#we're excited for pride in dis house

[lucky-bucky-boy]

omg local baker who Mike has baking abbys bday cake but he has a crush on her ????

Oh my God this is so cute to me. I wanna run a coffee shop/mini bakery and this is just perfect and beautiful omg

I'm writing this with the idea that fnaf happened but didn't *happen* like no one died lmao

~~

Mike wasn't sure what to expect. At all.

It had been an incredibly tough year, each day somehow becoming more rough than the previous. From mom passing, to job hopping, to Aunt Jane trying to get the courts even more involved. Despite all that, he did his damndest to not let it affect Abby.

He knew in some aspects it was inevitable. A young child losing a parent was never easy; she heard his grumbling and arguments with Aunt Jane, the comments about not being able to pay Max, found papers he should have hidden a little better

But birthdays and holidays were sacred. That he made sure of.

So, against his pride and better judgement, he had asked Aunt Jane for a little help throwing Abby a birthday party. She was more than happy to, surprisingly, with the agreement they come up for Thanksgiving this year. And begrudgingly, he agreed.

That's how he ended up at the doorstep of a brick townhouse closer to the city, a paper in his hand with an address scrawled in his Aunt's too neat handwriting. She'd given him a list of stores and things and places and people to get everything from in order to throw a "proper birthday party."

He did a double take on the numbers and street address, making sure they matched and still slightly confused as to why he was at a person's house and not a store. With a shrug and a tired sigh, he knocked on the door, the scurrying of animals evident inside almost immediately followed by a "shush" as he heard another door shut before the one in front of him went to open.

He didn't know what to expect, and sure as hell didn't expect to have a girl a little younger than him open the door, an apron on and covered in flour. She looked almost frazzled for a moment before shutting the door behind her, eyes moving from the curious furry creatures to the man now in front of her.

"Hi, sorry," she sounded almost as tired and exasperated as he did, "been a busy day, and my lovely little fur-babies have been noisy."

She wiped her hands on her apron, "I - I don't think we've met before." Her eyebrows were scrunched, confusion etching into her features.

"Uh, yeah, sorry. I'm Mike. My uh- my Aunt Jane suggested you to me. Told me you make the best cakes and cupcakes and gave me your address to place an order."

He could see the cogs working in her brain as she tried to pin poin who he was talking about, "Oh! That's right, she gave me a call the other day to make sure I'd have the time. You need the order for next Saturday, right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, next Saturday at noon."

"Perfect, yes. Come in, we'll fill out the forms and get everything set. My pets are actually in the front room so you don't have to worry about them."

A cup of coffee, a curious conversation, and too many forms later, Mike felt like he was in a dream. The girl sitting across the table from him was captivating, a sense of excitement and passion he longed to have and admired. There was a sweetness to her, something he was sure he'd be able to taste in more ways than just her baking skills.

"Okay," her voice cut through his thoughts, "So, we're doing 24 cupcakes, half chocolate and half vanilla, then a 9 inch rounch cake with mint chocolate. And it's rainbow, fairy, unicorn, princess themed. Does that all sound right?"

He chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, sorry I couldn't give you more specifics. She's sort of all over the place and it's a surprise party."

"Oh no, don't worry. I'm going to have fun with this. Does she like glitter?"

He nodded again before taking a quick sip of his coffee. "Yeah, yeah. She loves glitter. Her favorite thing to do is draw as well."

"Perfect. Well, Mike, you're definitely more pleasant than your Aunt," she laughed softly, standing up and placing the form in a little file holder, "But don't tell her I said that. I'll send her the bill tomorrow. I hope Abby loves the cake."

Mike stood up, a tinge of disappointment that their interaction was coming to an end so soon. "I'm sure she will. She loves sweet." He sat his coffee cup in the sink. "So uh, when should I pick up the cake?"

"Oh! Don't worry about it. Jane invited me to the party so I'll just bring it all with me, I could use the networking with other parents so it works out."

His eyes widen some, lips twitching up into a small smile. "Okay, cool. I'll uh, I'll see you next week." He hesitated for a moment before grabbing a rogue napkin and the pen he was using to fill out the forms, quickly scribbling something onto it.

"Here," he handed her the napkin, "My number in case uh, in case you wanna talk more." He paused for a moment, watching her eyes scan the numbers, "For the uh. The cake. The party."

She giggled softly, looking at him as his features began to blush. "Yeah. For the cake and the party."

He chuckled anxiously, "Thanks again. I'll see you later." Mike let himself out before he could make himself even more embarrassed, standing on the porch for a moment after he closed the door behind him, unaware that the sweet baker was inside quietly squealing over the poorly written number.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

"Okay," Zelda said, smacking her fist into her palm. "This one is going to be it."

Silently, her companion added a scratch mark to some parchment he'd been carrying.

Zelda glanced at him, eyes narrowing. "Are you keeping tabs?"

"Only when you say this one is going to be it or some variation of it," Link replied smoothly.

Zelda huffed, ready to argue, when out of curiosity she asked, "Where are we at?"

"Eight."

"Ha! I expected more! This is good, then."

Link sighed. "What's the story with this one?"

"Hear me out," Zelda started excitedly, spreading her hands like she was opening a large book. "A thousand years ago our land was encased in shadow."

Link stopped his horse, staring at her. "Is this another one of Beedle's stories? The last one nearly got us killed."

"No, no, no!" Zelda grumbled, rolling her eyes. "This one is from my family. History may have turned to hearsay and legend for the common folk of Hyrule, but it's sacred to my family. This one actually happened!"

Link raised an eyebrow, skeptical, but urged his steed to start moving nonetheless.

"So," Zelda continued. "A thousand years ago, shadows came to our land and cursed our people. My ancestor joined up with royalty from a distant land and together, they summoned the Hero of Light, who destroyed the shadows. That very Hero lived in the village we're going to!"

Link had to admit... he was still dubious, but he was a little curious. "An actual Hero? There's relics of one of the acutal Heroes? What royalty from a distant land? The only neighboring land I know of fell to ruin a hundred years ago."

"I don't know where it was, honestly," Zelda answered sincerely. "They were always really vague about it and I don't know why. But apparently the person died, so they honored her sacrifice."

Link hummed, tossing his braid back over his shoulder. After going through multiple villages, towns, and even a city, the fact that they were going somewhere that might have housed an actual Hero at some point in history was almost promising. Perhaps Zelda would find who she was looking for and Link could return to his quiet home and avoid all this mess.

It seemed too good to be true, though. Heroes were relegated to myths. The only reason he knew those myths were real was because of his parents. But still... they were ancient.

Surely no such catastrophe could strike the land now. The princess was just naive, right?

"Ah! We're here!" Zelda announced happily, bringing her horse's steady stroll to an end. Link watched her climb off before following suit.

"Where is here?" he asked as they passed a spring.

"Ordon Village," the princess replied, popping her hands on her hips and smiling with pride.

Link stood there beside her, staring a moment and sniffing tentatively. "It smells like manure."

Zelda scrunched her nose. "It does not! What if that smell is something else entirely?"

"It's definitely manure, Highness."

"Well your town smelled like it too!"

"My town is a trading hub!"

"I can't even smell any--" Zelda stopped in mid-sentence as the wind changed directions, scrunching her nose. "Oh."

Link turned to her, now completely affronted. "What did you smell before that made you think of my town?"

Zelda waived a dismissive hand. "Doesn't matter - we have to find the Hero!"

Link sighed, following the princess into the village. "Your Highness, your story is from a thousand years ago. That Hero is long gone."

"Of course he is," Zelda replied with a roll of her eyes. "But there's word of someone named Link who lives here!"

One royal pronouncement and excited welcome later, the pair found themselves standin gover a crib.

"Well," Link quipped. "I suppose he could cry the enemy to death."

Zelda's sour look was response enough.

"Is there a Rattle that Seals the Darkness?"

"Just shut up."

The princess could only be upset for so long before she started cooing at the baby and laughing as the little bundle giggled in reply. Even Link had to smile fondly at it. The two congratulated the happy couple and gave them their well wishes before dining with the village and setting out once more.

"I think your story was a bit off," Link remarked as they walked their horses to the edge of the village.

"Just because the lead was false doesn't mean that a Hero didn't once live here," the princess said a little stiffly. "My family's history speaks of it."

He didn't argue. His own father spoke often of the royal family's role in helping Hyrule remember its history. He just... well, he had to admit he was a little disappointed. While he wasn't nearly as excited by history as his father, the promise of seeing traces of the Hero had been simultaneously intriguing and unnerving.

Either way, it was back to the road for them.

The masseur paused as the princess continued, glancing over at the spring as something sparkly caught his eye. Was that... was that a fairy? He hadn't seen one of those since he was a child, and that had only been once! Distracted, he hovered back a hair as Zelda plodded ahead, but the princess noticed his stillness.

"What is it?" she asked, coming back to him, before she saw it too. With an excited gasp, she rushed ahead, and Link tripped over himself to follow her.

The fairy flitted away quickly, but the pair stopped nonetheless.

They were back at the spring, but behind the waterfalls that fed into it, they could make out a small engraving. The two slinked around the edge of the spring (Link nearly face planted on the smooth, slick stone) until they managed to get behind the roaring water. Link shivered as they both got soaked in the misty spray, but the princess seemed completely unbothered.

Zelda's hand snaked around his upper arm, eyes fixed on a point, and she whispered, "It's him."

Link was about to question what she meant, wondering how a stone could mean anything, when he squinted at engraved words that were below a half worn symbol of the Triforce.

-ink

-elove- --ther and husba--

H-ro of L--t & Sh-d-w

"There's no grave here," Link noted softly.

"A monument to him, then," Zelda noted, though a little confusedly. "Why wouldn't they bury him here, or somewhere with honor?"

Link stared at the stone, eyes trailing down to see fresh flowers placed there. The villagers know and didn't tell the princess. A soft smile pulled at his lips. "He comes from a pretty humble place. I think... I think he wanted to keep it that way."

The princess hummed, still perplexed but trying to understand. Eventually, though, she knelt, folding her hands in prayer. Link sank to his knees, sitting on his legs rather than kneeling, eyes looking beyond the words half lost to time. He thought of the history behind his name, and behind his people, and he wished for a moment that he could claim to be part of such a heroic lineage. If the Heroes of Hyrule were truly like this...

He sighed, closing his eyes and bowing his head in honor.

[girlwiththeobsessions]

love sick c. f.

this book has also been published on wattpad. same username as the one on here. i update faster on there.

you and conrad had a secret relationship two summers ago, when you were 15 and he was 16. you broke up with him because your younger sister, belly had liked him, and you were afraid of hurting her. now, flash forward, you were 17, and you thought you had gotten over him, but maybe you haven’t

you are adopted in this! y/n's parents were close with the fishers and conklins but died in a car accident, so laurel adopts y/n

part 2

i. the drive

ME AND MY FAMILY have been coming to cousins since i was a baby, since before i was born.

the tradition was, me and my mom would go to the summer beach house in cousins, along with my moms friends, laurel park and susannah fisher, and laurel's daughter and son, and susannah's two sons.

the beach house felt magical, every summer, i couldn't wait to return each summer.

most of the time, me and belly would tag along with the moms, mostly just my mom.

my mom would take us shopping a lot, and get us frozen yogurt after, then we'd go swimming.

laurel and susannah didn't really like to swim with us. that's what made my mom so special. until both of my parents died. when i was seven. in a car crash.

my parents were my whole world. i miss them everyday.

after that happened, i had to move from north carolina to pennsylvania with the conklin's.

from what i remember, i was pretty shut down for the next two years, and sad all the time, but eventually i got better.

laurel had taken me in with her, john, steven, and belly, and i had my last name changed to l/n-conklin.

i had found hobbies to cope with my parents death. in sixth grade, i had taken up soccer. in eighth grade, i started volleyball. now, as a junior, i was on my schools soccer and volleyball team.

i was pretty smart too, academically. with my grades averaging with a's and b's since freshman year. i wanted to go to college, my dream school was university of southern california, usc.

today though, was the day i returned to cousins for the summer, of course, i was excited. i was in belly's room, packing, with taylor jewel, me and belly were both close friends with her.

"drew's bummed you're missing the beach match with the boys team next weekend." taylor told belly, laying down on the bed, on her phone.

belly turned around. "uh, make sure tell sophie to square up for the block." belly tells taylor, ignoring what she said.

"drew martinez is texting me about you, and you're talking about volleyball?" taylor said with a surprised expression.

"drew doesn't care if i'm there or not, he wants an excuse to text you." belly denied, not really acknowledging the fact that she had a glow up basically. "and you better take this game seriously, i mean, team pride is on the line, taylor."

"please, you know me better than that." taylor looked up. "i would never let a boy beat me at anything."

belly and i laughed. "i thought you came here to help us pack." belly smiled.

"fine.." taylor got up. "i'll help. here's a tip, don't bring that speedo. it doesn't do a thing for your new boobs." taylor said with a a laugh, sitting on belly's bed, flipping through a magazine.

"it's not a speedo." belly defended with a frown looking down at the swimsuit.

"yes it is." i intervene, looking at my phone.

"we're just saying babes, like you need to pack cute things." taylor says flipping a page in the magazine she's reading.

"well, i always buy a new suit when i get there." belly tells us with a smile.

"okay, well, buy one that doesn't look like you're trying out for the swim team." i pressed.

"are you serious y/n?" belly giggled, flopping onto the bed and launching herself onto me.

"girls! were leaving in the next 10 minutes!" laurel shouted from downstairs.

"we got to go." belly said with a frown.

"no, we don't, we still have 10 minutes!" i told the two of them with a smirk.

we started laughing again, but once it stopped, we sat on the bed, belly on the floor, taylor switching to a more serious tone.

"okay, before i let you both go you both have to tell me your summer wishes. like the one thing that you guys want to happen this summer."

"i don't know." belly took a deep sigh.

"you little liar, yes you do." taylor giggled at belly.

"you want a hot make out sesh with conrad fisher, you want his tongue in your mouth, you dirty little slut!" taylor joked.

i shifted uncomfortably, trying to plaster a laugh. "taylor! ew."

"i'm just saying, i mean, you've been in love with him since we were twelve." taylor reminded her as belly got up.

"it doesn't matter what i do, he doesn't see me that way." belly frowned.

"oh, he'll see you." i looked at belly up and down. "whether he wants to or not. you look a lot different than last summer, belly."

taylor laughed, then turned to me. "what about you, y/n?"

i looked away. "what about me?"

"your summer wish." taylor reminded me.

"i don't know yet." i sighed. "i guess go to a lot of parties, and make more friends."

"no boyfriend? no fling?" taylor asked, a little confused. "come on y/n, a whole summer on the beach? no nothing?"

"oh wow, big deal, a seventeen year old that doesn't care about a boyfriend." i sighed again. "i guess i've never really been that interested in getting a boyfriend." i shrugged. "i have other priorities."

i did. i applied for a job as a lifeguard at the country club, to get some money for college. i wanted to apply to ucla, it was my dream school.

i always try to keep myself busy, keep myself doing something productive, and i think the job would help.

"girls, we're leaving now!"

