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redinkrain · 3 years

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Say something.

True to her words, Abigael Jameson-Caine arrived on the porch of the Vera-Vaughn-Greenwood Manor an hour later in a dark cloud. Being here seemed so estranged and yet familiar and safe to the British Lady; an opposite feeling to the one she had when she had to go back to that awful place in Sussex she was once obliged to call home when she was a little girl.

She took a deep breath and exhaled, a tiny bit apprehensive of how things might turn out with the Charmed Ones of course but especially with Mel. Closing her eyes to regain composure, she knocked three times at the hardwood door. When the door opened, the sister behind it wasn’t the one Abigael expected. There, stood Perky Princess -apologies-Maggie with exhaustion marking her features like the half-demon half-witch never saw on the Charmed One before. But when Maggie registered who had knocked on their door, her eyes lightened up just long enough for Abigael to catch it.

“Abby? What are you doing here? Is there a situation? Please tell me it’s not about demons! We’ve got our hands full in it already. Is this about some sort of demon overthrowing another one?” the younger sister asked in a straw of panic.

The ex-Demon Overlord frowned at that, but then thought that Macy’s phone-call was an hour ago and that in this short period maybe she had not found the time to warn her sister.

“Good evening to you too Miss Babbler. I am here because I’ve got a call from your sister silently asking for my help. So breathe.” The older woman let out a little bit annoyed.

“Mel called you?” Maggie questioned suspiciously.

“Your other sister actually.” Abby corrected.

“What? Macy? Really?” the witch seemed skeptic.

And like magic Macy appeared behind her sister.

“Yes, I called her. It’s an emergency at this point.” The eldest sister said. “Hi Abby! Please, come in! Thanks for coming.”

“Well of course! Anything I can do to help, even though I am not quite sure of how I can provide any sort of assistance in this matter.” Neither if Mel wanted to see her.

“Look, like I said on the phone, Mel’s not herself since she had to send Eva back to her time. It’s like she put her pain in demons hunting and declare an open season on them. Not that we’re not okay with vanquishing evil demons, but she keeps going after them and her reckless behavior puts her in danger constantly. So can you please try to talk some sense into her?” Macy desperate tone had said enough.

“Are we serious about asking her that?” Maggie tried to murmur to her sister, but Abigael heard it anyway. She felt a bit hurt that after everything the witch still had doubts about her intentions regarding Mel.

Macy observed their guest a few seconds before saying loud enough for the two women with her to hear.

“We are serious about it Mags. Abby only has Mel’s best interests at heart.” She then look the British Lady with that same expression Waverly had just after saying to her you do love her, Abigael.

Quite honestly Abby never thought she would witness this kind of acceptance from one of Mel’s sisters, especially not Macy. At a lost of words, she didn’t said anything to confirm what the eldest sister just affirmed. She didn’t needed to anyway.

“Speaking of Melanie, where is she?” Abby asked.

“At the Command Center.” Maggie stated.

“Come on, I’ll give you a ride!” Macy told Abigael while taking her jacket.

The drive to Safe Space went alright, there wasn’t any hurtful comment nor judgment from both parties. Macy parked the car and guided Abby to the entrance then gave her an encouraging smile before leaving.

The ex-Demon Overlord might always have been a step ahead in a lot of matters but here? Right now? With Mel? She was clueless. All of this went on so suddenly, she hadn’t had time to think in what kind of state of mind exactly the Charmed One was neither had she time to think of what she could possibly say to her. And who was she to try to talk some sense into her anyway?

She observed from the upper level, Mel was reading an old book from the armchair. Ever the perfect picture. She reminded her of that painting by Karen Whitworth except the witch looked devastated and her sobs didn’t helped. Abigael gathered her thoughts and went for the stairs.

Her steps were quiet as if she hoped that her friend wouldn’t even notice she was there. She stopped a few steps from the Vera sister who had her back to her and was crying in silence while wiping her tears as best as she could.

“Mel.” Abby simply pronounced with nothing but softness.

No response from the witch. The half-demon half-witch took the few remaining steps and reached the armchair where Mel sat. Carefully, like she was afraid of breaking a piece of glass, Abigael put her hand on one of Mel’s shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. The witch froze then turned around slowly. Her expression was soft but her eyes, oh God, they reflected so much pain, so much sadness to witness. But Abby didn’t missed the little spark that found its way in those desperate eyes.

“Abby.” Mel murmured eyes filled with tears kept at bay before adding with the same intonation “Are you really here?”

Her heart broke at those words.

“Would you dream of me?” She asked back with so much tenderness that she didn’t even recognized her own voice. In any other circumstances she would have said something entirely different, a snarky remarks, a naughty comment even, but right now all she wanted to do was eased Mel’s wounds and turned them into scars.

Mel studied her friend’s features and with that same broken voice she answered Abby’s question.

“I do, sometimes.” she paused briefly “You always come to visit me at night when I have no tears left to cry. You just- you just lay down next to me on my bed and hold me. Always whispering to my hear that it’s okay not to be okay. But then in the morning you’re gone, like you were never there.” She played with her hands and Abby never saw the Vera sister so broken. “It’s the first time you come to visit me here. I must have fall asleep while reading.” Mel frowned thinking.

“You are not dreaming, Love. I do am here.” The ex-Demon Overlord murmured while placing her other hand on Mel’s face, caressing her cheek and wiping away a new tear that escaped on its own accord.

“You say that too sometimes, but then I close my eyes and when I open them... you vanished.” She swallowed down a sob.

“Close your eyes, Melanie.” Abigael said softly with that damn accent Mel missed so much. So she did closed her eyes. “Hear my voice.” the half-demon half-witch pursued “Just feel my touch on your skin.” stroking the witch jaw. “I won’t disappear. I promise.”

Mel stayed still, refusing to open her eyes and to have to let go of her friend.

“Open your eyes, Love. I will be here with you.” Murmuring into the witch’s left ear.

The Vera sister opened her eyes and was surprised to see Abigael still standing in front of her.

“You’re really here?” Mel asked anyway.

“I did promised you I would, didn’t I?” The British Lady simply stated.

“You sure? I’m not dreaming?” the witch seemed still a little unconvinced.

“Certainly not, Love.”

And with that simple answer, Mel rose and put her arms around Abby’s neck and breathed for the first time since Eva’s departure.

#abimel #abigael x mel #abigael jameson caine #abigael caine #mel vera #charmed #charmed cw #cw charmed #charmed 2018 #2018 charmed #reboot charmed #charmed reboot #hope you enjoyed it ! I haven't written anything else for the time being I am really busy at work but I'll do my best

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princesssarisa · 3 years

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Some more “Little Women” remarks: the problem of Beth

I honestly think most commentary I’ve read about Beth’s character is bad, both academic and from casual readers.

I understand why. She’s a difficult character. Modern readers who love Little Women and want to celebrate it as a proto-feminist work need to contend with the presence of this thoroughly domestic, shy, sweetly self-effacing character, seemingly the opposite of everything a feminist heroine should be. Meanwhile, other readers who despise Little Women and consider it anti-feminist cite Beth as the embodiment of its supposedly outdated morals. Then there’s the fact that she’s based on Louisa May Alcott’s actual sister, Lizzie Alcott, and does show hints of the real young woman’s complexity, and yet she’s much more idealized than the other sisters, which often makes readers view her as more of a symbol (of what they disagree, but definitely a symbol) than a real person.

But even though the various bad takes on her character are understandable, they’re still obnoxious, and in my humble opinion, not founded in the text.

Here are my views on some of the critics’ opinions I least agree with.

“She’s nothing but a bland, boring model of feminine virtue.”

Of course it’s fair to find her bland and boring. Everyone is entitled to feel how they feel about any character. But she’s not just a cardboard cutout of 19th century feminine virtue. So many people seem to dismiss her shyness as just the maidenly modesty that conduct books used to encourage. But it seems blatantly obvious to me that it’s more than just that. Beth’s crippling shyness is actively portrayed as her “burden,” just like Jo’s temper or Meg and Amy’s vanity and materialism. She struggles with it. Her parents have homeschooled her because her anxiety made the classroom unbearable for her – no conduct book has ever encouraged that! In Part 1, she has a character arc of overcoming enough of her shyness to make new friends like Mr. Laurence and Frank Vaughn. Then, in Part 2, she has the arc of struggling to accept her impending death: she doesn’t face it with pure serenity, but goes through a long journey of both physical and emotional pain before she finds peace in the end. Her character arcs might be quieter and subtler than her sisters’, but she’s not the static figure she’s often misremembered as being.

‘She needs to die because her life has no meaning outside of her family and the domestic sphere.”

In all fairness, Beth believes this herself: she says she was “never meant” to live long because she’s just “stupid little Beth,” with no plans for the future and of no use to anyone outside the home. But for readers to agree with that assessment has massive unfortunate implications! The world is full of both women and men who – whether because of physical or mental illness, disability, autism, Down Syndrome, or some other reason – can’t attend regular school, don’t make friends easily, are always “young for their age,” don’t get married or have romantic relationships, aren’t able to hold a regular job, never live apart from their families, and lead quiet, introverted, home-based lives. Should we look at those real people and think they all need to die? I don’t think so! Besides, it seems to me that the book actively refutes Beth’s self-deprecation. During both of her illnesses, it’s made clear how many people love her and how many people’s lives her quiet kindness has touched – not just her family and few close friends, but the neighbors, the Hummels (of course), the local tradespeople she interacts with, and the children she sews gifts for who write her letters of gratitude. Then there’s the last passage written from her viewpoint before her death, where she finds Jo’s poem that describes what a positive influence her memory will always be, and realizes that her short, quiet life hasn’t been the waste she thought it was. How anyone can read that passage and still come away viewing her life as meaningless is beyond me.

“She needs to die because she symbolizes a weak, outdated model of femininity.”

SparkNotes takes this interpretation of Beth and it annoys me to think of how many young readers that study guide has probably taught to view her this way. No matter how feisty and unconventional Louisa May Alcott was, and no mater how much she personally rebelled against passive, domestic femininity, would she really have portrayed her beloved sister Lizzie as “needing to die” because she was “too weak to survive in the modern world”? Would she really have turned Lizzie’s tragic death into a symbol of a toxic old archetype’s welcome death? But even if Beth were a purely fictional character and not based on the author’s sister, within the text she’s much too beloved and too positive an influence on everyone around her for this interpretation to feel right. This seems less like a valid reading of her character and more like wishful thinking on the part of some feminist scholars.

“She's a symbol of pure goodness who needs to die because she’s Too Good For This Sinful Earth™.”

Enough with the reasons why Beth “needs to die”! At least this one isn’t insulting. But I don’t think it’s really supported by the text either. If she were a symbol of goodness too pure for this world, then she wouldn’t forget to feed her pet bird for a week and lose him to starvation. She wouldn’t get snappish when she’s bored, even if she does only vent her frustration on her doll. She wouldn’t struggle with social anxiety, or dislike washing dishes, or be explicitly described as “not an angel” by the narrator because she can’t help but long for a better piano than the one she has. Now of course those flaws (except for accidentally letting her bird die) are minute compared to her sisters’. It’s fair to say that only “lip service” is paid to Beth’s humanity in an otherwise angelic portrayal. But it seems clear that Alcott did try to make her more human than other saintly, doomed young girls from the literature of her day: she’s certainly much more real than little Eva from Uncle Tom’s Cabin, for example.

“She’s destroyed by the oppressive model of femininity she adheres to.”

This argument holds that because Beth’s selfless care for others causes her illness, her story’s purpose is to condemn the expectation that women toil endlessly to serve others. But if Alcott meant to convey that message, I’d think she would have had Beth get sick by doing some unnecessary selfless deed. Helping a desperately poor, single immigrant mother take care of her sick children isn’t unnecessary. That’s not the kind of selflessness to file under “things feminists should rebel against.”

“She’s a symbol of ideal 19th century femininity, whom all three of her sisters – and implicitly all young female readers – are portrayed as needing to learn to be like.”

Whether people take this view positively (e.g. 19th and early 20th century parents who held up Beth as the model of sweet docility they wanted from their daughters) or negatively (e.g. feminists who can’t forgive Alcott for “remaking Jo in Beth’s image” by the end), I honestly think they’re misreading the book. I’ve already outlined the ways in which Beth struggles and grows just like her sisters do. If any character is portrayed as the ideal woman whom our young heroines all need to learn to be like, it’s not Beth, it’s Marmee. She combines aspects of all her daughters’ best selves (Meg and Beth’s nurturing, Jo’s strong will and Amy’s dignity) and she’s their chief source of wise advice and moral support. Yet none of her daughters become exactly like her either. They all maintain their distinct personalties, even as they grow. Admittedly, Beth’s sisters do sometimes put her on a pedestal as the person they should emulate – i.e. Amy during Beth’s first illness and Jo in the months directly after her death. But in both of those cases, their grief-inspired efforts are short-lived and they eventually go back to their natural boldness and ambitions. They just combine them with more of Beth’s kindness and unselfishness than before.

“She wills her own death.”

Of all these interpretations, this one is possibly the most blatantly contradicted by the text. Just because Beth’s fatal illness is vague and undefined beyond “she never recovered her strength after her scarlet fever” doesn’t mean it's caused by a lack of “will to live”; just because she interprets her lack of future plans or desire to leave home to mean that she’s “not meant to live long” doesn’t mean she’s so afraid to grow up that she wants to die. It’s made very clear that Beth wants to get well. Even though she tries to hide her deep depression from her family and face death willingly, she’s still distraught to have her happy life cut short.

I’ll admit that I’m probably biased, because as as a person on the autism spectrum who’s also struggled with social anxiety and led an introverted, home-based life, I personally relate to Beth. If I didn’t find her relatable, these interpretations would probably annoy me less. But I still think they’re based on a shallow overview of Beth’s character, combined with disdain for girls who don’t fit either the tomboyish “Jo” model or the sparkling “Amy” model of lively, outgoing young womanhood, rather than a close reading of the book.

#little women #beth march #meta #literary criticism

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cherry-gemz · 3 years

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Summary: This is a continuation of the movie Before We Go and my interpretation and imagination of an A/U. Brooke is you (Y/N) and Nick is still Nick :)

Prompt: "Just admit that I'm right." for @the-ce-horniest-book-club Drunk Drabbles for Nick Vaughan.

