#and on top of that thanksgiving is coming up and none of my family has told me anything so I’ve decided to house sit my friends cat

[idonthavetofuckme]

Why am I still awake

#Ari speaks #do y’all ever feel like you’ve pushed all of your friends away #and that they’re exhausted with you and your drama of a life #like I don’t mean my life is dramatic #I just feel like it’s constantly going to shit #and I’ve been trying to focus on the good parts but fuck me #I have cried every day this week #I cried so hard today I had a really bad migraine that even TWO extra strength migraine meds wouldn’t fully take it away #and on top of that thanksgiving is coming up and none of my family has told me anything so I’ve decided to house sit my friends cat #and I feel so fucking alone because my siblings know that I’m keeping something from them because I don’t share a lot of things with them #I’m sure they’ve all guessed I’m gay but I have so much trauma from them about this subject that I am so scared to come out #I would really like a good weighted blanket and to be in a cabin in the middle of nowhere #with no plans #just books #and food #and time to myself #but I also want friends to be there?? like I am social but I don’t want to always be social #I need breaks #okay I’m gonna try to sleep now

[sycamorelibrary754]

The Piggy Story

Summary: Yelena is Melina’s Secret Santa and takes a crack at a few handmade piggy presents!

Pairing: Yelena x reader (platonic), Natasha x reader, Alexei Alanovich Shostakov x reader (platonic) Melina Vostokoff x reader (platonic)

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: None

A/N: If you read Happy Thanksgiving, you will understand this story. If you didn’t, please enjoy the random silly fluffiness. 😂

For two weeks Yelena had been sneaking around putting everyone on edge. Coming and going at all hours of the night. Not letting you tag along like you normally would when she would walk Fanny. At first, you thought maybe she was preparing for an undercover assignment. Every time you asked her what was up, she evaded answering the question with a face that said, “If I tell you, I have to kill you.” Honestly, it was par for the course. You had learned not to overthink your sister-in-law’s idiosyncrasies. If it was possible, they made you love her even more.

You were still in your pajamas playing cards with Wanda on the sofa of the common room when Natasha walked in. “Hey detka, have you seen Yelena? She was supposed to be in a briefing with me and Steve 20 minutes ago.”

“No, I haven’t,” placing your cards face down on your lap. “Not since this morning anyway.”

“She’s been acting odd lately,” Nat said.

“Odd in general, or odd for her because you know there’s a difference,” Wanda offered.

“That’s true,” pointing at Wanda.

“If you see your best friend, would you tell her that her sister is going to kick her ass?”

“Aye aye wifey,” you giggled with a mock salute and a quick peck to her lips.

Your wife rolled her eyes, “It’s a wonder I married you.”

*^~^*

The next day you and Yelena were putting up Christmas decorations around the compound. You were dancing around the halls in your favorite Christmas sweater singing happily.

“Dashing through the snow

In a one-horse open sleigh

Peter’s on the go

Laughing all the way

Bells on Fanny ring

Making Tony fight

Wanda wants to flip a coin

And sing this song tonight

Jingle bells, Clinton smells

Banner laid an egg

Ant mobile lost a wheel

And Loki got away

Hey!”

“That was very nice, y/n, now how about something from White Christmas?” Handing you a cup of hot cocoa topped with whipped cream.

No can do, boo. Only one performance per Christmas season,” sitting beside her on the sofa.

You both took a small sip of the chocolate beverage, the steam still rising hypnotically off the mug.

“You know, one of mom’s pigs is named Clinton.” Yelena grinned sheepishly.

“Really? That’s funny, I only know Alexi,” slurping some of the whipped cream off the top of your hot cocoa.

“Mom named Alexi, then she asked if Natasha and I would do the honors of naming the other two. Clinton was the poser’s choice.”

“I can’t believe Nat never told me. What name did you choose?” You took another sip of your beverage.

“Sir Francis Bacon.”

You almost choke on your hot cocoa, as you sputter and it rolls down your chin. “Oh my God. That’s adorable! You’ll have to point out which is which when we go to your parents house for Christmas next week.”

“You’ve got some whipped cream on your cheek.” Leaning over and licking it off.

“Oh my God! Who are you, Fanny?! I don’t know where your tongue has been! Ick!! Get some hot water, get some disinfectant, get some iodine!” You jumped up and ran to the bathroom as Yelena lapsed into giggles and fell on the floor.

*^~^*

The next few days are a splendor of Christmas activities. You had just settled down on the sofa wrapped in your favorite blanket to watch The Family Stone with the rest of the team when you noticed you were missing someone.

“Where’s Yelena?”

“In my lab,” Tony replied, tossing popcorn up in the air and catching it in his mouth.

“Umm, why?” Slightly confused.

“Blondie wanted a private space to work on a project. I told her she could use the lab as long as she didn’t joyride any of the suits.”

“Yelena in your lab with unlimited access to nanotechnology.” Nat pondered, grabbing two Christmas cookies and offering you one before snuggling up beside you in your blanket ball.

“Go down there and ask her if she wants to watch the movie,” you said, throwing popcorn across the room at Kate.

“Why me?” The young archer asked.

“Because you’re closer, and she’s starting to freak me out,” you reasoned.

“I wouldn’t worry about it. FRIDAY has an eye on her.” Tony said.

*^~^*

You awoke at Melina and Alexi’s on Christmas morning to the wonderful smell of Cinnamon Rolls and coffee. You agreed to do Secret Santas with your wife’s family this year. You and Natasha were wearing your matching Christmas pajamas ready to exchange presents, but Yelena was unusually eager and insisted on going first.

“I’m so excited! Mama, I was your Secret Santa this year and I wanted to try my hand at a homemade gift,” Yelena said, grabbing Melina’s tablet from the counter and tapping a few buttons on the touchscreen. “Come on in, boys!”

The door opened and all three of Melina’s pigs toddled into the house. As the three swine rounded the corner, you were greeted with the sight of each one wearing a custom-crocheted vest. Red on Alexi, Purple on Clinton, and Orange on Sir Francis Bacon. Each vest was expertly crafted and adorned with their name. Piggy prestige at its finest.

“Surprise, Mama! Now, not only will the piggies be warm in the winter, but they are stylish individuals with lots of pockets!”

“The pigs are wearing vests,” Nat deadpanned. You squeezed her hand with a smile, a silent plea to be nice.

“Not vests, sestra. Pests! Piggy vests. An invention of my own creation.” Yelena corrected. “Just call me the next Tony Stark.”

“The pigs are wearing Pests,” you revised with a giggle.

Thank you so much, sweetheart! They are wonderful. You know, I always thought they needed some sort of clothing. The winters are so harsh in Russia, and they certainly deserve something special.” Melina declared, planting a kiss on her younger daughter’s cheek.

“Alexi has the best Pest! Look at him, girls. He looks just like the Red Guardian. Ready to take on Captain America.” Alexi added, petting his namesake.

“Oh my God, it’s like living in a Dr. Seuss book,” Nat joked.

“I didn’t know you knew how to crochet?” Turning to your best friend.

“I didn’t. No, no… Kate Bishop does though. She taught me. It only took $100 for the yarn and supplies, which I stole from Stark, and a promise to never show up in the middle of the night again unless it’s an emergency.”

“That’s where you were sneaking out to at all hours of the day and night?” Surprise written all over your face.

“Of course, where did you think I was going?” Yelena asked.

“Undercover, the Multiverse, I don’t know!” Turning beat red the longer she looked at you. “You were scaring the crap out of everyone.”

“Ha! That is funny. You are so funny, y/n.” She placed her hands on yours and Natasha’s shoulders. “Now, I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but by New Year’s Eve, a couple of people in this room are going to be stylish individuals as well!” Wrapping you both in a warm group hug.

Natasha looked over at you behind Yelena’s back, and you couldn’t help but smile. Merry Christmas, indeed.

#yelena belova #natasha romanoff x reader #red guardian #melina vostokoff #fluff #mcu #the avengers #wanda maximoff #tony stark #kate bishop

[therapycat21]

All Right Now Epilogue

Oh my heart, it is officially over! but I will still be writing blurbs about them! much love, TherapyCat21 >;;< I hope you all enjoyed!!!!!

Travis Kelce x Famous!Reader Description: The reader catches the eye of famous footballer Travis.

Warnings: None

Social Media AU

3 Years Later

Exactly Three years today, since the wedding and everything has been over the moon great since, my documentary came out and it was an absolute hit, everyone loved the authenticity and the heartbreak to it it was amazing to see all of the love. Travis is still playing football for the Chiefs and has been doing so good.

But anyhow, so far everything has been great, there was amazing feedback after the announcement of the wedding but of course the negative is sitting there to but other then that it’s been great. We have celebrated Thanksgiving all together and Christmas is in the next two days and Travis and I have been cleaning and decorating like crazy since we offered to host this year. 

“Hey babe? How much did santa’s sleigh cost?” Travis asks me from where he is fixing the christmas decorations. I look after to see the smirk on his face, knowing where this is going “I don’t know babe, what?” I ask sarcastically, he has been making corny christmas jokes the past few days. He can barely tell the rest of the joke as he is giggling “absolutely nothing, it was on the house” still weezing froom his own joke, I can’t help but giggle because of the reaction it was giving him. 

“You are so corny but I love it” I laugh.

Christmas Day

“Are you sure you placed the plates right on the table? Remember the big colorful Christmas one goes on the bottom and the small one with the reindeer goes on top with the utensils” I explain already out of breath. I get an obnoxious loud groan in response “Baby, how many times do I need to tell you, everything is and has been placed exactly how you want, the plates, the lights, that little Christmas village on the mantel, everything” he reassures me. Travis walks over placing his big warm hands on my shoulders “Breath baby, I promise everything is gonna be amazing you don’t have anything to worry about, I promise” I melt into him subconsciously pulling him into a hug.

I give a deep sigh “thank you, I’m sorry, it’s just everyone is coming over here this year and I don’t wanna mess it up, it’s my first time hosting something as big as this holiday and I want it to be perfect.” I tell him, He rubs my back comfortingly, kissing the top of my head “And it will be” he says before we hear the doorbell, I can feel my stomach drop from anxiety and ring my hands to try and release the tension “Okay, Let’s do this”. He gives me a nod before placing one last kiss on the top of my head before heading to open the door and welcome the giant Kelce/L/n family.

 Dinner

“This ham is absolutely amazing y/n” Donna says from her seat at the table. I look up from plate blushing under the appreciation. “Thank you so much, I was stressed making sure it was absolutely perfect for everyone” I reply, everyone nods “it’s so good, we gotta take some home tonight” my mom says with what looks like a proud smile on her face. We go back to eating before I see Trav grabs his cup and stand up, gaining the attention of the table. 

He clears his throat “I just wanna give a quick toast to everyone here, I wanna tell you all that I love you and it has been an amazing year and I can’t wait for the next, I wanna tell Y/n that I absolutely adore you and everything you do or have done for me and for everyone and I admire you so much baby, and to my momma, we love you so much, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasnt for you, Jason and dad and I’m so grateful to everyone at the table, I love you” he raises his glass after he finishes. The girls aww and the table laughs from the adorable moment. I look over to Travis before reaching over and giving him a quick loving kiss before plopping back into my seat.

We continue dinner, laughing and joking around before I bring out the homemade hot cocoa and Travis turns on the fire, we all move to sit on the couches by the fire to relax more before we get into presents. But of course since there are kids here they are very inpatient little humans.

We see the two younger girls run into the living room right to Kylie and Jason jumping up and down “we wanna open presents!” the repeat before Kylie looks over to Travis and I for agreement, we nod as the girls cheer before running to sit on the floor by the tree. “Okay, okay, let me and your mom finds and separate all the presents okay?” I tell them as we start separating the gifts by person.

The girls open all of their gifts, already opening some of the toys and playing with them on the floor. We had gotten my parents a nice new kitchen set with organizers (mom has been on organization tiktok for a while), Travis had gotten his parents some new handmade coffee mugs, we had also gotten engraved cups for Jason and Ky too.

Donna handmade a new pair of sweaters for me and Travis with our names on them (Weasley style lol!) After everyone settled down after opening their gifts it was only me and Travis last. Travis jumped up, running over to the tree to grab his gift “My turn! Here you go baby.” he tells me handing me the gift box. I smile at him before ripping the wrapping off and opening the unnamed box. It was a pair of keys, I look up confused before he gestured me to stand up and guide everyone to the driveway. He opens the door, and there in all of it’s glory is the dream car I've wanted since I was a teenager. “Oh my god” is all I can say, I’m starstruck by its beauty especially with all of my favorite flowers flowing out of it. I turn back to him jumping into his embrace plastering his face in kisses and repeated I love you’s.

He lets me go, softly putting me back onto the ground “now there’s no way you can top that” he says jokingly, I give him an irridiculous look “You wanna bet?” I ask smirking before nudging everyone back into the living room.

“Okay I’m gonna need everyone to sit down, especially you mama, and mama donna” I get a scared look in return from both mothers. I place Travis directly in the center of the couch before reaching behind the tree and finding my hidden present. I walk back over and softly hand him the box “all I’m gonna say is I love you with everything I have” I say softly before giving him a chaste kiss on the cheek. He nods softly before popping the box lid open, he barely has the box lid off before he gasps “no way” is all he can say before dropping the box next to him on the couch and jumping up to pull me into a hug plastering my cheeks with kisses.

“What, what is it?” I hear my mom and donna say before I look over Travis shoulder to see Kylie had grabbed the box and looked at me with tears, “are you serious?” she asks. I nod with watery eyes and smile. She looks over at the rest of the family before holding up the newborn-sized Chiefs onesie.

All I can hear is everyone gasping and crying in joy before my attention is brought back to Travis “I can’t believe this.” He says with tears falling down his cheeks “Are you okay, are you happy?” I ask smiling at him. He nods excitedly a smile breaking out on his face “Are you kidding, baby I don’t think I’ve ever been happier, oh my god”  I laugh at him before breaking our embrace and our family starts to congratulate us, my mom, donna, and Kylie crying, I can even see a few tears forming in Jason's eyes before Jason says “now you know what this baby’s first word is gonna be right?” he smirks, we look at him before he says 

“All right now”

It is officially over! but there will be blurbs and more if requested but other than that. Thank you to everyone who has liked, reblogged, or commented on this series showing love, I absolutely adore you all and appreciate you all. Thank you!!!

Much Love,

TherapyCat21

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Taglist:

@whitemanswhore3

@bxdbxtxh15

@cixrosie

@kkrenae

@the-untamed-soul

@calirindo

@armystay89

@hotwheels1108

@awatt31

@bobthe-turmpetman29

@goldenharrysworld

@chimchimmarie

@jmamas92

@itsdesiree86

@fanficfanatic15

#travis kelce #travis x reader #allrightnowseries #kansas city chiefs #famous!reader

[hazelsmirrorball]

The Red Container

summary: Jason has a love hate relationship with another gotham vigilante they only way to fix their relationship is with thanksgiving leftovers parings: Jason Todd x Fem! Reader warnings : none authors note: Two updates in one day? What’s happening to me? Anyways, Hope you guys had an amazing day, this will be several parts so hope you enjoy!

The cold air consumed her body while she jumped from roof to roof. She tried to keep herself warm but it was impossible. Even though she was doing so much movement she could still feel her  body getting freezing cold. When she finally found the person she was desperately searching for, she  smiled and felt her body get completely warm. Y/n slowly walked up to him hiding behind her back the surprise you had for him. She took small steps attempting to sneak up on him.

“You do know I can feel you’re here, right? There’s no need to sneak up on me. You’re not that discrete” he said into the darkness, his tone rougher than usual.

“Happy Thanksgiving my dear Red Hood” she responded sarcastically while sitting next to him on the edge of one of Gotham's buildings.

“ I didn’t even know Thanksgiving was today” He muttered while looking at the view in front of him, not even glancing at her once. Which was the complete opposite to what she was doing, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“Well, remind me to get you a calendar for christmas then” She said with a giggle

“Wait, didn’t you say you had a party tonight an…”

“You listen to what I say?” She asked while bumping her elbow on his side. God, she wished she could see his face.

“As I was saying… Don’t you have a place to be instead of annoying me?”

“Well actually I do but, I decided to bring you something” She took the item from behind her back and handed it to him.

“What 's this?” he asked, looking down at the container she gave him.

“You told me a few weeks ago that you didn’t have a place to spend thanksgiving and since you denied and want to keep your identity a secret I decided that I should bring you some food from my house.”

Jason stayed quiet. Of course he had a place to go on thanksgiving but he decided not to, he wasn’t in the mood to be thankful for anything and he knew as soon as his family got there he would be instantly annoyed so he opted the option of going to the Wayne Manor. He also had Y/n’s offer, as much as he tried to push the girl away it was impossible. He wanted to work alone but found himself with her trailing behind him. She was nice, nice to everyone, nice to him. He didn’t want to ruin that, she was too pure for this world and everything he touched ended up being horribly wrong. So the seven times Y/n had invited him to her thanksgiving party he had said no. His main excuse being his identity, which she easily resolved by telling him she would show him her identity to make him feel more comfortable and if he still didn't feel safe he could come in his suit.Which he also denied.

“Thanks” he responded softly while turning to look at her. He wished she could look at her face to see what she was thinking.

“I expect you to review the food a one through ten and the container”

“What about it?” he asked.

“Bring it back, so I can give you more food on another occasion” She said softly

“Don’t you have other containers?” He asked

“Well, this one is special. It’s red, because you’re Red Hood. Get it?” She responded laughing hard.

“You know it's not funny when you have to explain the joke.” He responded sarcastically while rolling his eyes.

“Tough crowd. I have to go but enjoy your food, partner” Y/n responded while running away.

“We aren’t partners!” Jason yelled while looking down at the container in his hands. He slowly looked at the small note placed on top of it and smiled.

A little piece of my family for you, no one deserves to spend the holidays alone. If you don’t have anyone to spend Christmas with, you can gladly come over.

love,

your partner.

...

[masterlist]

request are open, xoxo

#Jason Todd #jason x reader #jason todd x reader #redhood #red hood #redhoodxreader #red hood x reader #jason #batfam #batfamily #batman #dc #dcimagines #dick grayson imagine #Jason Todd imagine #batman imagine #vigilante shit #titants #young justice #robin #tim drake #Damian Wayne #nightwing x reader #nightwing #red robin #imagines #imagine #one shot #masterlist #request

[thewritingofspencerrose]

A Grid Thanksgiving

Logan Sargeant x OC

"And that closes up this wrap up for Vegas, we'll see you all next week in Abu Dhabi," an official closes, glancing around the room for someone to take the microphone from him, Logan Sargeant of all people being the one to do so, stepping on to the stage in an unusual move.

"Uh, if the grid could stick around for just a couple minutes that'd be great," the Williams driver requests, drivers left and right sharing looks.

And they wait, the crews and principles exiting the room before Logan, now without the microphone, has everyone crowd around.

"What's up kid?" Daniel is the one to ask, one brow raised at the American driver.

"I actually was sent on a mission from the missus-"

"You have a missus?" Max asks, the idea setting in over the last few races that he may not be all that young anymore.

Logan chuckles, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck with a nod. "Yeah, I'm going to try to not take that as an insult."

"That's not what he meant," Charles corrects, waving his hand. "You just do not seem as the type to settle down young and we haven't seen any woman with you around the paddock or online."

Logan knows they're right, but that doesn't change the fact that he's tired of always experiencing these assumptions.

"Welp, for eight months now we've been married, her names Brooke, and she sent me to work today with one request."

"Which was?" Oscar questions, expecting something outside the box from the woman who somehow manages his close friend.

"If you all out be available and on location next Tuesday, we've rented a rental apartment rather than a hotel room, and she was hoping you all and your significant others may be willing to join us for Thanksgiving."

"Isn't that typically on Thursdays?" Lando asks, already knowing the answer but hoping for something more.

"It is, but with the race and everything we won't be able to make it home to be with our families, so she got her heart set on cooking a traditional thanksgiving meal for all of you," Logan explains, knowing the request may be a stretch in a lot of places. As much as they respect one another, they are also all still competitors, even if Max and Red Bull had already won. "Its just an open invite, she just really loves the concept of taking a day to appreciate what you're grateful for and keeps saying she's grateful for all of you, even though she only knows you two," He finishes explaining, gesturing to Alex and Oscar. "And none of you have to come, absolutely don't feel like you've got to."

"When will you need numbers by?" Max speaks up, giving the boy a rare grin for a competitor. "I'll have to see if Kelly and P will be traveling with me."

And Logan beams, because at the very least, at least a few drivers are considering the offer.

"Sunday or Monday, Brie isn't planning to shop for anything until Monday."

Max nods, a simple gesture to wrap up the impromptu meeting.

——————————————————————————————————

"Baby, you said to invite the grid, why are you so surprised?" Lo questions with a chuckle, making me want to throw my whisk at him/

"Because I wasn't expecting a good chunk of them to text saying yes! How does Lewis Hamilton even have my number?!"

"He asked me for it so I sent it in the driver's chat," He explains simply, taking a finished dish from my hands to the kitchen island that we set up as a buffet. "Who ended up being available?"

"Carlos, Charles and Alex, Lando, Oscar and Lily, Lewis, Max with Kelly and P, Pierre and Kika, Yuki, George and Carmen, and Alex and Lily," I list smiling brightly at how bustling this home will be in no more than half an hour. "Valterri and the Haas men texted saying they would love to come but they were going home for a beat instead of straight here," I explain, scooping the whipped topping into the bag and twisting it shut.

"Wow, half the grid, good job Baby," Lo compliments, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my temple.

"You're just lucky I didn't invite your boss just to get more baby snuggles," I can't help but jest, but he doesn't look remotely upset at the idea, smiling with a look in his eyes that I just can't place. "What's that look for?"

"You act like I wouldn't love to see you wondering around with a baby, although I'd prefer it to be ours," He admits, making my heart soar. It's before I can answer however that the doorbell rings, calling him away from a conversation we've had many times.

"Brie!" Lily exclaims as Oscar quietly follows her in, Lando following his teammate.

"Lils, it's been too long," I greet her with a hug, pulling both of the Mclaren drivers into hugs as well. "You need to come to more races, I'm always lonely."

"And what am I, chopped liver?" Kelly asks, announcing her little family's arrival, Max clapping Lo on the back as her little girl runs into my legs.

"B!"

"P! I've missed you sweetie," I coo, pulling her onto my hip and kissing her cheek, hugging Kelly and Max.

"P, what do we say to Brie and Logan?" Max prompts, smiling softly at his little girl and I.

"Thank you for inviting us to your American holiday!" She thanks, kissing my cheek before fist bumping Lo.

"I am so happy you all could come," I assure, looking around the progressively filling kitchen. "I love that we're all able to be together for one of my favorite holidays."

She smiles brightly, Max coming up to take her from me with the reasoning that I should be greeting guests as Alex and his Lily walk in, the Lily's being introduced.

And I can't help but smile around me, my heart warm as Lo joins me, wrapping me in his arms.

"Is this everything you wanted?" He asks, words whispering in my ear as he leans on my shoulder.

"Everything and more Lo, everything and more."

#original character #the writing of spencer rose #formula 1 fanfiction #formula 1 #logan sargeant #ls2 #williams f1 #sports fanfiction #f1 fanfiction

[clumsiestgiantess]

Chapter twelve of the Other-world Universe; Alexis returns after four years of time away. How much has changed? (tw various hints of abuse)(disaster is afoot)

[Who all this was for]

For the rest of the summer, I focused my attention on other important things, mainly getting into college.  Next school year would be my senior year, and I’d already narrowed down my top picks.  The summer dragged on, but I was more determined than ever to avoid the other-world.  For once, I did not give in to temptation and visit it for anything. I kept myself busy with various small summer projects instead.

Of these, my favorite was a silly little shark plushie I tried to make myself.  Its proportions were very squished and it bulged a bit at the front, but I thought it looked awfully cute.  However, I began to lose interest even in the little projects.  I was almost relieved when school started up again.  High school easily distracted me more than any of my summer plans had.  Though every once and a while I would catch myself wondering about the other-world — whether Erica was doing alright.  I’d always disregard those thoughts once I began longing to return.  They often disappeared as quickly as they emerged.  Once I remembered how I’d left, there really was no reason to go back.  Erica was probably fine.  She finally had a life completely separate from me, and any harm I might cause.

School was.. well, school.  Tough, but nothing I couldn’t do with enough practice.  Before I knew it, volleyball season had returned and things started looking up.  I actually enjoyed my new routine.  It was certainly a lot less stressful dealing with only one world instead of two.  By the end of the year I’d been accepted into one of the colleges I had looked at over summer break.  Time flew after that.  A bucket list formed of things I wanted to do before I left home, and I constantly strived to complete everything on it.  I was anxious but content, and dare I say happy.  Before I knew it, graduation day had arrived.  Suddenly, I could barely recall the other-world anymore.  After a large graduation party, and weeks of preparing and packing, I officially left home.  Adult life was more difficult than it was made out to be, but I managed.  I mean, technically I was still in school.  

I tried to even out the stress of assignments and due dates with a steady relationship.  There was this nagging ache I'd feel from time to time whenever I got bored or lonely that needed to be filled.  However, none of the guys I'd ever dated felt quite right.  Something was missing.  I had no clue what it could be.  Some of the relationships I’d been in had come pretty close to perfect, yet that small ache was never quite satisfied.  So in the end, I never stuck around.

It was the week before Thanksgiving, three years after my high school graduation, when I got an unexpected call from my dad.  He and Liam were cleaning out the house and trashing a bunch of unnecessary things.  They’d even rented a dumpster and everything.  Dad asked me if I could come over during my break and help them move the heavier things out.  Of course, I agreed.  I was happy to go back home, I had lots of good memories there, and thanks to the holiday, my grandparents were there too — the whole family.  

Everyone celebrated the small family reunion upon my return.  My first day home, I stayed up late talking with my brother and reminiscing.  The next day, after sleeping in late for the first time that month, I got to work.  All morning I was preoccupied with moving an old sitting room setup.  The furniture was heavier than it looked.  I was barely able to drag everything into the dumpster in the driveway before throwing in the towel and stopping for lunch.  

My next task was removing a flimsy ping pong table from the storage room in the basement.  As tired as I was, the ping pong table was made of old plastic, so it wouldn’t be very hard for me to lift.  While I walked downstairs with my father, he gestured vaguely to the main room of the basement.  “We’ll probably be dumping the playtable too.  I got Liam to clean all the crap off of it so we can trash it.”  He shook his head, “I don’t think that thing’s been touched in years.”  Just then, my grandmother yelled down to Dad.  She was having trouble with the automatic coffee machine, trying to figure out how to make tea with it.  “I’ll be back when I can,” he sighed, “This might be a while.”  He disappeared upstairs, leaving me in the basement alone.  

The table, having been mentioned, suddenly appeared in the forefront of my mind.  It was like visiting old ruins, forgotten by the world — a piece of my childhood I’d forced out of my mind, back from the dead.  As if in a trance, I walked slowly over to its edge.  It was completely empty.  The city and everything else I remembered was gone.  Of course it’s all missing; I’ve been away for years.  Still, its blank surface was unnerving to me.  It didn’t help that I could still feel the strange static sensation that had first drawn me to it.  That feels like a lifetime ago.