ੈ✩‧₊˚ ੈ✩‧₊˚ ੈ✩‧₊˚ੈ✩‧₊˚ ੈ✩‧₊˚ ੈ✩‧₊˚

during the drive, belly got shotgun, steven was driving, and i sat in the backseat with mom, which i didn't really mind.

the song 'can't do better' by kim petras was blasting, while belly sung along from the top of her lungs.

i unbuckled my seatbelt and spread my legs across the backseat.

"uh, can you guys turn it down a little?" laurel asked. "and, y/n, sit right."

i sighed and sat straight, buckling my seatbelt. "i want you guys to be better about helping out this summer." laurel told us.

"don't just leave your dishes, load them into the dishwasher. and, not just your dish either, steven. i want you to be good houseguests." she continued.

"mom, susannah has people who clean, doesn't she?" steven asked, curiously.

laurel flicked steven on the head. "steven!"

"owww!" steven complained. "alright, alright. sorry."

mom is weird about money, the fact that susannah has money, and we don't.

"just.. be considerate, and act like i raised you right. steven, y/n, that means don't stay out too late."

"mommmm!" we both complained.

"i'm too old for a curfew." i frowned.

"wait, what about me? i don't have a curfew either, right?" belly asked from the front seat.

steven started to laugh. "what do you need a curfew for? you don't go anywhere."

"steven!" i threw my phone charger at him. "don't be a jackass."

"what?" steven continued laughing.

"we'll talk about it when it comes up." laurel told belly.

"oh, and y/n, don't forget, you promised you'd take me driving." belly reminded me.

"belly, i told you i'd take you." laurel intervened.

"yeah, but.. you're too judgy." belly quietly said.

me and steven started laughing. "excuse me?" laurel asked.

"yeah, sorry." belly laughed too.

we parked in front of the gas station me, belly, and mom going in.

belly got some cheetos and sour patches. she opened the bag of cheetos and ate a few.

"belly!" i whisper-yelled.

"what!?"

"at least pay for it first."

me and belly looked over at the register, to see a guy staring at us.

"hey." he nodded his head.

i smiled and waved, while belly grabbed a coke, and we brought our snacks up to the register.

"what's up with you, y/n?" jumper said with a smile.

"jumper? i didn't know you work here now." i said in surprise.

he turned to belly. "who's this? are you new this summer?"

belly looked behind her, then back at jumper. "uh, me? no.."

"really?" he smirked, and scanned the snacks. "thought i knew every pretty girl in cousins."

"ew, don't flirt with my little sister, idiot." i warned him.

to be honest, i wasn't really fond with jumper. the way he sort of treated girls like they were objects just wasn't too appealing to me.

he rolled his eyes. "whatever. you both coming to the bonfire tonight? first of the season."

"uh.. maybe." i responded.

"come!" he encouraged us, then turned to belly again with a smile. "i'll introduce you to some of my friends."

"maybe i will." belly smiled back

i gave belly a quick side eye. "maybe she won't." i look back to jumper, trying to protect belly.

laurel walked up to us. "after i get settled in, you wanna go to whale of a tale with me, so i can presign stock for the signing tonight?" she asked belly.

"uh..."

"remember.. when you used to sit on my lap when i used to sign there?" laurel continued

"no, i don't.. remember that." belly chuckled.

"i'll make you a deal." laurel said, as we walked out. "i'll let you pick out tonight's desert if you come in and keep me company."

"see you later." jumped smirked at belly.

"what's later?" laurel asked, curiously.

"nothing." belly responded, a little too quickly.

ੈ✩‧₊˚ ੈ✩‧₊˚ ੈ✩‧₊˚ੈ✩‧₊˚ ੈ✩‧₊˚ ੈ✩‧₊˚

END OF CHAPTER

[taradactyls]

Cressida Cowper being so excited by the prospect of five thousand pounds and making all these plans of using it to fund herself is so strange, because that money would be NOTHING to the nobility if it's all they had to live off. We're talking £200 or £250 interest a year.

In Pride and Prejudice that's the same as what the Bennets will have when Mr Bennet dies - the paltry amount that will send them into genteel poverty and makes the need for the daughters to marry so urgent.

It's HALF what the Dashwood women have when they're struggling to get by in Sense and Sensibility, and can only afford the most basic of servants and live off a reduced rent in a cottage owned by a distant cousin. Their mother can't even go out to dinners often because they don't have the money to reciprocate the gesture!

Also in Sense and Sensibility it's the amount of income the living Colonel Brandon offers to Edward Ferrars produces - which was considered not enough for him and Lucy to live on.

I mean as a dowry it's not bad for someone in the middle or lower rungs of the gentry, but for NOBILITY??? And let alone a sole income source. With that sort of money Cressida either is being completely delusional that she wouldn't have to marry, or she better rent a room off a respectable woman (a house of her own would be too much - not to mention the difficulties of an unmarried young woman trying to legally sign an agreement), learn how to sew her own clothes, cook, and clean reaaaally fast.

[forgetmyreality]

Phantom of the House of Dragons. Chapter 1:

Phantom of the House Targaryen 

Aemond Targaryen x Reader, Lucerys Velaryon x reader 

Summary: Mashup between House of the Dragon and Phantom of the Opera, Aemond as the Phantom/Eric, Luce as Raoul and our darling reader as Christine. With 2 different endings, one for each lover man. 

Warning: typical cannon violence and warnings in both fandoms, potential smut in later parts 

A/N: English isn't my first language and it's not edited. Please let me know what you think and where you would like to see this go?

Chapter One: Angel of Music

The Opera House of Dragons was the most popular opera house of the time. Spectacular shows of love, romantics, tragedies and comedies alike. Everyone knew the name and vied to even be in the building let alone see a show. But there was a hidden secret whispered among the people… that it was haunted by a ghost, the phantom of the opera, he was known as. 

During a rehearsal of the current show the manager, Lefevre interrupted “Ladies and gentlemen,- may I have your attention, please?” the cast stops and circles around him “As you know, for some weeks there have been rumors of my imminent retirement. I can now tell you that these were all true and... it is my pleasure to introduce to you the two gentlemen who now own the House of Dragons: Monsieur Richard Firmin and Monsieur Gilles Andre. I'm sure you've read of their recent fortune in the junk business” Lefevre held his hand in the direction of two older looking men. Both were dressed as wealthy businessmen. One was short with balding gray hair and a lecherous look on his face and the other was taller and even taller hair, spiked to a point and a pompous look etched into his features . 

“Scrap metal, actually” Firmin -the shorter man of the two- jutted out “And we're deeply honoured to introduce our new patron,.. ” he spoke louder to the group of the now gathered cast.

The remaining owner with the mustache piped up, shouting over and interrupting his colleague in excitement “The Prince Lucerys Velaryon!!!” and the crowd cheered, loud claps heard all over the halls. As all attention was moved to the Prince. He had a lithe but strong build, curly chocolate brown hair styled to perfection and plump lips, but the real show stopper was his beautiful brown eyes, so deep someone could get lost in them. Screams of bravo and salutations shook the room to let the Prince know he was welcome. 

Unbeknownst to him his childhood friend and crush, Y/N Daae, only stood a few feet from him.

“Its Luc” Y/N she said under her breath as to not be heard but the others. She whispered to her friend Haelena, who stood by her side “Before my father died... at the castle by the sea... you could say we were childhood sweethearts... He called me “his little dragon””. She whispered to her friend Meg, who stood by her side watching the scene unfold and seeing Y/n eye’s light up. 

“Oh Y/N he is so handsome” she whispered back 

The Prince’s words interrupted the private conversation while he addressed the group “My parents and I are honoured to support all the arts, especially the world renowned Opera House of Dragons”. He looked around the audience. “I believe I'm keeping you for your rehearsal. I will be here this evening to share your great triumph” and with those parting words he exited the stage passing by Y/N in a hurry.

“He would not recognize me” she whispered again to Haelena ”we were but children at the time.” Haelena could see the sadness in her eyes and watched Y/N’s shoulders slump. 

“He didn't see you” she said softly in order to cheer her friend up and they exchanged a soft smile.

~

Madame Alicent entered their view followed by the new owners, ushering the chorus girls to start dancing, so Haelena and Y/n took their places in the line up. They eased into the flowing dance, matching the rhythm of the music and the others. 

Alicent led them around the dancers “We take a particular pride here in the excellence of our ballets, Monsieurs” 

“I see why” he lechery pointed as Haelena “especially that little white haired angel”

“My daughter, Haelena, Monsieur” 

“And that exceptional beauty? No relation, I trust?” the taller owner spoke, proud of himself for the jab”

“Y/N Daae. Promising talent. Monsieurs, very promising” Alicent said in a very proud way

“Daae, did you say? No relation to the famous dragon dreamer?” he looked questionably at Alicent as he fiddled with his mustache.

“His only child... orphaned at seven when she came to live and train in the ballet dormitories…” 

Almost salivating Firmin utters out “An orphan you say?” 

“I think of her as a daughter also. Gentlemen, if you would kindly stand to one side?” as the dancers moved towards the area in which they stood. And the chorus picks up with our leading diva, Carlotta headed to the center, visibly irritated with the lack of attention from the new managers who were gawking at the dancing girls. 

After almost screaming her final note she spats loudly “I hope the prince is excited by dancing, girls as your new managers... because I will not be singing!!!” and glared at the pair, Andre and Firmin look at eachother panic on their faces and carlotta starts to storm off. 

The new managers turn their panicked faces towards Alicent and the previous manager who still lingered

“Grovel” they say in unison “grovel”

Andre and Firmin dash across the stage.

“Signora please” Andre pleads

Carlotta raises her hand in a shoo-ing manner “see you later because I'm going now! It is finished” she yells dramatically 

“World renowned artist and great beauty…” Firmin attempted to save the situation  

Carlotta slows down.

“Principessa! Bella diva…” she smirks at his words, adoring the attention 

Adnre turns to the Monsieur Lefevre “... isn't there a rather marvelous aria for Elissa in Act Three of Hannibal? Perhaps the Bella…”

Firmin interrupts with “as a personal favour if you would oblige us with a private rendition? Unless, of course, Monsieur Reyer objects…”  he looked back to Reyer, the old Maestro. 

“If my managers command” Carlotta won over by their flattering words 

“as My diva commands” Firmin bows his head, ushering her back to center stage. 

Carlotta whips her head to the conductor “Maestro”.

The cleaners could be seen putting earplugs in as preparation for the private showing” Carlotta clears her throat and belts out “Think of me, think of me fondly, when we've said goodbye. Remember me once in a while - please promise me you'll try”

Suddenly a scream was heard as the room noticed the falling of a backdrop, but it was too late to save the diva, she was knocked to the ground. The Cast rushing to her “lift it up, lift it up” was heard under the set piece. Finally free, dusting off her gown and her entourage starting to comfort her.

Andre rushed over “Signora, please... These things do happen…” 

she glared at Lefevre menacingly “For the past years these things do happen and do you stop them from happening? No!” then whips her rage to Andre and Firmin and with a threatening point “and you two - you’re as bad as him. ”These things do happen!“ Ma... until you stop these things from happening,” pointing between herself and the stage “this thing does not happen! Bye-bye and ciao. Now you see, I’m really leaving.” drawing even more attention to herself. Then silence except the clicking of her shoes as she stormed out. 

Both Andre and Firmin were frozen in their place, scared for their now questionable success. Madame Alicent came up behind them holding a white envelope, a broken red wax skull seal. “I have a message from the opera ghost” 

“Oh God in heaven, you're all obsessed!” Firmin yelled

Alicent not acknowledging is protest “He welcomes you to his opera house-

“His opera house?” Firmin said even more angrily 

“- and commands that you continue to leave Box Five empty for his use” pointing to the viewing box.

Firmin places his hand on his face in stress “obviously we shall now have to cancel as it appears we have lost our star!”

“Yeah, but surely there should be an understudy” Andre pleads 

“Understudy? There is no understudy for La Carlotta” Reyer, the maestro interjects 

Alicent moves back to stand in front of the dancers they were watching before “Y/N Daae could sing it, sir.”

All attention turns to Y/n who was stretching her leg. The new attention prompted her to stand

“What, a chorus girl? Don't be silly” 

“She has been taking lessons from a great teacher.” Alicent protests

Y/N looks nervously between Alicent and the managers. 

“Who?” Firmin straightens his tie regain his composure

Y/n hesitates “I don't know his name, Monsieur.”  Alicent looks knowingly at Y/N.

“Let her sing for you, monsieur. She has been well taught.”

“All right.” Andre, the more positive of the two managers said “come on, don't be shy... Come on. Come along. Just, just…” moving her to the center of the stage.

Then the conductor taped his baton against the music stand, cleared his throat “from the top then mam’selle”

Everyone watches as Christine cautiously moves to the center of the stage.

“Andre, this is doing nothing for my nerves.” Firmin whispered over his shoulder at Andre, who shook his head in response. 

Then Reyer started the orchestra to the same song Carlotta had sung earlier but the reactions of the crew were completely different. 

“Think of me, think of me fondly, when we've said goodbye” Y/n started slowly “Remember me once in a while - please promise me you'll try.” She looked back at the managers hopefully. “When you find that, once again, you long to take your heart back and be free if you ever find a moment to spare a thought for me…” everyone slowly stops their actions to stare as Y/N lovingly, seemingly entranced by her voice. Y/N voice was definitely well trained. 

“Shes angel” Andre whisper

“We found our star” Firmin responded. 

“We never said our love was evergreen, or as unchanging as the sea - but if you can still remember stop and think of me…” Y/n continued. Unknown to her 2 sets of eyes watched her from afar. 

One familiar pair, those of her childhood sweetheart, Prince Lucarys, “Can it be? Can it be Y/N” he said to himself as he watched her sing. His heart picked up in rhythm, old memories of their love flowed back. The flames of his love reigniting. 

The other, possessed only one eye, which was more sinister, more possessive of HIS Y/N. The owner of the lavender eye hidden from view, masked by the rafters, clouded in shadows, also listened to her lyrics, not that he hasn't heard her voice before. He needed his passion to be known by her, to be adored by her. He can not have this unwanted suitor stealing her from him. 

She. is. His.

Part 2

[camilleisdrawing]

YA: America Chavez pls protecc me

Dr Strange 2: WE HAVE TO PROTECC HER AT ALL COSTS

= basically me rediscovering America Chavez after 7 years

[euphoriyoongi]

♥︎ So this is Love ♥︎ k.s.j

A Cinderella Story

Requested by: @baby-mochi123

♥︎ Summary:

As an orphan living with your late fathers disgrace of a wife and two step sisters, you’re hidden away from the world. That is, until the King gets inpatient for grandchildren, and invites all maidens to the royal ball.

♥︎ Genre: royalty au, Cinderella-themed, love at first sight, comedy

♥︎ Word count: 5.6k

♥︎ Warnings: none

m.list

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once upon a time in a far away land, there was tiny kingdom…

~

Ever since your father died, life has been rough.

You could barely remember the times you used to play in the grass fields with your mother, or the time you ripped the bottom of your dress as you fell.

Those memories were distant. Nearly gone. Your father remarried after your mother died, and the woman he married was more of a devil than anything. She would act all sweet to you when your father was around, but behind closed doors she disgraced and belittled you.

When your father passed away, she became more evil than before, which was hard to imagine. She was already so terrifying, but now it seemed as though she had something against you.