Pairings: Nick Vaughan x Y/N

Rating: PG-13

Word Count: <2k...is this a drabble still? Oopsies XD

A/N: I watched this movie for the first time just last week. It's now one of my top 3 Cevans movies! While I'm all for a romantic, serendipitous, spontaneous trope...much like Before Sunrise *no spoilers*, the ending was great, but I wanted a different spin. No pressure...yah, right! Either way, hope you enjoy xx.

Tags: @thesecretlifeofdaydreamss @tonystankschild @a-little-counter-esperanto

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

You sniff and rub the end of your coat sleeve with your nose. Had to be the chill in the air, you thought. Not the fact that you just spent the most amazing and life changing night with a man you just met hours before and it was ending.

You stare out the train’s window; the gentle hum of the cart gliding across the steel tracks echoed in your thoughts. You shook your head in thinking that you made a mistake. I should have stayed...I should have told him how I felt…

“Nick. It's you again. Listen. I want to give you one more piece of advice. You're gonna be playing one night... Grand Central... thinking of every reason in the world to not go see the girl that broke your heart. Then, you're gonna meet somebody. And now, at first, she's gonna seem… icy. You're gonna know right away she's trouble. She's gonna take all your money. You're probably gonna get punched in the face. But stay with her; you're gonna need her a lot more than she needs you. And at the end of the night, you're gonna want to say some things, but don't. Don't ruin it. It's nothing she doesn't already know. Just give her a kiss. Wish her good luck. And thank her. Thank her for showing you that you can love more than one person in this life.”

He was unbelievably charming. You said so yourself. His raw talent with the trumpet was beautiful and different from what you were used to. The suburbia of the Boston bubble was what you were forced to live in now. You were from London, you were cultured and refined. Sure things with Michael were exciting at first, but the ho hum of the daily diatribe of routine became loathsome. Dépaysement. But you still never wavered in your marriage. Unlike Michael who had crossed that sacred line and lost your trust. It wasn't even fully the physical aspect that he went to another woman. It was the intimacy of telling her his deepest desires and then some that hurt the most. That he would want to share that with anyone else but you. But tonight. Tonight was what made you see clearly.

"It's possible, isn't it? It's possible that you could meet somebody who's perfect for you even though you're committed to somebody else," you asked as you bit your lip.

"No, no, see, I think if you're committed to somebody, you don't allow yourself to find perfection in someone else."

You found yourself blushing and cupping your cheek in thoughts of Nick. He was right. The whole night was a cluster mess of you trying to get home before Michael so you'd be able to throw away that wretched note. That he'd come to his senses and forget Linny. That he'd realized he was a fool and you'd start over. Just like old times.

However, slowly that feeling of reconciliation faded away little by little as each hour in the city passed. You couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but somehow the scrappy trumpet player Nick Vaughan etched his way into your icy heart and left an impression and stayed.

His fluffy, dark hair - so soft and inviting for you to rake your fingers through it was enough to drive you mad. His scruffy beard, which tickled when you kissed. You already loved ghosting your palms over it softly and imagined being able to do it whenever you wished. He said earlier into the night you weren't his type; you scoffed, but we're annoyed that it bothered you. You were a classic model of what guys were into, looks wise. Sure, your attitude was what rubbed some people the wrong way, but Americans really were too sensitive.

He however...he was the full package. Every toothy grin, wink, and full hearty laugh. He was addicting. He was a dead ringer for a heartthrob, but you also couldn't hate the guy for it. He was the friend you'd call to bail you out of jail at 4am and the boyfriend that you could see settling down with. It was nauseating really.

And then his lips. His soft lips...you can’t believe you kissed him in the hotel room. And then again at the train station. But you would have kicked yourself for not doing so in the first place. The way your fingers interlaced themselves on his terry cloth robe, how desperately you wanted to press your body against his. All you wanted was for him to feel that burning need within the apex between your thighs and extinguish it all night. But it was more than that, he was what you were missing. But you were kidding yourself. You weren’t running to Michael, you were running away from Nick.

But why? Because of the unknown? Because he actually knew who you were deep down inside? How could a man you barely knew, change you? Change what you thought was true, what you thought was love?

You dove your hand into your wool jacket’s pockets to push any thoughts of self-doubt, when you realize there was a piece of cardstock. You were puzzled to find it and immediately smiled in recognizing the hotel survey card. You bit your lip as you read down the survey questions one by one and notice Nick’s handwriting at the bottom, ‘turn over’ with an arrow.

Curious you turn over the hotel card and he’s written the word ‘yes’. Yes? You furrow your brow and contemplate further what he would be saying yes to. You think about the night - the time at the bar, helping him with Hannah, when you went to the psychic reading. Yes? What in the world - and then you turn the card back over and realize that on the second to last question it asked “Will you be likely to return?”

None of the boxes are checked, but he’d written ‘yes’ on the back. Yes. Yes he’ll return? Where? To the hotel? But when? You look up and rush to think about stopping the train dead in its tracks to return back to Grand Station. You breathe out heavily and come to terms that this isn’t a movie. He’s not chasing you down the tracks, jumping on the train to find you. Or is he? You wouldn’t put it past him. The whole night was filled with serendipitous concourses, this would be icing on the cake. You dart your head around to see if he’s in the cable car. It’s like in every rom com movie ending, the man of your dreams will be right there. He’s somehow charmed his way into boarding the train and found you waiting like a princess in her high tower. The train car is dark and bleak, only a few passengers are riding it as it’s the first route to Boston on a Sunday. You peer over to see if he’s in the next cart, but alas he is not. You slump in your seat and rub your thumb methodically over his words.

"Have you ever had a feeling that somebody was going to play a major part in your life?” you ask.

“Yeah."

“Do you know the most interesting thing about hotel art? It's what's on the back.”

It’s then you realize you have to return to New York. This story wasn’t about you and Michael anymore. No, it was about the man who selflessly helped you while you were in need, not only at your dire hour, but metaphorically as well. This was meant to be. You were meant to miss your train, break your phone, and meet the handsome man named Nick Vaughn. You knew he’d still be in the city because of his audition for the day with Duke at least, if you could just get to him somehow...

Your knees bounced as you sat on a cushioned chair in the hotel lobby. You had planned to wait there all day, but then realized the $13 train ticket was your only way of providing you security back home. So you went home. Confronted Michael. Cursed, cried, and then relief rushed over you as he had read your letter and how you knew about the affair. How you wanted to throw fists on his chest and tell him how much you hated him. But once you saw him, you found it didn't matter to you anymore. Someone else was worth fighting for. Your marriage was over. The hatred and spite you once had for your husband had dissipated. Your world didn't end like you thought it would. This wasn't your only chance at love. You were choosing to be happy, whether it was with Nick or not. This was the first time you were going to jump without having a net.

And Nick was wrong. Michael didn't want to work things out, he was coming to tell you that he loved you, but that and he'd be returning to Atlanta for good. The house, car, everything was yours: Nick said so himself, you gotta be okay with not being okay. So you walked away. You made the choice just like the psychic said and took it in stride, you faced the music.

However now you found yourself back in New York. Not the once stranded woman at a crossroads less than 24 hours before, but the woman that made a choice. You were worried that Nick would see it as you running away again. Running away because Michael didn't choose you. But in reality you didn't choose each other.

Still without an ID, you took your car and better against the four hour drive to the city and hoped a cop wouldn't pull you over. You thought of the night in the hotel. The laughs, the closeness you two encountered. The playful and cheeky way he could make you feel seen. You were starting to get nervous, what if he doesn't show up? What if I missed my chance?

"I'm an idiot," you murmur to yourself. "I can't believe I'm here."

You stand up and realize there Nick was there in your path. He looked a little worn, obviously from staying up all night. But he had changed and showered from the looks of it, and his signature trumpet case held in his hand.

"Well look who it is. The biggest loser in New York."

You laughed and blushed at the sight of him. He slung his trumpet case over his broad shoulder and walked over to close the gap.

“Just admit that I’m right.”

"Admit what?" You ask as you find yourself touching his jacket sleeve.

"Admit that you couldn't get enough of me." You hitched a breath from his words.

"You can say that."

"I can't believe you came back," he responded. His blue eyes gazed into yours as he brushed away a tendril of hair from your face.

"I read your answer to the survey...on the back."

"The stay did exceed my expectations and I did say I would return," he smiles.

"And here you are."

"Here I am…" he pulls away slightly as he's reminded that you're married.

"I jumped," you replied.

He's taken back by your statement and furrows his brow.

"What? With what?"

"I told Michael it was over."

"Wow. I'm so...sorry, Y/N."

"Don't be. You said so yourself, at some point it was time to face the music."

He nodded, absorbing the information.

"Say what's in your head."

He shook his head and grinned,"I'm just glad you came back is all."

"Yeah? How'd you know?"

"I didn't. Just sure as hell hoped you would."

He intertwines your fingers with his and holds tight. Like a missing puzzle piece found, your hand fits perfectly with his.

"Whaddya say we get out of here?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"I may know a place," he smiles devilishly and gives your knuckles a kiss.

You grab his dress shirt collar and turn him towards you. He runs his hands through your hair and places his lips upon yours, kissing you deeply. It's a kiss so passionate, so perfect - that after you part, neither open your eyes for a few moments afterwards and he embraces you tightly.

"Good, because I'm not going anywhere."

#drunk drabbles #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans x female reader #nick vaughan #before we go #before we go spoilers #nick vaughn x reader #romance

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aelingalathyniusrailme · 3 years

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so here’s what i’m thinking over the course of the next books

acotar 5

azriel fucks up and has to go to illyria, or is sent

somehow gets involved with their politics, the valkyries and maybe balthazar

befriends gwyn and they go on cute adventures together

they start to fall in love and have an epic love story

azriel has this moment where he’s like i don’t need a mate, i got gwyn. and everyone looks at him like is this guy fr. and he’s like what. and they’re all like u dumb fuck gwyn is your mate

he heals and is no longer a possessive asshole

in the background elain gets a personality and mor and emerie become closer

something related to beron/autumn court goes down

lots of pegasus stuff

novella

mor and emerie have a super cute sapphic love story

we find out what happened to mor in vaughn

mor comes out to the ic

we find out what happened between mor and eris

mor and az have the conversation they so desperately need to

the plot with koshei develops

acotar 6

elain leaves the night court

elain goes to the band of exiles

elain and lucien work together and slowly but surely become closer

we finally know what’s going on with elain

she and lucien fall in love

she travels to a bunch of different courts for some reason

vassa either ends up alone or with jurian

vassa kills koshei and unfirebirds up in this bitch

tamlin dies for lucien. boom redemption arc

lucien and elain don’t choose a specific court to stay in but are constantly moving around until hellion dies and they become high lord and lady of the day court

extras that idk where they fit

eris becomes high lord of the autumn court

hellion lucien family introduction

hellion and lady A ❤️❤️❤️

hellion and beron blood duel

the dread trove or whatever it’s called

the prison/the bone carver

maybe a tog acotar cc crossover of some kind

some sort of mating bond ceremony

#acotar #acosf #acomaf #acowar #acofas #gwynriel #elucien #emorie #vassa x jurian #hellion #lady autumn #feysand #nessian

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ironwoman18 · 3 years

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The most dangerous work of the world.

This was a request from @ole4kamgg

Enjoy!

Spencer walked in the BAU office, with a dizziness in his head. JJ walked towards him and held him as he collapsed in her arms crying.

"We will find them... Spence... That's a promise" said JJ hugging him and holding her tears. She never saw him like it. .

His wife and kids were kidnapped and there were not visible evidence of who did it.

Meanwhile the team was in the meeting room deciding what to do.

"Matt and Luke you will go to the last place Max and the kids were. Ashley you will get access to their cameras and look for anything of the unsub. Tara and I will get more of the..." Emily took a deep breath to hold her tears "... Of the victimology"

They all nodded and we're about to leave when Spencer walked in. Immediately all the team members walked to him and took turns to hug him.

"I want to help... I... I need to do something" Emily looked at him and sighed.

"Spence... You know how these things are... Remember Hotch"

"I know but I need to feel helpful" he looked at her with some tears.

At last Emily nodded "ok you go with Matt and Luke. And JJ come with me to their house. Tara stay here and look Spencer's cases. Look if there's someone looking for revenge" the blonde woman nodded and the team split.

Dave was out of town publishing his new book so he would not help them this time.

JJ looked outside of the window "why is this happening again? Why our families have to deal with this?"

"Sadly the unsub can't beat us in a fair fight so they play dirty. Using our loved one" said Emily.

"It sucks..." JJ started to cry softly. Emily just held her hand as they arrived to their house.

Meanwhile in the restaurant the guys arrived. They started to cheek the place where the car was parked.

The Luke started to imagine the situation, while Matt was inside talking to the manager to get the recording of the cameras. He sent them to Ashley and walked outside when the guys.

"Ok what did you find?" Asked Matt

"This..." Luke showed him a bag with a bracelet, it was simple.

"This isn't Max's so we can be agree that the unsub is a woman" Spencer said looking for any other clue.

They continued to check the place but there were nothing else at plain sight.

Luke's phone rang "hey there Ash, you are on speaker"

"Hey guys. Ok I check the video and I just send you something interesting. The person who kidnapped Max and the kids looks definitely like a woman. She's wearing sunglasses and a hoodie on so I can't see her face. But I called you because I saw something interesting. As you can see on your tablets the woman got distracted for a second while Max was getting the kids in their car seats when she throw something to the bushes" as she was talking they could see it on Matt's tablet.

"That's very smart of her" said Luke.

"Yeah and I could see how she ripped off a bracelet so she is leaving clues"

"That's so Max..." Said Luke with a chuckle "we will check it and go back to analyze the evidence. Luke ended the conversation and Spencer walked to the bushes where the piece of paper squeezed into a ball.

Spencer put the ball in an evidence bag and the three men left.

The women in the Reid's house where searching for evidence. JJ was outside while Emily was inside. They discovered some things in the trash can that showed that the family had being spying.

"I guess this is enough prove that the real victim is Spence" said JJ.

"Yeah but who...?"

Back in the head quarter the team talked about the evidence. They were agree that the person who kidnapped Max was from a previous case. But they did not know who.

"I guess the key is this paper... Max throw it while the unsub was distracted" said Spencer "let's see it"

He puts his gloves on and opens the piece of paper. There was some handwriting from Max. Spencer's eyes opened widely after reading.