I glanced at the stairs, then back to the table uncertainly.  The age-old question returned from the depths of my mind.  Should I go back?  It’s been so long, but I probably shouldn’t risk it, right?  I hesitated for only a moment.  A strangely familiar feeling overcame me, and I was in the other-world again.  It was uncanny how little things had changed there.  The valley I always appeared in still seemed completely untouched.  Well, it’s only been four years.  What did I expect?  Honestly, I expected it not to work.  I had doubts that I’d actually been to this place, but this world is very clearly still here, as real as it ever was.  

My nostalgia trip which started at home continued into the other-world.  I meandered through the old mountain range and followed its edge down to the subdivisions and the city.  So much had happened since I was last there.  I was only eighteen when I left.  I'm twenty-two now, closer to twenty-three. Yet, the familiarity of the other-world brought me right back to older days.  Memories I'd long since suppressed came back to me in a sudden rush.  

Purposefully, I’d tried my hardest to forget what happened on my last day, but once I passed by the hidden lake, the weight of what I'd recognized was too much for me to dismiss.  I hurt so many people here.  Why do I want to come back again?  Now I remembered why I left.  I'm too dangerous for this world; I don't belong here.  I'll just check to see if the city still looks like how I remember it, then I'll leave.  I'll ask Dad to throw away the table today so this world can't tempt me anymore.

Sure of my decision, I walked on without a single glance back. However, when I neared the beginning of civilization, I stopped dead in my tracks.  I gagged on the heavy scent of gasoline in the air as I gazed out over the little houses.  The whole neighborhood was shredded, like the aftermath of a tornado or hurricane.  Many of the houses were completely destroyed, and upon closer observation, even the ones left completely unscathed had long been abandoned.  Many of the peoples’ possessions were still left in their houses.  They hadn’t even had time to bring everything with them.

Looking out at the horizon, I saw even from a distance that a similar devastation had taken place in the city too.  One of the signature pronged buildings had collapsed, damaging the skyline.  What happened here!?  “Oh no,” I gasped aloud, “Did this happen because the table was cleaned off?”  It can’t be, I realized, or everything would be completely gone.  The table and this world are not the same.  Some of these houses aren’t even damaged; that isn’t the reason.  I was utterly baffled.  The amount of mass destruction was terrifying to see.

So if this wreckage wasn’t caused by the table, then what happened?  I looked around, distraught.  “Hello?” I called, “ Is anyone here?”  I had turned back from invisibility; there was really no need for secrecy anymore.  In all honesty, I would rather catch someone shrieking in fear of me than finding no one at all.  “Hello?” I called again.  Still there was no response.  Stepping through the wreckage, I slowly made it to the city, stopping every few feet to call out again.  Each time I was met with silence.  As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a single person left.  A single living person, that is. An unnerving amount of damaged and shredded corpses were scattered about the ground almost everywhere, sending chills down my arms.

The silent tension grew as I walked the abandoned streets.  I used to have to be intangible just to be nearby.  Now I can walk right through. I meandered up and down rows of empty buildings and roads, an unnerving static humm in the air.  There wasn't a single soul in sight.  Where did everyone go?  I don't understand, how could everyone just disappear? There has to be someone left! In my rapidly upsetting state, I returned to invisibility.  I wasn’t quite sure why, other than some vague gut feeling.

After walking through the abandoned city streets for some time, I began to feel a strange connection.  As if I subconsciously knew I needed to be there somewhere.  I invisibly stalked the ruined streets until I came to the place I was drawn to.  I'd never been in that part of the city before.  It was always too crowded for me to ever get close, but with everyone gone it became an eerie and desolate wasteland.  

Shouts echoed through empty halls and a door suddenly swung open behind me.  People!  I turned in excitement.  A rough looking gang burst through the open doorway, and I was instantly disappointed.  There were about five or six men filing roughly down the stairs; each one carrying an impressive array of weapons with them.  They had everything from simple crowbars and home-made weapons to rifles and pistols.  One even hauled a machine gun on his back.  Why was I taken here?  Who are these people?  Where's everyone else?

One final man marched out of the building.  I recognized him instantly.  John, Erica's awful ex-lover whom I'd thankfully never officially met.  He was holding some kind of metal dog chain, the other end of which was still inside the building.  I was instantly repelled by the sight of him.  I hate this man.  Out of all the people I could have found, why him?  Why did HE survive whatever apocalypse happened while I was gone?  

I watched him saunter down the stairs, and as the men flanked him on either side, I realized he was the leader of this post-apocalyptic gang.  John yanked on the chain he'd been dragging, and I readily expected some scary breed of dog to come rushing out.  However, that was not the case.  I watched in sheer horror as an even more familiar face was yanked into the open, gagged and bound.  

Erica was practically thrown down the stairway outside, landing in a heap in front of the other gang members, all of whom began to laugh cruelly.  What in the actual fucking hell!?  Every so often I would get nightmares of Erica or the destruction I’d caused.  She would always be yelling at me, my own size, hunting me down to hurt me for what I’d done to her — face blurry with the years of forgetting.  Sometimes I would be trapped in a dark room, other times I’d be running through the forest by the lake.  If I hadn’t woken in fright by then, I would eventually come across the crushed corpses, and then I’d wake up.  It was so horribly surreal to find her in such an awful situation when she’d been my tormentor for so long.

The chain and Erica were roughly tied to a streetlamp just outside the door.  That pole in particular was caked in dried blood.  "So much for your escape plans, little girl," John remarked coldly, prompting more laughter from the other men.  "Did you really think you could get away from me that easily?"  He was leaning in close to Erica's face, forcing her to look at him with an iron grip on her throat.  Suddenly, she lashed out and kicked him square in the groin.  John fell backwards in pain and called out to the others.  "Fuck!  Give her hell!"  Every man raised their weapon.  Those who had short range weapons surrounded her, and those with guns took aim.

"NO!"  In a split second, I leapt forward, reaching out in front of Erica to defend her.  Though she’d been torturing me in dreams for years, I knew that it was only in my head.  I couldn’t stand by and watch her get hurt.  I rushed blindly into the side of the building, sending everything crashing down around me.  Thankfully, Erica was spared the brute of the avalanche I'd created, having been shielded from its force by my hands.  Some of the men were not as lucky.  A good half of them had been buried under the rubble, including John.  From the corner of my eye I watched his shocked expression as clouds of dust billowed around him.  The last I’d seen of him was that very face being torn apart by debris before a wall of cinder brick collapsed on top of him.

To the remaining men, I appeared as if from the air — a towering shadow of an angry behemoth, obscured by the cloud of rising dust off the crushed rubble.  They all looked up at me in fear, and for once I was delighted by it.  "YOU'RE ALL DEAD!" I screamed, reaching for them.  A few tried to fight back, but most of them just ran.  Someone even shot at me, but the bullets barely stung more than a bug bite would.

I killed them all easily.  Too easily.  Each thug was crushed unrecognizably between muscle and rubble.  In sheer anger, I picked up a couple men and hurled them at the side of a building.  Another, the final escapee, I tore apart in fury; like you would tear apart a bad drawing or unwelcome notice.

After the last man had been finished off, I screamed aggressively out into the barren streets.  The thugs' punishment had been too quick, I had nothing left to inflict my wrath upon now besides warped corpses.  All my anger over Erica’s captors, as well as my actions in this world and their awful consequences, spilled out into a blind rage.

Instead of searching for more bodies, I took out my anger on another building.  It toppled to the ground in a groaning broken sound that only further fueled my wild adrenaline-filled rampage.  I kicked and clawed, beating it down mercilessly until I was bloody and bruised.  My chest heaved with heavy breaths as I finally began to feel the pain lashing out.  Legs going numb, I fell to my knees in the center of the destruction. My anger subsided just as quickly as it emerged.

Easing out of my fog, I remembered who it was for.  I turned, unsure.  Erica was still chained to the streetlamp, fighting desperately against her bindings.  I rushed to her side and she went completely still, eyes going wide.  Reaching out, I carefully took the chains between my thumb and index finger, crushing them until they snapped.  The metal fell onto the concrete with a dull thud.  Instantly, Erica struggled to undo the rest of her bindings.  As she freed herself, I surveyed the damage I'd done, recognizing that I'd proven yet again how destructive and horrible I could be.

I heard more chains fall to the ground, and I carefully lay myself down to look Erica in the eyes.  It had been so long, and she looked awful.  Bloody, bruised; as messed up as I was, she looked inherently worse.  The moment she was free, I began an apology.  This was by far my worst episode yet.  At least the other times I’d hurt people I'd done so by accident.  Not that it mattered to her. 

"I'm so sorry, I-'' she didn't let me finish.  Erica raced forward and grasped my open hand, desperately sobbing into it.  I realized shortly afterwards that this was her attempt at a hug.  My massive size made things a bit more complicated, but I delicately scooped her up and held her to my chest.  Erica continued to cry; I could feel her clinging tightly to me.  An angry burning feeling rose in my throat, and I pressed my eyes shut to keep tears from seeping out.  For what seemed like an eternity, we sat together.  Both of us were locked in an embrace that neither of us wanted to let go of.

Eventually I could feel Erica's grip loosening, and I carefully placed her back on solid ground, giving her a moment to gain her balance and stand.  "I missed you so much," Erica whispered hoarsely.  "I didn't think you were coming back."  She'd missed me?  She wanted me back?  Of course, I realized, my slight torture of controlling minds to make her life better was likely a paradise compared to whatever hell she's gone through without me.  

"You're ok," I told her softly, "You're alright.  They can't hurt you now."  I whispered sweet nothings to her as she crawled back into my outstretched palm, just like the day I'd left her.  I stood ever so slowly, cupping her close.  "Don't leave," Erica begged quietly, half asleep.  Her drowsiness worried me; it was very unnatural, likely brought about by drugs or whatnot, but she needed the rest either way.  "I won't leave you," I assured her.  Erica nodded drowsily, then passed out, her body falling limply across my palm.

The sight of Erica's forlorn form laying in my hand forced forwards the tears I'd been trying to hold back.  My eyes began to water, and tears slid silently down my cheeks, but I managed to cast them away with a swipe of my free hand.  How did this happen?  What's going on!?  The city is destroyed, abandoned, and overrun.  Where is everyone else? Is this really all that’s left? It can’t be.

I was sure Erica would answer my questions eventually, so I headed to the cliffside where the mansion once stood.  Erica's house had been completely demolished in whatever event had taken the rest of the houses there. Despite my being gone for years, the now barren mountainside still felt like home.  I watched my step where I walked; it was a force of habit, though many of the buildings around me had long been torn apart.  

When I reached the cliffside, I carefully placed Erica down on a rubble-free part of the lawn.  I dug through the remains of her old house and found a blanket that was only a little worse for wear.  I shook it out and draped it over her sleeping form.  An echo of a memory flashed before my eyes like deja-vu.

My heartstrings were pulled taunt as I watched Erica laying on the cliffside where her house, that I'd bought her, lay in ruins.  She looked different now.  Older, for sure, and her hair had grown out from her favorite neck-short cut, but she also looked a lot more worn down.  It was fairly obvious why, but at the same time, it made no sense.  Why would she go back to seeing John?  How could he get away with doing something like this?  However, judging by the ruined state of the landscape around me, I assumed that laws were likely a lot more lenient in the apocalyptic aftermath of whatever disaster had struck the other-world.  I badly wanted Erica to wake up and talk to me, so she could help me understand what had happened.  

Solemnly, I stood at the cliff's edge, watching valiantly over Erica’s sleeping form.  Was she always this small?  My hand hovered briefly over her for a moment before she shifted in her sleep and I quickly backed off. I remembered the people of the other-world were little, but she was only a bit taller than my pinky finger. 

Not knowing when exactly Erica would wake up, I took the chance I had to rush into my world and grab some food. I haphazardly threw together a quick sandwich and grabbed a few things for the road.  Both my father and grandmother were in the kitchen at the time, confused at my rushed gathering of supplies, but I was in too much of a hurry to come up with a decent excuse.  I only worked faster to avoid any more attention and returned to the basement.  I had no idea when I would be back, so I left dealing with my family for later.  

Gathered items and shrinking box in hand, I quickly returned to the other-world, only to find myself right in front of Erica's mansion.  I almost walked right into the rock face. Oh shit, I can go to more places than the field?  I guess I’ve never tried.  That would’ve been useful to know before I left.

Thankfully, Erica hadn't moved since my pit stop, so I settled into a more reasonable pace and shrank a few items for her to have whenever she woke up.  Her unnatural drowsiness kept bugging me, though.  For the next few hours I spent waiting for Erica to wake, I frequently checked her pulse and breathing, just in case.  What I would've done if either had stopped I don't know, but thankfully it never came to that.  With nothing else to do, I addressed my own wounds.  Most of which I'd given myself in anger.  The bullet holes were actually quite painful.  I knew I should get the metal out of my skin, and I had preemptively grabbed a first-aid kit from the basement.  I removed the tweezers from the small box and set to work.  

It was hard going; the metal pieces were miniscule, and I could barely latch onto them with the tweezers.  Once the bullets were all finally removed, I was left with raw gaping holes in my skin where they'd hit.  I sucked in a pained breath of air and began to bandage them up.  Taking a tiny bottle of rubbing alcohol from the kit, I stepped away from the cliffside to pour it over my cuts before I finished wrapping them. While I was at it, I poured some water over my hands to wash off the blood and grime from the city.

When I returned, I saw Erica’s little form sitting up on the cliffside and I ran over in an instant.  I was starting to get worried she might not wake up.  She stood shocked at my sudden appearance.  "Alexis?"  Her eyes shone hopefully for a brief moment, then they dulled.  "This has to be a dream," Erica whispered, "You left," she stated, pointing at me, "I know you did."  After looking me over, she shook her head and sighed longingly.  "God, you're so gorgeous this time.  This is torture; I know you're not real," she grumbled.  "I'll probably be chained to the wall somewhere when I wake up."  Did she just call me gorgeous?  And how often does she get chained to a wall!?  I stared down at Erica, who was pacing back and forth across the cliff edge in front of me, ranting about the likelihood of everything being a fever dream.

"But," I interjected, slightly confused, "I am real.  Erica, I'm back.  I know I shouldn't be, but I'm here.  What happened?  Where is everyone?"  She only laughed and brushed me off with a dismissive wave.  "Yeah, like you don't already know," Erica chuckled sarcastically.  "I'm sure the real Alexis wouldn't give two shits about this place.  She's off in her own world — probably forgot about me."  Saying this, Erica stopped pacing and her expression fell.  She turned from me, and I suddenly felt very melancholy about disappearing for so long.  How do I get her to listen to me?  Usually in movies someone needs to feel pain before they know they're not dreaming.  I won't hurt her, but maybe…

Tentatively leaning over the cliffside, I reached out and brushed her arm gently with the pad of my finger.  I couldn’t think of much else I could try, but maybe that would be enough to snap her out of it.  At my touch, Erica stiffened and slowly turned to me, eyes widening with recognition.  She dazedly reached out with her free hand and gently placed it over mine, still hovering by her side.  Finally, she seemed to realize that our meeting wasn't her imagination.  

"Is this..?  Are you..?"  Try as she might, she couldn't finish a sentence without choking up.  I was filled with ecstatic joy now that she recognized me.  A smile spread lopsided across my face.  "I'm here.  It's me," I assured her.  She grasped my hand in a fierce wave of emotion before stumbling backwards out of my grasp.  "But.. how?  Why?  You're here!  You're actually here, holy shit!" she yelled, overjoyed.  "You asshole," Erica chided suddenly, "Where the hell have you been?  I waited weeks, months even, and you didn't come back.  Then the world went to shit and I thought: 'for sure she'll show up to fix this', but you didn't!"  

Now she had her arms crossed, glaring up at me.  "My house was destroyed, I barely escaped with my life.  I went to John, I- fuck, I don't know why.  I shouldn't have, but I didn't know he'd gone batshit insane!  I-  he.."  Erica quieted, thinking back to who knows what.  Eventually, she held up her wrists in silent explanation.  They were rubbed raw where the chains had been, and I shuddered at the sight.  "Where were you?  I needed you!"  

I looked down at her indignantly.  Although I did feel sorry for her, I couldn't help it.  "You told me to leave and never come back!  I was traumatized by what I'd done, and I swore I would never return to this world again!" I explained in exasperation.  "I'm only here now by coincidence, and I have to leave in a week to go back to school.  I came here to say my final goodbyes before my way here gets destroyed, only to find everything in ruins, and people dead in the street!"

Erica was taken aback by this.  Her arms fell limply at her sides and her angry expression melted away.  "But you can't leave," she said solemnly, "I- I know I told you not to come back, but I didn't think you'd actually listen.  You- You never actually really left before, just distanced yourself for a while."  Erica tilted her head back to gaze up at me meaningfully.  “I honestly thought you would still come around to check up on me, and try to help out like you always do to make up for things.  You actually leaving..  That is what I told you to do, but I guess it.. it isn’t what I wanted.  It isn’t what I meant!  I just wanted you to leave me alone for a while!  I- I didn’t want you to leave for forever!  You were supposed to come back for me.”

Erica was quiet for a while, then gasped.  "That fight in the city, did that-?  That actually happened, didn't it?  He.. he’s dead?"  I nodded slowly.  Erica stilled, undoubtedly realizing the full extent of what I'd seen and what had happened.  Her face flushed and she looked away, ashamed.  I doubted she'd have wanted me to find her so helpless like that.  She was even forced to wear an awful outfit the thugs from the city had given her; if you could even call it that.  There was significantly more bear skin than fabric, but she had no other option.  Her actual clothes were likely lost to the rubble of the mansion. 

A long, heavy silence filled the air.  My mind was still reeling from the fact that she'd been waiting for me all this time.  I was so sure she never wanted to see me again.  "I remember.. in the city.." Erica whispered, barely audible.  "You said you wouldn't leave me."

I could practically feel my heart shatter at her words.  For so long I'd been trying my hardest to forget about Erica, and all along she was right here waiting for me.  To stay would mean undoing all of the progress I made moving on in life; to grow up and forget this fantasy.  But leaving would prevent any chance for me to start something new.  I wanted so badly to have Erica’s trust.  I’d broken it too many times, but now she truly needed it.

As Erica gazed up at me with gut-wrenching uncertainty, I could feel something steel up inside my chest.  Some primal, protective urge clawed its way through my mind with chilling determination.  Whatever happened to her while I was gone will not happen again.  Not on my watch.  Leaning over the cliffside, I carefully inched a finger closer until it brushed lightly against her cheek.   "Never,” I said earnestly, “I will never leave you again."  My words resounded in the soft quiet between us.  "I'll only ever go if you ask."  

Erica nodded, tearing up.  I bent down even further, resting my chin on the ground in front of her.  Hesitantly, Erica stepped closer and brought my head even lower, pressing her forehead to mine.  I held my breath as chills wrung down my spine.  We've never been this close before.  I closed my eyes; I've only ever dreamed of a moment like this, back when I had good dreams about her.  Relief swept through me in a shuddering gasp, and suddenly I was in tears.  I guess I’d never realized how much I missed being there.

I can't really lie to myself, though; I didn't miss this world nearly as much as I missed her.  "Oh god, don't cry," Erica laughed halfheartedly, "Then I'll start crying too."  I smiled as she brushed a tear off my cheek, lifting my head slightly to see her.  I couldn't help it, I blushed rose pink.  We held each other's gaze for a moment, then I sighed.  "I'm just happy to be back."  Erica nodded, and I slowly pulled away, propping up my head on my arms, smiling blissfully.  Then I caught a glimpse of the ruined mansion.  

I bolted upright.  Suddenly, all my questions came racing back to me.  "What happened here?  Where is everyone?" I asked.  “I was so worried; I came back and everything’s dead.”  Erica blinked in confusion, her smile slowly disappearing in thought.  Damn it, I didn't mean to upset her.  "You know what, nevermind.  I-  You don't have to tell me now.  Let's celebrate my return; I brought snacks!"  

"You really don't know?" Erica asked, interrupting me.  She studied me closely.  "I guess people might want to keep this a secret," she mumbled, motioning for me to come back down.  I knelt in front of her over the cliffside so we were eye to eye.  Erica fidgeted nervously with her hands, flinching as she touched the raw circles of skin on her wrists.  "Well, there's no easy way to say this, but..  I think your people have been abducting us for science…  And before you say 'that's impossible'," she added hastily just before I could say it, "I've seen it happen.  That's where everyone went.  I think.  Hopefully some of us escaped."

I was struck speechless.  Why?  How?  Did they know the secret to this world?  Obviously not, or whoever it is would be mind-controlling everyone to their will.  "You have to help us," Erica insisted suddenly, "I know you don't care about my world or anyone besides me, but..  Are you really just going to stand by and watch everything burn?"

"What?" I asked in disbelief, "I-  Why do you think that?  I care about your world!"  "Then help us,” she spat back, “If you care so much."  "I will," I said matter-of-factly.  "Great.  When the hazmat giants come back through their portal you can tell them to fuck off."  "What makes you think they'll listen to me?  Clearly they aren't very reasonable."  "You're one of them," Erica said, exasperated, "They have to listen to you."  

I sighed and sank to the ground below, trying to process everything that happened while I was gone.  I lay back on the face of the cliff.  It’s only been four years, yet it seems like a lifetime ago.  How did my world even find this one?  What are they planning to do with everyone they took?  Maybe Erica misunderstood, and the people who used to live here are just hiding somewhere.  Why haven’t I heard about anyone finding this place on the news?  It must be some top-secret government project.  Otherwise, I’m pretty sure I would’ve heard about the discovery of a tiny world.

Looking out over the wreckage of neighborhoods, I could now see the slight hints of people my own size.  Footprints in the ground and divots made by machinery suddenly became glaringly obvious.  The overpowering stench of gasoline also made a bit more sense. It was too powerful for anything other-worldian, but about average for something my own scale.

“So,” Erica prompted, “you’ll get rid of them?”  I nodded, “I’ll talk to them, find out what’s going on.”  “But you’ll get rid of them, right?” I glanced up at the top of the cliff, a few inches above me.  Erica was standing there, peering down at me while trying to keep away from the edge.  “Yeah, I’ll try.  I don’t know how well they’ll react to some random person from their own world telling them to get out, though.”  Erica shrugged, “Worth a shot.”  I nodded in agreement.  The sun was slowly sinking; it wasn’t getting dark quite yet, but it was low enough to tell the day was coming to an end.  I pulled some of the snacks out of the pile of my things on the ground nearby.  “Here, eat something,” I told Erica, handing her some of the shrunken food.  I stood to go collect wood for a fire, since the lights in the house were clearly damaged beyond repair.  

Before I could take more than a step away from the cliff, Erica called out after me.  “Wait!  Where are you going?”  She sounded so concerned; did she think I was leaving to my own world?  "I'm just going to get firewood, I'll be right back."  Erica glanced around uneasily, as if she were expecting some apparition to appear in the growing shadows and steal her off.  "Do you have to?"  I gave her a small knowing smile, I had promised not to leave her.  "Would you rather come with me?" I asked, offering her my hand.  Erica hesitated briefly, then nodded and climbed on.  

Despite having been gone for years, she seemed rather comfortable with me.  I knew it likely had something to do with events I wasn’t there to witness, though.  Erica brought the blanket with her, and settled in a cozy little heap in the palm of my hand, tucked against my cupped fingers.  I couldn't help but smile slightly at the feeling.  Whatever the reason, I'm glad she's safe.  For once it actually paid off to come back to this place.  

There was plenty of easily accessible wood lying around thanks to all the destroyed houses, so it wasn't long before I'd gathered what I needed.  Soon, a raging campfire was steadily burning on the cliffside.  We ate dinner together and caught up on eachothers' lives.  I didn't get much of an update on Erica's life; she didn't want to say much, which I completely understood.  The only thing I noticed was that Erica had a scar over her left eye.  I hadn't noticed it earlier, as I was a bit distracted by everything going on.  That definitely wasn't there before I left.  I didn't ask about it, though.  I was afraid it might bring up some awful memory of John and the looters.  In the end, I mostly just blabbered on about everything that had happened to me since the last day we were together, four years ago.  Afterwards, we watched the sun dip below the horizon.  The ruined skyline glaring at me from afar.  

I should help them, right?  My world shouldn't be messing with this one; that's not really a fair fight.  Then again, that's a little ironic coming from me.  I glanced down at Erica.  She was tucked away into a sleeping bag she'd pulled from the rubble earlier, staring blankly skyward in thought.  Our little bonfire had died down to a few smoldering wooden planks.  

"Look at that!" Erica whispered suddenly, pointing at the cloudless night sky.  "You never see shit like that around here.  The city's usually too bright."  I bent my head back to see what she meant.  The stars shone so vividly without the light of suburban houses or the city to compete with.  They flickered brightly in the vast black sky; it was as if you could reach out and grab one.  I was in for a small surprise when I noticed that some of the stars were wild colors, not just the normal whites and blues.  I’d spent so long in the other-world when I was younger, how had I never noticed that?  "It's beautiful," I nodded, "but we should get some sleep.  We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."  "You mean you have a long day ahead of you," Erica corrected me.  "I'm not going anywhere near the hazmat giants, they could kill me way too easily.  But then again, so can you."

I flinched; it was upsetting to think about.  Even if I did eventually get Erica to fully trust me, there would always be a drastically uneven divide in power between us.  Erica watched as I slowly hunched back down the cliffside, looking slightly guilty for ruining the mood.  I'd tried to change my height to match hers a few times years ago.  I’d created a small object for me to wear — similarly to how I the boxes I'd made in the past — which was supposed to make me their size when I wore it.  However, when I tried it on, nothing happened.  I guessed whatever influence I had on the other-world only worked with objects, not living things. How is it that I can become invisible, walk through walls, manipulate minds, and generate infinite money, but can't make one simple bracelet to shrink me to their size?  It's unfair, really. 

I turned to face Erica, "I would never-"  "I know," Erica said, cutting me off.  She turned over on her side, facing away from me.  "I was just saying you could.  You wouldn't.  I.. I don’t think you will...  Nevermind, just-  Let's get some sleep."  Sighing, I drifted down to the bottom of the cliff and sat with my thoughts for a while, just short of miserable.

#why’d the world have to get ruined while Alexis was gone? #hopefully Erica will be ok now that she’s safe… #other-world universe #g/t #giant tiny

[tbyfandoms]

Alone | Sebastian Kydd x Reader

Pairing: sebastian kydd x f!reader

Word Count: 2.3k

Summary: when delivering her annual thanksgiving tradition cookies, y/n discovers just how alone sebastian has been feeling, and she’s determined to help fix that

Warnings: mild swearing

Masterlist | Ask/Tell/Request

A/N: per usual i’m rewatching the carrie diaries, so now my head is swimming with fic ideas for my favorite guy, sebastian <3. every time i watch the thanksgiving episode in s1, it makes me sad about how alone sebastian really was half the time. he just wanted his family to care for and love him. i know it’s nowhere near thanksgiving, but when the writing urge calls, i can’t help but write. also i’m going to try and revive the sebastian x reader tag because when i tell you there’s next to nothing there. I’m glad there’s so many fics for austin, but what about my man seb? hopefully this encourages people to watch the carrie diaries if you haven’t already! anyways, enjoy and lmk what you think! :)

Everything was perfect. There’s nothing quite like a Thanksgiving dinner spent with family, friends, and good food. It’s true the holidays can get a little crazy, especially when it comes to family, but for once everything turned out wonderful. You spent the day with the people you love most and luckily the kitchen didn’t burn down when you were trying to cook the turkey. Honestly, that’s all you could’ve hoped for.

