#today it was quiet at work so I listened to a podcast in between checking out customers

[thebeautifulfantastic]

podcasts are so cool. i want to start a podcast someday but i don’t know someone who i’d want to host it with yet

[sturniololoco]

could i do a SLS where chris and reader are super close and shes kind of dependent on him but when he has to leave for a trip she has trouble seeking out matt and nick for help but it ends up being a cute little bonding experience

Miss Me

Warnings: Crying, nervousness, etc.

Note: Sorry for not being late, I had soccer practice till 7:00!!!

SLS/N's POV

Chris was leaving today to film a podcast with another group of YouTube and social media influencers.

Out of state.

meaning that he would be gone for a couple days.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Chris. He has always made me feel comfortable and safe so I always drift towards him. Some say I follow him around, but he doesn't mind my company.

-

Chris gives me a huge hug, picking me up off the ground and spinning me around in the air. I giggle and give him one more squeeze before he hops in the car with Matt, who is driving him to the airport.

after waving them away, Nick and I headed back inside. We sit in the living room, Nick editing on his computer while I turn on the TV, looking for a show.

-

it's difficult being away from Chris, here with Nick, and not talking. He must have noticed my unease because he said,

"c'mere sis." Motioning me over, patting the cushion next to him.

I scramble over to him as he tilts his computer screen to let me watch the video he's editing. As I watch, I cautiously lean my head on his shoulder.

Much to my relief, he wraps his arm around me, bringing me closer to him. I snuggle into his side, soaking in his warmth as I watch the rest of his video.

-

"Hey, Nick?" I say to my older brother. He runs his fingers through my hair as I lay at his side, watching a movie.

"what's up kiddo?" He responds gently, making me feel more comfortable saying,

"I miss Chris already."

He lets out a light sigh, leaning down to kiss the top of my head.

"I know, so do I. But we'll be okay, it's only two days." He responds.

I nod, feeling the sadness pooling in the pit of my stomach.

"I'll tell you what? As soon as he lands, we'll FaceTime him. How does that sound? I nod again, as he smiles at me, his fingers still working through my hair.

Just as I press play on my movie, The front door opens and Matt walks up the stairs, three McFlurries and a brown McDonald's bag in his hands.

I immediately sit up.

"Well isn't someone excited?" Matt says, chuckling, to which I nod.

-

After dinner and a movie later, Nick informs me that Chris should have landed by now. I go over to them and sit in between them, all of us close together trying to get into the tiny frame on the screen.

It rings three times, and then I see Chris's face appear on the screen.

"Hey, you guys!" Chris says,

I smile and reach out to snatch Nick's phone, but almost instantly retract my arms, realizing how rude that was.

"It's okay, you can hold it," Nick says, chuckling and handing me the phone. I smile at Chris and laugh when he makes a silly face at me.

-

The conversation continues between all three of my brothers, Matt now holding the phone. They were talking about Chris's flight and how checking into his hotel went while I was just sitting quietly, listening, simply missing my brother's face.

As they keep talking, I feel my eyes start to grow heavy, and my mind starts to slip in and out of consciousness.

Matt's POV

Nick and I are still talking to Chris on the phone, when all of a sudden, I feel an added weight being put on my shoulder and chest area.

I look down to see SLS/N fast asleep against me. I tilt the phone so Chris can see.

He looks at her and give a soft smile. I can tell he misses his little buddy. As does she.

“tell her good night for me.” He says, waving bye at Nick and I. “Alright man, love you.” I say, hanging up the phone. I look at Nick and put a finger to my lips, signaling for him to be quiet.

I quickly readjusted her position, scooping her up and carrying her like a baby, her head in my shoulder and her arms and legs wrapped around me.

After saying good night to Nick, I walk to me bedroom, laying her down and pulling the covers over her, then getting in beside her.

I see her eyes flutter open, looking nervously around the room.

“Hey your okay, I’m right here kiddo.” I say, grabbing her hand comfortingly.

She looks at me then nods, laying back down and snuggling tight into my chest, falling right back asleep.

SLS/N’s POV

I wake up, pretty early the next morning, still laying next to Matt, who was fast asleep. I look at the clock.

7:30 AM

Chris has his interview in an hour and a half, so I decide to text him.

I sigh, putting my phone down on the table. I feel the emotion rise to my eyes and burning my throat.

I sniffle not wanting to let the tear to come but they come anyway.

All of the sudden, I feel an arm come around my shoulders and grab my hand. I look over to Matt who has his other arm open, welcoming me into a hug, which I gladly accept, the tears going away as he says,

“I know. I miss him too. But he’ll be back tonight!”

I nod as the door opens, revealing Nick, who has a box in his hand.

“Guess who just found out old candy land!!!” He shouts.

-

After a long day of candy land, movies, food, and fun, Matt gets up to go pick up Chris, asking if Nick and I want to join.

We hop up from the couch, practically running to get in the car.

-

As we pull up to the airport drop off, I see Chris walking out the door. As soon as Matt puts the car in park, I’m out the damn door, sprinting to my brother.

He drops his back as I launch myself into his arms, giving him a jump hug.

“Hi! Oh my goodness I missed you so much! But don’t you think this is a little cringey?” He says, hugging me back and chuckling.

I only squeeze him tighter, happy to be in my brothers arms again.

-

@idkwhosnyla @babypat08 @eyelessdemon00 @christopherowensturniolo @sturnsxx @freshloveforthefit @matty443355 @sleepysturnss @emeraldgreenbeautiesstu @sunsetsturniolos @hoesturniolo @x4nd3rsukz @chr1sgirl4life @sstvrnioloo @sturns-posts @chrisstopherfilmed @kylasrealityx @zoeysturnioloooooo @comet235 @islaasblog @sturnioloblogs

[nugnthopkns]

dance me to the end of love (i)

word count: 4.3k

warnings: fem!oc, cursing, potential spoilers for the west wing if you've never seen the show

series masterpost: here

a/n: hi!! i am so incredibly happy to finally be putting this fic out into the world. it means an awful lot to me and i can't wait to share the little world i've created :)) x

Magdalene is content with where she’s ended up.

Denver is wonderful. Her friends are there, her cat is there, and it’s the perfect place for a fresh start. She arrived in the city nearly six years ago – a wide-eyed University of Denver freshman and has stayed put ever since. Her hometown of Aspen holds a few too many bad memories, but is close enough that she can return if an emergency calls for it. So far she hasn’t left, too engrossed in finishing her degree and moving on. There’s a job offer lined up with the university’s library upon graduation that Magdalene is ecstatic about. It means she gets to stay right where she is – where she’s comfortable.

☼☼☼☼

The sun might be shining as she exits her apartment building, but it’s cold for March. Magdalene pulls the thick scarf her best friend Bette got her for Christmas higher up her face and walks as quickly as possible to campus. There’s a brief meeting to attend with her advisor before grabbing lunch with Bette, and then her plan is to spend the rest of the day holed up in the library working on her thesis. It’s due in two weeks, with the defence in just over a month, and Magdalene is incredibly nervous. Though she’d gone through submitting her undergraduate thesis two years ago, presenting her master’s research was going to be a lot harder. She’s heard through the grapevine that the committees are being tough this year and she doesn’t want to fail.

Dr. Williams is waiting for her in his office with a smile on his face. He’s a tall man, with thin facial features and wire glasses that box him perfectly into the intimidating professor stereotype. “Miss Stevenson, please sit,” he gestures to the chair across from him.

“Gerald,” she sighs, “You can call me Magdalene, I don’t mind. Besides, it makes you quite the hypocrite if you insist I call you by your first name but you won’t use mine.” There’s no malice in her voice, just a decent amount of teasing.

The older man scoffs but concedes. “I suppose you’re right. Well then Magdalene, tell me, how are your final edits coming along?”

Magdalene spends nearly twenty minutes detailing all the elements she has tweaked since their last meeting, from the title to the citation style. She’s out of breath by the time she’s done, rambling at an impressive speed, and takes a big gasp of air while the professor mulls over her words. Dr. Williams doesn’t say anything, causing Magdalene to shift anxiously in her seat. “Sir, is there something wrong?”

He shakes his head. “Absolutely nothing,” he beams, “Everything is perfect. It’s a shame you don’t want to continue researching. You’d make a fabulous academic.”

The compliment makes Magdalene’s heart soar. It means a lot, especially coming from the person who has seen her cry over the oxford comma. “Thank you sir, but I belong in the practical realm. Someone has to file all the documents you obsessively scan.”

She leaves the building soon after, promising to stop by after she drops off the final draft in a few weeks. It’s a bit later than she expected and hopes Bette won’t be mad. There’s nothing the blonde hates more than poor time management, but Magdalene prays she’ll understand. It wasn’t that long ago and Bette was scheduling her own appointments with advisors on how to graduate. Barn Owl Book Company is located halfway between the school and her apartment, making it the perfect spot to meet. In addition to being a used book store, Barn Owl sports one of the best cafés in downtown Denver. Bette is perched delicately at her friend’s favourite seat, a bay window converted into a small nook, and typing furiously on her phone.

“Sorry I’m late,” Magdalene apologizes, “Williams talked a lot more than I expected him to.”

Bette looks up and smiles, shoving a cup in the other girl’s direction. “As always. How is he?”

Sliding into the booth, Magdalene fills her friend in on what’s been going on in their former professor’s life. Bette graduated with a minor in Classics, and it was Magdalene's major, but the former decided not to further her education and is instead doing full time charity work for the Colorado Avalanche. Her boyfriend Tyson is one of their star players, and the two of them are so smitten it makes Magdalene sick. Conversation quickly turns from school to life, which she’s grateful for.

“So,” Bette says, “Are you in for the trip this summer? I’ve got to confirm the reservation in a week or something.”

“I don’t know Bee, I'm going to be the new girl. Asking for time off like two months into the job would be rude.”

“Linny,” the blonde whines, “Please? I want you to come.”

Magdalene scowls. Bette knows just how much the nickname sours her mood but she chose to use it anyway. “Don’t call me that,” she snaps with quite a bite. “Can someone else take my spot if I decide not to go a little closer to the date?”

“Of course! Gravy said he’d fill an extra spot if one comes up so we don’t lose the deposit,” Bette blabs before trying to switch gears entirely. Magdalene cuts her off.

“Who’s Gravy?”

If her friend is exasperated by Magdalene’s lack of knowledge surrounding hockey, she doesn’t show it. Bette calmly explains that Gravy, who’s real name is Ryan, is a defenceman with the Avalanche and a good friend of Tyson’s. She also makes a point of mentioning that he’s single, to which Magdalene rolls her eyes. Bette has a masterplan for her life – which includes her best friend becoming romantically involved with an Avalanche player so the two of them can live the better half life together. As the best friend, Magdalene is constantly barraged with potential players who are looking to date. Once she went on a few dates with Mikko, but that ended fairly quickly when the two realized they were better as friends. Every time since she’s turned Bette down as gently as possible, not wanting to get involved with anyone. Her life is just starting, and Magdalene wants to be secure before settling down.

The conversation eventually shifts to what Magdalene plans to wear for both her thesis defence and graduation. Bette is fashion savvy, while Magdalene is decidedly not. Her everyday wardrobe consists of collared button-downs and sweater vests, which is supposedly never going to back a comeback, according to Bette at least. The blonde eventually wears Magdalene down, and secures a position as stylist for the graduation ceremony. There was an attempt at the thesis defence, but the other girl insists she needs to be as comfortable as possible on such a stressful occasion.

A glance to the clock on the opposite wall has Magdalene stretching her arms and giving an apologetic glance to her friend on the other side of the table. “I should go,” she says. “I’ve got to put in some serious work on my citations today, and you know Caligula doesn’t like it when I’m gone all day.”

Bette rolls her eyes, but there isn’t any frustration behind the gesture. “I swear to god Mags, your cat has more separation anxiety than I do. Speaking of, I’m supposed to pick Tyson up at the airport and I’m running behind.”

“Tell him I say hi,” Magdalene says as she wraps her arms around Bette for a quick hug.

The two girls part ways on the sidewalk, with Magdalene heading back to campus and Bette sliding into the sleek Audi she shares with her boyfriend. Headphones find their way into her ears, and Magdalene listens to a random comedy podcast. Once tucked safely inside the library she’ll put on her favourite lo-fi playlist and concentrate, but for now she just enjoys the funny anecdotes of stories past.

It’s quiet in the library for a Tuesday, though Magdalene isn’t complaining. Her favourite table, the one she swears up and down is the only reason she ever gets anything done, is open, and she all but sprints to place her bag on the worn leather chair. While setting up her work station a few of the librarians come over to offer their congratulations for her upcoming job. News certainly travels fast around here, Magdalene thinks, but accepts their generosity with a smile on her face. They leave her alone soon enough and the tedious work of double checking the formatting of every single citation in the sixty-five page paper begins.

Hours pass, and Magdalene stays working in the library until as late as she possibly can. Caligula is going to start to worry about the length of her absence soon and his anxiety response of knocking over plants is not a mess she feels like cleaning up. She packs up her laptop and walks the short distance home as fast as possible.

“Little boots, I’m home,” Magdalene parrots in a sing-song voice as she slips her jacket off her shoulders and onto the hanger. At the sound of his nickname, the small cat bounds into the entryway. “Hi darling, did you miss me?” Magdalene gets an obnoxiously loud purr in response that she takes it as a yes. She reaches down to pick up the tiny animal before continuing further into the apartment, scratching behind his ears as she does so. The two of them settle into the respectably sized couch, where they stay for the rest of the night watching reruns of The West Wing before Magdalene falls asleep.

☼☼☼☼

“You fucking did it!” Bette shrieks as she bounds towards her best friend. Magdalene braces herself for the oncoming assault, and manages to keep them both upright after Bette jumps into her arms.

Her thesis defence had just finished, and the committee found Magdalene a worthy candidate for the Master of Information Science qualification. The presentation itself was open to the public, so Bette and Tyson sat in the front row to support Magdalene, but were escorted out for the conversation that followed. The two girls had developed a code so the news could be shared in a subtle way, though Bette threw the original plan out the window as soon as she saw her friend give a sneaky thumbs up when the conference room door opened.

“Congrats Mags,” Tyson says sincerely, doing his best not to add to the growing spectacle, but Magdalene can tell he wants to give her a bone crushing hug.

“Thank you,” she smiles softly, “And thank you guys for coming. It means a lot.” As two of her closest friends, both Bette and Tyson know that her family situation is rocky at best, and having them act as her support system means more than she’ll ever be able to articulate.

The couple shares a knowing look before engulfing their friend in a hug. “We’re always going to be here for you,” Bette whispers, “No matter what.”

Magdalene’s smile is so genuine it crinkles her eyes as she wraps her arms around Bette and Tyson’s shoulders and leads them out the door and into the sunshine. The group continues to the parking lot, where they climb into Tyson’s car and drive off campus in the direction of Magdalene’s favourite restaurant. Though she had tried to convince her friends they didn’t need to celebrate, she failed, and Magdalene soon finds herself laughing hysterically over a plate of carbonara as Tyson tells a story about the shenanigans the team got up to on their last road trip.

There’s a game tonight, and Bette has somehow convinced her into attending. Magdalene knows she should go, expand her social horizons a little, but all she wants to do is curl up in bed and sleep for three weeks. Her one condition is that she can go home straight after the game without being guilted into following the group to whatever nightclub they’ll celebrate the win or drink away the loss in. Tyson has to get ready so he drops the two girls off at Magdalene's apartment complex. She’s in charge of getting Bette to the rink, and she’ll leave with her boyfriend after the game.

Once inside the confines of her home, Magdalene promptly lies on the floor. “Holy shit,” she sighs, “I did it. I fucking did it.”

“You did!” Bette says as she lies down beside her best friend. “I’m so fucking proud of you, and Tyson is too. Even if he won’t tackle you in public to prove it.”

The comment garners a laugh from Magdalene, which alerts Caligula to the presence of others in the apartment. He pads over the rug currently being occupied by two adults, and snuggles into the small space between them. Bette and Magdalene continue to lay there, petting the cat and looking back fondly on all the times Magdalene called her friend in tears because she didn’t think she could push herself any farther. Bette was always there to pick up the slack, editing whatever section Magdalene was working on or to bring over a hot meal. Her support earned her the top spot in the acknowledgements section of the thesis.

Ball Arena is already crawling with people when Magdalene pulls into the small lot for player’s and their families. Normally she parks with the general public, but Bette insists they watch this game from the better halves box, and these spaces are closer to that entrance.

“Stop dragging your feet,” the blonde chastises as Magdalene takes her time cutting the engine. “I want to get a glass of rosé before they sell out.”

Sighing, Magdalene follows her orders. “Don’t you have a special bar in the box?” she asks while locking the car.

“Yeah, but the other girls are absolute fiends. They’ll drink it all before we get there with no remorse.”

The girls climb the stairs to the better halves box, Bette chatting excitedly about the game, but Magdalene stops just before the entrance. She’s met most of the others on multiple occasions and has nothing to worry about, but she can’t help but feel anxious. Her life is so different than everyone else’s in the space, and it feels like cheating when she’s there because she isn’t romantically involved with anyone on the roster. Bette likes to joke that she’s her better half, but Magdalene knows it’s said just to calm her nerves.

“It’ll be fine,” Bette whispers while squeezing her hand, “And if you get too uncomfortable we can find some seats in the nosebleeds.”

Once inside Magdalene’s nerves dissipate. Most of the other wives and girlfriends pay her no mind, but the ones that are especially close to Bette congratulate her on passing her defence. It warms her heart a little, and the small group Magdalene finds herself in settles down to watch the game unfold.

It’s a fairly intense one between Colorado’s division rival St. Louis. Both teams are fighting for first place in the conference, and a win for the Avalanche would put them three points ahead of the Blues instead of one. Players from both sides are amped up, and more than once a scrum at the net has turned into a dog-pile. Colorado is outplaying the other team, but have still managed to find themselves a goal short heading into the final period. At the buzzer Tyson takes the face-off and is immediately shoved by a member of the opposite team. He goes down hard, and Bette squeezes Magdalene’s hand so tightly she fears it will lose blood flow. Silence falls over the arena as Tyson doesn’t immediately get up. The inside of lip finds its way between her teeth and Magdalene bites down hard, worried about her friend. She’s so focussed on Tyson that she doesn’t notice a fight breaking out.

“Holy shit, Gravy is going to town!”

The remark is made by someone Magdalene recognizes as Gabe Landeskog’s wife, and it makes her peel her eyes off of Bette’s worried features and scan the ice for some action. Sure enough, a very tall man is laying right hooks to someone who looks significantly smaller than him on the Avalanche blue line. The referees let the fight continue until Tyson drags himself off the ice and onto the bench before separating the men and throwing them in the penalty box. Magdalene can tell words are still being exchanged from both sides of the glass, but she’s more focussed on the fact Tyson doesn’t make his way to the dressing room – a good sign that allows Bette to drop her hand and let out a shaky breath.

