#I forgot I made the smoke white and it looks sooooo much better that way

[imaginesbymk]

PINK + WHITE.

— chapter ten ; stained glass window.

summary: teresa’s permanent resignation from the peaky blinders leads her to a whole new chapter of working in an art museum. but little did she know her best life would be butchered some time later when her former lover tommy shelby gives her no choice but to return to the peaky blinders after they make new enemies, with the leader, of all people, being the man teresa fell in love with one night after a wedding reception back in post world war; luca changretta.

pairing: luca changretta x OC x tommy shelby

tags in this chapter: swearing + smoking

[ chapter index ]

A/N: I am sooooo sorry for the long hiatus! </3

This story is getting more views on Wattpad than here on Tumblr. I still love the show and Luca's my favourite villain, but as much as I want to discontinue this story, I want to get it out of the way because I have drafted a timeline of this story, including Teresa's and Luca's closure on their relationship. So I'm stuck in the middle on what to do???

BTW, I've come up with a headcanon for Luca's full name as Luca LaPaglia Changretta! His middle name is never revealed in the show, I just did this for the fic.

RIP Helen McCrory. You were one of my favourite stars of the show. Fly high <3. The Peaky fandom will miss you so much.

///

TERESA wasn't as religious as the next person, but she kept her respect as her heels echoed down the aisle, immediately spotting the tall man kneeling on one of the pues. His hands were folded in prayer, and he murmured what the Welsh could make out to be Italian tongue.

"Do you want to be alone?" she asks.

Luca pauses, his eyes still shut and hands still in folds. "No. I want you here."

Teresa slides over and sits next to her lover, staring at the giant crucifix behind the front podium. "How often do you pray, amore?"

Luca pauses his prayer again. "Almost every day. God and I keep in touch, y'know."

"What does he say to you?"

"He tells me to tell you to quit interrupting until I'm done talking to Him." Teresa chuckles, prompting her to let him finish. As it took another good minute for Luca to conclude his prayer, Teresa gazed at the stained glass windows on each side, casting a good light from the clouds that allowed a bit of sun for England, some of it casted its light onto Luca, like an angel on an opera stage.

Luca makes a sign of the cross, sitting back on the pue and grunting a bit from kneeling for a while. "How was lunch with Mamma?"

Teresa nodded. "It was lovely."

"Just lovely?"

"Mhm." She holds his hand. "She says your middle name is LaPaglia."

Luca hums, kissing her hand that curled with his. "C'mon, I wanna take you out with me for wine."

"Hmm... Luca LaPaglia Changretta," She said out loud, admiring the beauty of his full name slipping from her lips. "And I had wine with your mother."

"I meant wine shopping. I'm doing most of the taste tests, it's my cousin's birthday soon."

"Then shouldn't he be the one shopping for wine?" she asks.

The Italian pulls the heavy door, escorting Teresa out of the church and into the chauffeur. "He counts on me, I'm better at choosing wine and gin these days."

"ARTHUR, quit pacing. You'll burn your legs out."

"Where the fuck is she?" Arthur grunts. "Eh? Tom, you're really in it for this one. The fuckin' Welsh is not gonna live up to a fuckin' promise."

"You stop that, she's on her way," Tommy takes a sip of his drink.

A split-second passes as the maid knocks on the heavy office door. "Mr. Shelby?" the feminine voice calls softly. "Miss Griffith is here to see you."

Tommy gives a smug look to Arthur and Polly. "Yes. Send her in," he says. They waited for the woman to walk in, kind of wishing for Tommy to immediately scold her once she stepped foot into his office, but Tommy wasn't up to waste that much energy.

Arthur was the one to step in and do so, otherwise. "What? Did you stroll around Manchester or something?"

"Sorry," Teresa frowns, her face reading she wasn't holding any joy from her day so far. "I was with Luca."

"We're all ears," Polly walked around Tommy's desk. "What's happened? Did he fuck you until you forgot how to tell time?"

"I'm assuming Finn told you?" she asks.

"That's Finn for you, Teresa," Arthur points out.

Teresa rolls her eyes. No point of getting back at him this time. Rat or not, he would never hold back a word from the family. She remembered seeing him appear at the gallery, and he wasn't going to keep a secret from Tommy.

"I invited him for a meeting at a bar...then he took me to the theatre..." Teresa trails off.

Tommy opens his cigarette pack. "Go on."

"That's all, Mr. Shelby."

"You slept with Luca Changretta, just say it."

Teresa folded her arms. "Actually, yes. But earlier events prove what I'm about to propose; I'm in."

The members of the Peaky Blinders all raised a brow, mostly Tommy's.

"You slept with Luca Changretta, I didn't expect you to actually follow up with that, I don't recall telling you to do so, either."

"I wanted to discuss his plans on taking the Penarth gallery. It's not for his dirty hands to touch."

"You wish to join because your heart was too broken to hold back?" Polly says. "Is that where we're getting at, Teresa?" The Welsh woman stared at her. This was probably the first time they had seen each other after all those years that followed from her resignation. Since the last time they spoke, Polly didn't have anything held against her, and here she is, quite disappointed that Teresa shared her heart with a man like Luca. She did quite enjoy her company and her contribution to the Peaky Blinders, even when she chose to depart from Tommy and their relationship, then came Grace Burgess. Polly just didn't want to deal with another afterwards unless it was Lizzie.