There was one person missing from your group though, and that was none other than Sebastian Kydd himself. You had invited him over the day before, but he told you how his mom was coming over and they were gonna have a real family dinner like they used to. He was so excited and you couldn’t help the way it made your heart swell. He deserved to finally have some family time, you know how much he loves his parents, even if sometimes they don’t always show it in return, so you understood completely that he wouldn’t make it.

One thing you know he can’t miss out on though, are your Thanksgiving cookies! Every year, without fail, it’s tradition for you to make the most delicious batch of cookies shaped as turkeys and dish them out to all your friends and family. You always get so happy when November hits and everyone starts asking you about them, even if Thanksgiving is still weeks away. It makes you feel good to see others happy with something you made, so you don’t mind at all making them each and every year.

You’ve just finished your latest batch, made special for Sebastian and his family, and are placing them carefully in a cute holiday tin you have left over from last year. While digging around for the tin earlier you even found a festive bow to put on top of it. It’s not much, especially not compared to what Sebastian is used to, but it’s something and you know he’ll appreciate the fact you even thought of him.

With a hum of content, you place the lid on the tin and wrap it with the bow, loving how it looks once you’re finished. Grabbing the gift, you make your way to the front door and put on your coat and shoes, knowing there was no way you were going out there without them. Given how cold it’s been outside lately, winter seems to be fast approaching this year.

The drive to Sebastian’s is quick, but soothing. The roads are practically empty, people tired from the day’s festivities and no doubt winding down for the evening. The lights hung up on the houses you pass by spark joy and a sense of comfort within you, there’s no feeling quite like it.

When you pull into the Kydds’ driveway, you instantly take note on how dark it seems inside the house. You know Sebastian’s most likely here, considering his car is still parked out front, but the only indication of occupancy seems to be the porch light being turned on. It’s strange, but you shake the feeling. His family is probably just in the back room where Sebastian likes to hang out. After the big meal you’re sure they had, there’s no doubt they’d want to sit comfortably in there.

Grabbing the cookie tin from the passenger’s seat, you step out of the car and lock it before making your way to the front door. Reaching out, you press the doorbell and wait for someone to come and answer it. A smile breaks out on your face when you see Sebastian through the window, making his way to the door.

It’s dark out here, the sun having set ages ago, but there’s no mistaking the way Sebastian’s blue eyes shine as he takes in your presence once he opens the door. Your cheeks flush in response.

“Hey, Y/L/N! What are you doin’ here? Come in,” he says, quickly making room so you’re able to go inside.

Stepping out of your shoes, you start to unbutton your coat as you make your way towards the back room. “I know you said your mom was coming over and you wouldn’t be able to stop by, but I couldn’t let you go without some of my world famous Thanksgiving cookies! I know you must be busy so I won’t stay long but-”

Rounding the corner, you stop dead in your tracks. In the place where you expected to find Sebastian’s family, his mom at least, you find nothing. The couch is empty, as are the two chairs on each side of the coffee table. It’s quiet, the only sound coming from the tv where the recap of today’s football game is playing.

Peeking into the Kitchen on your left, you hope with all you’ve got that Sebastian’s mom is just in the kitchen, refilling her wine glass or somehow striking up the strength to do the dishes on her own for once.

Nothing, not even a dirty dish is in sight. Did Sebastian even have dinner?

Turning towards the boy in question, you can immediately tell by the look on his face tonight did not go the way he had hoped. You sneak a glance at the bar cart and try to hide your frown as you see a used cup and a half empty bottle of liquor.

You fight back the sting of tears in your eyes as you picture Sebastian sitting in here drinking, alone, on Thanksgiving when he should be surrounded by his family.

“W-where, uh,” you clear your throat, trying to keep it together. “Where’s your mom? Did she leave already?” Please say yes, please say yes, please say-

“No. In order for her to leave she had to have been here in the first place.” The blonde lets out a scoff and shakes his head. He gives you a smile that doesn’t quite meet his eyes as he grabs your coat from you, placing it on a nearby chair. “It’s fine, honestly, nothing new.”

Sebastian moves to sit on the couch and you waste no time in following him. You set the tin down on the coffee table and turn towards him, already feeling the anger bubbling up inside you over what Sebastian’s family has done to him yet again. “No, it’s not fine, Sebastian. Your mom promised you she would be here and she should’ve been. It’s not right.”

Blue eyes meet yours and you watch as Sebastian contemplates something before starting to nod his head. “You’re right, it’s not fine. It sucks. You know I actually thought she was gonna make it this time, for real.”

Rubbing a hand down his face, Sebastian sighs before pinching the bridge of his nose. You can tell in his tone, in his actions, that he’s really disappointed. It’s sad to say he’s gotten used to it over the years, but when it comes to holidays, it hurts a little extra.

“Where’d she jet off to this time? Let me guess; Aspen? Palm beach?” A small laugh escapes Sebastian’s lips. He hates the fact this is so typical of his mother that it’s so obvious to you she’d leave at the drop of a hat for some dazzling destination, but at the same time he’s grateful for it. Grateful he has someone to confide in, who understands him and sees past the bullshit reputation he’s got going for him. To everyone else he’s Sebastian Kydd, but to you he’s just Sebastian.

“Saint Bart’s actually. Guess she got an offer from Lucas she couldn’t refuse.” Blue eyes roll before settling back on yours. You can see the sincerity in them as Sebastian goes to speak again. “I know it’s cheesy but I always really liked Thanksgiving. Used to go to my cousins house in Jersey, play touch football, eat too much.”

Sebastian looks away from you, letting his eyes fall to his lap as he thinks back on the fond memories of what his life used to be like.

“That sounds really nice, Seb. That’s the kind of Thanksgiving you should have. That’s the kind you deserve.” Your voice is soft, earnest. You tilt your head to try and catch his gaze again, it doesn’t take long for him to look up. He could never not look at you for too long.

“Is it crazy that I sometimes think the money ruined everything? My mom stopped talking to her brother, so I never see that side of the family anymore. She got her new boobs, and nose, and seems like a whole new brain. It’s like she doesn’t care about things like Thanksgiving anymore.” The boy sniffs and it’s obvious how hurt he is over all of this, obvious how much he still cares about holidays and his family, even if his mom and dad have tried to change that.

“You do, though. And that’s great that you still care, it’s important. No matter how much your mom changes, or your dad, I know you won’t let that change you. Won’t let them change the good heart I know you have.” Sebastian smiles at you, a real genuine smile, but you can still see the sadness in his eyes, the pain.

“You always know just what to say, don’t you?” He whispers. “It’s too bad this good heart couldn’t change the fact I’m alone on one of my favorite holidays of the year.”

Instantly, you reach out and grab the blonde’s hand, wanting to ground him, wanting him to know you’re right here. “Hey, you’re not alone. You never were. As long as I’m around I won’t let you celebrate another holiday like this, not ever. You deserve to be surrounded by people who care about you, who love you.” Your breath hitches in your throat, but you quickly move past it, a faint blush coating your cheeks. “It’s not fair that your mom does this to you and expects you to be okay with it, for it to be normal. I know no one’s perfect and things happen, but no one should be left alone during the holidays, especially not by their parents.”

You can’t help the tear that slides down your cheek. Flashes of today flooding your mind. The good time you had, the laughs, the food, the comfort. All the while Sebastian was home alone with no one to give him comfort. No apparent warm meal or source of humor. Just disappoint of his own mother not showing up once again.

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t cry! Please don’t feel sad over this, I’ll be fine, really.” Sebastian moves closer to you, his hand reaching up to cup your cheek and his thumb wiping away the stray tear. “You know, I was sitting here, just thinking, and I realized you were the person I really wanted to see. I knew I could talk to you and you’d get it. Sometimes I feel like you’re the only person who really understands me. Who actually listens and doesn’t just jump to conclusions like everyone else in this town. I hope you know how much that means to me, how much you mean to me.”

Your heart soars at Sebastian’s confession. All you wanted was to let the boy know how much he’s cared for, how much he matters, and that he isn’t alone even if it may seem like it. If the look in his eyes indicates anything, you think you did a pretty good job.

Bringing your hand up to graze Sebastian’s face you smile before whispering, “I hope you know how much you mean to me, Kydd.”

A beat of silence passes between you, a look of pure bliss evident on both your faces, a million unspoken words being exchanged. Suddenly, Sebastian’s face is inching towards yours and you don’t think for a second about moving away. You accept the connection of his lips with yours wholeheartedly.

Sliding your hand to the back of Sebastian’s head, you let your fingers tangle in the waves at the base of his neck. The feeling of this moment is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. Sebastian’s full, pink lips are warm and soft; his scent enveloping the two of you, making you want to be even closer than you are right now.

Needing a breath of air, you break apart, soft pants coming from both you and Sebastian.

“So, world famous cookies, huh?” The blonde huffs out and you laugh while leaning your forehead against his.

“Yep, they’re shaped like turkeys too.”

“Oh, well these I have to try.” Sebastian gets up from the couch and you watch as he grabs the tin of cookies from the table. The smile and evident boost of happiness exuding from the boy makes you feel better, that maybe now he believes a little bit more that he does have someone who would choose him over a vacation any day.

“C’mon, Kydd, let’s get a drink for those cookies.” Standing, you go to move past Sebastian to get to the kitchen, but you stop when you feel him grab your hand.

“Thanks for coming, Y/N.” There’s a shy smile on his lips, and you can’t decide if it’s just the low lighting but you swear you can see a faint red tint on his pale cheeks. You know it’s not easy for Sebastian to be vulnerable, he doesn’t do it often, but when he does you know he means it.

“Anytime, Sebastian.” Taking a step towards him, you reach up and plant a quick kiss on his cheek, basking in the warmth of his skin on your lips. “Did you eat?You got any fruit and whipped cream, maybe some marshmallows? I don’t know how to make much but I can whip us up a mean ambrosia salad.”

Sebastian laughs and shakes his head as he follows you into the kitchen, a full range of groceries available for you to make whatever you please.

“Sure, sweetheart. I like ambrosia salad.”

#sebastian kydd #sebastian kydd x reader #sebastian kydd x y/n #sebastian kydd x you #sebastian kydd imagine #sebastian kydd imagines #sebastian kydd fanfiction #the carrie diaries #austin butler #austin butler x reader #austin butler imagine #austin butler fanfiction #austin butler x you #austin butler x y/n #austin butler imagines

[floydsmuse]

Meggy, might I present some thoughts about Bob Floyd and his family?? Be warned, kitchen shenanigans can and will ensue and I promise I will have some new Calvin thoughts/thots coming soon (lol).

Bob, his dad, Joe Floyd, and his brothers all have this hilarious dynamic where they give each other the worst amount of shit possible. Bob is a total sweetheart with his mom, you and his sisters, but with the men in the family? All bets are off.

Michael, his oldest brother is a police officer who's seen some seriously crazy shit on the job. It was the morning after your wedding when Bob woke up a little hungover with his hair sticking up at weird angles and looking like utter hell and the first words out of Michael were "oh my God you look scarier than that crackhead I arrested two weeks ago." (lol).

Sean is a firefighter who has also seen some crazy shit on the job. Funniest call he ever got was a fire at a house on a college campus and he was on the radio, manning the hose coming from the truck when a drunken frat boy jumped buck-naked from the top window and landed on top of the firetruck (lol).

Liam is a physical therapist who works with disabled veterans which is how he met his wife. Liam's wife lost part of her leg when she was in Afghanistan but the two of them have run together in marathons all over the US, including Boston. Alot of the prize money that Liam and his wife have won has gone to helping disabled military and first responders.

Then there's Eugene. Eugene's a bit of a dork but he's unbelievably street smart when it comes to running a business. And when it comes to his brothers giving him shit?? He's got a tongue sharper than a razor (lol).

"Hey Eugene, nice wig what's it made of?"

"DAD'S CHEST HAIR!!!!"

When they're all with Mom or Meemaw, these boys are sweet as pie, but if it's Dad and Papa??? DO NOT.....I REPEAT........DO NOT LEAVE THESE ALIEN ASSHATS ALONE FOR MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES!!!!!

It all started with Thanksgiving kitchen shenanigans. You were out with Bob's Mom, Irene, and Marty, his Meemaw, getting last minute groceries when Irene's phone suddenly blew up with pictures of Bob, Joe and the boys engaging in some pretty stupid kitchen shenanigans. Beer was involved and Joe ended up accidentally slicing his finger to which Irene could only groan, "I'm gonna fuckin kill them when we get home" (lol).

Getting the tree for Christmas was no easy feat either. At the tree lot they had found the perfect tree, nice and full, tall and just absolutely gorgeous. Joe looked around at the boys and was like "did either of you numbskulls bring a saw?" The looks on their faces said it all and it left them having to literally dig the tree out of the ground, roots and all and drive home with it strapped to the top of the truck. When they got home, they drew straws to see who was gonna have to cut the stump and needless to say Bob ended up having to do it. He ended up coming out in a Jason mask from Halloween and scared the shit out of the neighbors (lol, if you've ever seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, you'll get the reference, if not it's all good).

Joe's also had a rather colorful Navy piloting career and goes by many nicknames (Foul Mouth Floyd is always a favorite, because the man has no filter, lol) but none are more well known than his callsign, "Rabbit". Mav and Ice used to be members in his unit and were dumbfounded that he and Irene had as many kiddos as they did with Bob being the youngest (eight total and Joe was the seventh of thirteen, the men in the family clearly have out of control breeding kinks and Bob clearly inherited that gene, lol).

Meggy there's so much more I could add to this but I just can't for I am in the silliest of moods and this just randomly waltzed in like it owned the place (lol).

Mary! yes absolutely! please indulge me with some much needed Bob thoughts 🥰 i can’t wait to read these & future Calvin ones too :))

~ haha aw! Bobby being the sweetest to you, his mama & sisters doesn’t surprise me in the slightest! i picture him always going out of his way for all of you & could see the women in his life being a top priority for him :,) also Bob having a completely different dynamic with the men vs the women in his family is so funny to me & just makes sense!!

~ ooh! i love these little backgrounds for each of Bob’s brothers! the part with Bob on his wedding day & Michael telling him he looks scarier than one of the crackheads he saw on duty is hilarious & made me laugh out loud! 😭

"Hey Eugene, nice wig what's it made of?"

"DAD'S CHEST HAIR!!!!"

~ this part !! haha! i love that they joke around with each other & i couldn’t even imagine all of the unhinged & crazy stuff that has gone on between all of them, especially when they were growing up🤣 not the kitchen shenanigans!!! ahh i’m just trying to picture this scenario in my head & it’s just great! Irene being done with the boys is such a mood!!

~ aww the part with the Christmas tree😅 not them forgetting a saw & having to fight over who’s gonna cut the stump!! poor Bobby losing the draw & having to do it himself! but the reference to Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is awesome! i love it! foul mouth Floyd!! that’s so good haha! that’s a perfect nickname for someone who doesn’t have a filter!! rabbit being Joe’s callsign & him having been in the same unit as Mav & Ice is great too!! the breeding kink! yesss!🫠 Bob’s breeding kink goes crazy, i just know it! he loves seeing you all full of him & carrying around his baby within your swollen belly. my god!!! i’m unwell thinking about this right now !!

Mary thank you for these wonderful Bob thoughts! i’m sorry i didn’t contribute much, but these were perfect & they made me laugh! i loved reading them! merry christmas eve my love❤️💚

#bob floyd #top gun maverick #bob thoughts/thots <3

[perfectlywrongformend3s]

Single Mom-Veronica Lodge

Requested: Yes

Words:1006

Warning: None

Reader: 12 years old

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

How they spend family time:

Veronica loves to take you shopping and have spa days with you because she feels bad for leaving you to go work.

“ Mom, can we please get matching nails!”

Roni laughed and nodded her head at you. “ Y/n/n just pick the color you want and I’ll get the same thing.”

She watched you go straight to the polish on the wall and look over all of them. You eventually picked out this deep purple color because you thought it would look best on both of you.

Veronica smiled and took the polish out of your hand so you didn't drop it accidentally.

Bedtime:

Roni loves to spend bedtime in her room with you. She lets you sleep in here if you guys are watching a movie which happens to be the thing you are going to do tonight.

“ Mom, can we please watch Clueless?”

She looked at you with full on shock, “ How do you know that movie?”

Y/n/n looked down and played with her fingers. I found it by going through you dvd’s you have stored in the living room. Roni didn't mind you looking around and smiled and pulled you closer to her.

“ We can watch whatever you want darling.”

You squealed and got comfy on your moms side. It was getting closer to the credits when Veronica heard soft breathes coming from her daughter. She looked down and saw Y/n/n sleeping so she gently shut everything off and went to bed herself.

Holiday Traditions:

-Christmas:

Y/n woke up and looked over at her alarm clock and saw it was exactly 7am and she jumped out of bed to run into her moms room.

What she didn't know was her mom was already up and on her phone. When Y/n busted through the door Roni looked up and smiled. “ Merry Christmas angel.” She told her grinning daughter.

Y/n laughed and said it back, but then asked...

“ Mom please can we go see if Santa came.”

Veronica laughed but started thinking. “ Are you sure he came? Were you even good this year?”

Y/n eyes wide in fear. She looked at her mom to find her laughing. She let out some giggles while watching Roni get up to follow her daughter to the living room where the presents wait to be ripped open.

-Thanksgiving:

Veronica was in the kitchen making sure everything was looking perfect so she could get going. The Jones’s family has invited them over to celebrate since they know Roni was alone with Y/n for this year.

Y/n was dancing around her room and looking for an outfit. Her eyes finally found this brown button up dress and paired it with a white top. She then pulled on some stocks so her legs wouldn't freeze. When she was done, she ran downstairs to show her mom.

Roni heard little footsteps racing down the stairs. “ Hey, be careful Y/n!”

She then saw her all dressed. She smiled, “ You look adorable.”

Y/n smiled and thanked her mom. “ When are we going over to see Aunt Betty and Uncle Jughead?”

“ Right now, put your shoes on.”

Y/n smiled and ran over to her combat boots so she could head out.

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

Y/n knocked on the door and grinned up at her mom. Veronica smiled and ruffed her daughters hair. Betty opened the door and greeted them. Y/n ran over to her Jughead. And he picked her up and spun her around. “ Oh my, look at you. You’ve grown 5 inches.” Y/n let out a laugh. Since everything was there, they all started digging into the food.

Best Memories:

Veronica’s best memory with her daughter is going to see Y/n playing volleyball. She loves how competitive Y/n gets when it comes to winning. She was watching how focused her daughter was, and she couldn't help but feel like a proud mom.

Y/n glanced in the crowd to find her mom smiling at her. Which made Y/n calm down some from being a little nervous because of how the game is turning out.

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

It got to the end and Y/n’s team won at the very end and the team all jumped for joy. Roni clapped the loudest for her because she was her number one fan. Y/n then ran right up to her mom and hugged her. They ended up going out to lunch to celebrate the win.

Defensive of their kid (hurt):

Y/n was in the locker room getting dressed for her volleyball practice. She heard the warning whistle that her coach blows every time to make sure they know its time to come out before they get a consequence for not being out in time.

She ran out and stood in front of the other girls since she was the caption.

“ All right, listen up ladies. We are about three days away from our East High game, so we need to make sure we are ready.”

Y/n ran over to her side of the net smiling at the girls on her side. The other side was serving first so she got ready to bump it to one of the other players when all of a sudden the ball hit her right in face. Y/n was stunned and the girls all ran up to her to make sure she was ok.

“ Guys, back up, give her some space.” the coach said

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

Y/n was upset, which was understandable because she was the best player. She was in the locker room waiting for her mom to come pick her up so she could rest.

“ Baby.” Roni said

Y/n looked up and saw her mom which made her break down. So Veronica immediately rushed over to her and hugged her. She then let go for a split second to chat with the coach before taking Y/n home.

#veronica lodge #single mom Veronica lodge #mine #requested #fluff #angst #Veronica lodge x daughter reader #Veronica lodge fluff

[la-undercover-latina]

A Mötley Thanksgiving

Summary: Amber forgot to mention the other people feasting with them on Thanksgiving being hosted at the Sixx household. Can Andy survive meeting the rest of Mötley Crüe?

TW: None. Just some cussing. (This is a Mötley Crüe fic. Wtf did you expect? 🤣🤣)

A/N: Skylar didn’t die in this universe, so she’s in this.

Thanksgiving was always a busy time. Amber Lee was always trying to juggle spending time with both sides of her family during the holidays, and this year was worse.

This year, her and Ella’s band was releasing a record in a few weeks, just in time for Christmas. So she was having to juggle everything on top of press for the new record.

“Taylor mentioned that she was going to do Thanksgiving at their house this year. So you don’t have to worry about cooking kitten,” Andy told her once he convinced her to come to the bed. With Andy living closer to her studio, she’d been spending more and more time at his home.

“That sounds amazing. Plus that means it’s going to be a Southern style Thanksgiving,” Amber was salivating just at the thought of Southern Style Thanksgiving.

“So no Snicker Salad?” He joked and Amber raised an eyebrow.

“What the hell is Snicker Salad?” Amber asked, picturing Snickers between lettuce and croutons.

“You’ve never had it? It’s a Midwest thing. It’s not a salad,” Andy laughed.

“Then why is it called a Snicker Salad?” She asked, confused.

“It’s Snickers, cool whip, pudding, and either bananas or apples,”

“Babe, that sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen,” Amber laughed.

“Yeah, but it’s delicious,” Andy told her.

“But regardless, you need to have a day to relax, stuff your face, and not worry about anything,” He rubbed her lower back, gazing into her dark eyes.

“Thanks babe,” Amber pressed a kiss to his lips, her tongue gently moving across his bottom lip, which he let in.

-

Thanksgiving came around and Amber and Andy made their way to Nikki and Tayor’s. When they pulled up to the large house, something that she should’ve mentioned hit her right smack in the face.

“Hey babe. Remember how we only had you officially meet half of Motley? Well, it looks like you’re about to meet the other half of the band. Uncle Mick and Uncle Vinny’s cars are parked in the driveway.” She told him, feeling like an idiot for not telling him beforehand.

“I’m sorry, what?” Andy choked out. The color draining from his ivory cheeks.

“Yeah. Just breath. Uncle Mick is a hard shell to crack, but if he likes you, you’ll know,”

“How will I know?” Andy asked while they got out of the car, taking the wine that Amber picked up before they left.

“You’ll know babe. Uncle Vinny is going to be sassy, but he’s better than when he was younger. They all chilled out since they were younger,” Amber told him while they walked towards the house. Amber saw Skylar, Vince’s oldest daughter, walk outside.

“Hey Amber,” She ran towards the other woman.

“Hey Sky! Skylar, this is my boyfriend Andy. Andy, this is my cousin Skylar Neil,” Amber introduced and Skylar gave him a big smile.

“Nice to meet you Andy. They’re all inside. I’m just waiting for my own boyfriend,” She smiled.

“Ooh! Well we’ll see you inside. Does Aunt Taylor need any help?” She asked, and Skylar shook her head, her pin straight blonde hair just touching her shoulders.

“Nah, she kept shooing me and Ella out earlier,” Skylar told her.

“Alright Sky, just don’t wait out here too long,” Amber told her before she and Andy walked into the Sixx home that was all decorated and prepped for the Christmas decorations. All her aunt would have to do is take the pumpkins and replace them with candy canes and other Christmas decorations.

“Ah and so the oldest gremlin has arrived,” Mick said from his place on the couch. Amber jogged over towards him before he could try to stand up.

“Uncle Mick. Stay sitting down,” she scolded him before wrapping him in a tight hug.

“Has your back gotten any better?” She asked, concern in her dark eyes. She knew from an early age that the disease her uncle had wasn’t going to be cured, that he was stuck with this until he died. But that didn’t mean that Amber wanted him aggravating it and not managing his pain.

“Not really. But I’m glad to see you. It’s been a bit,” he gave her a gentle smile. He may not have always liked her dad, half of the time in the 80’s wanting to throw him into his drum kit, but he always had a soft spot for his oldest.

Whether it was because Amber was the oldest of the kids, when she threatened to bite anyone that came near him when his back was acting up when she was a child, or just from the days that he showed her how to play guitar.

“Uncle Mick, I have someone I want you to meet. Uncle Mick, this is my boyfriend Andy. Andy, this is my uncle Mick Mars,” Amber introduced the two and Andy came over to the sitting man, shaking his hand.

“It’s a huge honor to meet you,” Andy told him, a smile on his face.

“Bah! You’re dating my niece. But thanks,” he told him, a smirk on his lips.

“Stop hogging my oldest niece Mars,” Vince came out of the kitchen, seeing Amber talking with Mick.

“Uncle Vinny, hey!” Amber walked over towards him and pulled him into a hug.

“How was the vacation?” She asked. Vince had just gotten back from a vacation with his wife and kids a few days ago.

“Very much needed. Sky’s new boyfriend isn’t half bad,” he conceded.

“Well you’re about to meet another boyfriend,” Mick called from his seat.

“Uncle Vinny, I want you to meet my boyfriend Andy. Andy, babe,” Amber motioned over towards her and Vince. Andy had still been talking to Mick.

“Andy, this is my uncle Vince Neil,” she introduced again. At least now, all of her uncles were introduced. The rest of this Mötley family can get introduced at the table.

“Hey man. Nice tats,” Vince motioned to the Batman tattoo on Andy’s forearm.

“Thanks,” Andy gave a smile.

“So how did you two meet?” Vince asked, Mick looking back towards them to hear the answer.

“Our bands played at Warped Tour together,” Andy answered, and that was when Amber heard a holler from the kitchen.

“Nikki, go get my terror twins,” Taylor yelled.

“But I’m right here, and we’re waiting for Tommy to show up,” he teased.

“No, my girls. And grab Sky while you’re at it,” Taylor demanded and both Amber and Ella walked towards the kitchen. Andy shot a nervous look to Amber but she gave him a reassuring smile before sprinting over to give him a quick peck.

“You’ll be fine. You survived my dad and uncle Nikki. This will be fine. I gotta go help aunt Taylor before she ends up smacking my uncle,” Amber laughed before running to the kitchen.

Taylor was sat at the kitchen island, a glass of wine in her hands already and three more glasses already poured.

“Wine time already?” Skylar laughed as she walked in the kitchen.

“Wine time is anytime,” Taylor smiled.

“Now show me this boyfriend of yours,” Taylor asked, as the women walked towards the island and began to drink the wine.

“This is better than sex,” Amber moaned.

“Down girl,” Ella teased. When Skylar pulled up the picture that was taken of the two on vacation, she handed the phone to Taylor and gave a smirk.

“Damn,” Ella and Amber spoke at the same time.

“Now Skylar, if he hurts you. I don’t want you to put your hands on him,”

“Why the hell not?” Ella asked.

“Because, there’s something better. You cook him breakfast,”

“Mom, how many glasses have you had?” Ella teased, but Taylor waved her off.

“Hush. Now gather around my young grasshoppers. If a man ever hurts you. You make him a nice hot breakfast. Some grits and bacon will do. What you do is you get a nice big pot like this,” Taylor grabbed a pot sitting in the drying rack for a demo.

“And when it’s nice and boiling hot and he comes down and gets nice and comfortable, you throw the grits on him and then you smack him with the pan. It’s called gritball,” that got all three younger women bursting at the seams with laughter.

-

Meanwhile, Andy looked up to see Nikki walk out of the kitchen, shaking his head.

“The wife show you your balls?” Vince teased.

“No she showed me yours,” Nikki played along, before walking over to Andy.

“Come on Andy,” Nikki led him to the couch where Mick was sitting.

