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angelasscribbles · 2 years

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Heir Apparent Chapter 12: Trashed

Series: Heir Apparent.

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Drake x Riley, Liam x Riley (past)

Rating: R

Warnings: Mature themes, language

Everything else: Master List.

“It’s been three days, Liv, three fucking days, maybe he really isn’t coming back!”

“Have tried talking to him?”

“Oh gee, no, I never thought of that. Of course, I’ve tried talking to him! He won’t answer my calls or texts, I drove up to the cabin two days ago, but he didn’t even answer the fucking door!”

“What about Max? Did you try sending Max? Maybe you aren’t the best person to try to talk to him right now, all things considered.”

Liam rubbed a finger across his lips. A telltale sign that he was stressed or thinking deeply, or both. “I don’t know. I think this requires someone a little more….direct than Max. Someone who can be blunt.”

“Someone willing to hurt his feelings, you mean. Now I understand why you called me.” She looked at Liam for moment then told him, “You look like shit.”

A surprised laugh bubbled out of him, “You don’t pull any punches, do you?”

She shrugged, “Not usually, no.”

He sighed, “I haven’t been sleeping well. The couch isn’t that comfortable, and I can’t stop worrying about her.” He gestured toward the bedroom.

“Still not talking?” Olivia’s eyes flicked toward the bedroom. She’d been in earlier, but Riley hadn’t even looked at her. Liam had filled her in on everything.

“No! She hasn’t said one fucking word in two days! She barely eats. She just lays in there and stares at the fucking wall! I don’t know what to do!”

He sounded so lost, that it made Olivia’s heart hurt. Damn it. “Ok, I’ll do it.”

“Do what?” Hana asked as she came through the door. She’d been there for two days. Liam had called her the day after the test results, hoping she would be able to get through to Riley. She hadn’t. He’d called Max too. Max had barely left her bedside, but she wasn’t responding to him either.

“Go get twiddle dee to pull his head out of his ass and come fix his wife.” She said with a small frown.

“Oh, I’m coming with you!”

Olivia’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, “Why?”

“Why? Because my best friend is in there destroyed and he’s the only one that can fix it. Sorry Liam.” She gave him a sympathetic glance.

“S’ok.” He shrugged. It was true, he had tried everything he could think of to comfort her, to pull her out of her misery and he had failed.

Whatever sliver of hope he had harbored about the baby bringing them closer together, whatever thin fantasy he had secretly nurtured about a reconciliation was long gone. The depth and intensity of her love for Drake was clearer than it had ever been. The only person that could destroy that bond, was Drake himself. And he was doing a damn good job of it right now.

“Ok then, let’s go.” Olivia hopped up from her perch on the edge of the couch and headed for the door.

“Thanks. And Liv?”

She stopped and turned around, “Yeah?”

“If he doesn’t come back with you, I’m dispatching a guard unit to drag his fucking ass back and I’m not kidding, not even a little.” There was a hard edge to his voice that she had very rarely heard.

Olivia regarded him for a moment then nodded, “I believe you.”

They made the drive to the cabin in record time. Olivia treated speed limits as suggestions.

“What are we going to do if he doesn’t answer the door?” Hana asked as they pulled in the driveway.

“Break it down. We’re not going back without him.” Olivia put the car in park and looked at Hana, “Ready for this?”

“Yeah. Let’s do it!” She said with determination.

They walked up to the door, Hana stepped forward and knocked politely.

“Really?” Olivia asked her with barely contained impatience.

“What?” Hana looked at her in confusion.

“That’s not getting us anywhere. You have to knock like you mean it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Olivia stepped forward and pounded on the door with a balled-up fist, the loud pounding noise echoing through the surrounding woods as she yelled, “Open this goddamn mother fucking door right fucking now Drake! I goddamned well mean it! I will throw a mother fucking rock through one of these windows and you know I’ll fucking do it! You have ‘til the count of three! One! Two! Three!“

Hana gasped as Olivia lunged off the porch, picked up the biggest rock she could find and hurled it through the closest window. Glass shattered everywhere, the sound deafening in the stillness of the clearing.

Then she started pounding on the door and yelling again, “I have a rock for every fucking window in this place you piece of shit! Now open the goddamn fucking door! Drake Walker, I swear to God, I will-“

The door swung open. Drake stood in the darkness of the cabin, he looked like hell, and he smelled worse. His hair and clothes were completely disheveled, eyes bleary. “What the hell Liv!?” He snarled.

“Oh, fuck your window, it can be replaced!” Olivia shoved her way past him into the dim interior of the cabin. She searched the wall until she found the light switch. She flicked it on, and the room was illuminated.

“Ew.” Hana stepped gingerly around empty bottles as she made her way inside.

Drake rubbed his eyes and blinked, he had obviously just woken up, “Why are you here?” He growled.

Olivia surveyed the scene. Empty liquor bottles were everywhere, along with some discarded and half eaten cans of beans and MRE’s packages. She wrinkled her nose then turned to face Drake, “Why the fuck do you think we’re here? Why didn’t you answer the door for Liam?”

He ran a hand through his hair, “Liam was here?”

“Yes, Liam was here, two days ago.” She informed him as she watched his face. This clueless fucking bastard really didn’t remember. Maybe he’d been passed out drunk and hadn’t heard the door.

Drake’s head snapped up, “What do you mean two days ago? How long have I been here?”

“Three days.” She watched his eyes widen in shock and disbelief.

“What? No, that’s not possible. I mean, I’ve been drunk, but it hasn’t been-“ He shook his head as a hand combed through his hair again.

“Why the fuck would I lie about that?” She snapped.

He threw his hands up in the air, “I don’t know! Why the fuck would Liam have been here?”

“To bring your sorry ass back to the palace, that’s why. Your wife needs you.” What was it going to take to penetrate that alcohol laden brain of his?

He shook his head, “No, she doesn’t. And she doesn’t want me either. Why the hell do you think I’ve been drinking?” He grabbed a half empty bottle from a side table and started unscrewing the cap.

Olivia reached over and knocked it out of his hands.

“Hey! What the hell-“ He tried vainly to catch the bottle as it tumbled out of his hands and clattered to the floor.

“I knew you were stupid, you fucking asshole, but this is beyond. Even for you. Get your head out of your ass!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Liv, but you’re wasting your time. She doesn’t want me.” He said, the pain filling up his heart at the memory of her in Liam’s arms. He reached down and picked up the bottle.

“Have you not been checking your messages? Texts?” She grabbed the bottle out of his hand and this time she spun around and sent it flying into the closest wall, she found the sound of it shattering satisfying.

Drake flinched at the loud noise and rubbed the back of his neck as he shrugged, “Haven’t gotten any.”

“Haven’t-“ she stared at him with her mouth open for a moment, then she started tearing the room apart, “Where’s your phone?”

His hand raked through his hair again as he tried to focus. Bits and pieces of memories started to filter through his mind as he tried vainly to string together how he had lost two days. “I…uh….I dunno….in the car maybe?”

He didn’t think he’d ever brought it in. He had taken nothing but himself out of the car, stumbled into the cabin and started drinking.

Olivia glanced at Hana, who was scurrying around tidying things. “Hana, what the fuck are you doing?”

“Oh, I…ah, I can’t help it! This is gross, I’m cleaning it up!” She felt like she should apologize, but she wasn’t sure why.

“Yeah, fine, whatever but just…keep an eye on him please, I’ll be right back.” Olivia instructed.

“Sure.” Hana regarded Drake doubtfully. What was she supposed to do with him, exactly? She tapped her foot as she stared at him, willing Olivia to be quick.

Olivia stormed through the cabin door and walked out to his car. She pulled the door open; it wasn’t locked. The phone was sitting in the console, dead. She grabbed it as well as the charging cord that was plugged into the dash, then went to her own car and rooted around until she came up with a charging cube. Striding back into the house, she demanded, “Where can I plug this in?”

Drake waved vaguely toward a wall. She strode purposefully over to the wall and plugged in the phone. Then she turned back toward Drake, “So what’s the plan Einstein? Stay here until Riley gives up on you?”

He snorted, “She has Liam, she doesn’t need me.”

“She doesn’t want Liam. For some God forsaken reason that none of us will ever understand, she wants you!”

“No, she doesn’t.” He said more forcefully.

“Right. The woman who turned down a marriage proposal from a king to be with you, just isn’t that into you?” She looked at him like he was stupid. Because he was.

“Maybe she was, before. But now-“ He trailed off, wishing he had a drink.

“Now nothing. She’s devastated that you left.” Olivia wanted to hit him.

Drake snorted again, “I doubt that.”

Before Olivia could respond, Hana had made it across the room and hit Drake in the back of the head, hard.

“Ow!” He grabbed his head, “What was that for?”

Olivia howled with laughter, “Good job Hana! I didn’t know you had it in you! Respect!”

“That’s for what you did to Riley!” She said furiously. Hana had never hit anyone in her life. She would have been shocked at her own actions if she hadn’t been too angry to feel anything else.

“What I did to Riley?” He exclaimed in indignation, “I gave her what she wanted! I got out of her way so she and Liam could-“

Hana hit him again. “Olivia’s right. You’re the stupidest man ever born!”

Olivia powered up the phone then told him, “Check your phone, Drake.”

He muttered under his breath as he made his way across the room. He picked the phone up and scrolled through it. Forty-two missed calls from Liam, twenty-eight missed calls from Maxwell, fourteen missed calls from Hana. Three missed calls from Riley. He hit play on the first message from Riley. She was crying so hard he couldn’t understand most of what she was saying, but he caught “I’m sorry” and “Please come back.”

The second message was worse and the third one was just her crying. What the hell? He opened the text messages and scrolled through Riley’s first. They were all heartbreaking. He opened Liam’s next. “Sedated? What does he mean sedated?” The first thin tendrils of panic started to slowly snake their way through his body, pushing back the haze and stupor of a three-day bender.

“What the fuck do you think he means? It means she was so hysterical she had to be sedated! Fuck, how are you this dense?” Olivia gave him a withering look.

“But I thought- I didn’t know-“ He looked so anguished she almost felt sorry for him. Almost. He sat down on the couch and looked up at her in despair, “How bad was it?”

Olivia shrugged and fidgeted in her seat, betraying her discomfiture despite the overall air of indifference she projected, “I wasn’t there, but from what Liam told me pretty fucking bad.”

“She hurt herself.” Hana said, fury lacing her voice.

Drake’s head spun around to focus on Hana, tears already in his eyes, “What?” His heart sank to the bottom of his being.

“She used her fingernails to gouge her arms bloody while she was hyperventilating and couldn’t breathe. That’s why the doctor had to sedate her.” Hana hissed at him. She didn’t care about the wounded expression that bloomed across his face. This was his fault; he should feel bad.

He was on his feet instantly, frantically searching for his keys, “Where the hell are my keys? Never mind, come on Liv, we’ll take your car!”

He was halfway to the door when Olivia jumped in front of him, hands out to stop him, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there buddy! You’re not going anywhere yet.”

“But I thought that’s why you-“ He tried to push around her, but she was more clearheaded, sober and faster than he was in that moment.

She moved to block him again, “It is, but dude, you fucking stink. Go take a shower and brush your teeth.”

“But she needs me!” His voice had taken on a panicked pitch. He tried again to sidestep her, but she anticipated him and was already blocking him again.

“She needed you three days ago. Twenty more minutes isn’t going to hurt. It’s not like she’s going anywhere.” Olivia told him, pointing toward the master bed/bathroom.

Hana had now stepped up next to Olivia, also blocking his path to the door, “Yeah, and we don’t want her to throw up. Please go take a shower.”

He glared at them both for a minute then all the fight went out of him. He just wanted to get to Riley. Taking a shower would be faster than arguing with Olivia. He knew that from experience. Hana was an unknown as he had never seen her mad before. The fact that sweet, unassuming Hana was this furious with him told him that it was bad. Olivia was always prickly, but Hana…..

“Fine.” He spun on his heel and stomped into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. He turned the water on in the walk-in shower and turned toward the mirror. He caught a glimpse of himself. Shit. He did look like hell. His hair was matted, his eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot. He gingerly lifted an arm and sniffed. He retched a little. Fuck. Maybe he did need a shower.

He brushed his teeth while the water warmed up then took the fastest shower he’d ever taken in his life. He grabbed clothes out of the dresser at random, pulling them on in record speed. When he made it back to the living room, Hana handed him a cup of coffee and some Tylenol, “Thought you might need this.”

“Thanks Hana.” Maybe she’d forgive him, eventually. But will my wife?

“Now go get in my car.” Olivia told him, “I’m not sure you’re sober enough to drive. Hana can drive yours back.”

“But I can’t find my keys-“ He protested.

“There still in the ignition.” Olivia told him. “I saw them when I went to get your phone and charger. Speaking of which, here.” She thrust them at him, and he had to grab them fast to keep from dropping them.

“Thanks, Liv.” He said gratefully, and he wasn’t talking about the phone.

“Don’t thank me. I did none of this for your sorry ass. Now get in the car.” She pointed out the door.

He got in the car. He was desperate to get back to his wife. She needed him and he wasn’t there. She had hurt herself? Because of him? Guilt crashed into him.

He was confused. He knew he hadn’t imagined her pushing him away, shutting him out. And he hadn’t imagined her wrapped up in Liam’s arms the other day either. But none of that mattered at the moment. If she needed him, he’d go.

How the fuck had it been three days? He thought it had been one! He remembered it being night, once. How fucking much had he had to drink? The worst headache he’d ever had was pounding though him as he shielded his eyes from the sunlight.

When they reached the main road, Olivia turned left.

“Valtoria is that way.” Drake pointed right.

“She’s not at Valtoria. She’s still at the palace.”

“Why?” He asked before he thought better of it.

“Why? Fucking why? Because she’s practically catatonic, that’s why!”

He felt ice shoot through his veins as he turned in his seat to look at her face, “What do you mean catatonic?”

“I mean, she hasn’t spoken in two days. She just stares at the goddamn wall all day. She was in no shape to be left alone at Valtoria. And a house full of servants does not fucking count as not being alone!” Olivia wiped a tear from her check angrily. She knew exactly what she was talking about. Her aunt had abandoned her, leaving her with a houseful of servants when she was just a child, sunk deep in grief over her parent’s deaths. She wouldn’t do that to anyone, let alone someone she considered a friend.

“Liv, I didn’t mean-“ He knew exactly what she was remembering.

“Fuck you Drake. None of the rest of us were willing to abandon her like you did.” She kept her eyes glued on the road as she fought back the tears of anger and frustration.

“Olivia, I didn’t abandon-“

“Oh yeah? What would you call it then? Where were you while your wife was crumpled in the floor screaming your name and clawing herself bloody?”

The vice tightened on his heart. Of course, she thought he had abandoned her. That’s what it looked like. He remembered how furious he’d been at Liam for what had happened the night of the coronation. How destroyed Riley had been by Liam’s actions. And now he’d done the same thing to her. Fuck! Liv and Hana were right. He was the stupidest man ever born. Would she even want to see him at this point? He wouldn’t blame her if she never forgave him.

“I-“ He slumped back in his seat in defeat. “Just get me to her please.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” She said as she stepped on the accelerator.

#heir apparent #angelasscribbles #drake walker #riley campbell #riley walker #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week #choices #trr #drake x mc #liam rys #the royal romance fanfic #the royal romance #choices stories you play

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harleybeaumont · 2 years

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Love Me The Way I Am- Book 1

Chapter 4

Pairings: Maxwell x Harley (MC), more in future chapters

Book: TRR Book 2

Synopsis- After King Liam proposes to Madeleine, Harley and Maxwell grow closer while they attempt to uncover who’s behind her blackmail. Maxwell is hiding a medical condition he’s kept secret for most of his life. Due to his father constantly berating Maxwell during his youth, he believes no one will ever love him.. until Harley comes along and he dares to hope.

