#yes mom I’m going to the dentist tomorrow

[yuribalisms]

If someone could just like…. Stab me through the eye that would be great idk

[freshlyrage]

Running Like Water

Chapter 14

pairing: Javier Peña x OFC (written as xReader)

fic warnings: NSFW Explicit Smut (18+ MDNI) language, strained family relationships, mentions of drug abuse, discussions of insecurities and body image issues, daddy and mommy issues

fic tags: Best friends younger sister, Life-long crush, Friends to lovers, Unrequited love, slow burn, Push and Pull, Small Town Dynamics, Secret Relationships, latina MC, Fluff and Angst, OFC!Jessica Alba face claim, sorry Lorraine I'm bringing you into this, Time jumps, 2 year age gap, pre-canon

word count: 5.9k

a/n: I hope I didn't keep you guys waiting too long!! We have so much more left of these two horn balls. Enjoy babies.

masterlist

Javier wakes you with his head between your legs and a white hot orgasm. He sneaks you out before sunrise to drive you home, car parked one minute down the road of course. You were on such a high you could hardly sleep, you had to teach summer school in only a few hours so when the day dragged on you struggled to keep up. You instructed the middle schoolers on the Protestant reformation, boring yourself along the way.

Daydreaming of Javier Peña while the kids took a mock exam. You sat in those seats daydreaming of him when you were their age too, it sends your head on a crushing spin when you think too hard about it.

You want to call Delilah after last night, she was so removed from your life at home. The temptation of confiding her bites at you all the way home. What trouble would it cause just telling her? She’s not even from here?

Upon arrival you notice Mr. Warden's car was absent from the drive. Pulling your hair in a ponytail, bangles jangling, you enter your family home. Your mom is dressed up, a flowing dress pale yellow and hair teased. Your brows raise as you set your purse down. Wanting to just run to the phone behind her and call up Javi. Ask him how grating it was to spend the day under the sun in Mrs. Gloria’s garden, wanting to hear every detail. 

The likelihood of your mom leaving the house is pretty high so you ask, “Where you heading mami?” 

Tucking your hand under your top and unclipping your bra in the kitchen, she hates when you do that but your breasts were small and you hated the tightness of bras. She wipes her hand on her dress, “Having a mommy-son day with Frankie. Gonna drive to the mall and then have dinner.”

Shocker, you think. You used to be bothered by the obvious display of favoritism with your mom but you expect it. You dont think shes ever taken you alone… anywhere, just for the sake of being together. Sure she took you to the dentist and whatnot but she never just asked if you wanted to do something together. She always liked your brother more and it hurt but you were done seeking love from her. You protect your peace. “Oh okay cool. Where’s Sol and your husband?” 

She walks past you, reaching down to grab her purse from the island stool. “They're visiting his mother in Corpus Christi, they're staying over for a few nights. I’m going to meet with them tomorrow, just to destress before the wedding. I’ve bitten all of my nails off!” She sticks her hands towards you and your eyes widen at the sight. Man she really did. 

The wedding was stressing her out for sure, she was more irritable than usual and always on the house phone yelling at someone. It was going to be a modest wedding, modest decorations and entertainment with a not so modest in the guest count. She invited the entirety of Laredo and the 1980 graduating class. She also skipped the renting route for the tables and chairs. She bought them all in hopes that you could use them when you betroth. 

“Is there anything you would want me to do? To make this, I don’t know, easier?”

She gave a pensive stare, like she was cataloging all of the very complicated tasks in her head. Then she nods, “Ah, yes. Saturday the print shop will have all of the guest table markers ready. If you can pick them up and fold them. There’s … a lot.” She moves around the island and grabs her purse. You move past her to grab whatever beverage you can from the fridge. “Also, James hooked up a phone line in your room before he left, just told him to get on and do it since your grandmother called.”

You stop in your tracks, your heart stopping in your chest. 

Blood running cold, “What?” 

Your mother sits at the couch, putting on her heels. “Your fathers mother called-“

Your father, Lucas. The man who only existed in stories and dreams. Your grandmother, his mother? “Mami, what are you saying? What did you say? What did she say?” You storm into the living room angrily. Your mom looks at you in disbelief, shocked at how hard you stomped into the room. 

“What?! She asked if you could visit her in Baton Rogue, I obviously told her you weren’t interested-“

“Why would you say that?!” You raise your voice, your cheeks heating in anger. How selfish could your mother be? Why do you never get a choice. 

She scoffs, tightening the strap to her heel. “Oh please don’t tell me you’re still holding out some hope for that family?”

You blink rapidly, your chest heaving. Hope? You’ve never been given a sign of life from that part of your life, nothing at all. Just the stories from your mother. Just the knowledge that to some extent he wanted you. 

“That’s for me to decide mami! I’m 22, I’m done being left out of my own life.” You seethe, you’re beyond enraged. You had just been a sweet high from morning head and a decent day at work. Happy at the chance of being home alone. And it’s the searing thought of your father that’s sucking the life out of you. 

Your mother laughs and stands up straight. “You can be angry at me but i’m protecting you from the truth. Her numbers in the phone book, if you’d like to be disappointed, be my guest!” She snaps, shoving her purse strap over her shoulder and moving past your frozen pale body. Paled in anger, blushed with an ache. “When you find out he’s just a piece of shit who chose drugs over his daughter don’t come crying.” She bites, with a finger in your face before she walks up the front door. 

Still frozen, tears threatening to fall and a sob caught in your throat. Before she leaves she snaps one last remark, “And you need to start looking for your own place, your welcome is overstayed.”

And she slams the door shut.

Winded you crouch onto the rugged floor and cry into your knees. You’ve been told your entire life that there wasn’t anyone left to speak to on your fathers side. The way your mom brought up the call, like it was nothing. You can’t help but wonder what other news she’s received over the years. 

The worst part is you almost understand her, you knew she was in love with your dad and you can tell she never really got over that betrayal, that shock of finding out he was using the whole time and using the money for your life for his addiction. 

You take the palm of your hand and wipe down your face, dragging your tears to your neck, standing up straight and walk to the phone book.

Breathe still skipping from a crying recovery, you swipe your wet hand on the counter and open the phone book to its most recent page. 

In cursive,

Lorena ? Andreas grandma

You grab the book and head up to your room. 

Time to put the new phone to use.

You dialed without contemplation, if you thought too hard you’d never call. Just call, call and find out what’s being hidden from you.

It was answered on the 3rd ring. 

“Hello?” A small voice comes from the line, a voice with an accent. A voice of a woman late in her years. If you closed your eyes maybe you could picture her. 

“Hello, it’s Andrea… your granddaughter.”

 It felt so foreign on your tongue, you had been no one’s granddaughter before. Beyond the line you hear some shuffling.

“Oh! You saved my number, I called your mother but she’s still very upset.”

You sigh, “Yes she is. You told her you’d like me to visit you? Is everything alright?”

She laughs, “Everything is alright. I just never had your information until recently, I can’t travel because I’m alone and wheelchair bound.”

You frown at the thought of the lady living on her own with no one to care for her. 

“Oh—okay. I’m not sure I would have a way to get there. I’m a school teacher here in 

Laredo. I don’t have my own vehicle and-“

“It’s okay, If you ever find yourself in Louisiana I would love to give you my address. I would love to introduce you to your family.”

You intake a sharp breath at the last sentence. Why does it now feel wrong to want this when all your life you’ve reached out for it? Why does the sound of meeting your family sound so wrong? 

“Is my father okay?” You blurted before she could tell you the address. It’s the one thing you truly cared about, the one thing that haunted you was the possibility of being too late, of him being gone in more ways than one. 

Your grandma stayed silent behind the crackling of the phone, your heart raced each passing second. Beats closer together with each one. “There’s things that rather be told in person. Please consider visiting, my address is 4289 Coventry Court.”

And the line goes dead. 

You repeat a call of her name, pressing the phone harder into your ear but she hung up before you could say goodbye. 

Javier dreamt in a 3 day span. He lived all 3 days, two nights. He dreamt of the drive and checking in. He was on his god forsaken work trip but you were at his side and so the 3 days were a breeze and the best of his life. 

He woke up with your open mouth on his shoulder, snoring small kitten snores. Your hair tossed all over your face and a tiny hand gripped at his waist. He wakes you with a kiss to your forehead and he guesses you dreamt of something less pure because you immediately ripped off your top and climbed on his chest kissing him hard. Your wet core on his belly. 

Javier made sure he gave you an orgasm before helping you out of his window. Going down on your just awake body.

Breakfast for champs. 

He skipped out on the pancakes Chucho made and headed to work with his dad. The smell of your sweet perfume still on him. 

He caught himself bringing the collar of his shirt to his nose when his dad wasn’t looking. He makes a note to ask you to wear it again. 

His dad was skeptical of Javier’s good mood. Constantly shooting him a glance at his typically grumpy son. Shaking his head in a laugh when he compliments Ms. Gloria’s awful orange dress. 

Chucho rarely went to work on people’s land any more. That was old news, he tended his land and sold whatever produce people wanted. But Ms. Gloria had recently lost her husband and when he saw her overgrown garden he offered some help.  She had complained about not having seen Javier since he left so long ago, she had shrieked ranting about how much of a man he was now. 

He had been hearing that a lot recently, that he was a man now. And he was, he hadn’t noticed how accelerated his aging was, already bill stressed at 18 unlike his classmates test stressed or even his girlfriend who was lecture stressed. A teenager with a badge, snuck into bars to drink away the day's stress with 40 year old colleagues. And now a 6 figure salary and a one way ticket to the cartel heartland just at the precipice of age 24.

Yet he still felt stunted. It’s funny how that works, how playing grown up can only work for so long. He had settled down with a broken relationship for years and honestly, truly, that was the most familiar grown up thing he’s ever done. Stayed with someone for the sake of finances, very grown up of him. 

He didn't know what it was like to be the boyfriend of anyone but Lorraine. Most men his age had probably 4 long term girlfriends at this point, he had one and a few years of fucking whoever in high school. He didn’t know how to be a boyfriend for you. 

Boyfriend?

He was getting ahead of himself, he was your… he didn’t want to think too hard about it actually because the idea stressed him out. 

He asked you to be his and it felt pivotal and important and it’s what he wanted. More than anything else ever actually, to have you. He couldn’t even believe you when you crumbled at the thought of Lorraine coming home. He had cared for Lorraine, deeply, but he hadn’t truly been with her for five years. And there is nothing he wanted more than you, he wanted to drag himself to hell for making you cry. 

But still there is this slicing feeling you always had been his since the beginning, in the same way he was yours too. A wanting so deep he couldn’t fathom getting here, so he ran as far as he could. 

That, there, that hurts his chest. The thought that he wasted time, that he kept you close in his heart without giving you a choice to be a part of his life. And what fucked him up even more is the people around him noticing.

 Noticing his self inflicted torture. 

They had noticed. More specifically, Javier’s father. 

Javier is an idiot a lot of the time. He was an excellent researcher, sweet talker and agent, but boy was he awful when it came to keeping you his secret. 

What triggered Javier to mention your mother while he was knee deep in dirt, he doesn’t know. Javier’s father glanced up at him, still squinting from the sun despite his ranching hat. 

Maybe he misses you already. 

‘Maybe’, who was he kidding? He misses you so much and it’s only been 4 hours. He wishes he was still in bed with you. 

“You know-you don’t have to answer this…” Javier began, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his glove. Chucho looked at him more skeptically now that he was speaking in English, which he never did when it was just them alone. 

“I’ll answer, what is it?”

Javier shook his head and continued to work, “Did you ever-have you-did you date Ms. Diaz?”

He can knock sweet talker off the list of things he’s good at. 

Javier cringes in his head, sure he was close to his father, he knew about his previous romances after his mom left but there was a period where Javier hadn’t a clue about his fathers personal life, the period directly after his mother left. Chucho chuckles and shakes his head and mutters something along the lines of It’s Mrs. Warden now. 

“I did.” 

Javier is aghast. Astounded even, a perfect mix of shock and horror.

 It was all an inside joke but he hadn’t actually thought that- “The month after Flaca left, we very briefly dated. The next summer you were best friends with her kids, it was torturous for me. I wasn't over her but it’s passed.”

Javier wants to laugh at how familiar this was. 

How Andrea had been so ingrained his life that seeing her again after radio silence was torture. 

Javier does laugh, shaking his head.  “No mames,” He couldn’t help but feel like his dad was messing with him, trying to trigger some sort of reaction. Because Melissa? 

“En serio! It was a lonely time when your mom left, I wanted something for myself for a little bit.”

Javier weeds with a smile on his face. In the least offensive way possible, your mom was insufferable. Yes your mother was beautiful but from what Javier had seen, she was judgmental, rude and out of touch. She was a staunch christian yet surely did not love thy neighbor. She would tell you to your face you’ve gained weight and call you handsome in the same breath. She’ll kiss the cheek of a woman and call her a harlot behind her back. 

Javier wondered where you found your sweetness from.

 Maybe you never received that softness and kindness from your mother, maybe it gave you no choice but to be the softest, kindest, sweetest little thing he’s ever known. 

And Chucho. 

Javier’s dad was older than your mom, and too nice for his own good. Shit, he stayed with Javier’s mother until she up and left. He stayed for the sake of keeping a two parent home until he couldn’t any more. Javier admired his dad for that and despite it not working in the end, Javier knew his dad sacrificed his happiness to give Javi some sort of normalcy.

Javier took that from his father, if there’s a kid involved, he was going to try with the mother until he physically couldn't anymore. 

Are you on birth control?

“Why Melissa?” Javier cuts wherever his brain threatens to take him. And Chucho cackles, removing his hat to fan himself, laughing as if Javier asked the funniest question there is. 

“Why Andrea?”

 Javier shoots his dad a glance, one of confusion (he isn’t confused but he has a game to play). 

Javier doesn’t let it get the best of him, he had been teased about the girl for nearly ten years. It’s just a badly timed joke from his dad, he couldn’t know. Right?

Javier knew how to play it cool, he’s a fucking DEA agent for crying out loud. 

But the sound of your name just fucks him over every time. And he can fucking smell you on him. 

Javier disapproves and hacking his sickle into the dirt, a small piece flying on his shirt. “Funny because you know it’s not like that between Andrea and I.” Hack “And she is nothing like her mother.”

Javier’s father mirrors that same disapproval. 

“You packed your bags and went back to Houston the second you saw her picture 4 months ago.” Chucho answers with a hint of teasing in his voice. Javier doesn’t appreciate the way it made his heart pound. Had he made it all so obvious and he hadn't had a clue. “And you may be right about her being nothing like her mother but she is beautiful like her.”

“Prettier.” Javier mumbles, earning another glance from Chucho who quit slamming down the sickle minutes ago. Sweeter, kinder, better all around. 

Javier was blowing it, just a little bit. He sees his dads eyes, he sees them slanted like he’s puzzling the pieces. Like he’s got the two of you all figured out. 

But it’s more than that, “You broke that girl's heart 6 years ago.” Stern, he was stern with the way he laid out the truth. It catches Javier off guard and he blocks the sun from his eyes to make sure his dad wasn’t messing with him. 

But he was dead serious. 

“Okay?” 

He hadn’t anything else to respond. 

“Okay?” He mocks, “Okay? Are you aware of what that does to a girl like Andrea?”

Javier sighs, getting up from his knees in a grunt. Not wanting to be reminded of this again, especially not from someone that wasn’t you. “Don’t you dare walk away from me Javier Peña.” Chucho raises his voice and Javier stops dead in his tracks. He can’t remember the last time his father showed any ounce of disdain towards him. Frankly he’s dumbfounded. Chucho gets to his feet as well, staring down at his son. His son who had already selfishly claimed Andrea as his knowing he would be leaving again. “Listen to me, Andrea is a good girl, and I ain’t saying you aren’t good but I am saying that this timing isn’t good. You understand?”

Javier's chest collapses in on itself, a pain that he sees no ease. It’s like every day he isn’t with you, he’s reminded why it should stay that way. That he shouldn’t do this. Javier’s nostrils flare, a pang of bashfulness and hurt swirling low in his stomach. 

Feeling accused of something so true. He mumbles, he lies, “We’re not even together.” 

Chucho frowns, “Good. I love the two of you too much to watch you hurt each other again—you ran from it and I lost you for 6 years.” 

“I wasn’t running from her, I was starting a career-“

“You never came home.”

“You visited me once a month, you never lost me. And I did come home.”

“Once, and you left when you saw a picture of the girl.”

“I’m home now! And I didn’t fucking leave because of a picture, it’s not like that for me!”

“You’re lying, you know you feel the same way. Regardless she’s here and you’re leaving again! For good.”

Javier drops his gaze to the dirt below them, his breath quickening. “That isn’t my fault, I took this deal before I saw her, before the fucking picture.”

“Ver! la foto!” He caught you, “You forget I know you better than anyone else, you’re running again. I don’t want to argue, I'm just asking for you to be a man and end this. 

End it unless you’re staying for good.”

Javier’s eyes drop, his blood running cold. 

He was done with this. He was done with people telling him what to do, first your brother and now Chucho. Maybe it’s that selfishness but Javier mutters, “There is nothing to end.” and walks out of the garden. 

At 9 pm Javier calls. You’re in bed already, grading history quizzes with a rare smile, the kids are actually doing better. They had all failed their history final just 3 weeks ago. You feel content with yourself, you feel content with the distraction. 

You called a car rental service and was approached with the ridiculous prices of a rental. You’re a teacher for crying out loud, you don’t have money for an excursion to meet a family member you’ve never met. You spent the rest of the afternoon playing scenarios out in your head, what will you do if he actually is dead? What if hes fine? 