Nothing of great importance happens until MacKinnon ties the game with seven minutes left. It happens while the Avalanche are short handed, and the goal seems to light a fire beneath the team. Magdalene may not know much about hockey, but she’s smart enough to notice the insane amount of energy all the players suddenly have. Time ticks by slowly and before she realizes it, the final face-off is taking place. Luckily it’s in the St. Louis zone and won by Colorado. The puck is tipped back to the same player who got in the fight for Tyson, Gravy, and he one times it right into the back of the net. The buzzer goes off not a second later, and the entire team piles on top of the player who just won them the game.

Bette and Magdalene join in the shrieks of the other partners, jumping from their seats in excitement. Eventually they make their way down to the hallway outside the locker room and lean against the brick while they wait for Tyson.

“You don’t have to stay,” Bette insists, “I can wait by myself.”

Magdalene shakes her head. “No way. I want to make sure he’s okay too. What good is a friend with a black eye?”

The other girl laughs at her friend’s stubbornness but doesn’t shoo her away. Once Magdalene has made a decision it’s hard to get her to sway from it, and Bette knows better than to push. Besides, who is she to deny her friend a bit more social interaction? Magdalene has spent the past six years practically holed up in the library and deserves to stand in a crowded hallway.

The friends chat idly while they wait, with Magdalene sharing some of the most ridiculous questions she got asked in her defence interview that morning. She’s mid story when Tyson exits the dressing flanked by a man dressed sharply in all black.

“Hey guys,” Tyson greets, dipping his head to place a kiss to Bette’s cheek before doing an elaborately goofy handshake with Magdalene.

“Good game baby,” Bette compliments sweetly. She then turns her attention to the boy standing awkwardly on the fringes. “You too Graves.”

He smiles shyly, muttering out a small thanks. It’s then he seems to notice the final member of the group, and offers his hand in greeting. “Hi, I’m Ryan.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Magdalene.”

She puts two and two together on the walk to her car. The Ryan Magdalene just met is the same who will take her spot on the trip, fought someone in Tyson’s defence, and scored the game winning goal. Though they’ve only said a few words, she likes him. He seems genuine, and those people are the rarest to find.

☼☼☼☼

Magdalene is walking across a graduation stage for the final time in two days. However, she can’t find anyone to take the third ticket. The University of Denver has a stupid rule where all graduates must have three guests attend the ceremony. Bette and Tyson are obviously occupying two of Magdalene’s seats, but she’s having trouble filling the third.

“I can ask Tys if one of the guys is free,” Bette shrugs. The two girls are sitting in the window of Barn Owl drinking iced lattes and discussing what Magdalene should wear to the ceremony.

“It’s okay,” Magdalene says, “I don’t want to bother anyone. Maybe I’ll just ask June.”

Her friend’s eye roll so far back into her head Magdalene isn’t sure they won’t stay there. “You can’t ask your boss to watch you graduate Mags! Besides, Gravy owes Tyson a favour and was already looking for something to do. I’m sure he won’t mind wasting a few hours as long as he gets drinks out of it.”

There isn’t a better option, so even though she barely knows the guy, Magdalene agrees. “Make sure he gets this?" she sighs, handing her friend an envelope with a single ticket in it. "I have to go. Caligula should be done at the vet soon.”

“Say hello to little boots for me,” Bette giggles as she waves goodbye.

Hours later, tucked into her couch with a glass of wine in one hand and Caligula playing with the fingers on the other, Magdalene realizes she invited a complete stranger to her graduation and how that could be a terrible idea. Sure, Ryan sounds like a great guy from the way Bette and Tyson talk about him, but he’s only ever spoken three words to her. Since that game she’s gone out with the team a few times, but the man with the piercing stare is yet to make an appearance. Magdalene considers that perhaps he’s more like her than his profession gives him credit for, and she feels a twinge of guilt about being worried he’d cause a scene at the ceremony.

There isn’t any more time for her to fret over the third and final guest on the list. At the last minute Bette decides there’s nothing in Magdalene’s closet that’s suitable for her to wear, so a trip to a local second-hand store ensues. While it’s nice that her friend has taken their carbon footprints into consideration, Magdalene wishes it didn’t have to happen an hour and a half before the ceremony is supposed to start.

“We have to be there in twenty minutes Bette,” she frets, tapping her foot nervously against the tile flooring.

If they can’t find whatever it is Bette’s looking for, Magdalene will have to walk across the stage in denim cutoffs and a faded t-shirt with Neil Young’s face on it, which is something she’s hoping to avoid at all costs.

“Have no fear, Mags,” she says with a knowing glint in her eye, “For I have found it.” Bette holds up a hanger that is holding a beautiful long sleeve dress adorned with a whimsical floral print.

Magdalene can’t help the gasp that escapes from her. “It’s beautiful,” she breathes, “But let’s hope it fits.”

The dress does in fact fit, and the workers are kind enough to let her wear it out of the store. Bette drives at a speed that might not be the safest to travel at in downtown Denver, but she gets to the school with minutes to spare. She shoos her friends out of the car so she can go pick up Tyson and Ryan, and Magdalene checks in with little hassle. The pool of graduates is fairly small, so she chats with a few classmates while they wait for the call to put their gowns on. Time passes quicker than expected, and soon Magdalene is being directed to her seat. She zones out while the dean gives a congratulatory speech and they go through the first few names. At one point she looks backwards into the crowd to find Bette, Tyson, and Ryan all giving her a thumbs up. The nerves she didn’t even know she had settle.

A faculty member signals for Magdalene’s row to stand up, and she smoothes her dress before dutifully following the person in front of her. Giddiness bubbles in her stomach at the thought of being done school forever. A hand from the stage crew give a cue, and Magdalene appears on the stage as her accomplishment is broadcast through the microphone.

“Magdalene Stevenson is being awarded a Masters in Information Science in Archival Studies and Records Management.” It feels so good to finally be finished that she lets a tear slip as she shakes the hand of the staff member handing her the package with her diploma in it.

The rest of the ceremony passes in a blur, and before Magdalene knows it her friends are approaching to congratulate her. Bette and Tyson wrap her in a tight hug, murmuring praise in her ears. Ryan stands awkwardly to the side before Bette drags him into the celebration. The four of them stand in the courtyard where the ceremony was for much longer than needed. Bette is crying enough to refill Sloan Lake if there is ever a drought and is yet to let go of Magdalene’s figure.

It’s only when the event staff ask them to leave so they can tear down the stage does Magdalene turn to leave campus for the last time as a student. She’ll be back in a few weeks as an employee, but deep down she knows this is the last time she’ll ever feel such a deep connection to the place.

“Victory is mine, victory is mine! Great day in the morning people, victory is mine!” Magdalene yells, quoting Josh Lyman as she skips down the path towards Bette’s car.

Both Bette and Tyson are confused at the sudden outburst, not knowing what she’s talking about, but Ryan responds without missing a beat. “Should I bring you all the muffins and bagels in the land?” His response doesn’t clear anything up, but it elicits a giant smile from Magdalene, who laughs and nods in confirmation.

Sitting in the back of Bette’s Audi, on the way to a graduation party she’s supposed to know nothing about, Magdalene decides that she wants to get to know Ryan Graves better. From what she’s garnered from Bette and Tyson he’s a class act, standing up for friends and giving good advice. He likes The West Wing and showed up to a stranger’s graduation, so how bad can he be?

☼☼☼☼

additional notes: see what magdalene's graduation dress looks like here // the quote from the west wing is from 1.02 if you were curious!

☼☼☼☼

taglist: @scrunchmakar @marcoscandellas @toplinetommy (add yourself to the taglist!)

[diplexchimera]

Hey people considering college-

I have some tips for you. Now, take into consideration that I am technically a college drop-out (didn't have enough money for a second semester).

- my college required Freshman to be in a campus dorm. We got to select whether we preferred someone quiet, someone loud, or someone in between. In my experience, someone loud = an extrovert who will have many people visit them, someone quiet = a person who prefers to keep their room more private, and someone in between = a person who wants their roommate to be okay with a noisy room & people over, but also wants to be able to say they need quiet time (or they aren't sure what they want, but want neither a silent room or a busy room).

- if you have to eat from the cafeteria, that's okay. They tend to have a wider selection anyway but! I would suggest memorizing the breakfast/lunch/dinner availability hours. Some schools are very strict, and will lock the doors which = a skipped meal for you.

-I would also suggest getting the app 'MyPlate Calorie Tracker'. College meals will most likely be different than what you've eaten at home and school. The MyPlate app is pretty simple, and can help you make sure you're getting the right amount of food into yourself, as opposed to too much or too little. If I remember correctly, it also keeps track of how much protein and stuff your food is supplying you.

- sugars, fats, calories, and carbs are not bad for you. Your body requires them. Your brain literally will not function if you cut out any one of those items. Remember, you don't need to avoid being fat, you need work today being healthy. Your body will sort itself out (over time dude, give it time) if you supply it with the necessary nutrients and such.

- dude, vitamins. They can be expensive, but if you have insurance, ask your doctor how much of every vitamin you should be having. They can tell you, give you a list, and they can ask your insurance if vitamins are covered. If you can't get to a doctor, try to do research. Here is one from Harvard that I think is good, but you should always cross check things. Getting all the vitamins and minerals you need is exceedingly important. They help you go to sleep, stay asleep, and wake up, help your brain and body to function and adjust, help keep you feeling healthy and happy. If you feel tired and depressed, it can be really difficult to accomplish tasks and enjoy/ appreciate being alive.

- I would not suggest starting your year by completing assignments before the start date of said assignments. For one, doing assignments as they come helps you get a feel for a natural schedule. Another reason is because it helps to be in the moment, instead of too far ahead to be able to keep track of what's going on and when. Wait until you have a hang of how and where to research, and a firm idea of how much you can hold onto mentally, so you don't fail tests. You'll also likely feel guilty later on when you begin to struggle to stay ahead as assignments get longer and more difficult.

- yo if you can get a used textbook that comes as a three ring binder instead of a hard or soft back, do it. It's cheaper, and so much easier to handle and copy. Heck, you can even take the pages out of the section you're using and put them in a folder -- boom, no more 40lb back pack. Also makes more room in any bag you use for the essentials, which I'll list next.

- here are some backpack essentials:

• earbuds, Bluetooth if possible. It's okay to have more than one type of listening device. "I prefer headphones!" You say. You can't hide over-the-ear headphones if you end up in a classroom which doesn't allow something like that. Sometimes you're just having a sucky day, sometimes you need extra stimulation to concentrate, sometimes you want to spend your time listening to a podcast that explains the current subject better than your teacher does. Sometimes you want to watch a movie casually. Earbuds also take up MUCH less space.

• an extra charging cable for every portable device you use. Roll them up, and secure each one individually with cable ties or bread bag twist ties. I say extra, as in, keep your original cords in your dorm room and Don't Take Them out. Get a secondary cable and charger for each device, and let them live in your backpack.

• 3 or 4 different colors of pen. Multiple colors, for whatever reason you want-- easily scanned notes, for different subjects, etc. These can serve a variety of purposes, and you never know when you need them.

• 3 regular pencils, and a good hand sharpener or silent mechanical sharpener. 3 in case the other two get broken lead or happen to suck. Regular pencils can be finicky.

• 2 mechanical pencils. 2 in case one of them fails, runs out of lead, or the lead breaks up.

• decoy pens and pencils! Get as cheap or expensive as you want. At some point, someone is likely to ask for one, and you don't want someone else using your favorites. You also may not get them back, or they get broken. I would suggest a couple of each, as it may happen in more than one class. You don't have to have decoys, but that way, at least you don't have to choose between either feeling guilty for not loaning out the items you like, or being uncomfortable that you did have to loan one. If you loan the decoys out, and don't get any back, and someone asks you for a utensil later that day, you have both a convenient reason you don't have an extra you're willing to share, and you already put the minimum effort towards being prepared.

• Water! You're going to get so dang dehydrated! You're going to have full days, much of the time, from trekking across campus, to class time, to meal times, to study time, to hang out time -- you need to have water with you, as opposed to having to track it down, and possibly have to pay for a bottle of water. Hydration is a main component in bodily functionality and brain processes. I would suggest a minimum of a 30-ish ounce container of any sort. A plastic water bottle you refill, a thermos, a sippy cup, a hydro flask, a camp flask, whatever works for you.

• I would say snacks. If you're eating meals throughout the day, I guess they aren't "technically" essential, but can confidently say, they are useful. Snacks can be an energy boost, a brain function boost, a hunger soother, a friend-maker, or just plain stimulation. Cut up some apple slices, maybe grab some peanut butter, or a portion of nuts, or a tangerine, crackers, pretzels, chips, the choice is yours. It helps if you can get ahold of some of those cheap reusable silicone ziplock baggies. You can wash them to be used again, and you don't have to deal with carrying plastic trash around with you.

• a pair of socks. I know that sounds weird, but it doesn't take up much space, and weird stuff happens. They get wet, or it's hot and your feet get sweaty and yucky, or food get spilled on your feet. Stuff happens.

• b12 tablets. They work with your system in a healthy way, as opposed to caffeine, and does the same trick. Just follow the directions on the bottle, and may I suggest, start with half the recommended dose. It affects different people more or less. My husband takes the recommended two, while I only need a half. We both have adhd, and are closely similar in body weight. If you need a wake up boost, don't slam your system with caffeine.

• baby wipes. You can get a small pack, and they can help clean up almost anything. Someone spill sticky tea? Got it. Fell and scraped a knee, and it has dirt all over it? Baby wipes and a little water. Need to blow your nose, and there are no tissues, or just feel like you need to rinse your face off in class? You're covered.

• chapstick is a very small item, but Lordy Lord if those classrooms aren't parched of all moisture in the air. You gone get cracked, chapped lips.

That's kinda it for now on backpack essentials. There is definitely more you could have, so supplement whatever helps you. You could add a hairbrush or comb, a hat and rain jacket for cold weather times, sunscreen during the hot times, hair ties and bobby pins, etc. It's all for you pal.

- keep in touch with your professors. Make yourself known to them. An occasional casual compliment is often helpful, and a good way to connect (you explained stuff really well today/your teaching style is helpful/I appreciated you taking time to answer my questions). They are people after all.

- if you have stuff going on, let your professors know. If your pet is sick at home and you're worried about them, give your professors a heads-up that you may seem less attentive that week, but that it isn't disinterest. If you figure out you have depression, and you're struggling to complete assignments/sleep/wake-up, tell them. Let them know you don't expect special treatment, you just wanted them to know that it isn't due to immaturity or lack of interest.

- always do studying and homework first. If you're able to accomplish these things while with friends, that's great, but if you can tell you're struggling, prioritize schoolwork. You'll have time for fun stuff later, usually later that evening.

- it's okay to drop a class. In fact, if you severely dislike a class, don't understand the coursework, or you realize you've taken on too much at once, it's better for your overall wellness and your grades if you drop it. If you have a professor suggest you drop a class in mean way, don't feel like you have to prove them wrong. This is your experience, and they can stuff it for being a rude brat. You don't need to prove yourself to them, and you cannot control their thoughts or actions.

- try to take classes that happen twice a week, which start later in the day than 8 am, at least for your first semester. There is a lot going on in college. A lot of changes to acclimate to. Take it a little easier at first, to give yourself time to work out what all is where, and how everything works.

Well, that's the end of 'dip's (college) tips' for now.

[povcherry]

The Love Test | DNF

Dream and George take a test to see if they are in love with their best friend

The intense red text was prominent on his screen. Frustratingly, the one time Dream agrees to playing bedwars with George and Hypixel is down.

Dream lent back in his chair, hands behind his head staring up at the ceiling. His room was dark, the only light shone from his monitors. Patches wrapped around his legs. A deep sigh left George, as he lay his head on his desk in exasperation, an empty subway wrapper by his face, the time on his monitor read 2:17 am, yet he wasn't tired. After being on calls almost consecutively with Dream for essentially a year, he had managed to sync his sleep schedule up with him, already in Florida time prepared for when he goes to live with Dream and Sapnap.

George was disheartened. He was looking forward to playing with Dream. They were both normally either too tired or busy editing or working to go on minecraft for fun, and not just for a YouTube video. But now that they couldn't play bedwars, they were bored and unsure of what to do. They only called each other so that they could play minecraft, but that wasn't an option anymore.

"What do you want to do now then?" Dream asks, his voice far away from the mic, so much so that George nearly missed what he said. He hesitated, staring at Dreams discord profile picture light up.

"We could..." He stalled, drawing out his words. He wasn't the best at making decisions, he was much to indecisive. "Do you want to stream GeoGuessr?" He suggested, silently hoping Dream would say no. He didn't really want to do anything, only talk to Dream for hours on end.

"Not really. My brain is too slow for that level of concentration." That earned a giggle from George, putting a small smile on Dreams face. He loved that sound. "How about we go in my merch vc? Me and ni- Sapnap had fun last time just listening to music?"

George was hesitant. The last time he went in Dreams merch voice call was during the sleep over with Sapnap and Dream. That ended up in a disaster of butterflies and George having to turn his phone off for a couple of hours just to distract himself from the 'dreamnotfound' mayhem they had caused yet again on twitter. He felt giddy just thinking about it, Dream whispering into the mic, loudly cursing when George beat him at 8ball. It made him dizzy thinking about it... thinking about him.

George didn't hate it though- the attention from Dream and the fans. Despite all the jokes and innuendos that they both do to mess with their fans, George knew there was some truth to it all. A deeper meaning to being called an idiot. The endearing term that Dream loved to use oh so much. George felt fluttery, wanting to be called an idiot at this moment.

"George?" He had been silent for a while, reminiscing.

"What would we do on there?"

"Just talk. Or listen to music. Whatever you want to do, George".

Without thinking, George clicked onto the icon for Dreams server. "Do you need to add me to the call?" He asked, unsure about how the podcasts worked.

"Yeah, I need to quickly tell my mods to open it first."

Within minutes, they where in the call, hundreds of people pouring in immediately, spamming the chat with things like 'GEORGE?!' and blue and green hearts. George stifled a giggle, nerves taking over him. Despite doing streams for a living with tens of thousands of people watching him, there was something more intimate with calling Dream in a private server.

"Hello" Dream broke the silence, welcoming all the fans. He chuckled, looking at the chat, "Yes, George is here today. Hypixel was down and we had nothing to do"

"Hi" George was unsure what to say, scratching his neck in awkwardness. It wasn't this weird when he was streaming. At least then they had a plan and chat was relatively easy to read. He was doubtful that this call would end well, what with his ignorance to some innuendos and jokes involving DreamNotfound.

"We thought we would just pop on here. We're kind of bored." Dream stated, unable to see what people where spamming in the #podcast chat. "I can't see what you guys are saying, i'll probably just read my twitch chat."