You were fully grown now, able to do everything for yourself. But yet, you were forced to like in a crammed attic of their home, while your two step sisters enjoyed lavish rooms and jewelry. It was unfair, but you made yourself worth living. With all of the chores and the dust and dirt you'd have to clean up every day, you still had your pride.

You lived in solidarity up and away from the vicious people you could never call family, and the only friends you could call your own were the rats that populated the walls.

The terribly loud clock broke you away from your slumber and bells began to ding, signaling it was time to make breakfast. They forced to go serve them as they lay in bed, and all you wanted was to be able to eat what you made. There would only ever be enough for the three of them and their cat—which was fittingly named Lucifer—and never any for you. That was probably why you were so thin.

"Y/n!!" Your stepmother's voice bellowed through the walls continuously, hailing you to begin her breakfast. She always yelled like she was going to starve if you didn't get it to her in time which wasn't true. She was bigger-boned and had plenty of meat on her bones, and always concealed it with a super tight corset that she would claim her real waist.

"Y/n?! Where's breakfast?" Your step sister screeched at you from her bedroom as you walked by. You ignored her and continued to walk to the kitchen. "Hey! Don't ignore me! Mother, Y/N is ignoring me again!"

You continued to walk to the kitchen and once you got there you began to prepare breakfast. You scrambled up the food and poured tea, and then placed it on 3 plates to bring to them.

As you brought them all their breakfast, your stepmother beckoned you to come into her room. Before you entered, your two ugly step sisters blocked the door. "You're gonna get it bad, Y/N."

You brushed them off again and made your way through the double doors or your stepmother's room, the cat following you in.

The cat glided it's way through the dark room and jumped onto the large bed, curling up into the arms of a dark looking figure. She didn't speak.

"Stepmother—"

"Shut it." She hissed as she pet her cat, who was as dark as the room. His eyes were the only visible part of him. "Seems like you have a lot of time on your hands. Let's put it to good use."

You stayed silent and listened to what she had to say. You knew it was going to be chores, and you just wished you could have some alone time to yourself.

"You have full chore duty today. That includes folding the laundry, washing dishes, scrubbing to floors, sewing your step sisters' dresses and oh—don't forget the garden."

You sighed. "Yes Step-mother."

You had no way out of it. It was all you could do to respect your father.

You could've swore you saw the cat smirk. "Oh yes, one more thing. Don't forget to bathe the cat."

Over the hill was the large grandeur of a palace, where the king and his son lived.

The king was getting impatient, wondering when his son would give him grandchildren. He wasn't getting any younger, and wished to see children before he passed.

Kim Seokjin, the only prince of the kingdom, hasn't even had the thought of settling down yet. He wasn't as young as he used to be, but he thought no one could be his match. The prince was away on business, but was coming home tonight.

His father decided to send out invitations to every eligible maiden in the kingdom to a royal ball, hoping at least one of them will catch his eye.

So it wouldn't seem suspicious, he figured he could plan this ball for his return, and have all the women there for him.

Tonight was the night he planned for the ball. He then sent out all the invitations, hoping for the best.

As you were scrubbing the floor, a thin piece of paper slid through the mail slot on the door and landed right at your feet. You picked it up and didn't bother reading it, you weren't the best at reading anyway. You did notice it was from the palace.

Your step family was upstairs as they were practicing their music skills and you walked up the stairs to interrupt.

You knocked softly, but your step mother screamed as you entered. "Y/n! What did I say about interrupting—"

"This just came from the palace!" You excitedly murmured, and held your hand out for your step mother to grab it.

"There's to be a ball...every eligible maiden is to attend!" She cried out and looked to her daughter's who were jumping up and down.

"We're both eligible!!" They screamed simultaneously, happily shaking the floorboards.

Your eyes lit up when you heard what she said. "That means I can go, too!" You said, covering your mouth with your hand in excitement.

One of your step sisters snickered. "Yeah, right! Her dancing with our prince! That's impossible.

"Greetings your highness, would you mind holding my broom." The other sister giggled as she mocked you.

After their laughs ended, you spoke up again. "Well, why not? I am part of the family. And it says by royal command..."

The sisters looked at each other and then at their mom. "Well...I can't see why you couldn't go..." she stared down at the piece of paper. "If you get all your work done and find something suitable to wear.."

"Yes step mother I sure will!" You smiled as you made your way out. "Thank you."

You ran as fast as you could up the steps to plan your outfit, knowing you have your mothers old dress locked away in a chest.

You noticed it was a bit outdated, so you looked through your sewing book to see any changes you could make to it.

Just as you finally thought you reached happiness it faded away just as quickly as it happened. You were beckoned again to start your chores and now you wouldn't have nearly enough time to sew the dress.

As you worked your ass off to clean and get things done, time flew. You thought you didn't have a change at going to the ball now, especially when you heard the carriage reach the chateau. You sighed. As if your day couldn't get any worse. Your step mother opened her door when she heard you walk by. "Y/nN my dear, why aren't you dressed?"

Your two step sisters peaked out of the doorframe, awaiting your answer. "Ah, I'm not going."

They all smirked, but tried to cover it. "That's too bad. Maybe next time." She cooed and shut the door to get her daughters ready.

You made your way back up to your humble living space, and your shoulders were hunched as you walked up the stairs. You really thought you had a chance for yourself this time. You hated being someone's maid, and you wished things would be different. You had hoped this was the chance to break out of your shell and this house and follow your dreams. Dreams of meeting your one and only true love.

As you entered your room you peered out the window, staining at the tree branches that blocked the moonlight. You sighed, deep in thought.

A sudden creek came from your closet, and the door began to open slowly. You nearly screeched when you saw a dozen rats run out of it, but when your eyes landed on the gorgeous dress that was hung up, you glanced at the little rodents.

"How the hell did you do that? Was that some kind of sorcery?" You stared at the dress with wide eyes, trying to figure out how tiny rats were able to stitch and sew. Maybe you were going crazy. "Thank you..I guess." You said sincerely, but still couldn't wrap your mind around it all.

You rushed to get ready and tossed on all your accessories, including a beautiful jade necklace that sat on the corner of your desk. You were unsure about how it got there, but figured it was the rats with superpowers and carried on with your plans.

You rushed down the stairs as you noticed that they were about to open the door to leave. "Wait for me!" You yelled as you ran, hoping they wouldn't give you any trouble. "I'm ready."

"Mother you can't let her go! It's not fair!" The ugliest sister growled as she tossed her hands in the air.

The other sister huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "This is disgraceful!"

"Now girls...a promise is a promise." Your step mother smirked as she neared you, reaching a hand out to cradle your jade necklace. "Isn't this beautiful, what do you think—"

"No it's ugly—wait! That's my necklace! She stole it!" She hissed reaching out towards it. "Gimme that!" As she grabbed onto it she yanked it, and the necklace broke, sending all the beads to dance across the floor.

You gasped as that happened, and the other sister barely gave you enough time to get a grip when she began to tear your dress from bottom to top. They both  aggressively tried to tear it apart, not a care in the world about how you felt about it. It was your mothers dress after all, and now all that's left is the torn fabric that fell from your shoulder.

"Girls, girls. Let's not be too hasty. I don't want you upsetting yourselves." Your stepmother softly spoke, side-eying you as if she didn't see the whole debacle. "Let's go, we'll be late." She said, leaving you all alone in the large empty house, torn to pieces.

You couldn't help but start to cry. You tried your best to be able to go, even trusted rats to fix up your dress. But now your dress was ruined and you were crying, subconsciously finding yourself in the garden under your favorite willow tree.

"It's just no use at all.." you cried out as you laid your head down onto the bench, kneeling. "There's nothing left to believe in anymore."

You let your tears fall, completely oblivious to the bench that somehow turned into the lap of a man. His hand softly stroke your head, listening to you cry.

"Nothing? You don't really mean that, right?" His soothing voice spoke out, and you'd think it would've broke you out of your funk, but it didn't. You still sat there with your head in his lap and cried.

"Yeah, I do mean that—"

"No you don't, or I wouldn't be here." He shrugged and you finally realized something wasn't normal. You sat yourself back and gasped at the boy in front of you. He had dazzling blue hair and eyes to match, with a beautiful pink gown on. He looked very feminine and approachable. Sparkles danced around his figure and he held something that looked like a wand in his right hand.

"Wha—" you rubbed your eyes, trying to understand was was in front of you. First it was artsy rats, now...a fairy?!

He reached around your arms and slowly lifted you up. "Okay, you definitely can't go to the ball looking like...that." He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "We have to hurry."

He glanced around, almost as if he was trying to find something. "Now what did I do with that damn wand, I swear I lose it every time.."

Your eyes widened. "Wand? Then you must be—"

"Your fairy godfather—god that's so strange to say. How bout your god-daddy" he shook his head as he covered his mouth. "Wait no that sounds to provocative. Just call me Jimin." He smiled, and then continued to look for his wand.

You glanced at his right hand, which held a long stick-like thing. "Uh...is that it? In your hand?"

"Now who do you take me for? Im not that dumb I—wait, you're right. I guess I am that dumb." He scratched his head in embarrassment and shook it off. "Okay. I say the first thing you need is a pumpkin."

"A..pumpkin?" You questioned, glancing over at the pumpkin patch that was part of the garden.

"Yes. Now what we're the magic words?" He wondered out loud, scratching his chin. "Ah! Bippity boppity boo bitch!"

And just as ridiculous as the magic words were, a grand carriage blossomed from the pumpkin. You were at a loss for words as you glanced from the carriage to Jimin, shaking your head in astonishment. "How'd  you do that?"

He smiled. "Magic, I guess." He said not too confidently, looking from you to the little rats around your feet. "Now you need horses."

You looked down and the rats and giggled. You could've sworn you were in a fever dream right now. How was all of this possible?

With the flick of his wrist, Jimin turned the cute little rats into large white horses, standing high and mighty as they were ready to pull the carriage.

You didn't even take notice to an actual horse that stood next to Jimin, patiently waiting to have his turn with magic. "Now you need a coachman.." he muttered and waved his wand at the horse, transforming it into a human man. He sat at the reins of the horses, ready to go.

"Okay what the hell is going on here?" You blinked frantically as you tried to understand what was happening in front of you. How could such a gorgeous man be a fairy, and how could said gorgeous man turn a horse into a person?

Maybe you were high or something.

"Aha. Now, it's your turn." He turned to you with his wand and winked. He looked you up and down and bit his lip, then looked into your eyes. "You're super hot and all, but that dress is a no no."

He waved his wand up to the sky and did a little twirl, and you couldn't help but chuckle at how ridiculous he looked. But all of a sudden a large wave of sparkles encased your body, spiraling around you with high speed. You looked down in confusion, then when it all stopped, what was left was a beautiful silvery-blue dress that sparkled as much as the stars.

"Woah..." you breathed, spinning around in it. It was absolutely stunning, you didn't even want to question how he did it. He then fixed up your hair and makeup, and last but not least, your shoes.

You had a weird shoe size. It was a bit too small for your body, so most of the time it was hard to find ones that fit. So when Jimin magically put sparkling glass heels onto you, you gasped in disbelief.

They sparkled even more than the dress, but all in all you sparkled more than the night sky. "This is like a dream.." you murmured in awe.

"Okay, I'm done." He chuckled, crossing his hands across his chest. "Just one more thing."

"What is it?" You asked him, on edge to go to the palace.

"This is all a façade, okay? Just like all dreams, it won't last forever." He looked into your eyes. "It won't last after midnight. Everything will go back to how it was before."

You nodded. At least that gave you enough time to try to meet the prince. "Okay. I'll be out of the palace before that."

He nodded, then gasped and it nearly scared you. "Okay, you gotta go or you'll be late."

He shooed you into the carriage and as you sat down, the horses that were once rats took off, leaving Jimin in the dust. When you looked back you noticed his little wave, then all of a sudden he disappeared into thin air, making this whole situation even weirder.

When you approached the castle, you noticed how grand it was. With it standing so tall it looked like it hit the clouds, and the beautiful stones that held it all together. This was a dream in life itself that sadly had to end, but you were going to make the most of it.

Currently inside the palace, the king organized all of the women to be introduced to the prince one by one. But everytime a promising woman would walk up, it was almost as if he would yawn at the sight of them.

The prince stood tall in the great hall, barely giving any women a second glance. He didn't want any of them, and just wanted to find someone himself. His father and the arch duke sat up high on the balcony, looking down on the scene. Seokjin looked up, noticing how aggravated his father looked.

You approached the grand steps to enter the ballroom, the sides lined with guards. You looked over at them when you noticed they were looking at you, and continued your walk up a hundred red-velvet covered stairs.

Your step sisters were currently being introduced, you took notice to that as you walked into the room. The far side wall was open, leaving only the beautiful night sky to be viewed. What you didn't take notice of was that the prince stopped in his tracks and was standing at you wide eyed.

Seokjin couldn't help himself. The two girls that were in front of him were such a bore. When he bowed respectfully to them and straightened up he noticed you, where you were directly in his line of vision with the dark sky surrounding you, making it seem like you were sparkling.

He had to meet you. The way you spun around to music that wasn't even being played or the way he just glanced at you once and could've sworn he fell in love, he knew he had to at least know your name.

He pushed past the two sisters and stepped toward you, determined to make you his bride.

He reached out a hand towards your shoulder. "Hello, miss?" Jin said politely, his dark hair pushed up to reveal his forehead. "How come I don't know who you are?"

His father took notice to his interest, and hurriedly signaled the band to play the waltz.

When the music ran through the room, you didn't even have time to answer him. He was breathtakingly beautiful, almost like a prince. Little did you know that he was one.

"Would you like to dance with me?" He asked you and held onto you hand, raising it to kiss the back of it.

You shivered in delight, knowing you fell for him at first sight. It seemed like he did, too. So much for marrying a prince, you didn't care who this guy was at this moment. "I'd love to."

He held your hand as you both made your way to the center of the ballroom, watching all of the women cry in disbelief.

He slid his hands down to your waist and you held your hands onto his shoulders. You moved in sync, your lips just a few inches away from his. His eyes were stunningly dark and mysterious with hair to match. His lips were plump, almost pillow-like and you wondered how they would feel against yours.

You couldn't get enough of him, you were lost in him. In his touch, in his eyes, in his heart. He was also captivated by you and had no doubt you were the one out of all these women.

"Who is she, mother? I've never seen her before." The step sister asked as she tried to get a good look of you from the crowd.

"We'll Ive never—wait a minute...something is familiar about her." Your stepmother wondered, but before she could get a good look, they moved their way out onto the terrace, now all alone without anyone watching.

After the dance was over he held you in his arms, brushing a stray strand away from your face. He smiled at you when he noticed your blush.

He grabbed your hand, holding onto it tightly as he took you into the garden, both of you in bliss.

You both sat down on the edge of a large fountain, not taking notice to the clock behind it. It was nearing midnight, but you were so lost in his charm that you didn't even pay attention.

He sat next you you closely, and looked from your eyes to your lips. "You're beautiful. I hope you know that." He said to you as he leaned in farther. "So, so beautiful."

His lips grazed yours softly, but before it could turn into a kiss, the clock struck twelve behind you, bellowing a loud noise. You whipped your head around and noticed the time. "Oh my god!"

You stood up abruptly, and his hand that was on your thigh flew up as you stood. "What's wrong?" He wondered with worry, noticing how frantic you were.

