#when she suddenly showed up in fucking PUERTO RICO

[thursdayinspace]

Mulder in "Little Green Men" (s2ep1). He's so lonely. What's interesting to me is the contrast to Mulder from the pilot and Mulder here. We got an idea in the pilot of how lonely he must be, but he had been on his own for a while and that was his default. Seeing him at the beginning of s2 is heartbreaking. At the begining of s1 he was so used to being alone. But now . . . Of course the fact that the x files have been closed is getting to him, but it also becomes so obvious how much he has come to rely and depend on having Scully around, on working with someone. With her.

Their meeting in the parking garage -- he feels like he has lost his purpose, even doubts his memories and his experiences, he feels like everything they've been through hasn't been worth it because they've accomplished nothing. We don't know how or if he would have managed to surface from that eventually on his own. Most likely he would have. But it might have taken him a long time. It's Scully who doesn't let him give up: "During your time with the X-Files, you've seen so much." / "Even if George Hale only saw elves in his mind, the telescope still got built. Don't give up. And next time we meet out in the open." (Which becomes a recurring theme over the years, all the way up to the revival. But that would deserve its own post.) (The way she touches his hair before she leaves though. <3)

What kills me in this episode is Mulder recording his tape for Scully in Puerto Rico: "Deep Throat said "Trust no one." And that's hard, Scully, suspecting everyone, everything. It wears you down. You even begin to doubt what you know is the truth. Before, I could only trust myself. Now, I can only trust you, and they've taken you away from me." I mean, compare that to pilot Mulder? Not trusting anyone was what he did. That was Mulder. He may or may not have been showing off a little bit for Scully, but he seemed to have made quite a home for himself in his lone wolf existence (out of necessity). He can't do that anymore. He needs something to hold onto. And he had that in his partnership with Scully.

Also. THEY'VE TAKEN YOU AWAY FROM ME. Can we take a second to appreciate what that means? He knows she would not have chosen to leave. He believes that. He trusts her absolutely. She's become a lifeline for him. Put that together with his quote from the end of the episode: "I may not have the X-Files, Scully, but I still have my work. And I’ve still got you. And I still have myself." The order of those statements seems important: He thought he had lost his purpose in the beginning of this episode. He wasn't even sure whether or not he still believed in it. Now he has motivation again.

And he has Scully. She stuck around, not just because of the work. When he was at his lowest, she arranged secret meetings for them, told him not to give up, even followed him all the way to Puerto Rico. He doesn't believe she'd have chosen to leave if the x files hadn't been closed, but I don't think he was sure she'd stick around forever without a reason. But she's relentless in her loyalty and friendship -- a trait he recognizes because it's one they share. He will never choose to leave her, and is allowing himself to trust that she's still there because she wants to be.

Finally, he's also got himself. Among all the things he'd lost at the beginning of the episode, the biggest loss was himself. But he was mourning everything except that. Those "good riddance @ former me" vibes were strong at the beginning of the episode -- and of course they were a form of grief. But it almost feels like he wanted to punish himself, blame himself for everything that went wrong. (That is also something we keep seeing. The show has amazing continuity with things like that. Things get to him. He takes failure really hard. He's not gentle with himself.) So this is the culmination of the previous two points: he has his purpose back, and he has someone who cares about him, who has his back, someone he loves (and I am going to use that term here even if it's debatable how aware they are of their feelings at this point; there are so many forms of love, and I think it's not up to debate that they love each other in some way, possibly even a way they may not even know about yet).

It's such a strong episode for him, and I love all the ways it mirrors the pilot and contrasts the Mulder from back then with the Mulder a year later. So much has happened, and neither he nor Scully are the same people they were, and that's life. It's so well done.

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch10: Hustle

Chapter Summary: It’s date time!!! Woohoo!! The slow burn has FINALLY burst into flames”

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW, no under 18s thanks!)

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 9

“And there is no, no song I could sing, and there is no combination of words I could say, but I will still tell you one thing…we’re better together.”

Fliss checked herself over again in the mirror and bit her lip. Frank had told her to dress casually, and bring a sweater as it could get a bit chili on the water at this time of year. She’d opted for a pair jeans with ripped knees, a sleeveless black top with white lace detailing in the shape of daisies and a pair of high-top pink converse. Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun and her make-up was heavier than she normally wore but not too obvious. That said, she still felt…

Actually what was it she felt?

“That’s what you’re wearing?” John looked her up and down as she emerged from the walk-in closet. Fliss felt her heart sink, she’d spent ages picking this outfit for the night out John had said they were going on.

“What, is it not…” she asked and trailed off.

“No, wear a dress, for fucks sake Felicity, we’re going to an up-scale restaurant, not a goddamned diner.”

At that point she heard her mum calling, jerking her back out of the memory. She took a deep breath and grabbed her long black cardigan. Frank wasn’t John, and she wasn’t fucking Felicity. With a final check of her appearance she headed down the stairs to find her mum waiting in the living room of the annex.

“Oh you look lovely!” Verity gushed and Fliss smiled.

“Thanks mum, you okay?”

“Yeah, just came by to ask if you wanted us to take Thor for the night or,” there was a glint in her mother’s eye and Fliss gave a snort.

“I’m coming home.” she shook her head “This is a first date. What do you take me for?” “Well it’s been a while.” Verity shrugged, nonchalantly and Fliss picked up a cushion off the sofa and threw it at her.

“You’re terrible.”

Verity caught the cushion and tossed it back, smiling. “Ok, honestly, I just wanted to see how you were, that’s all.”

“Big girl mum, sure I can handle a date. Besides, it’s Frank.” she shrugged.

“I know.” Verity replied, and studied her daughter for a second, a softness on her face, but before Fliss could reassure her some more, she heard Frank’s truck pull up outside.

Fliss moved round her mum and opened the door, ushering her out.

“Okay, I get the message!” Verity held her hands up, calling Thor. He obediently trotted after her. “I’ll put him back in later.”

“Thanks mum.” she smiled as she waved at Frank who had cut the engine and was just climbing out.

“Bill let me in.” He said by way of explanation as Fliss looked at him. “Hi V.” He nodded to the woman and she gave him a warm smile back.

“Hi Frank.” she said, turning back to Fliss, looking over her shoulder as she walked “Have fun kids, don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.”

“That leaves a lot…” Fliss said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as her mum laughed and disappeared up the drive to the main house. She turned to look at Frank who smiled at her as he walked round the back of the truck. He was dressed in a pair of dark jeans, dark blue sneakers and a light blue button down.

“You look great.” He smiled at her and she flushed a little, all her earlier trepidation vanishing as there was nothing but softness on his face.

“Don’t look too bad yourself, Sailor.” she replied a little shyly, and he grinned, pushing his sunglasses up onto his head as he followed her into the house “Although I was kinda hoping you’d wear one of those hideous Hawaiian shirts.”

“You literally just called them hideous.” He rolled his eyes

“Hideous and endearing.” She quipped, grabbing her purse before she retrieved her cardigan from where she had tossed it onto the sofa.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded.

With a smile he offered her his hand and she took it without a second thought, and allowed him to lead her to the truck.

******

Frank parked his truck outside his house and led Fliss down the path towards the docks. They chatted comfortably as he made his way to the boat he’d borrowed for the evening and before long he’d fired it up and was steering them out of the harbour and into the bay. Fliss sat down on one of the benches, her legs resting on the wooden step in front of her, sunglasses covering her eyes as she glanced out over the water, the wind gently catching the loose strands of her hair and her sweeping bangs. Frank glanced at her every so often, simply drinking her in.

Eventually he picked up the speed ever so slightly and then called to Fliss, nodding to a cool box on the side that Dave, the owner, had left for him when he’d told him why he wanted to borrow it. He liked Dave, often swung a fair bit of work his way and he was a good man, always tipped Frank well.

Fliss retrieved two bottles and flipped the tops off before handing him one.

“Are you allowed to drink and be in charge of a boat?” she asked.

He shrugged “Never been stopped yet.” She smiled and took a drink, moving to stand besides him.

“Can I have a drive?" Fliss looked at him

"Thought you sailed a boat?" Frank said, teasingly as he took a mouthful of Bud.

"You're a dick, Adler" Fliss deadpanned back.

Frank laughed "Whatever, and no you can’t."

"Why?" she pouted.

"Because I don’t fancy having to call Mary from Puerto Rico"

"Hmmm." Fliss pondered, swallowing her beer. "Are we even on the open ocean yet?"

"No"

"Well how the fuck would we end up in Puerta Rico?" She laughed "And, according to that compass," she pointed to the dial in front of them on the cockpit of the boat, "we're heading South West so we would hit Havana or Cancun first anyway. That is once we've actually made it out of the bay of course."

"You know it's no wonder you and Mary get on so well.” He shook his head. "Both smart asses."

She chuckled as she stood beside him and they made their way at a reasonable pace across the water, Frank keeping his eyes peeled for what he was hoping to find, and after five minutes or so he spotted the tell-tale ripples on the surface of the bay and grinned. He changed course slightly, heading towards his target and was just about to finally tell Fliss what he was heading towards when one of the dolphins broke surface. It was a small leap but Fliss gripped his arm and gave an excited gasp.

"Is that...are they dolphins?"

"Yup." he grinned at her. She looked at him in amazement and he smiled as they sped forward towards them, watching as another leapt out of the water, this time far higher as they continued to follow the pod, Fliss making her way to the stern for a closer look. To Frank they were a common sight but for Fliss, who had never seen them in the wild so close, it was amazing, and the smile never faded from her face for the entire time. She glanced back at him every so often, beaming, and it made his chest flutter every goddamned time she did. Eventually after about twenty minutes or so the pod dived and then emerged a little way ahead of them and Frank slowed down a touch, allowing them to pull away.

"Wow." Fliss breathed as she made her way back towards him and Frank took her empty bottle and tossed it into a garbage bag along with his own. "Frankie, that was..." she sighed unable to express what she was feeling. Frank chuckled softly watching her before he reached for her arm, gently pulling her in front of him as he stepped back.

"Take the wheel." He said softly into her ear.

"Fuck, what?" She stiffened slightly

"You wanted a go."

"I was only joking...I can't sail this thing!"

He laughed. "Come on its easy, I'll show you look.” he moved closer to her, his chest brushing her back as his hands gently fell over hers on the wheel. He steered with her for a moment before he gradually let go and his fingers softly traced up her arms.

Fliss felt the goose-bumps spring forth at his touch and at the same time Frank noticed her breathing changing slightly and he suddenly worried he had overstepped the mark. But, as his hands stopped at her elbows, she turned her head slightly, her face inches from his as she looked up at him over her shoulder. Her eyes flicked down to his mouth and he took the initiative and leaned down pressing his lips to hers in a soft kiss which, although fleeting, sent shivers down his spine. They both pulled back for a second or two before their lips were back together, this time the kiss a little stronger and Frank's right hand felt for the key in the ignition of the boat and he turned it cutting the engine. Fliss chuckled against his lips as she turned round to face him.

"Just out of interest, what happens if the boat doesn't start again?" She asked, pushing his sunglasses up onto his head so she could see his eyes.

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Are you doubting my handy-work, Cowgirl"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Sailor." she murmured as he closed the distance between them, his hands falling to her hips before he kissed her again.

Frank already knew he was an utter gonner for this woman and the feeling of her mouth on his and her body pressed against him simply solidified that fact. It was as if this was what he had been holding out for, like it was just meant to be. Her arms snaked round his neck, and when one of her hands fisted gently in his hair, he gripped her hips ever so slightly tighter and his tongue skated along her bottom lip, seeking permission. She obliged, opening her mouth slightly and he took the lead, his hands sliding round to her back pulling her closer. It was passionate, deep, the two totally wrapped up in one another, no regard for the fact they were on a boat, merely drifting across the bay.

It was only when a loud cheer hit their ears that they broke apart and both turned their heads to see a larger boat floating last with a group of four men passing, all raising beer bottles at them in a toast, shouting and hollering various cat calls. "Friends of yours?" Fliss asked, Frank's hands gently rubbing at the base of her spine. "I have absolutely no idea who they are" he gave a chuckle as the boat full of guys headed off past them into the setting sun.

The moment broken, Frank gently moved round Fliss and started the boat back up, grabbed another two beers whilst she shrugged on her cardigan, before he stood back and let Fliss pilot the boat for a little longer, using the excuse of straightening up their direction to touch her in some form or way as often as he could, until the light started getting dim and he reluctantly suggested they should probably be making their way back. Fliss moved to let him take the wheel and, to his delight, as he moved to steer, he felt her hands link round his waist and her cheek press into his back. They stayed like that until she needed to move so he could move the boat back into its allocated spot before bringing it to a stop.

He stepped off the boat, gave directions to Fliss as she remained on the deck and the two of them ensured the boat was moored properly. Frank hopped back on board, made sure everything was locked down and then stepped onto the jetty again, offering his hand to Fliss. She took it and stepped onto the wooden platform besides him and he smiled as she adjusted her hold so her fingers were laced between his. They walked in silence back towards the main area of the harbour, the lights twinkling on the water as they walked down the wooden planks.

"So Mary's staying at Roberta's." Frank broke the silence. "What do you say we take this date to Ferg's?"

"You wanna take me to Ferg's on our first date?" She asked, her hands sliding up over his chest to his shoulders and he bit back the moan that had arisen in his throat at her touch. "How romantic..."

"Come on cut me some slack" he chuckled as his hands fell to her hips again "I took you out chasing dolphins in the sunset!"

"Hmmm, well, I suppose when you put it like that." she grinned, reaching up to close the distance between them once more in a soft, sweet kiss "I'm just kidding, Sailor. I like Ferg’s...it has character."

"One way of describing it." He chuckled as he places and arm round her shoulder. “You alright to walk, it’s only ten minutes or so from here.”

“Walking’s good.” she nodded, leaning into him. ***** "He Joe, can I get an eight bucket?" Frank looked at the bar tender, hanging him a twenty "And can you make sure there's change for the pool table?" "No worries..."

As Fliss came back from the restroom, Frank smiled at her, and then suddenly cursed himself as he realised he hadn’t asked her what she wanted.

“I ordered beer. Is that ok or did you want something else?” “No, beers great.” she beamed at him, “But thank you for asking.”

Frank didn’t press the fact that she didn’t need to be so grateful at common courtesy, he figured that was another hang up from her asshole ex and he had no intentions of bringing that fucker up in any way, shape or form tonight.

Joe set the bucket down, handed Frank his change and Frank tipped him before he handed Fliss a beer and picked the bucket up with one hand, gently steering her away from the bar, towards the pool table at the back with his other, fingers gently splaying at the lower part of her back. He set the beer bucket down on a table to the right and then fished in his pocket for some change. “Wanna make this more interesting?” He asked as he slid the coins into the shot.

“I'm not playing strip pool, not in the middle of a bar anyway.” Fliss shook her head, taking a mouthful from her bottle.

“So you would in private?” he grinned as the balls rolled down and he bent down to retrieve them and started to place them on the table.

She smirked

“Okay, filing that for future reference.” he said, pointing his bottle at her as he straightened up.

“You don’t have a pool table.”

“I’ll get one.” he deadpanned, causing her to laugh. “But no, I was talking about a wager.

She groaned “I'm really shit at pool.”

“Ok, we’ll do best outta three, .and I'll even give you a four ball head start on the first game.” he coaxed.

“What's the bet?” she narrowed her eyes.

“Loser buys the shots?”

"You know it’s probably easier if I just go buy em now."

“Ah, c’mon!” he said, his Boston drawl slipping out slightly stronger than normal. “Don’t be a baby.”

“Fine.” she said, with a heavy sigh. “But I’m buying Tequila. I can’t stand Sambucca and straight vodka makes me want to hurl”

“Whatever you say sweetheart.”

It turns out Fliss wasn’t exaggerating. On their first game she really was terrible. Frank laughed as she pouted at him and told him he was mean as he pulled another two beers from the bucket, handing her one, before racking the balls up again before he chalked up his cue.

“You’re break.” He smiled and she rolled her eyes as he positioned the white ball on the spot. She took her cue and bent over the table.

“Ok, move your hand,” he said, reaching over and repositioning her hold, “little more accuracy…but you need to put some power behind it too.” He moved her right elbow back and guided her arm through the shot and it broke the pack with a satisfying clack, sending a striped into the top pocket.

“Guess I’m stripes.” she shrugged, standing up, her back brushing against his chest. He dropped a kiss to her cheek and moved so she could take the next shot. The game continued in this vein, Frank helping her, showing her where to aim so she hit the balls in the right spot, continually correcting her elbows and guiding her hands so that she didn’t hit anything too hard. There was an intimate quality to it too, being pressed behind or over her and at one point he certainly had a twitch in the groin area and had to back away, leaving her to it.

After he deliberately fouled up on the final shot, Fliss ended up winning and she stood straight and looked at him.

“You did that on purpose.”

He shrugged, grinning. “Makes it interesting for the final. Tie break.”

“Can I break again?” she asked as he racked the balls up.

He nodded, strictly speaking it was his turn but, well, like it mattered. He was going to win anyway.

Fliss broke and potted a solid this time. And then she proceeded to pot shot after shot. Frank’s mouth fell open as she moved to her next ball, then the next and she looked up at him, smirking as she nominated the pocket just in front of him and then sank her last ball without him even getting a single turn. He could do nothing but stare at her for a moment before he snapped his mouth shut.

"You just eight balled me." he looked at her.

She shrugged

"Wait, did I just get hustled?" he asked, realisation washing over him. The corner of her mouth twitched up in a grin and he groaned as he shook his head. “Fuck me.”

“Think you owe me some shots.” She teased, pulling the last two bottles of beer from the bucket and handing him one.

“Where did you learn to play pool like that?” he asked, shaking his head.

“Well when I was competing I was on the road a lot with the team.” She smiled. “We socialised in the evenings, guess I just picked it up. That’s also where I learned how to hustle.”

“I don’t know if I should be pissed off or impressed.” He teased, picking up the bucket which was loaded with their empties as they made their way back to the bar.

Or turned on…

“Can’t you be both?” she looked at him and he laughed.

“Tequila was it?”

Three shots each later they were both definitely feeling the buzz and at that point Fliss insisted she needed to switch to water, explaining she was still up early in the morning for lessons, reminding him that Mary had one at two.

“So I get to see you tomorrow as well?” he smiled and she grinned.

“Must be your lucky weekend.” she smirked.

“Clearly.”

The soft flirting continued for another half an hour before Fliss reluctantly groaned and said she needed to get home. Frank didn’t want the evening to end but he got it, it was past midnight and she was up at seven.

As he walked her out to her cab, she declined the offer of him riding with her and smiled, turning to face him.

“I had a really great night.” she said, shyly as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her hear. “Thank you.” “Me too.” he said, honestly. He smiled at her, before he moved towards her, his arm circling her waist before he dipped his head to catch her lips in a soft kiss.

“See you tomorrow.” she smiled, her head resting against his before he grinned again and opened the door for her.

“Yeah, you will.”

**** Fliss groaned as her alarm went off, blinking and grimacing at the light. Her head was fuzzy, that tequila really hadn’t been a great idea. Then the memory of the rest of the date came back and she smiled to herself, laying her head back on the pillow. Allowing herself five minutes of dozing and basking in the memory and warm feeling she had, she eventually knew she had to get up and headed for the shower.

Thankfully she was up too early to encounter her mother, who she knew would want the gossip. She had half been expecting her to be waiting when she got back but suspected that her dad had probably forbidden her from doing so. After a coffee and some headache tablets she felt ready to face the day and grabbing a bottle of water she headed out to her jeep. Just as she climbed in her mobile went and she opened the message smiling as it was from Frank. A simple “Good morning” with a kiss at the end. Biting her lip, she sent him a reply before she climbed into her car.

She hardly had time to think about anything once she arrived at work. She opened up, checked her diary, indulged in a little bit more text flirting to and fro with Frank before her nine am class arrived and then it was none stop until lunch. Joanne was gently drilling her for information on her date but she was giving nothing away, other than the fact she’d enjoyed herself, before she threatened to sack the woman if she didn’t stop asking. Joanne merely smirked knowingly and shrugged before she changed the subject.

It was about half one when Frank and Mary walked onto the yard, Mary barrelling straight for Fliss before she headed into the barn to see Monty.

“Hey.” Frank smiled at Fliss and she beamed back, suddenly a little shy, for what reason she had no idea. He looked good though, faded jeans and a white polo shirt with a red horizontal stripe running across his chest.

“Hi.” she smiled at him. “She’s keen!” she gestured to the direction Mary had gone in.

“She’s been dressed and ready since eleven.” he groaned “Kept badgering me to bring her earlier.”

“You should have done.” Fliss smiled as she headed back to the office, Frank taking the opportunity to eye up her ass in those damned fine riding breeches before he hastily averted his gaze as she looked over her shoulder at him. “I’ve told you, I’m not averse to child labour.”

Frank chuckled and followed her into the tack room, pushing his shades up onto his head, and she gave a small yelp of surprise as his hands fell to her hips and he spun her round.

“C’mere.” he said softly, pulling her to him, his lips meeting hers. She eagerly kissed him back as his right hand slid up to cup her cheek, and then the door to the tack room flew open and they both jumped slightly, Frank turning round to see Mary and Joanne stood there. Joanne looked at Fliss, smirking slightly and Mary paused for a moment before she put her hands on her hips and eyed Frank.

“About damned time.” she said, with a very Roberta-esque air.

Frank groaned as Fliss giggled, her cheeks burning slightly before Mary looked at her, then to Frank before she grinned and shook her head.

“Roberta’s gonna love this…” **** “Oh come on!” Frank groaned as Fliss scored another strike, turning to hi-five Mary. “This is nothing but a fix up.” “Oh quit your fuss.” Fliss teased “Not my fault you decided you could take us both on. Did you not learn anything from Friday night?”

“Yeah, not to trust innocent little British girls who claim they’re crap at something.” He said, his hands on his hips.

“Who said anything about being innocent?” She winked at him and, damned, if that didn’t stir something in his belly. Shaking his head, and glad it was his turn, he moved to pick up a bowling ball making his way to the aisle. He took aim and then staggered back as Mary was swinging off his arm, cackling.

“Ok, now this is sabotage.” He said, raising his arm slightly before his other moved to tickle at her waist. She let go hastily, dropping onto her feet, her laughter loud as she moved backwards. “Did you tell her to do that?” he looked at Fliss.

“Hey you brought her up, don’t blame me.” Fliss smirked at him, and he rolled his eyes, taking his shot.

They had another few games as on Wednesday it was half price before they left, Frank in a pretend sulk after he had basically had his ass handed to him for the second time that week by Fliss and they drove a few minutes down the road to the Ice Cream parlour.

As they sat enjoying their treats, their talk turned to Thanksgiving which was the following week and Fliss asked them both what they were doing.

“We went to Roberta’s last year but this time it’s her year for going to her sisters.” Mary said.

“They alternate.” Frank explains. “Every other year her sister comes here and we join them, and then the others she goes there.” “Which means this year,” Mary grinned at Frank, “I get to pick dinner. And I want Chicken nuggets!”

“Woah, hang on.” Fliss said in a horrified voice. “Chicken nuggets on thanksgiving? You can’t do that!”

“Sure we can!” Frank scoffed. “It’s thanksgiving, we can eat whatever we want, ain’t that right Stack?”

Mary nodded gleefully. “Yup, we always have fun!” She said, shovelling more ice cream into her mouth “We watch the parade, have candy for breakfast, and always remember we have stuff to be thankful for, right Frank?”

“Even more so this year.” He smiled and Fliss grinned back. “So, what do you do?”

“Oh, we don’t do the sit down dinner, it’s not a British thing.” Fliss shrugged. “I’ll be doing the horses that day to let everyone have the time off and then Mum and Dad throw a party in the evenings for their friends who all come round.” She looked at him. “I’m assuming you two are gonna join us this year?

“Is that an invite?” Frank asked, his hand falling to her knee under the table.

“Dur.” She smiled at him. “Besides, my mum would cry if you didn’t show up. Think she prefers you to me now.”

They stayed where they were, ordering more ice cream just because, well, for no reason other than they could, before they headed back to drop Fliss home and Frank told Mary to wait in the truck.

“You gonna kiss again?” She asked and Fliss let out a laugh whilst Frank simply shook his head as he climbed out.

“Can I take you out again on Friday?” He asked as Fliss opened her door.

“I’ll have to check my really busy social calendar.” she said, pausing “Nope, I’m free.”

“Good, I was talking to Greg before and he told me about a really nice bistro in town…so I thought…”

Fliss wrinkled her nose. “Can we not just grab some food and go and sit by the sea?”

Frank hesitated. “Well yeah but, I thought…” “Look, fancy dinners are great every now and then but,” she sighed, “it’s all he-who-shall-not-be-named ever did.”

“He-who-shall-not-be-named?” Frank arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah, kind of reduces him to an evil, fictional twat, it suits him.” Fliss shrugged. “Anyway, he persistently took me to the most expensive places, paraded me around like some kind of fucking trophy, putting on this illusion that he was this great guy and,” she shrugged, “I had so much fun last Friday and tonight, I just…” she trailed off and groaned, wrinkling her face up, her hand pinching the bridge of her nose before she looked at him apologetically “Sorry, that sounds really ungrateful.”

Frank stepped forward and cut her off with a soft kiss “No, it doesn’t.” he assured her with a smile. “And as it happens, I know just the place we can go.”

*****

“Oh my God!” Fliss grinned, eyeing up the Mexican street food wagon by the beach in St Paul’s which was lit up by dozens of rows of fairy lights. “This is perfect!”

“Well I figured seeing as last week we didn’t go to Mexico, I’d bring Mexico to you.”  Frank grinned, inwardly purring at the fact she was so pleased.

“What’s good?” She asked.

“Honestly, all of it.” Frank smiled “But the pork and chicken burrito is my favourite. Oh, and the nachos.”

“Okay, I’ll go with that.” She smiled as they joined the queue. It wasn’t long before they reached the front and Frank placed their order, pulling out his wallet. Fliss caught his hand.

“Let me.” “No.” he shook his head.

“Please Frank.” She looked at him. “You paid last Friday and Wednesday.”

He looked at her, ready to argue but there was something in her eyes. And he found himself wondering again if this was some kind of independence thing, one she hadn’t been allowed before.

“Alright.” He shrugged “But I’m buying the drinks later.” “Deal.” She smiled, handing over the cash.

They took their food and sat down at one of the plastic tables, which was illuminated by a small candle in a jar. Fliss enthusiastically picked up her food from the basket, digging in and nodding in appreciation.

“This is so good.” She said with a mouthful, and Frank laughed as she nearly dropped half of it down the front of her pink top “Shit.”

“How did you miss?” He asked and she flicked him the finger as she continued to eat, chatting about their day.

“Greg called.” He suddenly remembered he hadn’t told her and at his words she looked at him “He’s got a date for the court hearing.” “Oh?”

“Twelth of December.” Frank leaned back. As he did so his right leg stretched forward and brushed against her left, which she gently moved closer so that their ankles were almost tangled together.

“That’s good.” she smiled “So by Christmas it’ll all be done?” “Yup.” he nodded, with a sigh “I’ll be glad with it’s finally closed.” “Have you heard anything from Evelyn?”

He shook his head. “I’m not dismissing her just yet. I have a feeling she’s gonna apply for access but if she does then that’s up to Mary. It’ll be her decision.”

Fliss nodded and then leaned back, her food now gone.

“Wanna grab a few beers and go sit on the beach?” Frank asked.

She grinned and he stood up, offering her his hand and he led her over to the truck. A couple of minutes later, both clutching a Desperado they headed down the lamp lit steps and onto the soft shore of the Public Access area of St Pete’s, making their way over to a bout of flat rocks which lay against the shore wall. Frank sat on one and Fliss perched next to him, gently leaning her head against his shoulder as he dropped a kiss to her head, dropping his arm round her.

They sat in a comfortable silence, watching as the moonlight bounced off the calm sea, the sounds of the gentle waves all they could hear.

“You okay?” Frank broke the silence, pulling her closer as she shivered slightly “Cold?”

“I shouldn’t be.” She chuckled. “It’s tropical compared to Boston.” “Yeah but you get acclimatised.” he smiled.

“Do you ever miss it?” Fliss asked suddenly. “You know, the seasons, big city living?”

“Sometimes.” He nodded. “But then I remembered why I moved and…”

“I know that feeling.” Fliss mumbled. “But, I still wish we got snow at Christmas.”

“Mary’s never seen snow.” Frank shook his head.

“We should go back sometime.” Fliss mused. “I mean, maybe not to Boston but New York perhaps. I always wanted to go in December time but I never got round to it.”

“Any particular reason or…” Frank asked, with a feeling he already knew the answer.

She looked at him “What do you think?”

Frank shook his head “I know I’ve said this before but I really would love to get sometime in a room with him, one on one.”

Fliss laughed “Yeah, you’ll be behind my Dad and Steve in the queue I’m afraid.” Frank snorted and then turned to look at her “Okay, then next year we’ll do it. We’ll go to New York. In the winter.”

“Already making plans with me for next year huh, Sailor?” she teased, and he shrugged and looked down at his feet for a moment before he turned back to her.

“Yeah.” he said simply “Yeah, I am.”