Half an hour passed and George was getting hungry and bored, nothing eventful had really happened so far except for Dream explaining his setup and chat freaking out over his galaxy mouse pad.

"I want food but all that's in my fridge is butter... oh and the BTS sauces and... uhm expired milk" George complained, looking through his fridge while still on the call.

Dream chucked, "Why do you have expired milk in your fridge?"

"Not the point, I just want food"

"Well get some food then" Dream counteracted. George sighed and rolled his eyes, sitting back down in his chair. His stomach rumbled loudly, calling out to his hunger.

"I'm going to order McDonald's." And with that George muted his mic, found the McDonald's number and ordered his food, in the background, he could hear Dream.

"Should i do a quiz?... yeah? Link some in the podcast chat." There was a long silence. George, long ordered his food, stayed muted, listening to Dream talk to his chat. He found it so endearing the way Dream spoke to them, as though they where a family. His voice soft and gentle as he scrolled through the chat looking for a quiz.

"Ooh, this looks interesting... oh, 'Am I In Love With My Best Friend?'. Sounds... interesting" George stopped. Everything seemed to slow down. Eyes wide as he looked at the screen infront of him, Dreams discord icon lighting up as he chuckled nervously. He wasn't actually going to do it was he? The room was getting hot for George, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to delve into the idea of being in love with his best friend, let alone his best friend being in love with him.

He quickly unmuted, ready to call Dream out on what he was doing, but Dream beat him to it.

"George, i'm going to do the 'Am I In Love With My Best Friend?' quiz" He laughed, opening up the link and reading out the first question. "do you catch yourself looking at your best friend?"

George stalled. They had face timed multiple times in the past, Dream only letting George see his eyes upwards, but George always found it hard for him to look away. He got lost staring at his best friends eyes. George quickly messaged Dream asking for the link for the quiz, if Dream was going to do it, so would George.

"Dream, check dm's" He rushed.

"Huh, what, why?" Dream asked, busy trying to still his own heart beat. He had always known at the back of his mind that he had romantic feelings for George, whether that is because he was just touched starved and was desperate, or because he genuinely wanted more than just a friendship with George, suppressing his feelings as to not ruin anything between them.

"Just read it." George urged, getting apprehensive, unsure whether he should just delete the comment and over analyse everything Dream says.

But before he knew it, the link to the quiz had been sent to George, a small smiley face underneath it from Dream. George was about to reply with a '?' to the smile, but Dream spoke up again.

"I just put 'once in a while', i mean, it's not like im never looking at you but i don't do it like.. all the time." George clicked all the time. He couldn't get enough of Dreams warm amiable eyes. His eyes were a kind of green that speaks to the soul of nature, of fresh wands of grass and new buds, and his eyes were that bright colour, bold and beautiful.

"Right," he snickered, " next question, 'are they the first person you call when something happens?' uhm... yeah, i guess. But not always, i mean i would call my mom first." He laughed, ignoring the fact that George was silent. George always called Dream if something was wrong. He wasn't in contact with his parents, Sapnap wasn't the most mature when it came to serious things, yes he was a great friend and he would be there for George if he needed, but Dream came first. George put Dream before everyone, at time even before himself.

"George?" Dream disrupted his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"You're being so quiet, everyone is asking if you're asleep" George looked at chat, Sure enough, between all the green and blue hearts, there where people spamming Georges name and sleep.

"Oh uhm no, it is 3 am though. Kind of tired." He said, anxiously looking at the next question, mouse already hovering over 'it's nice if i can'. George didn't wake up thinking about Dream, not always anyway. Just if they had fallen asleep on call together, or if they were recording a video that day.

"You should sleep." His voice had softened. He too was looking at the same question. Thinking about George staying up just for him made him feel giddy, but he also didn't want George to be sleep deprived.

George held back a smile. "I'm good, we're in sync bb" he snickered, knowing that would get a rise out of the chat. He could practically hear Dream roll his eyes in exasperation.

"Oh come on" He laughed, his voice low and raspy as he started to read out the next question. He couldn't get through it without laughing, however. "'Do you get jealous if he or she has a boyfriend or girlfriend?' Oh come on! I mean..." He started, George's scoff cut him off. "What?" Dream laughed.

"Nothing" George giggled

"To be fair.. no, but... i mean, wouldn't anyone?"

"Not really." George counteracted.

"Well, no. But! But! But! It would be one of those things where it's like, awe, now he's gonna be spending time, like, doing that, instead of like, with us. Like with like, me and sap. So, I'll put maybe a little. Right? Maybe a little.?" Dream stuttered, trying to defend his reasoning while George just giggled at his flusteredness.

George had already clicked 'ugh its the worst' already. He remembered when Dream had told him Sapnap was moving in with him. Now, George knew his best friends. He knew there was nothing going on between Dream and Sapnap, but something about them living together tickled George the wrong way. He was pissed off, to say the least. George wasn't normally jealous, but when it came to Dream, he became a different person. He almost didn't want to share Dream with anyone else... George wanted Dream all to himself.

"Dream, no one is arguing with you..." George whispered endearingly, a small smile painted across his lips.

The next few questions were uneventful. Dream still defended his answers despite no body calling him out on them. The chat was a blur of left ear jokes and and blue and greens. George answered 'yes' on the majority of the questions.

" Do you have dreams about them? Im- Okay! That's unfair, like, oh my god. Okay, I'll put sometimes." Dream rushed, desperately wanting to move onto the next question. He didn't want to tell chat, and especially George, about the dreams he has. No body knew about the desperation Dream has when he dreams about George. The want and longing to touch George in many ways than one. The heartache Dream feels when he wakes up because he knows the happiness his feels in his dreams could never be recreated.

"What?" George once again giggled. He was starting to have fun now. Seeing Dream embarrassed made George feel slightly better about his answers, but at this rate he was afraid the quiz would tell him he's so hopelessly in love with his best friend that there was no hope for him. "What do you dream about me?"

"You- you've had- you're- you're an idiot, you've had dreams! You've had one hundred pe- you've told me about dreams you've had!" He stammered, struggling to get his words out correctly without revealing too much. He was starting to get hot, the air conditioning in his room seemed to do nothing, the 'GNF' jumper he was wearing was suffocating him. He was suddenly finding it hard to breath under the weird pressure of these questions he had no obligation answering.

"What type of dreams, hmm?" George teased. He had his head resting in his hands leaning on the desk, taking in everything Dream was saying. George, of course had clicked 'all the time' about dreaming about Dream. Dream was on his mind 24/7.

"Oh don't even start with me, i know you've had dreams about me. You told me you've like.. texted me in your dreams or something. You.. you definitely have, anyway..." The two argued for the next few questions, and it was all smooth sailing for both Dream and George, until it came to the big one. The one that caused George to almost throw up the McDonald's that he had eaten a half hour ago.

Dream went silent. George could almost hear Dreams heart beating through the mic. He knew why, too. He saw the question. George had been dreading this. He chose to stay silent, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

"Do you ever think about what it would be like to kiss your best friend?" Dream was silent for almost thirty seconds. He felt sick. The amount of times he had wondered what Georges lips felt like. Whether or not they were made for him. Perfectly molded to fit Dreams own. He dreamt about them constantly. The soft touch of lips. He was beyond salvageable. "Uhm, n-no. Of course not."

"Why did you take so long to answer?" George was apprehensive. He wondered whether Dream thought about kissing him as much as he did. George so desperately wanted to, he wanted to feel them on his own lips, wanted to know what Dream tasted like, how he smelt. He was forlorn.

"I'm just going to put, well... i'm going to put.. well there's no good answers. I'm just going to put 'yes but it would be like kissing my mom'". He lied, his mouse had been hovering over 'at least a few times a day', unsure whether to click it or not, but he knew the truth. He wanted to kiss George more than he ever wanted to do anything ever.

The rest of the quiz, George kept silent. If he opened his mouth, he would confess his love on the spot. He had finished all the questions, revealing a 32%. He was totally in love with his best friend. Desperately, pathetically and hopelessly in love. He needed help.

"Okay, last question" Georges ears pricked up at this, he was happy it was almost over. He needed to talk to Dream in private, even if it killed him. "Do you see them in your future?... of course. A lot of my future is your future. I don't want a future without you in it..." Dream whispered, muting his physical mic so that no one could hear his breath leave his body. That was the most intimate he had probably ever been with George in front of fans. He hoped he hadn't just messed anything up.

George still stayed silent. Dreams answer made him almost cry with happiness. He couldn't imagine a future without Dream.

Dream un-muted his mic to finish up the quiz, "It says, you are in love with a few things about your best friend, so it's likely that you could fall entirely in love with them if you... if things keep up the way they are right now." George was unsure of what to say. Chat was once again asking if he was asleep. Both boys took no notice. Almost silently, so silently George almost missed it. But he held his breath, staring at the monitor with fear. All colour had drained from his face. He was about to pass out.

"If.. if you're worried they don't feel the same way... you're going to have to find out how to shut your feelings off, you don't want to ruin what you have."... no one talked for a couple seconds... both of them waiting for the other to say something, until George plucked up the courage.

"I don't want to ruin anything, Dream."

George loved Dream, and Dream was sure he loved George.

[pronouncingitwang]

jon, melanie, and georgie friendship | 1.5K words | basically just. how jon finds out melanie’s bi | for the @jonsimsbipride prompt “solidarity”

“Martin? Are you still there?” Georgie calls from the couch at a volume that makes Jon wince.

Martin’s fallen asleep on the loveseat, his face smushed into the arm of the chair as he snores. For the last few minutes, Jon has been looking at the rise and fall of his chest with something resembling awe. Even a year after the world began again, Jon finds it difficult to believe that they’re safe, that he can just watch Martin without needing to watch over him.

“Pretty sure those are his snores I’m hearing right now,” says Melanie, and Georgie whispers a quick apology.

Recovery has been hard, but being roommates with the Qing-Barkers helps, at least sometimes. Georgie described their shared living situation as “living in group therapy” on more than one occasion, which is true on hard days. Melanie described it as “being back in uni again, but mostly in a good way?” which is true on better days. Martin maintains that it’s worth it for The Admiral and Melanie’s service dog, Mothman, alone, which is true on every day.

Today is a good day. There’s been a lot of laughter, from when Georgie and Melanie had met him and Martin at the airport to telling them honeymoon stories over dinner to now, when they’re all lying around doing nothing, and jet lag has rendered Jon too tired to drag himself to bed.

“Come and cuddle with us instead, Jon,” Melanie stage-whispers from beside Georgie. After checking that Martin is comfortable one more time, Jon agrees.

Melanie is snuggled under a blanket with a pink, purple, and blue yarn mix. Martin had gifted the blanket to Georgie for her birthday, even though Jon, I swear everyone gives their friends pride stuff when they don’t know what else to get them; are you sure it’s not obvious that I didn’t have a better idea? It's warm and soft, and by now, practically a household staple.

Jon sits down on the couch and, after checking that she’s okay with it, rests his cheek against Melanie’s shoulder. At first contact, Melanie lets out a small noise of surprise. “You shaved,” she says. “Georgie, you’re supposed to tell me about major life changes like this! How stupid does he look?”

Georgie hums. “Not too bad. I’d say… no more stupid than usual?”

“Damn,” Melanie says. “Why the smooth face, Jon?”

Georgie opens her mouth, but stops herself to let Jon explain.

“Oh,” he shrugs, “I just tend to shave whenever I have to deal with airport security. Less likely to be stopped for suspected terrorism and all.”

“Ah.” Melanie clicks her tongue. “Makes sense. Sucks, though.” She shifts, resting her head on top of Jon’s. “I guess it’s a good thing that Big Heathrow”—Georgie giggles from the other side of the couch—“doesn’t know how the apocalypse came about, then.”

Jon laughs. The part of his mind that wonders if going along with this particular joke about the apocalypse is a sign of developing emotional distance or just a coping mechanism perks its ears up, but he ignores it. “No, I’d imagine the Daily Mail would have a field day with that one.”

“I wonder how they’d spin your evil boss’s involvement,” Georgie, who steadfastly refuses to use Elias’s name, muses. “Innocent bystander? Secret lover?”

Melanie makes a retching sound, which Jon makes back at her. Melanie repeats it at a slightly higher pitch. This continues for at least a minute, before they lapse back into laughter. It really is like uni again.

“Hey, Jon,” Georgie ventures after a spot of silence, mischief coloring her voice, “Kiss, marry, kill: Big Heathrow, Daily Mail, evil boss.”

“Georgina.” It’s difficult to have a staring contest with Georgie’s body pillow in the way, but Jon manages to aim his glare right at the space between Georgie’s eyes. Georgie doesn’t back down, just smiles sweetly and raises an eyebrow.

“Yes, Jonathan?”

“Fine,” he sighs, resting his head back down onto Melanie’s shoulder. “Fine. Kill Elias again. Marry… marry Heathrow? I think it would have a tolerable personality. Which leaves…” he sighs again, “kissing the Daily Mail. Christ.”

“Bad choice,” Melanie says. “They’re basically the definition of kiss and tell. Imagine the scandal!”

“Alright, fine.” Jon says, not awake enough to debate but curious enough to challenge. “Same options. What would you pick?”

“Easy,” Melanie says. “First, obviously, I’m stabbing Elias to death. Second, I’m pretty sure Heathrow sells toothpaste, so it would be the least unpleasant to kiss. Third, and most importantly, I’m going to use my marriage to the Daily Mail to edit the articles it publishes and slowly radicalize the old white women of the UK.”

Georgie gives a few snaps of approval, and even Jon has to admit she has some points.

“There aren’t many situations where I’d divorce you willingly, Melanie,” Georgie says, “but if it was for this, I would understand.”

Melanie laughs. “I appreciate your support, babe. Your turn.”

Georgie deliberates for a while, then winces. “Sorry, Melanie. I’m going to have to go with Jon on this one.”

“Ha!” Jon says.

“I just don’t think I could deal with being married to the Daily Mail.”

“Cowards, both of you!” Melanie exclaims loudly, but is quickly shushed by both Jon and Georgie with a “Martin!” She continues in a quieter voice, “And before you say anything, Georgie, I know that’s not actually possible for you, but I’m sticking by my words.” She shakes her head. “I can’t believe this. The heartbreak. The betrayal. From my own wife, and right after she said she would willingly divorce me…”

“Stop taking my words out of context!”

“Can’t, my new spouse Mx. Mail is a bad influence”(—“Which is exactly why it's better to marry Heathrow instead,” Georgie interjects—)“but at least it’d side with me against Jon.”

Jon grins. “It’s the biromanticism, Melanie. It gives me and Georgie the same taste.”

At this, Melanie sputters. “Nuh-uh. No way. Absolutely no way. Your bad choices are the results of your own bad opinions. Don’t bring me into it.”

Melanie continues to speak, but Jon is no longer listening. He feels, suddenly, like he’s missing something important. “What?” he asks, causing Melanie to pause. “How have I brought you into it?”

“Well… you said being bi makes you choose the worse option,” Melanie says, which just confuses Jon more. Then, “Wait, Jon, you do know I’m bisexual, right?”

Ah. That would do it.

“Not… not quite.”

“Oh my god,” Georgie says. “Seriously?”

“You—I’ve only ever heard you call yourself gay!” Jon cries, giving Melanie and Georgie the chance to shush him with “Martin!”

Melanie shakes her head mournfully. “I’ve been your friend—okay, not quite that, but I’ve known you—for years!”

“I was trying to save the world during most of those years!”

“You also had spooky all-knowing powers,” Georgie adds.

Jon feels his leg begin to bounce. “Well, yes, but I was actively trying not to use them on people. Checking someone’s sexuality would be a gross violation of—”

“It’s okay, Jon,” Melanie says soothingly, “I know you wouldn’t do that.” There is quiet for a few seconds as Jon takes a few deep breaths. Then, Melanie says in a wryer tone, “Jon. One of my sets of prosthetic eyes is literally the bi pride flag. I know I don’t wear it that often, but…”

“I’ve only seen it once, in bad lighting, and… I don't know, I thought maybe you were just being supportive!”

“Oh my god,” Georgie says again, her voice muffled by the pillow she’s buried her face in. Jon feels like burying his face into a pillow himself.

“This is awful,” Jon groans.

“Stop being biphobic, Jon,” Melanie says.

“Stop being bi-aced, Jon,” Georgie says, which is unfortunately quite good.

“Fine,” Jon says. “This isn’t awful. It is, instead, wonderful.” He means the last sentence to come out begrudging, but it sounds more sincere than anything else. Jon blames his emotions. Now that the initial surprise has worn off, warmth is beginning to replace it. It’s not that he’s particularly starved for bi friends, but it’s nice, having one more thing that ties him and Melanie together.

“Thank you.” Melanie gives Jon a haughty sniff, but she smiles as she does it.

Jon’s neck is beginning to strain, but Melanie is still resting her head on top of his, and he doesn’t want to bother her. He closes his eyes and tries to focus his attention elsewhere. He can take a few minutes more.

“I just realized something,” Melanie says. “Jon, I’m literally under a bi pride blanket right now.” Georgie starts to giggle again.

“I’m asleep,” says Jon.

“Yeah, under a bi pride blanket that I, too, am currently under. Because I’m bi.”

“I’m double asleep,” says Jon.

“And I’m bi,” says Melanie.

“I know it’s useless to ask, but is there any chance we can forget about this and pretend I’ve known all along?”

“No,” Melanie and Georgie say in unison.

“Great,” Jon replies, and hides his smile in his bisexual friend’s shoulder.

[osterfieldshollandgirl]

Love Overcomes Anything

This is my first Mob! Tom story. 

Warning: angst and a bit of argument. Fluff in the mix.

Y/N POV:

              Lately, Tom has been very busy with meetings and spending less time with you since he is the strongest mob leader in London. He always makes it a point to come to bed and cuddle you to sleep but in the past few days he has been coming into bed at 3 in the morning, slightly disrupting your sleep but you always let him pull you close. Tonight, is no different except that you had reminded him that date night was today, and he had a stress full day at work, so it slipped his mind. The day started with your excitement waking you up since it has been a while since it has only Tom and you are alone and no work.  The day was spent pampering yourself from painting your nails and putting on a new outfit you have saved just for him knowing he will go crazy when he sees it. As you were doing your hair you heard footsteps coming towards the bedroom and saw Tom walking so you ran into the restroom to hide. The door is slightly open, and you see Tom sitting on the bed with his face in his hands.

           At that moment you realized that he was stressed, and you see Harrison rush in making you suspect it has something to do with an important situation. Tom growls at Harrison, "Please give me a damn moment of peace, I wish Y/N was here to calm me down." Harrison shakes his head annoyed as I am the problem in the situation, do not get me wrong Harrison is close but when it comes to business, he is too serious. Tom suddenly shoots up with a realization look and looks at his phone "I am forgetting something; I just cannot put my finger on it. Maybe I should call Y/n and ask." Harrison was getting impatient and was about to say that it can wait when you heard a crash sound, causing him and Tom to run in that direction.