"It's midnight!" You cried, holding onto your dress like it was going to disappear.

"Yeah..so.." he trailed off, hoping that this night would go farther.

You shook your head and turned to leave. "I have to go." You said sadly, but his hand grabbed yours before you could run off.

"You can't leave now—"

"I have to!" You said as you looked frantically back and forth, hoping nothing would disappear right now.

"But why?" He asked softly. He didn't want you to leave. He had so much more he wanted to say to you, he didn't even know your name.

You had to make up an excuse. "I—uh...the prince! I haven't met the prince yet!" You said and nodded. "Yeah, that's right."

"The..prince?" He asked. Didn't she know it was him? "But didn't you know that I—"

The clock bellowed again, sending you hurriedly looking for the way out. "Goodbye!" You said and bowed, and ran off back into the palace to find your way down those beautiful velvet steps.

"Wait! I don't even know your..." he trailed off as he ran after you. "Name.."

Before he could catch you, all the women blocked his leave and surrounded him, all blabbing something he wasn't paying attention to. All he saw was the beautiful girl he fell in love with run down the stairs, only leaving a glass heel behind.

You ran out of the palace and jumped into your carriage which was thankfully still intact. It rode off and it started to slowly change.

The carriage began to soften like how it was before and transitioned into a large pumpkin, and the horses morphed back into the small rats they once were. Everything was a blur and all of a sudden you fell to the ground with a thud, picking yourself up and scurried with the animals to hide in the forest as the palace guards ran straight, smashing the pumpkin that was once a carriage.

It was quiet now, you stared down at your tattered dress. The cute little rats stood by your feet, trying to get you to notice that you still had one glass slipper. It didn't disappear with the rest of it.

That was all you had left of that night, and you went back home holding it tightly, dreaming about the man you nearly kissed.

The next morning the prince paced back and forth in his room, trying to figure out a way to find her.

Seokjin was never like this. He was always calm and collected, but something ticked in his mind when he met you. He needed to find a way to get you back into his arms. He didn't even get to kiss you.

He held the heel you left behind in his hand and came up with a great idea. He needed to have this heel reach every maiden's household to see if it fit. The problem is, it could fit any number of the girls. He’d just have to wish for the best. His father would never let him out of the palace to do it himself though.

The grand duke was willing. After figuring out the plans, the duke took off to find the girl of the prince's dreams.

“Y/N!” Your stepmother cried out angrily. “Where are you?” She paced up the stairs but stopped as soon as she heard you.

“I’m right here.” She spoke out as you exited one of the rooms downstairs. She always seemed to rush you even if you were doing a great job.

“Where are the girls?” The looked anywhere but you as she asked this, only ever worrying about her own daughters.

You set down the broom you had in your hand and sighed. “They’re still sleeping.”

She rushed up the steps in anxiousness and you wondered what was the matter. You walked into the kitchen and grabbed the tea for them quickly and ran upstairs, only to overhear their conversation.

“What’s wrong, mother?” Both the sisters were in the same room, both tired and yawning up a storm.

“He’ll be here any minute!” She rushed, pulling back the curtains to bring light inside the room.

“Who?” They asked simultaneously with a yawn.

“The grand duke. He’s been hunting all night.” She rooted through her daughter’s wardrobe. “For that girl! The one that lost her slipper at the ball last night. Apparently he’s madly in love with her.”

“The duke?” One of them asked, only to be interrupted loudly.

You walked into the doorway at this moment, looking back and forth at the sisters and your stepmother.

“No, the prince!”

You stopped in your tracks. So that man you met—the man you nearly kissed—was the prince?

You gasped. “The prince?” The glass teapot that was in your hands slipped through your fingers, sending shards all over the floor.

“You clumsy fool! Clean that up!”

You couldn’t even pay attention or acknowledge the fact that you were spoken to. The only thing you did was slowly fall to the floor and clean it it without paying close attention. You couldn’t believe it. You…met the prince?

“Why are you telling us this then? If he’s so in love with that other girl?”

Your stepmother side glanced you and continued to root through the wardrobe. “Because not even the prince knows who she is. The glass slipper is the only clue. So one of you must fit into it.”

You glanced up as you cleaned the mess, listening intently to what was going on. “The grand duke was ordered to try it on every maiden in the kingdom. If the shoe fits, that girl will be the prince’s bride by order of the king!”

“Bride?” You whispered in shock, still unable to wrap this around your head.

As the sisters clashed together in search for clothing you saw yourself out, blissfully dancing to the door to your room.

Your stepmother watched you as you swayed, and she narrowed her eyes. Something was certainly fishy about you, and she didn’t have the time to let you become someone better than her daughters. She sneaked up the stairs and peaked through the door, watching you as you sang lovingly in the mirror.

You coughed of glimpse of her in the corner of your eye and turned around, only to see her slide the key into her pocket and lock the door, slamming it.

“No no no!” You cried out, running to the door. “You can’t leave me in here!” You banged on it with your fists as hard as you can, only to hear her footsteps slowly disappear.

You set your back against the door and slid down to the floor. How were you supposed to meet the prince now? How would he ever find you?

You lost all your hope. When you heard the trumpets sound that the duke was here, your heart dropped to your stomach. You let a few tears fall, upset that no one here would even care enough about you. It spoke a thousand words when your step mother locked the door on you, not caring if you needed anything, or to be happy for you if it was your slipper.

The duke came into the house and glanced down at the two sisters who definitely weren’t the prince’s cup of tea. He still had to do his job anyway. He read out the decree and told the older sister to sit down first to try it on. When the glass slipper seemed like it fit like a glove he stood back in awe, that is, until she lifted her foot up and it was only covering half of it.

Meanwhile, the magic rats were up to something. The smallest one was able to gently slide into your stepmother’s pocket. The others stood by and were able to reach it when the small rat lifted it up. They hurriedly rushed the key up the stairs, but it was a bit heavy for them. This was going to take a while.

The duke sighed and shook his head. “Let’s try the next young lady.”

The next sister tried to forcibly squeeze her way into it. She kept complaining that her foot was just swollen today and kept trying. The duke sat there with a frown, knowing that it wasn’t either of these girls. “Are you sure there isn’t another maiden in this household?” He asked you stepmother, grabbing onto the heel and keeping it safe.

The rats were tired, but were able to reach the top of the steps. Now it was time for you to shine.

“No, there’s no one else here—“

“Your grace! Wait!” You cried and rushed down the grand steps of the chateau. “May I try it on?”

The duke’s eyes widened as he took notice to your appearance and smiled. He signaled his servant forward as you reached the bottom of the stairwell.

Your stepmother rolled her eyes. “Don’t pay attention to her.”

“She’s just y/n! A nobody!”

“Madam.” He stood sternly next to your stepmother. “My orders were every maiden. Now if you would excuse me.”

He motioned you to sit down in the chair and beckoned his servant to bring the glass slipper towards you. As he came closer, your stepmother stuck her foot out, only to come to the servant tripping, which sent the glass slipper flying through the air until it smashed right before your feet.

You weren’t too worried about it—since you had the other slipper—but the duke nearly cried and he tried to piece it together. “No no no, this is terrible!” He cried out. “What could we do?”

You smiled at him and then glanced to your stepmother, who was smirking. You always new she was no good for you. But now you were done. “Perhaps..if it would help?” You slid the other slipper out from behind you. “The other slipper?”

He gasped and grabbed ahold of it excitedly. He reached down to slide it onto your foot, and when it fit, he breathed a sigh of relief. The prince could finally be happy.

~

Bells chimed and people cried out as you rushed down the stairs of the palace in your grand wedding Dress, holding onto Seokjin’s hand tightly with a smile. This was a dream come true. A fairy tale. Everything worked out for you at the end of it.

Here you were in the back of a carriage taking you both somewhere for alone time, but you couldn’t help but blush as his hands cradled your face. “I’m so glad I found you, y/n.”

You stared lovingly into his eyes, glancing down at his lips slightly. “I’m so glad you wanted to find me, Seokjin.”

He stared at you like no one has ever before. He looked at you with such intent it nearly made you melt. His eyes glanced from your eyes to your lips and once again he leaned it for a kiss, this time actually happening.

His lips softly touched yours, slowly moving into you as his hands cradled your face like you were glass. You wrapped your arms around his neck to deepen this kiss, so in love with each other.

All this struggle, and now here you were in each others arms, happily in love and wishing it would never end.

And they lived happily ever after.

[nikarmy]

Equilibration ~ Prologue

Masterlist

Pairing: Waterbender! Jungkook x fem!Firebender Reader feat platonic!Bts

Genre: The Last Airbender Au, fluff, angst, kinda slowburn, s2l

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: judgemental stares in public, cursing, slight inner aggressiveness (how do you call that?), self hatred, mentions and descriptions of war,   childhood trauma, flashbacks, reader is insecure af, mentions of killed people and humans screaming out of fear,

The looks from the passengers started to intimidate you.

How should one react to unwanted attention? Stare back, insult them, ask them what's wrong, or put their powers to good use and knock them down? Fuck no. That's not the right thing to do.

But the old lady in the olive robe has been fixating her gaze on you since she entered the train, only stopping her inspection when a young man offered his seat to her 5 minutes ago. Unfortunately, as soon as she made herself comfortable on the metal bench, she restarted her action.

Her face looks remarkably punchable to you right now.

Red was never your favourite colour.

In fact, you despise it, even though it perfectly described you.

Anger, Aggressiveness and Harshness. Perhaps that's why you've been considered as a prodigy and as one of the most gifted trainees back in the fire nation. You are basically the embodiment of the hot flames, symbolizing destruction and war.

You hate it. And now your red attire made you hate the colour even more, as the result was having judging looks on you all the time.

Teachers, parents and elders of the fire nation always tell stories and legends about the benders of their kind, emphasizing their heroic actions, and everyone listens to them attentively.

Although you know these stories by heart, you longed for more, for a view outside of the borders that separate your people from the other elements.

You read folk stories of waterbenders, earthbenders and airbenders, satisfying your curiosity by practically studying their culture.

But the more you learned about the peaceful water tribe, the disciplined people of the earth kingdom and the imaginative

air nomads, the more you felt ashamed about the fire nation, about yourself.

The insecurities grew as your father forced you to join the military as a soon – to – be soldier at the tender age of 8. He wanted to “use your abilities to good use”, so you just went with the flow and trained along with other talented students, destined to end the war in a brutal way and make their parents proud.

Years went by, and not too long ago, marking a week now to be exact, you went on your first “mission” to a city of the earth kingdom, whose name you don't even know, to occupy them and take over their land in a brutal way.

The pictures of killed people and destroyed houses are engraved to your brain, highlighted by the destructive flames surrounding a once peaceful town. You'll never forget the children screaming on top of their lungs and the parents begging for their lives.

The next sleepless nights you sat at your desk and started making plans on how to escape the fire nation, whilst writing a goodbye note to your family and trying to persuade them to not search after you.

And now, days later, you are standing in a train to Ba Sing Se, not even having a clue on what to do next. Your backpack consists of a bottle of water, some sparing clothes (but still not much), your toothbrush and money.

Finally you hear the male voice on the speaker say the awaited words: “Ba Sing Se Central Station”. You leave out a sigh you didn't even know you were holding, glad to be at your destiny and also glad to get out of the stinking train with the rude old lady.

During your targetless walk through the city, you notice a lot of eyes on you, and to be honest, you don't blame them, you hate firebenders too.

So you guess a new start also means a new appearance, right? Luckily you walk past a thrift shop. Its appearance is very pretty, the building is made out of wood and warm tones, the curtains which could be seen behind the big windows were a light shade of green, above the small door you could see golden calligraphy spelling “Kim's Thrift Shop” in all it's pride. It's not modern, but it looks comfortable.

At exactly that moment you choose to enter and change your black and red attire to search for one with a colour that is much less hated, like blue, yellow or green.

Entering the shop you immediately face a young man behind the counter, and you swear you've never seen a more handsome human being before.

He had perfect features, his broad shoulders and his tall figure instantly catching your attention. His raven black hair was voluminous. He could easily pass as a prince.

As much as you drooled over him as a result of his striking lineaments, he looked at you, well, weirdly. That wouldn't surprise you if he looked at you like you were his enemy, just like the other people here, but he stared at you, like you were some kind of god. Like he is genuinely happy that you entered the store. His eyes light up with hope.

“FUCKING FINALLY! NAMJOON LOCK THE DOORS!”

What. The. Hell.

Never in your life have you been so confused. Does he want to kidnap you? Oh fuck he wants to kill you.

The only logical thing to do right now is turning around and leave the shop. And you do just that.

But as soon as you can grab the door knob with your right hand, another one holds it, preventing you from fleeing.

You look who this hand belongs to, and next to you stands a man with blue hair and tan skin. His biceps and height frighten you and you realize that you're in big trouble. He has a tight hold on your forearm and leads you to the backroom of the shop in a quick pace, behind you the black haired cashier.

The backroom looked comfortable, the carpeted floor creating a cozy feeling. But the atmosphere was the complete opposite.

Here you stand, surrounded by five boys. You inspect each other and you realize that two of them are airbenders.

There stands the cashier, then your eyes land on the guy who held your forearm as if his life depended on it, and a third guy who sat on the sofa. His appearance was remarkably charming, full lips, blond hair, round face and soft features, he was quite short compared to the others. All three of them have green clothing on, so you assume that they are earthbenders.

But what really catches your attention are the last two guys. They wear yellow and red robes, both of them having a blue arrow drawn through the middle of their foreheads.

You've never seen an airbender before.

“So umm sorry if we scared you back there” the blue haired guy interrupts your thoughts. “But we are really desperate for someone like you right now”

“Someone like... me?” You curiously ask.

“Yes. The guy there..”

he points to one of the airbenders. The boy has wavy dark hair and as soon the blue guy mentions him he flashes you a cute boxy smile.

“This is Tae. Short for Taehyung. He is someone special. You see, for how long has the last avatar died?”

“70 years ago.” you reply. It's true, Avatar Aang died many years ago, and that at the time the world needed him the most. If he was still here, the war could have been prevented before it even escalated.

“Yeah” he answered “Tae is the next one”.

You gasp lightly and feel your eyes coming out of their sockets from having them wide open in shock.

The avatar is standing right  in front of you.

“And we are searching for different benders who can teach him in all the elements. See, we kind of established a secret alliance against the Fire Lord, to end the war. He already knows that the avatar came back and is searching for Tae like crazy, we had to move out of our hidings four times now because he always managed to find us. Now we have to find teachers quickly, the sooner the better. Tae has to learn to be a great avatar so he can fight against the Lord. We thought we would never find someone from the Fire Nation, but then you came. Are you a firebender?”

“Yes?”

“Perfect, you're exactly who we're looking for. We'll cut you a deal. Since we assume you're not a spy, we ask you to be Taes teacher in mastering the art of firebending. In return, you'll get to live with us and we'll give you food for free. Jin is a great cook. I know this is a lot of information to handle right now, but what do you think?”

You didn't even think twice about it. Even though you don't know these guys, what do you have to loose? It's not like you had plans anyway. And stopping the fire nation seems to be just the right thing for you right now. And finally you can use your skills to good use, not for war.

“I'm in.”