A/N- This somewhat follows along with the events in TRR Book 2. I have removed/added certain events to go along with my story! Harley Hughes is my character who is based loosely off of Riley. The other characters belong to PB.

Warnings- language, drinking, sensuality, some NSFW

18+ only

Word count- 1,655

Catch up here

Harley and Maxwell finished eating their dinner and sat on her bed together. They were both pretty buzzed from their night out. She couldn't remember how much she drank at the club, or how they somehow got hold of some whisky, but they were sipping straight out of the bottle.

“Drake would approve!” Harley laughed as she took a big swig.

“To Drake!” Maxwell yelled as he leaned over the bed and poured some whisky out on the otherwise pristine carpet.

“Oh my god Max! You're making a mess! Bertrand’s gonna be pissed!”

They both cracked up. Ya, they were drunk.

“Wait, weren't we supposed to be playing a game?” Maxwell said.

“Oh ya! But whoevers turn it is has to answer whatever you ask! No lying or skipping questions!”

Max stretched out on her bed with his arms up. Harley caught a glimpse of his abs and her heart fluttered.

“So Harley Quinn.. Truth.. or truth?”

Harley smacked his arm and pretended to think. “I'm gonna have to say.. Truth.”

Maxwell thought for a minute and sat up, “Uh, what's your favorite color?”

“Wow.. that question sucks! You gotta get down to the real stuff when you play truth or truth!”

He laughed and laid back on the bed, “Ok fine. Hmmmm.. This would be a lot easier if I wasn't smashed. Ok, I got it! Why did you come to Cordonia when I asked you? You barely seemed to give it a second thought. I figured you'd need a lot of convincing!”

Harley sighed and twirled her hair around her finger. “Honestly I guess I just wanted to do something with my life.. I moved to New York thinking I would get a new start.. Too many bad memories from back home.. but life always seems to follow you. Damn, that was a depressing answer. Sorry.”

“Not depressing, it was honest. It was very Harley. Although it did leave me wanting more.. Which is also very Harley.” Did I just say that out loud? “Um.. I mean you're such an interesting person and I want to learn more about you.”

Harley looked away and smiled. Her stomach was full of butterflies.

“Ok Lord Beaumont, it's your turn to answer. Truth.. Or truth?” She sat on her knees and looked at him with mock intensity.

“Gee, I guess I'm going to have to go with truth?”

Harley thought about what the girls in the restroom were talking about. She was just going to go for it. “Tell me about your past relationships.”

Maxwell raised his eyebrows, “You really wanna know that?”

“Yep.”

He took a sip of whiskey out of the bottle. “Honestly.. There's not much to tell. I'm not really boyfriend material, I guess. I've gone on dates before but I've only had a couple real relationships.”

Harley thought, oh my god those girls were right. He is a fuckboy! “What do you mean? How are you not boyfriend material?”

He played with a string on the bed absentmindedly. “I just know that there are some guys who people want to date, and I’m not one of them.”

Harley was dumbfounded. “What the fuck? Why would you say that!? Max, you're super hot and funny and sweet and smart!”

“Sorry.. now I'm giving depressing answers! I wasn't trying to fish for compliments, I promise.”

“And I wasn't just saying that. Everything I said is one hundred percent true. You're amazing!”

Maxwell smiled and looked at her. “So are you Harley.” He looked away quickly and ran a hand through his hair.

Harley didn't quite get the whole answer she was looking for so she decided to keep going. “So do you just like.. Hook up with people? Like.. have a lot of one night stands?”

Maxwell choked on his drink, “Jeez Harley! No!”

“Really? I'm not going to judge you if you do! I promise! We're being totally honest here right?” Harley started to sit cross legged but then realized she was in a short dress and put a pillow in her lap.

“Look.. I've heard what people say about me. I don't know why they say it.. But no. I.. don't get around like people think.”

Harley suddenly felt bad for even thinking that about him. She should have defended him when those girls were talking shit about him.

Max chuckled, “Hey, you wanna hear a pickup line that I tried once?”

“Duh!”

He covered his face, “It's bad.. Drake gave me so much shit for this.” He looked her in the eyes. “Ok, Harley feel my shirt.”

She quirked an eyebrow and touched the fabric.

“Does that feel like boyfriend material to you?”

Harley burst out laughing, “That is unbelievably terrible!”

“I told you!”

“You know what though.. If someone said that to me, I'd probably be interested.”

“Really?” He looked at her in surprise.

She looked down shyly, “ya. A sense of humor is actually really attractive to me.”

“Me too.” He smiled at her.

Suddenly Maxwell's phone beeped a few times and he sat up, “Harley… do you have anything to eat in here?”

She remembered a bag of m&ms in her bedside table and tossed it to him. He poured the bag into his mouth.

“Sorry, sometimes ya just need a sugar fix right? ” he quickly smiled and messed with his phone.

“What was that beeping?”

“Oh just my alarm.. To remind me to get home.. from the club.”

“Max.. are you ok?”

He looked up from his phone. “Of course blossom! Now let's see what's on the tele!”

Guess the game is over, she thought.

Harley woke up with the sun shining brightly through the window in her eyes, and a major hangover. Damn how much did I drink? The last thing she remembered was her and Maxwell laying in bed watching some old horror movie that was on TV, and him downing a bag of m&ms and some crackers she found. She rubbed her hands over her face and started to roll over when she felt something next to her. Maxwell. She was under the sheets, but he wasn't. He was laying on his stomach snoring softly with an arm slung over her belly. He slept in here with me! He cuddled with me! Her heart felt like it was going to burst. He was so cute when he was sleeping. She didn't want to move, ever, but she didn't want Bertrand to come in and see this. She couldn't find her phone but the clock showed that it was already 11 am. He would surely be up to gripe at her soon. Fucking Bertrand. She gently moved Maxwell's arm and climbed out of bed. She felt a breeze from the AC and looked down. Oh my god, when did I take my clothes off?! She realized she was just in her underwear. Her head snapped up as there was a knock at the door. Fuck!

Maxwell awoke with a headache to the sound of knocking. “Ugh, go away Bertrand!”

Harley ran over to him, wide eyed and whispered frantically, “Shush! He'll know you slept in here!”

He sat up quickly and winced, “Bloody hell.. Did I sleep in here?”

“Obviously!”

Maxwell looked around for some place to hide. “Ok, um let me just get in your bathroom. Also, you uh, may want to put some pants on.”

She only had time to throw a t-shirt on once Bertrand started knocking. Harley blushed, “Oh god!” She grabbed some pants and ran to open the door. Maxwell started to stand and said, “also just turn around while I get up.”

“What? Why? Ohhh..” She looked down at him and smirked.

“Look, it's morning! I can't help it!”

Harley bit her lip and smiled before opening the door. “What's up Bertrand?”

“What's up? It's quite late in the morning and we have more lessons today! The engagement party is in two days! We need to make sure you don't mix up any titles again. Not to mention, I have no idea where my brother is. Probably off purchasing more peacocks or other useless nonsense.”

Bertrand stopped rambling and took in Harley's appearance. “My god, what have you been doing? You reek of alcohol and look like an absolute mess! Lady Harley, what happened last night? Your bed is all disheveled and- ”

There was a loud bang from her bathroom. Oh Maxwell. Harley covered her eyes. Bertrands mouth hung open.

He put his hands on his hips, “Lady Harley, I don't know what kind of behavior you engage in back in New York, but here at Ramsford this is not acceptable. What if the press saw you bring someone in here?! The future queen having random bedmates?! Please tell your.. friend to leave immediately and make yourself presentable.”

“Got it, dad.” Harley smirked and quickly closed the door. Normally she would have a lot to say to Bertrand about the way he just spoke to her, but this wasn't the time. She ran into the bathroom and found Maxwell rubbing his back. “What the hell are you doing in here!? Bertrand heard you and I just got chewed out like I was in fucking high school!”

Maxwell looked at her sheepishly. “Sorry.. I wanted to see if I could jump up on the counter like they do on those parkour videos.. You know where they jump super high and don't use their hands.. Obviously, the answer is no.”

Harley stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing. Maxwell started laughing too but then they both felt their hangovers and winced. Harley checked her face in the bathroom mirror, “oh my gosh, no wonder Bertrand was so suspicious. I look like hell!” Her hair was messy and her makeup was smeared.

Maxwell kissed her cheek and said, “nah, you look beautiful as always.”

Then he quickly snuck out of her room, leaving her smiling like a fool.

#choices fanfic #trr fanfic #choices trr #the royal romance #maxwell beaumont #maxwell x mc #harley hughes #bertrand beaumont #hana lee #liam rys #drake walker #cordonia #love me the way i am #lmtwia

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lorirwritesfanfic · 3 years

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A Letter To The Future Queen

Author's note: Last submission to CFWC Female Characters Week. It's really late, my hands are starting to hurt, so forgive me for any typos or grammar errors (I mean, more than the ones you usually can find in my fics 😅) [Leading characters are owned by Pixelberry Studios and original characters are creations of the author]

Book: The Royal Heir Characters: Crown Princess (Elise), Liam Rys, MC (Jade), F!OC (Sophie), M!OC (Louis) Pairing: Liam Rys x MC (Jade) Rating: T Word count: 1764 Summary: The Crown Princess is ready to rule Cornodia for the first time. Based on the prompt: CFWC Female Characters Week: Day 8 - The Future Is Female

"Here you go, Lil Bunny," Liam smiled softly as he gave his twenty-five-year-old daughter a tall glass of detox juice and took a seat on the stool next to her.

The young princess wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"You know you'll feel better…" The king said then took a large gulp of the greenish drink.

"How do you drink this thing unsweetened?" Elise made a face as she reached for the honey.

"It isn't that bad. And if you really didn't want to be hungover after a Beaumont Bash in your honor, you should've done as your mother always does."

"I tried! But after the sixth shot of Cuervo, I forgot to drink more water," the princess whined and rested her head on her father's shoulder. "I shouldn't have trusted Uncle Leo and Ava."

Liam chuckled softly, caressing Elise's long hair with one hand. "It happens to the best of us, my darling."

"It doesn't happen to you. Or to mom."

"Well, I wasn't their target this week. And everybody knows Leo would never mess up with Jade again."

"You're right…" The young princess stared at the glass of juice and sighed. "When I grow up, I want to be just like mom."

"When you grow up?" Liam asked with an amused look.

"You know what I mean…" she nudged her father playfully. "Mom is fearless, smart, passionate about what she believes in. And she's fifty-four and looks as hot she was when you first met."

"Yes, she is..."

"Gee, Dad! Can you stop worshipping mom for five seconds and give me some encouragement?" Elise nagged.

The king couldn't help but laugh.

"Daaaaaad!" Elise whined, pouting just enough to get her father's attention.

"My darling, do you really believe you need encouragement? You were chosen by the Royal Council to be the regent while we'll be away. Jade and I didn't even cast our votes and you already had the majority of the votes."

"But isn't that what some of the counselors want? To test me and see if I'll fail and tarnish our family name?"

"Perhaps some of them are expecting you to fail. But most of us believe in you, my darling. You are the future of Cordonia. Besides, your mother and I will be one video call away."

"But what if there are problems I can't solve and you're busy taking care of mom? I don't want to bother either of you."

As a small line appeared between his daughter's brows, the king shifted in his seat so he could stare into her eyes."

"Elise, you are as strong as your mother. And I know that because every time I look at you, I see her. You have her boldness, eloquence, quick thinking, sense of humor. I know you'll make us proud."

The young princess gazed at her father in worry. "I'm scared."

"I know…" Knowing her fear was more than just about ruling the kingdom, Liam took her hand in his and lifted it to her lips. "But you'll be fine. Both of you."

"What are you two whispering about?" Jade called from the doorway. The ends of her green satin robe flew into the air as the wind blew against her body while she walked into the kitchen.

"I bet it's politics again," Sophie, the youngest of the Bourbon-Rys family chimed in with her brother in tow.

"Never been so glad not to be the firstborn," Louis joked as he took a seat next to his father.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Louis. Dad was the spare to the throne and look where he is now." Elise gave her brother a knowing look.

"But this time the firstborn in this family actually is the responsible one," the young prince smirked.

"Hey! What happened to 'good morning, dad', 'I can't believe you'll be abroad for four months, dad", 'I promise I won't turn Valtoria estate upside down'?" Liam asked.

"I'm not sure he can promise that, dad." Sophie teased before planting a kiss on her father's cheek. "Good morning!"

"Good morning, sweetheart." Liam smiled softly.

"Excuse me?" Jade approached the kitchen island. "Why am I fetching ingredients to make myself green juice when there's a glass untouched right here?"

The queen grabbed the glass and drank everything in a few gulps. While Elise and Louis grimaced, Liam and Sophie chuckled.

"It's a bit too sweet for my taste, but whatever."

"You're welcome."

Jade smirked at her husband, knowing the juice wasn't prepared for her. As she blew him a kiss, he replied with a smile.

"Alright, who wants waffles?" The queen beamed.

When Liam and Jade stepped outside the Royal Palace, a cacophony of shutter sounds and clicks took over the main entrance as the monarchs waved to the crowd, reporters, and photographers. As far as everyone knew, the king and queen were leaving for an extended vacation to celebrate their upcoming wedding renewal ceremony on their private island and left Crown Princess Elise as regent in the meantime. Of course, only the ones close to the Royal Family knew the real reason. And as expected, they were all there to support them.

Once Jade said her goodbyes to her loyal friends, she turned to her children with a smile, giving them long hugs. As she looked at Elise, the queen cupped her face. "Chin up, my beautiful girl. If you need anything, call me, okay?"

The Crown Princess took a deep breath to fight back tears as her mother hugged her. "Please come back soon."

"No promises… Your father still owes me a second honeymoon." The queen smirked.

Elise chuckled. "Okay. Just take care of yourself and come back to us."

"I will." Jade kissed her daughter's forehead and moved along.

When it was time to say goodbye to her father, instead of curtsying first, Elise ignored the protocol and held her father tightly. The king didn't mind the public display of affection. The whole Europe knew Cornodian Royal Family members were affectionate people. The king's departure to France wouldn't be any different. Yet, this time, he hoped no one would notice what he was about to do.

"Call me tonight?" Elise pleaded.

"Of course. Take care of yourself, my Lil Bunny."

"Yes, sir."

After one last kiss on his daughter's cheek, the king finally joined his wife and waved to the crowd.

As she watched her parents climb into the king's Rolls Royce, Elise shoved her hands into her coat pockets to fight the cold weather and found an envelope inside. Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she looked at her parents and her father winked at her.

Nodding in acknowledgment, the Crown Princess waved to her king and queen and to the crowd before entering the palace.

As soon as she returned to the palace, instead of going to her study, she asked her assistant to hold any appointments for a few minutes and went back to her suite. Elise sat by her vanity dresser and reached for the envelope sealed with her father's personal wax seal stamp. Inside it, a small note and a crumpled paper.

"My Lil Bunny,

I know you're still unsure about ruling Cornodia on your own, but I assure you: you can do this. Don't forget you have your uncles and aunts as Royal counselors and they'll do anything to help. But if you still need more encouragement, you can read your mother's letter.

All my love,

Dad

P.S: Jade wrote this letter then found it too dramatic and tossed it in the trash can. So as far as she's concerned, this letter no longer exists and you never read it. If you wish to keep it, you're at your own risk.

P.S 2: I'm kidding. Keep it in your safe or we'll have huge problems with your mother in the future."

Chuckling at the thought of her father stealing the crumpled letter from her mother's office, Elise picked it up and unfolded the paper.

"My dearest Elise,

By the time you read this, I must be on my way to France with your father while you take your rightful place as Princess Regent of Cordonia. I'd give anything to see you ruling our country, but unfortunately, we'll have to postpone that moment for now.

