#this email and pay off my credit card and clean my room and text my manager and wait for my brothers hand to heal so he can move and sleep

[lavender---sunshine]

💖 Had my first car cry today besties 💖

[odannygirl7]

the cleaning guy started getting really squirrelly...

like right away he started talking about how there was so much stuff and it was such a mess and there were chemicals and half full paint cans and he wasn't even done with the garage and already filled a 25yd dumpster and he'd have to get more and it's going to cost more and it's an enormous job and how it's two feet deep in every room. And I saw pictures and yeah it was a mess but this was high key whining about a job he didn't have to take, very weird vibes. I even asked the lawyer to make sure they actually waked him through to begin with because he seemed so shocked and overwhelmed.

And honestly I thought he'd charge maybe a few hundred dollars more and I was willing to do that, because I'm a push over. But when he finished he sent me an invoice for $2000 over what he said it would cost and I was like "umm, no", like I didn't tell him I told the lawyer, because she recommended him and now I don't know what to do. He sent the invoice Sunday, he already agreed to not getting paid until I sell the house so there's no rush, and then I kinda checked out yesterday, cause it was my birthday and all he was going to do was drop some stuff off at the ups store and return the key to the lawyer and I'd already had everything in place for the ups store with a credit card and everything.

Before he gave me the invoice he also started going on about how he had a friend who maybe wanted to buy the house and wanted to know how much I wanted and I was like I'm just looking at offers now, but I've looked into the prices of similar house around and he's like well I buy and flip houses too and the market is really bad and I have a house in another town with two acers that I haven't been able to sell and I'm like ok, cause wow combined with the previous complaining this is not the way to go about a business transaction with someone you don't know at all.

So yesterday he freaked out on me, texted a bunch of times like 'did you get the invoice I sent stuff to ups did you get the invoice ?????????? I'm taking the invoice to the lawyer since you're not responding' and then calling me like five times.

And I do not respond to stuff like that, like I'm pretty bad about responding at the best time, I know it's an issue for me, but demanding and frantic actions like that? Nope. This wasn't like a week later this was not even a day. So I had let the lawyer know about the invoice increase and when she emailed me back I told her about the freak out and how she should have a copy of the invoice and the key cause he was supposed to return it already and she emailed be back and she has to talk to the main lawyer cause he never showed up, never delivered the invoice like the said, never returned the key, said he'd be there Monday, then said he'd be there today, still hasn't shown up.

So now I'm like yikes, so sorry this is a mess.

I also told her that I would not be responding to him because I wasn't comfortable with how he's been acting and that I'm fine with paying the top end of what he quoted but with everything going on I don't think I should pay more.

And tbh the money isn't an issue, I'm not happy about it, but like if he had either been upfront about a possibility of charging more or if he had expressed any kind of like apologizing about it now costing more instead of "this is awful and so much and such a huge job it's going to cost this much more is that okay" because no way did I think it'd be also twice the price. Like he either doesn't know how to do his job well enough to estimate or he made a bad call or he outright lied to me to get the job but I don't like any of those options combined with the very bizarre attitude and vibes and stuff.

[jovnie]

Artificial Intelligence | Namjoon

Summary

Namjoon after wondering the internet, came across a website Ad for a personalized A.I made for him and only for his viewing pleasure.

Words 3k

Cyber namjoon au! College namjoon! A.i reader!

Warnings: smut, masturbation, virtual reality, moaning and heavily, medium amount of plot, kind of vanilla, riding, dirty talk, muscular joon. Oral (f), heavy whining, begging, dom joon, verbal joon.

With his eyes glued tiredly to the computer, his hand moved the curser to press play. This was his third year in college, being who knew what at the end. After years of tiredness from research papers to fieldwork, being a chemistry major wasn’t paying off one bit. Not his student debt either. Yawning, his arms stretched up and then out before returning them back to the slightly chipped computer to type the URL in.

With each little tap and click, he answered the questions before being brought back to the previous page. Groaning in utter frustration, he closed his computer and put his head on the computer before meantly screaming. He was half way through the questions and it took him out and how knows if he had 200+ more to do. Sighing, he lifted his head uttering, “at least its not the actual test”

With slight relief, he lifted the mac screen and saw he exited everything on accident. Giving up, he searched for a virtual teacher. With no luck, he stumbled across and Ad for an A.I. with an obvious lack of how the cyber world was or knowledge on A.I, he opened a new tab. With searching the key word. ‘A.I’ a small little text box appeared.

A.I ( Artificial Intelligence )

is an intelligence demonstrated by machines, as opposed to the natural intelligence displayed by humans or animals

After looking up the word and its definition, he thought he had a solid idea of what it was. Therefore he exited the tab and searched the subject and then Ai. After doing so he scrolled and clicked what he assumed to be a cite and looked at what it had to offer.

“This is neat. Ah, Let’s see where this goes! Maybe if I do this I can study with a human, I think?” He spoke aloud, looking at the options. Waking up a bit from the sudden excitement, he stretched his body and looked around for a notepad and pen. While doing so, a pop up appeared.

Stacy is single and is 65 miles away from you, wanna interact

Once namjoon returned, he saw the women and clicked off. He figured this wasn’t an appropriate or free ran website. Itching the back of his head, he continued until another pop up this time an ad appeared.

Create your own human A.I with unlimited uses here

Curiously he clicked the ad and saw you had to buy it, immediately he got up from his desk. Legs numb a bit from the lack of moment, he grabbed his wallet and took out his student card. Shopping he looked at the computer than a card. “Yeah no,” he laughed to himself, knowing he could catch a case he didn’t want so he grabbed his credit card before swiveling the chair to sit down. After blindly trusting the site, he was taken to the tutorial and saw a fully naked man on the screen. In shock, he shut the computer down to realize it wasn’t that A. I he needed. Sighing, he flipped the top back up and immediately felt hopeless with the exam. Seeing there’s a female version, he looked around to make sure none on the body was there. He knew he had the room to himself, but it’s still worth it. You never knew, who could be watching.

From there he closed his blinds, turned off the lights, and got back to the computer. He started to create your body down to the smallest detail. He had time as his classes for the week were canceled for finals and other school-related activities like college tours etc.

“Finally, you’re done and now we give you a name!” he smirked softly, rubbing his palm over his jeans on accident. With a few glances and searches, he named you y/n. Smiling, he pressed continue and saw there was an outfit room and spent a few more moments picking something cute, casual and sexy for your body frame. After that was done, he pressed continue. Suddenly there was timer and another pop up.

TIME REMAINING: 23hours 59mins and 23seconds

Thank you for ordering “Y/n” the A.I, everything is processing as you read. While you wait, please pick from the available voices and chose which one suits your needs “Namjoon!”

He had no clue what to expect, but it was worth the wait. Meanwhile, he spent an hour going through the types of voices he wanted you to have, till he could find your voice a perfect match for his needs. After pressing finish, he plugged his computer in and left his computer on as he got out of the chair and brought himself to his bed to sleep. Thankfully, he took a shower hours ago and was already more steps to sleeping than ever. Soon after, his head laid softly on the white pillow and his eyes began to close asleep.

The next day, around 5minuets, until it was time to see what he had gotten himself into. He moved his viewing location to his bed as it was simply more comfortable. Beforehand, he ate and cleaned out items he thought might me helpful with what he thought he’d get into in any minute now. While waiting with pain, he watched the minutes drop one by one until it was less than a minute and he grabbed his seanna drift, a virtual reality set made for his computer and recommended from an email sent to him earlier. He figured it came with more than just the yearly plan he paid for.

As his wallet cried, he read the direction of the screen ok how to connect the device to the website and began following the video instructions. As they told him where to find things and hook it up, he saw that it needed to charge and groaned loudly in annoyance. So he spent that saddened hour, cleaning his room till he saw green and followed the instructions once again.

“Okay ready!” he said, as the Vr headset and earbuds sat softly on his head. With wow and o’s he saw you in this basic room with the lights off and sudden shoe-making noises. Turning his head, he saw you turn on the lights and sat on the bed in front of him. Looking around he took note of his virtual surroundings before grabbing his flashlight and pouring lube he had trouble finding on the table and poor it inside the toy.

Waiting for you to make a move, he got up and placed his computer on the bedside table, and laid on his back. As shirtless and gray sweatpants he was, he still felt clothed. In that moment he took off his sweats, leaving his boxers on he noticed the screen changed onto the bed and it spoked him slowly. With you laying on his chest, he grabbed a free pillow and hugged it as if you were there.

“You feel warm” you chuckled, as namjoon blushed in the shock.

“Thanks, I guess you can see and hear me?” He asked, rubbing you “the pillow softly”

“I can, my system works like an actual person” you mentioned look g him in the eyes. Confused, he hummed in agreement. Whining, he was very pleased with how human you were and a bit concerned as well. He was amused and amazed at how advanced society had become.

After small talk, he warmed up to your very realistic body, voice and actions. Not to mention his hands moving slowly up and down his length as he watched you shower and how cute you looked when you did. Moving a bit faster, you looked and the system told you he was jerking off.

In a surprise you turned around and looked at him, covering your body. With him in tune with idea, he smirked. “what’s wrong baby? You don’t like when I view your body like this?” He asked, grinding his hips against the pillow.

“Well, um I do. Its just new to me okay” your system lies, as it registered grunts from namjoon.

“Well can you turn around for me?” He adds, taking his toy and liking it up to his actual length. Nodding, you turned around and bent over. As namjoon said his movements as listed in the tutorial earlier, you opened your legs as if he was spreading them for you. Holding onto the wall, he said more commands, and eventually, it looked like he was fucking you and it caused an involuntary grunt from his mouth.

“Fuck!” He cursed, sliding the toy up and down in a slow pace as he watched how his camera was moving. Looking at you he got up from a lying position, to his knees and moved the pillow into a u shape and placed his toy so it could feel more real to him.

Hearing your soft moans and a good view of your ass, he began to thrust faster into the toy, holding the pillow down as if he was your back and began moaning curse words. Luckley his head gear caught that and made your moans shift to match his rhythm.

“Ah! Ah! Please don’t stop!” You moaned, griping the shower walls looking back as his eyes wondered your body and all heard from him were grunts. Keeping your ask, he tried pacing himself so he wouldn’t cum too soon as the feeling was slowly building the more he got more into it.

“God! Fuck” he cursed again, as his head went back imaging you bounce back on him. Moving the toy to the desired speed, he kept going closing his eyes and listening to your moans as he reached his end. Jerking forward once more, his cock twitched as his cum spilled inside the toy. After coming down from the slight high, he looked at you who was hard breathing, body slightly shaking and a stream of cum laced your ass with grace.

After today’s use of the A.I he unplugged the device and let it charge. Shortly after, he exited the screen you were on and went to take a shower. Reflecting and thinking how could he make this experience even better and with that thought, he googled the company and saw they made Bluetooth connected toys. Browsing he found a torso toy and paid the extra $15 for the next day delivery. Smiling, he closed his computer and went to beg shortly after.

The next night, he had the box that contained the sex toy. He took it out and realized he picked the right color and body for you. As he read the directions he plugged it to charge and went to do some light reading verire coming back. Seeing the full bars on the side of the torso toy, he grabbed his headset and plugged everything in and made sure the section was secured.

You have connected toy 1251819, your system will now function off of movements from the toy and vr audio. Please speak select the place you wish to be in

After reading namjoon said “library” soon after, you showed up in the same outfit as he picked, sitting in the chair.

“Oh hi namjoon! What are you doing here?” You asked, smiling and putting the book down?

“Well I’m light studying for our test, mind if I join you?* he tells, as the vr moves his view next to you. While he looks around in his vr set, he notices your in a secluded area. As his hands move around the half thigh it registers and you blush slight.

"Sorry” he apologized, looking you up and down. As you told him it was okay, the screen of consent popped up and he knew it was okay to touch you. In that moment, he got on his knees again this time with a body like toy underneath. He instructed you to strip and as he watched you take off your clothes he rubbed his length in his bare hands.

“Good girl now gets on your back for me on the table,” he praised, watching you as your legs reminded closed. Opening them on the toy, you followed. He rubbed his hands around your thigh and rubbed around your lips till he found your clit and gently rubbed you in circles as you began moaning for him.

“You want me to stop?” He smirked, nodding no he stopped.

“Then tell me what you want” he adds, rubbing and teasing the area slowly. After explaining that you want him badly and would do anything, he removed his hand and rubbed his tip around your entrance.

“Please, please namjoon. I want it badly. You felt so good the last time” you told whining softly.

“Oh, you liked that?” He smirked chuckling softly under his breath. Nodding, he lubed you up hearing you moan to his touched, and soon began softly thrusting into you. Griping your shoulder softly, he stuped down your breast. As he began sucking on them soft, he moved in deeper feeling the toy clench on him. Surprised he jerked forward and went faster. It really felt similar to phaycal and actual human body. He continued thrusting, leaning over the you and the sting harder as grunts and your moaning filled his ear.

“S-so big namjoon, it feels-” you interrupted with a moan and he groaned feeling the toys warmness and the wetness of the amount of lube in you.

“Mm keep talking baby, tell me how good it feels!” He demanded, groaning and curing as he went harder. After a few words, his body started going faster as it started to feel too good on him. He told you to just moan and take him as he began chasing his high, which was beyond what he knew. As you moaned his name and reacted to his length and speed, namjoons grunts turned into soft whines and moans as he enjoyed himself with you.

“Oh you feel so good baby” he breathed out heavily. “Ah don’t stop cumming for me” he added, as the system didn’t stop cumming on him causing namjoon to thrust harder as the machine started releasing water already put in the toy on him. Feeling even more organic, he rubbed your clit getting you to choke on your moan as he went harder. Groaning deep and now at an animalistic speed the bed started speaking and his body kept going as he became more vocal with the feeling.

“OH GOD IN CUMMING!” he announced yelling, cumming so hard he started feeling sick and breathing so deep it made the feeling even more unbearable. Coming once more, he fell on top of the toy and laid there till he was able to come down from his high and plug his stuff back up. Looking he saw that not only did his toy break, but his computer was also malfunction with errors on the screen.

With not a lot of energy, he closed his computer and sat the now broken toy beside him as he breathed heavily. Not to mentioned the multiple knocks at his door, he assumed where from one of his neighbors.

“Just his luck” he whispered as he softly passed out sleep.

[ushidoux]

Be My Last - Iwaizumi x  Reader (Pt. 2)

Summary: You have trouble getting over a past relationship and it’s preventing you from moving forward. (~2.3k words)

Warnings: nsfw, poor communication tbh, angst?

A/N: There’s always trouble in paradise.... 

So I haven’t written a plot-heavy fic in a while. Anyway, I hope this is as dramatic as I intended it to be but not excessive.

Part 1|| Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5

---

Your phone vibrated loudly, nearly falling off the edge of your office desk but before checking the text, you were already scooping your personal items into your messenger bag and rising to leave the office.

Iwa had intended to meet you after work to grab dinner together before going home, and you quickly glanced at your phone to confirm his arrival while you made your way down multiple flights of stairs (turns out having an athletic trainer as a boyfriend made you a lot more fitness-conscious) to meet him in front of the large skyscraper.

You met him only slightly out of breath, hoping he hadn’t waited long, and he grinned as he saw you, arms uncrossing to take your bag from you and greet you with a kiss on the forehead.

“How was today? More good news?” You inquired cheerfully, linking your arm around his tightly as you started walking. He hummed, his pace still leisurely and his other hand casually resting in his pocket in mock humility.  

“What, I haven’t impressed you enough?” He teased with a laugh, earning him a playful slap on the shoulder. Learning that he was going to be head athletic trainer for the Japan National Volleyball Team just last week was still fresh, and while you were excited for him, you were a tiny bit apprehensive about how much it would change his schedule. Even though he was already quite busy, you’d gotten used to Iwa’s schedule being predictable and being home every night, especially once he’d moved in with you about a year into your relationship.

While this new position was the biggest event on the horizon, quite a lot had changed since you’d met Hajime and lowered your emotional defenses to let him in, and that simple fact was evident by the way your hand unconsciously snaked down the length of his arm to interlace your fingers with him, as you continued to tell each other about your days.

He’d always impressed you from the very moment you met him. His confidence, his pure kindness and his genuine love for you were only a few of the things that made you love him wholeheartedly. The only regret that you had these days was that you hadn’t met him sooner, or rather, first.

Now, back in the quiet of the apartment you’d lived in for almost four years now, you and Iwa were locked in an embrace shrouded by the steam of an excessively warm shower. Despite the fact that you felt heavy with a generous dinner, the current somewhat pleasant turning of your stomach had more to do with the expert way Iwa’s fingers worked your center without compromising attention to your lips and tongue.

Soft moans of his name earned you the privilege of being gently lifted and pressed back against the shower tile, to leverage you steadily against the pressure of his heavy cock pushing past your walls into you as many times before. 

He always knew where to touch and what to fill. 

It occurred to you again as he coaxed one orgasm then another out of you with firmly delivered strokes, aided by the slick coming from your legs and the water that ran over the two of you, that you loved him. Fully and without reservation.

Especially when he pulled back to look at your flustered, wanting face, slightly tilted upwards to look at him with eyes enamored, your body fitting him like a glove, and you could practically see his heart swell.

A reckless, all-encompassing sort of love.

---

“This is… a lot of food,” your friend pointed out with raised eyebrows as she watched you toss possibly a 15th packet of thinly sliced marbled beef for shabu shabu in your cart before moving along to the condiment section. You were grateful that she was accompanying you on this errand because even though you enjoyed grocery shopping, it seemed like you’d been here for a lot longer than you expected and you weren’t too familiar with most of the ingredients on the long grocery list you’d brought with you.

Besides, the cart was overfilled and you felt that eventually you’d need two hands to push it.

“Iwa wants to invite I don’t know even know how many hungry athletes into our tiny apartment, so I’m just trying to be prepared,” you shrugged.

“By buying the entire butcher shop?”

“Yes.”

“He better be paying at least, this looks expensive,” she murmured, only to open her mouth in a teasing ‘O’ once you flashed Iwa’s credit card in her face with a grin.

Amused, she tossed a pack of vermicelli noodles in the cart then let out a loud, wistful sigh before leaning on the shopping cart handle. You frowned in response, knowing exactly what that sound entailed. 

“So when did Oikawa say he’d be back?”

She let out an aggravated groan. “Not for months and then by the time the Olympics start, he’ll be even more busy… This shit is so annoying, to be honest. It’s like he’s never off season!”

You tiptoed to reach a highly placed bottle of shoyu and another of rice vinegar and drop it in your cart. You sympathized with her frustration, you had known intimately once what it was like to be made second priority, even if that wasn’t your life now.

“At least you know he would still choose you over volleyball, no matter how much he loves it,” you reassured her.

You had said the statement without any deeper intended meaning, but when you turned your friend was still eyeing you carefully, concern written in her knit eyebrows.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she replied, deciding to drop it. But two paces later, she paused to a standstill, and asked, “Do you know exactly who Iwa is inviting over?”

You shrugged your shoulders again. “Honestly, I don’t care, it’s not like I follow sports anymore.”

To that, she replied with a soft hum of assent before choosing to talk about dessert instead.

---

Seated at a corner table at the small coffee shop at the base of his hotel, Ushijima Wakatoshi looked carefully at the email invitation, noting the address more carefully this time, a wash of unsettling nostalgia rushing over him.

You wouldn’t notice it from the neutral expression on his face, but ever since he had made it back to this side of Tokyo, the concern of going back in time and revisiting old mistakes weighed heavy on his mind. Of course, he was excited about his new accolades and the opportunity to represent his country nationally, but with few people to share that news with, the reminder of what he had sacrificed to get here seemed less like a badge of honor and more like a condemnation. 

For someone who insisted on moving forward, no matter what the pace or price, this was a particularly unwelcome feeling. 

And of course, this sentiment was made way worse when it occurred to him that he was being invited to his old home as a guest. Well, he wasn’t exactly sure - while the apartment building itself was definitely the same one where he had lived so many years ago, he wasn’t completely sure whether or not the floor and suite number were the same. It would be an odd coincidence that Iwa lived there too now, but it was a nice apartment building after all, so he assumed it must be a popular place to live.

Still, he couldn’t help the mild uneasiness he felt at the prospect of turning up on that street.

What if by some unfortunate twist of fate, he ran into you? Whether in the lobby, sharing the elevator, maybe even in passing at the konbini where previously he’d surprise you with a custard taiyaki or melon bread to eat in the dead of night... What would he say? What could he say?

He had once practiced some silly assortments of words, many times ages ago when the ache in his heart for you became too much to bear and he thought maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t too selfish to ask to come back into your life. He would come up with ways to explain why he’d decided it was better to remove himself from your life altogether over putting aside more time for you, or to explain that he’d made the decision for both of you in order to free you to be loved properly by someone else. 

But the more time passed, the more ridiculous it seemed for him to try to ask you to forgive him for breaking your heart, and now three years had gone by. 

Was three years enough time for you to forgive him for ending things without explanation? Or for moving out of your apartment while you stayed over your best friend’s house for an entire weekend so that he wouldn’t see you cry?

