#uqzhall

[mind-reader1]

Searching for You (Part 1/4)

A/N: This is part of an ES mini-series! Potential title included “Fuck Uqzhall” courtesy of @brightpinkpeppercorn😂😂😂 along with some others of Uqzhall hate. 

Warnings: angsty af, fluffy 

Word count: 2,541

You can find the series masterlist here!

I woke up late and rolled over, Jake was already up for the day as his side of the bed was cold. When I checked the clock, I saw that it was already ten, I never slept in this late, but I hadn’t been sleeping well recently and Jake knew it so that’s why he let me sleep in. He didn’t press me about it, he knew I’d tell him in my own time, but I could tell he was getting worried. It had been two years since we defeated Rourke, Jake and I built that cabin on the hillside like he talked about on our honeymoon, it was perfect, our life was perfect...until now. I chewed on my lip as I got dressed, I had been agonizing for a week about how I was going to tell Jake, I couldn’t wait forever, I was just nervous! We were going to have a baby, we had talked about kids before, we both wanted them, but I wasn’t ready! I don’t really think Jake is ready either, I know that losing Mike still bothered him, even if it was getting better. He wasn’t in our little living room, and so I wandered out to the small garden we had planted, it wasn’t much, but it was ours and it was perfect. It was our little haven away from the bad memories of the Celestial, and our endearing but overbearing friends. I could see his head before I saw the rest of him, he was kneeling down probably picking something.

“Hey, Jake! Can you come here?” He didn’t move, I got closer thinking maybe he couldn’t hear me.

“Top Gun! We- I need to tell you something!” As I got closer, I saw a flash of blue, and then Jake fell forward. His back was soaked in blood.

“JAKE!” I ran towards him and found a Vaanti knife in his back, I turned him over, but it was too late, he was already dead. I began sobbing, holding Jake tight, this wasn’t the first time this had happened. Time always reset itself, that didn’t make it any easier though. I looked up and saw a familiar face staring at me, Uqzhall. No one had heard from him since the Endless died, we all thought he was gone, happy that we had picked the Endless’ ending, apparently not.

“Uqzhall! Why did you kill him? Why are you back?” He didn’t say anything at first, just held my stare as I sobbed over Jake’s lifeless body. Why hadn’t time reset yet? It was always instantaneous, a headache, and then back in the moment, seconds before.

“You lied to us for generations, you must pay for your actions.”

“Bring him back Uqzhall! I’m not responsible for the Endless and neither is Jake! She’s gone! Leave us alone!” So, he did, he ran, and I sat there holding Jake waiting and waiting. I would have given anything to be back in bed with him last night, last night had been incredible. I had been reading in bed when Jake surprised me, tossing the book out of my hands, climbing over me. I think he knew I had been worried about something and he wanted to try to ease some of that stress, pampering me and focusing all on me. It was sweet and slow, not like when we first got together, but still just as good as the first time if not better. I laid there on my side after, just a sheet covering our waists. He had hiked the sheet up, so he could run his fingertips over my leg slowly, just barely brushing my skin, his eyes hooded as he fought sleep, a lazy content smile on his face. His hair was messy, as it always was after we had sex, but it was my favorite look on him, unadulterated happiness. I focused on that moment as I cradled his cold stiff body, rocking back and forth, unable to stop the tears. He wasn’t going to die like this, I was determined to bring him back to that moment. I must have sat there for hours, the sky had grown dark, the only light the stars above us. The cool breeze coming off the water left a cold sting on my cheeks from where my tears had wet them. Something was wrong, the time loop hadn’t reset itself, I had no idea who to turn to for help. Jake was dead, he was gone, maybe Varyyn would know something. The problem was I had to get to him though, what if while I was in Elyystel Jake came back? He didn’t even know he was going to be a dad! Oh my god, now I had a baby to think about, a baby.