Fliss smiled and bit her lip slightly, the significance of what he was saying didn’t pass her by. He wanted this to work, he wanted this to be something more, but then she knew that already. She’d known for weeks that there was something deeper there than a little bit of dating fun. “Well, I can run with that.” She swallowed, her eyes shining. “But only if we can have a snowball fight, I can kick your ass at that too.”

He tilted his head to look at her and snorted “You’re a little aggressive on the sly, aint you?”

“Frankie, I competed for a living, you got no idea.” she grinned at him.

With a chuckle he studied her pretty face for a moment before he shifted slightly, finger tilting her chin up before he pressed his lips to hers, his fingers gently caressing her neck as the kiss deepened. A soft moan escaped her mouth and fuck, that noise went straight to his groin.

Things were quickly getting heated as her hand slid into his hair, keeping their mouths locked together, his tongue dominating hers before he eventually pulled away and pressed their foreheads together.

“Carry on like that and I’m not gonna be able to stop.” he whispered to her as she let out a soft sigh, and he tucked her hair behind her ears. She smirked back slightly, her eyes locked onto his.

“Did I say I wanted you to?”

Oh.Jesus.Christ.

He looked at her before she smiled and stood up, offering him her hand this time. Without a word he took it, and they walked back the way they had come little more than an hour earlier.

***** How Frank drove back to hers without crashing he had no idea, his mind was as far from being on the road as it should be, but he had, and here they were, stumbling into her bed room, heated kisses being shared as he kicked the door shut, his lips still fiercely on hers. Her fingers were now on the hem of his grey T-shirt and she gave it a tug, and he moved so she could pull it up over his head, tossing it to the floor somewhere and her hands moved up his sides and over his shoulders, nails scratching at the back of his neck, causing him to groan softly into her mouth as his hands gently slid under her top at the back, his touch sending shivers up her spine. His lips moved from her mouth across her jaw line, and then down her neck and she tipped her head back, giving him more access, relishing the feel of his soft mouth and the delectable gentle scratching of his beard on her skin.

Taking the lead, Frank backed her towards the bed as his hands strayed to the bottom of her top. She nodded eagerly and in a flash he pulled it over her head, before his hands gently smoothed back her hair that had flown over her face before he stole a glance at her and groaned at the soft pink lace trimmed bra that she was wearing. As the back of her knees hit her bed, he gently lowered her down, positioning himself over her, caging her with his arms and his legs as his mouth continued trailing soft kisses down her neck and her jawline, the soft noises she was making were turning him on even more and he moved back to claim her mouth in another searing kiss. She pulled away from him this time and he watched as her eyes followed her hands downwards.

Frank was toned, Fliss could see that. His shoulders and arms were ridiculously defined on account of his physical job, and she had always been able to see that with the t-shirts and tops he wore, but to her delight his abs weren’t ridiculously hard. There was a soft quality to him, even though he was still ridiculously trim, and as she followed the strip of hair down to the waistband of his pants she couldn’t help the smirk that crossed her face.

“Like something you see?” He quipped, and she looked back up at him, her fingers gently grazing his stomach, lingering there before moving down to the button on his jeans.

“Yup.” she said, popping the P loudly causing him to laugh before he smoothed her hair back softly, his mouth pressing back to hers again, as she worked the button on his jeans loose. As her nails gently scraped the sensitive span of his Adonis belt, he couldn’t help another groan and then his hands moved down between them and he worked his jeans down over his hips, almost sighing at the fact he was free from the restrictive denim. His fingers then flew to her jeans as her hands gently danced up his back, over the broad muscles of his shoulders before he slid down the bed, taking her jeans with him, before shucking his own completely off. He glanced down and saw her underwear was matching and with a teasing eyebrow he smirked at her.

“You planning for this?”

She shook her head, “hoping,” before her hand snaked round his neck, pulling him back down to her, his mouth hungrily claiming hers again as his hands trailed up the outside of her bare, soft thighs, to her hips, up the side of her body. She arched her back slightly, and he made quick work of the clasp on her bra, sliding it down her arms before he stole a glance down at her, the soft, supple lines of her breasts a complete contrast to her toned shoulders. She bit her lip shyly and as he looked back up at her, that long, auburn hair splayed across her pillow, and he knew there and then that he’d never seen anyone as beautiful as she was. He gently leaned down, rubbing his nose against hers before he kissed her softly, his lips tracing a track down her sternum before he softly took a nipple in his mouth, his tongue gently teasing, eyes flicking to her face to watch her reaction.  She groaned, rolling her head back on the pillow at the sensation, her hips bucking upwards and Frank moaned at the feel of her pressing up against him. She dragged her fingers up his spine, and her touch, her feel, her smell, the little noises of pleasure and cooing of his name all combined had him absolutely rock solid, aching for her, in a way he couldn’t ever remember aching for anyone before.

Her hips moved again and his hand trailed down, sliding into the waistband of her panties making her gasp as his fingers worked her. Her hips began to move in time with his motions, groans falling from her lips at the sensation as he nipped slightly at her neck.

“Good?” He asked as she gasped and it was all she could to do whimper softly, her head falling back further as her mouth fell open, her entire body shuddering softly. She reached down, grabbed his wrist and he looked at her, as her brown eyes locked on to his.

“Want you.” She whispered softly, and boy was he happy to oblige. He hopped off the bed, retrieving his wallet from his jeans pocket, pulling out the little foil square he always kept in there, just in case, and when he turned back he saw her led, her elbows propping her up slightly, hair falling over her shoulders. And holy shit, what a sight she was.

“Planning for this?” She raised an eyebrow, repeating his earlier words back to him and he laughed, shaking his head as he made his way back over to her.

“Hoping.” He replied softly, as she took it from him. His fingers hooked into the top of her panties, gently sliding them down before he rid himself of his boxers. Fliss tore the packet open and he groaned softly as her hands gently wrapped around his cock before she slid the condom down and that really shouldn’t been as arousing as it was but he was almost ready to blow before he’d even started. He moved over her again, his thighs gently parting hers a little further and with a steady motion he slid into her, the sensation caused both of them to groan, Fliss leaning back against the pillows as he stretched her, his girth and length filling her completely.

"Liss, fuck.” Frank breathed out, his word little more than a whisper as moved his hands to snake his fingers through hers, gently pinning her hands by the side of her head as he began to gently move his hips. Slowly at first, picking up the speed slightly as she keened underneath him. Their hips rubbed together with every thrust he made and with each rock into her, her moans of delight and pure pleasure filled his ear as his head rest in the crook of her neck, every inch of their bodies pressed as close as they could get. 

Frank couldn’t get enough of her, every single one of his senses was on fire. His fingers tightened around hers as she gave a particularly long purr of delight, and he raised his head to capture her lips, plunging his tongue into her mouth. He released her hands, his own reaching up to cup her face as he continued to move, and her hands flew to his back, the tips of her nails digging into his skin causing him to groan loudly, his head tipping backwards.

“Frankie,” she murmured, and that damned pet name was like a fucking hot wire to his groin and he felt the tell-tale heat striking across his lower stomach.

“You feel so good.” he managed to stutter out, his voice noting but a whine, and at his praise she gave another long, low, sultry gasp, her breath now coming in ragged gasps.

“God, Lissy,” Frank moaned loudly as she titled her hips, pushing back up against him, his head dropping slightly as he struggled to fight his brewing orgasm, his abdomen was tightening in pleasure. “You close?” he gasped and she nodded softly, her lips falling open and once again he kissed her, hard, speeding up ever so slightly.

“Don’t stop.” She begged, her eyes closing, before they opened again to look at him “Please, so good.”

He felt her shudder underneath him and a few thrusts later her back arched and a soft cry escaped her mouth as her eyes fluttered shut, and her head tilted back, mouth open in a now silent scream. He felt her tightening, pulsing around him and that was it, enough to tip him straight over the edge behind her, the surge and ecstasy of his relief causing his whole body to stiffen before he collapsed forward, his head burrowing into her neck.

They lay still for a moment, before he regained enough composure to prop himself up, placing a soft kiss to her lips before he pulled away slightly to find her looking up at him, lips swollen from his kisses, cheeks tinged with pink, and he smiled at the fact she was wearing that just fucked look so damned well.

“You okay?” he asked softly and she nodded, a smile playing on her lips before she kissed him again.

“More than okay.” She grinned, her nails gently scratching at the nape of his neck. “You got moves, Sailor.”

He let out a chuckle as he kissed her again, his lips hovering over hers. “Well you weren’t so bad yourself.”

She laughed and with final kiss he moved to pull out of her. With an apologetic look, as he really didn’t want to move, but, well, he had to, he disappeared into the bathroom and whilst he was gone Fliss smoothed her hair down and got comfortable in the bed. A minute later he returned and slid in besides her and she shuffled slightly to lay her head on his chest, her hand gently raking through the smattering of dark hair which spanned the upper part of her body, and he gave a contented sigh, kissing  the top of her head.

Right there and then Frank knew, and he had no idea how or why, but he just knew that if he never held another woman bar Fliss in his arms again in his life, he wouldn’t give a shit.

And what surprised him more, was that the thought of it being that way didn’t scare him in the slightest.

******

Fliss blinked, and reached over to turn her alarm off, stretching slightly before she glanced at Frank who was asleep on his stomach, his head turned towards her, hair all over the place. With a smile she ran a finger over his jaw before she sat up, and made to get out of bed.

“Where you going?” Frank’s voice was deep and thick with sleep as he reached out to grab her arm. He cracked an eye open and she looked at him, utterly confused.

“Don’t you want a coffee?”

There was a pause as he frowned, because honestly, the last thing on his mind was coffee, and then he watched as a pink flush spread across her cheeks and she looked down, her hand gently fiddling with the pale blue and yellow bed spread which was clutched around her torso. In that split second he realised, this was clearly something that again, that fucker had obviously expected her to do.

“How about,” he sat up, the sheets pooling around his waist as he placed an arm round her waist, gently pulling her back down, “you just stay the fuck in bed…”

She smiled as he bent down to kiss her, his hands tangling in her hair, before she groaned and looked up at him “I gotta get to work.”

“How long?” he asked.

“I need to leave in like an hour.”

“Plenty of time.” he grinned, before he shifted so she was led fully under him, gently nipping at her jaw. And pretty soon coffee was the last thing on her mind as well.

Forty minutes later, Fliss was showered and headed back into her bedroom where Frank was pulling on his jeans. He smiled at her and dropped a kiss to her cheek before he headed into the bathroom himself, quipping that it had been a while since he borrowed a girl’s toothbrush. By the time he emerged, Fliss was pulling on one of her work Polo Shirts and Frank simply took the time to admire her as she bent over to pull a pair of britches out of her dresser, the shirt doing absolutely nothing to hide her pantie clad ass.

And then he saw the lines, little faded silver threads marring her skin and he felt himself grow hot at the sight of the scars.

Fliss tuned to face him and saw the flicker of anger in his eyes and she dropped her gaze. “That’s what I got for having some drunk guy grope me in a bar. Not a pretty sight is it?”

“Hey.” He said, a little sternly as he crossed the room. He tilted her face up to look at him and he locked his eyes onto hers. “Stop.”

She swallowed before he dropped a kiss to her lips and pulled her into a hug. She pressed her cheek to his chest and sighed.

“What if this drunk guy gropes you in a bar?” he asked, in an attempt to break the tension. She laughed and looked up at him.

“If this drunk guy makes me feel like I did last night and this morning, he can grope me whenever the hell he wants.”

Frank tipped his head back and laughed, before she moved back and smiled “You want breakfast?”

“I seem to have worked up an appetite so yeah, sounds good. I’ll be down in a second.” He nodded. 

She smiled at him, called Thor to her who had been lazing on the bed and left the room.

Once she was gone Frank let out a breath, anger still coursing through his veins. If he ever got the chance he’d beat that fucker black and blue. He pulled his T-shirt on, found his socks and then made his way down into the kitchen. Fliss was shoving bread into the toaster as he moved behind her for the mugs before asking her where the coffee was.

Just as she answered, the door to the annex opened and Bill shouted a hello into the house. Frank stiffened slightly, and glanced at Fliss, a little nervous if truth be told that her dad was about to discover he’d spent the night but Fliss simply shook her head at him and smiled.

“Hey Pops, you want coffee?”

“No it’s ok Titch.” Bill’s voice grew nearer. “Was just gonna tell you to leave the back gate unbolted on your side as the pool guy’s coming and he’ll do your tub.” He stopped in the kitchen and smiled, completely unsurprised. “Hey Frank.” “Hi Bill.” Frank nodded, hoping he didn’t look as flustered as he felt.

“No problem Dad, I’ll unlock it before I leave.” Fliss smiled. “Sure you don’t want a drink?”

“No your mum wants to head into Tampa so we’ll be leaving soon.” He said, and then with a wry smile he chuckled. “If you don’t want the third degree I’d wait about fifiteen minutes before you both leave.”

Fliss shook her head with a laugh. “Take it she’s been down spying?”

“Oh yeah. Told me about half an hour ago Frank’s truck was here, and she doubted very much it was simply an early morning call.”

Frank felt his ears growing warm as he looked down at the floor before Fliss nudged him and nodded to the coffee. Thankful for the distraction, he set about pouring them both a mug as Fliss continued chatting to her Dad before Bill made his excuses.

“We’ll be back late tonight.” He said, as he turned to go. “Don’t know what time.”

“Yeah no problems.”

“Have a good day, kids.” He smiled and Frank nodded to him as he left.

“You’ve gone all shy Sailor.” Fliss teased and he groaned.

“Well it’s been a long time since I encountered parents on the morning after.” He shrugged as Fliss handed him a piece of toast. “In fact the last time it happened I was twenty-two…I think.”

“Well, I wouldn’t worry.” She took a bite of her toast. “Dad isn’t the type to chase you down the drive with a pitch fork.” She swallowed her food and a wicked glint flashed in her eyes. “It’s his shot-gun you need to look out for.”

**** Chapter 11

[stevesharrlngtons]

Snow being shoved down the back of your coat + Roman or Mickey

@screechingexpertpruneneck & @girlinthecorner also requested this prompt for roman

Tremors from ice and anger still vibrated through you as you made your way through the lobby. The snow that had been unceremoniously pushed down the back of your coat had long melted and left your sweater and undershirt wet and sticky with condensation and sweat. The water that your clothing had soaked in had begun to freeze against your clammy skin and you were beyond the meaning of uncomfortable.

You were uncomfortable with a thick helping of rage draped over the top.

All thanks to Roman fucking Godfrey.

Your family, along with his, were in Aspen for the holiday break. Your mother and Marie Godfrey had met in college as doe eyed sorority girls, and remained close through the years as they both went on to marry high level executives. Heartbroken that their executives chose to run their companies on opposite coasts, your mothers had insisted on bi-annual joint vacations -- one in the winter and one in the summer.

Two years into the extravagant vacations, Olivia Godfrey nosed her way into the festivities. Your mother and Marie were less than pleased, but Norman had insisted it was the right thing to welcome her with open arms on the vacations. It would be good for Olivia and her two small children to have some socialization. And so, Olivia, Roman and Shelley were added to the bunch (though, not without any reservations from the two matriarchs).

The destinations varied, but they were always somewhere festive and approatite. Winter: Sweden. Summer: Hawaii. Winter: Iceland. Summer: Puerto Rico.

This year it had been decided that you all would pack up and head to Colorado for two weeks of icy December fun.

While some of your peers dreaded family vacations and time spent away from their friends, you never minded. Your father kept you happy with a credit card in hand and your mother was too busy with Marie to provoke you. You were free to shop with Letha or swap novels with Shelley, or venture out on your own in whatever new and exciting landscape you were in.

And then there was Roman.

There was always Roman.

Over the years, Roman had morphed from reluctant player in your and Letha’s fantasy realms, to cruel preteen ready to insight chaos if looked at wrong, to outrageously charming and good looking young man who knew every trick and how to use them. He hadn’t lost the glint of wonder from his childhood, or his deep seated anger from his adolescence, he had just gained a sauve charisma that was dangerous when he used it correctly (and he always did).

You and Roman had a flirtation, one that sometimes blossomed in chaste touches and charged glances; or through amorous conversation and zealous foreplay.

Each and every vacation things were the same; you and Roman resumed wherever you had last left off, just to press pause the second you boarded separate airplanes.

Sometimes you would yearn for more, when he’d send you the occasional tender text or call in search for phone sex on the off season from your vacations. But, you shooed away any lingering warmth that he quelled in your stomach as soon as you recognized it. Roman Godfrey was no good for you, no matter how delicious he tasted and how blissful it was to surrender with him.

You could only indulge so much in a good thing before the repercussions reared their ugly heads. And Roman most certainly had repercussions, and pitfalls, and isms that you hated. And with enough time spent with him, you would see them all in spades.

His immaturity. His possessiveness. His stubbornness. His short temper. His inability to apologize.

Somehow all of your least favorite traits that he possessed came out one morning before he, Letha and yourself were set to go skiing.

Bundled in thick layers of wool and cashmere, down-feathers and ski bags slung off your shoulders, you three headed out to the slopes. You had spent two semesters at a private school in Whistler when your father was sent to Canada for work, and because of this, the only one out of your little group with any ski experience. You were excited to revel in your skill and teach Letha and Roman how to make it down the hills in one piece (lots of pizza and french fries to come…). But before you all headed to the chair lifts from the resort, Letha wanted to stop for something warm to drink and a bathroom break.

“I really think you’re going to appreciate all the expertise I can offer you,” you commented to Roman as you stood in line.

He blew an indigent puff out through his nose, “I don’t think I’ll need any help.”

A grin pulled at your lips, “Roman, with your long legs, you’re going to be like a baby deer out there. You are going to need my help.”

Roman glanced down at you with an amused expression, growing his own smile at the sight of yours.

“Yeah? You think I’m gonna go up there and eat shit? Fall on my ass so you girls can laugh at me? Fat chance.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll kiss all your bruises afterwards,” your grin smooths to a smirk and you can see his eyes light with the pictures of the after hours activities you two could yourselves into.

“Next!” the barastisa called out and you and Roman removed yourselves from your bubble long enough for you to order.

Your ordered Letha’s usual (a white mocha with a splash of peppermint) your usual, along with Roman’s (a black coffee with two sugars).

You hadn’t thought the barista was flirting with you. You hadn’t thought you were being overly friendly. You didn’t even think Roman had been paying any attention at all, he had been clicking away at his phone at the time. Though, after you paid and were waiting for your drinks to be made, it was clear that any and all banter that had begun in line would not continue.

Roman’s posture was ridged, as he stood two full paces away from you. His lips in a hard line and his hands stuffed deep in his coat pockets. You wanted to ask what had happened. You wanted to ask if he was ok, if something on his phone had upset him, if he was having second thoughts out the day you and Letha had planned? But you didn’t. Roman had angled himself away from you, and was looking over his shoulder every few seconds to search for Letha.

When she returned from the restroom, you silently handed her her mocha as she naively asked what she missed. You simply shrugged and you two shared a moment of knowing eye contact that Roman was in one of his trademark moods.

With linked arms and an effort to disregard Roman’s shift, you both clenched your paper cups, and headed toward the mountain in high spirits, ready to ski.

You were beginning to feel the pleasurable surge of adrenaline and the thrill of excitement the closer you got to the chair lifts. You were buzzing with anecdotes and tips and memories from your time abroad. Letha was playing along, nodding, oh-ing and ah-ing at the right moments, and thanking you for your know-how.

You and Letha were nearing the line for the lifts and you were about to pull her aside and help her onto her skis, when you were suddenly yanked backward.

Within the lapse of a blink, Roman had gripped the collar of your coat and jerked you back with such a power and haste, that your dwindling coffee was clamped in your fist and exploded onto your gloved hand and sleeve. When he had roped you closer by your protruding collar, he then continued to take a heap of snow and shove it down your back.

The snow shocked your senses, and your skin blistered from the cold and your muscles flinched and recoiled from the temperature change.

When it was all over, Letha was horrified, Roman was laughing and you were mortified. He had made such a spectacle of his antaic, that most of the line had turned to see what had happened. Not surprising by the decibel of Roman’s laughter and your scream.

“Roman!” Letha reprimanded as she fled to your side, doing her best to wick away some of the coffee from your sleeve and the snow from your neck, “What is wrong with you?”

“What? Never had that happen with any of your fancy french ski instructors?” he bit out maliciously, still laughing, but in a forced way. He was only laughing to continue your humiliation.

“You’re such an asshole!” you screeched.

“No, I’m funny. That was funny. It’s not my fault you can’t take a joke.”

“You’re not funny, Roman,” you whipped around, almost topoling a fretting Letha as you did, “you’re just a cruel little manchild who acts out when no one is giving his tantrum any attention!”

“Yep, see,” Roman gave a patronizing grin, “Can’t take a joke.”

He looked at you with condescending eyes, and he only seemed to grow happier the angier you became.

No matter how much you had been looking forward to the excursion, you refused to spend the day with him after this pathetic stunt. You picked up your discarded ski bag and let it hit Roman hard on the shoulder as you began back down the mountain.

“Aw, come on! Aren’t you the savant? Aren’t we getting ready to watch you show off your Olympic skill? Can’t do that if you throw a bitch fit and pout!” he called after you.

You could hear Letha’s frail calls as well, but at least she knew better than to come after you. You wanted to be alone and away from anything Godfrey.

When Letha and Roman came back later in the evening, he knocked on your suit door and was greeted with silence. He called your name, he dialed your number, he texted, but was left with no response. He was sure you were just enacting your silent revenge on him for the snow incident and he decided to let you. No matter how much he was looking forward to having his hands all over you (it’s all he had been thinking about for months).

But the next day, you were still nowhere to be found. Letha had been sworn to secrecy on your whereabouts, and even she was sticking her nose up in contempt when he entered a room.

He knew that you were serious about your indignation for him and what he had done, and he was becoming restless. He was only awarded fourteen days of your time twice a year, and he liked to make the most of the moments he was allotted. There was usually a day or two you would punish him for something he had said or done, but you always caved soon enough. Roman wished he knew what was so different about this time that had destroyed your usual refractory period for his bullshit.

“You embarrassed her in front of everyone,” Shelly’s automated voice informed him on the third day of silence.

Roman himself had taken to sitting in his suite, laying in bed with a scowl and an obligatory nasty bark when anyone commented on his new hibernation.

“You always teased her but this was different. You laughed at her and belittled her. She has every right to ignore you.”

Roman knew she was right, but only rolled onto his side so his back faced his sister. He didn’t want to admit that he was wrong, he didn’t want to have to tuck his tail and apologize. Because while he had embarrassed you, fessing up to his actions would embarrass him. He didn’t do well with putting his pride aside and accepting that what he did was wrong.

But as he spent the rest of the day holed up under hotel sheets and eating fresh potato chips from room service, Roman realized that maybe it would be worth it in the end. His moment of discomfort would pay off. Swallowing his ego and apologizing would be ok if it got him back in your good graces (which he so desperately craved).

That night, everyone gathered to have a nice dinner together. “Nice” entailed thousand dollar tabs, the highest quality champagne and whiskey, caviar and prime rib, and whatever anyone desired.

Roman had arrived before you, and made sure that the seat beside himself and your mother were the only two open by the time you joined them. As mad as you were at him, you would never willingly sit next to your mother, lest you want to spend the evening being picked apart by her freshly manicured fingers.

And sure enough, when you entered oh God, had you always been that beautiful? you spotted the seating arrangement and scowled. Your step faltered briefly in front of the open chair by your mother and Roman’s heart sank, before it slowly pushed its way back to the surface as you decided against your choice and rounded the table to take your place next to him.

“You look stunning this evening,” he whispered to you as you smoothed your napkin over your lap.

“You look like a kiss ass,” you replied, curtly thanking the waiter who was currently filling your glass with wine.

“Am I not allowed to compliment you now?”

“Stop talking to me. I don’t like you.”

Roman sucked in a breath and turned back to his appetizer. This was going to be a long evening.

Roman spent the rest of the dinner slowly chipping away at your resolve; with flirty jokes, jabs at your parents, reminiscing about your shared time together, and heaps of compliments and praise. He even pulled out his nickname for you at some point.

“I love when you run your fingers on the stem of the glass like that, sweet girl.”

Roman saw you put a strained pressure on the glass as he spoke.

Even after pulling out all the stops that he could, Roman didn’t seem to be making headway with you, which he despised. There was a flurry of fear in his chest.

Had he fucked up one of the very few good things in his life because of some stupid bout of jealousy?

As the night drew on, and all the parents were fat and happy with fine food and wine, they all drunkenly dismissed the four of you to do whatever you pleased.

Letha and Shelly, who had sat on the other end of the long table from you and Roman, fled away together. Maybe in hopes to avoid the tension between the two of you, or in hopes to force you both to reconcile. Either way, it left you and Roman to walk to the elevator alone.

Taunt, uncomfortable tension lay between you both on your path to the elevator. When you got to it and pressed the button for the upper levels, you tapped your foot impatiently for it to arrive.

Roman decided to strike.

“Are you going to be mad at me forever?”

Silence.

Roman frowned, “I’m sorry, alright? Is that what you want to hear?”

Silence.

“It was -- fuck, I don’t know. I don’t know what possessed me to do it. But yeah, I just, it was wrong. I’m sorry.”

More silence. You stepped forward to press the button again.

“Jesus Christ! I’m sorry! I said it, can we just put this behind us now? I was just tugging on your pigtails or whatever moms say. That and I don’t know, immaturity of something…”

“It was all immaturity.” you finally spoke.

So, Roman decided to steer into the skid. He told himself that he was only admitting to all of this so you would blow him later, but he secretly knew that everything he said was absolutely and undoubtedly true.

“Yeah, ok, it was immaturity and the old Godfrey gene of not knowing how to grapple with emotion.”

“Letha can express her emotions quite healthily,” you countered, still refusing to look at him.

He sighed, “I think only the men in my family got it… and my mother. But she’s a whole bag of fucked up, so…”

There was another bout of silence before Roman heard you let out a breath.

“You really hurt my feelings. You embarrassed me and stained my coat.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Roman replied, his face crestfallen.

“You tugged me back so hard that my neck was all red and rashy from the pressure and my clothes for the rest of the day.”

Roman felt despair bubble in his stomach, “Fuck, I’m so sorry sweet girl. I’m an asshole, I know that.”

“Yes, you are.”

The elevator at last opened it’s steel doors and you and Roman entered and pressed the number for your floor (Roman pressed the button before you could, in his search for forgiveness and to be gentlemanly).

As the elevator started up, Roman inched toward you until his hand rested on the hollow of your back. You didn’t flinch away, and after a moment you placed your temple to his shoulder.

He felt a feeling of overwhelming relief as he took the chance at creeping his nimble fingers toward your waist, to gain better traction to turn you into his chest. You went easily and willingly, and nuzzled your nose into the hollow of his throat in the way that he loved and longed for on lonely nights in Pennsylvania.

Roman held your waist tight with one hand and brush your hair away from your neck to trace tender lines up and down your vertebrae. He felt a tremor quake through your body and smiled. He continued his ministrations until the doors opened to reveal the floor you were both staying on.

You let Roman lead you to his suite with no hesitation and let him worship your body for a majority of the night. And later, you let him feed you ice cream in a hot tub and you let him snuggle your naked form so he could go to sleep.

Indulging in Roman Godfrey always had its bitterness, but as he laid sleepy kisses across the expanse of your skin, you thought made the sweetness was worth it.

[artificialqueens]

Galactica, Chapter 77 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Previously: Violet had to come to terms with Sutan’s past. Courtney got whisked away for a luxury vacation. Fame enjoyed entertaining Juju and Detox’s youngsters.

This Chapter: Courtney tries something new, Sutan and Raja chat, Violet gets an intriguing invitation, Adore and Tati catch up on the hot goss, and Dahlia has an embarrassing run-in.

***

“See anything you like?”

Bianca had just dumped the contents of a canvas bag onto the bed, and was looking down at Courtney with a half smile, clearly waiting for some kind of response. Courtney blinked, her mind still a bit addled from drinking all day, wondering what those objects were.

“What are…” Courtney trailed off, heat creeping into her cheeks as it slowly dawned on her what she was looking at: a large and varied collection of colorful sex toys. She bit her lip, touching one of them, heart pounding.

“Well?” Bianca sat down beside her on the bed, a grin deepening her dimples as she watched Courtney’s face.

“Um...I guess I’ve always wondered what a vibrator’s like,” Courtney admitted, looking closer at the various toys, taking in their shapes and textures. “I’ve never actually tried one.”

“Never?” Bianca asked, and she sounded so incredulous that Courtney found herself blushing even more.

“Well, I...I lived with my parents, and then in college I had roommates, and...I dunno. Shut up.”

“You’re adorable,” Bianca said, kissing her cheek. “But, okay...anything you see that piques your interest?”

The good thing about the liquor still strong in Courtney’s blood was that it helped ease her self-consciousness. It allowed her to blurt out the first thought that came into her head, even looking boldly up at Bianca with a naughty expression.

“Why don’t you show me your favorite?” she asked, leaning back on her elbows.

Bianca held her gaze for a few seconds before nodding, grin deepening into a confident smirk.