          After they both left the room you finish off your look and see the time, smiling giddily that only in a few hours you will be able to make Tom feel better. You were now sitting in the living room listening to podcasts when you decided to text a reminder to Tom just in case he forgets because sometimes that happens not purposely though. You heard a ding in the bedroom, so you went to go check what it was and saw it was Tom's phone. Deciding to be a good girlfriend and to deliver it to him in person. On the path to where he was you saw Harrison walking towards you with a panic look and it suddenly changes as he sees the phone in your hand. As he says, "Thank you", he looks at my outfit and I forgot at that moment I am in my date outfit. Harrison puts it together that it is date night and smiles as he compliments me" You look beautiful as always, I am glad you are finally spending time together. Tom needs to relax." I smile back blushing at his compliment and tell him "Please remind Tom about the date." "I promise I will have a wonderful day," Harrison calls out as he walks towards Tom's office.

Tom's POV:

        Harrison comes with my phone that I sent him on a chase to find. The noise that caught our attention was the enemy trying to escape from his chair and got himself even more hurt in the way the chair fell. Harrison had a smile on his face and Tom was stressed how His best friend and the second man is acting like this in a moment of crisis. He then speaks up and is about to tell me something as I look down to see if I have any new messages and calls then we hear and see Harry run into the room panicking mumbling about something. I rush up to him and shake his shoulders to get his attention, "What is it Harry, what is going on?" Harry looks at me with sweat forming as he says, "The other gang got a hold of our supply and threatened to mess with it if we do not meet them tonight at the dock." Tom immediately goes to Harrison, "What did you want to tell me?", as he packs up his bag and sends the message out to the members for the plan for tonight. Harrison ways the situation and decides to what is best for you both and says" It is nothing important, let us go tell those guys who are the bosses." Tom smiles and nods his head, ready to get it over so he can come back to his princess.

Y/N POV:

           It is the time for the date, and you have been waiting at the restaurant where you were supposed to meet. The waiter keeps filling up the wine glass and the third trip to the table she says, "Do not worry about the tab on the drinks, it is on the house." I smile graciously and bid goodbye to her and take the car home. The truth is you are kind of tipsy from those glasses of wine and over the night so when you get home, you had a plan to change and go to bed. However, that plan was changed when you entered the house and saw the members surrounding Tom in the living room and you smell a musky smell that is not necessarily pleasant. Tom had not noticed me as I entered the room, but Harrison did and received a look that would hurt if looks could kill.

           Tom noticed the room quiet down and looked in the direction where his men were practically drooling. He then makes eye contact with me and checks me out with a lustful look in his eyes. Tom calls me over, but I stay in place daring him with a sharp look, "I was waiting for you at the restaurant while you are here celebrating with the gang about something." Tom takes a deep breath and says bitterly, "Well, Darling I will say that you look beautiful.  Something important business came up and we won the battle so a congratulation is in order." I stand still, surprised about how he was acting in front of his men towards. I then say sarcastically, "Congratulations Master, should I reward you with a dance?" and Tom's expression turned from slightly amused into a dark and annoyed expression. I walk away after that moment and hear mummers like wow, she is a boss woman. I smile to myself and go get ready for bed, calming down, and realized that you should be happy for Tom's achievement.

               I am settled into bed as I hear Tom enter the room and go to the bathroom, he is humming to himself meaning he is happy. Curiously to see if he still annoyed with me, I decided to play a game with him to see if he would react. I wait for him to join me in bed and when he is settled and looking at emails before going to bed, you cuddle up to him so your head is on his chest and kiss up to his jaw. I see him turn his jaw slightly giving me more room to get to his sweet spot, as I get to his sweet spot, he closes his eyes letting out a sexy moan. He leans back more giving more space to move my hand under the blanket but before I could get to the destination, He grabs my wrist and pulls it out from under the blanket, "Princess, what you did was not what a good girl does and so as a punishment you will not get to make me feel good." I yank my hands out his grip, "Excuse me, you forgot our date and your saying I misbehaved. You are in the wrong here, I am not one of your men who you can command." Tom then sits up turning towards you with an astonishing look and says in a dark tone, " You will listen to me, I know how you tick and what you like, dislike and hate. So do not tell me off in front of my men again or it will be a real punishment and one you will not like." I gasp offended but not before he reaches over gently yet harshly at the same time kisses me passionately that I kiss back harder and when he pulls away a little whine comes from my mouth unwillingly, he just smirks "See princess I am in control even if you want to be." Then he gets serious, "I am sorry about missing our date especially if you looked like that for me. I will make it up to you I promise." After we lay down next to each other, he wraps his arms around me and pulls me close. He mumbles, "love you" quietly and I smile knowing he will always be soft for me.

          The next few days go by and things between you two have decent, he is now coming to bed on time. The conversations have been short and blunt since every time you are telling a story, he would be looking at you at first and when he would think you are looking away he would go back to check his email. It did not bother you at first and you even let it slide except today was a stressful day for you since you were getting grief from your family about being with Tom and you had to rant about it to someone, but you knew he would not listen only let it go through one ear and out the other. As you settle in bed next to him, he is already in his usual actions on his phone, you roll your eyes hoping he notices you and says something but like usual he does not.

         For once that night, Tom was the one who had a story to tell about what happened during work that day. An idea popped into your head decided to pay him back and show him what it is like to be ignored. In bed you turned slightly and listened for the first few minutes then noticed as he was getting into it, he talked with his hands so at that moment you took out your phone to write the email. He was still talking, and I had already sent the email, and then I heard in an accusing tone, "Really Y/N, you are on your phone when I am talking to you?" I straighten up in bed and sass back, "You do this to me every night so do not give me an attitude. I wanted you to realize that you seem to not be noticing me and it upsets me." He is quiet for a moment and I wait for a scolding instead I get a scuff and he finally says, "Well my work is more important than your social life stories, so sorry if I work hard for you to enjoy the life you live." I snap back a bit harshly, "This is no way to live where my boyfriend only talks to me when he feels like it." He stills angrily and gets out of the bed pacing in front of the bed, "How can you say that you sound like an ungrateful brat. I forgot one date now you are accusing me of not appreciating you."

        I sat in bed watching your Tom turn into a different man and not the one you fell in love with. "That is not the point, first it is a date. Then you will start to forget our anniversary and other important events. And for your information, I did text you about it and reminded Harrison to tell you about it." He is about to rebuttal but looks at his messages and sees a message from me and then hurts me with what he is saying, "I never thought you would be clingy and needy otherwise I would have not approached you." I mumble to myself not purposely knowing it bothers him, he stands in front my side of the bed. "What is that?" he angrily, I look him in the eyes and blurt out, "Maybe my family is right I shouldn't be with you." And at that moment, I regret it because he looks at me with hurt and pain in his eyes and storms to his side of the bed to grab his pillow and a blanket. I quickly get up to try to stop him from leaving. I grab his wrist and he looked over at me and growls "Let me go before I say something I regret. I will be sleeping in the study. I will come to you when I am not so angry" and walks out I just lay back down and cry myself to sleep.

       That morning you wake up to an empty cold bed and decided to apologize to Tom and hopefully resolve the past few days. An hour later at breakfast, you had a plan on how to make him forgive, he could never stay upset with you for long. As you were getting ready for the plan, you had put on his favorite outfit playing music in the background. The song No Control by One Direction was playing in the background and since you were in the bathroom, you did not see Harrison walk in enjoying the music and singing. Harrison was sent to get some items from the bedroom and came to apologize to you. You sit down on the bed and pat the bed for him to sit down next to you. "I am sorry I did not remind him; the case is now over because of that night. I want you both to be happy and I will do anything to protect you. And as always you look beautiful and he will love that outfit. Let us get him to be happy again." He looks at you and sees a smile on your face and sighs a breath of relief and leans over and kisses your cheek causing you to blush. You then explain what you want to and you both start the plan, where you will call Tom and give him sass just to get him to cancel the meeting and call you in and then he is back to your Tom that you love.

         The plan started at exactly one o'clock, you called Tom, and when he answered with "Answer or behave." I answered with a sassy attitude, "What are you going to do, Spank me?" I heard him grunt before hanging up and knowing Harrison, the next second he sent a thumbs-up message to me, knowing that part worked it now to the next part. You get a text from Tom saying to come to the study, now to make him forgive you. You walk out of the bedroom and pass Harrison on the way to the study and he winks at you as to say it is good to go. I walk in and sit down directly facing him, his chair is turned around. I took a deep breath but as soon as he turns around in his chair, I gasp, he has tears in his eyes and looks sad. I speak first, "I am sorry for being so clingy and needy, it is just last night my sister was harping on me being with you and she is just jealous that you choose me over her. I am the luckiest person and I hope you can forgive me" as you finish your speech you are directly in front of him gently cupping his face. He lets me sit on his lap and wraps his arms around your waist pulling into a hug with your face nuzzled into his chest. "I am sorry as well; I will be more connected with you. The last few weeks have been stressful; and I took it out on you, and it is not fair. I love you; I forgive you. Please forgive me." I smirk and move to  straddle him, and his hands move to my hips and mine to his neck.

           I look him the eyes with lustful eyes and lean down whispering in his ears, "You can show me who is the boss. Make me feel wanted as you know how." His demeanor changes from sad to his dominant side and crashes his lips to mine with such passion it makes me grip his neck and grind down on his lap making both of us groan. He starts to control my hips with his hands and meets my core with his thrusts while we make out hardcore in his study in his chair. It got so heated as we started to move faster against each other while Tom pulls away and kisses down my neck finding my sweet spot. You pull on his hair as he kisses down your chest and back up to your lips and grinds deeper into you making you both release endorphins together. You fall limp into his arms enjoying the moment and kisses that you are receiving from him.

        After you both are cuddling on the couch in the living room, you hear Harrison come into the living room and sit down far from you are cuddled. I look at Tom with puppy dog eyes and he nods with a smile adorning his handsome face. "Come on Haz, join us," I say and in a second, he is cuddled up to me. "My big mob boys, I Love you both." Tom pouts, "But you are my favorite" and lean over and kiss him sweetly which turns hot proving that you are his. When you both pull away, Haz is smiling, and then in unison, they say, "I love you as well." Both Tom and Harrison kiss your cheeks on both sides causing you to laugh and pull them closer, spending the rest of the night in a cuddle party with your boys.

@littlekidsteve​ @peachyxholland @tom-holland-is-spiderman @follow-tom-holland-is-spiderman @parkerpeter24 @frenchfrostpudding @osterfieldnholland  @fanficparker @mymoontom @marvels-blue-phoenix @holytingle @petertiingz @peachyxholland

[beholdme]

All the Many Shades of Gerry - Chapter 10

Chapters: 10/19

Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Gerard Keay/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood/Gerard Keay, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Gerard Keay/Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist

Characters: Martin Blackwood, Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Gerard Keay, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Sasha James, Gertrude Robinson, Elias Bouchard

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Library AU, Librarian Jon, Artist Gerry, Trans Male Character, Trans Martin Blackwood, Canon Asexual Character, Asexual Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Ace Subtype - Sex Positive, Polyamory, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Romantic Fluff, Falling In Love, Boys in Skirts, Kissing, Demisexual Gerard Keay, Minor Character Death, Past Character Death, Canon-Typical Child Neglect, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Flirting, Minor Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist/Tim Stoker, Adventures in Hair Dying, Happy Ending, Banter, Gerry has a lot of sass, Gerard Keay is Morticia Adams, Jon is a very grumpy Librarian, Martin adores them anyway.

Summary: In which Gerry is a kaleidoscope and Jon and Martin can’t help falling in love with him.

He happens to love them back.

Find it on Ao3

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

"When was the last time we saw Gerry?" Jon asks in a panic. Martin looks up from the other side of the dinner table. The pair of them are at their typical Thursday night date, in Jon’s favourite Italian restaurant.

They had previously been studying their menus, but Martin had felt Jon’s tension from the moment they met outside the library. It wasn't exactly surprising, considering the recent developments in their relationship, but he was still acutely aware of it.

“You saw him yesterday morning before work, and I saw him today when he came into the bookstore to drink tea and read an entire book without buying it.” Martin reminds him. He’s already told Jon about seeing Gerry today, and he was there when they had all said goodbye the previous morning.

Martin is fairly sure that Jon’s issue is more with the fact that Gerry was pale and tear-soaked as Martin had kissed him goodbye, and that Gerry had clung to Jon like an oversized barnacle as they rocked together for a final moment before they both left him alone to his thoughts. Martin knew he had slept and painted, or at least, that was what Gerry had told him in the quiet moments Martin had taken to spend with him in between the aisles of books that morning.

“You should go over and see him if you’re concerned. We could go to the bar after we eat, and then you can go stay the night with him.” Martin tells him gently, nudging his foot under the table.

"Maybe it would be better for Gerry if you go alone," Jon replies quietly, staring at his menu and refusing to make any kind of eye contact.

Martin closes and sets aside his own menu, leaning forward on the table to focus his full attention on the idiot love of his life.

"Why? Because he and I sleep together and you think that makes our intimacy more important? Or because you perceive it's your fault that his heart is broken and because of that you think you don't deserve to feel any comfort you might get from seeing him?" Jon goes shock still at Martin's words, eyes simply downcast now, instead of pretending to read the menu they both have memorized. "Or was it both at the same time?"

"Yellow," Jon says unhappily.

Only Jonothan Sims could safeword out of a conversation. Martin thinks tartly. I bet he learnt that from Gerry.

Martin sighs and leans back, out of Jon's atmosphere. "I won't push a conversation you don't want to have, love, but you have to know that neither of those things is true."

"No?" Jon snaps, finally jerking his head up to look at Martin. "Not even you can deny that I demanded that confession. I don't know what I expected him to say-" Jon cuts off, words choked off. "But not… Not that. Not those awful, horrifying things. All that trauma dragged out and put on display like some kind of, of-" Jon stutters to a halt, pressing his eyes tightly closed as if to escape the thought that anyone had ever laid hands on their bright, beautiful boy.

"Like some kind of bloody museum exhibit? You couldn't have guessed. And you have a right to closure as much as anyone." Martin says emphatically. He reaches out to clasp their hands together, and Jon thankfully allows the contact. "No one could ever look at Gerry and guess that those skeletons live in his closet. That he hides those scars behind his sweet smiles and paint-stained hands."

"I was there, Martin. I was with him the night before he ran away. He already knew, had already decided to go, and I didn't notice." Jon bites out the final words, bringing his hand down on the table in frustration. It's the ultimate recrimination in his own mind.

"You can't know what you've never been told Jon, you aren't omniscient. You can't know what Gerry and I are thinking and feeling unless we tell you. Just like Gerry and I can't know what you're feeling when you avoid telling us things." Martin sighs, the exhaustion of several days of tears and worry dragging down on him. "We can pick up on it sometimes though, and we aren't scared teenagers anymore. Gerry will know you're avoiding him if you send me to check on him tonight and it will hurt him. If you're committed to him, and I know you are, then you owe him your bravery now. We all have to overcome our insecurities if we want to make this work."

Jon and Martin sit looking at each other for a few heavy seconds.

"I don't feel brave," Jon whispers across the space between them.

"I know, my love. Neither do I. But we are." Martin lifts Jon's hand to press a kiss to Jon's palm, just as Gerry had on their initial date in the bar. "We can be brave together, the three of us."

*

Gerry is not at work. They share a look of sinking fear when they don't find him working his shift at the bar.

He is at home when they let themselves into his loft, much to their relief. His posture and the general disarray fills Jon, especially, with fresh anxiety.

He leans against his art table, smoking a cigarette and looking up at the most jarring painting Jon and Martin have ever seen him create. If the angry swirls of color and violent-looking paint slashes even constitute a painting.

Gerry is wearing the same going-out clothes he had been wearing when Martin had seen him earlier, rather than his typical comfortable home clothes. He is covered in paint, and his makeup is smeared across his eyes from repeated rubbing.

Martin nudges Jon in Gerry's direction and moves off towards the kitchen.

"I do not want tea, Martin." Gerry's quiet voice manages to fill the space, hollow and empty, much like his facial expression.

"Good," He responds, hardly missing a beat. "I was going to look for the whiskey."

"Stop looking like a kicked puppy Jon, you didn't do anything wrong," Gerry says to him, offering his cigarette. Jon eyes the doorway that Martin just disappeared through, but ultimately goes over and takes it. They lean together, shoulder to shoulder, smoking and each trying to draw warmth from the other.

"Do you know what I thought about for years after you left?" Jon eventually whispers softly.

"What?"

"That last night we were together. Do you remember?"

Gerry laughs breathlessly at the question, pressing his eyes shut and curling slightly in on himself. "Yes Jon, I remember. How could I ever forget."

"That was the last time I had sex." Gerry finally looks over at him, no shock, no visible reaction at all really, but his attention focuses on him. Jon focuses his own attention on the painting, which is easier to look at than Gerry's face right now, despite its discordant energy. "I could never let go of that feeling I had after; like we were one soul separated by our ridiculous bodies. Like our intimacy, however desperate and hormonal, brought us closer together than anything else we could ever do together in this life."

Jon releases the confession into the room around them, finally releasing himself from the weight of it.

"And then I was gone," Gerry whispers back, voice small.

"And then you were gone. I was never very interested in sex as it was, and then even when I was in relationships after that, I never wanted to risk lying in someone's arms and finding a hole where that feeling should have been. Or maybe even worse, finding it there again, as if what we had wasn't as special as I had thought, and that was why you had just been able to walk away so easily."

"It wasn't. It was the worst thing I ever did."

"I know that now," Jon says, taking a long, grounding drag of his cigarette, "But that was the fear that sat in my chest and kept that wound bleeding, right up until the day that I watched you walk out of my library stacks, like some kind of literary saviour, reborn from my desire and ink and old parchment paper."

Gerry pushes off from the table they are perching on. "I understand if you don't want this anymore. I wouldn't want to be with me, either, if I were you."

"Gerry-" Jon tries to cut him off, but he plows on ahead, apparently deciding to just get the words out from where they've been suffocating him.

"You can keep Martin, obviously, you knew him first. You two were happy together before I plowed into your lives like a fucking freight train."

Martin himself, listening in the other room, doesn't particularly appreciate Gerry attempting to hand him off like a negotiating chip, but keeps his opinions to himself for the time being, in the hopes that Jon will handle the situation.

Jon watches Gerry for a moment as he starts moving things around, shoulders tense and movements aggressive. He rolls his next words very carefully around his mouth before he allows himself to speak.