I wasn’t sure what scared me more, the idea that Jake might never come back or the idea that I was going to be a mom. It was times like this that I would give anything to have my own mom and dad, someone to turn to when I had no idea what to do. Jake was my only literal family, Diego and the others were the next best thing, but they were just as young and naive as me, none of them were parents yet. Parents, god I needed to stop calling myself that. I scribbled out a note for Jake that I went to go see Varyyn, hoping that this was all some nightmare and that he’d be back soon, something told me that wasn’t the case though. I packed some food and was on my way out the door when I turned around, I couldn’t leave Jake’s most prized possessions behind. I peeled his tags off of him and grabbed his jacket from our room then started the trek to Elyystel, it was a couple days journey on foot.

It was hot and humid, as it always was on La Huerta, but it seemed more intense on this journey, every morning I was waking up and already felt like death. The food I packed didn’t seem appetizing at all, I wrote it off as being nothing, and then I started puking up everything. Everything. Morning sickness? Already? Maybe it was just nerves? Again, I had a feeling that wasn’t the case though, it seemed too early for that. God, I wished more than anything that I had just sucked it up and told Jake, then maybe I wouldn’t be in this mess. I was pregnant, my husband was dead, and I had no idea how to fix it. I had to cling onto the hope that Varyyn would have answers, maybe he had more of those gemstones like the one that was in his necklace, the one that brought Jake back the very first time he died. I finally reached Elyystel by mid-day and began the trek up towards the throne room.

“Cat-a-liss!” Taari came bounding up to me on T’Kals back. I gave the boy a small smile and rubbed T’Kal’s head.

“Hey! Where’s Seraxa?” She might also have answers for me. Taari shrugged.

“What are you doing here Cat-a-liss? Where’s Jake?” He looked around hopeful and my heart shattered again, Taari loved Jake like a father. Taari and Jake always played together when we visited, begging Seraxa to let him come stay with us for a few days.

“He...um...I… he…” I struggled with how to tell Taari why I was there, tears threatening my eyes again.

“Cat-a-liss?” he looked up at me concerned and slid off T-Kal wrapping his arms around my legs in a tight hug. I lost it. I sat there on the bridge and fell to my knees as Taari held me, not understanding why I was upset, but knowing I needed a hug. It was Taari who made Jake even bring up the idea of kids, I smiled wiping my face and thinking back to that day.

************

Jake and I were in Elyystel to visit Varyyn and Diego, we often came into the city for supplies or when we wanted to see our friends. Taari spotted us as we were all leaving, headed to the Celestial.

“Cat-a-liss-es!” Jake stuck his tongue out at him playfully and Taari did it right back. I threw my head back laughing and playfully elbowed Jake for encouraging the bad behavior.

“What was that for Princess?” I rolled my eyes.

“You know exactly what that was for Top Gun.” Taari wrapped his arms around both of us before he took a step back with a big grin on his face.

“What are you doing here?”

“We’re going to go see the other catalysts. Are you staying out of trouble?” Taari got a goofy smile on his face and looked around, pretending he didn’t hear the question. That was a no.

“Can I come with?” We all shared a look, we knew Seraxa would kill us if she didn’t know Taari was with us.

“Taari, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Seraxa will want you home, we’re going to be gone a few days.” Diego said making the little boy pout.

“Will, you at least play with me then?” He gave us all his best puppy dog face, looking up at us with big pleading, watery eyes. Jake was the first to cave, the weak link.

“It wouldn’t hurt to play with the kid for a little bit.” He looked at all of us, his eyes landing on me, knowing if he stared long enough that I’d give in.

“Fine, only a little bit.” Jake grinned and Taari yanked his hand, pulling him towards the beach ahead of everyone else. Jake looked back worried about what he had gotten himself into as we laughed, following slowly behind them, catching up on what we had missed since the last time we saw each other. Diego had taken to being Vaanti royalty well, his long hair braided back, a similar crown to Varyyn’s adorning his head. He had ditched that ratty old purple button-up for traditional Vaanti clothes, it suited him well. As we meandered down to the beach, Taari had already roped Jake into chasing him around the sand, wrestling with each other. I loved seeing Jake so carefree and happy, he had struggled since Mike’s death just over a year ago. He was a very different man than when I first met him, I loved watching him grow, his walls finally crumbling, revealing the man he was today, who he had always been underneath. Diego nudged me, breaking me out of my thoughts, giving me a knowing smile.