“Alright.” She chose one of the toys, sweeping the rest off the bed. “This...is called a Magic Wand…”

She placed the toy between Courtney’s legs, the rounded, velvety-soft top just barely touching her. Courtney arched forward, trying to edge closer.

“Uh uh...not so fast, my love…” Bianca began to kiss down her throat, smiling into her skin as she listened to Courtney’s pained whimpers.

Everywhere Bianca touched her, Courtney felt tingles on her already heated skin, a hunger for more blooming inside her as she dug her fingers into Bianca’s shoulders. When Bianca’s lips ghosted over hers in a teasing kiss, she summoned the strength to grab her hair and pull her in closer.

“You ready, angel?” Bianca moved her hand down to the wand, the back of her fingers brushing against Courtney’s thigh as she gripped it tightly.

“Yes,” Courtney breathed, praying that whatever the toy did, it would relieve the unbearable pulsing between her legs, satisfy the ache spreading in her core.

“Okay…” With one last kiss pressed to the corner of her mouth, Bianca turned on the wand, and Courtney was immediately electrified by the quiet buzzing against her, a gasp leaving her lips. “You like that, baby?”

“Y-yes…oh god…” Courtney threw her head back, her hips thrusting up again and again, unable to get enough. “More...please…”

Bianca turned up the vibration, pressed the toy harder against her, and Courtney let out a moan, full-throated and shameless, unable to hold back.

“That’s right…” Bianca purred into her ear, shifting slightly, now using her own weight to press the toy against Courtney’s clit, freeing up her hands to wander higher, fingers skating over her skin.

Courtney squeezed her eyes tightly closed, thighs around Bianca’s hips, arching up to match her rhythm. And then, something incredible happened. First, Courtney heard Bianca’s breath begin growing ragged in her ear, felt her touch change from light and teasing to intense and urgent as she wrapped her hands around Courtney’s waist.

Her hips were rolling faster now, pressing Courtney down into the mattress, choked whimpers unlike anything Courtney’d heard from her before sounding from her throat. Courtney took Bianca’s face into her hands, wanting nothing more than to witness the look on her face as she came. She watched with rapt attention, positively enthralled by the way her eyes rolled back as her whole body shivered with pleasure. She brought her face closer, brushing their lips together, swallowing up her beautiful broken moans with kisses.

When Bianca’s hips finally stuttered and then stilled, she almost immediately started squirming uncomfortably.

“Too much,” she gasped, and Courtney somehow knew exactly what she was trying to say.

She reached down and pulled the toy out from between them, switching it off and then tossing it aside before wrapping her arms around Bianca once more, holding her close.

Courtney couldn’t help but feel like seeing her fall apart like this was a rare honor, in spite of the number of women she’d slept with. She took that privilege seriously, cradling Bianca in her arms, stroking her cheek lightly with a finger.

It was awhile before Bianca spoke again, clearing her throat, almost embarrassed. “Uh, I didn’t plan on that…”

“You’re so beautiful,” Courtney responded, placing a light kiss at the corner of her mouth.

Bianca bit her lip, and the look in her brown eyes seemed adorably vulnerable, almost self-conscious, as she curled back up in Courtney’s arms, for once at a loss for words.

***

“You know, I think we need a discussion about what constitutes an emergency,” Sutan tapped the side of the coffee grinder, pouring the last bit into the porta-filter, “Because you forgetting how to work your espresso machine isn’t one.”

“Oh shut up,” Raja groaned, and Sutan chuckled, clicking everything into place and turning the machine on. Raja was hungover, the wine glasses in the sink and the empty bottles telling their clear story of what his sister and Raven had gotten up to last night.

Raven had left for the gym, which was why Raja wallowed in her misery, but Sutan had to admit that it was kind of adorable, Raja so rarely giving into her brattier side.

“All I’m saying sister dear,” Sutan took the fresh cups of coffee, Raja always taking it black, and followed behind her into the living room, “is that I might hesitate the next time you claim to be in distress.”

“Please,” Raja dumped down on the couch, holding out a hand for her cup. “Like you’re ever going to not be there.”

Sutan sat down, a little ball of warmth happily nestled in his chest as Raja put her legs in his lap. He didn’t say it often, but he loved Raja so much that it hurt sometimes.

“Mmh,” Sutan took a sip of his coffee, the beans perfectly roasted. “Have you heard from Bianca?”

“No.” Raja didn’t elaborate, and Sutan had to hold back an eyeroll. Seemed like he shouldn’t tell Raja that he had been texting with Bianca, asking her to bring back a bottle (or several) of pitorro when he had learned that she was in Puerto Rico, not that he wouldn’t share said bottles with his twin if Bianca brought them back.

Sutan didn’t have any cards in the latest game of drama amongst his friends, his position as neutral as possible since he genuinely didn’t care about the girl Bianca was dating, her name already forgotten once again, but he had to admit that he had hoped the entire thing would have blown over already.

“Where’s Violet? Still asleep?”

“Work.” Violet had kissed him goodbye after breakfast, saying that she’d text him when she left the office, but being alone suited him fine since Sutan had actually planned to work himself before Raja had called, his fingers itching with the need to truly get going on launching Gigi as a model.

He leaned back, watching Raja take one of the wrapped chocolates from the crystal bowl on the couch table, the desire for sweets truly cementing his twin's hangover.

“Actually,” Sutan drummed his fingers on Raja’s shin, the lounge pants she was wearing the softest gray jersey. “Speaking of Violet...”

[Speaking of Violet what?]

Sutan had to fight not to shrink at Raja’s instant switch to Indonesian, the conversation suddenly that much more serious.

[Speaking of Violet...] Sutan bit the inside of his cheek, wondering for a moment if he should continue. [She apparently didn’t know that I have been married.]

[What?] Raja raised an eyebrow, disbelief thick in her voice. [Seriously?]

“Yup.” Sutan popped the P. [I think I figured she had googled me, read my wikipedia or just…] He could honestly not remember the last time he had dated a woman who didn’t already know all about him, who hadn’t dived into the catalogue of his past. [I don’t know if I should feel bad about it, or if-]

[Feel bad?] Raja huffed, taking a sip of her coffee. [Why on earth would you feel bad?]

[It seems like something I should have told her,] Sutan sighed, crossing his arms. [I’m always-] He cut himself off. He had wanted to talk about Violet’s past, about how jarring it felt each time he discovered another layer of the woman he was dating, but it didn’t feel right to tell Raja, didn’t feel like his story to tell. [Do you think we’re too self absorbed?]

[Who? Us?] Raja smiled, a teasing tone in her voice and Sutan nodded. He knew his world began and ended with Raja, that she and their friends had been at the center of his universe for literal decades.

[Yes.] Sutan thought he had loved some of his past girlfriends, had genuinely believed that there was something special there, but as he continued to get to know Violet, as they continued to grow closer, the feelings of his past faded at an alarming rate.

[Well brother dear, I’m not the one who assumed my girlfriend read my wikipedia.]

“Oh fuck off!” Sutan groaned, pushing Raja’s leg, making his twin sister laugh. [Don’t twist my words!]

[Never.] Raja smirked, reaching for the remote to turn on the TV.

***

Violet swiped her card, doing her best to balance as she opened the door to the design floor.

Galactica was completely empty, a single security guard on the ground floor the only other person she had seen. It reminded her of when she was an assistant, so many of her mornings starting before anyone else was even in the building.

Violet didn’t miss being an assistant, at least not really - what she was doing now so much more creatively fulfilling, but there had been a rhythm to being in Fame’s office, a way things were done that was easy to understand and to follow, Fame consistent and even predictable in her own way.

It was simply a matter of delivering perfection, and as someone who used to dedicate her life to ballet, she understood.

Violet maneuvered her way through the door, the new crossbody Yves Saint Laurent Sutan had gifted her for Christmas perfect for when she needed her hands on her crutches, the thin layer of ice outside treacherous terrain.

She had come in to print the pictures she had found of Raja at the MET, to get started on the folder she’d bring for the first meeting that was already plopped into her calendar by Ivy before the holidays.

She had a vague idea of a color palette, and she was pretty sure she had seen some stones in the warehouse that she could maybe use, but she knew she couldn’t move forward with sketches until she had physical samples of fabric.

Violet had expected the design floor to be empty, but the light was on, the sound of a sewing machine greeting her.

She paused, looking around the floor, closing the door behind her. “... Hello?”

“Chachki!” Violet looked over, only to see Bob sitting at Maxwell’s machine, a bright grin on his face. He was wearing a patterned sweater, a gigantic cup of coffee and a half-eaten blueberry muffin next to him. “Hi!”

“Hi?” Violet smiled, the fact that Bob seemed genuinely excited for her to be there filling her with warmth. She walked over, her curiosity too great to ignore. “I didn’t know you sewed.”

“I’m a man of many talents,” Bob smirked, pushing his tortoise shelled glasses onto his head. “I can’t sew like tailoring, or even you guys, but this apparently tore the last time I wore it.“

For the first time, Violet looked at the project Bob was working on. It appeared to be a gigantic almost Barbie-like orange dress, the size of it supporting Bob’s claim that it was his own dress.

“And Maxwell won’t be back from Seattle until tomorrow, so here I am, trying to put it back together.”

“Let me see,” Violet took a seat on the edge of Maxwell’s desk, putting her crutches aside to pick the costume up. The dress was a beautiful deep orange, silver thread woven into the fabric, it ended in a mermaid tail that had layers upon layers of orange feathers, and that was where the problem was, a tear going through two of the layers which had destroyed the integrity of the entire tail. “I can help.”

“You can?” Bob shot a quick look at her cast, and Violet had to fight not to roll her eyes.

“Yes.” She pushed out from the table, Bob getting up from his chair so Violet could take a seat.

Sure, it was bulky and annoying to work a sewing machine with a broken ankle, but it was all about swallowing the pain, which was something Violet excelled at.

“You know...” She grabbed the tray of needles, quickly flipping the tail so she could redo what Bob had done, his work adequate, but she prefered things her way. “I can’t wait for people to stop treating me like an invalid.”

Sutan had gotten better at it, her boyfriend almost believing her now when she said she could do something by herself.

“Sorry,” Bob grinned, the coffee cup in hand as he watched, “but hey, if you’re not an invalid, you should come see my show tomorrow.”

“Your drag show?”

Everyone at Galactica knew Bob did drag, his drag name - creatively enough - simply Bob the Drag Queen. Violet had never seen him in action, but Jovan had shown her pictures, and Blu had entertained her with the story of how Bob had made her snort vodka out of her nose. She had never been to a drag show, but during her time at school, both at the Ballet Academy and at Parsons, several of her fellow students had been big fans, a few of the guys even dabbling in drag themselves.

“Yeah! It’s going to be great!” Bob smiled. “Comedy, dance, the whole shebang.”

He was certainly selling it, and Violet would be lying if she said she wasn’t curious about what Bob was like as a performer. “Can I bring Sutan?”

“Would I ever say no to that?”

“Then yes.” Violet smiled, “Yes, I’d like to go.”

***

“Ah!” Raven moaned, throwing her head back, her legs cramping and catching Raja’s hand between them, water and bubbles splashing over the edge of the tub as she came.

Raja grinned, pressing a kiss against Raven’s temple, her thumb slowing down to lazy circles over Raven’s clit, her other hand still pinching her nipple. “Hey princess.”

“Mmh,” Raven groaned, her eyes still closed, a sated smile blooming on her lips, her nails digging into Raja’s arm a little whine leaving her as Raja pulled her fingers out. “Fuck you’re good.”

“So I’ve been told,” Raja smiled, reaching out with her foot to turn the warm water back on.

It was rare for Raja to have time like this on her hands, to luxuriate in a bubble bath with Raven, to know that she didn’t have to hurry, that they didn’t have to be anywhere or meet anyone, and Raja loved it.

***

VIOLET: Bob has invited us to a drag show tomorrow

SUTAN: Bob who?

VIOLET: Bob from work

SUTAN: Tall?

VIOLET: Yes.

VIOLET: He’s performing. In the show

SUTAN: Cool. Sounds fun

SUTAN: I’m in! ;)

***

“Ughhhhhh…” Bianca whined, flopping heavily onto the bed. “Everything huuuurts.”

“Come on, it can’t be that bad,” Courtney giggled, climbing in after her.

At her beautiful girlfriend’s request, they’d spent a large part of the day going on a guided paddle boarding tour around a nearby lagoon. It was all very nice in theory...looking at sea creatures and enjoying the sunshine and fresh air, not to mention Courtney’s ass in skimpy bikini bottoms. But Bianca was just, simply put, not in the same shape as Courtney, and after trying to keep up with her all day, she felt like she’d been hit by a truck.

“I’m a little past my athletic prime, sunshine,” she said.

“Well, I think you did great,” Courtney said. She pressed a kiss to Bianca’s cheek, wrapping an arm around her waist.

Bianca offered only a grunt in response, making Courtney laugh and hold her tighter. The ruffles from her dress brushed against Bianca’s thighs as she slid her leg in between them, and while Bianca was not about to admit how good it felt to be wrapped up in an embrace, she did feel her muscles softening a little at her touch.

“I’m serious, it was very impressive…” Courtney added, then cooing, “My good girl…”

Bianca cracked open one eye. “Why do I feel like I’m being patronized?”

“Well…” At first, Courtney looked like she was going to deny it, but then she changed her mind, a charming smile spreading across her face. “Do you hate it?”

“Mmm...not completely,” Bianca admitted.

Courtney giggled again, holding her close. “So...do you want a special reward, for being such a good girl?” she asked.

“Yes. Alcohol.”

“We can do that,” Courtney laughed, nuzzling into her. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, how about we make tomorrow a spa day?”

“You got it.” Courtney pressed a kiss to her jaw, her lips lingering, arm tightening around her waist.

When Bianca breathed out a contented sigh, she felt Courtney smile against her skin.

“And also…”

“Yes?” Courtney asked, voice lilting teasingly.

“Use your imagination,” Bianca said, pushing her on her back, hand sliding up under her dress.

***

“Hi! Can you hear me?” Adore waved, grinning at the camera, her voice much louder than it needed to be. She wasn’t that much older than Tati, but she was an absolute Grandma when it came to technology.

“Guuurl omigod I have a headache like you wouldn’t believe. When are you back in town?” Tati asked, settling on her bed, iPad propped against her knees.

“I fly back in 2 days, why?” Adore asked, laughing.

“My cousins got the new PlayStation for Christmas and it’s been non-stop screaming and cursing from the den, which is like...literally the other side of my wall,” Tati moaned. “I was hoping I could crash with you in the city for a couple of days, at least until they go back to school.”

“Baby, you know you’re always welcome!” Adore said.

“Thanks. Tyra’s not coming back until after New Year’s and you know Morgan’s roommates are cunts about overnight guests. And Courtney...well, I’m not trying to set foot in that dungeon anytime soon.”

“Courtney might not be in the dungeon much longer,” Adore laughed, fluttering her lashes.

“Why? What do you mean?”

“Let’s just say that bae has my sister wrapped around her little finger,” Adore said. “I’ve actually never seen Bianca like this. And Courtney...well...she’s fucking gone, you already know that.”

“I do, I do,” Tati laughed. “Her posts have been...extremely extra. But you really think they’re gonna be breaking out the U-Haul so soon? Kind of a cliché, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know for sure. But it wouldn’t surprise me if Courtney was moving on up to a dee-luxe apartment in the sky sometime soon,” declared Adore.

Tati laughed. “Wow, and to think we knew her when…”

“Ha!” Adore snorted, some of whatever she was drinking coming out her nose.

“But what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Any hot girls on the horizon?” Tati asked, raising one eyebrow suggestively.

“I mean, hopefully,” Adore chuckled, “But nobody’s made their presence known in my universe at the moment. Well, except this waitress that I proposed to the other day. But I think that affair is over.”

“Aww, RIP.”

“Yeah…” Adore’s smile faltered slightly and she sighed. “Honestly, it’s been a bit bleak.”

“You’ll find someone,” Tati insisted. “You’re like...the most lovable person on the planet.”

“Awww, thank you baby…” Adore’s grin returned in full force, and Tati grinned back at her.

“COCKSUCKING MOTHERFUCKER!” screamed one of her cousins.

“Sorry, when did you say you’re back?”

***

It had seemed like a sexy idea, in Dahlia’s head. Showing up at Pearl’s house after her shift, still in costume, with only a winter coat thrown over it. It probably could have been sexy, if Pearl was the one who answered the door.

Instead, as she posed in the doorframe, the door swung open to reveal a bald white guy wearing an Aloha shirt over a purple turtleneck.

Shit.

It somehow hadn’t occurred to Dahlia that Pearl’s roommates would be home up and about at this time of night. She immediately straightened up, hands going reflexively to the belt of her coat, making sure it was securely tied. The last thing she needed was a tit to fall out in front of this man.

“Um...hi,” he said, a slightly puzzled but still friendly smile on his lips. “I assume you’re a friend of Pearl’s?!

“Uh, yeah. Hi.”

“Come on in. I’m Trixie, by the way.” He opened the door to let Dahlia through, then gestured to a pretty blonde on the sofa, who was sitting in front of a TV that was paused in the middle of The Nightmare Before Christmas, her lap filled with some knitting project. “That’s Katya.”

Katya waved cheerfully, calling out, “Hi!” and then, “PEARLIE!”

“WHAT?!”

“COME OUT HERE!”

“Whaaaaaat?” After a few moments, Pearl’s bedroom door opened and she appeared, looking slightly disheveled and extremely hot in that just-woke-up way she had about her.

“Company,” Trixie informed her, and the pout faded from her lips as she spotted Dahlia.

“Oh, hey!”

“Can I take your coat?” Trixie asked kindly.

“No! Uhhh...I mean, no thanks. Sorry. I just…”

“Why don’t we hang out in my room?” Pearl suggested, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Her sleepy bedroom eyes had a mischievous glint, promising an evening of fun.

“Okay,” Dahlia said, breathing a sigh of relief. Before she disappeared behind Pearl, she remembered to say, “Um, nice to meet you. Both.”

Trixie offered a still-slightly-puzzled wave as Pearl yanked her inside and shut the door firmly.

“Jesus. Sorry. I didn’t realize the’d be-”

“Whatcha got under the coat, pumpkin?”

Dahlia pursed her lips, amused at how Pearl had caught on so quickly to her game. “Well I...didn’t exactly change from work.”

“Show me.”

“Say please.” Dahlia smiled, fingering her belt.

“Please,” Pearl said immediately. She settled on the bed, leaning back to enjoy the show she so clearly expected. “Please show me…”

[the-edge-of-great]

Are you still taking prompts? Can I request 23 and 25 with Julie and Reggie friendship? Their friendship is so sweet. Thanks so much! Your writing is incredible 🥺

aw, thank you! :)

25. “I’m here.”

-----

Julie and Carlos are in the living room. It’s Tuesday, last slivers of sunlight already crushed by the LA smog and night sky. They’re on opposite ends of the couch, Carlos wrapped in a blanket with his eyes glued to the TV, and Julie playing a game on her phone, finishing a bowl of popcorn. Between them, is Reggie, pillow hugged to his chest, feet on the coffee table, eyes also glued to the TV. He shares a love of Spongebob with Carlos (even if Carlos doesn’t know it).

Julie suddenly scoffs and drops her phone on the pillow. Reggie looks over, an eyebrow raised and a question on the tip of his tongue, but Carlos interrupts, “Did you lose in mini golf again?” He doesn’t even look away from the TV.

She glares at nothing in particular, rises to her feet, and grabs the empty bowl. “I don’t know how she’s so good at it!”

“It’s not that hard.” Carlos turns to smirk over the back of the couch while Julie walks into the kitchen. “I could give you some pointers.”

Reggie twists to watch the exchange as well. As weird as it sounds, he likes listening to them banter. It reminds him of him and his brother back in high school.

Julie catches his eye as she laughs sarcastically. Her scowl almost curves into a smile when he grins at her.

Behind him, the sixth straight episode of Spongebob Squarepants begins—six! Nickelodeon must be broken or something.

And then a violent tremor cuts through the house. It begins as a soft vibration in his legs, and in seconds, his teeth are shaking, and he can hear the glassware in the cabinets clinking together nervously.

Carlos is quick. Reggie turns to him, ready to shove him under a doorway or something, but he’s already off the couch and crawling beneath the coffee table. Curling into a ball, he covers his bowed head with his arms; this isn’t his first time.

Glass shatters in the kitchen. First it’s one dish, and then it’s a dozen. Reggie moves to rise from the couch. His vision is fuzzy—eyes themselves won’t stop vibrating, which is a weird thought. He grabs the couch for support as he pushes himself to his feet, but the floor is moving too! This isn’t his first time either, but fuck, it’s been years.

Lights flash angrily until they cut out completely. There are more crashes around the house: heavy thuds and high pitched shatters. “Julie!” Reggie calls.

“Here!” she shouts.

Here sounds somewhere in front of him, but he can’t even see his hand in front of his face. “Uh, you’ll have to be a little more specific!”

“Kitchen table!”

He’s there right when everything stops. The earth settles to a soft halt, but Reggie’s still tense. Just ‘cause it’s been a while doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about aftershocks.

“Julie?” he whispers, dropping to his knees.

Instead of answering, a flashlight shines in his face. She lowers it when he squints and blocks his eyes. “Hey,” she breathes. “Sorry.”

“Where’d you get a flashlight?”

“It’s on my phone.”

Of course it is; modern technology is something else.

Reggie crawls under the table next to her. “You okay?” he asks. “I heard something break.”

“Yeah. I mean, probably.”

He doesn’t like the uncertainty of probably.

They’re about to crawl out from beneath the table when an aftershock rips through the house. Julie flinches after a book slips off its shelf in front of them. She pushes away from the edge of the table and leans into Reggie.

“I hate these,” she says into his shoulder.

Reggie nods, hugging her close. “Me too.”

They wait for two minutes; Julie keeps track on her phone.

“Julie?” Carlos calls cautiously.

“I’m here,” Julie replies. “You okay?”

“Yeah. You?”

A pause. “Yeah.” Reggie sees the light flicker at him, but he doesn’t look over until she inhales sharply. “Oh.”

Small shards of glass are stuck in her palm. Blood dribbles from the punctures and runs down her hand. It’s not life threatening, but Reggie knows that has to hurt.

“Are there bandages somewhere?” he asks.

Julie nods, waving his phone in the direction. “Under the sink.”

As he's walking to the kitchen, he peeks into the living room. He’s on two steps away when he realizes her can’t actually see Carlos to check on him. But that’s okay—he can see the glow of his iPad under the coffee table, and soft voices from a video fill the silence. Reggie chuckles. Yeah, this isn’t his first time.

When he returns with a first aid kit, Julie has already picked out the pieces of glass that she could see. They lay in a pile at her feet—far more than he originally thought. Reggie takes a seat next to her and pops open the box.

Julie shines the light over him as he searches for supplies. “You’ll need the cotton balls, and the—” she begins.

“—rubbing alcohol,” Reggie finishes. “I got this, Julie.” He flashes a smile at her.

“Hey, where are Alex and Luke?” she asks suddenly, as if the thought just occurred to her.

Reggie shrugs. He reaches for her hand. “I don’t know really; they went out earlier.”

“Do you think they’re okay?”

“Well, they’re already ghosts—at least they can’t get into any serious trouble.”

“That’s what I thought before the Caleb Thing.”

Reggie huffs a laugh and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, okay. They’re fine, though. Well, Alex might be freaking out, but Luke’s with him, so—” He shrugs.

She nods. “Earthquakes freak me out, too.” She flinches when the alcohol touches her injuries; Reggie tightens his grip around her wrist, anticipating her pulling away. “Been a while since one has knocked out the electric, though.”

“Last one I remember was the Northridge earthquake.”

“Was it bad?”

The look he gives her must tell the whole story, because her eyebrows raise in surprise. “Oh.”

“It was… terrifying.”

While Reggie wraps her hand in medical gauze, Julie says, “Last year, Puerto Rico was hit with a few bad earthquakes. I have family down there.” He glances up at her. “We had to keep up with what was happening on the news because we couldn’t contact them for weeks.”

“Were they okay?”

“Yeah. Thankfully.”

He smiles when she does, mutual relief in the air. As Reggie finishes wrapping her hand, he asks, “Is that too tight?”

She flexes her fingers. “No; feels good.” She smiles. “Thank you.”

The lights don’t come back on that night. Ray returns ten minutes later, on the phone with Julie’s tía Victoria about how he didn’t care if the ground split open, he was getting home to his kids! Dios.

Julie volunteers to look for lanterns and candles in the studio. Reggie follows behind, since she has the flashlight. Luke and Alex are there, lounging on the couch from what he can see. Alex flinches when she shines the light in their faces, but Luke is on his feet in seconds, rushing across the room to meet them.

“Hey, are you guys okay?” he asks, taking Julie’s injured hand in his own while looking them both over.

“We lived,” Julie answers, shrugging. Then she pauses, like her words are sinking in. “I mean—”

“Julie fell,” Reggie adds, snickering. She shoves him.

She sighs. “I think my phone screen broke.”

“Is your family okay?” Alex asks.

“Yeah.” Reggie can hear the smile in her voice. “We’re all good. Once I find some candles and lanterns, we’ll be better.”

“Oh, I think there are some lanterns in the loft,” Alex says just before disappearing.

“We were at the pier when it happened,” Luke explains. “The waves were crazy. It wasn’t as bad as ‘94, though.”

Reggie huffs. “Dude, nothin’s as bad as ‘94.”

“Think that’s the first thing Alex thought of when it happened,” Luke says quietly. Reggie can’t see him, but he knows the voice. He’s thankful Alex wasn’t alone on one of his ghost adventures tonight.

A crash upstairs makes them flinch. Julie gasps; he hears her hand smack her chest.

“Alex?” Reggie calls.

“You good, man?” Luke adds.

Alex doesn’t answer that, but he does say after a moment, “You know what we should have as ghosts? Night vision.”

Julie laughs out loud. Luke chuckles. Reggie grins.

The Molinas spend the rest of their night playing board games. While they’re seated around the coffee table, Reggie and the guys are on the couch; he’s trying to explain the concept of Spongebob; they aren’t getting it.

“That sounds like the dumbest show,” Alex decides.

“It’s a gem,” Reggie defends.

“So, was it actually the earthquake that broke the bowl,” Carlos begins, reaching across the board for the pair of die, “or did you rage quit?”

“Rage quit?” Luke whispers.

“Mini golf,” Reggie supplies.

“That doesn’t…” Alex says, shaking his head. “What?”

Julie rolls her eyes. “Ha ha. It was the earthquake, dummy.”

“And how did you wrap your hand so well in the dark, on your own?”

“Maybe one of my ghost friends helped me out.” She smirks.

Ray rolls his eyes. “Okay, that’s enough. I don’t want to hear any more teasing unless it’s smack talk about the game, got it?”

The guys laugh. “Best dad,” Reggie mutters.

While Carlos heckles their dad to buy a property, Julie raises her hand to Reggie. They share a grin; he bumps her fist with his.

He never thought he’d say this, but maybe earthquakes aren’t so bad.

[weirdestbooks]

Secret States Chapter 7

An Uncomfortable Conversation

Panama POV

Spanish Empire is an asshole. If that's surprise to anyone, they obviously don't know any history from a country colonized by the Spanish Empire. And he colonized a lot of countries. Spanish Empire, my asshole of a father, having other children wasn't a surprise. I don't see how it would be.

And unfortunately, hearing about Florida being abused by Spanish Empire wasn't surprising. Spanish Empire hurt a lot of his children. He loved power, and the gold our lands had, and along with his hatred for our native people, it was a perfect recipe for his colonies to be hurt by him.

"Hola todos." (Hello everyone) Florida said as he walked over to us, his snake, Algodón, wrapped around his arm.

"Hola. ¿Porqué tienes un serpiente?" (Hello. Why do you have a snake?) I asked Florida. This seemed like something Australia would do, not an American state.

"¿Y es venenoso?" (And is it venomous?) Honduras added on, looking at the snake with slight fear in his eyes.

"Sí!" (Yes) Florida responded.

"¿Que? ¿Porqué trajiste un serpiente venenoso a una junta? ¿No tienes miedo que lastimé alguien?" (What? Why would you bring a venomous snake to the meeting? Aren't you afraid of hurting someone?) Nicaragua asked.

"No. El esta bien. Lo tuve por muchos años y no ha lastimado nadie." (No, he's fine. I've had him for years and he hasn't hurt anyone.) Florida said, before giving us a confused look, "¿No que tienen junglas en sus países? ¿Porqué les dan miedo un serpiente?" (Don't most of you have jungles in your countries? Why are you afraid of a snake?)

"Bueno, sí, pero no buscamos criaturas venenosas." (I mean, we do, but we don't actively seek out venomous creatures.) Peru said.

"Guau, eres aburriendo." (Wow. You're boring then.) Florida said. I began laughing at Florida's blunt statement toward Peru, who looked offended.

"¡Florida! Compórtate bien!" (Florida! Be nice!) Louisiana said, smacking Florida on the backs of the head.

"Ay. No me tenías qué pegar." (Ow. You didn't have to hit me.) Florida muttered back. Rico rolled his eyes.

"Este es una familia tan violenta." (This is such a violent family.) He muttered, smiling.