What if he’s clean, what if he never wanted to look for you but what if he’s been searching this whole time?

The thoughts burned after 6 pm when your to-do list caught your eye, and so did the stack of papers on your desk. So the show must go on, you can deal with the existential crisis later, you've got work. 

But Javier calls when you're halfway grading Jorge Villa’s quiz, he was doing amazing, with the pen between your lips you grab the new pink phone. “Hello?” 

“Andrea,” He exhaled. Your lips quirk into a small smile, the memories of the morning clouding your brain. He was breathless beyond the phone, like had just finished running a lap. Your smile stayed but your brows pulled together nonetheless. 

“Javi, are you okay? You sound out of breath.” The chewed up pen cap swirls against your teeth. He is silent behind the phone for a few seconds.

“Oh– sorry, I was about to smoke but decided to call you.”

You straighten up, the curly cord barely straining. You note to thank James for the extra  long phone cord.  “Oh okay, is everything okay?” Hes calling you from his bedroom phone, you could hear the difference. The phone in the kitchen had better sound quality, this one always sounded crackled and far, but it settled some weird nostalgia in your belly. This was the phone he’d always pick up from so many years ago. 

“I don’t know, I think I got into an argument with my dad.”

“What?” You blink, it comes out more dramatic than intended but the sentence just didn't seem right. An argument? With Chucho? “Sorry–what happened, are you okay, do you want me to come over?”

You want to slap yourself. Do you want me to come over, what has gotten into me?

 “It was about you.”

“What do you mean?” I’m so confused right now. Then it all hit you at once, “Oh my god Javi! Was I too loud last night? Oh my goodness this morning I didnt even think about it, he was probably awake. Javier I’m so sorry-”

His laugh cuts you off from your nervous rambling, “No, no, jesus. I don't know? We started talking about your mom, they used to sleep together by the way.”

“What!?” You gasp, your hand slapping over your mouth, his sweet deep laugh crackles through the phone. You want to swoon over it, his laugh, him, that all of this happening right now but youre so floored by the conversation you can't even appreciate it. 

“Doesn't matter, he… I don't know what he was saying was true and yesterday you were very honest with me about Lorraine and all that. He just said that I broke your heart once and Andrea, I don't want to do that again I’m so sorry.”

Your chest swells, a feeling so deep and guttural. Something big heals in you with that, with everything that has happened this week. His voice through his bedroom telephone, his whisper, his kiss and all that comes with him. It was years of an ache pushed to the side and replaced with work and shitty boyfriends and all other things. You decided a bit ago not to persecute him for the decision he made at 17, that would just be too cruel.

“Javi, I forgive you.” You mean it. 

“But I’m going to leave you again… in November.”

Lashes wet with tears you shake your head, “I know, I’ll be prepared this time. Let's please stop talking about this and enjoy what we have now.”

You're both silent for a moment, your brain is so foggy again. But this was a different silence, before silence with Javier made your mind run in circles about all the things you could do wrong and all your insecurities, this silence was good. 

“I smelt like you all day.” He finally says.

Your face breaks into a wide smile, “Oh really?”

“Yeah. Was just half hard the whole day thinking about you.”

“Beyako.”

“You were the one who left a little wet spot on my shirt this morning.”

You gasp a dramatic one, you had woken up so hot and beat red. You hadn't thought about how wet you must've been the whole night when you straddled his chest bare bodied. You kissed him sloppy and rushed before he flipped you on your back to go down on you. 

“You have no shame do you?”

He scoffs a sassy one, a classic Javier mannerism. He was always so grumpy towards everyone, sometimes you wondered if he practiced an unbothered yet grumpy face before walking out of his house. He’s going to do so well in Colombia. Your agent. 

“You’re right, could I come over? I’ve missed you all day.”

Your head spins but reality sets in. Your mom would be home at any minute.

 “My moms coming home soon but she’s going to be away all weekend. I was thinking tomorrow you could stay over here.”

He laughs, and you understand how all this sounds. You sounded like teenagers sneaking around, like having sex was number one on the list of taboo acts. Like the two of you aren’t adults with careers. 

“Okay Andrea no need to beg, i’ll be there.”

“Shut the fuck up.” You exhale a laugh. It’s so easy to forget like this, when it’s just Javier and you. You can’t begin to imagine a day of uninterrupted interaction. Your brain almost slips in a fantasy of leaving to New Orleans with him. 

“But-today? How was your day, everything okay with work? Any middle schoolers in need of being scared straight or what?”

You shake your head, forgetting he can’t see you, idiot. 

“One of them called me a cunt today.”

“What the fuck? What’s their name?”

“I’m kidding.”

Javier is silent and then exhales. “Funny.”

“My students are very well behaved and nice to me actually—well nice enough for kids in summer school. I was grading exams., they’re doing really well”

“You’ve always been so smart, used to intimidate the fuck out of me.” He whispers that second half and you’re throbbing already. 

You bite your lip and your cheeks turn bright pink. Why is it that small praises like that make you so hot and flustered?

“Intimidate?” You ask but your voice betrays you. Horny over the phone, this feels illegal. 

The sound of him shifting in bed only lights that white hot flame in the pit of your stomach. He groans a cute little old man one. He acted like such an old man at 23, but it made him all the more endearing. You picture him settling against his headboard, a hand behind his head. God you wished to be in his lap right now. “Mmm. Yeah, whenever you’d get into it with me, i’d be like who the fuck is this little girl? You were so shy but so smart, I know you apparently were crushing on me hard but you surely knew how to put me in my place.” You could hear the reflective nature of his voice. 

You think back to homecoming, how you had felt so fucking torn about telling him off but somehow content with how you handled yourself. Imagining walking the halls with him after telling him straight up that your love life wasn’t his business. You had felt so strong and mighty even though you ached for him to care about who you were with. In a twisted schoolgirl way you wanted all of the protectiveness and jealousy. But to him you hated it all, and you feared he might never like you for being so straight up. 

But he found you smart. And god why does that make you so turned on. 

You hum at the thought, “Little girl? All of you guys always act like I was much younger.”

“By the time I was a freshman I had been much more corrupt than you had been. Same with Lorraine, your brother and Genie.”

You sigh, “I guess but it does suck to think that you saw me that way.” 

Considering I was absolutely desperate to be under you back then, just like I am right now. 

The bed springs snap through the phone, he lets out a deep exhale. You hate to be so direct but god was all the noises he made sexy. “I saw you that way before we were in school together. By the time you were 16 and I was 17 I wanted to fuck you so bad I could barely stay in a room with you.”

“Javi!” You gasp. The full validity of his words don’t settle because you’re already following up. This is your dream. “Are you serious?” You whisper yell like someone can hear you. 

“Yeah? I thought you knew, I tried it at that quinceañera.” 

“That was a one time heat of the moment thing?!”

He chuckles, “No it wasn’t, you think I hadn’t thought about it before?”

“No! You were dating Lorraine.” 

“Prom night? When I walked into your room while you were hitting yourself with a magazine, you looked so pretty I had to splash myself with cold water when I left the room.”

The scene runs through your cerebrum. Him crowding your bed, his hips leveling with your beat red face. The first time he called you querida. 

“Oh wow.”

“Prom night, when I watched you play lacrosse. You really thought I hadn’t liked you too?”

Your eyes narrow, “You. Had. A. Girlfriend!” 

“I guess.” 

“You’re bad.” 

You’re so flustered right now you could barely deal. Legs crossed tight. Desperate to just be with him right now. Pulsing below, why does this turn you on so much? Are you okay? Maybe you’re a sick romantic, the confirmation of him liking you back sends the hottest stomach pitting throb you’ve ever felt. 

And you guess Javier can sense it, “What are you wearing?”

As if you couldn’t get redder. You look down, you wished it was sexier. “I’m in shorts, silk sleep shorts and a tank top.” It’s how you normally slept. 

You could hear a deep inhale from the line. 

“You got a new phone? In your room?”

“Yes, James installed it.”

“So you’re in bed?”

Your breath falters, “I am.”

He’s silent for a moment but then he continues, “Put your hand in your pants.”

You don’t even think twice before your lithe fingers are slipping between your wet folds. You suck in a breath, your cheeks hot along with the tips of your ears. “Mhm.” You moan. 

“How wet are you baby?” And you can hear the stupid fucking smirk in his tone. You’re so turned on you can’t even think to snap at him for torturing you. 

“I’m really wet Javi-please.” 

And he goes silent. Like he’s deciding on what to make you do next, and you’re at his mercy 6 blocks away, at his mercy on the telephone. 

“Go to bed, I'll take care of it tomorrow.”

Your jaw drops, and you search the room for hidden prank cameras. Candid cam style. 

“Javi!?” But he hangs up.

Your eyes widen. What a depraved little image this was. Your lips parted in shock, with a phone between your shoulder and ear with your hand in your shorts. 

Hot and bothered, you kick the exams off the foot of your bed. 

Tomorrow. 

He was going to pay 

[ineffable-monody]

Last time we fought it was so bad that I didn’t write it down. But I have to record this so I remember.

He’s been having a hard time lately with his friends. Last night during dnd he texted me saying he hates it. We get home and he texts the guys saying he doesn’t wanna play anymore because they disrespect him and don’t listen to him. John reached out to see if he was ok. But he thinks the others hate him.

He has his dentist appointment tomorrow where he was quoted 10k out of pocket without insurance. I spent today looking up insurance options for him and when he got home he was venting and I told him I found some insurance options if he wanted to talk about it. He blew up. Saying he doesn’t wanna talk about that right when he gets home etc. I tell him not to talk to me like that. He raises his voice he’s mad because he’s having a bad day and he has to do homework for his sign language class. He goes downstairs. I keep looking up insurance and he comes back up after about an hour. He’s halfway in the door and I ask if he wants to talk about this stuff now. He says yes but he won’t come in and sit down. I ask again and he flips. Starts yelling again and goes downstairs. I come down after a bit and try to talk to him while he’s on his phone not looking at me. I ask again if he wants to go over it and he says just to send him the website. I tell him I can’t just send him the website it’s not gonna make any sense unless I explain it. He starts yelling again. About how he’s not allowed to be upset around me. About his friends. He texts Tim to fuck off. I tell him I don’t want him to cut people off and I’m worried about him. He’s yelling at me to leave him alone. I’m angry now. I tell him how I’ve stood by him through everything. I try to help him with insurance. I try to help him with his friends. With money. With love. Nothing is enough and I don’t know how to support him when he treats me like this. I don’t deserve it and he’s promised to change hundreds of times and he hasn’t. He says “is this it” like he always does when we fight. I say “do you want it to be” like I always say. He says no but it’s inevitable it’s the path we’re on. I say who’s fault is that. He says him, that he’s told me this from the beginning. I try to tell him again not to tell and me and he slams the door and leaves.

I’ve been sitting in our apartment dissociating because I’m so drained. I text Jensen not to come over tonight. I text my therapist. I want to call my mom but I don’t. I cry for a bit and then dissociate more. Idk what to say to him when he comes home. I haven’t eaten all day. I’m supposed to go to the grocery store but I can’t move.

[suckitsurveys]

New tats in your near future? I just got one last month but I’m always planning more. I really want a Bob’s Burgers tattoo.

How about piercings or re-piercings? I’d get more ear holes.

Are there any rooms in your house that you don’t go into every day? The walk in closet in the hallway if that counts lol.

Who else do you know who has the same favorite color as you do? Yeah, I know a couple other people who love purple.

Have you ever had a tattoo covered up or added to? No.

Have you ever kissed someone who has previously kissed someone you hated? Uh, maybe?

Do you have any relatives with red hair? Uhhhhhh.

What is tomorrow’s weather forecasted to be like? 78F and rainy.

Have you ever known anyone who committed suicide? A friend of a friend.

What’s some of the worst pain you’ve ever felt? Losing my mom.

What’s your favorite kind of pasta? Gnocchi, or spaghetti with my the sauce my dad makes.

Would you rather a friend come over to your house or you go over there? I like doing either.

Have you ever had rabies? Nope.

Do you know anyone who ever had to get a rabies shot? I don’t think so.

Ever eaten deer? Duck? Squirrel? How about lamb? I’ve had all but squirrel.

What is your favorite parody movie? Wet Hot American Summer is considered a parody.

What is your least favorite ice cream flavor? Pistachio. I’m also not a huge fan of fruit-flavored ice cream.

Does your car have heated seats? Nope.

Have you ever been tempted to steal? Yes.

Would you rather travel to Ireland or Japan? Ireland.

Does tickling turn you on? ...it does.

If you could go over to someone’s house right now, whose and why? I mean, I’m content where I am right now, but I’d go see Sarah or Ellen if I could.

What is the age gap between you and your parents? My mom was 37 and my dad was 39 when they had me.

How many bathrooms does your house have? Is this enough? One and yes.

Have you ever video-chatted with someone you met online? Oh yes, tons of people.

Do you collect anything, or have you ever? I have an accidental Monopoly collection.

When was the last time you used Facebook? I’m currently talking to Mark on FB messenger.

How many siblings does your best friend have? Sarah and Ellen both have one older brother, Mark has a younger sister and an older brother, and Randal has a younger brother.

Have you ever dated someone who was emotionally or mentally unstable? Uh huh.

Be honest: are you clingy? I can be.

Have you ever had bronchitis? Yes.

Have you ever had a reptile for a pet? No.

Are you afraid of the dentist? I don’t like it.

Did you attend Sunday School as a child? Nope.

Who was the last person you cuddled with? My husband.

How would you feel if your significant other (or possible partner) told you they dislike having sex, but do so with you to make you happy, even though they personally think it’s a chore? I don’t know honestly.

Your boyfriend/girlfriend isn’t around but their phone is. Do you look through it? No.

Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now? Yes.

Have you ever liked anyone that was in a relationship with someone else? Uh huh.

Do people ever compliment your eyes? Yes.

Have any of your exes ever given you roses? Yeah.

Do you think your last ex ever thinks about you? I really don’t care.

Would you rather have salad or french fries for a side dish? Fries.

Which one of your relationships was the shortest? Uhhhhh I don’t recall the lengths of time but I never made it to a year until Mark.

Which was the longest? 12 years and counting

Have any of your exes told you they regret breaking up with you? Nah.

Would you feel hurt if your last ex is in a relationship? No.

Are you going to be getting any new pets soon? I don’t think so.

Do you like BBQ sauce? Sure.

What do you like to do when you’re home alone? Listen to music and dance around the house honestly.

Should the guy always pay for the date? No.

What kind of music calms you down? Depends on my mood.

Do you know anyone who has autism? I do.

What is your favorite way to eat eggs? Hard boiled or deviled or in an omelet.

Do you like Frozen? I do.

Who is one of your heroes? Eh.

Do you enjoy hot chocolate? Yes.

Do you use Instagram often? Everyday.

If you got a kitten, what would you name it? I’d have to see it first.

Do you have a Pinterest account? I do but I don’t use it a lot.

Do you prefer a quiet or noisy environment? It would have to be the right level of noise. I can handle like, people talking or a concert or something but if there are too many different noises its a sensory overload and I lose my shit.

What is one question you don’t like being asked? I don’t like being asked about having children.

Who is someone you know who is talkative? A lot of people.

When was the last time you saw one of your uncles? I don’t have any living uncles.

Do you know anyone who plays the violin? I don’t think so.

Do your parents enjoy any of the things that you enjoy? Do you bond over these things? Yeah, my dad and I like similar music and movies and sports. We also have the same sense of humor.

Out of all your usernames for websites, which one is your favorite? Do you use it for more than one site? Almost all my handles are some form of suckitnerds.

Have you ever spent the whole day (or multiple days) just looking up one thing on the internet (e.g., videos of your favorite band, how-to videos, quizzes, etc.)? Yeah.

If someone told you that we live in a society that hates women, how would you respond? I mena, we do live in a society that hates women, so.

Can you remember the last thing you thought and subsequently thought, “wow, I really shouldn’t be thinking that”? Heheheheheheheheheheheheheeh.

[autumnmoonsurveys]

SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2024 4:41 PM

New tats in your near future?

Yes.

How about piercings or re-piercings?

No.

Are there any rooms in your house that you don’t go into every day?

I don’t go down into the basement nor upstairs every day.

Who else do you know who has the same favorite color as you do?

My mom.

Have you ever had a tattoo covered up or added to?

Yes, both.

Have you ever kissed someone who has previously kissed someone you hated?

I mean, sure.

Do you have any relatives with red hair?

Lots.

What is tomorrow’s weather forecasted to be like?

39° and cloudy.

Have you ever known anyone who committed suicide?

Yes.

What’s some of the worst pain you’ve ever felt?

Physically, labor with my son.

What’s your favorite kind of pasta?

Angel hair carbonara.

Would you rather a friend come over to your house or you go over there?

Come here.

Have you ever had rabies?

If one actually contracts rabies, the survival rate is virtually zero.

Do you know anyone who ever had to get a rabies shot?

Probably.

Ever eaten deer? Duck? Squirrel? How about lamb?

Deer, duck, and lamb. Don’t really like any.

What is your favorite parody movie?

Tropic Thunder. 😬 It’s genius.

What is your least favorite ice cream flavor?

Anything SUPER chunky, like rocky road.

Does your car have heated seats?

No.

Have you ever been tempted to steal?

Yeah, when I was young and dumb. Teenagers are legitimately stupid.

Would you rather travel to Ireland or Japan?

Ireland.

Does tickling turn you on?

Fuck no. The heck?

If you could go over to someone’s house right now, whose and why?

My mom’s, ‘cause it’s close and I don’t actually want to go anywhere. LOL

What is the age gap between you and your parents?