“So, when is there going to be a baby McKenzie?” I laughed and Varyyn looked at me quizzically.

“What is funny? In the Vaanti culture, once a couple becomes one from their one year and a day together they have children if possible.” I smiled and ran a hand through my hair as Jake looked over at me and winked.

“Jake and I aren’t ready to have kids yet. We’re young, we’ve still got plenty of time. He still misses Mike; a baby would just be too much right now.” Diego raised an eyebrow at me.

“Are you sure that he’s the one who isn’t ready? Or is it maybe you who isn’t ready?” I didn’t know how to answer his question, I thought it was both. I loved Jake with all of my heart, nothing would change that, but we hadn’t talked about kids yet.

“Come on, Princess! I need some help over he-oof!” Jake got tackled to the sand again by Taari who giggled with pure delight as I scooped him off of Jake.

“Hold him down Taylor! The tickle monster is coming for him!” Taari struggled against me as Jake wiggled his fingers, getting closer and closer. I leaned in to whisper in Taari’s ear.

“I’m going to let you go, and then we’ll both get Jake. Okay?” He nodded giggling. Just as Jake got ready to strike, I let Taari go and he tickled one of Jake’s side while I got the other. Jake couldn’t fight off both of us, we overpowered him, and he fell to his knees, all of us laughing so hard we could barely breathe.

“I give up!” He got out between breaths. Taari triumphantly ran off to go after Diego and Varyyn next, Jake grabbed my waist and tackled me to the sand, hovering over me, breathing hard.

“That was a cheap move, Princess.” I grinned and leaned up to plant a soft kiss on his lips.

“You know I can’t resist the chance to tease you.” Jake chuckled and dipped his head low, his sandy hair hiding our faces.

“I love you, Taylor.”

“I love you too Jake.” He kissed me slowly, and deeply before pulling away and helping me up, aware that we had an audience.

“We should be going,” Varyyn said looking at us. Taari sighed.

“Can we play again soon Jake?” Jake grinned and ruffled Taari’s hair.

“Yeah kid, we’ll play again soon.”

“Go find Seraxa so they can come back Taari!” Diego told him, and the boy ran off to find his adoptive mom. They made the trek to the Celestial together, Jake and I took our time, strolling behind Diego and Varyyn who were caught up in a debate over Star Wars.

“What’s on your mind?” Jake had been quiet since we left the beach, his grip on my hand weak, distracted. He looked down at me and smiled, I recognized it well, it was a smile he reserved for me. The first time I saw him smile like that was when he said he loved me in the tent outside of the MASADA complex.

“You want kids, Princess?”

“Yeah, someday. Why? You’re not trying to say I look fat, are you?” I teased. He chuckled and shook his head.

“I know better than that. I just, I had fun playing with Taari today, I imagined our own little ones running around. They look like you, got both our sass and they love their mom so much.” He kissed the top of my head, but an uneasy feeling grew in my stomach.

“How long have you been thinking about this?” He shrugged.

“Not long.”

“Really? You’ve got an awful lot of details mapped out.”

“Okay. Maybe when I pictured our house on the hill, when I showed you on our honeymoon. The second I pictured a future with you I saw that. I’m terrified that I won’t be a good dad, Princess, but I know with you by my side that we’d figure it out.” He squeezed my hand.

“Maybe we can start working on that little family tonight.” His voice tickled my ear and he kissed my neck making me squirm.

“Oooor maybe we can wait. I’m not ready for kids Jake.” I saw a flash of disappointment cross his face, but he tried to hide it, my stomach dropped knowing that I was the one who disappointed him this time.

“I love you Jake, and I want a family with you. I just need some more time to wrap my head around it.” He nodded and kissed my cheek.

“You got it, Princess.”