"You're doing this just to get even? Luca could care less about your feelings now."

"Teresa," Tommy sighs, nodding at his old friend. "Come back here tomorrow."

Teresa nodded and made her exit out the foot of her door.

"And come on time, please." Teresa wished she could slam the door on him, but Arthur shut it as soon as Teresa's foot took a centimeter away. She presses her ear against the wood to hear them muffling.

"Tom?" She hears Arthur speak. "We can't trust her."

Tommy clears his throat, setting down a scrap of an article he read on his desk. "She'll go back to Penarth, but we can't let her stay there. I know what's going to happen."

"What do you know?"

"Italian men will show up to the gallery."

"It's certain Teresa Griffith keeps a firearm in her drawers," Polly says.

"No," Tommy shook his head. "Not enough to take down at least five men. Luca keeps count of who he orders - who he sends. We're more careful of that, we know of that."

"We're not morons, Tommy. Now we hear from Finn that Luca and Teresa were together?"

"Teresa should give us what we need to know from Luca Changretta. She knows too much about him."

"And Luca knows too much about us," Polly slowly walks over to Tommy. "If Teresa forms an alliance, what will she do? She's already slept with him, but I doubt she got anything out of it. She's not here for the sake of helping. She wants in because she's a woman with a broken heart."

Teresa detaches herself from the door, having heard enough. One of the maids returns, noticing the guest hadn't left yet and was suspiciously eavesdropping their boss. Teresa was pulled back by the shoulder like a child, escorting her out of the foyer.

SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER, Teresa woke from the blinding sun. The silky bed sheets that covered hers and Luca's nude bodies were unmade - ruffled around. If you left the curtains open, you're more alerted. Luca never intended on waking Teresa up that way. In fact, he wasn't even lying next to her in the bed.

Luca's white dress shirt casted more brightness but his trousers were half done. He stared outside, holding his China cup of tea in one hand before looking back down at the papers sprawled across his desk.

Teresa sat up to clip on her brassiere, her accent thinned to greet in basic Italian. "Buongiorno."

He didn't respond.

She slides out of bed and approaches the desk. "Do you need me to leave soon? Though, you don't look like you're in a rush for an important meeting."

Still nothing.

"What, Luca?" This wasn't new for Luca to strangely switch up his mood. He wasn't an easy man, it's hard to impress him or to even study his emotions at times. Teresa had the feeling that Luca didn't enjoy what they had done. "Was this a mistake?"

"This was unprofessional." Luca sets his cup and coaster on his desk. "If you think something will come from this, then think again. I never should have taken you to the theatre. You were trying to let my guard down, were you?"

"No," Teresa shook her head. "I wasn't surprised that this was going to happen."

"Such a mind you carry in that blonde head of yours."

"Seeing you again felt good, Luca. I seized the opportunity to share another moment with you. I was thinking you were going to plan on coming back to Penarth indefinitely."

"Miss Griffith, did it ever occur to you that I wasn't supposed to stay here?" Luca frowns. "I'm no citizen here. America is where my heart belongs, if not America; Sicily."

"You fled to America. That was your last ditch effort to get away from the police," Teresa murmured. She folds her arms. "I understand why you had to do it."

"Then why do you hold it against me?" he asks, exhausted.

"Because I never heard from you ever since."

"I was fairly active in New York, you know?"

"I didn't know."

Luca stared at her. "That's your own problem, Miss Griffith."

"Christ, Luca. Enough with the formalities!" Teresa snaps. "I'm standing at your desk, half nude. We fucked in that bed right there!"

"Which was something we shouldn't have done," Luca began rubbing his temples. "I didn't come back here for you, all right? Porca miseria-" he cuts himself off to heave in a deep sigh. "I have to ask. All this time... you're still hung up on me?"

"Yes," Teresa says, her face paling. "Because I missed you, you bloody bastard. I couldn't reach out to you or your mother, not even the American press, to see how you were doing, or if you were kissing another woman's lips."

Luca slid his hand over to pick up the dress and shawl he placed on the side of the desk. "You need to leave now."

There was no point of convincing him anymore. All was said. Teresa knew not to vex a mafioso unarmed. If she had her handgun with her, she would have tried to pull something in a spite of anger. Would that do her a favour? Probably not. The rest of whoever's left of the Changretta family would go after her without question.

There was Tommy, though, and he's still waiting for her response back in Small Heath.

Grabbing her clothes, Teresa marches back to the bed, gets dressed and leaves the hotel room without saying a word to her former lover. Not even a curse.

#pink+white #luca changretta x oc #luca changretta fanfic #luca changretta #luca changretta fanfiction #tommy shelby x oc #tommy shelby fanfic #tommy shelby #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders x oc #peaky blinders

[parkerspicedlatte]

Disconnected-Chapter Eight (Luke Hemmings)

Summary: In an alternate universe where everyone has a soulmate, Luke and his soulmate share the rarest of them all. Some people have matching tattoos, others feel each others pain/emotions, but mental connections are the least common. The connection that Luke and Lynn share is that they can hear whatever song the other is singing. When they are close together they will be able to hear each others voices but for the meantime, they can only hear the recorded versions.