"We make up America Rico. Did you expect us not to be?" Guam said walking up next to him.

"Esperaba que lo estuvieras. Eres un activó militar importante o lo qué sea." (I expected you to be. You're a major military asset or whatever.) Rico said.

"Yeah. Don't really know what you said, but I know it had something to do with the military. But Sam does a lot of stuff for the military to, so it's not just me, you son ba bi tsi." Guam told him. Mariana smacked her twins head.

"Guåhan! Be nice!" She said. I guess Mariana was the nicer twin out of the two of them. Guam rubbed her head.

"Rico, you're right. People in this family are violent." Guam said. Rico began laughing as Mariana rolled her eyes.

"Hu guaiya hao lokkue'." Mariana muttered with a smile. I didn't know what language Mariana and Guam were speaking, but they seemed to prefer it to Spanish, and seemed to not understand Spanish. Did they forget it? Or did they just not learn it to annoy Spanish Empire?

"So, what are we bonding over? The general fact that our shared dad is a troud chi?" Louisiana said.

"Sí, obviamente. Yo solo llegue para maldecir al Imperio Español y enseñar el mundo el verdadero poder del Florida Man." (Yes, obviously. I came here to cuss out Spanish Empire and unleash the true power of Florida Man on the world) Florida said, smiling.

"Esto es mi consejo. No lo hagas." (Here's my advice. Don't.) Puerto Rico responded.

"Rico! You're harshing my mellow man!" Florida said. Rico raised an eyebrow as he gave Florida a weird look.

"Why the fuck would you say that." He said.

"You sound like Cali when they were in their surfer phase." Mariana said.

"What do you mean were?" Guam asked. Mariana snorted and looked over to California.

"Good point."

"Como quiera, quieres ayudarme hacerle una broma a Cuba. Estamos en el medio de un 'Guerra de Bromas' en este momento." (Anyway, want to help me prank Cuba. We're in the middle a prank war right now.) Puerto Rico said, turning back to us.

"Siempre lo eres." (You always are.) Florida muttered again, pulling out a jar of spaghetti sauce.

"Yo no empezará una 'Guerra de Bromas' con Cuba." (I would rather not start a prank war with Cuba.) El Salvador said.

"¡Voy hacer lo!" (I will!) Dominican Republic said, smiling.

"Por supuesto que tú lo vas a hacer. Yo recuerdo cuando todos éramos colonias. Ustedes islas les encantaban haciendo bromas entre ustedes." (Of course you will. I remember when we were all still colonies. You islands loved pranking each other.) Chile remarked.

"Era mas una competencia para ver quien era le mejor isla. En el Caribe al menos. Habría sido todos los territorios insulares españoles, pero tengo mucho miedo a Guam." (It was more of a competition to see who the best island was. In the Caribbean at least. It would be all of the Spanish island territories, but I'm very afraid of Guam.) Rico said.

"Thanks Rico. Can we switch back to English though. My Spanish isn't that good." Guam said.

"Why not?" Costa Rica asked. Guam smirked and Mariana sighed.

"Guåhan didn't bother remembering how to speak Spanish after she became an American territory. It's her way of getting back at Spanish Empire." Mariana explained.

"Yet somehow she remembers the curse words." Louisiana muttered. Florida laughed as he covered his snake with spaghetti sauce. I wanted to ask what he was going, but I was afraid of the answer.

"That's Guam for you!" He said smiling.

"Florida what the fuck are you doing?" Argentina asked.

"Relax. No one will get hurt. I just have to get back at Cuba for pranking me." Florida said.

"How are you not concerned by your, our brother covering a snake in spaghetti sauce?" Guatemala asked. The American state shrugged.

"We've learned it best not to question him and just get him some form of supervision. Or Ohio." Mariana said. Florida laughed. I heard a commotion coming from where Mexico and her children were sitting and looked over in that direction. Wait.

"Mexico had children. Does that mean we're, like, aunts and uncle?" I asked the states.

"Oh shit. I hadn't though of that." Venezuela muttered. Guam shrugged, while Rico furrowed his eyebrows.

"I think they said they weren't going to consider anyone who is technically a child of Spanish Empire as being related to them, mainly just because that means we," Mariana said, gesturing to the other American state, "Would be their aunts/uncles, and they though that was weird because we're also their siblings."

"I'm doing the same thing with France. After than pitin sold me, I wanted nothing to do with her as her sœr. That kind of relationship is over. And I don't really want to form any kind of relationship with her until she shows me she is truly sorry for what she did to me." Louisiana explained.

"You like disowning people." Columbia remarked. Florida laughed again.

"Our dad, America, that is, literally disowned his entire family during his revolution. It's a family trait." Florida told us smiling.

"You're not going to disown us, or refuse to accept us as family, are you?" Ecuador asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Åhe'." Guam said. Ecuador blinked.

"Umm, is that a yes or a no?" Bolivia asked.

"It's a no." Mariana explained. There was suddenly yelling, and I looked over to see California and Texas arguing.

"Ugh. Ignore those two. They like picking fights Popá and Del will take care of it." Louisiana said, pinching the bridge of her nose. I watched as America and Delaware calmed down the two fighting states before turning back to the group.

"Any other questions?" Rico asked. Paraguay raised her arm.

"Is America good to you? I mean I know he punched Spanish Empire-"

"And earned my respect." Argentina cut her off. Argentina did hate Spanish Empire, but honestly, most of us did.

"Shut up Argentina. Anyway, you guys don't get hurt by him, right?" She finished.

"Don't worry. Padre doesn't hurt us. He's not like Spanish Empire." Florida said.

"Well that's good. It's be very bad if you went from one bad situation to another." Uruguay said. Mariana rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, America rushed out of the room.

"Oh fuck. What's happening now?" Guam muttered.

———————————————————————— America POV

I turned and looked at my family after my kids went to reunite with their biological families. And whatever you would consider Netherlands and Sweden to be to Delaware and New York. My family had to have a lot of questions.

This wasn't a conversation I ever wanted to have. How could I explain everything, all the hurt and pain they and others caused to my children, the secrets, me hiding my real personality, my insomnia, and everything else I kept secret. Those were all problems I have to deal with on my own. They shouldn't have to worry about me. They'll just baby me. I have to take care of my children and myself. They shouldn't have to.

And what if I messed it up? What if they hated me because I kept it all a secret? What if they hated my real personality, the smart, anxious, self-doubting, and self-hating person I was? I acted like I was stupid, and had an incredibly large ego because that's what everyone expected of me. And when I act like how they expect me to, they don't look any further into me.

I wanted to tell my family, but many of my children made it clear they didn't like that idea. And I couldn't just tell the countries about the children that wanted other countries to know they were alive because they would figure out I had more children.

I had to keep them secret. It's what they wanted. But what if my family didn't see it that way?

My children mentioned a crisis in the 1860s to the countries. I didn't want to bring up my civil war. That was a horrible period of time that I hated mentioning. I knew Uncle England would keep my civil war a secret as well. He knows how horrible they are.

"E hōʻoki i ka noʻonoʻo ʻana i nā mea e Pāpā.  Inā mālama nui lākou iā ʻoe, e ʻae lākou iā ʻoe inā he aha.  Nānā ʻole i ka hoʻopunipuni o ke kanaka āu i hōʻike ai iā lākou.  E noho i lalo, e kamaʻilio me kou ʻohana, a hōʻike iā lākou i ka United States maoli o ʻAmelika. " (Stop overthinking things Dad. If they truly care about you, they'll accept you no matter what. Regardless of how fake the personality you presented to them was. Now sit down, talk to your family, and show them the real United States of America.) Hawaii said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Maopopo iaʻu ʻo Hawaiʻi.  ʻO ia wale nō ... " (I know Hawaii. It's just...) I started, trailing off and taking a slightly shaky breath. I looked over at my family, who were looking confused and curious. Probably about me and Hawaii's conversation. But the staring just made me more anxious.

"E hoʻolaki wau iā ia!  E inaina mai lākou iaʻu a i ʻole ... a i ʻole ... a i ʻole ... kekahi mea.  Ua hūnā wau iā lākou.  ʻAʻole wale ʻoe a me kou mau kaikaina, akā ʻo koʻu ʻano, koʻu ʻeha, a me nā mea hou aku.  Manaʻo lākou ua ʻike lākou iaʻu, ʻaʻole naʻe.  He aha inā e inaina lākou i ka ʻoiaʻiʻo iaʻu? " (I'm going to screw it up! They're going to hate me or...or...or...something. I kept so much secret from them. Not just you and your siblings, but my personality, my pain, and so much more. They think they know me, but they don't. What if they hate the real me?) I spewed out to Hawaii, who smiled.

"A laila ʻaʻole pono ʻoe e mālama iā lākou ma ke ʻano he ʻohana.  Inā hōʻeha ka pili ʻana iā lākou, ʻaʻole pono ʻoe e mālama iā lākou a puni.  Hana i ka mea maikaʻi loa nāu e Pāpā.  ʻO wau pū kekahi me ʻoe i nā ala a pau. " (Then you don't have to keep them as your family. If being related to them hurts you, you don't have to keep them around. Do what's best for you Dad. I'll be with you all the way.) Hawaii said.

"Mahelo e Hawaii." (Thank you Hawaii.) I responded. I mentally prepared myself for the questioning before looking over to my family. I raised an eyebrow.

"You can ask questions you know." I said. Australia immediately stood up.

"Why didn't your states want us to know about them?" He asked. I sighed. That was a complicated question. All the states were different, and it was hard to put them all in one category. I ended up shrugging.

"I don't know. My kids all have their own, widely different, reasons. I do know that a main part that convinced my kids to keep themselves secret was them." I said, pointing towards Uncle England, Canada, and Dad.

"I...I...I'm sorry." Canada said. I wish Canada would stop blaming himself for the War of 1812. The only people at fault were me and Dad. We just dragged Canada into it.

"1812 wasn't your fault. Besides, I burnt down your capital first." I told him. Canada got himself mixed up into my messes way too much. He didn't need to blame himself for the messes.

"That still didn't stop me from helping burn down your capital. Or stop me from stabbing you." Canada muttered.

"You stabbed Ame?" Maman and Australia asked. Australia sat back down in his chair and put his head in his hands.

I winced, thinking back to that memory, of the White House burning, D being stuck in the building, and the flames burning my skin. I pushed those memories aside. It's not something I wanted to think about, especially after what happened earlier this year.

"I'm fine now. We were both really upset with each other. Besides, I tried to kill both Dad and Uncle England during my Revolution, so it's not like it's the first time this family's tried to kill each other." I told them, think back to Breed's Hill when I broke Uncle England's jaw with a musket.

Uncle England flinched and held his jaw, so he was probably thinking back to the same memory. Dad's eyes held a lot of pain in them. While I may have un disowned my family, none of us have tried to talk about any of the pain caused by my Revolution. We haven't worked out anything on forgiving each other for specific things we did to each other. We agreed to put the Revolution aside, but we never tried to fix their pain caused by it.

We probably should. As soon as I brought up the Revolution, the air became awkward. Maman, New Zealand, Uncle North, and Australia all looked uncomfortable, as they weren't a part of the family during my Revolution.

My family and I needed to forgive each other for my Revolution. For everything we did to each other. For everything that caused it. For all the pain caused by it. I wanted to forgive them. But there was just so much that happened between us.

Dad is my oldest enemy for a reason. And I didn't see how we could fix that kind of damage to our relationship. We ignored it. I should've know that was going to come back and bite me in the ass. I made the same mistake before, and had a civil war because of it.

Kicking the can down the road doesn't help anyone. Especially when said can is full of explosives.

"How about we move on to anther topic. Does anyone else have any questions?" Hawaii asked, trying to diffuse any tensions. Thank god for Hawaii. She, along with all of my other children who help me take care of their siblings are amazing.

"You know over 300 languages." Uncle England said.

"It's not as great as it sounds. I mean its cool and all, but it also making talking out loud incredibly annoying." I said. Aussie groaned, while the rest of my family looked increasingly confused.

"I know, right? Ugh, if there's ever a reason for me to get an official language, it would be just to make talking out loud less of a chore." Australia complained.

"Wait, why is talking out loud hard for you? You know a lot of languages wouldn't it be easy?" New Zealand asked.

"Because talking out loud is multitasking for us. We have to think about what we want to say while simultaneously having to focus on speaking whatever language we want to speak." I explained. Our family looked at me and Australia in shock.

"Seriously?" Uncle North asked. Australia nodded.

"Yeah. If we don't focus on speaking English, well, there's no guarantee that we'll speak English. We don't have a default language, so in order to speak one language constantly, we have to focus on speaking it." Australia continued to explain.

"But how does that work?" Maman asked.

"Well, if I stop focusing on making sure I speak English. ऐसा ही होता है। En die taal verander met elke sin. A vorbi este mult mai ușor pentru mine în acest fel. あなたは本当に混乱しているように見えます。To'hta." (This is what happens. And the language changes with every sentence. Talking is so much easier for me this way. You look really confused. Hold on.) I said, before focusing back on speaking English.

"Ame?" Uncle Wales asked after a couple of seconds. I was slightly annoyed, but understood that this was the first time they saw this, and they were most likely confused.

"Calm down it just takes a minute." Hawaii said.

"It's doesn't take that long. It's just the mentally preparing myself to multitask speaking. Which is very hard. Have you ever tried to give a presentation while focusing on something else? It's hard, and that's what talking out loud is like for me and Aussie." I said, "Anything else?"

Please don't bring up the 1860s. Please don't bring up the 1860s. Please don't bring up the 1860s. Please don't-

"Why don't you get a lot of sleep?" Maman asked. I furrowed my brows.

"Have you ever met an American?" I blurted out, before covering my mouth. Hawaii began laughing.

"Pāpā! ʻAʻole hiki iā ʻoe ke ʻōlelo wale. ʻIke wau ʻaʻole e hiamoe nā ʻAmelika, akā ʻaʻole ia he manaʻo he kolohe ʻoe. " (Dad! You can't just say that. I know Americans never sleep, but that doesn't mean you should be rude.) Hawaii said to me between laughs.

"Pehea ʻoe e ʻaʻa ai e ʻōlelo aku i kou makuakāne pēlā. Maopopo iaʻu maopopo ka mea aʻu e hana nei. " (How dare you speak to your father that way. I obviously know what I'm doing.) I joked back with her. Hawaii did enjoy chewing people out as a joke, or seriously, when her siblings were being agents of chaos.

"E inoa i hoʻokahi manawa." (Name one time.) Hawaii said back with a smile.

"Um, we don't speak that language, and I still want an answer to the question. And what do you mean by have you ever met an American?" Uncle Ireland asked.

"E kala mai iaʻu." (I'm sorry) Hawaii began. "It's Hawaiian. It's my first language, so I prefer it to English. Not that there's anything wrong with English-"

"I can give you a list of things wrong with English." I commented, smiling at Hawaii. I'm glad she decide to stay with me. It makes me more comfortable and this conversation less awkward for me. Hawaii rolled her eyes at me.

"Fair enough." She said. I then turned to Uncle Ireland to answer his question.

"It's a joke that Americans don't sleep because most Americans have horrible sleep schedules, since, you know, sleep is an option, but work is not." I explained.

"Sleep is not an option!" Maman said.

"Yes it is. You don't need sleep." I said back. I never slept a lot and I was perfectly fine. Sure I sometimes passed out from exhaustion and had memory and attention problems because of it, but it wasn't that bad.

"Yes you do!" Uncle England protested.

"I'm fine without it. Besides, I got an hour of sleep, like, three days ago, so I'm fine." I told them. I don't know why they were overreacting. This has been my sleep schedule since World War Two. I sleep for an hour or two every four days or so. It was fine. They didn't need to baby me. I was fine.

"That's not healthy Ame. You need more sleep than that." New Zealand said. No I didn't. I was fine. Sleep is optional. I didn't need anyone's help. I didn't need to be babied. I was fine. I was fine. I was fine.

"I've had this sleep schedule for a while now. I'm fine." I insisted. I didn't need anyone to baby me. I was fine. "Any other questions?"

"Stop being stubborn and give her a chance!" I heard Texas say from where he was over by Mexico. I looked over to where he was. I saw Texas had his hands on Cali's shoulders and was looking them in the eyes. I hope he and Cali weren't arguing again.

"Ame?" Canada asked, tapping me on the shoulder.

"Sorry. Just hoping Cali and Texas don't start another fight. Anyway, are there any other questions? Ones that preferably don't revolve around my sleep schedule." I asked.

"Ame getting that much sleep isn't healthy! There are a lot of negative things that come out of sleep deprivation!" Uncle England insisted. Why couldn't they just drop this topic. I was fine. I was fine. I was fine.

I didn't need anyone's help. I was fine on my own. I could handle myself. Just because I acted a little immature, or didn't seem like a good father figure doesn't mean I couldn't handle myself. I was fine. I didn't need to be babied.

My family didn't need to worry about me. I was fine. I was fine. I was fine. They were just going to hate me if they found out about my sleep schedule or the Civil War or the Trail of Tears. I couldn't accept their help. I made it this far on my own. I was fine. I was fine. I was fine.

"TEX YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I heard Cali yell. Oh thank god those two started a fight when they did. Now I can avoid this conversation about my sleep schedule. Well, they're probably going to bring it up again. Maybe Ohio and Michigan can start a fight. Then I'll have to leave.

"WE HAVE THE SAME MOM! SHE'S RIGHT THERE!" Texas yelled back. Cali began speaking to Mexico, which I couldn't hear very well.

"You need to stop cussing out Tex. You guys are reaching 'Hio v Michi or York v Mass levels of arguments." Delaware said, obviously having overheard the beginnings of an argument between Texas and Cali. But Cali can yell very loudly, so I'd be surprised if he didn't.

I nodded in agreement with his statement. Those two had been reaching Ohio v Michigan levels of conflict, which I thought was impossible.

"Del's right. You two need to stop fighting over any small thing you can disagree over." I spoke up, feeling my family's eyes on me. It made me nervous. What if they thought I was horrible parent and tried to take my children away?

"Oh come on Pa. We ain't that bad. You've seen 'Hio and Michi. How can we be that bad?" Texas protested. I don't know that either, but you been getting close to it, so obviously something must be happening.

"I dealt with the Toledo War firsthand. I know how bad 'Hio and Michi can be. Michi wasn't even alive when the Toledo War happened." I told him.

"Yeah, so how are we that bad?" Cali asked.

"Four fights in less than an hour. That's more than 'Hio and Michi on a bad day. They can keep it under two." I told them. Ohio and Michigan may not like each other, but at least they know when it isn't the time or place to fight.

"That's because we have a group of states-"

"The Midwest"

"Yes the Midwest. Anyway they're in charge of keepin' those two apart." Texas finished after the being interrupted by New York. Fair enough, but they can still not fight on their own when they realize it isn't the time or place.

"Fair enough, but if you guys don't stop turning every conversation into an argument, we'll have to do the same for you." I told them. Texas rolled his eyes.

"Alright Pa we get it." He said before turning back to Mexico. I sighed.

"Alright if you don't want to talk about your sleep schedule, then tell us this. What happened in the 1860s that none of your kids want to talk about?" Uncle North asked. My breath hitched. I began to feel my panic growing as I thought back to that horrible, horrible war.

Shiloh. Antietam. Gettysburg. Fredericksburg. Vicksburg. The Wilderness. Secession. The Confederate States of America.

My Civil War.

"I have to go!" I said before running out of the meeting room. I ran to the bathroom and locked myself into a stall and my breathing quickened. I couldn't talk about the Civil War. The would judge the south. They would hate me.

So many horrible things happened. I just wanted to forget all of the pain Confederacy wrecked across my land, against my people. I began crying as I thought back to all the pain caused by the Civil War.

I couldn't tell them. I couldn't tell my family. The Civil War was a burden carried by the states and I. No one else.

I couldn't accept help from my family. I was fine on my own.

I was fine.

[anotheronechicagobog]

The Crackship Sails To Molly’s - Jay Halstead x Ethan Choi

written by @anotheronechicagobog​

A/N: Homophobia, the Catholic church, Catholic guilt, mention of canon-compliant violence, mention of two men having sex, it’s all pretty mild but I wanted to make sure it was all in the warnings, also I don’t like Doris and it shows

A/N 2: What do you guys think their ship name would be? Choistead? Haloi? 

A/N 3: If you have a problem with LGBTQ people please go fuck yourself

They ran into each other at the last place they thought they would. Since Jay and Ethan had both been in the military, though in different factions, they figured they might run into each other at military events, they already had. But literally bumping into each other at an LGBTQ+ military personnel picnic? That shocked both of them. Ethan took notice of Jay’s pansexual flag pin and Jay looked at Ethan’s bisexual one. After the initial shock wore off, Ethan smiled, he was happy to know that he wasn’t alone in his social circle. Sure, Leslie Shay was a loud and proud lesbian, but they didn’t have anything in common and just made sure to say ‘hi’ whenever they ran into each other and buy each other nachos whenever they ran into each other at pride events (don’t ask, it just became their thing). Ethan went to give him a ‘dude hug’, as Leslie had dubbed them, when he noticed the fear etched onto Jay’s face. “Halstead, are you okay?” Honestly, he looked like he was about to burst into tears. “Jus- uhh” Jay hiccuped and Ethan was now justifiably worried. “Don’t tell Will.” And then Jay ran away from Ethan and the gentle arm he’d had on his shoulder like a bat out of hell. Jay could still feel the warmth of Ethan’s hand on his right shoulder as he drove away.

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Ethan didn’t tell Will. He didn’t give any indication that he knew something Will didn’t. He understood how important it was for him to keep quiet, but at the same time, it was so hard. Ethan wanted nothing more than to march up to the redhead and beat some sense into him. Will had obviously made to Jay that he wouldn’t be accepted if he came out. And he didn’t care, quite frankly. He had absolutely no sympathy for homophobes, he was done giving kindness and sympathy to people who wished that others wouldn’t exist because it deviated out of what they considered ‘normal’. So he’d gone back to being impassive and straight-faced. He pushed all of his feelings down because if he allowed himself to feel anything it would be complete and utter rage.

The next time he saw Jay was when he’d come into the ED to interview an assault victim. Apparently, there was a group of men catfishing and then assaulting LGBTQ+ men. Ethan’s heart ached just thinking about the case, all of the injured, betrayed victims. And Jay. Ethan didn’t want to know what was going through his mind, he probably viewed this as another reason not to come out.

The eye contact between them was brief, but Jay showed him vulnerability, and then thanks when Ethan gave him a sympathetic smile. Just trying to untangibley reach out and connect with his aching soul. And then suddenly it was gone, the grace that had bound the two of them temporarily, and Ethan had to watch with a sinking heart as Jay emotionally shrunk in on himself. “How’s our victim doing, Choi?”

“Not great, I’m afraid. He’ll live, but there’s going to be long lasting health problems for him.” 

“That’s terrible.”

“Yeah, it is.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two days later, after the catfishing homophobes were caught, Ethan ran into Jay outside of Molly’s. His eyes were dark, broad shoulders were slumped, and he moved like his mind possessed all the strength his body just couldn’t muster. “Hey Choi- uh, Ethan?”

“Yeah?”

“Could we go somewhere to talk? Maybe get a drink?”

“Well, we are standing outside of a bar.”

“Somewhere that’s not packed to the seams with nosey people who know who I... Don’t want to hear what I want to talk... About. Y’know what? This was stupid-”

“How about Osso’s? Over on Folger street? It’s not a bar, but I’m starving and their booths have curtains.”

“Yeah, that sounds great, actually, thanks.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I figured out that I was bi when I was fourteen. I was watching The Mummy for the first time and I couldn’t stop thinking about how hot Brendan Fraser was. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Rachel Weisz was hot too, but Brendan really got my attention. When the movie was over, uh, well let’s just say that my Catholic guilt took hold. My mom knew, I told her when I was seventeen, and she kept trying to set me up with her friends’ daughters. She didn’t care, just told me that she loved me and that there was nothing wrong with me, but that I shouldn’t tell my dad or Will. She didn’t sugarcoat anything, she took me to this secluded spot on the pier and told me about homophobia and how bad it was, not just morally, but that it ran rampant, and that my father and brother were two heavy believers in an institution who made it their mission to oppress as many people as possible. Looking back, I think my dad knew, don’t know how or if he actually does, it’s just more of a gut feeling. My brother is still incredibly Catholic, he’s become more accepting over time, but it’s clear that while he’s okay with strangers being LGBTQ+, he’s not okay with anyone he’s close to being anything other than straight. The, uh, my first time I was nineteen and it was during my rangers training, with one of my now best friends, who I dated during that time for a while. Everything kinda fell apart when we got discharged. Mouse or-”

“Greg Gerwitz. I remember him.”

“Yeah, we broke up after we were discharged. Well, he broke up with me. Neither of us were handling being back well but he was handling it worse. It hurt like he;;, I missed him so much. After I started in Intelligence I brought him in as a CI. I just wanted to know he was okay, be near him again. But he was not the same man I’d fallen in love with. He was an addict, had a record, a small one, but still. I broke my heart almost as much as our breakup did. A little later I got him a job as our tech guy. It was good having him around, especially cause he was coming back, y’know? He’d quit his habits, became a law-abiding citizen. It was great. Then, he asked me out, asked me to take him back, and I did. Without a second of hesitation. Being together again felt amazing, but then he got his record expunged, dumped me, again, and went back to the rangers. It completely tore me to pieces, I got time off and didn’t get out of bed for two weeks after he deployed. Uh, wow, sorry to unload all of that on you. And that was probably a lot of information you didn’t want to hear-”

“No, no, Jay. It’s actually nice to talk about this, even though I’m out and open, I don’t actually get the chance to talk about it all that much. I’d actually like to share if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all, go ahead.”

“I was twenty-one when I figured it out. I was on brief leave in the navy, just a couple of days without duties while we were docked in Puerto Rico. I got pretty drunk, a guy I was dancing near was pretty drunk too, he kissed me, I kissed him back, and one thing lead to another. When I got back to port the next day, my friends all asked where I’d gone off to. I told them I got laid. It didn’t really hit me until the following night when I was in my bunk, lying awake because I couldn’t forget the feeling of his lips, or the callouses on his hands, or... Other quite honestly filthy details I probably shouldn’t share in a public place. I couldn’t sleep properly for two weeks, I come from a traditional Korean family. All I could think about was how they’d react. What would they do if they found out? I found out when I was twenty-nine. My sister, Emily, had somehow found out, and when she burst through the door, drunk off her ass, at the first Thanksgiving I’d been able to attend in five years, she announced it to everyone when I tried to calm her down and get her up to bed. The look, on my parents’ faces, I couldn’t even look at my grandparents. I just said sorry and ran out. I crashed at a fling’s place for a week. I couldn’t bring myself to pick up the phone or to go see them. I felt like someone had put my chest through a trash compactor, I couldn’t stop crying. I had lost my entire family in less than ten seconds. You know that subtle, back of the mind dread you feel when you’re boarding a plane for your next deployment? Normally, you push it away, accept it’s a possibility but try not to think about it. I welcomed it. I hoped I’d get killed, that I wouldn’t make it home. But then... My grandparents were at my gate. Their faces just lit up and they welcomed me with open arms. They both hugged me and made me promise to come home, not to be a hero. They gave me hope. They loved and supported me, went toe-to-toe with the rest of my family for me. I’ll never be able to thank them enough.”

“They sound really great, I’m glad that you have them.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Suddenly the heavy curtain closing off their booth from the rest of the world was pushed to the side. “Gentlemen, your food is ready. Who ordered the grilled salmon?”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ethan and Jay had grown much closer, having bi-weekly dinners. Sometimes at Osso’s, sometimes at Bartoli's, sometimes at their own apartments. They’d become close, close friends. But because drama followed them around like a moth to a flame because it felt like they lived in an overly dramatic tv show sometimes, it couldn’t stay that way.

Jay started to watch Ethan when he licked his lips after he took a sip of a drink, when the muscles in his arms lengthened themselves when he reached for something, that twinkle he got in his eyes whenever he got cocky. Jay knew what was happening from the first moment he found himself looking at Ethan’s lips for more than a millisecond. He was falling in love. And all that he could do was loathe himself for boarding a vessel with impending doom.

Reasons I Can’t Fall In Love With Ethan

Will doesn’t know I’m bi 

Ethan works with Will

Ethan is in the reserves and Mouse left me to go back to a warzone, it would kill me if it happened a second time

His ex, April, is currently trying to get back together with him

April also works with Ethan and Will

Ethan doesn’t love me so I’d just be ruining our friendship

Jay looked down at his list and recited it in his head, over and over again. He needed to memorize it, live by it. If he didn’t his entire world, which he just finally found comfort in again, would crumble to the ground.

Jay didn’t distance himself from Ethan, his heart wouldn’t let him, but it got harder and harder to ignore his ever-growing feelings. But he couldn’t tell Ethan, he couldn’t be with Ethan, he knew that far too well. So the next time Ethan confided in Jay that April had made a move on him Jay did something incredibly, fabulously, thoroughly idiotic. “You should ask April out, man. I think that you guys would be great together.”

Yup. 

He actually did that.

Sigh.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright, who is she?”

“Excuse me?”

