opening his mouth to speak. 

“Y/N.. I’m sorry. I fucked up big time.” You scoffed at that, rolling your eyes and looking away from Johnny. “I’m sorry! I really am! I know I shouldn’t have gone after Ali when I had you.”

“Had,” you pointed out, chuckling.

“Oh, just listen to me, will ya? I told you I’m sorry and I admit to my mistakes!”

“And lemme guess; you’re telling me all this just now because Ali once again rejected you?” Johnny stayed silent, a sheepish and guilty look on his face. You groaned, “For fucks sake, Johnny. Do you ever mean the things you say? This was a complete waste of my time.”

“I didn’t wanna lose you, Y/N.”

“If you’re still loving Ali, then you’ve already lost me.”

“Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious. You ghosted me! At least I tried to make things right between us instead of running away!”

“You really are an awful person, Johnny Lawrence. My friends were right about you-” you blurted out. Your throat ached as you tried to keep yourself together. “You’re really nothing but a player! There is no ‘us’. You don’t give a damn about me. You never did. So just drop the act and take me to school,” you whispered the last part, not wanting Johnny to hear your voice break. But he could easily see through your anger and sense the sadness in your voice.

You faced the opposite direction from Johnny. 

“Please look at me,” Johnny said after a while. You refused to glance his way, your eyes fixed on your fingers as you anxiously twiddled them together. The rage built up inside of you and the thoughts fueled by heartbreak, you kept to yourself. You wanted to be strong. You didn’t want to show Johnny how much he truly hurt you. But all that was gone when tears began to stream down your face. 

“Oh, Y/N, please don’t cry. I’m sorry, I-” Johnny trailed off, his voice cracking. He felt so lost. He had never been faced with a situation like this, even with Ali. And he’s never seen you cry before. You were always tough and strong in front of him, and to see you bawl like this, he thought it really must be that bad. 

“Don’t apologize unless you really mean it,” you sniffled. “Don’t make it worse than it already is.”

“Then I’m gonna keep apologizing because I mean it! With all my heart, Y/N, I’m sorry. I never wanted to make you cry. I can’t stand seeing you like this because of me.”

You turned your face slightly towards Johnny’s direction, curiosity and hope sparking inside of you. 

“I was told that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. And even if you leave after this, I’m not gonna hide the way I feel, Y/N. I’ve never felt this way about a girl. Even with Ali. That’s why I was confused at first, but I knew I wanted to make it work with you.” Johnny squeezes your hand in his significantly bigger ones. “I hated to admit it at first, but I was and am smitten with you. You cross my mind everyday, and every song reminds me of you. And- And even if you shut me out after this.. If you go, I’ll stay. Even when you fall out of love, I just want you to know I’ll always have feelings for you.”

You didn’t know what to say after Johnny’s confession. You had all these emotions; betrayal, heartbreak, anger, confusion. They clouded your mind. You didn’t know how to properly react. 

“Do you really mean that?”

Johnny chuckles sadly, “I may be a douche, but I’m not a liar.”

You leaned back into your seat, replaying everything that just happened in your head. Johnny’s confessions, his declaration of love for you. You knew Johnny had a rough life and wasn’t one to be open about his feelings. And you also knew you loved that boy, even after the pain he caused you. Did you really wanna risk it and be with him? 

After being silent for a while, the uncomfortable stillness in the air prompted Johnny to speak up. 

“You- I- I’ll just.. I can take you home. Wherever-”

“No! Wait, don’t,” you placed your hand over Johnny’s before he got the chance to start the car. You locked eyes with him, your heart beat beginning to speed up suddenly. You were stuck on what to do at that moment. 

“Oh, fuck it,” you thought to yourself, and cupped Johnny’s face, bringing him closer to you. Now without the support of your hands, you were caught off balance and ended up stumbling atop Johnny. And in the heat of the moment, you crashed your lips to his. Okay, that was totally intentional. 

Johnny didn’t waste a second and immediately kissed you back, holding you steady above him. You really didn’t want to, but you had to break the kiss for air, giving Johnny the chance to let out breathy words.

“Fuck, I’ve missed you so much, baby.”

You pressed your forehead to his and wrapped your arms around his shoulders while you tangled your fingers in his hair. He cupped your face, placing gentle little kisses on your nose.

“Nothing bad is gonna happen to us, baby, I promise.”

[help-i-need-a-cool-username]

Recently saw a tiktok that was like "if you ship [toph and zuko] than you have issues or you see something galaxy brained that i havent" and stumbled upon the concept of aroace Zuko and i concocted this idea ages ago so im posting it now: the epic Toph x Zuko Marriage of Convenience 

Okay what you are all thinking of is book 3 Toph and Zuko, which totally dont have romantic chemistry and with the added age difference is prob why no one ever considers this ship. Four years when you're a teenager is a big difference. Four years when you're in your twenties and beyond isnt that big a deal. So they're adults and they've been friends for years at this point.

You also gotta sit back and look at what they are. Toph is the only child to a very rich and very well known Earth Kingdom family. Her family name in general is huge and carries a lot of weight but you also got her own accomplishments: Master Earthbender, the Creator of Metalbending, the Avatar's Earthbending teacher, and shes a war hero. Thats big. And then you got Zuko, who at this point is the Fire Lord. Zuko himself comes from a prominent Fire Nation family, seeing as he's royalty. He's also descended from a Avatar, but i dont think thats all that well known. Zuko is a Master Firebender, the Avatar's Firebending Teacher, and a war hero. On top of being famous both these people have credibility to fall back on.

So what im leaning into here is not exactly a marriage alliance seeing as the Earth Kingdom has its own royalty but its definitely a political move

Anyways Zuko has a lot on his plate, dismantling his dad's empire and all that. When he's nearing 30 the council is all like "you need to find a bride". Zuko writes up his ex-girlfriends and finds out they're either married or he just cant bring himself to trap someone into a marriage with him after knowing how it destroyed his mom. So he's stuck with no one of his own choosing so the council and high up nobles are trying to fix him up and not-so-subtly set him up with their daughters. Half of Team Avatar comes and visits (lets say Toph, Aang, and Sokka) and witness the behind the scenes of all this. They're having tea with Zuko and two people come in at different times and try to casually talk about the marriage thing. Toph can hear things that happen in the hallways too. Zuko is all "noooooooo guys why is this happening to me" and Sokka probably finds it funny but also a little sucky, and Aang probably hates it because "Zuko should marry for love!". And Toph is all "I know right" because she can totally relate. Her parents were looking for matches for her since she was born, and now that shes visiting again they've started back up again. Her and Zuko start swapping match-making stories ("so i come home and this boy and his father are there and my mom is all like 'Toph have you met __'" "I'm in the throne room for a meeting on road construction and this guy derails the whole thing so he can introduce his niece to me"). Later on after Toph has been listening in on the palace for a few days now and shes starting to really feel sorry for Zuko. Sokka just keeps making jokes until Toph snaps at him. Aang is pretty oblivious and probably spends all day at the market looking for souvenirs to bring home for Katara. And one night while Zuko is up late doing paperwork by candle light Toph stops by because her body cant sleep at night sometimes and they get to talking and Toph jokingly throws out "what if we just married each other? Then everyone will get off both our backs!" and they're laughing and after they've calmed down Zuko has a light bulb moment and he's like "wait, that might not be a bad idea". They spend all night working out the details to their hypothetical wedding and a day later decide to actually go through with it. Theres uproar from the council of course because Zuko didnt choose their pick Toph isnt Fire Nation nobility. And then Zuko starts listing all her family's importance and stuff and the council is forced to admit to themselves its not actually a bad idea. Plus marrying Earth Kingdom would make the Fire Lord more relatable to the colonies where theyre having a lot of problems with people of mixed heritage right now. Sokka and Aang hear rumblings of this because palace servants gossip and they're debating wether or not to believe these rumors when they run into Toph and just ask her and shes all like "yeah we're talking about it" and they boys flip out. Aang still maintains that everyone should marry for love but Toph and Zuko won't budge.

Over in the Earth Kingdom Toph's parents are ecstatic because the only better option Toph could marry was Earth Kingdom royalty. They completely endorse it and only argue to not seem like pushovers and when topics revolving money come up (ex. dowery). The Earth King gets in on this because its too good a opportunity to not capitalize on it. The Earth Kingdom is abuzz because a foreign King is marrying one of their own. Everyone is hyped and Team Avatar are the only ones who find the whole situation weird because to them its not a fairytale its their actual friends.

All-in-all they get married in the Fire Nation and the guest list was awful to make but people from all over the world are there. Toph's mother freaks out the whole time because "what if Toph falls down all those steps!" The wedding is mostly all Fire Nation tradition but Toph wears a Earth Kingdom wedding dress because everything is political now. Toph and Zuko have a relatively fun night and Sokka has the time of his life. And their marriage actually really works out for them because they're friends. They make fun of fancy people and rant to each other in the evenings. Toph is still running metal bending schools but either now they have to come to her or she gets stuck with a Fire Nation security team for like 3 months of the year she spends in the Earth Kingdom and she gets flashbacks to her childhood. And Zuko is sometimes all "i miss my wife" and the servants are all "awwww they're so in love" but the truth is he wants to talk sh*t with her and because shes blind he always has to write letters with the interpreter's opinion/gossip in mind. Toph still sneaks out all the time because shes not giving up her independence willy-nilly and is not above pulling the blind card to get out of things, which irritates Zuko sometimes because that means he has to deal with boring meetings by himself. They gaang visits all the time and by the time Republic City rolls around Toph manages to get herself sent as a "ambassador" (her and Sokka have some fun their shared meetings) and then to stay on to help set up the police force, which is a little dicy since shes representing the Fire Nation but also shes teaching only metalbending so its a controversial thing. This also gives Zuko a excuse to visit Republic City more often so he can see everyone since they settled down there.

[sergeantsporks]

Hiya! If requests are open, could you write a fix-it-scene where if Jim never reset, the whole reason Douxie doesn't grieve over his loss in the movie is because there just wasn't any time / the shock of everything happening all at once. And maybe later, when it finally hits Douxie, he's with Zoe when he breaks down for some Zouxie comfort? :0

I'm always open for requests :D Your angsty wish is my angsty command >:)

Douxie watched through a haze of pain as Jim destroyed the time stone. Someone was supporting him-- someone big, but his vision was blurring, and he couldn't tell who. That fight had... really taken it out of him. The fall, especially.

"Douxie?" Claire asked. Her voice sounded like it was at the end of a tunnel.

He tried to respond, but the result was a slurred "I'm okay" that he wasn't sure she could understand.

And then the world blacked out.

He woke up in a hospital bed, stiff with bandages. Jim sniffed and tried for a smile. "H-Hey. Looks like I'm not the only one who can break ribs around here."

"Hngh--" Douxie started to sit up, but fell back down with a whump. "Ow."

"Yeah... my mom says you should take it easy for a few days. Couple broken ribs, a nasty concussion, and a whole lotta burns. Buuuuuut, someone came to sign for you, so you're good to go! Everyone else is still getting checked out-- you were the worst of it, besides--" He broke off, twisting his amulet in his hands.

"Who came to-?"

A pink blur flew towards him, shaking him by the shoulders. "OH MY MAGIC, DOUXIE, YOU ALMOST GOT YOURSELF KILLED!"

Jim grabbed her shoulder. "Whoa, there, treat him nicer, he just--"

"Fell off of a titan, I know. Broken ribs, concussion, blah, blah, blah, he's had worse before." Zoe nudged Douxie's shoulder. "C'mon, let's get you out of here, it's depressing."

Douxie hobbled after her. She slowed down so that he could keep up. "The doctors say rest for you! Also that I should keep you away from particularly bright lights. And you should drink lots of water. Anyway, let's go to a movie set in the middle of the desert, what do you think?"

"Very funny."

Zoe's hand slipped into his. "Seriously, are you gonna be okay?"

Douxie rolled his shoulders, wincing. "Yeah, I think so. I died that once, so this is a walk in the park, comparatively."

"Okay. Then let's go home."

Home. Something about the word felt... empty. Hollow. Missing.

"C'mon, let's take a shortcut!"

Zoe ducked into an alleyway, and Douxie started to follow. A missing cat poster was pinned on the wall, and the floodgate he hadn't known he was putting up broke, and all of the feelings he'd been pushing back for the battle rushed him all at once.

Archie was gone.

Nari was gone.

There was no home, there was no going back, because his home was gone, it was destroyed, and there was no fixing it!

"Douxie?"

Zoe's voice sounded far away, and the world turned blue. The posters on the wall started to burn, and Douxie felt tears running down his face.

He'd lost everything. And for what?

What good was saving the world if the ones he loved were no longer in it?

"Douxie!"

Zoe grabbed his hand, and he snapped out of his wizard aura, sinking back down to the ground. She caught him as his legs wobbled and gave out, lowering him to the ground.

"Archie..." he half-sobbed.

She pressed her forehead to his. "I know. I know, Douxie."

"Nari's gone!"

Zoe helped him to his feet. "Come on. Come with me."

She led him away from the city, out to the bluff that overlooked Arcadia Oaks, and then into the trees, all the way to the kissing tree.

He half-laughed, half-sniffed. "No offense, Zoe, but I'm not in the mood for kissing."

"Offense. Offense definitely taken." Zoe grabbed his hand and put his palm on the tree. "Nari... Nari helped build this world. She's still part of it. In the trees, the flowers. The thorns, the poison ivy, the beautiful hedges-- that's all her. You helped save the thing she loved, the thing she helped build. Nari's with you in the things she made. Her soul, her spirit lives on in them."

The wind whispered through the trees, and the fireflies lighting up the branches of the kissing tree looked almost like magic.

Like her magic.