"Oh my..." Said him in shock.

"What's up Spence?" Asked JJ.

"Ok... Quick heads-up. I had been talking to Max about my previous cases. Telling her what happened and she took notes. She wanted to know and remember that in case someone wanted to hurt us..." He sighed "and this paper is about Lindsey Vaughn"

"Wait... What? She is in jail after kidnapped your mom and working with Cat"

"Not anymore" said Tara "I called to the federal prison she was in and they told me she escape... Six months ago..."

"Really? And why they never told us?" Said a very angry Emily.

"The guard who was in charge of her area was working with her and he never told anyone until his supervisor decided to supervise" said Tara rolling her eyes "that's when he discovered everything"

"How long?"

"A week ago"

"Jeez... Well we need to move quickly. Let's look for her save places" they all nodded and left to do it "the main question is... Why is she doing?"

The team dedicated all day looking for information. Penelope even joined them to help them.

The situation was getting critical as the hours passed and they did not know where she was.

Until finally they had some clues. The team split again in two locations. Matt, Luke and Tara when to a location and JJ, Emily and Spencer when to the other.

They were nervous because of everything they went through the years.

Matt, Luke and Tara's location was not the right one so Emily and company must have the right one.

When they arrived they went slowly in looking in each compartment. After some more minutes they finally reached the place where Lindsey Vaughn held Reid's family.

"Well well well... Look who finally arrived" said Lindsey with a smirk "our superhero, Spencer Reid" said this with sarcasm holding her gun up to the door, shooting if any of them showed their face.

"Lindsey you want me, not them. Let my family go" said Spencer hiding his feelings of worry.

"Yes I want you... I WANT YOU TO SUFFER!!" She said in rage "suffer like I did when you took Cat away from me... You are the responsable for her dead"

Now everything makes sense. She was trying to revenge Cat's dead "she decided to accept the dead penalty... It's not my fault"

"You pushed her!!!" Said Lindsey clearly upset "you made her do it...!!"

They decided to split because there was another door from behind. Meanwhile Spencer stayed to distract her.

He kept her talking while JJ and Emily moved the other door.

When they were there they managed to free the kids without Lindsey to see them. They were scared but JJ was able to keep them quite as part of a game. She got out with the kids but Max will be harder to get her out since she was closer to Lindsey and her main target.

So Spencer had to do something desperate. He decided to stand in front of the door holding up his gun. Emily was at the other door and when Lindsey held up her gun toward him then to Max, she did not have other choice but give her a shot from behind, killing her immediately.

They ran to Max to free her and she immediately hugged him "I... I knew you would understand"she said in tears hugging him tightly "I knew it..." They walked out of the building as a second ambulance arrived to check her.

As they checked Max Spencer walked to his kids and hugged them.

"Daddy you squeezed me" said Jason giggling softly.

"Oh I'm sorry buddy" he smiled with tears in his eyes.

"Don't be sad daddy..." Said Rachel looking at him with a little pout.

"I'm not sad honey. I'm happy" he smiled at her "you can cry when you are happy or sad" they smiled big and hugged him more.

"This is always a gratifying moment. When a family is reunited and there's a happy ending" said JJ to Emily.

"Yeah... I live up for this moments in these job"

OOooOOooOO

Finally I put this into words. I had been planning this for quite a while but today is ready!

Hope you liked it. Comments are welcome and appreciated!

Maxcer squad: @dreatine @andiebeaword @aperrywilliams

#criminal mind #spencer reid #maxine brenner #maxcer #fanfiction

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booksandwords · 3 years

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Vespertine by Leta Blake & Indra Vaughn

Read time: 3 Days Rating: 5/5

The quote: Your skin tastes of ocean and sin Your lips sink me like ships In a wave that holds on so strong It’s impossible to sail on — Nicholas 'Nicky' Blumfeld

Warnings: drug use, suicidal ideology (past), death, lots of biblical references, addiction

TL:DR. This is a brilliant book that I recommend to lovers of the genre it has some unique character moments and is just well written. Things to look out for if you decide to try reading this, drug use, suicidal ideology (past), death, lots of biblical references, addiction. Some are minor some are more common.

Here we go. I have never read anything quite like this in my life. I've read forbidden love, I've read addiction and I've read back in town. But I've never read them quite like this with religion, music and high stakes. It is worth saying this is a book that starts with a bang, in the first chapter there is major drug use (voluntary and coerced) to the point of overdose and holy speech running side by side. That is how the book continues with the colliding and melding of worlds sometimes with ease sometimes jarringly as is required. The burning question of Verspertine is what price love? What are you willing to pay for love?

I'm going to be honest and say this is a book with a fairly predictable endgame for those who have read the genre at least. The signposts start appearing and seeing where it is going is not difficult. But it's not about that it's about the characters and the journey. Nicholas Blumfeld is known to the world as Nico Blue, to his friends as Nicky. He is the guitarist and lyricist of the successful band Vespertine. After an overdose on tour, he has returned to his childhood home to get clean and find out who he is clean. His emotional tone throughout Vespertine is shown through song lyrics that appear sporadically. Between the ages of 9 and 17 Jazz and Nicky were inseparable, Nicky never knew why Jazz entered the seminary, never understood a lot of things it left him angry. That anger has fuelled his entire career. Jasper Hendricks, known to the Little Heights community as Father Henricks and Nicky as Jazz is a Priest with a sweet tooth. At seventeen he followed his calling and joined the seminary becoming the Priest in his childhood hometown. His pride and joy is Blue Oasis Center home for LGBTQ+ youth. When Nicky comes back Jazz is thrown, their confrontation is in a place it shouldn't be. Jazz starts questioning his path, his choices in life. His place on the path is shown by the appearance of the church. As characters I really like them I like their dedication to their truths, their paths. The characters are delightfully different for having come from the same place. The way they were written made me want to cry for both of them more than once. Their yearning, shown well with Nicky's flirting and Jazz's staring wasn't ended at the right place. They both knew they were playing with fire, they just couldn't stop. Their coming together each time it happens it tonally perfect, each time feels right and the right one is leading. From the sweet to the hard and desperate. Some of those scenes in other books would be absolute no-goes for me but here they just work.

The support cast is largely minimal but what there is used well. Miriam and Adrian, Nicky's parents, are his support but Adrian also has a bit to do with Jasper. Within Blue Oasis Center there is Lizzie. Lizzie is a trans girl who arrives in Little Heights the same day Nicky gets home, their stories are linked. Mrs Wells is employed and the Center but also taught Nicky and Jazz as children, like most of the others in the book she distrusts Nicky and just sees him as a no-good junkie. It's good to see someone like that in close, her reaction feels realistic. The church is represented well by Andrew and Father Thomas. Father Thomas is particularly interesting, he knows Jazz better than he knows himself. The only member of Vespertine we spend any time with is Ramona a badass rocker if I've ever read one, I cannot express my love for her. Her need to keep Nicky clean doesn't just come across as self-interest which feels important. All these characters just want Jazz and Nicky happy, though not necessarily together. Everyone knows that is impossible.

If I try to write a coherent review of this it will be obnoxiously long so we're going with dot points. Of things I really liked and appreciated because there was not much I didn't.

"Mom I need help." that is just a beautiful line and I almost cried despite its simplicity.

With or Without you in virtually any setting will wreck me. The way it was used in Vespertine was perfect. Acoustic and by people with way more emotional baggage then they can handle And my emotional reaction to that song will forever be blamed on Looking For Alibrandi.

Dizzy the cat and the chaotic humour she induces are fantastic. I did not expect to laugh so hard at the lines “She gives high fives?” “And delivers death to poor innocent bunnies. I’m considering whether or not she’s an agent of Satan.”. But yeah that's Dizzy. Oh and I love the side of Nicky she induces.

Nicky's tattoos are stunning representing his love even though he didn't know it. I was in awe of them in a way. No spoilers on those

There is as expected a lot of biblical and religious quotations and act for the priest but that in itself as an atheist is interesting.

Nicky and his religious journey. He was born Jewish, spent time in the Catholic church as a teen, considers himself atheist but might be something closer to agnostic.

I had to look up Rugelach for my own sanity. It originated in the Jewish communities of Poland and is a sweet pasty. I think I've eaten without knowing what it was called.

I probably should put it here. Nicky is exactly my type when it comes to fictional men. Slightly broken, tattooed and described as "a pretty little bad boy". Look I know my type and FYI Leta Blake writes broken well (I'm looking at you Joel).

I read on a kindle, a kindle that allows me to highlight and make notes as I read. It has been a long time since I made as many as I did for this. There are some brilliant lines about faith, love and life, just as they were in the other books I've read by Leta Blake.

I may be putting Leta Blake on my fave mm authors list I appreciate her focus on character and growth over smut. (sorry to Indira Vaughn who I will look up more books by soon)

#vespertine #leta blake #indra vaughn #book review #tw drug use #tw drug addiction #tw death #tw suicidal ideology #this review is far too long but making it shorter was never going to happen #i loved this far too much #ktreviews #read 2021

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halliewriteshockey · 4 years

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@iwritesometimes asked - Belatedly: how’d you even get sucked into this clown car full of Very Large Men??

(Replies are disabled on my work computer and I don’t have my laptop in front of me, sorry for the formatting)

So back in early 2017 I was desperate for good new romance to read. I wanted something well-written, with interesting plots and good character arcs, and I wan’t finding anything in the recommended section on Amazon. So I turned to Twitter, which promptly recced me the Scoring Chances series, starting with Breakaway.

To say I was dubious was putting it mildly. It was hockey. Not that I had anything against hockey, mind, but hockey was sports, and sports I definitely have something against. I’d never seen the point. All that sweating and pain and exertion---gross.

But everyone on Twitter kept telling me how good this series was, and like I said, I was desperate. So I bought the first one.

And... it was funny? And hot? And... the hockey bits weren’t too hard to follow, it focused more on the characters, which were fully-developed and interesting, and also the main character is absolutely on the spectrum (although that’s only my headcanon, but seriously, read it and tell me that kid’s neurotypical, YOU CAN’T)

Oh, this is gonna get long

So I read the second one. And the third. And fourth and fifth. And then the rest of the stuff Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn have written (we beta each other’s stuff now sometimes, they’re both super cool). And then I reread the entire series (like, uh... five times each but who’s counting) but then I was stuck again because shit, I’d suddenly realized just how homoerotic sports can BE, what the fuck had I been thinking all my life, and I started paying attention to actual real life hockey.

I mentioned offhand to my friend that I’d been reading hockey books and he said “oh, you’re going to love the Knights, they’re literally everything you’re all about. Underdogs, made up of castoffs from other teams and the throwaways no one wanted, and they’re poised to win the Stanley Cup.”

After Googling what the Stanley Cup was, I was like WELL SHIT I GUESS I’M A KNIGHTS FAN.

I didn’t actually watch any of the games because I literally didn’t know how to pirate sports games back then, that’s how bad I was at being a hockey fan. But I read everything I could, and then the Knights lost but it was too late for me because I’d already found out Marc Andre Fleury existed.

Fun fact: the first hockey rpf I ever read was by @detroitredwingsnbcsn, a non-complete guide to homeostasis in desert environments, which basically read like original fiction for me except Flower was there. It made me fall even more in love with Flower and also a little bit with Seb.

And then when hockey came back that year, I was there in the metaphorical front row, ready with the popcorn and armed with How to Hockey books so I could figure out what was going on.

And me being me, I can’t love something and not write about it, so... that’s when the books started happening. And are still happening. (Jesus, I have like five concepts in various stages of beginning that need to be written)

So there you have it. Basically it’s the fault of three people---Avon Gale, Piper Vaughn, and Marc Andre Fleury. (And also a little bit Seb.)

#hockey #hockey rpf #mention #Michaela blathers

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justalittlelitnerd · 4 years

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Angry God by L.J. Shen

Man this book was a wild ride from start to finish. I knew from Pretty Reckless and Broken Knight that Vaughn had issues that were borderline sociopathic (all of the main characters in the previous books comment on his weird habits and lack of emotions) but nothing prepared me for his almost psychotic behavior.

The book starts with the history of Vaughn and Lenora’s relationship which began on a family trip where he killed jellyfish and they bonded over a brownie. It then continued to them both attending a summer art program at Lenora’s father’s academy in London when they were preteens and Lenora witnesses Vaughn in a compromising position. A 13-year-old Vaughn breaks into Lenora’s room, darkly threatening her if she breathes a word of what she saw.

Five years later, they haven’t seen each other since that night, Lenora’s mom has died, her father and sister have moved to the US to they very place where Vaughn attends high school, and prior to her senior year they convince her to join them. Neither of them are the same, both darker and damaged by their teenage years. Lenora swears she won’t let Vaughn rattle her even as he makes it his mission to make her life a living hell. Between stalking her, breaking into her house, making her stitch him up when he’s been low-key (I say low-key because it wasn’t fully intentional) stabbed, drawing the wrath of all the mean girls to her, and a million other things that are absolutely insane they keep getting drawn together by a sort of unhealthy possessiveness & obsession.

This book was by far my least favorite of the three and that was in part to the lack of a clear trigger warning. I knew based on the previous books that the family dynamics would be complex and the characters would have an unexpected darkness to them. But nothing prepared me for the violence, the public sex acts (though it was mentioned in the previous novels), the BLOOD PLAY (just really not my thing), and the graphic sexual assault/molestation. I had a feeling going into this book that something happened to Vaughn when he was younger to create his issues with sex and intimacy, but I was by no means expecting it to be graphicly depicted. Talking about the psychological effects of molestation is one thing (it still needs a trigger warning, but it’s important to discuss) but actually showing the acts is completely another. As soon as I realized what was happening I skimmed the retelling because it was just too hard to read and I couldn’t imagine how someone would feel if they had similar experiences.

So basically approach this book with caution.

Keep reading for my favorite quotes from this crazy novel.

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis. Art is long, life is short. The message was clear: the only way to immortality was through art. Mediocrity was profanity. It was a dog-eat-dog world, and we were leashed upon each other, hungry, desperate, and blindly idealistic.

We had the talent, the status, the money, and the opportunity. But if we were silver, Vaughn Spencer was gold. If we were good, he was brilliant. And when we shone? He gleamed with the force of a thousand suns, charring everything around him. It was like God had carved him differently, paid extra attention to detail while creating him. His cheekbones were sharper than scalpel blades, his eyes the palest shade of blue in nature, his hair the inkiest black. He was so white I could see the veins under his skin, but his mouth was red as fresh blood—warm, alive, and deceiving.