“What’s up fuckers?!” Tommy yelled.

“Yo fucker, we’re in the living room,” Nikki hollered back. Andy laughed at the guys. They still seemed like they were still a little crazy like in their youth.

Once Tommy came through the doors with Brittany, he gave her a kiss.

“Tommy come in here,” Vince called.

“Coming,” he called back and Brittany laughed.

“Go ahead babe. I have to catch up on work emails,” she told him and shooed him towards his brothers.

“Hey Andy,” Tommy clapped the younger man on the back.

“Tommy and I already drilled him for answers, and he’s got our blessing,” Nikki told the other men.

“Why you two?” Vince asked

“Are you her godfather?” Nikki responded.

“Or her father?” Tommy added.

“Well you seem like a good kid. Just know that Amber doesn’t put up with shit. She saw this dumbass with her mom and Pamela,” Mick told Andy, motioning to Tommy.

“I swear, I’m never going to treat her anything less than a Princess,” he vowed to the guys.

“One that drinks like a fish and swings like a prison inmate,” Vince laughed.

“Where do you think she learned it?” Nikki and Tommy said in unison, making the other guys laugh. Just like with meeting Nikki and Tommy, his anxiety started to melt away the longer he spent with them and saw they were just older guys that loved their families and picking on each other.

“Andy, you seem like a really good kid, but if you hurt her, you won’t like us then,” Vince threatened lowly before the women came out of the kitchen, all laughing at something from the kitchen. Ella’s face was still red from laughing.

“Don’t plan on it Vince,” Andy told him, his eyes locked on his girlfriend, jumping on Ella’s back before falling on her ass.

“O-ow,” Amber said between giggles.

“I-I wasn’t ready,” Ella doubled over with laughter as her cousin sat behind her.

Taglist:

@youlightmeupfinn

@hallecarey1

@midsummereve1993

#motley crue #nikki sixx #tommy lee #mick mars #vince neil #andy biersack #andy black #black veil brides #amber lee #motley crue fanfiction #black veil brides imagine

[maybeimamuppet]

i'll be there for christmas (1/3)

hellooooo everyone!! happy holidays to everyone who celebrates something and happy day to everyone who doesn’t!! i hope it’s been wonderful :)

welcome to officially the longest thing i’ve ever written!! yeeha this is apparently the length of a novel so that’s fuckin wild 

and it’s also a gift for my love. merry christmas (or whenever you read this :p) you’re the answer to a wish i didn’t know i was making and i’m so thankful every day that you came into my life. i love you so much <;33

for the rest of you!! tw for 

dysfunctional family dynamics

mentioned homophobia 

mentioned outing 

and as always if i’ve missed something please let me know so i can add it in :) 

enjoy!!

————

Janis wakes up to the sound of her ringtone. 

Not her alarm. She has them set to different sounds. Her ringtone. 

She groans and sits up in bed, brushing her dark hair out of her eyes and fumbling for her phone on her nightstand. 

She huffs when she sees Damian’s name and stupid picture lighting up her screen; her phone buzzing in her hand in a desperate bid for her attention. She hits the green button and puts her phone to her ear.

“What do-”

“Where the fuck are you?” Damian huffs on the other end. “It is nine fifteen, you are half an hour late for your shift, madam. It is the week before Thanksgiving, you know damn well everyone and their mother is getting coffee before they have to deal with their miserable families-”

“Fuck! Shit, Dame, I’m-” Janis begins, flying out of bed and throwing all her clothes out of the hamper to find her work uniform. “I overslept, I’m- shit!” 

“Just get here, I’ll cover for you if boss man shows up,” Damian sighs. “This is the last time, though.”

“I love you,” Janis says. “I gotta go, gimme ten.”

“Ten only.” 

“Maybe fifteen.”

“Ten!” 

“Ten,” Janis echoes, hanging up the phone and grabbing her work hat off its hook by the door. “Fuck my life.”

—-

Janis manages to make it out the door in three minutes flat. Her uniform is stained and wrinkled since she forgot to wash it, her hair and teeth aren’t brushed, she didn’t eat breakfast, and her shoes are untied, but she made it out the door in three minutes and that has to be enough on a morning like this. 

She has her cap hanging out of her mouth as she ties her hair back in a lazy sort of knot, running the four blocks to the coffee shop. 

She sighs when she sees it come into her view, bracing internally for… something. Every day is different. None of them are necessarily good. But they’re all different. 

She’s about to open the door when it flies open at her. She stumbles backwards to avoid a face full of glass door and trips over her untied shoelaces. 

“Watch where you’re fucking going!” she scoffs to the woman who landed on top of her. 

“Me?! You should tie your fucking shoes!” the woman yells. 

“And you should watch for innocent pedestrians before you take off for your fucking marathon!” 

“Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?!”

“A fucking nutcase, clearly!” Janis yells. “Now if you’ll excuse me, your highness, I have a fucking shift I’m late for. Sorry to be in your way with my… common… ness. Look, just leave!” 

“For all you know I’m a paying customer!” the woman yells after her as Janis stalks into the shop. 

“I’m not on the clock yet!” Janis retaliates. “Have a fucking fantastic day, enjoy trampling people!” 

“Hmph!” the woman huffs, rushing off down the sidewalk. Janis shoves her way back through into the employee area to clock in. 

“What the fuck have you done?!” Damian yells, slamming the door open after her.

“What?” Janis sighs, swiping her employee ID card through the system. 

“Do you have any idea who you just yelled at on the fucking sidewalk?!” 

“Some blind businesswoman? She fucking knocked me on my ass, I was well within my right to yell.”

“That was Cady Heron!” Damian insists. “As in heiress to Heron Enterprises and fucking billionaire, Cady Heron!” 

Janis freezes mid-step on her way back to the main shop. “You’re kidding me.”

“No! You fucking- oh my god, Janis!” 

“I just yelled at the daughter of the person who owns my entire apartment complex.”

“He owns half the city, Janis.”

“I just called the daughter of the person who owns half my city a fucking nutcase.”

“Janis!”

“Alright, look, if I get crucified just… deal with my affairs and I love you dearly. Just don’t… don’t think about what just happened.”

“You yelled at a billionaire!” Damian insists.

“Yes! Continue to remind me of that, thanks a fucking million.”

“Billion.”

“I’m gonna pour hot coffee. All over you. And everything you love,” Janis grumbles, taking her spot behind the counter. 

“Tie your damn shoes.”

“Hot! Coffee!”

—————

The next morning gets off to a smoother start. Damian personally set no fewer than fifteen alarms for her, so she’s up well within a reasonable amount of time.

She can walk instead of sprint today, as she carefully adjusts her freshly washed and ironed uniform. 

“Ms. Sarkisian?” a voice asks as she fluffs her hair out from the collar of her polo. Janis turns on her heel and sees a man in a full three-piece suit standing by a very fancy car. He’s even got one of those funky little handkerchiefs in his pocket. And little white gloves. 

“Maybe. Who’s asking?”

“In the car, please, madam.”

“I don’t think so,” Janis replies, turning back around. “Have a nice day.”

“Miss, I really must insist-”

“Look, I don’t know who you are or what you want with me, but I have a shift to get to. Enjoy your gloves.” 

“Ms. Sarkisian,” a woman’s voice says. Janis turns around again and sees a woman standing behind the now open door to the backseat. Janis winces when she sees it’s her. From yesterday. “Please.” 

Janis looks suspiciously between the two of them. The… driver, Janis presumes, gestures gently to the very expensive car. Janis shoots each of them one last look before she slowly makes her way over and gets in. The woman smiles like the cat that got the canary as she takes the far seat. 

“Whoa,” Janis whispers as she sees the interior. 

“Coffee?” the woman asks as they start driving.

“Oh, um… no, thank you. I, er… get enough of that in my day to day. Listen, I’m so sorry about yesterday, I had no idea who you were and I really can’t afford to be sued right now-”

“I’m not suing you,” the woman says. She sighs and reaches out a hand for Janis to shake. “Let’s just forget all about that, shall we? Cady Heron, pleasure to meet you.” 

“Uh… Janis… Sarkisian,” Janis says awkwardly. How often do you get to shake hands with a billionaire just for her to fuck it up? “Same here.” 

“Janis, can I call you Janis?” Cady begins, speaking so rapidly that Janis doesn’t even get a chance to interject. “I have a small proposition for you.” 

Janis looks as she hands over a manila folder. She opens it and sees a nondisclosure agreement as the first document contained within. What the fresh hell-

“What-”

“Listen, Janis, I’m sure you know by now who I am. And that our… how do I say this delicately, our worlds don’t really overlap. And that is why you are perfect for this,” Cady says. 

“And what exactly is this?” Janis asks, continuing to flick through the documents. 

“I need you to pretend to date me.” 

“I- what?!” Janis says, unable to hold back a laugh. “You- I- what?!” 

“Just hear me out, I implore you,” Cady begs. “I’m not exactly young anymore. I’m twenty-four, you know. My family has… expectations. I’m to be married by twenty-six, and the sooner the better. People, and the press, are beginning to talk. And they’re not exactly saying favorable things. When they talk, the common folk talk, and we… we can’t have that, I’m sure you understand.” 

Janis blinks at her. 

“Anyway, I just need someone to assuage the masses, and my family. And that’s where you come in,” Cady says with a smile that doesn’t meet her eyes. “All I need you to do is pretend to be my partner through Christmas. We’ll be ‘broken up’ by New Year’s and on our own merry ways. I’ll never even come through this part of town in person again if you say the word.” 

“I’m still… why… why me?” 

“You made it very clear yesterday that you have absolutely no idea who I am. The press will love seeing me dating a poor person, and the fact that we know nothing about one another will make our inevitable breakup much easier. And you’re someone I’ll never have to see again. I can fake our grisly separation, milk that for ten years so my parents won’t try to arrange my marriage to anyone and by that point I’ll be running the business and able to use that as an excuse.”

“Wow, you really have this all planned out,” Janis chuckles. “So… I just… have to…” 

“Pretend we’ve been together for about three years. For three weeks. And then I’ll pretend to propose, you say no and leave, I’m heartbroken, we never speak again.” 

“Propose?!” Janis yelps.

“Fake propose,” Cady amends. “So. Thoughts?”

“Why the hell would you think I’d agree to this? We didn’t exactly get off on the right foot yesterday,” Janis says. 

“Might help if you tied your shoes.”

“Not the time,” Janis hisses. “Look, as much as you think we’d never see each other again, your family owns half this city! They own my work, and-and my apartment building! If anyone knew about this they’d ruin me, and-and I can’t afford to move-”

“Nobody will know but us and a select few people, and everyone will sign a nondisclosure agreement.”

“Then-then your family will actually think I’m the kind of heartless monster who rejects a proposal around the holidays! They’ll- god, I don’t have a lawyer-”

“There’s a contract in there that states I will undo anything my parents will attempt to do in terms of legal or financial action against you for ‘breaking my heart’. And, quite frankly, they will not have a case in the first place. I’ve already signed everything. We may have a lot of property and stake over this city, but I mean it when I say that after that clock strikes twelve on Boxing Day you’ll never hear from any of us again.” 

“You realize this is a fucking crazy thing to ask of me, right? Like, this… this is weird,” Janis insists. 

“I am aware this is rather unconventional, yes,” Cady nods. “But I’ve covered every possible eventuality and you’re totally protected legally and financially speaking.” 

“That’s not what I mean,” Janis says. “Just… you want me, a complete stranger, to spend the holidays with you, pretend we’ve been dating for years, and then reject a proposal?!”

“That was the hope, yes.”

“Why would you ever think I’d agree to this?”

“Because I’m prepared to pay you one hundred thousand dollars for it,” Cady says. Janis balks at her.

“A hundred-”

“Thousand dollars, yes,” Cady says like it’s entirely obvious. “And there’s a clause in your contract that states you’re allowed to leave for whatever reason should you so choose between the date you sign it and the date of our scheduled breakup. And as long as you help me come up with an excuse and make it believable, you still receive full pay. And if you don’t, I’ll give you fifty thousand anyway.” 

“So… if I… agree to this,” Janis says. “I basically get a hundred thousand dollars guaranteed, and I just…”

“Pretend to love me for three weeks.”

“I…” Janis stutters. “Jesus. You know what? Yeah, okay.” 

Cady hands over a pen. “Excellent. I will need you to sign the NDA before you exit the vehicle just to guarantee nobody else finds out we had this little conversation, but the rest can be handled whenever is convenient for you. I’ve given you the number and address of my lawyers’ office, you can contact them if you have any questions and drop all the documents off there when you’ve signed them.” 

Janis quickly skims the NDA, and it sounds reasonable enough. Almost not daring to believe it, she signs on the dotted line and passes the page and pen back to Cady. 

Almost like she planned it, they come to a stop right outside the coffee shop practically the second the paper touches Cady’s hand. 

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Cady says, giving another half-smile and shaking her hand. 

“Yeah, uh… you too,” Janis says, blinking in confusion as she accepts the handshake. Her jaw drops when Cady passes over a massive black binder as well. 

“Here’s all the information you should need in the coming weeks. Thank you again.”

“Anytime,” Janis says. Before she knows it, she’s blinking at a dust cloud down the road. 

What the Reese’s peanut butter fuck have I just gotten myself into?

—————

“Janis, hon?” Damian asks partway through his walk home from work. 

“Hm?” Janis hums softly.

“Why are you following me home?” 

“I need you right now,” Janis mumbles. 

“Mmhmm. And what’s with the binder?” Damian questions, walking a bit slower to let her catch up. 

“Why I need you right now,” Janis explains. Damian nods solemnly and lets her continue to slowly trail after him. 

Janis enters his apartment when he unlocks the door, leaving the binder and the folder on his coffee table and face planting into his couch. 

“So what’s-”

“Don’t look in the book!” Janis says, rearing upright when she hears him approach it. 

“Why not?” Damian yelps, scrambling away like the binder is apt to explode at any moment.

“Because I think that’s a felony,” Janis sighs. 

“…Say what?” 

“Sit,” Janis says. Damian plops onto his rug like a kindergartener waiting for story time. “Do you have any duct tape?” 

“Um… I think I have some tie dye patterned tape left from pride,” Damian says. “Why?”

“So I can stop you screaming,” Janis sighs. “Just promise you won’t?”

“You know damn well I can’t promise that, Janis,” Damian says. Janis sighs and nods. 

“So. Did you, by chance, um… happen to see what happened this morning?” she begins. 

“Um… no, there was a… young… gentleman in the shop I was, um… quite… focused- let’s just say no, shall we? What happened?” Damian says. Janis raises an eyebrow. 

“A gentleman?” 

“We’re talking about you at the moment, let it out, doll,” Damian says immediately. 

“Fine. But you’ll tell me if he was actually cute later. Anyway,” Janis sighs. “So. Let me set the scene.” 

Damian nods eagerly, leaning forward and resting his chin in his hands.

“I’m walking into work, cursing the world like normal, yadda yadda. Then, a guy behind me goes, ‘Ms. Sarkisian?’ and I turn, and it’s this, like… dude you’d see in, like, a movie. Full suit with the little…”

“Pocket square?”

“Sure,” Janis nods. “And the stupid little hat and white gloves and he’s all, ‘Get in the car please’ and I’m like, ‘I have no idea who you are or how you know my name, I’m sure as shit not getting in your car, Mr. Gloves’.”

“Obviously,” Damian nods. “Wait, how did he know your name?”

“Just wait. So I say no and turn to keep going and then someone else says my name and I’m starting to wonder how many people on the sidewalk know my name,” Janis says. “But this one is a woman, so I, er… checked.”

“Checked, eh?” 

“Checked,” Janis confirms with a glare. “And… it’s fucking her.”

“Her?”

“Cady Heron,” Janis says. Damian’s jaw drops. “And she seemed… less mad than yesterday, so I figured I’d take the chance to apologize for the whole… nutcase… sidewalk incident. So I got in probably against my better judgement and before I can even say sorry she’s… like, making a business proposal at me.” 

“A business proposal?” Damian asks. 

“A business proposal! And you know what she wants?!” Janis says. Damian shakes his head, looking at her imploringly. “I can’t tell you, because I signed a fucking NDA!” 

“You what?!” Damian says, leaping to his… knees. “Okay, so… legally binding document aside. What the fuck, Jan?” 

“I can trust you, right? Like, if I break this… legally binding document I appear to have signed you won’t tell people?” 

“No, obviously. We go to prison together or not at all, and orange is clearly not my color,” Damian says. Janis nods.

“You do have a winter complexion. Anyway,” Janis says, handing over the binder and folder. Damian opens it and peeks at the first few pages. “I have to pretend to be her girlfriend!” 

“You what?!“ 

“Calm down,” Janis says, like she hasn’t just dropped a major bombshell. “It would appear… that I’ll be spending Christmas with… the Herons. And pretending that I’ve been dating their daughter for three years.”

Damian tries to speak, but doesn’t seem to be able to form words. Janis doesn’t blame him. 

“I…” Damian says eventually. “Huh?”

“I know! What the hell was I thinking?”

“What were you thinking?!”

“She… is paying me a… not small amount of money,” Janis explains.

“How much?”

“Hundred grand,” Janis mumbles. 

“A hundred grand?!” Damian yells. 

“Shut up! You have neighbors!” 

“A hundred thousand dollars, Janis!” 

“Shut up! I know!” 

“Okay, so the why has been established,” Damian says with a disbelieving shake of his head. “Did she tell you how the fuck she thinks this is going down?”

“No, she just gave me the binder and said it had everything I need to know. I’m supposed to sign everything in the folder and drop it off with her lawyers and then… study, I guess.” 

Damian opens the manila folder and starts flipping through the documents. He doesn’t actually read all that much, to leave Janis and Cady with some semblance of privacy. And because Janis may be right about it being a felony for him to lay eyes on them. 

“In the event of your early demise?!” he yelps when he sees the phrase on one document. 

“What?” Janis says. “It doesn’t say that!”

“It does!” Damian insists. He hands the document over, and, sure enough, this one details what should happen with the money should either of them die during the duration of the contract. 

“What the fuck?” Janis whispers. “I can split the money between my loved ones if I list their names and contact information for their lawyers or give it to a charity of my choice if I die. And if she dies then I have to give the copy I keep of this to her lawyer so I can still get the money.” 

“Where the hell is she taking you? The fucking moon? How are either of these things a possibility?!”

“I dunno. I really hope it’s a ‘just in case of the worst possible scenario’ thing. She did say she had prepared for every possible eventuality,” Janis says. 

“Is she pretty?” Damian asks quietly.

“What?”

“Cady. You saw her up close, is she pretty?”

“I… yeah, I guess,” Janis replies. “She’s not not pretty, but she was so… impersonal, I guess. It kinda put me off a little bit. It really did feel like some kind of business deal.” 

“Wow,” Damian says. Janis can tell he’s already lost in his own fantasies, probably already drafting a fanfiction about this whole deal in his mind. Janis takes the moment of quiet to give the binder a first skim over.

“Oh my god, she has five brothers?!” Janis yelps. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, she’s the youngest. First girl, was a big deal when she was born,” Damian says. 

“They all have the same initials!” Janis says, frantically flipping back and forth between the pages. “How am I supposed to-”

“Wow, they look really similar,” Damian says, sitting next to her on the couch and peeking over her shoulder.

“Not helping!” Janis insists. “How am I meant to tell them apart?”

“Hope,” Damian says immediately. “Really hard.” 

“No, no, I can… I can do this,” Janis says. “Studying. It’s just like the SAT’s, right?”

“…Sure,” Damian nods. “Whatever makes you happy.”

“Oh, shut up!” 

—————

Janis is on a plane two weeks later. She settles further into her cushy seat in first class. It’s a long flight to Colorado, two whole hours, so she pulls out the binder to do a last minute crash course. 

Damian made flash cards, which helped more than Janis cares to admit. Janis thinks she has Cady’s entire family down to a t, but she knows there’s also a solid chance she’ll be so nervous she’ll forget everything she knows about her own family as soon as she lands. So she does some last minute studying just to be safe. 

She looks around suspiciously just to make sure nobody is peeking over her shoulder or anything. Nobody is supposed to know she knows Cady yet, and nobody is ever supposed to know that their relationship isn’t real. 

Luckily, she’s in a window seat, so she just leans in closer to the small pane of glass and flips to the first page. 

Cady’s oldest brother. Charles Jacob Heron The Fourth. Thirty-seven years old, loves… embroidered handkerchiefs, imported teas, and peanut butter. Interesting sounding guy. 

Next brother, Clifton Joseph. Thirty-six, likes boats, spas, and gambling. Janis is more than a little concerned by what that could mean.

Then, Clark James, thirty-two. Janis tries to remember his interests without checking the card. Fancy cars, skiing, and… 

She has to check for his third main interest. Scuba diving? Interesting. He certainly sounds more fun than the brothers Janis has read through so far. 

Cady’s next brother is Callum Jefferey. Thirty years old, already has three children, and enjoys… his wife and kids. And jet skiing. Huh. 

And last but not least is Chester Jeremiah. Closest in age to Cady at twenty-seven and seems to be her biggest competition. Competition in what, Janis can’t be sure, but… something. Chester likes fine art, the opera, and imported chocolates. Sounds like Damian’s kind of man. 

Janis intently studies their portraits, trying to find physical tells to keep them separate in her mind. They all look remarkably similar and Janis is not at all panicked. She has a full dossier on practically Cady’s whole family, (including the paternal grandmother she’s supposed to avoid at all costs) but she knows she’ll be spending the most time with Cady’s parents and brothers. 

“Clifton has… the ear,” she murmurs out loud to herself. “God, Charles, what are you about?!” 

Her seat neighbors are starting to look at her oddly, so she turns closer to the window and returns to her silent studying. 

All of the photos look like they were taken by the paparazzi. Maybe they were. How often does Cady actually see her family? 

She continues browsing, looking through the very detailed etiquette instructions. Shake hands, introduce yourself, shut the fuck up. Basically what it boils down to. 

Cady also gave her a list of ‘acceptable’ pet names and interactions. Baby, sweetheart, love, darling… Janis can put the pieces together well enough. Hugs are to be from the front or back only, side hugs look too platonic. Cheek kisses are acceptable, kisses on the lips will be discussed when they meet up in person. Holding hands is also acceptable, but only if their fingers are interlocked. Apparently, it’s also too platonic if they aren’t. 

Janis sighs and flips the book back shut. She frowns in confusion when the pages ripple and a little piece of paper is suddenly poking out the top. She hasn’t seen this before, so she grabs it to see what it is.

A letter. 

Janis,

Hi. It’s Cady. Nobody knows I’m adding this to your notes. So please don’t tell anyone, especially not the lawyers. If you’re a lawyer reading this, no you’re not. 

I just wanted to warn you. The paparazzi know someone is joining us for the holidays. They will be at the airport, and they will figure out which driver is ours. As soon as you get off the plane, people will be looking at you, and looking for you. 

Being in the public eye can be exhausting, especially if you’re not used to it. Just don’t answer any questions and try to ignore the cameras. I’d also advise you to stay away from the internet for the duration of your stay with me. The tabloids can and will be cruel, and having the internet at your fingertips is a blessing and a curse. Just trust me, and avoid them at all costs. 

Nobody knows your name yet, so the driver will have a sign with your name on it. Any other name is a fake and you should not get into their vehicle under any circumstances. 

If any of this ever gets to be too much for you to handle, please let me know. I’ll do whatever I can to help. 

Regards,

Cady Heron

Janis looks oddly at the letter once she finishes, and reads over it a few more times. It’s a bit strange, but either way, Janis decides to heed the letter’s warning. She tucks it back in between the pages and looks out the window she’s next to. 

The landscape is beautiful, she has to admit. They’re getting closer to Colorado, so most of it’s covered in snow. She almost can’t tell where the clouds ends and the snow begins. 

-

Before she knows it, the pilot is announcing their landing and she’s buckling her seatbelt. She watches the ground get closer and closer. She’s bracing, but she’s not sure what for. Landing has never been her favorite part of flights. 

But it goes as smoothly as a landing can. Janis grabs her carry-on and it only takes half an hour for everyone to get off the plane. 

She grabs her suitcase from the conveyor and heads out to the pickup area. My name. 

She walks past at least three cars bearing Cady’s name. She’s more than a bit concerned by how many people are earnestly trying to kidnap her. 

A few other names go by, and then she spies hers. It looks to be the same driver Cady had when she… borrowed Janis that morning last month. 

“Ms. Sarkisian,” he says when he sees her. 

“Yeah. Hello,” Janis says. “Nice to see you again.”

The man blinks in shock, seemingly amazed that she remembered him. “You as well, ma’am. Miss Heron is expecting you presently.”

Everyone around them starts murmuring at the mention of the H-word. The driver tenses, realizing he’s made a grave error. Cameras begin flashing around them. Janis looks around to see them, tilting her head as people start clamoring for her to look every which way and calling out questions one after another after another, so quickly she can’t pick the words apart. 

The driver beckons her into the car. Janis is so overwhelmed that she obeys without a word, desperately wanting out of the situation. Her bag is unceremoniously shoved in the trunk, and Janis is glad she didn’t pack anything fragile. She plops into her own seat with a huff of relief as the driver gets them going. Wherever they’re headed. 

“Ah, Janis, fantastic,” a voice says suddenly from behind her.

“Jesus fuck!” Janis yelps. 

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I trust your flight went okay?” Cady says as she clambers her way next to her from the very back seat. 

“I- yeah, it was fine,” Janis says. “Were you back there the whole time?”

“Oh, yes, of course. I absolutely had to accompany you,” Cady says. “People would talk if we didn’t arrive together. Tinted windows and blankets truly are wonders, aren’t they?”

“Uh… sure,” Janis says. “What-”

“If the paparazzi had seen me you’d never have made it into the car,” Cady says. “But I wanted to be here.”

“Thanks?” Janis says.

“That won’t do,” Cady pleads. “You can’t talk to me as if I’m an alien, nobody will believe us then.” 

“I’m sorry,” Janis says. “This is all just so… weird for me, still. I don’t wanna say anything wrong.”

“We can deal with you saying the wrong thing, it’ll be better than you not saying anything at all,” Cady says. “I swear you won’t offend me or anything. You can feel free to speak your mind.”

“Uh… okay,” Janis says. Cady glares at her. “Sorry, I’m sorry! It’s a lot of pressure!”

“If this is going to be too much for you please tell me now,” Cady says. 

“No, I can… it’ll just take me a second to adjust to all this, y’know? This is already… a whole new world to me. I’m a fish out of water, I gotta figure out how to breathe.” 

“Well, I’d suggest you figure it out quickly. We don’t have a very long drive,�� Cady says. “It really shouldn’t be much different from what you’re used to.”

“I’d have to sell several of my internal organs to be able to afford this car.”

Cady purses her lips and nods. “Point taken.”

“I’ll be fine by the time we get there, I just… all I knew about you before this was what my friend Damian told me from reading about you in the magazines and stuff. It’s gonna take me a while to stop seeing you as a celebrity, and everything.” 

“I understand,” Cady nods. “Um…”

“You don’t have to tell me anything embarrassing to try to speed up the process,” Janis comforts.

“Oh, good,” Cady sighs. Janis chuckles. 

“So, the binder thing said you had some… rules you wanted to go over in person?” she prompts. 

“Oh! Yes, thank you,” Cady says. “It is important that this is all believable, but I don’t want to force you into anything you’re uncomfortable with. I felt it would be best to discuss what you’re comfortable with in terms of physical and emotional affection in person rather than just declaring how I’d like it to be.” 