Zoe took his hands. "She's still with you. So is Archie-- every monster you trap, every lesson you learn-- that's him, with you." She swung their hands gently side-to-side. "And... they weren't the end. You still have Claire. Steve. Jim." She gave his hands a squeeze. "And... you still have me."

He bent down and kissed the top of her head. "I do. I just..."

"Miss them," Zoe finished softly, "That's okay. That's normal. But... if you need to talk about it, if you need a shoulder to cry on... I can be that, okay? You don't have to go through it alone-- aren't you always saying stuff about relying on others and the power of friendship? Take your own advice. People will be there for you if you let them. You don't always have to be the protector-- let me protect you for a bit, okay?"

Douxie managed a grin at her. "Who are you, and what have you done with crabby Zoe?"

Zoe swatted him. "Hey! No using humor to deflect the situation!" She softened again, giving his hand another squeeze and brushing away a tear. "Promise me you won't try to carry this alone, Douxie."

Douxie leaned into her hand, tears still rolling down his face. "Promise."

Thanks, non :D

[candy-and-writing]

My Resolutions

Synopsis: You and Steve have a strained relationship. He takes it upon himself to fix that

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader, slight Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Dark! Steve Rogers, NON-CON, fingering (female receiving), oral (female receiving), slight breeding kink if you squint

I am NOT responsible for your media content consumption. This work is not intended for those under the age of 18 due to explicit sexual content and/or dark themes. By reading this work you agree that you are at least 18 years of age. I do not consent to have my work posted on any third party app or website; if you are seeing this work anywhere other than tumblr and archiveofourown, it has been reposted without my permission.

Tony Stark's New Year's party was extravagant. Men in expensive suits and black ties, women wearing elegant party gowns and jewelry with more diamonds than a Tiffany's store. Chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, the lights soft and bright, matching the ambiance of the orchestra. Long, white-clothed tables lined the walls, covered in overpriced shrimp and finger foods, a large chocolate fountain that stood entirely too high next to various fruits and other snacks. Servers walked around the ballroom carrying trays of champagne and little plates of desserts, though most guests already held a cocktail or glass from the bar.

You stood next to Natasha as she conversed with Clint and Wanda, something about Budapest? You were too busy gawking at the lavish scene around you. The Avengers cleaned up nice, the boys wearing expensive tuxes and black bow ties while Natasha, you, and Wanda had gone dress shopping. Nat looked stunning in her long black dress, thin straps that crossed along her back and her short red hair pinned to the side. Wanda wore a dark red dress that had a high neckline and sleeves that passed her elbows, styling her hair in a messily beautiful high ponytail and dark makeup.

You wore a silky sapphire blue gown, the neckline low and cut to show much more cleavage than you were comfortable with, the thin straps were the only thing to cover your back. The skirt of your gown was loose and flowy around your legs, stopping at your toes. Your hair was curled down around your shoulders, dangling earrings tickling your jawline. Your makeup was simple, eyeliner and some fake eyelashes Natasha helped you out with and some red lipstick. To your surprise, it contrasted beautifully with your dress.

You left Natasha to navigate your way through the crowd, wanting to reach the bar. Once there, you ordered a cocktail and sat down, sighing. You picked at your painted fingernails, twisting a ring around your finger.

"Hey, doll." 

You looked up to find Bucky leaning against the bar, smiling at you. You smiled back. The bartender handed you your drink, you thanked him before taking a hefty sip.

"Hey."

"Having fun?"

You shrugged, stirring your straw in your drink. "Parties make me anxious, there's always too much that could happen when nothing ever does. All these strangers—does Tony even know all these people?"

Bucky sat beside you, sighing like your dad does when he goes to sit down and watch the football game. "Sounds fair, given what we do for a living. You have a right to be paranoid."

"I'm not paranoid," you glared. "I'm being cautious."

Bucky chuckled, ordering a double whiskey before looking back at you. "You wanna join Steve and I? Get your mind off things?"

You sighed, playing with your straw for a moment before nodding. "Yeah."

He guided you to the middle of the room, dodging past people until he found Steve and Sam. Sam greeted you with a nod and a smile, looking you up and down quickly before he met your eyes. Steve gave you a tense nod, quickly continuing his conversation with Sam. You scoffed before taking a drink, feeling stupid for thinking Steve would greet you at all. He's had such a stick up his ass the last few months, barely acknowledging you and only talking to you when he had to, but he was more than happy to ignore you. You've caught him glaring at you from the other side of the room multiple times, like your presence itself just annoyed him. You had no idea what you did to piss the supersoldier off, but you've learned to just stay out of his way.

Although you would admit, with his long hair, short beard, and his tight tux, he looked ruggedly handsome. He was a stark contrast to the man he once was when you first joined. He would at least talk to you then.

You shook your head, taking a sip of your cocktail. You had no idea why it bothered you so much—he didn't like you and you didn't like him, you just couldn't understand why. He was nice, kind to everyone else, to complete strangers, so why did he look at you like you were a bug he squashed on his shoe? And it wasn't like you actually hated him, despite your nonexisting conversations and the spiteful glares, you were quite fond of the super-soldier.

One cocktail turned into two, then three, then two more glasses of champagne when you spotted a server walking near you. Bucky was too busy conversing with Steve and Sam about his days back in the 107th to notice your tipsy daze, laughing as Sam made a snarky remark about his old age.

It was well past midnight now, the guests from the party had slowly disappeared, leaving the Avengers to finish off the eggnog and bacon-wrapped shrimp. You sat on the edge of the couch next to Wanda, nursing your third—was it your third? Or was it your fourth? No, no, definitely your third—cocktail Natasha had made you. Across from you sat Steve and Bucky; Bucky had taken his jacket off while Steve left his on, instead unknotting his bow tie. At first glance, you'd expect Bucky to be the one giving you the cold shoulder, not America's Golden Boy. But Bucky was probably your closest friend. You grumbled, taking another drink.

"Alright, let's go around the room!" Tony clapped and rubbed his hands together before pointing at Bruce. "Banner! New Year's Resolution, go!"

Bruce mumbled for a moment before sighing, saying something about finishing his big project with Dr. Cho. Clint went next, saying he wanted to be there when his daughter graduated middle school. Natasha wanted to do some volunteer work, maybe get a cat, something she could take care of.

"Cap, you're up!"

Steve sighed, holding his beer down at his lap. "Uh—"

"To get laid," Sam interjected, snickering. Bucky laughed as Steve's eyes widened.

"Seriously?" you nearly choked on your drink. "I can't believe that's one of your new year's resolutions."

Steve cleared his throat. "It's not." He gave you a dangerous glare, which you failed to see on account of you finishing off your cocktail. "I was going to say—before I was interrupted—I want to make the world a better place, this time next year I want it to be better."

You shrugged, reaching for a bottle of champagne. "Eh, whatever you say, Captain."

"What about you?" he asked, all but snarling. "What's your resolution?"

You poured yourself a glass from the bottle of some fancy Krug Blanc de Blanc champagne, it was crisp and rich and the bubbles tickled down your throat. "Don't got one," you said plainly. "I think they're dumb."

Tony 'boo'd. You stuck your tongue out at him.

"Aw, come on," Clint groaned. "Think of one thing you want to do this year."

You sighed. "Fine. I. . . I guess I don't want to die?"

"There ya go! That's the spirit!"

You chuckled, shaking your head as you sip your drink. Wanda went next—said she wanted to do something to help Sokovia since they're still rebuilding the city. Bucky said he just wanted to live his life with his friends. Corny bastard.

An hour passed, maybe more, before you started to get cold. The cool air danced along your bare back and down your spine. F.R.I.D.A.Y had started playing Christmas music and Natasha dragged you up. You protested, begging her to let you go. She had your hands in hers, swaying you back and forth until you were begrudgingly moving on your own until your hips were moving on your own accord.

Then you fell. Tripped over your dress.

Bucky stood up, rushing over to you as Natasha tried to give you her hand but you waved them off. "I'm fine, jeez, back off."

"Maybe you should lay off the drinks," Nat said.

"Yeah, how many have you had?" Bucky frowned at you.

"What are you, my mom?" you growled, reluctantly taking Bucky's hand as he pulled you up a little too fast. You clutched onto him, dizzy as you struggled to steady yourself. Suddenly, there was another pair of hands on you, rough as they held you tightly.

"I'll take care of her," Steve's voice said.

"Steve—" Bucky was interrupted.

"I said I got her." He pulled you out of Bucky's grasp, dragging you out of the room.

"Go easy on her, Cap," you heard Tony say softly, "you know this time of year is hard for her."

That made both you and Steve scowl. It is not, you thought as Steve pulled you along, your small feet struggling to keep up with his fast steps. Your head spun, dizzy as Steve stopped at a door. He shoved you in, wobbling and stumbling over your heels. You turned to him, about to tell him to watch it when you stopped. His expression was stone cold, almost feral. He stalked up to you as you shuffled back, circling until you bumped up against a table. Surprised, you looked behind you, running your hand along the dark mahogany. That wasn't your table. Looking around your surroundings, you saw that you weren't in your room at all.

"Steve," you say, your voice shaky. "Where are we?"

His snarl turned into a cold grin and he chuckled at your stupidity. "Are you that drunk or are you just that stupid?" he belittled. "Take a good guess."

You knew where you were, and his snarky remark had you biting your tongue you hold in your dry sarcasm. You rolled your eyes and tried to push past him, but he shoved you back until you hit your head, laying over the table.

"Don't roll your eyes at me," he growled, hand pressing down on your chest.

"Ow! What the fuck, Steve!"

"You wanna know what my new year's resolution really is?" Steve had pushed himself up against you, noses close to touching. You could smell the beer he had on his breath.

"Steve, seriously, this isn't funny—"

"It's you."

He forced himself in between your thighs, your dress riding up to your knees as you kicked your feet out, flailing as Steve pushed against you, pinning your wrists on either side of your head.

"Steve, stop," you begged. "Please, you're scaring me."

"Good," he huffed. "You should be, maybe it'll sober you up."

"Steve—"

"Shut up!" You flinched, turning your head away from his. "God, I am so sick of you and your little games. Playing innocent when you're walking around in your skin-tight uniform, flirting with Bucky, ignoring me. You brought this on yourself, sweetheart."

You're the one ignoring me, you jackass.

"Steve, I—" you took a deep breath, trying to play your cards right. "I never meant to make you think—"

"I don't care," Steve sneered. He let go of your wrists, his hands rubbing up along your thighs. You pushed against his chest, trying to get him off you, but he brought his hand back and slapped you across the cheek, looking at you like you were an annoying fly. You cried out, head snapping to the side as Steve pinched your inner thigh. He pushed your dress up over your hips, your black lacy thong on full display.

"Jesus," Steve breathed. "You wore this out in public? You're lucky some other man didn't try to fuck you earlier."

"Steve!" you cried, frightened. Your heart was pounding in your ears so fast you thought you were going to pass out. One of his hands went to your throat, squeezing just enough to make it hard to breathe.

"I said, 'shut up.' God, you really need a lesson in obedience."

With that, he roughly grabbed the hem of your underwear and pulled, tearing the garment in two so hard it left burn marks on your waist. You let out a strained cry, squeezing your eyes shut as tears slipped past your lashes. Your head spun in a drunken daze as Steve licked his fingers before he rubbed against your clit, causing you to jolt. You let out a strained, garbled 'no'. Steve only gripped your throat tighter.

"It's alright, sweetheart," Steve cooed, his voice suddenly softer, "I can make it feel good for you. Just relax."

You clawed at the hand wrapped around your throat, trying to tear him away, mouthing voiceless pleas.

Stop.

Please.

Steve.

"Just relax, sweetheart, it'll feel good. I promise." He continued to rub circles over your clit, softly and then harder at random intervals. You mewled, squirming in his grasp, your back arching as he dipped his finger into your channel, spreading your juices around. His now slick finger stroking your sensitive bud as you let out a strangled moan. "That's it, doll, just let yourself feel it."

He leaned down, his lips meeting yours in a conquering and controlling kiss, tongue delving into your mouth. You were helpless as his lips moved to your jaw, inserting a second finger into you. You gasped as Steve started pumping his fingers in and out of you slowly, finger fucking you until you were a whimpering mess.

"It feel good, doll?" Steve asked, lips dangerously close to yours. The pads of his fingers brushed against a certain spot inside you and you cried out, hips jolting. "You like that?"

You felt the stretch as Steve forced a third finger into you, your legs numb and heavy. Your head spun, and you thought for sure you were going to puke as he sped up, the coil in your lower belly tightening as his lips latch onto your clit. You gasped, a scream getting stuck in your lungs as he sucked on your clit in the most beautiful way.

"St—stop. . . Steve, St—Steve, please—"

A few more licks was all it took before the coil in your stomach snapped. You let out a coarse scream, the breath getting sucked out of your lungs. Your thighs shook as your back arched painfully, your pussy convulsing against Steve's fingers until you collapsed, lax on the table under Steve.

"Jesus, sweetheart." Steve pulled his fingers from your channel, causing you to whimper. "That was beautiful. You're so fucking beautiful."

His words barely reached your ears, sounding muddled and far away like you were under water. There was a loud pounding, your heartbeat ringing in your ears, strumming through your body. You didn't realize Steve had unzipped his dress pants, shuffling them down past his knees, stroking himself slowly. He let out a soft sigh, lining himself up between your legs.

Your eyes widened. "Wait—Steve, don't—!" Steve used his hand to cover your mouth, silencing you.

"It's alright, sweetheart," Steve cooed, "just relax. I'll make it feel good."

He pushed into you slowly, his thick cock stretching your walls. You screamed into his hand, legs clenching in an attempt to stop him.

"I said 'relax', doll. This is happening, just accept it, it'll feel so much better."

You closed your eyes, willing your muscles to unwind as Steve thrust into you, groaning.

"Fuck, you're tight," he growled. "I know you're not a virgin, you fucked Bucky just last week."