My mom was 24 when I was born and my dad was 26.

How many bathrooms does your house have? Is this enough?

Three, and yes, it’s perfect — one for the boys/guests, one for us, one for the girls.

Have you ever video-chatted with someone you met online?

No. And I hate video calls.

Do you collect anything, or have you ever?

Yeah, many things throughout my life.

When was the last time you used Facebook?

Earlier.

How many siblings does your best friend have?

Two older sisters.

Have you ever dated someone who was emotionally or mentally unstable?

Yeah, sure.

Be honest: are you clingy?

I am the opposite. I enjoy my own space.

Have you ever had bronchitis?

Yeah.

Have you ever had a reptile for a pet?

Yes, an anole.

Are you afraid of the dentist?

VERY FUCKING MUCH, something that only became a thing in recent times because of neglecting my teeth for so long and now I'm paying for it... <- Absolutely same. 😞

Did you attend Sunday School as a child?

Occasionally.

Who was the last person you cuddled with?

Otter.

How would you feel if your significant other (or possible partner) told you they dislike having sex, but do so with you to make you happy, even though they personally think it’s a chore?

I feel like that’s me anymore. Ever since I’ve been on Lexapro, my libido is so low. Once we’re in the act, I’m good, it’s just the desire to even start.

Your boyfriend/girlfriend isn’t around but their phone is. Do you look through it?

No, I’m a grownup with a healthy relationship.

Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now?

Yep.

Have you ever liked anyone that was in a relationship with someone else?

Mm-hmm.

Do people ever compliment your eyes?

Yes.

Have any of your exes ever given you roses?

One.

Do you think your last ex ever thinks about you?

Well, yeah.

Would you rather have salad or french fries for a side dish?

Salad.

Which one of your relationships was the shortest?

Of actual high school+ relationships, either Logan or Dylan. Only a month or so.

Which was the longest?

My husband, but before that my “most recent” ex/my daughter’s father. We were together for five and a half years. My husband and I have been together for eight and a half years.

Have any of your exes told you they regret breaking up with you?

Yeah.

Would you feel hurt if your last ex is in a relationship?

No, he’s been with “the other Brooke” (we’re both named Brooke LOL) the entire time.

Are you going to be getting any new pets soon?

Maybe.

Do you like BBQ sauce?

Yes.

What do you like to do when you’re home alone?

Chilllllll. But also clean/organize.

Should the guy always pay for the date?

No.

What kind of music calms you down?

Just whatever I’m in the mood for, I guess.

Do you know anyone who has autism?

Yeah.

What is your favorite way to eat eggs?

Deviled!

Do you like Frozen?

Nah.

Who is one of your heroes?

Meh.

Do you enjoy hot chocolate?

Once or twice a year.

Do you use Instagram often?

I follow stories daily.

If you got a kitten, what would you name it?

Depends!

Do you have a Pinterest account?

Yes, just for recipe ideas.

Do you prefer a quiet or noisy environment?

Quiet. I am so overstimulated by noise and chaos anymore.

What is one question you don’t like being asked?

🤷‍♀️

Who is someone you know who is talkative?

My daughter.

When was the last time you saw one of your uncles?

November, at my one grandmother’s memorial service.

Do you know anyone who plays the violin?

My cousin(s) used to when he/they were young. I can’t remember if it was just the one or both of them.

Do your parents enjoy any of the things that you enjoy? Do you bond over these things?

Yepper.

Out of all your usernames for websites, which one is your favorite? Do you use it for more than one site?

I’ve used “bbing” a lot… First initial and husband’s shortened/nicknamed last name.

Have you ever spent the whole day (or multiple days) just looking up one thing on the internet (e.g., videos of your favorite band, how-to videos, quizzes, etc.)?

Yeah.

If someone told you that we live in a society that hates women, how would you respond?

I really don’t give a fuck to participate in bullshit like that, sorry. 🙃

Can you remember the last thing you thought and subsequently thought, “wow, I really shouldn’t be thinking that”?

Probably daily. 😅

[purplesurveys]

1675

When you opened your eyes this morning, what were your first thoughts? It was actually my mom’s voice that woke me up and the first thing I thought of was holy shit I’ll be late for my dentist appointment.

Is there anyone that you feel owes you an apology? If so, what has that person done? Nah I don’t like having beef with anyone.

What’s the most unhealthy thing you’ve eaten recently? I got a KFC Double Down last night that I actually wasn’t able to finish because heartburn LOL. It’s still in the fridge; I might have the rest of it tomorrow as I don’t feel like having it right now.

Be honest. Have you had any dirty thoughts today? Yes.

Do you remember the last dream you had about the person you love/like? I’m not interested in anyone.

What is one thing in the room you’re in that reminds you of somebody? I have a leftover slice of coffee cashew cake here and at most it reminds me of my mom as she likes sans rival, which also has cashews.

Could you ever be friends with somebody who was homophobic? That’s not even something to be discussed – no.

Would you ever want to be a supermodel, or date one? When I was in Grade 6 I wanted to model because I had friends who used to obsess over VSFS and it was all they posted on their feeds and I thought, cool I kinda want to do that too. That died out pretty quickly.

Honestly, have you ever made fun of somebody so bad they cried? My brother when he was younger because he was the brattiest, crybabyest toddler to ever exist.

Honestly, would you rather be complimented on your looks or intelligence? I’ll take whatever. A compliment is always lovely to get.

Have you ever purchased a pregnancy test, for yourself or otherwise? Nah. I almost did when a friend got a pregnancy scare and she was too anxious to get a PT herself, but everything calmed down once she got her period.

How did you meet your best friend? Did you like them at first? I met her in Grade 1; we were seatmates. I was indifferent to her at first as I was a shy kid and preferred to mind my own business, but one day I accidentally stabbed her palm with a pencil and for some reason that actually brought us closer together rather than bring out a fight.

Do you find it harder to apologize or to accept apologies? Accept. I tend to hold grudges.

Have you ever had toilet paper stuck to your shoe? Most likely, yeah.

You can get one thing, anything, for free right now. What do you pick? Why? I’d love to get a whole new wardrobe with everything I’ve been wanting to buy and wear, from tops to sneakers.

Have you ever tried writing with the opposite hand? How good/bad was it? I’m sure we’ve all tried it at least once exactly to see how we’d fare, haven’t we? Hahaha it was terrible as expected; I don’t have a good grip with my left hand at all.

Would you try to frame somebody else if your mom committed a murder? I think I’d be way too much in shock to even think of doing things like that. You wouldn’t be able to count on me to do something about that situation.

Honestly, have you ever danced naked? Sure.

What was the first illegal thing that you did? Did you get caught? Idk, maybe illegally downloading music and movies.

Sex, menstruation, or puberty - which is the most uncomfortable subject? I don’t find any of those uncomfortable.

What does the comforter on your bed look like? Did you pick it out? It’s a BT21 comforter that Reena got me on my last birthday.

When you picture flowers in your head, what color are they? Lilac.

The last time you went to the mall, what did you go for? Picked up my new glasses. It was a really quick trip as I didn’t feel like doing anything else. All the coffee shops there were packed that day so I headed straight home.

What do you plan to do tomorrow? I have an event to manage – a track meet from 5 AM to around 11 AM. The rest of the day I plan to catch up on rest, but am thinking around dinner we’ll take mom out as it’ll be Mother’s Day.

Do you ever just feel like you need to be alone for some reason? Of course. I’d be impressed if there was anyone who needed to be around people absolutely 24/7.

If you got paid $5 per survey you made, could you make a living just doing that? For sure. Do you see how many I take? Hahaha.

The last time you went out of the house, where were you going and what did you do? That would be this afternoon – I went to a nearby coffee shop to finish some work, then right after I spent time in the car to basically break down and cry and scream because I hate that I had to work on a weekend and still have an event to get through tomorrow. Then I took the long way home so that I had more time to be alone and process my feelings.

When was the last time someone cancelled plans on you? Were you annoyed? Last December when Kaye and Lea bailed last minute from our pre-Christmas gathering. I do remember being a wee bit annoyed as it was like the third time in a row they canceled on us and I had been really excited to hand them their gifts, but I got over it quickly as there was no point in staying annoyed.

Would you ever want to go on vacation with just one of your parents? It would be nice to do it every now and then, yes. Especially with my dad as we don’t get enough time with him in the first place.

In summer, do you prefer to wear dresses or shorts and tops? Or maybe something else? I like wearing sleeveless tops; for bottoms I prefer to still be covered up, but instead of jeans I’d usually opt for something more airy so that it doesn’t feel too suffocating/uncomfortable.

Has someone ever tried to start an argument with you over Facebook? What happened? Yes, it was some Fil-am who was trying to convince me that Filipinx is an acceptable term. I just ignored them as at the end of the day we were going to have different opinions anyway and it wasn’t worth my energy and time.

When you’re at home, do you spend most of your time in your room? Yep because most of my time is spent working from home, which I do in my room.

If you like to sleep in late, have your parents ever told you off for doing so? No. I like that they differ from most Filipino parents in that they never called me out in the times I’d sleep in.

How much stuff do you take with you when you go on vacation for a week? I’m a big overpacker and like taking extra clothes with me as I tend to change my mind a lot; planning outfits in advance doesn’t work for me. So if I’m on vacation for, say, 4 days, I’d usually bring clothes good enough for 6 or 7.

Could you willingly live on a vegan diet? Sure if it comes down to it, but the food has to be prepped for me or I have to be rich enough to afford vegan meals because I can’t cook hahaha.

If you’re an only child, do you wish you had siblings? If you have siblings, do you get along? I get along great with my sister.

How long have you had the shirt you’re wearing? Less than a year.

When’s the last time you straightened your hair? I was around 12.

Do you find piercings attractive? Eh, it’s a hit or miss.

How many cigarettes have you smoked today? None.

Have you seen the movie or show Catfish? I haven’t.

Do you think it’s attractive when guys wear beanies? Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. I don’t really feel strongly towards beanies.

Do you own a black leather jacket? Nope.

Are you a seafood fan? Yesssss. I don’t really like cooked fish but I can still have it. Everything else is great. Do you prefer dark, brown or white chocolate? Milk or white.

[nadana-vhet]

In Sickness

Alisaie x Teen!Wol

Pre-Relationship, General Audience as always!

“Alisaieee, it’s fine!” N’adana whined, rolling over to face away from her friend.

Alisaie hovered over the other side of the Warrior’s bed, medicine in hand as she fussed over the difficult miqo’te. “You’re sick, N’adana. You’ll feel better if you just let me-“

N’adana groaned from under the covers. “It’s just a cold! I’ll be fine come tomorrow morning, so don’t waste your free day on taking care of me.”

“I’ll do whatever I please on my free day,” Alisaie responded firmly, walking around to the other side of the bed and forcibly making the smaller girl sit up. She struggled the whole way, which only made the elezen more firm as she tried to balance getting N’adana up and not spilling the bottle of liquid in her other hand. “Now come on, take this.”

“But it tastes so bad. I’d rather just sleep it off!” N’adana argued incessantly, her body racked with shivers.

“Don’t make me bring in my secret weapon. It will be much more unpleasant,” her gaze darkened, “for both of us.”

N’adana grumbled, “Yes, ma’am.” She knew Alisaie wasn’t talking about her forcefully grabbing the miqo’te and dumping the bitter liquid down her throat.

She was talking about getting Tataru involved, and she didn’t want to experience the wrath of the Scion’s secretary today (or any day thereafter... not after the first incident).

Alisaie sat down on the edge of the bed and measured out the correct dosage, her usual reckless mannerisms controlled and subdued. She was taking care of her Warrior of Light, after all. She needed to be careful.

Gods, did I just think that?

“Here, open up. You’re so shaky that I don’t want you to spill it all over the sheets.” Alisaie gently grabbed N’adana’s shoulder, steadying her as she helped her adjust.

N’adana furrowed her brows, “Alisaie, you’re all flushed! Am I getting you sick?” she frowned.

“What? Of course not, I feel just fine!” Alisaie stuttered, all sense of gentle care evaporating as she shoved the spoon in N’adana’s mouth and forced her to swallow the vile cold medicine.

N’adana grimaced, covering her mouth to cough before shuttering once more. “Gods, I hate that shit. If you’re so determined to take care of me, could you at least get me some water?” she blinked her puppy dog eyes at Alisaie, who turned away as she blushed even more.

Damn her, she doesn’t even know how well those stupid eyes work on me!

...Or does she? am I that obvious?

“Fine, fine. I’ll bring some firewood to kindle the fire, too, since you’re shivering so badly.” Alisaie grumbled, though secretly she was elated to be able to take care of N’adana like this.

“Thank yoooou~” N’adana smiled weakly, falling back into bed and curling up under her blankets once more.

Alisaie stood up and rushed out of N’adana’s room, shutting the door behind her and making her way down the hall before she began to curse herself for losing her composure.

Once she returned with water and firewood from the Rising Stones kitchen, Alisaie gently knocked on the door before entering again. N’adana was already fast asleep, curled up in her blankets, red hair plastered against her cheeks. Her mouth hung open, breathing quietly as she drooled onto her pillow.

Alisaie shook her head with a quiet chuckle, setting the glass of water down next to the bed before getting to work starting the fire. She took the time to take in N’adana’s room, decorated to the brim with trinkets of her adventures since joining the Scions. It was cute, the way she had so eagerly poured her efforts into making this room feel like home - Y’shtola had even found her a candle that smelled like the La Noscean sea, which was practically burned up on the desk pushed against the far wall. I should get her another, Alisaie thought to herself as she finished up with the fire, standing and walking over to the Warrior’s bedside and leaning over to check on her.

“Feel better soon.” Alisaie whispered with a smile, reaching out to brush N’adana’s hair out of her face. Her touch lingered before pulling away, staying for just a moment longer before backing out and quietly closing the door behind her.

[anti-gravity-insanity]

My toooooooth hurts ( day 175 of infinite suffering) but little does he know he’s getting Rooted Canaling tomorrow so like...enjoy ur throbbing little monster nerve inside my mouth...you will be Scooped tomorrow and replaced with a superior, synthetic flesh.

[tiredsadpeach]

Tw self harm and razor mention in tags

[study-coffee-chicago]

Seasons of PD: Season 7: Don’t You Ever Do That Again, You Hear Me? (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister! Imagine)

A/N: There are mentions of B1ack Liv3s M4tter (apparently this ended up in that tag, so I changed the wording, so hopefully it’s not there anymore) in regards to peaceful protests in this. And there are mentions of counter-protesters causing riots. I tried my best to portray this as professionally as possible with Y/N's views, Kevin's views, and Jay's views. I did not try to offend anyone at all and I'm very sorry if I did.

Also, I don't know if one part counts as threat of sexual coercion, but I'm fairly certain that's what it's called, so trigger warning for that.

Your age: 18

Jay's age: 32

Will's age: 34

"I get that it's important to you, but I'm not letting you go!" Jay argued as you stood across from him in a screaming match.

"Why? Because You don't believe the same things as me because you haven't met a bad cop? Because you fought for this country and know people who died for it?" you yelled back.

"Yes, me being a cop and a soldier obviously has something to do with this! But I'm also trying to keep you safe! They turn into riots!"

"You do know that's not the Black Lives Matter protesters who start them, right? They're peaceful. Counter-protesting assholes come and start things to give peaceful protesters a bad image!"

"I don't want you to get hurt if something happens! Tear gas hurts, kid. I don't want you to come home with burning eyes and the possibility of going blind and tell me I'm right. I'm trying to prevent that!"

"I know you are, Jay! I just want you to let me have my own damn opinions and do what I want for once!"

"Has a cop ever hurt you in some way? Pulled you over illegally?" Jay roared.

You wanted to tell him your story about something like that that had happened five weeks ago, two weeks after the infection scare across the entire city, but you couldn't because you knew he'd do something stupid and you didn't want that. "No, but--"

His phone rang, cutting you off. "I'll be there," Jay said quickly. Then, he turned back to you. "I gotta go, caught a case. I'll see you later and we can talk about this. Calmly."

"So, you're saying there's a chance you'll let me go?"

"There's maybe a .001% chance, but sure, believe what you want."

You rolled your eyes and he left. But, as he shut and locked the apartment door, he stopped. "Love you," he whispered. Because, with what he did on the job, he knew that there was the possibility every day of him not coming home to you.

***

When you woke up, you were shocked not to see a text from Jay between 3 and 5 am saying that he wouldn't make it home tonight. He usually made it a priority when on a case to tell you that he wouldn't be coming home so that you wouldn't worry.

But, there was a voicemail from him around 11 pm last night and it was currently 9 am.

You put your phone on speaker and played it.

"Hey, Y/N, I'm sorry about arguing. If you really want to go, I think Kevin has his RDO tomorrow so I can see if he's going if you-- OW!" Then, the line just continued playing, and dragging noises were heard until there was a crash and the line went dead.

"Jay? Jay?" What the hell had happened? You quickly replayed the message to make sure it wasn't an issue with your phone, but when you heard the same exact thing again, you knew something had gone terribly wrong.

You went to dial Hailey's number to ask if she had seen Jay when there was a loud knock on your door. You quickly ran across the apartment and looked out the peephole. You saw Hailey and Adam and quickly flung open the door.

"Hey, Y/N," Adam said as he entered.

"Have you guys seen Jay?" you asked.

You saw Hailey visibly swallow. "Listen," she started, but you cut her off.

"What happened? What's going on? He usually texts me if he's going to be working until the morning and I didn't get a text and I got a voicemail and--" You took a deep, gasping breath.

"What voicemail?" Hailey asked as she placed a hand on your shoulder.