“Oh. Thanks,” Janis says. “I mean, I’ll do basically anything for this amount of money.”

“So… if I pinned you against a wall in front of a crowd of society people and started making out with you, you’d be alright with that?” Cady says. 

“Uh- is… is that likely to happen?” Janis squeaks. 

“I mean, I’d probably pin you to a more secluded wall, but there’s always a chance that may come up and people will see,” Cady says. 

Janis ponders this. Cady prepared for every eventuality before even meeting Janis, she supposes there’s a few Janis herself should prepare for as well. “That makes sense, I guess. Maybe, like… we could have a signal, or something. Just so either of us can have a bit of warning before anything, er… intense? But just, like, regular kisses and things I think I’ll be alright being surprised with.” 

“A signal may be a good idea,” Cady hums thoughtfully. “How about this? One signal for… erm… naughty things. And one if either of us needs to be removed from public view or discuss something privately with the other?”

“Okay,” Janis nods. “What do you think they should be? I don’t really know what would be a good thing to do. What would be obvious, and everything.” 

“Um… maybe a wink, for… you know? If we do it right, that won’t be particularly noticeable. Do you have any nervous habits? We should avoid those.”

“Um… I guess I wring my hands a lot? And I move my lips, but I don’t think I have anything else,” Janis says. “I’ve never really had to pay much attention to stuff like that before, though, so I’m not sure.”

“I tap my fingers, so we mustn’t do anything with that,” Cady hums, crossing her arms and tightening her jaw in thought. 

“We both have pierced ears,” Janis says. “If we need to talk we could adjust our earrings. Or tug on an ear, or something.”

“Yes, that’s brilliant!” Cady says, eyes ablaze with delight. “Alright, that’s handled. Now kiss me.”

“What?” Janis yelps.

“People will be able to tell if we kiss for the first time in front of them. Even my parents,” Cady says. “We should get the first out of the way now to get any awkwardness about it out of our systems.” 

“Oh. Yeah, uh… okay,” Janis says. “Do you wanna… or should I…?” 

“Uhm… do you… want?” 

“I’m fine either way,” Janis mumbles awkwardly. 

“Oh, to hell with it,” Cady breathes. Janis’ eyes widen briefly as she suddenly winds her arms around Janis’ shoulders and smashes their lips together. Janis squeaks softly upon first contact, but tries to reciprocate. She needs practice, and all. 

It’s not a bad kiss, either. Cady’s very clearly inexperienced, which makes sense. She probably hasn’t had a huge amount of opportunities to make out with people in her lifetime, being a billionaire and all. Janis pointedly does not let her bring tongue into their first kiss, and Cady seems to calm down slightly after that. 

Eventually, they fade into a sort of rhythm. Push and pull. Cady starts following Janis’ lead. Janis reads Cady’s responses and adjusts accordingly. 

Janis almost regrets having to breathe when they’re forced to pull apart.

“Okay, yeah, um… that’ll… that’ll work,” Cady says, strangely flushed.

“Good,” Janis squeaks. 

Cady clears her throat and looks out the window, running her hands through her red curls to smooth them down and adjusting her pantsuit back to where it’s meant to be. “We’ll be there in a few minutes, do you have anything else you wish to know or discuss?” 

“Um…” Janis hums pensively. The book covered almost everything. “Do people know that I’m… uh…”

“They’re expecting a woman, if that’s what you’re trying to say,” Cady says. Janis nods. “I came out in high school, so everyone’s known I’m queer for years. And I told my family that I’d be bringing my girlfriend for the holidays this year, so they’re expecting you. I was hoping people would focus on that instead of the fact you’re poor.”

“Thanks,” Janis says, grumbling internally. She’s not poor. She’s just… admit it, you’re broke. “Do they not know I’m… not rich?”

“That they don’t know about,” Cady says. “I’d suggest you start learning to tune people out. My parents are going to judge us quite harshly, and my mother will probably say her judgements right to your face.”

“Eh, I’ve heard all the judgements before, it’ll be nothing new,” Janis shrugs. “People always have stuff to say about my makeup and clothes and tattoos and stuff.” 

“I’d still brace yourself. Things sting in a different way coming from my mother,” Cady sighs. Janis frowns as Cady seems to start bracing herself too. 

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, yes, I’m fine,” Cady blatantly lies. She’s good. Janis almost can’t tell, but there’s an even stronger tension in her shoulders and her jaw is clenched even tighter than normal. “Thank you.” 

“Mmhmm,” Janis hums. 

They’re silent for the rest of the drive, looking out their respective windows at the landscape going by. Janis thinks they must be here when they pass through an ornate gate, complete with a person in a little box who comes out to let them in. 

But they keep going. And going, and going, and going. The road is thin and winding, but long as anything. Uphill, downhill. There’s a bridge at one point over what looks to be a very deep crevasse. Fun. 

Eventually, they come to a stop. Janis jumps a bit, having zoned out for most of the drive up, and undoes her seatbelt. The driver opens the door for her, and she climbs out of the car. 

“Holy shit,” Janis whispers when she sees the place. It’s absolutely huge. It could easily house a hundred people or more. “This place looks like a hotel.”

“Oh, it is,” Cady says, coming up next to her. “My family owns several. We stay at a different one every year for the holidays. I had to talk them out of the one in Switzerland this year.” 

“Jesus,” Janis says softly. “It’s beautiful.”

“Just wait until you see the inside,” Cady grins. “Ready?”

Janis looks between Cady’s small smile and her outstretched hand. She takes it with a nod. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” 

Cady heads up to the front door; about twice as tall as Janis and roughly eight times as wide. She wonders if the doorbell Cady rings is made of real gold or just plated. 

A maid opens the door after a few seconds. “Hello, Miss Heron.”

“Hi, um…” 

“Claire, miss,” the maid replies.

“Hi, Claire,” Cady says. 

“Please come in. I’ll let your parents know you’ve arrived,” Claire says. She leaves them in the extravagant foyer. Janis turns around to look at everything. 

Two sets of marble staircases lead upwards against either wall of the very large room. The ceilings are easily thirty feet high, met by elegant ivory walls and decorated with gold and diamond chandeliers. The rug for them to leave their dirty outdoor shoes on is a deep, rich red, covering a pristine floor tiled in yet more marble. 

It’s been precisely decorated, too. Garlands and white lights are wrapped around the railings to each staircase, and elegant silver snowflakes hang from the chandeliers. There’s a few family photos on the walls. If this is actually a hotel, Janis has a hard time believing they’re there all year round. They must’ve been brought in especially for the family’s stay. 

“Holy shit,” Janis whispers again. She jumps as a butler suddenly comes up.

“Madam Heron, a pleasure to see you again. May I take your coats?” 

“Yes, thank you… um…”

“Simon, ma’am,” the butler says politely.

“Thank you, Simon,” Cady says. She hands him their coats and waves him off with a hand. He shuts the front door behind them and goes off to hang them somewhere Janis can’t see. 

Claire makes a return then. “If you’ll follow me, Miss Heron, and your guest. Your parents are expecting you in the parlor.” 

Cady takes Janis’ hand again as they follow the maid through the winding hallways of the mansion. Eventually they make it to the back side, and Janis has to hold back a gasp. 

A majority of the lower floor of this half of the house is one large room, clearly used to hold dances or parties or other fancy events. The back wall is almost entirely glass; practically floor to ceiling. Janis looks through it to see the mountains a ways in the distance and the lake much closer. It’s all very beautiful covered in snow and ice. 

They keep walking until they reach an only slightly smaller room. Janis wonders if this is the rich people’s version of a living room or family room. 

Claire opens the doors and leaves them with a polite bow. Cady sighs softly and squeezes Janis’ hand, seemingly without realizing.

“Hello, father, hello, mother,” she says. Two figures who were chatting animatedly but quietly in the corner suddenly stop and look in their direction.

“Cady! So good to see you, dear, how was your flight?” the woman says. Cady’s mother. 

“It was fine, thank you Mother,” Cady replies, tone perfectly even. Janis doesn’t like this Cady. She sounds almost robotic, speaking that way, and she’s certainly tense enough to be. “How are the preparations for the party coming?”

“As they always do,” her mother says. 

“Hello, daughter,” Cady’s father says, pulling Cady into the stiffest hug Janis has ever been privy to witness. “How has your work been going?”

“I spoke of it to you on the phone yesterday, Father,” Cady says. “The status hasn’t changed since then.” 

“Oh, yes, you did, didn’t you? Well, it matters not,” her father replies. Cady bristles at that. Janis squeezes her hand gently, not knowing what else to do. Cady’s father looks at her, suddenly, and Janis rapidly understands why Cady is so tense. God, that’s scary. “May we help you?” 

“Um…”

“Mother, Father,” Cady says before Janis is forced to say anything.

“This is Janis Sarkisian. My girlfriend.” 

Absolute silence. Janis thinks she could hear someone drop a pin on the other end of the house. Cady’s parents scan her like something out of The Incredibles, scrutinizing every detail from head to toe. Janis tried to pick a nice outfit to wear on the flight. Dark jeans without holes, her classiest boots, and a soft cream colored sweater. The sweater is Damian’s, which they seem to take issue with. Among other things.

“Hello, Janet,” Cady’s mother says after several minutes of silent staring. “Cady, might we speak with you for a moment?”

“Yes, Mother,” Cady says. Nobody moves. 

“Alone, dear?”

“Oh. Yes,” Cady says. She lets go of Janis’ hand and follows her parents to the far corner of the room. Janis turns around to look at everything in this room. More family portraits on the walls. 

They aren’t smiling in any of them. Except one. Five young boys in matching dapper suits with red ties sit in a perfect row side by side, posture perfect even in the youngest who’s clearly no older than four. 

But in the very middle sits a tiny, chubby baby; with a wide toothless smile, precious freckles on her chubby cheeks, and fiery red hair to compliment her elegant green dress. Cady. 

Janis can overhear bits and pieces of the conversation Cady’s in the middle of with her parents. She looks over without actually turning around, just out of the corner of her eye. Cady is standing a good six feet away from her parents and anxiously tapping her fingers against her arm as they’re folded protectively over her chest. 

The words “unacceptable” and “peasant” come up a few times in rapid succession from the mouth of Cady’s mother, paired with burning glares in Janis’ direction. “Heathen” and “dangerous” also come up a few times, along with a hissed, “she’ll frighten the children!” which is a first. Janis quietly delights in the unintentional compliment. 

Cady seems to be defending her; much more softly but with just as much intensity behind her words. Janis hears her spit, “You have no idea who she really is. Give her a chance.” 

Cady tugs gently on her ear then, looking to Janis out of the corner of her eye. It’s not quite the circumstance she thought they’d be using their signal in, but Janis can understand why she is. It won’t make Cady’s parents like her, but saving Cady is worth it. 

“Should I take our bags to our room?” Janis asks, coming up behind Cady and kissing her cheek. Sure enough, Cady’s parents both look quite miffed with her for interrupting their very important discussion. 

“Oh, don’t be silly, baby, we have people for that,” Cady replies, resting a warm hand against Janis’ cheek and kissing her jaw in return. Janis feels her heart flutter the slightest bit at the pet name. Stop it, this is fake.

“Oh, right,” Janis says. “I forgot. Not used to… actually being in your world.” 

“How quaint,” Cady’s father says curtly. “The two of you may go get settled in. Cady, we expect you to join us for dinner.”

“Yes, father,” Cady says quietly. She takes Janis’ hand again to lead her out of the room. “Come on.” 

“Are they always like that?” Janis whispers as Cady leads her to the… elevator?! 

“Yep,” Cady sighs. “Fronting as a caring family, frigid behind the scenes.” 

“Nice,” Janis says. “Is the rest of your family already here?”

“No,” Cady says, leaning against the elevator wall and crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not sure of your background, or if you… come from a large family or anything. My parents can be overwhelming enough, and the house is a lot in and of itself. I wanted to be sure you’d have time to acclimate before throwing you into the den with my entire family.” 

“Oh. Thanks,” Janis says. Cady just nods and taps her fingers against her elbow.

“Here we are,” she says when the doors open with the fanciest ding Janis thinks she’s ever heard. “This way.”

Janis runs out after her, following Cady at her very brisk pace down the hall. 

“My brothers will start arriving at… I’m not sure, but some point next week with their families. I trust you checked the binder?” 

“Yeah, I did. Memorized as much of it as I could.”

“Really?” Cady asks, turning briefly to look at her over her shoulder. “I’m impressed. That was quite dense.”

“Yeah, I, er… did my best.” 

“Anything will be appreciated, I’m sure. Anyway. My brothers always spend at least a few days with us for the holidays, but we’ll be here by far the longest. So you have all the time you could want to enjoy the area. And my grandparents will probably arrive as close to Christmas day as possible. Beyond that, it’s just going to be us and my parents for quite a while.”

“Sounds nice,” Janis says. “And when are we expected to be, like, in public together?” 

“As soon as possible,” Cady sighs. “Here’s our room.”

“Holy shit,” Janis whispers. 

“Are you going to say that every time I show you something?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Well, I’m glad I know that now,” Cady says with a faint chuckle. She heads over and falls backwards onto the bed. “We should try to do something public tomorrow, or the day after at the latest. The media’s probably already buzzing about you at the airport. We need to be seen together in person before too long.” 

“Where will we go?” Janis asks. Cady pulls herself back to a sitting position and folds her hands against her knees.

“Wherever you want,” she says with a small smile. 

——-

Janis is awake and presentable bright and early the next morning per Cady’s brief. To be fair, it’s ten in the morning, but that’s still early by Janis’ vacation standards. 

“Morning,” Cady says when Janis walks into the dining room in hopes of some breakfast. “You took a while.”

“I got lost,” Janis says sheepishly.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Cady says frantically. “I should’ve waited with you, I didn’t even think of that.”

“No, no, it’s totally fine. One of the butlers saved me. Your second parlor is really nice, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Cady says, smiling at her oddly. “I’m sure you saw some of the photos, then?”

“I did,” Janis nods. “You’re the only redhead?” 

Cady nods, tugging subconsciously on her auburn curls. Cady’s parents, and all her brothers, have dark blonde hair. Cady’s brownish-red hair is a stark contrast, to say the least. 

“I am. My paternal grandmother was a redhead too,” Cady sighs. “I hated it when I was young. And I went blonde for a time in high school, if you can believe that.”

“Really?” Janis chuckles. “Why?”

“It was… just how it went,” Cady says quietly. Janis gets the sense she shouldn’t press this further. It’s clearly an uncomfortable memory for Cady. “Bleaching it did so much damage. I’ve only just gotten it grown out to an acceptable length.” 

“What’s an acceptable length?” Janis asks. 

“This, basically,” Cady says with a shrug. “According to my mother I look uncivilized if I have it too much longer and like a heathen if it’s any shorter.”

“Your mother seems really judgmental.” 

“It… comes from a place of love,” Cady replies. “She wants the best for me and the best of me.”

“Well, if her reaction yesterday was anything to go by, I’m clearly not that.” 

“And that’s exactly the point,” Cady says with a mischievous smile. Janis smiles back. 

It’s quiet for a bit. Neither of them quite know what to say to each other now. Janis stares at the empty place on the huge wooden table in front of her, as if staring hard enough will materialize some breakfast before her eyes. To be fair, it seems a likely possibility in this house. 

“So, um… no family breakfasts?” Janis says awkwardly.

“Oh, heavens, no,” Cady says. “Everyone’s much too busy for that. Dinners are a must, but beyond that we simply eat meals whenever we have the time to. Oh, speaking of which, what would you like? The chefs will prepare you anything you could want. And if we don’t have something, we’ll send someone to fetch it.”

“Anything?” Janis questions. 

“Anything,” Cady confirms. 

“So… if I wanted… scrambled eggs but made with eggs from Japan?” Janis asks.

“We’d send word to Japan,” Cady says with a nod. “Do… is that what you want?”

Janis almost says yes, just to see how that would work. In actuality, she says, “No, no, I was just curious. Um… normal… American scrambled eggs would be fine, though.” 

“American scrambled eggs it is,” Cady says. “Anything else?” 

“No, thanks. I’m not really a big eater in the mornings,” Janis says. “Wait, is it… should I just eat what you had? I don’t want the cooks to have to make something special for me.”

“Oh, don’t be silly!” Cady says. “It’s what they’re paid to do. And I didn’t eat breakfast, anyway.”

“You didn’t?”

“I seldom do, I get so distracted,” Cady sighs. “Eggs do sound quite nice, though, I might have to request a portion of my own.” 

“How do they know what to make?” Janis asks.

“I’ll just put an order in,” Cady says like it’s obvious. Janis frowns in confusion. “To the app?” 

“You have an app?” 

“Yes, of course,” Cady says. “My brother, Clark, is quite good with programming and computers and such. So he designed an app for the servants. My mother even uses it. Much more dignified and easy to manage than yelling across the mansion, or… I don’t know, using bells or whistles or something.”

“That’s cool. I kinda would’ve thought whistles would be more your mother’s speed,” Janis says. 

“Oh, they were for years. Have you ever seen The Sound of Music?” Cady says. 

“She did not,” Janis says, jaw dropping. She has seen that movie. Damian made her watch it before he recreated the entire thing in a one man show just for her. Janis stopped letting him have white wine after that. 

“She did! We all had signals,” Cady says with a quiet giggle. “Anyway. Do you have any food allergies? The kitchens will sanitize everything to ensure you get a safe meal.”

“Um… no, I’m just lactose intolerant. But I can handle milk in small doses, so… no need to sanitize just for me,” Janis says.

“Are you sure? It’s a lengthy process, but there’s other kitchens on the premises. I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable,” Cady says. 

“I’m sure. As long as I don’t, like, eat a block of cheese or pint of ice cream I’ll be fine,” Janis says. 

“Alrighty then,” Cady says, pulling out her phone and entering the order. “Two scrambled eggs with no dairy. Anything to drink?” 

“Water is fine, thank you,” Janis says softly. She’s not in a restaurant, but it’s too similar for her to feel comfortable ordering anything but water. 

“And two waters. Coming right up,” Cady says. 

“That’s really cool,” Janis says, peeking at Cady’s screen. “Your brother designed this himself?”

“Yep. Clark’s never been one to accept much in the way of help with his work. He doesn’t care for our father’s business, but he’s done wonderfully with his own freelancing,” Cady says, clearly very proud of her big brother. “He designed these for use when the hotels are actually in service as hotels, but they’re still quite useful for our stays. All I have to do is say what room in the house I’d like a dish or item brought to and then wait.” 

“Sounds handy,” Janis says. Cady nods. 

“It is, quite. Anyway, it’ll be… er, about ten minutes,” she says. Janis nods. Cady nods back, and they’re back to silence. 

-

Breakfast is more than a bit awkward. Janis compliments the food, Cady smiles. Beyond that, they say nothing. 

“Oh, hey, um…” Janis says as she takes her last bite. Cady looks up from her phone expectantly. Janis drops her voice to a whisper, just to be safe. “How many people know about this?” 

“Oh,” Cady says. “You and I. My drivers, my security guards, and my lawyers.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. It would be unbelievable if many more people than that had to keep our secret. But they’ll be the people closest to us, so I figured that would make things easier on us. Less… paranoia, I suppose.” 

“Makes sense. Um, I’m ready to go. If you are,” Janis says. 

“Are you sure?” Cady says. “Forgive me for saying so, but I’m not absolutely convinced you’re aware what you’ll be getting into once we leave the property.” 

“I know I’ll have to watch everything I say and everything I do and that I should expect at least ten sets of eyes on me at all times,” Janis says, quoting from the binder almost word for word. “And I know I’m expected to act like I’m in love with you but not too much so it’s still realistic.”

“Okay, I seem to have underestimated you,” Cady chuckles. “You really did memorize it?”

“As much as I could,” Janis nods back with a smirk. 

“Nicely done,” Cady says softly. “Then I suppose we should go.”

“My lady,” Janis says sarcastically, offering Cady one of her arms to hold onto.

“Oh, don’t you start. And I should be leading you, Miss Got Lost Half an Hour Ago.”

“Fair enough.” 

—————-

“So have you given any thought as to where you’d like to go?” Cady asks as they watch the landscape shift from isolated mansion to populated suburb to cute little downtown area. 

“Not really. I don’t really know what’s around,” Janis says. “But… it would be fun to go somewhere you’ve never been before.”

“That impish look scares me,” Cady says. 

“Nowhere dangerous. But you don’t seem like you’ve been much of anywhere around this place, quite frankly.”

“I haven’t,” Cady acknowledges. “Shall we just drive around until we find something?” 

“That’ll work,” Janis nods. 

They both settle in and look out their respective windows, on a hunt for an acceptable Christmassy date destination. Cady’s driver takes them through the winding back roads of the neighborhoods. 

“Oh,” Cady gasps suddenly. “What is that?”

“A Christmas market?” Janis says, leaning over to look out Cady’s window.

“How sweet,” Cady says. “It’s beautiful.” 

“It is,” Janis agrees. “Should we go there?”

“I suppose it’s as good a place as any,” Cady says. “Lots of people.” 

“Yeah,” Janis acknowledges around a lump in her throat. She did know in theory what she was getting into, but the reality of being seen in public with Cady is setting in now. There are a lot of people at the market. Couples, families, people running various booths, single people doing some Christmas shopping at the quaint little stalls. All of it makes for quite a crowd that has Janis shaking in her snow boots. 

She has no more time to prepare as Cady climbs out of the car and starts slowly walking towards the market. She pauses after about three feet and turns to look at Janis. 

“Are you alright?” 

“Mmhmm,” Janis hums, nodding frantically. “Yeah, I-I’m good.”

Cady tenderly picks a bit of lint off Janis’ shoulder before she takes and squeezes her hand. “You’ll be fine, I promise. It’s overwhelming the first few times, but after a while you hardly notice it.”

“I’m more worried about what the media is gonna have to say about me,” Janis says. “They’ll probably think I’m corrupting you or something.” 

“Some probably will,” Cady agrees bluntly. “But… you know what is true and what isn’t. As long as you believe that, that’s all that ever truly matters.” 

“That’s deep,” Janis says, trying to lighten the mood. 

“These people do not actually matter in the slightest, I promise you,��� Cady says, slowly continuing their walk over. “You’ll be but a passing trend.” 

“That does help,” Janis says. 

“Just try to enjoy yourself,” Cady says. “This is just a normal date.”

“Date,” Janis squeaks. “Right.” 

Eventually, they’re standing smack in the middle of the center. There’s loads of shopping booths selling all sorts of holiday-related trinkets and food and other goodies to the right, a Santa for the kids to meet straight ahead, and even a few activities like ice skating and an ice slide to the left. 

“That tree is huge,” Janis says in awe.

“It is,” Cady says. “It could rival the ones my mother has brought in every year. It’s beautiful.” 

They stand and admire the very large Christmas tree for a few moments longer before they start walking over to see what the booths have for sale. 

“Oh, these little Santas are darling,” Cady says when they walk past one selling little china figurines. “My mother collects Santa figures.”

“Really?” Janis chuckles. 

“Mmhmm. She has hundreds, from everywhere,” Cady says, picking up one with a blue coat covered in snow. “Do you make these?”

“Uh… y-yeah,” the stall attendant says, blinking at Cady in awe. “Um- my-my grandmother and I do. Spend the year making them to sell here.”

“They’re so cheap!” Cady says. “You should charge more for your handiwork!” 

“I-I… we… we only charge what we need to turn a profit, ma’am,” the teenage boy says. 

“Well, that’s no way to run a business,” Cady scoffs. “What are your markups-”

“We’ll take this one, please,” Janis interrupts before Cady can interrogate the poor kid about his entire business practice. He nods frantically and carefully wraps it in bubble wrap so it won’t break. “Thank you. Merry Christmas.”

Cady protests as Janis drags her away from the booth. “Hey! I was just trying to-” 

“Cady, he clearly is not doing this for the money,” Janis says. “He’s doing it to get reactions like the one you had when you saw the figurine. To make people happy, and to do something with his grandmother to bring in a bit of extra money for his family. He doesn’t need you explaining how to turn it into a multi-million dollar Santa Claus making empire.” 

“But he really could take it so much further if he just-”

“Cady, listen, I respect you a lot,” Janis says. “But I also have the perspective of a normal person. They don’t want business talk, okay? They want you to say something nice about what they sell and buy something, maybe chat for a bit, and move on.” 

“Was I rude?” Cady asks softly. 

“…Yeah, a little,” Janis says. “Your heart is in the right place, but… give the business stuff a rest for Christmas, okay?” 

Cady is quiet, but she nods and squeezes her hand. Janis squeezes her back. 

“You okay?”

“Yes,” Cady says immediately, though she’s still looking pointedly at her boots trudging through the thin layer of snow on the brick path. “When you find somewhere natural to, kiss me.” 

“What?” Janis laughs. 

“Don’t look, but someone to our left and a bit ahead is filming,” Cady says. Janis dares to sneak a peak, and sure enough, some passerby has her phone out, shamelessly recording them in broad daylight. 

“Jesus,” Janis tuts. 

Somewhere natural. Conveniently, one of the strands of lights they pass beneath has mistletoe dangling from it. Janis pretends she’s admiring the snow fluttering down and points to the mistletoe. 

Cady smiles and stops in her tracks, grinning up at the plant as she wraps her arms around Janis’ waist and stands on her tippy toes. Janis smiles back and gently cups Cady’s neck in her hands before pulling her into a soft kiss. 

Neither of them stop smiling even when their lips meet. Janis picks Cady up and spins her around, making Cady squeal with a laugh. “Jay!”

“Jay, eh?” Janis whispers, kissing her again. She leans in to whisper in Cady’s ear. “Should I act like I don’t want to be doing this so it makes more sense when we break up?” 

Cady smiles like she’s just whispered something sweet into her ear and leans in to whisper to Janis. “No, we’ll just say you weren’t ready for the commitment.” 

“Oh, great,” Janis chuckles as Cady kisses her cheek. “Is this enough to appease the masses or should I start licking your ear or something?”

“Please don’t do that under any circumstances,” Cady giggles. “I think we’re good. Paps will start arriving seconds after she posts that video, though.”

“I think I’ll live,” Janis says. She kisses the tip of Cady’s nose for good measure, and Cady kisses her knuckles as they start walking again; looking pointedly at everything except the camera and trying to act like they never noticed it. “Can you always tell when you’re on camera?”

“Just about,” Cady says. “My security taught me tips to look out for, so now I can almost always pick out who in a crowd is either already or going to start taking photos or recording. It’s just something you come to expect after long enough.” 

“Sounds like it would get old pretty quick,” Janis says sadly.

“It does,” Cady agrees. She chuckles slightly, more a loud exhale than much else. “Every time I get dressed in the morning I have to expect billions of people around the world to see it.” 

“I’m clearly not used to that,” Janis says.

“No, you look great!” Cady says. “Professional but comfortable. It works for you.” 

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen you in anything except a suit,” Janis chuckles. 

“Hey, they always match and they always have the professionalism I should,” Cady says. “I like my suits.”

“I like them too,” Janis says. “It’s just nice to see you in something else.”

“I am much more comfortable,” Cady chuckles. “Pantsuits are itchier than you’d think.”

“I can imagine,” Janis replies. “They… er, suit you, though. So to speak.”

“Thank you,” Cady giggles. “God, this place is lovely. I can’t believe I’ve never seen it before.”

“It is really cute,” Janis says. “I’m not usually a fan of stuff like this, but this is really nice.”