Your eyes flew open wide at the candor remark. You mumbled something incoherent to him against his hand, which he chuckled at.

"Oh, please, you honestly think I'm that clueless?" Steve scoffed. "The missions you two are always taking together, the incessant flirting, the sneaking around like you're a bunch of teenagers. No, I knew, and—frankly—I'm a little offended. I had to find out from Natasha?" He punctuated her name with a sharp thrust of his hips. "You must have one hell of a spell on him that he didn't come running to me after it happened. . . . How did it happen? I'm curious."

He moved his hand away from your mouth, when you didn't answer immediately he snapped his hips up into you.

"Steve—"

"Tell me," he said, pulling out slowly, just to the tip, then pushing back in inch by inch.

"Okay!" you screeched, "Okay! We—we were in Germany, a couple months back, for the human trafficking intel S.H.I.E.L.D had. The mission was a bust, they knew we were coming, they killed all the girls. One of them—ngh—she wasn't even old enough to start her period yet. Bucky took it really hard—"

"I don't care," Steve growled, bucking his hips. "Get to it.”

"He drank himself to sleep that night," you whimpered. "I had to wake him up a few hours later because he was screaming. When—when he calmed down, I tried to talk to him, but he kissed me. I—I told him we shouldn't—"

"Because you didn't want to or because he was upset—oh, fuck."

"I—" you preened. "I didn't want to do anything he would regret, when he told me there wouldn't be anything to regret, I just went with it."

"You let him fuck you," Steve corrected.

"Yeah," you forced out, even though that wasn't the truth. It had been more than that. It wasn't just a quick fuck, it was something both of you needed to get past that. You needed to forget and Bucky needed reassurance. You had let him take control that night, something he needed, while you laid back and let him be the one in control over you. You trusted him completely, and that man had pulled more orgasms from you than anyone ever could.

"Do you know why that is?" Steve whispered, his voice low. His hips kept their slow pace, his dick ever so slowly sliding in and out of your cunt. When you shook your head, he gave you a devilish smile. "It's because you're a slut. And he thought you were easy."

Steve pushed your legs up to your chest, effectively bending you in half as he fucked into you faster, his balls slapping against your skin as you screamed, hands clawing at the table below you. His cock was driving into you deeply, hitting a spot inside you that had you seeing stars. He was longer than Bucky, albeit Bucky was thicker. You bit back a moan, refusing to give Steve that kind of satisfaction.

Steve clicked his tongue. "Come on, doll, don't be like that." His hand dipped down to where your body's were conjoined, his fingers rubbing softly against your clit.

"Fuck!" you gasped, your back arching. You let out a string of moans, whining as his hand stayed stuck to your clit.

"I need you to come for me, baby, one more time. Can you do that?" His hot breath grazed against your ear. "Fuck—come on my cock, sweetheart."

You bucked your hips wildly, trying to shake him off you, the sensation all too familiar yet unwelcome. "Steve—stop, please, I can't—"

"You can, sweetheart, I know you can. Just a little bit more." He rubbed small, fast circles against your clit until you came with a scream, Steve clamping his hand over your mouth as he came, silencing your overstimulated cries.

He thrust deep into you, spilling his seed in your pussy. He groaned, held himself still for a moment, then pulled out. You whimpered, feeling his cock leave your abused channel, cum flowing freely from your cunt. Steve's cum. You never thought you could feel so disgusted.

Steve looked at where the cum was seeping out of you, scooping it up and pushing it back in with to fingers. You gasped, trying to squirm away from Steve's fingers.

"You're going to stop fucking Bucky," Steve ordered, his voice low. "Things are going to be strictly professional between you two from now on, Understand?"

Your eyes widened. You couldn't do that Bucky, he didn't deserve to be kicked to the curb like that.

"I said, 'do you understand?'"

The sharpness in his voice had you nodding, suddenly feeling like a kid trapped with the monster from under the bed.

Steve smiled. "Good."

He released your face, and you took that as your cue to get up. When you propped yourself up on your elbows, Steve pushed you back down. You gave him a quizzical look, he gave you a dark grin on return.

"You didn't think we were done, did you, sweetheart?"

[not-playable-character]

Edit: new link https://archiveofourown.org/works/32099263

ITS DONE!!!!  Finally, the RE8 meets RE7 fic is finished and posted!  so for everyone wondering and if you didn't figure it out already. The image I posted earlier is the seating arrangement of the gang as they play the game.  As always its posted on AO3 and under the cut.  I hope you enjoy @ibest14 I never actually played RE7 but I watched a walkthrough to write this.

It was a normal Saturday afternoon when the Winters family got a very strange package.  It was addressed to the whole family and had no return address.

“What the heck is this?” Rose wondered aloud carrying the small package inside, “Hey mom! Did you order something online?”

“Not that I remember, why?” Mia asked curious why her daughter was asking about the mail, “Who is it addressed to? Maybe your dad ordered something.” She went and stood next to Rose to look at the package.

“Hmm, I think we should wait for dad to get home to open it, I mean it is addressed to all of us.” Mia agreed with her daughter and went to continue making dinner.

Ethan got home a few hours later and was greeted by his daughter with a warm hug, “Haha, hey there kid how was your day?” He asked returning the hug and picking Rose up.

“It was good! We got a weird package in the mail, mom and I decided to wait for you before opening it.” Rose said leading him into the kitchen after he put her down.

“Welcome home, Hon! How was work?” Mia asked kissing Ethan on the cheek.

“Ugh, Williams was an absolute pain again.  He somehow unplugged all of his equipment and disconnected his computer from the ethernet cable again.” Ethan complained sitting down at the dinner table next to Rose. “Chris somehow changed his computer to Arabic and Sal’s computer was changed to have wingdings as the default language and it bricked the whole thing, he said it was an accident, but I think it was one of the dicks that keep harassing him.  I told Chris and he’s looking into it.” Ethan picked up the package and looked at the outside.

“Ugh why can’t these douchebags see that Sal is way better than them.  Probably just jealous of him.” Rose said frustrated at the harassment her uncle was receiving.

“We should invite him over for dinner sometime, lift his spirits some!” Mia suggested placing a glass of juice down for Ethan.  He agreed and thanked her for the juice.

Ethan handed the package back to Rose who tore into the packaging.  Inside was a video game box, “Resident Evil? Isn’t that a game from the nineties?” Rose asked confused.

Ethan leaned over to get a better look, “Yeah it is, I played almost all of them, but I’ve never seen that one.  It looks like its supposed to be the seventh one, but they only made six that I know of.” Ethan became confused taking the box from Rose studying it, it strangely didn’t have a back cover.

“Weird, maybe they are rebooting the series, but why wouldn’t there be a lot of news about it?” Rose asked.  Ethan’s face lit up at the possibility of a reboot of his favorite childhood series.

“Man, I hope so, I always loved Craig Bluemarsh and Leo C. Harrison.  They were the best!  The whole M.O.O.N.S squad from Badger City.  Special Ops turned paranormal investigators was the twist of the decade! And the whole thing with Egbert Walberk and how he possessed himself with countless demons to become basically a god.” Ethan sighs as he reminisces.

“You clearly have bad taste honey because Julie Easter was the best character in the series.  The ace of the M.O.O.N.S squad, the one that Walberk kidnapped to force demons into her with a mind control amulet.  Oh, and don’t forget Chloe Bluemarsh, college kid turned aid worker for those affected by the demons.” Mia added as she chopped vegetables for dinner.

“Ahh yes, how could I forget! Anyway, this looks like a cheap bootleg or fake.  Probably just a prank from Dani or Angie.”  Ethan said tossing the case further on the table looking upset.

“Aw man…. That’s lame dad.” Rose says dramatically throwing herself over the back of the chair.  “I’m keeping it anyway; the box looks cool.”

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A month after the whole package incident, Rose bursts into the house beaming.  “Dad, Uncle Chris just told me that we are having a meeting with the whole gang! We should totally bring that janky game we got and show it off!”

“Whoa, slow down Rose! You’re gonna hurt yourself running around like that.” Ethan says watching his daughter bounce in place.  “Why do you think we should bring that thing anyway? I doubt there will be anytime to just sit around and play a game, if it’s even real.”  Rose rolls her eyes at him.

“Dad, I’m sure Uncle Chris can pull some strings so we can have a little get together.  We never get to see each other all at once!” Rose states, putting on her best puppy dog eyes, “Don’t you want to see the gang, Dad. It would be so much fun.  You know how much I miss them all.” She begs.

Ethan can physically feel his resolve crumbling at his begging daughter, always caving into her once she pulls out the puppy eyes, “Fine, I’ll talk with Chris and we can bring the game with us, but you are responsible for the PlayStation and if it gets damaged or broken you have to buy the new one.” He says in his dad voice, trying to be stern.  Rose squeals and jumps into his arms hugging him.

“You’re the best dad ever!” She says running off to prepare for their long weekend at Blue Umbrella.

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“Ok, is everyone comfy, I’m about to start the game!” Rose said excitedly setting up the PS4 in the Blue Umbrella lounge room.  Everyone was present, Rose even convinced Miranda and Elena to join them after Milena was put to bed.

“I am unsure of what we are even doing sweet thing.” Alcina said settling into her chair near Donna.

“Well, I’m gonna play this weird game I got, maybe Dani can take over if I get tired.  We are just gonna check it out, if its good, Great! If not, we can make fun of how bad it is!” Rose explained sitting down on the couch wedged between Daniela, Angie, and Heisenberg with Bela and Cassandra on the floor in front of them.  Alcina wasn’t convinced that it would be fun, but she couldn’t deny Rose’s request considering how excited she looked.  She sighed and pulled out her reading glasses seeing the small text on the screen.

“Psh, what are you a grandma?” Heisenberg teased. Alcina growled at him.

“Oh, please grow up you child.” She replied trying to de-escalate the situation knowing Rose and her daughters hated when they argued.

“I see making your head bigger didn’t help your eyesight.” He continued to tease sensing her anger.

“I grew proportionally you ignoramus, becoming larger would not fix my farsightedness.” She growled out becoming angrier.

“Guys….” Rose said sadly at the two arguing.  Heisenberg immediately stopped his next sentence and turned to give Rose a side hug.

“Sorry kiddo, I forgot you hate it when we fight.  I’ll stop, I promise.”  He says sincerely as Alcina nods looking guilty, Rose smiles accepting their apologies.

“No more sappiness get to the action I’m getting bored!” Angie cried out from Daniela’s lap.  Rose rolls her eyes at the doll’s bratty attitude and begins the game.

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The game begins with a very familiar video to Ethan and Mia and the sight of Mia recording her warning message on the ship.

“What the…. How is this happening?  It showed the recording from my eyes, but I never recorded that…” Mia says stunned.

The next scene starts with the sound of a phone ringing and the overhead video of a car driving down a highway.  Ethan begins to speak to and unknown man in the voice over explaining how he was contacted by Mia and that she wants him to come and get her.

“This has to be a sick prank!  How did these people get that phone call!” Ethan shouts getting more and more upset as the clip plays. Mia places a hand on his arm to comfort him.

“Maybe there will be an explanation later.  There has to be….” Mia says trying to calm Ethan.

Rose pauses the game as it shifts to Ethan’s perspective in the car, “We don’t have to keep playing if this is making you guys uncomfortable.” She says to her parents.

Ethan takes a deep breath, “No, no… it’s fine, you were really excited for this.  I was just shocked.  I’m okay to keep going, as long as you are okay too Mia.”  She nods in agreement with her husband clearly rattled but pushing through.  Rose nods continuing the game as she walks Ethan through the thick Louisiana swamp towards the Baker house.

The first obstacle they encounter is a locked gate.  She moves him down a path leading to a trashed car with camera equipment scattered around it.  Looking in they find a scrip proposal for Sewer Gators Ep. 17.

They then come across a broken gate with a sign that says, “Accept Her Gift”, “Oh yeah definitely just walk through that incredibly ominous gate into the disgusting swamp.” Heisenberg says gesturing towards the screen, “I’d just say, ‘sorry lady I’m not that desperate for a wife’ and dip.”

“He has a point dad, I mean really its been three years.  Just move on.” Rose says to her father.

Ethan blushes, “Hey you can’t judge a man in love.  I had to know what happened.”

“Nah man, just accept the death bro.  Totally not worth it.” Daniela says interjecting.

“I’m right her you know.” Mia says scolding them.  Rose giggles and continues on.  They come across the remains of a fire with Mia’s purse laying there.  They then enter the Guest house finding it to be disgusting and in disrepair.

“God, I forgot how gross this place was.” Ethan says wrinkling his nose.

Rose looks around the living room area, finding a hidden chain that opens a hidden room they go through. Exploring further leads them into a flooded basement they are forced to crawl through.

“Oh, please Ethan, I know you are insanely stubborn but the corpse in the flooded basement should have been an indicator to leave immediately.” Alcina says as the dead body floats up in front of them.

“Ok, Ok I get it I’m a crazy person for going on, but can we please stop commenting on it.  I’m aware of the insanity.” Ethan replies as Rose comes up into a basement room with a jail cell containing Mia as well as other information on people who were listed as turned or dead.  They pick up the bolt cutters and break open Mia’s cell.  While they are being reunited Mia acts strangely warning him of the dangers and of Daddy.

“Pft, seriously? Daddy?” Dani snickers at Mia.

“Don’t start.  I was possessed by a child obsessed with family.” Mia says glaring at Dani.

Rose follows Mia through the basement where she and Ethan stop to talk about the last three years.

“Come on! This is a life or death situation, get a move on!” Cassandra yells out at the screen.

Rose continues to creep through the basement following Mia as Ethan learning more about her capture as they walk.  They come across a living room type area where Mia starts to act strangely, talking about family and when Ethan leaves, they hear her crash through the wall revealing a staircase to the house.  They move through the house looking for Mia.  They hear crashing coming from the stairs they came from and return to find Mia on all fours crawling up the stairs.  She attacks Ethan looking monstrous as she throws him back up with superhuman strength. She then attacks him with a knife stabbing him through the hand.  After a struggle she regains control rambling about a strange her as she slams her head against the wall.