I know the circumstances aren't ideal. I certainly didn't wish to leave you concerned about my health and you must feel like everyone is watching, waiting for you to fail. Believe me, I know the feeling. However, I must remind you that you are a Bourbon-Rys. You are the descendant of powerful leaders such as Queen Kenna Rys of the Five Kingdoms, Queen Kendra of Cordonia, and Queen Sofia de Borbón of Calenvia. All those monarchs and fierce women must be proud to see you sitting on the same throne many of them did.

I also can't remiss to tell you how proud I am. Unlike many of your ancestors, your existence isn't a consequence of a political alliance. You're the fruit of the love of two people who yearned to share everything they have with you. Liam and I wanted more than an heir to rule Cornodia one day. We wanted to raise a child that could carry all of our best traits and be their own person. And much like your siblings, you are everything we hoped you would be.

Now that Cornodia is under your power, don't be scared. You were born and raised for this moment and you are more ready to rule this kindom than I ever was. I have no doubts you'll do your best and succeed.

And before I finish this letter, rest assured that I'll be fine. After the mastectomy, I'll come back home healthier and I hope to have many years ahead of me, so I can witness my beautiful girl become the legendary queen I know you will be.

Stay strong and wonderful, my darling!

Love always,

Mom."

Tears rolled down Elise's cheeks. Her parents have always been supportive, still, she had no idea how much faith they had in her. And, despite the uncertainty of her future as regent, she was determined to fulfill her life mission.

"Your Royal Highness?" Her assistant knocked on the door.

"Yes, Sabrina?"

"The Royal counselors have arrived and they're waiting for you, ma'am."

"Alright. I'll be at the conference room in five minutes."

Squaring her shoulders, Elise looked at herself in the mirror and reached for her beauty products to do a few quick retouches on her makeup and leave for her first Council meeting as Princess Regent.

#choices fanfic #the royal heir fanfic #liam rys #liam x mc #crown princess #lorirwritesfanfic #lorircreates #cfwc female characters

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karahalloway · 3 years

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WIP Wednesday - Camping Was Intense (Part 2)

Since it’s Wednesday, I’ve decided to share a snippet of the sequel to Camping Was Intense (a Wacky Drabbles one-shot I wrote about a month ago). This will be my submission for Drake’s Birthday Bash, hosted by @twinkleallnight, as the original fic was birthday themed and since it was Twinkle who suggested I write a follow-up instalment, I thought it would be perfect to continue the story for her event!

Series: TRR - (Un)Common Attraction universe

Pairing: Drake Walker x OC (Harper Gale)

Synopsis: Harper organises (another) surprise birthday party for Drake that doesn’t end up going as planned…

Warnings: M (swearing, grumpy Drake 😆)

"Fuckin' Beaumont..." gripes Drake as I help him back to our tent. "Never invite him camping again."

"What the hell happened?"

"Nothing," he grumbles, pulling the bits of toilet paper from his nostrils to check whether his nose was still bleeding. His efforts are rewarded by a fresh gush of blood down his face. "...fuck's sake."

I cast him a sidelong glance as I offer him the rest of the roll. "You tried to sneak up on him, didn't you?"

"No," he mutters, tearing a new sheet off.

His momentary hesitation is all the confirmation I need.

"Why would you do that!"

"I thought it'd be funny? I dunno..." he shrugs, sticking the fresh wads up his nose. "He interrupted us with his late-night cooler raiding, so I wanted to pay him back..."

I shake my head exasperatedly as we reach the tent. "I kinda want to say 'serves you right'..."

He cocks a brow at me. "But?"

"...but it's your birthday, and you've already suffered enough, so I'll save it 'til the morning."

"Gee, thanks, Gale..." he says dryly, ducking into the tent after me. "Way t' make a guy feel special."

"Well, I had a whole plan for that, but—"

He grabs my wrist. "What plan?"

To be continued! Hoping to post the whole instalment by the end of the week!

Permatags (let me know if you want to be added!)

@twinkleallnight @lovingchoices14 @petiteboheme @aussiegurl1234 @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @tessa-liam @alyshak92 @secretaryunpaid @princessleac1 @walkerdrakewalker @choicesficwriterscreations @fictionloveevie @angelasscribbles @nestledonthaveone @tinkie1973 @lunaseasblog @drakewalkerisreal @indiana-jr @twinkle-320

#drake walker #harper gale #camping was intense #wip wednesday #choices fic writers creations #the royal romance #trr fanfic #drake x mc

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alj4890 · 3 years

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Angst Prompt

Dawn’s Early Light

(Part Three to One Fateful Night)

As requested by many of you.

(Liam x OC) in a one shot continuation of the angsty One Fateful Night.

A/N Here's some happiness to the angst so many sent messages about. I know it is still bittersweet in a way, with Riley being dead and all, but I think it gives our favorite prince a chance to find true love after all. On another note, I had at one time considered Liam meeting someone in Washington D.C. in another story where Riley died the night of the Homecoming Ball in Book 2. I guess this makes up for deleting it and never posting, LOL.

Part 2 The Dark Before the Dawn

@kingliam2019 @texaskitten30 @yourmajesty09 @gkittylove99 @krsnlove @mom2000aggie @twinkleallnight @lodberg @sweatyrysconnoisseur @motorcitymademadame

Masterlist

Dawn’s Early Light

Somewhere in Maryland...

"Sir?"

Liam grimaced at the voice coming through loud and clear from his cell phone. The one time he convinced Bastien that he could travel on his own and the man still made certain to call every hour.

"Yes?" He huffed.

"Your current location?"

"That at the moment is a little difficult to pinpoint." Liam squinted through the pouring rain. "One of the roads was flooded and the numerous detours have sent me further east of D.C."

He could hear frantic mutterings in the background, papers shifting and clicks from computers.

"Pull over and we will try to locate you." Bastien ordered.

Liam looked about at the flour lane highway, barely able to see five feet ahead of him. "There isn't a spot to do so. I'll call once I find a safe place."

"Your majesty," he could hear the frustration in his Head of the King's Guards' voice, "this is why I insisted we fly down together."

"And I knew this was my last chance to take a road trip of sorts." Liam countered. "You worry too much, Bastien."

"And you don't worry enough." Bastien muttered. "If you haven't found a place within the next hour, I am coming to find you."

"Make sure to bring a rowboat." Liam teased. "That's probably the best way to travel here."

His jest was met with silence.

"Bastien?" Liam glanced down at his phone and saw the call had dropped. Tossing it back in the passenger seat, he continued on down the road.

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

Outside of Annapolis...

"No!" Autumn pleaded when her tire burst. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Pulling over onto the shoulder of the highway, she tried to call her parents.

"Gee, thanks for no bars." She grumbled, chucking her phone back into her purse.

Reaching for her coat she prepared herself mentally to change her own tire.

Why did Dad have to make it so boring? He knew I wouldn't pay attention!

It had been ten years since she had sat through that lesson, day dreaming of the cute guy who sat next to her in chemistry class.

And just like her lack of luck with Mr. Chemistry, she was about to fail miserably with her tire.

She pulled the flashlight and tools out her father insisted she keep in her vehicle at all times and stepped out into the rainstorm.

"Any creepy serial killers out there," she yelled towards the darkened woods that lined the highway, "now is NOT the time to mess with me!"

She paused in removing the jack from her trunk. "That goes for any wild animals unless you're the helpful kind from fairy tales."

She snorted at her own joke as she set reflectors along the road. "And if you know of any princes, do send them my way."

"Alright car, you and I have been through it." She patted it's side. "All the snow storms in Pennsylvania. New jobs. New apartments. Ex boyfriends." She knelt by the flat tire. "Let's get through this and I'll treat you to a tank of premium gas."

She removed the hubcap and blinked when a pair of bright headlights pulled up behind her.

"Didn't I specifically demand no serial killers?" She muttered to herself as she saw the silhouette of a man start walking her way.

"Pardon me?" A cultured voice called out. "Are you in need of any assistance?"

She lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the light. "I wouldn't say no to some help."

Her mystery person stopped a couple of feet away from her and studied her tire.

"Where's the jack?"

She handed it to him and watched as he expertly began to raise the back end up.

"Here's the tool kit." She handed it over, discreetly keeping a screwdriver in her hand in case he was a psycho.

"I hate to keep you out in the rain, but could you shine your flashlight here so I can remove the lug nuts?"

"Right. Of course." She dutifully lifted it where he directed.

"Perfect." He turned to smile at her. "Thank you."

She blinked at how handsome he was. "I, no problem. I should be thanking you."

"My pleasure." He looked around. "I don't suppose you know where we are, do you?"

Oh no. A hot psycho. Just my luck.

"Um, don't you know?" She took a cautious step back.

"I've never been in this part of America before." He explained, unaware of her trepidation. "I lost GPS about two hours ago."

"Oh." She relaxed and stepped closer. "We're about forty-five minutes from Annapolis.

"How far is that from D.C.?" He asked.

"About forty minutes or so depending on traffic." She tilted her head. "Let me guess. You're a politician or aide of some sort."

He chuckled. "Not really."

"You certainly don't sound like the men in Washington."

"Oh? And how do they sound?"

"Arrogant jerks. Every last one of them. Even the mailroom guys act like they rule the world." Her nose wrinkled.

"Ah." Her handsome stranger removed her flat tire and placed the spare on. "Not fond of men in power, I take it."

"Not really." She squatted next to him, hoping she would remember his actions in case she had another flat tire some time in the future. "I guess there's bound to be one man out there who actually wants to serve the people instead of having them serve him."

"I see." He glanced over at her. "I like to think there are honest rulers out there."

Her brow furrowed. "Rulers?" She studied his profile. "You're not American, are you?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Where are you from?" Her eyes narrowed in thought. "Your accent is hard to place."

"Cordonia" he grunted as he tightened the lug nuts. "Have you heard of it?"

"It sounds familiar." She muttered.

"It is a tiny but beautiful country in Europe." He explained.

"Isn’t every European nation?” She teased. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of of one that I would turn down a vacation to.”

He began to lower her car back down with the jack. "All done."

"I don't know how to thank you." She pushed her wet hair back, wondering how horrible she must look as she picked up the safety reflectors

"No need." He smiled warmly. "Have a good evening, my lady." With an instinctive bow, he turned and walked back to his own car.

"My lady?" Her lips quirked with humor. Perhaps the fairy tale animals had sent her a prince. "Hey! Wait!"

He paused with his car door open. "Yes?"

"There's an all night diner a few miles ahead." She took a deep breath. "Would you like to follow me there? We could dry off and I could buy you a piece of pie as a thank you."

Her hero's smile grew brighter. "I'd like that. Lead the way."

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

"I'm Autumn." She held her hand out as they waited to be seated.

"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Liam." He took her hand and bowed over it.

"Is that how people greet one another in Cordonia?" She asked.

"It is the norm from where I grew up." He responded with a sheepish grin.

He shook her hand. "Is that better?"

"Your way was fine." She glanced down at their clasped hands. "I just feel a little under dressed for such a proper greeting."

"Nonsense." Liam continued to hold her hand. "A little water logged perhaps, but lovely nonetheless."

Her lips parted in surprise.

"Just the two of you?"

The pair turned toward a waitress.

"Yes." Autumn replied. "Just us."

"Follow me." She sat them at a table and handed over some menus. "What can I get you to drink?"

"Coffee, please." Autumn replied.

"I'll have the same." Liam added.

"Coming right up."

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

"Autumn?" Liam tested her name. "Were you given that name due to being born in the fall?"

She shook her head. "My parents have a warped sense of humor. I was born in April."

He laughed causing her to smile once more.

She thought his laughter had such a warm encompassing sound that made her want to hear it often as she could.

"They also wanted to have their kids' initials for Pennsylvania." She rolled her eyes. "My older brother, Patrick, took care of the P while I completed it with an A." Her own laughter bubbled out. "Then my unplanned younger brother was born and threw those initials out the door."

"What did they name him?" Liam asked.

"August, since he was born in January. Being that he was a surprise, they went with another A name to have an, aaahhh, moment at the end of P.A.."

Liam shook with his laughter over her parents. "They sound delightful."

"They sound that way," she teased, "but when you live with them..." Her smile softened. "They really are great parents and my brothers aren't too bad either."

"I have an older brother." He told her. "Leo and I were never as close as I wished we could have been. He spends so much time traveling and exploring the world that I don't have the heart to pressure him into coming home more often." A sadness came over him. "I've never seen him so happy as when he sends me pictures from his latest adventure."

"He's a wandering soul." She added.

"Precisely." Liam refocused on her. "And a wanderer withers and dies if tied down."

"What about your parents?" She asked.

"My mother died when I was very young and my father passed away about five years ago." He explained. "I'm close to my stepmother, Regina. She and Leo are all I have left for family."

"I'm sorry." Autumn mumbled. "I didn't mean to dredge up painful--"

Her breath caught when he laid his hand over hers. She thought she could actually feel herself getting lost in his blue eyes...which was something she teased her friends over every time they mentioned something like that. Yet here she was, finding herself falling for a man who changed her tire in the rain.

He gently squeezed her fingers. "Nothing to apologize for. I miss them but I am done grieving."

As their waitress brought them a fresh pot of coffee, Liam realized how true that statement was. He was done grieving for all of his lost loved ones.

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

"Now then." Liam looked up from his menu. "Do you work in Washington?"

"I do." She replied. "Not in a political aspect though."

"What do you do?" He asked.

"I'm an archivist at the National Air and Space Museum."

His expression brightened with interest. "I've always wanted to visit the Smithsonian. To work and preserve the very fabric of your nation's history must be fascinating."

"It is!" She leaned forward as she became more animated about her work.

Deciding to prolong this conversation, the two ordered a meal before indulging in pie.

Liam listened, asking questions that only made her more excited in sharing this piece of her life.

It was rare for Autumn to find anyone interested in what she did.

"Right now, my team is working on digitizing everything we have on rocket tests during the 1950's." She explained. "Reading through the vast paperwork, various film and photographs, all audio recordings; I get to sift through every bit of it for our records."

"I once assisted an archivist at the palace library." Liam told her. "I discovered long ago manuscripts and journals in a hidden nook." His smile softened at the memory. "It was all by accident. My best friend and I were playing in one of the ballrooms when the soccer ball we were kicking around struck a piece of the baseboards, causing a hidden door to open."

Autumn's eyes widened. "It's a wonder you didn't get in trouble with the palace curators. They do not appreciate anyone playing around the exhibits."

Liam chuckled. "I was lucky the curators were fond of me."

"You knew them?" She asked. "Were they family members?"

"They aren't family, but I did know them." He replied, being deliberately mysterious about who he was.

He hadn't had a normal conversation in years. When she didn't recognize him, he felt a lightness he had felt on that long ago night in New York. He had forgotten how it was, how it made him feel. So often, people said the things they thought he wanted to hear. He missed the back and forth of sharing personal tidbits.

Autumn grimaced when she realized she had basically dominated the conversation for nearly an hour.

"Enough about my work," she smiled at him, "what do you do? Did you come here for business or to finally see the Smithsonian?"

He chuckled before taking a sip of his coffee. "As much as I would prefer spending my days wandering through museums, I am here to meet with government officials."

Her nose wrinkled. "I’m sorry. I do not envy you for that." Her eyebrow lifted. "What's the government like in Cordonia? Do you have a prime minister or something similar to our president?"

"We are a constitutional monarchy with the king as the Head of State." He explained.

"I see. Then you work in some capacity for him?" She continued. "You must to be here for meetings."

Liam lowered his eyes. "I suppose you could say that."

"So what's your job title?" She persisted. "Are you a member of the house of lords or whatever you have? Aide to the king?"

"I have a higher position than anything like that." He hedged. "Which is why I'm the only one to attend these meeting the next couple of weeks."

Her brow furrowed. "The king doesn't handle stuff like that?"