Lenora didn’t strike me as a party girl. She had the strange gene, the one that made her stick out like a sore thumb wherever she went, even without the Maleficent wardrobe. I could tell because I had it, too. We were weeds, rising from the concrete, ruining the generic landscape of this yacht club town.

Watching her react to me was like feeling the first rays of sun after a long winter.

“Y’all gonna slow-dance to a Billy Joel song? If so, don’t forget to leave room for Jesus. And Moses. And Muhammad. And also Post Malone, because hey, he’s kind of a religion now, too.”

My heart accelerated to a dangerous speed, fireflies bursting forth as though escaping a Mason jar. Kissing him was like standing on the edge of a cliff. Nice view, but you knew it was deadly. Still, a stupid, irrational, dangerously alive part of you still wanted to hurl yourself down to meet your own demise. I felt his lips on more than just my lips. I felt them in my fingertips, all the way down to my toes. I felt them when my skin broke into goosebumps.

Heartbreak was a mystical, double-edged sword from where I was standing. And I had no desire to experience the full range of emotions in a car crash of feelings. Not ever going there.

“I don’t believe you, but I’ll still catch you,” he said. “I will always catch you, the fucking dumbass that I am.” “What do you mean?” “You soften me.” “Why?” “Because I don’t want to fucking kill you! You’re too fun to fuck with. Now Get. The. Hell. Down.”

There was nothing more beautiful than watching Vaughn Spencer let go.

I said nothing, not really in the mood to correct her and tell her I hadn’t asked whether she believed in ghosts or not because I knew the answer already. It was what made her presence bearable. When we were in a room together, all our ghosts were waiting on the other side of the door. I could hear them.

Strong words, but time, I found, had two opposite effects. Either it made the pain dull and evaporated the anger or it allowed you to stew in your fury, multiplying your rage.

"Don’t take this the wrong way, but you are a bit unhinged.” He said “a bit” for the sake of civility. Truth was, you couldn’t be a bit unhinged, just like you couldn’t be “a bit” dead. Being crazy demanded commitment, which I certainly showed.

He came to her room every night. Not that I was keeping tabs or anything. I was just in the neighborhood when it happened. And by in “the neighborhood,” I mean in her hallway, lurking. And by “in her hallway, lurking,” I mean clearly I needed professional help, an intervention, and a fucking life. I found myself standing behind a Louise Bourgeois statue for hours daily, waiting like some kind of a rabid Belieber.

I pushed the door open, hoping to find her working or reading or converting to a religion where she could only have sex with people named Vaughn Spencer.

I knew Vaughn was incapable of falling in love, but I wanted to steal pieces of him. His time. His talent. His words. His smiles. And yes, his virginity, too. I was a thief of everything Vaughn Spencer.

“I am hell bound, and you are heaven sent. You’re the first girl I ever looked at and thought…I want to kiss her. I want to own her. I wanted you to look at me the way you look at your fantasy book—with a mixture of awe, anticipation, and warmth. I gave you a brownie, hoping you’d remember me sweetly, praying the sugar rush would spin a positive feel around that vacation. I remember how you looked at me when you saw me killing jellyfish. I never wanted you to look at me like that ever again.”

At nineteen, I no longer had a beating heart. I wore a death mask everywhere I went, and I was thirsty for revenge. For his blood. There was just one, tiny problem that did not occur to me beforehand. Namely, his niece, Lenora, who’d shoved a heart back into my chest. Now that it was beating again, I didn’t know what to do.

We were an unfinished business, personal and always walking the tightrope between love and hate. But we were always something, Len. We will always be something. You might move on and marry someone else, have his children and get your happily ever after, but you will never be completely done with me. And that’s the small chunk of mirth I allow myself. That’s my half of the brownie. That’s my one, perfect summer moment in the South of France, watching the face of the girl I will love forever for the very first time. Because, Lenora Astalis, this is love. It’s always been love. Love with many masquerade masks, twisted turns, and ugly truths. I don’t know where I’ll go from here, but I’ll be wishing you were there...It is worthy and beautiful, just like you. I wish I were strong enough not to do what I need to do. I wish I could get the girl. Because, Len, you are her. You are that girl. My safe place. My asymmetric happiness. My Edgar Allan Poe poem. You are my Smiths, and my favorite fantasy book, my brownie, and summer vacations in lush places. There will never be anyone else like you. And that’s exactly why you deserve someone better than me. Love, Vaughn

He just hung in the pregnant air, suspended by strings of cruel hope and tragic impossibility. Heartbreak had a taste, and it exploded in my mouth every time I tried to smile.

“You saw what I wanted you to see. I think I always had this idea that you should be my savior, but naturally, the stubborn ass that I am, I didn’t understand it. Now I do. I want you to save me today, and tomorrow, and in a month, and in a year, and in a decade. Save me. Give me your best and your worst and everything in between. I’ve always watched my dad loving my mom and thought he was stuck in a state of insanity. But he wasn’t. Turns out, love really can be that fucking intense.”

#angry god #l.j. shen #all saints high #vaughn spencer #lenora astalis #vaughn x lenora #hs romance #enemies to lovers #bully romance #new adult romance #romance books #books #book blog #booklr #quotes #book quotes

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romerona · 5 years

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To protect and serve.

Book: Ride or Die: A Bad Boy Romance

Pairing: Logan x MC(Tessa)

Rating: +18 cursing, NSFW

Summary: Logan’s POV with Tessa when she told the crew about her dad

Note: takes place in chapter 4, it’s base on the book but I change somethings.

Characters belong to Pixelberry Studios

Since Tessa found out that I was in Mercy Park Crew she told me she needed time to think and to process it, I can't blame her really, image learning that the person you are hanging out with is part of the crew your dad has to put to jail, I'll probably do the same if I didn't already know about her dad… but it's been 2 days, 2 days without information, 2 days been clueless about the case, 2 days without… without hearing from her… I just hope she contacts me soon even if it's just to tell me she doesn't want to see me again, but for some damn reason the thought of never seeing her again make chest ache. I brush it off when Kaneko calls Mona and me to his office.

Kaneko- Tomorrow morning around 8 the three of us are going to sell the Sodertalje Mona brought a few days ago so don’t make me wait. ”

Mona- to whom? ”

Kaneko- Anonymous buyers.” he said and starting to look back at his work.

Logan- where?”

Kaneko: underground parking lot at the pavilion.” He said without looking at us meaning he is done talking.

Mona: sure thing boss.”

I just nodded and make my way out of his office when Toby calls me.

Toby: Logan! Hey, can you pass me the tools they are at the kitchen? Oh, and how was Tessa's driving lesson? I haven't had time to ask you about it.” He signaled the kitchen to me where he was under the car he's been working on for some time.

Logan- Sure and she is good, she learned fast” I go to the kitchen and bring the tools to Toby

I go back to work for a few more hours before going to my loft, I take a shower to take the sweat off me changing into my gray sweatpants I make my way to bed, it isn't late so I lay on my back and grab a book trying to get my anxiety in control. It's a book with different poems, I found it at Vaughn’s place last week he let me have it since his ex-girlfriend left it there months ago and hadn’t come back for it, I like to read... occasionally when I have free time and don't feel like using my phone, even if it's a poetry book, I have read worst back when I was on the road. It calms me, makes me feel less alone. I push myself up so now I'm sitting with my back against the headboard and open the book on some random page and start reading poem after poem, it actually makes me forget about everything for a little while until I came across a poem.

~We are not destined I know we are not. I am damned but she is not. She will save me, She always saves me.~

Rolling my eyes I put the book down and grab my phone, my finger hovering over Tess number thinking if I should text her or not…

“When she is ready she will text me hopefully soon” So instead I set the alarm to an ungodly hour and kept reading for a while but fell asleep shortly after.

The next morning I wake up to the sound of the fucking alarm, yawning I make my way to the shower and start getting ready to meet Kaneko downstairs. On my way to meet him and Mona my phone buzzes in my pocket, I took it out to see who the hell is awake and texting me at this hour. I let a small chuckle seeing who it is “ Of course it's her” but it's the feeling it's quickly replaced by uneasiness, embracing myself for whatever is on that text I begin to read it.

Tessa- Hey. Can I see you?”

I let out a breath of relief and answer her.

Logan- Busy this morning. Got something with Kaneko at the Pavilion. Text you later?”

Tessa- Are you getting up to trouble?”

A small smile plays on my face.

Logan- Nothing I can't handle.” I answer while walking downstairs.

Once I got there I jump on the Sodertalje and make my way to the mall. We park on the underground parking lot, there aren't any cars at these hours so we have it all to ourselves. After a while of being there and the buyer is yet to show up, Mona starts complaining, but thanks to God it wasn't long before a black SUV shows up. Two guys come out of the car that in my experience are some type of gangsters make some stupid comments and after that, we finally go down to business. At the corner of my eye, I see something moving, I look at the direction of the movement and my stomach clenched.

Is that Tessa??! What the fuck is she doing here? Fuck! this is dangerous, she will get hurt if they spot her, I can't let that happen”

I look back at the gangsters praying that they hadn’t seen her, but to my fucking luck they do and pull their guns out, I quickly disarmed them the way Vaughn had taught me back in Detroit, I know it was a stupid move of my part but Tessa is here and one wrong move and everything can go to shit, I rather prevent that.

Still, why is she here?”

After some rambling between Kaneko and the gangsters I finally got my answer.

Tessa- No! Forget the stupid deal! The cops are coming! We need to run!”

“Shit”

Mona and the gangster we're freaking out, Tessa was trying to explain that we need to get out of there, that we just have to trust her, I know that she is trying to hide the fact that her dad is a cop and probably knows that they are coming from him, but there is no way she… I'm pulled out of my thoughts by Tessa’s voice.

Tessa- I… I know because… My dad's a cop!” she said looking nervous at us.

Did she just… ” I’m taken back by the fact that she fully admitted that her dad is a cop just to make us trust her and get us out of here knowing what that can cost her, I look back at Kaneko, he has the same expression as me, neither of us was expecting this .

The gangsters are the first ones to flee, leaving us there, Mona is still freaking out about the fact that Tessa's dad is a cop but Kaneko brush it off in a hurry to leave and starts to get to his car, but the Sodertalje is still here and full of evidence Kaneko wants to leave it behind because he thinks that there is no way to take the car out of here but I know I can take it out, Tess said she was coming with me and I’m not totally sure but I don’t put resistance either.

And like Tess said the cops soon arrive… I managed to avoid them but they catch up, in one of the cars from the cops was Tessa’s dad, I believe that she saw him because when I swerve she pulls the lever of her seat and drops flat on her back to hide from him, still knowing about it I pretend to be shocked when she confesses.“God I'm such a piece of shit”

Tessa- Logan, you can't let him get hurt.” she said to me pleadingly.

Logan- I’ll try.”

I move around between the columns of the mall trying not to scratch the car since it’s a very narrow place attempting to put some distance between us and the cops when one of them opens their window and shoots a fucking GPS tracker, those are such a pain. I have to take the fucker off. I tell Tess to hold the wheel and she panics about it with my foot still on the gas I grab her hands and put them on the wheel and tells her what to do while I try to take the tracker off, at first I couldn't reach the tracker but I move slightly and got a bit closer but still not enough,I incline a little more when Tess calls my name in panic, there is a solid wall a few meters of us, “shit, I just need a little more…” I finally reach the little shit and remove it just in time to drive the car and slide between the columns and the wall. Soon after we lose the cops from the parking lot but there are more blocking the ramp, Tess suggests to go to the loading dock… I floor it to get there fast but when we got there, the trucks were blocking the path except for one… I reversed it and park in it, getting out of the car to close the doors of the truck. Now we are both sitting here in the dark and it hits me… She put herself in danger to help us, she went against her dad to help me get out of here with the car.

“Why would she did it? Could it be that she did it for me?”

Logan- Listen… Tess… thanks. For warning us. For helping me get this car outta there. Why did you? Why would you risk so much?”

Tessa- Maybe I just wanted you to own me one again” she explained with a goofy tone.

Logan- Well, I'm in your debt. Your wish is my command.”

Tessa- Don't tempt me” she said smiling but soon it's gone. “I don't think Kaneko is going to be too happy with me, anyway. My dad-- ” she trails off but I interrupt her.

Logan- I don’t care what Kaneko says, and I don't care who your dad is. I'd never let anything happen to you” I said to her looking straight into her eyes trying to make her understand that every word is true. She told us about her dad, she came clean about It and what did I fucking do? put her in more danger by letting her come with me but this is the last time… I won't let her be in danger anymore not if I can prevent it.

Tessa- No need for declarations now” she said with a smile.

Logan- Can't help myself.”

“I really can't Tess... not with you and that scares the fuck out of me.”

I gawk at her, her eyes, her nose, her hair, her lips… Those lips that I been craving since the first time mine meet hers. I noticed that she is leaning towards me so I give into my impulses and cup her face in my hands and kiss her hard, desperately, my tongue begs for an access and she obliges, our tongues crash into each other I savor her sweet lips wishing I could just take her here, an overwhelming feeling came over me, my heartbeats become faster and beat harder, I try to pull her closer to me, my need for her is insanely big, like I have never felt before,but suddenly the trucks started to move and tess broke the kiss.

Tessa- what's happening?” she asks surprised.

I'm still dumbfounded by the kiss so it took me a few seconds to understand what she was talking about.

Logan- I, uh… think the truck started driving.”

Tessa- What do we do?”

Logan- What do you mean? We do nothing… and let ourselves be chauffeured away from the crime scene.”

Tessa looks at me but then lower her eyes and giggles, my heart started to beat rapidly again.

”I swear I haven't heard a laugh that beautiful in my entire life…”

What the hell is she doing to me, first I'm nervous about her not texting me back then I’m dumbfounded by her kiss and now her laugh makes my heart go crazy… But the weirdest thing about all of this is that I don't have the willpower to stop it and even if I could I don't think I want to.

“Fuck, I’m losing the fucking head for her”

Later we are talking about the car and other stuff I feel relax and happy… when I hear the sound of the driveway and I know our time in the truck is over and I can't help but feel a little disappointed.

I got a text from Kaneko, we go to the garage. When we got there the entire crew is around the kitchen table already yelling over each other about tess, I stay on my feet but Tessa sits on the kitchen chairs, taking a look at her I notice a guilty look on her face.