“Jesus man, that is hard core…” Heisenberg says in awe. Mia grimaces at the memory.  Rose continues on wandering before they are attacked by Mia once again.  They fight her off with an axe.  “Ethan, my friend, you always have to double check that your enemy is dead.  She is definitely gonna get up again, classic horror trope.” Heisenberg says wisely.

“Karl, this actually happened.  I wasn’t thinking about ‘horror tropes’.  I was focusing on surviving.” Ethan says to him.

“Also, of course I’m going to get up, I’m sitting right here.  I’m clearly not dead.” Mia says exasperated.

Rose moves on with the game ignoring them and answers the phone that had begun to ring.  “Dad why did you answer the phone? Just leave.” She says as Zoe gives her warning to Ethan.  “Oh yeah let’s listen to the random phone lady and not just break a window.” She says rolling her eyes.

They move on solving the puzzle for the stairs catching a glimpse of the not at all dead Mia.  Replacing the fuse, they are jumped by Mia again who attacks him with a screwdriver pinning him to the wall before chopping his had off with a chainsaw.

“My god man! How did you keep going!” Sal exclaims looking at Ethan who just shrugs.

They find a pistol in one of the rooms and use it to take care of the attacking Mia as she rants crazily. Finally taking her down, they are ambushed by Jack Baker who punches him in the face.

“See I told you that you should have moved faster, now ‘Daddy’ caught you.” Cass says as Ethan falls over and is stomped on by Jack.  They see him being dragged and Mia being carried by Jack, the scene changes to Ethan strapped to a chair with Zoe staples his hand back on.  He finally fully awakes to a disgusting family dinner with the whole Baker family.

“Ugh, I miss Momma’s cooking so much.” Mia says reminiscing happily.  Everyone stares at her as they see the disgusting meal on the table in game.  She blushes, “Before she went fully crazy, she was an amazing cook.  Her gumbo was to die for, oh and Daddy’s fried chicken, mmm.”  She explains to them.  No one seems convinced as the scene continues with Lucas throwing food at him and Marguerite tries to get Ethan to eat, and Jack cuts off Lucas’ hand. Jack comes over and forces the rancid food into Ethan’s face as Marguerite rants and leaves angrily, Jack then cuts Ethan’s face before being interrupted by the doorbell.  They escape and flee through the house trying to find an exit. They find a key and are chased by Jack before escaping to the crawlspace.

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They explore the house before a police officer tries to ask Ethan questions.

“Man, that officer is kind of a dick…” Heisenberg says realizing how rude and unprofessional the officer is.

“He was a massive dick.” Ethan says frustrated at the memory of their interactions.  They make the way to the garage to meet the rude officer who refuses to take the situation seriously which leads to his death and Ethan’s continued entrapment.  “See, massive dick, we could have escaped, but noooo.” He says.

Rose nods in agreement as she avoids Jack in the garage and tries to defeat him with the car.  The car crashes and catches fire revealing an on fire Jack who is knocked down by the resulting explosion.  They collect the items in the room before climbing up the revealed ladder. Jack stops Ethan and shoots himself in the head with Ethan’s gun.

“I’ll say it again, he ain’t dead.  He’s coming back sooner or later.” Heisenberg says again.

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock. This game’s been full of tropes so far.” Cassandra responds to him rolling her eyes.

Rose continues on solving puzzles and making their way through the labyrinthine house avoiding the obviously not dead Jack and the molded that are scattered around the house. They see Jack mumbling to himself about being “her” and talking about how he is going to kill Ethan.

“God he’s so cool.” Dani says as he leaves the room getting looks from the others, “What? He’s a cool villain.”

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The fight with Jack was a bit of a struggle for Rose, but she made it through with Heisenberg, Dani, and Cass cheering her on.

When he finally exploded, both Heisenberg and Dani called out in joy, “Now that’s how you kill a villain!” Heisenberg shouted out with a laugh and high fived Dani over Rose’s head. As they make their way through the house again completing puzzles and finding Grandma in random places.

“She is the one who caused all this.” Alcina says pointing at Grandma.  Ethan and Mia looks shocked.

“How did you know that?” Mia asks. Alcina scoffs as if it is obvious.

“She hasn’t had the focus at all, yet she appears at random seemingly following Ethan, who we know is the next victim in mind.  She is clearly Eveline.”  She says smugly to everyone’s shocked faces.

Rose moved on ignoring the gloating.  She came across a trailer in the yard, exploring it revealed that it was Zoe’s home containing some useful items that she ignored moving to leave as the phone rang. Zoe explained about the mold and how to progress.

“Why are you so trusting of this woman, you don’t know her, and she has admitted that she is a part of the family trying to kill you?” Bela asked turning to face Ethan.  He opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out, he paused thinking and shrugged.  Bela rolled her eyes at him, “Typical man thing.” She mumbled out returning to her original position.

They move on to the old house and Marguerite just as Zoe instructed. Coming across baby dolls strung up from the rafters of the bridge.  “Whoever made those should be killed.” Donna said quietly.  Everyone looked at her confused.  “The look like such poor quality dolls, anyone who cares would never let them fall apart so easily.  Cheap plastic is the worst fate a doll can experience.” She explains confident.

“You aren’t upset at the fact that they are strung up, just that they suck?” Rose asks her.

“Of course, you can do what you like with them, but the craft must be respected.  These cheap factory made ones are a disgrace.”  Donna explains upset at the virtual dolls.  Rose mumbles an ok before moving on into the bug infested old house.  They make their way through the house avoiding mutant bugs and solving puzzles.

“Gotta say girls, these things really remind me of you three.” Heisenberg says as Rose burns her way through the nests of bugs.

“How dare you compare my girls to these disgusting things!  They are clearly superior in every way.” Alcina says angrily defending her girls.

“Thank you, mother, but he has a bit of a point.” Bela says to her mother with Cassandra nodding in agreement.

“Momma has a point though too! We are better than those things!” Dani says beaming at her mother. Cass mumbles suck up under her breath and is smacked by Dani.

Soon after they find Mia in game again, she explains her amnesia and is taken away by Lucas.  Not being able to help they continue on through the house again.  Eventually they are found by Marguerite who begins to stalk them through the house attacking them with her swarm of insects, insane rants, and vulgar obscenities.

“This lady is something else…” Heisenberg says cringing at Marguerite.

“For once we agree on something Karl.” Alcina agrees cringing as well.  The others nod in agreement with them.

They make their way through a secret passageway revealed by the spider shadow puzzle.  The wall space was infested which had everyone cringing at the writhing masses of centipedes.  They collect the crank and the crow key and try to enter Marguerite’s room before she throws him down the stairs and through the floor.  After a short encounter, she falls into the hole and melts into black goo. They collect information on the D series pieces and Zoe calls again, and she mentions they only need the arm piece as she has the D series head.  They return to the hole to see the goo gone and a long spindly arm take the lantern needed to progress.  They follow the monstrosity to well in front of the old house returning to Zoe’s trailer. They return to a new section of the old house where they are attacked by a mutated spider like Marguerite.

They run around the house, avoiding her swarms and attacks while burning her with the flamethrower and peppering her with shotgun shots to the disgusting nest on her lower half.

“I take it back; you girls are way more similar to the bug lady.” Heisenberg says once she finally dies. Alcina slaps the back of his head and growls at him.

“Momma can we mutate like that too!” Dani says excitedly as Bela and Cass cringe.

“Absolutely not.  Do not even think about trying.” Alcina scolds while Heisenberg and Rose chuckle at them.

“Why would anyone want to have a gross bug vagina?”  Cassandra turns around asking her sister.

Dani shrugs, “I don’t know, I just think it would be neat.” Rose shoves the controller into Dani’s hands and takes Angie from her.

“No more bug talk, you play, I’m getting tired.” Rose says stretching.

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

They find their way into Eveline’s secret room and collect the arm.  They go to meet Zoe in her trailer only to find that no one is there.  They answer a call from Lucas where he tells Ethan that he has both Zoe and Mia, and that Ethan needs to play his game to save them and get the head.  They make their way back to the main house’s dissection room where they pull the snake key out of the dead deputy’s neck hole.  Lucas’ voice come out through a speaker explaining they need to find two keycards so they can meet.

“Ohhh, I love this guy! I’m getting so many ideas for new games, hehehe!” Angie says excitedly bouncing in Rose’s lap.  Donna glares at the doll chastising her through their mental link.  Angie pouts at the scolding.

They make their way through the increasingly molded main house solving Lucas’ puzzles and dodging the molded shambling around.  They find the blue keycard and make their way down into a secret room containing the red keycard.  Lucas calls again at the phone in the main hall, leading Ethan to a party in the barn.

They enter the barn to thumping music and glowing paint under a black light.  They come across a room with a television showing Lucas ranting and waving the D series head around, ranting about how he doesn’t want to give up his gift and that they can only get the serum from him before the television explodes.  They make their way through the barn avoiding trip mines and coming up to a locked gate with a passcode.  Lucas makes an appearance taunting Ethan and giving him incorrect passwords before a trap springs and a secret door opens up.

They wind through the barn avoiding the traps and taking out the molded arriving at Lucas’ arena where they fight off a giant molded.  After the fight they find the correct passcode to enter the birthday room.  They solve his puzzles and escape through the hole created by the dynamite.  They see a television with Zoe and Mia, Zoe explains where they are before Lucas cuts the camera to himself ranting about nothing.  They collect the D series head and leave the barn making their way to Zoe and Mia.  They release Zoe and Mia before collecting the completed serum.  Just after they are ambushed by a fully mutated Jack.

“Wait he isn’t dead?! I can’t believe I didn’t call it!” Heisenberg calls out as Dani fights Jack.

After a long grueling fight, taking out Jacks many swollen eyes and using one of the two serums to calcify him at Zoe’s request.  Walking down the pier they are faced with a choice to cure either Zoe or Mia.

“Well clearly we are supposed to cure mom. Its what dad did in real life.” Rose says.

“True, I did.  I did feel bad though, Chris ended up saving Zoe and her uncle, so it all ended up good.” Ethan says.

“Yeah, sure choosing Mia is what really happened but what if we chose Zoe?” Dani asks hovering over Zoe in game.

“No! We can do it later right now we are choosing mom.” Rose says sternly.

“Fiiiiinnnnnee.” Dani whines out giving Mia the serum.  They take the raft down the river listening to Ethan and Mia talk about the situation before they come across the wrecked boat Mia and Eveline arrived on.  They are attacked by the mold, and they switch to Mia’s perspective as they hear Eveline speak to her through their mental connection.

“Well, this is going to be interesting, I’ve never seen this before.” Ethan says as they move into the ship. They find an unconscious Ethan who is taken by the mold deeper into the ship.  They move through the mold infested ship as Mia, getting flashbacks as they move on.  They follow the phantom Eveline to a room containing a television where they watch a video tape that blends into them playing through the situation leading to the crash of the ship and the infection of the Baker family.

They see Mia’s partner Alan who explains he is the reason Eveline escaped he explains that she needs to fix his mess and they begin to track Eveline through the ship.  They finally come across Eveline in the engine room before she runs off again.  They find Alan again in the room next to the one where they started the video tape. As he explains that Eveline is deteriorating, he insults her, and she overtakes him with the mold.  The mold then spreads to Mia infecting her.  They then see Mia recording the warning video from the beginning of the game.  The section ends with Mia being blown off the ship and floating unconscious in the water, before returning to the present with Mia and the Phantom Eveline talking. Making their way to the bridge they use the surveillance cameras to find Ethan trapped in mold in the engine room. On the way there they are impeded by the phantom Eveline and the remaining molded.

As Mia finds Ethan, the perspective swaps back to Ethan’s mind as he speaks to a sane Jack.  He explains that Eveline is the cause of all the murders and kidnappings.  He says that they were infected when He rescued her from the crashed tanker.  Jack also explains that stopping Eveline will stop the mold.  Before Ethan awakens to Eveline and Mia arguing.  Mia rips him free from the mold prison and gives him the tissue sample before locking him out of the engine room urging him to kill Eveline.  They continue through the bayou to a salt mine near the Baker house.  They hear a military broadcast explaining a team was sent in to take down Eveline. They traverse the salt mines finding an underground lab with information on Eveline and the E series mold.  They use Eveline’s tissue samples to make the E- Necrotoxin that is used to kill her permanently. As they exit the mine, Ethan sees flashes of Eveline as she sends the molded to kill him. They exit the mine into the original room Ethan found Mia in where he has a vision of Mia panicking.  He continues to see visions of Mia’s attack on him and Eveline controlling her.  They stab Eveline with the serum, and she reveals her true form as Grandma before melting away and mutating into a large monstrosity.

As Dani fights the massive face of Eveline, Miranda mumbles to herself, “Absolutely fascinating.  How she responds to different stimuli and the delayed injection of the Necrotoxin.” Rose and Dani scream forgetting that Miranda was sitting behind them.

“Jesus Christ! What is wrong with you! You scared the living hell out of us!” Rose yells at her turning to face Miranda who has a notebook open in her lap.  “What are you even doing?”

Miranda blushes at being caught, “I was taking notes on how E-001 reacted and how the family responded to the infection.  It is incredibly fascinating that the whole Baker family mutated without becoming one of the shambling molded.”

“Trust me she was about to run off and work more before I stopped her.” Elena interjects into Miranda’s rambling.  “Don’t worry, I won’t let her work on the Eveline project outside of simply watching videos.” Miranda’s blush deepens and she looks embarrassed at being called out by her lab assistant.

“Good, no more mind control children allowed.” Dani says rudely turning back to the screen continuing the final fight.