"He does which is why I'm here." He focused on her eyes. "The king is the only one to handle the approval for trade agreements and maintaining friendly relations with other countries."

"Then why isn’t he..." She burst into laughter. "You really had me going there for a moment." She shook her head at him. "Nice try, but no king travels alone on highways in a Nissan Altima."

"I do when I want to appear a regular man." He explained.

"Because isn't that royalty is all about?" She giggled some more. "Living life as a middle class man."

"I'm sincere." He argued. "I really am the King of Cordonia."

Her laughter died. "And just when I thought you weren't mentally unhinged." She sighed while picking at her piece of blueberry pie. "I knew you were too good to be true. No man can be both selfless and handsome without a few screws loose."

Liam's elation she found him attractive caught him by surprise. It wasn't that other women had not said similar to him at various functions. It was that he actually felt attracted to her too.

"I can prove I'm the king."

"How long have you believed you were king?" She asked. "Any chance you've thought you were someone else at one time? Napoleon Bonaparte? King Tut?"

He snorted on his laughter. "I've been king for over six years now. The rest of my life was spent as a prince."

"Uh huh." She poured them each another cup of coffee. "Guess that explains why you weren't banned from the palace for playing soccer."

"It is my home." He pointed out.

"Sure it is." She patted his hand. "And I'm sure you're the best king out there who knows how to change a tire."

"I only know because my best friend taught me." Liam explained. "He was one of the few people in my life who did not allow me to become a spoiled prince."

"Right." She smiled at him. "It's been great and all." She reached into her purse for her wallet. "And I do thank you so much for your help with the flat tire, but I should go."

"You don't believe me?" He asked.

"I believe you believe it." She said cautiously.

Liam quickly pulled his phone out and handed it to her. "Look up Cordonia."

"Just because you think you're a king doesn't mean you can order me around." Her eyes narrowed in warning. "Besides, I wouldn't use your phone. You'd probably have me looking at some doctored photos of yourself."

"Forgive me I didn’t mean to make it sound like a command." Liam ran a hand through his hair. "I've never met anyone who didn't believe I am who I say."

"First time for e everything, huh?" She hesitated when she saw his disappointment. "Fine." She searched for her phone. "I'll play along if you find our waitress. I'm going to need more pie as I research you."

He grinned while doing as she asked.

Autumn wandered of it was because it was the middle of the night that made her sit here with some guy claiming to be--

"No!" Her eyes darted from the images of King Liam of Cordonia to the Liam sitting at her table. "You're really a king?!"

"Would you care for another slice of blueberry or a different type of pie?" He asked with a bright smile.

"Blueberry." Her jaw was still dropped.

"Another slice of blueberry please for the lady and I'll have a slice of apple."

"Why on earth are you traveling lone highways in Maryland?" She asked when their waitress left.

"I flew in to New York for a few meetings with U.N. representatives. Our representative is new to her job and I wanted to encourage her." He explained. "Then I suppose I caught a bit of wanderlust from my brother and wanted to drive down to D.C." He took a bite of his new slice of pie. "It's rare I am able to convince my security team to let me out of their sight, but there are times when I like to be alone with my thoughts."

"I guess you have a lot of people demanding your time." She conceded.

"I do, which is why I make time for the people and activities that are important to me." He looked up at her. "Experience has taught me how fleeting time can be and we should make the most of every moment we are given."

"I like that." She cut into her slice with her fork while scrolling through images of Cordonia. "A lot of people get so easily wrapped up in their work and don't realize that they are missing out on so much more."

"Are you one of those people?"

Autumn paused chewing to consider his question. "Sometimes. I can get so wrapped up in a project and shut out the world going on around me." She shrugged. "Then something happens to shake me back to reality."

Liam grinned when it hit him that his being confirmed king had not changed the way she spoke to him.

As if reading his thoughts, her fork clattered on her plate. "I can't believe you really are a king." Her head tilted as she studied him. "You really don't act like how I imagine one would."

Liam folded his arms on the table and leaned forward. His bright blue eyes held her gray ones. "How should I act?"

She snorted. "For one thing you wouldn't have stood out in the pouring rain to change a tire."

"Aren't fairy tales filled with princes rescuing damsel in distress?" He countered.

She rolled her eyes playfully. "It isn't like you slayed a dragon."

"According to your imagination, what should I have done in that situation?" He countered, delighted with her not putting him on a pedestal.

"First off, if you were on a," she made quotation marks with her fingers, "road trip, you'd probably be in a limo since your private jet is tucked away in a hangar somewhere."

"But then I would have a driver and thus not able to be alone." He reminded her.

"True." She propped her chin on her hand and smiled. "We'll forget the car then since you are chivalrous and in need of a break." She gestured with her free hand around the diner. "A king wouldn't come her, happily order food, nor be willing to sit here for hours listening to some girl talk about museums."

"Why not?" Liam asked. "He could have been hungry since he had been lost for a while."

"I guess that's a reasonable possibility." Autumn muttered.

"And if he wanted to know more about the damsel he rescued, then shouldn't he be at least willing to remain here with her?"

"Maybe." She forced herself to look away from him. "Then again, maybe this is a night for things out to the ordinary to happen." She asked their waitress for their check.

Autumn shushed his arguments, insisting on paying for his meal.

At that moment, Bastien and some guards walked in.

Liam's eyes widened. "Bastien? How did you find me?"

"We have a tracker on your phone, your majesty." He explained. "We really need to get you to Washington. You have an early morning of..."

Liam tuned him out and focused once more on the lady he had met tonight.

"It's my fault." Autumn spoke up. "I wanted to thank Liam with some pie for his help earlier."

She stood up and held her hand out. “Thank you again for helping me.”

Liam pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Autumn."

"I..." She could feel her entire body blush with that simple touch. "I'm happy to have met you too, Liam." She grimaced. "I mean, your majesty. Should I curtsy?"

He chuckled. "Just Liam with no curtsey is fine."

"Liam no curtsey." She winked at him. "Nice name for a king." Nodding farewell toward his guards, she slipped out of the restaurant.

Liam watched her drive off from one of the windows.

He wondered if he had just met the one.

#Liam x OC #choices the royal romance #choices stories you play #trr liam #king liam

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drariellevalentine · 3 years

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Medically Inevitable

Chapter 11:- Beloved Birthdays

Characters:- Arielle Valentine, Ethan Ramsey, Mark Raines, Liam Mercado, Sienna Trinh, Elijah Greene, Landry Olsen, Jackie Varma, Bryce Lahela, Rafael Aveiro, Kyra Santana, Danny Cardinal, Phoebe Reznik

Pairing:- Ethan Ramsey x Arielle Valentine

Warnings:- Alcohol, Swearing

Arielle’s PoV:-

You wake up around 3:30, not being able to sleep. After tossing and turning in your bed with no avail, you step into your bathroom and decide to start your morning routine. After brushing your teeth and a series of skincare steps, you slip on your robe and head out to your balcony.

Sliding the glass door shut, to make sure no one wakes up, you step outside and lean against the railing. The cool breeze makes you shiver as your med school memories come rushing inside your mind, against your will. You forcefully shut your eyes, trying to make it stop, but it doesn’t...everything comes crashing down. You remember everything...from the moment you met him, to the platonic hang-outs which evolved into romantic dates, the sweet Valentine’s Day activities you would do every year, meeting each other’s families and the day when he said ‘I Love You’ and you said it back….and finally the moment when your heart was ripped apart. You sink to your knees, head between your knees, and let everything out. All the emotions swirling inside of you finally pour out of you as tears, completely soaking the front of the robe. It’s been about 10 minutes when you hear, “Arielle?” Looking up, you see Elijah right outside the threshold. You quickly wipe your tears and quickly stand up.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. An eyelash fell into my eye.”

He looks at you. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard.”

You sigh. “It’s a long story.”

“Okay then, short version.”, he says.

“I was in a six-year relationship during med school and it came crashing down a few months before residency. So, he ended up cheating on me...with my best friend.”

He gives you a sympathetic look. “I’m so sorry Arielle.” He wheels his chair towards you as you slump back into your plush armchair.

“I’m fine. I’ve dealt with it. It just came back to me, reopened some old wounds.”, you say tears well up once again. He wordlessly envelops you in a hug, letting you sit there for some time. “Thanks, Elijah. You’re an amazing friend.” He’s about to reply when a yawn cuts him off.

“Looks like I’m a little sleepy.”, he smiles sheepishly.

“I completely forgot it’s so early. How did you even hear me?”, you ask.

“I heard sobbing from the side of my bed. It’s right next to your balcony remember?”

“Oh yeah. You should get some sleep.” He slowly wheels away but turns around, “Will you be okay?” You nod. He exits the room as you walk into your bathroom and decide to make yourself a nice hot bubble bath. Turning the hot water tap, you survey your bubble bath mixtures until deciding on a jasmine and coconut scented one. Pouring a generous amount in, you slip off your clothes and sink into the tub and let yourself relax.

After a long soak, you dry yourself off and go to the kitchen to get something to eat.

“Hey.” Startled, you look up to find Landry at the front door.

“You’re up this early?”, you ask.

“Yeah, I always leave this early. Even Dr. Ramsey gets in this early. I mean, he’s the example you want to follow right?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t mean that you have to follow his schedule.”, you reply teasingly.

“So are you coming or not? It definitely will help you in the competition, it gives you time to study your charts.”

“Alright. Just give me a sec.” You head into your room and pull on a pair of scrubs. You quickly pull your hair into a high ponytail and grab your backpack as you head out the door with Landry.

“We’ll take my car.” You slide into Landry’s car and drive to Edenbrook. You both grab your stuff and after dropping off your stuff, you both head out to the near-empty atrium. “Hey, want to see if Dr. Ramsey posted the new rankings earlier?”, he asks.

“That’s today?”, you ask.

“Yeah. You don’t remember?!”, he asks.

“Well, my mind slipped. I’m focused on my patients. Let’s go see.” Both of you walk towards the notice board and Landry slowly reads the list from the top. His face falls as he notices his rank.

“What!? How did I slip to eighth?”

“Well...did you make any mistakes recently?”, you ask.

“Well, I almost misdiagnosed a case the other day.” You look at him ridiculously.

“It wasn’t my fault! I didn’t know that she had changed her daily routine!”, he defends.

“Didn’t you talk to the patient?”, you ask.

“Why should I? We’re supposed to figure out what’s wrong with them, not listen to all their life stories.”, he shrugs.

“Learning about the patients and their stories is the best part! Anyways, it’s part of the job.”, you answer.

He nods. “Ok, I have to go.” He heads towards the nurses’ station. You notice your ranking, right above Landry’s. A small beam of pride washes over you. Taking advantage of the very empty atrium, you decide to visit Naveen when you notice Dr. Emery coming your way. Crap!

“Good morning, Chief Emery.”

“Good morning, Dr. Valentine.”, she nods in response. Quickly, you head back to the nurses’ station and go to pick up your charts when you hear someone call you.

“Valentine.” You turn around and see Zaid.

“Yes?…”

"Valentine, new admission in room 712. Dr.Ramsey wants you to handle it," Zaid states.

"Dr. Ramsey… asked for me?" You ask shocked.

"By name," Zaid says in a plain voice.

"Really? Why?" By now you can't help your smile.

"Gee, I dunno Valentine. I didn't ask. Maybe I should be more like you and badger my superiors with incessant questions," Zaid returns your smile sarcastically making you drop yours.

"Fineee," you raise your hand in mock surrender. "I'll go and attend the patient."

You make your way to the seventh floor. Entering the room with a smile on your face, you find a man in his late 50's laying on the bed.

"Good morning Mr.Platt. What can I do for you today?" You say nicely with a bright smile on your face.

"You can start by-" before the man can complete his sentence, he burps loudly scaring you with the sudden action. You compose yourself quickly. "turning down the A/C in this godawful hospital! I'm not a polar bear. And then you can send my doctor." He says rudely which annoys you but don't say anything rather play nice. "Enough nurses. Show me some-" he burps again -"respect."

"Mr.Platt I am your doctor-" he interrupts you." Like hell-" he burps loudly again," Like hell you are."

By this time your anger rises at this man's audacity. "Excuse me?" Your voice comes out louder and angrier than you expected.

"You look like a little teenager. You don't even look qualified to wipe my ass. Go and call an actual doctor."

“Oh, that’s it! How dare he question your qualification!” You’re about to rip him off when you remember he’s your patient. Taking a few deep breaths, you grit your teeth and calm yourself.

"I'm highly qualified. Mr.Platt, I assure you that I am older than I look," you decide to play the nice card one last time, "I graduated top of my class from-"

"Anyone can be certified for anything now-" he burps- "thanks to the internet."

“Oh my god!!!”, you think. “ Luckily Edenbrook has an extremely rigorous standard for its staff. I'm one of the best doctors of my year, nationwide. You are in good hands."

"Hrm. We'll see about that," he says, his voice filled with arrogance.

"Now why don't you tell me what brings you here today," you pick up his chart ignoring the wish to tear him apart. "Your chart says you have been experiencing chest pain."

"That's what I have been saying-" he burps again, "My chest hurts."

“When on Earth did he say that? All along he was just trying to question my qualification!”, you inwardly scoff.

"Okay. Anything else out of the ordinary?"

"Tingling in my arms like pins and needles." His expression turns into a horrified one when he says the next lines. "I read online that it means I'm having a heart attack."

"Well, that certainly can be a symptom. Have you been experiencing something else? Any jaw pain or maybe lightheadedness?"

"My damned hair has been falling out. Clumps of it in the pillow every morning when I wake up."

"Interesting," you note the point down "Definitely not a symptom of heart-" but you are again being cut off by him.

"But that's what-" he burps loudly for the hundredth time now, "-the internet said."

"The internet can be misleading, sir. Still, we'll send you down for an E.C.G to rule out the heart attack. But first I'll-"

"What the hell is an A.B.C.? You're making up this garbage as you go. Send me a real doctor now." You pinch the bridge of your nose as you make your way to the ER to get a head start on your shift before lunch.

Ethan’s PoV:-

You’re just finishing up your shift in the ER when a scent of coconut and some kind of flower wafts through the air. Turning around, you find none other than Dr. Valentine. You can tell she’s livid but trying to be calm.

“Dr. Valentine. How is Mr. Platt’s case going?” She weighs her options on what to say.

“He’s…quite difficult. But nothing I can’t handle.” You allow yourself a small smile regarding her response. “Dr. Ramsey, I have a question.” You nod. “Is there perhaps a certain reason you assigned me this case?” You were wondering when she was going to ask.

“There is.”

“Why?”, she asks clearly eager to know.

“Figure it out.”, you say swiftly leaving the ER. You can hear a groan escape her lips as you leave.

Arielle’s PoV:-

“What the hell does he mean, ‘Figure it out’?! Ugh!...”

“Dr. Valentine. There are no patients right now here. You can go.” You turn to see Sarah gesture to the empty beds.

“Well at least people aren’t sick.”, you think as you head back to the nurses’ station.

After rounds, you grab a light salad and a strawberry smoothie and spot some of your friends at a table.”Hey guys! What’s up?”

“What’s up is that’s it’s Jackie’s birthday today, but she thinks nobody knows.”, Elijah says.

“Wait what!? Why didn’t anybody tell me?!”, you ask.

“Well that’s why we’re telling you now!”, a voice says from behind. You turn around to find Bryce flashing you his signature smirk. You roll your eyes.

“So...what are we going to do?!”, you ask.

“How do you guys know?”, you ask.

“I saw a text from one of her friends.”, Sienna says.

“So, I and Bryce came up with this plan….”, Elijah explains the plan (with Bryce chiming in with (‘This was my idea!’) every once in a while as you chow down on lunch.

“Sounds awesome! Everyone on board?!”, Si asks. Everyone nods.