Ushijima took another sip of his coffee. He was overthinking it; the similar address was just a happenstance. You had probably long since moved on from that apartment just like you’d moved on from him.

---

Paper plates, forks, knives and napkins were set aside on your living room table, and you’d cleaned out the patio to allow for more space on the thankfully warm spring evening. Iwa had rushed out with a kiss on the cheek to go get some ice after helping you set up everything, and now you were waiting, hotpot soup base boiling on the stove.

You’d finished just a half an hour before six, and you leaned over the kitchen counter to browse through your text messages. One had just popped up from your friend before you heard an early knock on the front door.

Surprised at the prospect of someone showing up early, you put down your phone and sauntered over, and without even checking the keyhole to see who was standing there, you swung open the door wide, cheerfully giving a warm “Welcome!”, only to find yourself staring your ex-boyfriend in the face.

There was a pause where it seemed like everything that kept your heart beating and your neurons firing had turned off for the split second it took you to recognize him. This was disregarding the fact that he too looked like all the blood had drained from his face when he also realized you were standing right before him. 

“___…,” he pronounced in shock.

The sound of his voice calling your name made your heart pound and your head pound and quickly, impulsively, you moved to slam the door.

Reflexively, he blocked it with his palm, not meaning it as aggression, but spurred by the fear of immediately being locked right back out of your life, where he belonged.

“Wait, can we please talk?”

The desperate tinge to his voice was too much to bear.

It had been three fucking years! Why now?

But instead of forcing the door closed against him again, you found yourself running into your bedroom and locking the door behind you, heart pounding in your ribcage in a frenzy. It was hard to think, maybe you were being a little bit too dramatic, but you couldn’t help the panic pumping through your veins.

Relax, relax, relax.

Ushijima, too, immediately forgot that this was no longer his home.

Even if he knew this place like the back of his hand, he recognized the same sofa in the center of the living room, where he’d held you and had you just like every other place in this wretched space, it was no longer his.

It didn’t stop him from breaching the entrance without your invitation, boldly following after you just to knock on the bedroom door that kept you safe and secure, begging for your attention.

“Please, ___. Please, can we talk?”

It didn’t take a genius to realize that he was in fact in the right place, this was his - no, your shared apartment - and traces of another man, Iwaizumi, were all over it.

Your voice was choked up in your throat but you weren’t yet crying, however you were terribly frustrated. Frustrated that three years after a breakup you were taking shelter in your own bedroom all because your ex showed up at your door. Frustrated that he wasn’t being mean, but instead he was being kind; in fact, you were worried there was a wisp of something more you could see in the pained look he had on first regard.

Too much.

Ushijima knocked again.

“Please.”

The correct thing to do would be to face him properly and ask him to take a seat and maybe if you were feeling extra generous, ask him how he was doing politely, limiting yourself to polite conversation, but instead you didn’t say a single word, biting your lip to hold back anger and hurt.

Three years and you were still like this.

“___!”

His voice raised this time, and again the desperation was clear and tugging at your heartstrings, but you would be damned if you were going to move from this spot. He didn’t bang on the door though - Ushijima always had too much self control to do anything fear-provoking out of anger, but he let out a heavy sigh you could hear directly from the other side of the door.

“I’m sorry-” 

Whatever he planned to say was cut short by the slam of the front door and Iwa’s harsh voice yelling, “What the fuck are you doing?”

Your eyes grew wide as you heard the shuffle of quick moving feet and the thud of bodies hitting the wall, and then you realized that what this looked like was way worse than it actually was.

You fumbled to unlock the door only to see Ushijima pressed against the wall, hands to his side but fists clenched as though he were deciding whether to fight back; you could tell Iwa had already landed a heavy blow from the red spot blooming on his face, and the fact that Iwa still had a solid grip on the collar of Ushijima’s shirt, his fist still dangerously close to his face.

“Hajime!” You yelled, pulling at his arm. “Stop!”

He resisted your plea for him to stop initially, and you could tell he was seething even if he was still. Who wouldn’t be, if they thought their girlfriend was being accosted in their own space?

“T-toshi wasn’t going to do anything… we’re exes.”

Exes?

Iwa gave you a blank look, taking in the info all at once, but what stunned him the most at this very instant was the painfully familiar way you’d said Ushijima’s name.

[hansolmates]

jjk; angel’s trumpet [08]

summary; one second, your life is flashing before your eyes and the next, you’re transported into a world exactly like your own. but the jungkook you meet in this world isn’t a renowned singer or your former almost-lover, in fact he has no clue who you are and why you know him so well. as you work to find your way home lost and confused, you conclude that you’re either dead or in the middle of the most wicked drug trip of your life. pairing; idol!jk x reader (f), alternatively film producer!jk x reader genre/warnings; fluff, angst, supernatural, idol!au, non-idol!au, alternate universes, themes of fate, language, alcohol consumption, in this chapter–mentions of sex, a panic attack w.c; 4.5k a/n; can’t believe there’s one more chapter after this! (+the bonus chapter!) its such a bittersweet feeling to close this all up so i hope u all join me in my w2!jk sobbing party im making matcha cookies rn so i can wallow

[07] [08] [final] -> masterpost

Jungkook’s worried. 

After he left your apartment, he dove himself into his work and tried to get you out of his head. Somehow he ended up from his living room table to his bed, bleary and with a pen jabbing him in the cheek. He doesn’t know how he feels right now, and has micro analyzed every bit of your relationship in between breaks.

He fell fast, and loving you (as much as it scares himself to admit) was so easy it hurt. It’s why it’s so hard for him to accept that you would betray him like that. What could he have possibly done to deserve this? If you had just admitted your issues from day one, this crisis could have easily been averted and you would be with him right now. 

But that’s not why he’s worried. Jungkook wakes up the following day around 10AM, noting the dozens of messages and unanswered phone calls from Jimin and Taehyung. 

According to Taehyung, you’ve been missing for three days. Off-the-grid type of missing, to the point that Taehyung is debating on whether or not he should call the police. 

The first day you didn’t come home, Taehyung chalked it up as you spending the night at Jungkook’s. The second day however, he visits the library where your office hours are held only to find your usual table empty and your students upset over your lack of contact. 

“Here,” Doyeon had said, pointing to the vague email you sent. Taehyung skimmed through the barebones message, mentioning that you had to take an indefinite leave and that the students can email Professor Kim Namjoon if they still had lingering questions. 

Taehyung notes the sincere apology at the bottom, and how you tack on that “you are a wonderful group of students and I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.” 

Almost as if you aren’t planning to come back. 

He could hear Taehyung deflate on the line, knowing that Jungkook has no idea where you are either. 

“Did you…” Jungkook scratches his head, sitting at his kitchen table, “did you check her room for a yellow notebook?” 

“What?” Taehyung asks, “I checked her room yesterday. Y’know the weird thing is? Her room is clean, like clinically clean. There’s nothing on her desk, the sheets are washed, and her clothes are all folded and put away. Usually it’s like a whirlwind in here.” 

“Yeah,” Jungkook replies, remembering how your room is usually quite lived in, with warm sheets and a candle glowing. 

“Why aren’t you more stressed out, dude?” Taehyung says, and Jungkook instantly feels guilty. “Your girlfriend’s fucking missing, are you gonna get up and help or not?” 

“Y-yeah, I’m just a little shaken,” he manages to reply, thinking about how you tried to explain to him the other night. He pinches the bridge between his brows, regretting not letting you have your word when refusing to listen to you. Maybe if he heard it, things would have turned out differently.

Taehyung sighs, “Yeah, it’s a bit of a shock. She really isn’t like this normally, but I trust her. If you can, maybe contact Jung Hoseok? I already visited Kim Namjoon and he doesn’t know anything, but he’s the only friend I know that could have any idea.” 

Jung Hoseok. He remembers that name frequently in your notebook. Not as frequently as his, but enough to have a good idea he could be involved in your sudden departure. 

“Okay, I’ll visit him today.” 

•━━━━━━»•»💮💮💮«•«━━•••

The tables that you usually occupy for study groups are painfully absent of your presence, noted by your stressed out students that are hoping you’ll show up unexpectedly. 

Thankfully, Hoseok is working today. Jungkook eyes him from the doorway of the playroom, seeing Hoseok carefully distribute plates of snacks as a movie plays on the flatscreen. He looks like a preschooler himself, decked out in a sunflower yellow bucket hat and denim suspenders. Jungkook tries to see if there’s anything strange emanating from Hoseok, like if he also has secrets to hide, but feels nothing of the sort.  

“You’re really creepy, Mister,” the door swings open to reveal a little girl, tugging impatiently at his cargos. 

Hoseok makes a face at Jungkook, rolling his eyes. “God, just come in. You’re scaring my children.” 

The little girl practically shoves him inside, forcing him to sit at the playtable on the very end. She then hands him a plate of cheddar Goldfish and strawberry fruit snacks, a toddler’s delicacy. Hoseok makes a show of telling the children to be quiet, focusing on the movie’s “historical elements” and “symbolic imagery” but they don’t understand any of that and just want Hoseok to move so they can watch Mulan. 

Jungkook feels like he’s being crushed in the too-small chair and Fisher-Price table, munching absentmindedly on his Goldfish. Hoseok is playing on his phone, not sparing him a glance as he texts someone. 

Jungkook swallows, wishing he had some milk to down the snack. “Uh, are you texting y/n?” 

“No,” Hoseok replies coolly. 

“Well, do you know where she is?” 

“I can tell you where she went,” Hoseok replies eerily, plucking a fruit snack from Jungkook’s place, “as to whether she’s still there or not, I’m not sure.” 

“I’m sorry, but are you mad at me?” he whisper-hisses, not wanting to disturb the children enamoured at the front of the room. He’s tired of the secrecy and blurry answers. 

“Yes, I am,” Hoseok snaps just as quietly, leaning in to get into his face, “I’m mad because I believed in you.” 

“Believed in me?” he gapes, “you don’t even know me!” 

“I may not, but I believed you’d trust y/n at least. She’s a victim too, y’know.” 

A victim? 

“Look,” Jungkook puts some space between them, afraid he would get too heated, “just tell me what’s going on so I can understand. I know I messed up, but I feel like I’ve been in the dark for God knows how long.”

Hoseok bites his lip, “It’s really not my story to tell. Y/n didn’t want to tell you right away because she wasn’t sure of the circumstances. She wasn’t sure even if she was supposed to tell you.” 

Jungkook watches the expressions morph on Hoseok’s face. He sees the faith in his gaze, as he holds his phone expectantly, as if he’s also waiting for a sign that you’re okay. Jungkook suppresses a sigh, looking at his own blank screen. Shaking his head, he manages to smile knowing that so many people believe in you.

So why can’t he? 

•━━━━━━»•»💮💮💮«•«━━•••

You hate this. Three days ago you felt peachy keen, ready to transcend into your own universe and live your life to the fullest. 

Now three days later you’re sitting at the wine lady’s cottage, waiting for the past two days for her to show up. 

“How long does she need to go on this ‘spiritual retreat’?” you admonish, looking on angrily at the same waitress that has served you for the past two days. 

“I don’t know,” the waitress has grown tired of your presence, waiting all day in the little restaurant for the owner’s presence, “until she feels more spiritual, I guess?” 

It annoys you further that this waitress has the spitting image of Sehlyung. It’s weird to see her with natural pin straight black hair, always loving the pretty blond-white color and sacrificing her hair health for the bright hue. Every time she sees you still in the same spot, she makes it a point to roll her eyes and walk a little louder. This version of her is just as temperamental, unwilling to budge. 

You groan, shamelessly annoyed as you drop your head on your arm. “And are you sure there’s no angel’s wine in the bar? I’m willing to take the risk of switching lives with my third dimension-self at this rate.” 

The waitress eyes the one empty bottle of soju that decorate your side of the bar, chalking it up as a drunk episode. “No,” she says flatly, jerking her hand out. “Now, please pay and leave. We’re closing up, but I’ll give you a call if she decides to show up late. Since y’know, you’ve left your number here despite our protests.” 

“Can I stay until you’re at least done cleaning—” 

“No.” 

You narrow your eyes, snatching up your half-finished bottle of soju before tucking it in your purse and offering up your credit card in exchange. You know you’re not in the right mind, but you’re pulling at strings at this point and you don’t know what to do. 

After a couple paces of shaky walking and trying very hard not to appear tipsy in public, you plop yourself onto the beach, overlooking the shore. You place your backpack next to you, taking off your shoes and dipping your toes in the sand. 

You glare hard at the moon, despite the distance the big ball of extraterrestrial rock is bright and full. It reflects in the ocean and bathes you in it’s grace. 

Sighing at its beauty, you take a swig of your soju as your feet wade in the water. The touch of the ocean is glaringly cold, but your body feels warm and the contrast is appropriately jarring. You feel stuck between two worlds, your body in one while your heart is in the other, desperate to find the bridge to bring you home. 

What exactly was the goal in bringing you here? Did you need a break from your real life? Did fate want you to remedy your relationship with Jungkook? Were you supposed to rewrite the wrongs you committed in your other life? 

You snort, taking a long swig. It's easy to see how well that went. 

You miss your life back home. As much as you love the one your alternate self has made here, nothing compares to Sehlyung’s humor and dirty jokes. Nothing compares to the look on Beomgyu’s face after getting a sentence translation correct. Nothing compares to the way Jungkook looks for only you after a concert, desperate to give you a hug and an affirmation that he did well. 

Just as you are about to sing to the moon and beg for a reprieve, a body plops themselves next to you, snatching the bottle from your hands. 

“Y’know, normally when people run away, they leave a mysterious note.” 

You frown at Jungkook, who looks absolutely ethereal as he stares at the moon. He’s glittering in his denim jacket and black jeans, as if he’s part of an intimate moment in a slice-of-life film. You have half a mind to grab your phone and yell at Hoseok, but it’s far too late since your location has already been revealed. 

“What are you doing here?” you ask, trying not to snap when Jungkook pours the contents of your drink into the ocean. “Hey, I paid for that.” 

Ignoring you he says, “I’m here to take you home.” 

“I don’t have a home here,” you snap, and you mean it. 

Jungkook digs a hole for your bottle, letting the sea green grass sit in the sandhole. He turns to you, looking weary and worried. You try not to feel worried over the slump in his chest, or the way he looks like he ran a marathon to find you. 

“Then where is your home?” he asks gently, resting an arm over his knee and turning to face you. 

You curl up further into your body, hoping you’ll shrink if you press your legs close enough to your chest. “It’s not here,” you mumble into your knees. 

“Tell me where,” and you don’t shove him away when he puts his palm on your thigh, coaxing you out of your shell. “I’ll listen this time.” Deathly slow, you lift your head up, letting him catch your stray tears and spread your body with warmth. He scoots over to you, the rough sand making it difficult as he tries to wrap his arm around you. The both of you let out a breath, missing each other’s touch. “I’m sorry,” he says, the apologies melting into your temple, “I should’ve listened from the beginning, and been more patient. It’s my fault you’re all the way out here.” 

The oceans crash against both of your feet, the water eager to swallow you whole. 

“Two months ago I got into a fight with you, the other you,” you start, and Jungkook doesn’t budge, and you’re thankful he doesn’t attempt to bombard you with questions, “it wasn’t a stupid fight. It was something building for a long, long time. And I came home drunk. One second, I was two seconds away from being sideswept by an incoming truck, and the next second it’s daytime and it’s you that nearly runs me over.” 

He rubs small circles into your shoulder, and you almost hum at his touch. You miss Jungkook so much. 

“The Jungkook I’ve told you about isn’t dead,” you explain, “he’s—and I’m, we’re from another universe.” 

And between you, Jungkook, and the moon you profess your journey. Starting from the anxiety you felt from the first week, how you holed yourself in your apartment until Namjoon had to whisk you out, to your relief when Hoseok believed your crazy ideas. Halfway through you decide to piece your theories within the story, your last conversation with Jungkook, coupled with the angel’s wine and explaining how scary it was to see your matching tattoos and the meaning behind them. 

“But, I wasn’t trying to fall in love with you so I could go home,” you admit tearfully, feeling the weight of the night on your shoulders, “it, it just happened naturally. It made me believe that in another world, we would’ve worked out. Just like he said.”  

“I believe you,” he says firmly, exhaling. The whole explanation, understatedly, is a lot to take in. But he isn’t going to reject it, in fact as absurd as it is it makes far more sense than you planning out a Jungkook-inspired sci-fi novel or questioning your sanity. “I—I didn’t want to at first. It was easier to say you were crazy but, it doesn’t seem like the case. The way you saw me that morning we met, I could see how much you cared for me—him—us?” he scratches his head, unsure of how he should refer to himself in the situation.  

“I don’t blame you,” you shake your head, “Namjoon wanted me to see a doctor.” 

“It must’ve been hard,” he states, “seeing so much of him in me.” 

“You are him,” you retort, looking up so that your noses are touching. There’s pain in both your gazes, equally upset at the circumstances. “I’m sorry you got the short end of the stick. I wish you could’ve met me, the other me, under normal circumstances.” 

“Remember what I said before?” he asks, lifting a hand to brush your hair behind your ear. “I said that our meeting was fate. And now I believe it more than ever.” 

You laugh, leaning your head against his shoulder. “Y’know, Jungkook believes in fate too. He used to joke about hearing the bell when he found ‘the one’ like in Kimi No Na Wa.” 

Jungkook grins, “That guy of yours seems pretty cool,” he jokes, “let him know that in our case, the bell was my horn because I didn’t wanna run you over.” 

The whole situation is confusing, but you’re thankful that Jungkook seems to be at ease now that all your cards are laid out. 

“So does your Jungkook do film too?” 

“Uh,” you choke out a cough, “he’s actually a singer, dancer, producer, and films when he has the time. Mostly singer, the main one in a K-pop group. With Hoseok, Jimin, Taehyung, Yoongi, Namjoon, and Seokjin.” 

He gapes, “Kim Seokjin? The actor Seokjin? Damn he’s like, super fine—” 

“God this is so weird.” 

“So how many figures are they making a year? In the hundred-thousands, like six-figures?” 

“Er, more like eight,” you squeak, “and then some. But you put a lot of your money into donations.” 

“Damn babe, you downgraded,” Jungkook jokes, and you smack him playfully on the arm. “So that’s how you got the song, huh?” 

“Still With You? Yeah,” you say, running your hands through the soft sand, “it’s weird to live in a world without your music, byproduct of my job. It happens to be a big part of my life,” your eyes glaze over the ocean, “I missed hearing your voice.” 

“Y/n,” Jungkook threads his fingers through the sand to find your hands, “I’m really, really sorry I doubted you.” 

You disagree, “It’s a crazy situation. I don’t even know if I’m really sane at this moment,” you chuckle, “I mean, the time went by so fast. I would be paranoid because for you, it’s like being in a new relationship. I didn’t think it would be so easy to love you all over again like that.” 

“Neither did I.” Jungkook replies warmly, and he smiles when he sees you gaping. He leans over to press a kiss to your lips, a feeling long-missed. “And a little part of me knows he feels the same way, too.” 

•━━━━━━»•»💮💮💮«•«━━•••

It’s almost 12AM before you return to your apartment, dripping wet because neither of you anticipated the sudden spring shower. You tumble in like wet noodles, giggling like children in hushed whispers as you struggle to find the lightswitch. 

The lights blare on for you, Taehyung’s fingers hanging by the toggle. His hair is wet from the shower, and he looks like he sees a Christmas miracle when he wraps you up in his arms, despite the protest of you being dirty with sand and salt. 

“You dummy, don’t ever scare me like that ever again!” he sobs into your shoulder, and you return the embrace as you pat his head comfortingly. 

“Sorry Tae,” you say, “had to do a little soul-searching.” 

Jungkook rolls his eyes, more like world-searching if anyone were to ask his honest opinion. But Taehyung is looking past your body to mumble a teary ‘thank you’ to Jungkook, and he nods his head politely. 

“Well next time you soul search, you better call.” 

“Done and done.” 

Satisfied that you are going to stay the night and not budge, Taehyung returns to his room. He gives you a good scolding however, and he makes you promise that you’ll give him the full story over breakfast. 

After that bump, Jungkook and you can’t keep your hands off each other. You two shower the grime off your bodies, taking turns shampooing and scrubbing. Even after you’re clean and towel-dried, Jungkook’s fingers fail to untack from your skin, pushing you eagerly to your mattress as he presses kisses along your clothed body. He’s singing against your skin, waxing poetics about how beautiful you are and how much he loves you. 

“Jung—koo, Jungkook,” you say breathlessly, running your fingers through his damp locks, “Taehyung’s in the other room, we can’t be loud.” 

“Don’t,” kiss, “give,” kiss, “a fuck,” Jungkook pants, large hands trailing over your soft skin, memorizing every inch of you, He presses his length against your thigh, insistent, “if this is the last time, we’re going off with fireworks, baby.” 