I guess she finally understand what she did…

After the crew discussion and Tess explanation, Kaneko laying against his car acts like he’s thinking about letting her stay but I know for a fact that he will, it was his plan all along, make Tessa trust us enough to do things like this.

Putting the… Feelings… aside it's a fucking great plan. Colt hasn't said much about it, but of course he couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer and start snapping at Tessa and I didn't fucking like it one bit, he and I begin to argue when the motherfucker uses her against me and with that I swing at him connecting my fist with his face we begging to wrestle to the floor until Tessa's voice cut in calling Colt.

Colt- You're always around to save the day, aren't you?”

Tessa: You're really lucky I am, Colt.” she said glaring at him.

And finally, Kaneko agrees to let her stay and left but not before giving colt an ear full…

Colt- How exactly do you think this is gonna end? This double life of yours won't last, Tessa. It can't.” he let out while wiping the blood from his lips and making his way to his motorcycle. I walk to sit next to Tessa with pain under my eye but all I can think of is her.

Logan- You alright?”

Tessa- I'm fine. You look worse than wear thought.” She mumbled raising a hand to touch my cheek, I lean a little into her touch but not enough to make it noticeable.

Logan- Doesn't it make me look tough?” I said pulling away from her hand trying to look like it.

Tessa- A little”.She giggles but then she looks at me embarrassed. “Listen I own you an apology. I'm sorry for hiding who I was.”

Shit Tess, you are not the one hiding something that is worth an apology”

Logan- You didn't. Who your parents are isn’t who you are. So, apology not accepted, got it?”

Tessa-... Got it.” she said with a smile.

Still, my mind went to what happened today, it was a close call we need more information and now that she openly admits her dad is a cop we can get more. But it feels wrong I don't know if I can continue…. “Fuck men pull yourself together this is your job and you barely know her.”

I take a deep breath trying to shake that feeling off.

Logan- But your dad… I mean, this is crazy. How long has he been after us?” As soon as those words left my mouth I felt nausea…

”Clearly taking a deep breath didn't help for shit”

Tessa- Just a couple of days. He just got assigned to you.”

I nod… pushing the vomit back down.

I laugh this time.

Logan- Small world, huh? Listen… do you want to leave? After today, I'd totally understand if you never wanted to see any of us again” Those words create an ache in my chest like the one I had yesterday.

Tessa- Honestly, I don't know. I know that I shouldn't be here… but I also know that the last week has been the most freeing, most unforgettable week of my life. So maybe I'll leave and never see you again. “That shit hurts” But I don't want to make that call just yet.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

Logan- I don't want you to make that call yet either”

I grab her waist and pull her to me, she cups my face between her small hands and kisses me softly like trying not to hurt me because of my wounds, I don't care about them I just need her close but before I could deepen the kiss, Toby clear his throat, and we separate from each other.

Toby proposed to offer Tessa a car ”built” by him, getting up we make our way to the cars and shows her the cars we had that no one uses Toby shows her the Shokai and then the Triple-nine the crew begins to talk about cars and how different they are but her eyes landed on one that is covered and hasn't seen the light of day in a long time, it's actually a shame the panther XX it's a beautiful car, without taking her eyes off the cover Tess ask about it, I told Toby to show her the car, as soon as he did it I saw the way her eyes light up and I knew that she found the one, she makes her way to the car with a smile, I stay back watching the way she moves around it, the way she lightly touches it, the way her eyes glowed, it's fucking sexy, in an attempt to distract myself from the bulge that is begging make my pants uncomfortable I begin to tell her about the car and so does Toby.

As I expected she chooses the panther and hops in, a smile is placed on her face until she saw the clock and freaked out about school and some test she has.

Tessa- Wait… should I drive there in my car?”

I laughed, she really is a troublemaker… she just doesn’t know it yet.

Logan- You're a long way from getting your license, troublemaker. I'll give you a lift.”

In our way to school I keep thinking about what Tess said.

“Did she really thought she could drive her car barely knowing anything?”

Logan- Tess, would you really try to go to school in your car?” I ask curiosity tainting my tone.

Tessa- I mean I you thought me the basic, it can’t be that difficult”

I snorted.

Logan- you're cute sometimes.”

Tessa- gee, thanks.” she mumbled rolling her eyes

Logan- I mean that in a nice way, like sometimes you do cute things.”

Before she could answer we arrived at the school she thanked me and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and rush to the school, I chuckled a little and take off. When I arrived at the garage Kaneko calls me to his office.

Logan- Boss” I greet him and close the door behind not wanting the crew to listen since I'm fully aware why he called me.

Kaneko- Logan, now we have the upper hand, you saw what happened today it was a short call if it wasn't for her we would be at jail right now you need to continue with whatever you're doing with her, understood?”

I think for a few seconds… this is your job and you have only known her for a few days… you can’t be feeling guilty. No, you can't be feeling anything at all, end of fucking story”

Kaneko- Understood? He asks again getting irritated by my lack of response.

Logan- yeah I… I Understand.”

I made my way out of his office but still kept thinking about Tessa and this fucking job,We fucking have what we needed the job is practically complete and I’m ready for it to be over but what I’m not ready for is her, I mean obviously I care about her, more than I would like to admit. I just have never cared about anyone before so I didn't realize it would have this much of an effect on me. I thought it was something I could easily overcome, I thought people who gave up everything for the ones they cared for were just too weak to overcome it. I thought it would be easy for me to give them up if needed but now it scares me that this girl could be my undoing because I can't even imagine me just sitting back and letting something happen to her.

*****

It's been a couple of days since Tess came clean about her dad, each day she has come to the garage for a drive, I can't say I mind having her with me actually kind of I like it... a lot but it’s always the same I should take her somewhere else…

Laying on the kitchen couch I put my phone out and send her a text.

Logan: We still on for driving tonight? I wanna take you somewhere.

Tessa: Yeah! Almost out of school for the day… Tessa: Can't wait to get behind the wheel!

I laughed

Colt- Why are you grinning like an idiot? I mean you are but you cover it more, wait no, you can't cover that, it's just your face” he said behind the front desk.

Logan- Fuck off dipshit” I rolled my eyes at him.

Colt- Oh… I know… Is Tessa texting you? I bet she is, I thought she was a smart girl but apparently not so much if she keeps hanging out with you” he said with a smirk.

Logan- Oh really and who should she be hanging out with… You? Please, she barely likes you.” I let out with a scoff.

Colt- I know she doesn't currently like me but soon enough she will realize what a moron you are and then I will be the one she wants to spend her time with and let me tell you I can't wait to have her with me. That is if I get to her before Mona does.”

Mona gets out of under a car.

Mona- He is kind of right I will definitely want to have her with me and for myself, I mean who wouldn't want to?”

Colt- A good girl with a wild side plus she is stunning and that body…” he said closing his eyes and biting his lip.

My blood boils just to think about Colt or Mona touching Tessa’s body, it makes me sick, I don't want them touching her the way I do it… I don't want anybody else doing it.

Logan- Colt! I swear to god if you don’t shut the fuck up…”

But before I could finish I got another text from Tessa, I immediately calm down, knowing that I'm going to see her soon.

Tessa: Change of plans. I have an idea…

Logan: what is it?

Tessa: Do you want to have a study double-date with my friends?

”Study date… how could I be helpful? Still, I prefer to spend time with her than being here with this asshole.”

Logan: Sure… Where is it? Want me to pick you up?”

Tessa: No need, is at Riya’s house she will take me, I'll send you the address when we get there.”

Logan: Sure, see you soon troublemaker.”

I felt a little disappointed, I wanted to take her to my “special” place but is okay as long as I'll get be with her.

As I put my phone down I take a deep breath preparing myself for some snarky comments from Colt but fortunately for him (because my self-control was on the edge of collapsing) Colt was already minding his business, so I do the same walking to my car before he could start talking again.

Tessa sends me the address and 10 minutes later I'm parking in front of a fancy house in some fancy neighborhood… Damn, her friend is loaded I hope she isn't like Brent and be all full of herself…” thought I don't think Tessa will hang out with people like Brent.

I knock on the door and Tessa figure appears in front of me, my heart starts beating fast ” MEN CALM THE FUCK DOWN” I kiss her cheeks and follow her to the kitchen where her friends are.

After a quick presentation and a good cup of Lemonade, we sit around the table, I ask about the project, as soon as I hear what it is about I thank whoever is out there that I read a biochemistry book before and I could actually help her with something today. It's some simple mechanical model one look at it I already know what's wrong with it.

A few hours later after learning, working on the model, a small awkward moment when I confess some truth about myself and quick kiss from Tess, we go to the diner Tessa and her friends go to every week.

“They are not bad, I like them, being here with them feels good but dangerous…. like the life I once wished I had.”

We order some fries and milkshakes and start talking and joking around when I find myself dancing “Jailhouse rock” in the middle of the diner… my idea, not hers which is surprising for me.

Logan- Is this what it’d be like? If I went to school? If I were a regular guy?” “Hang out in diners with you and Riya and Darius and fix DNA models?” I ask her trying to sound and feel indifferent as possible but deep down I know there is a bit of anxiety.

Tessa- I know it’s not a glamorous life I of money and thrills… but yeah.”

Logan- Pretending to be normal feels surreal. It feels… dangerous.” I confessed feeling the anxiety coming out to take advantage of a situation I never thought I'll put myself in to.

Tessa- Normal can be overrated. Just look at me. I was living the same old boring life I couldn’t wait to get out of every day until I met you.”

“Boring life is not so bad at least it kept you safe… until you met me.”

Logan- How do you like me as a normal high school guy?” I tease her as I make her spin.

Tessa spins and then kissed me, I didn’t expect a kiss but it’s always welcome especially from her, the kiss holds for a moment and then she pulls away, her kiss taste like the milkshake we just had, sweet, delicious and like I want another one.

Tessa- Does that answer your question?”

Logan- Not completely sure. Maybe answer it again so I can make sure I get it?”

I wish we could be alone… maybe I can take her where I planned this afternoon I know it’s late but…

Logan- You Know, if you’re not too tired, we can still get you behind the wheel for some practice after this.”

Tessa- I’d like that.”

We continue dancing to some sketchy song, my eyes fixed in nothing but her, everything else dissolves around… it’s just us she in my arms and me in hers. It feels right. Later after we leave the diner and said bye to Darius and Riya, Tessa and I drive around for some time.

I park at the beach, and we get out of the car sitting on the hood of it and listening to some song the radio is playing, we enjoy the view, well as enjoyable as it can at night we started talking and somehow this girl makes me tell her what this place means to me, what it have meant for the past two years I’ve been in L.A, that makes me feel vulnerable as fuck but for some reason bringing Tess here it and tell her makes it a lot better.

Logan- How do you keep seeing light in me when there isn't any?” I question looking into her eyes with my full sincerity.

Tessa- There is plenty. And you'll see it, too. Someday.” she told me glowing eyes. She smiles and presses her lips against the corner of my mouth and smiles again before pulling away and gaze back at the ocean.

Warm fills me, my heart is pounding like crazy I have never had a feeling this intense before with anyone else, like I want to be the version of myself she thinks I am.

Logan- I hope you are right.” I whisper so quietly that she didn't hear me.

I stood up and look at her.

Logan- How about we take a swim?”

Tessa- What?” she asks in shocked.

Logan- Why not?” I told her as take my clothes off.

Tessa- First of all I bet it's freezing and I don't have any clothes… Logan!”

I start making my way to the water and hear Tess scream my name.

Logan- You can use my shirt.”

Tessa thinks it for a hot minute not looking convince.

Logan- Come on troublemaker, we spend the entire afternoon working you deserve to relax a little.” She finally agrees and start to make her way to the shore with my shirt on hand.

Tessa- Don’t look.”

I roll over and cover my face with my hands to humor her.

Tessa- Okay, done.

I look at her, damn, the way my shirt looks in her it's fucking sexy.

Why did I think it was going to be a good idea.”

She then joins me in the water, we started swimming around, talking, laughing, splashing water to each other. We soon get out of the water and face each other, no sound but the waves, and my own damn beating heart. She looks up at me with an innocent expression on her face, and damn that look makes me lose control.

I grab and kiss her hard for one long, blissful moment, I drank in the softness of her lips and her floral, woodsy scent. She smells impossibly good— like amber and gardenia.She kisses me back, sweetly and tentatively, and I find myself utterly lost. I kissed her harder, threading my fingers through her hair, both hands around either side of her neck. She gasped, and I took the chance to dart out my tongue and taste her.

Fire raced through my veins. I increased the pressure of my grip, tilting her head towards me as I explored her mouth. She wrapped her hands around my waist, pulling me closer. My hands skated up and down her body, the touches are growing bolder and more frenzied as if any moment would be our last. Tessa breaks the kiss when she needs air, I press my head to hers taking deep breaths.I feel the goosebumps on her skin over the places my hands have been.

Logan- Have you been touched like this before?”

Tessa just shook her head and kisses me again but I slowly break the kiss and my touch becomes more subtle.

Tessa- Why did you stop.” she said so quietly that if we weren't this close I wouldn't hear it.

Logan- it's cold I don't want you to get sick and… we have time.”

Looking at her I notice a blush creeping on her pretty face I smile to myself knowing I’m the one who cause it, giving her one last kiss I give her, her clothes back she just giggles and and signals me to turn around.

Tessa- don't peek.

Logan- I won’t .” I tease

She is awfully confident to think I would sit there and stare at her. Well… okay, I probably would especially give that she's wearing my shirt that it's wet and it's hugging her body in a damn nice way. But I know I can't…

Later I left Tessa at her house and go back to the garage and thanked God there is no one on-site, I make my way to my loft. I turn the shower on and get in, as the hot water running down on me comfort fills my body. I keep thinking back at Tessa at her body the way it looked at the moonlight so soft and perfect, and so fucking clean, compared to the scars covering mine and in nothing else but my shirt. I can feel myself getting harder the more I think about her, I can't hold it any longer so I took myself in hand, I start stroking myself thinking of her hand on my cock, gradually growing the pace, now her mouth is around me going up and down consuming all of me my mind think of how tight and good she would feel around me, and that does it for me… I came hard, harder than ever before I have masturbating. I start getting down the highs and open my eyes, this is getting fucking messy. It wasn't supposed to be messy. I wasn’t supposed to crave her mouth and her mind equally. I wasn’t supposed to think about how tight she would feel around me as I rock into her soft body. I’m not supposed to get off, imagining my hand is hers.