"You did plow into our lives like a freight train." Gerry releases a sound of distress at the repeated words, and Jon slowly walks up to him and takes his shaking hands, turning Gerry towards him and hoping to finally encourage eye contact between them. "But we don't think that's a bad thing. We love you, Gerry Delano. I love you. I loved you when you were Gerard Keay, and I love you now and I loved you in a tiny box in my heart for all the years we were apart. I would be an idiot if I let this hurt between us keep us apart for any longer than it already has, and the last thing I could ever want is to watch you walk out of my life again."

Tears slip down Gerry's messy cheeks and Jon reaches up to brush them gently away.

"Please," Jon begs him, voice hoarse. "Please stay with me, please keep us here in your loft and teach me to paint my nails and be brave. Let Martin braid your hair and keep going into his store to read his books without buying them."

For a moment they simply stand, tears pouring from Gerry's tightly shut eyes while Jon clings to him and tries desperately to occupy the same space in the universe as Gerry does.

Gerry's eyes open slowly, teal irises only enhanced by the brightness of his tears.

"Yes," he tells Jon.

"Yes? You'll stay with us?"

"Yes. Always." Gerry pulls Jon further into his embrace and they cling together, crying quietly.

"Thank God," Martin mutters in the next room, running his hands up his face and through his hair in relief. Shaking it out and releasing the tension that had wound itself up in his gut, he gets up and starts moving about with purpose.

"Is Martin cooking?" Gerry asks incredulously as the scent of frying bacon reaches them through their tearful haze.

"Oh," Jon says, glancing up at the kitchen doorway. "I guess so. We never ate any dinner."

"Why not?" Gerry asks, sniffling.

Jon sighs, full of gratitude and long-suffering. "Because Martin wouldn't stop emotionally stripping me naked in public."

Gerry laughs wetly, imagination running wild.

"Also," he says, full of exhausted affection. "Because we love you."

"Oh." Gerry curls around Jon even more. "I'm glad."

*

Martin feeds them, and sends Gerry to shower, and puts on a movie for Jon to start. He doesn't touch any of the art things, but he tidies a little as he hovers around, waiting for him to emerge from the bathroom.

When he does, Gerry looks much, much better. The smudged makeup and paint are washed away, and his hair is wet. It all combines to make Gerry look very young, and Martin is reminded that he is actually the youngest of them, despite always seeming so settled into his life.

Martin takes his hand and tugs him towards the lounge section of the big main space.

"Martin, I-" Gerry starts.

"Not now, love. You and I will sort things out later when you've slept and had time to process everything else." Martin's tone doesn't invite any argument, and Gerry's teeth snap together as he closes his mouth.

The movie plays, but Gerry sleeps through it and so does Jon, mostly.

As the credits roll, Martin giggles to find himself somewhat drowning in sleeping men, despite the quiet heaviness still hanging in the air. Jon wakes at the motion, since Martin is almost directly beneath him, and yawns and stretches.

"How are we going to get our lumberjack to bed?" Jon asks, eyeing Gerry's long form with some trepidation.

"I could carry him, probably," Martin says, with no real confidence.

"Please don't," Gerry mutters into the side of Martin's neck, where his face is buried.

"Ah, problem solved," Jon says, leaning over Martin to kiss Gerry.

Martin hopes they wake each enough to walk to bed, lacking the desire to carry anyone anywhere at this time of night. Especially up the stairs to Gerry's loft, where the bed lives.

They make it up to the bedroom eventually, and collapse together, sleeping soundly through the night.

*

Gerry doesn't always like lying in the middle when all three of them are in bed together, being the warmest and the longest of the three of them, but the next morning that's where he finds himself.

The window lets in the cool, gentle light of pre-dawn, and Gerry shifts around, trying to orientate himself.

Jon is lying right on his edge, on his stomach, absolutely dead to the world, a halo of wavy black and silver hair surrounding him chaotically.

Martin is lying on his back, one arm threaded through Gerry's, the other thrown over his head. He breathes deeply, but shifts periodically, as if unsettled. Gerry turns towards Martin, bare chest pressing against his shoulder and feels dread settle into his stomach as he watches his partner sleep fitfully.

Gerry knows he won't be going back to sleep, but doesn't even consider getting up and moving away from the men in his bed.

Martin stirs at his movement, moving his arm to curl around his waist and draw him in close. Gerry buries his face in Martin's shoulder, arm thrown across his waist.

"What’s the time, Ger?" He mutters.

"Early still. Almost six." He whispers in return, peering over Martin to check the bedside clock.

He groans. "You alright?"

Gerry hums back, pressing a kiss to Martin's chest since it's so conveniently close by.

They lie together for a while, cuddled up close, sharing body heat and gentle comfort, until eventually, Martin surfaces properly, mostly to use the bathroom.

He comes back with a glass of water, which Gerry shares with him before they settle back as they were before.

Martin runs his fingers through Gerry's hair and Gerry traces patterns along Martin's chest through his shirt.

"I'm sorry," Gerry whispers into the cool semi-darkness.

"For having a breakdown?" Martin's tone is carefully even, although he continues to hold Gerry close.

"No, not that."

"You mean the part where you assured Jon he could keep me as if I were an unwanted child in a divorce. A feeling I'm plenty familiar with, actually." The carefully natural tone continues, and Gerry presses his fingers into Martin's side, hurt sliding through him at his own stupidity. His heart breaks to imagine how the careless words had made Martin feel.

"That's not what I meant." His voice is small and he hates the useless words, but he can't push any others out.

"Don't worry about it. I'll admit, I do normally prefer to be involved in the plans for my own future, but I'll let it slide this time." Martin smiles just a little, an edge of bitterness creeping in. “On the grounds of emotional distress.”

"Martin…" Gerry presses the word into his skin, curling even closer.

"I'll ask you this though. Did you really think I would just walk away with Jon after what's been between us?" Martin's voice finally, finally breaks just a little. Through the entire Mary confession, Jon's emotional struggle, their confrontations, and the oceans of tears, Martin had been completely steady, calm, logical, never falling into the erratic emotions of his partners, but this is what finally gets to him.

"I-I don't know what I thought. I guess I just couldn't fathom at that moment that you and Jon could ever want me again." Gerry slides his hand up, curling it around Martin's face and drawing it down to face him. "I'm broken, Martin, and I don't want my brokenness to break you."

Martin signs softly, turning over towards him, so they press together. Their foreheads touch and he kisses him gently, just once.

“You are not broken. What happened to you is fucked up, and anyone can understand you being messy and volatile sometimes, especially with how balanced you normally are. Maybe next time, ask us how we feel. Instead of, you know, staying up for two days, trashing your flat, and coming to my job to say goodbye to me without actually telling me anything.”

“Noticed that, did you?” Gerry asks, flushing.

“Yes, love. The complete lack of flirting, winking, and ass grabbing rather gave it away. You also paid for your drink. Very out of character.”

Gerry laughs and presses closer into him. “I have to keep you in business. Got to pay for something.”

Martin squeezes him reassuringly, rubbing their noses together.

They are quiet for a moment, and Martin frowns in consideration, before going on. “You and Jon aren't the only catalysts here. I would have fought for you if Jon wanted to pack it in and walk away. I chose you just as much as I chose Jon. Just as much as you chose me. Please remember that the next time you're tempted to treat me like a pawn in this arrangement, because I am not.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Gerry tells him, sincerity heavy in his voice.

“Then we'll say no more about it.”

[zoessecretjournal]

Monday, April 19th, 2021

Today was a great day! I didn’t sleep so well despite the full on beach day we had the day before. It was Taylor’s last day here, unfortunately we really only got to say goodbye today as I was leaving at 11am this morning to meet up with Ryan. I let her sleep in my bed and she gave a groggy goodbye as my Lyft approached the apt. On the way to Ryan’s I listened to Shygirl and started out the window, trying to stay cool. It was the first time I would see him since all of our serious talks, and he had been spending the weekend trying to help Kathleen get to LAX (she mixed up the dates apparently) so I expected him to be tired. I got there around 11:30 am, dressed in my chartreuse green baby doll dress with a white soft tee underneath. My gold earrings, white tennis shoes and gold lobster broach as accessories, and a natural style face. When he came to collect me from outside he certainly looked tired, but happy to see me. When inside, he complimented the color of my dress and drew in to kiss me, and then he held me for a long while. He genuinely gives really good and meaningful hugs.

As soon as I sit down on the couch he plops his head on my lap, wanting me to scratch his head. I tell him he’s just like a cat and he gives me a look to suggest “so?” in a cute way. Whenever I scratch his head, he always ends up doing it to me at the same time, as well as using his other free hand to hold mine or touch me in some way. We stay this way, catching long gazes at each other intermittently, for about half an hour. He asks me about my Hinge profile and how I must have a line of suitors. I tell him about my date with Daniel and how cringe it was, but not before he asked if I kissed him!!! I lie and say no, because I never wanted to really kiss Daniel in the first place. We have fun reveling in how basic Daniel is, and then Ryan proceeds to tell me about his coffee date with someone this week with someone from Hinge. Apparently she is also “ethically non-monogamous” and only wants to make friends. Whatever.

Then we decide to walk to his car to head off to the LACMA. Ryan shows me how they just laid out new tar on his street and someone had ruined it by driving on it, he really isn’t happy about it apparently. I honestly don’t really understand the big idea, but maybe I would care if I drove. On the way to his car he is of course quiet and a really slow walker, I feel like I fumble all the time trying to keep his pace while traversing the uprooted side walks of East Hollywood. Ryan thought he got a ticket as we were walking to his car and my stomach dropped, knowing how much that has effected other people I’ve dated in the past. Thankfully it ended up just being a “thank you” note from someone he helped get a spot behind his car. I could breath a sigh of relief, honestly. On the way there he held my hand, put his hand on my though, squeezed my fingers while catching my glance a few times. He doesn’t talk much in the car and I’m learning he really shows that he cares in a lot of non-verbal cues, which is so different from the Ryan I knew as a friend.

At the muesuem, Ryan gets a iced espresso before we get in. The place was pretty empty and we weren’t in a rush, it was a nice change of pace to be outside with him somewhere in the day time. Ryan took a second picture of me (The first was while i was sitting on his couch) in front of the dome next to the LACMA. Both were prompted by him, which made me feel pretty good. During the Nara exhibit, I found that I was much more talkative, I actually expected him to make jokes about more of the art but there were none! He didn’t even laugh at some of the funny ones! I respected his approach though, very contemplative. There were some really beautiful pieces, and I take a long while to stop and stare at everything. I really appreciated his patience and how he kept pace with me, he was interested in seeing it all with me.  The big paintings of Nara’s work were pretty amazing to see up close. I’ve seen a lot of this work in art books, but those photographs and scans can never capture the way the skin of the character’s look in person. They literally look alive, you see all the blue, pink and yellow hues that make a breathing person, but with this simple illustrated, petulant face. The eyes were also a kaleidoscope of colors, his techniques I've tried to commit to memory. especially the white dot technique.

After the exhibition Ryan thanks me for inviting him, saying no one ever invites him to things like this or things in the day time. I ask why he thought that was? He replied “I don’t know, covid?” and then he sings “or maybe I’m secretly cancelled!”. I wish I would of said this at the time, but I suspect it’s because he’s sober, and I hope that doesn't happen to me. He asks if I am hungry, and I say that I am, he suggests Korean BBQ by his place, to which I agree. We drove down 6th st which apparently he had never gone down and he remarked on how beautiful it was, it certainly was, I had missed it. We still hold hands, and even tighter this time as we make our way to K-Town. We both order the Bulgogi and while we wait for our take-out order Ryan discusses with me his thoughts on the exhibit. He spoke about how long Nara had been an artist and expected to do the same style over and over because it’s what sells and rarely to those artists get to do other stuff. He then started relaying it to his own work and how dispensable art is and how we just eat content like McDonald’s. I agree with him, I explained how I felt disenfranchised for those reasons as well. We get our food eventually and head back to his apt. On the way back from the car, Ryan makes a few stories on people leaving bagged dog shit in random places in his neighborhood. He doesn’t have a lot of shame when it comes to his musings in comedy. A quality I both admire and am fearful of. When we get inside I take off my shoes and spruce up a little. We eat in his kitchen next to his two open windows with the honey suckle veranda directly outside. We both had a non-alcoholic beer with our meal which was surprisingly good.  I can’t remember much about what we talked about, I think we just were eating and played footsie a little bit.

He invited me to lay down with him in his room after we were done, so I followed him there. We laid down for some moments, very close and comfortable.I was caressing him all over, I genuinely like to do that with my partners, but specifically Ryan, hes very receptive to touch. We end up kissing and he stops and asks me if I really want to do “this” and I tell him I do. We end up having sex twice, both times Ryan tries hard to focus on me cumming. I don’t but I think he thinks I did the 2nd time. For some reason I’m having a hard time with that, and also getting wet, but I still had a great time (I was really close though) . We felt closer some how, less stress involved. I even fell asleep with his head in my chest. When he woke up, he woke me up. He caressed my neck and grabbed my face to look at it, my eyes still half-way closed. He gets up to go take a bath and I slowly come to and retrieve my phone and go sit in the kitchen next to the open window. I respond to everyone I can, Matt (from Hinge, who I met yesterday at the bonfire) had messaged me to tell me he was free all week, and he was making carbonara if I wanted to stop by. I think I’m going to see him tomorrow.

When Ryan gets out of the Bath and dressed (in a matching green playstation shirt might I add) he puts on a podcast, gets a sparkling water and lays down on the couch. I assume, no room for me, so he wanted to be alone. He was quite quiet as well again. So I decide to purchase somethings from amazon (sewing machine, humidifier, etc) and when I finally put my phone down I look over at Ryan and he was looking at me. He immediately puts his arms up to say “Come here”. As I approach he says that I can lay on him any way I like, face up, down etc, and so I lay down on him stomach down so I can still see him, and he starts to massage my shoulders. We listen to this podcast for awhile like that, and talk about random things relating to it. at some point they get onto the topic of Randonautica, in which I explain to Ryan, who had never heard of it, what it was all about. As I’m explaining it, he downloads the app! I had dared him to do it, but he actually was really interested. Funnily enough, the pin it dropped was right in between his ex-gf’s apt (Dani) and his good friend Shawn’s apt (Who they both date apparently) which really freaked him out. But just as he got the pin, his friend Shawn messaged him on facebook! He looks at me bewildered and asks if I want to meet his friend Shawn and go check out the pin and I agree. I had expected to sleep over but felt instantly rejected, but realized we had spent a lot of close time together so I should just deal with my feelings right then and there. Ryan gets my attention and re-assures me it’s just because he hasn’t had much space the past few days and he had a really lovely day with me. His serious tone made me feel better and I assured him that I was ok.

Before we head out I ask if we can take a Polaroid together, unfortunately both times they are incredibly blown out. He lets me borrow a jacket of his, even though I just gave him back his sweater and we head off. I tell him that I have a bunch of mushrooms I’ve been waiting to take and ask him if the next time we hang out if we could do them/he could babysit me and he enthusiastically agrees. Even though I tell him I am quite the handful on them in large doses, he had a look of reassurance that he can handle it. We’ll see.

We arrive in the area and walk to the pin, Ryan points out where Dani lives as we pass by. The pin was behind a residential gate with an old mustang stored in it, with both its hood and trunk open and a shovel up against it. Ryan tells me his “intention” he set for it was for us to see a UFO, which there was none. But we did see a cardboard cutout of Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z, so I guess him being an alien is close enough. We walk to his friend’s house, which Ryan had the access code memorized, they must be very close. Shaun and his friend seemed to be working on something music oriented for a game as we walked in, Shaun was very nice and welcoming. We end up talking for awhile and he offered me a Kombucha, Ryan seemed to really enjoy himself and liked that I got along so well. We hung out probably for about half an hour and then decided to head out so Ryan could take me home. He asks me how I’m doing and I say that I am having a really nice time, and he looked really happy about that and confirmed he was too.

On the ride back he had his hand on my thigh and I had my hands on his hand and the back of his neck, giving him a light massage while we listened to the tail end of that podcast. When we get to my place he tells me I should borrow his jacket again, that it looks nice. I tell him that I’m going to be busy all week but we will see each other soon, he tells me he is also going to be pretty busy. He reiterates what a great time he had that day and gives me a deep kiss and a long hug. We part ways and I arrive back home to tell Johnny some of the snippets of today while I respond to all my messages on my phone. I ate sushi and got ready for bed. Ryan texts me a bit in the evening, telling me again! how nice today was and what he was up to. It felt really easy and nice.

[lanaisnotwool]

418 Investing in PreREO with Barry Owens

http://moneyripples.com/2020/08/21/418-investing-in-prereo-with-barry-owens/

We have a special guest today, the President of PreReo, Barry Owens.

He is a 30-year mortgage industry veteran. Basically he provides problem-solving solutions to create win-win solutions. He has an extensive resume in the industry and it is an interesting story.

Chris Miles, the "Cash Flow Expert and Anti-Financial Advisor," is a leading authority on how to quickly free up and create cash flow for thousands of his clients, entrepreneurs, and others internationally! He’s an author, speaker, and radio host that has been featured in US News, CNN Money, Bankrate, Entrepreneur on Fire, and spoken to thousands getting them fast financial results.

Listen to our Podcast here:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/moneyripples/2020/07/17/418--investing-in-pre-reos

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Chris Miles (00:00): Hello, my fellow Ripplers! This is Chris Miles. Your Cash Flow Expert and Anti-Financial Advisor. Welcome you out for a wonderful show. A show that’s for you. And it’s about you guys. It’s about those of you that want to work. You don’t want to work so hard because you’ve been working your tail off. You want to work because you want to not because you have to. To have that freedom. That prosperity. That cash flow. Today! Not working 30 or 40 years and saving forever and hope that someday you might have a retirement, but you want that freedom right now. So you’re gonna be able to live a life to do what you love. To be with those you love. Whenever the heck you feel like it. But on top of that, as a Rippler, you actually want to create a ripple effect in the lives of others too. Not just your family and generations beyond you, which is awesome, but for everybody you come in contact with to enrich your community and make things better.

Chris Miles (00:55): And guys, I appreciate you guys that have been sharing this show, creating a ripple effect that way, because as we can be able to do this for other people, man, this just gets bigger and bigger. And I appreciate you guys allowing me to create a ripple effect through you and an essence, creating through others as well. Thank you again for tuning in for joining us and for following us too.

Chris Miles (01:13): Here’s a quick reminder. Go to our website, MoneyRipples.com. You can check out the blogs that have the videos of these shows as well as the free book Beyond Rice & Beans, Seven Secrets to Free Up Cash Today. That you can download for free right now to be able to find more money today. So check it out.