And with that, you relent. It’s nothing short of electric, the way he takes great care but great power into your pleasure. He takes his time, as if it isn’t the first and last night, tracing every inch of your body because he doesn’t know what the future entails for the both of you. 

You’re equally stung like live-wire, wracking with pleasure as he seals his affirmation to you with sweet nothings, bodies pressed against each other feverently like they’ve always meant to be. Every bit of contact is purposeful, unbridled and overflowing with affection. 

When you’re done you’re both sweaty and almost painfully content, acceptant of the ambiguity of your futures. 

“Jungkook?” you ask, holding his hand tightly.

“Yes, pretty girl?” 

“Will you… fall in love with me again?” 

“Is that even a question?” he balks, leaning forward to peck your nose. He smiles at the way you scrunch your face. “Your office hours are 1-3PM, Mondays and Thursdays in the general library. If you’re not there, you’re teaching the History of Neuroscience in the ARC building on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:20 to 12:10. I also know where you live, so.”  

You don’t care how sweaty you are, and tuck your head underneath his chin, needing to be closer. 

“I will find you,” he promises, “hopefully not under my bike the second time around, but I’ll take what I can get.” 

“You’ll have a lot of explaining to do, y’know,” you sigh into his chest, feeling it rumble as your hair dampens. Your hair has dried long ago from the shower, but you know Jungkook’s trying hard to be strong as he cries into your crown, “you should leave before I wake up, just in case.” 

“Hoseok and I will handle it,” Jungkook assures you, “we’re like the Power Rangers, defenders of space and time.” 

“Alright Red Ranger, make sure you’re at least clothed before I wake up, then.” 

He pulls away lightly, seeing your equally red-rimmed eyes and ruddy cheeks. Both of you bump arms as you try to wipe away each other’s tears. The moon continues its power over your bodies, the only source of light in the room. Despite its movement since your time at the beach, it continues to illuminate the room and make the moment glisten with the rhythm of time. 

“You really think this is the end for us, huh?” his voice cracks, his hands cradling your face. 

Stretching to reach him, you press a kiss on every available centimeter of skin on his face. His forehead, his cheeks, his chin, his lips. You take care to kiss the tears away, silently wishing nothing but the best for him. He immediately melts into your touch, and he gives you a teary smile. 

“It’s not the end,” you assure, “it’s our beginning. Thank you, for loving me.” 

Jungkook nods, pressing a long, sweet kiss to your lips. “I can’t wait to fall in love with you again.” 

The two of you sleep like that, not with a goodbye, but with a promise. 

•━━━━━━»•»💮💮💮«•«━━•••

W1. 

When you wake up, it’s loud. 

The transition is jarring, painfully so. Gone are your soft flannel comforter, replaced with dry, scratchy sheets that are a poor excuse for bedwear. Your hands are heavy, bounded by the fluids snaking into your bloodstream. Your eyes are crusty and bleary, taking in the plain white and wood room. The sharp sound of the monitor reverberates in your ears, a high-pitched reminder of your slow vitals. 

Everything is painful, confirming that in fact you did get hit by that truck. You give props to your alternate self for dealing with this for the past two months. 

Your eyes dart around the room, taking in the night sky and the full moon looming above you. The only other person in the room is your baby niece, who is just short of five years old. She has since ceased coloring at her little table, her little mouth gaping open like a pufferfish. You make eye contact with her, and she nearly spills over her 64-count Crayola pack as she throws herself off the chair, running over to reach for your hand. 

“Auntie!” she cheers, the biggest smile on her face, “you’re awake! Mama said you were hibernating like bears do, and that you would probably wake up by spring time. She was right!” 

Although it pains you to smile, you manage to squeeze her hand in return. You open your mouth, the inside feeling tacky and gross. “Ah-ah,” you grimace when no sound comes out, just rasps and ghosts of what once was your voice. 

Your niece’s face crumples, and she lets go of you. “Imma go get mama, she’ll bring help!” 

She leaves you alone to succumb to the beeps of your monitors and the pain in your bones. Your fingers grapple the paper-thin sheets, and your gaze drifts to the moon. You think of Jungkook, sleeping blissfully in bed, holding you with so much tenderness and care. In a matter of what felt like minutes since you fell asleep in his arms, disappears just like that. 

The doctors and your family find you hysterically crying, the monitors going crazy as you hyperventilate yourself into a stupor. You feel like you’re choking on air, whatever little tubes in your body restricting access to fully express how torn and conflicted you’re feeling all over again. The medical expertise does work to evacuate your family, chalking your reactions up as your trauma catching up to you and the shock of the past two months hitting you full force. 

•━━━━━━»•»💮💮💮«•«━━•••

It’s nearly 3AM when the music cuts out with no explanation, and Jungkook is annoyed. He just got that set down and he finally felt confident in adding facial expressions, but the manager killed the music and now his head is spinning. 

He’s heaving, hands on his head as he tries to get his body back to equilibrium. He watches intently as Namjoon immediately takes the call, not even bothering to leave the studio to answer it. The rest of the members watch as Namjoon’s expressions morph into happiness, combined with short “yes”es and “I understands.” 

Namjoon makes eye contact with Jungkook first and beams, “She’s awake!” 

What originally felt like a hot and stifling room, immediately dissipates into an air of relief. While not all the members may not know you personally, the thought of a fellow co-worker on the road to recovery is enough to ease their exhaustion. 

“What?” Jungkook doesn’t hide it, and collapses on the floor, thoroughly spent for today. “Is she okay?” 

“Well, she actually just passed out. But she’s conscious.” 

“What, why?” Jimin asks, rolling a water bottle over to Jungkook. 

“Doctors say she woke up in a panic, started freaking out when it sunk in that she’s been in a coma since winter.” Jungkook’s heart squeezes painfully of the thought of you scared and feeling trapped in that small hospital bed. 

“Well, can we go see her in the morning?” Jungkook says hopefully, biting his lip. 

“We can’t,” Namjoon confesses, looking down at his shoes in disappointment, “at least not right now. y/n was apparently terrified. The doctors think she’s suffering from some form of PTSD, because she can’t recall anything that happened after she got hit. Her guardians are sending her to a facility for her to process her trauma. It’s in the countryside, and she’s not allowed visitors until she’s fully recovered.” 

Just when Jungkook thinks he has you back, you’re already far from his reach. He should be happy, knowing that you are well on your way to get better. He’s thankful enough that you’re finally awake. But the small, selfish part of him wants to visit you, and comfort you. 

Whether you’ll let him or not is your choice, but this time, he decides he’s going to fight for you. 

[bittysvalentines]

Gravity Can Forget

From: @the-lincyclopedia

To: @loveyoutoobits

Summary: Jack takes such good care of Eric after Eric's concussion that Eric can't help but develop feelings. Too bad Jack is straight . . . right? 

Rating: T

Tags: Concussions, Hurt/Comfort, Coming Out, Year 1 (Check Please!), Getting Together, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Limited, Present Tense

“Bittle. I’ve got your back.” 

The words echo around Eric’s head as his ears ring. The crowd seems to be making noise—a lot of noise, actually, enough to worsen his headache—but their roar is competing with the ringing in his ears and the ghost of Jack’s words. It’s a lot of sound to take in, and Eric shuts his eyes as if eliminating input to one sense will make it easier to handle the overwhelming input to another. He’s not sure how he wound up laying on the ice; the last thing he remembers is Jack talking to him on their way out of the huddle. 

The next thing he knows, there’s a hand on his shoulder. He can feel its weight through his pads, but it’s not shaking him; it’s just resting there. 

“Bitty,” he hears. It’s Jack’s voice. “Bits, are you conscious? Wake up for me, please.” 

“’M awake,” Eric mumbles.

“Merci à Dieu,” breathes Jack. “Can you open your eyes, bud?” 

Eric groans but opens his eyes. There are stars in his field of vision. He blinks several times, but they don’t go away. He’s dizzy. 

Two pairs of feet—wearing shoes, not skates—stomp-shuffle into view. The legs they’re attached to bend, and then Hall and Murray’s faces enter Eric’s field of vision. “Come on, Bittle,” says Hall. He slides his hands under Eric’s armpits and pulls Eric upright. “Can you skate?”

Eric considers the question. It feels like his brain is working more slowly than usual. “Maybe?”

Hall puts his arms around Eric in a sort of side-hug, and Murray adds a hand against Eric’s back, and the three of them make their slow, halting way off the ice. There seems to be . . . clapping? Eric isn’t sure what’s happening until he hears his name: Bitt-le, Bitt-le, Bitt-le. He’s surprised. He knows his name is on the back of his jersey, but he’s just a frog. Nobody really knows who is—right? 

Lardo gives him a shaky smile when he makes it to the bench. “You okay, dude?”

Eric starts to shake his head and immediately regrets it. So much nausea. “Not great,” he mumbles. 

She reaches out a hand as if to clap him on the shoulder and then seems to think better of it. “You did great. Proud of you.” 

“Thanks,” Eric mumbles.

“Larissa, can you take him to urgent care?” Hall asks. Murray’s hand is no longer on Eric’s back, and Murray himself isn’t in Eric’s field of vision. When did he leave? “I’ll come as soon as the game is over—you’ll probably still be in the waiting room. He’s conscious, so it’s probably fine for him not to go to the emergency room, but we should get him checked out tonight. Someone will need to stay with him all night if he has a concussion, but we can figure that out later.” 

“All right,” says Lardo. She stands and maneuvers Eric’s arm over her shoulder. “Let’s go, Bitty.” 

Lardo helps Eric to the locker room and oversees him taking off his skates and pads. She grabs his bag out of his cubby and makes sure his wallet is there, with his insurance card in it, before they leave the arena. Eric gets the most carsick he’s been in ages on the drive to the hospital, but he manages to avoid actually throwing up until they’re in the parking lot. Lardo, to her credit, just rubs Eric’s back as he hurls and then helps him walk around the puddle and into the building. 

After Lardo helps Eric check in, the two of them sit down and Lardo takes out her phone. “Well, we won,” she says. 

“Huh?” Eric asks. 

“Samwell won the game. It’s over already. Jack says he and Hall are going to head to the hospital soon.” 

“Oh. Good,” says Eric. He’s vaguely aware that ordinarily he’d be tweeting right now, but the prospect just seems overwhelming, so he stares at the wall instead. 

He’s not sure how long it’s been when Hall and Jack show up. Hall takes a seat on Lardo’s other side and begins asking her quiet questions, but Jack crouches down in front of Eric and says, “Bits, I’m so sorry.”

Eric isn’t sure what Jack’s apologizing for. The only word he manages to form is, “What?”

“The play was dangerous. All I was thinking about was winning, and I put you at risk for that.” 

“Jack, we play hockey.” 

“Yeah, but that guy boarded Holster. You were so brave, but I shouldn’t’ve—”

“Eric Bittle?” a nurse calls. 

Eric stands and then lurches forward. Jack catches him and throws one of Eric’s arms over his shoulder, which doesn’t work very well given the height difference, and then Eric, Jack, Lardo, and Hall make their way back to a doctor’s office, with Jack half-carrying Eric. 

The doctor asks Eric a number of questions, about both his symptoms and the world at large—he’s dizzy and nauseous, but at least he knows Obama’s the president—and then tests to see whether Eric has double vision (he does) and can walk on his own (kind of). In the end, Eric gets diagnosed with a mild concussion, which makes him wonder what sort of symptoms are required for a serious one. The doctor says he should ask for extensions on all his assignments and do less schoolwork for the next few weeks at least, as well as avoiding exercise and screen time. The doctor also says that someone needs to wake him up every hour that night to make sure he’s still conscious and lucid. 

Hall asks if Eric thinks his roommate would be willing to wake him up all night, but, before Eric can even wrap his head around the question, Jack says, “Don’t worry about that. I’ll do it.” 

“What?” Eric asks. 

“You can stay at the Haus tonight. You can take my bed and I’ll take the floor. I’ll wake you up every hour.” 

“But why?” Eric feels so confused. 

Jack looks pained. “Because it’s my fault you’re hurt. Let me take care of you, all right?”

Eric feels like he should argue, but he also feels like he might throw up, so he decides to just say, “Okay.” Hall and Lardo are looking between him and Jack, and Eric can’t read their expressions, but he’s too tired to care. 

Jack supports/carries Eric out of the hospital and back to Lardo’s car, and then the three of them drive back to the Haus. Eric winds up borrowing one of Jack’s T-shirts and some of Lardo’s sweatpants to sleep in (Lardo makes a “never thought you’d get in my pants” joke that Eric ignores), and he wipes his top half down with a washcloth rather than showering, since he’s still pretty unsteady on his feet. He brushes his teeth by putting some of Jack’s toothpaste on his finger, and he doesn’t bother washing his face or even looking for floss. He’s exhausted and he feels awful. All he wants is to faceplant on Jack’s bed. 

Still, he’s a Southern gentlemen. He has to ask. “You sure it’s all right if I take your bed? I feel bad about kicking you out.” 

“Bits. You literally have a traumatic brain injury because I made a bad decision. You have every right to take my bed. Just try not to hate me when I wake you up all the time, all right? I want to let you sleep, but your safety matters more.” 

“Of course, Jack,” says Eric, and then he crawls gingerly into the bed, because he has a feeling faceplanting would worsen his headache. 

(He kind of hates Jack when Jack wakes him up every hour all night, but he manages not to say anything about it, though that has more to do with talking being difficult than with Eric being tactful.)

Luckily, the next day is a Sunday, so Eric doesn’t have any obligations. He stays in Jack’s bed all day—he’s allowed real naps, without the hourly wakeup, after eight a.m.—and Jack brings him food periodically and keeps the blinds shut. When it’s dinner time, Jack orders them both takeout and they both sit cross-legged on Jack’s bed to eat it. 

“Do you want me to email your professors and tell them you won’t be in class for a few days?” Jack asks. 

Eric groans. “I’m already kind of behind in my classes.” 

There’s a pause when Eric suspects Jack might be restraining himself from saying something unkind. Then Jack says, “Do you think you can handle class tomorrow?”

Eric finishes chewing his bite and says, “Ugh. No.” 

“Okay then,” says Jack. “I’ll email your professors. I can get your schedule from Lardo.” 

“Thanks,” says Eric. 

They don’t talk much for the rest of the meal. After Jack cleans up their trash, he offers to walk Eric back to his dorm, and Eric agrees. Eric is steadier on his feet now, which is good, but Jack keeps an arm around him anyway. Eric tries to ignore the warmth that spreads through him from the points of contact. Jack is straight, and he’s just doing this out of a sense of duty and guilt. 

The next few weeks are hard. Eric spends three more days in bed before venturing to class, and then he finds his focus is worse than ever, which is saying something—his ability to pay attention has always been so bad that he hadn’t realized it was possible for it to get worse. Reading is also hard, and screens give him terrible headaches so quickly that he can’t deal with his email or typing up his papers at all. He spends his whole printing budget (and then Ransom and Holster’s printing budgets, once his runs out) printing out the scanned readings that his professors have put up on their class websites. He starts writing papers by hand and Shitty types them up, since Shitty turns out to be the only one on the team who can read Eric’s handwriting. His professors are being okay about giving him extensions, and the team is being wonderfully supportive, but he still feels like he’s limping to the finish line of this semester, and his grades are not going to be what he’d hoped. 

On top of all of Eric’s academic and concussion-related problems, the team loses their next game, knocking them out of the playoffs. After the loss—which Eric half-watches on the Haus TV, because there’s no way he’d be able to handle the noise level in the arena—Shitty texts the group chat comprising the team minus Jack (the group chat normally reserved for inappropriate jokes and planning kegsters) and tells everyone sternly that they are to leave Jack alone until Jack comes to them, and that he, Shitty, will be checking on Jack and there’s no need to double up because that’ll only make Jack annoyed. 

Which is why Eric is so surprised that Jack keeps checking on him daily after the loss. It was also a surprise right after Eric got concussed, because the team was training feverishly for the next round of the playoffs, but it’s even more of a surprise the day after the team gets knocked out of the playoffs, because Eric has seen how hard Jack takes regular-season losses, and this was the last game of the season. 

But, in spite of Eric’s expectations, Jack keeps sending How are you texts, keeps dropping by Eric’s dorm with food or medicine, keeps inviting Eric to the Haus. Eric’s stomach flips a little every time it happens, and eventually he can’t put it down to concussion-induced nausea anymore. It’s so inconvenient that he has a crush on Jack, his straight, hockey-robot captain, but that’s undoubtedly what’s happening. 

The poll for the hockey awards and for next year’s captain hits Eric’s email a couple weeks after the concussion, and Eric forces himself to deal with the screen time in order to vote. He reads the descriptions of the awards—the Carlisle Award mentions “enthusiasm,” which SMH is basically drowning in, but ultimately Eric votes for Shitty—and of course he votes for Jack for captain. The team comes first and last for Jack, and Eric is positive that, without Jack’s help with checking, he wouldn’t still be on the team—he probably wouldn’t even still be at Samwell. And that’s not even mentioning Jack taking care of him these past two weeks. 

The banquet is a week later. Eric is shocked when he receives the Carlisle Award but not at all surprised when Jack is unanimously voted captain. Jack seems surprised, though. After the banquet, he catches Eric on the way out and says, “Hey, Bits, can I talk to you about something?”

Eric keeps glancing at Jack while the rest of the team files out of the clubhouse, but Jack doesn’t say anything more to him while the other guys leave. At last, everyone else is gone, and Jack says, “Would you mind walking with me?”

“Sure,” says Eric. He’s got a baseball cap with him that doesn’t work at all with his suit, but direct sunlight still hurts enough that Eric’s willing to let his style drop a bit. He puts the cap on as the two of them step outside. 

“I, um, I wanted to thank you for voting for me,” says Jack. “I know I haven’t always treated you well—I haven’t treated you the way a captain should—and just when you started trusting me I let you down. I can’t tell you how sorry I am, for both of those things, and I feel like I don’t deserve your vote, but I’m, uh, really grateful that you voted for me anyway.” 

Eric puts a hand on Jack’s arm. “Of course I voted for you, Jack,” says Eric. “You’re a great player, but you’re also a great friend. I probably wouldn’t have been able to stay on the team without your help with checking, and you’ve been so good to me these past few weeks as I’ve been dealing with the concussion.” 

“You skipped some details,” says Jack, “but, if that’s how you want to remember it, that’s okay with me.” 

They haven’t walked very far yet, and Eric’s wondering if all the fanfare was for this. “Is that what you wanted to say to me? That you’re glad I voted for you?”

Jack runs a hand through his hair. “No. I mean, kind of, I guess? I definitely wanted to say it. But there’s another thing I wanted to say too. Well, two other things.” He clears his throat. “So, um, first of all, I’m bisexual.” 

Eric squeaks in surprise. “You—really? Oh wow, Jack! That’s great! I mean, not that you wouldn’t be great if you were straight. Just—thank you for telling me!” 

Jack chuckles a little. “You’re welcome. Um. Now the hard part. And I know there’s like a 99% chance that the answer’s going to be no, and I want you to feel free to say that. Like, this is me speaking as your friend, not your captain. Everything’s going to be fine if you say no, with the team and with me personally. Shitty knows I’m doing this, and he’s going to check in with me in like an hour, and he’s really good at cheering me up. So just say whatever you want to say.” 

Eric doesn’t know what this is about. He knows what he’d like it to be about, but that would be delusional, right? “Jack. What is it?” 

“I, um, I wanted to ask you out? And I know it’s rotten timing because the school year is almost over and we’re going to be in separate places over the summer, and, again, you can absolutely say no and everything will be fine, but Shitty gave me a pep talk and told me to go for it, and—”

Eric, who’s been feeling like a balloon has been expanding inside of him, suddenly deflates. “Shitty put you up to this?”

Jack stops walking. “What? No, Bits, no no no! I’m asking because I want to ask. I just wouldn’t have had the courage to do it if Shitty hadn’t talked to me about it.” 

“Oh,” says Eric. 

“You can say no, Bits—it really will be fine—”

“You silly boy,” says Eric gently. “Of course I’m saying yes.” 

“What—you—really?” Jack gabs. 

“Yeah,” says Eric. “Really.” 

“Do you want to go back to the Haus?” Jack asks. “My room locks—I mean, not that we have to do anything—but we could get a bit of privacy if you want it. Or just hang out with the guys. Whatever you want.” 

“Jack,” says Bitty. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you for weeks. A room that locks sounds great.” 

Eric has never seen a smile this big on Jack’s face.

[riot-in-reverie]

Villainous Neighbors

So sorry I haven't been writing. everything has been hectic with my new job and friends and all that. I’m sorry about the requests and not doing memes anymore. I’ll try to start those. Sorry if you don’t want to be tagged

@cardan-greenbriar-tcp @jamesxdaisy @b00kworm (i think thats you my apoliges if it isn’t) @queen-of-glass @jurdanhell

warning: Dain will become abusive it’s slowly building up to that but signs are shown so I just thought I’d warn you now.

Chapter three 

After some time me and Cardan decided on the design of a 4in gold crown with green jewels that had a black cat sitting inside the crown. I directed him over to the chair in the back while I went and got the stencil. 