“I can snag us a reservation downtown.”, you offer.

“Those places have to be reserved months in advance!”, Sienna says.

You smirk, “I have friends in high places.”

“Of course you do.”, Bryce says. Just then your pager beeps.

“Time for my ER shift.”, you dispose of your tray and head to the ER after trading your pumps for a pair of sandals.

“Dr. Valentine!” You twirl around and see Danny waving.

“Hey, Danny.”

“Here’s the test results you asked for.”

“Thanks! By the way, we’re planning a surprise birthday party for Jackie today. You should come, Sienna would want you to.”

“...okay. I’ll try. And I won’t say a word to Jackie.”, he responds.

“I’ll send you the address later.” Thanking him, you look through the results for some clue...but find nothing.

You groan as you enter the ER. “Why did Dr. Ramsey even assign me this case?!”

“Having a bad day?” You turn around to find Rafael standing at the door of the E.R.

He gives you a sympathetic smile, "You sound like you could use someone to vent to. And not to toot my own horn," he smiles," but I have been told that I am a great listener."

"I don't doubt it," you smile back.

He pauses for a moment then adds, " Want to grab dinner after work today."

"I would have loved to, but I have got plans with some other interns tonight," you reply feeling guilty for denying such a sweet offer. However, you smile brightly as an idea strikes your mind, "Rafael, why don't you join us for dinner tonight?" You ask excitedly.

"Me and a bunch of hotshot doctors? I'm not sure that's my scene," he nods his head still smiling.

"C'mon! It's Jackie's birthday, so we are throwing her a surprise party. It would be fun," you say hoping he'd agree, " Also you could meet my friends. They are awesome."

He laughs at your excitement, "I am sure I have met them a couple of times. I bring a lot of emergency patients."

"Meeting them in the emergency ward don't count, Raf." You playfully roll your eyes. "They are a great group of people, they'll love you. And so will you..." Making a puppy face you request him in the cutest way possible," Please!"

Rafael bites his lips thinking and then shakes his head smiling.

"You can be very persuasive, you know?"

You grin at the comment. "So does that mean that you'll join us?"

He nods before laughing at your childish excitement. Your pager beeps.

“Incoming patient.” The pager should be known as the universal interrupter for doctors! I swear it just loves to interrupt people!”, you exclaim as you wave back to him.

“Well, It also does make sure that none of your patients are dead.”, he calls out. You laugh as you head to the emergency bay.

After your shift in the ER, you quickly update Dr. Tanaka on the scheduled surgeries and head to the 5th floor to find Ines.

“Ines! I need a favor.”

“Of course! What can I do for my favorite intern?”

“You probably shouldn’t say that out loud,...but I don’t mind.”, you reply with a cheeky smile. “I need you to keep Jackie busy with patients until I text you a heart.” She gives you a look. “Today’s her birthday and we want to surprise her.”, you explain.

Her face brightens, “Of course! I’ll make sure she doesn’t suspect anything.”

“Thank you!” You throw your arms around her for a quick minute and head off to the parking lot after grabbing your stuff. After a quick drive, you enter your apartment to see everyone except Jackie getting dressed.

Bryce notices you and walks towards you. “So, have you made the reservation yet?”

“Just about to call.” You head inside your room and scroll through your contact list until you find Mark, hitting dial. He picks up almost immediately.

“If it isn’t my favorite doctor cousin.”

“I’m your only cousin who’s a doctor.”, you laugh.

“So, how’s residency going? The last time we talked, you told me you were in a competition.”

“It’s...a learning experience. How’s Blair?”

“She’s amazing. She’s at the firm right now with Adrian.”

“Awesome. So, I need a favor from my favorite chef.”, you say.

“Ask away.”

“So, it’s a friend’s birthday and a need to make a reservation somewhere downtown. I would have made one before but I only got to know today. Do you know any restaurants in Boston that can squeeze a group of around...uh…10 people? Please?!”

“I’ll need more than that. Tell me what kind of place.”

“Hmm...let’s see. She would appreciate some a bit fancy but something where everyone can still be themselves and enjoy the night. The place would be nice if it was private, secluded. Definitely with like an open bar or something like that.”

He doesn’t respond. “Mark? Are you still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Sorry if it’s too much to ask. I’ll find something.”

“Woah, wait a sec Cherry! I was just thinking.”, he responds.

“Yeah, I know. It’s a lot to ask.”

”Luckily, I know just the place.”

“Thank you, Mark. So much.”

His voice softens, “Who else would I do this for? I’ll text you the address and any other details you need to know.”

“Ok bye!”

“Love you too Cherry!” He sarcastically says after he ends the call. You come out of your room to find everyone dressed and ready.

“Ahh! You guys all look amazing!”, you exclaim.

“And so will you, once you get ready.”, Sienna exclaims as she pushes you back into your room. “Okay, let’s see what you have.” She rifles through the evening wear section of your closet and pulls out a black lace dress. “This is perfect! Now get dressed while I pick out some accessories to match.”, she says as she goes through your jewelry drawer. You step into your closet and pulling on the dress, you pair it with a pair of gold stilettos.

“Are you done yet?!”

“Geez Sienna! Just a minute.” You walk out of your closet to find Sienna holding a pair of gold hoops and a gold wristwatch. Taking the earrings and clasping them on, you slide onto the stool and touch up your morning makeup. Sienna pulls out a baby pink liquid lipstick and applies a coat to your lips.

“All done!”

“Thanks for your help!”, you reply as you pull a matching gold crossbody purse and fill it with all your things. “Hey, I meant to ask. Is Wayne coming?”

Her face falls, “No, he said he’s busy.” You look at her, knowing she’s hiding something. “...I told him that I need a break.”

“Oh Sienna, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know...he’s changed Ari. It’s like he doesn’t even care about me or what I do. You saw how he acted at the housewarming party.”

“I think you should talk to him. And if things don’t work out…”, you give her a pointed look. “Look Sienna, I get it. But you deserve better.” She nods as she takes your phone from you. “What are you doing?”

“You’re an influencer! And you need to post about how amazing you look right now! Now, pose like this…right by your armchair.” She snaps a pic and posts it on Insta for you.

“I think we look amazing, don’t you?”, you ask as you turn to her.

“Nope…I know we look amazing!” You both giggle.

After one final look in the mirror, you and Sienna head outside and join your friends. “Okay, I’ve told Ines to keep Jackie busy so…she’s probably at the hospital. I’ll tell Ines to let her go so she’ll have just enough time to get ready as I text her.” Everyone nods in agreement as you pull out your phone and text Ines.

“Okay, Jackie’s on her way home. Now I’ll text her.”

You show everyone the series of texts. “Mission Birthday Surprise is a go!”

“Awesome! This is going to be amazing! Arielle, where’s the reservation?”, Sienna asks. You’re about to reply when Mark calls.

“Just on time.”You slip on a Bluetooth and answer.

“Hey, Mark. We’re all in the living room right now. Did you get a reservation?”, you ask.

“Let‘s just say I pulled a few strings. I’ll send you the address. We’ve already been here before but at a different part of the restaurant. I booked you guys a rooftop, so you guys should have privacy and instructed a few other things. The head chef will greet you there, and he’ll explain everything.”

“That’s amazing! Thank you so much!”

“Anything for you.”, you laugh.

“Okay, talk to you later.”

“Have a nice time. Love you.”

“Love you too.” You cut the call and turn to everyone to break the good news when everyone stares at you. “What?!”, you ask.

“You never told us you had a boyfriend!”, Elijah says. You stare at them in confusion until it hits you. You burst out in laughter as everyone stares at you.

“Oh my god guys, he’s my cousin! I’m currently single as a pringle. Now, seeing that you guys heard everything Mark said, let’s go!”

Everyone cheers as they all pile up in your car.

“I call shotgun!”, Bryce yells as he slides in the front seat. “Kyra, Phoebe, Danny, and Raf said that they’ll meet us there.”

“Awesome! I’ll send them the address.” After a quick text to all four, you start to drive.

Blasting and singing to music all the way, you reach the place in 20 minutes.

“You have reached your destination.” Everyone cheers.

“Come on! All of you out!” All of you grab your things and walk up to the swanky restaurant. You enter the restaurant and walk up to the person.

“Ah! You must be the group Chef Raines has personally reserved. Please, follow me.” He leads you up an elevator to reveal a beautifully decorated rooftop with tables set up and an open bar.

“Damn! This is nice! Way to go, Arielle!”, Elijah says. You turn around as you hear someone call your name.

“Well if it isn’t the one and only Arielle Valentine! Or should I say, Dr. Valentine?”

“Liam! What are you doing here?”, you shout as you hug him.

“I’m now head chef of this restaurant.”

“That’s amazing!” You turn to everyone. “Guys, meet Liam Mercado, an amazing chef, and my childhood bestie.” As you introduce everyone to each other, you notice Phoebe, Raf, Kyra, and Danny coming out from the elevator. “Elijah, Sienna! Look who’s here!” The four of them start talking as they constantly blush, leaving you to giggle.

“Arielle!” You walk towards Liam. “So I’ve done a birthday cake and everything and food prep will be done in about an hour. So, it’ll be perfect for you to surprise your friend and play some games right before dinner. Just tell me once you guys are ready for dinner and we’ll bring everything out.”

“Thank you, we have to catch up sometime. The last time I saw you, I was still in med school.”

He nods, “And the last time I saw you, I wasn’t engaged either.”

“What!? Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“Because in a few weeks, I was going to invite you to Lara’s baby shower.”

“Oh my god! Congratulations! If you keep dropping bombs on me like this, you’re going to give me a heart attack.”, you shriek.

“Trust me, I wasn’t planning to tell you like this either. But I’m really excited.”, he says with a fond smile.

“You’re going to be an amazing dad.” He smiles as his phone rings.

“Excuse me, but I have to take this. It’s Mark. Probably to see if I’ve met the expectations of his favorite sister.”, he sarcastically replies. Laughing, you walk back towards the group when you hear Sienna shout. “Oh my god! We forgot about presents!” Shit! You completely forgot about presents. Quickly calling everyone over, all of you decide that you and Kyra will go and get the presents with the money everyone pitches in. “Let’s go!”, you quickly drive to the nearest mall with Kyra.

“Do you have any idea about what we should get? We don’t have much time either!”

“I know Kyra. I think we’ll buy multiple small items and make them into like a huge gift basket.”

“Awesome idea! That should work.” You both quickly rush to the mall’s directory and skim the list of stores. “Hey Ari, there’s a Sephora on the ground floor. We should start there.” You nod and head to Sephora.

“Okay, we’ll split up and just pick out a few of our favorite products. Then we’ll meet up and decide what to keep.” You quickly scan all the aisles, picking out products as you go. Knowing that every female doctor’s biggest struggle is dark circles, you pick out a tube of concealer, primer, and light-weight foundation from your favorite brand as you try to match her skin tone. Then you pick out a few different types of eyeliner and mascara, knowing that pretty much no one can spot Jackie without her signature cat-eye.

“Ari!” You spot Kyra holding a bag of her own. You go over and put all your products together. She’s picked out a perfectly sized eyeshadow palette and a few different liquid lipstick and glosses.”This is perfect! We’ll go buy a basket and some ribbons later on.” After finishing the purchase at Sephora in a record time of 12 minutes, you rush out of the store.

“Ooh! What about some products from Lush?! She loved the spa day!”, you say.

“Great idea!” After browsing around Lush, you both come up with the idea to make the color of the products themed. Kyra picks out a few soaps and bath bombs as you decide to go to Bath & Body Works. Ending up with a bottle of hairspray, perfume, and a few candles, you meet Kyra back at the second-floor lounge.

“You’re back! I found this amazing scarlet pink basket that matched our theme! Then I bought some tissue paper and ribbons and a bunch of extra stuff!”

“Amazing! I also stopped by the card shop and found this savage birthday card. We’ll get everyone to sign it. Let’s get to work!” After a tedious discussion of placement, you and Kyra manage to arrange everything in the basket neatly. She wraps the basket in a clear wrapper and ties it up with a matching ribbon and bow.

“I think we make a great team.”, you say.

“We do, don’t we!” Both of you quickly drive back to the restaurant and rush up to the rooftop. You step out of the elevator to find the place fully decorated by your friends.

“They’re back!”, Bryce shouts. “And come bearing a huge gift basket!” You and Kyra explain to everyone about the gift, then pass the card around for everyone to sign. After you sign, Si helps you tie the card with the gift basket.

“I think we’re all set.”, Landry says.

“Yeah, this was some great work! I can’t believe you guys came up with this today!”, says Phoebe.

“That’s cause it was a team effort.”, Elijah says.

“And one which will be wasted if the birthday queen isn’t here. Where is she?”, Bryce asks.

“She’ll be here in 20, Bryce. Meanwhile, we need to set up the gifts and set up the tables.

You help your friends set up the tables and gifts that you bought, with the restaurant’s staff’s help. After a while, your phone rings. You shout, “Guys, be quiet! It’s Jackie!”

You answer the call. “Hey, Jackie! Are you here yet?”

“Yeah, I just parked. What do I do now?”, she asks.

“Tell the receptionist that you’re here for the dinner that the Raines’ reserved. We’re up on the rooftop. Bye!” You shove your phone in your purse and shout, “Okay guys! The moment we’ve been all waiting for! Places everyone! I’ll switch off the lights. Once I switch on the lights, everyone yells! Understood?! Everyone nods as they take their places. You kill the lights, and a few minutes later Jackie enters from the elevator. “Arielle? Sienna? Elijah? Guys, I swear if this is some kind of prank-“ You stifle your laughter as you switch on the lights.

“Surprise!!!!” Everyone runs up and hugs her as she stands there like a deer in headlights. Bryce takes a picture of her wide-eyed face.

“Happy birthday Jackie!” You exclaim as you trap her in a hug. “You look amazing!”

“Let me guess, this was all you?”, she responds with a knowing smirk.

“Noooooo!... It was all Bryce!”, you sarcastically say.

“Hey! Offense taken!”, Bryce shouts as both of you laugh.

“You guys did all this for me?”

“I don’t know, do you know anyone else named Jackie?”, Kyra teases. All of you laugh.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?! Let’s get this party started!”, you yell.

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

Authors’ Note:- Hey lovelies! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and make sure to comment/reblog below! Also, make sure to turn on your notifications for the next chapter, where the gang gets involved in....let’s just say a quite adventurous dare. Let us know if you want to be added to the taglist!

And a special thank you to @nikki-2406, this a-ma-zing human being saved my ass from editing pics! Love you girl!🥰

Part 1 of taglist:- @kaavyaethanramsey @rookie-ramsey @ohramsey @caseyvalentineramsey @hopelessromantics4life @realmrsramsey @binny1985 @maurine07 @alina-yol-ramsey @helloitsthiv @tsrookie @arcticlumineer @mary-c92 @sad-satan-herself @whippedforethanfreakingramsey @archxxronrookie @ethansrookie02 @semanticsandsea-lemons @mrandmrsramsey @starrystarrytrouble @deepikakkannan @siaramsey @katkart122 @openheartthot @imonlybibecauseofethanramsey @luvevelynclaire @literaryexpress @miss-smrxtiee @nadeen-ahmed11 @mrsalanrickman394 @drstellavalentine @ethandaddyramseyx @annekebbphotography @custaroonie @ladyrileybrooks @robbies-sutcliffe @cralinedp @bladesofopenheart @ezekielbhandarivalleros @daddyethanramsey @aquirkychica @romewritingshop @lilyvalentine @xpandabeardontcarex @in-love-with-a-trans-girl @coastalengineer @starrystarrytrouble @clowneryme @natureblooms24

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robinrunsfiction · 4 years

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A Long Way Home - Part 2

Part 1

Pairing: Gerard Way x Female Reader Rating: General Requested By: Anon Word Count: ~7900 total, about ~4450 in part 2 (minus the song lyrics used) Author’s Note: The song featured is Audience of One by Rise Against, it can be found in the playlist, here. I hope you enjoy the conclusion to the story!