Pairings: Luke Hemmings x Lynn Corby (OC)

Warnings: fluff, angst, mentions of injuries, alcohol, a cuss word???

Featured Songs: If I Could (Jack Johnson)

Lynn felt the most relaxed she’d been in weeks. She finished the song she had been working on, she’d done very well performing on stage at the bar a few days before, and she had the apartment to herself for a few hours. She finally got to sit down with a mug of peppermint-spiked hot chocolate and the book she’d been meaning to read for a while. Lynn was at peace with herself and with the world around her, which seemed a little odd since she and Kylie had had an argument just a few hours prior.

She thought to herself that Luke must be relaxed and having a good time at that moment. Lately Lynn had been feeling certain emotions that she was certain weren’t her own; a random spout of anxiety when she wasn’t doing or thinking of anything that would cause her to be anxious.  Sometimes even a sudden feeling of satisfaction when she was down in the dumps. The only explanation Lynn had was that somehow her connection with Luke had strengthened immensely.

“If we can hear each other’s songs and feel each other’s emotions, the only mental connection we don’t have is proper telekinesis.” Lynn had told Kylie.

Her peace however, was interrupted by the sound of her phone nearly vibrating off of the coffee table beside her. Lynn set her book down on her lap and reached over to check the caller ID. Kylie. Lynn let out a sigh, mentally debating on letting the call go to voicemail. She knew she would be furious if Kylie was asking her to come and join herself and her underage sister at the bar. She slid her thumb across the screen anyways.  

“Hello.” she answered in a monotone voice.

“Heeeey!” Kylie squealed on the other end followed by a drunken giggle. Lynn threw her head back against the couch in annoyance and they hadn’t even gotten past the ‘hellos.’ How on earth could Kylie be that drunk sounding when they’d just left less than two hours ago? she wondered to herself. It was nine o’clock, the summer sun had barely set.

“Um me and Avery have a question for you. You know since you have a –hiccup- a car badge thingy.”

A car badge thingy? Oh she means a drivers license.

“Are you by any chance calling to ask if I’ll pick you up because you’re too drunk to get home on your own?” Lynn asked, her voice doused with frustration.

“How’d you know?” Kylie squealed over the phone, her fake drunk state could have fooled even the bartender who knew she had only served them two drinks each.

Lynn dropped her head into her free hand, trying to not scream at Kylie. What kind of irresponsible person takes their sixteen year old sister to a bar, gets them drunk before nine o’clock and has to call their roommate to drive them home?

Lynn half considered hanging up and letting Kylie figure it out herself. She couldn’t do that, not when Avery was in the mix. She couldn’t leave a sixteen year old at a bar, inebriated without a way back. Lynn knew damn well that Avery and Kylie could handle themselves but it still went against every moral standard she had in her body.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” she sighed into the phone. “Just don’t go anywhere or do anything stupid please.”

“We won’t.” Kylie hiccupped back. “See you soooon! Bye love yah.” Click. The call ended.

“Looks like someone forgot we were arguing earlier today.” Lynn huffed as she walked over to her bedroom to replace her pyjama pants with a pair of jeans. If she had to walk into the bar to collect the Dubois sisters, she at least didn’t want to look like a slob, especially since she was trying to build herself a reputation there with her music.

Lynn threw her long strawberry-blond hair up into a ponytail while she searched for her car keys. Once she found them she made her way to the beat up VW Jetta in the driveway.

“How could she be so irresponsible?” Lynn thought aloud as she pulled out of the driveway and onto the road. “She’s older than me by two years yet she’s the one acting like she’s eighteen again.” she said into the steering wheel.

A few minutes later Lynn pulled into a parking space a few buildings down from the bar. As she walked towards the front of the buildings she saw the party house in full swing. Lights lit up the large bay windows in the front, people were laughing, singing and dancing to the beat that Lynn could hear from outside. She didn’t care, she had a mission in mind and that was to find Kylie and Avery so that she could get them back home safely than spend the rest of the night taking care of their drunk asses.

Her blue eyes scanned over the crowd not actually looking at the faces, rather, for the wild curly brown hair; a trademark of the Bubois sisters. Lynn finally spotted them at the bar counter towards the far right. They were talking and clapping along to the band currently playing while sipping away at their drinks, looking sober, perfectly sober.

“What. The. Hell?” Lynn muttered under her breath, a mixture of aggression and bewilderment. Lynn marched over to the pair wondering what on earth was going on.

Avery saw Lynn first. “Show time.” she said, arching an eyebrow to her sister, a signal they shared with little discretion. 

Both sisters turned around to give Lynn an identical sheepish smile.

“What the hell is going on?” Lynn demanded, “You sounded like you were drunk enough to fall off your chair when you called me ten minutes ago. Now you don’t even look like you’ve had more than a few drinks. You’re not even flushed! You two better have a goddamn good answer!” Lynn said; smoke practically pouring out of her ears.

“We do. I mean, I do. This is my doing, don’t blame Avery.” defended Kylie. “Before I explain further, I need you to look behind you.”

“Why? What is behind me that has to do with why you lied to me about being too drunk to get home?”

“Please, just trust us.” Avery said using the words her sister had practically begged of herself not even an hour previously.

“Trust you? You guys just lied to me and now you won’t tell me why.” Lynn crossed her arms. “Right now I do not trust either of you.”