“Come on Jay, I’m your brother. I know you. The last time you looked like this and were drinking vodka, of all things, was when Erin left. You only drink vodka when you’re experiencing troubles of the heart.”

“I drank vodka when Mouse went back to the rangers.” 

“After he’d broken up with you to go back to the same warzone he’d almost died in.”

Jay choked on his drink and felt his heart plummet out of his body and onto the floor. Burning tears blurred his vision and Jay felt more afraid than he’d ever felt in his life. He’d been shot at, blown up, shot at again, taken hostage, tortured, and he never felt this scared, this small. “Jay? Oh my god, Jay are you okay? Breathe, man.” But he couldn’t. Why couldn’t he breathe? Why was his chest so tight? Why couldn’t he move? Suddenly he was yanked off of his couch and onto the floor, his head shoved between his bent knees. “Deep breaths, Jay. Just take slow deep breaths, in and out, just like me... Okay... Good, name five things you can feel, four things you can see, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.”

“Uh... floor, couch leg, carpet, coffee table... you... Um, I, uh, I see...”

“Four things you can see.”

“Jeans, scrubs, crumbs, Kim’s wine stain... Hear, u-uh, Netflix, heating system, the Needlers arguing again...”

“Your neighbours sure do fight a lot, but you’re doing great. Keep going. Two things you can smell.”

“... Pizza and your terrible cologne...”

“Ignoring that, one thing you can taste.”

“Your terrible cologne. Seriously, Will, your supposed to spritz it, not douse yourself in it.”

“Well you’re feeling better, but you’re still shaking. You feel a bit cold, get back on the couch I’m gonna grab you a blanket.” Will was right, he was still shaking, and he felt cold to the bone. His heart was pounding so hard it was terrifying and his chest was still tight... But he was feeling better. Panic attack. He’d gotten them before, along with anxiety attacks, night terrors, and paranoia. All connected to his PTSD. He’d just never had a panic attack about his sexuality before, only about the action he’d gotten overseas and in Chicago. When Will returned with a thick fluffy blanket he’d gotten from Kim for secret Santa, the same night she’d made that wine stain on his carpet, Jay was on the couch and gripping his knees tightly, trying to get a grip on himself. Will had also brought Jay’s first aid kit and was checking him over, after he’d been wrapped up like a traumatized child, and Jay released a shaky breath, unable to look his brother in the eye before speaking at the same volume as a mouse. “How long have you known?”

Will stopped what he was doing and regarded his brother. Jay was older and had always been Will’s hero growing up but right now... He just looked like he needed a hug. “I’ve known since you were nineteen. You brought Mouse back to visit with you while you guys had leave and when mom and dad had work and I had school, you guys had the place to yourselves. I realized when I was a couple of minutes away from the house that I’d forgotten my lunch, so I went back to get it. When I walked in you guys were making out on the couch. You were really... into each other, you didn’t even notice me. I was gonna bolt to the kitchen and back... But then you took off each other’s shirts and started reaching for belts so I bolted. I love you, Jay, and I don’t care who you have sex with, but I never want to actually see it.”

“Jeez, I’m sorry we must have traumatized you.”

“No you didn’t, I would’ve reacted the same way if I saw you with a girl... Which we both know is true cause you and Erin had a very bad habit of not closing your bedroom door.”

“Sorry about that... If you’ve known all this time, why have you never said anything? I mean you used to make these weird comments about being related to gay people, but...”

“I thought that you needed to be the one to tell me. It was your closet to exit, I thought it would’ve been rude to force it. And about those comments, I don’t know, it’s just you never told me. More and more time passed, and from the letters you were sending mom I could tell you and Mouse were still together but you never said anything. I was trying to give you hints that I don’t care, your sexuality doesn’t matter to me. I love you no matter what. The only reason that I brought up any of this now, forced you out of the closet... I’ve never seen you like this. It rivals when you came back. You are hurting and I want to be there for you, but I can’t if you won’t talk to me, if you won’t let me in.”

“But I’m sinning. You’ve always been more devout than me.”

Will scoffed. “Have you been reading the news? The Catholic church really can’t decide what’s right and wrong considering all they’ve done and covered up. Plus, did you really think I was going to make all my life choices based on the teachings given to me by men who forced us to wear plaid suit jackets for elementary and high school? Really, I can’t wear plaid anymore, I don’t understand how you can tolerate it, I swear I’ve got plaid PTSD.”

“Well, maybe it’s cause I actually have PTSD and there are far worse things to go through than having to wear plaid to school every day.”

“That was a bad comment, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright... So you’re really okay that I’m bi?”

“As long as you're happy, I’m happy.”

“You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that and mean it.”

Jay was tearing up again, but this time they were happy tears. Will just wrapped his big brother in a hug and relished ina feeling of closeness that he hadn’t felt since they were kids.

“Okay, now seriously Jay, who’s giving your heart trouble?”

“I don’t know, Will...”

“As long as it’s not Connor Rhodes I don’t care.”

“Well...”

“Oh no-”

“Ha! Just kidding! Your face, seriously, what did that guy ever do to you?”

“We’re not talking about the man who thinks he’s smarter than me. C’mon, tell me who it is. Is it someone I work with?”

“It’s Ethan Choi...”

“You guys have been spending a lot of time together over the past year, so I can see that. And he’s pan, right? Yeah, I think that you guys would be cute together and I think he’s got a thing for you, honestly. Why don’t you ask him out?”

Jay fell back and groaned. “I told him to ask out April the next time she hits on him.”

Will just blinked and stared at his masochistic and self-sacrificing moron of an older brother. “Why would you say that?! You clearly like him! You idiot!”

“... I’m gonna need the vodka back if we’re gonna keep talking about this.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jay felt like the weight he’d had on his shoulders was traded for another. He wasn’t worried about Will despising his existence anymore, but now he had to watch Ethan date April. And on top of all that, Will was always on his case about his miserably non-existent love life. So yeah, he wasn’t really enjoying his life at the moment. He was currently sitting up at the bar at Molly’s, avoiding ‘chexton’. He could hear April’s giggles and Doris squawking “you’re so perfect for each other!”, “I’m so glad you got back together!”, and “I call maid of honour!” over and over and over again. He knocked back the last of his beer when his phone buzzed.

Mouse: Hey Jay, I’m back on leave for a couple of days, just got off the plane. Want to meet up?

Jay: Sure, you up for a beer at Molly’s? I’m here right now.

Mouse: Actually I was thinking of a different kind of meet up. Your place? Just the two of us?

Jay: Sounds like a plan.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jay and Mouse spent the two days he was home screwing each others’ brains out. That really was the best way to put it. Their time together was hot, heavy, and passionate. They wouldn’t get back together, no, but there was a bond there that would always remain. They’d both had tension that needed to be released and release it they did. Jay dropped Mouse off at O’Hare early on the third day. “Hey, thanks for this weekend. It was nice, it was good to see you again, Jay.”

“Yeah, you too. Stay safe Greg.”

“It’s Greg now?”

“You’ll always be important to me. You were the first man I loved, but you’ve left me twice. I need to move on.”

“It sounds like you already have. I’m happy for you, you deserve nothing but happiness, Jay. But, uh, should you have just spent an entire weekend naked with me if you’re with someone?”

“He doesn’t love me back.”

“Is he straight?”

“No, but he’s pan and got a girlfriend.”

“I’m sorry Jay. For your situation and everything else.”

“I know. Stay safe.”

“I will.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jay turned on his phone for the first time since he told Mouse to come over. He was met with an abundance of texts and missed calls. The texts were mostly from his colleagues, asking if he was going to be at Molly’s. A couple were from Will, asking if he wanted to get together to watch a game. The person who’d sent him the most texts and had made most of the missed calls was Ethan. Jay didn’t bother going through them all, he just sent his brother and Hailey quick text messages letting them know he was alive and would be at work on time, he’d just spent the weekend with a friend. He called Ethan as he made his way through the city. “Jay? Are you okay? Where have you been? I’ve been so worried, I called your brother and Hailey and none of them could tell me anything.”

“I was okay, I was at home the whole time.”

“But I went by your place, I knocked on your door, no one answered.”

“Oh, that was you? I thought it was Karen from down the hall. I was a little... Busy.”

“All weekend? Alone in your apartment? With no assigned case or old case that’s been bothering you?”

“Well, I wasn’t alone, actually.”

“What?”

“Yeah, Mouse was on leave for the weekend so he came over.”

“... You were alone with your ex-boyfriend for an entire weekend... Doing what?”

“Each other.”

“Damnit, Jay.”

“Eth-” And then Ethan hung up. Jay was confused and distressed, but he’d arrived at the district so his relationship with Ethan would have to wait. Well, friendship, not relationship.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Voight needed someone to go collect a statement from an accomplice at MED Jay’s reaction rivalled that of Katniss Everdeen. He was given a couple of odd looks, but he and Hailey made their way to the hospital, Hailey side-eying him the whole way. “Do you need to talk to Ethan?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“He hounded me for two days because you weren’t texting him back. He was really worried, Jay. What’s going on with you two? I mean, he was acting like...”

“Like what?”

“Like a worried boyfriend.”

“We’re not dating Hailey. Why would you think that?”

“Because you two look at each other the way Trudy and Mouch look at each other. Like you’ve hung the moon and the stars for each other. I don’t judge, Jay... You’re always really happy around him. I think you’d be good together.”

“He’s dating April.”

Hailey scoffed and rolled her eyes so hard her head rolled with them. “No, they’re not dating. She was acting like it, and Doris was yapping away about it on Friday at Molly’s, but Ethan was just quietly sitting there the whole night, he looked really uncomfortable honestly. A couple hours after you left he asked April if they could speak in private. It didn’t stay that way for long. Ethan had tried to tell her that he didn’t want to get back together and didn’t love her anymore, and she was upset, obviously. But it seemed like she understood. She hugged him and went to sit back at the nurses, but I guess she told them and Doris blew up, screamed at him, made a huge scene. April had to actually take her home. Ethan immediately came up to me and asked where you were.”

“Oh.”

“So you volunteered us to talk to him?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey Ethan.”

“Can we talk, Jay?”

“Yeah, I’d really like that.”

“The doctor’s lounge is free, we can talk in there.” They entered the darkened gray room together, both feeling the tension between them. It felt strange to just stand there, in the middle of the room, and Ethan wasn’t meeting his gaze. So Jay sat down, hoping that Ethan would follow his lead. He did. “I’m sorry that I worried you.”

“Don’t apologize, I should actually be apologizing to you. You didn’t owe me an explanation, we don’t have the kind of... Relationship that warrants you letting me know when you’re going to disappear for a weekend with your ex. We’re just- We’re just friends.” Jay was silent for several moments, trying to think of what to say. How to phrase what he was feeling. There didn’t seem to be an eloquent way to phrase it, so he decided to just jump in and hope he didn’t get hurt. “I don’t want to be friends with you Ethan. I want to be more than that, I love you. I understand if you don’t feel the same way, but- I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I’ve been trying to distract myself, with Mouse most recently, but it didn’t work. It doesn’t change that I really want to kiss and date and be loved by you. Will you go out on a date with me?”

“Yes, there is quite literally nothing else I’d rather do. How about tonight, because I don’t think I can wait any longer. And I love you too.”

“I know that the wall behind us is basically just a window but I really want to kiss you-” Thankfully Ethan didn’t care about that, and gave Jay a kiss so incredible, he saw stars.

... And missed Hailey and Will high-fiving behind him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After informing the accomplice that he was being arrested for armed robbery, obstruction of justice, and public urination, Jay and his partner left MED. Jay was so happy he was practically vibrating as he skipped out of the hospital. His, highly amused, partner got into the passenger side of his truck and thumped his shoulder. “See? I told you that he likes you.”

“How did you figure out I’m not straight, anyway? I’ve... Played that pretty close to the vest. I only told Will a week ago.”

“You know Nico’s Diner over in Greektown?”

“Yeah.”

“My family owns it. I started working there when I was nine, I think? I worked there through high school and college. And I go there once a month to catch up with my brothers. You used to go there all the time with this guy and you’d hold hands and kiss him quite a bit, so I figured you were more than friends. I recognized you when I walked onto that robbery scene a couple years ago.”

“So you knew, this entire time, that I was bisexual and you didn’t say anything to anyone? Why not?”

“It wasn’t my place to tell Jay, besides, I didn’t know that you were bisexual, just that you liked men. I just spoke up now because you were really hurting Jay, it was so obvious, and it was obvious that Ethan was hurting too. I really hope that you guys are happy together.”

“Thanks, me too.”

“Soooo... Where are you gonna take Ethan on your big date?”

[neptrabbit]

So. Here are some of my personal thoughts on ith movie. since this post is LONG, most of the thoughts are leaning towards criticism & ofc it contains spoilers so imma put my bad takes under cut. they’re my personal, subjective opinion, so it’d be normal if you agree/disagree. anyways, you’ve been warned.

The opening song

stage performance & movies are two VERY different media, so unavoidably they had to make many changes to adapt the musical to big screen. One thing they were trying to adapt was the breaking the fourth wall narration in the opening song. they changed the setting of a lot of these lines to Usnavi telling a bunch of kids in an unknown future timeline abt Washington Heights. I personally am not a fan of this decision. the cut between the two different timelines in that 8 min release got me pretty confused & taken out & that feeling did not change much when i was watching the movie either. in the course of the movie, suddenly cutting to future timeline breaks the flow & consistency of the narrative for me, esp since the future scenes rlly aren’t that long. Ik it's for the reveal in the end. I still don't like it.

Choreography

the choreography & cinematography by themselves are hella fantasitc. there’re VERY pretty scenes and choreography, esp during songs. from top of my head i can name a few: the reflection of dancing in the opening song, the running scene in It Won’t Be Long Now, the pool scene (with Vanessa floating on a life saver in the middle) in 96000, THE FUCKING ENTIRETY OF PACIENCIA Y FE, the dancing in The Club, the horizontal dancing scene in When The Sun Goes Down, etc. But a lot of the scenes, esp those that involve group dancing, seems a bit out of place when they seem to take place in the real world rather than on stage. This is prolly another demonstration of the difference in the media of stage performance & movies. I had a hard time to suspend my disbelief, and the movie trying to place some of the dancing in the actual narrative rlly didn’t make it better for me.

(at first I thought for some reason the pool scene in 96000 was everyone’s imagination coming together & was looking forward to it. I did not expect it to actually take place in a pool in the movie & they even used a whole sequence of them going to the pool to show them going to the pool to set it up. So is the dancing in the intro. i did not expect an overhead shot to reveal that it actually happened. Moments like these gave me serious pauses & made me unable to rlly appreciate the fantastic cinematography & choreography.)

bc of the reason i stated & the fact the movie is so centered around these songs & the plot gets cut by the narration from the future, this movie kinda strikes me as a series of well-made music videos connected by loose plots & themes rather than an actual movie.

Plot change

as we all are aware, they made several choices regarding the plot. 

changing nina’s reason to leave Stanford from unable to take care of school & jobs to provide for her living at the same time to experience of racism. i’m personally not a fan of this change - i am not implying that racism is not an issue that poc experience daily. It’s just, I expected a more nuanced discussion on racism & identity in a movie centered around a socially & financially marginalized minority group than a few lines of “my roommate lost her shit so her & RA searched me”, “the school board thought i was a waitress at diversity dinner”, “the waiters looked at me in the looks that question if i am with them”, and “i felt lonely and without a community there”. They are pretty superficial considering their impact in the story. tbh the line “when i was younger i’d imagined what would happen if my parents had stayed in Puerto Rico” did a much better job to capture the identity crisis that first gen immigrant children go thru and gave me more emotional impacts than all the horrible things stanford did to nina. 

deleting Hundreds of Stories and putting Paciencia y Fe right before abuela’s death. i understand it’s a narrative choice bc they decided to reveal that abuela won the lottery later & make it that Usnavi had saved to move to DR in the beginning. in the changed lyrics of Paciencia y Fe we also had a peak of abuela’s struggle of deciding whether to leave or stay in Washington Heights. which is nice. but putting that song right before abuela dies rlly makes her conflicting feelings unimportant to the story... maybe the leave or stay refers to her dying, but she doesn’t rlly have much of a choice either way, does it. she’s just.. kinda like some characters in anime.. whose tragic backstory is narrated right before they die to get the readers emotional... but in a pretty song sequence... the choreography & lighting is very pretty tho. gotta give credit where it’s due.

Sonny’s subplot. i rewatched the movie and realized that there was some foreshadowing of his illegal status in the beginning when Daddy Sonny was talking to Usnavi, but tbh it was quite easy to miss.. so i was a bit surprised when they brought up Sonny’s subplot when there was only 45 min left of the movie. that was not enough time to fully develop this plot, esp given that time is used for other subplots too. we know Sonny is very aware of the politics & is sorta an activist, but him wanting to be like Nina & wanting to get into college wasn’t established earlier, so that part following the protest scene feels a bit flat.

Other things

I’ve seen the discussion of the film’s lack of rep of Afro-Latinos, but I am not the most qualified person to talk abt the experience of Afro-Latino community. I’m keeping my ears open and learning on this subject. 

I liked that they made Daniela & Carla a couple and was excited when i heard the news. The movie itself was not rlly explicit on their relationship tho - there were scenes of Carla pulling Daniela outta bed in the beginning & their dancing. but tbh the fact that they added a third Salon lady, Cuca, who’s always hanging around, makes D&C relationship harder to notice. Im not gonna say blink and you’ll miss it, but it’s pretty easy to miss. obv their relationship has nothing to do w the main plot, but eh. wished it was more explicit.

Tl;dr: i think they have a lot of interesting ideas that they didn’t explore fully so the movie feels a bit all over the place. this goes for Vanessa’s hope to become a fashion designer, Nina’s experience of racism & identity crisis, Sonny’s illegal status. Loved Daniela and the songs tho. Piragua song’s funny as hell. A bit sad they didn’t paint abuela in the finale :(

i am familiar w the source material & liked it a TON but i don’t like it enough to feel nostalgia.. so i can’t go in there with a fresh mind & see it without comparing it to the original, and neither do i hold so much affection for it that i can happily ignore the defects. so honestly i’m probably in the group that has the worst experience watching it

also: pls lmm i beg u pls don’t make a live action adaption of hamilton, pls

[forabeatofadrum]

Glee x Sense8 crossover idea

Mother: Emma Pillsbury, who is single and ready to mingle, because fuck Will Schuester. 

1. Kurt Hummel, aspiring Broadway actor, living in New York with his stepbrother Finn Hudson and Finn’s annoying, competitive girlfriend Rachel Berry. Distraught, he tries some recreational drugs he thinks he’s lost it when he suddenly sees this fancy looking guy with curly hair in his lounge.

2. Blaine Sotto, the son of one of the richest families in the Philippines. He’s set to marry the Korean actress Tina Cohen-Choi against his wishes, but he doesn’t understand why he can’t love her back. He doesn’t even know he’s gay until this random white dude shows up at his rehearsal dinner.

3. Artie Abrams, the first one of the cluster to be awoken. He’s a man whore. He can now have sex with people all over the world! He can experience more than ever before! Oh, he can be Australian, as a treat. That’s all I can say about this. Thanks @sohereswhatyoumissedlastweek!

4. Sam Evans, a small business owner in Florida, who's trying to create a succesful business in order to help feed his family and pay for his siblings' education. One day, private investigator Mercedes Jones knocks on his door, since one of his investors is corrupt. Uh oh.

5. Santana Lopez, an LGBT activist in Puerto Rico. Due to an intensive queer network, Santana has connections all over the world. One day, she stumbles on a website of a bisexual coder and she thinks she’s imaging things when said coder starts appearing in her “dreams”.

6. Quinn Fabray, an Irish model. She is freaked out when this tall guy with huge lips keeps appearing at her shoots. She starts to like him, but gets distraught when she realises that he likes this private investigator. No bad blood, though. Is a Quinncedes friendship possible?

7. Noah “Puck” Puckerman. Despite his age, he is THE crime boss of Amsterdam. He’s on a mission to be the crime boss of the entire country, since the Netherlands is small enough. When he suddenly starts appearing in places all over the world, next to people he doesn’t know, he first fears that someone has drugged him. 

8. Brittany S. Perrson, or one of the most promising maths geniuses in the world. Originally from Sweden, she currently lives in Slovenia, obtaining her doctorate. Her interest in numbers has moved her to an interest in coding. 

How are they all connected in one coherent plot? Bro, I have no fucking clue.

All the New Directions members (that matter in my opinion) are in these summaries, apart from Mike, but he will show up later in Blaine’s story. Tina’s new role is in a dance movie, so the dance captain of the Beijing Dance Troupe or something gets flown in to help. 

Oh and I originally had Kitty as a Swiss sensate, so that I could pronounce her last name as “Vill-duh”, but that didn’t work out.

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Riding High Ch 10- Hustle

Chapter Summary: It’s date time!!! Woohoo!! The slow burn has FINALLY burst into flames...

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW, no under 18s thanks!)

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: A special dedication to @icanfeelastormbrewing​ for reading over this because I wasn’t sure about some of it, and to @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​ because she was so pissed at us yesterday for the way we ended the latest CSI update, hope this scratches your itch…

As always I’m a ho for a REBLOG and COMMENT!

Chapter Song:  Better Together by Jack Johnson

Series Masterlist  Main Masterlist 

And there is no, no song I could sing, and there is no combination of words I could say, but I will still tell you one thing…we’re better together.

Fliss checked herself over again in the mirror and bit her lip. Frank had told her to dress casually, and bring a sweater as it could get a bit chili on the water at this time of year. She’d opted for a pair jeans with ripped knees, a sleeveless black top with white lace detailing in the shape of daisies and a pair of pink converse. Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun and her make-up was heavier than she normally wore but not too obvious. That said, she still felt…

Actually what was it she felt?

“That’s what you’re wearing?” John looked her up and down as she emerged from the walk-in closet. Fliss felt her heart sink, she’d spent ages picking this outfit for the night out John had said they were going on.

“What, is it not…” she asked and trailed off.

“No, wear a dress, for fucks sake Felicity, we’re going to an up-scale restaurant, not a goddamned diner.” She shook her head, and grabbed her long black cardigan, Frank wasn’t John, and she wasn’t fucking Felicity.

She heard her mum calling and headed down the stairs to find her in the living room.

“Oh you look lovely!” Verity gushed and Fliss smiled.

“Thanks mum, you ok?” “Yeah, just came by to ask if you wanted us to take Thor for the night or…” there was a glint in her mother’s eye and Fliss gave a snort.

“I’m coming home.” she shook her head “This is a first date, what do you take me for?” “Well it’s been a while.” Verity said, nonchalantly and Fliss picked up a cushion off the sofa and threw it at her.

“You’re terrible.” she giggled.

Verity caught the cushion and tossed it back, smiling. “Ok, honestly, I just wanted to see how you were, that’s all.” “Big girl mum, sure I can handle a date. Besides, it’s Frank.” she shrugged.

“I know.” Verity shrugged, but before Fliss could say anything else she heard Frank’s truck pull up outside.

Fliss moved round her mum and opened the door, ushering her out.

“Ok, ok!” Verity held her hands up, calling Thor. He obediently trotted after her. “I’ll put him back in later.” “Thanks mum.” she smiled. She waved at Frank who had cut the engine and was just climbing out.

“Bill let me in.” he said by way of explanation as Fliss looked at him. “Hi V.” he nodded to the woman and she gave him a warm smile back.

“Hi Frank.” she said, turning back to Fliss, looking over her shoulder as she walked “Have fun kids, don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.” “That leaves a lot…” Fliss said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as her mum laughed and disappeared up the drive to the main house. She turned to look at Frank who smiled at her as he walked round the back of the truck. He was dressed in a pair of dark jeans, dark blue sneakers and a light blue button down.

“You look great.” he smiled at her and she flushed a little.

“Don’t look too bad yourself, Sailor.” she said, and he grinned, pushing his sunglasses up onto his head as he followed her into the house “Although I was kinda hoping you’d wear one of those hideous Hawaiian shirts.”

“You literally just called them hideous.” he rolled his eyes “Hideous and endearing.” she quipped, grabbing her purse before she retrieved her cardigan from where she had tossed it onto the sofa.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded.

With a smile he offered her his hand and she took it, and allowed him to lead her to the truck.

******

Frank parked his truck outside his house and led Fliss down the path towards the docks. They chatted comfortably as he made his way to the boat he’d borrowed for the evening and before long he’d fired it up and was steering them out of the docks and into the bay. Fliss sat down on one of the benches, her legs resting on the wooden step in front of her, sunglasses covering her eyes as she glanced out over the water, the wind gently catching the loose strands of her hair and her sweeping bangs. Frank glanced at her every so often, simply drinking her in.

Eventually he picked up the speed ever so slightly and then called to Fliss, nodding to a cool box on the side that Dave, the owner, had left for him when he’d told him why he wanted to borrow it. He liked Dave, often swung a fair bit of work his way and he was a good man, always tipped Frank well.

Fliss retrieved two bottles and flipped the tops off before handing him one.

“Are you allowed to drink and be in charge of a boat?” she asked.

He shrugged “Never been stopped yet.” She smiled and took a drink, moving to stand besides him.

“Can I have a drive?" Fliss looked at him

"Thought you sailed a boat?" Frank said, teasingly as he took a mouthful of Bud.

"You're a dick Adler" Fliss deadpanned back.

Frank laughed "Whatever, and no you can’t."

"Why?" she pouted.

"Because I don’t fancy having to call Mary from Puerto Rico"

"Hmmm." Fliss pondered, swallowing her beer "are we even on the open ocean yet?"

"No"

"Well how the fuck would we end up in Puerta Rico?" She laughed "And, according to that compass..." she pointed to the dial in front of them on the cockpit of the boat "we're heading South West so we would hit Havana or Cancun first anyway....that is once we've actually made it out of the bay of course..."

"You know it's no wonder you and Mary get on so well..." he shook his head "both smart asses..."

She chuckled as she stood besides him and they made their way at a reasonable pace across the water, Frank keeping his eyes peeled for what he was hoping to find, and after 5 minutes or so he spotted the tell-tale ripples on the surface of the bay and grinned. He changed course slightly, heading towards his target and was just about to finally tell Fliss what he was heading towards when one of the dolphins broke surface. It was a small leap but Fliss gripped his arm and gave an excited gasp. "Is that...are they dolphins?" "Yup." he grinned at her. She looked at him in amazement and he smiled as they sped forward towards them, watching as another leapt out of the water, this time far higher as they continued to follow the pod, Fliss making her way to the stern for a closer look. To Frank they were a common sight but for Fliss, who had never seen them in the wild so close it was amazing, and the smile never faded from her face for the entire time. She glanced back at him every so often, beaming, and it made his chest flutter every goddamned time she did. Eventually after about 20 minutes or so the pod dived and then emerged a little way ahead of them and Frank slowed down a touch, allowing them to pull away. "Wow..." Fliss breathed as she made her way back towards him and Frank took her empty bottle and  tossed it into the bag along with his own  "Frankie...that was..." she sighed unable to express what she was feeling. Frank chuckled softly watching her before he reached for her arm, gently pulling her in front of him as he stepped back. "Take the wheel." He said softly into her ear "Fuck, what?" She stiffened slightly

"You wanted a go."

"I was only joking...I can't direct this thing!"

He laughed "Come on its easy, I'll show you look..." he moved closer to her, his chest brushing her back as his hands gently fell over hers on the wheel. He steered with her for a moment before he gradually let go and his fingers softly traced up her arms. Fliss felt the goosebumps spring forth at his touch and at the same time Frank noticed her breathing changing slightly and he suddenly worried he had overstepped the mark. But as his hands stopped at her elbows she turned her head slightly, her face inches from his as she looked up at him over her shoulder. Her eyes bounced across his own and he took the initiative and leaned down pressing his lips to hers in a soft kiss which, although fleeting, sent shivers down his spine. They both pulled back for a second or two before their lips were back together, this time the kiss was a little stronger and Frank's right hand felt for the key in the ignition of the boat and he turned it cutting the engine. Fliss chuckled against his lips as she turned round to face him. "Just out of interest, what happens if the boat doesn't start again?" She asked, pushing his sunglasses up onto his head so she could see his eyes. He arched an eyebrow at her. "Are you doubting my handy-work Cowgirl" "Wouldn't dream of it Sailor." she murmured as he closed the distance between them, his hands falling to her hips before he kissed her again. Frank already knew he was an utter gonner for this woman and the feeling of her mouth on his and her body pressed against him simply solidified that fact. It was as if this was what he had been holding out for, like it was just meant to be. Her arms snaked round his neck, and when one of her hands fisted gently in his hair he gripped her hips ever so slightly tighter and his tongue skated along her bottom lip, seeking permission. She obliged, opening her mouth slightly and he took the lead, his hands sliding round to her back pulling her closer. It was passionate, deep, the two totally wrapped up in one another, no regard for the fact they were on a boat, merely drifting across the bay. It was only when a loud cheer hit their ears that they broke apart and both turned their heads to see a larger boat floating last with a group of 4 men passing, all raising beer bottles at them in a toast, shouting and hollering various cat calls. "Friends of yours?" Fliss asked, Frank's hands gently rubbing at the base of her spine. "I have absolutely no idea who they are" he said with a chuckle as the boat full of guys headed off past them into the setting sun.