As the tour rolled on, (YN) started to wonder if maybe there was a chance that the crazy commenters online were right about the possibility of her and Gerard being something.

It seemed like he always made time to see them perform now, and talked to her when he got the chance. It was never overtly flirtatious, but she couldn't help but wonder and hope that he was trying to get closer to her.

Unfortunately the tour had reached the halfway point and that meant saying goodbye to Taking Back Sunday. (YN) felt so thankful that she could now count Adam, John, Shawn and Mark among her friends.

Now Crystal Lake Cemetery had joined the tour and the overall vibe shifted. There had been such a welcoming camaraderie at first, but the new band didn't seem to want much to do with anyone else, returning to their own bus after their set was done. Rebecca and Jake took their lead, leaving Liam and (YN) to hang out with My Chem whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Now it was finally one of the rare days where there was enough time between shows to get a night in a hotel. Everyone appreciated the chance to get a decent shower and sleep in a real bed.

Everyone except (YN). She found herself on a couch in the hotel lobby after going out for dinner and drinks with Liam. He had started chatting with a guy, and ended up bringing him back to the hotel. All she could do now was wait for him to let her know it was ok to come back to the room and scroll through social media.

Up in his room, Gerard was doing the same when he noticed the square icon at the top of his phone. He smiled to himself when he saw that it was a notification that (YN) had updated her story. He opened it up and saw it was a selfie of her pouting dramatically. With the caption "i havent been sexiled from a room since that semester i went to college 😫"

‘Where are you?’

The DM from Gerard surprised (YN), not only because he saw her post, but how quickly after posting it he responded.

‘Lobby. Liam brought a guy back, so I'm waiting for the all clear to go back up.’

‘Wanna hang out in my room?’

(YN) felt her heart rate shoot up. ‘Sure’ she replied as casually as she could with shaking fingers.

‘529′ he replied moments later and she jumped up, hurrying to the elevator. The ride up felt like it was moving painfully slow. She tried to keep her pace casual as she walked down the hall and smiled at Luke and Will, two of the members of Crystal Lake Cemetery who were talking in the doorway of the room across the hall, before knocking on Gerard's door.

“Hey,” he greeted her with a smile and she tried to keep from letting her knees go weak.

“Hey, thanks for inviting me up. I was getting kinda bored in the lobby,” she laughed as she walked in.

“Of course. Umm, wanna watch a movie?" Gerard asked as he made his way over to the couch.

"Sure, whatever's on," (YN) replied as she sat down next to him. She couldn’t help but wonder who designed the layout of the room with the couch not actually facing the tv as she found herself sitting sideways.

"Looks like The Martian is about to start, have you seen it?"

"Once when I was in a hotel room in Rochester, but I had taken so many cold meds that day, I'm pretty sure I thought I was a martian," she laughed. "I was so sick that tour. I hate when they schedule shows in the winter."

“I agree, those are always kinda miserable, seems like everything is always cold and wet. Oh, do you wanna stretch out?” He asked when he noticed how she was shifting uncomfortably.

“Sure,” she laughed a little nervously as she stretched her legs out over his lap. It wasn’t much later that her eyelids began to grow heavy and the next thing she knew, she was waking up as the end credits were playing, and her head was against Gerard's shoulder. Then she realized his arm was around her, his other hand on her shin, rubbing small circles, almost absentmindedly. "I guess I'm never gonna see this movie," she mumbled, feeling a little awkward.

"That's too bad, it was pretty good," Gerard laughed.

(YN) picked up her phone from where it had slid to the floor and saw that Liam still hadn't messaged her. "Damn dude," she muttered.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, Liam still hasn't given me the all clear. I guess him and this guy really hit it off.”

"How are things with the other two? They never seem to be around much."

"Weird. I dunno, something is going on and no one is talking about it. Well no, they're talking about it, but not to us. Liam overheard Rebecca telling Jake that I’m selfish and I care more about the band as a concept than as four people making music together," she sighed. "And I do see it now that it's been pointed out."

Gerard shook his head. "I get it, I was the same way the first time round. I wanted everything to be the way I envisioned it in my head, I had that goal that I was working toward and that was all I was focused on. Though, for what it's worth, I think you're pretty great."

"Stop," she replied, covering her face with her hands to hide the fact that she was blushing.

"I'm not kidding," he said tugging at her wrists. When she looked up, he was smiling softly at her.

She shook her head. "Anyway, can I crash on your couch tonight? I'm not sure the staff would appreciate a rock star sleeping in the lobby."

"You take the bed, I'll sleep on the couch," Gerard replied.

"Gee, no, I'm the one who is invading your space!" She said getting up.

"I invited you," he replied, getting up as well.

"Share?" The word tumbled out of her mouth before she could even realize what she said.

Gerard looked a little caught off guard. “Oh, umm, yea-”

“I’m sorry, you don’t have to. Again, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“No, (YN), it’s fine,” he shook his head. “Please don’t worry, we can share.”

She nodded. “Ok, fine.”

The next morning she woke up and Gerard was still sleeping peacefully next to her. That was a sight she felt like she could really get used to and had to restrain herself from reaching out and brushing the hair from his face. He looked so peaceful and it warmed her heart. She rolled over and checked her almost dead phone, and found Liam had finally messaged her.

‘Ok, you can come back now’

‘Yooooooooooooo where are you i wanna talk to you come back’

‘For real text me back, i’m getting worried, if ur dead an its my fault im gonna be so mad at you’

She tried not to laugh out loud and wake Gerard. ‘I’m fine, found another room to crash in, we’ll talk soon 😁’

“Hey,” Gerard mumbled sleepily next to her.

“Hi. Thanks for letting me stay here last night,” she said as she rolled over and smiled at him.

“Anytime. I really like hanging out with you (YN).”

“Same. We should do it more often," she offered with a shrug.

"I'd love that," he replied softly.

"I should get going, Liam sent me about 100 texts," she said shaking her head. She got up and gathered the few things she had brought with her to Gerard's room. "Thanks again," she said. She didn't realize what she was doing when she held her arms out for a hug.

He smiled and got up and wrapped his arms around her. Her heart was pounding so hard she worried he would notice, but he was so warm and smelled good, she quickly forgot her worried.

Eventually she pulled back, and gave him a wave before heading out. When she opened the door, she noticed the door across the hall quickly close. She shook her head in confusion as she headed back to her room.

From that day on, things began to get strange. Garden of Woe's gear and wardrobe carts were moved into different rooms, their dinner orders were cancelled, and at a soundcheck Liam and Rebecca both found their instruments wildly out of tune, despite the guitar tech claiming he had tuned them before any of the bands came in.

“It feels like someone is fucking with us,” Liam said shaking his head as he and (YN) hung out with My Chem’s in their dressing room.

“The only thing that’s different is Crystal Lake Cemetery is here now,” Mikey said cautiously.

“Why would they be messing with us though? Are they hazing us?” (YN) asked. “I’ve never experienced anything like this, and we aren’t close enough to them for this to be okay.”

“I’m gonna have the tour manager talk to them, it’s not right that this is happening to you,” Gerard said from his spot next to (YN).

“Thanks,” (YN) smiled up at him appreciatively.

“Of course,” he replied looking back at her fondly. They were again oblivious to the looks being exchanged by their friends around them.

The talk must have worked, as nothing further was done to mess with the bands stuff, but what (YN) didn’t know was how the rumor mill was now working overtime.

“I can’t deal with this, I fucking can’t deal with this. Fuck this, fuck you, I can’t believe it,” (YN) snapped before rushing out of the dressing room. Tears stung at her eyes, blurring her vision so she couldn’t see who she ran into. "Fuck, sorry."

“Woah, (YN) what’s wrong?” She heard Gerard ask. She just shook her head in response and looked up at the ceiling, trying in vain to keep the tears in place. She felt Gerard taking her arm and leading her into another dressing room for privacy. But as soon as the door was shut behind them, she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

"It's over, it's all over," (YN) sobbed.

"What is? What's going on?" Gerard asked, concerned, rubbing her arms.

"Rebecca and Jake are leaving the band at the end of the tour."

"What?! Why?"

"They're gonna go have a kid and be a family and leave us behind," she wailed, the tears coming harder again. Gerard pulled her in tight and let her cry on his shoulder.

(YN) had no sense of how long she had been crying when she finally felt herself calming down and her tears slowing. "I'm so so sorry. You don't need to be bothered by my stupid problems. You're like the most important person here and I'm nobody. I’m nobody with no band anymore," (YN) said pulling back and wiping her eyes. She was thankful she hadn't put on her stage makeup yet, or his olive jacket would have been ruined.

Gerard shook his head, his eyes soft and full of sadness for her. "No, you’re important to me. And yea your band is gonna change, but you’re so talented, so is Liam, you're gonna do amazing things.”

“You think?” she asked looking up at him and he nodded. “Thank you for helping me calm down.”

“Anytime.”

She realized his hands had settled on her waist, and she looked back up at him as she clung to his jacket, to find he was still smiling down at her softly. This was the dream for her. Well, not the part where she found out half her band was leaving, but being held by Gerard Way while on tour together. The fan fic was practically writing itself in her mind until she felt her phone vibrating in her back pocket.

“Ugh, I gotta go deal with this,” she replied when she saw the text messages rolling in from Clark in all capital letters with many expletives and exclamation marks.

Garden of Woe's show that night was not their best, but no one spoke of it, mainly due to none of the band members speaking to each other at all. The bus ride to the next town was silent and when they arrived, Liam and (YN) found a private place to talk about the situation alone.

"I can learn drums, and play and sing like Don Henley. Or we could call Dallon and Ryan and see if they wanna form a supergroup? I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND Garden of Woe?" (YN) suggested.

"Genius," Liam laughed. "But (YN), we're gonna be fine. We'll figure this out as we go along. Well take a break and maybe they'll even change their minds."

"Jake maybe, but I doubt Rebecca will. She's been on edge for a long time, I just don't know if this life was ever for her. Maybe she's doing exactly what she needs to."

"What was it she called you?" Liam smirked.

"Scene whore," (YN) laughed darkly as she shook her head.

"Yea, that was something else.”

"I don't wanna talk about this anymore. I got my call with my therapist in five minutes."

"You doing ok?" Liam asked, concern crossing his face.

"This whole situation just reminded me a lot of what my mom did. Bailing on us to form a new family and all that."

Liam nodded thoughtfully, remembering how betrayed (YN) had felt when her mom left. "I get it," he replied as (YN) got up. "But hey."

"What?" (YN) stopped in her tracks.

"Remember what got you through back then?"

A smile fought its way across (YN)'s face. "Listening to hours and hours of My Chemical Romance?" Liam shrugged with a smug smile. "I'll give it a shot," (YN) laughed.

That night as she stood off stage (YN) felt like she was going to puke. The crowd was already so loud and the lights hadn’t even gone down yet.

“Ready?” Liam asked.

“Not at all,” she shook her head. “But fuck it, let’s go.”

The duo walked out on stage, where two stools and microphones were set up, a spotlight shining down. “What’s up California?!” (YN) shouted and the crowd cheered. “We are half of Garden of Woe, unfortunately Rebecca and Jake are both feeling under the weather tonight, so we’re gonna do a short acoustic set for you and then Crystal Lake Cemetery is gonna be out here to do an extra long set to get you hyped up for My Chemical Romance!”

The crowd cheered, albeit less enthusiastically than before. (YN) felt like shit lying to the audience like that, but Rebecca and Jake couldn’t be convinced to come off the bus, and it was either they do a modified set, or give up their time on stage altogether. The duo started with a couple of their best songs that sounded good while being played acoustically.

“Ok, we have one more song for you, it’s a cover of a song that means a lot to me by Rise Against. It’s called Audience of One. Thanks again guys you’ve been amazing,” (YN) said and Liam started playing. (YN) knew that it would take a miracle to make it through the song without breaking down.

I can still remember The words and what they meant As we etched them with our fingers In years of wet cement The days blurred into each other Though everything seemed clear We cruised along at half speed But then we shifted gears We ran like vampires from a thousand burning suns But even then we should have stayed But we ran away Now all my friends are gone Maybe we've outgrown all the things that we once loved Runaway But what are we running from? A show of hands from those in this audience of one Where have they gone? Identities assume us As nine and five add up Synchronizing watches To the seconds that we lost I looked up and saw you I know that you saw me We froze but for a moment In empathy I brought down the sky for you but all you did was shrug You gave my emptiness a name Then you ran away And now all my friends are gone Maybe we've outgrown all the things that we once loved Runaway But what are we running from? A show of hands from those in this audience of one Where have they gone? We're all okay, until the day we're not The surface shines, while the inside rots We raced the sunset and we almost won We slammed the brakes, but the wheels went on We ran away And now all my friends are gone Maybe we've outgrown all the things that we once loved Runaway But what are we running from? A show of hands from those in this audience of one Where have they gone?

The tears streamed down (YN)’s face as she finished singing. She didn’t know if the crowd could see it or not, and she didn’t know if she cared either way. She waved with Liam at the crowd and retreated off the stage. As soon as they were out of sight, he wrapped her in a tight hug and she cried against his shoulder.

After calming down and washing her face, (YN) and Liam went out to the merch booth to sign for fans but not many turned up. As they headed back through the corridors of the venue, they spotted Clark heading toward them.

"If it isn't my favorite PR nightmare," Clark said, annoyance clear in his voice.

(YN) and Liam looked at each other. “Oooh, Liam’s in trouble,” (YN) sing-songed with a smirk.

“Not him.”

"Wait what did I do?" (YN) asked, eyes going wide, as Liam snickered.

“In here,” Clark said, nodding toward the dressing room door, shutting it behind them. "When did you start hooking up with Gerard?"

"What?! We haven't done anything, where did you hear that?!"

"Apparently just about everyone else on the tour is talking about it. They’re saying you've spent nights with him, you’ve been spotted ducking into abandoned dressing rooms with him."

"Well yea, I mean I stayed over in his room when Liam was hooking up with that guy in Texas, but we just hung out! And the dressing room thing, I don't even know when that would be other than that time I ran into him and he was comforting me when I was upset about Rebecca and Jake. Who would make something out of nothing?"

“People love starting rumors, especially about big names,” Clark shrugged. "If this gets out of just this bubble, people are gonna think-"

"Yea, yea, I know what people are gonna think," (YN) waved him off.

"We have enough problems coming up at the end of this tour, can you at least make sure this isn’t one of them?" Clark sighed before leaving the room.

Liam let out a long sigh as well. "I'm sure he's making a big deal outta nothing, don't you think?"

(YN) didn't answer, she had her head in her hands, staring at the floor. "What if Gerard thinks I started those rumors? What if he never wants to hang out with me ever again because he thinks I read too much into when we've hung out and think there's more to our friendship than there is? Now even if we ever had a chance at something more, it's ruined."

The last few nights of the tour dragged by, but they were finally back in LA for the final four shows at the Forum. The bands were given the option of staying in a hotel near the venue, but (YN) just wanted to go home. She was tired of going out of her way to avoid everyone, especially Gerard, and she wanted some peace and quiet, even if it meant dealing with traffic.

(YN) unlocked the door to her apartment and walked in, dumping her luggage just inside the door. She breathed in the stale air that filled the apartment from being closed up for two months. She felt like she was going to be taking on the world when she left, and now she was home feeling utterly defeated.

She wandered over into the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was filled with nothing but condiments that were very possibly expired. She checked the pantry and found a stash of canned soup and spaghettios. She got a pot of spaghettios heated up before moving on to her laundry.