“Just turn around!” Kylie leapt off of her barstool to grab Lynn by the shoulders and spin her around, having had enough of the short conversation. “Look at who is directly in front of you.”

Lynn’s eyes met those of the grumpy diner owner from down the street. He frowned at the commotion going on between the girls and went back to his drink at hand, a scotch on the rocks.

“What does Greasy Al have to do with this?”

Kylie groaned. “No, not Greasy Al, the guy behind Greasy Al, in the white shirt, right there.”

“The blond guy?”

“Yes! Yes do you see him?”

“I see the back of his head.” Lynn mumbled, annoyed at her roommate’s behaviour.

“Okay just wait until he turns around.”

“What does the blond guy have to do with any of this?” Lynn tried to turn back around but Kylie held her shoulders tightly, not letting her go in case Lynn missed it. In case she missed seeing her other half, her soulmate. Luke. Freaking. Hemmings.

“Everything. Everything has to do with this.”

“Kylie, you’re being extremely vagu-ohhh fuck!”

Lynn’s eyes finally settled on the face of the stranger across the bar. The stranger who just so happened to know more about her than most people in the room, even the ones she’d known for years. He wore a smile that made his eyes dance with joy. Lynn felt butterflies dance with pure ecstasy. She felt Kylie’s hand loosen and slide off of her shoulders but she didn’t move; she couldn’t.

Her soulmate was right in front of her. Lynn could take less than twenty steps and be standing directly in front of him. She could finally be connected.

“Sooooo! What are you going to do?” Avery squealed from behind her, not being able to contain herself any longer.

“I-I-I don’t –shit I don’t know!” Lynn suddenly felt her body sway. Her head felt light. The room was unbearably hot. Lynn couldn’t catch her breath; they were coming in quick and shallow. She could feel hands grab at her arms as gravity took her body to the floor. Everyone around her was miles away. She could hear her own heartbeat throbbing in her ears.

A voice, she could hear a voice but it sounded like it was underwater.

“Are you okay?” the voice asked. “Can you hear me? She needs to be brought outside, there’s too much commotion in here.” The voice felt like silky sheets on soft bare skin, it was heaven flowing through her ears.

“Lynn, I need you to wake up.”

Something inside of her told her to follow the voice, to trust it. Lynn felt her body shiver. Her eyelids felt cool, so did her finger tips. She could move her fingers.

“There you go, keep going. Come on, you’re almost there.”

She felt a cool breeze blow across her cheeks.

“Lynn, come on, wake up!” a voice sobbed, sounding desperate and close to tears. The voice still didn’t sound as close as it should have but it was a start. “Focus, just focus on something.”

Lynn did just that. She listened for the voices that were getting closer.

“When was the last time she ate?” One voice, a new stranger.

“I don’t know, we haven’t talked since this morning.” Kylie’s voice.

“Oh my gosh this is all our fault!” Avery. So far three voices.

Something was on her face. It felt warm and comforting. Come on Lynn, focus. What is on your face? Whatever it was, it kept moving from her forehead, down to her cheek, then to her chin and back to her forehead. Fingers? A hand. Somebody’s running their hands over my face. Why? That’s kinda weird.

 “Come on Lynn, wake up.” Kylie’s voice begged of her. “Avery, run inside and ask Mitchy for some water, cold water.”

“Who’s Mitchy, and what are you going to do with the water?” Lynn wasn’t sure but she thought it was Avery’s voice asking the question.

“Mitchy is the bartender you dummy.” Kylie, definitely Kylie’s voice.

“Okay! But what about the water?”

“Gee Ave, I’m thirsty, what do you think I’m going to do?” Yep, one hundred percent Kylie. “I’m going to pour cold water on her to hopefully wake her up faster.” Oh shit no!

Now Lynn was determined to wake up. Her mind was becoming clearer by the second but she still couldn’t still couldn’t move anything other than her fingers, so that is what she moved her focus to. Thumb. Index. Middle. Ring. Pinky. Thumb. Index. Middle. Ring. Pinky. She tried bending them all one by one.

“Does she do this often?” a fourth voice, this one she didn’t recognise. Thumb. Index. Middle. Ring. Pinky.

“She used to when we were kids but she hasn’t in at least a year or two though.” Thumb. Index. Middle. Ring. Pinky. Wrist. WRIST! Lynn rolled her left wrist around. The feeling in her arms was starting to come back in a fuzzy haze. She groaned a little at the new pain shooting through her head. Did I hit my head on my way down?

A flurry of voices all around her all interrupted her concentration. Lynn couldn’t differentiate between any of them.

“She’s starting to wake up!”

“Hey look, her hands are moving.”

“Did you hear her?”

“You heard that right?”

She heard the sound of the bar door open and close, the music inside getting louder then quieter as the sounds were stopped from any further escape.

Avery went into the bar to get cold water! Shit!

“No I’m up.” Lynn tried to say before Avery could get to her. “Avery, no wait.”

Too late. An ice water filled pitcher was thrown over her upper body from head to ribs.

Lynn gasped, body convulsing for a split second at the torturous change in her body temperature. Her eyes flew open but she couldn’t see anything except a few blurry lights.

“It worked!” declared Avery triumphantly.

“Lynn! Oh my gosh you scared the hell out of me!” Kylie screeched.