The moment broken, Frank gently moved round Fliss and started the boat back up, grabbed another two beers whilst she shrugged on her cardigan before he stood back and let Fliss pilot it for a little longer, using the excuse of straightening up their direction to touch her in some form or way as often as he could, until the light was getting dim and he reluctantly suggested they should probably be getting back. Fliss moved to let him take the wheel and, to his delight, as he moved to steer them back he felt her hands link round his waist and her cheek press into his back. They stayed like that until she needed to move so he could direct the boat back into its allocated spot before bringing it to a stop.

He stepped off the boat, gave directions to Fliss as she remained on the deck and the 2 of them ensured it was moored properly. Frank hopped back on board, made sure everything was locked down and then stepped onto the jetty again, offering his hand to Fliss. She took it and stepped onto the wooden platform besides him and he smiled as she adjusted her hold so her fingers were laced between his. They walked in silence back towards the main area of the harbour, the lights twinkling on the water as they walked down the wooden planks. "So Mary's staying at Roberta's..." Frank broke the silence. "What do you say we take this date to Ferg's?" "You wanna take me to Ferg's on our first date?" She asked, her hands sliding up over his chest to his shoulders and he bit back the moan that had arisen in his throat at her touch. "How romantic..." "Come on cut me some slack" he chuckled as his hands fell to her hips again "I took you out chasing dolphins in the sunset!." "Hmmm, well, I suppose when you put it like that..." she grinned, reaching up to close the distance between them once more in a soft, sweet kiss "I'm just kidding sailor, I kinda like Ferg’s...it has character." "One way of describing it." He chuckled as he places and arm round her shoulder. “You alright to walk, it’s only 10 minutes?” “Walking’s good.” she said, leaning into him. ***** "He Joe, can I get an 8 bucket..." Frank looked at the bar tender, hanging him a twenty "And can you make sure there's change for the pool table?" "No worries..."

Fliss came back from the restroom and he smiled at her, and then suddenly cursed himself.

“I ordered beer.” he looked at her “Is that ok or did you want something else?” “No, beers great.” she beamed at him, “But thank you for asking.”

Frank didn’t press the fact that she didn’t need to be so grateful at common courtesy, he figured that was another hang up from her asshole ex and he had no intentions of bringing that fucker up in any way, shape or form tonight.

Joe set the bucket down, handed Frank his change and Frank tipped him before he handed Fliss a beer and picked the bucket up with one hand, gently steering her away from the bar, towards the pool table at the back with his other, fingers gently splaying at the lower part of her back. He set the beer bucket down on a table to the right and then fished in his pocket for some change. “Wanna make this more interesting?” He asked as he slid the coins into the shot.

“I'm not playing strip pool, not in the middle of a bar anyway.” Fliss shook her head, taking a mouthful from her bottle.

“So you would in private?” he asked, grinning as the balls rolled down and he bent down to retrieve them and started to place them on the table.

She smirked

“Ok...filing that for future reference.” he said, pointing his bottle at her as he straightened up.

“You don’t have a pool table.”

“I’ll get one.” he deadpanned, causing her to laugh “but no, I was talking about a wager.

She groaned “I'm really shit at pool...”

“Ok, we’ll do best outta 3...and I'll even give you a 3 ball head start on the first” he coaxed.

“What's the bet?” she narrowed her eyes.

“Loser buys the shots?”

"You know it’s probably easier if I just go buy em now."

“Ah, c’mon…” he said, his Boston drawl slipping out slightly stronger than normal “Don’t be a baby.”

“Fine…” she said, with a heavy sigh. “But I’m buying Tequila. I can’t stand Sambucca and straight vodka makes me want to hurl”

“Whatever you say sweetheart.” It turns out Fliss wasn’t exaggerating. On their first game she really was terrible. Frank laughed as she pouted at him and told him he was mean as he pulled another 2 beers from the bucket, handing her one, before racking the balls up again.

“Come ‘ere…” he said, chalking his cue “You can break.” She rolled her eyes as he positioned the white ball on the spot. She took her cue and bent over the table.

“Ok, move your hand…” he said, reaching over and repositioning her hold. “More accuracy…but you need to put some power behind it to break…” he moved her right elbow back and guided her arm through the shot and it broke the pack with a satisfying clack, sending a striped into the top pocket.

“Guess I’m stripes…” she said, standing up, her back brushing against his chest. He dropped a kiss to her cheek and moved so she could take the next shot. The game continued along this vein, Frank helping her, showing her where to aim so she hit the balls in the right spot, continually correcting her elbows and guiding her hands so that she didn’t hit anything too hard. There was an intimate quality to it too, being pressed behind or over her and at one point he certainly had a twitch in the groin area and he had to back away, leaving her to it. After he deliberately fouled up on the final shot, Fliss ended up winning and she stood straight and looked at him.

“You did that on purpose.” she accused.

He shrugged, grinning. “Makes it interesting for the final. Tie break.”

“Can I break again?” she asked as he racked the balls up.

He nodded, strictly speaking it was his turn but, well, like it mattered. He was going to win anyway. Fliss broke and potted a solid this time. And then proceeded to pot shot after shot. Frank’s mouth fell open as she proceeded to her next ball, then the next. She looked up at him, smirking as she nominated the pocket just in front of him and then sank her last ball without him even getting a single turn. He could do nothing but stare at her for a moment before he snapped his mouth shut. "You just 8 balled me." he looked at her. She shrugged "Wait...did I just get hustled?" he asked, realisation washing over him. The corner of her mouth twitched up in a grin and he groaned as he shook his head.  “Fuck me.”

“Think you owe me some shots.” She teased, pulling the last 2 bottles of beer from the bucket and handing him one.

“Where did you learn to play pool like that?” he asked, shaking his head.

“Well when I was competing I was on the road a lot with the team.”  she smiled. “We socialised in the evenings, guess I just picked it up. That’s also where I learned how to hustle.”

“I don’t know if I should be pissed off or impressed.” he teased, picking up the bucket which was loaded with their empties as they made their way back to the bar.

Or turned on…

“Can’t you be both?” she looked at him and he laughed.

“Tequila was it?”

3 shots each later they were both definitely feeling the buzz and at that point Fliss insisted she needed to switch to water, explaining she was still up early in the morning for lessons, reminding him that Mary had one at 2.

“So I get to see you tomorrow as well?” he smiled and she grinned, crunching an ice cube in her mouth.

“Must be your lucky weekend.” she smirked.

“Clearly.”

The soft flirting continued for another half an hour before Fliss reluctantly groaned and said she needed to get home. Frank didn’t want the evening to end but he got it, it was past midnight and she was up at 7.

As he walked her out to her cab, she declined the offer of him riding with her and smiled, turning to face him.

“I had a really great night.” she said, shyly as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her hear. “Thank you.” “Me too.” he said, honestly. He smiled at her, before he moved towards her, his arm circling her waist before he dipped his head to catch her lips in a soft kiss.

“See you tomorrow.” she smiled, her head resting against his before he smiled again and opened the door for her.

“Yeah, you will.”

**** Fliss groaned as her alarm went off, blinking and grimacing at the light. Her head was fuzzy, that tequila really hadn’t been a great idea. Then the memory of the rest of the date came back and she smiled to herself, laying her head back on the pillow. Allowing herself 5 minutes of dozing and basking in the memory and warm feeling she had, she eventually knew she had to get up and headed for the shower.

Thankfully she was up too early to encounter her mother, who she knew would want the gossip. She had half been expecting her to be waiting when she got back but suspected that her dad had probably forbidden her from doing so. After a coffee and some headache tablets she felt ready to face the day and grabbing a bottle of water she headed out to her jeep. Just as she climbed in her mobile went and she opened the message to see a picture of Mary, sat on the sofa with Fred draped on her knee, munching a piece of toast.

6.30 am on a fuckin’ Saturday. Apparently, she’s excited to see Monty. read the caption So much for a lie in x

Chuckling to herself she sent a response back, informing him that until he had been up at 4 am on a Sunday to travel 3 hours to a show he had no room to complain, before she selected one of her playlists and drove up to the yard.

Fliss hardly had time to think about anything once she arrived. She opened up, checked her diary, indulged in a little bit more text flirting to and fro with Frank before her 9 am class arrived and then it was none stop until lunch. Joanne was gently drilling her for information on her date but she was giving nothing away, other than the fact she’d enjoyed herself, before she threatened to sack the woman if she didn’t stop asking. Joanne merely smirked knowingly and shrugged before she changed the subject.

It was about half 1 when Frank and Mary pulled up on the car park. Fliss was digging in the trunk of her car for some treats for Thor when Mary barrelled straight for her.

“Hi!” Fliss grinned, giving her a hug.

“Hi” Mary beamed back “Did you like the Dolphins? Frank said you saw a few last night in the bay!”

“Sure did.” Fliss nodded. “Definitely need so see them again some time.”

Fliss glanced up at Frank as he leaned against his truck, keys in his hand. “Hey.” he gave her a soft smile and Fliss and she beamed back, suddenly a little shy, for what reason she had no idea. He looked good though, faded jeans and a white polo shirt with a red collar and horizontal stripe running across his chest.

“Hi.” she smiled at him as Mary headed off to the main part of the yard “So she had you up early?”

“She’s been dressed and ready since 11.” he groaned falling into step besides her as they followed Mary who turned left to head into Mony’s barn “Kept badgering me to bring her earlier.” “You should have done.” Fliss shrugged as she walked through the door to her office, Frank taking the opportunity to eye up her ass in those damned fine riding breeches before he hastily averted his gaze as she looked over her shoulder at him. “I’ve told you, I’m not averse to child labour.” Frank followed her into the tack room, and she gave a small yelp of surprise as his hands fell to her hips and he spun her round.

“C’mere…” he said softly, pulling her to him, his lips meeting hers. She eagerly kissed him back as his right hand slid up to cup her cheek, and then the door to the tack room flew open and they both jumped slightly, Frank turning round to see Mary and Joanne stood there. Joanne looked at Fliss, smirking slightly and Mary paused for a moment before she put her hands on her hips and eyed Frank.

“About damned time…” she said, with a very Roberta-esque air.

Frank groaned as Fliss giggled, her cheeks burning slightly before Mary looked at her, then to Frank before she grinned and shook her head.

“Roberta’s gonna love this…” **** “Oh come on!” Frank groaned as Fliss scored another strike, turning to hi-five Mary. “This is nothing but a fix up.” “Oh quit your fuss.” Fliss teased “Not my fault you decided you could take us both on. Did you not learn anything from Friday night?”

“Yeah, not to trust innocent little British girls who claim they’re crap at something.” he said, his hands on his hips.

“Who said anything about being innocent?” she said, winking at him and damned if that didn’t stir something in his belly. Shaking his head, and glad it was his turn, he moved to pick up a bowling ball making his way to the aisle. He took aim, swung his arm and then staggered back as Mary was swinging off his arm, cackling.

“Ok, now this is sabotage…” he said, raising his arm slightly before his other moved to tickle at her waist. She let go hastily, dropping onto her feet, her laughter loud as she moved backwards. “Did you tell her to do that?” he looked at Fliss.

“Hey you brought her up, don’t blame me.” Fliss smirked at him, and he rolled his eyes, taking his shot.

They had another few games as on Wednesday it was half price before they left, Frank in a pretend sulk after he had basically had his ass handed to him for the second time that week by Fliss and they drove a few minutes down the road to the Ice Cream parlour.

As they sat enjoying their treats, their talk turned to Thanksgiving which was the following week and Fliss asked them both what they were doing.

“We went to Roberta’s last year but this time it’s her year for going to her sisters” Mary said.

“They alternate.” Frank explains. “Every other year her sister comes here and we join them, and then the others she goes there so…” “Which means this year…” Mary grinned at Frank “I get to pick dinner. And I want Chicken nuggets!”

“Woah, hang on…” Fliss said in a horrified voice “Chicken nuggets on thanksgiving…you can’t do that!”

“Sure we can!” Frank scoffed “It’s thanksgiving, we can eat whatever we want ain’t that right Stack?”

Mary nodded gleefully “ Yup, we always have fun!” she said, shovelling more ice cream into her mouth “We watch the parade, have candy for breakfast, and always remember we have stuff to be thankful for, right Frank?”

“Even more so this year.” he smiled and Fliss grinned back. “So, what do you do?”

“Oh, we don’t do the sit down dinner, it’s not a British thing.” Fliss said, “I’ll be doing the horses that day to let everyone have the time off and then Mum and Dad throw a party in the evenings for their friends who all come round.” she looked at him. “I’m assuming you 2 are gonna join us this year?

“Is that an invite?” Frank asked, his hand falling to her knee under the table.

“Dur.” she smiled at him. “Besides, my mum would cry if you didn’t show up…think she prefers you to me now.”

They stayed where they were, ordering more ice cream just because, well, for no reason other than they could, before they headed back to drop Fliss home and Frank told Mary to wait in the truck.

“You gonna kiss again?” she asked and Fliss let out a laugh whilst Frank simply shook his head as he climbed out.

“Can I take you out again on Friday?” he asked as she opened the door.

“I’ll have to check my really busy social calendar.” she said, pausing “Nope, I’m free.”

“Good, I was talking to Greg before and he told me about a really nice bistro in town…so I thought…” Fliss wrinkled her nose. “Can we not just grab some food and go and sit by the sea?”

God I fucking love you…

Frank nodded “well yeah but…I thought…” “Look, fancy dinners are great every now and then but…” she sighed “It’s all he-who-shall-not-be-named ever did.”

“He-who-shall-not-be-named?” Frank arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah, kind of reduces him to an evil, fictional twat, it suits him.” Fliss shrugged “Anyway, he persistently took me to the most expensive places, paraded me around like some kind of fucking trophy, putting on this illusion that he was this great guy and…” she shrugged “I had so much fun last Friday and tonight…I just…” she trailed off and groaned, wrinkling her face up, her hand pinching the bridge of her nose before she looked at him apologetically “Sorry, that sounds really ungrateful…” Frank stepped forward and cut her off with a soft kiss “No, it doesn’t.” he assured her with a smile. “And as it happens, I know just the place we can go.”

*****

“Oh my god!” Fliss grinned, eyeing up the Mexican street food wagon by the beach in St Paul’s which was lit up by dozens of rows of fairy lights. “This is perfect!”

“Well I figured seeing as last week we didn’t go to Mexico, I’d bring Mexico to you.”  Frank grinned, inwardly purring at the fact she was so pleased.

“What’s good?” she asked.

“Honestly, all of it.” Frank smiled “But the pork and chicken burrito is my favourite. Oh, and the nachos…”

“Ok, I’ll go with that.” she smiled, as they joined the queue. It wasn’t long before they reached the front and Frank placed their order, pulling out his wallet. Fliss caught his hand.

“Let me.” “No.” he shook his head.

“Please Frank.” she looked at him. “You paid on Friday and Wednesday…”

He looked at her, ready to argue but there was something in her eyes. And he found himself wondering again if this was some kind of independence thing, one she hadn’t been allowed before.

“Alright.” he shrugged “But I’m buying the drinks later.” “Deal.” she smiled, handing over the cash.

They took their food and sat down at one of the plastic tables, which was illuminated by a small candle in a jar. Fliss enthusiastically picked up her food from the basket, digging in and nodding in appreciation.

“This is so good…” she said with a mouthful, and Frank laughed as she nearly dropped half of it down the front of her pink top “Shit.”

“How did you miss?” he asked and she flicked him the finger as she continued to eat, chatting about their day.

“Greg called.” he said, and she looked at him “He’s got a date for the court hearing.” “Oh?”

“12th of December.” Frank said, leaning back. As he did so his right leg stretched forward and brushed against her left, which she gently moved closer so that their ankles were almost tangled together.

“That’s good.” she smiled “So by Christmas…it’ll all be done.” “Yup.” he nodded, with a sigh “I’ll be glad with it’s finally closed.” “Have you heard anything from Evelyn?”

He shook his head “I’m not dismissing her just yet. I have a feeling she’s gonna apply for access but if she does then that’s up to Mary. It’ll be on her terms, nothing more.”

Fliss nodded and then leaned back, her food now gone.

“Wanna grab a few beers and go sit on the beach?” Frank asked.

She grinned and he stood up, offering her his hand and he led her over to the truck. A couple of minutes late, both clutching a Desperado they headed down the lamp lit steps and onto the soft shore, making their way over to a bout of flat rocks which lay against the shore wall. Frank sat on one and Fliss perched next to him, gently leaning her head against his shoulder as he dropped a kiss to her head, dropping his arm round her.

They sat in a comfortable silence, watching as the moonlight bounced off the calm sea, the sounds of the gentle waves was all they could hear.

“You ok?” Frank broke the silence, pulling her closer as she shivered slightly “Cold?”

“I shouldn’t be” she chuckled “It’s still like tropical compared to Boston.” “Yeah but you get acclimatised.” he smiled.

“Do you ever miss it?” Fliss asked “You know, the seasons, big city living?”

“Sometimes.” he said “But then I remembered why I moved and…”

“I know that feeling.” Fliss mumbled “But, I still wish we got snow at Christmas.”

“Mary’s never seen snow.” Frank said.

“We should go back sometime.” Fliss said “I mean maybe not to Boston but New York perhaps. I always wanted to go in December time but I never got round to it.”

“Any particular reason or…” Frank asked, with a feeling he already knew the answer.

She looked at him “What do you think?”

She shook his head “I know I’ve said this before but I really would love to get sometime in a room with him, one on one….” Fliss laughed “Yeah, you’ll be behind my Dad and Steve in the queue I’m afraid.” Frank snorted and then turned to look at her “Ok, then next year we’ll do it. We’ll go to New York. In the winter.” “Already making plans with me for next year huh Sailor?” she teased, and he shrugged and looked down at his feet for a moment before he looked back at her.

“Yeah.” he said simply “Yeah, I am.” Fliss smiled and bit her lip slightly, the significance of what he was saying didn’t pass her by. He wanted this to work, he wanted this to be something more, but then she knew that already. She’d known for weeks that there was something deeper there. “Well, I can run with that.” she said, smiling “Only if we can have a snowball fight, I can kick your ass at that too.” He tilted his head to look at her and snorted “You’re a little aggressive on the sly, aint you?” “Frankie, I competed for a living, you got no idea.” she grinned at him.

Frank shifted slightly, finger tilting her chin up before he pressed his lips to hers, his fingers gently caressing her neck as the kiss deepened. A soft moan escaped her mouth and fuck, that noise went straight to his groin. Things were quickly getting heated as her hand slid into his hair, keeping his lips pressed to hers, his tongue dominating hers before he eventually pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers. She let out a soft sigh, as he tucked her hair behind her ears, smiling at her.

“Carry on like that and I’m not gonna be able to stop.” he said to her, and she smirked back slightly, her eyes locked onto his.

“Did I say I wanted you to?”

Oh.Jesus.Christ.

He looked at her before she smiled and stood up, offering him her hand this time. Without a word he took it, and they walked back the way they had come little more than an hour earlier.

***** How Frank drove back to hers without crashing he had no idea, his mind was as far from being on the road as it should be, but he had, and here they were, stumbling into her bed room, heated kisses being shared as he kicked the door shut, his lips still fiercely on hers. Her fingers were now on the hem of his grey T-shirt and she gave it a tug, and he moved so she could pull it up over his head, tossing it to the floor somewhere and her hands moved up his sides and over his shoulders, nails scratching at the back of his neck, causing him to groan softly into her mouth as his hands gently slid under her top at the back, his touch sending shivers up her spine. His lips moved from her mouth across her jaw line, and then down her neck and she tipped her head back, giving him more access, relishing the feel of his soft mouth and the delectable gently scratching of his beard on her skin.

Taking the lead, Frank backed her towards the bed as his hands strayed to the bottom of her top. She nodded eagerly and in a flash he pulled it over her head, before his hands gently smoothed back her hair that had flown over her face before he stole a glance at her and groaned at the soft pink lace trimmed bra that she was wearing. As the back of her knees hit her bed, he gently lowered her down, positioning himself over her, caging her with his arms and his legs as his mouth continually trailing soft kisses down her neck and her jawline, the soft noises she was making were turning him even more and he moved back to claim her mouth in another searing kiss. She pulled away from him this time and he watched as her eyes followed her hands downwards.

Frank was toned, Fliss could see that. His shoulders and arms were ridiculously defined on account of his physical job, and she had always been able to see that with the t-shirts and tops he wore, but to her delight his abs weren’t ridiculously hard. There was a soft quality to him, even though he was still ridiculously trim, and as she followed the strip of hair down to the waistband of his pants she couldn’t help the smirk that crossed her face.

“Like something you see?” he quipped, and she looked back up at him, her fingers gently grazing his stomach, lingering there before moving down to the button on his jeans.

“Yup.” she said, popping the P loudly causing him to laugh before he smoothed her hair back softly, his mouth pressing back to hers again, as she worked the button on his jeans loose. As her nails gently scraped his sensitive skin he couldn’t help another groan and then his hands moved down between them and he worked his jeans down over his hips, almost sighing at the fact he was free from the restrictive denim. His fingers then flew to her jeans as her hands gently danced up his back, over the broad muscles of his shoulders before he gently slid down the bed, taking her jeans with her, before shucking his own off. He glanced down and saw her underwear was matching and with a teasing eyebrow he smirked at her.

“You planning for this?”

She shook her head, “Hoping.” before her hand snaked round his neck, pulling him back down to her, his mouth hungrily claiming hers again as his hands trailed up the outside of her bare, soft thighs, to her hips, up the side of her body. She arched her back slightly, and he made quick work of the clasp on her bra, sliding it down her arms before he stole a glance down at her, the soft, supple lines of her breasts a complete contrast to her toned shoulders. She bit her lip shyly and as he looked back up at her, that long, auburn hair splayed across her pillow, he knew then that he’d never seen anyone as beautiful as she was. He gently leaned down, rubbing his nose against hers before he kissed her softly, his lips tracing a track down her sternum before he softly took a nipple in his mouth, his tongue gently teasing. She groaned, rolling her head back on the pillow at the sensation, her hips bucking upwards and Frank moaned at the feel of her pressing up against him. She dragged her fingers up his spine, and her touch, her feel, her smell, the little noises of pleasure and cooing of his name all combined had him absolutely rock solid, aching for her, in a way he couldn’t ever remember aching for anyone before.

Her hips moved again and his hand moved down, sliding into the waistband of her panties making her gasp as his fingers worked her. Her hips began to move in time with his motions, groans falling from her lips at the sensation as he nipped slightly at her neck.

“Good?” he asked as she gasped and it was all she could to do wimper softly, her head falling back further as her mouth fell open, her entire body shuddering softly. She reached down, grabbed his wrist and he looked at her, as her brown eyes locked on to his.

“Need you…” she whispered softly, and boy was he happy to oblige. He hopped off the bed, retrieving his wallet from his jeans pocket, pulling out the little foil square he always kept in there, just in case and when he turned back he saw her led, her elbows propping her up slightly, hair falling over her shoulders. And holy shit, what a sight she was.

“Planning for this?” she raised an eyebrow, repeating his earlier words back to him and he laughed, shaking his head as he made his way back over to her.

“Hoping…” he replied softly, as she took it from him. His fingers hooked into the top of her panties, gently sliding them down before he rid himself of his boxers. Fliss tore the packet open and he groaned softly as her hands gently wrapped around his cock before she slid the condom down and that really shouldn’t been as arousing as it was but he was almost ready to blow before he’d even started. He moved over her again, his thighs gently parting hers a little further and with a steady motion he slid into her, the sensation caused both of them to groan, Fliss leaning back against the pillows as he stretched her, his girth and length filling her completely.

"Liss, fuck…” Frank breathed out, his word little more than a whisper as moved his hands to snake his fingers through hers, gently pinning them by the side of her head as he began to gently move his hips. Slowly at first, picking up the speed slightly as she keened underneath him, their hips rubbing together with every thrust he made and with each rock into her, her moans of delight and pure pleasure filled his ear as his head rest in the crook of her neck, every inch of their bodies pressed as close as they could get.  He couldn’t get enough of her, every single one of his senses was on fire. His fingers tightened around hers as she gave a particularly long purr of delight, and he raised his head to capture her lips, plunging his tongue into her mouth. He released her hands, his own reaching up to cup her face as he continued to move, and her hands flew to his back, the tips of her nails digging into his skin causing him to groan loudly, his head tipping backwards.

“Frankie…” she murmured, and that damned pet name was like a fucking hot wire to his groin and he felt the tell-tale heat striking across his lower stomach.

“Feel so good…” he murmured, his breath coming in ragged gasps “God, Lissy…”

He moaned loudly as she titled her hips, pushing back up against him, his head dropping slightly as he struggled to fight it.

“You close…” he gasped and she nodded softly, her lips falling open and once again he kissed her, hard, speeding up ever so slightly.

“Don’t stop…” she begged, her eyes closing, before the opened again to look at him “Please…so good…”

He felt her preen underneath him and a few thrusts later her back arched and a soft cry escaped her mouth as her eyes fluttered shut once more, and her head tilted back. He felt her tightening, pulsing around him and that was it, enough to tip him straight over the edge behind her, the surge and ecstasy of his relief causing his whole body to stiffen before he collapsed forward, his head burying into her neck.

They lay still for a moment, before he regained enough composure to prop himself up, placing a soft kiss to her lips before he pulled away slightly to find her looking up at him, lips swollen from his kisses, cheeks tinged with pink, and he smiled at the fact she was wearing that just fucked look so damned well.

“Ok?” he asked softly and she nodded, a smile playing on her lips before she kissed him again and he moved to roll off her. He disappeared into the bathroom and whilst he was gone Fliss smoothed her hair down and got comfortable in the bed before he returned and slid in besides her. She shuffled slightly, to lay her head on his chest, her hands gently tangling in his dark hair, and he gave a contented sigh and kissed the top of her head.

Right there and then Frank knew, and he had no idea how or why, but he knew that if he never held another woman bar Fliss in his arms again in his life, he wouldn’t give a shit.

And what surprised him more was that the thought of it being that way didn’t scare him in the slightest.

******

Fliss blinked, and reached over to turn her alarm off, stretching slightly before she glanced at Frank who was asleep on his stomach, his head turned towards her, hair all over the place. With a smile she ran a finger over his jaw before she sat up, and made to get out of bed.

“Where you going?” Frank’s voice was deep and thick with sleep as he reached out to grab her arm. He cracked an eye open and she looked at him, utterly confused.

“Don’t you want a coffee?”

There was a pause as he frowned, because honestly, the last thing on his mind was a coffee, and then he watched as a pink flush spread across her cheeks and she looked down, her hand gently fiddling with the pale blue and yellow bed spread which was clutched around her torso. In that split second he realised, this was clearly something that again, that fucker had obviously expected her to do.

“How about…” he sat up, the sheets pooling around his waist as he placed an arm round her waist, gently pulling her back down “…you just stay the fuck in bed…”

She smiled as bend down to kiss her, his hands tangling in her hair, before she groaned and looked up at him “I gotta get to work.” “How long?” he asked.

“I need to leave in like an hour.” “Plenty of time…” he said again, before he shifted so she was led fully under him, gently nipping at her jaw. And pretty soon coffee was the last thing on her mind as well.

40 minutes later Fliss was showered and headed back into her bedroom where Frank was pulling on his jeans. He smiled at her and dropped a kiss to her cheek before he headed into the bathroom himself, quipping that it had been a while since he borrowed a girl’s toothbrush. By the time he emerged, Fliss was pulling on one of her work Polo Shirts and Frank simply took the time to admire her as she bent over to pull a pair of britches out of her dresser, the shirt doing absolutely nothing to hide her ass.

And then he saw the lines, little faded silver lines and he felt himself grow hot at the sight of the scars.

Fliss tuned to face him and saw the flicker of anger in his eyes and she dropped her gaze. “That’s what I got for having some drunk guy grope me in a bar. Not a pretty sight is it?” “Hey…” he said, a little sternly as he crossed the room. Tilting her face up to look at him he locked his eyes onto her. “Stop.”

She swallowed before he dropped a kiss to her lips and pulled her into a hug. She pressed her cheek to his chest and sighed.

“What if this drunk guy gropes you in a bar?” he said, in an attempt to break the tension. She laughed and looked up at him.

“If this drunk guy makes me feel like I did last night and this morning, he can grope me whenever the hell he wants.”

Frank tipped his head back and laughed, before she moved back. “Breakfast?” “I seem to have worked up an appetite so yeah, sounds good. I’ll be down in a second.” She smiled at him, called Thor to her who had been lazing on the bed and left the room.

Once she was gone Frank let out a breath, his anger still coursing through his veins. If he ever got the chance he’d beat that fucker black and blue. He pulled his T-shirt on, found his socks and then made his way into the kitchen. Fliss was shoving bread into the toaster as he moved behind her for the mugs before asking her where the coffee was.

Just as she answered the door to the annex opened and Bill shouted a hello into the house. Frank stiffened slightly, and glanced at Fliss, a little nervous if truth be told that her dad was about to discover he’d spent the night but Fliss simply shook her head at him and smiled.