I came back and saw him sitting there looking around at my shop curiously. I hope he liked it. I had put my heart and soul into the shop….or what was left of my heart and soul. 

I sat down on the stool next to him and got all my tools ready, as I turned around I noticed he had started to unbutton the top button of his shirt.

“No. That’s not necessary” 

“What?” 

“You can just roll your sleeve up”

He seemed confused but then laughed, it was a very hypnotic laugh if laugh could be described as such. Melodic in a sense but sinister in another. 

 “oh no...It’s...yeah sorry” he rolled up his sleeve but didn’t button up his shirt. I didn’t ask him to just long as he didn’t continue.

 An awkward silence filled the room and I quickly turned on some music. I usually only listen to music when I'm alone and I like my music pretty loud so when I turned the speakers on the music was so loud it almost knocked me to the ground and definitely made Carden jump. I turned it down a little so it was still loud but didn't make your heart skip a beat and it was only then did I recognize the song. Ain't no rest for the wicked was playing, one of my favorite songs. I think I mumbled an apology to him but that might have been only in my head. 

I sat back down like nothing had happened and put on my gloves, starting to clean his upper arm. As soon as I threw away the alcohol wipe I set the stencil and started to get the tattoo gun ready. I couldn’t imagine how scary this was for him. It looked like he was some snobby business owner who has never done a hard day's work, wonder what he’s thinking about some punk girl in a leather jacket about to stick a needle in his flesh. 

I pulled the paper off and looked up at him. He was kinda handsome. I bet he could get away with just about anything with just a simple smile. Probably broken a fair share of hearts as well

“Ready?” I asked 

“Yeah” he responded watching me

“Kay, try not to faint. Some people do”

I pressed the needle to the skin.  Starting in the middle of the design I made long smooth strokes to make the base arches of the crown. Slowly moving to outline and contour the cat Cardan suddenly spoke

“So is this your full time job?” He said probably trying to distract from the pain by talking.

I couldn’t tell him about my life of crime so I nodded slightly “Yeah, What about you? What do you do?”

I started making the lines wider and overlap them, after that sat back to change tools.

“I’m in the business of Chicanery” he said without changing his tone.

I looked up from where I was about to start the shading.

“You're a con man!”

He dramatically put a hand over his heart in what was probably fake offence 

“Well I find that very insulting!” 

I frowned and looked down at the almost completed tattoo. It was too late to quit and why should I? Why do I care what he does? After all, I'm in the crime business too .

“Shading is the most painful part” I warned him before starting 

We didn’t talk for the rest of the time. 

Cardans POV

She was lying.

I don’t know what her second job is but I know she has one. That pause. That slight hesitation told me everything

I really liked the tattoo. It turned out really well and it was in a spot that I could hide it if needed. Though Jude was a lot more interesting than the tattoo. She seems like a very interesting person and I want to see her again but I don't want to get another tattoo. Could I give her my phone number?

"Cash or credit?

"Huh?"

"I said Cash or Credit. As in how are you going to pay me?"

"Oh sorry" I pulled out my wallet and gave her the required amount in cash "Also" I handed her my business card. It wasn't your standard business card, it just had my phone number and my name on a green card with gold leaves hanging from the corners. I didn't want people knowing where I lived or sending me stupid emails when I had better stuff to do.

She took it and made a face "thanks I'll get back to you on that"

I heard a chime behind me and turned my head to see a tall man with curly blonde hair walk into the shop. At first I was confused because on the website it said I was her only customer but things soon became clear as he spoke.

"Hey babe you didn't answer my texts" 

"Yeah sorry I was working"

"I see that now. You could have told me" the man said looking at me like it was my fault she was doing her job.

"I always work Fridays" She said in a timid voice. Very different from the one I had heard just minutes ago.

"Mhmm. Who's he?" He pointed at me and I suddenly felt that the center of this man's attention was a very bad place to be.

"I'm a customer," I said, getting ready to defend my case.

"I wasn't asking you," he said quickly. Jeez well her answer is going to be the same.

He walked right past me and beside her. He wasn't that much taller but it seemed that Jude had shrunken somehow. The man must have noticed the card Jude was still holding. He took it from her fingers and examined it. 

"Your name is Cardan?'

"How'd you guess?" I said with a smile resting an elbow on the counter while my other hand frantically worked on the jerks phone that I had grabbed when he walked past me. I wasn't the best pickpocket but luckily this guy had loose pockets.  

The man frowned and handed the card to me. "Take it back" I shrugged and put it back in my wallet. My eyes casually looked to the left while I did

"Did one of you lose your phone?" 

They both on instinct looked and the man picked it up. "How?...

My phone chimed and I pulled It out "oh that's my Alarm. I have to go but it was nice meeting you both" I waved and walked out the door. I looked down at my phone. Dain. It would take longer to find his last name but I could get it. I didn't know that Jude girl long but I knew her long enough to know she doesn't deserve a grade A asshole like that.

[bechloeislegit]

THE HEART WANTS WHAT IT WANTS

EPILOGUE

A/N: This is set fourteen years after the end of the last chapter. Beca and Chloe are celebrating their fifteenth wedding anniversary.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

Chloe woke with a smile on her face and Beca nibbling on her neck. Chloe sighed and asked, "What time is it?"

"Almost eight," Beca said as she continued to nibble on Chloe's neck.

"Mmmm," Chloe sighed. "I'll give you twenty minutes to stop that."

Beca chuckled softly. "I'm afraid we only have about five before we're going to be overrun by young people."

"Well, then you'd better kiss me properly before they get here," Chloe said and turned to wrap her arms around Beca's neck.

Beca leaned in and kissed Chloe; properly. "Happy Anniversary, babe."

"Happy Anniversary," Chloe responded. "Can you believe it's been fifteen years?"

"Fifteen of the best years of my life," Beca said, kissing Chloe again.

"Mom! Mama!" voices could be heard shouting as the sound of thundering feet came down the hall.

"Here they come," Beca said as she and Chloe sat up with their backs against the headboard.

"Happy Anniversary!" four voices sang out as the kids rushed in and jumped onto the bed.

Beca let out an "oomph" as fourteen-year-old Sophie and nine-year-old Charli landed on her. Their thirteen-year-old son Dylan, and nine-year-old son Ben landed on Chloe who let out a groan.

"Oh, my gosh," Chloe said as she started laughing. "You kids are getting too big for this."

They were all laughing as they untangled themselves. They managed to pull themselves together and sit in a more orderly fashion around their moms.

"Are we going to Aunt Jessica and Aunt Ashley's diner for your Anniversary breakfast?" Dylan asked.

"Of course, it's tradition," Beca said. "So, everyone go and get ready and we'll leave in about forty-five minutes."

The kids squealed and hurried out of the room to get ready. Chloe grabbed Beca and kissed her hard. "We'll continue this later?"

"I promise," Beca said and gave Chloe another quick kiss. "You can shower first."

Chloe got up and made her way into the bathroom. As soon as the door closed, Beca's phone pinged with a text message. She read it and a big smile came to her face. She jumped out of bed and grabbed her clothes for the day.

Beca read through some work emails and was surprised when the bathroom door opened after only twenty minutes.

"That was quick," Beca said when Chloe walked out.

"I didn't need to wash my hair," Chloe said and kissed Beca. "Plus, I'm excited about going to the diner for our traditional anniversary breakfast. Go shower while I get dressed and make sure the kids are getting ready."

Beca kissed Chloe and hurried into the bathroom. She showered in record time and got out; Chloe was already out of the room. Beca hurriedly got dressed and went looking for Chloe.

"Chlo?" Beca called out. "Where are you?"

"I'm in Sophie's room," Chloe called back.

Beca made her way to Sophie's room and looked in. "Everything okay in here?"

"Get the rest of the kids and we'll be down in a minute," Chloe said.

Beca saw the look on Chloe's face and knew they were having a mommy-daughter conversation.

"Okay," Beca said with a soft smile on her face. "You've got ten minutes."

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

"Do you think mama will be mad?" Sophie asked Chloe.

"No, sweetie," Chloe said with a smile. "She'll feel bad that you didn't ask her yourself, but she won't be mad. She loves you so much and she'll be there for you no matter what."

"But, she said I couldn't date until I was sixteen," Sophie said.

"It's a special occasion," Chloe said. "I'll talk to her tonight. We'll need to shop for a nice outfit for you to wear."

"Maybe we can do it after breakfast?" Sophie asked, giving Chloe the puppy dog eyes and pout.

Chloe laughed. "That look doesn't work on me. I invented that look. But, yes, we'll go shopping after breakfast."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Sophie squealed while hugging Chloe.

"Come on," Chloe said. "Your mama will be yelling for us any minute."

Sophie and Chloe both stood from the bed and made their way downstairs.

"It's about time," Beca said. "Let's go. We're all hungry."

"I'm taking my car," Chloe said. "Sophie and I have plans for after breakfast."

"Um, okay," Beca said. "I'll take the other monsters with me and meet you there."

"Stop calling our children monsters," Chloe said with a laugh.

"Fine," Beca said and pulled Chloe into a kiss.

"Awww," the kids all said, causing Beca to flip them off.

"Beca!" Chloe yelled and slapped her arm.

"Can we please go eat already?" Dylan groaned and leaned his full body weight onto Beca. "I could die of starvation."

"Get off me, you big lug," Beca said, shoving Dylan off her.

"Let's go," Chloe said, holding the door to the garage open for Beca and the kids to exit.

Beca stopped in front of Chloe. "Everything okay with, Sophie?"

"Yeah," Chloe said and gave Beca a quick kiss. "Just some girl stuff. I'll tell you about it later."

"Okay," Beca said and ushered Chloe out the door.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

"How was everything?" Jessica asked.

"Superb as always," Beca answered.

"Those bananas foster pancakes were amazing," Chloe said. "I think they're my new favorite."

"Glad you liked them," Jessica said with a smile. "What's in store for the rest of your anniversary?"

"Sophie and I are going shopping," Chloe said with a big smile.

"Can I go shopping, too?" Charli asked.

"It's up to Sophie," Chloe said. "She's the one who asked me to take her."

"Sure, you can go," Sophie said, smiling at her younger sister. "We'll make it a girl's shopping trip. It will be fun."

Charli smiled and thanked Sophie. Dylan and Ben looked at Beca.

"No," Beca said, shaking her head.

"Please, mama?" Ben said with a pout. "We haven't been in ages."

"Ben's right," Dylan said. "And you promised that the next time mom took the girls out we'd go."

"You did promise them, Becs," Chloe said.

"Do you want them to kill me?" Beca asked. "These two take after you and are waayyy too competitive."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Dylan said, causing Chloe and Sophie to laugh.

"Fine," Beca said. "But, we can only play one round. I have something to do at home before your mom gets back."

"What?" Chloe asked.

"That's for me to know," Beca said with a grin. "And you to find out."

"Is it a surprise for me?" Chloe asked, leaning into Beca.

"Maybe," Beca said and kissed Chloe.

"We need to go so we can get home before the girls," Ben said, standing from the table.

"Um, sit down, please," Beca said, looking over at him. "We have to pay the check and then we can leave. Besides, your mom and sisters are going shopping. We won't see them for hours."

"It's your anniversary," Jessica said, waving away Beca's credit card. "Breakfast is on me and Ashley."

"Thanks, Jess," Chloe said and stood to hug her.

"Hey, you leaving already?" Ashley asked as she approached the table.

"Yeah," Beca said. "Chloe and the girls are going shopping, and I'm taking these two monsters to play laser tag."

"Sounds like fun all around," Ashley said. "You guys have fun."

"Thanks, Aunt Ashley," Ben said and hugged Ashley.

"Don't forget me, handsome," Jessica said, holding her arms out.

Ben rolled his eyes and went over to hug Jessica. The rest of the family took turns hugging Jessica and Ashley.

When it was Beca's turn, she discreetly handed Jessica a house key and whispered, "I should be home by one. Text me if you need me to pick up anything on our way home."

"You got it," Jessica whispered back before letting Beca go.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

"Hey, Jess," Beca said as she and the boys entered the kitchen. "The food looks great."

"Thanks, Beca," Jessica said, as she was putting the finishing touches on a cake. "Ashley, Aubrey, Stacie, and Bella are decorating the living room."

"Thanks," Beca said. "What about Amy and CR? Any word from them?"

"Amy's picking CR up at the airport and will be here as soon as she can," Jessica said.

"Perfect," Beca said and turned to the boys. "Go shower and change. Put on some clean jeans and a button-down shirt."

Dylan and Ben ran ahead of Beca and headed upstairs. Beca took a look around and smiled at seeing Aubrey overseeing the decorating.

"Hey, Aubrey," Beca said. "It looks really good in here."

"Thanks," Aubrey said, shooting a smile at Beca. "What time will Chloe be home?"

"I told Sophie to keep her out until about four," Beca said. "That should be plenty of time to have everyone here. Is Emily here yet?"

"She'll be here shortly," Aubrey said. "She was picking up Chloe's folks and your mom from the hotel on her way over."

"Cool," Beca said.

"Hey, Aunt Beca," Bella called out.

"Hey, Bella," Beca said, walking over to the teenager to give her a quick hug. "How's everything?"

"Good," Bella said. "I think you giving Aunt Chloe a surprise anniversary party is sweet."

"Well, she deserves it for putting up with me all these years," Beca said.

"I'll second that," Stacie said as she came over and hugged Beca.

"How was the flight?" Beca asked as she pulled back.

"It was fine," Stacie said.

There was a knock on the door and Beca excused herself to answer. She opened the door to see Emily with her in-laws and her mother.

"Hey, everyone," Beca said. "Come on in."

Everyone entered the house and hugs and greetings were passed around. Emily hugged Beca and went to help Stacie and Bella.

"Hey, mom," Beca said as she hugged the woman.

"Where are my grandchildren?" Sarah asked.

"I was going to ask the same question," Charlotte said as she and Carl walked over to Beca and Sarah.

"I'm doing well, thanks for asking," Beca said with a grin.

"Oh, hush, you," Sarah said. "We love you. It's great to see you. Now, where are our grandchildren?"

Beca laughed and said, "Dylan and Ben are getting dressed. And, Sophie and Charli are keeping Chloe busy. They will be coming home around four."

All eyes turned to the stairs when they heard feet stomping down the hall. Ben and Dylan hit the stairs, pushing and shoving each other as they came down.

"That's enough, you two," Beca said and they immediately stopped shoving each other and walked down the rest of the stairs.

"Grams!" Ben yelled, running over to Sarah.

"Grandma! Grandpa!" Dylan yelled and ran over to Charlotte and Carl.

The grandparents hugged the boys and started chatting with them.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

It was after three when Beca excused herself to shower and change for the party. Beca knew Chloe would be wearing jeans and a button-down shirt of some kind today so she asked the guests to dress the same; they were going to keep it casual.

After showering, Beca dried her hair and put on her jeans. She had taken longer than she had planned so she hurriedly fixed her hair and makeup before grabbing a shirt and putting it on. She started buttoning it as she walked out of the bedroom door.

Just as Beca reached the bottom of the stairs, her phone pinged with a text notification. She pulled out her phone and read the text.

"Okay, everyone," Beca called out. "Sophie just texted and they should be home in about ten minutes."

Everyone started buzzing with excitement. Beca got them quiet.

"They'll be coming from the garage," Beca said. "We should all just stand here so Chloe will see us as soon as she walks through the door."

"Is that when we get to yell surprise?" Ben asked.

"Yes, that's when we'll yell surprise," Beca said. "You boys come stand with me so mom sees us first."

Dylan and Ben walked over to Beca. Ben stood in front of Beca, while Dylan stood to her side. After a few minutes, they hear the garage door opening.

"Okay, everyone," Beca said. "Quiet down."

They stood quietly as they heard voices in the kitchen.

"Becs?" everyone heard Chloe call out. "Becs, where are you?"

"In here," Beca called back.

Chloe came through the door. "Becs, the car was making a-"

"SURPRISE!" everyone yelled causing Chloe to let out a squeal and grab her chest.

"Oh, my God!" Chloe said, looking around at all the smiling faces. Her gaze fell on Beca and she rushed over to her. "Did you do all this?"

"I had some help," Beca said and kissed Chloe. "Happy Anniversary."

"Happy Anniversary," Chloe said and kissed Beca again.

"Happy Anniversary, mom," Dylan said and hugged Chloe.

After that, there were quite a few more hugs and Chloe had tears in her eyes as she thanked everyone for coming.

"Did we really surprise you, mommy?" Charli asked.

"You did, sweetie," Chloe said and pulled the young girl into a hug. "Thank you. I love you guys."

"We love you, too," Charli said.

Beca walked over with the other three children and joined in a family hug. After a moment, Amy joined the hug, and then Stacie, Aubrey, and Bella, and everyone else until it was just one big hug.

"Okay, okay," Beca's voice came from somewhere in the middle of the hug. "That's enough for now."

Everyone laughed as they pulled out of the hug. Beca kissed Chloe one more time.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

About an hour into the party, Amy got everyone's attention.

"Okay, everyone," Amy said. "Get a drink and find a seat. I have a special presentation for Beca and Chloe."

"You find us seats; I'm going to get us something to drink," Beca told Chloe as she made her way to the kitchen.

Everyone got their drinks and came back to find a seat.

"Make sure you can see the TV screen," Amy said.

The last person sat and Amy looked around to ensure everyone was settled.

"We collected pictures and videos of Beca and Chloe, starting from our Freshman Year at Barden," Amy said. "Emily and CR put them all together in chronological order so we can watch how Beca and Chloe progressed from friends to something more."

The video started with various pictures of Beca and Chloe. Chloe standing next to Aubrey during the Activities Fair. One of Beca working at the radio station, frowning as she stacked CDs on a shelf.

Next were pictures from the Bellas rehearsals. Beca looking at Aubrey with her resting bitch face. Chloe 'helping' Beca with choreography.

The next was the Bellas performance at the Sectionals.

"Are you stewardesses?" Ben asked, causing everyone to laugh.

"Nope," Beca said. "Those were the outfits we performed in."

"You look like stewardesses," Ben said, shaking his head.

Beca grabbed him around the neck and kissed the top of his head.

Next was the video for the ICCA Finals in New York.

"I like these outfits better," Charli said.

"Me, too," Beca whispered, causing Charli to laugh.

"We were hot," Stacie said.

"Mom, no," Bella said. "We're all family and we're not going to talk about my moms and my aunts being hot."

"Why not?" Jessica asked. "We were hot."

"What do you mean were hot?" Chloe asked. "We're still hot."

"I'll vouch for that," Beca said, leering at her wife.

Chloe laughed and slapped her on the arm.

"AND back to the video," Amy said.

As soon as the Kennedy Center performance came on, Beca and Chloe both covered Dylan, Ben, and Charli's eyes.

"Amy!" Beca squeaked. "My kids do not need to see your...down under."

Ben and Dylan tried to pull Beca's hands from their eyes. Fat Amy fast-forwarded through the wardrobe malfunction.

The video continued and the kids got a kick out of seeing Beca hanging from the bear trap at the 'retreat.' Everyone watched and comments were made as the video progressed.

During the video of the Bellas' performance at World's, Beca told the kids, "Your Aunt Emily wrote this last song."

"She did?" Charlie asked wide-eyed.

"She did," Beca said.

There were photos of the apartment Beca, Amy, and Chloe shared in New York. More of some of the nights out they shared.

Soon, they reached the USO Tour. Pictures of the Bellas with their security escorts popped up and Chloe bit her lip and glanced at Beca. Beca was leaning forward, a bit stiffly, but showed no other signs that she was bothered. That was until a picture of Chloe and Chicago came on the screen. They were standing together and laughing. Chicago had his hands on Chloe's hips, and Chloe had her hands on Chicago's chest.

Beca swallowed and chewed at the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything. It felt like the photo was on the screen for an exorbitant amount of time.

"Who's he?" Sophie asked, causing Beca, Chloe, and the rest of the Bellas to all look at her. "What? I was just curious. He's kind of cute."

"Oh, God, no," Beca mumbled.

"He was one of the military escorts provided as security for us," Aubrey answered. Chloe mouthed a 'thank you' to her.

The picture changed and the video of Beca performing her first solo concert started. Chloe wiped a tear when Beca pulled them all on stage. Beca sat back and took Chloe's hand. Chloe looked at her and Beca gave her a smile and squeezed her hand. She leaned in and whispered, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Chloe said and turned into Beca to kiss her.

The next part was when they went to L.A. for Beca's first album release party.

Amy looked over at the Mitchell kids. "This is when your moms finally got their heads out of their as-"

"Amy!" Beca said, glaring at the Aussie.

"Right, sorry," Amy said. "This was when your moms finally proclaimed their love for each other. Oh, this is where your mom proposed to your mama."

Everyone watched the screen as Beca walked into the room and you could hear the Bellas start making music with their mouths.

Beca couldn't help the laugh that escaped when Chloe came from behind the Bellas, singing Will You Marry Me while wearing her hospital gown.

"Mom? What are you wearing?" Sophie asked with a grimace.