Chris Miles (01:28): Alright! So I’ve got a special guest today. You guys have had, you know, we’ve had repeat guests. So one of our biggest repeat guest we’ve had on the show is Jorge Newberry. You guys know from like American Homeowner Preservation, things like that. Well, we’ve got a special guests here with one of his partners, someone that he actually worked with in a company called PreREO. This guy’s name is Barry Owens. He’s the president of PreREO. He’s a 30 year mortgage industry veteran. He believes that PreREO provides an incredible opportunity for bringing no holders and community investors together to mitigate losses, to lenders and accelerate returns for investors. Basically creating a huge win-win for everybody. His unique background experience creating and executing a variety problem solving solutions, positioned to successfully and build the infrastructure to handle the varying and specific needs of no buyers and sellers. Prior to joining his PreReo, Barry worked in leadership roles, such as [inaudible]. So Barry, welcome to our show!

Barry Owens (02:19): Thank you very much, Chris. Happy to be here.

Chris Miles (02:22): Yeah. So tell us like first and foremost, like how’d you even go this route because many people go in like the banking industries and things like that, but I know a deal with Reos or Real Estate Owned Properties, right? Like dealing with these, it’s a very specific niche. How’d you get there?

Barry Owens (02:37): Yeah. It is a well known, but also hidden niche, right? The people that are in it know it very well. You know, they’ve learned a lot through it and they’ve made a lot of money through it, but it is also very quiet because it’s not very traditional.

Chris Miles (02:51): Yeah.

Barry Owens (02:52): I very connected to the bank, you know, having the right contacts, having the right introductions, having access to the products is really the key in it. So yes, it is a very niche driven market where, you know, knowing the right individuals, having the right contacts, whether that be at the lending institutions, institutions like ours that can actually provide the product is a very strategic advantage to participate.

Chris Miles (03:18): Yeah. Now this is a very synergistic business that goes along with American homeowner preservation. I can see it. It makes perfect sense while you guys are connected. Tell us, for those listeners that don’t even know what REOS are. Right. Give us a brief introduction about what they are and that sort of thing.

Barry Owens (03:32): Yeah. So REO, it’s a bank acronym for Real Estate Owned. Basically it’s a property that either an investor or banking institution has foreclosed on and taken back into inventory. It did not sell it forclosue sales. So now it’s going to be brought back in marketed for sale by the institution. They sometimes use third parties to sell it for them, but yeah. And then basically owned asset that’s an REO or you’ll sometimes hear it referred to as an OREO, Other Real Estate Owned.

Chris Miles (04:02): Absolutely. And this is key because I know from last recession, when people I knew that were dealing with Oreos connection is everything like it’s not about who has the most money, because you can sometimes offer less money and still get an offer accepted if you have the right relationships with these banks, with these institutions. Correct?

Barry Owens (04:22): Correct. And a lot of, again, it goes back to my earlier comment on, you know, as you said, the relationship as you become a repeat buyer that gives you a lot of credibility with these investors that we know you’re going to keep coming back, purchasing more product. So yeah, you kind of do get bulk discount mentality going, you know, when you’re a repeat buyer, it definitely builds your credibility.

Chris Miles (04:43): That’s absolutely true. And so give us an example, like what does it like to buy a property through you guys? Like, you know, give us example so maybe, cause obviously you buy a whole portfolio of these things, right? Do you sell these by the portfolio or do you sell the individual properties, like piece them off? How do you do it?

Barry Owens (05:00): Typically they’re going to be pieced off. Now we do have buyers that will buy multiple properties at the same time, but they might not all close on the same day, but we might have three, four or five, six deals going with them at any given time. But we do sell these, you know, basically individual properties in our note, which is the preREO market, which is really what, you know, our website, preREO is focused on is selling the notes of the foreclosure properties. They’re not REO yet. They’re preREO. We’re selling them out instead of the actual physical property, which is the discerning difference between the preREO and the REO.

Chris Miles (05:39): And why would they want the preREO versus the REO

Speaker 3 (05:44): Opportunities. The program that we created historically owning a vacant note, a property note, and the property is vacant. It’s a very costly endeavor. You have lawn care, snow removal, vandalism, all those factors. And plus you’re paying interest. You’ve got all these things, plus you’re completing a foreclosure. So it’s basically a dead money asset, which is why people are frowned upon the past. What we’ve done with preREO is create a program and we have the complete infrastructure to handhold people through this entire process, through the turning networks that we have and the servicing that we have with AHP backing us. And you know, those pileated ponies where we can handhold somebody through the entire process. And the key here is the receiver. When you can get a receiver appointed and people oftentimes get nervous on receiver, that’s expensive and doesn’t need to be because our receiver can be any person that can’t be an entity, but it can be any person.

Speaker 3 (06:48): So as an example, if you have a local real estate agent that you work with, or, you know, we also have a vast network, we could introduce you to as well, you have a contractor or you know, that real estate agent whomever you would choose. You can have that person appointed as the receiver by the court, take possession of the property of this vacant property, which you’ve purchased at a great price because of the fact that again, historically vacant notes are not something that people go after a whole lot, but we’ve been able to bring this entire segment of the market and put it in front of investors and the network and the supporting network with the receiver. So that receiver now has the power of the court to go in and take possession of the property. Re-key the property, the buyer of the note, you know, the preREO partner, they can go in, take possession, do the necessary repairs, if any, that are required to a property, put a renter in it while the foreclosure action is going. So now you’ve turned that, you know what used to be a dead money asset into an income producing asset while you complete the foreclosure. And then once you complete the foreclosure, then you have that REO that we talked about earlier. Now, what do you want to do with it? Are you a buy and hold strategy? Or I just want rental income? Are you a flipper? You know, Hey, let me take my profits now. But you have a multitude of strategies that, you know, will be completely up to you once that process is done.

Chris Miles (08:26): So walk us through like sample deal. Like what may one of the investors that have gone and purchased one of these properties, walk us through like what the process was like and the numbers too. Like how did those numbers work out for them?

Speaker 3 (08:37): Yeah. So to give you an example and I can’t really get into the specific numbers, but I will lay it out. So one of our initial customers, it’s been a longer term customer of AHP. They purchased a couple of the notes a few months ago, you know, as we were rolling up the program. They just paid off their first note and they are back and they have numerous offers now on other properties. So the return was obviously significant enough for them. Honestly, I don’t even know what their return was. They paid us off. Now they’re back putting in offers on other properties. So, but as like hypothetical numbers, you know, one of the samples that we use is that, and this is a good example. It’ll set the table. So for, to do round numbers, we typically sell the properties at 75% of value. So what that means, if you went to a realtor.com, you would see a property at $133,000 value, we will sell it for a hundred thousand. The note for a hundred thousand dollars preREO will fund 75% of that. The investor would need to come to the table with $25,000 to fund it. They’re part of the participation agreement, right? I have.

Chris Miles (09:58): So to be clear, they’re not buying the full hundred thousand of the note. You guys are partnering together, you’re putting up 75% of money. They’re putting up 25% of that net price. Right? Yeah.

Barry Owens (10:10): Correct. And they need to have some money in the back for rehab. And the legal costs, that will incur. We estimate it’s about $25,000 or so, you have to get the receiver appointed. And obviously that number can vary, you know, on a palatial estate, you know, $3 million estate, your numbers are going to escalate, but yeah, $25,000 repair and legal expenses to pay the $2,000 for the program fee. And you give the 12% return to preREO on the money based on how long you hold that money. And then we will do it for up to three years, you can pay us off in two weeks as well, if that would be your choice. And typically what we would see, the one analysis that we ran in that case after the repairs are done, the property is worth $79,000, your net, after all the costs, after the participation fee, after the 12% annualized return, if you sell it in a year, you’re looking at a $39,000 return. So these numbers can be very lucrative in a very short period of time.

Chris Miles (11:26): Yeah. So let me walk back just so people can kind of get a visual because it’s always easier to do this, and I know that they can reach out to you guys and see some of the stuff too. So in this example, somebody puts $25,000 down, right? That’s their investment into that out of the hundred thousands of 25% they put in, like you said, about another 25,000 repairs, right? So they’re at about 50,000 bucks. Plus like you said, there’s about $2,000 program fee. You mentioned like, and this is a key one I wanted to focus too. So because you’re coming in with the 75,000, right? They’re paying you essentially like 12% a year or 1% a month. Right?

Barry Owens (12:03): Correct.

Chris Miles (12:04): On that money. So, and we’re saying this over how long? A period of time?

Barry Owens (12:09): The example that I just gave was a one year, but we worked through the notes, but we have people that pay us off in three months, depending on where it’s at in the foreclosure. So the timelines on these varys greatly.

Chris Miles (12:23): Yeah. It can vary greatly depending on the speed, but even if it took a full year, which is a decent amount of time, right? That’s like, you know, 9,000 bucks to come out of pocket. So they might’ve come out of pocket a little over 60 grand. Correct? In that example.

Barry Owens (12:36): Yeah. Depending on how you want to play that out. Yeah. For they would liquidate the investment. Yes, totally. Yes.

Chris Miles (12:42): But then, like you said, after they liquidate, what’s the return on that, that, in that example,

Barry Owens (12:47): Well, on that example would be $39,000 is the profit in the spreads and looking at

Chris Miles (12:55): That’s a huge profit for a short period of time.

Speaker 3 (12:58): It is a very significant profit, which is, you know, we have just really got the program running, just started adding a bunch of properties to it. Like I said, we’ve only had a couple of test samples, or test cases that I could talk about and have gone through, but it’s already proven to be a lucrative, as I stated, people aren’t going to come back investors, aren’t going to come back to a program where they didn’t make money. So we are already seeing the repeat investors on these, which is fantastic. I mean, that’s, what’s gonna make, you know, the model thrive. We want to see the investors do well. And we’re partnered in this, you know, we have a vested interest in this doing well.

Chris Miles (13:37): Right. This is kind of a done with you deal. Right. It’s definitely not done for you. There’s definitely a lot of your own involvement in this, but there’s definitely a place where you guys are really, truly partnering together for these deals, right?

Barry Owens (13:50): Yeah, absolutely. Not only with our money, but with our resources. It was through legal and AHP servicing and all of the support mechanisms that we have in our, you know, internal staff to walk people through issues and, you know, educate them as we go. So yeah, it’s definitely not, you know, here write a check and then you’re on your own. There’s a support mechanism through our process.

Chris Miles (14:13): That’s right. And that’s the kind of the cool thing. And everybody listening, I want them to really understand the difference here is that there is a difference between passive investing and active investing. And we’ve mentioned this on the show several times, right? I mean, passive investing is you turn it over. You’re really not doing a whole lot. Right. Even if you buy a turnkey property, you know, even though you have somebody that helps you buy a rental property, that’s I would call it a partially passive investment. Right. Because there’s some work upfront, but once he got it going, then it’s mostly passive. Well, this one’s definitely more on the active side, but as you go up through those ranks, the potential for returns is much bigger. There’s also more time involvement in this, but still, I mean, you took that say you took that same again, we’re rounding down to 60,000 bucks, right.

Chris Miles (14:56): But $60,000 and you put it with AHP, you know, very, very passive. Like you do nothing. You know, you let them do all the work, right. I mean, you might make 6,000 bucks or so in a year, you know, but in this example, you said, you can make over 30 because now you’re getting more involved. You’re become more of an active investor in this kind of thing. And I know there’s several of you that either one, you like note investing, which this is kind of up your alley anyways. Or two, you’re already trying to find ways to buy properties at a discount and trying to find ways to create leverage. And this is exactly the way to do leverage. And by the way, nice thing he has here too, is, you know, obviously this is private money. Well, I mean, you’re using like AHPS money, but you’re not actually, they’re not going and having to qualify for a bank loan, which could take weeks, Right?

Barry Owens (15:39): Yes. Yeah. They’re the qualifier. If you’re coming to the table, you’re participating with us, you know, we ask you a couple of generic questions, but yeah, it’s very smooth, very easy process. It’s not something that you get back loaded with paperwork that you have to keep going back and forth with and keep coming up with documentation.

Chris Miles (15:59): Right. You can get hung up on this or that. And the other that just becomes frustrating and extensive, you know, so we’re definitely not saying this is a recommendation. We’re definitely not saying this is risk-free or anything of that nature, but definitely this is an amazing option, you know, and especially where you, like you said, this is preREO. This is not like buying OREOs where I’ve seen a lot of people got burned the last recession buying OREOs, you know, outright, and then having huge tax bills left on them. Cause they’re out in Chicago or something, right. It’s not like that.

Speaker 3 (16:26): Yeah. And we do the due diligence on them and we highly encourage everybody to do their own as well. But we will give you a broker price opinion, which is a third party, independent value of the property. And obviously you can go out to realtor.com or Zillow and look at some estimates, they’re both on rental incomes and property values. So you’re going to go into this with a lot of information, you know, to make it secure. And as you stated, yeah, there are people that have been burned tentatively on the REO market for one reason or the other. But there’s also a reason why there’s so many TV shows promoting these fix and flips, you know, in live scenarios because there is definitely a lucrative market out there for investors.

Chris Miles (17:10): Absolutely. And especially, I know there’s a lot of people that listen to show that say, okay, Chris, I get how I can buy rental properties and whatnot, but is there anything I could do that could be more lucrative? That could be faster and accelerated. And I’m not telling people to just go and should I go for pie in the sky and swing for the fences, and they strike out and they lose money. That’s not what we’re talking about doing here, but definitely if they have their bandwidth to put a little time and effort into something, this could be a great opportunity for them.

Barry Owens (17:39): Yeah, absolutely. And again, with the support mechanisms that are in place, you know, from a value, it, it gives a very high comfort level to everybody. We want to make sure that everybody’s very comfortable with what they’re investing in and how the process works. So we’re here, you know, a very supportive team behind it.

Chris Miles (17:57): Well, Barry, that’s exciting stuff. I love it. Everybody, we’ll put in the show notes, the link. So you guys can go and find out more, but Barry, I appreciate your time. This is really cool stuff, a great niche and a great opportunity that even someone who’s got, like you said, maybe they got 50,000 or a hundred thousand bucks. This could be an amazing opportunity for them to take advantage of and really create some great returns. Whether they create a rental from it, whether they flip the property, whatever it might be. There’s some definite opportunity here for them.

Barry Owens (18:26): Yeah. Absolutely. Looking forward to it. And I would greatly appreciate the time today, Chris.

Chris Miles (18:31): Absolutely. Man, I really appreciate the opportunity to have you on as well. So, every definitely check it out. Like I say, go to the show notes, you’ll see a link there. You can go and learn more about what preREO does and really how you can become more involved and how you can even ask more questions. So everybody go check that out. And man, again, this show is all about how you take action. It’s not just about being a hearer of this podcast and the hearer the word, but a doer as well. So make sure you go check that out, learn more, especially this, some that really hit home for you, or this is something that you’re already trying to do. And this just gave you more, leverage, more opportunity, check them out. So everybody, I hope you make it a wonderful and prosperous week and we’ll see you later.

[etraytin]

Quarantine, Day 123

July 12

A-B-C, it’s easy as Day 1-2-3! 

Another quiet day in quarantine, a near-mirror to yesterday except none of us went anywhere today. We are being ever so good in advance of the wedding! I did get a message today about a mama cat and some kittens very close to me that I'm going to check out tomorrow, just to get the lay of the land. The contact person says the kittens are 6-7 weeks old, but a lot of people are pretty bad at guessing the ages of kittens from far away. If they are young enough to socialize we can trap them and get them into the foster system, but if they are too old they will have to wait a little longer because we are backed up all to hell at the spay/neuter clinic. They have had to go to reduced hours again, so we're only getting slots on certain days. Tuesday I will actually be trapping at a different site with one of my friends, and this time we will be wearing masks even outdoors because one volunteer tested positive recently. It would really help if it were not 90 degrees out! 

The kiddo has made a full-on fort in my closet now; he is very proud of himself. He mostly goes there in the evening, in the time between the end of screen time for the day and bedtime. He is listening to a lot of music on Spotify now, and I would feel old for not recognizing most of it except that I have never recognized much in the way of pop music. I'm just pleased when he occasionally busts out with a Jimmy Buffett song because I know that's all my influence. He has also mentioned that he likes a lot of the songs he likes because they make him think of fanfiction stories inside his head, which is also just like me and I will always encourage that. He doesn't seem to like the quiet; there is always something coming from his room, whether it is Youtube or Spotify or podcasts. 

Barry has forgiven me for the unthinkable crime of allowing him to jump out of my arms last night, and it only took a bit of groveling and a bunch of treats. These guys are going to have a lot of fun when they get to the rescue and have more room and other kittens around! Hopefully they will also learn how to use the litterbox without kicking up a sandbender-sized mess about it. Their mama probably taught them how to scratch in the dirt, which requires a lot more energy and enthusiasm than a couple inches of Tidy Cat. A high-sided litterbox has helped a lot, but some good examples should also be good for them. They are out and playing right now until I finish all my typing for the evening. I have held off on the evening serving of wet food so I can use it to put them away without having to chase anybody. 

Two different people have texted me in the past two days to ask me about homeschooling curriculum. Kiddo had some problems in first and second grade before we got his medication settled and when we were in a much worse school district. I ended up pulling him and using the virtual public school option that Florida makes available for free to any student. We did Connections Academy for two years and it was good, but very time-consuming. It's funny because I hadn't even been thinking about homeschool again until my sister asked me about what we had used, but I understand why people are looking around. The idea of sending kids back into the classroom right now is scary, especially for people with young children like both of the parents I talked to. 

I honestly don't think that any back-to-school-in-person option is going to last very long, just as a matter of logistics. What happens when someone tests positive? Does the class quarantine? Does the teacher quarantine? What if a teacher has to quarantine or gets sick, or someone in their family gets sick? Who's going to teach their classes? There was already a severe shortage of substitute teachers before all of this happened, and a lot of the subs were retired teachers themselves. Who on earth is going to go into a classroom where someone just got quarantined for COVID and teach there for eighty dollars a day and no benefits? I got my letter authorizing me to sub during the 2020-21 school year and just threw it in a drawer. I mean, some people are going to be desperate enough to do it, but if you're that hard up, it's probably safer to work at McDonalds right now where you're only close up with ten or eleven people instead of thirty or two hundred. Teachers already had an incredibly shitty deal before coronavirus; I believe that we will soon start to see what happens when conditions get  so bad that nobody will teach. Guess we'll see pretty soon, some schools are getting ready to go back in just a few weeks! Virginia schools don't start til September, so we've got a little time yet. 

[probably-writing-x]

Unspoken

"Alright I just need you to all clap in front of the microphones to sync the audio," You explain to the group in front of you as you take a seat in your regular chair.

Across from you around the table sat Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jacob Batalon and Tom Holland. Your manager had been able to book them to come onto your podcast ahead of the release of their new movie and recording was just about to begin.

All of them do as you had asked and settle into their seats, headphones over their ears and the microphones covering the bottom portion of their face.

"Okay, cameras on, mics synced," You mutter to yourself like you were checking off a mental list, "Let's go,"

Your eyes flit to each of the actors before you begin.