"I- It cut off partway through and he yelled and-- wait, he wasn't with you?"

"No," Hailey answered. "He said he had some personal stuff to take care of when we were at a scene and then took off. Then, he never came back, so we decided to check here to see if he just came home or something happened."

"He never came home." Your eyes widened, finally processing what it meant if he wasn't here and Intelligence couldn't find him. "You're telling me he's missing? Again? Oh, no. This can't be happening, not again. Not after our fight last night. I didn't even tell him what happened or that I loved him or--"

"Y/N, I need you to take a deep breath," Hailey told you and you tried to match her breathing. "His radio might just be dead or something like that." She knew that she was lying, but she was trying to stop you from freaking out. "Can you give me your phone so Adam and I can listen to the voicemail?"

You nodded and handed Adam your phone. He pressed play and you watched as his jaw clenched as he was listening to it.

"Shit," he muttered once he was done. "We need you to come to the district with us. Just for safety."

"Can you give me a minute?" you asked. "I- I'm in my pajamas and I haven't brushed my teeth and--"

"We'll leave in half an hour, okay?" Hailey asked and you nodded. "While you're getting ready, we'll send the voicemail over to Kim and Kev. Jay's gonna be okay."

"How do you know that?" you almost whispered.

"Because Jay's one of the strongest people I know," she answered. But, in reality, she wasn't sure about that. They had no idea where he was and according to the timestamp on that voicemail, it had been a little over ten hours since he sent it. For all they knew, Jay could be out of Chicago right now. Scratch that, he could be out of Illinois.

***

"When did you get this voicemail?" Hank asked as everyone in Intelligence, minus Jay but including you, were in the bullpen and trying to trace where the call came from.

"Around 11 last night, Boss," Adam answered for you.

"Okay. So it's been almost 11 hours," Voight said.

"I need a break, excuse me," you said and quickly excused yourself to the locker room.

You made your way to the locker room and sat down and leaned against the wall. This couldn't be happening again, not after that crazy borderline sociopathic drug dealer kidnapped Jay a few years ago and Erin went in and saved him. This could not be happening again.

You thought back to the fight last night and something your mom would always say when she was in a fight with one of the boys or when you had thrown a temper tantrum and then had to go to bed.

I'll always tell you I love you because when you walk out that door or go to bed, I'll never know if that was the last chance I had to tell you I love you.

God, if you hadn't argued with Jay, maybe you wouldn't be feeling this way. Obviously, you'd be feeling scared and upset because Jay was missing and no one had any idea where he was, but at least you wouldn't feel guilty like you currently did.

You felt guilty about starting that fight in the first place by bringing it up even though you knew what his answer was going to be. You felt guilty about yelling. But most of all, you felt guilty and you regretted not saying love you when he left...because that might've been the last time you'd have been able to tell that to your big brother who had always been there for you...even when he really didn't want to.

Jay's Nokia flip phone buzzed as he walked out of school. It was his mom.

"Hey, Mom," he greeted.

"Jay Halstead, if you answered your phone while you're driving..." she trailed off, trying to think of a good threat.

"Mom, I didn't. I was talking to some friends about going for tacos tonight, so I just walked out of school a minute ago."

"Oh," she said.

"What oh?" Jay asked. "That sounded like a bad oh, Mom."

"Well, I wish I would've known that before a professor called in sick to give an exam to his students and I agreed to pick up the extra hours."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't bring Y/N to the dentist. And I thought since you weren't busy, you could. I also may or not have promised her that she could go to Build-A-Bear after to get a new outfit for Beary because she's so scared."

"Mom," Jay groaned.

"I know, I'm sorry. But, how about this: you do this for me, and I'll extend your curfew by two hours on Friday and Saturday."

"Three," Jay countered.

"Two." Amelia Halstead stood strong.

"Three."

"Two and a half."

"Deal," Jay agreed.

"Thank you. I'll see you tonight. Love you."

"Love you, too."

***

"No," you whined as Jay told you that you had to leave after he walked you home from school later. "I don't wanna go to the dentist. They scary."

"No, they're not," Jay told you. The doctor was what was scary for him with all the needles for the shots. But, the dentist had never bothered him, even when he was a little kid it had never bothered him.

"No!"

"What if I let you bring Beary into the dentist, would you go then?" Jay practically pleaded.

"And you give me chocolate before we leave?"

"If you promise to grab your toothbrush and brush your teeth in the bathroom at the dentist, then yes, I'll give you some chocolate to eat on the way there." Jay was desperate at this point. He knew he shouldn't be giving you everything you wanted, but what were big brothers with a giant age gap for anyway if not to try and spoil his little sister?

"Okay!" You ran off to go grab Beary and your toothbrush and toothpaste while Jay made his way to a high cabinet in the kitchen and grabbed five squares of Dove milk chocolate, three for you and two for him.

In the car, Jay handed you the cholates and you started eating them while you held Beary close to you, trying to gain some comfort out of your favorite stuffed animal.

***

You gripped Jay's hand as you sat and waited for your name to be called. Beary was held in your other hand and you were squeezing him tight against your chest. You had just brushed your teeth like you promised Jay that you would, but you were still utterly terrified.

"Y/N Halstead?" a dental hygienist came out and asked.

You didn't say a word, just held Jay's hand tighter.

"That's you," Jay said gently and with a smile on his face, trying to make you feel less scared.

"No, not me," you told him as you frantically shook your head.

The dental hygienist squatted down in front of you. "Are you Y/N?" You didn't do anything, but Jay must've nodded to confirm that it was indeed you. "And who's this?" she asked as she shook Beary's paw.

"Beary," you said shyly.

"Well, I'm fairly certain that Beary will be with you the entire time. We even have little sunglasses you and he can wear when we shine the really bright light on you to protect both your little eyes. Does that sound good?"

You turned to Jay. "Me and Beary get sunglasses, Jay Jay!"

"I heard! Do you want me to come back with you?"

You thought for a second. "Please come."

Jay laughed. "Okay." He turned to the dental hygienist. "Is that okay?"

"Perfectly fine."

You stood up and held Jay's hand as you walked back into the dentist to get your six-month check-up on your baby teeth.

***

"That wasn't so bad was it?" Jay asked as the two of you walked out to his car after you finished.

"No!" you said as you shook your head. "I even got a pretty bracelet with Belle on it, see?" you exclaimed as you held your hand out to him to show off your yellow bracelet with a charm that had Belle from Beauty and the Beast on it.

Jay acted all surprised and said it was pretty even though he watched as you had picked it out while he had explained to the secretary how your mom would call to schedule your next appointment in six months.

Jay opened his car and made sure you were buckled in and then got in himself and started driving.

"Do you know where we're going?"

You gasped. You had forgotten you got to go to Build-A-Bear after!

"Build-A-Bear!" you yelled. The volume of that yell would've made Jay wince had he not been driving.

"Yup, that's where we're going."

"I think I'm gonna get Beary some new pajamas," you decided.

"What color?"

You held Beary out in front of you. "What color pjs do you want, Beary?" You brought him up to your ear and nodded as he "told" you what color pajamas he wants. "He said blue!"

"Blue pajamas. I'm pretty sure we can find those."

***

Jay and you walked into Build-A-Bear Workshop at the mall and you were met with children running around. To Jay, this was the definition of hell. Except for you, he was fine with you running around, but he really didn't like all the other kids that he had to be careful not to bump into.

"C'mon, Jay Jay!" you told him as you tugged him along to the pajama section.

He allowed himself to be tugged along by you and then you held up almost every single pair of blue pajamas to Beary to see which one was his favorite. He had decided on a pair of light blue pajamas with stars all over them. There was even a cute little hat with a pom-pom on top to go with the pajamas.

Jay paid and then you left with Beary and his brand-new pajamas. You had plans to have him sleep in those pajamas tonight, too.

Unbeknownst to you, Jay hadn't even really wanted to come. The only reason he brought you was that he got his curfew extended. But to you, it was just another fun afternoon with your big brother.

You were startled out of your daydream when you felt a hand on your shoulder. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

Kevin.

"It's fine. I'm fine," you said quickly.

"No, you're not. And that's okay. Hailey and Voight went to see if Jay's where his phone pinged at."

"We fought," you told him.

"You fought?" Kevin asked as he slid down the wall to sit next to you.

"It was stupid. I should've just agreed with him and maybe I wouldn't be feeling like this."

"Like what?"

"Like utter shit." You sighed and ran a hand through your hair. "We were arguing about the BLM protests that were happening tonight. I wanted to go, but he wouldn't let me. The last thing I did was roll my eyes at him, Kev."

The two of you sat in silence for a few moments while Kevin figured out how to comfort you.

"Maybe talking about it will help. What'd you argue about?"

"Just that I wanted to go and he wouldn't let me because he thinks riots will break out. And you and I both know that's not the BLM protesters, that's the counter-protesters. But, he thinks I'll get hurt. I also think it's because he's a cop, so he feels like I'm protesting him, but I'm not. I'm protesting the system."

Kevin nodded. "I get it. Believe me, I do. I live it every day."

"How do you do it?" you asked. "Be an activist and a cop at the same time?"

"Just try and do the right thing with the information you have. And, explain that you're protesting the system and the bad apples, not the police force as a whole."

"I tried. But Jay doesn't think I have a right to protest because I've never had a bad experience with a cop." Which was a lie, but you weren't ready to talk about that just yet.

"Did he say that exactly?" Kevin asked.

"No, but, he asked me if a cop has ever illegally pulled me over."

Kevin nodded. "I know Jay and I know he would never say that you didn't have the right protest. He fought for that right. He mention anything else?"

"That tear gas hurts."

"I think he just wanted to keep you safe, same thing I'd do for Jordan and Vanessa."

"He sounded like he changed his mind on his voicemail, though. He thought that maybe if you were going, then he'd let me go...at least, that's what it sounded like."

Kevin nodded. "All I can say is that until we found Jay, I'm not going to one. Getting your brother is my first priority and it's the first priority of everyone in this unit."

"My first priority, too."

"Kev!" Adam yelled as he banged on the door. "You in there?"

"Yeah, bro! What's up?" Kevin asked.

"We need you to meet with someone!"

***

The hours passed and with each of them that did, you got more and more nervous for Jay's safety. You guessed that this is how he felt when you asked if you could go to the protest, knowing that he'd constantly be worrying about you until you came home safely.

"Y/N, we gotta go," Trudy said as she entered the bullpen around 9:30 pm that night.

"Why? What's going on?" you asked as you grabbed your phone and started following her.

"They found Jay."

"Is he okay?" you asked quickly.

"Y/N..."

"No! He can't be dead, Trudy! He can't!" you wailed.

"He's not. But, he has been shot."

You froze. Shot. Jay had been shot.

"He's en route to Chicago Med right now."

"Can you- can you bring me there?"

"That's where we're going right now."

***

"Will!" you yelled as you ran into the ED and saw your oldest brother.

You ran right up to him and hugged him, not caring that he almost dropped his iPad he had been using to chart.

"Whoa, Y/N." He set the iPad down. "Hey, I know. But Crockett's operating on him right now and he's one of the best surgeons in the hospital."

"I thought you were better than him. You need to do the surgery, Will. you need to save Jay!"

"Y/N, I know it sucks, but I'm family. As much as I want to operate on him, I can't legally do that."

You paused and looked up at him. His eyes were slightly red, but he hadn't been bawling the way that you had been.

"Dr. Halstead! Incoming!" Maggie yelled.

"What does she mean?" you asked, still hanging onto him. "You're still working?"

"There's been a ten-car pile-up on the highway. I have to. It's my job."

"But Jay's in surgery!" you yelled as you pulled away from him. "These people are more important to you than your own brother?"

"They aren't but--"

"But you're working anyway instead of waiting to find out what happens to him?"

"I can't do anything to help Jay right now. But I can help all these people who are pouring in."

"Dr. Halstead!" Maggie shouted again.

"I'll be up in a few hours, I promise," Will told you.

***

A few hours had passed and it was now past midnight. Jay was still in surgery. Will was sitting next to you, in a spare pair of clothes he had packed instead of his scrubs that were covered in blood, and you were leaning your head on his shoulder, close to being asleep.

That was until Crockett came out and Will jumped up, causing your head to hit the back of the chair.

"Ow," you mumbled.

"Sorry," Will apologized and then turned back to Crockett. "What's the verdict?"

"He lost a lot of blood," Crockett told the two of you.

"But he's gonna pull through, right?" Will asked what the two of you were both thinking.

"We'll be out of blood soon."

"What do you mean out of blood?" Will asked, taking a step toward the surgeon. "There's no way you can be out of blood!"

"With that pile-up, we can. I'd recommend you go and say your goodbyes and pray for a miracle."

Will put his hands on the back of his head and started pacing the room. Your breath caught in your throat. This could not be happening. Jay couldn't die, he just couldn't.

Crockett started to walk back towards the operating room.

"Wait!" you yelled. You didn't know what had taken over you, but at this moment, you'd do anything to save your brother. You rolled up your sleeve. "Take my blood."

"Y/N," was all Will could manage to get out.

"I'm sorry, Y/N, but there's protocol for that. I'd love to let you do it, but--"

"Fuck protocol!" you yelled, all the anger and sadness and anxiety that had built up over the past fifteen hours exploding at this very moment. "Rush my labs. Or don't even get my labs done at all. I haven't had sex, so I don't have any STDs. I don't have any diseases or deficiencies since I moved in with Jay years ago. My blood type's O-neg, so I'm a universal donor. Take my goddamn blood, Crockett!" You didn't care that all that information was out in the open because you were barely processing what you were saying. The only thing you cared about was making sure that your brother was okay.

"Y/N," Will said as he walked up to you and placed a hand on your shoulder.

"Don't touch me! And you sure as hell don't want to tell me to calm down!"

"Y/N," Will started again as he took his hand off your shoulder. "What Crockett's saying is that it's not ethical for him to do this. He could get fired."

"Where's the paperwork?" you asked as you turned back to Crockett. "I'll sign whatever I have to sign to make sure you aren't liable at all, that I'm donating this of my own free will. You can even take double the amount of blood that you normally do since I'm a universal donor. Just get me the paperwork."

Crockett and Will shared a look.

"I'll go get a nurse to get you the paperwork."

"Wait, no, no, no," Will said as he walked closer to Crockett. "You can't be serious about this!"

"She said she'll sign it."

"But, I have to co-sign it since she's a minor. So, no, you are not donating blood, Y/N. You almost passed out when I drew vials of your blood years ago. You know what's gonna happen if we take two units of blood? You are gonna feel like utter shit."

"Last I checked, I'm 18, so I can sign my own paperwork! God, I'm not a fucking child anymore, Will! I can make my own decisions!" you yelled back. "And if I don't do this, Jay will die. He'll die, Will. So, I'm giving him my blood with or without your support."

***

You sat in a chair, the ones that Will had told you about years ago with the big padded bar thing that came down in front of you in case you passed out. Typically, they'd just have you lay down in a bed, but since they were short on beds and Will told them that you had a history of getting dizzy and nauseous during simple blood draws, they had decided to put you here instead.

"Last chance to back out," Will told you as the nurse tied off your arm with a blue rubber tie and started to rub your arm to get the big vein in your left forearm to show.

"Jay's dying. No way in hell am I backing out."

Will sighed. He knew you were doing the right thing, but he also knew that you were going to feel terrible after, and he hated seeing you like that. "Okay," he said. "I'll stay here until they get the needle in you and then I'll get you some juice and cookies."

"Ready?" Monique asked.

"Ready," you confirmed. You turned to Will and squeezed your eyes shut as the needle pierced your vein. You heard the sound of the machine and knew your blood was going in there, but you didn't want to look. Getting your blood drawn, you could watch. But this, this was just too much blood to see, so you looked at Will.

"Doing okay?" he asked a few minutes later.

"Yeah," you answered because that was the absolute truth: you were feeling just fine.

"Okay, I'm gonna go get you some cookies and juice. I'll get an update on Jay while I'm out there, too."

You nodded and he left the room.

This wasn't so bad.

***

Okay, so you were lying to yourself. You were currently in hell. Giving the blood hadn't been an issue, it was how you felt after you were done giving blood.

You were currently sitting in that same chair, drinking some juice that Will had brought you. He told you that there was still no update on Jay, but that they were sending the blood back to him right now. (They had rushed labs on a small vial of blood that Monique took before you started the donation. The results came back while you were giving blood, and since your blood was clean, you could give it to Jay.) But, God, but you felt absolutely awful.

"You doing okay?" Will asked.

You shook your head and then stopped because it made you dizzy and put your head in your hands. "No," you groaned.

He handed you a glass of water. "Drink a bit of this too and then I'll open your pack of cookies."

"Why do you want me to drink water and not juice?" you asked as you closed your eyes and tried to stop the spinning in your head.

"Because, you're sweating, Short Stack. Need you to stay hydrated."

You took a few sips of water and then went back to your juice. Will handed you your pack of chocolate chip cookies and you started to eat them.

"Mhm," you groaned and laid your head down on the padded bar thing in front of you that kept you from falling out of the chair. "I don't feel so good."

You felt hot and cold at the same time and the world seemed to spin every time you lifted your head up. And, those cookies did not sit well with you.

"How do you feel? What hurts?" Will asked, jumping into doctor mode since Monique wasn't around. Will assured her that he could look after you while you recovered from your blood being donated at twice the normal amount.

"I just feel like shit," you told him, not picking up your head.

"You gotta give me some symptoms. Give me some symptoms and then I can help."

"Mhm, fine." You looked up at him and blinked slowly. "I feel hot and cold and sweaty. And I feel dizzy and nauseous."