#playchoices #choices stories you play #choices #rod choices #choicesgame #rodaw #rod logan #rod mc #rod mona #rod colt #logan x mc #colt kaneko #mc x colt #mc x mona #rideordiechoices #rideorride #platinum

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walkerismychoice · 5 years

Text

We Keep This Love in a Photograph

Book: ROD

Pairing: Logan X MC, Colt X MC

Rating: PG-13

Note: This story is all contained within Chapter 13 of ROD. Most of the dialogue comes directly from the book except for right at the end where it veers off canon a bit to fit Gabi’s situation. Title/partial fic inspiration comes from Photograph by Ed Sheeran.

Word Count: ~2900

Tag List: @tmarie82 @lizeboredom @boneandfur @debramcg1106 @choicesarehard @fluffy-marshmallow-heart @give-me-ernest-sinclaire @leelee10898 @plutostudie-s @frugalchoicer @mfackenthal @a-whore-of-rome @teenytinymagician @choiceslife @confessionsofabrokegirl @alegria1580 @rhymesmenagerie @i-miss-trr

Colt watches as the flames fully engulf Kaneko's shop, his expression a mix of horror and despair. "The Brotherhood... They burned it all."

Gabi walks over to Colt and sits next to him on the curb. "Colt, I... I don't know what to say.” What can you say to someone who's just lot not only their father, but his entire legacy as well?

Colt stares into the flames, his features hardening and voice chilling. "...I'm going to kill them."

"Colt..." Gabi reaches for his hand, and he lets her take it, but his other fist remains clenched and white-knuckled. He appears to have skipped the denial stage and gone straight to anger, but if anyone understands the pain of losing a parent and that grief isn't always linear, it's her.

"I'm going to hunt them down one by one. I'm going to destroy them the way they destroyed everything I cared about." Colt pauses as a piece of charred wood cracks and falls a few feet away. "I'm going to burn them all to the ground."

This violent, vengeful side of him scares her, but she knows he needs to process the pain in his own way. Still she knows this isn't what Kaneko had wanted, and it's not what she wants for him so she has to try. "That's not what your dad died for. Your dad sacrificed himself to get you out. Not so you'd spiral into a life of vengeance."

Colt looks away from Gabi and the flames. "You don't understand."

"No, I don't, but I do know one thing... Your dad wanted you to have more than he ever had, to be more than he ever was. If you let your need for revenge consume you, then he died for for nothing."

For the first time since the bridge, Colt starts to break. "I just... I can't believe he's gone."

"I'm so sorry Colt," Gabi consoles him sincerely.

"My whole life he was this invincible force. Relentless, intractable..."

"Unyielding."

"Exactly. He never showed any weakness. Not to me, not to anyone"

"Colt..." She doesn't know if she should say it, but she doesn't want to see him make the same mistakes. "Look where that got him."

Colt's eyes narrow. "Hey-"

"I'm just saying," Gabi cuts him off before he says something he'll regret, "his life, and yours, would have been so much better if he'd shown you how much he cared. Now it's too late." She places a hand on his arm to comfort him. "I don't want the same thing to happen to you."

Colt swallows hard, struggling to hold back tears as he searches for something to hold onto in Gabi's eyes. "Things could have been...so different."

Gabi's still upset and uncertain about so many things. The Colt she saw back at the casino was not the one she thought knew. The lengths he was willing to go to to get rid of the brotherhood are beyond her comprehension, but in this moment, all she sees is the Colt she fell for, and he needs her. She wraps her arms around his neck, turning his face towards her, and their lips just seem to find one another's.

"Gabi..." Colt pulls back and look in his eyes almost breaks her before his mouth is on hers again, kissing her fiercly, desperately. She clings to him as he runs his hands up and down her back as if to make sure she doesn't disappear.

"I'm here Colt, I'm here," Gabi assures him and he responds by deepening the kiss.

"What am I going to do without him?"

Gabi cups his cheek in her hand and lifts his eyes to meet her gaze. "You're going to live... Now come on, the brotherhood might still be here." Gabi takes his hand and leads Colt away from his father's garage just as the sign over the bay door snaps and comes crashing down.

~~~~~

"That's it then." Gabi realizes out loud watching Colt drive away, the crew all going their separate ways after briefly reconvening to ensure everyone had safely evaded the police. Gabi and Logan are the only two left standing on the street. Gabi had never quite believed it when any of them said they had no emotional ties to the crews, that they knew they could just scatter if and when things went wrong. She thought it was just something they had said for self-preservation to hide their true feelings, and maybe in part it had been. But watching Mona, Toby, Ximena, and Colt with hardly so much as a 'see you around if I see you' is tough. Especially Colt. Maybe they are all built that way, but as Mona had pointed out, Gabi isn't and it hurts.

"Yeah that's it. Come on Gabi. I'll get to yours friends place," Logan says as he opens the passenger door of his car for her to get in. At least Logan cared enough to make sure she got home.

Gabi leans her head against the glass as Logan drives, watching the city drift by. "...Where will you go?"

"We'll see, I've got some friends back in Detroit. Might try to lay low there for awhile. I'm more worried about you. What happens when this Jason guy comes after you?"

"Do you think he will?

"He's dangerous and you know his secret. You being alive puts his whole life in danger. And I just hate the idea of leaving you behind all alone."

So don't, she wants to say, but she can't bring herself to get the words to come out. She can't selfishly ask him to stay and risk his life. And she can't say she wants to go with him, because that plan is just not meant to be. She needs to get her life back together and that needs to happen here.

Gabi is looking at Logan, wondering what he's thinking when he suddenly pulls off the road. "I have an idea." She follows him out a patch of grass at a small park, and he beckons her closer. "Alright, Gabi...punch me."

"Excuse me?" She hadn't known where he was going with this when he stopped at the park, and she still doesn't.

"Go on. Hit me, like I'm one of the Brotherhood. Hard as you can." Still wondering what type of game he's playing, she's annoyed enough by his odd request to do what he asks. She clenches her fist and hits him hard in the shoulder but he hardly reacts. "Okay, good job."

Gabi frowns. "No it wasn't. What is this?"

"Me and the crew can't be around to protect you anymore...so, before I leave...I want to teach you some self defense. You should learn a thing or two you help you if Jason comes after you...and hey, you can hit me as much as you want." Logan gives a little smirk.

There's a lot of people Gabi wants to hit right now, but Logan isn't one of them. She wants to appease him though, so she punches his shoulder harder this time. She doesn't hit him properly so he gently takes her hand and corrects her form and teachers her how to throw her whole body behind the punch. She feels bad when he catches him off guard but he just smiles at her and tells her she'll need to catch the brotherhood by surprise too. He seems very knowledgeable on the subject and she fears he's had to learn out of necessity from a young age. "Logan, where did you learn all this stuff?"

"Back in Detroit, Vaughn spent a lot of time at a boxing gym. I'd follow him around a lot. He was cooler and older."

"So you were an annoying little sibling?" Gabi smiles at the thought of little Logan trying to act cool.

"Extremely annoying. But there I was serious. I got my ass kicked by some muggers when I was a kid." Logan continues the lesson, teaching her to exploit vulnerability. He purposely gives her an opening which she takes but doesn't give it her all because she thinks she can get the moves down without trying to knock him out. "You can't hesitate. Hesitation is death."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Then think about something you hate," Logan encourages. "Channel that aggression." Gabi thinks about Jason, and is almost blind with rage. Logan swings from the right and Gabi blocks the strike and then punches him hard in the nose, causing blood to trickle down. "Perfect that was-"

She doesn't let him finish before she hits him again, screaming with rage, hardly cognizant of who she's fighting anymore. Logan moves to block her punch but hesitates while losing his footing in the mud. She sweeps her leg at his ankles and he falls flat on his back. "Oof, You're really picking this up quickly."

Gabi pounces on Logan and cocks her fist back. "I win," she announces smugly.

Logan's face falls and Gabi can see something in his eyes that tells her he's been here too many times before. "Gabi, I'm not teaching you how to win a fight. I'm teaching you how to survive one. You have to run when you get the chance."

"Like you're running."

"Yeah, like me."

A silence passes between them in the still night air as the gravity of the their situation hits them once again. Gabi peers into Logan's sad eyes and can see in the reflection that hers look the same. She's drawn to him like she always has been, a moth to a flame. She bends down and presses her lips against his, and he kisses her back like he needs her to breathe. The feel of his warm body against the cool grass is comforting, and he rubs his hands slowly up and down her back, like he's committing every inch her to memory because memories are all he'll have. She does the same, running her hands through his hair and nuzzling his neck as she inhales his scent, as if she could ever forget.

Logan gently strokes Gabi’s hair. “Somehow, I like this more than getting punched by you.”

Gabi laughs, thankful for the distraction that keeps her tears at bay. She kisses him again and they hold each other there, neither willing to let go until they absolutely must, and Logan returns Gabi to Riya’s house.

Gabi heaves a heavy sight. “I’ve gotta tell Riya everything... in case Jason goes after her too.”

“Gabi...” Logan takes her hand and she squeezes his back tight.

“This is goodbye isn’t it?” She knew it was coming, but now that she’s here outside Riya’s house it hits her like a ton of bricks. This is really the end.

“For awhile at least, at least.” Gabi searches Logan’s face for any sign of hope that he means this, that he thinks he’ll find a way back, but the defeated look in his eyes tells her there’s none. She reaches over and wraps her arms around him, hanging on as long as she can. He rubs her back trying to soothe her, but it’s not enough. She starts to sob, her tears falling down on his shoulder, and at the same time she can feel one of his own roll down her cheek. “I’m so sorry, Gabi... I’m so sorry. You know if I could take it all back, I would.”

“I wouldn’t,” she nearly whispers. Despite everything that’s happened, she could never wish away meeting Logan, Colt and the rest of the crew. She found her first love, maybe even two, and experienced things that have made her grow in ways nothing else could. She wouldn’t take it all back for anything. After a beat, she reluctantly leaves the car and musters the strength to turn around, seeing Logan watch her go and not leave until she turns the handle to walk inside.

~~~~~

Gabi absentmindedly scrolls through her phone as Riya fusses over perfecting her makeup for prom. She’s going because she promised Riya she would, but she’s not excited about it at all. Not that long ago she was stressing about whether she would want to go with Logan or Colt more if she could convince either of them to go. The past several weeks have been a blur - the fight with the Brotherhood in the casino, finding out Jason was behind it all, Kaneko’s death, and the crew all taking off to spare themselves. The worst thing had been she had to face it all alone, thanks to Jason coming to threaten her at Riya’s house right after it all happened. She only hopes if she keeps her mouth shut he’ll keep up his end of the bargain. Salazar has already been murdered, by the Brotherhood shes’s certain, and she prays no more blood will be shed. She know’s she can’t protect the crew, but if keeping her mouth shut is what she has to do to keep her dad safe, she will.

Riya spins around proudly, closing her eyelids to give Gabi a better look. “What do you think, Gabi? Is my cut-crease eyeshadow dramatic enough?”

“You look great, Riya, just like you always do.” She’s trying to be a good friend, but her hearts not in it.

“But I don’t wanna look just like I always do! It’s prom!”

“In that case...I’d add a little more eyeliner,” Gabi suggests, making an effort.

Riya flashes a quick smile before turning back to the mirror. “What about you? Are you gonna try a new look? Or a new hairstyle?”

Gabi just shrugs and continues flipping through the photos in her phone. If she was going with Logan or Colt that would be one thing, but she’s not. That first week without them had been hell, not knowing where they were or if they were okay. Logan had sent her a text saying “I made it” when he got to his destination but never replied to her texts after that. She’d sent Colt a text checking in after a few days which he had left on read. At least she knew he was alive then. She’s able to look at the pictures now without crying at least, resigning to the fact that this part of her life is now nothing but a memory. She flips back and forth between her two favorites - a selfie of her and Colt overlooking the bluffs at sunset when they first kissed and another of her and Logan, Gabi resting her head on his shoulder in bed one lazy afternoon. “I...don’t exactly have someone to impress tonight. Riya reaches over and snatches the phone out of Gabi’s hand. “Hey!”

“Okay enough, moping! I know you’ve had a tough couple of months, be we have to make the most of the time we still have together! I know tonight isn’t going to be exactly what we thought...but as Dare would say, we aren’t done with this part of our lives yet. Now are you with me, or are you with me?”

If she can’t do it for herself, she at least owes it to Riya. “Okay, okay! I’m with you!”

“Good. Now, I’m gonna go put on my fabulous dress, and I want you to text whoever it is that you’ve been daydreaming about all night.”

“I haven’t-”

“You have. And you’re only going to get more distracted until you do something about it. So text them hi, then get your ass in your dress!” Riya demands before tossing Gabi’s phone back.

She’s been thinking about both of them for sure, but who does she really want? Gabi closes her eyes and thinks about who she would want to see there dancing with her at prom, and the answer is clear. She scrolls to his name in her phone, her finger hovering when the doorbell rings at that very moment. Riya asks her to go get it, so she runs down the stairs, flings the door open, and her jaw drops when she sees Colt standing there in a dark gray suit with a boutonniere on his lapel. “Colt, what are you doing here?”

“What’s it look like? I’m here to take you to prom,” he’s says almost like no time has passed. She’s so stunned she doesn’t know what to say. “I know you probably have a lot of questions, but I needed to see you again, and I knew you really wanted to go. So will you go to prom with me, Gabi?”

Before she can answer, Colt puts his arm around her waist and pulls her in close, crushing his lips to his hers. She starts to give into him instinctively, when she sees something out of the corner of her eye and thinks she may be hallucinating. She blinks to focus her eyes, but it’s still there - he’s still there. It’s Logan walking up the street, also dressed up in formal wear, but as he spots her and Colt, he stops in his tracks and starts heading back to his car. Gabi pulls away and runs after Logan. “Logan, wait! Don’t go yet.” He spins around and looks at her, and then back to Colt. Gabi turns her head to see Colt with a bewildered look on his face. She’s frozen there, torn between the two of them one more time.