"It's a hospital gown," Chloe said. "I was in the hospital."

"Why?" Charli asked.

"I had appendicitis," Chloe told her. "They had to take my appendix out."

"Oh," Charli said and went back to watching the video.

"Oh, this is our wedding," Beca said and sat up. She pulled Chloe to her as they watched Emily perform their wedding ceremony.

"Is Aunt Emily a minister?" Dylan asked, looking over at Emily.

"No, Dyl," Emily answered. "I became a marriage officiant for the day so I could marry your moms. They were in a hurry and didn't want to wait any longer than necessary."

"What's that?" Ben asked, pointing to the screen.

"That's the day Sophie was born," Charlotte answered. "We were all there."

"Everyone?" Sophie asked, wide-eyed.

"Yep," Beca said.

There were more photos of Sophie with Chloe and Beca alone, and together. A new video started.

"Amy," Beca said eyeing the screen. "Where did this come from?"

"I took it," Amy said.

"Um, can we maybe not show it?" Beca asked, her cheeks red.

Amy paused the video and everyone balked. "Beca, it's a great video. You should be proud." She turned to Sophie. "Sophie, you'll want to watch this. It's a very special moment between you and your mama."

Sophie looked curiously at Beca. "Can we please watch it?"

Beca grimaced and looked at Sophie. Sophie pulled out the puppy dog eyes and pout. Beca huffed, and said, "Fine. Go ahead, Amy."

Sophie smiled and leaned over to kiss Beca on the cheek.

"Let's see it, Aunt Amy," Sophie said.

"This was when you were about six months old. You had been crying for quite some time. Your mom tried to calm you down. I tried to calm you down. But nothing worked. Your mom was exhausted and so your mama took you and went to your room to try and calm you down."

Amy started the video back up. It opened showing Beca pacing back and forth with Sophie in her arms.

"It's okay, Soph," Beca said as Sophie continued crying.

Beca's arms were getting tired, but she continued rocking Sophie back and forth in her arms.

"Shhh," Beca whispered. "Mommy's really tired so I need you to go to sleep so she will, too. Can you do that for me?"

Sophie let out another cry. Beca looked worn out when an idea came to her.

"I know. I'll sing to you. Okay? How does that sound?"

Sophie continued crying and Beca continued pacing and rocking. She began singing.

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero I am strong and wise And I know no fear But the truth is plain to see She was sent to rescue me I see who I want to be In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes Everyone is equal Darkness turns to light And the world is at peace This miracle God gave to me Gives me strength when I am weak I find a reason to believe In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand around my finger How it puts a smile in my heart Everything becomes a little clearer I realize what life is all about It's hanging on when your heart has had enough It's giving more when you feel like giving up I've seen the light It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future A reflection of who I am and what will be And though she'll grow and someday leave Maybe raise a family When I'm gone I hope you'll see How happy she made me For I'll be there In my daughter's eyes

Sophie looked over at Beca with tears running down her face. Beca looked at her and gave her a teary-eyed smile. She reached behind Ben and took Sophie's hand.

Beca finished the song and wiped at the tears on her face. Sophie had quieted down and was now staring at her.

"You did rescue me, Soph," Beca said. "You and your mommy. I pushed people away and was headed for a very lonely life. And, now, when I look at you, I see nothing but a long and happy life ahead of me. You helped give me that, kiddo. Just by being."

Beca continued to rock Sophie back and forth. She patted her back gently.

"I love you so much, Soph," Beca said through her tears. "And I will never let anyone or anything hurt you. You have to believe that. You can count on me. Always."

Beca looked down to see Sophie fighting to keep her eyes open. She smiled and continued rocking Sophie until she was fully asleep.

"Goodnight, sweet Sophie," Beca said quietly as she kissed Sophie's forehead. She gently held her as she lowered her into the crib.

That video ended and Amy paused it again. Everyone in the room was wiping tears from their eyes.

"Why haven't I seen that?" Chloe asked, her voice thick with emotion.

"I didn't share it with anyone," Amy said. 'I wanted to wait for a special moment and this seemed like the perfect time."

Sophie moved so she was standing in front of Beca. She sat on Beca's lap and threw her arms around Beca.

"I love you," Sophie mumbled into Beca's neck.

"I love you, too," Beca said and kissed the side of Sophie's head.

"I told you," Chloe said, causing Sophie and Beca to look at her. "You're a marshmallow mama through and through."

Beca laughed and scoffed. She wiped her tears and said, "Nope. Badass mama all the way."

"Okay, enough of the mushy stuff," Sophie said as she wiped her face and made her way back to her seat. "Let's see what else you got."

"My pleasure," Amy said.

More photos of the Mitchell family popped up. Soon another video started. This one was Chloe laying in a hospital bed with Beca standing next to her, holding a newborn baby.

"Everyone, we'd like to introduce you to the newest Mitchell," Beca said into the camera. "This is Dylan Carl Mitchell."

A sniffle was heard off-camera. "You named him after me?" Carl could be heard asking.

"We did," Chloe said. "We both liked the name Dylan, and we needed a strong middle name. And we couldn't think of a better name to use than yours."

"That's, um," Carl said, his voice thick with emotion. He sniffled again and said, "Damned allergies."

"Must be this L.A. air," Carl said with a sniffle.

Everyone laughed as the video continued. Videos and photos of Dylan mirrored a lot of those for Sophie. First steps, first time seeing snow; all the firsts every child goes through.

There was a montage of various anniversaries and birthdays that followed. Then another video came on. This time Beca was the one lying on the bed holding a baby wrapped in blue and Chloe was standing next to her holding a baby wrapped in pink.

The camera panned around and showed Charlotte holding Sophie's hand, then Carl, then Sarah holding Dylan's hand, and then the Bellas standing around the room. The camera turned to Amy who was taping.

"We're all here again to witness the birth of the newest Mitchells," Amy said. "Beca didn't want to have to go through pregnancy again, so she had twins."

"Amy," Aubrey can be heard and Amy turned the camera toward her. "That's not how it works. You can't-"

"Don't bother, babe," Stacie said. "Go ahead, Chloe. What did you name them?"

"Well," Chloe said as the camera panned back over to her. "This little darling is named Charlotte Sarah, after the two most amazing women we know. We're going to call her Charli."

Charlotte and Sarah could be heard sniffling. The camera zoomed in on Beca.

"What's the lad's name, Beca?" Amy asked.

"Um, we chose-" Beca stopped as a tear slipped down her cheek.

Chloe walked over to her and sat on the bed, cradling Charli to her. She put an arm around Beca and looked at the camera.

"We named him after Beca's dad," Chloe said. "Everyone, this is Benjamin David Mitchell."

Sarah walked over to Beca and kissed the top of Beca's head. "Your dad would be so proud of you," she whispered.

Beca let out a small sob. "Could you take him for a minute?"

Sarah reached down and took Ben from Beca. "Hello, my handsome boy," Sarah said, looking down at Ben.

Beca wiped her face and looked at Chloe. Chloe, in turn, looked over at her mom. Without a word being spoken, Charlotte walked over and took Charli from Chloe. Once Charli was safely in her grandma's arms, Chloe turned to her wife and pulled her to her.

Beca grabbed the front of Chloe's shirt and cried into her chest. The Bellas wiped their faces and hovered around Sarah and Charlotte, 'oohing' and 'ahhing' over the twins until Beca could pull herself together.

Sophie pulled away from Aubrey and ran over to her mommy. She looked up at her with her big blue eyes and Beca noticed her.

"Hey, Soph," Beca said, wiping her eyes. "Come give mama a hug."

Chloe pulled back from Beca and lifted Sophie onto the bed. Sophie snuggled up next to Beca and Beca held her tight.

"Me hug, too," Dylan said as he ran over to Chloe.

"Come here, my big boy," Chloe said. She lifted him up and placed him on the other side of Beca.

Beca wrapped an arm around Dylan and pulled him and Sophie to her.

"I love you, guys," Beca said, kissing the tops of their heads.

"It's been nine years," Stacie said as she wiped her face. "And that video gets me every time."

"Yeah," Ashley said. "Damned allergies."

Everyone laughed as they wiped their own tears.

Beca didn't say anything. She sat there and Chloe put her arm around Beca's shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

"You okay?" Chloe asked quietly.

"Yeah," Beca said with a smile. "Watching all this has made me realize what a great life we have together."

"I love that song you sang to comfort Sophie," Chloe said, leaning her head on Beca's shoulder.

"I sang it to Charli, too," Beca said. "Thankfully, no one was around to film it."

"Too bad," Chloe said, lifting her head to lay her forehead against Beca's temple. "Just confirms what I've been saying. You're a big marshmallow mama."

"When can we eat?" Dylan asked, causing everyone to laugh.

"It will be a few minutes," Ashley said. "Then we can eat."

"That's pretty much the end of it anyway," Amy said and stopped the video.

Jessica and Ashley went toward the kitchen. A few of the girls followed to help them.

Beca and Chloe stood and walked over to Amy, Emily, and CR. They grabbed all three women and pulled them into a hug.

"Thank you for that, Emily and CR," Beca said. "You, too, Amy. It means a lot that you guys put that together for us."

"It was very special and we will treasure it always," Chloe said, wiping another tear.

"Well, you have everything you need," Amy said. "And, you can buy yourselves whatever you want. This was something that money couldn't buy."

"You got that right," CR said.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

Later that night, the kids and Chloe had gone to their rooms while Beca did some final cleanup from the party.

Beca came back in from taking out the trash and was surprised to see Sophie sitting at the kitchen counter.

"It's late," Beca said as she sat across from Sophie. "I thought you went to bed."

"I did, but, um, I wanted to talk to you about something," Sophie said, chewing her bottom lip.

"Do you need mom for this talk, too?" Beca asked.

"No, just you," Sophie responded.

"Okay," Beca said. "Want some water?"

Sophie nodded her head and Beca got up to grab two bottles of water from the refrigerator. She sat back down and handed the bottle to Sophie. Sophie took it and started peeling at the label while looking down at the counter.

"Hey," Beca said quietly, causing Sophie to look at her. "What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Sophie said. "I, uh, wanted to know if you know anything about my father."

Beca's face showed her surprise. "Um, I don't know if I should say anything without your mom present."

"I wanted to ask mom," Sophie said. "But, I figured it would upset her. I was hoping you'd be honest and answer my questions."

"Wow," Beca said and let out a breath. "Um."

"I'm sorry," Sophie said with a tear in her eye. "I know that you guys chose a donor to have Dylan, Charli, and Ben, so I know they were planned. I also know mom was pregnant with me before you got married. Was I the result of some drunken one-night stand? Was I even wanted?"

Sophie started crying and Beca hurried around the counter and pulled Sophie into her arms.

"Oh, Sophie," Beca said with tears in her eyes. "I swear we wanted you, so much."

Beca stood holding Sophie for a while until her tears subsided. Beca let her go and sat on the stool beside her. She reached over brushed the hair off Sophie's face.

"I don't think I should be the one to say anything about your father," Beca said. "I think your mom would upset that you knew. Especially if she's not the one to tell you."

"Please, mama," Sophie said.

Beca was conflicted but hated seeing Sophie upset. She bit her lip and looked at Sophie.

"I can only tell you a bit, okay?" Beca said with a sigh. "I'll tell your mom what I told you and then maybe you two should talk about it."

"Okay," Sophie said. "What can you tell me?"

"Your mother liked this guy and they got together," Beca said. "Except she didn't know he was married. It was during the USO Tour and about a month after she came home, she found out she was pregnant with you. She called the guy and that's when she found out he was married. He told her that his wife was pregnant and- This part may hurt you. He said he didn't want anything to do with you or your mom. She was understandably upset and wasn't taking it very well."

"What happened?" Sophie asked.

"She was depressed," Beca said. "She wasn't taking care of herself and had stopped talking to your Aunt Aubrey. I tried to reach her and she was ignoring me, too. So, after a couple of days of not being able to reach her, your Aunt Aubrey and I flew to New York to check on her. She pushed me away and I left. Your Aunt Aubrey called grandma and grandpa and took your mom to Atlanta where they came and got her."

"So, how did you two finally get together?" Sophie asked.

"We finally talked and after some feelings were revealed, we decided to be friends again. Although we both wanted more, we were both too emotional for anything at that time. I flew back to L.A. and finished my first album. Your Aunt Amy paid to fly everyone out for my first album release party. While there, your mom was rushed to the hospital and had to have an appendectomy."

Beca took a deep breath and let it out. "When I heard your mom was in the hospital and the surgery could cause her to lose you, I was beside myself. I rushed to the hospital and thankfully everything turned out okay. She had to stay for a week and the doctor didn't want her to fly so we made arrangements for her stay with me until you were born. She had been in the hospital for three days when I proposed to her and she said no."

"Why would she say no?"

"Because she asked me for the wrong reason."

Beca and Sophie both jerked their heads to the kitchen doorway to find Chloe leaning against the door jamb. Beca gave her a soft smile and Chloe walked over and kissed her. She turned and leaned back against Beca so she could see Sophie. Beca put her arms around Chloe's waist and leaned her chin on Chloe's shoulder.

"How long were you standing there?" Beca asked.

"Pretty much heard everything," Chloe responded.

"I'm sorry," Beca said. "I told her she needed to hear the rest from you."

"I know," Chloe said, and lifted Beca's hand to her lips and kissed it.

"So, what was the reason mama asked you to marry her?" Sophie asked.

"I didn't have health insurance," Chloe said. "Your mama was willing to marry me so that I, so that we would have insurance. I was in love with your mama and I told her I wouldn't marry her unless it was because she was in love with me, too. So, I asked her and she said yes."

"We got married four days later," Beca said. "And I've never been happier. So, Sophie, you may not have been planned like your brothers and sister were, but you were definitely wanted."

"Were you ever planning to tell me who my father is?" Sophie asked.

"We were," Chloe said. "But, not until you were eighteen and could decide for yourself whether you wanted to see him or not."

"We were selfish and wanted to put it off as long as we could," Beca added.

Sophie looked back down at the counter, chewing her bottom lip. Chloe pulled back to look at Beca. Beca looked at Sophie.

"Do you want to know who he is?" Beca asked.

"No," Sophie said quickly, surprising both Beca and Chloe "He's had almost fifteen years to find me if he wanted to. I mean, you're Beca Mitchell, and we've been all over the entertainment media sites with you during most of that time. Everyone knows your name and mom's name, and they know who we kids are so we, I, wouldn't be that hard to find." Sophie looked at her moms. "He was in one of those pictures in Aunt Amy's video, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was," Chloe answered.

"Too bad for him," Sophie said. "He'll never have the chance to see me. It's his loss really."

Beca and Chloe both chuckled at that. "That it is," Beca said. "Because you are awesome and I am so thankful that he didn't want you. It means that I get to call you my daughter and that means the world to me."

Tears sprang to both Sophie and Chloe's eyes. Sophie leaned over and pulled Beca and Chloe to her in a hug.

"Thank you," Sophie said. "For being my moms."

"No better job in the world," Beca said, pulling her two girls tighter to her.

After a minute, Sophie pulled back and looked at Beca. "There's something else I wanted to ask you about," Sophie said.

Chloe knew what Sophie wanted and pulled away from Beca to stand next to Sophie.

"Is this about why you guys went on that little shopping trip today?" Beca asked, looking between Chloe and Sophie.

"Yes," Sophie said, nodding her head.

Took in a deep breath. "Okay," she said. "What is it?"

Sophie looked at Chloe, who nodded her head. "Well, my best friend Kelsey is having a birthday slash pool party for her birthday. It's after mine, ours. And, it's going to be a, um, boy/girl party."

"You mean like you'll all have dates?" Beca asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yes," Sophie said. "I know I'll only be fifteen, but there's this guy at school who I really like and I was wondering if I could ask him to go with me."

Chloe looked at Beca and Beca looked back at Chloe. "You knew about this earlier and couldn't give me a heads up?"

"I told Sophie I would talk to you for her," Chloe said. "She took it upon herself to ask you."

"I'm guessing you don't have a problem with her dating before she's sixteen," Beca said.

"Not really," Chloe said. "But, I told her it was up to you and I would support your sticking to the no dating until she was sixteen rule if you said no."

"I see," Beca said. She crossed her arms and looked down at the floor.

Sophie was getting anxious and looked at Chloe. Chloe put a hand on her back in support and waited.

Beca took in a breath and looked up. She couldn't help the laugh that escaped from her lips. She was looking at the two look-alike redheads giving her the Beale puppy dog eyes and pout.

"You two don't play fair," Beca said with a laugh. "Okay, you can-"

Sophie squealed and jumped off the stool to grab Beca in a hug.

"Wait," Beca said, causing Sophie to pull back from the hug. "I'll agree to the dating, but on two conditions."

"What conditions?" Sophie asked.

"One, we have to meet this boy before the party," Beca said. "And, two, I get to be a badass mama and give him the 'you hurt my daughter and I'll hurt you' speech."

"Mom," Sophie whined, looking at Chloe.

"Don't look at her," Beca said. "We, as in the two of us, agree to those two conditions or it's a no go."

Chloe leaned in and whispered something to Sophie. Sophie smiled and nodded her head. She looked at Beca, held out her hand, and said, "Deal."

Beca narrowed her eyes and looked at Sophie and Chloe. "Why do I feel like I just got played?"

Chloe laughed. "I just told her that is she didn't agree, she would have to wait until she was sixteen to date while all her friends would already be dating."

"Okay," Beca said. She took Sophie's hand and shook it. Sophie grabbed Beca into a hug, then turned and hugged Chloe.

"It's late," Chloe said as she pulled out of the hug. "You should go up to bed."

"Goodnight, mom," Sophie said and kissed Chloe on the cheek. "Goodnight, mama." She kissed Beca and skipped out of the kitchen.

Chloe moved to stand between Beca's legs and put her arms around her neck. "Total marshmallow mama."

"Yeah, well," Beca said, putting her arms around Chloe's lower back. "I love that kid. I also trust her and she's got a good head on her shoulders."

Chloe leaned in and kissed Beca. It progressed a little bit before Chloe pulled back and stared into Beca's eyes. "I seem to recall a promise of some anniversary sex. We have-" Chloe leaned back to check the clock on the wall. "We have fifteen minutes left for our anniversary and you always keep your promises."

"That I do," Beca said and pinched Chloe's butt.

Chloe squealed and pulled away from Beca laughing. "Last one upstairs is a rotten egg."

Chloe took off with Beca close behind her. Both were laughing as they reached their bedroom. Beca grabbed Chloe and pulled her to her. She kissed Chloe while fumbling around for the doorknob behind Chloe's back. She pulled back with a laugh as the door opened and they stumbled into the room. They were both giggling as Beca pushed the door closed behind her.

Down the hall, Sophie smiled as she drifted off to sleep to the sound of her moms giggling.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

Song used: In My Daughter's Eyes by Martina McBride

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to post this. This is actually the third Epilogue I wrote; I had almost completed two others but scrapped them because they were becoming too angsty and I wanted more fluff. I hope you enjoyed it and the rest of the story.

[splendidlyimperfect]

Gray hasn’t seen Natsu in years - not since he moved away with his boyfriend Joel and Natsu stopped texting him. A chance run-in at a bar brings Natsu back into Gray’s life, but the encounter puts Gray in danger when Joel finds out. Natsu quickly realizes that Gray’s stuck in a cycle of violence, and wants to help him escape. But leaving isn’t that easy, and sometimes loving someone might not be enough.

Chapter Summary: Natsu helps Gray plan for the future. Joel gets jealous, and Gray daydreams about what could have been. .

Chapters (14/22):  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 ] 14 Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster, Gray Fullbuster/Original Male Character(s) Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Abuse, Abusive Relationships, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rape Aftermath, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Natsu just wants to help, but Gray feels like he can’t leave, Non-Linear Narrative, Trans Character, Tumblr: FTLGBTales, ftlgbtpride2019, Coming Out, First Love, Angst with a Happy Ending, I promise

** TW for abuse and implied noncon

-----

i wanna come home to you

long·ing | \ ˈlȯŋ-iŋ noun :  a strong desire, especially for something unattainable

.

xiii september .

Fall comes, and with it, believable excuses for long-sleeved shirts and scarves. Joel’s work gets busier, so while he’s angry more often, he also spends a lot more time at the office and leaves Gray alone.

Gray spends most of the free time picking up extra shifts at the restaurant. Joel hadn’t let him leave the apartment for over a week after he’d bruised Gray’s face, and Gray had almost lost his job. Lucy vouching for him being ‘sick’ had been the only thing that had convinced Jeremy to keep him, so now Gray’s determined to make up the missing hours.

The other benefit of Joel working more is that it leaves Gray with more time to talk to Natsu. When Gray’s calling card had run out of minutes, they’d both downloaded Skype. Seeing Natsu’s blurry face on the phone screen for the first time had been a terrifying relief.

“You should pack up a bag,” Natsu says one afternoon near the end of September. They’re both lying on their beds while they chat, and Gray can see Natsu’s cat Happy curled up beside him. Natsu looks content, but his voice is serious.