Later you get introduced to all of them. The Avatar, Taehyung, is an airbender, and you swear you've never seen someone who behaves this childish before. But it's not a bad childish, in fact, it makes you feel jubilant. Maybe because his bright ambience makes up for the childhood you never had, the childhood you spent in training and learning that brutality is the way to power, and power is everything.

The guy with the blue hair is Namjoon, an earthbender and Taes teacher in that field. He seems like the leader of the group, always explaining and answering your questions.

The black haired handsome guy is Jin, a nonbender. He felt very excited when you said yes to joining them.

The other airbender is Hobi and also Taes teacher, the first thing you realize about him is his very contagious smile.

The blond dude is Jimin, a nonbender who is from an earth kingdom village.One day he knocked on their door of the shop and wanted to thrift there. But instead of finding clothes, he started talking to Tae who sat behind the counter. The Avatar liked him so much that he insisted on having him join the “Gang”.

The thrift shop actually belongs to Jins aunt, and sometimes, when he's in Ba Sing Se, he has to work here. It's also a good place to hide from the Fire Lord.

“So we need a waterbender too?” you examined.

“Yes” Namjoon was the only one to answer again “We have to travel to one of the tribes to find one. It won't be that hard.”

a/n: Thanks for reading! I would like to apologize if it’s bad, I’m not very content with my writing style, but I am working on it, since it’s my first fic and I have a long way to go:) What do you think?

[wenwenbittercake]

Hizashi x readers (mafia edition)

(This is so cute I'm crying.This is pure fluff. Sorry if you don't enjoy it.i tried my best.🙏🙏😓😓😓)

"Beep... Beep... Beep." The sound of your alarm clock woke you up like every morning. You brush your teeth, take a shower, and wear a decent cloth that make you look modest. As usual, u walk down stairs and greets everyone. Everyone in the gang respect you to the fullest. You were happy to be the lady of the house. To be treated better than anyone. This didn't make you prideful. You take responsibility of most things in the house where the man who's behind this door takes responsibility of the gang.

You stood cold in front of a large door. You are familiar of this feeling but still can't get use to it. You walk in while holding a food tray for the man who's sitting behind the desk.

His name is Shoto Aizawa. One of the most ruthless boss in Musutafu. He is known to be sharp with his decisions and a cold person. You don't think those rumors are true.

Aizawa was beside you for the longest time. He's your father's right handed before he passed away. He trusted him to the fullest and didn't think twice to give his position to Aizawa. He was pretty close to you before he became the gang leader. But he distanced from you now. You know this is because he cares about you and didn't want you to be hurt.

"Thank you." Aizawa said as you place his breakfast on the table.

"Your welcome." You put on a smile and leave.

As you were about to leave he said, "I'm going on a business trip this afternoon, so you don't need to bring dinner here."

You nodded slightly and left.

You already got use to his stone cold speeches. The only thing you won't get use to it his complements.

"Beeeep Beeeeeep" A long bus honk woke you up from your sleepy self. Today is grocery day. You go buy groceries and things that the gang wants, like tooth brushes, tooth pastes and even shampoos. You waited on the bus stop for your bus to arrive, you can see a glimpse of the blonde man from a far.

His name is Hizashi Yamada, your private security, also your friend. You smile at him and wave him to come. He looked joyful hops towards you.

"Heyyyy y/n. Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Yeaaa, it just I'm busy with the house these days." You smile and continue your chit chat. It was interrupted bye a bunch of high school students.

Hizashi was about to scold them but you hold him. Looking at the high school students, this reminds you that you've never experienced a normal high school life. You were home school by the best teacher in Musutafu. You never dated a high school boy, never had best friends. You missed out on the best moments of life. You felt suffocated sometimes, you hope this life would just end faster.

When Hizashi realized your sad he hold your hand. This shock you a bit.

"Sorry I wasn't focusing." You apologize.

"It's fine. I wanna show you something. Come." He said as he pulled your hand.

He hold your hand and run to somewhere. You felt the cold air hitting your face. It was refreshing. You finally felt something. Like happiness, comfort and freedom.

He stop, causing you to hit his back.

"We're here! Close your eyes!" He said as he closed your eyes with his palm.

"Hehehe, what is it?"

You said as he slowly walk a few steps down with you. It's like a stair?.

"I'm gonna fall, what is it?"

"We're here." He slowly open your eye. And what you see beyond is amazing. You see the whole city.

You were breathless. It's the first time you saw this view. You never know it even exist.

"Whatcha think?"

"It's.... Perfect Hizashi." You give him a smile that he would die for.

"Umm..i'm happy you liked it." You nodded in response. Hizashi blushes how happy you look. He had never seen this type of happiness in you. He wants to see more of it. He wants to spoils you with the outside world. Just to see you smile.

"You know.... I can take you to other places if you like. You can buy the groceries tmr if you want to...." He knows that he's committing a death penalty here. He knows that he will be punish for taking a daughter of a mafia boss to unsafe places are a crime. But, he just wants to make you happy.

"Yes! Pls (✪ω✪)/" He knows he can't say no to that response.

You both first go to a busy market Street, filled with street foods that she had never tried before and color full lanterns.

Hizashi laugh at your expression to different food you tried. He take out his phone and took a picture of you trying the roasted octopus. He laughed how you struggle to bite the tough octopus. 🐙🐙🐙🐙

Later he takes you to an aquarium. Also one of the biggest aquarium in Musutafu.

Your eyes light up when you saw colorful fishes. You love sea creatures since your young. You've seen it on TV but never up close. You smile and giggled at how cute the jellyfishes swim.

"What are you giggling at?" Hizashi said jokingly.

"It's just... They look so cute when they swim. Oh look at that one, it just sinks. That one look so small and cute..." Hizashi is now lost in your words, your smile, your excitement after the jellyfishes.

He loves you more than anything. His feelings for you started since he started working for you after your dad died. You were so kind, so gentle with him, no matter how many lifes he killed, no matter how much blood he is covered in, you still welcome him with open arms.

He promised this is the last place he's taking you. You pouted at him and follow. To be honest, you didn't want this to end, you still wants to see the world with Hizashi.

"I promise this is the last, and you won't regret it." Hizashi says with excitement.

You look at his face carefully now and realized a scar on his right eye. Lucky it did blinded him. You reach your arm out and rub his scar. Which makes him jump.

"Y/N! What's wrong?" His hand clenched on the steering wheel.

"Where did you got this?"

"Oh-it's just in one of the fights don't worry about it." He said so calm and gentle.

"Be careful next time, I can't get my right handed hurt all the time."

He blushed at the nick name you give. He gives a chuckle at you in response.

"Oh we are here!"

"What is this place?" You asked he takes you in to the street filled with bright lanterns.

"Today is new year. As a new year celebrating, people here sell treats and lanterns. They also have games that you probably can play.

He held your hand tight and walk through the crowd. You look around in amazement. Everything is so bright and colorful. You could never imagine you would be here with..

"Y/n I think you can play that one."

Hizashi.

"Okie"

You both try new foods and play many games. You missed the cans everytime you shoot, so Hizashi helps you out. He got it, wining an octopus plushy.

"See I told you I can get it!" Hizashi said proudly.

"Alright Mr smart pants" You said as you pinch his left arm.

"Ouch, hahahaha" You both laugh.

"Oh wait, I need to show you the surprise, what time is it?" He said as he look at his clock.

"Shit it's 11:50!" He hold your hand tightly and run towards the hill.

When both of you got on top on the hill, you both are panting.

"Sorry y/n I didn't watch the clock and..." You hold his cheeks.

"It's fine, now where's the surprise? " He blushes and take you to a little bench on the edge of the hill.

"Here," He look at his clock and smirk.

"Perfect. Now Y/N sag it with me." You both look at each other with a smile and you nodded.

"10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR🎉🎊🎇" You both yelled it out loud. Then..

Colorful fire explodes in the dark blue sky. It's so beautiful, you usually just watched from your window but never seen it this close. You close your ear and giggled with happiness.

Hizashi was not concentrating on the fire works except, he was looking at you. Admiring you giggles and laughs. Even though it's tiring to go around the city, you make it all worthy.

You look back at his beautiful green eyes, there, you finally feel a familiar comforting feeling. The warm, cozy feeling you have felt for years. Is this love?

You felt his soft lips on yours, you first kiss! He's so gentle, it makes you melt in his kisses. You both finally split from your kiss and look at each other with love and adoration.

"I..i'm so sorry y/n, I..I just got caught in the moment, I.." You give him another soft kiss.

"It's fine. I love you too."

Is this really? Is he dreaming? Words that he wish you would say actually came out for your mouth?

"Wait Y/N are you serious?" He look so shocked and blushed it makes you giggled.

"If I weren't serious, I wouldn't kiss you again you dummy." You blushes.

He can't believe it. He was so happy he picks you up and swings you around like a doll in a 360 turn.

"Yessssss! Y/N LOVES ME!" He was yelling it out loud.

"Stop your being too loud, people might here it. " You blushes. He holds you in a bridal style and yell.

"Idc! I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH. Doesn't matter if the world hears that." You laugh at his cute behaviour and slap lightly on his chest.

"Stop" You giggled, follows by Hizashi laughs.

(This is too cute, I can help but stop writing the rest. I can't even believe my lonely ass wrote this 😭😭😭💖💞💕😭💕. I hope you all enjoy this cause I definitely do.)

[thegracelessfaceless]

Down By the River- Brian Thomas/Hoody pt 3 (link to pt one here ==> <3) So, I think it's b time to clarify that Reader is written from a female perspective. Since I'm female, it's easier for me. There are also some headcanons about Brian here, credited to @krayolacolor

We headed out after gathering up our things into the forest. Brian was dressed the same as yesterday, not the same clothes, but similar jeans with the same yellow hoodie.

I had slipped into black jeans, socks, my boots, a black undershirt and a gray hoodie. It was warm, almost too warm for the hoodie, but it protected my arms from the branches of the woods and bug bites. We came up on another branch ring and Brian pulled me by the hand through it. We came out on the edge of a quiet suburban neighborhood.

"My last name is Thomas" Brian told me as we walked down the sidewalk.

"Wha-"

"So you'll know what to call my mom. Make sure it's Mrs. Thomas, not Ms. Mom always prided herself on being a wife and mom. Dad died a few years back, but she carries on in her role."

I blinked as I absorbed the rapid fire information, and then nodded as we walked up on a house. It was a modest white brick one story with gray shingles and dark green shutters. A white carport and patio area extended from a side door to the driveway. Well maintained flowerbeds lined the house on the front and butterflies were fluttering around the flowers. It was picturesque.

At the door, Brian reached out and knocked, even though there was a door bell right there.

I heard someone walk up on the other side of the door, and it swung open. A small, older woman with dark blonde hair and gray eyes opened the door and I saw where Brian got his smile. Her eyes fell on him and her face split into absolute sunshine.

"Brian!!" She exclaimed, "Come in" she saw me and rested her hands on my forearm for a moment, "Come in!" Her eyes were alight with curiosity. She closed the door behind us and the smell of apple pie was in the air. I followed Brian down a short hallway, pictures lining the walls. Pictures of two smiling little boys and a baby wrapped in pink. Little boy Brian with his kindergarten mat, Christmas pictures, teenage Brian in a Boy Scout uniform. A beaming Brian behind one of those cars that are as common as disposable razors. Brian in a football uniform. My brain absorbed what I passed as I was spat out into a living room. Brian stood in front of a beige couch with yellow and white pillows, a yellow afghan throw folded and at one end. A matching wingback chair with a green blanket was in the corner, next to a window overlooking the front flower gardens. Brian's mom followed us in and sat in the chair.

I heard a zipper and looked behind me to see Brian getting the laptop out of his bag.

"Hey mom, this is my friend, Reader. Reader, this is my mom. Hey mom I'm gonna go plug up." He held up the laptop and disappeared down another hall, leaving me alone with his mom.

She looked at me as if she were barely containing her joy, "So you're Brian's... Friend?"

I nodded in the affirmative, figuring it would be best to keep it vague and Brian could clarify.

She silence was thick between us and Brian came back into the room.

"How's my baby boy doing?" She asked him, and Brian turned a shade of pink.

"Good, Mom, just coming in from a camping trip. Gonna meet up with some friends in a few days."

"Oh, that sounds fun. Are you gonna introduce them to your other... Friend?"

I fought to keep a straight face, inwardly cringing for Brian, but he just grinned, "Yeah, we're all gonna get together. Like old times."

Brian's mom was beaming, "I'm sure you two will have so much fun."

I nodded, "I'm excited to meet everyone."

"I just came by to see if you needed anything, Mom" Brian said before his mom could question us further.

Brian's mom went into detail about little things she needed done. Her car needed an oil change, the guest bathroom sink was leaking, she needed to go grocery shopping but her hip was bothering her too much today, and she heard something in the attic, maybe a squirrel.

Brian agreed that we would take care of it all. I didn't argue. I got the feeling that Brian valued the time with him mom, helping her, and he didn't get to do it often. Who was I to stop him. Besides, I had the feeling shit was about to hit the fan.

I'd dreamed of who I'm sure was Brian, but instead of his face was a black void with a red frown face in it. Another man had brown hair with sideburns, and wore a white mask, the eyes lined in black and the lips colored black. He wore jeans and a yellow Carhartt style jacket. Yet another was thinner than Brian or the masked man. He had large brown eyes and a triangular face that ended in a small, weak chin. Large dark circles were around his eyes, like he hadn't slept in a while. I saw the tall figure from the woods, looking over us all, and setting a dark figure on the ground, not with its hands, but with sharp looking black tentacles that rose from its back. The dream had broken apart as the figure approached us.

I thought about the dream as Brian worked on the bathroom sink, then the car, handing him tools as he asked for them. I assumed the other two guys were the mysterious Masky and Jay. I even knew the Operator was manipulating us. But who was the dark figure?

"Reader?" Brian's voice cut into my thoughts, "Reader!"

I snapped to attention and saw Brian's worried face. "Are you okay?' he asked.

"Yeah" I replied, "just... Processing."

Brian nodded, "I'm heading to the grocery store if you wanted to come with?""

I nodded and got up, joining him at the car. I got in on the passenger side and he took the drivers seat. He backed out of the driveway and we were on our way. Brian turned on the radio, tuning it until it hit the local rock station. A rock song from the 90's played from the speakers and he turned it up a little, visibly relaxing to the music.

"When we get back, we'll take turns in the shower. Pretty sure Mom will want us to stay and I need to watch for a reply anyway."

I nodded, "Fair enough. Carry on about your life as if I weren't here."

"Oh, there's no way to do that. You change everything."

My stomach felt like it flipped. I decided to change the subject.

"Your mom thinks we're dating."

"Okay."

"What do you mean 'okay'?!"

I glared at Brian. He was holding himself very carefully, eyes on the road. "I mean, if Mom wants to think that, we let her. It's easier for her to believe a lie than know the truth."

We pulled into the parking lot of a small, local owned grocery store. Brian was protecting her, separating his work life from his home life. It was smart and noble. By doing this, he had basically isolated himself from everyone, which was good. His life was dangerous. But it was bad for the same reasons. He was essentially an island.

"I understand" I replied softly. Brian parked and we went in. I followed him as he got things from a list in his mothers neat script. I was still thinking when I ran into Brian's back at the check out.