“Are you okay?” asked another voice, the sweet voice belonging to the man she heard earlier.

Lynn shivered letting out the smallest of whimpers. She still couldn’t find her voice. Her eyes slowly began to regain focus and the blurry images began to fade into clearer, crisper ones. Directly above her, Kylie’s worry stricken face loomed, brows furrowed and lips slightly trembling. Kylie lifted one her hands from Lynn’s face to cover her own mouth, holding back a sob.

Beside her, Mitchy held a phone to her ear, talking to somebody while retelling what had just taken place. Did she call 9-1-1? What would she do that? Geez how long was I out?

Lastly Lynn noticed the familiar strangers around her. They all stood looking down at her figure lying on the pavement and then back to each other. All of them save for one, the one with the gentle, light blue eyes that looked nowhere but to her. He was crouched on the pavement with Kylie, going the extra mile to get close to Lynn, not exactly knowing why. His eyes were curtained by loose strands of curly blond hair. Lynn was so lost in him that if she’d had more control in her arms; she would have subconsciously moved his hair back to get a better look at his face, her soulmate’s face.

Luke stared down at the girl lying on the pavement. Her head was resting in the lap of who he assumed to be her close friend. The girl’s strawberry blonde hair had fallen out of its ponytail in the kafuffle and was strewn in a soggy angelic mess across the legs of her friend. The neon lights from the bar windows reflected blues and reds across the pale skin of her face and chest.

“Are you okay?” he heard himself asking again. Luke wasn’t sure why he was as concerned as he was about this girl. She was a complete stranger to him; he’d never seen her before in his life but something in the back of his mind told him otherwise. Something in him was drawn to her. There was a slight physical strain in his body pulling him towards her. Something in Luke made him want to pull her body against his, to tuck her head into his chest and run his fingers through her now wet hair.

Her eyes roamed from person to person before finally landing on himself. Luke felt his heart flutter then skip a few beats when their eyes met. A warmth flooded through his body causing him to visibly shiver.

“Lynn can you hear anything? Please say something.” Kylie. So far Luke knew that the girl on the ground was Lynn, the girl freaking out was Kylie and the younger copy of Kylie was Avery. Kylie rubbed gently at Lynn’s temples, down her cheekbones to her chin, then back up again.

Lynn nodded slowly, moving her eyes back over to Kylie’s. “Can you tell me what day it is?” Kylie asked.

“T-Tu-Tuesday.” Lynn stuttered out. Luke felt a sense of familiarity wash over him at hearing her voice. What’s the matter with you Luke? Why are you being like this? People pass out all the time.

He hadn’t even noticed Ashton, Calum, and Michael standing a few feet back, observing quietly. If he’d looked back at that moment Luke would have seen Calum and Michael looking concerned, yet confused at the same time, wondering why Luke had run out of the bar with the girl. If Luke had looked back he would have seen Ashton beside them both, a small tight lipped smile on his face and fingers crossed at his sides. Somehow Ashton knew exactly what was going on. While Ashton had yet to experience the connecting of soulmates himself, he had witnessed it happening on enough occasions. He’d seen it enough to recognize the look of complete awe between Luke and Lynn.

“I-I’m going to k-kill Avery.” Lynn shuddered once more through her clenched teeth.

Everyone around her chuckled nervously, everyone except Avery.

“How long?”

“A few minutes.” Kylie answered. “Not the worst but not the best. Think you can sit up?”

Lynn thought for a moment before nodding. “I think I can.” She placed both of her hands on the pavement just above her hips to prepare to push herself up. She felt like her every movement was being analyzed from every angle. The thought made her uncomfortable.

“Okay, on the count of three.” Kylie began her countdown. “One, two, three.” Lynn pushed up on her hands while simultaneously bending her knees in attempt to unsuccessfully steady herself.

Luke’s arms flew out to catch her before she fell back on the pavement.

Once Lynn was sitting upright against the brick wall of the bar she was eye to eye with Luke. He now noticed the small yet constant constellations of freckles that were especially pronounced across her blushing cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Luke saw that her eyes were not as blue as he’d initially thought. Rather, they had more grey tones in her irises without the help of the neon blue lights.

“Lynn, hey earth to Lynn. How are you feeling?” asked Kylie while waving her hand in between the blondes faces. Kylie didn’t want to get in the way of soulmates connecting but she still needed to know that her best friend was okay.

“I-I’m fine.” Lynn replied, not tearing her eyes from Luke’s.

A few moments passed by going unnoticed by the pair on the ground. Everyone else however, stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do. Finally, Avery cleared her throat, bringing all five other bystanders attention away from Luke and Lynn.

“Maybe we should, uh, you know, head back in. she suggested. Ashton nodded agreeing with her.

“Come on boys, let’s give them some space.” he said to Calum and Michael.

“What? Why?” Michael asked.

By then, Calum was starting to clue in on what was going on. He looked back at Luke jealousy as he walked towards the bar.

“Michael, let’s go.” Calum said in a low voice. Michael shot him a weird look but stepped with him towards the bar entrance anyways. Ashton followed behind them. He bent to lean into Luke’s frame.

“See you in a bit mate, congrats.” he whispered into Luke’s ear before patting him on the back and joining the boys with Mitchy in tow. One word hung over the entire group but nobody dared to speak it. Soulmates.