Perma-Tag:  @brightpinkpeppercorn @sleepwalkingelite @ooo-barff-ooo @endlessly-searching-for-you @agent-bossypants @roonarific @likethetailofacomet @zaffrenotes @mysteli @vickypoochoices @kayann9 @jlouise88 @zigortega4life @findingdrake @bbaba-yagaa

Endless Summer (Jake) Tag:  @endlesstaylormckenzie @sophie-summer @feartheendlesssummer @darley1101 @emomoustache

[mind-reader1]

Searching for You (Part 2/4)

A/N: This is part of an ES mini-series! This is part 2 for Endless Summer Appreciation Week Day 2! Thanks for hosting @brightpinkpeppercorn and @mysteli ❤❤❤ Catch up with Part 1. This is also for @choices-december-challenge Day 8: Family (sorry it's a day late) hosted by @kinda-iconic 😍

Warnings: Innuendo, angst

Pairing: Jake x MC (Taylor) 

Word Count: 3,401

You can find the series masterlist here.

Last Time: Uqzhall killed Jake in cold blood and Taylor reminisces about the first time Jake told her that he wanted kids, but she wasn’t ready. 

Thinking back to that moment now, I wish that I had taken Jake up on his offer, that we had tried to start our family. Things could have been so different, maybe this would be our second kid, maybe Jake would still be here with me.

“It is okay Cat-a-liss.” I rubbed my eyes one last time and let Taari go.

“Thank you Taari.” He gave me a smaller smile than his normal one, looking up as footsteps approached.

“Taylor?” It was Diego, he knew instantly that something was wrong and opened his arms for me.

“Taari, go find Seraxa or something else to do.” The little boy ran off, understanding that whatever was happening was an adult matter. I recounted to Diego through broken sobs and snot rockets what had happened, that time hadn’t reset itself as it did in the past. He dragged me straight to Varyyn who was in the throne room, meeting with his people. Varyyn rose immediately when he saw Diego helping me in, he sent the rest of his people away to come back tomorrow, this was a more pressing matter. Diego recounted for me what had happened, Varyyn paced at the mention of the old shaman’s name.

“Please Varyyn, is there another gem like the one in your necklace I broke, something I can do to bring him back. I need him.” I hadn’t even told them I was pregnant yet, my emotions were all over the place, furious with Uqzhall, destroyed that Jake might forever be gone, and of course terrified about the tiny human growing inside of me.

“Taylor...I, that was the last of that crystal. They are special and not meant to be used for such matters even if I did have one.” I was furious, I shoved Varyyn and Diego held me back.

“Taylor!” He had never seen me like this, not even with Rourke.

“You don’t understand! I need him back Diego! I can’t do this without him!” Again, my body was wracked with sobs, I collapsed at Varyyn’s feet, begging him for help. I quickly shuffled away though, I could feel the bile rising up in my throat again. Morning sickness? Guilt sickness? Anger sickness? All three? God only knows.

“What do you mean? Can’t do this without him? Taylor, I know you loved him but...you are your own person, life goes on without those we love.” Varyyn’s words were meant to be comforting, after all, he had lost his mother battling Cetus with us.

“No! I’m pregnant! I’m having a baby. I didn’t get to tell him, he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know he’s going to be a dad. I’m not ready, I can’t do this without him.” I screamed, my thoughts coming out in a jumbled mess. Both men stood still, they finally understood. Diego was the first to comfort me, rubbing my back as he pulled my hair into a ponytail. I don’t think either of them really knew what to say, I didn’t know what to say.

“I need answers Varyyn. I need a way to fix this.” He nodded, dragging a hand down his face, I think he knew that I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“We won’t stop until Uqzhall is found and answers for his crimes.” My head shot up.

“I’m going to kill him, Varyyn. No one touches him but me, you understand? I don’t give a damn about what Vaanti tradition might have to say about it, he killed Jake in cold blood in front of me, I get to kill him. If you find him before me, keep him here.” Varyyn didn’t say anything until Diego shot him a warning look, he nodded.

“For answers, I would seek out the Anachronists as they are the most familiar with time anomalies here. However, Diego and I cannot go with, we hold titles and they will not allow us in.” I understood but I couldn’t do it alone, I had barely found the Anachronists the first time and there were 13 of us; I had also barely survived as Uqzhall had tried to kill me, Jake was the one who saved me. Jake, everything seemed to circle back to him. Every thought, every memory, and now every conversation I had. I couldn’t stand to think about his body lying there in front of our house, now cold and stiff, his bright blue eyes stuck open forever staring at nothing. I shook my head violently as if I could shake the thought away, Varyyn and Diego watched me curiously, they didn’t want to say the wrong thing and set me off again.