“Hey dad, you want coffee?” “No it’s ok Titch.” his voice grew nearer “Was just gonna tell you to leave the back gate unbolted on your side as the pool guy’s coming and he’ll do your tub.” he stopped in the kitchen and smiled, completely unsurprised “Hey Frank.” “Hi Bill.” Frank nodded, hoping he didn’t look as flustered as he felt.

“No problem Dad, I’ll unlock it before I leave.” she smiled “sure you don’t want a drink?”

“No your mum wants to head into Tampa so we’ll be leaving soon.” he said, and then with a wry smile he chuckled “If you don’t want the third degree I’d wait about 15 minutes before you both leave.” Fliss shook her head with a laugh. “Take it she’s been down spying?”

“Oh yeah. Told me about half an hour ago Frank’s truck was here, and she doubted very much it was simply an early morning call…”

Frank felt his ears growing warm as he looked down at the floor before Fliss nudged him and nodded to the coffee. Thankful for the distraction he set about pouring them both a mug as Fliss continued chatting to her dad before Bill made his excuses.

“We’ll be back late tonight.” he said, as he turned to go “Don’t know what time.”

“Yeah no problems.”

“Have a good day kids.” he smiled and Frank nodded to him as he left.

“You’ve gone all shy Sailor.” she teased and he groaned.

“Well it’s been a long time since I encountered parents on the morning after.” he shrugged as Fliss handed him a piece of toast. “In fact the last time it happened I was 22…I think.” “I wouldn’t worry.” Fliss said “Dad ain’t the type to chase you down the drive with a pitch fork…” she looked at him and grinned cheekily “…it’s his shotgun you need to worry about.”

@the-omni-princess​​  @momobaby227​​ @geekofmanythings16​​ @angelofhell-666​​ @thewackywriter​​ @marvelfansworld​​​  @cobalt-gear​​  @asgardlover75​​ @jennmurawski13​​​​  @jtargaryen18​​​ @saiyanprincessswanie​​​  @navispalace​​​ @patzammit​​​  @joannaliceevans-fanficblog​​​ ​​ @djeniiscorner​​​  @ayamenimthiriel​​​  @coldmuffinbanditshoe​​​  @disneylovingal​​​ @madzmilllz​​  @sgtjaamesbaarnes​​ @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​​ @southerngracela​ @goldenfightergir​ @kellymat​ @official-and-unstable-satan​ @icanfeelastormbrewing​ @pagesoflauren​

[excindrela]

Can I request some vav make out or smut story that will be unfortunately interrupted by other members walk in in the middle of everything and don't stop teasing them about it. With ayno or baron.

Hello Anon!! OMG- so sweet of you to request something!! I never get requests!!  Thank you so much!!

Ok, you gave me a choice, and since I usually write Ayno, I decided to write BaRon! I don’t know if this was what you were looking for, but I hope you like it!! 

Pairing: BaRon (Chunghyeop) of VAV x female reader (with a cameo by the rest of VAV)

Word Count: 1496

Warnings: Cussing, making out

2020 had been hell on your relationship. First your boyfriend left on a 12 week tour right before Valentine’s Day – only to get stuck in South America and Puerto Rico before his group finally retreated home to shelter from the Corona virus. But then they had been locked up in quarantine for 2 weeks because they had been outside the country… and then the agency had them sheltering in place for another month. So, when the “no visitors” restriction was lifted, suffice to say you were desperate for some physical contact.

It wasn’t like Chunghyeop wasn’t desperate too. But they were staying secluded, and the boys were busy working on a comeback…and then the agency decided to move buildings. Getting alone time together was hard anyway: you had three roommates and he had six…but your boyfriend was a little devious.

Your sweet BaRon had it all figured out. “Ok! Here’s the plan: Jacob is taking everyone out for BBQ. I’m going to stay for the first course, and then I’m going to leave and come get you from work. We can go to the old building- no one will be there. Dinner will last at least another hour, and then the guys will go back to the dorm. We can get a couple hours before anyone starts looking for me.”

It went off without a hitch. He left the restaurant and picked you up in an Uber right as you finished work. His thumbprint passed you into the dark, silent, red brick building. You could still see the outline where the A-Team Entertainment letters and the banners with the boy’s pictures had hung on the wall. It seemed a little sad.

 You climbed the silent stairs and entered the still, shadowed practice room. BaRon connected his phone and suddenly the sound system sprang to life with Bruno Mars’ “Versace On the Floor”. He twirled you around before pulling you against him to sway in the darkness. Warm hands & strong arms pressed your body against his as he began leaving soft kisses on your neck.

“I missed you jagiya”, he whispered in your ear before he ghosted kisses all the way down to your shoulder. You sucked on his earlobe as you slid your hands down his well muscled back and on to his thicc ass. He moaned as he fit his mouth to yours. Your tongues fought for dominance with kisses so hot and desperate you almost didn’t feel him glide the zipper of your dress down and the fabric slither to the floor.

Now Camila Cabello was telling you that half of her heart was in Havana, but your whole heart was right here in this deserted dance studio pounding in time with the beautiful man who was very sensually cha-cha-ing you backwards toward the couch that sat in the corner of the studio, while he undid the clasp of your bra with one hand. You admired his coordination as he casually tossed your bra over his shoulder without missing a beat.

You had managed to get his shirt unbuttoned – but not off. You did manage to get his pants undone, and they fell to his ankles in a sudden rush causing you to fall backward onto the soft cushions with BaRon’s luscious body on top of you. No complaints: you’d always had a fantasy about fucking in the studio, and now here you were. Totally worth waiting for.

One of the advantages to dating a dancer was his incredible sense of rhythm. You were enjoying that skill immensely as Chunghyeop’s hardened body ground against your heat in time to Taemin’s “Want” blaring from the speakers. You moaned loudly; head clouded in a love-drunk fog…

Until you were blinded by every halogen light in the room snapping on and your ears assaulted by a high-pitched scream. You let out a matching high-pitched scream in response, as you took in Ziu’s wide eyed horrified expression. “It’s not what it looks like!” you yelled. “Yes, it is. It’s exactly what it looks like!” BaRon replied.

At that moment, alerted by the inhuman sound Ziu was still making, Van, Jacob, Ayno & Lou rushed through the door. They spent half a second looking around in confusion before spotting the two of you on the couch. You knew you should have done something, but you just laid there in your lacy underwear, trapped under BaRon, like a deer in headlights.

Van started laughing hysterically as he turned around and walked to the far corner of the room, holding his sides as he dropped to his knees and pounded the floor, unable to contain his mirth. You felt your face growing hot.

“AAAAHHH!!!”, Ayno cried, covering his eyes, “Chunghyeop-hyung…you should be doing this somewhere alone!!”

“We were alone until you idiots showed up!” BaRon retorted, “What are you doing here? You were supposed to be going back to the dorm after dinner!”

“I forgot my textbook and Ace wanted some sheet music he was working on.” Lou supplied.

As though summoned by the mention of his name, Ace finally strode through the door with the boys’ dog, Cash, hot on his heels. “What the-“ he began as he took in the situation and then spotted the two of you still laying immobile on the couch. “Oh fuck…” he said with a roll of his eyes as he turned and exited the room again.

“Almost…” BaRon mumbled.

Lou looked at the two of you in disgust. “What made you think this was a good place to go for it? We sit on that couch hyung!”

“Well, we used to,” Ace responded dryly as he re-entered the studio.

While everyone was distracted, Jacob had wandered to the middle of the studio and retrieved your discarded bra and examined it, a devilish smile creasing his lips when he had spotted the tag with your cup size. He was now surreptitiously peeking around Ayno trying to get a look at what filled them.

“Cobi! What the hell are you doing?? STOP STARING AT HER!”, Ace thundered, his voice tinged with exasperation as he reached up and smacked Jacob upside the head.

Jacob just grinned, but you turned eleven shades of red and tried to hide your face with your hands.

That seemed to trigger Ayno’s sense of propriety, and he unzipped his flame-sleeved Palm Angels hoodie (the one that cost more than you made in a month), and came over, head turned to the side and eyes averted, to wedge the jacket between you and BaRon and save some shred of your modesty. His chivalrous gesture was immediately ruined, however, as he whipped out his phone and leaned in for a selfie with the two of you. You laid there wide eyed & horrified as BaRon smiled and threw out a peace sign, and you heard the shutter click.

“Dammit Ayno!!” you shrieked as he somersaulted away from you, holding the phone you were desperately trying to snatch just out of your reach. “I swear- if that ends up on your Instagram, I will break both your ankles and you won’t dance for a year!!,” you threatened vainly against the sound of his laughter.

A low growl caused Ayno’s laughter to abate and BaRon to lift his torso and crane around slightly as you leaned out from underneath him to see Cash in the middle of the room…with your dress in her mouth. Van was slowly advancing on her- hence the growling. He reached out lightening quick to grab one end of the fabric, but Cash wasn’t letting go. “Cashie! Cashie! No! Give! Give!” he commanded as the Sharpei tugged and shook her head back and forth. Seeing Ziu start to sneak up on her, she gave a forceful yank while hopping backwards. There was a horrific ripping sound as the dress tore apart and the victorious canine darted between Ziu’s legs and bolted out of the practice room and down the stairs with her prize. “Cash! No! Sit!”, Van hollered as he ran out of the room to give chase, with Ziu right behind him.

You sighed. “I liked that dress. I wore it twice, and now it’s a dog toy.”

Lou shook his head. “That’s it. I’m out. Have fun.”, he said as he quit the room.

“C’mon pabo, let’s go”, Ace said looking unsurprised that both Jacob and Ayno responded to the insult by moving toward the door, “Let’s leave loverboy to it.”

“At least I have someone to make out with!” BaRon called.

Ace laughed, narrowed his eyes, and proceeded to yank his friend’s pants completely off, swinging them over his shoulder as he walked out the door with them.

You were suddenly alone again, and you both burst out laughing. “I’m so sorry”, he said.

“That’s ok. They’re never going to let us live this down, are they?” you said, still giggling.

Chunghyeop’s smile was still huge, his eyes little upside-down crescents, “Nope!” he said cheerfully, “This will live on forever! …but I think we should take our chances with your roommates from now on.”

[omgjasminesimone]

Facetime

Raleigh x MC (Cadence Dorian)

Author’s Note: This is the smuttiest thing I’ve ever written, I’m kind of embarrassed, haha. Set at some indeterminate point in the future when Raleigh and Cadence are officially together, no more fake relationship.

Rating: NSFW

Summary: Raleigh and Cadence make do with phone calls and facetime while they’re both on tour.

Word Count: ~1550

Raleigh closes the door to his hotel room firmly, he even puts his ear to the door to make sure his security team is retiring to their own hotel rooms and leaving him alone. He’s satisfied when their retreating footsteps become inaudible.

He tosses off his leather jacket, walking to the large window and looking out at his hometown, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Of course, Raleigh didn’t grow up on the nice side of town where his 5-star resort is located. Raleigh’s old barrio features no high rises or high-end boutiques. Here in the penthouse suite of San Juan’s nicest hotel, Raleigh knows he’s really made it. He closes the curtains, losing the nighttime view.

Raleigh glances at the clock. 10:28 pm. No time for a shower, he’ll just take one afterwards. Raleigh kicks off his sneakers and socks, grabbing his phone off the desk before making himself comfortable on the queen mattress. His eyes are glued to his phone as he waits, so he admires his phone background.

It’s a paparazzi shot of him and Cadence, walking hand and hand eating ice cream cones. It was taken back when they were ‘pretending’. But the unmasked affectionate in both their eyes makes it obvious it was already real, even if it took them a long time to admit it to themselves. He smiles when his phone screen alights, ‘Corazon’ flashing across the screen. Of course, she’s right on time.

He answers before it can reach the second ring. “Hey babe.” He greets.

He can practically hear her smile. “Hi Raleigh.”

“Why is this an audio call? I thought we were facetiming.” Raleigh questions.

“I’m calling you through wifi because I don’t have service here in Beijing. And the wifi is weird, it’s too weak for facetime. I think it might have something to do with the firewall?” Cadence theorizes.

Raleigh frowns, running a hand through his hair. “I wanted to see you.”

“Aww, are you telling me heartbreaker Raleigh Carrera actually misses his girlfriend?” Cadence teases.

Raleigh expels an irritated breath, not having the energy for their usual banter. “Of course I miss you. I haven’t seen you in person for six weeks. I hate that we’re both on tour.” He admits sincerely.

Raleigh is only touring North and South America, but Cadence is on her first world tour. Raleigh’s team forced him to do one world tour after his first album, but he hated it. It was exhausting, flying from country to country, shows every other day. Now that he’s a bigger star with more power over his own career, he’s refused to do it again. But Cadence has no such power at her label yet.

“I miss you too baby. I can’t wait to see you in New York next week. I’m so excited to take a break for a whole week. I might sleep the whole time.” Cadence reveals.

“Well, I can agree with you not leaving the bed all week. I’m not sure how much sleeping you’ll be doing.” Raleigh says suggestively, picturing all the things he wants to do to her.

“Oh? And how will we pass all that time in bed?” Cadence asks flirtatiously. He can hear water running in the background. She’s probably running a morning bath. It’s one of her pre-concert rituals.

Raleigh groans as he pictures her lithe nude form submerging in the warm water. “I wish I could see you. Phone sex is a lot more satisfying with visuals.”

Cadence laughs softly. “Raleigh, I’m a songwriter. I’ll paint you a picture with my words.” She’s put on her sexy, sultry voice. The one she only uses when they’re alone.  

“Well, in that case I’ll tell you exactly how we’ll pass the time.” Raleigh says, undoing his belt with his free hand and freeing himself from his jeans and boxers. He braces the phone with his shoulder as he quickly tosses his shirt off and to the floor. He reaches for the lotion on his nightstand, lathering a generous amount into his palm before gripping himself. He groans as he imagines it’s her soft hand instead of his own. “Get in the tub.” He demands.

“Ooh…so bossy.” Cadence teases as he hears the water slosh as she slides into the tub.

“You know you love it when I boss you around. And when I tie you up.” Raleigh strokes as he remembers that particularly memorable night at a hotel in Las Vegas. He strokes slowly at first, allowing the pleasure to build up.

“I do like to give you control sometimes, just because it’s different. We both know I have you wrapped around my little finger.” Raleigh frowns, and she must know he’s frowning, because she laughs, the sound like musical bells. Her giggles die down. “I’m sorry. Wasn’t trying to ruin the mood. You were supposed to be telling me what you’re going to do to me. Continue.”

Raleigh continues to stroke up and down his shaft slowly, eyes closing as he leans back into his pillow. He tries to keep his voice measured as he replies. “I don’t know if you deserve to know now.”

“Please Raleigh. I need you.” Cadence knows he loves when she pleads, when she begs.

He speeds up his strokes, squeezing himself a little roughly. “First, I’m going to rip all your clothes off. So don’t wear anything you care about when you come to my apartment.”  

“Noted. Maybe I’ll show up in that trench coat you like. With nothing underneath it.”

“Fuck, yes. You do that. We’re not going to make it all the way to my bedroom because it’s been way too long since I’ve been inside you, felt your walls tightening around me as you claw down my back….”

He hears the water sloshing in her bathtub, the squeak as her foot moves along the ceramic. “I want to feel you inside me…” Cadence mumbles, and from her breathy tone he knows she’s touching herself.

“I’m going to fuck you right there against the door. But first I’ll make sure you’re ready, I’ll touch you all over.” Raleigh promises.

“Where will you touch first?” Cadence asks, breathing unsteadily as her fingers move in and out of her sex.

“I’m going to plunge two fingers into your pussy.” Raleigh replies, and he can almost picture the blush rising on her cheeks at his crude words. “While my tongue laps at your nipples. I’ll keep going, fingers moving in and out, until you’re begging me to let you cum. After you beg, that’s when I’ll finally taste you. I’ll do that thing with my tongue that makes you lose your mind.” He swears, licking his suddenly dry licks as his hand continues moving.

There’s silence for a few moments besides both their heavy breathing as Cadence absorbs that. “Well, reciprocation is important. So once I get off, I’ll make sure you get off too. I’ll get on my knees, take you into my mouth….”

“Keep going.” Raleigh pleads, feeling himself getting close as his hips start to move with his hand’s actions as he pictures it.

“I’ll take you as deep as I can, and I’ll use my hand to take care of the rest of your hard cock. I’ll suck and lick until you cum in my mouth, and then I’ll swallow.”  

“Mgghhm.” Raleigh groans as he cums, ejaculating on his stomach accidentally. He sits up, grabbing a tissue from the nightstand. “Did you cum?” Raleigh asks as he cleans himself up.

“No….but I’m close.” Cadence informs him.

“Good, because we haven’t even gotten to the main event yet. At this point, I would pull you up to your feet, and we’d make out until we have to stop for air. Then I’d lift you up, pinning you against the door.”

“And I’d wrap my legs around your waist.” Cadence supplies. Raleigh hears a plop, her feet dropping into the water from the tub’s rim most likely. He also hears the small moans she’s letting out, confirming how close she is.

“I’ll slide inside you, slowly Cadence. Inch by inch, until we’re as close as we can possibly be.”

“Raleigh…” She moans, and he can picture her head falling back against the tub, fingers moving frantically as she chases her release.

“I’ll pull almost all the way out, before plunging back in. Faster, and faster, until you’re writhing Cadence. Until you can’t feel your legs. Until-“ Raleigh stops abruptly when he hears the dial tone. Raleigh pulls the phone away from his ear, looking at it in confusion. What the hell?

..

An hour later, Raleigh has showered and is getting ready for bed. He’s half heartedly watching a trashy telenovela when his phone rings. It’s an unknown number, which he usually wouldn’t answer, but he makes an exception.

“Hello?”

“Hey Raleigh.”

Raleigh smiles at the sound of Cadence’s voice. “Hey Corazon. What happened? You hang up on me?”

He can hear rustling, she’s fidgeting nervously. She doesn’t do that often nowadays. “I…dropped my phone in the tub.”

He laughs, loudly and non-apologetically. “You should have put me on speaker babe, left your phone on the counter.” His laughter continues as he imagines how hard she must have orgasmed to spasm and drop her phone into the bath.

“It’s not funny. It’s broken. And I just bought the newest iPhone too.” He can picture the pout that’s likely on her pretty lips.    

“You bought it? I have so much to teach you about fame babe. People give us phones.” Raleigh chastises.

“Well, I can’t get a new one until I’m back in the states. This is Fiona’s number if you need to reach me. Don’t send any dirty pictures to this number.”

“But you love those.”

“I know. Good thing I get to have you in person in a week.”

…

..

.

Author’s Note: I don’t have a Platinum taglist, so let me know if you’d like to be tagged in more Platinum stuff! I promise the next one will be less smutty.

[cordoniasmost]

It’s Always You - Part 2

Find Part 1 Here

Book: Platinum

Pairing: m!Raleigh x MC (Cadence)

Word Count: 2637

Warnings: Language

A/N: I’ve been wanting to test out writing from a first person POV since I’ve never done it before and this is my attempt. This little fluff piece takes place after Platium chapter 13. It’s going to have two parts.  I’m super excited to write my first Raleigh fic because he totally owns me. Happy reading!

Inspiration Song: I Know Places - Taylor Swift

Tag List: @averysheart-raleighsdick @kingliamsbish @furiouscloddonutpeanut @didyoujoinacult @desiree-0816 @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @sarahhzkh31 @lovedrakewalker

As soon as the word left my lips, Raleigh crushed me to his body, pushing his tongue into my mouth and I loved every second of that kiss, as if he were claiming me as his. He pulled back gently, a look of wonder in his eyes. “Are we really doing this?” he asked me, a huge smile on his face.

“We’re really doing this. You’re going to be stuck with me for life, Carrera.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, but it’s the best fucking thing I’ve ever heard. Come on,” he said, pulling me up with him. I had to grab the blanket and wrap it around myself because I was still totally naked from earlier. “Uh, Raleigh? We need clothes,” I said through my laughter.  

“Right, shit.” He stopped and ran his hand through his hair, a smirk on his face. “Unless you just want to wrap ourselves in these blankets and hop on a plane now?”

What was he talking about? “What do you mean, ‘hop on a plane’?”

“We’re obviously eloping tonight. You just said you’d be my wife and I don’t want to wait until tomorrow. Let’s fly to Puerto Rico tonight and get married at sunrise on the beach.”

Holy shit, this was happening and it was happening now. One of the things I love most about Raleigh is his spontaneity. Once he decides he’s doing something he fully commits and he wants to do it right away. Waiting isn’t really something he does well.

“Wait… Wait!” I pulled on his hand to get him to turn back toward me. He turned back, that smirk still on his lips, and raised his eyebrow.

“We need witnesses. Let’s grab Avery and Zadie.”

“Good plan, babe. You’ve got ten minutes. The plane’s already waiting,” he said, grinning at me.

“It’s almost like you’ve been planning this the whole time.”

“I have.”

“What if I take longer than ten minutes?” I had to ask. Challenging Raleigh was one of my favorite pastimes right behind making out with him or fucking his brains out. He’s possessive and commanding and I love it.

His eyes narrowed at me glinting dangerously. “Don’t test me, estrella. You’ll find yourself thrown over my shoulder and carried to the car whether you’re naked or not. I don’t give a fuck. We leave in ten minutes.”

I bit my lip to try and hide my smile. I just might test him after all…

***

When the wheels of the plane touched down, the jolt woke me up suddenly. My head was still on Raleigh’s shoulder and my neck hurt because I’d been in this spot for a couple of hours. I hoped I didn’t drool on him, not that he would have minded but still. Turning my head slightly to look at his shoulder, it looked like the coast was clear. He noticed the movement, though.

“Hey, babe. We’re here. Ready to become Mrs. Carrera?” he asked, pressing his lips to my forehead.

I smiled and stretched my body out, working out the tightness in my muscles from the long flight. I can feel his eyes on me, watching how I move. He always stared at me like he couldn’t wait to devour me and it made me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world.

“Who says I’m taking your last name?” I tease knowing full well that I am. Like I said, messing with him is fun.

“Why, you want me to take yours? Raleigh Dorian… It has a nice ring to it.” That’s the thing about Raleigh. He’s just as good at messing with me.

I can’t help myself, he makes me laugh. “Now that would make headlines.”

“You and I both know you’re taking my name. The sun’s rising in an hour so we don’t have a lot of time. You’re probably going to want to change in the bathroom.” He pointed to the back of the plane.

He’s right, I need to change. I’m not getting married in jean shorts and a tank top. Walking toward the back of the plane, I passed by Zadie and Avery. “Hey, Z. Did you happen to pack me anything for this?”

Zadie rolled her eyes but I know she secretly loves me. “Already in that poor excuse for a bathroom, Cadence.”

“Thanks, Z. I owe you.”

“Pretty sure you owe me and Avery both for hopping on this plane in the middle of the night and flying to a different country for you,” she teased, turning back to the copy of Vogue open in her lap.

“Thanks, Zadie. Thanks, Avery.” I sang it out and neither of them could help smiling at me.

“Like we’d miss it, love. You know us better than that,” Avery said with a grin.

I turned and made my way into the bathroom, quickly changing into the dress. It was white linen and hugged my curves in all the right places. It hit at mid-thigh so it showed off my awesome legs. I didn’t do 100 squats a day just to hide these bad boys away.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, Raleigh was nowhere to be found but the plane door was open. I glanced at Avery who just smirked at me before standing up and grabbing his bag. “Ready, love?”

I nodded. Yep, this was definitely happening. The funny thing was I didn’t even feel nervous. I felt excited. Totally and completely ready to take this step even though it had come out of nowhere.

I made my way out of the plane into the thick humid air. The sky was just beginning to show the first streaks of light as the sun prepared to rise this morning. We didn’t have much time before it would be coming up and Raleigh said he wanted to get married on the beach at sunrise. I had no idea how far away the beach was but we were on an island. It couldn’t be that far, right?

“Where’s Raleigh?” I asked, turning to Avery.

“He went ahead in another car. We’ll meet him at the beach.”

That made sense, I guess. “Well, let’s get me married then. I still can’t believe I’m doing this. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done and I just tackled someone on stage in front of millions of people.” I threw my head back and laughed at the ridiculousness of my life. I felt immensely happy, though. This was a spontaneous decision, but it wasn’t one I took lightly or hadn’t been already thinking about for a couple of months. It was just happening a lot sooner than I’d expected.

The black SUV pulled up to what looked like a private cove. The sky was glowing with pinks and purples as the sun made its way toward the horizon and the light cast an ethereal glow to beach in front of me. I hopped out of the car, shutting the door behind me. Avery climbed out of the other side of the backseat followed by Zadie.

My eyes were sweeping the white sand in front of me in search of my fiance. I smiled to myself. There wasn’t any time to get used to calling him my fiance since we’d only be engaged for less than 12 hours, but in this moment that was exactly what he was.

I spotted him down the beach a little ways standing next to a familiar figure. The three of us made our way down the beach and I kicked off my flip flops as soon as my feet hit the soft sand.

“Hank? What are you doing here? How’d you get here before us?”

The man who’d been like a surrogate father to me was standing next to my future husband. Raleigh reached out and wove our fingers together. “Raleigh texted me and asked me to come with you guys. I was on the same plane as you but I stayed hidden so it’d be a surprise. I got ordained a couple of years ago just in case I ever needed it. You never know when you’ll need to be prepared for a spontaneous wedding to save someone’s reputation,” he said, winking at me.

Gotta love Hank’s thorough preparation for any situation that could ever possibly come up.  I looked up at Raleigh and he was gazing at me with so much love in his eyes it almost took my breath away. “Last chance to get out of a lifetime of my shenanigans, babe.”

God, he was incredible. He had changed into Hawaiian print shorts and a white linen button down short sleeve shirt that showed off his tattoos running down his forearms and up his neck. It was just so Raleigh. It was about as non-traditional as someone could get when getting married but it fit our situation perfectly and I wouldn’t change a thing.

“Not a chance, Carrera. Now that you’ve got me here, you’re never getting rid of me.”

He broke out into a wicked grin. “Good. Let’s do this. Z, be our photographer?” he asked Zadie, handing her his cell phone.

“Whatever, Raleigh,” she said, but she took the phone and began snapping pictures from different angles.

“Ready?” Hank asked.

I nodded. Raleigh squeezed my hand and leaned forward, pressing his lips gently to mine. His lips were so soft, even though the kiss only lasted a few seconds, I leaned forward a little bit when he pulled back, not wanting it to end. When he kissed me like that, I forgot about everything else. He chuckled as I opened my eyes.

“Don’t worry, babe. There’s more where that came from later,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at me.

I smacked him lightly on the chest, feeling my cheeks heat up. He was more open with his affection than I was so he liked saying things like that in front of our friends because he knew it embarrassed me.

“I’m going to skip a lot of this because there’s not a big group of people here,” Hank said. “It’s just the five of us so we’ll make it what we want. Sound good?”

Again, I nodded at him and saw Raleigh do the same. Holy shit, this was really happening.

“We’ve all watched you two grow closer over the past several months. What started as a publicity stunt turned into something real. I’ve personally watched you support each other, lift each other up when it was needed, care for each other when one of you was sick, cheer each other on from the sidelines, and mutually respect and love one another.”

Hank turned to Raleigh. “You know I’ve always been protective of Cadence and I wasn’t sure about your influence on her at first, but watching you with her, how you’ve helped her become more confident in who she is and made her believe in herself even in the hardest moments of self doubt has shown me that you truly love her and want what’s best for her even if it means a sacrifice on your part.”

He then turned to Cadence. “And Cadence, you’ve helped ground Raleigh. You humble him and bring him back to the real world, remind him of what’s real and keep his ego in check. You’ve shown him love and respect but you never take his bullshit.”

Everyone laughed, including Raleigh. “It’s true,” he said, a wicked grin on his face.

“I have no doubt your love will endure the tests of this life. That being said, it’s time for the vows. Since this happened so fast, I’d suggest you just speak from the heart. What do the kids say? Wing it?” Hank said.

Raleigh turned to me, holding my small hands in his bigger ones, his thumbs rubbing the backs of my hands as he looked into my eyes. “Cadence, from the first day I saw you at the One in a Million auditions, I knew you were going to turn my world upside down. I had no idea what it would look like, but I knew my life would never be the same after you. I was right. What I feel for you, it goes beyond words. You’re like a piece of me that was missing and I didn’t even know it, but you just fit. Without you, my life has no meaning. I’ll never stop showing you how much I love you every day for the rest of my life. I promise to keep you on your toes, too, because there’s no way our life is going to be boring, babe.”

I laughed. He had me there. Life with Raleigh would never be dull.

I looked up into his eyes which were filled with wonder as he gazed back at me, replacing the usual impish gleam that usually shone through. I took a deep breath, breathing out slowly. “Raleigh, you ruined me for anyone else the moment you kissed me that first time. Every day since you’ve found new ways to surprise me and sweep me off my feet. I still don’t even know what happened,” I said and he laughed.

“My heart has always belonged to you from that first kiss. I promise to always show you that no matter where we are, home is with each other. I love you.”

His eyes were shining with unshed tears and seeing him like made my eyes tear up, too. I’d never seen Raleigh cry, not once. A single tear broke free and ran down my face and he lifted his thumb and wiped it away. “I love you, too,” he whispered.

“Raleigh, do you take Cadence to be your wife?”

“I do,” he said.