As she threw her clothes into the washer, she wondered what she’d wear to the show tonight. Did it matter? These were the last four shows that the band would be performing together and she had to pretend like everything was fine. Should she really live it up, or give up? (YN) trudged back to her kitchen and started eating her half warm lunch straight out of the pot. Was this what her life was about to become? Miserable and alone?

That night when she arrived at the venue she hid in the dressing room until sound check. She continued to avoid everyone except Liam until the show started. After, she went to sign for the fans and for the first time she didn’t hurry back to see My Chemical Romance play. Her heart broke as she heard the first notes. She wondered if Gerard noticed she wasn't there. She wondered if he was glad she wasn't bothering him anymore.

As she laid in her bed the morning of the last show, staring up at the ceiling, she couldn’t help the tears that rolled down her cheeks. She had barely slept the last few nights, her mind racing, and she felt like shit. She dragged herself out of bed and down to the kitchen, starting a pot of coffee and staring at her still bare pantry, the last can of spaghettios staring back at her. She sighed, the feeling of defeat over everything hitting her harder than it had yet.

Her doorbell ringing made her jump, pulling her from her thoughts. For a second she considered not answering. But when it rang again she decided to check who was interrupting her self-pity fest.

"Gerard? What the hell are you doing here?" She asked when she opened the door. "And how do you know where I live?"

"Liam told me.”

"Has he told you my blood type and social security number as well?" She sneered, but held the door open for him to come in.

"I was worried about you, (YN)," he said softly, his eyes filled with worry.

"Gee," she started running her hands through her hair frustratedly. "How could you possibly care about me? I am useless damaged goods! I'm barely functional! I've been eating spaghettios for the last four days because I can't bring myself to go to the store. My band is about to break up, and meanwhile people think I fucked my way onto the tour of a lifetime. Everything is," her voice started to crack as she sank down on the couch. “This was supposed to be the best thing ever, and it was at first, but now it’s ruined and you should hate me.”

“Why?” He asked as he sat down next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

“Don’t you think I started those rumors about us?” She looked up at him.

“No!” he replied. “God no, I know you better than that (YN). And I know those assholes from Crystal Lake Cemetery. Now I wish we never had to bring them along on this tour because it meant that I’ve had to spend time away from you these last few days.”

(YN) was dumbfounded. “Do, do you mean that?”

Gerard nodded. “Mikey told me like the second day of tour just to ask you out, but I didn’t think I’d have a chance in hell with you. And then I got to know you even better and I, I knew I was falling for you, but I still don’t believe you could feel the same way about me.”

“How could I not?” She asked, astonished.

“Because you’re this amazing up and coming star, you’re beautiful, and funny and could get any guy you could possibly want and I’m older than you, I got an ex that everyone knows and still brings up and a kid. Because I got this grey hair, and I look like this,” he said gesturing to his body as he looked down forlornly.

“Gerard, stop it,” (YN) snapped. “I will not tolerate you being so mean to someone I love.”

His head shot up, eyes wide. "(YN), do you mean that? Do you really want me?"

"More than you could ever know," she whispered, not breaking eye contact.

Gerard leaned in and kissed (YN) hard. She immediately responded by grabbing his jacket to pull him closer before reaching up to run her hand through his hair. His hands were on his waist as he leaned into her. She took the lead, pulling him back so he was laying over her on the couch. He deepened the kiss as she let him move his tongue against hers.

When they came up for air, Gerard brushed the hair out of her eyes and she laughed lightly. “I missed that sound,” he said quietly. “God, I love you (YN). Fuck what anyone says, I wanna be with you, if you’ll have me.”

“I thought that kiss made it pretty clear I do,” she laughed softly again and he blushed. “Because I love you too, everything about you.”

He leaned in and kissed her again. “Would you like to go get lunch before we gotta be at the venue?” He asked when he pulled back.

“I would love nothing more than to not eat another can of spaghettios and get lunch with you,” she laughed.

They grabbed lunch at one of Gerard’s favorite spots, finding a secluded corner where they could talk away from any fans who might just happen to stop in. (YN) had been spending so much time with Gerard before Clark told her about the rumors that she felt like they had so much to catch up on after just a few days apart.

“So how was this for a first date?” Gerard asked after they finished eating.

“Perfect,” (YN) nodded contentedly. Gerard was looking at her with a soft smile on his face. “What?” she laughed.

“I’m just really happy,” he said, taking her hand.

“For the first time in quite a while, I am too,” she agreed.

When Liam saw Gerard and (YN) walking into the venue together, he sighed in relief. “Hey guys,” he said tentatively. “Everything good?”

(YN) nodded. “Yea, we got it all sorted out,” she said glancing up at Gerard, who was smiling back at her.

“Good because tonight should be the best show of the tour, and I could not put up with any more of your moping (YN),” Liam laughed.

“Thank you for your support in my time of need,” (YN) rolled her eyes.

“Gerard, there you are, you’re on for soundcheck,” the very tired look tour manager called from down the hall.

“I’ll see you later,” he said leaning in and gave (YN) a quick kiss before heading down the hall.

“So when you said sorted out,” Liam started.

“We’re together,” she blushed.

“My god, your 16 year old self must be dying right now,” Liam laughed.

“Stop,” (YN) shook her head before heading back to their dressing room.

When Garden of Woe took the stage for the last time, everyone played well, and the crowd was going crazy, but (YN) was struggling to act as if nothing was wrong. Her heart felt heavy until she glanced to the side of the stage and saw Gerard leaning against a crate, giving her a nod and a smile, reminding her that everything would be okay.

“Are you ok?” Gerard asked, wrapping her in a hug after the band took their last bow.

“Yep. Things change, but I think everything has ended up exactly where it needs to be,” she nodded before leaning in to kiss him again.

#gerard way x reader #gerard way fan fic #gerard way fan fiction #gerard way imagine #my chemical romance fan fic #my chemical romance fan fiction #part 2

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redjennies · 3 years

Note

The worst is the well meaning but ultimately dismissive ‘you don’t know x+y’s friendship’ or ‘they’re so close they’re fine’. Right. But a) the whole basis of their company is trading on these parasocial relationships b) sometimes friends can be shitty to each other even if they love each other in the same way family can be shitty and c) people aren’t necessarily mad AT Liam (which is where I think his stans come in) but I think they’re upset by the way it feels to see him repeatedly in character aggressively cut off a woman. For most of the people who have been upset I feel like it’s less Liam bad and more, wow I’ve been there and I’m glad Travis said something it’s not a good feeling.

note; I've since deleted the original post I made that this ask was in response to because I was being incredibly flippant about a serious issue in a way that I felt I should have been more maturely handled. the gist of it was "I am angry that some fans are being openly anti-feminist and lesbophobic." I'm leaving this ask because I think ambassadorofchill said some really good points about friendship and how it intersects with what I'm personally upset about. my full unedited response is below the cut.

I get what you're saying but the worst right now for me is that I'm literally just upset about being reminded, once again, that lesbians are evil if they are rude about men, even if the man in question is leagues more privileged than them. even if I didn't personally engage in it, I'm kinda fuckin tired of seeing like a handful of lesbians be rude about something they have every right to be rude about and it's like "hey here's why you're all evil fuckin dykes if you step out of line." sorry I don't mean to nitpick phrasing but I do need to address that I am really like very upset that was like "gee I hope this doesn't turn into just people shitting on lesbians and feminists. gonna keep making my silly jokes and believe the best in people. :)" and then...yeah.

a is actually a really good point that I am just too tired to address right now but damn that one kinda hit the nail on the head.

re: b & c honestly same. I hung out with one of my guy friends last night and like he fuckin said something that made me feel all "why are men like this? :/" and it was just another one of those moments. it doesn't mean we're not friends. it doesn't mean he doesn't like me. it's just the way fuckin privilege works whether people want to address that shit or nah. I said this on Friday, I really am not feeling "Liam bad Travis good" so much as "oh I'm glad Travis did that" but what I didn't say on Friday is that the reason it's not "Liam bad Travis good" is because honestly every single dude in the cast has made me go "ugh men" at some point. I think it's kinda stupid to focus on Liam specifically when like yes, even sweet boy Matt has said things that struck me a little :/. honestly even the women have made some "yikesy" jokes about various different subjects and no one's a bad person for pointing that out.

idk I don't get how people who believe in social justice and oppressive power structures can be so vitriolic about women criticizing a man in a pretty clear cut case of "casual, unintentional sexism." like there's literally nothing Marisha has on Liam, privileges wise. it's not like everyone is out to get Khary Payton or Taliesin on Marisha's behalf where it might be more complicated because of race or sexuality. Liam did something, albeit unintentionally, that negatively resonated with a lot of women but somehow that's the women's fault and worse yet, it's somehow the fuckin lesbians' fault.

#@the person who sent me the other ask if you're not too turned off by me venting I'll have that for you tomorrow when im less bummed out #im just not feeling very fun right now #the drama #asks

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officialchoicestrash · 4 years

Text

Hopeless Romantic (Maxwell x MC)

Pairing: Maxwell x MC, Drake x MC (platonic, former feelings hinted at)

Rating: M

Warnings: Drinking, angst, cursing

Summary: Lucy drinks away her sorrows and talks to Drake after realizing her feelings for Maxwell aren’t quite as in the past as she had thought.

Notes: Takes place during TRR2 chapter 6, after Maxwell's fake proposal.

Lucy regretted even suggesting the idea. The moment played over in her head, again and again, forcing her to relive each painful moment.

"No photographer can resist the chance to catch a big moment in the making."

"Good idea, Maxwell. We should fake a proposal!"

Of course, what could go wrong? The man you once loved faking a proposal to you? Great plan, you idiot.

Minutes later, the two were ready to put their plan into motion. Maxwell winked at her as a photographer passed by the table; it was time to put on a show.

"Lady Lucy, there's...something I need to say to you. Tonight, I discovered something about myself. Something I suppose I've known was true for a long time, but...I couldn't admit it to myself until now.”

Fuck, go back, go back. She could already feel her heart hammering in her chest.

“There was always something missing, a piece of me that wasn't there. But then...then something unbelievable happened. Tonight, I've realized what I've been missing. And it's like my eyes are opening for the first time!"

He slid down onto one knee, gazing at her with the tender affection she'd always hoped she'd see, the kind of affection that was in her eyes whenever she looked at him. And now here she was, listening to him echo her own feelings, only for it to be part of a ruse.

A lump formed in her throat, "I don't understand." Was it possible that he felt the connection between them? Something that wasn't entirely platonic??

"Lucy, now that I know, I need the world to know."

Lucy felt her stomach churn, what part of her thought this was a good idea?

She felt herself choking up, feeling as if she had played some sick joke on herself, "Maxwell, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I love..."

Her heartbeat moved all the way up to her ears. How had it taken her this long to realize that her feelings for him were far from gone, that he had remained in her heart throughout everything that happened, that her love was stronger than she remembered?

"Gelato!"

Even though Lucy knew it was coming, hearing those words stung--not that she had anything against gelato (at least, she hadn't before this moment)-- but some foolish part of her still clung to the hope that he'd love her too, that he'd use this moment to confess his hidden love for her.

Maxwell grabbed a bowl off a platter from a server passing by, eagerly scooping the chocolate into his mouth. Lucy sat there, motionless, everything around her fading as her ears began to ring.

Maxwell continued to make a show out of eating his dessert, which was almost gone, and glanced at his friend, signaling for her to do something. The show wasn't over yet, so she forced a smile onto her face, "I've never seen a love so pure."

---

At least it worked, she thought to herself, downing another daiquiri as she sat at the bar, waiting for the train to take off again.

"Another, please."

The bartender sent her a pitiful look, "Sorry, miss, have to cut you off for the evening."

Lucy sighed: where else was she supposed to get alcohol? Bertrand had thankfully covered the fee for her cabin, but he made it clear that room service was off-limits.

"We're dining at the finest restaurants in Europe; there is no need to pay for overpriced nonsense!" He'd said.

Suddenly, Lucy felt a presence on her right side and turned to her denim-clad friend.

He looked at her, brow furrowed, "Rough night Romano?"

Lucy laughed bitterly, "You could say that."

"Did you not get the reporter?"

"No, we got her."

"Well, that's good news, right?"

It should have been good news, but there was something more important on her mind, something she thought she had gotten rid of ages ago.

"I'm in love with someone else."

A series of coughing noises erupted from the seat next to Lucy, and she turned her head, watching her friend recover from her confession.

"Romano, you know that my feelings for you are long gone," Drake said.

"Don't flatter yourself, Walker," she commented dryly, "I don't have any interest in you."

"Gee, thanks," he laughed, "so who is the lucky bastard?"

Before Lucy could answer, she was cut off from a loud noise on the other side of the train car.

"And I like to call this move the Kraken!"

The two turned their heads, looking at their friend, who was now demonstrating his dance moves to a clearly tipsy group of passengers. And as Drake watched the smile, the complete look of adoration, on Lucy's face as she watched Maxwell shimmy across the floor, he knew the answer.

"Oh," Drake realized, "I thought you were over that."

In all honesty, Lucy thought she had gotten over it. There was a time when she was foolish enough to hope that Maxwell felt the same way she had. When she realized that wasn't the case, she had moved on (or at least tried to). She focused on Liam and tried to be the woman he deserved, but when she thought about the future, it was never Liam at her side. No, she saw herself next to a cephalopod obsessed jokester, her sponsor, her best friend, the one who would never love her back.

Deep down, Lucy knew her feelings for the young Beaumont had never disappeared: she thought back to the way he ran through the airport and begged her to stay, the comfort he gave her when she thought everyone at court had abandoned her, the rush of giddiness she felt when Adelaide assumed her and Maxwell were together, the eagerness she felt every morning before he came to wake her up--despite the fact she was already awake (though she made sure he never knew).

"Fuck," she thought to herself, feeling the tears prickle at the back of her eyes, "Drake...what am I going to do?"

And for the first time since he'd known her, Drake saw Lucy look at him with complete and utter hopelessness.

#playchoices #trr #trh #the royal romance #the royal heir #royal romance choices #maxwell beaumont #trr maxwell #choices maxwell #maxwell choices #maxwell x mc #op

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years

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Leave No One Behind Ch2: The Red Sea Diving Resort

Part 1

Co-Written with @icanfeelastormbrewing

Episode Summary: Ari and his team arrive at their Resort and begin making plans for the first mission.

Episode Warnings: Bad Language words. Allusions to death and serious injury.

Episode Pairings: Ari Levinson x OFC Hannah Horowitz

Song for Episode: Night Fever by the Bee Gees

A/N: This is a long Chapter so we have split it into two Parts. P2 will be up tomorrow. J Again, we’re not historians, nor do we know Sudan in any detail…so if anything in here is factually incorrect, we mean no offence. Take it as slight creative license.

As always we live for re-blogs and comments

Series Master List // Main Masterlist

And that sweet city woman, She moves through the light, Controlling my mind and my soul

“What the fuck is he wearing Cracker?” Max asked Hannah as he nodded over her shoulder. Frowning, she turned to see Ari had walked in, briefcase in hand, dressed in a dark brown velvet suit and a white and gold striped shirt with a large, open necked collar.

Hannah snorted “He looks like John Travolta.”

“Walking like him too…” Sammy mumbled.

“Night fever, night fever…we know how to do it…” Jake sang softly, and the rest of the group all started to chuckle, hastily turning away as Ari walked towards the table and dropped the briefcase down on it.

Ari greeted Ethan with a nod of his head and looked around the room. His team was already gathered standing around the oval metal table, chatting idly.

Max and Jake were sniggering about something and Ari could clearly see Sammy was trying to keep a straight face, hands in his trousers pockets and looking at his feet while bouncing on them. Did he want to know? Probably not.

And then he noticed Hannah. She was chatting with Rachel who was admiring the brown leather knee high boots she was wearing. Ari heard Rachel comment something about her loving chunky heels as Hannah twisted her left foot so that Rachel could have a better look at the boots.