“I can’t do this alone. I need help! I barely survived the Anachronists last time and Jake was the one who saved me, with the Clockmaker's help. How will I even know how to find them again, I don’t have the crystals.” I felt like I might be sick again, my head swirling as I tried to figure out what my options were, how I was going to do this alone. Being a part of Vaanu, I never actually had a life before La Huerta, I’ve never known anything but my friends and Jake by my side. Suddenly I was supposed to do it alone and I had a baby to think about, that still freaked me out too, it didn’t feel real, at least not until I finally told someone.

“Have you told anyone else?” I shook my head.

“I came here first for help, I thought you might have answers for me. I can’t ask our friends to risk their lives for Jake though. We’ve all finally settled, it’s not fair.”

“Tay, we’re a family. We look out for each other as best as we can. You know they’ll help you, especially if you tell them why.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair nervously, of course, he was right, I still felt like it wasn’t their responsibility though; I had gotten myself into this mess. I nodded and began walking out, even if I wasn’t going to ask for anyone’s help I needed to stop at the Celestial to get supplies. I began the journey alone, I honestly couldn’t stand to look at Diego or Varyyn anymore, they hadn’t been of any help or comfort. I descended the bridges in Elyystel keeping my head down from prying eyes, everyone recognized me as a catalyst by now, but they always saw me with Jake. Despite the warm humid air around me, I felt a cold shiver run through my body, I pulled Jake’s jacket out and slipped it on. It was too big on me, but I didn’t care, I loved that jacket and everything about it, Jake’s smell lingered on the fabric, reminding me of the very first time he let me borrow it.

***********

Everything had happened so quickly, I opened a portal with the strange gun we found, and the Watchers had roped Diego, trying to pull him away. I desperately held onto him, but he let go, he let himself be taken. The blinding white light surrounded us and then we were on the rooftop again as if nothing had happened, only something had, the Watchers and Diego were gone. Everyone marveled at how we made it, stunned, unsure of how much time had passed. IRIS appeared, she told us we had been gone for 204 days...six months.

“Wait, Taylor, where’s Diego?” Craig asked. That’s when I lost it. My best friend who I couldn’t save had been with the Watchers for six months, he probably thought we would never come for him. I began sobbing and everyone looked at me, I couldn’t form the words to tell them, though they could probably figure out on their own what had happened. I felt a soft fabric surround my shoulders as I stumbled back to a bench, burying my hands in my face as a shiver ran down my spine. I was embarrassed that I had been unable to save him. The cushion sank next to me and a pair of strong arms surrounded me, pulling me against them. I looked up to see Jake, he had covered me with his jacket, he never took that jacket off. He gave me a sad, small smile, and looked at me, rubbing his hands up and down my back gently.

“What happened, Princess?” I recounted how he slipped out of my grasp, the Watcher who had attacked us in my room was the same one who had grabbed Diego. He was patient and listened to my story all the while trying to calm me, I had never seen Jake so gentle, not even in my room that night after we had destroyed it.

“We’ll find him.” He tried to reassure me with his words, but I could see in his eyes that he didn’t believe it, still, he was just trying to help me and I appreciated his effort. I gave him a small appreciative smile and squeezed his knee before standing up.

“Let's go find Diego.” Everyone followed me down into the Celestial. That was the very first time Jake gave me his jacket, though I noticed it became a bit of a thing after that, not that I minded. I loved being able to breathe in his scent, feel the familiar fabric touching my skin. Any time Jake thought I was cold or needed comforting, he was there with his jacket. When we began to make our trek into the mountains to the MASADA facility, before Grace pulled out her extra winter coat, Jake was there wrapping his jacket around my shoulders. It was how I knew he really cared about me.