Ethan is thrown from the house and sees helicopters arriving at the house as he is attacked by Eveline. He uses an unknown gun to shoot Eveline calcifying and crumbling her finally.  After the battle, Ethan and Mia are rescued by Chris.  The final shots of the game are Ethan speaking over clips of marshlands and the reveal of the Blue Umbrella helicopter.

“Well that certainly was something….” Ethan says as the credits roll.  Mia wide eyed and shocked nods in agreement.

“So, all that actually happened?” Rose asks her parents, they both nod. “Ok well that doesn’t explain how the heck this got made or why we were sent it or by who!” Rose rants.

“Who cares, it was awesome!” Dani exclaims high fiving Angie who cheers with her.

“Can we leave now? My back is beginning to hurt.” Bela complains standing up and stretching.

Rose boos her, “Fine be boring.  What did everyone else think?” She asks everyone left in the room.

“Amazing! Fantastic! Ten out of ten!” Dani exclaims clinging onto Rose.

“It was interesting, very cinematic.  A bit tropey at times but it works in its favor.  Especially since this technically happened.  The villains were enjoyable and empathetic at the same time.” Heisenberg critiques.

“Yeah, whatever it was fine.” Cass says getting up and leaving the room.

“I had quite a nice time, I’m glad you suggested this, Rose.” Alcina says picking up the sleeping Donna. “I’m sure Donna will apologize for falling asleep tomorrow morning.  Have a good night.”  She kisses the top of Rose and Dani’s heads and leave the room.

“It was quite informative, thank you for inviting me, Rose.  I truly appreciate it.  Now I must go and review my notes.” Miranda says looking at her notebook as she slowly leaves the room.

“We are actually going to bed, but thanks for inviting us, Rose.  We’ll have to do it again soon!” Elena says grabbing Miranda’s arm and taking her notebook.

“I think your mom and I have some talking to do, but you guys have a good night sweetie.” Ethan says getting up before kissing Rose on the head.

“Yeah, outside of the horrifying content of this ‘game’ it was fun.  Have a good night honey.” Mia says following her husband to their room.

“Alright seems like the party is dying down and someone has to get Sal to his room.  Seems like he and Donna can’t stay up late like us cool kids.” Heisenberg laughs out shaking Sal awake.  Sal stands up groggily and leans ion Heisenberg as they leave to their respective rooms.

“Lame everyone left. You want to stay up or are you hitting the sack too?” Dani asks Rose.

“I think I’m going to bed too.  I have a lot to think about.” Rose says hugging Dani, “See you in the morning Dan.”  Dani decides to follow Rose and they head to bed.

In his assigned quarters, the Duke watches the group scatter to their rooms for bed, “I’m glad they enjoyed my little gift.  Hopefully, it answers some questions for them.” The Duke says to himself chuckling.

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

A Place To Call Home: Dark Roads

Summary: The reader and Jensen are up in Vancouver doing some work for the brewery and Jensen has an audition to attend to. After the work day is over though, Jensen decides to surprise the reader with a mini-vacation with plenty of fun before they head home. But not all surprises are good and not all nights end well...

Masterlist

Pairing: Jensen x foster daughter!reader

Square: Domestic!AU

Word Count: 10,100ish

Warnings: language, angst (so much angst), fluff

A/N: This part takes place after the Christmas Vacation timestamp. Enjoy! Don’t hate me!

A/N #2: Also written for @spndeanbingo​

________

“So, what do you think?” asked the man in the suit on the other side of the conference table. You looked to your left, your dad looking over at you.

“It is a good offer, Mr. Hamilton, but unfortunately we can’t accept,” you said. He balked at you before looking over to your dad.

“She’s the boss, not me,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like we have a deal.”

“Mr. Ackles-”

“Are you disrespecting her because she’s a woman or my child? I’m not quite sure which one it is,” said your dad with a smile. The man’s face went blank and you kept a smirk off your own. “I am here as an owner. If this is how your grocery store deals with heads of distribution for breweries then I’ll tell you right now, never call us again,” said your dad. You gathered up your papers and slid them back in your portfolio, the man taking a deep breath.

“What if we did 5% better than the number on that page?” he asked.

“No,” you said, your dad echoing the sentiment. 

“That’s an amazing deal,” he said as he stood up. You clenched your jaw and shoved your portfolio in your bag as your dad leaned back in his seat.

“Actually, Mr. Hamilton, it’s not. You offered the least desirable shelf space, a very small amount of shelf space at that, placement in your outer region stores, not in the city or suburbs surrounding Vancouver, and you wanted an absurd percent of profits. People in this area want our products and we are more than happy to find a seller that suits our needs,” you said. You nodded and your dad stood up. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Hamilton.”

Mr. Hamilton grumbled as you walked out of the conference room, your dad smiling wide as you walked through the hall.

“Alright. I’m impressed. You more than earned that promotion,” he said. 

“Negotiating distribution deals is strangely a lot like college,” you said. “But easier.”

“These guys weren’t even your first choice,” he said once you were in the elevator alone.

“Nope but they didn’t need to know that,” you said. “I wanted the other deal as soon as I saw it.”

“Well let’s send it out to the lawyer to review and then we can sign the paperwork,” he said.

“I already did,” you said with a smile. 

“You did huh. What if I wanted to go with this guy?” he asked.

“You may be the head owner but I’m head of distribution. I want your input but if you’re going to second guess me, I don’t want that job. I told you that when you gave it to me,” you said. He nodded and leaned back against the wall. “What?”

“S’nice to see you confident is all,” he said. “You know what you’re doing.”

“I really don’t. I just kinda try my best and hope it works out,” you said.

“Pretty much the definition of being an adult,” he chuckled.

“Does that feeling ever go away?” you asked.

“Well, I’m fifty one and I don’t feel much different than a twenty year old kid if I’m being honest. You learn not to sweat the small stuff as much I suppose but not really,” he said. 

“Like you getting gray hair,” you smirked. You earned a headlock for that comment, your dad only releasing you from your noogie when you got to the lobby. “Hey, at least you have hair still!”

“You are being such a little shit,” he laughed.

“I won’t tell anyone you dye it,” you said, humming as you headed for the exit.

“I do not! It’s a few specks and that’s it. Plus mom thinks it’s hot so I see no problems with it,” he said, pulling you into another noogie once you were outside. You fixed your hair, getting a peck on the temple. “Alright, alright. I got my audition I have to run to. You want to head back to the hotel and change and I can meet you back there later before I take you out for dinner?”

“Actually, could I go with you? I’ve never seen one of those,” you said. He winced and cocked his head. “I can go somewhere else, that’s-”

“It’s not a problem, munchkin. It’s just...it’s kind of an intense audition. It’s a drama. It’s a pretty dark scene,” he said.

“I’ve seen all of Supernatural though and the movie. I even read the other movie I wasn’t supposed to know about yet and that one goes way dark,” you said. He bit his bottom lip and you smiled. “It’s cool dad. You need to do your audition thing anyways.”

“You sure?” he asked. “If you want to-”

“Probably a better idea for me to wait until the movie,” you said. “I’ll meet you back at the hotel then?”

“Sounds like a plan, kiddo.”

“So how’d it go?” you asked when your dad walked in the hotel room three hours later. He sighed and you frowned. “You didn’t get it?”

“Oh, I got it,” he said, plopping down in the chair. You raised an eyebrow and he smiled. “I turned it down though, took a different part in the movie.”

“But why would you turn down the lead?” you asked. 

“You know how I said it’s supposed to be dark? But there’s that bit of love story?” he asked.

“Yeah. That’s what was cool to you about it you said.”

“Yeah. I met the lead actress who would be my romantic interest,” he said. 

“She not so great?”

“She was very lovely,” he said. “She’s also nineteen years old.”

“So...thirty two years age difference?” you said with a wince as he nodded. “Who thought that was a good idea?”

“Hollywood is...I am very happy you never wanted to be an actress, let’s put it that way,” he said. “Now I’m playing her dad in the movie. I would have walked completely but my manager is gonna kill me as is for walking from a lead roll,” he said.

“Do you really need it though?” you asked.

“No. I wanted to try out something new and interesting though,” he said. “That story was different.”

“Yeah but I see red flags all over it. Who’s even the target audience besides pervy old guys?” you asked. He laughed and nodded, getting to his feet.

“You have a very good point,” he said. “Besides, I got another album I want to work on in the meantime and there’s plenty of other stories out there.”

“Told you so,” you said. “Now where are we going for dinner cause last time it was that really fancy steakhouse downtown and-”

“Pack up your bag and we’ll head up,” he said with a smirk. You narrowed your eyes and he padded into the bathroom. “Oh, we’re staying somewhere else tonight. Maybe we can go visit the canyon-”

“I love the canyon park!” you said, hopping up from the bed. “Are the winter lights still up?”

“Yes,” he said with a big smile. “We got a three hour drive up there and then we’re gonna have a nice dinner and then we can go check it out before we fly home tomorrow. How’s that sound?”

“It sounds like, really nice. What’s the occasion?” you asked. 

“No occasion other than to see you get all excited,” he said. “You know mom and your brother are off having a fun little weekend together while your sisters drive TJ insane. I figured we could have one night of fun.”

“Are you kidding me? They love him. He texted me that they ordered a pizza each for themselves for dinner,” you said. “They were gonna stay up late and watch rom coms apparently.”

“You found a pretty good guy,” he chuckled, as he walked back out of the bathroom and stuck his small bag in his backpack. You gave him a quick smile and nod, your dad returning it. “You two doing good?”

“Yeah. I just…” you said, starting to pack up. “I don’t know.”

“Something going on?” he asked. You shrugged and put your heels in your suitcase. “Y/N.”

“You know how his parents were in town last week?” you asked. He nodded and you took a deep breath. “Well, Allie was doing something she wasn’t supposed to and his dad was watching her and so we said timeout time was what we do and everything was going fine and then she comes running in from the playroom crying cause he’d tried spanking her.”

“TJ doesn’t strike me as the kind of parent that would be okay with spanking. It doesn’t do any good,” he said.

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t just spanking. It was you know...old school spanking,” you said.

“With…” he said, pointing at his belt. You nodded and he rolled his eyes. “No offense but his father is a fucking idiot. I’ve always thought so.”

“Well, if you thought I was pissed, you should have seen TJ. I’ve never seen him that angry before. He got in a huge shouting match with his dad. I took the kids outside to the park and then his parents were gone by the time we got back. They’re not speaking at the moment,” you said. “I was just...why doesn’t his dad just talk to him? Talk to his grandkids? I know you guys would never do something like that and...I just don’t understand some men and their need to be the tough guy and the asshole all the time.”

“You grew up with a couple of those yourself,” he said. You finished with your clothes and gave him a glance before he grabbed some more relaxing clothes to change into. “If I knew why, I would tell you. Strength doesn’t belong to men and emotions don’t belong to women. I pity anyone who thinks experiencing their life fully is weakness.”

“Mom told me once, when I first came to the house that you were a bit closed off when you were younger,” you said.

“I was. In a way I still am. I always will be. I’m like you in that way. I always felt things but it’s scarier to show it. You feel like you have to be strong, you don’t want to bother other people, you think it goes away on it’s own,” he said. “Then you fall in love and then you have children and you realize there is nothing more badass than playing princesses with your daughter and knowing that you are part of the reason why she has pure happiness at that moment. I only ever wanted my family to felt the love that I did. It’s a pretty decent way to live. If somebody out there doesn’t think I’m man enough, that’s their problem, not mine.”

“TJ thinks of you as his real dad, you know. He says you’ve never put him down or belittled him. He’s never questioned what you think of him.”

“Why would I hurt some innocent kid, especially one that’s one of mine?” he asked. “You know better than anyone, kiddo, blood doesn’t make you family.”

“No, it doesn’t. Go change so we can get on the road. I’m starving already.”

“Did you get lost?” you asked two and a half hours later as your dad drove the SUV he’d rented for the weekend.

“No, I’m not lost. The hotel is just a few miles up the road I think,” he said. You stared out the dark window, rain coming down hard on the January night.

“If you tell me the name I can-” you said, a hand reaching out in front of you before you crashed head on into something. You suspected the SUV had flipped but it was too hard to tell, especially once you hit your head on something and went out cold.

You woke up a few seconds later, gaining your bearings, turning to your right and finding your dad upside down and covered in blood.

“Dad,” you said, undoing your seatbelt. You shoved on him but he was still, his jacket turning a crimson color. “No, no, no.”

You dropped down and undid his seatbelt too, catching him as he slipped. You kicked away the glass in the broken windshield and dragged him outside into the rain. You felt pain in your back but ignored it and got him out where you could see in the headlights. You glanced past the truck and saw what looked like a dead moose in the middle of the road.

“Dad,” you said, laying him down. He had a cut on his head in his hair, his chest was soaked  and his left leg looked funny. You tugged up his shirt and got a face full of blood for it, falling backwards and wiping it away.

You stared at him before you put a shaky hand against his neck. There wasn’t anything there and you moved your fingers again, over and over and over.

“Dad, no,” you said, shaking him, unable to find a pulse. “You promised me. You don’t…”

He didn’t move and you sat back on your heels, looking around for help but there were no other cars, nothing around but trees and a wet road. You reached a hand into your pocket for your phone but it was shattered, pieces of metal and glass falling out. You found his in his back pocket but it was broken and wouldn’t turn on.

“No, no, no!” you shouted, throwing the phone against the truck. “No! You don’t get to die! You don’t die...you promised. Dad, you promised. You said 102. I can’t...I can’t, please I can’t. Please wake up. Please, please, please, dad. Please. I love you. You can’t go yet. Please, daddy, please, wake up.”

You tried for a pulse again but there was nothing and the rain was beginning to stain the ground pink. You stared at it long enough for your stomach to swirl. You ran over to the side of the road and threw up, slowly coming back before you fell down to your knees. You looked at him, a heaving sob leaving you as you clenched your fists.