“Not usually?” Cady asks. 

“I’m not really a huge Christmas person,” Janis shrugs. “Something like this probably would’ve made me nauseous in high school.” 

“Really?” Cady giggles. “What’s different about this one, then?” 

“…I’m not sure.” 

“The company?” Cady teases, knocking gently against her side. Janis turns to look at her with a smile. 

“Nah, I think this one just has a better smell.”

Cady gasps indignantly. “How rude!” 

“I’m teasing,” Janis chuckles. “Better get used to that.”

“Hmph.” 

“Oh, come on,” Janis pleads. “I know what’ll make you feel better.” 

“What are you- oh, what is that smell?” Cady says, all her anger fading as soon as she gets a whiff of warm cider and cookies. 

“Hi,” Janis greets. “Two ciders and… what kind of cookies do you like, Caddy?” 

“They all smell so nice,” Cady says. 

“Thank you, Miss Heron,” the woman behind the booth says. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Oh, please,” Cady says with a smile. “I’m just as honored to meet you, I’m sure.” 

“Much better,” Janis whispers in her ear. She chases it with a kiss on the cheek so it looks natural. “Have you ever had a snickerdoodle?” 

“I beg your pardon?” 

“It’s a kind of cookie, baby,” Janis chuckles. “Do you have samples?”

“Oh! Oh, um… for you, of course,” the woman says.

“Oh, no, we’ll pay for it,” Cady says immediately. 

“No, no,” she says. 

“We insist,” Cady says. 

“And I’m paying, I don’t mind,” Janis chuckles.

“What? No you aren’t,” Cady says. 

“Try me.” 

“I’m the billionaire here, honey.”

“And what are people going to say if you don’t let me pay for anything? They don’t know our history, they’ll just think I’m some random person you found on the sidewalk who’s after your money!” 

“You might as well be,” Cady says teasingly. 

“How long have y’all been together, if I may?” the woman asks as she hands Janis a snickerdoodle. 

“Going on three years,” Janis says with a smile. She takes the cookie and pinches off a chunk to give to Cady. 

“How sweet. Y’all are just darling,” the woman says. 

“Oh my god,” Cady says in awe. “This is delicious!”

“I told you,” Janis chuckles. “And thanks.” she says to the woman. “Two?”

Cady nods eagerly. “How much for the lot?” 

“Hm?” the woman replies squeakily. 

“My family would love these, how much would it be for all of them?” Cady insists. “And do you have a permanent shop somewhere? I’ll have to mention you to my father.” 

The woman looks to Janis in shock, seeming to check if Cady’s being serious. Janis has no idea, and shrugs. 

“Um… we sell the cookies for two dollars apiece, so… call it a hundred for… all of them?” the woman says hesitantly. 

Janis hands over ten to cover their ciders and cookies, and Cady forks over five hundred. 

“Oh, there’s too much-”

“Nonsense. Use the rest on your family if you’d like, or yourself. Maybe make some more of these. Did you say you have a shop?”

“Yes, I-I have a bakery with my daughter-in-law,” the woman replies. “On seventh street. Caroline’s Cookies.” 

“I’ll pass along my recommendations,” Cady says. The woman looks around, seeming quite flustered, before she just pulls the entire tray out of their warming bin and offers it to her. Cady motions one of her guards over. “Take this back to the car, please. And feel free to have one if you’d like, they’re quite delicious. Thank you, ma’am. Merry Christmas.”

“Um… Merry Christmas to you as well,” the woman says, waving in confusion as Cady and Janis pick up their more reasonably sized portions of cookie and drink and head off to continue browsing. 

“Caddy?” Cady asks as soon as they’re out of earshot of anybody. 

“Yeah. No offense, but your name is spelled weird,” Janis says.

“None taken,” Cady says. “My parents were very committed to us all having the same initials.” 

“I can tell,” Janis chuckles. “It’s cute, though. But, yeah. You’re Caddy now.”

“I like it,” Cady grins. Janis smiles back until Cady suddenly turns to her in a panic. “Oh, back there, that wasn’t rude as well?!”

“No, no,” Janis says soothingly. “Bit… odd, maybe, but not rude. If you’re gonna do anything to a small business owner, buying their entire stock of something is probably the best option.” 

“They’re so good,” Cady says around a mouthful of cookie. “Oh, dear, I know that’s rude. Excuse me.”

“Nah,” Janis chuckles. “Would almost be endearing if it wasn’t gross.” 

Cady laughs under her breath as she continues chewing, swallowing before she speaks this time. “Everything here is… amazing. And to think I never even knew it existed until today.” 

“Sometimes you just gotta stop and smell the Christmas trees,” Janis shrugs. “Lucky we found it.” 

“Lucky indeed,” Cady says. “And the Christmas trees smell wonderful.” 

“They do,” Janis agrees. “Kinda makes me want a real tree.”

“You have an artificial one, then?” Cady asks as they wind their way through the rows of Christmas trees for sale by a local tree farm. 

“Yeah. Damian and I decided a real one was too much effort for us. And it’s cheaper to just get one that’ll last a few years than blow a bunch of money on a real one that’ll just die in a month anyway.” 

“Damian?” Cady asks. Janis looks at her when she hears a slight panic in her tone. “You’re… in a relationship?!”

“No! No,” Janis says immediately. “God, no. He’s just my roommate. He’s too gay to function. And… obviously gay in the wrong direction.” 

“Oh,” Cady breathes. “God, I didn’t even think to check that.” 

“Well, now you know for next time,” Janis jokes. Cady glares at her. “And… for the record, there hasn’t been anyone.”

“Ever?”

Janis shakes her head. “I was always kind of off-beat in school, so I didn’t have many friends in the first place. And then I made the mistake of coming out when I was in eighth grade, and then I didn’t have any friends at all. So I never really had the opportunity. I had a couple flings in college, but nothing serious. And now I work too much to really have time.” 

“Oh,” Cady says. 

“What about you? If I may ask,” Janis asks softly. They’ve made sure to whisper any sensitive information, but she’s still paranoid about someone listening in. That woman filming them without a care in the world has really thrown her off her rhythm. 

“I’ve never really had much chance either,” Cady says. “Couple brief things here and there, and one girlfriend in high school. There’s more booths this way.”

Well, that’s just about the best non-answer Janis has ever gotten. She decides not to press any further and follows Cady along to look at some more little trinket stalls. 

“Do you collect anything?” Janis asks. “Like your mother?” 

“…Yes,” Cady says quietly, almost like she’s embarrassed. “I collect snow globes.” 

“That’s cute,” Janis says. Cady shrugs.

“Do you have any collections?” 

“Not… really,” Janis says. “Um… I collected state quarters in middle school, I still have my special map in my mom’s attic somewhere. Paintbrushes, I guess. I keep all of them even when I can’t use them anymore.” 

“You paint?” Cady asks softly, looking at her curiously. Janis nods and swings their interlocked hands between them slightly. 

“Yeah.” 

“Just yeah?”

“No,” Janis sighs. “I just… after I came out I was bullied, like, pretty severely. Everyone called me a space dyke because some kid asked me what I was one day and all I could think of was to say I was a space alien with four butts.”

“Clever.” 

“Yeah,” Janis chuckles. “Needless to say, it didn’t go over very well. I got pulled out of school after a while and put into art therapy. So… that’s where painting started for me.” 

Cady hums sadly. “Are you any good?” 

“I like to think so,” Janis says. “Not good enough to make anything off it, though.”

“So that’s why you work at the café?” Cady asks. Janis nods. “Hm.”

“Why were you there?” Janis asks. “When we… um… met.” 

“I’m currently working for my father,” Cady says. “All of us have. When we graduate from university, or… reach a certain age, in Clark’s case, our first job is working for him. It’s helpful to learn business strategies and how to manage things, as well as working skills in case we don’t launch our own billion-dollar enterprises someday. We do that for a year and then we’re left to our own devices.

“And he owns the café, among other businesses in the city. So he sent me along to check up on things and make sure everything was up to our standards.”

“Was it?”

“Well, there was a certain employee I mentioned among a few strong words,” Cady hums. “But I appear to have judged her too quickly.”

“She did the same,” Janis says softly. 

“Did she?” Cady asks. “Hm. We’re being followed, by the way.” 

“How do you-”

“Security gave me a signal, it’s not me being a mind reader. I can’t see backwards,” Cady giggles. “It’s nobody dangerous, this time, just some paparazzi.”

“This time?” 

“Oh, yeah. I only have security because I was kidnapped when I was seven,” Cady says like that’s perfectly normal. “We all do, now. My father’s had a few close calls with assassination attempts and such.” 

“You were kidnapped?!” 

“Only for a while. They actually treated me remarkably well,” Cady says. “I had more candy in those four hours than I’d had in my entire life previously, it was awesome. People are desperate, sometimes. Ransom is a good, quick way to earn money. They knew my father had a lot.” 

“So your father just paid them off?” Janis asks in shock. 

“Oh, heavens, no! No, of course not,” Cady chuckles. “He just called the secret service and they handled it quite quickly.”

“Like… the secret service the president gets?” 

“They were friends at the time, it was a personal favor.”

“You should write a book.”

“You should probably kiss me again,” Cady sighs. Janis kisses her mittened knuckles and looks around. 

“I have a better idea,” she says, running ahead to the sleigh rides being offered. Cady squeaks in surprise and starts running after her. “How much?”

“Up to you. All we ask is that you make a donation to our animal sanctuary if you think we do a good job,” the sleigh driver replies. “Helps us take good care of the horses and their buddies.” 

“And… and the horses are safe?” Cady asks shakily. 

“I can assure you they’re very well trained, miss. You’ll have a smooth ride,” he says. “This here is Butterscotch. She’s a little older, so she’ll give you a nice calm trip.” 

“Okay,” Cady says softly. 

“You wanna go?” Janis asks gently. Cady looks at her, and Janis can see genuine fear in her eyes. “I’ll be right there with you, it’ll be alright.” 

“I don’t like horses,” Cady mumbles.

“We don’t have to go,” Janis offers quietly. “If it makes you uncomfortable. But hundreds of people ride these every day and they’re perfectly fine.” 

“I want to,” Cady says, a bit bolder. Janis grins and kisses her cheek. 

“Good. Hop up,” she says. Cady squeals a bit as she suddenly hoists her up and into the sleigh. Janis hears camera shutters go off a ways away and hopes she doesn’t look too weird lifting Cady practically over her head. Cady pulls her into the sleigh after her and greets her with a sweet kiss as she tosses a blanket over their laps to keep warm. 

The driver sets Butterscotch off to a trot. Cady squeals in fright as they start moving, but she calms down as she gets used to it. 

“So… does it say anywhere in those contracts that we can’t get to know each other?” Janis asks after a while.

Cady looks at her oddly. “Surely you already know everything about me you’d want to.” 

“I don’t,” Janis replies. “Oh, hey. C’mere.” 

“What?” 

“Just in case,” Janis says. “You said the paparazzi are after us.” Cady still looks confused, but she does rest willingly against Janis’ shoulder. “And… now nobody but us can hear what we’re saying.” 

“Smart,” Cady says. She gently laces their fingers together and smiles down at their hands. “Now seriously, there can’t possibly be anything you don’t already know about me, I put everything…” her tone drops to almost a whisper even though nobody can hear them. “In the book.” 

“Yeah, exactly. I know book stuff. I know everything I could’ve found on the internet if I cared enough about billionaires to look you up. I know about your family, and your history, and your business, and what we were talking about earlier. But I don’t really know about you,” Janis says. “And I think if we’re gonna convince people for these three weeks, you should know a couple things about me. But I’m a lot less interesting.” 

Cady considers this before she nods gently. “Yeah, alright. Have you ever considered entering my field? You have quite a mind for business.” 

“Maybe on the surface,” Janis snorts. “I’m terrible at math, though. I think business has too many numbers for my tastes. And I thought you never wanted to see me again as soon as we’re done here.” 

“I suppose that’s fair,” Cady giggles. “Not business then. Do you actually make decent coffee?” 

“I do,” Janis nods. “Coffee, tea, hot chocolate. Basically the menu at the café, I can do pretty well.” 

“Uhhuh. And how much of that is the stock the company purchases?” 

“Your father has good taste for his companies. But it takes a skilled hand to be able to turn that into something people can actually drink,” Janis says.

“Really?” 

“No,” Janis laughs. “I push buttons on machines and it makes stuff happen.” 

“You liar, I was actually starting to believe you!” Cady chuckles back. 

“I thought that’s a big business thing, being a good liar?”

“True. You sneak,” Cady giggles. 

“I do make good stuff though. Have to make my own at home,” Janis says. 

“Hm. Interesting,” Cady hums. “Well, I suppose that was my turn. What do you want to know about me?”

Shit. What does Janis want to know? She wants to know about Cady, but… what about her? 

“Janis?” 

“Sorry, I’m thinking,” Janis says. “Um… what’s- uh… your… favorite shape?”

“My favorite shape?” Cady chuckles. “What is that gonna tell you about me?”

“You can tell a lot about a person by their favorite shape! Now come on, what is it?” 

“Circles are nice,” Cady says. “But I think… stars? I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it before.”

“Stars are pretty good,” Janis nods.

“So… what does that tell you about me?”

“That you… like… stars.” 

Cady rolls her eyes. “Brilliant.” 

“Well, look, it’s a lot of pressure! Not every day you get to talk to a billionaire one on one!” 

“Just pray you never become an interviewer,” Cady replies. “I will answer anything within reason. You have signed an NDA.” 

“Anything, huh?”

“Mmhmm. My turn, though,” Cady says. “What’s… something you’d never do no matter how much I offered to pay you?” 

“Skydive,” Janis says immediately. 

“Really? Not a thrill seeker, then?” Cady hums happily. “I did mean, like, between us, but that’s… good to know, I suppose.”

“Oh! Duh,” Janis says. “I thought you meant, like, in general.”

“No, no, that was a good answer!” Cady says, gently knocking against her. “What else?” 

“Hey, that’s two!”

“So you’ll get two, come on.” 

“Fine,” Janis huffs. “I won’t… like, do anything that would… hurt. Physically. Like, if you asked me to break my arm or something. Not doing that. And I won’t hurt you. And I wouldn’t… take some mystery drug that might start the apocalypse.”

“What?!” 

“I dunno what you billionaires get up to in your free time,” Janis says immediately.

“You think the apocalypse would start with a drug? And that I have it?”

“I don’t know, it could happen!” Janis defends. 

“You’re very strange,” Cady hums. 

“Says you.” 

“And rude.”

Janis just raises an eyebrow. Cady huffs and turns the other way, but she’s still firmly tucked against Janis’ side. “My turn?”

“If you must,” Cady grumbles crankily. 

“What makes you smile?” Janis asks softly. Cady tips her head up to look at her. 

“Smile?”

“Yeah,” Janis confirms. “I wanna know what kinds of things make you happy.” 

“Why?” 

“Because heaven forbid I care about you the slightest little bit over the next few weeks,” Janis teases. “I should at least know a couple things so I can do them. Make this seem realistic and everything.” 

“Oh.” Cady says softly. “Um…” 

Janis feels her heart pang the slightest bit as Cady genuinely has to think about her answer. The slight hurt only grows with every second that ticks by. 

“My nieces and nephews,” Cady says eventually. “Always make me smile. And… most of my brothers and sisters-in-law. And I watch videos of animals that are best friends when I get sad.” 

“Oh, yeah?” Janis chuckles. “Which one’s your favorite?”

“There’s a… cheetah and a golden retriever,” Cady mumbles sheepishly. “They grew up together.” 

“That’s cute,” Janis says softly. “Anything else?” 

“I like to eat. I usually smile then,” Cady says. “And I… I don’t know, beyond that.” 

“Well, we’ll just have to find some stuff, then.” 

“Yes, I suppose we will. My turn.”

“Hey, I get two questions!” 

“And you did. If you want to get technical, you got three,” Cady says. “You asked what makes me smile, what video was my favorite, and then if I had any other things.”

“Fine,” Janis pouts. “Ask away.” 

“Tell me about… erm… the friend of yours you mentioned earlier,” Cady says. 

“Damian?” 

“Yes, him,” Cady agrees in such a tone that Janis knows she immediately forgot his name. 

“Okay. I met him when I was in first grade,” Janis says. “I broke his nose.”

“You what?!” 

“He said girls couldn’t punch. I just proved him wrong,” Janis shrugs. “We were best friends after that. We grew up together. A couple other friends came and went for us, but he was always the one I could count on. When we got older we’d always be each other’s beards when we needed one and stuff. Our parents say we’re platonic soulmates.”

“And you’re both queer?” Cady asks gently.

“Yeah. I’m a lesbian and he’s the gayest man to ever walk the face of the Earth,” Janis chuckles. 

“Have you told him about this?” Cady asks. Janis tenses. Will Cady take legal action if she tells the truth? She did sign that nondisclosure agreement. But lying to Cady can’t be a good thing to do either. “It’s alright if you have. If you trust him I suppose I have to as well. And if need comes we can have him sign an NDA too.”

“He’s trustworthy. He does talk too much, but he knows not to tell anyone about this,” Janis says. “We tell each other everything, I had to. And he absolutely loves your family, by the way.” 

“He does?” Cady asks, looking up at her. 

“I think you’re more important to him than the Kardashians, and that’s saying a hell of a lot,” Janis says. Cady laughs. “He reads all the news stories and watches all your interviews and stuff. You’re definitely his favorite. You can do no wrong in his eyes.”

“Really?” Cady asks. “The news and interviews I’ve done don’t exactly portray me in a positive light.” 

“And he is beyond pissed about that,” Janis says. “Every time something new comes out that makes you look bad I’m subjected to him ranting about it while I try to do my job. He’s gone for an entire shift more than once.”

“Maybe I should have asked him to do this instead, then,” Cady says with a small smile. 

“He would’ve for your sake,” Janis snorts. “I told him I’d try to get your autograph for his Christmas present.”

“He sounds lovely,” Cady says. “Might need more than an autograph.” 

“He can be lovely when he wants to. Most of the time he’s just a pain in the ass.”

“Do you talk about all your friends so kindly?” Cady asks teasingly. 

“Yeah,” Janis chuckles. “It’s how I show affection.”

“Hm,” Cady hums. They both startle a bit when they suddenly come to a stop. They look up to see that they’ve finished their allotted loop around the downtown area already. “Oh, it’s over.” 

“See? I told you it’d be fine,” Janis says, loud enough for the driver to hear her now. “Come on, we should finish shopping and head home.” 

Janis climbs out of the sleigh first, and gently picks Cady out after her. She gives her a spin and kiss before she sets her gently on her feet. 

“Thank you,” Cady says to their driver.

“Not a problem, miss.”

“What is your goal for donations this year?” Cady asks, still making sure to stay well out of the horse’s reach. 

“We’re hoping to hit ten thousand over this season, that should get us through the next year,” he replies. “Any amount you can give is appreciated.” 

“Mm,” Cady hums pensively. “Let me make a call.” 

“Um… okay,” the driver shrugs. Janis watches as Cady steps out of earshot and pulls out her phone. She can just about make out the words ‘ten thousand’ and ‘yes, I’m serious’ from this distance. 

“Right,” Cady says as she hangs up and returns. “I obviously can’t give you that much money in person, but we can start with… oh, this,” she says, forking over another huge wad of money. “And someone from my lawyer’s office will be visiting your ranch in the coming days to make sure it’s all up to standards and give you the rest of the money, if that’s alright with you?” 

“The… the rest of the ten grand, miss?” 

“We’ll call it fifteen for luck, and in case the people here are more stingy than you’re accounting for,” Cady hums. “As long as you’ll use it to keep Butterscotch in the manner to which she’s accustomed.” 

“Most of it, absolutely,” the driver says, seeming a bit shaken by what he’s just heard. “A-are you serious, ma’am?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that? Of course I am,” Cady sighs. “Anyway. Merry Christmas, thank you.”

“M-merry Christmas,” the driver replies, waving back at them as they head back towards the market hand in hand. 

“Are you allowed to drop this much money on random strangers?” Janis asks quietly. “This is all adding up really quick.”

“I’m a billionaire, Janis,” Cady chuckles. “What we’ve spent today is just a fraction of what I earn in a month. And to answer your question, I may do whatever I like with it once it crosses from my father’s hand to mine, thank you very much.” 

“Alrighty then,” Janis nods. 

They continue browsing the booths as they slowly start making their way back to the car. They each pick up a few things. Cady gets a small stack of books from a miniature bookstore and explains they’re all for one of her nieces. Janis picks up a few things she hopes, based on what little information the binder provided her, Cady’s family members will like. 

They dodge paparazzi as best as they can in the meantime, trying to make their conversation look more interesting than it actually is and adding in the occasional kiss or small cuddle. 

With a bottle of wintery artisan perfume for Janis’ mother, they decide to conclude their shopping for the day. 

The driver is waiting for them when they return to the car. He helps them deposit their bags of goodies into the trunk next to the cookies and opens the back door for them to climb in. 

“Well, that was satisfactory, I think,” Cady sighs as she pulls off her beanie inside the warm car. “Nicely done.” 

It’s almost odd, now, being on the other side of the large car from Cady after spending hours practically glued to her side. Or her lips. 

“Thanks,” she replies. “How often do we have to do that?” 

“Oh, not very,” Cady replies. “If we do it too often it’ll come across as fake. So… once a week at most, if that.”

“Great,” Janis sighs, slumping down in her seat. It took more out of her than she was expecting. 

“You can rest now, if you’d like. I’ll wake you up when we get back.” 

“Yes, please and thank you,” Janis hums contently, pulling off her mittens to rest over her eyes and settling in for a short cat nap. 

God, being rich is exhausting. 

—————

Janis calls Damian when they get back to the… hotel? House? Both. 

“You’re such a good actress!” Damian yells as soon as she puts the phone to her ear. She winces a bit at the loud noise directly against her eardrum. 

“What?”

“The pictures and stuff from the date you went on!” Damian says. “You guys really look like you’re in love with each other.” 

“Those are already out?” Janis asks.

“Yeah? When was the date?”

“We literally just got back,” Janis says in confusion. “I mean, it’s like a half hour drive and it took me another five minutes to get up to our room, but… like, literally just crossed the threshold.” 

“Seriously? Damn, that is quick,” Damian says. “You guys make a cute couple.” 

“Don’t get too attached,” Janis chuckles.

“Where is Cady now? Is she listening in? Are we being spied on?” 

“Not by her, but probably. I don’t think the security people trust me,” Janis says. “I’m half expecting them to give me a pat down every time I leave our room. Cady’s… working… somewhere, I dunno. She went off in another direction when we got back.”

“Weird,” Damian says.

“Nobody else is here, we don’t have to keep up appearances,” Janis replies. “So… did the pictures have, like, words? To accompany them?”

“Some,” Damian says casually.

“And am I being slandered? Dragged through the coals?” Janis asks. “I’m too scared to look for myself. You have to be my window to the outside world through all of this.” 

“I accept and I am deeply honored.” 

“You already talk like Cady does,” Janis snorts. 

“Wait, seriously?” Damian asks.

“Yeah, everyone in her family I’ve met so far talks like they’re stuck in a novel or something. Fancy words.” 

“Who have you met so far?” Damian asks. 

“Just her and her parents. Her brothers are supposed to come over the next couple weeks,” Janis says. 

“How are the ‘rents?” 

“Some of the tensest people I’ve ever seen,” Janis says. “They hate me.”

“Aren’t they supposed to?” Damian asks.

“Yeah, but not yet,” Janis replies. “What are they saying online?” 

“Um… gimme a sec,” Damian says. “Cady Heron in a relationship with… those bitches! You are not trailer trash!”

“They said that?” Janis replies, unable to hold back a laugh. “I mean, I guess I kind of am by comparison.” 

“Oh, someone on Twitter says you’re pretty,” Damian says. “Um… have you ever done crack?”

“What?!”

“Never mind,” Damian says. “Might be worth a try, though.”

“What the hell are you-”

“Definitely stay away from the internet for a while,” Damian interrupts. 

“Okay? What does that have anything to do with crack?” 

“Maybe just avoid both.”

“Noted,” Janis sighs. “Are they all that bad?”

“Most of them,” Damian says. “But hey, what do they know?” 

“You are always saying they don’t know anything,” Janis says. 

“What is she like?” Damian asks. Janis can practically see him lying on his stomach and kicking his feet back and forth like a teenage girl sharing the latest gossip. 

“She’s… she… uh…”

“Beyond words?”

“In some ways,” Janis says. “She’s just… uh… she… I-I don’t know. She’s much different than she sounded in all the news stories you read me.”

“I told you! I told you they’ve always been wrong about her, I knew it!” Damian cheers. 

“She’s… interesting. And she’s, like, surprisingly easy to make conversation with,” Janis continues. “And she seems… nice. I guess. She bought all of the snickerdoodles from a baker like it was totally normal.”

“It probably is for her,” Damian says. “Were they at least good cookies?”

“Oh, yeah,” Janis says. “Nothing on yours, but a close second.” 

“That is the correct answer,” Damian replies. “I miss you.” 

“I miss you too. It’s weird not being home,” Janis sighs. “I mean, this place is amazing, but it’s just… I dunno, not normal.” 

“It’s only one year,” Damian comforts. “And you know damn well we aren’t celebrating until you’re here.” 

“You guys are ridiculous,” Janis chuckles. “God, what does my mom have to say about all this?” 

“She doesn’t know yet,” Damian says. 

“Good.”

“She might not even find out unless one of us tells her, your mom’s never been one for social media or anything.” 

“That’s true,” Janis sighs.

“What did you tell your family?”

“That I’m spending Christmas with a girl and not to check the news for three business months.” 

“Smooooooth,” Damian replies. “You know Julie’s gonna find out.”

“I know,” Janis sighs. “I’ll think of some better way to explain this to them without getting them hounded by lawyers.”

“If today is anything to go by you’re gonna want to get on that quick.”

“It’s scary, honestly,” Janis says with an ironic chuckle. “Don’t they have to edit the pictures first?”

“Gossip waits for no man.” 

“Sadly true.” 

Janis looks up when there’s a faint knock on the door. Cady comes in behind it, but ducks back out when she sees Janis is on the phone. 

“Dame, I gotta go,” Janis says, motioning Cady back in when she peeks through a crack left in the door. “I’ll call you back later.”

“Is it her?”

“Yes,” Janis huffs with an affectionate eye roll. “Love you.”

“Tell her I say hi! And that I really admire her strength!” Damian says. “Oh, love you too. Bye.”

“Hi,” Janis sighs as she hangs up the phone and plops it into her lap. 

“Hello,” Cady greets. “Sorry for interrupting.” 

“It’s fine. Nothing important,” Janis shrugs. “Just Damian.”

“Your friend?” 

“Yeah. He says hi, by the way,” Janis chuckles. 

“How sweet. Hello back,” Cady says with a quiet giggle. 

“What’s up?”

“Bad news,” Cady sighs. “My parents want you to have dinner with us tonight.”

“Okay,” Janis says. “Is… is that it?”

“I was hoping I could save you a while longer, I did my best to get you out yesterday, but they’re absolutely insistent about tonight and-”

“Cady,” Janis chuckles. “It’s fine. Part of the deal, I’ll manage. How bad could it be?” 

—-

Janis quickly learns exactly how bad it can be. 

The first ten minutes or so pass in absolute silence, which would be nice if it didn’t feel like an omen of things to come. The only sounds are muffled (and very polite) chewing, forks hitting impossibly fancy plates, and Cady occasionally inhaling like she’s about to speak before she decides against it. 