"Okay. That's either a vasovagal reaction or from your blood pressure being low or from your  heart rate being slowed down."

"What's that reaction thingy?"

"You don't like blood in general, so a nervous system response can happen, which could explain your reactions. But, your BP could also be low, which could explain all this too. And, it's one in the morning and you haven't slept yet, so tiredness could also be a factor."

"Great," you said sarcastically as you remembered the last time your blood pressure was low.

You had taken some of Jay's medication that he had to ward off his PTSD-induced nightmares after you were involved in a shooting at a house party. The one time you took them without sleeping directly after, you felt almost exactly like this...except without the sweatiness. You just mostly felt dizzy. You had called Will, he came over, and then you ended passing out and he had to get you to Med. Then you were admitted and they got your pressure back up. You were also prescribed sleeping pills which had helped immensely.

Will grabbed a blood pressure cuff from a drawer. "Arm," he told you. You held out your arm and he wrapped the cuff around it and pumped the end of it.

You waited as he looked at the gauge on the blood pressure cuff. Will said one number over another number, which meant nothing to you, but must've meant something to him. You raised your eyebrows, hoping he was going to tell you what those numbers meant in non-medical English terms.

"BP's low, which explains most of the symptoms," he told you.

You took another bite of your cookie and washed it down with some juice, but then immediately after started dry heaving.

Will rushed around and then thrust a pink basin under your mouth.

You took a deep breath after you finally stopped dry heaving about thirty seconds later.

"Better?" Will asked. You shook your head. "I'm going to get you an IV of anti-nausea medication."

You were going to argue with him about how he wasn't working, so he probably couldn't get you that. And, you were fairly certain he couldn't prescribe things to family. But, you felt terrible, so you really don't care if Will was being reckless and borderline unethical/illegal right now.

You nodded and then laid your head back down.

When Will came back, he thought you were asleep, but when you heard footsteps, you looked up.

"Alright," he began as he assembled the IV. "Last poke of the day, I promise."

"After this can I take a nap in the on-call room?" you asked as you held your arm out to him once again.

"You know I can't let you do that." Will tied a blue band around your arm and started rubbing it to get a vein in the inside of your elbow. Then, he noticed your pale and sweaty face. "Fine. Hopefully, Goodwin won't fire me after this. But I have a good reason. Turn so you don't see the needle."

You did and closed your eyes. You felt the poke and squeezed your eyes shut, but then it subsided and you felt that weird feeling of the medicine going straight into your veins. God, you hoped this worked.

You hoped Jay would survive because you didn't just go through all that for nothing.

***

You slowly opened your eyes as you felt someone shaking your shoulder. "No," you groaned as you turned to face the other side of the bed.

But then you remembered where you were: the doctors on-call room because Jay had been shot. Maybe it was Will waking you up to tell you--

"Short Stack, wake up. Jay's awake."

That got you wide awake.

You snapped your eyes open, rolled over, and jumped out of bed.

"I take it you're feeling better?" Will asked.

"Sleep helps. Let's go!"

Will quickly led you out of the room and through some hallways and up a few flights of stairs to Jay's recovery room.

He was currently talking to Hailey.

"Jay!" you exclaimed as you burst into the room to see him with a sling and see Hailey helping him with his jacket.

"Hey, Short Stack," he greeted and then turned his attention back to Hailey. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Uh, just that I'm glad you're back," she told him. "I'll give you some time with your siblings." She turned her attention to Will. "Oh, and the things you told me to tell Kim to get are in that corner." She pointed to the left front corner of the room. "Bye, guys." She waved and then left.

You gave Jay a huge hug and tried to avoid his arm that was in a sling. "Don't you ever do that again, you hear me?" you told him seriously and then looked up at him with tears in your eyes.

Jay chuckled. "I'll try not to."

"You better do more than try." You went back to leaning your head against his chest as tears soaked his t-shirt.

"Hey, hey, don't cry," he soothed. "I'm okay. I'm fine, Y/N."

"I was so scared. The last thing we would've done was argue. I'm so sorry. I should never have asked to go to those protests. I know you were just trying to protect me--"

"Hey, it's okay for you to have your own opinions and views. It's just gonna take me a while to get used to you being an adult now and not that little sister who would always hold my hand and beg to go to Build-A-Bear."

"Speaking of Build-A-Bear," Will started and then walked over to the corner of the room and picked up two boxes. They were white boxes with dark blue designs on them. You knew those boxes: they were what the workers put new bears in when a kid came and bought one. You let go of Jay. Will peeked into one of the holes. "This one's for you." He handed Jay a box. "And this one's for you." He handed you the other box.

"You got us Build-A-Bears?" you asked as you raised an eyebrow.

"Just open the boxes."

You did and laughed when you saw Beary in the box, dressed in a hospital gown and white little bunny slippers. Your brothers were not kidding when they said they'd get one for you.

Jay laughed as he opened his. His Build-A-Bear was a light blue color and it also had on a hospital gown as well as a sling on one arm. The bear also had on a policeman cap. "Oh, man," Jay said as he continued laughing.

"Press the right paw," Will told him and he did, causing Ruzek's voice to float through the room.

Stop getting kidnapped. Glad you're okay, though.

You started laughing hysterically at this point.

"One more thing," Will said as he walked over to the counter and pulled out a marker and two hospital bracelets. On one he wrote Beary Halstead. "Jay, what are you naming your bear?" Will asked.

"I gotta name it?"

"Um, it's not an it. It's a he or a she...could be a they, too," you said.

"Fine. I gotta name him?"

"Yes," Will told him.

Jay groaned. "Fine. Blue."

"Boo! That's boring," you said.

He groaned again. "Detective Blue. There. Better?"

"Better," you confirmed.

Will wrote Det. Blue Halstead on the other hospital band. Then, he handed Beary's to you and Detective Blue's to Jay.

"I cannot believe you," Jay said.

"I can," Will laughed. "Now put it on him. Just like Y/N's doing with Beary."

Jay reluctantly put it on Detective Blue's arm. But then he realized something. "Wait, why does Beary have a hospital gown if Y/N wasn't in the hospital?"

"Yeah, about that..." you trailed off.

Jay cocked his head to the side. "What did you do this time?"

"Other than save your life, I got nauseous and Will had to give me anti-nausea medication," you explained.

"Wait, back up. You saved my life? How?" Jay asked as he looked between you and Will.

"She essentially cussed at Crockett until she got what she wanted," Will said nonchalantly.

"Which was...?" Jay pried.

"Giving you blood because the hospital was out because of a car accident. If she wouldn't have given you blood..." Will trailed off, not wanting to say the words.

"I'd be dead," Jay practically whispered.

"Yeah," Will confirmed, his voice at about the same volume as Jay's.

Jay felt himself getting choked up as he pulled you in for another hug. "Thank you."

"I know you'd do the same for me."

"In a heartbeat, Short Stack. In a heartbeat."

You stayed like that until Will went ahead and broke the comfortable silence that had fallen over the three of you.

"I hate to break this up, but there's something else I need to tell you guys," Will said.

You and Jay both turned to him and you let yourself out of Jay's embrace. "Which is?" you asked.

"Voight gave Jay two weeks furlough to recover and I talked Goodwin into giving me two weeks vacation--"

"How in the hell did you do that?" Jay asked.

"Let's just say I'm going to be working Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. But that's beside the point. We have two weeks of vacation time."

"You do know I work right?" you asked.

"At a coffee shop, not at a big kid job," Will said. "And, I had Kim and Adam stop in there on their way to get the bears. They explained the situation and your work gave you two weeks off. Adam said he may have had to flash his badge, but that's beside the point."

"And you took vacation because...?" you asked.

"We need to make sure Jay relaxes and there's so many protests-turned-riots happening right now that we should probably get out of here."

"You do know it's not the peaceful protesters starting those, right? It's counter-protesters and other people who are racist bigots and people who decided they have no other choice but to be violent," you said, making your views known once again.

"I'm very much aware, Y/N. But, no matter who started it, people were running from tear gas and burning buildings last night."

"Alright, back on topic," Jay started, not wanting to have another argument like he had two days ago with you. "Where are we going?"

"I figured Wisconsin would be a good choice."

***

"It's my turn to pick the music," you whined as Will looked for another song on your long drive to Wisconsin.

"I'm the oldest, so I get control of it," Will argued.

"No, you've controlled it for the last three hours. I've had to listen to nineties hip-hop for that long. My eardrums are gonna bleed. Please make him give the aux, Jay."

"Dude, just give her the aux, and then she'll be quiet. Remember, she likes early 2000s pop-punk and 2000s stuff in general. We'll probably know most of it."

Will reluctantly handed you the aux. "Thank you. And, just to remind you two, I'm a big fan of Taylor Swift's first few albums and 5 Seconds of Summer."

You clicked play on Take What You Want by One OK Rock featuring 5 Seconds of Summer. You queued up some more songs by 5 Seconds of Summer and two by Taylor Swift, just to mess with your brothers, and then you added songs they would know like All the Small Things by Blink-182, Check Yes, Juliet by We The Kings, Dear Maria, Count Me In by All Time Low, and Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard.

By the time Dear Maria, Count Me In started playing, all three of you were jamming out, which caused Jay to forget to put his blinker on when he changed lanes...and there was a cop right there in the emergency turnaround.

Jay heard and saw the sirens behind him and slowed down. He knew the drill from pulling people over on his days on patrol. Now that he was in Intelligence, he practically just ripped the criminals out of their cars and handcuffed them against the side of their (usually stolen) car.

He got out his license and registration, along with his badge because he did have his service weapon with him. He'd be damned not bringing it with him in this day and age...and sometimes there were coyotes and he and Will didn't know if the old hunting rifle at the cabin that your grandpa used to use even had ammunition in and if there was even any ammunition at the cabin.

Jay rolled down his window as the officer walked up to him.

Your hands started to sweat and your heart started to race as you remembered your last encounter with an officer that you didn't know.

You were driving home from the library late at night after studying for a biology exam. And no, the library wasn't an excuse for going out and partying. You genuinely had gone to the library and had had a great and very focused study session for a few hours.

All of a sudden, you saw flashing lights and heard sirens. You turned down your music. You looked in your rear-view mirror and saw that the cop was right on your tail. He turned off his sirens and then turned them on and off quickly.

You were the one getting pulled over.

You pulled off to the side of the road and then rolled down your window.

"License and registration," the officer told you. He looked young, maybe a rookie.

"What's the problem officer?" you asked. Jay always told you that you had a right to know why you had been pulled over.

"You were going three miles over the speed limit, did you know that?"

"I don't recall how fast I was driving." Jay always told you never to admit to speeding because then you could fight the ticket if you ended up getting one.

"License and registration, please," he repeated.

"Reaching into my glove compartment and moving some CDs to get my registration," you narrated and then handed the registration to the officer. "Reaching over to my passenger seat to grab my purse which has my license in it...unzipping my purse...reaching in for my license." You handed him your license.

He ran your information and then came back to the window. "I'm sorry, Miss, but I have to give you a ticket."

You furrowed your eyebrows. For three miles over the speed limit? No fucking way was this happening.

"Uh," was all you could say.

"But, there is something you can do to get out of this ticket. You help me out, I help you out."

"I- I don't understand," you stuttered.

He looked down and you followed where he was looking and cupping himself with the hand that wasn't holding your license and registration.

"I- I..."

"Or I can just up this speeding ticket to going twenty miles over it. Say there was an open container in the car, too," he said.

You had no idea what to say. You couldn't risk getting your insurance upped and getting a minor in possession charge. You'd never be allowed to drive again!

But, there's no way you'd do this. You couldn't. But he was so much bigger than you that he could hold you down with one hand tied behind his back.

He placed his hand on the door handle. "You have three seconds to make your decision. One...Two..."

"My brother's Jay Halstead! Badge number 51163! His Sergeant's Hank Voight!" Your voice trembled as you yelled that and you were close to tears.

He looked back down at your license. It did say Y/N Halstead on it. He handed you back your license and registration. "Have a nice night."

Then, he walked back to his patrol car, got in, turned off the sirens, and drove off. You were so scared that you didn't even look to see what his last name or badge number was.

Once you had stayed pulled over for a good couple of minutes to make sure that the cop was nowhere in sight, you started driving again. You stopped at a drive-thru and got yourself a chocolate flurry with Oreos. Then, you sat in the parking lot with your hands still shaking and your heart still racing as you ate and started to cry. You cried for almost half an hour and waited there for another fifteen minutes so your eyes wouldn't be as puffy when you got home because you didn't want Jay asking questions.

"Y/N, you good?" Jay asked, taking you out of your thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah," you said quickly...almost too quickly. "Why?"

"Will just asked if you wanted to go back because we missed a song and you didn't answer."

"Yeah, I can do that." You quickly went back to the previous song and tried to sing with as much happiness as you did previously. But, you didn't get the image of that night or the feeling of dread out of your stomach for another hour.

***

You woke up the next morning very well-rested. The boys had taken the loft and the two twin beds that were up there and you got to take your mom and dad's old room because you were the only girl, so they said it was only fair that you got the bedroom.

You heard the dripping of water and got out of bed and then padded down the hall and to the kitchen. Jay was standing there in pajama pants and a t-shirt. (Thank God he wasn't shirtless for once in the morning. Your brothers really needed to learn how to put shirts on when they walked out of their rooms in the morning...and maybe by you telling them to put a shirt on all the time, you training them had finally paid off.) He drummed his fingers on the counter while he waited for the coffee to be done.

"Morning," you said.

He turned around. "Good morning. Shocked you're awake. It's only 8 am."

"And I'm shocked you haven't been up for two hours," you retorted.

"Oh, I've been up for an hour, just been reading upstairs. Will's not up yet, though."

"He always sleeps late when he doesn't have to work though, doesn't he?"

"Pretty much. We've made breakfast plans before and he's missed them because he was sleeping."

The timer went off on the coffee pot, alerting you that it was finished. Jay started to pour his in a tumbler. He held out a tumbler to you. You raised an eyebrow, silently wondering why he wasn't pouring it into a mug.

"I was gonna go for a morning canoe ride. You can come along if you want. Wouldn't want hot coffee spilling all over us," he told you.

"Did you bring creamer?" you asked.

"Irish cream creamer, just for you."

You reached into the fridge and grabbed the creamer.

"So, canoe ride?" Jay asked.

"Sure."

He poured coffee into a tumbler for you and then slid it to you to put your desired amount of creamer in.

***

Twenty minutes later, you were starting out in the canoe. You told Jay there was no way in hell that you'd be doing the rowing. He told you that he could only row with one arm because of his sling, so you'd have to do the other side. Skeptically, you started rowing. Jay told you that you'd be fine, just to follow his instructions.

Fifteen minutes later, when you were out in the middle of the lake, facing the forests of Wisconsin, he stopped.

"Why'd you stop?" you asked.

He picked up his tumbler of coffee off the floor of the canoe. "We need to talk."

"About what?" you asked as you picked up yours as well and held it with both hands.

"About your reaction last night when I got pulled over. You freaked. I need to know why."

"I- I didn't freak. I was just tired," you lied.

"You had quite the amount of energy right before that," he quipped.

"It's nothing."

"Y/N, I'm not letting this go. Is it because of the protests and riots and because of all the media coverage and those few bad apple cops and, I guess the system, that you're seeing that's making you nervous?"

"No, it's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"You're not going to let this go are you?" you asked.

"I will stay in this canoe in the middle of the lake until you tell me what is going on, Y/N Halstead."

"You wouldn't."

Jay shrugged with the arm that wasn't currently in a sling. "Try me."

You sighed. "Just don't be mad that I didn't tell you sooner, okay?"

"I won't. You have my word on that."

"So, a little over a month ago I was driving home from the library..."

***

When you finished, you were in tears. "Did you get a last name? Badge number?" Jay asked as he rubbed circles on your back with his good hand.

You sniffled. "N- No. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing at all."

"If I wouldn't have said- said your name...He had his hand on my door handle! And he was so much bigger than me. I'm sorry!"

You turned and buried your face in his chest. "Y/N, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"I should've told you right away, though! But you just had that really rough case and I didn't want to put too much on your shoulders and--"

"Y/N, I need you to take a deep breath. You need to breathe. This was not your fault. None of it was."

You calmed your breathing and just sat there, silent tears streaming down your face.

"That's why I wanted to go to the protests," you said after a few minutes. "Because I've actually had a bad experience with a cop."

"Which should've never happened in the first place."

"I was so scared," you whispered.

Jay just hugged you tighter as he thought about how strong his little sister was. You had given blood to save his life even though you knew you'd feel terrible after and you hadn't told him about this horrible cop--which he would kick this cop's ass the minute the got back to Chicago--because you didn't want him to have too much on his plate after that terrible case where he put an innocent man in jail and got him killed...which was the main reason he had been shot.

"When we get back to the cabin, I'll try and call Voight. I don't know if I'll have service, though."

"Why?" you asked.

"I'm gonna have him look up who was on their beat near you that night so he can go interrogate people on my behalf. Probably best he does it and not me." Because Jay knew that the minute he saw that cop, he wouldn't be able to hold himself back.

You nodded.

"Hey, cheer up, kid. We're here for two weeks, away from everything. Away from the city and everything that goes on there. And I can promise you that that cop will get what's coming to him, whether that be losing his job or going to jail or prison."

"Do I have to tell Will? Or can you tell him? I really don't want to talk about this again."

"I can do it," Jay answered. "Speaking of Will, if he's not up when we get back, what do we say we wake him up with some cold lake water?"

"Like dump it on him?" you asked as you widened your eyes. Jay nodded. "No, that's mean. Then he'll have to wait for his sheets to dry out and they'll smell the entire time."