“And Cadence? Do you take Raleigh to be your husband?”

“Hell yes!” I shouted, laughing through the tears now flowing freely down my face.

“Then by the power vested in me by Puerto Rico and the internet, I now pronounce you husband and wife! Kiss your bride, Carrera,” Hank finished with a grin.

Raleigh closed the distance between us, threading his fingers through my hair and pulling my face to his. His warm lips closed over mine before he deepened the kiss, our tongues dancing together.  I could hear hoots and whistles from somewhere behind us but in this perfect moment I didn’t care. Finally, he pulled back, resting his forehead on mine.

“I can’t believe we just did that,” I breathed, a huge smile on my face.

“You’re my wife now. No takebacks,” Raleigh teased.

His wife. It was a strange new title and yet it felt completely right.

“What do we do now?” I asked.

“Now I’m taking you for breakfast. I’m starving, and not just for food,” he said, dropping his voice low.

I felt a chill of anticipation run through my body.

“And sent!” I heard Zadie say. I glanced up at her. “What do you mean 'sent’?”

“I just sent a couple of pictures of the wedding to Fiona so she could use them to fix your mess. You’re welcome,” she said.

“I guess that’s it then. The world’s about to know you officially belong to me, Carrera,” I teased.

He leaned down and scooped me up in his arms, starting to carry me towards the waiting SUVs. “The more people who know you’re my wife, the better. I want to shout it from the rooftops.”

I understood how he was feeling. Just a few months ago, Raleigh Carrera was just another famous face who felt completely out of reach and now he was the love of my life, my husband, the person I’d share the rest of my life with.

I smiled. “Can we get pancakes?”

“Only if I can drizzle you in syrup and have you for breakfast after,” he countered.

“Deal.”

[hardeepcox]

Working and Sitting Next to an Actual Psychopath

Yes, you read that title correctly. That actually happened.

Once again I will not reveal the name of the company I worked at, only that its name rhymes with Ee Em Gee. So I had been working at this place for about 3 months just having a blast with my bro Huong and my Uncle Corey from the southside of Chicago. And one day we had a new guy in our office, and he sat right behind me. I was doing some work on my computer when I heard two people having a conversation behind me, one American voice and one English voice. The English voice was introducing the American voice to the office and showing him how the schedule worked. I then heard the English voice ask the American voice “so where are you from?” The American voice replies, “I’m originally from Puerto Rico but I grew up in the states.” Instantly I thought, cool! I love Puerto Rican music and now I’ll get to sit next to another minority person or whatever! The English voice left, so now I could say hi to the new guy. I was like, “so you’re Boricua huh?” I knew that Puerto Ricans identify with the native Boricua of the Puerto Rican island, so I was just showing off my history and geography knowledge at this point.  We hit it off right away. Even my Irish manager liked him so much he said, “this is gonna be a fun year!” I asked the Puerto Rican guy for his name, but for now let’s just call him Satan. A couple of days go by and all is great.

I think it was on day 3, a girl from another office happens to be sitting in Satan’s seat while she chatted with her boyfriend chilling at the desk directly to the left of Satan’s. Satan stands right in-between them while they are talking and makes a loud sound of clearing his throat. The atmosphere at this point feels a little bit weird. He asks for his seat back in a way that would sound rude, to literally anyone. There are so many ways to say the same thing, but he chose the most uncomfortable passive-aggressive way. I think hmm, this is odd.

Day 4, the same girl is sitting in Satan’s seat as he comes back into the office. The same exact scenario as the day before. This time he goes up to her and says something like, “are you going to be in my seat every day?” I didn’t quite hear her response but eventually she got up and left. Her boyfriend was understandably pissed off. Keep in mind that her boyfriend is tall as fuck and trains in MMA every other day. Let’s call him Skywalker.

Day 5, it’s 8:00am in the morning. I had just sat at my desk. Suddenly. The door opens and Satan is aggressively yelling at Skywalker about something. I’m barely awake so I’m just confused as hell. Satan yells something like, “don’t touch me bro!” Skywalker’s body language is saying something like, what did I do? Our shift had LITERALLY just started and this drama was happening right in our faces, keep in mind that our office had about 45 people. After about the longest 30 seconds ever, the scene is done. Satan goes back to his desk. Keep in mind that his desk directly behind mine, and directly to the right of Skywalker’s. At this point, Satan decides that I am the person that he wants to tell all his drama to. He tells me that he didn’t realize that he was yelling because he had his headphones on. At this point I saw the red flag, this dude has the symptoms of a psycho. Last time I heard someone make an excuse like this was from my drug-dealing Colombian ex-girlfriend who is also a psychopath. Anyways, apparently Skywalker had bumped into Satan and almost made him drop his phone, and this is what had ultimately triggered this scene early in the morning. I figured, this reaction from Satan should be unacceptable in any workplace so I’m sure he’ll be fired soon. I’ll just wait this out. The days go by. Satan has not been fired. The complaints against him have accumulated from other teachers outside of our office. He has been rude to teachers and even to our cab drivers that drive us to the schools where we teach at. Our head manager, let’s call her Pippy Longstocking, has had multiple talks with him one-on-one and she believes every excuse that Satan comes up with. More and more people start to dislike him, and this makes him think that I am his only and best friend in the world. I keep thinking, okay he’ll be fired any time now so I’ll just keep playing it cool. I’ve dealt with a psychopath before so I’ll just be chill and wait this out. No point in adding another complaint against him, plenty of people have already complained so he should be fired soon, right?

Over a month has gone by, and this dude is still working here! A few times, I give him the benefit of the doubt and actually invite him to hang out outside of work. The first time was to sing karaoke with his landlord and my bro Huong. Huong sang the song, I’m in Love with the Coco, and it was tight. I went with one my go-to songs, the Armageddon song by Aerosmith. You know the one I’m referring to. Satan sang some 10 minute long song from the 70’s, oh yeah this dude is apparently like 40 something. Another time, I invited Satan to have lunch at the famous banh mi lady’s place and Satan was extremely rude to her because according to him the food had taken “over an hour”. It had actually been like ten minutes. That was the last time that I ever invited him out.

A month and a half go by, and I try my best to avoid even being in the office. Now, Satan thinks that everyone is plotting against him. He thinks that Huong is angry with him and he is jealous of my friendship with my Uncle Corey. I of course am extremely fucking uncomfortable. I figure that at this point, the company is gonna let him finish his 2 month probation instead of actually firing him. One day. Satan tells me that he has a meeting with HR in the afternoon. I figure, thank you god they are finally going to fire this guy. Later that afternoon he tells me, “HR says I didn’t pass probation!” I try my best to look shocked. I think, oh my god finally. Then he says, “they’re going to let me work for two more weeks.” I think, what in the actual fucking shit is this fucking fuckery. HR is going to actually let him work until the very last second of his probation, when he should have been fired in week 1. And worst of all… now he has nothing to lose. The last week is here. I try to not even be in the office at all, I don’t wanna be there when that ticking time bomb explodes. Apparently, when I was out, another dramatic scene featuring Satan ensued. While Satan was clocking in, our Vietnamese-American co-worker had coughed. Let’s call him Dragon. Satan thought that Dragon had purposefully coughed on him, so Satan then coughs in Dragon’s face. As they go back to their respective desks, I heard that Satan challenged Dragon to a fight and Dragon called him out to brawl outside. Satan didn’t go for it. This dude was all bark and no bite. I think Skywalker called him a fat fuck, and that made me giggle like the demonic possessed girl from the Exorcist after killing Merrin. If we were in America, I think Satan would have been one of those mass-murdering shooters. Luckily, we were in Vietnam and the ‘gun-shops’ here only sell condoms. He wasn’t gonna lube us to death.

Satan had a couple days left before he was officially done working with us, and every afternoon he asked me to have lunch with him, and every afternoon I found an excuse not to. On his last day of work I almost didn’t even go into the office, I could imagine this dude coming into work with a backpack full of anthrax. Fortunately, nothing happened that day. At the end of the workday as he was leaving the office for the last time he said to me, “we have to hang out soon!”

The nightmare was finally over, and Satan’s desk was replaced with my bro Niall’s actually brother, Big Dog. I never saw Satan again, I only heard his voice at a bar once and I got the fuck out of there faster than you can say “perrea papi perrea.” Feel free to Google image that previously quoted expression. Enjoy.

With Satan gone, our little neighborhood of desk buddies could finally enjoy some peace. It consisted of: Skywalker, Big Dog, Mr.Bean, Draco Malfoy, and I. Good times. Eventually corona appeared in the form of a virus instead of beer, and our office has been closed ever since. Once again, fuck you corona.

[artificialqueens]

Galactica, Chapter 73 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Previously: Courtney committed a fireable offense when she lost Miss Fame’s sketches.

This Chapter: Bianca rides in on a white horse, and Violet says yes to cake.

***

BIANCA: I need Courtney’s address

ADORE: Why

BIANCA: Because she seems upset and she’s not answering and I’m worried

ADORE: What did you do?

BIANCA: NOTHING

BIANCA: I don’t think

BIANCA: Something probably happened at work

BIANCA: ADORE. SEND THE ADDRESS FOR FUCK’S SAKE

BIANCA: I WILL CUT YOU OFF BITCH

BIANCA: Adore, please.

ADORE: Fine! But if she’s mad, that’s on you

BIANCA: ACCEPTED

ADORE: Just to warn you, it’s a real shithole

BIANCA: Alright, alright, just please send the address

*

Even though Bianca felt like a little bit of a stalker just showing up at her place like this, she didn’t know what else she was supposed to do. Courtney had cancelled with those few cryptic messages and then gone radio silent. Bianca knew her well enough by now to be certain that something had gone wrong, since just hours earlier, she was sending sweet messages about how much she couldn’t wait for them to be together.

She tried calling her a few more times from the car, but there was no answer. Finally, standing in front of the crumbling brownstone, she had to come clean.

BIANCA: Look, I’m sorry for taking drastic measures, but I was really worried…

BIANCA: I’m outside your building

Seconds later, her phone rang. She answered, heart filling with relief. “Hi baby-”

“What are you doing here?”

Her voice sounded broken and raw, and it was immediately clear that she’d been crying. Bianca could feel her heart in her throat, head suddenly racing with all the possibilities of things she may actually have done wrong. Had she really fucked this up so quickly?

“I was worried about you, so I thought…” Bianca bit her lip, afraid to even ask if she was the one who had upset Courtney like this. “Are you gonna let me inside?”

There was a pause, a few beats, the sound of sniffling.

“I just...I kind of don’t want you to...see it.” She sounded choked up again, voice small and soft.

“Angel…” Bianca couldn’t help but feel a bit of relief. It didn’t sound like she was angry, at least not with Bianca--just ashamed of where she lived, which Bianca could understand. “Do you think I’ve always lived in a penthouse?”

“No,” Courtney admitted after a pause.

“No,” Bianca repeated. “Not by a longshot. Please let me in, I need to see you. I just want to talk.”

A few minutes later, Courtney appeared, opening the door from the basement level. Bianca raced down the narrow steps and swept her into a hug, trying not to fret too much about the way she hung limply in her arms.

She followed her inside, and while she’d been prepared for something small and substandard, based on everything she’d heard so far, this was far worse than her fears. A tiny basement unit, dank and dark with exposed pipes and what looked like the world’s oldest sofa bed. It was also clearly an illegal sublet with no kitchen--only a metal, industrial sink with an electric kettle and micro-fridge below.

Besides the bed, there was little furniture. Her closet appeared to be two wardrobe boxes, and a few other boxes were stacked next to the bed to create a makeshift side table. Bianca took it all in, wondering exactly how she ended up in such a dismal place.

But now was not the time to ask about that, not when Courtney looked so utterly miserable. Even in the dim lighting, Bianca could see that her eyes were red and swollen. She followed her to the sofa bed, sitting down gingerly beside her (and holy shit was that thing uncomfortable) and taking one of her hands into her lap.

“Tell me why you’re so upset, angel, please.”

Courtney took a shaky breath, fresh tears filling her eyes. “I did something...really terrible today.”

“Did you kill someone? Do you need me to get a shovel?” Bianca asked, and she was rewarded with a hint of a smile as Courtney shook her head.

“No, but…” Every trace of smile disappeared from her face as she said, “I bet Miss Fame is gonna think this is worse.”

“What happened?”

“I accidentally left an envelope with a bunch of her sketches in a cab.” A tear rolled down her reddened cheek.

Bianca’s eyes went wide, understanding why Courtney was so distraught. Fame rarely sketched anymore, but when she did, she was as attached to the original work as if it was a piece of her own body. She immediately went into problem-solving mode, trying to think of things to mitigate the damage.

“Have you tried calling the cab company-”

“I don’t know which cab company it was, I didn’t get a receipt and I can’t remember no matter how hard I try,” Courtney cried. “But I did call, I must have called a hundred different companies, but...I think they might be gone.”

“Okay-”

“It’s not okay! Her sketches, her original sketches! How could I have done that, I’m so dumb, I’m so bad at that stupid job!” More tears poured down her cheeks, sobs heaving her chest.

“Hey, come here…” Bianca pulled her in, hushing her softly, a hand rubbing circles into her back. “I know, I get what a big deal it is, but it sounds like you did everything you could. And I promise you, it’ll be okay-”

“How?! How will it be okay?! I’m gonna get fired!” Courtney exclaimed, and Bianca had to bite her tongue, the word ‘so?’ nearly slipping from her lips.

“Okay, well...let’s say you do get fired,” Bianca said slowly. “I don’t think you will, but if you do...would that be so bad? It’s clearly not your dream job.”

“But I need it. I can’t get my new work visa without it. It’s been months and I still don’t have the answer and-”

“You don’t have a work visa?”

“Not after March. I have an attorney who’s working on it, but he keeps running into problems and he’s already charged me so much and I don’t know-”

“Hold up. Galactica hired you, but they’re not handling your immigration issues?” Bianca asked.

“Well...Violet told me not to tell Miss Fame, so I...I was afraid to bring it up with HR. But I got the number of an immigration lawyer from Miss Fame’s contacts, and...it’s all just so expensive. He keeps asking for more money, and I can’t-”

“Wait a second.”

Bianca was no immigration expert, but she knew two things: 1, getting a work visa for an entry level administrative job was nearly impossible and 2, it was actually impossible without the full support of a sponsor company.

“Whoever that lawyer is, they’re a total fraud. Don’t give them any more money, okay?”

“Oh god.” Courtney moaned, squeezing her eyes shut. “Why can’t I do anything right?!”

“This isn’t your fault,” Bianca assured her. “You trusted a professional and they took advantage of you. They could be disbarred for that. And as for the sketches...stop beating yourself up. Yes, she’s going to be angry, and upset, but things happen. People make mistakes. I’ve made plenty, believe me.”

“Like this?” Courtney asked, eyes skeptical.

“I once dropped my boss’s wife’s passport off a subway platform.”

“Did you get fired?” Courtney asked.

“No. But I did get yelled at for a solid hour. Maybe two. It wasn’t a good day. But...I got through it. And you’ll get through this.”

“Maybe. But I just know I’m gonna fuck up again. Everything is...I don’t think it should still be this hard, not after 4 months. Miss Fame even said that, earlier today. I’m not new anymore, I should know better. I should be better. What’s wrong with me?!”

At first, Bianca said nothing, simply wrapping her in an embrace. She knew that Courtney was finding the job stressful--anyone in their right mind would find that job stressful. But the fact that it was this bad...Bianca felt guilty for not noticing sooner. She rocked Courtney slowly, letting her fall apart in her arms, whispering comfort into her ear.

After a while, when she sensed that Courtney was cried out, sobs slowing down and some of the tension finally melting away, Bianca pulled back and took her by the shoulders. She paused, considering for a minute if she really wanted to get involved before saying, “Maybe this isn’t the right job for you.”

“Well, I don't have another offer, so...oh, god, what am I gonna do? Is the visa thing really bad? Am I gonna get deported?”

“No,” Bianca said with a smile, shaking her head decisively. “I’ll take care of your visa. Don’t worry about it.”

“How?”

“I don’t know yet, but there are options. I promise, okay?” Bianca kissed her cheek softly, up near her ear, lips lingering on her tear-stained skin. “I’ve gotten pretty attached to you, so you leaving the country would be a huge bummer.”

Courtney finally seemed to relax, letting out a small chuckle, resting her head on Bianca’s shoulder.

“I don’t want to leave you either. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, angel.” Bianca squeezed her hand tighter, lacing their fingers together. “Does that mean you want to come home with me?”

Courtney nodded slowly, squeezing Bianca’s hand back. “Yes please.”

“Good.” Bianca tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “And, um...okay so, remember when you said that Christmas music makes you want to go to the beach?”

“Yeah…” Courtney tilted her head, puzzled.

“Well I may have booked us a little...getaway. Just for a few days. So you can have some sun and relax and get away from this dreary weather.”

“Where?” Courtney asked, eyes wide.

“Puerto Rico. It’s not that long of a flight, so-”

“But I thought you had to stay and work!”

“I can work from there.” Bianca flashed her a charming smile, adding, “I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, you did. I’m…” Courtney took a deep breath, clearly overwhelmed, and then glanced over to where a beaten-up duffel bag lay on the floor. “I guess I need to pack some other clothes, although I’m not sure I have the right stuff here...”

“There are stores in San Juan.”

Courtney laughed, shaking her head and wiping her eyes. “I’m never gonna get used to the way you live.”

“You will. And that’s a promise,” Bianca said. “So will you come with me? Our flight leaves tomorrow at 2.”

“Yeah, of course! I just need like 20 minutes or so to pack.” Courtney’s mood already seemed to brighten as she began pulling boxes out of a stack against the brick wall.

“Of course, take your time. Mind if I use your bathroom?”

“Oh. Uh...yeah, sure. It’s uh...out that door and down the hall, on the right. I share with Fred, but I think he’s at work right now, so-”

“Who’s Fred?”

“Um-”

“You know what, I can hold it,” Bianca assured her, crossing her legs.

“I’ll be fast, I promise,” Courtney said, pulling a pair of sandals out of the box and tossing them to the floor. “And B...thank you.”

“For what, sunshine?”

“Everything.”

***

“I’ll get to the dishes in a minute, mom!” Gigi closed the door behind her, looking around her bedroom in an attempt to remember where she had put her earpods. She crouched down, digging through her backpack. Symone had made her a playlist of music she had to listen to over the holidays, and if she was gonna be put on Cinderella duty, she might as well make it productive.

It felt strange to be home; the smells, sights and sounds were all exactly the same, while she couldn’t help but feel different, like she had grown up in the weeks she was away.

Some of her friends had reached out when they had seen on Instagram that she had returned to L.A, but she hadn’t responded yet. She was an adult now, with a real job, not a college kid that could mess around and do all the things she used to, hanging out in the skate park suddenly so lame and childish compared to all the things she was doing in New York.

She had spent the day in her mom’s studio, watching her work like she had done so many times before, her mom excitedly asking about what clothes she should make her, and showing her all of the sketches she had done while Gigi was away based on the pictures she had sent.

Gigi couldn’t wait to wear her mom's creations, the outfits more chic than anything she had seen in the multiple designer stores she had now been in. Sutan’s words that her style was her edge ones she had really taken to heart.

“There!” Gigi exclaimed triumphantly, pulling her earpods out of her backpack. She grabbed her phone, and was just about to get to the kitchen to do the dishes, when she saw that she had gotten a message from Symone, a massive grin spreading on her face as she slid back down to the floor, leaning against her bed to respond, her chores completely forgotten.

***

JINKX: Hey honey. Just want to make sure you made it home from the airport okay.

JINKX: I read it was snowing a ton.

JINKX: Plus you know, I haven’t heard from you in almost 4 hours so I miss you like crazy.

JINKX: ;-P

ALASKA: Haha, I’m fine. At a bar right now catching up with the bro.

JINKX: Tell him hi for me

JINKX: xoxo

ALASKA: <3

***

It was Christmas Eve Day, barely past dawn, but Courtney was already awake. She’d slipped from the bed as quietly as possible so as not to wake Bianca, padding over to the big picture window to watch the golden sunlight reflecting off the buildings, admire the light dusting of snow on the trees in the park. She wasn’t used to thinking of New York as pretty, but from up here, it really was.

“Hey...good morning…” Bianca said, her voice rough with sleep, just the way Courtney loved most.

“Good morning.” She turned around, giving her a slightly apologetic smile. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Nahh...I guess my body just doesn’t want to sleep without you.”

“I love it when you’re cheesy,” Courtney giggled.

“Oh yeah? Plenty more where that came from. What are you doing all the way over there?”

“Just...checking out the view. It’s pretty amazing.” Courtney turned and headed back to the bed, suddenly missing Bianca’s warmth beside her.

“The view over here isn’t half bad either,” Bianca told her with a wink.

Courtney giggled some more, crawling toward her across the mattress. “Happy Christmas Eve…”

Their lips met in a sweet and tender kiss, Bianca’s hands cradling her face.

“Speaking of which...how do you feel about opening one of your presents now?”

“Really? Already?” Courtney asked, eyes lighting up.

“Well, it’s kind of useful, so I think it makes sense.” Bianca got up out of the bed, pulling a huge box wrapped in silver from her closet.

Courtney sat on the edge of the bed, bouncing slightly as she ripped open the paper to reveal a gorgeous pink Fendi suitcase, covered in what had to be custom crystals. Her mouth fell open.

“I figured you could use it for our trip. You know. I’m all about practical gifts.”

Courtney couldn’t help laughing. The suitcase was anything but practical...but it was perfect, like it was designed from Courtney’s wildest daydreams.

“I don’t know if I have enough to fill this,” Courtney said, running her fingers over it, watching the way the stones glittered in the light.

“Well...that’s cool, I could use the extra space myself.”

Courtney raised her eyebrows. She’d seen Bianca’s packed suitcases, two giant Louis Vuittons and a large, matching carry-on, nearly ready to go.

“You need more space? We’re going for a week...what are you even taking?!”

“More presents,” Bianca said, dimples deepening.

“Oh my god…”

***

Violet chewed on her lip; sorting through Google images really not where she excelled. She was looking for pictures of Raja at the Met Ball, slowly combing through what she could find since her emails to Max and Pearl had gone unanswered. It was annoying, but expected. Pearl never missed out on the chance of ignoring her emails, and Max was british so he completely ignored both phone and computer the minute he left the office, so she was on her own.

“Violet?”

Violet looked up from her station at the living room table to see Sutan head peek in through the kitchen door, his phone against his shoulder, the glasses in his hair betraying that he had been working  as well even though it was Christmas Eve. “My mom’s asking if you like klappertaart?”

“... Excuse me what?” Klappertaart? Violet had no idea what that was. It wasn’t unusual for either Raja or Sutan to get a bit confused when they bounced between Indonesian and English, their sentences sometimes mixed up, but that didn’t sound Indonesian at all. “Is that German?”

“Dutch, actually,” Sutan smiled. “Remind me to educate you on the thrilling saga of Indonesia's colonial history some day.”

“Ah,” Violet felt a brief stab of shame, that information seeming like something she should have known, though she had barely even been aware that Indonesia existed before she had met her boyfriend.

“So?” Sutan walked fully into the room, leaning against the doorframe, his black pants tight in the waist, and Violet couldn’t help but admire him for a second. “Klappertaart?”

“I still don’t know what it is.”

“Oh fuck, right” Sutan’s eyes widened, and Violet laughed as she heard a noise from the phone, Murni clearly picking up on her son’s swearing, Sutan quickly putting the phone against his ear.

“Ya Bunda, ya ya, maaf,” Sutan grinned, walking over to the table before putting the phone down so he could continue talking.

“Klappertaart is… It’s a cake, that’s…” Sutan paused, clearly looking for his words. “There’s coconut and… Know what, excuse me.” Sutan held the phone up again, Indonesian falling from his lips as he talked to his mom and Violet had to hide a smile, Sutan clearly never considering what was in this mysterious klappertaart.

“There,” Sutan pulled away, “It’s a coconut cake with almonds and raisins, and we usually have it for Christmas.”

“Huh,” Violet ran over the ingredients in her head. It was incredibly nice of Sutan’s mom to ask if she liked the menu, and there weren’t any of the ingredients that she hated, though warm raisins were disgusting, but she was pretty sure she could get away with picking them off, so there was no reason to create a scene. “That sounds lovely.”

“Great,” Sutan smiled, bending down to give her a quick kiss before he returned to his phone call.

[keepingupwithlinmanuel]

A Long Talk With Lin-Manuel Miranda On Mary Poppins Returns, Hamilton in Puerto Rico, and What He’ll Do Next

Lin-Manuel Miranda slumps into a chair, exhausted. For an instant. Then, all of a sudden, he’s gleefully leaping on top of the chair to demonstrate a Dick Van Dyke dance move. The whiplash moment fits the exhilarating and strange point at which Miranda finds himself: chugging through the meat grinder of international publicity appearances for Mary Poppins Returns while eagerly looking ahead to two other returns — to starring in Hamilton in Puerto Rico in January, a series of shows that will benefit hurricane recovery efforts, and to his Washington Heights apartment in February, where he can start writing one of “three big ideas. It’s too early to know what form they will take — stage, film, or TV.” All while gearing up to direct his first movie and navigating the life-changing fame and presidential Twitter insults that the success of Hamilton has wrought. Tomorrow he flies to Mexico City, followed by Paris, then London, then Miami. For now, though, Miranda is fully, happily present in this Central Park South hotel room, his dark-brown eyes gleaming as he claims to feel no pressure to follow up the show that certified him as a Broadway genius.

...

Did you underestimate the amount of racism that still exists in this country?

Yeah, I think I did. I think I really did. And here’s where I was naïve: All my life I’ve known Latinos are growing in this country in greater numbers. I’m Latino, so I’ve only always seen that as a good thing. I never saw that as a threat to anyone else. And obviously there are people in this country for whom that is seen as a threat, [and who feel] that we are somehow less American than anyone else who comes here to make a living and make a life for themselves. I find that heartbreaking, but that’s a reality.

What’s an example of experiencing racism in your own life? Quiara [Alegría Hudes] wrote it into the screenplay of the new In the Heights movie, actually! We were at a theater function and I made the mistake of wearing a tux while Puerto Rican. Here in the city. If I told you the name of the theater company they’d die a thousand deaths of embarrassment. But a lady called me over, like this, very friendly, waving. And I thought, Oh, it’s someone who recognizes me from In the Heights. And she goes, “My friend didn’t get her salad.”

If I’m standing outside the wrong building in L.A., somebody’s gonna hand me a fucking pair of car keys. Racism is alive and well in this country.

Ever been hassled by the cops? I have not. I’ve been lucky, but I also think that’s because I grew up with: “Put your hands out. Be afraid.” Giuliani is what he is now to the country. But when I was a teenager, it was black and brown kids getting shot, and he would release their police record. Immediately. It was that “He’s no angel” thing, times infinity, with Giuliani. So I was always very scared and shy around cops as a teenager in the subway.

...

The show is big business. There are a lot of people’s livelihoods involved in Hamilton. Does that sometimes constrain you from saying what you believe? I don’t think so. I think that we’re aware of that. I mean, I don’t think you’re going to get any late-night benders from me on Twitter. Because I am very aware that we employ a lot of people.

So there is a responsibility that comes with that. We check in with our companies pretty often, actually, when it comes to that stuff in particular — when political stuff happens; like when the whole Pence thing happened, we had to increase security because of those tweets. The president knows when he tweets something that he’s painting a target on their back, in a certain sense. That’s what makes it pernicious. We had conversations in the wake of that, when we’ve suddenly found the spotlight on our Broadway show. Yes, you take what you say seriously. But you try not to ever filter yourself, because then who wins?

A journalist friend of mine says she wishes you would express your anger for the sake of good more often. Is that fair? Not entirely. Maybe. I don’t know. What I do know is that when it comes to social media and expressing that anger, I don’t know how I could be any more out than I already am. I’m singing lullabies at marches. My father had a march on Mar-a-Lago last month! But when it comes to the way I enter the world, I don’t want to be angry all the time. If I see 25 people tweeting the same article, do I need to be the 26th person to tweet it?

But you’re not just No. 26. Yes. No. I understand that my voice carries. And when I tweet I’m fully aware of the reach of it. But at the same time I also want to get kindness back from the world. If I tweet anger at the world I’ll get anger back. Twitter is the proof of it. I don’t want to live in that space.

...

In January you are returning to Hamilton for three weeks of shows in San Juan. Talking with some Puerto Rican friends, they love that you’re coming. They think it’s important. They’re hugely grateful for the millions of dollars you’ve raised to rebuild the island. But they find the glamorization of Hamilton ironic, in that they believe he’s the guy who set up this banking system that’s killing Puerto Rico. Well, here’s my answer: I don’t believe he’s a hero. I believe he’s complicated. I think that’s absolutely valid, about the banks. What is also true is that this guy who wrote about a hurricane that hit his island got off the island, and I saw my father in that guy. The only thing I take issue with — and that’s absolutely true and it’s absolutely valid about Hamilton and the financial system — is I don’t believe I glamorize him. I believe I’m trying to paint someone who is not a statue. The show is not an ode to debt and trading. That system has so many faults. I’m just trying to paint as much of this guy as I can, good and bad.

You should read the rest. It’s all great.