“Why?” Gray asks, even though he knows exactly what Natsu means.

Natsu gives Gray a look. “I know you can’t leave,” he says, “but what if you wanted to, one day? Or you had to?”

Gray presses his face into the pillow, letting the idea float through his mind. It seems so easy when they talk, and there have been a few times where Gray has been this close to asking Natsu to come get him.

But then Joel comes home with Gray’s favorite coffee, or takes him out for dinner, or tells Gray he loves him, and Gray feels so guilty. He has to stay. Joel needs him.

“What would I put in it?” Gray asks eventually, peeking up at Natsu.

“Your license,” Natsu says immediately. Gray has a feeling he’s rehearsed this. “Any paperwork you have – birth certificate, or name change paperwork, things like that.”

“Joel has all that at work,” Gray says dully, hugging the pillow to his stomach. “I have an ID, but I don’t have a license.”

“Okay, your ID then,” Natsu says. “Do you have anything with your name on it? Your health care card? SIN card?”

Gray shakes his head, refusing to look at the screen. “Joel keeps it all.” He feels so small and stupid. “Everything’s under his name.”

Natsu sighs, and Gray can see him petting Happy out the corner of his eye. “What about a bank card? Credit card?”

“I don’t have anything,” Gray says, trying to push down the hot flush that’s creeping up his cheeks. “He has it all.” He finally looks up at Natsu again. “There’s no point. I can’t leave.”

Continue reading on AO3

If he leaves, everything will fall apart. He’ll have nothing – no money, no home, no insurance to pay for his meds. He’ll lose Bella and his job and the life he’s built.

“If I ever had to run out of the house,” Natsu says slowly, “like, if it was on fire or something, right? I’d grab Happy. My keys, my phone. Probably the scarf from my dad.” He scratches behind Happy’s ears. “That picture of us.”

Gray’s quiet for a long time. He still has that picture, buried in the back of one of his textbooks that’s collecting dust in the bottom of their closet.

“I… have a favorite sweater,” Gray says eventually, picking at a thread in the comforter. “A-and a travel mug I really like.” He feels Bella flop down on the bed next to him and he turns to look at her. “I, um… I think Bella’s adoption certificate from the shelter has my name on it. It might be in my email.”

Natsu nods, giving Gray an encouraging smile. “What else?”

“My, um, my meds. And a phone charger,” Gray adds. He looks around the room, but he’s not attached to anything here. “Jeremy at work, he—I get a paystub every couple weeks. Joel takes them usually, but… I could make a copy?”

“That sounds good,” Natsu says. “What about some clothes?”

They spend the next hour talking about what to pack, and over the next few days, Gray manages to collect everything in an old gym bag of Joel’s. On Friday he brings it to work and hides it in his locker.

He tries hard not to think too hard about what it means.

-----

“What’s your deal with that cop?”

It’s Friday evening, and Gray and Joel are sitting on the couch, flipping through Netflix while they wait for the pizza to arrive.

Gray looks over at Joel, who keeps flipping back and forth between movies without really looking at anything. He’s been in a bad mood all evening, so Gray’s stayed carefully quiet, playing Tetris on his phone and agreeing with whatever Joel says.

“What do you mean?” Gray asks carefully.

“The blond one,” Joel says. “Always hanging out at the restaurant. Seems like he’s into you.”

Gray stills, watching the Tetris shape fall into the wrong place, blocking the other pieces until they pile up and reach the top of the screen.

“He’s just a regular,” Gray says, watching the words Game Over flash at him across the screen. “Usually Lucy serves him, not me.”

Joel looks over at Gray as he turns the TV off, then sets the remote on the coffee table. Gray’s mind races as he desperately tries to think of what to say to calm Joel down.

“Don’t lie to me,” Joel says quietly.

“H-his name’s Sting,” Gray says, looking back down at his phone. The screen’s gone dark. “I... he’s friendly. The precinct is close to the restaurant, I—there’s nothing, he’s just a customer.”

“I saw how he looked at you today,” Joel says, shaking his head. Gray bites the inside of his cheek, keeping his eyes down. Joel had picked him up from work today, and Gray knows that Sting was watching when Joel had taken Gray’s tips, then grabbed his arm to lead him out to the car.

“He’s engaged,” Gray says, and as soon as the words leave his mouth, he knows he’s only made things worse.

“How do you know that?” Joel demands. “Thought he was ‘just a customer.’” He moves closer to Gray on the sofa, and Gray flinches, but Joel reaches out and grabs his wrist, taking his phone away.

“He brought his fiancé in one day, that’s all,” Gray says as quietly as possible. “I’m not—I just do my job.”

“What, your job involves flirting with other men now?” Joel demands.

Gray shakes his head. “N-no, I—”

“Shut up.” Joel lets go of Gray’s wrist and flips through his phone instead. Gray watches Joel scroll through his texts, then flip to his e-mail.

After a few terrifying minutes, Joel sighs and drops Gray’s phone back on the table.

“I’m sorry, babe,” he says, rubbing his face. “Work’s been a lot lately. I didn’t mean to get mad.”

Gray relaxes incrementally. “Is… can I do anything?” he asks. He’s tried everything to keep Joel happy – cleaning, cooking, making coffee, being quiet. Maybe there’s something he’s missing.

Joel reaches over and runs his hand up Gray’s thigh, then leans in and says, “there might be something.” His voice is low and Gray knows he’s going for sensual, but it makes Gray nauseous. A cold, uncomfortable feeling creeps up the back of his neck.

Joel slides his hand further up, slipping it under Gray’s shirt and shifting closer. Gray closes his eyes, biting his tongue so hard that he tastes blood.

He doesn’t want this.  

“C’mon, baby,” Joel murmurs, bringing his other hand up to Gray’s hair and leaning in for a kiss. Gray lets him, trying his hardest not to tense up under Joel’s touch. Ever since the drunken night with Natsu, things with Joel haven’t been the same. Whenever Gray closes his eyes, it’s Natsu’s hands touching him, Natsu’s lips on his neck, Natsu’s body pressing against him.

Joel’s about to pull Gray into his lap when there’s a knock on the door, and Bella races out of the bedroom, barking. The pizza. Gray nearly breathes a sigh of relief.  

Joel pulls back from Gray, squeezing his hip before standing up and reaching for his wallet. As he walks out of the living room, Gray wraps his arms tightly around himself and closes his eyes, taking several deep breaths to calm the way his heart’s pounding in his chest.

Joel reappears a minute later, dropping the pizza on the coffee table and sliding back onto the couch. He brushes his fingers across Gray’s cheek and grabs his hips again.

“Now,” he says, voice low in Gray’s ear. “Where were we?”

-----

Gray calls Natsu as soon as Joel leaves for work the next morning.

“What happened?” Natsu asks as soon as he answers. Gray doesn’t say anything, just props the phone up against the headboard and buries his face in the pillow. “Gray?”

He shakes his head.

“Are you okay?” Natsu asks, and Gray can hear the worry in his voice.

Gray’s not sure how to answer. Joel didn’t hit him, but it still hurts. His whole body feels heavy and his skin itches, and it’s hard to open his eyes.

“Gray, please, look at me,” Natsu says gently. “I need to know you’re not hurt.”

“’m okay,” Gray whispers, lifting his head up and rubbing his face before looking at Natsu. “Just tired.”

“What did he do to you?” Natsu asks, and he looks like he’s going to cry.

“I… nothing,” Gray says, sitting up slowly and hugging the pillow to his chest. “I’m not hurt. Promise.”

Natsu studies him intently – it’s hard to catch all his expressions through the crappy connection, but Gray has every part of Natsu’s face memorized. He knows that Natsu gets freckles in the summer, and that there’s a tiny scar under his lip, and that when he laughs, his eyes crinkle and he gets dimples that Gray loves to kiss.

Loved to kiss.

Gray shakes his head and presses his face to the pillow again. “I miss you,” he whispers. “I wish…” He doesn’t want to cry, but he can’t seem to stop it from happening, and he bites the sound down until his shoulders are shaking.

“Hey, are you sure you’re okay?” Natsu asks. Gray shakes his head. “Fucking hell… Gray, please, talk to me. I’m scared for you.”

“I can’t,” Gray whispers, wiping his eyes. “I w-want…” He looks up at Natsu, and for just a second, pictures himself in Natsu’s arms. Feels Natsu holding him, kissing his forehead, rubbing his back, wiping his tears.

“Are you alone?” Natsu asks. Gray nods, taking a shaky breath. “I don’t think you should be. Do you have anybody that can come be with you?”

Gray shakes his head. I want to be with you, he thinks.

“Do you want me to call Sting? He can—”

“No,” Gray says quickly, thinking of Joel’s jealous glare and the bruises on his hips. “Please, no.”

“Gray,” Natsu whispers, and he brings the phone closer to himself, as if it would bring Gray closer to him too. “Listen to me, love. You deserve to be happy. Joel is abusing you. He hurts you and makes you afraid – you shouldn’t be scared of somebody you love.”

I know, Gray thinks.

“I…” He’s so close to saying it. So close to asking, to telling Natsu he’s ready to leave this all behind. But it’s terrifying and too much, so instead he says, “can you… can we just talk? About… whatever, it doesn’t matter, I just…”

“Yeah,” Natsu says immediately, voice gentle. “Of course, yeah. Did I tell you about the Halloween party I’m going to?”  

-----

They talk for a long time, and when they finally hang up, they both whisper I love you before the picture cuts out. Gray stares at the screen for a long time, then turns the phone off and shoves it back in the table drawer, covering it with a book and some old receipts. Then he curls up on the bed, wrapping his arm around one of the pillows and pressing his face against it.

I love you.

The guilt washes over Gray like it always does, and he lets it hurt. He feels like throwing up because those words are supposed to be for Joel and only Joel. But when Gray says them to Joel, they don’t feel the same.

With Joel, I love you feels like please don’t hurt me.

With Natsu, I love you feels like you’re safe.

Gray remembers the first time he told Natsu he loved him. They’d been dating for three months – it was almost Halloween and Natsu had been lying on Gray’s bed, waving his hands in the air as he talked about costume ideas. His eyes had been bright and his smile had been so wide and sweet, and Gray had leaned over and kissed him, whispering I love you against his lips.

Natsu had immediately said it back, running his fingers through Gray’s hair and rolling them over until he could press Gray into the bed and kiss him all over.

Gray wonders what his life would be like now if Natsu hadn’t left. The thought has crossed his mind before, but he’s never let himself really think about it. It hurts too much, and Gray’s not supposed to want.

Gray curls up tighter, and when he closes his eyes, he sees a house – something small and comfortable and far away from here. Natsu’s cooking pancakes in the kitchen, wearing a stupid apron that has some silly pun written across the front of it. He’s humming along to whatever is playing on the radio, and when he turns to look at Gray, his smile is just as wide as when Gray had first said, “I love you.”

A warm, contented feeling spreads through Gray’s chest, and in the daydream, he reaches out for Natsu, taking both his hands and pulling him close. Natsu kisses Gray's cheek, brushes his hair from his eyes, wraps his hands around Gray’s waist and starts to dance.

You deserve to be happy. Natsu’s words drift through Gray’s mind, and his stomach twists again. He’s abusing you.

Gray takes a deep breath, opening his eyes and peeking over at the bedroom door before whispering, “Joel is… abusive.” He immediately squeezes his eyes shut, holding the pillow tight against him as he lets the words settle. He’s never said it before. Even when Natsu asks, Gray never says the words out loud.

“Joel hurts me,” he tries again, voice so quiet that Bella, who is sleeping beside him, doesn’t stir. “He shouldn’t hit me.”

Something shifts in his chest. The knots are still there, but it’s different, somehow. He wishes he understood what it meant.

“I shouldn’t be scared,” he says quietly. “I deserve to be happy.”  

[everlarkficexchange]

Feast Your Eyes

Written by: @savvylark @lovely-tothe-bone @ra3lynn3

Prompt 91: Peeta as the tatted, ex-rocker owner of bakery chain (like in in DC-Balto area called dangerously delicious pies). Katniss is an attached (engaged or otherwise unavailable) food critic or reporter doing a piece on him but she and P can’t deny the attraction. Angst and such ensue. [submitted by Anonymous]

Rating: M; later change to E Warning: Vague references to child abuse, sexual innuendos, eventual smut

A/N: Through random chance the three of us came together to do this prompt justice and somehow have been on the same wavelength, fueling one another’s ideas. Dreaming up this universe has been such a joy. Having multiple authors, it just made sense for us to beta one another’s work, I am really grateful to @savvylark and @ra3lynn3 for their patience, encouragement, time, and hard work. They’ve taught me so much. Thank you to the lovely anonymous who submitted this, wish we knew who you were! We hope this surpasses your expectations! This will be multi chapter so lots to look forward to Everlarker’s, the first one is by the ever fun @savvylark

Katniss tapped her pencil nervously on the desk, impatiently waiting for her boss. She was supposed to start on this human interest piece which, as a fairly new writer, was entirely outside of her comfort zone.

Katniss was the writer for the dessert portion of foodie magazine, The Feast.

“I would much rather taste and describe the delicate nuances of liver and haggis than write a human interest piece.” She muttered to herself, her face contorted in disgust at the thought of haggis and liver.

Katniss had been in an especially dark mood all day, still fuming over her recent weekend with her boyfriend Thom. It was as if he had done a complete 180 on Katniss. He was once so loyal, and stable with a well paying job; not to mention tall, dark, and handsome. Thom was everything she had been looking for now that Katniss decided to settle down. The discussion of their future, with pretty suggestive hints, seemed to have worked. Their weekend away seemed like it would have been the perfect time, only to be left-

Katniss’s thoughts were interrupted by the knock on her door. Her long dark braid flipped over her shoulder when she stood, she expected her boss. Instead it was Johanna, her friend and superior here at the magazine, who entered.

Small but menacing, Johanna had a powerful stance. Her cropped brunette hair fell just below her jawline in a tapered bob, while shorter and spiky at the nape of her neck.

“Hey brainless, so what happened this weekend? That text was pretty vague.” Katniss’s brash friend asked.

Covering her face with both hands Katniss answered, “Oh my gosh! No! I don’t even want to talk about it. Ugh! I don’t know how to feel about Thom or where our relationship stands.”

Johanna narrowed her chocolate brown eyes in curiosity, so Katniss continued, “It seemed like Thom was going to propose. All the signs were there: romantic getaway, candlelit dinner, an entire weekend to relax. Madge thought so, I thought so, you did too, right?”

Johanna nodded her head in agreement.  

“A few times in the past month I could have sworn that he had a ring box in his pocket. He was not that happy to see me, if you know what I mean?” Katniss suggestively raised her eyebrows with a saucy smirk, her silver eyes were alive with mischief.

Johanna flashed a wicked grin. She was familiar with Katniss’s wild side. Even if she’d kept that part of her self separate, stored away from her clean-cut, straight laced, more conservative boyfriend. That wild side always slipped out in the presence of Johanna Mason.

The look she gave Johanna turned more serious, Katniss spoke vulnerably, “You know what my parents were like… I can’t, I can’t. I don’t know how to feel. I was left alone in a hotel all weekend, while he ran around for his boring job doing… What does he do again? Professional bank paperwork?” The two women were slightly allergic to sappy situations, so before Johanna started breaking out in hives they made light of the topic.

“Being professionally boring… at decrepit banks?” Johanna answered, her eyes narrowed, “but he doesn’t work at the bank?”

Katniss had been dating Thom for nine months. She kept forgetting what he did for work so much so that over time it became a joke. Thom was essentially the grim reaper of banks. He worked for the FDIC shutting failing ones down, the most boring job Katniss had ever heard of. It was all paperwork and involved some travel.

Katniss had an unstable childhood that involved negligent wild parents. She was drawn to Thom because he had been a calm, consistent, reliable presence. To Katniss, Thom meant stability. Thom had no student loans, owned his own home, had no car payment because he was able to buy his car outright. She had yet to see Thom use a credit card to pay for anything. Katniss knew date night would never have been on the 2nd of the month, that night was designated for paying bills. He read about planning for his retirement, reliable financial strategies, and unrisky business investments. Thom’s weeks were structured and predictable. Katniss found it comforting. Just what she thought she needed in her life.

Katniss explained to Johanna that Thom was constantly on his phone the whole weekend, left to fax something, interrupted their conversation during dinner to reply to emails. Katniss was so disappointed when she was abandoned in the hotel room while Thom disappeared yet again, because “Something came up from work, you don’t mind do you?”

His concern was false, he didn’t really ask.

Katniss was not amused and decided she had enough. They cut the weekend short and parted ways with little conversation. Thom flew to one location for work, while Katniss had flown back home.

Madge arrived at the airport and had found a seething, curse-muttering Katniss on fire. Her childhood best friend embraced the scowling dark haired woman and sped off to the nearest ice cream shop to cheer her up. Something decadent always seemed to lighten Katniss’ mood.

Johanna listened intently and shook her head. Not in pity, but frustration with what a terrible weekend her friend had endured.

“Well screw him, let’s go out tonight?” Johanna offered.

Katniss smiled at the idea, but her face fell when she remembered, “I have to work on this big story first, raincheck?”

Johanna nodded.

Upon hearing the familiar footsteps down the hall, Johanna decided to make her exit and headed out of Katniss’s office.

Her boss arrived with an arm full of research for Katniss.

The blond woman appeared every bit the classic professional, put together in a feminine fitted gray pants suit and low heels. Unexpected is the innovative rebel that embodies Cressida’s very nature, that is until she turned her left side into view.

Katniss smiled as she took in Cressida’s profile, ¼ of her head was shaved in a dramatic undercut intricate and beautiful green vine designs were tattooed on her scalp, and the edge of her hair that met bare skin was french braided thinly down her head.

“Right on time.” Katniss remarked sarcastically.

Cressida laughed at her quip, dropping a pile of papers and pictures on the desk.

Katniss scowled, expecting her boss to explain.

Cress, so used to the frequent scowl stared back unperturbed. They called her the boss for more reasons than her talented writing, her shrewd business sense, and excellence in advertising. Cressida could handle any personality type.

Everything dropped on Katniss’s desk included positive and delicious reviews about the bakery owner’s breads, cakes, pastries, and desserts.

Describing food and writing about it was what Katniss excelled at. Cressida knew this.

After reading every word about the most delicious, mouth-watering desserts, all Katniss could think was “I’ve GOT to get my mouth on one of these things!”

One particular review claimed his cakes to be “simply orgasmic.” Her dirty mind contemplated the thought, wondering what a cake induced mouth orgasm was like…

Katniss was left so intrigued by this baker, by the time she had reached the end of the stack she was left salivating, stomach groaning.

And strangely aroused.

Katniss snatched up her phone, immediately dialed her best friend, “Hey Madge, let’s do an early lunch? I’m starving!”

——-

Katniss once again called the bakery owner, Peeta, to confirm their meeting. He had a deep timbre to his voice, a kindness in the way he spoke. Peeta was efficient and quick to the point over the phone, which Katniss appreciated.

It was a short 45 minute drive to Capitol Hill, a small district in the heart of Seattle. Lost in the song Katniss let loose and belted out lyrics along with the radio. Sometimes she missed this side of herself.

She admired the modern updates throughout the area, an artisan bistro, colorful boutiques, various ma and pa shops that had been rejuvenated for a younger crowd. Even the bars were modernized yet still held older, small town elements. Industrial and historic buildings met modern and artistic designs.

She pulled up to the bakery and vaguely remembered wanting to attend it’s opening.  Thom insisted they attend one of his work functions instead. Which, in hindsight, should have been a red flag. He hadn’t been paying attention to the things she was interested in for a long time.

Katniss took in the outside of the bakery before stepping inside. The awning and structure of the building gave a nod to a generational family bakery while the black and industrial accents gave the appearance of a hard edge. The front of the sign was a nod to tattoo artistry and the logo of the bakery was decidedly masculine. For some reason this made Katniss smile.

A bell chimed as she entered. Soft rock music was playing. Studying the photos on the wall she could tell this is no ordinary baker.