"We have spare sheets and blankets in the closet."

"Fine, let's do it. But just so you know, I'm telling him that it was your idea and I also have a lock on my bedroom door here, which will make it harder for him to sneak in and dump water on me."

"I will be sleeping in your room tonight," Jay joked.

"Nope. It was your idea, so you're gonna have to live with Will's payback."

Those two weeks were filled with laughter, pranks, board games, corn hole, swimming, fishing (well, you read either in the canoe or on the dock while the boys fished), and just spending time with each other. You were glad that Will had the bright idea to take two weeks up here...even though he got drenched in cold lake water the first morning by you and Jay.

A/N: I got a request from @ La_lectrice_33 on wattpad for Y/N going to the dentist, so I hope you liked that little scene! I also got a request from an anon on here about Jay and Will's reactions to her growing up, so I put that in here, too. Thank you for over 23k reads! I won't be posting until this Sunday (August 1) when I start posting AUs for AU-gust. Please remember to like/reblog and comment because I love seeing those like/reblog notifications pop up and love reading your comments and asks! As always, if you would like to be added to my tag list, just tell me and I’ll add you! Finally, like my imagines? Buy me a coffee (only $1 through Paypal and other currencies can be used) here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Kayela

taglist:  @theambracer88  @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27  @anotherfan07  @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @onechicago18 @iamasimpingh0e @i-like-sparkly-things  @herecomesthewriterwitch  @liampayne88

[keanureevesisbae]

But professor… - c.8

Summary: Walter and Penny adapt to Maryland

Professor!Walter Marshall x Penny Townsend (Asian ofc)

Wordcount: 2.1k

Warnings: None

Masterlist // But professor… masterlist // Previous chapter //

Tomorrow Walter and I are going to move to Maryland and there is just one more thing I need to do: buy some snacks. My cravings have been all over the place recently, so a trip without snack is asking for trouble. Walter is packing the final things with my mom and dad and in a minute they are going to put everything in the truck and U-haul. Since I’m the only one that knows what I really want, I decided to go on a little grocery store trip.

I’m wearing an oversized sweater on top of my leggings and it’s almost the only piece of clothing that is able to hide the bump. I’m seventeen weeks pregnant now, meaning the bump is harder and harder to hide, however this sweater will do. The chances of me running into someone I actually know is next to zero, but better be safe than sorry.

I walk into the grocery store and grab a basket, slowly filling it with what I want. ‘There she is,’ I hear a voice say, one I haven’t heard in so long and certainly haven’t missed.

Fitzgerald.

Every hair in my neck stands up straight. I simply pull my lips into an awkward smile, before walking off to the register. As I’m scanning the products, he actually follows me and I hate how this guy never understands the message, spoken or unspoken.

‘So, you haven’t been coming to classes,’ he says.

‘I know,’ I say, ‘I quit. Been looking into some other things.’

That is already more than I actually wanted to share with him, but hopefully it’s enough to make him go away.

‘Oh really? What you been looking into?’

Just fuck off, Fitzgerald. ‘First of all moving back home,’ I say, packing everything in my bag. ‘New York never really was the place for me.’ After paying for my snacks, I walk out of the store, only to hear the footsteps of the guy who just won’t leave me alone following behind me.

‘Did you hear that professor Marshall is quitting?’

Yes, I actually helped him writing his resignation letter. ‘Oh,’ I say, ‘I didn’t.’

‘Apparently he got a job offer somewhere else.’

Yep, in Maryland. ‘Good for him,’ I say. ‘Well, I gotta go. Bye, Fitzgerald.’

He wants to say something, but then his eyes widen. ‘Yeah, bye,’ he says. He quickly turns around and is gone by the time I looked over my shoulder at him.

What was that about?

When I look up, I glare at Walter, who is standing on the other side of the road, leaning against a street light, his arms crossed. I walk up to him and without saying a word at first, we get mixed into the crowd. ‘What was that about?’ I ask him.

‘Nothing,’ he says, a little too nonchalant for my liking, ‘just wanted to make sure that you weren’t carrying anything too heavy.’ He pulls the bags from my hands and adds: ‘I hate that snotty kid.’

‘I had everything under control,’ I say, poking his side. ‘Did you see him scooting away?’

‘I wish I had it on video,’ Walter chuckles.

My parents are already in the U-haul they rented to make moving as quickly and easy as possible for us and I hand them some snacks.

‘Oh, honey, I’m so glad you’re moving back,’ mom says, after our final pee. Walter just handed over the key to the realtor of his loft and stands behind me, before he says: ‘I know I am happy to move to Maryland. I quite love the place already.’ He presses a kiss on my temple.

My parents get in the U-haul and I wave to them as they drive off. Walter helps me in the truck and when he sits next to me, he gives me a kiss. ‘I love you,’ he tells me.

‘I love you too, Walter.’ I take off my sweater, before strapping myself in the seatbelt. ‘It’s ridiculously hot in here,’ I say, leaning back against the seat.

‘Twenty bucks you are gonna be cold within half an hour.’

I glare at him. ‘That’s mean.’

‘Ah, princess, don’t pout. You know how that makes me weak.’ I continue to tut my bottom lip out and he chuckles. ‘Let’s just hope the baby doesn’t get your pout, because otherwise I can never say no.’

‘No matter what the baby looks like,’ I say, ‘you’re gonna be unable to say no anyway. You are such a push over with me, this baby will wrap you around their finger in no time.’

‘Ai, exposed.’ He holds my hand in his as he drives off and gives me a kiss on my knuckles.

‘You thought about the co sleeping thing I mentioned to you?’ I ask him.

He sighs. ‘Yes and I’m not sure about it. I mean, we could place a crib in our room, right?’

‘But that’s so sad for the baby. To be alone like that after living inside my stomach for so long. What if they don’t be to be alone? They are not gonna sleep in our bed forever, Walter.’

‘I know,’ he says, ‘but… what if I crush them? I mean, they would be in between us, so… That means no sleep for me.’

I start to laugh. ‘That was your worry? Oh, Walter.’ Since I’m already close to him, I wrap my arms around his neck to give him a kiss on his cheek. ‘Aren’t you absolutely darling?’

I actually spot a faint blush on his cheeks.

I decide not to push it any further, because I feel like this co sleep thing is something that needs to simmer for awhile. ‘Can I ask a question?’ I ask.

He nods. ‘Of course.’

‘What if something goes wrong,’ I start, but he is having none of it.

‘No, no, no, nothing is gonna go wrong.’

‘But what if?’ I say. ‘I mean, something could go wrong during birth.’

He clenches his jaw, not wanting to talk about it obviously. ‘I see,’ he mumbles.

‘What I wanted to say was that if I am unable to answer, that you should decide what happens, okay? I’m one hundred percent sure you are going to choose the right thing for us.’

He smiles. ‘That’s what you wanted to tell me?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Oh, princess, princess, don’t scare me like that, okay?’

I smile. ‘Sorry.’

✎ ✎ ✎

Walter and I bought a house and never in a million years did I expect to have this type of domestic life at only twenty one, however it’s exactly the life I have now and I wouldn’t change it for the world. The move from New York and Maryland went pretty swiftly, especially because my parents helped a lot, since it’s only twenty minutes from my parents’ place.

The place we chose was already pretty great, but Walter and I decided—okay, I decided—that some wallpaper should cheer it up. It was a lot of white and it made me feel like I was at a dentist. There’s lots of pastel going on now, mint green, baby blue, soft pink and some yellow.

However, Walter did all the work, because he doesn’t want me to do anything. Too much work can’t be good for the baby, princess.

He now works at the Maryland Police Department and he is actually enjoying it a lot. He now is on patrol duties, but it will only take a few months before he is back as a detective again.

Weeks have gone by and today marks me being twenty seven weeks pregnant. I won’t lie about it, but I’m very over this pregnancy already. Everything hurts. My head hurts, my stomach hurts, my boobs hurts and don’t get me started on my back. I’m mostly sitting on the couch, reading both informative books and novels if I’m not mindlessly watching Netflix shows.

I am a horrendous cook, but I continue to try some things for Walter, because I hate it that he has to both work and cook himself some dinner when he’s off.

Walter comes back from work and smiles when he sees me. ‘There is my beautiful woman,’ he says. ‘Princess, princess, aren’t you gorgeous.’

‘Stop,’ I chuckle, trying to get up from the couch, but fail miserably. ‘I’m sorry, but dinner got burned.’

He smiles. ‘That’s okay, princess. I’ll order some take out, don’t you worry.’

‘I’m really useless,’ I admit. ‘I’m so sorry.’

He scoffs. ‘Don’t say stuff like that. You’re never useless.’ He wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me against his side. ‘Tell me what did you do today?’

‘I went to that meeting,’ I say, ‘talked about being a first time mom. It’s just that…’ I place my head against his shoulder. ‘I’m scared.’

‘Why is that, princess?’

‘What if I’m a terrible mom?’

‘You’re not gonna be a terrible mom,’ he retorts. ‘The audacity to think you’re gonna be a terrible mom, when I know that you are nothing but sweet, kind, lovely and you will be a wonderful mom.’

‘Really?’ I ask.

‘Really, darling.’ He places his hand on my stomach and says: ‘It’s okay to be scared, however, you have nothing to worry about. Not when I am right here for the two of you.’

✎ ✎ ✎

The next day, while my mom and I are folding some baby clothes, we watch dad and Walter finish the crib. Mom has been sharing embarrassing baby stories about me and to make things even worse, my dad adds a few stories to it, some I didn’t even know.

Thankfully Walter really enjoys them, because he chuckles loudly. It took him awhile, but he is really liking it, having my parents around.

‘You really don’t want to know the gender?’ mom asks me.

‘No,’ I say, ‘I like to be surprised.’

‘Walter,’ my mom sighs, ‘can’t you talk some sense into her?’

‘Sorry, CC,’ he says, ‘but I kinda like the surprise too.’

She scoffs, before she lets out a chuckle. The baby already made the bond between my parents and I a lot tighter and for that I’m forever grateful.

I resit a little and Walter wouldn’t be Walter if he didn’t notice immediately I was slightly uncomfortable. ‘Princess, are you okay?’

‘Yeah, just my back hurts.’

‘How about you go to bed?’ Walter suggests. ‘Rest a little? You’ve been up pretty early on.’ When I don’t stand up immediately, he walks over to me and crouches down in front of me. ‘What’s wrong, princess?’

‘Nothing, just tired and in pain, that’s all.’

He nods, pulls me up and holds my hand tightly in his. I want to apologize to my parents, but my mom simply tells me not to worry. ‘Pregnancy can be rough, darling,’ she says, ‘so please don’t worry.’

I wonder if it’s hard for my mom to see me pregnant, when she couldn’t get pregnant herself. She never said it to me, but still I wonder from time to time. Even if she does have some hard feelings against it, she never shows it, as she is super supportive of the pregnancy. I give her a kiss, just like I give my dad a kiss and mom says: ‘Walter, did you even sleep last night?’

‘No, this one woke me up,’ he says with a smile.

‘You should sleep as well. You had a late shift the day before yesterday and you two should get a lot of sleep when you can. When the baby is here, she’ll keep you up.’

‘We really don’t know the gender, mom,’ I say with a chuckle. ‘I don’t know if they are gonna be a he or a she.’

‘Worth a shot, you gotta give me that. Okay, you go rest, we finish up in here and let ourselves out. We love you.’

‘Love you too,’ I say back, before Walter and I walk towards the bedroom. He helps me out of my sweatpants and into the bed. I hug the pregnancy pillow, and the bed dips down a bit when Walter gets underneath the thin blanket behind me. He places his hand on my stomach, before kissing my temple. ‘You comfortable, sweetheart?’

‘I am,’ I whisper. ‘I’m sorry I’m keeping you up.’

‘No, don’t do that.’

It only causes me to sniffle, but Walter knows exactly what to do when I have these slight emotional outbursts. He pulls my back closer against his chest, despite him being very warm, he tugs the blankets over our bodies and warms me up even more, giving me more kisses on the side of my face. ‘It can get pretty rough, princess,’ he says, ‘and that’s okay. Just let it all out, okay?’

‘Why are you so sweet?’ I hiccup.

He chuckles. ‘Well, you’re gonna be the mom of our kid and you’re my girlfriend. Of course I’m gonna be sweet to you. Forever and ever, princess. Forever and ever.’

[dc41896]

Grown Up

Happy belated Thanksgiving🦃! I wanted to post this before or on the actual day, but time got the best of me. Hope you guys like it!

Pairing: Chris EvansxBlack Reader

⚠️: None, all fluff☺️!

Following the delicious smell of ham, turkey, dressing, and other Thanksgiving dishes, River’s stomach growls peeking on his tip toes over the table at the various foods spread across it. Ever since the three of you flew in the day before, he couldn’t wait to dig into all his favorite foods and eat until his little belly felt swollen.

“Mommy, can we eat now?,” he asks as you walk by with yet another dish in your hands to put on the table.

“Not yet, but everything’s almost done. I’ll come get you when it’s time okay?”

“Kay.” Sighing, he makes his way to the living room hearing his cousins going back and forth as they shout out random directions leaving him confused.

“What’s that?,” he asks standing beside his two older cousins, Nick and Kira, sat on the leather ottoman.

“Fortnite,” Nick answers not taking his eyes off the screen in front of him. “No! Don’t go that way, meet me by the lake.”

Watching the animated characters jumping and running about as they sporadically built things to hide in, he found himself drawn to the screen and wanting to participate himself since they seemed to be having so much fun laughing and high-fiving as a different character disappeared.

“Can I play?”

“Um maybe later River, we still got a while before this game ends,” Kira answers taking a break to push her glasses higher on her nose before returning to her hurried button mashing as an armed group approaches them.

“When’s that?”

“We don’t know.”

“Why?”

“Because-dang! Quick revive me!”

“I am! River go sit down, we gotta focus. Plus your mom and dad may not even want you playing since you’re too little.”

“Am not,” he pouts crossing his arms across his chest.

“Are too, you’re only four. This game is for big kids like us,” Nick countered making River even more upset.

“I’m big boy too!”

“And I’m tired of y’all going back and forth!,” another one of his older cousins, Mary, interjects from the couch with her feet propped up. “I’m having an important conversation over here.”

“What important conversation? You’re just talking to your boyfriend,” Kira teases making her roll her eyes before placing the phone back up to her ear.

Clearly his cousins wouldn’t be letting him play anytime soon.

So with a huff, he turns around heading back to the kitchen until he hears groans and cheers erupt from the basement, where those who weren’t helping in the kitchen watched the football game.

Carefully stepping down the steps while holding onto the railing, he finds his dad, oldest cousins, uncles, and some aunts all spread out in chairs and on the sectional couch chatting about the last play as they drank from red plastic cups.

“Hey bubs!,” Chris smiles patting his knee for him to join him. “You okay?”

Lifting his arms so he could be picked up, he shrugs his shoulders playing with his father’s bigger hand.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t play.”

“Play what?”

“For tight.”

“For tight?,” he asks raising an eyebrow. “What is that?”

“A game daddy. You jump and and hide and go bye.”

Before he could press any further on this very unique sounding game, the loud cheers steal his attention as he looks up to see a 49ner’s player run an intercepted ball in for a touchdown making him groan and River cover his ears from the commotion.

“Chris you might as well give it up man, the Pats not coming back anytime soon,” your younger brother, Carter, smirks sipping from his cup.

“I wouldn’t get too cocky yet. Remember we’re the top team at second half comebacks,” he retorts matching his smirk.

“You mean you were the top team. Now that your precious Brady is gone y’all haven’t had too many comebacks.”

“Okay yea losing Brady was a bit of a hit, but we’re still good! We just gotta get use to the new quarterback.”

“Hm are you really still good though?,” Carter asks cocking his head to the side.

“Like the niners are doing any better! You have the same record as us!”

Rather than sit and listen to his dad and uncle argue over teams, he hops down eventually meeting you halfway up the steps.

“Food ready now?”

“Yes sweetheart everything’s ready and you can eat,” you giggle watching him excitedly bounce up and down. “And everyone else in here, food is done! Come eat!”

“Mommy, I sit with you and daddy?”

“No bubs, you sit at the kids table with your cousins remember? Like last year.”

“I want to be with you and daddy.”

“Sorry love, there’s not enough room at the big table. Daddy and I won’t be far away though.”

Following you up the stairs and to the dining room, he wished the kid table never existed. All of his cousins were older than him by at least six years, so he felt alone as they tapped on their phones and told jokes only they understood. Not that they completely ignored him, it’s just their conversation with him wasn’t as long as the conversations they had with each other. As he watched you, Chris, and the other adults talking and laughing he wasn’t really in the mood for food anymore and wished the three of you were back at the hotel, or home even.

“Ma, we’re going outside to play!,” one of his cousins excitedly announced as they rose from their seats at the kids table barely pushing their chairs in.

“Aht! Did y’all throw away your trash first?,” his aunt Jackie asked making Kira sigh clearly wishing they could be outside already.

“Yes.”

“Alright go ahead, and be careful,” she answers as the older kids rush outside.

“Mommy I play too?,” River asks walking over to squeeze between you and Chris.

“Sure sweetie. After I’m finished we can go play.”

“No mommy, play with them.”

“Oh,” you reply looking outside to see the bigger kids, and a couple of the adults splitting up into teams as a football was casually tossed back and forth. “I don’t know River, they’re playing football and-,”

“I like football!,” he beams making you giggle.