Last to leave was Kylie. She hadn’t even noticed that everyone else had left until Avery gently placed her hand over her sister’s shoulder reassuringly. Kylie had been with Lynn since they were in elementary school, since before Avery was even born. She’d been on the soulmate search train with Lynn for so long now that she wasn’t sure how to get off. But the train had stopped. It had reached its destination.

“Ky, come on.” Avery urged her. And just like that, Kylie stepped off of the soulmate train’s platform and away from the station. Once inside, she watched from the large front windows. Ashton was on her left side and Avery on her right.

Back outside, the blondes remained lost in world that consisted of nobody but each other, each taking in every single detail of the other in the most comfortable silence that either of them had ever known.

“I almost passed out at the same time you did.” Luke said breaking the silence. Lynn didn’t know how to respond so she didn’t. Instead Luke cracked a slight smile as he looked into her doe like eyes. “I got a little dizzy and light headed, then I looked over and you had hit the floor. Figured it wasn’t just a coincidence. Are you sure you’re alright.”

Lynn nodded. “Better now.” she whispered almost inaudibly. She looked away once she felt a blush creep up from her neck to her cheeks, illuminating her entire face with a pink tint. Lynn played with her fingers that were resting in her lap. Luke’s brought his own larger hands to rest cautiously on top of hers, as if to see if she would reject them.

She didn’t, instead she smiled down at their hands. Luke took it as a sign that he was in the clear. Slowly he engulfed her cold hands in his own. He brought them up to his lips, blowing warm air into them, pressing a small, chaste kiss to her knuckles.

“Are you even real?” he whispered against them, looking up at Lynn through his eyelashes.

“I think so.” Lynn whispered back, a tear slipped down her left cheek and ended at her pale lips. “I’m sorry.” she said quietly. So quietly that Luke almost didn’t hear her.

“What?” he asked softly. “Why would you be sorry?”

“Because I knew.” Lynn sobbed, an ugly sob that made her entire body shake. “I knew, but I didn't do anything. It’s all my fault. I’m selfish. I’m so sorry.”

Immediately Luke moved his hands from Lynn’s hands to wrap them around her back. He swiftly moved to sit beside her against the brick wall. He then pulled her gently against his body, sensing that she wasn’t going to be made upset by his actions.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, each too caught up in their own emotions to do anything.

“I don’t want you to be sorry.” The silence was broken by Luke once again as he uttered those words into her ear. Lynn’s body shook against his. Luke brought a hand up to run his fingers through her wet, unruly, mop of hair. “The universe wasn’t ready for us to meet, fate I guess.” he told her.

“But were you ready?” Lynn sniffled.

“I think,” Luke paused, trying to find the words that felt right. “I think that I wanted to meet you, but just because you want something, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ready for it.”

Lynn sat up to see Luke’s face. She carefully studied his expression, looking for any trace of anger or sadness. She looked to see if he was telling her the truth. She found no signs of deception.

Finally Lynn nodded her head slowly, showing that she agreed with Luke.

“You know, it’s almost like everything that’s been going on these past few weeks, has been fate preparing us to finally.... maybe get us ready to meet.” she told him while bringing a hand up to wipe away her tears. “You could feel it too, right?”

“I could feel it.” He reassured. “I could feel you.” Luke said not even noticing his involuntary smile that took over his face. “I could feel when you were excited about something or when you got anxious.”

They both thought back to moments when they could feel each other’s emotions. Then suddenly Luke remembered.

“Hey, what’s the deal with the Jack Johnson song? The last time I heard you sing it I thought you were going to die.”

Lynn smiled sheepishly down at her hands, chuckling lightly. She knew damn well that he was going to ask her that one day.

“It’s stupid, you’re going to laugh when I tell you.” she told him, having finally calmed down enough from her prior incident to speak clearly again. 

“What? Why?” Luke smiled, already falling in love with his other half.

“I was uh, I was doing an open mic thing at the bar that night, in front of people. I’d never done that before.” she confessed in a whisper.

Luke felt his heart swell with pride for her. The butterflies that danced around his heart felt more like a swarm of chirping, singing birds. Once again he tugged her body into his, bringing her onto his lap and engulfing her in his arms.

“It’s okay, everybody gets nervous on stage.” Lynn could feel him smiling into her neck as he spoke. “I still do and I’ve been on stage since I was sixteen.”

“You sang along that night.”

Luke nodded suddenly remembering the feeling of their connection growing stronger as they sang the lyrics together.

“That helped me out a lot, thank you.” 

Time froze. Luke and Lynn were caught up in each others eyes not noticing anything around them, just their other halves. Slowly, they moved into each other. Lynn could smell the cologne on his jacket while Luke could smell the coconut scented shampoo in her hair. Their faces so close together, lips centimetres apart.

“Hi.” Lynn giggled.

“Hi.” Luke whispered. 

“Can I kiss you?” he asked ever so gently.

Lynn nodded, not even missing a beat. “Yes.”

Luke leaned in nearly the rest of the way but froze just before their lips touched. He didn’t know why he froze. This was his soulmate. Luke was going to spend the rest of his life with her. Why am I so scared of this? Why wouldn’t he be scared?

Lynn suddenly brought her lips to his, confirming what they already knew with a kiss. 