#playchoices fanfic #rod #colt x mc #logan x mc #colt kaneko #rod logan #my fic

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wvstcdyouth-blog · 5 years

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guess who’s back with another mess !! Yep it’s me !! Bee !! I just can’t help myself, so yeah here’s my new child Celeste !! (plot twist I’ve brought in another hoe)

{ tw: eating disorder mention } { tw: age gap }

( natalia dyer. 23. cisfemale. she/her. ) ❛ celeste bernard, a scorpios sign from paris, france, moved into holloway two years ago. they are a camgirl and aspiring musician that lives in apartment 7A here and their neighbors don’t particularly mind them. some say they can be indulgent and imprudent but others say they’re candid and gregarious. anyways, one thing is for sure: you hear bitch by emily vaughn, it’s cel blasting it

so Celeste is one of four girls, second oldest after persephone and loves her family, but really made a mess of those relationships once she went off to study, but we’ll get to that later.

Growing up she was much more on the quieter side, often more interested in books than people till late hs when her mom pushed her to go out more and pay more attention to the few friends, but she always felt very uncomfortable in large crowds so that made going out pretty limiting and she only went to one or two parties and always had to drink herself sloppy just to be able to semi enjoy herself

and it’s not like she didn’t want to do be more social, but she was very insecure in her teen years and even struggled with an eating disorder throughout hs.

the only thing she was super confident in was music. It all started with learning to play the piano starting at six and she had caught the bug, now she plays multiple instruments and her talent is undeniable, she even got into Conservatoire de Paris which is not an easy task and she was so proud of herself

This is when things started to get messy though, about three months in she started hooking up with one of the instructors there and being young and dumb she believed she was falling in love with him and tbh he was very manipulative with her as he was a good 30+ years older than her, but she didn’t care. She was so wrapped around his finger that he was able to convince her to drop out of her program so they could be together

He came from good money so she was well taken care of, anything she wanted he’d get her and this is where she learned to love nice things and she refuses to let go of that wealthy life style

Despite being a toxic manipulative asshole, he really helped her gain more confidence. He was always giving her validation and worked to bring her out of her shell. Sure it was mostly because he wanted her to be happy and charming at fancy social events as his perfect arm candy

This relationship pretty much broke her away from her family. As soon as they expressed any disapproval he convinced her to cut them out of her life. Pretty much having her believe he was the only person that could love her as much as he did and no one cared about him more than her

Anyways after a year or so she caught him cheating on her with a first year, pretty much repeating what he did with her and she realized she meant nothing to him, just another pretty young girl.

She confronted him and he spewed awful words at her, telling her she was paranoid and should be minding her own business anyway and should be nothing but grateful for what he gave her. Now seeing through his bullshit and being a more confident person than when she entered the relationship she upped and left, very thankful her parents took her back in

She stayed in paris for a few more months, having fling after fling to try and get over this guy but they were all douche bags and she realized she deserved better

Her parents suggested moving to NYC to be near her sister and she jumped on the idea, desperate for a change in environment

Her parents agreed to help her with rent till she got a job, but this turned out to be a lot harder than she thought, especially with know solid resume or skills. And then it hit her, now much more confident in herself and her body, she knew how to get money from no good men. And that’s how she got into the webcam industry.

She fell in love with it, she felt empowered and she loved the money she was making. She works hard to somewhat keep her identity a secret like wearing wigs and cute sunglasses ( tho she will take the glasses off if someone pays enough for it).

She tries to keep this a secret though, especially being an aspiring musician ( though we long a good scandal )

She’s really done a 180 since where she was as a person growing up. A once shy insecure teen, to babydoll type, to now a spit fire girl who won’t take anyone’s shit. She either likes you or she doesn’t and it can be quite hard to change her mind as she is much stubborn now

very much a pleasure seeker, and so down for a good hook up, a good party, or a good drug.

She is a cynical hopeless romantic. She wants to be loved but doesn’t think anyone will ever know how to love her right. She’s had one major relationship since she got here that kind of just happened by accident, but she does everything fiercely and unapologeticly so this fool fell in love again and was left hurt once again

basically at first glance you’d think she’s the angel emoji, but really she’s the smiling devil emoji

like will do whatever she wants to make herself happy and even though she loves other people her intuition is always to not trust they won’t fuck her over and at the end of the day all she has is herself.

always down for a girls night like pls give me a girl gang

a selfish boujee ass bitch I’ll tell you that, but she’s got a kind heart it’s just been a little broken and cracked

ok so I do have wc in mind and will type up a list later but this was a lot of info already my brain needs a breather but let’s still plot pls !!

#hollowayintro.#eating disorder mention tw #age gap tw

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thatscarletflycatcher · 5 years

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Little Women Review, chapter 5: Being Neighbourly

Or the chapter in which Jo “nurses” Teddy.

“I like adventures and I’m going to find some” - Jo basically describing herself in a sentence.

Jo is always doing something for Beth.

LMA takes advantage of Jo’s snow shoveling to make a comparison between the two houses, the March’s and the Laurence’s; again, the permanent contrast between lifeless richness and colorful, lively “poverty”.

Laurie’s loneliness and sadness in this chapter is moving. Nice note, that Mr. Brooke actually took care of reading aloud for him when he was sick, even books Mr. Laurence wouldn’t read to his grandson. I think we don’t usually pay that much attention, maybe because it is always between lines, to the friendship between Laurie and Mr. Brooke. Another two little notes: Laurie has his own private little parlor (boy, that family was rich. I cannot imagine how rich Fred Vaughn actually was if the Laurences seemed middle class compared to them) and his room is a mess.

I should make a list of the flowers that appear in the book. Anyways, Beth sends the kittens, Meg sends her blanc menage and Amy sends... red geraniums. Remember when the red geraniums were practically a theme in Little Women 1994? Red geraniums are the flowers Fritz gives Jo; Jo puts a red geranium on her novel when she finishes it; Hannah throws red geranium petals on Beth’s things after her death (maybe a hint about the love of the sister who was far from home and could not come in time?).

“He’s very kind, though he does not look so; and he lets me do what I like pretty much” Let’s end the “Mr. Laurence was an ogre train right here. He probably wasn’t the best of parental figures, he was a bit rough, moody even, but he did actually try his best (I’m looking at your, Masterpiece miniseries).

“We haven’t been here a great while” So, did the Marches live elsewhere before? I didn’t remember this tidbit.

“Mr. Brooke, my tutor, doesn’t stay here” So, did he live in some kind of pension, like the house Jo lived in in New York?

I had totally forgotten the story about Aunt March’s suitor. Wow, that’s hilarious to imagine. Some people actually are desperate for money. I have a love-hate relationship with Aunt March’s parrot. Don’t ask.

“She clapped her hands and pranced, as she always did when specially delighted” Jo at the library. There are reasons why we love this girl. I’m just trying to imagine the first time she did that in front of Fritz. He most certainly thought “this is my soulmate”.

"I'm sure now that I shouldn't be afraid of him, for he's got kind eyes, though his mouth is grim, and he looks as if he had a tremendous will of his own. He isn't as handsome as my grandfather, but I like him."

"Thank you, ma'am," said a gruff voice behind her, and there, to her great dismay, stood old Mr. Laurence. (...) A second look showed her that the living eyes, under the bushy eyebrows, were kinder even than the painted ones, and there was a sly twinkle in them, which lessened her fear a good deal. The gruff voice was gruffer than ever, as the old gentleman said abruptly, after the dreadful pause, "So you're not afraid of me, hey?"

So, basically Mr. Laurence is a mixture of Dumbledore with Hagrid. Guess it was from him that Laurie inherited the lively eyes.

Jo loved her own grandfather as much as she loved uncle March. I need a fic about these two when they were young...

“She’s right; the lad is lonely. I’ll see what these little girls can do for him.” SEE?

And Mr. Laurence gets upset about the piano playing. I repeat what I said elsewhere. His daughter, who loved to play, died young; his son, who married a pianist, and loved the instrument, died young too. The man cannot but tie pianos with mourning and disgrace.

And here go two mentions of Laurie being half Italian BECAUSE IT IS RELEVANT, I’M LOOKING AT YOU, ADAPTATIONS.

And Beth and Jo close the chapter presenting what will happen in the next with the Pilgrim’s Progress comparison.

#Little Women #Little Women review

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wilderwestqueen · 6 years

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A Pinch of Sugar and a Dash of Spite - Chapter One

“Astrid Hofferson has better things to do than ruin your life.”

“Yeah? You could’ve fooled me.”

Hiccup Haddock’s just trying to sell coffee and stumble through presentations about Shakespeare, but one persistent rude customer keeps ruining his day. Astrid Hofferson would be the top of her class if it weren’t for one golden boy barista that needs to be taken down a notch.

[Coffee Shop AU] [Enemies-To-Lovers]

IN THIS CHAPTER: A new customer at the Bean & Gone seems to have it out for Hiccup.

[AO3] [FF.NET]

High Maintenance Sickly Sweet Mess

The late shift at Bean & Gone was the worst.

The little coffee shop was tucked into one of the streets just off campus, and although it was tiny - barely enough room for the counter and few sets of tables and chairs - it was beloved by all. As part of the university, Bean & Gone always stayed open late for the students that wanted to stay on campus after lecture hours were over, but in Hiccup’s experience, no sane person wanted coffee late at night, unless they were pulling an all-nighter. All the serious deadlines were a good few weeks off yet, so the shift was rarely busy.

Tonight though, business was slower than sludge, and it took all of Hiccup’s effort to keep his head from slumping across the counter as he watched their one elderly patron - an old History professor, who may well have been alive in the dark ages he droned on about in lectures- as he sipped at the cup of coffee he’d been nursing for the past hour and a half.

“It’s got to be cold by now,” Hiccup muttered, his cheek slumped onto his fist. “There’s no way it’s still pleasant to drink.”

His co-worker, Scott Jorgenson, whose laddish tendencies and rotten manners had earned him the nickname Snotlout, was similarly slumped next to him. “Dude’s like eighty. His taste buds are all shrivelled up and dead.”

“Maybe he likes it cold.” This came from the third employee, Philip, who looked up from one of the coffee machines to give them both a blank stare.

Philip was the larger of the three, with a gentle smile but skittish limbs. His hands and legs always seemed to have a bit of a quiver to them, no matter what he did. He’d been christened Fishlegs by bullies in high school, but he’d taken it graciously in his stride, just as Hiccup and Snotlout had with theirs.

“Maybe he likes it cold because it reminds him of his own impending death,” Hiccup said, groaning and finally giving in to the urge to drop his face across the desk, his arms dangling off the counter.

“You’re more morose than usual,” Fishlegs observed.

“He’s pissing his pants thinking about tomorrow,” said Snotlout.

“Eff off,” Hiccup grumbled, his voice muffled in the counter.

Hiccup had another mock presentation in the morning, in preparation for his final, graded show. He liked presentations about as much as a splinter in the eyeball.

The evening crawled onwards, Hiccup spending most of his time slumped across the countertop, while Snotlout headed back to mess with their stock. Fishlegs hovered behind Hiccup, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.

“Hiccup…” he began.

Hiccup shifted his head to the side and cast one eye up at him. “I know that voice,” he said. “What do you want?”

“I couldn’t find anyone to check in on Meatlug, and I was wondering if—”

“—You were wondering if you could go home early to check on her,” Hiccup sighed.

Meatlug was Fishlegs’ old, lethargic dog with a lazy eye, a sweet little thing, if a bit ugly by most people’s standards. Fishlegs adored her and doted on her like nothing else.

“For the last time—” There was a clatter in the back room as Snotlout dropped a bowl and kicked it out of his way, letting it skitter across the tiled floor before he bounded back up to the counter— “Meatlug can look after herself. It’s not fair that you keep leaving us to deal with—” There was loud ping from Snotlout’s phone, and he stopped in his tracks to pull it from his pocket, taking one look at the screen and letting out a long whistle as his eyes bugged out. “Wow, never mind, I need to leave too. You don’t mind, do you, Hiccup?”

Fishlegs gave Snotlout an incredulous stare, before letting out a long sigh and turning back to Hiccup.

“Sorry, Hiccup, it’s just that after her operation, she hasn’t been the same, I just want to make sure that she’s—”

Hiccup tipped his head back and raised his eyes to the heavens. “Just go. Both of you. I’ll lock up tonight.”

Fishlegs had the grace to look apologetic as he gathered his coat and bag from the staff room, but Snotlout barely spared Hiccup a glance, leaping over the counter and heading out the door. Fishlegs hovered between the two.

“Sorry,” he said again, “I’ll—”

“—I’ll see you tomorrow, Fishlegs,” Hiccup said.

Fishlegs gave him one last grateful smile, before he too headed out the door, leaving Hiccup alone, with only the gentle hum of the fluorescent lighting, and the steady slurps of the History professor in the corner, still making steady work on his coffee. After a few minutes of doing nothing but drumming his fingertips on the countertop, he headed back into the staff room and grabbed an old battered copy of Romeo and Juliet from his bag. If nothing interesting was going to happen this evening, he might as well use his time wisely. He perched himself on an upturned crate behind the counter and lost himself in the play, scrawling notes in the margin, and sticking post-it notes on important scenes.

He poked his head up over the top of the counter when the history professor rose from his seat, to give him a nod and a polite thank you, before ducking his head back down and getting right back to Shakespeare. When the last minutes of his shift rolled around, he stood, stretched, and left the star-crossed lovers on the counter, to start closing the shop up.

Just as he was flicking off the last appliance, there was a jingle behind him, and there was a gust of wind as the door opened. Hiccup’s jaw clicked.

“We’re closed,” he said, without turning around.

“The sign says you close at ten.”

Hiccup scowled. “It’s nine fifty-five.”

“Exactly. Not closed.”

“Sorry, it’s policy that we stop serving ten minutes before closing.”

“It takes two minutes.”

Hiccup gave a long sigh and turned around. He was rather surprised to find someone he recognised on the other side of the counter; Astrid Hofferson, a fellow English student, looked rather frazzled. Her jacket was half-slung off her shoulder, her hair was a mess, and she was rocking back and forward on her toes, like she was desperate to leave the building.

“I’ve already switched everything off.”

She gave him a look, like she thought he was the stupidest man on Earth. “So, switch it back on.”

“Astrid—”

“—How do you know my name?”

She froze, her eyes narrowed to slits.

“We’re on the same course,” Hiccup said. Her face was blank. “We share all of the same classes. I introduced myself to you on the first day, do you not remember?”

She eyed his name tag and raised an eyebrow. “I’d remember a guy named Hiccup.”