At least the food is good. Really good. Janis is willing to bet something like this would cost her at least a hundred dollars in a restaurant. And she gets it for free every night for almost a month. 

She locks eyes with Cady across the table at one point. Cady looks back as she chews a mouthful of her salmon. Janis tries to surreptitiously shift her eyes to Cady’s parents, trying to ask if she should make conversation or something without speaking. Cady shakes her head slightly and gives a small nod in the direction of her mother. 

Janis dares to sneak a glance as she cuts off another bite of her own fish. Mrs. Heron’s eyes are firmly on her plate. Janis half expects to see it spontaneously combust under the intensity of her glare. 

Her fish isn’t faring much better. For a woman who puts such emphasis on manners and politeness, she’s absolutely mangled her poor dinner. Janis quickly learns why as she sees her sawing at the delicate fish with terrifying aggression. Aggression that Janis knows is entirely aimed at her. 

Janis jumps a bit and tries to play it off when Cady’s father suddenly clears his throat a bit and says, “So… um.”

“Janis, father,” Cady supplies quietly. 

“So, Janis, tell us about your family,” Mr. Heron continues. 

Janis freezes with her fork halfway to her mouth and politely rests it back on her plate. “Oh, um… it’s much less interesting than yours, sir. I have a little sister, she’s eighteen. Graduating high school in the spring. And then there’s my mom.”

“And your father?” Mrs. Heron asks in a tone Janis can only describe as snooty. 

“My biological father passed away when I was four,” Janis says softly. “And my stepfather is… erm, we don’t know exactly, but somewhere in Arizona. He left when I came out.” 

Mrs. Heron’s eye twitches slightly at the mere mention of a stepfather, especially an absent one. Mr. Heron seems to regret opening a conversation at all and quietly returns to his dinner. Janis looks at Cady apologetically, but she shrugs and mouths, “You tried.” 

“The salmon is amazing,” Janis says, giving another feeble attempt at… something. 

“Thank you,” Mr. Heron says when neither his wife or daughter respond. “We pride ourselves on our chefs.” 

“I see why.”

Everyone gives a small nod and continues eating. It feels almost like a scene in a movie before a car comes crashing through a wall or something else spectacularly dramatic. 

But an astounding amount of nothing happens, and the rest of the meal passes in silence. 

—-

“So. See what I mean now?” 

“Oh my god,” Janis groans as she crawls into the large bed next to her. “That felt like if I breathed wrong some nuclear missile was gonna go off or something. Tensest meal of my life.”

“You’ll want to get used to that,” Cady chuckles. 

“I’ll be able to do brain surgery after this trip. Face anything with steady hands.”

“This was actually a more pleasant dinner,” Cady says thoughtfully. “I’m honestly surprised my mother hasn’t torn into you yet.”

“Me too. I’m waiting for it every time I turn a corner,” Janis chuckles. 

“I’m sorry,” Cady says suddenly. “I don’t want you to be so… on edge.”

“Part of the job,” Janis replies. “I can handle whatever she says, I just don’t like the whole element of surprise.” 

“Are you sure? I knew I should’ve prepared you for them more-”

“Cady, it’s fine,” Janis says. “It’s three weeks. They might be taking years off my life in terms of my cardiac health every time we talk, but I’ll manage.”

“I’m very glad it’s you that bumped into me on that sidewalk.”

“Me too,” Janis says. “But you totally bumped into me.”

“I did not!” Cady scoffs.

“You did! You were off like a shot, you ran me over!” 

“Wouldn’t have been an issue if you weren’t standing in the way,” Cady huffs, crossing her arms over her chest as they both stare up at nothing in the darkness. 

“I was only in the way because I needed into the building you were catapulting yourself out of.”

“And you could’ve waited your turn!”

“The windows are tinted, I couldn’t see you until the door almost broke my nose!” Janis defends. 

“I did not almost break your nose.”

“You could’ve,” Janis pouts. “Or my ass.”

“Your ass is fine.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey!”

—————

The rest of that week passes relatively smoothly. Meals are always awkward, but Janis has close to free reign to explore the impossibly large property at her will. Damian gets lots of pictures of the mountains, and Janis takes a few extra to use as references for paintings later. 

The next Saturday, Janis gets to meet the first of Cady’s brothers. She and Cady are chatting in the parlor and munching on the (very few) leftover snickerdoodles from their date at the market. 

“Auntie Cady!” a voice calls. Janis watches as Cady smiles and turns around. She smiled with her eyes. Janis hasn’t seen that before. And god, does she want to see it again. 

“Who is this?” Cady asks, looking at a young boy and an even younger girl. 

“It’s me! It’s Lennox!” the boy says. 

“Mm,” Cady hums suspiciously. “I don’t think so. The Lenny I know is only about this tall.” She holds up a hand to demonstrate. “And he wasn’t missing any teeth!”

“I grew! And I lost my tooth, see? The tooth fairy brought me stock in Netflix!” 

“You grew?!” Cady asks like it’s the most shocking thing in the world. “Let me see. Same hair.” She ruffles it with a hand. “Same eyes. Same cute smile. Lenny?!” 

“Yeah!” Lennox says eagerly. Cady laughs and wraps him in a hug. 

“My favorite little guy, I missed you!” she says. “And if that’s Lenny, then… this must be Fifi!” 

The little girl shrieks happily as Cady picks her up and spins her around, her blonde braids whirling around behind her. 

“Hi,” Cady grins when they come to a stop, looking at the girl still in her arms.

“Hi, Auntie Cady,” the girl replies. “You gotta, um… you gotta… um… meet, um… Nomie.” 

“Oh, my god, I do,” Cady says. Janis watches in slight confusion as she kisses the little girl’s cheek and puts her back down. A woman approaches with a tiny baby in her arms. “Oh, she’s beautiful.” 

“Thank you,” the woman replies. “Naomi Charlotte.” 

“Hi, Naomi,” Cady murmurs, gently stroking the baby’s head. “Happy almost first Christmas!” 

“Do you want to hold her?”

“Can I?” Cady asks. The woman nods and gently passes the baby over. Janis is watching curiously until she feels a small finger prodding at her leg. 

“Hey,” Janis greets.

“Who are you?” Lennox asks suspiciously. The girl crosses her arms behind him like a hype man. 

“I’m Janis.”

“Oh my god,” Cady gasps. “I completely forgot! Janis, this is my nephew Lennox, and my nieces Fiona and Naomi,” she says, gesturing between the girl and the baby. “And my sister-in-law Madeleine, and my brother Callum.” 

“But who’s she?!” Lennox insists, pointing to Janis. 

“Lennox,” Callum scolds. “Manners.”

“Excuse me miss,” Lennox says politely. “Who are you?”

Callum rolls his eyes fondly. “Apologies, we’re working on it. Callum Heron, pleasure.”

“Janis Sarkisian. Same,” Janis replies, trying not to wince at the very firm handshake she receives. 

“Janis is… my girlfriend,” Cady says, walking over and smiling at her. She leans in for a kiss, which Janis returns. 

“Girlfriend?!” Madeleine says. Janis braces. Are they homophobic?  “And you didn’t tell me?! Cady! What happened to sisterhood?”

“You know how it is, Maddie,” Cady chuckles. “I’ll tell you everything over tea tomorrow. I promise.” 

“You’d better. Give me my baby back,” Madeleine says. 

“No. My Naomi,” Cady refuses, turning away when Madeline approaches to take her back. “Fine. I’ll just take… this one!” 

Fiona squeals happily as Cady picks her back up. “Auntie Cady!” 

“What?” Cady says, holding Fiona on her hip. 

“Daddy’s mean.”

“Daddy’s mean?” Cady says, grinning at her brother. “Well, we can’t have that. What did he do this time?” 

“He maked me sit in my car seat the whole entiwe time!” Fiona says in exasperation. “And! And-and he says I don’t getta have any mowe cookies!”

“No more cookies?” Cady gasps in horror. 

“Today! I said no more cookies today,” Callum huffs. “She’s already had six!” 

“Six cookies?” Cady asks, looking at the little girl just to put the whole story together. 

“Wittle cookies,” Fiona defends. 

“Little cookies,” Cady hums thoughtfully. “Well. Far be it from me to undermine your daddy’s parenting.”

“Auntie Cady!” Fiona whines. “Pwease?” 

“But I suppose,” Cady says dramatically. “That…”

“I don’t count,” Janis says, catching onto where Cady’s going with this. Something tells her getting into these kids’ good books is very important, so she offers the little girl one of the cookies she and Cady brought. “Here. I’ll undermine your dad’s parenting anytime.” 

“Thank you Miss Janis!” Fiona says eagerly, wiggling to be put down. Janis grins and accepts the offered handshake the toddler gives. 

“You’re welcome, kiddo,” Janis chuckles. Lennox gets a cookie too, and they both bounce up and down eagerly. “Sorry, Callum.”

“At least Cades gave it a rest,” Callum sighs. “Merry Christmas, baby sister.”

“Merry Christmas, big brother,” Cady replies with a conniving smile. 

“We’re gonna go get settled in. Nice to meet you, Janis,” Callum says. 

“You too,” Janis nods. 

“Auntie Cady, will you play with us?!” Lennox asks eagerly. “I brought my new fire truck!” 

“Oh my gosh, of course! But you should go get settled in with your family first. Come find me in a little bit and I promise I’ll play fire truck with you,” Cady replies. Lennox pouts the slightest bit, but he follows his father towards their rooms. She crouches down as Fiona tugs on the leg of her pants. “What’s up, Fifi?” 

“I like Miss Janis,” Fiona whispers conspiratorially. She’s not quite gotten whispering down, since everyone around can hear her. Cady smiles.

“I like her too. Go find your family,” Cady whispers back, kissing her niece’s cheek and sending her off to find her parents with a gentle pat on her back. “Sorry about that, I should’ve warned you.”

“No, it was fine. You can’t know when any social interaction is going to happen. They seem nice,” Janis says.

“Yeah,” Cady says, grinning faintly at the carpet.

“You really love those kids,” Janis says quietly. “Was cute.”

“I do,” Cady nods. “They’re exhausting, but they’re sweet kids.”

“How old are they?”

“Lenny’s six,” Cady says. “Crazy. He was born yesterday. Fifi’s three, and Naomi is… ffffffour months? Around there.” 

“Cute. Perfect spacing,” Janis chuckles. “Does anyone else have kids?” 

“Yeah, Charlie and Clif both have kids too,” Cady says. “You’ll meet them later. They’re slightly less tiring.” 

“Cool,” Janis replies. Cady smiles at her and nods. 

“Cool.”

#cadnis #paint by numbers #space safari #cady heron x janis sarkisian #cady x janis #cady heron #janis sarkisian #mean girls #mean girls musical #mean girls broadway #mean girls the musical #mean girls on broadway

[thelifeoftuan]

Respect my time

It’s really no secret that I am pretty dissatisfied with my job. And it’s been ongoing for over a year now but really came to a head this past spring and going through the summer. There are quite a bit of factors as to why I am pretty displeased with my workplace, and it all boils down to people just not respecting my time. I’d like to reiterate that apart from my dealings with these coworkers of mine and how my work schedule has been horrendously unfair and unbalanced, I do love my job. Patient care and clinical responsibilities, working with my residents, learning from them and teaching them and the medical students, being involved in the residency program and the medical school, even my administrative work and quality improvement projects are enjoyable parts of my job. But I’m now three years into this gig, and really, I have not seen any changes to this horrendous schedule of mine. Like, literally, nothing about it has changed. If anything, it’s gotten worse. Ever since I started this job, I am on service for half the 4-week block, working from 3pm to 11pm. That’s literally nearly half the year that I am on this shift. At first, I didn’t mind it. But that was probably because I knew I was the lowest on the totem pole and just had to deal with my low status and trudge along without complaining and my brain warped it into something I didn’t mind. But over the three years, I feel like I’ve proven myself enough and have put in my time, dedicated all this time to my clinical work, shown that I can handle the administrative aspects of my job at the same time, develop successful quality improvement projects, be involved in the residency program and medical school, attend meetings like I am asked to, and even win a prestigious award within my institution... and STILL I get treated like shit when it comes to my work schedule. I’d like to see my other colleagues (especially the one that makes my shitty schedules) work in the afternoon time and be on call till 11pm for half the year and see how that affects their personal lives. They know that this schedule is not compatible with daily living, that’s why none of them want to do it. In a normal work group, work shifts like this should go on a fair and rotating basis. But no, because I remain the new kid on the block (three years in, mind you, ha!) and still am the lowest on the totem pole, I get shit on all the time. And that’s just my usual work schedule. On top of that, I’ve worked on almost every holiday since I started this job. Only this past year did I get Thanksgiving off. Lolz! And the excuse for all of this nonsense is, “they have families.” I don’t think that entitles anyone doing the same job to a better work schedule than their peers. I’m sorry. But it doesn’t! Not in medicine! Especially not in the hospital! On top of my horrendous work schedule, I’ve had to cover other people’s shifts so much the past academic year that it was grossly and obviously unbalanced. Like, I’m all for being a team player and helping out my fellow coworkers whenever they’re in a pinch. I get it. Life happens. Sometimes you can’t come in to work. When one of your coworkers asks you for help, you really just step up if you’re available. ...but I really should not be the only one doing it. It’s not really called “team player” if you’re the only one on the field. Tack on all of those extra hours on top of my already incompatible work schedule at baseline and you can see why I have been so grumbly... grumbly to the point where the smallest inconveniences now regarding work, things that usually should not bother me, will make me even more irate with everything. And I don’t like what it’s turning me into. Like, I’m a fucking attending! I’ve worked too hard and too long now to be shit on. Not that this is a justification to shit on other people who have practiced for less time than I have. Like, just common decency, everyone, doesn’t matter what level of training or practice, should just be treated equally! Our department chair made this little speech about how “patient wellness is reflective of physician wellness” and I just had to laugh. My division chief in a conversation with me about how I felt this job was going now that I was three years in started it by saying, “I want to keep you happy and I want to keep you here,” and I really had to stifle my laughter with that one. Like, are people just aloof and complicit? I definitely made my thoughts and my feelings clear. I stuck up for myself at that point and said that I have been pretty dissatisfied with how my work schedule has been and I cannot keep doing this into eternity. I said straight up that my work schedule is affecting my personal life and I felt like it was unfair. And this conversation has been had between me and my superior multiple times now, and we’re what, over a year in, and again, nothing has changed. Like, it’s so funny. I can have all these accomplishments and recognition within the hospital and still be treated like shit. Like, I don’t get it! I’m not even asking to be treated better than everyone else. I’m just asking to be treated as equal as everyone else. And now, it’s like this tumor of disrespecting my time has metastasized into other places. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve literally come back from vacation, literally walking off the plane, and I get a call asking me to come in to cover a shift because I am the only one available. Even when I was on my vacation and I had informed people that I would be away well in advance, people still asked me to do work-related things! I was literally in Banff and was asked to prepare an abstract with only less than a week’s notice before the due date. Like, what the fuck, right?! And then when it came to preparing a poster for my quality improvement project, like my project, my poster, people still would not respect my time. I literally sent out notice well in advance that I would be available to meet and make collaborative edits to my poster, and I quote, “anytime from Monday to Wednesday” and I clearly stated that I had clinical duties the rest of the week. And would y’all like to guess when the meeting was scheduled? Thursday at 11:00 a.m., right in the middle of the time I should be worrying about patient care. Like, I don’t get it. Do people just ignore me? Do people not care? Or are they just so fucking selfish that they can’t fathom respecting my time, even when I am the main contributor? And then back in July, we were sent an email asking us to attend this collaborative morning session. I knew I was going to be on service in the afternoon and it just did not make sense for me to show up in the morning, attend the session, twiddle my thumbs for hours till I start my shift, and stay through the evening, and so I promptly replied that I had clinical duties and that I would be on service in the afternoon and would not be able to attend. And so when it came time for the session, I was asked, repeatedly and pretty disrespectfully, if I could attend. At that point, I had to put my foot down. I literally told them no, I was not going to attend. I told them that they are asking me to show up in the morning, do the session, stay at that hospital, start my shift at 3pm and stay until well into the evening after I’ve finished with all of my patient care responsibilities. If I asked the same thing of them, they would have said no. And so, yeah, I said no. Like boohoo, you had to reschedule a meeting to attend this session? I’m not sorry. Everybody knew well in advance that I was not available, and for them to still ask me to show up is just complete bullshit. Even little things are just coming off so irritating. My coworkers want to throw celebrations but never consider my availability and never respect my time, which at this rate the point is moot because I don’t wanna hang out with them anyway. But for example, they scheduled a little bridal shower for one of my coworkers on a day that I was on service in the afternoon and asked me to come in early to celebrate. And because I wanted to be a nice person, I acquiesced and said I would come in early to join in the surprise celebration for my coworker. Turns out, when I arrive at the specified time, they had already had the party. Didn’t even tell me they changed the time. Like, what a bunch of fucking twats! Just the utter disrespect of that really chapped my ass! And that really isn’t the first instance either. And any time these people plan anything, like of course it’s not a coincidence that it’s on a day where I am working in the afternoon. They always play nice and ask if I would like to come in a little early to join. And then they add a stupid compensatory statement like, “You can come in early and leave a little earlier,” like you are so out of touch with how the shift goes that it’s just laughable you think I can just “leave a little earlier.” Like what fucking dimwitted statement is that? Asking me to shirk my clinical responsibilities. And so now, I just decline these invitations. That Empire meme saying “I gotta put me first” is so real to me these days. If it’s not adherent to my time, if it doesn’t fit my vibe, hell, if I don’t even feel like doing it even if I have time, imma say “no.” Work is important. My job is important. This in no way is a rant to express that I don’t wanna work. Like I said. I love my job. It’s a big part of my life. But it should not be taking over my life. And it really should not be so unbalanced because other people lack the concept of making a fair work schedule and don’t have the common decency or respect for me to consider my time and well-being. And really, I’d also argue that getting along with your coworkers is important. And it is! I do want to like my coworkers. I don’t wanna have any qualms with people I work with. And you know, at the end of the day, I fume about all of this internally and just curse the world on my own time. I still stay respectful to them. I don’t confront any of them about any of these idiotic things, because even when I’ve respectfully spoken up about how I feel like I’ve been treated lately, nothing. has. changed. And so what’s the point, right? I can only keep my head down, continue to do my job, continue to do what I’m told, build up my experience and credentials, and find a new job as soon as possible. Like, I’m not staying. I’ve decided. I’ve decided long ago, actually. I figured I would wait until the time is opportune and convenient for the group, but they have not shown me that courtesy, and so why should I reciprocate? I don’t care if when I leave I leave them lurching and scrambling. At this point, three years in, they deserve it. The prime advice I would like to give to anybody feeling the same way: Stick up for yourself and advocate for yourself. Other people may hem and haw and feign they have your best interests and pretend to respect your time, but truly, you are the only person who can respect your time. That’s all. Rant over.

[thedisneychef]

Kase Spatzle Recipes – Biergarten Restaurant

I was going to try so hard to save this recipe (Kaze Spatzle from Biergarten) for later in the week, but I was so excited to share it, I ended up doing it first. Isn’t that always the way? I’m so bad at waiting! And this recipe, like all really great recipes, has a story associated with it.  But first, a little background on the dish. Spatzle is a distinctively German dish, translated quite literally to “little sparrow,” and it’s like a cross between an egg noodle and a dumpling with a texture that ranges from fluffy like scrambled eggs, to more al dente. More Delicious Recipes You Will Love: - Guinness Stew – Rose And Crown Pub And Dining Room - Katsura Grill: A Serene Japanese Restaurant in the Heart of Epcot - Key Lime Coconut Martini- Walt Disney World Resort In Germany, you find it served almost like one would find mashed potatoes in the US, and they’re served with everything from butter to gravy, even with cherries for a sweeter dish. Finding them as a side dish for all meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, isn’t that uncommon at all. They are very much a staple of German cuisine. Now, my family is German, my mother is actually first generation as both her mother and father (my grandparents) came to the US from Germany just before World War II. Pair that with spending two summers in Germany, it goes without saying that I’ve had a lot of spatzle in my time. When I went to Germany I had the fresh stuff daily, and since you can actually find it like dried pasta in the international section of most grocery stores, I had a pretty steady amount of it stateside as well. I’m sure everybody has a food that, just the sight of it, triggers 100 happy memories… Spatzle is mine. When I turned 18 I got my very first cookbook as a birthday present and it actually had a recipe to make fresh spatzle. I was so happy to see that not only was it super simple, that it had none of the steps that makes it tedious to make from-scratch pasta at home, and the ingredients were all very basic and easy to find. I made a batch on the spot and I was hooked on doing it myself ever since. I’m actually a little proud to say that my spatzle is something of a family tradition. I make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and various special family events through the year. I will freely admit that the way I make spatzle would make a German housewife proud, and a chef cry. Most of the time when you order a dish that has spatzle, it’s made using a spatzle press. What it makes are pea-like little dumplings called Knöpfle or “tiny buttons.” It makes very uniform noodles that, on a whole, are considered more attractive and presentable. Occasionally you’ll see one that works a lot like the noodle attachment on a Play-Doh and it’ll make ribbon or thick, spaghetti-like noodles. However, the traditional method of making spatzle is to scoop small amounts of batter using a fork or a spoon with numerous large holes, dropping large ribbons or globs of the batter into boiling water. The noodles were all of various sizes and textures, but despite this, it was nearly impossible to over or undercook them.  When the dough was dropped in boiling water, it sank to the bottom, and when it was fully cooked, it’d rise to the surface. In fact, that’s where the name came from… The whispy noodles floating to the top of the boiling water amidst the froth created during the cooking process looked like a flock of little sparrows in the clouds. Spatzle dough itself is a wonderful medium for adding all sorts of little flavor boosters. I’ve put herbs and finely minced garlic in the dough and, while not traditional, it sure tastes good. I also love to boil the noodles in chicken broth or very heavily salted water, though never add oil or butter to the boiling water. It doesn’t do much to prevent sticking, and it messes with the texture of the noodle. Instead, add the butter after it’s come out of the water. Speaking of butter… Use a lot of it, even if you plan on putting another sauce with it. It keeps the noodles from sticking and buttered spatzle is the best thing in the world. It goes without saying that this dish is amazing… I love how it tastes exactly like German kase spatzle, and I love that they actually cook it using the traditional method of just chucking the cheese and butter in, as opposed to making a sauce from flour, butter, and milk and melting the cheese into that. All that’s missing from this dish to make it authentic German, and exactly like dining at Biergarten, is the German band. In addition to the delicious food and recipes, Disney World is also known for its unique dining experiences, such as character dining and themed restaurants. Whether you want to have breakfast with Mickey Mouse, dine in a replica of a sci-fi drive-in theater at Hollywood Studios, or enjoy a meal with an ocean view at the Coral Reef Restaurant in Epcot, there's something for everyone. And with the help of Recipes Today and the How to Make category, you can even recreate some of these magical dining experiences in your own home. So why not start planning your next Disney-inspired meal or dining experience today? Read the full article

[castle-dominion]

4x10 cuffed

everyone's first thoughts: finally they slept together love the music RC: I didn’t say “funny”, I said “kinky”. And I didn’t cuff us. love the audio she would totally be able to squeeze her hand out lol the good kind KB: Okay, lift my top. RC: I think you might still be under the influence, but okay. it's going to be a crime scene

esparish bickering <3 JE: the clerk said that he registered as Jack Sparrow RC: Well, there’s a possibility that’s his real name. JE: Sure it is. ...We're running it just in case Love a good old fake camera esplanie fightinnnng

One time I tried to kick for the show while playing make believe as a kid but it was a prison game so we had tied my feet together & I fell on my butt bc I kicked both feet out from under me RC, trying to chronologically order his thoughts bc he is smart & methodical: Then… Ryan asked me… if he spent Thanksgiving at his family’s house, did that mean he had to spend Christmas at Jenny’s family’s house?

LP: I told you, it’s none of your business. RC: Of course it’s none of my business, that’s why I want to know. KB: Know what? RC: What she and Esposito were fighting about. KB: It’s none of your business. RC: That’s the point.

Love ryan's outfit as usual. Also I just realizeed he asked castle for advice, ig bc castle has been married before but he has actually failed both marriages... Anyway it's like me & my family, we always use old envelopes as scrap paper. & beckett's outfit is also nice & you don't write the address on the murder board?

RC: So, do you know what Lanie and Esposito were fighting about? KB: Everything. They both want to be together, but neither of them wants to admit to it. RC: Ugh, why do people do that to themselves? KB: Maybe they just don’t see it. RC: How could they not? It’s so obvious. *eyes emoji*

This camera is from the perspective of a person fast dripping sink & not calling rysposito to tell them to run the name? Human trafficking? maybe it is just consensual kink? probably not tho. Girl you probably need to twist the handle to open the cage or smth. Just get a pair of wire cutters & help the lady out. Creepy smile Weird flashes that don't actually make any sense, wait nvm they do she is indeed wearing the pink stuff.

First intro <3

Ok while USA beef is crap compared to canadian beef, usa milk can actually be better. Is ryan married yet? I don't think so. He is in my family watch but I don't think so in my binge watch. yeah that's next episode. omg it's next episode! I wish we had gotten to see more of the wedding, I wish it was like a murdoch mysteries wedding or a bbc sherlock wedding. Back to the current episode, I like ryan's mug. *licks the stir stick* *gives it to ryan* *ryan uses it* wow I guess the boys really are swapping spit KR: Relationship test? ... *angrily stirs his coffee* We’re getting married in a month.

VG: Hey, have either of you seen Beckett? JE: She’s probably following up on a lead. KR: *points to "what esposito said"* VG, who made detective six weeks older than beckett: Don’t think that I don’t know that you guys cover for each other.

KR: Come on, Jenny loves me. She wouldn’t test me like that. JE: Right. Just watch out if she wants to take you canoeing. KR: Canoeing? C--canoeing is a test? [Why does esposito know all this about marriage? Ryan's the one who "decided to get hitched" & actually is in a long-term relationship. Have you even seen s5? well no ig not…] JE: It’s all about power, direction. Like a marriage. If the canoe goes straight, it shows her that you can compromise, work together, find a rhythm, move forward in the same direction. But…if it’s going around in circles? So is your relationship. Anyway smash cut to caskett walking around in circles

If the door opens inward you can open the door to hold for someone BY going in first. Yeah the wrong hands being cuffed are so awkward. Wow this place is like a horror game. In fact that's what I thought earlier when they were in the empty house. There was a prison made of plaster that no prisoners escaped from bc they never tried but then they moved prisons & had the prisoners take down the old prison & they saw how flimsy it was & how easy it would have been to escape. but that could just be a school story RC: How long do you think we were out? KB: Couple of hours. RC: How can you tell? KB: ‘cause I’m hungry. RC: Oh. *checks pocket* I’ve got some beef jerky. KB: RC: What? trapdoor

ryan is so pretty, I don't much like stripes but his stripy light pink shirt with that vest & tie & his hair he's just so cute KR: You think they’re really running down a lead? [probably thinking ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) smth] JE: What lead? There was nothing new on the board when we came back. [WHICH IS DUMB BC WHY DIDN'T THEY WRITE THAT ON THE MURDER BOARD?] You think you can hit up dispatch? See if they’ll run a trace on the transponder on Beckett’s unit. I want to know where they are. [they love their friends & are afraid for them]

Oh gosh that was a heck of a moan. After all, they say your tattoo artist knows what you sound like in bed See it's times like this I am glad I learned how to open locks.