"Sorry" I muttered and started helping him put things on the belt. I realized he'd gotten things for us, too, groceries to last a couple of weeks if needed.

We went through the check out and Brian paid with his mother's card. Before I knew it, I realized we were close to Brian's moms again. I gave him calm eyes as we carried in the groceries.

Brian's mom had been busy. The smell of cookies and other baked goods filled the house. The air in the house was pleasantly warm, like food had been cooking. She was in the kitchen, slightly flour dusted when we came to the kitchen.

[deniigi]

i was reading "it's fine, we're fine" again because i am a big softy and i love jack with my whole damn heart and i was wondering if rudy ever surfaces in matt's life again?

he does!!!

All of the boxers stay in Matt’s life for as long as they can! In another fic which I never published, Rudy explains that he tried to adopt Matt after Jack died, since they were best friends and Matt was already really close to Rudy’s girls, but social services wasn’t down to let that happen.

That said!!

I also wrote a piece a while back that didn’t quite make it into the Sprawl but which shows Matt’s relationships with Jack’s old friends from the gym. I’m putting it here under the cut (sorry mobile users, it’s pretty long)

Written from Jack’s pov

—-

Prelim title: put em up

He hadn’t seen the guys since he died, and honestly he’d avoided heading in the direction of Fogwell’s out of both fear and a strong self-preservation instinct. He only had a year. And Matt was hellbent on getting himself murdered during it, so Jack had to keep himself together to arrange their double funeral.

He finally sucked it up watching Matt mope in multiple different shapes and forms all over the furniture in his living room. The last straw was him cuddling up to Tuesday to inform her of how unfair Jack was being.

Not letting him out face-smashing with two fractured ribs.

Oh, the humanity.

What a shit father he was.

Tuesday sneezed on Matt and then stood up to leave him to suffer and to sniff at Jack’s ankles. Abandoned, Matt moved on to making loud, drawn-out noises about how everyone in his life betrayed him.

“Alright, fine. Get your gloves,” Jack sighed.

Matt was gone from the living room before he’d even finished the sentence.

It was one thing to like, know that your kid was a superhuman. But it was a whole other thing to live with it. He would never get used to the silent sneaking. Or the ‘I can heart your heart beat’ thing. Or the determination to be gutted. That one, even the afterlife wouldn’t help him with.

He’d just barely stood up from giving Tuesday the requisite pets when Matt was back in his face with gloves, rattling. Just a teeny bit little excited.

“Hurry up.”

Wo-ho. Not with that attitude.

“Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up.”

Wow, look. Another dish to clean.

“DAD.”

Alright, alright. Take a chill pill, kid.

 Fridays were usually slow days at the gym since most guys had dates to be on and family nights to have and so Jack thought that he might escape this interaction mostly unscathed and unnoticed. He was just there to help the blind guy, he’d say if anyone asked. He looked far too young to be Matt’s father at this point, they looked more like brothers. With the exception of Matt looking painfully like his mama to Jack. He’d never not see Grace in this boy. It was all in that slim jaw. He grabbed it and shook it every now and then to piss Matt off and it did the trick on a dime.

Matt was a regular at Fogwell’s. Jack wasn’t surprised. It had always been his second home. He was known by most of the guys there as the blind guy who apparently crammed in his headphones and punched a bag ‘til he couldn’t anymore. Fogwell let him use the place when he wasn’t there. Under the ruse of Matt feeling self-conscious about boxing in front of sighted-people.

Really, he just wanted to throw ridiculous moves at the bag.

This time, there would be no ridiculous moves. There were ribs to consider. Matt practically hung off his elbow in disappointment.

This fuckin’ kid. Ain’t got the sense god gave a goat.

They walked in the door and Jack never stood a chance.

  Folks had heard about the incident, it had been on the news, it turned out. Load of highly suspicious graves dug up in cemeteries all over the damn city. Fischer hadn’t exactly been subtle. What wasn’t quite clear to people was who these zombies were until anyone who happened to recognize those particular graves saw them.

Obviously half the gym had remembered Jack’s fucked up, now cracked headstone.

(It was nice. Grace had taken him to see it so that he could have a say in the next one. She waved at it in many different kinds of ways and called him a basic bitch without using either of those words.)

Jack couldn’t help but wonder now if Matt had texted someone to let them know they were coming.

Because he couldn’t breathe.

Rudy smelled like ass.

“Twenty fuckin’ years, man, and you still ain’t seen a shower?” he creaked out against his pal’s sweaty shoulder.

Rudy yanked him back by the shoulders to get a good look at him, blinking tears out of his eyes. He was so bald. He’d never had much hair to begin with, Rudy. But now, he was like one of them fortune-tellers’ glass balls.

“Jackie, we missed you so much,” the guy said like he was garbling glass.

“Good to—”

Well, that was him done. He didn’t need shoulders.

“Bert, you maniac, lay off,” Rudy snarled, as hot-tempered as ever.

Bert? This motherfucker was Bert?

Jack ducked out of the arms and recoiled back to get a good look at the moron and sure enough. Man.

“You finally shaved that thing off your face,” he said.

Bert was huge. Moustache was gone, though. That was literally all the mattered. Bert would never be pretty, but the pornstache had been a lot, even for them.

Bert cackled in delight.

“Look at you, Jack, ain’t a day over—uh. How old’re you again?”

God, who were these old guys? And where the hell did—wait a second.

“Matthew, nice try, you get back here,” he barked. Matt froze from where he was trying to sneak away to go finish the job on his ribs. He squinted and scowled in Jack’s direction and then made a break for it before Jack could get past Bert’s huge mass.

He didn’t get too far. They were on Jack’s turf now.

“Nooooo.”

Rudy covered the bottom of his face, but Jack could see his huge grin under it.

“Sorry fellas,” he said, “We’re having a father-son night out.”

“Get off, old man. Get off.”

The second he let go, Matt would throw himself out a window and vanish into the night. Jack had no fancy degrees but he was not stupid. He’d learned after the first two times.

“I can’t believe it’s you,” Rudy said through the deep laugh lines in his cheeks. “Can’t fuckin’ believe it, Jackie. God, you look so good.”

Did he? That scar on his temple wasn’t doing him no favors, that was for sure.

“Matty, you look just like your dad. God, the two of you together. Hold on, just one sec. I want a picture.”

Jack had plenty of pictures of the two of them together. Foggy and Karen were ace at taking secret, sneaky pictures that no one asked them to. He hiked Matt up from his ragdoll and shoved his bag in his arms.

“Pick one and then sit,” he ordered.

Matt glared at him and then made a show of storming away and feeling for an adequate bag.

Jack huffed and then redirected his stare to Bert’s creepy gaze.

“What?” he asked.

“Just amazed you’re here is all, man,” Bert said. Man, had everyone gone bald or what? “Fogwell’s gonna be so happy to see you.”

Ah, right. The person he was most determined to avoid.

“He don’t gotta come out,” Jack said, “Guy’s probably ancient at this point. Don’t want him to—”

“JOHNATHAN MURDOCK.”

No voice would strike fear into his heart like that one.

“Nice of you to finally show up, boy.”

How was this man not dead? How had he not aged? He’d only gotten marginally whiter and slightly more forehead wrinkles since Jack had last seen him.

“He doesn’t let me out of the house,” Matt popped back up to inform the old man. Fogwell saw him and gentle as sin, put a hand on his shoulder and snapped a look Jack’s way that Jack felt in his gut.

“Boy’s not glass, Jackie. You keeping him locked up now?”

Oooooh, kiddo. You’re gonna get it now.

Matt hid behind Fogwell before Jack could take a step forward. Smart fucking boy. Jack would have his own when they got back home. Tattle-telling was worth a whole afternoon of enforced R&R.

“Just ‘cause he’s a bigshot lawyer now, don’t make him smart,” Jack shot at the shoulder Matt was hiding behind.

Fogwell laughed, loud. Like a cracking whip. The sound was always heart-attack inducing and always comforting once you got past it.

“Matty’s doing just fine. He ain’t need brains to punch a bag, and all things considered, he’s still got twice as much fluff in that melon of his than the rest of us combined, don’t you, kiddo?” Matt said nothing because he was already aware of the impending consequences of his actions. Fogwell grinned down at him anyways. “We gotta call Kenny and Raph to come get a load of you two,” he decided. “They’ve been asking all over if you’d come back yet.”

Ugh.

Where exactly was his opinion in this whole thing, huh?

“Ain’t got one, short-stack. Lost all your seniority when you hit the dirt, son,” Fogwell said cheerfully, or what passed as cheerfully for him.

Ugh.

Well, it didn’t matter much anyways. He’d always been the second-youngest in the group.

“Right, well. You call the idiots, I gotta deal with my pride and joy,” Jack said, reaching around the old man to grab Matt by the scruff of the neck and to forcibly guide him towards the back center left bag. The other guys laughed and Rudy slapped his shoulder and said when he was done with that, they should have a go in the ring.

Mm. They’d see. Jack wasn’t trying to do anything to fuck with his head right then. It was kind of fragile.

Matt said that he’d fight in his place and the other guys started laughing and slapping up a storm.

Oh, honey.

No, but it was a sweet thought.

  “Why’re they laughin’ at me?” Matt asked him once gloves were on. Jack patted at his side as a reminder to keep them ribs steady.

“’Cause you’re two and half to them, baby. Always will be.”

“I could probably fight the Hulk.”

“I don’t doubt it. Let’s not.”

“Definitely Winter in hand to hand.”

Yes, and that would never not be terrifying. Let’s just be normal for an hour, what do you say, huh?

  Matt favored his right, and not just because of the ribs. He was a lefty, always had been. Had come home complaining about how the school scissors hurt his hands. He explained to Jack that his sensei (who Jack was going to maim very quietly and then suffocate when Matt wasn’t paying attention) had taught him to lead with his right so that folks thought he was a righty. From there, he could knock ‘em off guard.

It worked, he said. He did it a lot.

Still, Jack found that his right hits were just a little harder than the lefts and pointed out that scare tactics were fine, but Lefty needed to be at the same firing capacity as Righty as much as possible.

Matt told him to stop fucking moving the bag then.

Adorable. Really.

Until Kenny got there. Man screamed like a girl seeing her long-lost bestie after 20 years. Announced to the whole damn gym that ‘Jackie Murdock was back, looking like the coroner’s worst nightmare.’

Fuck Kenny. He’d always been a dick. And he was an oversized dick now, with stupid big, stupid useless muscles.

“You body-building, man? What’s up with this?” he gasped out under Kenny’s grip next.

“Hell yeah I am, here, get a load of this.”

No, no, he really didn’t—alright, he was doing it anyways, great. Yes. Very impressive. Anyone worth their salt could knock him out in one punch.

“Oh, yeah? You wanna give it a go, then Battlin’ Jack?”

People were fucking looking at him now, thanks pal. You’re doing great.

“I got a head injury,” he said flatly, which made Matty laugh at least.

“No shit. Look at that bad boy,” Kenny said. “We were fuckin’ devastated when we heard man, everyone was. You should have said something, we could have helped you out. Like—”

“How about we don’t go there?” Jack interrupted. He hadn’t come here for pity. He just wanted to wear his kid out so he didn’t go wear himself out on someone less gentle’s fists.

Kenny feel back and dropped his eyes.

“Sure. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I ain’t here for too long anyways. You got plenty of time to go back to missing me and calling me a dumbass.”

“Not really funny, Jack.”

It wasn’t meant to be.

  Raph stumbled in about half an hour later for a repeat of this conversation with greater enthusiasm. He’d stopped boxing, actually. To Jack’s surprise. Then to his enormous guilt.

“After what happened to you, big guy, I said to myself, this shit ain’t worth it. My baby girl was on the way, you remember? So I says, nah. We’re gonna do this right. We’re gonna go to college.”

“No shit, you went to college?” Jack asked him.

“Damn skippy—got me a degree and everything. Graphic Design.”

“The hell does that even mean?”

“Means, I’m an artist, dipshit. Here, lookit these things. I been doing websites for ages now.”

Aw, Raph. You did so good! Jack was so proud.

“Me too, man. Didn’t mean to uh, use you like that but.”

“No, no. I’m glad something good came out of it, don’t even trip.”

“Aw, whatchu talkin’ about, Jackie? Look at your baby. Heya, Matty. Haven’t seen you in years, baby boy, how’s it hanging?”

Matt blinked in Raph’s direction a few times and then deferred to Rudy in a whisper.

Raph laughed.

“It’s alright, honey, you don’t remember me, it’s alright,” he laughed.

Raph had been what, twenty-two when Jack had died? He’d joined up right before Matt had gone blind. It only made sense that Matty couldn’t remember him.

“Man, you jumping into the ring?” Raph asked him, with a few gentle pops in the shoulder.

“Nah. Trying not to re-crack this melon,” Jack said, tapping the bullet scar.

“Holy shit, lookit that thing. Hey, be honest. Did it hurt?”

What kind of dumbass question was that?

Yeah, it hurt.

Worse than anything had ever hurt in his life.

That’s kind of why they call it a death blow.

He stopped talking about it though because it was making Matt uncomfortable. Instead, he made a crack about Matt being able to take Raph one-handed and everyone on their side of the gym oh’ed at the challenge.

“Do it, Matty,” Rudy said, “Show ‘im what you got.”

It wouldn’t be a fair fight by a long shot.

And it wasn’t. Matt just tripped the guy right there on the mat and the whole gym went into uproar. Raph gave it a few swings, but they were just plain bad so all Matt had to do was step back out of range.

“You even trying?” he goaded Raph, and then when that worked, he got a good one in the guy’s solar plexus.

Jack winced and hoped it was only at half-strength. Given that Raph recovered and called it a wrap, it probably was.

  Matt was much, much happier on the way home, trying to goad Jack into swinging at him.

Nah.

Never.

He didn’t care how strong or big or tall Matt got. He’d never lay his knuckles on him. No, not in a million years. Not even if it was for his own good.

His knuckles were tainted with the blood of the devil. Matt’s devil was younger and more spry and its heat burned bright at the surface of his skin.

Jack’s devil had always been a deep roil, way down in the center of his chest. That bastard was horrible and didn’t know when to stay down. That bastard was the guy who’d left Matty in foster care to begin with. Jack was keeping him well out of the picture. He didn’t want to do anything which might transfer any of his dark, bubbling fury to Matt’s skin.

“C’mere,” he said, catching Matt in a headlock instead.

You, son, get kisses. That’s all you get.

Matt made disgusted noises and ducked out.

“The old guys miss you,” he said, finally evening out and walking next to Jack like a normal person. He didn’t pretend like he needed a guide since it was so late and not many folks were bopping around outdoors. It was kind of.

Kind of wild.

To be walking next to him just like he had before the accident. No hand-holding, shoulder-holding, elbow-holding necessary. No canes or dogs.

If Jack hadn’t known better, he wouldn’t have thought there was a damn thing wrong with him, except his apparent need to wear sunglasses in the dark.

“I miss ‘em, too. Glad they’ve been there for you,” he said thickly.

Matt said nothing, then took his elbow in a loose grip.

“I don’t blame you,” he repeated. He said it a lot. He always seemed to know when Jack was thinking about that shit.

“I know, honey. I just wish—I dunno. Raph got out of it. Maybe I shoulda—”

Matt clutched at him and stopped walking. He was stronger than he let on, Matty. In so many ways.