Luke took no time in kissing her back. Her lips felt like coming home after a long tour. They felt familiar. Luke felt every insecurity about his soulmate not wanting him wash away like the receding tide.

Lynn felt safety in him. She felt how carefully and softly he kissed her back.

While Luke could only think about their lips, Lynn noticed everything between them. She noticed the feeling of his arms wrapping around her protectively and lovingly. She noticed his fingertips pressed into her sides. She noticed how his bottom lip felt between hers before switching to capture her bottom lip. What they both failed to notice however, were the spying eyes of their friends from the other side of the bar’s large bay window.

Luke pulled away first, out of breath. Lynn took a few seconds to register that their lips weren’t connected anymore. Slowly she opened her eyes, afraid that he wouldn’t actually be there when she opened them.

She glanced up to see a pair of bright blue irises looking down at her in awe. His lips were pink with a slight glistening sheen and had pulled up slightly in a grin. His thumbs stroked up and down her cheekbones in admiration.

“Hi.” he whispered as he had only moments ago.

Lynn looked down at her hands that were each bunching his shirt. Neither had even realised until then.

Every so often a car would drive by on the street. Their headlights would illuminate the newly connected couple, the smaller in the lap of the taller. His legs bent a little to cage her into his body protectively. People passed them on the sidewalk. Some giving them funny looks of disapproval, but neither Luke nor Lynn noticed. Even if they did, they wouldn’t care or give them a second thought.

If somebody had stopped, however, they would have seen more than just a young couple, they would have seen passion. They would have seen the result of over a year of torturous strain the couple had been through to finally find each other. A cruel game of cat and mouse that neither of them could run from nor capture.

But nobody stopped and nobody saw.

“Let’s get you into some warmer clothes, hmm.” Luke suggested. His forehead learned against hers, nose bumping against hers.

“I like that idea.”

“Your place or mine.” he smiled.

“Well... my clothes do happen to be at my place so...”

Luke laughed. “Good point. Should we get our friends or leave them?”

Lynn thought for a second. “I don’t know about you but I don’t think it would be the craziest idea if we got everyone together. I mean, Kylie lives with me and Avery is up for a few days. I say we all go up to my place and celebrate.”

“Perfect.” Luke said bringing his lips down to hers.

 To be continued…...

Series Masterlist

Regular Ol’ Masterlist

Taglist: @madformichael @h0tsos @fiesty5sos @misskarynie @negative-love@captivatingcal @beautifulplacesforhappines @felonystevefoundthe1975 @mellany1997 @caswinchester2000@babylonduke @castielanddeanthedog  @katsen13 @abby-landolf @dancingafterdeath @aulxna @to-the-road@pippin248 @blinkinglightsandmusic @lovcyou3000 @winniesutherland

#im so lazy i'll tag this tomorrow after work goodnight

[archaicgeists]

It almost sounds like you're begging us to do our worst...if we were allowed full control, I'd bet we'd be able to torment you endlessly, but there are certain rules that we must abide by. For example, right now you're about to go through some life changing events, and we can't interfere with any of that. However, with what little power we have, and if it's accepted, we can give you a taste of the pain you'll receive soon. M!A: Ghost of the Past. Geist is forced to relive his worst memory.

* Hah..so you do have rules you cannot break then, whatever powers at bay that keep your filthy claws from sinking into me endlessly must have some use after all..

* Whatever change comes I’m sure I can weather it, I have fared worse I’m sure..Even if it what you all keep wailing to me.

[ Unfortunately on several fronts, Geist doesn’t hear the last key words...The anon’s deception with lacing a curse at the last second catches him off guard and thus unable to defend himself from it taking affect..

His eyes go dim until not one speck of light shows, until a grayish white light flickers in it’s place..like the light from a old projector. He crumples to the ground as the memory begins to replay....]

{* some dark themes near the ending kids, just a warning for those uncomfortable with it.}

[ The scene fades in as Gaene walks the dim city streets to home he’s weary of the world and simply wants to get away from everything. The encroaching tensions between mankind and monsters made daily life a walking hell for him honestly. More and more “accidents” were occurring, whole families being dusted and their homes looted..But no witnesses willing to tell the truth.

But everyone knew who was to blame, people taking their anger out on innocents with blood as the end result..It was even dangerous now to be a sympathizer for the poor souls, like Gaene was. No monster lover was safe from a bloody end either..he had seen several people slaughtered in broad daylight and the enforcers would turn a blind eye..It made him hate humanity all the more now. He would be next sooner or later he knew, it was no secret where he lived, on the outskirts of the monster designated half of the city...The city graveyard dividing the two halves as some morbid reminder..

It was where Gaene did his work, and lived after all..Being the local Undertaker and Gravedigger earned you one hell of a reputation..But it was one he wanted, he wanted nothing to do with humans anymore after this mess and kept it that way..It also suited his more....secretive traits. Not one soul in this city knew he was a Mage, not even the monsters. And that was something he’d take to his own grave one day. Night had fallen by the time he reached home, when it all conveniently went to hell...

Gaene knew of the enforced curfew recently placed, it was the one act the bastards in charge did to act like they cared..But instead it simply locked everyone indoors when the more dangerous sort could care less about being found out..The curfew was more strictly enforced for monsters, like every other rule..No one wanted to run afoul of some creepy beast as the gossips murmured. This knowledge flashed briefly in the back of his mind as a bone rattling blast ringed out into the night...