“I know bubs, but you’re smaller than your cousins and I don’t want you getting hurt.” At your words, his smile falls and head hangs slightly. You, his dad, and even his grandparents always told him how he was such a big boy now, so why he couldn’t do these things not only confused him, but made him frustrated.

“But I’m a big boy...”

Turning on his heels, he stomps to the living room throwing himself on the couch hiding his head in one of the furry throw pillows beside him.

“You know mommy is just trying to look out for you right River?,” he hears as Chris approaches his spot on the couch, eventually squatting down beside him.

“Yes,” he sniffles turning to look at his father with red tinted eyes.

“Your cousins play a little rougher than what we play in the yard at home bud. That’s probably not a game a four year old should be in.”

“I wish I was old.” Softly chuckling, he wipes his son’s tears before leaning over to kiss his forehead.

“I know it seems fun, but trust me when I tell you to stay a kid for as long as you can. Honestly, I wish I was little like you again.”

“Really?”

“Yep,” he nods. “Being little comes with a lot more perks than you think. Like you can get all the toys, sleep in as much as you want, and you don’t have to worry about bills.”

“Bills?,” River asks sitting up.

“Yea they suck. Like how you feel about going to the dentist every year.”

“Ohh, yea bills are the worst,” he agrees shaking his head and making Chris laugh. “You can play games though. I can’t.”

There’s momentary silence as River fiddles with his hands and Chris looks at his son, taking his time to think how he could make everything better.

“Come with me,” he smiles holding his arms out so River could wrap his around his neck attaching himself to his dad.

“Hey, everything okay?,” you ask as they enter the dining room.

“Almost, I have an idea though that might help.”

“Chris...?”

“Trust me, it’s nothing crazy,” he chuckles kissing your cheek before heading out the back to meet with those playing in the yard.

———

Now finished helping wash the dishes and putting away the leftover food, you step outside in search of your two boys who surely had to be tired after spending over an hour outside. Plus with it getting late, you wanted to get back to the hotel before dark.

Sticking your head out the door, you see Chris and River running from one tree to the other trying not to be seen by everyone else playing. After whispering in his ear, Chris darts out shooting his Nerf gun at Kira and Nick each trying to reach the flag in the middle of the yard.

“Freeze! I got you!”

“Dangit!”

“That’s it, next round Chris is on my team.”

“Not if I get him first!”

As the two kids argue, River manages to dodge the shots from his other cousins reaching the flag and excitedly jumping up and down as he holds it over his head.

“Look! I got it daddy!,” River smiles as his dad jogs over to pick him up smiling himself.

“I see bubs! Good job!”

“Chris! River! You guys ready?,” you shout turning their attention towards the house.

“Mommy, I got the flag!,” River shouts back waving the bright orange, flimsy plastic in front of him.

“I see, congrats love! You guys ready to go? It’s getting late.”

“Aw do they have to leave already auntie Y/N? What about one more round?,” Nick asks wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“She’s right guys it’s getting late, we can pick it up tomorrow though,” Chris replies as they groan.

“Fine, we’ll play again tomorrow. This was a cool game idea River!,” Kira smiles giving him a high-five.

“Yea! It’s like our own version of Fortnite,” Nick adds making his little cousin shyly smile setting his forehead on his Chris’ shoulder.

Giving hug filled goodbyes to your remaining family members still hanging around, the three of you eventually get in your car ready to return to the hotel so you could get ready for bed. Not even 10 minutes in your ride, the sound of soft snores cause you to turn around finding your son peacefully sleeping with head slumped forward.

“Looks like your idea also tired him out,” you giggle. Peeking in the rear view mirror, Chris softly chuckles before letting out a short yawn himself. “Oh, is it past your bedtime too?”

“Um, did you just call me old?,” he smirks with hand on his chest.

“No of course not. I’d never disrespect my elders like that,” you tease causing him to gasp extending his arm to tickle your side. Covering your mouth to avoid waking River with your laughs, you’re finally able to push his hand away after a couple tries. “Stahp!”

“Don’t call me old.”

“I didn’t, I said elder which you technically are being older than me.”

“Well...then...don’t allude to me being or getting old. That’s not nice,” he pouts as he puts the car in park, turning to look at you with those heart melting blue eyes.

“I sowy. Forgive me?” Watching you bat your lashes trying to seem as innocent as you could, he can’t help but laugh bringing your face closer to his.

“Hmm...I guess,” he smiles pecking your lips.

“And thank you for fixing everything with River.”

“Babe you don’t have to thank me. It’s just part of my job being the world’s best dad,” he shrugs nonchalantly.

“And right now, most annoying,” you joke kissing his lips one more time.

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[bssaz97]

Family Friend

- Patch Island, Kingdom of Vale -

[95 A.G.W.]

[18:55 Hours (6:55 PM)]

10 YO Rowan: Wagon check?

10 YO Summer: Check!

Rowan: Soda?

Summer: Check!

Rowan: Balloons?

Summer: Check!

Rowan: Poppy Rocks?

Summer: Check!

Rowan: All Poppy Rocks accounted for?

Summer: *about to open a bag to eat* Uhhh... Check!

Rowan: Ready to throw some Poppy Rock filled Cola’s at that stupid dentist billboard Sis?

Summer: Heck yeah!

Weapons of choice in hand, the Rose twins stealthily went on their way dragging along twelve bottles of Cola Pops with a box of Poppy Rocks in what would be their best prank yet.

[45 Minutes Later…]

After trekking through the woods, the twin finally arrived at the destination of their latest prank....

A Billboard promoting a local Dentist Office!

Rowan: After two months of saving our allowances and a week’s worth of lunch monies, we finally have the tools to enact today’s plan! For too long we children have to suffer at the hands of those “dental specialists,” so now it’s time to take revenge for children of all ages!

Summer: *fistbumps* Yeah!

Both take a liter of Cola in their hands and begin to use them to fill several balloons. Afterwards they poured a whole sachets worth of the rock candy mixture.

Once they had their weapons ready, they quickly shook a balloon in each hand, took aim and threw them at the billboard with all their might!

When the two balloons had made contact with the billboard, the twins had been pleased to see the sight of two messy and foamy spray on the dental advertisement.

Summer: Woo! That was so cool!

Rowan: Yeah! ...Wanna throw another one?

Summer: Heck yeah!

They prepared more balloons and repeated the action of tossing them in exactly the same way as before.

Soon enough, the billboard was nearly covered with sticky foam and rock candy, all to the twins mischievous glee and amusement.

Sadly their fun was too soon coming to an end, they both stared at the two remaining balloons that they each held.

Summer: Aw... I wish we had bought more balloons.

Rowan: It was fun while it lasted. Come on, let’s make these ones count. Whoever can hit an eye gets to give the other their brussels sprouts for dinner tonight!

Summer: Yuck! Brussels sprouts... you’re on!

The twins held their final individual balloons in one hand, rearing their arms back to throw and are prepared to fling their balloons, but unfortunately for these two, their fun ended when a beam of a flashlight was pointed at them.

“Oi! Hold it right there!”

The twins stopped themselves mid throw, thankfully neither of them let go of their balloons, as they both turned towards the light being pointed at them.

Busted.

A figure walked towards slowly, a female judging by the voice, a northern Valean accent to be accurate. However, neither of the twins could not make out as to who the woman was for the sky had begun to turn dark and the light that she held was exceptionally bright.

The young woman stopped only a meter away from them.

???: Reach for the sky.

The two Rose twins complied, both raiding their hands.

???: Well would ya look at here, I got me some no good troublemakers messin’ around with town property. Don’t try ta deny it either, I caught ya’s red handed.

Rowan: W-We aren’t trouble makers m-mam, we were just playing. Right Sum?

Summer: Y-Yeah, just playing! Honest!

???: Oh? An’ you want to believe that loada crap. Especially when ya’s still got tha proof in ya hands.

Rowan was shaking in place, this was not looking good for either of them, they had been caught and now they were likely in big trouble. Mom would find out and be disappointed, he could get kicked out of the soccer team and they could get this marked on their permanent record.

He was taken away from his thoughts when he faintly heard whimpering, turning his gaze he saw his twin looking on the verge of tears, absolutely terrified at the implication of getting in trouble.

That just solidified Rowan’s decision.

Rowan: I-I …It was my idea! Please if you’re going to take one of us in, just take me and let my sister go! She just went along with my idea!

Summer: Wha-! N-No that’s not true! I threw just as many balloons as he did!

Rowan: *whispering* Summer! I’m trying to save your skin!

Summer: *whispering* Nooo! I don’t want you to go to jail!

Rowan: Please mam, I acted alone! She just watched me do it and I pressured her into it!

???: That a fact? Well that doesn’t mattah, I’m takin’ the two’s of ya in anyway.

Stretching out her empty hand she activated her semblance, causing the tips of her fingers to illuminate a green hue and a symbol of a leaf appeared on her hand. What occurred next shocked the two young Rose twins.

From the ground beneath them, roots emerged and swiftly wrapped around their little wrists, forming makeshift wooden handcuffs. With a pull, the roots brought the two on their knees, making it clear to the two that she meant business.

Rowan: W-Wait! Hold on a minute! Don’t you have to read us our rights or something!?

Summer: Yeah! Tell us we have the right to an attorney!

???: Attorneys are for grownups. Bad kids like the two of ya’s, get sent to juvie. You two already confessed to the crime, so now I’m takin’ ya to tha slammer!

Rowan: B-But!

Summer: I don’t wanna to go to juvie! Please don’t take us!

The two are nearly close to tears when something unexpected happens. The woman in front of them started to …giggle. Soon enough, her laughing grew louder in volume as she started leaning forward, holding onto her abdomen as she was losing herself to her hysterics.

With a wave of her hand the roots receded, returning to the ground albeit the restraints that remained on the twins wrists.

They looked on in bewilderment as the woman who was apprehending them laughed at the two as though she heard the best joke of her life.

???: *inhales* Oh, you shoulda seen the look on the both of ya’s faces! That’s gold! Pure gold!

She turns off her flashlight with a press of a button, no longer hindering the twins vision. When both of their vision became adjusted to natural light, they immediately put together their apprehender’s identity.

Rowan: Rosemary!?

The twin’s apprehender was none other than Rosemary Thornbush, local Huntress and resident of Patch. She also happened to be a friend of their mother and aunt, and they had history. So the redhead was indeed a familiar face to them.

Rosemary: *laughs* Hey Row-Row. I got ya kids good, didn’t I?

Summer: Rosie! That was mean! I actually thought we were in trouble!

Rosemary: I nevah said you ain’t.

A silence fell on both the twins, as they saw

Summer: oh… so we are going to juvie?

Rosemary: Nah. But the two of ya’s are gonna get a mouthful from ya mom.

Rowan: Y-You’re gonna tell Mom?

Rosemary: Yep, and she’ll get to decide the punishment for that. *pointing at the billboard*

Summer: …Can we go to jail instead?

Rosemary: Oh quit you’re whining, get up you two!

Sheathing her flashlight, Rosemary takes both children by the wrist and guides them down the dirt path towards their home.

Rowan: But the wagon.

Rosemary: We’ll get that tomarraw, it ain’t going nowhere.

Rowan: Aw…

[A walk of shame later…]

Ruby Rose gazes down at her two children in front of her, whom she believed were going to a sleepover, but were all actuality caught vandalizing a billboard with the liters of soda and candy that she purchased under the pretense that they were gonna be used by school children to eat and drink. So not only did her naughty children lie to her, but they also committed a crime.

She was not in a good mood.

Ruby: Rowan, Summer, is this true?

Neither of the twin’s answers her and instead avoided her piercing gaze by looking at the floor. Their guilt clearly written on their small faces.

Ruby: *breathes* Well then, for starters, you’re both going to get ready for dinner. Then you both are going help me wash the dishes tonight, which will be spotless, and then you will both get ready for bed and go to your rooms without any TV or games for the rest of the week.

The two winces at the stern tone she used, they only hear it rarely but it’s not one any child enjoys hearing.

Ruby: Then tomorrow morning you both are going to wake up, eat your breakfast …and help clean up the mess you made on that billboard.

Summer: B-But tomorrow’s the weekend.

Ruby: And?

Summer: Nothing Mommy…

Ruby: You have anything to add mister?

Rowan: No Mommy…

Ruby: Good. Now go fresh up, I made dinner and I don’t want it to get cold.

Wordlessly, the twins moved past her and hears them go upstairs to their shared bathroom to wash up for what would undoubtedly be a very awkward meal.

The sound of giggling breaks Ruby’s thoughts as she turns her attention back towards her guest.

Rosemary: Yeesh, I’d hate to make you angry. Especially if I met you as a kid.

Ruby paused then shook her head, laughing a bit herself at the notion. Being only five years her senior and a friend of her older brother at Signal, the young lady has a way of making her seem old.

Ruby: Thank you Rosie for bringing them home, I really appreciate it.

Rosemary: Forget about it Ruby, I’m always happy to help a friend of the family. Your kids certainly did make the highlight of my night.

Ruby: Did you want to stay for dinner?

Rosemary: Thanks for the offa but Ma’s undoubtedly waiting for me to get my butt back home. Maybe another night. Bring the whole family?

Ruby: I think the kids would love that, once they get over you turning them in.

Rosemary: I hate to do it but it’s my job. Also, I plan to keep an eye on them while they clean up their mess tomarrah. I figured you’s gonna ask that.

Ruby: Thank you again, when everything is cleaned up I’ll come to get them. Who knows, maybe you can expect a cheesecake with your name on it?

Rosemary: Yes mam! *has an eager smile on her face*

Ruby: Well then, I hope you get home safely Rosie, let the family know I said hi and that I appreciate their daughter looking out for my children.

Rosemary: Sure thing, Shrub is definitely gonna enjoy hearing about this. Well you have a goodnight, Ruby.

Ruby: You too, Rosie.

With her job seemingly done for the night, the younger red head began on her way, walking down from the Rose residence’s porch and making her way back from the dirt path. But before she could make it there, her attention is taken away when a voice from behind her called out.

Ruby: Rosie!

Rosemary: *looks back* Yea?

Ruby: …Thank you for bringing them back.

Rosemary: *shrugs* Sure thing. What are friends for, am I right?

Without another word, the young huntress resumed on her way. Another normal day on Patch done and the night setting in.

- Fin -

A/N: Thanks again to @tanakaclinkbeard for allowing me to use his OC, Rosemary Thornbush, in my AU. While it is a different version of her and the history is also a variant, I did my best to keep the core traits of the original.

Edit: Also, the reason Rosemary talks differently is because she has what’s referred to as a Northern Valean accent (Boston accent for irl example).

[benedictsvestcollection]

Ever Ever After- A Whiskey x reader Modern Cinderella fic

Rating: T for some swearing mostly!

Warnings: Ummmm.... Mentions of death, fluff, sweetness and stepmom being a bitch. 

Word count: 2.3K

A/N: Tomorrow is @absurdthirst‘s birthday so this chapter is dedicated to you my darling! Happy early birthday!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

As soon as Jack and Ginger were in the back of the towncar and away from prying eyes, Jack heaved a heavy sigh. “I do not like that woman.” He growled as Ginger began typing away an email to Champ. 

He hadn’t stopped thinking about the way Miranda had spoken to you, her own step-daughter. The entire day, he had witnessed you being treated with such disdain and rudeness. 

“Your dentist is going to hate you when they find out you’ve been grinding your teeth so much today.” Ginger teased him, spying the way Jack clenched his jaw so much. Mad on your behalf. A woman, he barely knew but already felt innately protective of. 

“Who the hell talks to their family like that?” He asked her. “She was nothing but sweet and hardworking all day and they just… Spoke to her like that.” 

“Terrible people. They’re terrible people Jack.” Ginger told him simply, knowing he had asked a rhetorical question. But answering him nonetheless. 

Jack sighed, knowing she was right. “Do we have anything on the daughters?” He asked her, changing the subject. 

Ginger shook her head. “As far as I can tell, they’re just spoiled bitches.” She muttered. “But not aware of what their mom is up to.” 

“Like mother, like daughters.” Jack muttered out with a huff. 

“You like her.” Ginger stated matter of factly. “And not just in a ‘what a sweet girl’, or ‘she’s part of the mission’ kind of way.” She teased him. 

He merely grunted in response and shifted in his seat, readjusting his suit jacket. Glaring at Ginger while she smirked from her phone. She was right and he hated that she was. 

“I like her too. Just maybe not in the same way you do.” She continued on, smirk still on her face.