“What did I ever do to you?” you shouted at the dark sky. “What did I do to you! Stop killing my parents! I never did anything wrong! Why do you keep hurting them! Why!”

You turned to your dad and you could barely see you were crying so hard. 

“Wake up,” you said. He was motionless and you took your fist, beating on his chest hard. “I said wake up!”

You slammed it down again, over and over until your hand was throbbing but you didn’t care. All you wanted was for him to be okay.

“WAKE UP!” you screamed, bringing your fist down hard.

“Y/N!” he said as he shot up, gasping for air before he plopped back down. You scurried next to him, your dad taking a few deep breaths as he looked up at you. “You okay, tall munchkin?”

“I’m fine,” you said, putting a hand on his head. “Dad, don’t move. You’re really hurt.”

“I feel really hurt so can do,” he said, shutting his eyes.

“Stay awake!” you shouted, his eyes flying open. 

“No closing eyes, understood,” he said. You squeezed yours shut and took off your jacket, shaking the phone piece away before you balled the thing up and pressed it against his stomach. You threw his hands over top of it, and took off your flannel, folding it up and tying it around his leg. You sat back at his head again, taking over for putting pressure on his stomach. “Y/N, look at me.”

You glanced down, finding a look on his face you’d not seen since he found you on the highway, walking in the rain the night of your seventeenth birthday.

He was afraid.

“Did you think I died?” he asked. You couldn’t speak but nodded, trying to stop the tears that were mixing in with the rain. “Oh, honey. Honey, I’m okay. Dad’s okay.”

“You didn’t have a pulse,” you choked out. “And our phones are broken and there’s no one out here and you can’t move and now I have to watch you die.”

You cried hard, sobbing as you tried to get a hold on the bleeding. 

“You’re hurt,” he said, a stray finger tracing over a cut on your arm.

“I don’t care!” you shouted. “I can’t fix this. I don’t want to watch my dad die again. Don’t make me do that again, please, dad, please.”

“Y/N, breathe, kiddo,” he said when you felt yourself gasping for air. You shook your head and felt him reach a shaky hand up and wipe off your face. “Honey, it’s gonna be okay. No matter what happens.”

“I don’t want to be alone again. Don’t leave me here by myself,” you said.

“I’m gonna do my best,” he said but he was looking even paler and you winced. “But you’re a smart girl. You’re an amazing young woman and I know you don’t want to hear this right now but I don’t...I don’t feel right inside and I don’t think...I don’t want to die, munchkin. I’m not done with you yet either. But odds are, I’m not making it off this road and if that happens, you’re gonna promise me you’re gonna go be happy and have a really great life and I’m gonna be upstairs watching your back okay?”

You nodded, not even bothering trying to not cry anymore.

“I love you so much and I’m so proud of you and I’m really happy we got to a place where I know you love me back just as much. Oh, and there’s boxes in the storage container for all you guys. Letters. There’s one for this too. Just read it. It’s gonna sound a hell of a lot better than whatever this blubbering mess is.”

“Stop crying,” you said to him.

“Can’t really help it at the moment,” he said, pursing his lips. 

“Can I make you feel better?” you asked quietly.

“Just stay...maybe don’t tell mom about the crying,” he said with a laugh and a wince.

“Okay,” you said. You took a deep breath, spotting your purse nearby. You stared at him and back at the bag.

“What?” 

“How much do you trust me?” you asked.

“With my life,” he said. 

“Hold this,” you said. You put his hands on your jacket again, feeling him put less pressure than before. You reached over and grabbed your purse, dumping it on the ground and picking up your hand sanitizer. You squeezed it all over your hands and rubbed them together, taking a deep breath. You moved his hands away and took a deep breath. You grabbed your hat from your bag on the ground nearby and rolled it up, shoving it in his mouth. “Whatever I do, don’t yank my hand away, okay?”

He nodded and saw you peel the jacket back quick to get a look.

“I really hope you pass out from this,” you said. He gave you a thumbs up and squeezed his eyes shut before you moved the jacket away and shoved your fingers into the tear in his torso. He shouted into the hat, your fingers trying to find the spot inside that was gushing the blood out. You shuddered when the sound escaping him turned into some kind of scream you were positive he shouldn’t have been capable of making. The hat fell out of his mouth and he threw his head back, squirming as he grabbed your arm.

“Stop, stop, stop,” he said, gritting his teeth. 

“I’m sorry,” you said. “You’re gonna die right here if we don’t stop the bleeding right now.”

“Stop!” he shouted, body tensing up, his voice quiet. “Please, stop. Please, Y/N.”

“Almost,” you said, his hand tightening around your wrist but never pulling away. You felt something different inside and pinched with your fingertips, your dad trying to get away from it. You peeled up the jacket from around your hand and saw the blood was much slower, stopping to a trickle eventually. “Hey! I think I stopped it!”

“Great,” he winced, slamming his hand against the pavement. “Everything in me wants to just rip your hand out of my insides. God, you have no idea how badly I want to do that right now.”

“S’kinda how period cramps feel,” you said. “This is a little more extreme though.”

“I would hope so,” he said. You leaned over and looked at his leg but it looked decent for the moment. “So, we’re just gonna sit here then until a car comes.”

“I think that’s the plan considering either of us moves and you’re dead,” you said. 

“Okay. Good plan,” he said. He rested his hand on your arm and pushed up your short sleeve. “Is you shoulder dislocated?”

“Yeah,” you said. He frowned and you laughed. “Dad, I’ll live.”

“You’re hurt.”

“Yeah but you’re way worse so I’m in charge. It’s pain. I’ve dealt with it before. I can deal with it now,” you said. He leaned his head back against the pavement, looking up at the sky. “Don’t go and die on me now.”

“I’m okay. The searing pain is keeping me awake,” he said. You looked around for a car but saw no headlights in either direction. “If a car doesn’t come, it’s okay, munchkin. You’re giving me a shot I shouldn’t have right now.”

“I’m not letting go until I pass out or you’re...a car will come,” you said. 

“Honey, be realistic. I’ve lost a lot of blood,” he said. “Odds-”

“I get it. You’re very likely going to die. Now stop talking like that and tell me you’re gonna be fine,” you said. 

“I’m gonna be alright,” he said with a smile. “So. Anything on your mind you want to talk about?”

“I wish I went to med school but no, not really,” you said. He chuckled, shivering a bit when he stopped. You leaned over top of him, the rain hitting your back and giving him some relief from it.

“You don’t have to do that,” he said.

“Are you always this grumpy when someone tries to take care of you?” you asked. 

“Quite possibly,” he said. “Well, while I have you as a captive audience, I might as well tell you now.”

“Tell me what?” you asked.

“I had no idea what I was doing most of the time when it came to you. We made it up as we went,” he said.

“You knew exactly what to do,” you said. 

“I slept outside your room once. I was afraid you’d try running away again,” he said. 

“Dad.”

“I didn’t even want this many kids and then we had the three and it was all good. You were never in the picture,” he said.

“Why did you want to adopt?” you asked. You were freezing and hiding the shake in your body, your dad not looking so hot himself. 

“There was this young guy at the brewery at the time. He went on and became a lawyer I think. He um, we were talking one day and he told me he grew up in foster care during his teenage years. I got the jist that it really sucked. It wasn’t really even that big of a deal and I thought it over at home that night and I looked around the house and thought, we got the space. We have the means. We could do something good,” he said. “It was just an idea for a while and then one day I said to De, let’s do this and that’s how we started.”

“I’m glad you did,” you said. 

“Me too,” he said. He pushed up the back of your shirt and you knew he saw the blood you felt there. “Let me see.”

“No, I’m fine,” you said, twisting your body farther away. 

“You need to get help for yourself,” he said. You shook your head and he scoffed. “I wasn’t asking.”

“Make me. Oh wait, you can’t.”

“I know I can’t,” he grit out. “If something happens to you because you were trying to save me, I can’t live with that.”

“It’s a cut! I have lots of cuts and my shoulder is killing me and I know I have a concussion and my whole body hurts and I’m freezing but it doesn’t matter. Why do you not-”

“If you were where I am right now and Allie or Colin was hurt, more hurt than they’re letting on, barely keeping you alive, you think you’d tell them to save you over themselves?”

“No,” you said quietly.

“Then you know exactly why.”

“But I’m not a parent right now. I’m the kid in this situation and I am terrified. I feel like that ten year old girl that watched her parents die slow and in pain and she couldn’t help them. All I did was get bigger. I didn’t learn a damn thing in case it happened again,” you said.

“Y/N. I’m alive right now because you are saving my life. You pulled me out, you got me breathing again, you wrapped up my leg and you quite literally have your hand inside of me piecing me together. You’re doing all of this in the middle of winter, trying to keep me warm and getting hypothermia yourself, pushing through wanting to fall apart all while you are very, very hurt. You want to know what you learned?”

“What?” you breathed out.

“Even if it’s hard and it hurts, you don’t give up. What have I always said? Just try for me. It’s all I wanted. I am more than okay if this is it for me because right now, when it’s probably the hardest it’s ever been for us, you’re trying. You’re trying harder than I’ve ever seen you and that’s all you gotta do the rest of your life. Just try and it’ll work out how it’s supposed to.”

“You’re not supposed to die,” you said. Your head got dizzy and your stomach churned, your dad staring up at you. “I’m gonna throw up.”

You turned your head away quickly, avoiding him and getting the pavement beside you. Thankfully most of it was clear after you’d emptied your stomach before.

“Concussion,” he said as you got your bearings back and took the brunt of the rain again. “Y/N.”

“I’m okay,” you said, taking a deep breath. “I’m okay.”

“I think you’re in shock.”

“Probably but you’re in it too,” you said. You were shivering harder now and you saw your arm start to shake. You grabbed it with your free hand, steadying it as best you could.

“Get in the car.”

“No.”

“You’re going to freeze and go into shock if you don’t get out of the rain. Get in the car.”

“No.”

“Get in the damn car!”

“You’re a fucking idiot,” you said, his face in a scowl. “I’m not leaving, you goddamn idiot. I never was. Get that through your thick fucking skull!”

“Why won’t you get in the fucking car!” he shouted. “You fucking little shit, just get in the car. Don’t make me beg you. Get in the car. Please get in the car!”

“No. I’m not giving up on you. I’m not saving myself. I’m not and you can barely lift a finger. You don’t get to choose. I do.”

“You’re going into shock. You’re gonna die if you don’t get warm right now. Get in the car,” he said, closing his eyes. “Please, tall munchkin. Please. I can’t watch you die either. It’s not how it works. Don’t make me watch that.”

“Yet it’s perfectly fine for me to have to?”

“Because kids are stronger than their parents you dumbass,” he said. “Go. Please. You did your best. You still saved me. Why won’t you listen to me?”

“Because I was the person screaming and shouting on the side of the road on a cold rainy night once. I was the person that pushed and pushed and tried so hard to get you to go away. But you wouldn’t give up on me. You were never going to give up on me. It’s a decade later and now it’s your turn to learn that I was never walking away from you either. I don’t care what you want. I don’t care if this is scary for you. I was terrified of you and I believed you. For a split second I let myself believe you and that was the start for me. So you can be as scared as you need to be because I’m not giving up on you. Trust me. Please.”

“Okay,” he said quietly, nodding his head. He was silent for a beat, nothing but sniffles in the air. “I’m gonna wait as long as I can but the next time I ask you to get in the car, will you get in there?”

“Yes.”

“Are you lying?”

“I don’t know,” you said. 

“S’okay.”

He gave you a smile and you tried to return it, focusing on keeping your fingers clamped tight around the artery. 

“I wrote you a song,” he said. “It was gonna be on the album.”

“You want to sing it?” you asked, another round of tears hitting you.

“I’m getting kinda of tired, kiddo,” he said, closing his eyes again. 

“Dad,” you said, a light flickering off the pavement. You looked behind you and saw headlights headed your direction. “Dad! There’s a car!”

“Love you,” he mumbled. 

“No, you don’t,” you said, pinching his insides tighter, getting a small wince from him. “Awake.”

“Trying to,” he mumbled again. You heard the vehicle slow down and drive around the moose, stopping when it saw you. Someone got out of the pickup, another door opening up.

“Shit,” said the one guy, running over to you. He looked at you and your dad, staring at your hand. “Okay, there’s a hospital like five minutes from here. Tony! Get my snowboard!”

The other guy grabbed a board from the back of the pickup, rushing over with it. You got what he had in mind and moved aside as best you could, the two men rolling your dad on top of it to use as a makeshift stretcher.

“Up on 3. 1, 2, 3,” said the first guy. You groaned as you stood up, your back killing you but they were walking to the back of the truck bed, having you carefully climb up as they pushed him in. Tony climbed in the back with you before the other guy got behind the wheel and took off.

“You okay?” he asked you.

“Not really,” you said, Tony holding the board from moving as best he could.

“I’m Tony. That’s Ray. That your dad?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you said. “I’m Y/N. Please tell your friend to hurry.”

“Ray! Floor it!” he said through the back window. The truck went far faster than it should have been going but soon you saw lights and civilization again, the truck fishtailing around into a parking lot. Your dad grunted which you took as a good sign.

“We need help right now!” said Ray as he ran out of the truck and over to an entrance. A few people in scrubs came rushing out with a stretcher, Tony jumping out of the way as they got a backboard under your dad. 

“You need to move, sweetie,” said a doctor but his eyes quickly went down to your hand and back up. “Get on.”

“What?” you asked.

“Straddle and get on the board,” he said. You climbed over top of your dad, someone holding your shoulders and making you yelp as you were moved backwards onto a stretcher.

“What happened?” asked a nurse as you were pushed inside. 