“It’s a nickname,” he said, hotly.

Indignation was burning in the back of his throat, first that she was being the textbook rude customer, and second, that in two years of sharing the same classes, this girl didn’t seem to have any idea who he was.

She hadn’t made any sign of movement, and Hiccup realised, with a sinking heart, that she wasn’t going to budge.

“What do you want then?” he said, the last shreds of his customer service manners vanishing along with his goodwill.

Astrid didn’t seem to care about his manners, she just listed her order, counting her money out on the counter, while Hiccup began to flick appliances back on to start them up again. As her coffee brewed, Astrid hopped from foot to foot, her fingers drumming on her arms. Hiccup glowered at her from over the counter, and once the drink was ready, he screwed on a lid and slammed it onto the countertop so hard that liquid began to slosh out. Astrid gave him a filthy look, but took the drink anyway, turning on her heel without so much of a thank you.

“Keep the change!” she yelled, before disappearing into the night.

The door slammed behind her, letting in a big gust of wind before nothing but the sound of the coffee machine behind him and the lights above him filled the air.

“You’re welcome,” Hiccup said to the empty room.

Professor Vaughn-Stretton was actually clicking at her.

“Miss Hofferson? Over here, please!”

Astrid clenched her jaw and sucked in a breath. The professor wasn’t even looking at her. His nose was in his books, one hand flourishing in the air as he snapped his fingers, like she was a dog and he was calling her to his heel. If he’d whistled, she’d have dumped his coffee right over his head.

She put on her best saccharine smile and headed to his desk. “How can I help you?”

“I left my briefcase in the lecture theatre, be a dear and go pick it up for me, would you?”

In her mind’s eye, Astrid punched him. She curled her hand into a fist, and socked him right in his stupid mouth, knocking that self-assured, patronising expression right off his face and into next week.

“No problem!” she said instead, in that fake falsetto polite voice she’d been using all day. Then she turned on her heel and high-tailed it out of there, doing her best not to slam the door on the way out.

Assault, while satisfying, would look terrible on her transcript.

She marched down the hall, not paying attention to where she was going - and slammed right into another student, knocking them both to the ground. The stack of paper the other person was holding went flying, scattering across the floor.

“Sorry!” Astrid gasped, crawling across the floor and scrambling to help pick them up.

“You look like you want to hurt somebody.” Astrid looked up to see Heather Whitman gathering pages onto her lap, looking at Astrid with an amused smile. “Bad day?”

“Don’t ask,” Astrid groaned, gathering up the last of Heather’s things and pulling herself to her feet. “If I told you I was going to murder someone you’d stop me, right? Like, you wouldn’t let me go through with it, would you?”

Heather tilted her head to the side. “Vaughn-Stretton.”

“Vaughn-Stretton,” Astrid sighed, handing Heather the rest of her things. “I’m this close to jumping out of one of the top floor windows and taking him with me. Hey, did I tell you about last night?”

The previous night, after finishing her studies for the day, she’d headed to Professor Vaughn-Stretton’s office, and found him mid-workflow. He’d apparently hit a breakthrough on his research project and had to simply drop everything in order to work on it. All evening, Astrid had been running around at his beck and call, filling every demand.

At nine forty-five, he threw his arms up in the air and groaned. “I need coffee.”

Astrid blinked. “Coffee, sir?”

“Coffee. Go get me some,” he said, opening his wallet and throwing a fiver at her. “Coffee shop closest to campus does the best.”

“It’s nearly ten, sir, it’ll be closing,” Astrid protested.

“Go quickly then.”

“They stop serving after—”

“Miss Hofferson,” he interrupted her, stopping her in her tracks. He finally looked up at her with a beady stare. “You know how lucky you are to be my assistant?”

“Yes, but—”

“Few people are given the opportunity to work with me directly. It’s a coveted position.”

“I know, but—”

“So, when I ask for coffee,” he said, his voice darkening, “you get me coffee. I don’t care what you have to do to get it, just go get it.”

Astrid relayed the whole conversation from the previous night to Heather, who by the end, had her hand clasped over her open mouth.

“He must be getting worse with age,” she said. “Not even Eret’s stories are that bad.”

“He’s matured like sour milk,” Astrid said, flicking through Heather’s papers before handing them back to her. “I had it in my head last night that I was going to ask him about my final essay. I was going to show him, and make him read it for me, and instead, I was running around, abusing the poor guy behind the counter just so that his royal highness could get some fucking coffee at ten o’clock at night.”

“He hasn’t even looked at your term paper?” Heather said, arching an eyebrow. “Come on, girl, you’ve been working for him for what, three weeks, now?”

“Close to a month and a half, actually,” Astrid said, dryly.

“A month and a half, and he hasn’t even looked at any of your work? Wasn’t that part of the deal of working for him?”

Astrid clenched her teeth. “It was supposed to be,” she said. “But I don’t want to bug him, or sound demanding, or petulant, or anything.”

“Astrid, no. You can’t let him walk all over you like this,” Heather said sharply, hastily stuffing her things into her bag so that her hands were free to press firmly on Astrid’s shoulders. “If you don’t hold him to his promises he’s going to keep getting away with treating you like a servant.”

“He has seniority!” Astrid said. “If I rock the boat, I might lose all hope of getting his approval and his reference.”

“No. You’re not letting him do this to you,” Heather said, turning Astrid on her heel and marching her back towards Vaughn-Stretton’s offices. “You’re going to go in there, and you’re going to ask him to look at your work, and you’re going to make him give you feedback.”

“But I was supposed to get his—”

“No. No excuses. Get in there and make him listen to you.”

Astrid had no choice. Once they’d reached the offices, Heather pressed a hand firmly behind Astrid’s back and pushed her through Vaughn-Stretton’s door. She stumbled over the threshold, blinking owlishly up at the professor, who was staring at her with an unimpressed look.

“Well?” he said, pushing his glasses up on the ridge of his nose. “Do you have it?”

Astrid frowned, silently cursing Heather in her head. “Actually, sir,” she began, brushing herself down. “I was wondering if I could ask something of you.”

Vaughn-Stretton gave a long sigh, like she was the biggest nuisance he had ever come across. “And what is that?”

“Well, uh,” Astrid said, rummaging around in her bag and pulling out the most recent draft of her final essay. “I’ve been working with you for a while now, and I was wondering if you could possibly take some time to give me some feedback on my term paper?”

She held out her paper and cringed at how crumpled and folded it was from having been shoved in her bag.

So much for looking professional.

The professor eyed her paper with disdain, and they stood in silence for a few long seconds before he let out another sigh. “Fine, give it here,” he said. “It’s not like I can do anything without my briefcase, anyway.”

Astrid stood in awkward silence, her right hand clutching on to her left arm, while she waited for him to read over her paper. It was an agonising few minutes, and aside from a few stray sighs and one or two tuts, she couldn’t decipher what the professor was thinking.

She was put out of her misery when, finally, he wrinkled his nose and looked back up at her.

“You’ve got a lot of work to do on this, Miss Hofferson,” he said, sternly. “Your writing is sloppy. Your main argument is weak. Are you sure that gender is really the avenue that you want to go down?”

“My whole thesis is about the author’s treatment of women and how that reflects on both the time period his works are set in and the period he was writing from,” Astrid stammered. “I thought there was plenty of stuff I could talk about, like—”

“—Yes, well, I’m not convinced that this a strong enough argument,” Vaughn-Stretton said, “I mean, can you really call Hemingway sexist?”

“…Are we talking about the same guy?”

Vaughn-Stretton ignored her. “Listen, if you really want a good example of how to talk about gender,” he said, opening up his desk drawer and pulling out a piece of paper, “you should really read Henry Haddock’s work.”

Astrid’s jaw clicked.

Henry Haddock.

“He really has a wonderful grasp on feminist theory, he has a true understanding of gender politics, his work is wonderful, really…”

Oh, what Astrid would give to go a day without hearing about Henry Haddock.

Professor Vaughn-Stretton’s personal favourite, Henry had been the bane of Astrid’s existence since their first year, and she didn’t even know what he looked like.

Always the top of every test, always the highest mark on every paper, Vaughn-Stretton brought him up almost every seminar, showering him in glowing praise in almost every class, and no matter how much Astrid had tried - and oh, had she tried - she couldn’t get a look-in. Not her polished papers, nor her perfect presentations served to impress the professor, and though she spent all of her free time doing nothing but running around at his beck and call, serving every demand, even the ridiculous ones - like buying him coffee at ten o’clock at night - and yet somehow, Henry Haddock didn’t have to say a word in class and he was still Vaughn-Stretton’s favourite.

Astrid took the paper from Vaughn-Stretton rather more forcefully than she meant to and scanned the page with her eyes. “Okay,” she said, a few minutes later, “but he’s basically making the same points as I am.”

The professor gave a derisive snort. “Mr. Haddock is remarkably skilled at presenting a nuanced point of view…”

He kept talking, but at this point Astrid was tuning him out, focusing on her breathing so that she didn’t strike Vaughn-Shithead right between the eyes and knock his stupid glasses right off his face.

When Astrid looked up a few moments later, he was still talking. “I can set up a meeting between the two of you, if you like,” he said. “I’m sure he’d be happy to tutor you.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Astrid said, curtly. She slipped Henry’s essay back onto the desk.

“Suit yourself,” Vaughn-Stretton said. “Now, I believe I asked you to get me my briefcase?”

Astrid didn’t dignify that with a response, she just turned on her heel and marched out of the room.

On her way out, she stormed straight into Heather, who looked up at her with hopeful eyes. “So, how did it go?” she asked, her voice two notches brighter than usual.

Astrid didn’t answer. She kept walking.

“That bad, huh?” Heather said as she stumbled forward to match Astrid’s stride.

Astrid stopped short. “Heather, when they find him dead, his stupid old man glasses stuffed down his throat and a knife sticking out of his back, you’ll testify on my behalf, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Heather said. “Providing alibis for your friends’ homicidal tendencies is basically rule one of girl code.”

The corner of Astrid’s mouth twitched.

“C’mon,” Heather said, her hand brushing against Astrid’s shoulder. “It can’t have been that bad, right?”

Astrid let out a long sigh and let herself drop onto a bench nearby. “I can take criticism. I can take negative feedback. I can’t take him babbling on about another student who’s apparently better than me in every single way.”

Heather sucked in a breath. “He didn’t.”

“Oh, he did,” Astrid said. “My writing stinks, apparently. Henry Haddock’s writing is a gift from the gods, though. Henry Haddock, by the way, who I only know because Vaughn-Shithead brings him up in every other breath. I’ve never even met him.”

“Henry?” Heather said, her eyebrows raised. “He’s not that bad of a guy, actually.”

“Wait, you know him?”

“Yeah,” Heather said, “except he doesn’t like being called Henry. He goes by Hiccup—”

“—he WHAT?”

The morning shifts at Bean & Gone were just as bad as the late ones.

There were a steady stream of students coming in and out of the shop, all of them stocking up on caffeine for the day ahead. They all looked about as awake as Hiccup felt, and he found that, for the first half hour of his shift, he worked on autopilot, letting his muscle memory take orders and make drinks, while his brain took the time to catch up to his body.

He was quickly brought back to reality though, when one customer marched up to the counter and slammed her hands down onto the countertop.

“Henry Haddock,” she said, her voice spitting venom.

Hiccup almost took a step back from the counter when he was met with the furious face of Astrid Hofferson, who was leaning so far across the counter that they were almost nose-to-nose.

“What can I do for you, Astrid?”

“You’re Henry Haddock.”

Hiccup blinked, his eyes shifting away for a second and then back at her. “I know I am.”

“You’re the Henry Haddock that’s been beating me to the top spot in every single class,” she said.

Hiccup couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up from the back of his throat and came sputtering out. It was definitely a mistake. She looked affronted, her hands twisting into fists on the table top.

“So…” Hiccup said, his laughter falling to an awkward chuckle when Astrid didn’t budge from her spot. “You gonna order, or…?”

There was a long pause, and Hiccup watched as Astrid’s expression changed. Her shoulders and hands relaxed, and though her face was still red, she offered him a smile. Not a nice smile, Hiccup noted to himself. A dangerous smile.

Then, without taking a breath, Astrid said, “A venti salted caramel mocha frappucino with five pumps of frap roast, four pumps of caramel sauce, four pumps of caramel syrup, three pumps of mocha, three pumps of toffee nut syrup, double blended with extra whipped cream.”

Another pause. Astrid did nothing but glare.

“You’re serious?” Hiccup said, his mouth gaping open.

Astrid kept staring at him.

“Who would even drink that—”

“—are you going to make me it or not?”

Hiccup waited another breath, and wondered for a moment if this was some kind of elaborate prank, before stammering, “Can you repeat that?”

Astrid rolled her eyes and repeated the order again, without taking a breath, again.

His fingers couldn’t get to the screen quick enough to punch in her order. It took him another three tries to get it right, and by the time he’d finally managed to do it, there was a queue forming behind Astrid, a long line of people growing steadily more impatient.

Making the drink took even longer, not helped by the fact that he had to check and recheck the order to make sure he’d made it exactly right. Hiccup had a feeling that Astrid wouldn’t except any mistakes. Once it was made, Hiccup handed it over and fought the urge not to make a face. Who in their right minds could drink this high maintenance sickly-sweet mess?

But Astrid took it, gave him a similarly sickly-sweet smile and headed to one of the tables, drinking the whole thing in about two minutes. He couldn’t appreciate the train-wreck in action, as he turned back to face a huge line of people clicking their teeth in impatience.

Astrid watched him from her corner, a satisfied smirk on her face, and Hiccup was sure that she’d done it on purpose.

Astrid showed up at Bean & Gone every day that week.

It was like clockwork; she’d figured out the exact times that the shop was at its busiest - and Hiccup was pretty sure that she’d memorised his entire shift schedule too - and she would stride up to the counter and order the most complicated and disgusting sounding drink that she could. She’d watch him struggle with it, make him repeat the order over and over again, and then she’d sit and drink the whole thing, keeping her eyes on him the whole time.

He didn’t know what he’d done to piss her off, but he did know, with all certainty, that Astrid Hofferson was going to be a problem.

Next Chapter

#hiccstrid #httyd #how to train your dragon #httyd2 #hiccup x astrid #look i did it #i have never drank a cup of coffee in my life #i hope you like it!#fanfiction

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