“I don’t blame you,” he said firmly. “And we can’t move forward if all we do is run in circles on the coulda, shoulda, wouldas. Stop thinking about it, Dad.”

Right.

Right, no, that was true.

He just.

He just wished he’d been better. They wouldn’t be stuck on this timeline if he’d just been better.

“You don’t need to be better, you’ve always been enough.”

This kid. This fucking kid. Knew exactly what to say.

“Come here, gimme a kiss.”

“UGH. No.”

“Matty, lemme have one, yeah?”

“UGH.”

He relented and let Jack lay one on the side of his forehead. He snuck another in his hair before he jerked away.

It made him smile.

“I love you, Matt, you know that?”

“Course I know. I always known. I love you, too. Now stop being weird. I want Chinese.”

Jack laughed.

Sure, whatever he wanted. Anything.

 —

Hope this gives you some hope, anon!!

[clean-bands-dirty-stories]

Why? - F.W. (part one)

A/n: So I was on a marathon with my family and we got to that part in the last movie where Pansie was all "get him!" after Voldemort said to give Harry up and then ALL the Slytherins got punished so I started thinking about how it could have gone differently and this happened and y'all once I thought it out so perfectly I HAD to write it. For my fellow Green and Silvers.

Word Count: 5300+

MASTERLIST

I didn't like them from the get-go. The Weasley twins. My first day, when I was so excited I just about glowed, sitting on that sorting stool to get sorted. When I got the house I had crossed my fingers for because I had heard all about Hogwarts and had analyzed myself and predicted where I might go and had been RIGHT- and I loved to be right. When I was at my highest, having my golden moment, grinning like a child on Christmas and not noticing until later as the other first years were confused by the innocent, friendly, kind little girl they'd thought would be Hufflepuff being Slytherin. When I was still unaware of how Hogwarts worked and what it meant to be in Slytherin house, they made sure I knew.

As I made my way to the table at the end with the cheering kids in silver and green, I heard them. I heard them booing. I froze in my tracks, not down the first step yet, where everyone could see me. My face was wiped of my smile and my face had gone pale- I could feel it in the rushing feeling in my head. I slowly turned to look where it was coming from. The Gryffindor table. Two red-headed twins were grinning ear to ear as they screamed "BOOOOO!" on the top of their lungs, shaking their head and nudging each other like it was some grand joke. One of the twins - they MUST have been twins - caught my eye and his smile faded. He looked guilty. Good.

My sadness and discomfort and crushed happiness turned to anger, my face heating up. There was a hand on my back and I turned to see McGonagall. She gave me a pitying look before I turned away and finished my walk to my table, chin held high and back straight, my hands curled into fists at my side. I was angry.

When the sorting went through - my frozen moment of devastation was overshadowed and forgotten when Harry Potter of all people was sorted and went into Gryffindor - and the feast started, I turned to one of my table mates. "When I came down, there were these Gryffindors... booing me."

The girl, who had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes, was a bit older than me. Her expression darkened and she seemed to age far too many years. "One thing you have to get straight. In this school, we're not Hogwarts. Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors are Hogwarts." She glared at her food. "They think we're evil. All of us."

The word sent a wave of shock through my system. "Evil?" My voice was too light- I couldn't get any power behind my words. It was all air.

The girl placed a hand on my shoulder, her face sad and softer than before. "Don't worry, you'll have the rest of us, okay? And it's not so bad. Wait until you see the common room. Just ignore the other houses- it's better that way."

The rest of the meal I was fine. It was when I got tripped in the hallway on my way to the dorms that I finally lost it, only able to keep it together long enough to get into the rooms before I began crying. One of the other girls ran to get someone older and before long a brunette girl with green eyes came, pulling me into her chest and rubbing my back. "I'm not evil," I sobbed.

"I know," she soothes me. "They're all just arseholes, don't mind them."

So I didn't. Her words made me feel a lot better, but her actions were what soothed me. She was gentle and kind, considerate and soft. If she was a Slytherin then being a Slytherin wasn't bad and that was that. I made a vow after that night: I'd never let other kids' gossip and bull crap affect me. I would let it upset me again, let alone cry. I would NEVER cry over other peoples’ opinions. Not these peoples'. You know what, not anyone else's either.

I kept that vow, too.

My first potion's class was with Harry Potter himself. He was sitting next to a girl with bushy brown hair that I think made her look bigger- like a peacock uses its colorful feathers. I think it suited her. Professor Snape, the one teaching potions, was shooting question after question at Harry, ignoring the girl next to him as desperation crossed her face, her hand as high in the air as she could get it, wiggling.

It bugged me. Harry looked incredibly uncomfortable and the girl looked about ready to explode and Snape was being a dick. "Obviously he doesn't know." Snape looked at me sharply. Everyone did. It didn't scare me. "But SHE does. Why don't you ask a question where you want the answer, not just an opportunity to make a first year look like an idiot?"

The room was so silent that no one even dared breathe. Snape's eyes flickered to my tie, his features twisting with disgust when he noticed the green and silver. "Learn how to talk to teachers, or hold your tongue." I glared at him and that seemed to knock him silent for a second. He looked away, moving on, and I let out a soft breath I'd been holding in. I felt eyes on me and I looked over to see Harry and the girl both looking at me. The girl seemed bewildered, but Harry was smiling at me. I gave a small smile back.

Maybe not all Gryffindors were bad.

When I looked back over at my partner to whisper about how I was surprised I didn't get detention with how angry Snape had seemed, the words died on my tongue. My partner, a boy named Blaise, was glaring daggers at me. Even more viciously than Snape. "Who's side are you on?" He sneered at me.

I looked forward again and was quiet for the rest of the class. What did he mean 'who's side'? Weren't we all Hogwarts students? Was the girl who had told me it was Hogwarts versus Slytherins... serious? I was realizing I hadn't really believed her. I figured maybe a lot of people across houses didn't get along but there had to be more friendships than not. I saw twins get sorted into different houses. But I guess neither of them was in Slytherin. Harry didn't seem to hate me... though the girl next to him had seemed like she'd seen a ghost when I'd stood up for him...

I kept my mouth shut for a whole week and a half. Snape didn't much mess with Harry (though he did take opportunities that popped up) as much as he did another Gryffindor. Neville Longbottom. Harry was good at handling himself when Snape got on him. He was a tough kid and seemed generally unbothered, keeping his pride and gave little reaction passed a glare or an eye roll behind Snape's back. Neville, on the other hand, was awkward and sensitive, flinching at everything Snape said. Even if Snape was nearby or shot him a look from across the classroom. It hit every nerve in my body and was grating on every instinct I had.

Then Snape crossed a line. He threatened to hex Neville's road if the boy got the potion wrong. Neville made a pathetic sound that was halfway between a choked sob and a surprised gasp and the Slytherin next to me - Draco Malfoy this time - snickered under his breath.

"You can't do that."

Silence again, like after the first time when I'd stuck up for Harry. Draco leaned away from me as if I was diseased or had turned into a werewolf. "What," Snape asked, dragging the word out. "Did you just say to me?"

I turned around in my chair to meet his eyes, my expression determined and as controlled as his was. "I seriously doubt that Dumbledore would approve of your harming a student's familiar simply because they were confused on a spell. That's not proper punishment, Professor." I spat the last word like it was poison and his eyes narrowed.

"How would you have me handle his lack of talent then, Miss Black?" As he said my last name an emotion flickered across his face that I vaguely recognized. It was the same one that I hadn't taken much notice of my first day but was apparent to me now as I thought back on it. The same look in McGonagall's eyes as she called my name for me to be sorted. It made me nervous. They couldn’t know. Not yet.

"Maybe teach him. Then he'll know how to do it."

Someone gasped. Snape flared. "Well, since I'm so incapable of teaching him, obviously, then you will have to try for me." He took steps toward me and I genuinely felt terrified. "You and Mr. Longbottom will meet in here for detention every day for the next week and during class, you two will be paired up. If he fails, so do you." He leaned forward, flattening the palm of his hand on my desk and leaning down to get in my face. "Do I make myself clear?"

My angry gaze leveled with his and I didn't move back, which he seemed to have not been expecting as he leaned a millimeter back himself. "Crystal." I nearly growled the word. He slowly stood, moving back up the aisle to the front of the classroom. "Resume your potions," he snapped. The room returned to their potions.

After class I was finally free, only to have the back of my robes yanked on as I was dragged into a darker hallway. I choked on the pressure against my neck but was knocked breathless before I could scream once I got my air back as the same person slammed me into the nearest wall. I blinked rapidly to try and re-orient myself as unknowing students passed by. Just as the last one disappeared, the world stopped being confusing and I recognized the faces in front of me. Draco Malfoy and his two brutes- Crabb and Goyle. I hadn't much liked any of them but Draco had been generally friendly with me so they left me alone.

Now there wasn't a chance of friendship in their eyes. Or mercy. "Stop standing up for Gryffindors," Malfoy sneered. I shrunk back into the wall. "Aren't you a Slytherin? Don't you have any pride? Any self-respect? You're making the rest of us look bad."

Gathering my courage, I curled my hands into fists. "I think you're doing that fine on your own," I eased. "Looking bad. A kid is being picked on by a teacher and you're laughing as if it's funny." I scoffed. "You're a coward hiding behind bullies. And I won't stand by and let it happen- I don't care WHO you are."

Crabb was the one holding me against the wall but Draco was the one speaking, and I guess that made him just as powerful because he leaned in my face, unfazed by my words. "One day you're going to regret not keeping your mouth shut."

"And one day you'll regret not having said anything," I shot back. "It will be different, but we will both regret. The difference will be YOU will want to go back and change it. I will not."

"Why you-" Draco began.

He was interrupted. "Let. Her. Go." The four of us looked over to see an older Hufflepuff boy - a Prefect, by the badge on his robes - flanked by two tall, red-headed, identical Gryffindors. I recognized the twins from the sorting ceremony. They were the ones that had booed me. "I think you boys need to step away from the situation and calm down before this gets too ugly.

Draco hesitated before sneering a, "Come on Goyle, Crabb. This isn't worth our time." I felt the grip leave me as they left.

My eyes moved to the three boys who had rescued me. "Thank you," I said to the Hufflepuff. I ignored the twins.

"No problem. You're a first year?" I nodded. "I'm a fourth year. Cedric Diggory."

"Ylva Black," I exchanged. "You can call me Liv."

Cedric smiles, nodding. One of the twins stepped forward, next to him instead of behind. "I'm Fred, this is George. We're Weasleys. Third years." He seemed to be rambling just a bit and sensed how awkward and inorganic it was because he winced, blushing almost as red as his hair. George shot his brother a weird look and Cedric rose an eyebrow, smiling. I was unamused.

"Thanks again." I turned around and walked away.

I didn't talk to them again for quite a while, though I did see Fred in the hall constantly. Don't ask me how I knew it was Fred and not George- I just knew. There was something about the twins that made sense to me. I couldn't name it or make sense of it but it took me one interaction and then I could tell them apart... mostly. Sometimes I noticed one of them and wondered which it was. Not that I was genuinely interested in the twins who were absolute jerks but more, I liked a challenge. No one could figure out the difference. I wanted to be the first.

For a while, it was just me and Neville. We spent every potions class together and as long as he listened to me, I could keep him calm and ignore Snape's antagonizations. The only incident for a while was when the Slytherins and Gryffindors first met to learn how to fly a broom. Draco picked up Neville's Remembrall. Neville had become someone I sought to protect so it had been my instinct to step up for him, and a lot of people looked at me, almost expecting it. But going up against a teacher was different than going against Draco Malfoy, a fellow Slytherin first year. My moment of hesitation allowed Harry an opening.

The rest was my smiling and laughing as Harry put Draco in his place- until McGonagall showed up. Harry tossed me the Remembrall and I nodded, tucking it into my pocket.

At first, I thought all the Slytherins hated me as much as Malfoy, but one morning a Slytherin boy sat next to me and started talking, looping two girls across from us into the conversation. One of the girls wasn't interested but the other was and the three of us held a conversation the whole meal. The boy's name was Samuel Wiseman and the girl was Bertha Grimm. For the most part, I didn't talk to them, but during mealtimes we found each other. Then we began to hang out regularly sometimes too. When I had no one else, I had Bertha (who's name we shortened to 'Beth') and Sam.

After a month of somewhat peace was over, I ran into Cedric again. Some not-so-nice Gryffindors slammed into my shoulder, knocking me, and I nearly face planted. Cedric seemed to appear out of thin air to steady me, his eyes full of concern. "You okay?”

"Yeah," I sighed, glaring back but unable to spot who might have caught my shoulder. I looked back and Cedric, my expression softening. "It's fine, I'm getting used to it."

That seemed to bother him even more. He studied me carefully. "What are you doing later?" I shrugged. "Wanna hang out? I can help you with homework and you can tell me how your first... almost two months now, yeah?"

"Yeah," I confirmed. "I'd love that. Wanna meet in the library?" He nodded enthusiastically and I grinned for the first time since the sorting ceremony. "Awesome. See you then."

"Watch your back," he called after me. "I really will track down some Gryffindors and skin them if I see they're being too rough with you." I laughed, even though it wasn't really a joke. He was being serious in a light manner because he knew that it was a problem and he was trying to make it clear he wasn't going to tolerate it, even if he didn't want to upset me.

That night I told him everything. I told him about Sam and Beth but also about Crabb, Goyle, Draco, and the two girls who had welcomed and comforted me the first day but who now ignored me, not being hateful but not being friendly either. I told him about my few run in's and shared glances or teeny tiny sort-of-interactions with Harry Potter and how they'd gotten me in trouble. I told him about the twins booing me my first day. How Snape hated me, but Professor Flitwick shot me comforting smiles every once and a while so I was sure he liked me. I told him about the looks McGonagall had been shooting me when she thought I wasn't looking- a lot of really unimportant things I hadn't really thought were bothering me. I told him about how much I was loving Hogwarts despite all the hiccups.

He told me about his life too. About classes and friends and how he wasn't really a Prefect because he was only a fourth year. He'd just been messing around with a friend's badge that another one of his friends - a Gryffindor - had swiped as a joke when George had run up to him and told him that he and Fred have stumbled across some Slytherins who seemed to be ganging up on another student. He told me about some kids he knew in the other houses when I told him that Gryffindors seemed to be everywhere, joking that Gryffindors were the loudest but Hufflepuffs were the most fun. Then he began to tell me about some spells he was learning, quietly teaching me little harmless things to make me laugh. Tripping curses and spells that made bubbles come out of your wand. How to make a small bubble around us that blocked out all sound, or how to put my new levitating spell I’d just learned to hilarious use. He was a lot more trouble than I'd realized- even if he was only doing it to make me laugh.

Eventually we got to homework, where we stayed quiet except when he walked me through things I got hung up on. Mostly we worked on our different projects in comfortable silence.

My other friendships were a lot more casual- more like acquaintanceships. There was never a time when if we stopped talking it didn't feel... awkward. And once we stopped, it was hard to get into it again. With Cedric, it felt like I'd just found my long lost older brother. And he seemed to think the same. "It's late," he told me as I yawned my longest yawn yet. "How about you get to bed?" I turned a mournful look towards him and he returned a gentle smile. "We can do this again if you wish. Maybe regularly? Every Friday or Saturday?” He tilted his head back and forth. I smiled. “But you need sleep."