Rushing out into the street he could already smell the smoke before he saw the flames...The entire monster district was glowing red like a ember, he felt his heart stop as it grew and grew into the night air..Not thinking about safety he ran into the inferno..hoping against the odds that there were survivors...Each house he managed to get into held little hope of living occupants..the damage was irreversible and absolute and Gaene could feel his vision blur from the smoke in his eyes and lungs when he hear someone sobbing.

Finding a young monster trapped under fallen wreckage he wasted no time in grabbing them and running back to the safety of his home, it was a start in what was already a horrible situation..Once back behind closed doors Gaene turned to the shaking monster.]

* what happened here? Please tell me there are at least any other survivors out there...

“I...I don’t know..it all happened so fast...I was heading home and then everything erupted into fire..t-they’re all gone..what am I..I’m all alone now...”* Like hell you are..you’ll be safe here..Stay inside and away from the windows until I return. We’ll make it through this..

[ Gaene races back out into the inferno, desperate to find more than one survivor..he knows it’s fruitless, he knows the humans in the city are responsible for everything..it made his blood boil thinking about it..Why crush such innocence when all they ever did was want to help? All they cared for was power, and monsters had it in spades compared to non mage born..

Venting his anger into searching he only stopped when he felt himself wane once more from the smoke and heat..not one other soul could be found..As he returned home full of rage and regret he stopped short of his home..

The front door had been kicked off it’s hinges.

Fearing the worst he raced in, seeing several drunk men standing amidst a fresh mound of dust in the corner, cackling loudly.]

“Sooooo...tha monster lover returns at last.. Sorry bout yer lil pet here, played a bit too rough with em. Ah well, might of had tha plague so guess we didja a favor! BAAHAHAAHAHAA!”

[ As the room erupted into laughter Gaene’s vision turned red...why did it always come down to this? What did they do to deserve death at the hands of these heartless bastards? Actions speak louder than words..and Gaene wanted to scream a library’s worth of rage.

A sword flashed, stolen from one of them as he carved into the first three caught off guard. The remaining two seemed faster once their comrades were soaking his floors with blood. He fought with one while the remaining fool fled to get help and leave his friend to die seconds later.

Sagging to the drenched mess his house had become, he wept softly..He’d be dead soon most likely and this injustice wouldn’t go unmet..He’d be nothing more than a faceless fool in a shallow grave while the world continued it’s purge of innocence..]

* why can’t I do anything to stop this? It’s unfair..why won’t you let me save one..? they didn’t deserve this..

[ Unmet rage and sorrow melded deep inside as Gaene staggered out into the massive graveyard...hundreds of years worth of bodies buried here..did they all hate monsters like their descendants? A trail of blood, either his own now or his victims stained the grass as he sought a hiding place.

Small...little markings of his own kind led the way to the center..He didn’t remember what they meant..it was a symbol he remembered from a dream and liked..Once safe in the center of the graveyard he sunk to his knees, soaking the old stones beneath..]

* they deserve to see such fear..they deserve to feel such pain and loss..and I would gladly show them..

[ Magic...works in fairly odd ways, even more so when emotions and wayward mages are concerned...Gaene had no idea the weight his rage and sorrow gave to his own words until something pulsed..and the grounds around answered with a chorus of breaths and cracking of stone.

Looking up tiredly he watched his magics take hold..and raise the entirety of the graveyard to do his wishes..Many of them dead warriors and defenders of the city..only now they would undo it..In no time at all the graveyard was empty..aside from Gaene who looked on in horror.

That was when the screams began in earnest. The fires in the monster district, hungry for fuel had spread outwards into the neighboring areas..the newly risen undead soon found their kindred and drew blood eagerly from their wailing throats. Alarm and chaos soon reached all ends of the city, hand in murderous hand with the fires as both swept through.

Miraculously...Gaene’s small secluded home was saved this horror..at least on the outside.Running back in to find a way to block the screams out he locked himself away in his room, his own heart pounding like war drums.]

* oh gods what have I done..what have I done?? The city’s dying all around me...I..I didn’t want this..I never meant to..hhh.

[ their blood now soaked his hands, a city was dying all around him faster than any plague or cataclysm could do..now he was no better than them, worse in fact.

Rage turned to Guilt, a well suited companion for Sorrow..both evolving into something much worse the longer he heard the screams ring out into the night air..His sins could not be mended nor forgiven..not for something like him anyways. He could not face what would happen should he be found and blamed for this slaughter..The flames outside alighted in the reflection of something beside him..

there was only one way out..one way to end his misery and escape this horrid worlds grasp...maybe hell would be kinder..or maybe he would simply wander the lands of limbo until he forgot himself..

It hurt, but it would be worth it he figured as he carved a hole open to tear it free..To be free of this hell and live on as a spirit..darkness came and claimed him as he felt himself grow cold.

He didn’t expect to wake up the next morning to deafening silence and something warm in his hands pulsing gently..]

* -ghk....

[ As the memory fades, so does the grey light...Geist has passed out.]

#ic #personal entry #mild implied suicide attempt near the end there #tried to word it so it wouldn't set off bad vibes for you guys ; ; #implied suicide mention #hope im tagging this right im sorry #Anonymous