*******************

I inhaled deeply, the scent of whiskey and aftershave warmed my heart just a little. What would Jake want me to do? He’d probably tell me to stop crying and move on, he did that just about every time he died, he should have known by now that there was no moving on from him. We promised each other forever and goddammit I was going to get it! He would do anything in his power to bring me back and so that’s what I was going to do. I entered through the lobby doors and the cool air felt refreshing compared to the heat outside, no one was in sight and so I wandered through the lobby hoping to run into someone. It didn’t take long, I rounded a corner and bumped right into Sean, he reached out to steady me, a smile on his face.

“Hey Taylor, where’s Jake?” Jake and Sean had actually become quite close since we defeated Rourke, who would’ve thought? They had become so close that Jake would probably have wanted Sean to be the godfather...I felt nauseous again. I had forgotten all about the baby for a moment. Sean took in my appearance when I didn’t say anything, lost in my own thoughts, he looked me over concerned.

“Taylor you look green. Why are you wearing Jake’s dog tags and jacket?” I was going to have to explain again what had happened to Jake. Should I even tell them about the pregnancy, my plan? I was still trying to wrap my own head around all of this. I dove towards a plant in the hall and threw up what little food I had been able to keep down. I could feel Sean hovering behind me, as I pulled myself together.

“I need to talk to everyone.” Sean helped me over to a chair in the lobby and gathered everyone, I was only going to say everything once. I could feel everyone’s eyes boring into me, they knew something was wrong the moment they saw me wearing Jake’s jacket, curled up on a chair. I thought about telling them about the baby but decided not to, I didn’t need that influencing their decision about helping me or not. Besides, it didn’t seem fair to tell everyone before Jake even knew, I shouldn’t have told Diego and Varyyn, but I was desperate for their help, hoping they would have some kind of solution.

“What’s going on?” Quinn was the first to speak in a soft voice, her hand gently resting on mine. I looked up at my friends through watery eyes, trying my best to push the tears back. It felt like I hadn’t stopped crying since he died, maybe it was pregnancy hormones, or maybe I was just blaming everything on them to make it easier.

“Jake is dead. Uqzhall killed him and the time loop hasn’t reset itself, I need to go to the Anachronists to see if they can help me and I can’t do it alone, but I don’t want to ask you guys to put your lives at risk with Uqzhall still out there.” Once the words started they just came pouring it, I didn’t stop to take a breath until I was done, and the tears started to spill out my eyes. Everyone looked at me in silence, trying to wrap their heads around my rushed confession. Sean stepped up first.

“I’ll go. We’ll get Jake back.” Sean gently rubbed my back and looked at the others. It was quiet until Quinn spoke.

“Me too, you guys helped me when I was sick.” I nodded gratefully at both of them. A wave of nausea hit again, and Michelle eyed me curiously as I ran for a trashcan.

“That’s the second time you’ve thrown up, maybe we should wait a couple days for you to get better,” Sean suggested but I shook my head. This wasn’t going to get better, and I was on a time crunch. Sure, I still had about seven or eight months left if I did my math right, but it was La Huerta, time worked in funny ways here.

“I’m just upset, it’s nothing. Sitting around here isn’t going to bring Jake back.”

“I’m coming too.” Michelle marched up. Estela and Grace started to step up too, but I stopped them.

“I don’t think we should all go, as grateful as I am for all of you. Diego and Varyyn are staying here and searching for Uqzhall, they could probably use some help with that. We started packing up what we would need for the journey, Raj cooked us some food, making it mild for my stomach which I was incredibly grateful for. Zahra and Craig approached us just before we left, she held something out to me that looked like a phone.

“It’s a solar-powered satellite phone.” She held onto one and I smiled, it was her way of saying that she cared about us.

“Let us know when you find them,” Craig added. I nodded and gave Craig a hug, wincing at just the slightest pressure on my boobs, they were sore and that had been my first hint, but they only got increasingly sore. I tried to hug Zahra too, but she refused, I would take what I could get. Michelle watched me, seeming to notice me wince, but she didn’t say anything and continued to pack her stuff saying her own goodbyes. Even Aleister took the time to say goodbye, the three of us had never really gotten along but we could still be polite, though he seemed genuinely worried about us as we left. I felt stray tears slide down my cheeks and I wiped them away before anyone could see, I didn’t even know why I was crying, I was finally on my way to getting Jake back.