I sighed, nodding. "Okay, mum."

Cedric rolled his eyes but his smile never faltered. "If I'm going to be in charge of you, I accept big brother only." We looked at each other for a few seconds and then I nodded. Yep, that would do. We parted ways for the night and I headed to sleep.

Life basically passed like that. Cedric and I had a homework-and-chill session every weekend, the day changing based on our week and if we were available. My meals, some classes I spent with Sam and Beth, or how I had detention and potions with Neville. Everyone else pretty much ignored me except Fred Weasley, who would wave at me every time we made eye contact no matter how much I ignored him, and Harry and Ron - Ron was a friend that stuck around Harry and seemed to be all around pretty friendly to those who weren't total dicks - who would shoot me looks. Usually Harry initiatives the distant contact and usually in potions when I scrambled to block Neville from Snape. Little nods, fleeting smiles. The good stuff- casual style. Life stabilized and I was happy with my lot.

Then Halloween happened.

The panic, the troll in the dungeon, me curling into a ball and pressing my forehead to the table and closing my eyes and covering my ears while everyone screamed and tried to run out. Dumbledore calming us down. Going back to the dorm where Beth found me and hugged me, glad I was okay, and Sam was pulled to the boys' dorm by an older brother of his. He'd told us about him once.

After that night, rumors passed around about Harry Potter and the troll, and how 'Ron and Harry' became 'Harry, Ron, and Hermione'. Hermione actually began talking to me, taking the time after class while we moved to our next to ask how the last weekend had been. I told her about my friendship with Cedric Diggory and she told me about her friendship with Harry Potter and we laughed because it sounded like a competition but it wasn't.

When I first talked to Harry, he told me about his upcoming Quidditch game. I promised him I'd come but didn't promise I'd cheer for him and he got me to promise that I would cheer for him if he would give me a reason to. I promised that if it happened then I would.

At the game, I didn't get the chance to cheer for him. My knuckles were white as I gripped a railing, eyes glued to the sky and lips parted in worry. Harry was fine and I was calm until his broom started to jerk, zigzagging through the sky and trying to buck him off. People around me gasped and I appreciated for a moment that they cared. People were wrong- it wasn't Hogwarts against Slytherin. You could see the proof if you looked close enough. Even if they pretended to hate people from other houses, when someone was in danger Slytherins worried too. Even if they wouldn’t admit it.

Thankfully the broom stopped jerking just as I got my wand out and tried to think of something if he fell off. I relaxed, sitting back but leaving my wand out. There wasn't further incident but I was starting to worry about Harry Potter and the luck he had. Or, more accurately, the luck he DIDN’T have.

Other than these little blips of drama, it was just school. After detention ended Neville and I only talked to each other during potions. I did most of the work as he handed me things and read instructions. It was still teamwork enough that Snape couldn't yell at us. Harry and his friends seemed to be getting distracted by something so we didn't talk to each other much and Sam's brother kept trying to separate him from me - I realized it was ME when I saw the two brothers joking with Beth but then the older one, Michael, pull him away when I approached... several times. So Beth and I didn't hang out as much while she hung out with Sam and left me to hang out with Cedric.

Christmas I spent alone.

Most of the people I talked to left and the rest - Harry and Ron specifically - I didn't feel comfortable or close enough to rationalize crashing their Christmas. Cedric sent me a package of chocolates and a Christmas sweater that he'd said would be perfect for me. It totally was. I wondered briefly if he'd had someone make it for me...

I was out in the snow in my new sweater when he found me. Fred Weasley. "Hey."

I turned to face him. I frowned, turning away. "Hello."

He moved next to me. "You're less cool when you hate me."

"You're easy to hate," I replied evenly.

"How do you figure?"

I shot him a dark look. "Why are you here Fred? You obviously don't like Slytherins- you proved that when you BOOED me when I got sorted. So what do you want?"

He seemed to have a lot of emotions going through his head at once. "How did you know I was Fred?"

I looked away. "I don't know." I felt his eyes on me. "I actually don't," I repeated. "I just... I look at you and your brother and I DO."

He nodded, letting it go. "When we saw you in the hallway, with Draco and his dogs, George went and got Cedric but I stayed to watch because we were worried they'd hurt you before we could get someone." I looked over slowly. "What you said to them... it was cool." We didn't talk for a few beats. "I'd like to restart. I'm sorry about the sorting ceremony." I rose an eyebrow. "Seriously.” He shifted, righting his shirt for dramatic effect even though it was fine. “Hi, I'm Fred Weasley." He stuck out his hand to me.

Unable to help myself, I smiled. He was too easy going and positive. His smile was too contagious. So I took his hand, shaking. "Ylva Black." I hesitated then added, "You can call me Liv."

He grinned. "Cool."

The same comfortable quiet I felt with Cedric fell and I knew that despite how we'd started things, I had a new REAL friend and I was okay with that. I guess that was my real Christmas present.

The rest of the year passed without much drama for me until word spread around about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. My worry for him increased and I wondered if being his friend was a good idea, considering how Hermione and Ron were involved. Quirrell was gone and rumors of a dark power hovering over them had first years shivering with fear.

At the end of the day, Fred and I became really good friends, which lead to me meeting George. It was like how my other acquaintanceships were- not often and loud, but fun. George was nice but it was Fred who joined my weekend study sessions with Cedric.

When Slytherin was lined up for the cup, I felt successful. I'd done my part for the glory of my house, though I did feel bad for the glum looks on a lot of my Gryffindor comrades. Cedric waved at me from across the room in congratulations and I grinned back.

I was tired of getting the carpet torn from under me. I was tired of being sure and set in something and then having it turned on it's head. Alas, Dumbledore had one last surprise. He awarded some last minute points, recognizing Ron and Hermione in their part in helping Harry as well as recognizing Neville for standing up to them. Neville's happy smile and wide eyes as people thumped him on the back sent my heart soaring and I didn't even fell bad when Harry got his extra points and the banners turned from green to red- Gryffindor had won. I was the only Slytherin that clapped and it was short lived. Other Slytherins glared at me and I sunk into my seat.

My house hated me.

The train ride was the highlight of my year, which is probably strange but no less true. I spent most of it writing a letter to my dad... even though I knew I'd never send it. I finished it, closing it up and then just staring at it. I'd written letters before but I knew that I wanted to write one at the end of every year, just to summarize what I'd gone through. I had no one else to talk to... Or so I thought.

"Who'd you write a letter to?"

I looked up, smiling as Cedric sat down across from me. "My dad." He nodded and the paused when my eyes fell to my letter again, my face growing sad. I noticed his curiosity and I cleared my throat. "Why are you sitting with me? Cool Hufflepuff fourth year like you? Don't you have any other friends?"

Cedric busted up laughing. "Okay, rude, first of all. Second of all, I CHOSE to come here because I wanted to say my last goodbye. Have one last conversation." He paused. "And threaten you to write me during the Summer to make sure you do." We both chuckled.

"Yeah, I'll write to you." I looked back to my letter.

"What's that about?" He asked gently, jutting his chin to my face. I suppose he was talking about my expression. "Aren't you going back home? Why send a letter?"

I swallowed. "My dad... isn't at home." He grew quiet, his smile faltering. "I don't think he even knows I exist."

He leaned forward, taking my hand. "I didn't know that I'm sorry."

"It's okay." I shook my head, smiling weakly. "You couldn't hurt a fly if you tried." We both smiled a little stronger. "Fun fact: I'm a loner." My eyes fell to the floor. "My mum sort of didn't want me so she gave me away. I mean... she wanted me at first. But my dad- he isn't a good man. She said I reminded her of him - in a latter, I was just a baby when she left me - so she gave me away. I'm... sort of in an orphanage." I shrugged, looking away. "I figured you should know. Friends know those things about each other right?"

Cedric's expression grew even sadder at my question. "Oh Liv..." he moved next to me, putting an arm around me and pulling me into his side. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," I whispered, closing my eyes. He was warm. "I have the greatest big brother." I couldn't see him but I knew that he was smiling by the sound of his little gasp, a little choked up.

I don't remember falling asleep but since he had to wake me up, he must have. "We're almost there. You might want to change out of your robes." I nodded, moving away to do so before returning in my normal clothes. I sat down next to him, snagging my folded up letter to tuck it into my trunk where it wouldn't get ruined. "I'd have to ask my dad for sure, but if he's okay with it... do you want to spend some of your Summer at my house?" I looked up at him, eyes shooting a mile wide. "I don't have a mum either but we’d still have nice su-"

I cut him off when I attacked him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I would love to Ced."

He hugged me back. "I'll make sure it happens then." The rest of the time he told me about what he had planned this Summer and his plan on getting it worked out. When the train stopped I finally noticed that he didn't have his robes on anymore, which made me realized he must have changed when I was asleep. He walked me to his dad, explaining our friendship and asking if I could stay after introducing me. His dad was rather pleasant and seemed excited by the idea of having me over. Now all there was for us to convince the lady at the orphanage... which I promised wouldn't be hard. We moved toward platforms nine and ten where I told them she was waiting for me.

"LIV!" I turned to see Fred jogging up to me. I smiled, catching his ever-contagious grin. "Sorry I just wanted to catch you before you were gone. Write to me will you?"

A weird light filled me. I was THRILLED to have so many people genuinely concerned with keeping in touch. Who would miss me. "Definitely." I paused before holding out my hand. He looked down at it, taking it. But instead of shaking like I'd thought he pulled me closer, hugging me. I was tense at first but then I softened, allowing myself to enjoy the hug. We pulled away as someone called Fred's name, stepping apart. "See you."

"Until next year." Then he turned and walked away. I went back to Cedric and his dad, guiding them to the Muggle train station and to the Head Mistress of the orphanage. This was going to a great Summer, but I was even more excited for my second year of Hogwarts coming up. I had a feeling that some amazing things were about to happen and I couldn't wait.

-

Tag List: @reddie-steddie-go

[princesshumayrah786]

Rachel and Emily were the daughters of  Amanda they had lost their father in a tremendous accident.  Due to his death, they went from the middle class to broke.  He died 7 months ago. (and Amanda is expecting)

The girls wore broken socks and shoes. 

Their mother worked hard to let her beautiful daughters have something to eat at least twice a day. Even if she had to sacrifice or pretend that she had eaten already, but they never knew that she went. For days without food. 

Rachel is 7 and Emily  11 David unborn 

They have been bonding since their father passed on. 

For Amanda it was not the same although her daughters were in the same boat she had lost year's of spending her life with her beloved and now he has left her forever. 

Rachel and Emily we're jolly and very delightful girls. They attended a girls school for under privilege kids. 

One fine morning. 

They received a letter from their wealthy grand father & grand mother.

An aunt uncle and a two cousins. 

The letter was written neatly. 

Amanda read the letter to her beloved little angels. 

Amanda: alright have a seat girls I will read the letter any moment now. 

Rachel: I am so excited, I hope grandad misses us so much. 

Emily: well he will miss me the most in his favourite. 

Amanda: hush, he loves both equally. 

Let me read the story now. 

Amanda clearing her voice and she started reading 

Amanda: To Amanda Sullivan

I hope you are good by the grace of God. 

We would like to extend a hand and would be so thrilled having the girls residing with us, that is only if you are willing to send them. We have botwellearched for something in your criteria and hope that you would like working at the bakery. Down the road. And we would arrange our guest house for you, the girls can reside in the main mansion with us. 

Schooling is our main emphasis we don't want the girls going down the pit,  hope you understand you have experienced that. So you would know. 

Hope to hear from you shortly. 

Grace & Richard Ozborne 

Keep well. 

Goodbye. Until next time.

Amanda gave a great sigh. 

Rachel: mom would you be so such mother to send us away from you? 

Emily: well if it will benefit us in the future sure mom will send us away. 

Amanda: I haven't said a anything yet. 

And they want me there as well. 

I have to think about everything, before we make a decision.  Said Amanda. 

Very angry. 

Emily and Rachel then had a meeting one their own about their grandparents. 

In the mean while. 

Rachel : i would  love visiting but I will never go and live with them. No will do. .

Emily: well since I'm more intelligent than you , and granddad has always been my favourite person in the world. We both love nature and photography. 

Rachel: stop praising yourself. You building pride the exact same way as grandmother. 

Amanda was restless that night she dreamt. Her dead husband. Telling her to move to his parents. 

To her, The  dreams felt real. 

The next morning she packed all their belongings. One suitcase for each. 

Rachel: I don't believe this.mother!!! 

Amanda : yes daughter what's the matter? 

Emily: your daughter doesn't want to leave her hometown. She wants to live in poverty all her life. 

Rachel: how dare you? 

I havent said anything as such.

I will never go against my mothers words. You know that very well. 

Amanda : silence I am taking a big step. There's no turning back now. One's I have made up my mind I'm staying there. 

Emily: Good choice mum. 

Rachel just gave a big sigh. And said. 

Rachel: well. I am not going to fight with anyone about this. It is final when mother decides something we will do as she said. 

Arrival at the Mansion.

Rachel: This is really beautiful, but weird. 

Emily: stop being so negative we are definitely going to enjoy it here. 

Grandfather: Good morning  . my grand daughters. I am glad you have decided to come and live with me. 

Grandmother. Well well well. . come on now Amanda take in you're luggage. 

Richard:  Good morning Amanda I am glad you came back. I have been waiting for  you and the kids for so long. 

Amanda: Do not tire yourself Father, we are here to live with you. I hope we haven't cause you any inconvenience?

Richard: Never! I love having the kids around. 

Grace: Amanda let me show you,  their rooms, and yours. 

Amanda had a tear flowing from her rosy cheeks.  She had just seen her late husbands brother. He was the split image of his brother. 

Then Sam made it towards her and whispered in her ear. 

Sam: My wife ain't happy to see you but I have no objection I love the girls. And I am pleased to have you all with us. 

Nathaniel: oh my word. Look who the car dragged in. Wait until my sister sees this. 

Sam: Nathaniel!. That's no way to speak to your cousins.  Go to the study  room and complete your task. 

Nathaniel: ugh. Yes father I am going. 

Hazel: Hi there cousins. My word I can't believe you both so grown. 

Emily: excuse me. We're the exact same age. Don't tell me you think you're older. 

Rachel: Emily! Come on let's go to our room. 

Hazel hated Emily. And Rachel they were really beautiful just like their mother. 

No wonder their father were so head over hills, his daughters were really earth angels. 

Richard: Emily. How's your education? 

Emily: Grandad we Havent been in school since dad had passed on.

We're 

 Amanda didn't want Emily uttering anything about their finances. So she interrupted them.

Amanda: Emily come on now,  help me with the kitchen.  

Emily: yes ma'am. 

Grace:Amanda! My word no my granddaughter will not be placing a hand or a fingernail in the kitchen, this is why I have assigned maids. Come on Emily let me show you your modern cabinet. 

Sam: Amanda come on and have some tea with me and my wife on the deck. I'm sure you in need of  a break. 

Emily : grandmother I love the wardrobe it's so fashionable. 

Grace: I guess I did good. Didn't I?

Emily: grandmother did well. You're the best. 

Emily didn't know how to ask about her mothers side of the family. Her grandmother knew she had something on her mind.

Emily: grandmother could I perhaps ask ma'am a  question?