“We hit a moose,” you said, nearly throwing up again when you saw him in the light of the building. He was covered in blood and you caught your reflection in the glass, sporting a similar look. “He was out cold for a while. I couldn’t find a pulse so I hit his chest real hard and he popped up. I think his leg is broken and he had a cut on the side of his head and his torso was gushing and he lost a lot of blood, like a lot, and I couldn’t stop it so I shoved my hand inside and that was kind of working but he’s not talking anymore.”

“Okay, people let’s focus on that torso and get some blood in our friend here. What’s his name, sweetie?” asked the doctor in charge.

“Is that Jensen Ackles?” asked one of the nurses. You nodded and she dropped her jaw. “Oh my God. You’re Y/N. That’s his daughter.”

“Okay, Y/N,” said the doctor as someone wrapped you up in the world’s warmest blanket. You sighed and smiled for a brief moment, the doctor snapping his fingers. “Y/N, I need you to pay very special attention to me.”

“Okay,” you said, the blanket peeled away as someone started cutting off your shirt. “Excuse me. Buy me dinner first.”

“I’ll take that as a good sign,” said the doctor, your eyes going to a bag of blood flowing into your dad. “Whatever you do, do not unclamp your fingers inside of him, understand? I bet it’s getting painful and you might start cramping. You gotta hold on a little while longer for us, okay?”

“Not a problem,” you said. You felt a table be moved behind you and you were guided to kneel back on it. They started cutting off your dad’s clothes and you shut your eyes. “A little warning would be nice.”

“Keep ‘em closed,” he said. You were too worried to notice much when you felt your own clothes go, a gown tugged and buttoned on you. “Alright.”

You opened your eyes, a blanket over your dad’s lap. The main doctor examined the wound your hand was in, some other ones looking at his leg and head. You saw your dad flutter open his eyeballs, jerking his whole body when he looked around.

“Jensen. I’m Dr. Bradwick. You were in an accident. Your daughter, Y/N, is right here with us and she’s helping us help you right now so let’s keep the moving to a minimum and he’s out again,” said the doctor, your dad’s eyes closing once more. “Y/N, climb back on if you’re able to. I want a scan and then send these two up to the OR. Y/N, you’re going to have to go into the operating room like this and when the surgeon tells you to remove your hand, that’s when you do it, not a second before, understand?”

“Yes,” you said.

“You have some extensive injuries yourself. You’re in shock right now which is why you’re not feeling them. Your shoulder is dislocated, you’ve suffered blood loss yourself and have signs of a high grade concussion. When you let go, you’re going to get put back on a stretcher and then we’re going to take you for a few scans yourself, alright?”

“Is he gonna die?” you asked, wrapped up in the warm blanket once again, one tossed over the bottom half of your dad. 

“We’ll do our best,” he said. You nodded and after a few bandages were slapped on the two of you, you went down a few hallways, someone on either side of you keeping you steady. The shakes in your body were dying down as you warmed up some and you took your hand away from your wrist and gave one of your dad’s a squeeze.

It was small but you felt a finger move slightly.

You smiled to yourself as the blankets were taken away and someone put a big lead vest on you, covering most of your body and neck. You heard a buzzing and they took a picture of his torso, taking a few more of his leg and head too before you felt one of your shoulder be done.

“Alright, let’s send these two up,” said a nurse that stepped out. Five minutes later you were sat in the middle of an OR, people hooking up leads and things to your dad as he got more fresh blood in him. He was pale still and you squeezed his hand, not feeling any response. You scrunched up your face but a nurse directed you to look at a monitor. His heart rate and breathing were slow but they were still there.

“Good evening, everybody,” said a woman in a pair of dark blue scrubs. A pair of gloves were snapped on her and she smiled as she walked over. “Nice, cold, gloomy night out. So you must be the smart cookie, Y/N. I’m Dr. Bradwick.”

“I thought he was downstairs,” you said as she went over to a set of scans on the wall and started looking them over.

“That’s my husband,” she said with a hum. “Freddie, how’s the leg look?”

“Clean break,” said a younger man in light blue scrubs. “Needs to be set, a think a few pins and a stitch will do.”

“I agree. Bleeding?” she asked.

“Under control,” he said.

“Good. Once we have Jensen’s torso available, you can take lead on fixing the leg,” she said. “Head wound is superficial. We have a severed artery, right side of body. Let’s open, clamp what we can and then give Y/N’s hand a break,” she said. She wandered back over to the operating table, examining the wound. “Did you have any hand injuries?”

“Scratches was all. I put hand sanitizer on first if that helps,” you said.

“It actually does some. Y/N, you’re gonna sit right there until I tell you otherwise, alright? It’s probably gonna be a little bit longer but hopefully we can get your dad feeling better,” she said. “Let’s put him under.”

“What are his odds?” you asked. “Honestly.”

“The amount of time you’ve been holding him together, the previous blood loss, the lack of blood flow...real talk, it really depends on how much of a mess he is in there and how much he fights for it. He’s in the beginning stages of hypothermia which may hurt him or may help him. The human body is tricky. We will do what we can but I can’t guarantee he gets up from this table. He’s still awake. If you want to say anything before he goes under, say it now,” she said.

“Remember when I said I didn’t want a dad? But I’d take a Jensen? I wanted one. I was afraid. But then I wasn’t, because I tried, for you and for me. If you can’t do this dad, it’s okay. If I don’t, if I don’t talk to you for a really, really long time again or ever again, it’s okay. All you have to do right now is try. Just try to stick around as hard as you can. I love you,” you said. The room was quiet and you sniffled, giving the doctor a nod.

“Alright. Let’s get to work.”

Twenty minutes later your hand was shaking, cramps rippling through it, the doctor giving you a sideways glance.

“Y/N. In a moment I’m going to have you release your hand,” she said. “When that happens, I want you to remove your hand as quickly but gently as you can. Don’t touch any of the other clamps. Owen and Derren here are then going to move you onto the table right by my right side. They’re going to move you away quickly and then you’ll be taken to the OR across the hall to repair your injuries. Understand?”

“Yeah,” you said, squeezing your eyes shut. “I’m dizzy.”

“I know. One more minute,” she said. “Everyone in your positions.”

She looked around for a moment before looking up at you.

“On three, let go. One, two, three.”

You unsqueezed your fingers and pulled your hand out, wincing at the sudden pain. You felt yourself get moved and collapsed onto the table, your head swimming. The last thing you caught sight of was the floor before you were passing out completely.

When you woke up, you were in a room, a doctor writing something down on the chart at the end of the bed. You were alone aside from the other empty bed, your arm in a sling and it felt like you were laying on a wad of bandages.

“I wasn’t expecting you awake so soon,” he said. He took out a flashlight from his pocket and held up a finger. You followed it and he smiled. “Good. Your concussion appears to be doing better.”

“I passed out,” you said.

“From exhaustion, not a head injury. Your shoulder was put back in place and we discovered a few deep lacerations along your back that required stitches. You were treated for hypothermia, shock and a concussion as well. You got close to the hairy edge, Y/N,” he said. “You need extensive rest.”

“Where’s my dad,” you said.

“He’s recovering from surgery in the ICU. He’s quite weak,” he said. You sat up and closed your eyes. “You can see him later.”

“Buddy, I’m seeing him right now,” you said, swinging your legs off the edge of the bed. 

“No, you’re not. He’s not even conscious at the moment.”

“Where’s Dr. Bradwick?”

“In the ER.”

“The other one. The surgeon,” you said. You tried to stand but he put his hand on your shoulder. “Buddy. Back off.”

“Dr. Kappers. A word,” said Dr. Bradwick as she popped in the door. She left with him and returned after a moment, giving you a smile. “Sorry about that. He’s not known for his bedside manner.”

“Can I see my dad?”

“I’ll do you one better. We’ll get you set up in his room,” she said.

“Thanks,” you said. You sat back on the bed and she undid a few things, soon pushing you out of the room and over to some elevators. “Is he okay?”

“He’s not great but surgery was a success. He’s going to need to take things slow for the next while,” she said. “You saved his life you know.”

“A physician’s assistant came to my school once to talk about careers. He told us a story about clamping an artery shut with his fingers. I guess I kind of remembered,” you said.

“I think Jensen owes you one for that,” she said, pushing you inside. She hit a button to go up and smiled. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay,” you said. “Tired.”

“Those men that brought you in showed the police where your vehicle was. I believe your belongings are at the local sheriff’s office,” she said. “Oh and we were able to get your father’s contact information. Your mom was called and she let your husband know. They’re both on their way up from the states,” she said.

“Oh God, TJ,” you said, running your hands over your face. “He’s gotta be a nervous wreck right now.”

“Nothing wrong with having a husband that cares,” she said, the door dinging open. “Alright, I know you’re gonna jump out of bed and go over to your dad the second I leave the room but I don’t want you sleeping in a chair tonight. Got it? I will send my husband to come check on his lunch break if I have to.”

“I maybe promise?” you said.

“I like you,” she said, pushing you down the hall, pausing outside a door. “He should look a lot better than last time you saw him.”

She moved the bed inside a room, your dad asleep in the bed by the window. He had a cast on his right leg and a bandage around his head, a lot of leads and tubes running from him to machines close by but the blood was gone and he did look a lot more alive now.

“Thanks, Dr. Bradwick,” you said.

“I was in a car accident with my dad when I was a kid. I get it,” she said. She plugged in a few things for you and said a nurse would be in soon to get an IV in you. You hummed when she left, getting out of bed and grabbing a chair by the window, pulling it over to him. 

“Hey, dad,” you said, grabbing his hand. “Mom’s on her way and TJ too. They’re gonna smother us. That’s okay. I’m gonna stay right here until they get here though.”

For a moment you felt extremely tired and rested your head down on his unharmed leg. You used your good arm as a cushion as well, closing your eyes. Something tickled your head and your turned, seeing his hand trying to move on top of it. He didn’t open his eyes but you moved it for him, a brief smile crossing his lips.

“S’okay. Go back to sleep, dad.”

He half hummed and you felt yourself drifting off, a small gasp of air above you occurring.

“Not dead?” he murmured.

“No, not dead,” you said.

“Good.”

He was out like a light again and you smiled, a nurse walking in. She shook her head and got you up to your feet, helping you back in bed. 

“Can he have an extra blanket?” you asked as she stuck the needle in. She went to a closet in the room and took one out, spread it out over him lightly, finding another one and putting it over you. She pressed a button on the little machine for the IV and you felt the pain meds kick in, sending you to sleep quickly.

When you woke up, it was morning and your leg felt very hot. You blinked a few times, spotting a black tuft of hair curled up by it. You blinked again, recognizing the navy henley and the way the hair stuck up in the back. You smiled as you ran your hand over his head, TJ slowly waking up before jolting upright and giving you the biggest hug he dared.

“Hey, babe,” you said with a quiet laugh. “Miss me?”

“Never do that again,” he said. You cupped his cheek and smiled, a wave of relief crashing over him. 

“I’ll try,” you said. You looked to your right, your mom sitting by your dad’s side, watching him sleep. She got up when she saw you awake, walking over and hugging you. “Hi, mom.”

“TJ’s right. Never do that again,” she said. 

“We’re fine,” you said. “It looks worse than it is.”

“The doctors told us what happened,” she said. You turned away, smiling at TJ.

“Where are the kids?” you asked.

“JJ watched them last night and the Pads were taking them today,” he said. “Zepp flew home. Jared picked him up at the airport.”

“Sorry for ruining your guys trip,” you said, your mom shaking her head. 

“It’s fine. We’ll go on another one. I’m just glad you two are still here,” she said.

“We’re fine.”

“He should be dead. Maybe even you,” she said. “Please do not say you’re fine.”

“Mom. Last night was quite possibly the most traumatic thing that’s ever happened to me. I don’t even know how to describe...I’m not gonna tell you everything that went down or was said. Dad is alive and so am I. We’ll get better. I’ll be better really soon even. It’s all there is to it.”

“They said you had your hand in him,” said TJ. 

“Yes, I did. Not as exciting as it sounds,” you said.

“Hurt like a bitch though,” you heard chuckled from the bed nearby. All three of you turned towards him, getting a sleepy smile in response. “I’m starving. We never got dinner.”

“I will go find you guys some food, pronto,” said TJ. He gave you a kiss before he left, your mom returning to her seat and staring at your dad.

“I’m fine,” he said, getting a hug and kiss from her.

“Don’t go yet,” she said quietly.

“Not going anywhere, honey,” he said. He looked over at you and smiled. “Not if I can help it.”

Two Months Later

“I’m going to grab another beer,” said TJ. He got up from his seat around the fire pit in the backyard and you waved a finger, your dad giving one as well.

“De, mind grabbing some stuff to make hotdogs?” he asked.

“Not at all,” she said. They both head inside the house, your dad quiet as you both watched the fire. He scratched his stomach and you saw him lift up his shirt, glancing at the red line across his abdomen.

“You could get a tattoo,” you said. “To cover it up.”

“It doesn’t bother me,” he said. “What does bother me is the fact you risked your life for mine. You have children.”

“So do you.”

“Y/N. You’re young. You have your entire life ahead of you.”

“Adults have feelings, dad. You don’t get to love me more than I love you. You don’t get to put a cap on that for me. I am a parent. I do understand where you’re coming from. I do. But abandoning and giving up on you was not going to happen.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because you didn’t give up on me.”

He looked down to his lap, pursing his lips.

“I hope we’re never in that kind of situation again but dad, I can’t promise you how I’m going to act. I know it’s your job to protect me. Don’t be mad at me for doing it back every once in a while is all.”

“I’m not mad, kiddo. I just want you safe.”

“Me too,” you said. He gave a quick smile, slumping down in his chair. “You busy tomorrow night?”

“No. Why?”

“I’m gonna take you out for our dinner we never had,” you said.

“Just us?”

“Just us,” you said. “That okay?”