I expected the journey to only take a week, but it had been two now and we still weren’t there. Every morning I woke up before my friends, the morning sickness worst then and occasionally right before we would stop for the night. I did my best to hide it and the smallest of bumps that had begun to grow, no one would notice yet...except for maybe Jake. I tried not to think about him, it made every second feel like an hour on our long days of hiking. I was beginning to wonder if we were never going to find it. One day we came across a river and decided to stop and cool off for a bit, fill up our water bottles, and give ourselves a break. We had to have been close, we had been gone for about a month at this point. Sean peeled his shirt off and jumped into the water, quickly followed by Michelle, they usually weren’t ones for PDA, but he snaked his arms around her waist and kissed her even though she playfully tried to fight it. Watching them sent my mind spiraling into thoughts of Jake again, taking me back to a day we had been working on our cabin.

****************

Jake and I heaved one last piece of wood up to finish the roof of our cabin, we had been working on it all day under the sun and I was exhausted. I wasn’t sure I’d even be able to carry myself back to the jet ski so we could go back to our room at the Celestial. I collapsed in the grass, laying on my back staring up at the shell of a house we had built, Jake came and laid down beside me.

“Whatcha thinkin’ bout, Princess?” I rolled onto my side and looked over at Jake, running my fingers up and down his sweaty bare chest.

“I’m thinking about how I don’t know that I’m going to be able to move from this spot. I’m so tired, but looking up at our house, how close we are, it’ll be worth it.” Jake chuckled and kissed the top of my head, his hand resting against the small of my back.

“The hardest part is done now, we’ve just got to set up the inside, and get some furniture.” I laughed, I hadn’t even thought about that. I had no idea how we were going to make that happen, but I had a feeling that Jake had a plan.

“I feel like the hardest part is going to be getting anything else done after we have a bed in there.” Jake’s chest rumbled beneath my head.

“I guess we’ll have to get that last then.”

“Jake when has that ever stopped us? The first night we met, we destroyed that hotel room, even the closet. The second we have a piece of furniture we can sit or lay on we’re done for.” I looked up and saw the familiar crooked grin on his face.

“You don’t think married life has made us soft, Princess?” I snorted, he knew it had been anything but.

“Top Gun, our friends basically kicked us out of the Celestial because they got tired of us.”

“Maybe you’ve got a point. We should get back before it gets too late though.” I groaned unable to move another muscle.

“I was serious Jake, I don’t know that I can move another muscle.” He rolled me over, his weight a comfortable and familiar feeling on top of me.

“I don’t think I could carry you down to the jet ski. How about we go relax in the creek for a bit and then head back. Think you can at least make it that far? I’ll make it worth your while.” He winked. I pretended to really ponder his offer, we both already knew the answer though.

“I think I can make it that far.” He climbed off me and helped me up, we took our time, strolling hand in hand down to the creek. Jake was already in his swim trunks so I shoved him in, he came up spitting out water, his shaggy hair hanging over his eyes.

“That’s how it is? I see?” I laughed before peeling off my own clothes and jumping in. Jake chased after me in the water and I tried to escape to no avail, he had me wrapped in his tight embrace.

“Jake!” I giggled as he nibbled on my earlobe.

“I got you now Princess.” I wiggled and turned in his embrace, wrapping my arms around his neck and legs around his waist.

“You’ve always had me, Top Gun.” He kissed me and slowly peeled off our bathing suits as I deepened the kiss.

Perma-tag: @brightpinkpeppercorn @sleepwalkingelite @ooo-barff-ooo @endlessly-searching-for-you @agent-bossypants @roonarific @likethetailofacomet @zaffrenotes @mysteli @vickypoochoices @kayann9 @jlouise88 @zigortega4life @findingdrake

Jake Tag:  @endlesstaylormckenzie @sophie-summer @feartheendlesssummer @darley1101 @emomoustache​ @xo-endlessmayhem-xo

As always, let me know if you’d like to be moved, added, or removed from my tag lists!