[glitterglockz]

march 27 3:07 am

damm I want some wavy potato chips. i think imma smoke a lil more and then come back to write. i gotta lot to say. aigh so lets see. so hey this my blog. this post is like a weekly recap. today is my aries  bday :). i love aries and taurus and aquarius and pisces. rn im watching human resources. okay so life is stressful asl rn. i have to pay my credit card bill, get my shit tg in school, do my makeup, TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, stack my bread, sell my shit on depop, be a bad bitch and consistent, learn how to trade, boss up and not give a fuck about anyone and HEAL, focus on me... ion feel in the mood. want to just be myself. need to work hard asf and stop being so emotional. need to get my shit tg. take care of myself idk. no sex until may! thats my challenge. and acting less crazy. so my taurus bday is in a month april 27 so im not fucking until my gemini bday may 27. my goals from mar 27-april 27: start bodying this school shit, save money, have a consistent routine, have at least 5k saved, being able to balance 2 jobs and school and excelling, pushing myself, doing my makeup everyday, exploring my interests seriously (fashion, beauty, makeup, modeling, pilates, gymnastics, photography), serve looks ditch the crocs, braces appt, blogging, maintaining a clean room (very important), knotless box braids and then ash blonde wig and then braids in front and water wave in back. was i jealous of gigi today bc she had her makeup done and i didnt. or am I just annoyed that I didn't do mine even tho I planned to do it I just didnt wake up. bro im crazy I asked my aqua nigga to take a pic of his dimple to me. bro life is so stressful rn and I feel like im holding myself back. thats why im about to go all out. summer is mine its gonna be so lit I can feel it. im doing the work now. so tomorrow I have to do my biochem project, my neurobio paper, my philosophy of film exercise, biochem videos, makeup, rangila practice, going to server job (im praying this is brief ! like please I dont want to stay there long), okay so lets plan to go to bed at 4:30 wake up at 10:30am shower skincare get dressed do makeup, do hair, eat, go to rangila practice, go to server job, biochem poster, neurobiology project, biochem videos, biochem quiz, philosophy of film, AIDS fellowship and emails and then tale off makeup, journal and watch forex video and plan out week/. I want a peanut butter cup milkshake. weekly goals: laundry, post more on depop seriously, study for biochem, do makeup, order wig and dye, blog and sleep. imma eat some microwaveable macaroni and cheese tm. things are gonna get better. five guys>>>> shake shack. expensive ass little buffalo chicken sandwich. cant wait to get my indian fusion pizza. ive been craving mad food lately. ive been feeling lonely too. im really praying I get what I want and get the fellowship grant award god please 111. time to move on. dont text nobody back. focus on healing and being consistent and money and school and blogging and gymnastics and fashion and makeup and hair and pictures. 444 

[floristauckland]

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[topicprinter]

Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.Today's interview is with Adam Tanaka of Life and Limb Printing, a brand that sells screen printing and merch production.Some stats:Product: Screen printing and merch production.Revenue/mo: $80,000Started: May 2010Location: NashvilleFounders: 1Employees: 8Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?Hello! My name is Adam Tanaka and I own a company called Life and Limb Printing. We are a screen printing and full-service merch company that specializes in merch production for breweries, outdoor clothing companies, and restaurants with a little bit of everything else sprinkled in.In 2016, we became automated bringing on our first auto screen printing press which changed our output drastically. We went from printing about 120 pieces an hour on a manual press to hitting anywhere from 500 to 800 pieces an hour.Since officially launching the business in 2010, we had our best month last year in October 2018 at $80,000 and now we are set to hit 1M by the end of 2019.imageWhat's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?I was all over the place with what I wanted to do with my life - anywhere from a radio DJ, to creating zines, then going to college for biology, dropping out, all the while playing music and touring in bands since I was 14.The music I listened to in the 90’s played a major role in what I ended up doing as my career. I remember stuffing cash into an envelope and sending it to some of my favorite bands' addresses and within 2 to 4 weeks, I'd get a shirt in the mail. After opening the package, I would immediately feel the print and it was a mystery to me of how that print got on a shirt.In the early 2000’s, I got a job here in Nashville with a merch company that did almost everything in house. I started out scrubbing the floors and cleaning the shop making $6.25/hr. It was a large enough company that they were busy year round and a small enough company that the owners were there most of the time. From scrubbing those floors to working in their eCommerce department, I learned the inner workings of the production side of the business and knew I was ready to figure out how to launch my own company in merch.I was working part-time at an art store, trying to play music and in 2008 at the age of 26, started printing small one-off jobs here and there for myself and for friends. I put music on the back burner to try and work my way to manager of the art store so that I could make more money to save up and spend towards my new venture. Somehow still being over $300 overdrawn in my bank account with more bills coming in and not enough being made, I still started a business.My first real customer was a Nashville brewery, who still prints with us today. I cold-called them making my company sound much bigger than it was. The name was a song from a favorite band of mine, Fugazi called Life and Limb. It was the first bit of text I saw when my customer asked me what my company name was and it just ended up sticking. I started printing on the floor of my apartment and curing shirts on a cookie sheet in the oven. Below is the first shirt I printed for Yazoo Brewery and a cassette tape insert of the Fugazi record The Argument that has the track Life and Limb.imageimageEven multiple-color jobs, I had to wipe down each screen every single time to align with the print and used a heat gun so the inks wouldn’t stick to the screen. This was brutal and I don’t know what I was thinking. Eventually, I moved into a 600 square foot garage, then shared the back of a building with another company, and a few years later landed our current space. All I knew was that I wanted to give my customers the best product ever, and something they could wear around and be proud of.About 6 years into the business, I hired my first employee and now have a solid team of 8 people.Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.Once the sale is made and the order is defined, we will take artwork either from the customer or create it for them and begin setting it up for screen printing. Any good graphic designer can take a concept and make it a reality, but not every graphic designer knows how to set the design up for screen printing.Once this is ready to go, we start by printing each layer onto films, going to a dark room, and “burning” the design onto screens. Then we are ready for setup on press and production. Our “blanks” are ordered through our suppliers and once received in, we’ll cart them and place them in our production queue.There are so many variables here and anything can go wrong, so being able to get ahead of the issues before the order gets on press is ideal. The biggest challenges happen when there is a lack of communication and attention to detail. When I was doing everything by myself and running each part of the business, things could easily become lost in translation. Now having a team in place, a whole new set of issues can happen if the details are lost.Startup costs for this industry can vary greatly depending on your output or what you want to accomplish with your business plan. When starting out, if I didn’t have the equipment, I would go onto a shirt forum and figure out how to build a temporary version of what I eventually wanted.I think one of the last things a business owner thinks about is getting your business set up legally with all of the proper forms in place with the state and federally because the focus is on growth and next steps. This was one of my biggest hurdles - keeping up with taxes, business license, and so on… But once you find a good accountant and a good lawyer, let them take care of this so you can focus on building your company. That was one of the few things I wish I had in place from the beginning, even when I wasn’t making any money.imageimageimageDescribe the process of launching the business.I wasn’t even thinking about getting a website up and going or having any online presence at all when I started. I was calling, emailing, and going out every day and visiting businesses and asking if they need printing. After being asked several times about a site they could visit, I knew it was long overdue and quickly built a site through WordPress using a template with basic information and a contact. Also, that phone number is a non-working number now.imageI didn’t have any source of financing or borrowing at all for the first 7 years of business. I’ve never had partners or investors and still don’t to this day. If there was equipment or supplies I needed in order to function, I would work a part time or full time job and save money. Once I had what I needed, I would pay cash for it. I got my first business credit card and financed my first bit of equipment the 7th year when I brought on my first auto press and larger dryer.After launching the business, I didn’t start seeing a big customer base for the first 3 years. I had no more than 10 customers at a time. With little to no overhead, I was able to get away with a small customer base, but I wasn’t satisfied with the progress I was making at all.Once I moved into a small garage that was separate from an apartment, I had more confidence and didn’t feel as embarrassed having customers stop by for consultations on what type of merch they wanted for their business. It was in my 4th year that I started seeing substantial growth to where over the next 2 to 3 years, boxes of shirts were spilling out of my garage into the yard and driveway.Again, having little overhead was huge but I knew it was time to crunch some numbers and see if it made sense to get an actual space that wasn’t part of my house, which was terrifying. I kept asking myself “what if the business failed because I moved too early, what if I move into the wrong space, what if I think I can afford it but really can’t” and tons of other anxiety inducing questions.Nothing went as planned with launching the business. I didn’t have the systems set from beginning to end and it was all over the place. I was jumping back and forth between emails, to printing, to figuring out how to price an order, and there was no structure whatsoever. I was letting these failures get the best of me and had to step back to see why I was doing this in the first place.Realizing that connecting with the customer, building that relationship, and being there for them every step of the way was the most important thing and that became my foundation.Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?One of the biggest first moves I made was hiring a printer, stepping out from behind the press, and focusing on sales. It was really hard for me to hand over that control and hope that the quality and output was the best it could be. Every time I would go out to do face to face sales or meetings, I would constantly have to drive back to the garage or call my printer to make sure everything was ok. I was always worried and stressed about not being there overseeing the production side, especially with this being my first time having an employee. I learned so many things within that year, that it felt like 10 years had already gone by. It became apparent that when deciding to bring on an employee, there would have to be clear expectations and processes in place. This seems like a no-brainer, but I was in the dark on how to do this. Without having the proper expectations set, this in turn sets your employee up for potential disaster.The second biggest move I made was bringing on an actual salesperson. That was a life-changer. I met my first sales guy and his family by chance at a photo shoot for a baby/kids clothing and supply company of mine. After a quick conversation, we both realized he worked for an existing customer of mine. I knew he was the right person when we had a phone call and he threw out several ideas for growth and next steps without knowing the entire process of what we did. I took about a week before jumping right in and talking with him a few more times, and finally offered him the position at a base rate plus commission salary.We get together the first of the month to discuss that month’s goals and then another meeting mid-month to see where we are at and how to finish the month strong. As mentioned earlier, we make the connection and build that relationship. If we are a good fit for their brand or company, we will not only help build on their ideas but offer up merchandise consulting and product development if needed.Two days a week, my sales team is in the office building lists for leads, emailing, and making calls. The remainder of the week, they are out getting face time with current customers and potential leads. I now have an account manager who is there to answer phones, take care of any walk-ins, and close the sale that our Sales Development Rep brought in. I have found that doing this allows for sales to keep selling while those potential leads turn into customer orders.Being a service-based company, we don’t utilize Amazon, Facebook, or Shopify for sales. Instead of trying to go out and print for as many people as possible, we close in on what we are good at and what industries we want to work with and go for it.We try and run a monthly promo/campaign or a monthly newsletter for discounts on their orders for specific events, holidays, special days, or just as a thank you for returning customers.As part of our face to face sales efforts, we have a small booklet with photos of what we have worked on and a brief rundown of what we do along with a free shirt to give out as well. Inside the neck of the shirt where the size tag would be, this is where we print our company info and size of the shirt. They might throw away the booklet, but not many people throw away a shirt.We try our best to keep our Instagram page up-to-date with various projects we are working on or highlighting a customer we have been working with. We also have a referral program set up where anyone can refer us and in turn, they will get paid a percentage of the job they referred over to us.To help ensure a returning customer, give them incentive and treat them as part of the team. Check in on them every once in a while, or have a cookie cake delivered to their workplace and written with the icing it says “Thank you!” Something to show that their loyalty to you means more than anything because they can go anywhere else at any time.How are you doing today and what does the future look like?The first year of being in an actual building, we lost a lot of money.Although I planned as best I could with a small cushion to fall back on financially, it was still difficult to gauge all of the other bits and pieces such as almost tripling in cost of utilities, our new auto press going down, other equipment issues, and a few other random things. We turned it around quickly and by the end of 2016/early 2017, we were in the black! Each year since, we have grown more than 60% and doubled our square footage in May of this year.Not having the systems in place from the beginning was a struggle especially when bringing on employees. There was a lot of trial and error and forming good habits, but we have clear processes and systems in place and smarter about where things go around the office and the shop, making everything much more efficient. Daily production meetings are a must and end of day reporting helps foresee any problems that could arise in the future.imageThrough starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?Having had the business for 10 years and being in the printing and merch industry for over 15 years, I feel more than confident in what I do and I still love it. But I have made and still make some very poor decisions and some whopping mistakes.And even still, I feel like I’m faking my way through it most of the time. Early on, I kept hearing people say that failure is not an option and to keep pressing through it. I say right on, but also failure is an option and failing over and over again is what has allowed me to have just as many, if not more, successes.Early on in the business, I printed a very large quantity of shirts with a specific ink color that had to be matched with a Pantone. I eye-balled it and ran the job, the whole time saying out loud that I hope the customer is ok with it. It was a rush order and I felt like I didn’t have the time to re-mix the ink (it would have taken a whole 10 more minutes to do so). They didn’t like what I chose of course, and I had to redo the entire order, on my dime, loads of money out the door.Finding the right employees has been the most challenging. It is difficult to find someone with a solid work ethic ready to hit the ground running and is there to support your vision as the owner. That’s just rare. If you don’t have a system in place for setting up interviews, onboarding/training, and how their first day will go, it will more than likely fail. I have had this happen more times than I can count.I have learned a bit in the last 10 years and am still learning. Not giving up has been key for me. The simple words just keep going don’t seem so simple when problems arise. It sounds easier to just get a day job, come home, and not have to worry about work anymore once you’re off the clock. Learning to take each thing, whether good or bad, and handling it with a level head will make a big impact on your business and your staff. At the end of the day, employees will look to you to either fix it or make it better, but as an owner, being able to delegate tasks in order to focus on large scale growth is essential.What platform/tools do you use for your business?Printavo is by far my favorite tool we use. It’s a cloud based solution that manages every part of the shop. All of my employees have a login and can see workflow from quote form all the way to order completion.Everyone knows what’s going on at all times and each department of the business manages certain parts of Printavo. Even my production team can see all of the numbers so they know how the business is doing. If there are setbacks with production, the printers know what they need to do to hit their goals.Everything that is done within the system is documented and is somewhat of an accountability tool as well. They also have countless blog posts covering ways to better your shop, the departments, and overall business in this specific industry which is very helpful.I forget about this sometimes as it seems it isn’t as important, but I am all about Google. We use Gsuite for our email platform, and everything else Google has to offer. Simply writing an email where I mention having an attachment but forget, I get an auto-response asking me if I meant to attach something. This has saved me more times than not. Like most businesses, we utilize Google drive every day.For any fulfillment services we do, Shipstation is the way to go for us. Their customer service is next to none and always responsive. Integration is easy and they make inventory management a breeze. We love it.What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?Built To Sell was a good one for me. It tells a good story about steps you can take to prepare your business to run where you can step away and bring more value to the company and eventually sell it and be profitable.Smarter Faster Better was motivating and gave me a whole new outlook on productivity. There are so many different industries mentioned throughout the book and how the person in charge handled specific situations. No matter the business, we all go through the same stuff and knowing what decisions to make that will allow us to work smart.I love the podcast How I Built This. My favorite episode was the interview with Yvon Chouinard, the owner of Patagonia. This one was very inspiring for me and after the episode ended, I felt even more passionate about what I do and how I do it.He mentioned how the company was growing too fast, so he decided to scale back…..the opposite of what you would assume a business owner would do. I agree to work like everyone is out to get you, because they are for the most part. But I also agree with the phrase, slow and steady wins the race.There is no race to be won in business, but there are goals, and rushing those goals could be detrimental to the well being of the business. Check it out here.Another shout out to the How I Built This podcast is the episode with Andrew Casalena who is the founder of Squarespace, which is the web platform we use for our site. This hit home for me because he briefly discusses his bout with anxiety during the beginning phases of his company. Generalized Anxiety Disorder and social anxiety has been one of the biggest hurdles for me even before starting the business. I felt like I was alone, dealing with the intense symptoms almost every day, but then you hear other people such as Andrew talk about the exact same thing and feel somewhat comforted and know it’s going to be ok. Having constant interactions with my staff, customers, and trying to sell to strangers is part of the job and it is sometimes the hardest thing to do in hopes I don’t have a panic attack out of nowhere.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?Focus on the solutions and not the problems.Wait as long as you can before bringing on your first employee and when you get to that point, interview as many as you can until you find the best for what you are needing and pay them well.Make sure you have clearly defined systems and processes in place early on. Don’t obsess over your pricing structure.Obsess over bringing value to your customer and everything else will fall into place. And whether you are good at math or not, go ahead and find a good accountant that cares about what you are doing and lock them in.Set the business up from the beginning to where it could eventually run like a machine, on its own, so that you can get to where you want to be faster. You will be able to clearly define your goals and your 2 year/5 year/10 year plans can already be set in motion.Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?We’re not currently looking to fill any positions at the moment, but welcome resumes from anyone who has experience in the industry to hold onto for the future.Where can we go to learn more?Website: lifeandlimbprinting.comFacebook: lifeandlimbprintingInstagram: lifeandlimbprintingEmail: adam@lifeandlimbprinting.comIf you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos, tools, books, and other data.For more interviews, check out r/starter_story - I post new stories there daily.Interested in sharing your own story? Send me a PM

[carleasingconcierge]

What Can I Expect at the Local Car Dealership?

“It was an honor to be featured in Bestcompany.com“

Paul Maloney, The Car Buyer’s Advocate and owner of Car Leasing Concierge

Written by Anne-Marie Hays

Anne-Marie Hays is a Content Management Intern with Best Company. She enjoys comedy, hates crowds, and loves that you are reading this bio.

I’m a person who likes to know what to expect: Is it going to be sunny or rainy? Is the library busy or empty? Is the wait at Disneyland short or long? Am I going to know anyone at the party? If there’s too much uncertainty, I will likely avoid an experience at all costs. I know that I’m not alone.  As someone who has always had help when shopping for a car, I wondered, what would the dealer experience be like? What variables can I control? Will I be able to handle it on my own? If you are new to car shopping, you might have some questions about what to expect when you go to a car dealership. Here are dealership experience questions, asked and answered, to give you confidence when buying a car.

To help people who are nervous about going to a dealership, what kind of questions can they expect to answer from salespeople?

“A good salesperson will only ask questions to help you narrow down a vehicle that will best suit your needs,” says Ryan Mason from Jacksonville Auto Mart. “If you have social anxiety, much of the interaction can be done via Facebook or text messaging. Only once a trade-in price needs to be solidified and paperwork for your new car [needs to be filled-out] would you need to actually visit the dealership.” However, other types of salesmen out there may ask different qualifying sales questions.  Paul Maloney, known as the “Car Buyer’s Advocate,” owner of Car Leasing Concierge, and best-selling author of the book, How To Beat The Car Dealer Every Time! It's So Simple, It's Ridiculous, explains, “Salespeople qualify you by asking the following questions 95 percent of the time:

1. How soon are you looking to buy a car?  2. Who is the car for?  3. Are you looking to buy or lease?  4. What payment range are you looking to be around?

By asking these prying questions, the salesperson is getting you to unknowingly show your hand. Once they see what you have, it’s very easy for them to play their trump card and siphon the money out of your wallet.” For a detailed (and long!) behind-the-scenes look, check out this car sales training video.

Should customers call first to make an appointment or walk-in?

Autotrader reports that initial contact with dealerships in 2018 was as follows: 49 percent walk-in, 26 percent phone, 17 percent email, 4 percent online chat, 2 percent text, and 1 percent social media.  Valerie Coleman, head of automotive at 5miles.com, explains that how you contact a dealership initially should depend “on how quickly you want to go about finding — and buying — a car.” Coleman suggests that calling ahead can help the dealer prepare for your appointment. It also allows time to “get many of the preliminary questions (i.e. what are you looking for? what’s your price range? etc.) out of the way so that it can be a more efficient car shopping experience.” Susanna Williams from Superior Honda in New Orleans says, “If you make an appointment, you’ll be saving yourself a lot of time and your car shopping experience will be off to a professional start. By letting the dealer know which car(s) you want to see ahead of time, you give them the ability to find the car and clean it up. If you show up unannounced, the whole process could take some time.”   Mason puts it another way, “Walk-ins are fine, but if you want to see a specific salesperson set an appointment. This will allow your salesperson to have a specific vehicle you'd like to check out pulled up, plated, and ready for you to check out. It also allows you to ask any specific questions you may have between certain vehicles to save you time.”

What paperwork or identification do people need to bring with them?

“What you need to bring depends on what you plan on doing at the dealership,” explains Williams. You may need some, or all, of the following items:

insurance card

loan release

proof of residency

SSN (at least know it to run a credit check)

recent pay stubs

references

registration

title

valid driver’s license

Test driving — valid driver’s license

“If you’re looking to test drive a car you’ll need a current valid driver’s license.” — Maloney  Buying a car — insurance, recent pay stubs, references, proof of residency

“Paperwork that will be needed depends on a couple different things and will vary state to state. If one is paying cash for a vehicle and have no trade you may only need your ID and a check. If you are financing its best to bring an insurance copy, proof of any income, an ID and any down payment money.” —  Mason Trading-in a car — title, registration, loan release

“If you have a trade, be prepared by getting a 10-day payoff on your current loan, your registration copy, and/or the title to the vehicle” — Mason NOTE: NPR suggests that you bring your own photocopies of your ID, and ask for them back when you leave to avoid identity theft issues.

Can you describe the test drive process? What happens if there is a fender bender?

“Test drives will vary a lot from dealer to dealer,” says Mason. They can vary by process, whether you will drive alone, and whether you have to leave some sort of collateral.

For more explanation, insurance broker Jeff Ryan explains on Quora:

“Generally, dealerships only require you to show your driver's license. Many dealerships will require a photocopy of your driver’s license. Some may “hold” your license until the test drive is completed. In some cases, the dealer may keep the keys to the vehicle in which you arrived to the dealership.

On rare occasions, the dealer may require that a Vehicle Test Drive Agreement be filled out that includes additional information such as the test driver’s auto insurance company and policy number.