“Yeah. I’m looking forward to it,” he said. You tucked your feet up under you, closing your eyes briefly. “Thanks for saving me.”

“You did it first,” you said.

“There’s my sap,” he chuckled.

“Shut up, dork,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“You’re still smiling,” he said, hearing the backdoor open. “You good, kiddo?”

“Yeah. I’m good, dad.”

You smiled and looked down, spotting a big looking bug by your feet. You jumped out of your chair and he laughed, getting to his feet and stepping on it with his shoe. You looked around for any more, a grin spreading across his cheeks.

“What?” you said, brushing yourself off.

“I still got it,” he said, taking a seat and pulling you down into the chair with him. “No creepy crawlies over here.”

“There better not be,” you said as TJ and your mom returned.

You weren’t too hungry for a hotdog but you took a bite of TJ’s after he’d cooked one over the fire. After a little while the four of you grew quiet and a few crackles of the fire filled the night air.

“I’m exhausted. I’m going to head up to bed,” said your mom with a yawn.

“Night,” you said.

“We won’t keep Jensen up too long,” said TJ.

“Rascals,” he said. “I’ll be in soon, honey.”

Your mom hummed as she headed up into the house and TJ slumped down in his chair, watching the fire. He wiped at his face after a moment and started rubbing his eyes. You shifted a bit to get a better view but he kept rubbing.

“Get some ash in there?” asked your dad. He just shook his head and you sat up.

“Babe,” you said as it hit you. “He’s crying.”

“Am not,” said TJ, his voice giving him away.

“Hey,” said your dad. “Come here.”

TJ shook his head and your dad got up, dragging TJ over to the other side of the oversized chair. You turned to your side, TJ looking out to the yard.

“Hey,” said your dad again. “If you won’t look at me, at least look at your wife.”

TJ sniffled and turned his head over to you with a swallow. He looked at your dad quickly before settling back on you.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” asked your dad, putting his arm around his shoulders.

“It just hit me right then that if that truck hadn’t shown up, neither one of you would have been in that chair and I’d...you guys can’t leave De and me alone like that. We’d be wrecks and there’s no way my parents would ever...my dad would be yelling at me for crying right now,” said TJ, wiping off his face again.

“It’s alright,” said your dad, giving him a hug. TJ started to calm down and you cleaned off your face, finding TJ’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “Boys...guys...there ain’t nothing manly or tough about not crying. It’s healthy. Don’t be embarrassed, TJ. You never have to be afraid to do that in front of me, okay? I love you kid. We like to rag on one another but we love each other too. You have an amazing girl. She’s stronger than she looks. You’re stronger than you think you are too. So if it ever went bad, you’re gonna be okay. I promise.”

TJ nodded and your dad moved his other arm back around you, pulling you both into his sides.

“You feel any better?” he asked.

“Yeah,” said TJ. “Y/N’s been telling me it’s okay to get upset over the accident. I should have listened.”

“Normally it’s a wise move to listen to your wife,” he chuckled. “Thomas.”

He looked up at that, your dad’s face a little more hard.

“Are you still not speaking to your dad?” he asked.

“Not really. He asked if you guys were okay about a month ago but that was it.”

“TJ...I think it’s time you, me and your dad sat down and had a talk.”

“Why?”

“Because somehow he helped make you and a part of me has to believe that if he’s half as good as you are, it’s worth having a hard conversation.”

“He’s not like you,” said TJ, shaking his head. “He won’t be happy.”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s happy or not. I will make that very clear to him. You want to disagree with your child, that is okay. But Y/N, she’s not afraid to talk to me. A long time ago, before you were around, she was. She was afraid of me and I was afraid of her. There was a lot of crying and a lot of hard conversations, TJ. But that is why we got to the place where we are. You and I had one of those once and after that, things started to change between us, didn’t it. We’ve had conversations since about the big stuff and the little stuff. I am happy to be your dad, TJ. I am and I’m proud to be that to you. But as a dad, we’re going to have that talk with your dad, the three of us, and we’re going to give him an opportunity that he might not understand that he needs with you right now. Understand?”

“Yes,” he said with a nod. 

“Good boy,” he said, kissing his temple and giving you one as well.

“I can’t imagine what he was saying when you guys were like, dying,” said TJ. You looked at your dad and smiled, getting one in return.

“Oh, we were totally cool,” he said. You rolled your eyes and rested your head on his shoulder. “Weren’t we?”

“Oh, totally,” you said. 

“Liars,” said TJ. You laughed and heard him let out a quiet chuckle. 

“Okay?” asked your dad. TJ nodded and you heard him shift, your dad leaning back in the seat. “TJ.”

“Hm?”

“Go take your girl to bed. She’s worried and wants to cuddle you,” he said.

“Dad,” you said.

“It’s true.”

“In a minute,” you said, giving him a hug. TJ reached over and gave him one as well, you dad ruffling both your heads. 

“I love you guys too. Now shoo,” he said. “It’s pretty late.”

TJ hopped up and took care of the fire with your dad. He helped him slowly make his way up to the house while you held the door open.

“How’s your leg today?” you asked.

“Glad to be out of the cast,” he said. “I gotta start a running plan next week or something to work the muscles back up. I’m so not looking forward to it.”

“I bet you are,” you said. “Night dad.”

“Night kiddos,” he said. “Y/N.”

You held back as TJ headed for your old bedroom, your dad grabbing a book off the coffee table. 

“Have TJ read this. It’s for a spouse when their partner goes through a traumatic event. Spouses can get a form of PTSD without realizing it,” he said. 

“You think…” you said, nodding back.

“I’m not sure. I got it for mom and it made her feel a little better. It might help him too,” he said.

“Thanks,” you said. “Dad.”

“Mhm?”

“Go let mom take care of you, hm? Maybe not be a grump about it?” you said.

“Back at ya,” he said. “Night, tall munchkin.”

“Night, dad. Love you.”

“Love you too, kiddo.”

_________

A/N: Read the TJ’s Talk timestamp here!

[ace-trainer-risu]

oh here! i’ll come ask you for book recs lol. do you have any spooky and/or autumn-y book recs? or just your fave books :)

First of all, I'm sorry this took me SO long to answer. I want to say I've been busy but it's just been general [waves hand vaguely] life.

ANYWAY thank you for asking! I actually don't read scary stuff a lot b/c I'm a wimp, but I have a few spooky/autumnal books up my sleeves! Let's see what we've got!!

1) The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Let me just start by saying that Sarah Waters is one of my absolute favorite authors ever! All her novels are suspenseful, twisty historical novels with great female and queer characters. Although, fair warning, actually The Little Stranger is like her one novel that isn't queer, but it is VERY good. If you read The Little Stranger and like it, please read Fingersmith and/or The Paying Guests.

The Little Stranger is set in the countryside of post-WWII England and follows a mild-mannered doctor as he becomes increasingly involved in the lives of the family living in the local, increasingly decrepit, possibly haunted mansion. Think Downton Abbey but creepy. Strange things keep happening inside the house, from dog bites to mysterious sounds to creepy black spots. Literally just typing that gave me goosebumps. It seems like someone may be out to get the family, but who...or what? Is it simply the ghosts of their own painful memories, or is something more? Sarah Waters is excellent at lush, intricate historical detail, and she leans into that here to create an atmosphere of slowly building dread and horror and mystery.

That being said, as a person who isn't normally a fan of horror, I don't think this book is too scary. It's more of an atmospheric, psychological horror than a jump-scare, bloody horror. It's not a book that will give you nightmares (probably), but you might lie awake thinking about it.

Also. Pro-tip. As a haunted(?) house story, the house is obviously fairly central to the story. Dear fellow Americans, keep in mind that the British refer to the floors of a building differently than us. For Americans, the ground-level floor is called the first floor, the floor above that the second floor, etc. For the British, the ground-level floor is the ground floor, and the floor above that is the first floor, etc. There's all sorts of creepy references to characters hearing noises above them on the first floor, but I was just like, Why are they always in the basement?

2) Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia

This and the above are two very different books, and yet they are both set in the mid-1900s and both are about weird, creepy, maybe-haunted houses. What can I say, I like gothic fiction.

After our heroine, Noemi, receives a bizarre, borderline incoherent letter from her beloved cousin, she sets out to visit her in the literally decaying mansion she resides in with her husband and his new family deep in the countryside of Mexico. All Noemi wants to do is persuade her cousin to come back home with her, but her cousin's new in-laws are very determined not to let that happen...or to let Noemi leave either. Secrets abound in the bizarre house and even creepier nearby cemetery, and soon Noemi finds that she too is suffering from bizarre dreams and visions...although, are they just dreams?

This book is so weird, but in such a good way? I read it for a book club and every week we had increasingly bizarre theories about what was going on, we were googling alchemy and fungi and St George, and some of our theories were even right. Although definitely not all. Another very twisty one that keeps you guessing.

In terms of scariness, interestingly I think there's more overtly creepy and horrifying moments in this novel than The Little Stranger, but I found TLS more overall scary? But that may be because I read it quickly, which I think is the ideal setting for suspenseful stuff, and I read Mexican Gothic over a longer amount of time since it was for a book club. This one does have some more typical horror elements to it, but I don't think it's more creepy than terrifying.

3) The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

I listened to this one as an audiobook and the audiobook is excellent so would recommend that, but have no doubt it would also be great to physically read.

Oh my god this book...it's more thriller than horror, but I think it fits the brief. There were multiple moments listening to this book that I literally gasped or said "OH MY GOD!" out loud, and there are moments which are very creepy and horrifying. There's a particular scene in the backyard... Again, incredibly suspenseful and twisty. And the character development and character psychology is just! really really good! There's also really interesting and knotty feminist stuff which is a lot more complicated and nasty than some of the "girlboss" stuff which is popular right now.

Super minimal summary: All you really need to know is that it is a sci fi novel about a scientific researcher trying to pick up her life after her marriage has imploded, only for everything to go BATSHIT WRONG. Trust me, that's all you need to know, it's better to go into this not knowing what's going to happen or what to expect. I had no clue what this novel was about when I started it, and holy shit. Very good book, absolutely recommend this if you want some super suspenseful, creepy sci fi that will make you say "oh my GOD" repeatedly.

Okay, shifting gears a little now b/c autumn isn't just spooky, it's also cozy and restful and daydreamy!

4) The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker

This isn't maybe a cozy book per se, but it's a great book to cuddle down with on a dreary day and lose yourself in. If you've ever asked yourself, "What would it be like if you crossed Pride and Prejudice with Howl's Moving Castle except the wizard was way worse but somehow still sexy" - then you should read this book! I actually came across this book b/c I was like, I wanna read a book that's a portal fantasy but for adults, and this book was like OH here's everything you wanted.

It's about a grad student, Nora, who has totally stalled out on her dissertation and is at a shitty wedding when she accidentally wanders through a portal into a beautiful, fantastical fairy world. At first, everything is amazing and literally perfect...but surprise surprise, not all as is it seems, and soon everything goes to, how should I put it, shit. Nora escapes, but rather than returning home, she finds herself trapped in a far more dreary realm. But not one without it's own charms and it's own magic, and Nora finds herself the student-slash-sorta-captive of the crochety, sexy, maybe-killed-his-wife magician Aruendiel* and she begins to learn magic herself.

Unlike the above books, this is not a fast-paced, twisty book, and I think if you go into this expecting high fantasy along the lines of Game of Thrones, you may be disappointed. It's not really a typical high-fantasy novel, it's more of a cross of an 18th/19th century realist novel, a fairy tale, and a fantasy novel. But if you want that, then it's REALLY good! I loved this book! And the magic in it is so cool, something about the way its described feels so visceral and real and like you could really do it if you just tried hard enough. There is a romance and it's totally, intentionally hashtag problematic, but it's very laid back, very slow burn, so I think even if you aren't a person who digs romance you can still enjoy this. If you're looking for a feminist-leaning fantasy novel that you can just sink into and lose yourself in, this is the perfect book. You will long to magically fix broken plates.

5) The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

Honestly I can't even justify why I think this one is an autumn book. It simply is. It's autumn colored in my head. It is the coziest book I have ever read about necromancy and crime. Also I just want to recommend it. This is another one that I listened to as an audiobook and it's also a good audiobook, for those who are interested. But it also means I will not be able to spell absolutely any of the character's names.

This novel follows Delly, an enterprising young scoundrel of a fire witch with a teeny tiny gin habit as she attempts to support herself and her hot-mess of a mom in the roughest neighborhoods of Fantasy-City-That-I-Can't-Remember-The-Name-Of. Lice...gate? When Delly comes across an advertisement for a bodyguarding job for young women for a hefty fee, it seems like the answer to definitely not all but at least some of her problems. She accepts, along with an interesting assortment of other sorcerous young ladies, including a wonderfully bitchy Absentia (my love), a young woman who can turn into a boar, boar girl's necromancer mother, and the very sexy part-troll Winn, who in my imagination looks like Gwendoline Christie and talks like Miranda Hart. Which. Perfect woman. Winn being a fine, wealthy young lady, Delly can't help but think to herself that it wouldn't be such a bad thing if Winn happened to fall in love with her and carried her off to be rich and spoiled the rest of her life.

Of course, things quickly don't go to plan, and soon Delly and her companions find herself caught up in wicked schemes of murder, drugs, and an undead mouse named Buttons who says BONG. I love Buttons SO MUCH.

This book is just a silly romp of a novel which worms into your heart and your brain. It's fun and cute and gay, and also it made me cry. I haven't stopped thinking, "Not quite regulation hammerball" since I listened to it like half a year ago.

Also, while I'm here, this novel is set in the same world as and features a few of the same characters as Unnatural Magic. Which is also a hell of a book. Literally the best bisexual relationship I have ever fuckin read. It's a winter book tho, so I simply can't go into it here.

Aaaaand...that it's! Happy autumnal reading :)