How can they tell it's beckett's car? it looks exactly like yours it's just a silly police ghost car. btw esposito looks normal & has that great collared shirt that shows off his boobs, but ryan hoo babey I like his coat & omg that waistcoat I think I might be gay you guys Of course gates also looks pretty.

I mean it is not like you two have anything better to do Castle I could think of a version that ends well. He was a CIA operative & they nabbed you before you could ruin their plans, they will release you once they blow up the moon. Or smth like that. So have they gone pee yet? It has been hours.

I love how ryan does the "hold on a sec" T with his hands there. KR: Could. So, it’s possible it might not, right? Yeah & if it breaks you still have nine other prints to try

It looks like a pic my mom took of her nuts & bolts. (it's too hot to make them, we use the oven but we are all craving them.) She desaturated the pic & then compared it to an actual photo of nuts & bolts. love the music btw.

But WHO doesn't keep their knives clean????? They might be able to find a cuff key in that mess or maybe smth to break thru their chains. Or just dislocate a thumb.

Double eyed microscopes are so hard to use k I already know I like first names but their arguing is so cute

Ok I get it it's rly cool except they would have already done that & the prints probably would not match up as perfectly Trucker. Calloused hands, lots of sitting. Probably could tell from the tan on one side of his face tho *dun dun dun feet walking, view from the back, so strong & sus* Oh no the man took the photo he's going to disappear with it & we all know witnesses start to lose their memories after a bit of time ah. Love the texas(?) accent. He's DEA. this makes sense

Wow he made it here fast considering how long ago they ran the prints I love the way he said mexico. me'ico. Mm. You know, japanese should not call it mekushiko, they can call it mehiko, they have those letters. "made him" it's so weird. I had never heard of that phrase before. He made my guy means he figured out that "my guy" was a cop posing as a drug trafficker. Except we "know" at this point it is human trafficking not drugs. Gates grabs her gun, gates looks hot af maybe I'm a lesbian, "let's go boys"

Air holes. Humann trafficking.

RC, being all gross: Just so you know, not as much fun if I have your permission. [girl it is ONLY fun if you have their permission. Like "hey u sent me nudes can I keep them & 'enjoy' them?" or smth like that.]

It's like when they were selling cabinets with special names but it was smuggling children! You bought the pricey cabinet with the fancy name & got a child. It was so gross. I hope it was just an internet hoax & not an actual child trafficking case. Castle is 'her people'!

You know it is sometimes easier to squat & then have them sit on your shoulders & then stand up. Easier to balance. lol do you remember the koala trend? I only heard about it through unus annus when the men took turns climbing all over one another. Then the girl in the video kissed her man & ethan said "it's part of it, I have to do it" & that's one part I actually remember lol. joining the circus? Foreshadowing RC: I--I’m getting a little tired of you walking all over me. XD Oh wow ok nevermind there's someone there huh I see. & at least they had that bed

Breathing? Human trafficking. Yep. Oof the way Ryan grabs her wrist. He could have just grabbed the envelope (except it might rip?) or he could have picked it up after she put it down. It was such an intense moment. Also he kind of used the wrong hand & had to switch them. (btw wow nice fingernails. I mean ig I'm a cook+baker & a fiddler but still.) She goes to put it back, he watches put-out, & then his eyes widen & he just grabs her wrist. She looks at him in shock & mild offense & then he pulls her hand closer & takes it with his left so he can grab the paper with his right. It's just so good. Intense few secons there. Not to mention the audio.

Wow nice guns & ryan gets one surely it wasn't this hatch, but-- oh yep. Not the right hatch. Bu t maybe they will find evidence of other trafficking victims.

BRO JUST DISLOCATE YOUR THUMB

She is very beautiful? Human trafficking! & finally these two find out! Hey that wall is plaster, just like I said abt the prison!

Love the notebook Semiy not semii?

Her breathing would be so deep tho, yk who "she" is.

Wait does ryan's vest have a zipper pocket? & I can't tell if those are nice jeans or normal dress pants. At first I thought it was the same house lol, not a different house that had the same stuff done to it. ryan can do that but what are YOU doing esposito? Hm point for the adhd esposito headcanon (tho he canonically has aqcuired neurodivergency so maybe it's that) he doesn't do well with reading. Like when he asked for audiobooks.

RC: I’ve always liked your legs, but now I respect them. KB: Yeah, yours aren’t so bad, either. You know, for the next police picnic we should to the three legged race together. Not big enough for a person to go through. OH IT'S A MOTHER HECK ING TIGER??? oh castle's totally going to befriend it. They're going to ride out on the tiger's back like david getting pizza from the lions bc castle gave her beef jerky. Or she will claw them aside, whatever. Or maybe she will eat it! Or maybe she will keep attacking them. Love cgi. how did y'all push the thing earlier? one two three push, like tug of war. Or maybe remove one of the chains & put it back once you cover the hole...

So you only got rid of three? Why go through the effort to colour coordinate?

Castle is right, you can survive a while in a coffin or locked freezer. Besides, what if you tip it sideways & have it upside down & then the lid is on one end & the opening against the ground. That way you still have air access & the tiger can't get you, except she'd just have to knock it over & then she could eat you.

Wow they have already been to three places? The switching back & forth between characters makes it seem like this is happening in realtime but they must have spent a lot of minutes driving while caskett only had maybe one minute to get the freezer upright.

holy fudge they tipped the thing? It was so heavy they would have had to empty it, meaning it should be easy to knock over. plus, like becks said, tigers can jump. Hey why didn't they do this in the first place? Stand it up sideways instead of on each other's shoulders? I guess they were still high... There are bars there I see

*squeaky squealy cleaning the window*

She hungry. & she pretty. RC: Remember what I said about joining the circus? KB: Uh-huh. RC: Changed my mind. KB: She’s playing with us. She’s gonna knock it over. What are we going to do? RC: There’s only one thing to do. Me: ... Fight her? [knowing what will happen: climb on the bars once she knocks it over?] RC: Scream like little girls. Both: Help!

KR: Wait listen JE: *already waiting & listening* Ooh look at all those cool chains. *they find & open the hatch* JE: Beckett! Castle! KB: Esposito! Tiger: growl JE: Is that a tiger????? *momma pulls a gun* *drop hatch on caskett*

Momma ruth spurloch: Maybe I’ll shoot the pretty one first. Rysposito: *kind of look at each other as in "who's the pretty one" but we all know it's Ryan* This scene makes me realize, esposito has not enough hair & ryan has more than he used to so he can stand to lose a bit in exchange for esposito gaining some hair. Yeah she's right abt the texas lawman thing.

cough cough they think they might die so ryan says javi's first name & castle says kate's first name & it's so good & intimate Girl dying from tiger death is cool af!

Ah those chains remind me of the meatcutting shop. you hook up your quarters to them & you can wheel them around. Hey I've seen this gif before! I was wondering why we had that perspective. I think it would be cool to have a POV episode. Ryan's voice DX "Oh, God. It ate ‘em." Caskett *hanging from the bars we saw in one single scene* Ryan basically jumps in trying to see them lol Ryan: Nice hangout BRO THEY ARE CUFFED TOGETHER HANGING FROM A BAR IN A ROOM WITH A TIGER NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR JOKES

KR: Handcuffed together that long? I’m surprised you two didn’t kill each other. KB: Yeah, well, there were a couple of moments. RC: Until we found our rhythm. KR: I think we’ll fly to Florida. (Are you scared you'll kill each other? If that's how you feel then maybe you two should /not/ get married...) KB: What? VG: I believe this is yours. *gives them the handcuffs they were trapped in* This too.

I can't believe that wasn't already a policy KR: Thanks, guys. Really appreciate that. /s JE: Well, at least we won’t have to look so hard the next time we save your ass. I missed you, by the way. [wow that's so sweet] KB: Really? Prove it. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) JE: Oh, I’ll prove it. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) KR, probably to castle since it seems like especkett are conversing: How’s that tiger? KB: Espo! JE: What? KR: Was it grrrreat? I know we all love-- I forgot what I was saying bc I was too busy finding the eminem shooting his shot with weird al video.

Anyway these two are so cute & "hitched" Oh yeah she has a motorcycle. I like how they keep up that fact.

ok so that is the end of this disc but I have NOT seen the audio commentary yet.

#castle 4x10 #castle 4x10 quote #castle 4x10 spoilers

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #088

(taken december 14th last year; uploading surveys done while gone)

Can you read lips? NO. I am *HORRIBLE* at trying to read lips, like I absolutely can't.

Do you have trouble feeling excited for other people when they receive good news? Oh absolutely not, I definitely get excited too!

Do you know anyone whose parents are homosexual? I know I have a mom friend who is bi, but she's in a relationship with a man currently. I don't THINK I know anyone full-on gay that's a parent?

Do you consider yourself patriotic? In what ways? Hell no, this country grosses me the fuck out.

Are you part of any online communities? If so, which ones, and how did you get involved in them? I'm in a meerkat RP circle, I'm an admin at the SH wiki (which I have been awfully neglecting lol oops), and I'm active in my WoW main's guild.

Have you ever purchased clothing that you were too afraid to wear? HA yes, when I was still a teen-ish I had this honestly really cute black crop top that just says "FREAK" and I only wore it for a single picture, lol. It would never fit me now. I actually think I mighta got rid of it.

What is your lover's middle name? He doesn't have one.

When was the last time you saw your last ex? Well I saw a PICTURE of us on Facebook like a day or two ago, and fucking finally FB allowed me to delete them. I haven't seen her in person in years and never want to again, either.

Who was the last ex you talked to? Sara.

Who is your best friend? Pick only one. My boyfriend Girt.

Who was the last person to flirt with you, other than your lover? Some random dude on dA, he got blocked real quick lmao.

Would it bother you if your lover flirted with other people? Uh yes???

What exes do you still associate with? None.

What is a topic that interests you so much that you could read about it for hours? Meerkat behaviorisms.

Are there any holidays that you hate? If so, which and why do you dislike them? Columbus Day because that man didn't discover jack shit. Thanksgiving (its roots anyways, it's definitely evolved) because it's a literal celebration of genocide and slavery, etc.

Do you have a secret that you’ve kept for a long time – years, maybe your entire life? If so, why haven’t you told anyone about this secret? Yes, and I don't tell anybody because they affect nobody, are entirely benign, and just really don't matter.

What was the very first social media site you signed up for? MySpace.

If you were in a coma, who would be making healthcare decisions for you? My mom.

What’s something you’ve done that sounds too crazy to be true? The only thing that comes to mind is how many times I've been admitted to psych hospitals; like I lost count many visits ago. I would estimate I've been like, six times. I feel like people who know that would expect me to be crazier than I am.

Does anyone in your family smoke? My dad and his wife do.

What’s your opinion on hunting? Trophy hunting? Fucking barbaric, repulsive, diabolical, just evil. IF however you are hunting for food and have a respectful, appreciative mindset of the animal, then I'm more okay with it than I once was, because here's the thing: that deer you killed out in the beautiful woods, and probably rather quickly, ABSOLUTELY had a better life than that mistreated, miserable cow that was raised simply to be killed and probably given LESS than the bare necessities. I want to emphasize though, mindset is so important here; I wouldn't support you if you were tracking a deer seeking the "thrill" of just killing it. Like in that case, get fucking help. Be very respectful and extremely appreciative of that animal's unwilling sacrifice.

Have you ever had a pet escape and run away? Oh my god I will never forget Teddy doing this one winter night in the snow. I was going BALLISTIC as my dad ran and later drove after him. If I remember well, he ended up being at the pond not too far from our place, which he and Dale (another old dog of ours) had run to before to play. Thank god he was okay, at this time he just still had good energy and was very into marking his territory and smelling EVERYTHING. He also really, really enjoyed the snow, he used to love zooming through it and just playing.

Do any of your exes know each other? Jason and Juan knew and didn't like each other (at least, I was aware Juan openly didn't like Jason, I'm not really sure if Jason felt anything about him). Tyler MIGHT have known either of them, too, I don't know.

What’s an opinion you find impossible to take seriously? "Dinosaurs aren't real," especially when they add on, "Satan put those bones there to lead us away from God." You are PURELY fucking delusional.

Have you met that person that can get into your mind through a sentence? Yeah, Jason. Probably still to this day. He had so much goddamn power over my emotions without even intending it, and I feel like that hasn't fully gone away.

Have you heard of Jeffree Star? What do you think of him? Yes, I genuinely like him and who he's grown into and think his work ethic is fucking unreal.

Who do you think you have cried over the most? lol do I really need to answer this???????????

Do you hate celebrities with big boobs and have had plastic surgery? lol grow up?????? People can do whatever the fuck they want with their own bodies.

Is anybody in your family schizophrenic? If so, what is their life like? A half-sister is, but I've never met or spoken to her; I've seen literally a single picture of her in my entire life. I have no idea what her life is like. Sometimes it rears up to bother me more than usual, how Dad's only kids he interacts with at all are me and my immediate sisters... Even his other daughter Misty had to reach out to HIM when she and her children visited here to go out to dinner so he could actually meet them. Like, that shouldn't be his child's job. Misty is understandable bitter about how she grew up (her mother was absolute, total, 100% insane shit that couldn't even keep custody of her BECAUSE she was fucking mental, and Dad didn't take her), and I just wish she didn't have to be by Dad acting more like a dad to her. WOW welcome to the family therapy session y'all

What’s something somebody can do to make you hate them instantly? Say something inappropriate about a child came to mind first, but there's really a lot of other stuff, honestly. Just being a shitty, gross, violent, and/or forceful person.

Are there regular trains in and out of your town/city? Yes.

What was the last animal you saw, and was it a pet? Roman, right now, 'cuz he jumped up onto the desk to chill by me.

Have you ever watched an anime series, start to finish? Yeah, multiple.

Do you feel the need to rant about anything right now? If so, go for it. So my Tumblr account just RANDOMLY got terminated yesterday (I seriously mean it when I say I did absolutely, positively nothing whatsoever) and I'm rather annoyed by it. This has already happened to me once on my old account, and it took like around a week to get the damn thing back.

How many serious relationships have you been in? Three. Ish. I don't really know what to consider Sara's and my former relationship. Like I feel like we had genuine feelings and did some romantic things without much shyness or anything, but idk. Jason and Girt were/are SO much different from what she and I had.

Do you have a lot of regrets? Yes, and they fucking haunt me and refuse to let me go so I can maybe even mildly like myself.

Have you ever been so angry that you screamed out of nowhere? Yes. I know I've done this a couple times into a pillow, maybe other times without but idr.

Do you have any plans for Valentine’s Day this year? NEXT year I know I want to do at least a LITTLE something. Girt had Covid this year so we couldn't hang out that day and it super bummed me out, really.

What do you usually buy for snacks when you go to the cinema? Almost always popcorn, rarely some sort of candy.

Look to your left and name five things you can see. Presents for Ash's kids from Mom, the closet, the stand with the printer on it, paper shredder, and a cute piece of random artwork on the wall from who knows where.

Do you like having your lip softly bitten when you’re kissing? bro get outta my bedroom

Who is your favourite YouTuber? Overall? It'll probably always be Markiplier, he's my idol, but I really haven't watched him anywhere near regularly in like... two years? His content just generally isn't my style anymore, but I still love him as a person to death. You know, I'm really not too sure WHO my active favorite is anymore. Maybe John Wolfe or Game Grumps, I really don't know.

Have you ever been hopelessly in love with a celebrity? Nah. I have my fangirl episodes, but "hopefully in love" has never been the right phrase at all. I know none of these people personally and therefore can't even truly LOVE them and have always known that absolutely nothing is ever going to happen between me and any random person on the Internet. I can just melt from afar lmao.

What was the last band shirt you wore? I'm quite sure it was Ninja Sex Party. Thankfully it doesn't say the name of the band on the shirt lmfao I wouldn't want to explain that ever.

How many pairs of glasses (not sunglasses) have you owned? I know at least three.

What color is your flash-drive? Hot pink.

What is your favorite color(s) of eye-makeup? B L A C K

Have you ever worn a thumb ring? Yes; that's where I put mine and Sara's friendship ring. Safe to say I don't have it anymore.

What brand of TV do you own? Uh I'm pretty positive it's a Vizio?

Are high school football games fun? Ugh, no. I used to have to go to them quite a bit when my older sister was a cheerleader. There were always wasps and shit around/under the bleachers, it was hot, too crowded, and I just had absolutely no interest in sports. They were also way too long to me. I know a lot of the time Nicole and I didn't even watch, we'd just go find something weird to do that generally involved getting dirty, meeting with other kids that were as bored as us, and going under the bleachers when we weren't supposed to lmao.

When was the last time you had a particularly hectic day? Oh hell if I know.

To whom do you feel the most important? Mom and Girt.

How long has your favorite song been your favorite? Since it came out early this year lmao.

Is one of your favorite colors yellow? No, I actually really don't like yellow.

How old are your siblings? Tbh I only have my two immediate sisters' ages memorized, which are 29 and 24. Others are in their 30s. Katie might even be close to 40, idr and can't math.

Ever had a fishtank in your room? No.

Do you drink more soda than anything else? Not anymore! It's generally flavored sparkling water.

Do you know anyone who wears camouflage often? my brother in christ I live in the SOUTH

How many jobs have you had? Three.

Do you hate your last ex? I VERY much don't like her, at all, but I'm past my "ugh I hate her" phase. I ain't wasting my energy on hating someone I never have to see or speak to ever again.

Are you ashamed of any of your family members? My uncle who my family no longer associates with. He's a fucking filthy slug of a human being.

Have you ever been in a courtroom? Yes.

Were you a chubby child? No, I was pretty normal.

Are you afraid to sing in front of people? Yes. To get you to visualize the sheer extent, in the over three and a half years Jason and I dated, he heard me sing ONCE, at church.

When did you last dance with someone? Uh with Sara a few years ago.

Do you feel awkward watching sex scenes? Yes, but not AS bad as when I was like, a teenager. I still do feel exceptionally uncomfortable if it's with my mom present, though.

Did you ever have senior photos done? No. I wanted to, we just... didn't, I don't remember why.

Do you attend church regularly? You literally could not even PAY me to go to church, never mind regularly. It's complete fucking brainwashing and greatly diminishes genuine, confident self-worth. I don't consider myself a Satanist, but even I can still say hail thyself, hunty.

Have you ever wanted to be a teacher? lol absolutely not.

Are you currently listening to music? Yeah, "Modern Love" by Mother Mother just started.

The person who last spoke to you in person, what is their name? Donna, but Mom to me.

The person who last texted you, tell me their name? Still Donna, lol.

What was your favorite class to take in school? Art courses and German.

Have you ever had a pixie cut? No, but I'd like one one day... Both my mom and hairdresser have told me I would look amazing with one now, which I really appreciated, but I just can't convince myself. I know it's a stereotype that fat people usually can't pull off short hair, and trust me it was ballsy enough for me to get it as short as it is now, I'd just be so obsessively paranoid that people would think I'm uglier with a pixie cut.

Is your signature legible? I think so, yeah.

If the person you like/love proposed to you right now, you would say? I know I'd say yes even though I know it's unwise to do so this early. Thankfully I'm pretty damn sure just given Girt's intelligence and dedication and strong pragmatism, he knows way better than to do that anytime soon.

Are you satisfied with your current camera? I sure am, and I'm actually pretty excited, I know Mom is ordering a pack of lenses (polarizing, ND, and UV) for it for Christmas!

When was the last time you felt ignored? Um idk. Probably during some family dinner at my sister's, I know I've been totally talked over adn brushed off more than once.

Is smoking an immediate turnoff to you? I won't ever attracted to a smoking man til I saw Richard Kruspe bro 😭 lol but generally yes, celebs don't count, right?

If given the opportunity, would you legally change your name? Nah, too used to this one and plus I like it.

Has religion ever come between you and a friend or family member? Yep.

Has anyone ever told you that you were worthless? Well, in fucking essence, Sara has.

If you jumped out the nearest window, would you live? Yes, very easily.

Is there an animal that scares you? I have a very intense irrational fear of larva, like maggots and stuff. Cicadas also notably freak me out, I can't handle their eyes. Whale sharks are another irrational fear, their mouths creep me out. Australian spiders like their funnel-web are freaky too.

When you get blood tests, do you feel faint afterwards? No.

Do you think you will have a date for prom? Whoa now buddy you are WAY late, lol. I went to Jason's senior prom and he went to mine.

Are you afraid of being cheated on? Not really, at least not with Girt. I hope this doesn't sound all arrogant or full of myself, but just factually, this guy wanted me way too long for me to even really WONDER if he'd cheat on me. He's directly told me he wanted to date in high school, but he didn't do anything because he was concerned what people would think of the age gap. Then Jason came along and he respected that.

Do you know how to play poker? It's actually funny, I did as a KID but don't now, hahaha. I really enjoyed it as a child, just obviously without monetary gambling.

Is your face shape oval, heart shaped or square? I genuinely don't know.

When was the last time someone asked you to go somewhere? When Girt invited me to his place Friday for his sister's birthday.

Do you have small wrists? Yeah; even with my size, my wrists are definitely noticeably small. Like I can slip those security bracelets off at the psych hospital (lmfao what a talent) or like the skating rink to show you paid.

Are you someone’s best friend? Girt always calls me his. <3

What’s the biggest annoyance in your life right now? The state of my legs, really. I'm gonna get on fixing this shit, I've had enough. It stops me from SO much.

Do you know anyone that smokes weed? I know one major pothead irl as well as one online; I'm certain others do it, but being a pothead is like, literally a major part of these two girls' personalities.

How many times have you kissed the last person you kissed? A hell of a lot.

Thinking back to the person you fell hardest for, do you still feel that way? Nope.

If you’re a girl, what’s your bra size? Funny thing, I actually don't know. I know I'm naturally a C-something, but being my weight, I'm not at all convinced that's accurate right now. This is gonna sound wild, but I haven't had a properly-fitting bra in literal years; I just wear some that were Mom's that somewhat fit, but absolutely not properly, but enough to where it's not incredibly obvious with clothes on. I'm pretty sure I need something custom because if the cup fits, the back doesn't, and if the back fits, the fucking cup doesn't. It's extremely annoying, but bras are not cheap, especially when you're not a standard size.

Ever known anyone who did business with a prostitute? I have zero idea.

If your parents are divorced, how old are your step parents? Kim is a couple years younger than Dad, so mid/late 50s.

Do you like your step parents, or are they assholes? She's an intolerant bigot/obnoxious Christian, but she has good traits, too.

[TW: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE/ABUSE] Ever had an abusive parent or other family member? No, thankfully.

Ever walked in on your parents while they were getting busy? If so, how many times and how old were you? No; I find it SO hard to accept that my parents ever did have sex lmao, they were SO incompatible and just never got along, it seemed like growing up.

If you were to get pregnant as a teen, what would happen? Well, I woulda kept it, because at the time I was pro-life. Thank fuck this never happened.

Do you prefer broccoli or asparagus? Broccoli, I absolutely hate asparagus.

What was the last flattering thing someone did/said to/for you? Uhhhhhh let's see probably something Girt said, he honestly says stuff like that a lot. ;__; <3

Do you know anybody that believes that magic/witchery truly exists? Yep, my sister Misty to name just one.

Roughly how hot are the summer temperatures where you reside? Usually 90s, sometimes low 100s. I absolutely hate it.

#survey #surveys #personal questions #random questions

[spookydrreid]

could you write something abt dad!spencer and mom!reader decorating the tree with their baby as a family for the first time? 🥺

The First Christmas

Pairing: dad!Spencer x mom!reader

Request are open!

Content Warnings: None

…

“No, that one has to go in the front of the tree!” I exclaim to my husband “it’s her first ornament she made!”

Spencer smiles at me and hangs our three month olds baked handprint ornament front and center on our beautiful tree. “There! Do you like it, Flora-Rose?” He comes over to the little girl in my arms, taking her sleeping frame into his own. She looks so small when he holds her and I cant sop the smile from spreading over my face.

All Spencer wanted was to be a father, and since the minute I told him he was going to be one, he’s been in love with her. We dressed her up for Halloween, taking her into the BAU to ‘trick-or-treat’ aka she slept and her father did the candy grabbing. We brought her to the family thanksgiving at Rossi’s, but this was what I was the most excited for.

When I was little, decorating the tree with my family was a tradition I couldn’t get enough of. And all I wanted was to do the same with my little family. Though she wont remember it, I couldn’t help the feelings that washed over me.

I stood, moving to grab an ornament from the bucket and standing beside my two favorite humans. The ornament was a boy, a girl, and a baby. Under each person were our names and the top was labeled “The Reids First Christmas.” Garcia got it for us not long after Flora-Rose was born and I was nearly in hysterics when she gave it to me. I hung it on the tree, right next to our babies handprint.

“I like being a Reid.” I said as I rested my head on Spencers shoulder.

I felt him chuckle, careful for the little angel in his arms, “I’m glad. You give the name purpose.”

I look up at him and he looks down at me, “did it not have purpose prior?”

He shakes his head, “no. I was so alone before you and her. But now… now I’m not. My life has meaning since meeting you. And I’m grateful.”

I can feel the tears well in my eyes, but I do my best to blink them away, “you give my life meaning to, Spencer. Both of you do.” I kiss his cheek and move to grab more glass bulbs, hanging them on the tree.

“I think we made a really cute baby.” He says as he, with one hand, hands more things on the tree.

I laugh, “I think we’re biased.”

“I don’t. People tell me all the time how cute she is. I think she would win a ‘cutest baby ever’ contest.” I cant lie and say he’s wrong but I am also her mother and all moms think their child is the cutest.

“Again, biased. But she is very stinking cute! Now, stand in front of the tree! I want to take a picture!” I move to grab my camera. Spencer gave it to me as an early Christmas present after I mentioned how bad I wanted a camera with film that needed to be developed. “Okay smile big!”

Spencer holds a still sleeping Flora-Rose up close to his face and smiles the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. I snap a picture and my heart feels full.

“You’re turn!” I gently take the baby from his arms, settling her carefully before smiling in front of our decorated Christmas tree. And my heart feels the fullest it’s been in a long time.

“My beautiful girls. I think this is the best Christmas by far. And all because of the two of you.” He kisses the both of us softly and its all I can do not to burst into tears. He deserved this, all of it.

“Here’s to many more Christmas as a family. I cant wait.”

…

@worryd0ll​​ ​ @eideticsreid​​​  @muffin-cup​​​ @will-on-the-internet@mikewizkalifa​​ @dr-spencerr-reidd​ @reidsconverse​ @spenxerslut​ ​ @ssaalexisreid​ @thisiscalm-andits-doctor​ @princesssmooshie​ @spencersawkward​ @spencerreidat3am​ @xoxospencerreid​ @reiding-recs @aayaissaa @spencerreid9 @sixxslut @doctorspenceryeet @lmfaosoph @freakyhood96 @mochionly @k-k0129 @measure-in-pain @rrtxcmt @withasideofmeg @totallyclearwitch @dhmaki @vaella1821 @shemarmooresfedora @tbuhgs @frickin-bats @manuosorioh @luvofyourlifeliv @reidsbookclub @@mikhailogallavich @coldlilheart @reidsacademia @sassymoon

#Dad!Spencer #dad!Spencer #Spencer reid x fem!reader #Spencer Reid #Spencer Reid fluff #Spencer Reid x reader #Spencer Reid x y/n