"Alright, you're tuning into Unspoken, a podcast hosted by me, myself and I, (Y/n) (Y/l/n)," You begin, hands settling on the arm rests as you speak, "Today, I'm pleased to be joined by the cast of Spiderman Far From Home, we've got Zendaya, Jacob, Jake and Tom. Thanks for being here guys,"

"No thanks for having us," Zendaya beams, "We listen to your podcast all the time,"

"Well that makes my job a little easier," You chuckle, "For those of you who don't know, here at Unspoken we like to delve into one story from each guest at least that has been completely unspoken up until now. That sound good guys?"

"Oh god, I'm visibly sweating," Jake jokes, wiping at his brow.

You laugh and instantly feel yourself relaxing into the role, asking them a few questions about their experience filming and trying your best to not ask them all of those typical questions they were likely to already be fed up with.

"So I'm interested to know how you guys found your time here in London," You continue, "Tom did you have to show them round a bit?"

He'd oddly been a little quiet this whole time to the point where you had assumed something was wrong. But whenever the two of you made eye contact, he always managed to flash you an adorable smile.

"Yeah, yeah, we got some free time to look round and, uh, we-"

"Are you malfunctioning?" Z laughs at him, "I think he's scared of the microphone,"

Tom blushes boldly behind the microphone and you see him take a big gulp of his water.

"Where was your favourite place to shoot?"

You ask a simple question so that you don't have to worry too much about the answer. Instead, you turn your attention to Tom and give him a raise of your brows and nod of your head as a silent signal to check he was okay. He responds with an eager nod and a delicate smile... The blush from his cheeks had still not shifted.

~~~

"Now, we're coming to a close on the podcast so I just have one question left - Tom, what is your unspoken story?" You ask him, all of the cast turning their attention toward the blushing boy.

"Oh, god, urm," He scratches at the back of his neck.

"Didn't you think of one in the car?" Jake laughs, evidently trying to help a boy out.

"Well yeah but I-" Tom blushes so much you fear he's going to combust as he shifts in his chair again and again.

"Wasn't it something about you pissing yourself on stage once?" Jacob encourages, letting out a loud laugh.

"You peed yourself?" You chuckle and watch as Tom swallows to relieve some of his inability to respond.

"When I was in Billy Elliot," He mutters, "Sometimes I couldn't hold out when it had been a busy day,"

You chuckle but try to stifle it as much as possible as you see how utterly embarrassed he seems.

"What did you do?! Just let it all out?" Z exclaims and Tom clenches his jaw like he's certain this is the point the ground could willingly swallow him up.

"To be fair, I did that in the supermarket when I was a kid," You admit with a gentle shrug, "And once when I was on a train when I was about ten,"

"Ten?!" Jake bursts out and all three of them direct their attention toward your humiliating admittance.

You side eye Tom to see the tension in his shoulders has relieved just a little. You'd throw yourself in the deep end if it meant he could at least look a little less terrified.

~~~

Once all of the recordings have ended, you take the headphones from each of the actors and thank all of them individually.

"It was so lovely to meet you (Y/n)," Jacob smiles and pulls you into a warm hug.

"We'll meet you outside T, I think the car's waiting," Jake nods to his costar, clasping Zendaya and Jacob on the shoulder to direct them out.

"I'll just grab those from you," You say to the only remaining guest as he stands from his, seat.

Amongst his abnormal fidgeting, Tom had got himself trapped and tangled in the wire of his headphones.

"Come here, stay still," You laugh, stepping close to him and working to de-tangle the wiring.

He mumbles an incoherent apology that you dismiss with a shake of your head.

"There you go!" You smile as your hands brush over the portions covering his ear, pausing as your eyes catch his.

He swallows once again, "Thank you,"

"Were you doing okay over there today? You seemed a little -"

"Nervous?" Tom laughs awkwardly, dragging a hand through his curls.

"I was going to say terrified," You joke, setting down his headphones.

Your company lets out an exasperation as though he's going to say something but stops himself before beginning again, "Hey, um, thanks for helping out with that story,"

"Oh, don't worry," You smile, "I figured you could do with someone to take the weight,"

"Yeah, I'm glad I'm not on my own in public humiliation," He scoffs, "But I don't think it was a great story for Unspoken,"

"You think?" You raise a brow, suddenly intrigued by him saying more than he had said before.

"You see, I kind of had something else I wanted to tell you," He admits, taking a step toward you but only letting his feet move a few inches.

You nod your head and watch his every movement, seeing as the confidence trickles slowly into each muscle.

"I've been listening to this podcast every day on my way to work, every night if I can't sleep," Tom begins, his eyes falling in their contact away from yours, "And I always thought that the girl hosting was really funny, she was passionate, interesting, intelligent, willing to speak her mind,"

You're the one blushing now, trying your best to cool the red tones.

"And then I walk in today and see her face to face. And I fucking lost it," He laughs, "I was like a school boy! And I was so intimidated that I sat in that chair blushing and shuffling around like she could've killed me,"

You swallow the lump in your throat.

"I guess that's a better story but it doesn't have much of an ending," He glances up so his eyes meet yours.

"Oh, I hate the podcast having a bad ending," You smirk, bottom lip pulling between your teeth. Hurriedly, you grab a piece of paper from your desk and scribble down eleven digits, "Here,"

Tom's lips curl into a smile and he takes the phone number from you, tucking into his back pocket.