You can see a sample Test Drive Agreement with the examples below:

Riskpoint.com — Vehicle Test Drive or Use Agreement

DealerSupply.com — Test Drive Agreement

Whether or not a dealer carries their own insurance or requires signing a test drive agreement, it is always in your best interest to carry your own auto insurance while driving a vehicle owned by someone other than yourself.”

When it comes to the actual drive, you may be accompanied by a salesman, or you may not. This can depend on the dealership’s rules, its insurance rules, whether you are taking out a new or used car, and possibly the price range of the vehicle.  As for the actual driving route, it can vary as well. Mason explains, “Some dealerships will have a set path and have both you and the salesman drive, others will give you the choice to decide, or simply throw you the keys and answer any questions you may have when you return.” “Don't be scared of getting in a fender bender,” Mason says. “Life happens, you won't be expected to cover any damages caused by an accident. While on a dealer plate, you are covered by that dealer's insurance.”

If someone is just browsing and not ready for the pressure of a one-on-one sales experience, what is the best way to proceed?

Maloney suggests, “Let the salespeople know upfront that you are here to look and test drive only as ‘I’m in the early stages of comparing other brands. Without driving them first, I won’t be able to decide if it’s a good fit for my needs.’” Comfort is key. “Browsing online or finding a salesman you're comfortable with will save you from the high-pressure push of some dealerships,” says Mason. “We aren't all that way and most will be happy to open some doors and simply allow you to sit or look around the cars without them immediately present. Simply return the keys after and ask any questions you may have.” At other dealerships, it might be a little different. A Reddit AMA’er explains, “If you don't want me to pitch the car just say, ‘Hey man, I'm not trying to get your pitch. I know about cars and I just want to experience this one first hand.’ I'll say, “Okay, well we can just hang out while you test it out and if you have any questions just ask.’ I'll probably just talk to you about what you do with your spare time and other things you might actually want to talk about. Most of the time I would prefer people like you because I hate pitching cars unless it's one that I really love that is tons of fun to drive.”

What is the deal with dealerships' digital sales teams?

Coleman explains, “Nowadays you can peruse most car dealers’ inventory online, and then, when you’re ready to speak with someone about a particular car, email, call, or simply stop by the dealership. With the ever-growing popularity of buying cars online, most dealerships also offer fair prices online. There does tend to be less wiggle-room though, since the cost of marketing, shipping, etc. all must be factored in.“ “A digital sales team's job is to convert you from an online shopper to an in-person shopper,” adds Mason. “Generally, the larger dealerships will have a sales staff dedicated to specifically following up with people who have submitted their information for follow up.”

You can submit information a number of ways, but most commonly, customers start on a third-party site, according to the Car Buyer Journey 2018 report. One example is TrueCar, which requires information to get access to the TrueCar Price Report.

What is the least busy time of the day/week to go to a dealership if you want one-on-one attention?

On this question, we got a few different well-reasoned answers from our experts.  “Skip out on the weekends and go on a Monday,” suggests Williams from Superior Honda. “After the weekend rush, dealers will have more time to spend with you and you may be able to get a better sale price on a day that isn’t that populated.” Mason has a similar opinion, “A dealership is typically busiest on the weekends and evenings. I would recommend setting up an appointment for any time that works best for you or walking in mid-morning for the best one-on-one attention.” “Wednesday afternoons are typically the best time to visit your local car dealership,” instructs Danny Baker from Marshall Goldman Motor Sales. “Wednesday afternoons between 2:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. are best for receiving the one-on-one attention that some car buyers are looking for. If you’re a first-time car buyer or have a lot of questions about a particular vehicle, make sure you don’t show up right before closing time and always give yourself enough time to make the right decisions about your purchase.”  Maloney suggests going on “Any weekday or evening.” He says, “Most people buy cars on weekends as their time is usually limited during the week.” TLDR: Not on the weekends

How do you help people narrow down options when they aren't sure what to look for?

Most people know what they want.  “The beautiful thing about today's market is that most shoppers are very educated before they land at the dealership due to the amount of time they've browsed online,” says Mason. “If you're still not sure exactly what you want when you arrive to the dealership, no worries. I can ask you qualifying questions like size, budget, etc. and help you find the perfect fit for your life.”

What's the best thing about working for an auto dealership?

“I've been obsessed with cars since I was a child. My father runs a local auto repair shop and has some classic cars. I participate in organizing car shows in my city and have a weekend car to have some fun in. The best thing about working at a dealership is sharing my knowledge and passion for cars with others. A car can change someone's life. It's an awesome feeling to help so much!” Mason shares.

What is the one thing that you wish the general public knew about what goes on behind the scenes at a dealership?

“One of my pet peeves of the industry that should be brought to light are some of the less than truthful online marketing [strategies used] to get you in the door, says Mason. “You'll see payments promised way under reality or noting several thousand dollars down at signing, payment calculators online for terms that aren't possible, no payments for XXX months, etc.”  He cautions, “Stop being sucked into this generic bait. Find the car you like and see if you can agree on a price with the dealer. Most dealerships will be pricing their used car from what they could get out of it taking to an auction. This means we generally own comparable cars for the same cost as long as the condition is similar.” “Most people dread the car buying experience,” says Baker, “but what they don’t know is that dealerships love to have fun! Car salesmen usually have a bad reputation, but we have great personalities and love making our buyers happy. We like to have a good time and we genuinely care about our customers. We keep their interest at heart, because it's not about just one sale for us, it's about building a relationship with the customer.”  There are pros and cons of working with a dealership vs. a private seller, says Coleman. “A dealer or salesperson can do only so much for a customer. While car dealerships tend to have better financing and warranty options than a private seller, a private seller does not have commission or typical business operating expenses to account for, so he may be able to get more aggressive with pricing. You also typically can get more context or information about the condition of a car (one owner, mostly city miles, etc.) from a private seller, as well as a quicker transaction time vs. spending hours at a dealership.”

Do you really have to check with your manager?

“My short answer is sometimes,” explains Mason. “This industry is flooded with newbie salesmen that jump from store to store. I joke and call them door greeters vs. salesman. I personally can handle everything from the first hello to a handshake after the sales, but most salesmen do not have access to any of the actual margins and are simply presenting an offer someone else has written for them.” Maloney agrees, “Yes, unfortunately, most dealerships just use salespeople as pawns to get the information they’ll need from you on how to proceed next so they can extract as much money out of your pocket as they can.”  Another salesman recently explained what happens when he goes back to talk with his manager in a Reddit AMA: “I literally go to the back to try to get my manager to do whatever it is you asked me to do. I have ABSOLUTELY no control over any of the numbers so I basically go to my manager and beg him to sell you the car for cheaper so I can get a sale. Even if I’m not making any money off the sale it helps get our monthly bonuses. Sometimes it's just not possible to get what someone is asking because we have too much invested into the vehicle. I actually have to basically fight with my manager to drop the price more.”

What happens at the finance office, and what experience can people expect? Will everyone judge me for my credit score?

“A finance office's job is to find a bank to work with low credit score individuals or get the best terms/rate possible for those who score higher,” explains Mason. “Dealerships work with a variety of banks and probably can get you a payment you’re comfortable with,” says Coleman; however, “it may not be for the exact vehicle you want though.”  As for any credit-score-related embarrassment, Mason assures, “The finance office will see scores between 400 and 800 every day. Don't be ashamed if you score low or have no credit. They only review the facts of the deal and work as the middle man for the bank to save everyone time." While car dealerships offer to be a go-between to help save time, it may not be the best loan terms for everyone. Coleman warns, “Zero-percent financing or low interest rates are reserved for those with excellent credit, so be mindful. Dealerships also can be compensated for handling the loan, which means you may be paying a higher interest rate. Some of the best rates, in fact, can be found at credit unions if you're shopping price, and not simply payments.”  Check out our Q&A with auto financing expert Sonia Steinway for another take on auto financing.

Do dealerships help with government paperwork like registration?

Yes, mostly.  Mason explains, “Dealerships will generally handle all of the title and plate/registration work needed when you purchase your car. This exception will be made if you are purchasing across state lines. This situation will vary state to state, but you are often times responsible for tax and title upon returning to your home state!”

https://bestcompany.com/car-finders/blog/what-can-i-expect-at-the-local-car-dealership?fbclid=IwAR1QVQ_WD_UfCRVY9QfGygymQPbmPxxjSFZVH4iiJt12GhnJCqvwadgxuUM

[myfinanceblog]

New Post has been published on My Finance Blog

New Post has been published on http://princefinance.princefamily33.com/2017/07/31/easy-tips-to-control-your-finances-in-the-future/

Easy Tips To Control Your Finances In The Future

TIP! Don’t waste your time and money on get-rich-quick schemes. Many people get suckered by Internet scams.

America seems to be ignorant in matters of personal finance. The following article will give you basic information about creating a budget and becoming financially secure for your retirement. You will learn how to stretch your money further and learn how to make more on the side.

TIP! To make your financial life better, don’t pay full price. Reconsider your brand loyalties, instead favoring products for which you have coupons.

When trading in the Forex market it is important to watch the trends. You want to buy low then sell high so always keep yourself informed. Don’t ever sell when there’s an upswing or a downswing. You must be very clear in your goals when you do not ride a trend out completely.

Poor Credit

TIP! Typically owning two to four credit cards that you regularly use and pay off will help keep your credit score high. Using one credit card will make it harder to build your credit up, however, using too many cards can also negatively impact your credit.

Do not believe that credit repair organizations can improve your credit history. A lot of companies exaggerate their ability to improve your credit. However, this is a misleading claim because the cause of your poor credit may differ from the cause of someone else’s poor credit, and these varying factors require different treatment methods. Companies that promise to completely clean your credit are deceiving you.

TIP! Spread your purchases across several credit cards instead of using one that is nearing your credit balance limit. The interest that you will have to pay using multiple cards will end up being smaller than it would be on one maxed out card.

If you buy protein in large quantities, you will reduce both your bills and number of grocery trips. Buying in bulk can save you money, as long as you use everything. A lot of time will be saved by cooking everything in one day which will leave you with food for the rest of the week.

TIP! There are ways to negotiate with debt collectors. Your debt was probably bought for a low price.

Patience is a valuable asset when it comes to managing your money. A lot of people splurge on buying the very latest and greatest electronics, for example. It would help to wait a while, since electronics prices decrease as time passes. With the savings you earn this way, there is more room in your budget for other items.

TIP! Many spend over $20 weekly trying to win a lot of money from a local lottery drawing, when that amount could easily go into a savings account. That way, you’ll increase income over time instead of throwing money down the drain.

Clearing your house of older, unused items is a great way to earn a bit of extra money. If one is also good at working with people they can talk neighbors into letting them sell some of their old items for a nominal fee. It is easy to get creative and have a successful garage sale.

TIP! You should have a savings account set up in case of emergencies. Depending on your situation, you may choose to save in order to get out of debt or for a future expense.

If you fly all over the world on a regular basis, then you need to take advantage of frequent flier programs. Most credit cards have some sort of rewards program that allows you to redeem points for cash or gifts. Your reward miles may also be used at some hotels for room discounts or freebies.

TIP! If you wish to have a credit card and are under 21, you need to realize that the rules changed. In the past, it was easy for college students to get credit cards.

A sale is not a bargain if you end up having to buy more groceries than you need. You will only save by stocking up on groceries if you eat everything before it spoils. Plan ahead, think before you buy and you’ll enjoy saving money without your savings going to waste.

Credit Card

TIP! To get rid of your debts quickly, pay off all of your credit cards as soon as possible. It’ll save much more money to do this first instead of spreading your money equally.

Instead of having a debit card, you may want to think of getting a credit card. Using a credit card on topical purchases like gas and food, as compared to big purchases is a good idea. Often times, these purchases provide great cash back rewards.

TIP! Consider using a software program to help keep track of your budget if the old ways aren’t working. Many options are available, both online and via software, which can easily categorize and track your deposits and expenditures.

Take advantage of automated online alerts that your bank can offer you. It is rare to find a bank that does not send out emails or texts to alert of you of account events. Banks will send out warnings for a low account balance or an unusual transaction, for instance. Alerts help prevent fraud.

Try not to waste money on unnecessary purchases. Invest your savings wisely to maximize your return on investment.

[traciedemars]

Debt to Income Ratio....what is this?? Upcoming Free (& non-promotional) Home Buyer Classes: Saturday, June 10th, from 9am-12pm (ish)       Marshall Community Center, conference room       1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College)

Saturday, June 24th, from 11am-2pm (ish)        Vancouver YMCA, conference room        11324 NE 51st Circle, Vancouver WA (corner of SR500 & Gher Road/112th Ave)

If these class dates and/or times don't work for you, please let us know.  We understand that you have lives, and families, and work.  We will work something out that works better with your schedule.  Just let us know....                                                                                  

....we also have home seller classes available too...link on left on website                   Remember...with reservation...we will throw in lunch, or dinner!  :-D                               ~~~~~~~~~

Happy June!

 It's that time again (and again!)...  CLIENT APPRECIATION EVENT time... Yay!!  :-D

Saturday, June 17 from 3pm-6pm. Chris Berg & I would like to invite our clients to come watch a movie with us.  Didn't we just have one?  Well, yes...yes, we did and we had so much fun that we want to do it again!   Which one now? Well, it involves some Disney, a red car, a tow truck, some really good music, and really good friends along Route 66 .  Come join us for Cars 3!! This is just our small way of saying, "THANK YOU" for your continued support, friendship, and oh yes, referrals. We appreciate YOU so much. Come watch a movie with us!  There's always room for friends and family too.  :-)

We do need rsvp's, and those can be made via the Eventbrite link seen RIGHT HERE:   https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cars-3-client-appreciation-event-tickets-35089186702

We are always excited for the client appreciation events, and it's almost as exciting for us as getting someone's offer accepted on their dream home... or getting an offer signed around on the home they're selling.  I know people think that Real Estate is about houses, and while, yes...that is partly correct, it isn't completely correct.  :-D  Real Estate is more about the relationships we form with our clients, and assisting them with their goals.  

So, my morning started out with the sound every parent dreads hearing at 4am... Mom...i don't feel..... *retching followed by the sound of liquid stench next to my bed* good... *followed by more liquid stench* This is the sounds and smells that makes one sit straight up in bed from a sound sleep screaming...... "Get to the toilet! " This leads to darling child going to bathroom moaning, "I think I'm going to * liquid stench* puke... (no kidding) ... makes it to the toilet (hallelujah) but then she realizes the light is off so comes back to the light switch *more liquid stench* and then goes back to the toilet (I guess you can't puke in the dark? ) Said darling, puking child passed by three toilets.... yes.... THREE to come puke next to my side of the bed because that's obviously the best place to puke as I've found over my years of parenting. I'm not much of a track enthusiast but attempting to hurdle the piles of liquid pb&j stench has made me much more nimble as I'm yelling at the dogs to stop trying to "help" us clean up the liquid landmines. My beloved and I have the tasks of hunting down cleaners, puke buckets, and a mop (where the heck is the brand new mop?!) as our sweet and smelly child hovers over the toilet asking me if she can go back to bed because she's tired (me too kiddo) and if this means she's going to miss "field day" at school as this is now the most important item in our/ her puke filled world. The cats have wisely fled our bedroom for less stinky parts of the home, the dogs are evidently under the impression that this is the best thing EVER, and we're really not dressed appropriately to be trying to clean up this muck (seriously how does a small child have that much puke in her body? ) Over an hour later, I was finally lying back in my bed in my room that could best be described as the Bog of Eternal Stench even though I used a can of Febreeze, 3 rolls of paper towels, and 2 different kinds of cleaners (that I had to go dig in boxes in the garage for because we hadn't unpacked them all yet), ....and we still have no idea where the new mop went. My beloved spent the rest of the morning cleaning one of the dog kennels because our wonderful and vomitous child is so talented that she managed to puke inside it and on the dog that likes to sleep in there (but she couldn't make it to a toilet?). He is now up for the day (please world... be gentle to him today as he is a man on the edge.... of sleep and vomit). My beautiful and puking child went back to bed whining about the fact that she WILL miss "field day" at school with a puke bucket and a reminder that there is a toilet literally right outside her bedroom door. This is Parenting...  

Parenting and real estate... it's actually a lot a like.  :-)

This week we are going to talk really quick about Debt to Income Ratios as this is a very important part of the pre-approval process....   Debt to Income Ratios...   This is one of the key ingredients of a pre-approval, and it is just as it sounds.  It is the ratio between how much you carry on personal debt and how much you earn.  Why do lenders care?  Because it gives them a good indication of how much additional debt you can handle.   What Debt does a Lender Consider?   Your lender will add up your 'fixed' monthly expenses such as your car payments, minimum credit card payments, and other regular payments like, monthly child support, student loans.  Your lender will not consider such bills as car insurance, food, utilities, phones, gas, and those other things that we regularly spend money on.   Then What?     Your lender will look at the remaining income after those 'fixed' debts are subtracted from your gross income, and consider that you can use up to a certain percentage of that remaining income for a mortgage payment.  Now please don't forget that your mortgage payment is more than just principal and interest...you have to add in taxes, insurance, and mortgage insurance too.  Your lender adds up those five components of a mortgage and that full payment can't be more than a certain percentage of your income after debts.  It does change based on the loan you are getting approved for.  Some loans will allow you to go up to 40%-45% of your income after debt for a mortgage payment, where others won't let you go above 35%.  Most FHA loans are about 45%  debt to income ratio, and that is pretty generous.  This leaves 55% of your income for those other things like, taxes, food, utilities, car insurance, movies, clothes, etc.  Again, as always, talk with your lender!  A lender is always your best source of up to date information regarding loans...and can help answer your questions!  It really is kind of a backward way of figuring out how much you are approved for since it starts with your income, minus your debts, and a percentage of the remaining amount going to a potential mortgage payment consisting of five parts.  Then your lender will take that potential mortgage payment and apply it to how much that payment is for a loan amount.  The truth of the pre-approval process is that you are NOT pre-approved for a loan amount....you ARE ONLY pre-approved for a monthly payment amount.  So...if interest rates change then so does your loan approval amount, and as interest rates go up, then the dollar amount of your pre-approval goes down.  If the taxes on the home are different than what your lender estimated when doing your pre-approval then, again, your loan amount can change.  It is important for your lender and your Buyers Agent to be communicating.  Remember that we both work FOR YOU, the buyer, and that our job is to HELP, ADVISE, and ASSIST you, the buyer, with your home buying adventure.   How Much Can You Afford?   Your lenders job is to pre-approve you for as much as they can...it is YOUR job to know how much you can comfortably afford.  Have a budget in place, and if you have an idea of how much you are going to be looking at for a mortgage payment then start that payment now.  If you are currently paying $1200 a month for rent, but your mortgage payment is going to be $1500-$1600 a month, then take that extra $300-$400 a month and put it away into a savings account.  This will help you in a couple of different ways...by letting you know if you can comfortably afford that payment, and by giving you a bit extra put away for those things that can come up after you buy your home....like paint for the rooms, and maybe a fridge, washer, and dryer, since most likely those items will not come with your home.

Chris Berg with Pinnacle Mortgage (503-320-0925 & cberg@pcmloan.com) will talk more about this in the classes.  :-)  You can also contact him with any lending questions.  We are always happy to help!

Next week let's talk about what you NEED to buy a home...  and when it is due by.  :-)

Information is power,  and as always...May the odds be ever in your favor out there....  If you are looking for a real estate agent, I would love to be able to help you.   If you have any questions, or comments please get a hold of me anytime.  You can call, text, email, or even facebook me.  Please remember that while I mean these emails/blogs to be helpful, and educational, I am still hoping that you will call, or email me as I would be honored to help you with your home buying, or home selling adventure!  :-)

   As always....this is just a quick overview.... again...and I can't say this enough...please remember that your agent is NOT a salesperson, and should not be acting like one.  Real Estate is not really about houses, it is about relationships.  Your agent, and your lender work for YOU.  You drive the bus...we are merely GPS to help you get to your goals.  Like the classes, this weekly blog email is to help you with your home adventure.  The goal is to be informative and non-promotional.  :-)  We are, however, hoping you will call and want us to help with your adventure.   Thank you again for your business and your referrals!!  ...and thank you for referring these classes to your friends, family, and co-workers. ....disclaimer...if you have already purchased a home, or would no longer like to receive these emails, please let me know and I will be happy to remove you from any further mailings... Upcoming Topics: What do I need to buy a home, Hiring a Realtor...questions to ask, What if I don't have a Down Payment? .....  &.... What does an Agent do for me?

Last Week:  'Rules' to seeing homes... helpful hints for home buyers (& sellers)

Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon,   ;-D   Tracie DeMars   Real Estate broker     Re/Max - Van Mall   360/ 903-3504 cell   360/ 882-3600 fax   www.traciedemars.com   traciedemars@aol.com       “Interested in free and non promotional home education classes?  Go to www.freehomebuyerclasses.com for local upcoming home buyer and home SELLER classes, or facebook: Tracie DeMars Real Estate for my home buyer education blog.”

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be."       - Shel Silverstein, American poet, cartoonist and composer, (1930 - 1999).