“You done Ging?” He muttered at her grumpily. “We have work to do.” 

~~~~~~~~~

You sighed in contentment inhaling your french toast, bacon, eggs and coffee at your favorite diner. You had cleverly booked your stepmother and sisters for a spa weekend. But in reality, it had been for you. A peaceful weekend to yourself with no work to do. So now, you were treating yourself to brunch at your favorite New York diner. 

“Well, well, well… Isn’t this a welcome sight for sore eyes.” Came a southern drawl over you. Warm like bourbon and comforting like a worn in fall sweater. 

You looked up to see warm brown eyes and a mustache smirk looking down at you in your booth. 

“Oh… Hello Mr. Daniels.” You stammered out at him, suddenly even more relieved that your stepmom and sisters weren’t around, let alone didn’t hang out in your area or they’d accuse you of ruining things by simply talking to him. 

“Oh please darlin’. Call me Jack. Mr. Daniels makes me feel old.” He grinned at you and slid into the booth across from you and ordered a coffee.

“I um… This doesn’t seem like the kind of place you would come to.” You told him nervously. 

“Why? Because I’m the CEO of a distillery?” He teased you. “Darlin’ I was born in Kentucky and went to school in Texas. I’m a cowboy through and through. A diner don’t scare me.” 

You blushed. Why was he here? If word got back to your stepmom and sisters… You didn’t want to think about what they’d do. 

“I need to go.” 

Jack’s hand flashed out and gently took yours. “You have to work on a weekend?” He asked you worried, almost. Like he somehow knew that you worked too much or something. 

“No actually, I just… I don’t get weekends usually so I have stuff I wanted to get done is all.” You shrugged. It wasn’t a total lie, you did have things you wanted to do. Laundry, cleaning your apartment and grocery shopping. But mostly, you were afraid you were going to get caught with Jack Daniels and you didn’t need that drama in your life. You had enough with your family. 

Jack nodded at you. “I understand, can I at least walk you home?” He asked you as he stood with you.

“I-” You were cut off by your phone vibrating in your jeans pocket. “Son of a bitch… Sorry.” You muttered at him as you scowled at the screen. Seeing your stepmother’s name demanding you answer. 

“Yes?” You sighed as you reluctantly answered the phone. Trying to ignore the way Jack was staring at and studying you intently. 

“I need you to go upstate and buy pumpkins.” She responded on the other end of the phone. 

“Pumpkins? Why?” You asked her with a huff.

“Because it’s fall and I want the offices decorated.” You could practically hear her rolling her eyes at what she thought was a stupid question.

“Okay…” You sighed at her once more. “How many do you want me to get?” You asked her. 

“Fifty. I want the office completely decorated for the season.” She told you. “Oh also, maybe get some hay bales too.” 

“Fifty?!” You asked her, jaw dropping in shock. Where in the hell were you supposed to put them? Being New York, you didn’t even have a car. 

“Stop repeating everything I say and just get there and do it.” She snapped and hung up on you.

“Yes ma’am.” You muttered at your phone sarcastically and then tossed it into your purse aggressively. “Well now I do have to work Mr. Daniels.” You grumbled. 

“Kind of difficult to not overhear that conversation.” He admitted softly, almost like he felt sorry for you. “You okay?” He asked you gently. 

“Yeah, I’m great. I have to give up my Saturday, somehow get upstate. Buy fifty pumpkins in various sizes and some bales of hay and get them all back to the office.” You muttered. “Guess I’m renting a car for the day.” 

“Well, she’ll pay for that won’t she?” He asked you, deep down already knowing the answer but wanting to hear you confirm it. 

You snorted. “Yeah right. I practically run the company and I’m living in a shitty studio apartment.” 

Jack frowned at that. “Well then darlin’. I wouldn’t be a southern gentleman if I didn’t offer to help you. I’ve got my Bronco out front and the day off.” He rumbled in your ear. “And don’t you worry, they won’t find out you were helped.” He promised you as he led you outside to his truck. 

“Mr. Daniels I can’t… Ask you to do that.” You insisted as you chewed your bottom lip anxiously. 

“You didn’t ask. I offered. And please… Call me Jack.” He reminded you as he opened the passenger door for you. “Please, I want to help.” 

Honestly, the idea of spending any kind of time with this handsome and charming man was appealing. Plus, you really didn’t feel like spending any of your hard earned money on a rental for a day when you had a truck being offered to you. 

“Okay. Thank you… Jack.” You finally relented with a small, shy smile at him as you climbed up into the passenger seat of his truck. 

He released his gentle hold on your elbow and smiled at you. “You’re welcome darlin’.” He smiled at you as he moved to the driver’s side and started it up.

An hour later, Jack parked his truck in the gravel parking lot. 

“Damn, pumpkin patches sure have changed since I was a kid.” You muttered, taking in the expanse of acreage. An actual pumpkin patch, gift shop, a moonbounce, pony rides and a hay ride. 

Jack let out a whistle and casually tossed his arm over your shoulder. “You said it darlin’.” He agreed and led you to the patch. 

“Haven’t done this since I was a kid with my dad.” You murmured wistfully. 

Jack paused for a split second when you said that. “I’m so sorry.” He rubbed your arm gently. 

You shrugged. “It’s okay.” 

“How uh… How did he die?” He asked gently. 

You wiped a tear from your eye. “Got sick suddenly. Doctor’s couldn’t really explain it. First they thought it was the flu because I got sick too. But he uh… Didn’t make it.” 

“You both got the flu at the same time?” He asked you, brows furrowed in thought. 

“Wasn’t the flu. The only explanation the doctors had was food poisoning.” You mumbled as you both began wandering the patch together. 

“But he… Didn’t make it.” He finished the thought you were internalizing. 

“And I did.” You mused bitterly. 

“Hey now… I won’t have you thinkin’ that way. It ain’t your fault that you both got sick and you didn’t die. I, for one am glad you’re here.” 

Tears were falling down your cheeks now. “He was my best friend and now he’s just… Gone.” 

Quickly, Jack pulled you over to a set of hay bales and faced you. “Loss is never easy to deal with darlin’. But you don’t have to grieve alone.” He reassured you, thumbs gently rubbing the inside of your wrists. 

“You’ve met my stepmom and sisters… Right?” You asked him with a garbled laugh. 

“Look at you, makin’ jokes.” He grinned at you before he instinctively leaned forward to kiss your temple. 

You froze at the sweet gesture, surrounded by his overwhelming scent before you gave in and sank into his arms. For the first time in over a year, you felt safe with someone. Actually cared for. “Thank you… Jack.” You mumbled into his chest.

“Anytime darlin’.” He promised you. “Now… I do believe that we have pumpkins and hay bales to blow on, your stepmother’s money.” He teased you. 

You laughed again and nodded at him. “Yeah… Okay.” 

“Now, you dry your eyes. I’ll go get a wagon for all these pumpkins we have to buy.” 

You nodded and started to browse the pumpkins as Jack went to get a wagon to tote around. 

“Ginger, I need you to look into the medical records or her and her father. Somethin’s off here.” Jack said over the phone. 

“It is awfully convenient that they both got sick and in the hospital. While the father died.” She admitted on the other end of the phone. 

“Not to mention that the stepmom took control of the empire after he died and she was deathly ill in the hospital.” He growled out. 

“Easy there cowboy. Now that we’re here we’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.” Ginger soothed him. “Now go back to your pumpkin date. I’ll look into this.” 

“Sorry about that darlin’. Was just informin’ Ginger that I wouldn’t be available the rest of the day.” He told you with a smile. 

“It’s okay.” You told him with a shy smile and placed two pumpkins in the wagon. 

The rest of the day proceeded with Jack dutifully toting the wagon around for you. Emptying it into his truck as it got full and they were paid. You bought hay bales, a scarecrow for the reception area and a bushel of apples. 

“You sure do love fall darlin’.” He teased you as you hopped into his truck and sighed. 

“I just... Figured since I was here, the apples are for baking and a couple of pumpkins for my place.” You blushed and shrugged.

It was after nine by the time Jack finally pulled back in front of your building. They had dropped off most of the supplies at the office. 

“Let me help you get this upstairs.” He insisted. “Otherwise you’re going to have to make two trips with this basket of apples and both your pumpkins.” 

“Jack I-” You started, not wanting him to do more for you than he already had. 

“Please… There’s somethin’ I feel like I need to tell you.” He explained to you gently. “Preferably upstairs and not on a New York street.” 

“Tell me… What?” You asked him anxiously. 

“It’s alright. Let’s just get upstairs.” He soothed you.

Nervously, you led the way into your small apartment and set your pumpkins down on your kitchen counter. “What… Uh… What’s going on?” You asked him.

Jack set the basket of apples down next to your pumpkins and placed his hand on your back. “Let’s sit down.” He suggested. 

“Jack I… What’s wrong?” You asked him, hands twisting together anxiously. 

“I’m not exactly the CEO of the Statesman distillery.” He told you simply, staring at you. 

“You’re… What?” You asked him, face scrunched up in confusion.

“Statesman is an independent intelligence agency and I work for them.” He explained to you. “I’m a spy.” 

“You’re a what?” You repeated to him. 

“I know this is difficult to absorb.” He explained to you. “I’m investigatin’ your stepmom’s dealin’ with the company.” 

“Oh so… You were spending time with me for a… Mission?” You asked him. 

“It started off like that, but… You’re very sweet and I’m lookin’ out for you.” He explained. “I’m tryin’ to help you. But I need your help too, if you’re willin’ to help me.” 

“Help you how?” You asked softly.

Jack moved closer to you. “I need someone inside the company, and you’re perfect.” 

You knew he meant for helping him but, him calling you perfect made you blush. “Perfect how?”

“Look, I don’t wanna pressure you into doin’ somethin’ without you thinkin’ or sleepin’ on it.” He explained softly, as he rubbed your wrists softly. “Why don’t you sleep on it and you call me tomorrow.” 

“Yeah, that might be best. I uh… Don’t want my family to find out about this.” You explained nervously. 

“I completely understand darlin’. You think on it, and let me know. Alright? No pressure, I promise.” 

You practically melted as he ran his knuckles gently along your cheekbone. You nodded at him and smiled shyly at him. “Okay.”

“Good night darlin’.” He murmured in your ear. 

“Good night Jack.” You returned as he finally departed your apartment and you considered his news and offer to you.

Tag list:

@absurdthirst, @spacegayofficial, @lilangeldevil006, @manda-but-not-lorian, @emmymarierivia, @din-djarin-protection-squad, @nope-itsnopi, @gothgirl1362-blog, @deafspaceperson, @auty-ren, @luminescentlily, @ahopelessromanticwritersworld, @babe-dont, @dreamgirl-6781-blog, @katialvi, @zoe-rachel-crisp, @cryptkeepersoul, @jaa1682-27, @katheriner1999, @promiscuoussatan, @paintballkid711, @marvelranger, @owljumper, @girlwithanewplan, @iellarenuodolorian, @lost-girl-inc, @f0rever15elf, @mrschiltoncat, @hillarymurray4, @seejayyou 

Sorry some of my tags aren’t fully working! XOXO

[dejwritesarchived]

SHE’S GETTING HER HAIR DONE AHHH 🤩🤩

They should deduct pay if they make you wait since that isn’t proper business etiquette and it makes no sense whatsoever for them to not be punctual and make you pay the consequences for it we can’t get time back ever and time waits for no one. Either way I’m hoping it turns out to be worth the wait!!

Me experiencing pain from the wisdom tooth was bc my mom gets nervous about me taking heavy narcotics and medicine that is super strong and ended up saying not to take too much and ended up making me take half the dose 💀 Please don’t let that discourage you though as long as you take the right dose and do what your doctor instructs you to you should be fine! I never knew it was my wisdom teeth growing out until there was a hole in my gums from the tooth trying to get out since at the time you never really know until it happens. When you call to get your teeth checked out that might be one of the first things they ask depending on your age. Just remember you got this!! That and please don’t wait like I did (I wasn’t sure if what I was feeling was normal at the time) 😭

Also I just realized we might be in the same timezone so yay! How are you feeling/doing? When will you eat if you haven’t done so already? What plans do you have for the day?

-🌻

yes, i am. i do plan on going right to sleep when i get home lol. but that’s a huge maybe cause i don’t work tomorrow so i can stay up late tonight. im currently watching squid game after avoiding spoilers for weeks lol.

i’m going to make the dentist appointment tomorrow and just pray it’s not my wisdom teeth cause i don’t like pain at all lol. turn in a big baby when im in pain.

probably, what time is it where you’re at? i’m good just eating my granola bar and getting my hair braided lol. i should ask my mom to drop some food off for me but sis is going to the pumpkin farm with my niece and nephew. how are you? how’s your weekend going? your bday is coming closer and closer !

[mhdiaries]

Freak Du Chic Gooliope Jellington Diary

5, April

“Family Night” at Freak du Chic is always a little bittersweet for me. On the one claw it’s a joy to sometimes see three or four generations of a family sitting together and enjoying the show, but on the other I know that it is something I will probably never experience. Of course, I never say anything to any of the other performers because I know it would hurt their feelings. In fact, just tonight I heard Jitterwing say to one of the customers, “Oh, that’s Gooliope. She’s the Ringmaster’s daughter, but every monster on the midway claims her as their own.” When I heard that it made me feel I was being ungrateful for the unlife I have, but when the show closed and everything was quiet and still, I came back to my tent and opened my trunk. There, inside the glass jar that was my first “crib” is a well-worn note. I always expect it to say something different, to mysteriously change and tell me something it didn’t before, but it never does. On one side is typed:

Experiment 816 Batch 8708

And on the other side is:

To Whom It May Concern: A cold, sterile world is no place to raise a little goo. I can give her everything, except a community where the only thing about her that will ever be measured is the size of her heart. I know that you can give her the unlife I cannot.  Sincerely, R.S.

One day maybe I will find R.S., or maybe R.S. will come and find me. Until then then note goes back into the jar, the jar goes back in the trunk, and I will try to go to sleep, for tomorrow everything must be broken down and packed to move. Then it’s on to the next location with my family.

9, April

I have heard that when unlife gets creepy crazy, some monsters threaten to “run away and join the circus.” I think if they knew what unlife in the circus was really like they would threaten to “run away and join a team of dragon dentists” or something equally eventful. I guess I don’t blame them, though; the Freak du Chic really is quite magical when there are daring acts under the big top and the midway is hopping; when the cadence calls of the pitch monsters ring and the deadlicious smells of scarnival treats rill the air. Then there’s the excitement of travel. Moving from town to town, seeing new scenery and constantly meeting new monsters does have an adventurous mystique about it. But... it takes hours and hours of practice to make those daring acts look flawless, and our audiences never see the bumps, bruises and sprains that come before the perfection. Yes, scarnival food is indeed clawesome, but there are only so many fried cheese stuffed pies on a stick you can eat before all you really want is an apple. Traveling can be exciting, if you can actually stay awake long enough to see the scenery between stops. I mean, after we’ve finished packing tents and wagons and rides and concessions, and everything else that makes the Freak du Chic what is is, being able to sleep is a real treat. In fact, I think I’ll treat myself now before we get to the next location and the magic and adventure start all over again.

12, April

Today the show was “dark,” so some of the crew went into the local town to get some supplies. They asked me if I wanted to go, but I said I had homework to catch up on so I couldn’t. When I was just a little goo I loved making those trips into town, but I wasn’t very little for very long, and now that I’m 15 feet 2 inches tall it’s impossible to be inconspicuous. It was scary sweet of them to ask, but I really never feel comfortable away from the scarnival. I guess I don’t mind so much when monsters stare at me during the shows because that’s part of the reason they come to Freak du Chic. Here, I’m a performer; out there I’m an oddity.

18, April

Today is my birthday and no one acknowledged it. I spent the whole day trying to convince myself that it was okay that no one remembered, but I wasn’t doing a very good job of it. I just kept thinking that somebody would SAY SOMETHING, and when no one did I went back to my tent and threw myself a pity party. It was a good one, too, complete with “no one loves me” and “who needs a stupid 16th birthday anyway?” I was even getting ready to unwrap “if they don’t appreciate me here I’ll just go find someplace where they do” when the FDC emergency siren went off. It didn’t take me long to forget about myself, because that alarm is only sounded when every monster’s help is needed. I ran as fast as I could to the place where we were all supposed to gather in an emergency, but when I got there no one else was around. Then the lights went out and I was like, “What’s going on?” That’s when I noticed candles coming towards me through the darkness. The candles, of course, were on a ginormous birthday cake. As it got closer I could see that Dad and Mom were carrying the cake, and behind them came everyone else, and they began to sing “Happy Birthday.” I was so surprised that I almost started crying. Dad and Mom said, “You didn’t think we forgot your birthday, did you?” I had to admit maybe just a little bit. I got some scary cool presents, too! The scarousel monster gave me a killer pair of shoes with horses for heels and a callope hair comb. The tent monster and seamstress used canvas and sillk to create a beautiful dress and epaulettes just my size. The wagon monster and blacksmith gave me earrings made from wheels. The clowns got me two ginormous jars of my favorite gummy candy. Actually, only one of the jars had candy; the other was a trick jar that shot out spring-loaded bats. Clowns. Finally, Dad and Mom gave me a necklace with an 816 pendant. Then I really did choke up. They are the best parents any goo ever had, and I’m so grateful to be a part of this family. It was the BEAST. BIRTHDAY. EVER.

1, May

Dad has a big map of the wall of his ringmaster’s trailer. He uses different colored pins to show where we’re going, where we’ve been, and even a color for places on his “casket list.” This year he was able to change one of those out for a “place we’re going” pin. The place is Monster High. Dad said he’d always wanted to take the show there, but the schedule could never be worked out. This year one of the towns where we usually play canceled because a giant sinkhole opened up under their scare grounds, so now we’re going to Monster High! Dad says we’ll be there for two weeks, and he thinks that we should make enough money to repair and upgrade a lot of our equipment during the off-season. I really hope that it turns out like he hopes because I know he’s been worried lately, although he would never admit it.

10, May

When it comes to working around here, there really can’t be any dead weight; because if one monster doesn’t do their job it means someone else has to work twice as hard to pick up the slack. That’s never been a problem with our crew. In fact, most of the time whenever someone finishes the work they’re supposed to do, they go and find someone else to help. So when monsters started coming down with the boo flu we all just did what was natural. Even so, we were down to a skeleton crew when we put up the tents this morning. After that they all pretty much crashed. This is the first time we’ll be performing at Monster High and it’s a big show for us, especially since it’s the last one before we take a break for the year. I guess I should be thankful I was born in a lab, because I never get sick and I’ve been able to help take care of everyone. Only... I’m starting to worry that without some help the show might not groan on. So I’ve made up my mind that in the morning I am going to go find some help. The very thought of it makes my entire body feel wobbly, but there are monsters that I love who are counting on me and I will not let my family down.