"I look forward to hearing more of your unspoken stories soon, Tom,"

~~~

Tags: @imarypayne @sunshine112 @bringmethehorizonandpizza @supernatural-girl97 @vibhati123 @butithasntkilledyouyet @faefictions @carisi-sonny @trap-house-homiecide @spiderrpcrker @tommydaspidey @oneblckcoffee @darlingtholland @fanficparker @xxtomxo @httpfandxms

[dailyaudiobible]

09/03/2020 DAB Transcript

Ecclesiastes 4:1-6:12, 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:7, Psalms 47:1-9, Proverbs 22:16

Today is the 3rd day of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is…it is a joy to be here with you today as we exhale, as I say often. Let it all go, it'll all be waiting but we need a change of atmosphere. And, so, we come around the Global Campfire and we let God's word wash over us, wash into us and then we go back with a new perspective into what we were doing into the world and what a joy it is that we can do this together. So, let's take that next step. We began the book of Ecclesiastes yesterday and we’re gonna continue that journey today. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Ecclesiastes 4, 5, and 6 today.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in second Corinthians today Paul is essentially talking about or unpacking the fact that there are…there are things that will never be in harmony with each other. He says, “what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? What fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?” Belial is this word that simply means, like worthlessness or maybe meaningless. “What harmony is there between Christ and that which has no value? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” We could push back on that and say, “well a believer and an unbeliever, their human beings. There's a lot in common.” But in Paul's view, those who believe are new creatures, new creations, which for Paul isn't like a reset, like a restart of humanity. It's a different kind of species, like a new humanity upon the earth, one that has been restored and made righteous before God, a different kind of thing of which Jesus was the firstborn which we've already talked about. Paul’s talking about all this in the context of not being yoked together with unbelievers. And if you have the choice you shouldn’t. I mean my two cents on that, which is probably worth about two cents is that life is a winding road and marriage is difficult enough as it is. With no faith to fall back on…O…that's very difficult. But what Paul is saying is also beyond just whether or not you should marry an unbeliever. This goes to Paul's philosophy in general. We are new creatures upon this earth part of God's divine family knit together as a body, the body of Christ. And basically trying to live with one foot in the world as a person who has already died to it while keeping one foot in this new creation that we are living into is essentially the same as God inviting His chosen people to separate themselves so that they become…can become a nation of priests to the rest of the world. And we read that story already and we saw what that mixture did. It all fell apart. So, why do we often find ourselves in a position where we did…where basically we’re wondering, “how dark…how much of the…like how much into the shade can I go, like before the actual darkness…like how far into the darkness can I go, while remaining in the light?” When Paul deals with these kinds of issues he’s basically saying, “why would you do that? Why would you do that?” And it's fair. Like why would we do that? Why do we do that? Why do I do that? Like, why are we doing this?” Because like borrowing from Solomon, it's meaningless. It's chasing the wind. And, so, Paul gives words of encouragement. And I quote Paul. “Therefore, since we have these promises dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. And, so, we find that the Scriptures have led us to consider like what is the defiling us. What are we allowing to contaminate the new creature that we have been made? What are we allowing to tell us who we are? Because if it's not our faith in God then we are chasing the wind. And, once again we find Paul saying it’s a bigger story, like “look higher. Live into this. Be righteous because you can now. You can be holy, be set apart, because you can be in union with God because you can, He’s your father, you are adopted into His family. Don’t waste this gift, don't waste your life. And the pollution that you once lived in, you don’t have to do that

Prayer:

Father, once again we find ourselves challenged, we find the Bible being a mirror and forcing us to look at ourselves and we thank You for that. It shakes us. It disrupts us. It's necessary. It's You, Fathering us. It's You, loving us and saying there's more. And, so, we reach for You and invite Your Holy Spirit to show us the ways that we’re trying to mix things up in unhealthy ways with…with things that can never be in harmony with one another. We need You. We need You alone. We need Your Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. And we trust in that promise that You will. Come Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that is the website, of course, and it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to be connected, be aware.

Check out the Initiatives. Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources there that are for this journey. They were developed and made for this journey, things to write in, things to write with, things to wear, things to read, things to listen to, things to watch - a number of resources for the community here as we take the journey through the Scriptures, and as we take it as deep as we can so that it…so that it does what we've come here for, so that we are transformed from within as we allow the Scriptures to speak into our lives. So, check out all the resources that are available.

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And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app…I like…I had a brain freeze…like what you do what you want to…even though I’ve said it thousands of times. You can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

I’m basking in the spirit and I’m still lying in my bed the sun has not yet risen and I’m very glad that I’m not dead it’s quiet and it’s dark and it seems the world is still asleep but I feel you all around me God inside too real deep it feels just like I’m glowing and I know that can’t be true pre-dawn is my favorite time to come in prayer to you there are no real distractions no voices cars or lights no human interference no arguments or fights only me reflecting thoughts that spring from deep within thoughts now filled with gratitude that used to be about sin I come to you for power I come to you for grace I come to you my father because there really is no other place I lift you up for what you’ve done because you’ve done so much for me I praise you God for who you are and how you set me free it seems like I can’t get enough of praising you each day the closer that I get to you the more I love to pray thank you God for lifting me, for loving me, for setting free I thank you God my eyes can see a concept like eternity the suns now up and I’m still in prayer I still can feel you everywhere inside outside all around even deep below the ground because you Are truly awesome

blindtony1016@gmail.com. I’d like to give a shout out to God’s Smiles and Peter and Gentle Ben and Rebecca from Michigan. Know you are all loved and prayed for daily. And once again, Brian and the Hardin family, thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit flow. Keep it flowing y’all. All right, bye-bye.

Hello this is Duncan the Piano Man from Fredericksburg Texas this on Sunday morning August 30th. Lincoln my prayers are for you. Let me pray right now. You’re the uppermost in my mind. A number of you have had deaths in your family this week from the terrible virus that we’re all dealing with. But for people to stay together for marriages to stay together I am burdened especially today. My wife and I went through 43 years of marriage and we had a lot of stormy times. God brought us through though and it will be a year in October that she’ll have been with the Lord in eternity. So, let me pray now Father before this thing runs out. I just pray for Lincoln and his wife. Father I am just praying that You would soften her heart. Lincoln wants so much for this marriage to stay together. And Father they’re still Young at and I don’t know if they have any children, but I bring him to You Lord Jesus. Also, Father that that marriage would be mended, and that marriage would be strengthened, and they would just stay together till death do them part. And Father that they would grow together in You. Quicken that spirit Lord. Father pray for also that lady in New York who is behind financially and a lot of things and deals with mental issues and also has no work. And Lord there’s probably a lot of other things. Be merciful to them Jesus. Thank You for hearing our prayer. Father I...we love You and we leave love each other in You. Thank You, Lord. Amen.

Good morning family. Hey, I had a revelation this morning. I every morning do the Daily Prayer which you can access on the app under the navigation bar under helpful links. And I’ve been doing it…well…for almost 2 years now every morning faithfully and I can’t tell you what a difference it’s made in my life. I really recommend it. What I thought this morning and I believe the Holy Spirit gave me was this is a prayer that is so socked full of what we need to know about our relationship with God that every morning you’re reviewing it and it gives God the opportunity to speak into your heart. So, that’s what the spiritual disciplines do. They in themselves do not make you holy or righteous or anything, they just give God the opportunity to pour like a faucet into your soul. And, so, one that I really appreciate too is solitude because it allows me to just sit and muse with God all day. Anyway, I better take off now. I just wanted to share that with you. Please during this really heartbreaking time in our country it’s…it’s so important to get everything straight, get your plumb line straight with God and have a clear conscience. It’s worth everything. Okay kids. Bye.

Hi this is Kristi from Kentucky this is about the eighth time I’ve tried to record this. It’s kind of difficult. I’ve been listening for 12 years and the first time I’ve ever called in for prayer. I put this on a Prayer Wall about a year ago but I’m still…I’m still patiently or impatiently waiting sometimes. I was involved in a Christian community in Ohio where I have two children that are still there. I was involved with them for many years. I lived there for a couple years but when I moved in, I saw that they were becoming increasingly more controlling over people’s time, their money, their interactions outside of the community and who they could speak to and who they couldn’t. And I saw red flags. Anybody that leaves is deemed either a sinner in love with the world or mentally ill. And, so, out of all of the years that they’ve been in existence only like five or six people that have left are actually in any kind of relationship with the church and most people in community aren’t even allowed to talk to them, which has happened to the two of my children and me. Since I left it has been, it’s been really ugly. It took me a year of some intense biblical counseling to really recover emotionally, spiritually. But my children are still there, and they refuse to have any relationship with me or to pursue restoration of any kind. I haven’t spoken to my daughter since December…it’ll be two years in December. I’d ask you to join me in prayer for all truth to be revealed whether it’s myself or them, all the darkness be revealed, and light come into that darkness. People are set free in Jesus’ name.

Hi, my names Sam from Texas and just calling in because…express my gratitude for this community, for this…Brian and everybody that listens in. About a year ago I found this just wanting to, you know, have the word of God, you know, to hear it in my life every day and now it’s…it’s…it’s a staple of my day. You know, I start my day before I put anything else into this mind, I put this podcast in this word of God. Prayer requests. Could you all please lift up my church community in Allen Texas? We…we’re going through a…a lawsuit. And not to get into any details but just lift up my pastor, his name is Dustin and the leadership. You know, sometimes you gotta rip off the Band-Aid to heal and I know the situations gonna be handled by God and He’s gonna get the glory. Another prayer request I have is for a new believer, her name is Taylor. She’s an alcoholic. She’s just got 60 days sober yesterday by the grace of God and I…I praise him for that. You know she came to the Lord about 3, 4 weeks ago, you know, and the Lord’s really been knocking on her on her door and seeking her her whole life. And I was in a previous relationship with her but I had to make a decision to end it so that she could focus on herself and I could also focus on myself because me and God get some business to do and I’m grateful for that. You know, just lift up Taylor and her recovery that she has a spiritual experience with the Almighty God and Jesus could continue to enter her heart, softens her heart and her mind to Him. Thank you, guys. Have a blessed day.

This is my second time prayer requesting. My names Ryan Kelleher I live in Santa Barbara California and my heart’s heavy and I’ve had a long journey of…I want to say mental illness but I’m not even sure. I just thought I’d reach out and receive some…some prayer. Thanks guys.

[hockeylvr59]

Hurt || Jeff Skinner

Requested: [ ] yes [x] no

Authors Note: So Jeff scared the crap out of me today and well it led to this. It’s kind of a companion piece to What Ifs but it’s not directly apart of that series because it doesn’t fit in the timeline.

Warnings: none

Word Count: 1961

You always did your best to watch Jeff’s games even though you couldn’t be there due to the long distance aspect of your relationship. Today though they were playing the caps, a team you couldn’t stand and you were honestly so far behind on your school work that you needed to focus and try and get some things done.

It was all going pretty well for awhile, you did keep checking the score and the Sabres were winning. Then in the second period you were checking one of your group chats and someone mentioned that Jeff had been hurt and that it seemed bad. Immediately you stopped the reading you were attempting to get through and logged onto twitter knowing that it would be the fastest source of any updates.

Watching the play absolutely broke your heart. The way he was crawling on the ice and the amount of pain he seemed to be in as Jack and a trainer assisted in getting him up and off the ice. He wasn’t putting any weight on his left ankle and before you even knew what you were doing, you were digging in your closet for clothes and going into your bathroom for the necessities before throwing a few of your books and your laptop in another bag.

Within ten minutes you were out your door, tears pooling in your eyes as you set your GPS to Jeff’s apartment and just started driving. He was hurt and it looked serious and right now you cursed yourself for not being in Buffalo.

Though a part of you wanted to listen to the radio broadcast in hopes that they would give an update, if it was bad you weren’t sure that you could handle hearing it while driving. Instead you just listened to some old podcasts trying to distract yourself for as much of the five hour drive as you could.

Stopping once to get gas, you checked your phone and saw that the Sabres had won. At the very least that was good, though you couldn’t get the sight of your boyfriend hurt on the ice out of your head. By the time you arrived in Buffalo around 7:30, you couldn’t stop shaking as you feared the worst.

Pulling into the parking lot of Jeff’s apartment you finally got the nerve to text him needing to know whether he was home or possibly at the hospital. His response that he was just hanging out at home took a little stress off of you as you gathered your things and headed inside. If he was home that meant that the chance he needed surgery was lower, and that maybe it was just a clean break.

As you knocked softly on his door you vainly wiped away the fresh tears from your eyes. The door opened far more quickly than you expected it to, and you wondered if he had one of the guys over to help him.

Instead it was the gorgeous, sweet man you were head over heels for and his eyes went wide when he saw you, yours doing the same as you looked down to see no cast or anything on his leg.

The first thought that crossed your mind was that you had fallen asleep behind the wheel or had been involved in an accident and this was merely a dream. There was no way that he wasn’t hurt, you’d seen the play yourself, you’d seen how much pain he’d been in.

When he reached out to touch you though there was no way to deny how real it felt and stepping forward you collapsed into his chest, sobs racking your body as he wrapped his arms around you.

“Babe...hey...hey I’m okay.” He whispered into your ear, his hands rubbing gently over your back. After a moment, one of his hands shifted to draw your head back from his chest and he dropped his mouth down to kiss you, trying to calm the panicked feeling he could feel radiating off of you.

Breaking the kiss only when you couldn’t breathe, Jeff quickly used the pads of his thumbs to wipe your tears away before reaching for your bags to pull them and you inside. Once your things were set safely on the ground, he pulled you against him again, his lips dropping to the top of your head.

“I can’t believe you’re here.” He mused, affection and awe lacing his words.

“You...you were hurt…” You murmured, confusion filling you at how he was standing in front of you completely fine. “I was reading and someone messaged me that you’d be injured and so I watched the play and it was so bad and…” Coughing as you nearly choked on your own saliva from the emotions inside you Jeff quickly pulled you over to his couch and then down onto his lap.

“I promise you I’m fine.” He said, fingers grazing over your skin as he cupped your face in his hands again. “I’m okay. Calm down sweetheart.” He urged. “I’m sorry for scaring you.”

Leaning forward you kissed him again, having missed his touch since it had been over two months since you’d seen him in person. He was here, right here, and he was smiling against your kiss, something that he wouldn’t be able to do if he was hurt.

“You really drove five hours for me?” He questioned once you were simply settled in his lap, your head tucked into the gap between his shoulder and neck.

“I didn’t even think twice.” You mumbled. “I just reacted and the only thing I could do was be here, no matter what.”

“You’re crazy, beautiful.” He declared. “Have you eaten anything?” He added and when you shook your head he sighed. “Alright, let’s find a take out menu to get some food in your stomach before you make yourself sick.”

Leaving you on the couch, Jeff walked to his kitchen, his gait a little strained but nothing major, considering what had happened earlier. When he returned it was with take out menus, a bottle of wine and two glasses. After pouring you a glass which you took gratefully, he slid back onto the couch, lifting your legs out of the way for a moment before dropping them back over his own.

Reaching for his hand as he rattled off food options, you brushed your fingertips over his palm and finally felt yourself relaxing a little. Jeff was your everything, no doubt about it, and you’d known for months that you loved him but sitting here it hit you that you were completely in love with him.

Once Jeff had placed the food order for delivery, you found yourself shifting to straddle him, your hands fiddling with the hair at the base of his scalp. His hands rested against your lower back and he looked at you with a mild level of confusion.

“I love you.” You whispered. “I am head over heels in love with you. I have never been so scared in my entire life and I am so glad you’re okay. I…I don’t know what I would have done.” Pulling your lower lip between your teeth you bit gently, shivering as one of Jeff’s hands slid up under your shirt.

Seconds later, Jeff’s mouth was on your own again, pulling your lip from between your teeth to kiss you again. Whining softly, you tugged his head closer and let everything go hazy for a moment at the feeling of him.

“I am completely, totally in love with you too y/n.” He assured you when he pulled back. Everything went quiet for a few minutes after that until Jeff’s hands shifted to move you to his side again.

“Now...I know you were actually planning on watching this Stadium Series game so how about we do that together?” He suggested, reaching for his remote to flip channels back to NBC where the game was airing. The fact that you had a million and one things to do was completely forgotten as Jeff kissed your head and rubbed a hand over your side while you focused on taking a few deep breaths and switching your mind to the game in front of you.

Neither of you moved until the food arrived, Jeff once again slipping away from you for just a moment before coming back and handing you a container.

“Thank you.” You said softly, a chuckle escaping him as he once again processed the fact that you were really here, had driven five hours just to check on him because of your fear of him being hurt.

“You’re welcome. This is much better than watching the game with the guys any day.” He teased.

After awhile, food containers were set aside and the two of you just snuggled together, Jeff pulling a blanket down over you. With the roller coaster of emotions you’d been through today you were already exhausted but you were determined to stay awake knowing that since he was truly okay the time you had to spend with him was limited. Just as you were thinking about having to drive home Jeff’s voice pulled you from your thoughts.

“So...is there anyway I can convince you to stay until Monday morning?” He proposed. “Coach is giving me tomorrow off and I really really just want to spend some more time with you.” Sighing you shrugged, thinking about it. You really didn’t want to even think about driving the five hours back tomorrow but you would be missing two classes Monday if you stayed and you really shouldn’t at this point in the semester.

“Can I get back to you on that in the morning?” You requested certain that you were likely going to end up saying screw it and staying the extra day, but needing to debate with yourself awhile longer.

“Of course.” He whispered. “And don’t feel pressured. I’ll take every minute with you that I can. That fact that you’re here right now already blows my mind.”

Crawling into his bed with him later that night your phone buzzed on the nightstand and when you looked at it you couldn’t help but laugh and glare softly at the man beside you. He’d posted a picture of the two of you cuddling, you looked like you were practically asleep and you definitely had been. It was a really cute picture, the caption was what had caused the glare.

Definitely may need to leave a game hurt more often if it brings the love of my life to my doorstep. Just kidding, sweetheart. I’m a lucky lucky man today though, both for my health, and to have a woman who will drive five hours just to be by my side.

“Don’t joke about getting hurt babe. Please.” You pouted, the expression turning to a squeal as Jeff pulled you under him, his hands tickling your sides.

“Fine. But I am the luckiest man.” He echoed aloud as he dropped down to kiss you.

“You better believe it,” You teased breaking the kiss to tug his shirt over his head. Your intentions weren’t sexual, not tonight, but you just wanted to be as close to him as you possibly could.

Snuggled into his chest, it didn’t take long for you to start to drift off again. And maybe you were dreaming but you could have sworn you heard Jeff whisper that he couldn’t wait to make you his wife so that he could fall asleep and wake up next to you every morning. So that you never had to worry about him being hurt and feeling helpless again. So that he could be there for you like you were there for him today.

[surveyjunkie]

Is there a bus stop near your house?: I’m not sure, I don’t take the bus anywhere

Do you prefer red wine or white wine?: White wine for sure

What’s the last airport you were at? Why were you there?: I was at CVG because I was coming back from vacation

Who do you live with?: My boyfriend and his brother

Do you read Reddit? If so, how often and what subreddits do you like?: No. I think I’ve been on there like four times and I never understood the appeal. The layout is so messy and confusing, but maybe that’s the point, Idk. < Yeah, I’ve been on there a few times too but I agree, the layout is really messy and old-school. < same

Have you recently broken up with a significant other or even just a friend?: no

What’s the weather like today? Is it nice enough to go outside?: it’s hot and sunny. it’s nice enough to go outside but not stay outside for too long unless you plan on going to the pool.

Do you know anyone who’s had a baby recently?: my coworker’s daughter just had a baby, if that counts?

Have you used a pen or pencil today? What did you write down?: i used a pen to write down events in my brand new PLANNER

What does your last text message say and who is it from?: “i love you :)” - josh

Can you count how many times you’ve seen your favorite film?: i have a few favorites, i’ve seen them all at least 30 times each

When was the last time you ate marshmallows?: probably the last time i made hot chocolate...so back in April?

Do you listen to any podcasts? How do you listen to them?: sometimes! i listen on my phone but also sometimes on my computer

How old will you be in the year 2030?: 38....vomit

How often does the kettle in your house get used?: we don’t even have a kettle, if we want tea we just boil or microwave water

Does your skin bruise easily? Do you have any bruises right now? What from?: i do, but i’m not sure if i have any right now or where they are

What was the last thing you spent $150 or more on?: a car payment

Do you prefer yes or no questions or more open-ended questions?: open-ended

What brand of toilet paper do you usually buy?: the cheapest brand, but never the store brand bc it sucks.

If I knocked on your door right now, would you be acceptably dressed?: i’m at work...so go right ahead.

Why did you leave your last job?: they weren’t giving me any hours after i got a second job, so it made more sense to just go full time at the second place and quit the first. also, i was kind of sick of retail.

What color were the last socks you wore?: black.

Are you studying currently? What level of education and what do you study?: in the fall i’m starting my 1st year of grad school in health informatics (aka bio-statistics) so i can finally start making some real money

Have you ever eaten at a restaurant and left without paying?: no

What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?: there was a funny situation that just happened at work

What’s your favorite scent of air freshener?: i have one in my car right now that i really like called bay breeze or something like that. it’s just one of those little tree air fresheners.

How many weddings have you ever been to?: 7 i think??

Do you know anyone named Nora?: yes, that’s Josh’s grandma’s name

Are your hands and feet in good condition or could you do with a mani-pedi? I just painted my nails but I need to go over them again, and my toes need painted.

Have you ever been to a festival for beer or other types of alcohol?: many times

Do you own a record player and/or vinyl?: no

When was the last time you went out for drinks?: unless you count grabbing beers with dinner, a few weeks ago is the last time i went out to a “real” bar. Have you ever been to a strip club?: i’ve only gone twice in my whole life

What’s your favorite kind of smoothie?: mango or strawberry banana

Do you know anyone with a ‘virtue name’? (Google it): yep

Would you ever wear real authentic leather?: nah

Have you taken out the trash today?: no but thanks for reminding me bc it’s being picked up tomorrow lmao How often do you wear make-up?: like, once a week if that

What’s your opinion on The Simpsons?: it’s not really for me, i’ve watched a few episodes with Josh and found them funny but i probably wouldn’t watch it on my own time

Do you prefer horizontal or vertical stripes?: horizontal

What’s your favorite brand of deodorant/antiperspirant?: i just found a new one i love but i forget the name, it comes in a green matte container

Do you know anyone who has been through a divorce?: yes

If you had the money, would you take taxis everywhere instead of driving?: i live in a small town so there’s no need for taxis, but if i lived in the city then maybe

Have you ever done a juice cleanse?: no

Do you have any friends who you can’t decide if they’re attractive or not?: honestly, yes Is the inside of your fridge clean right now or does it need a cleanout?: it could do with a cleanout

When was the last time you washed the dishes?: Josh takes care of that, he washed them all on Saturday but we’ve been eating out since then. 

Are there any magazines that you read on a regular basis?: sometimes i read Game Informer but that’s literally it

Do you have to pay for parking in most places in the town/city you live in?: nope.

What’s the first thing you tend to do when you have a headache?: lay down or take an ibuprofen, drink lots of water

Tell me about your responsibilities at work: i’m a patient registrar at a doctor’s office, i check people in, verify their information/insurance, collect payments, scan orders, all that good stuff.

Can you hear lots of traffic from your house? Does it bother you?: no, it’s really quiet where i live. Have you ever had proper Canadian poutine with the squeaky cheese?: i’ve had poutine, but i don’t know what squeaky cheese is so i guess it wasn’t proper Canadian?

Do your parents know how to operate smartphones and/or computers?: yes

How old are your parents, anyway?: my dad is 56 and my mom is 57

Are you allergic to anything? What do you have to do to prevent them?: mosquitos, i don’t do anything

What song is stuck in your head at the moment?: shooting stars by....i forget the artist. 

Do you hate it when people try really hard or do you kinda like it?: it bothers me a bit

What’s your boss’ first name? Do you call him/her by that name?: amy. yes.

When was the last time you wore a uniform of any kind? What color was it? i’m wearing one right now, it’s a blue long-sleeved sporty looking collared shirt. 

Do you complete a survey before taking this one? Will you take one after?: nah this is my first. it got really slow at work and i needed something to do. Have you ever lost enough weight to drop a dress size?: yep. my weight fluctuates really bad. i go back and forth between a size 4 and a size 8 depending on the type of job i have. right now, i have a desk job so i’m chunky again. 

What’s your favorite kind of bread?: french

When was the last time you got pizza? What toppings did you get?: i can’t remember

Do you own Monopoly? Is it the original or a special version?: no

What was the last thing you said out loud?: bless you, cause someone sneezed

You have to choose one: cats or dogs?: dogs

Would someone being either a cat or dog person affect you dating them?: no, i love both cats and dogs. i’m just biased towards dogs right now.

How do you travel to and from work?: car

Do you primarily use cash or card for your purchases? Why?: card

Have you ever been to a stadium concert?: yuuup

[putabourqueinit]

US

HELLO

My guy is Charles Dylan Walsh, better known as Dylan Walsh, but to me he will always be my D. We started our love affair in Los Angeles, where we met at a gym called Equinox.  When we met he shared a secret with me-- he had been staring at me for 8 years and never said hello.  8 years???  Before he actually said “hello” to me there was a lead up and it was pretty sexy I must say.  I obviously knew he was the guy from Nip/Tuck although I did not watch Nip/Tuck.  I would see him and thought it was coincidence when I was upstairs he was upstairs and when I was downstairs he was downstairs (remember I didn’t know he was staring at me for 8 years!!)  It became intriguing when I would see him--we would have eye contact and no smile.  I smile at everyone, but for some reason I gave him nothing.  The eye contact was intense and sometimes would last for 3 seconds or so.  That is 2 seconds too long if you think about it.  It became a game between us and I think I actually gave him a half a smirk at one point.  The build up was mounting and we both knew eventually something had to give and it finally did.  One day I walked up the stairs and turned towards the treadmills.  He was running on one right in the path of where I had to walk.  This time when our eyes met we both started laughing out loud.  In that moment I felt like I had known this man my entire life.  Ultimately we started our relationship over months with eye contact.  He grabbed my arm as I walked by and it startled me for a second, but honestly the energy that ran through my body was something I will never forget.  He found me downstairs later by the water fountain and he said “hello.”

He was in a complicated situation- married 2x before and 3 kids and I wanted no part of it.  I was 36 and very single.  I was in a fantasy stage that I would meet a guy who had never been married and definitely did not have kids.  Also, he was an actor and after living in La La Land for 13 years I dated my fair share of actors and actor ‘wanna be’s.’  So we became gym buddies.  We would see each other at the gym and we would talk, laugh and innocently flirt.  I gave him my number- ya know cause that’s what “friends” do.  I was witty and had a wicked sense of humor with him.  We had this banter that was ridiculously fun.  It was almost like I was daring him not to fall for me.  He was smitten I could tell and I was totally me, because I knew there would never be an “us.”  He told me he would be leaving for work for a month and wanted to have coffee before he left.  I said no to coffee and opted for drinks instead.  His charm and blue eyes were definitely having an affect on me.  

THE DATE  

I told him to scoop me up at my place.  I left the door slightly ajar and told him to come in while I was finishing getting ready.  I wanted him to see my things.  I wanted him to hear the music I listen to and to look at the pictures I had around.  I wanted for him to get a sense of who I was before getting to know me better.  When I came out we laughed at the familiar awkwardness we had.  We drove in his fancy BMW to a neighborhood bar, which would inevitably hold a special place in our heart as it was called The Hudson (we ended up naming our son Hudson.)  We sat at the bar and I ordered my favorite drink a Kir Royale and he ordered a Johnnie Walker Black with a splash of soda.  We spent a few hours getting to know each other.  He would tell me about his life, kids etc and I would tell him about mine.  I had told him I would be having foot surgery soon to remove a nerve and I even took off my red high heel shoe to show him where it was.  He would later tell me revealing my foot to him so effortlessly was incredibly intimate and even remembers my red painted toe nails.  To this day I still have no idea why I did that.  We both had somewhere to go after, but we kept stalling by getting another glass of wine.  We ended up sharing the last one neither of us wanting this time to end.   We walked out of the restaurant into the rain- he went his way to his car and I went my way to my ride waiting.  We purposefully didn’t kiss.  We were no longer just friends and we knew it.  He would later that night write me an email saying “No more banter L.  It just got real.”  I knew what he meant and I felt the same even though I had no idea how real it would really get.  

Falling

He was leaving the next day for work and wanted to come to my place and say good-bye to me.  He brought a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape his favorite wine.  He sat across from me and I remember him leaning back in the chair with his hands behind his head like a movie star.  He was so handsome and I took him all in- his face, that chiseled jaw, his hands and fingers, the gray t-shirt he was wearing with a little bit of a sweat mark at his armpits.  He went to the restroom and when he came back he sat down at the table and I scooted my chair next to him and I boldly gave him a kiss.  Our first kiss.  It was everything we wanted it to be.  We both knew in that moment we were in trouble- we were falling.  We continued to keep in touch through email and text while he was gone.  We would send each other poems and we each got a copy of the same book and read it together thousands of miles apart.  We would send each other songs and compiled a D&L playlist.  We would write out fantasies of adventures we would have in our minds eye in New Orleans, Chicago and New York.  The time went by and we fell deeper.  His work was over and he would return to reality.  I still have the bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape with “our first kiss” written on the label. 

Reality

Reality was harder than we thought.  He was pulled in a lot of different directions.  I was going through some things personally and contemplating moving out of Los Angeles. There were too many challenges for us to be together for real, so we were very quiet about it. We didn’t go to restaurants or socialize.  It was just the two of us with too many mountains to move in the real world, so we stayed inside together and healed each other.  We snuggled up and were intimate.  We would go for long rides to the ocean and hike the Santa Monica mountains.  We would have picnics and lay in the grass with no care in the world.  We would not say “I love you” until we could no longer not say it.  It was true and we both knew it.  From then it went fast.   It was a whimsical blur of how to’s and why nots.  We were swept up in “us” and the magic that came with it.  We would obsessively talk about what it would mean for us being real and for me to exist in his world. The mountains were moved, because at that point obstacles seemed attainable and we knew as a couple we could overcome anything.  

Overcoming Anything

We would soon realize what over-coming anything would mean.  We were faced with some incredibly tough challenges which would test our relationship.  We would get pregnant way sooner with Amélie Belle than we would have planned. We would take an acting job across the states so far from his 3 kids.  We would get pregnant for Hudson Scott with a six month old.  We would move 7 different addresses in 8 years.  We would have many disappointments and many victories.  We would meet the best of friends from all of our travels. We ultimately would live out our fantasies in New Orleans, Chicago and our favorite city New York.   Our road to being D&L was nothing short of pure will and endless love for each other.  

Today

One of the hardest decisions we have had to make as a couple was leaving New York City.  If ever there was a family that got New York and all it has to give, it was us.  We explored every nook and cranny we could in 4 years and there is still so much we haven’t seen or done. The city is like another member of our family.  It is important to us and holds so many cherished memories.  But the time came and we had to move on.  We chose to move to my hometown Lafayette, Louisiana.  D didn’t have a steady gig and he needed a place where he knew we would be safe while he traveled from job to job. I wanted my kids to get to know where I came from up close.  We found a community in Lafayette that worked for us.  A neighborhood where you could walk to restaurants, the gym, the pool, school, playgrounds, tennis and most importantly my mom’s house.  We are now in a beautiful home on a tree lined street in Lafayette, Louisiana and never in our wildest dreams did we think we would be here 3 years.  D has traveled to many places for work from here- Vancouver, Santa Fe, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Toronto, Los Angeles, NY and Prague. The kids and I become the 3 musketeers and await for him to come home. When he is home he is present and he is a really good man.  He has encouraged me to find my purpose.  We are quite the team.  Team D&L.   We will hold tight to each other through all of life's tireless struggles and wondrous adventures.  We have grown so much as individuals and as a couple.  We are forever starting a new chapter filling up the book of “US” and I know another one is quickly approaching.  We anxiously await to find out what it will be. 

I recently started a podcast-you can find it on most platforms ‘PutaBourqueinit.’  I had the pleasure of interviewing D and we both share our life together.  It is a true glimpse of where we started from and how far we have come and you get to hear his side of how we became “US.” If you care to know more check it out.