But Ari wasn’t interested in the boots, well, ok he was, but his gaze then travelled upwards, following her black tights clad legs and thighs, until his eyes mid-thigh met the hem of the skirt of her maroon pleated chord pinafore. Luckily for him, when his eyes continued past up her waist and the long sleeved polka dot blouse she was wearing, and he could take in the delicate features of her face, she was still engaged in some sort of fashion conversation with Rachel.

She was stunning, but what was new there? He had to admit to himself he had felt his chest fill with warmth when he had been running through the fake passports Ethan had given him the previous evening. He had opened hers first, sitting on his bed in the privacy of his hotel room, tumbler of Scotch in hand. His eyes scanning Hannah's passport photo over and over again. Those big round blue eyes looking directly at him.

Firefly, he had muttered running his thumb over the photo before gulping his drink.

Thus, Ari knew which would be the one on top at the deck of passports he was now pulling from his briefcase. He was going over the questions he would be asking each one of them in his head when he heard Max asking him something.

“You got chills Ari?”

“What?” Ari frowned, his head turning to Max and in the corner of his eye he noticed that Hannah turned to watch, biting her lip as behind her Sammy laughed and hastily started coughing to cover it up.

“Are they multiplying?” Jake chipped in.

“Are you losing control?” Max continued

“Coz the power, you’re supplying…it’s electrifying!” the two men sang together as Ari looked at the pair of them rolling his eyes, a smirk playing on his face. Behind him Ethan groaned.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up…” Ari’s mouth curled into a crooked smile. “I’m Guy Thomas…he wears this shit…its fashion. And besides, Max, you’ve no room to talk!”

Hannah snorted and turned to look at Max, taking his outfit in in more detail. Because they were all in Zurich at the NATCOR HQ under the guise of a simple Mossad business meeting, Ari had instructed the team to come dressed as they felt their Alter Egos would dress for work. Sammy and Jake were both dressed in suits and ties, Max was in a suit with an open collar pinstriped shirt.

“He has a point…” Hannah conceded “You’re like the Kenickie to his Danny…”

“Grease was based in the 50s.” Max narrowed his eyes at her.

“Yeah, which is when that shirt was in fashion.” Jake said, slapping Max on the shoulder. Hannah and Ari snorted before they were cut off by an angry noise from behind them.

“Save the outfit discussions for later.” Ethan snapped “You lot are going to get yourselves killed for fucks sake.”

“Ethan, Ethan…” Ari turned to him, his voice soothing “Just, calm down…we’ve not even started the meeting yet.”

“Exactly, and we’re already behind schedule so if you don’t mind…” He nodded his head in the direction of the table and everyone, suitably chastised, took a seat.

Ethan and Ari ran the group through the plans regarding the next few months and how the deployment was going to work. They were to fly out on the 4th January, from Zurich, where Ari and Rachel would meet with the Sudanese Government and get the paper work and everything signed for the lease on the diving resort. Whilst they were there Max, Hannah, Jake and Sammy were to pair off and head to 2 different places to pick up 2 different cars which would be ready and waiting with supplies from 2 in country contacts. Once the explanations were finished, Ari then picked up the false passports.

“So you’ve all had enough time to read over your covers.” Ari said, flipping through the pile of passports, selecting one “Remember, the point of being undercover is you keep it simple. So you should have memorised the basics, your name, date of birth, parents names, address, hometown that type of thing. Everything else you can make up on the spot but nothing too elaborate. Don’t take it too far from the actual truth because whatever you tell one person you need to remember to tell another.”

He paused and cleared his throat. “Ok, let’s see how you fare under questioning.” he looked at Hannah “Firefly, you first… Name?”

“Rosa-Maria Gomez” Hannah repeated back, without so much as batting an eyelid, her Spanish accent flawless.

“Where are you from?”

“Valencia.”

“What did you do?”

“Bar manager at a local hotel.”

“Which hotel?”

“Sidi Saler”

“How long for?”

“Just over 10 years. Travelled for a year or so after University, settled back home when I was 19. Never looked back.”

There wasn’t so much as a hint of hesitation when she spoke. Ari smiled at her and tossed the fake passport down in front of her. “Good job.” he said and with a faint smile she reached for the passport.

Next he put Rachel through her paces, picking her up on the slight hesitation she had over her address and then Jake’s mistake over his elementary school name. He then turned to Sammy.

“Sammy…name. Where are you from? “

“I'm Liam Anderson. Australia.” Sammy said, picking up his passport

“First girlfriend.”

“Mary”

“Tell me about her.” Ari said, stopping at the head of the table.

“Mary Rose. Took my virginity and broke my heart.”

At that, Ari saw Hannah, who was sat at the far end of the table next to Sammy shift slightly. Despite himself he glanced at her and she caught his eye before she looked down at the table. Ari turned back to Sammy who was still speaking.

“We met at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. I was 19. Later died in a car accident.”

“It's good. Good work, Sammy.” Ari turned to Max “You're up.”

There was a pause as Max stared straight ahead before he glanced at the passport.

“I still think this is a stupid name for someone from Malta.” Max protested “Why Malta?”

Rachel gave a little chuckle as Ari looked at him, rolling his eyes as his hands fell to his hips.

“Max, when you learn a second language, that's where you can be from. Till then you're from Malta. No one knows what people from Malta speak.”

“What do people speak in Malta?” Rachel asked.

“Maltese” Hannah supplied and sniggers rang round the table.

“See, no one knows, that's the point.” Ari said with a smile before he looked pointedly at Max “Name”

“Hello, everybody, my name's Irving Wilmington.” Max said in a ridiculously, fake European accent which made everyone start to laugh “And I'm from Malta-“

“You think this is funny?” Ethan’s angry voice cut across the laughter and everyone looked up at the man as he strode around the table. “Just for the record, there's not one person in this group that I would have chosen for this type of mission. You're all too reckless.” Hannah looked at Max who raised his eyebrows as if to say, he has a point…which to be fair, he kinda did.

“I've gone against every instinct I know.” Ethan continued as Ari looked down at the floor “broken every risk management rule I believe in, including sending two women to a Muslim country.” Ethan said, looking directly at Hannah then Rachel “So let's be very clear. This mission has no backup. There's no exfil plan for you. You're going in without guns, or any other weapon. If this goes wrong, you'll all be hanging from cranes in Khartoum.”

With that Ethan left the room and there was a moment of silence.

“Can’t wait…” Jake said, leaning back in his chair.

*****

Of course, nothing every runs completely smoothly. Jake was stopped by the Sudanese Immigration, simply to be released once he had paid the ‘bribe’ the officials wanted. Ari spotted him joining the others in the queue for cabs as he and Rachel departed in the car to the Tourism Board.

Then, they met with their contact in the Sudanese Government, Colonel Madibbo and embarked on the anticipated haggling over the price. The man looked Ari in the face and told him that the lease was five hundred thousand, to which Ari replied simply that they had agreed Two-Fifty. After a little bit of negotiation, Ari moved up to three-fifty, informing the Colonel it was their best offer, but then loaded told the man that could write it down as two-fifty and then take the rest and do something beneficial for the people of Sudan.

“You may not speak Arabic, Mr. Thomas. But you do speak the local language.” Madibbo laughed, and Ari simply glanced at Rachel before smiling back, fully understanding that the “local language” meant he’d given the man a bung, and that the extra hundred thou was going straight into the Colonel’s own back pocket.

Bent bastard.

A few hours later everything was sorted, they’d been given everything they needed and Ari and Rachel walked out of the building, climbed in the arranged car and were dropped off on the main high-street where they headed to the inconspicuous Café that had been allocated as a meeting spot. Remaining in character, Ari and Rachel, or Guy and Angela, greeted their team loudly, as if it was the first time they had seen each other for a while, and then they all settled down at a table outside on the packed market square, and Ari briefed them as if he was briefing resort staff. They all listened, picked up on his cues and after a quick coffee each they all stood up to leave.

As they were leaving the Café, Max tossed one of the jeep’s keys at Ari, who caught them with a swift movement of his hand. Once they reached the spot where the vehicles were parked Ari opened the driver's door to one of them and turned to see his team had stopped and were looking at the trucks as if deciding who was going to ride in each one of the trucks.

"Ride with me?" Max turned to ask Hannah waving the other set of keys in the air.

"Yup. I call shotgun!" she said as a reply as she walked round to open the passenger side door.

"Right, I'll be on the back seat." Jake quipped as she pulled the seat forward and gestured for him to get in the back.

Ari shook his head, hands on his hips, as he looked at Sam and Rachel through his shades before opening the back door of their jeep for Sam to jump in, tossing his backpack on the floor of the car as Rachel went to the side of the passenger seat.

"Guess the three musketeers have decided for all of us." Ari said as he jumped up in the truck, a trace of bitterness in his voice which wasn't undetected by Sammy.

"Oh my. The great Ari Levinson scorned by part of his team." Sam said, amused and Rachel chuckled.

"You're hilarious Sammy." Ari deadpanned as he fixed the rear view mirror for the third time in the last couple of minutes before he set off.

"Maybe you should keep an eye on Jake." he spoke again a minute later, turning to look at Sam as if trying to make sure he understood what he was implying. Sam examined him for a few moments before speaking

"Yeah, maybe. And maybe you should keep an eye on the road and stop looking through the mirror." Sam deadpanned turning his head slowly to the side window.

***** A few hours later, they had a quick pit stop to stretch legs and changed drivers. Ari was keen to make as good time as possible so it was only for a few moments, Max taking a well needed pee at the side of the truck, groaning in relief. Hannah shook her head, before she climbed in the back of the jeep. They set off again, and their gentle chatter struck up once more.

"So..." Jake said, turning to glance over his shoulder at Hannah, one eye sort of remaining on the road. "I've been dying to ask. Your nicknames..." "What about them?" She asked, turning her head to face him from where she had been looking out of the window. "Why does Ari call you Firefly when the rest of the team seems to call you Cracker?"

Max snorted and looked at Hannah who was grinning. "Ok so the cracker thing came from a mission." She said, thinking fondly back "it was the first one we all actually ran together...me, Max, Sammy, Ari...Andy..." she trailed off for a moment before she continued "we were sat round the fire one night and Andy had a pack of those little savoury fish cracker things. We started playing a game as to how many each of us could fit in our mouths. Max insisted he would win...but who in fact did win Maxwell?" "You..." Max sighed "by 2 crackers" "So Andy started calling me crackers which became cracker and it stuck..." she shrugged. "Well, with everyone but Ari that is..." "Yeah, so explain the Firefly thing..." Jake pushed. "The first time I met Ari was when he came over one evening with Sammy. It was just before Sammy moved out." Hannah said "I was 17 and we were sat out in the garden at the back. It wasn't a huge garden, communal like, shared with 3 other houses but I loved it because there was a colony of lightning bugs, or fireflies that frequented it. It was a few months later Sammy was being an ass-hat about something and I flipped out at him and threw a mug at his head. It missed and smashed against the wall but Ari found it hilarious. Told I was just like those little fireflies I admired so much. Such an ordinary, unassuming thing on the outside with a hell of a surprise packed away underneath..." Jake paused and then started laughing "Now that's a back handed compliment if ever I did hear one." Hannah grinned "I know. When I asked him what he meant by ordinary you should have seen his face. He was all flustered and stammering and worried he'd offended me. Lasted all of 2 minutes until I cracked up laughing and told him I understood." "Well, fireflies are pretty awesome..." Jake smiled "A symbol of light in the dark, hope, warmth" "Yup, all things Ari said to me when he was back pedalling over the whole ordinary thing" Hannah smiled with a shrug "either way, it stuck."

My little firefly…

“Tell him what you call Ari.” Max said and Hannah snorted.

“El Lobo hambriento” She replied after a moment’s pause “Or Lobo for short.”

“And that means…” Jake looked at her again for a second.

“Spanish for the hungry wolf…” Hannah said “It came from when he used to eat my Mama out of house and home whenever he came round with Sammy. And over time it got shortened to Lobo…just wolf…”

Jake laughed “Well, he is kinda hairy…but you know, that should be my nickname given that I am actually a Wolf.”

“By name…” Max teased “You look like more of a poodle.”

Hannah laughed and leaned forward, so that her head poked between the front to seats in the car “You can be Loop.” “Loop?” Jake frowned.

“Short for Lupin…Latin for Wolf, or there or thereabouts anyway. Or it could just mean you’re a total fruit loop, take your pick…”

Jake gave a huge guffaw of laughter and looked at her “Does that make you Little Red Riding Hood?”

Hannah snorted as Max shook his head, looking out at the window “That’s the shittest chat up line I’ve ever heard” he spoke, turning back to Jake.

“Can’t blame a man for trying” Jake winked.

After a total of six hours and a couple more stops to stretch and freshen up, if that was even possible in the middle of the desert, they arrived in the resort. But they couldn't properly see it until they got out of the trucks, the windows being partly covered by dust as they had taken shortcuts over sand dunes to save quite a few hours more off the travel time should they have opted to use the main roads.

When they finally got out of the car they took some clumsy steps on the sand after being into the confined space of car for that many hours. Jake lit a cigarette and as he looked at Ari he couldn't help but make a howling noise to Hannah who started laughing immediately. As if on cue, Max started howling too and the three of them were caught in a fit of hysteric laughter, Max bending his body for balance and Hannah leaning on Jake's arm.

Ari, Sam and Rachel stood there watching the three of them, dumbfounded. Ari shared a glance with Sam before he shot his sister a look and she pulled herself together still trying holding back laughter. Ari sighed before he took a few more steps towards the main entrance of the resort and the rest of the team followed suit.

They all stopped still, looking at the ram-shackled building in front of them, the words Red Sea Diving Resort were descripted in fading red paint above the large, archway shaped door. Hannah removed her shades, looking at it, and she let out a loud breath from where she stood at the end of the line they seemed to have formed, next to Max.

“It sure doesn't look like the brochure.” she said, and everyone turned to look at her, Max giving a small huff of laughter. After a second or so, Ari moved to the trucks to retrieve their luggage and the rest of them followed suit before they headed towards the entrance. Ari wrestled with the wooden trellised screen doors before he gave one a harsh push and it fell forward off its hinges, crashing to the floor sending up a cloud of dust and sand. He turned to look at them all, giving a shrug before he headed inside. They all followed and Hannah cast her eyes around as they hit the main room. All the window screens were shut, leaving it quite dark despite the bright late afternoon sunshine outside. Chairs and tables were piled haphazardly around the edges of the main room of the resort, various other pieces of furniture dotted around.

“It needs a little TLC.” Ari said, turning to the team.

“Nice.” Rachel chuckled.

“Oh, yeah?” Sammy snorted, pushing the shaded lenses on his glasses up as he looked around with a laugh. “What a dump.”

Hannah watched as Jake moved to open one of the sets of doors which led out onto the beach and instantly the place was flooded with light. She glanced at Max who smiled and they followed him out onto the beach.

“This is paradise!” Jake sighed. Max looked at him, incredulously, but Hannah had to admit, outside it was beautiful. A secluded cove of The Red Sea right was in front of them, the sun bouncing off the blue water, waves softly lapping at the shore.

Max pushed his glasses back up his nose and headed away to his right, Hannah following as they walked round the side of the resort and up a small boardwalk which led to a small pier of sorts.

“Well, hello, gorgeous…” she heard Max say. Hannah turned to see him examining a spear gun which was leaned up against the glass windows in front of him. She rolled her eyes.

“Your obsession with sniping weapons is worrying.” she arched an eyebrow.

He turned to face her with a grin before he tucked his shades into his shirt and picked up the fishing spear, holding it like a gun, checking down the sight target. The two of them stepped further round and Hannah frowned as Max stopped under a wooden shelter of sorts and the pair of them spotted the large, silver fish hanging from the structure. It had been beheaded, the head laying on a grill, and Max turned to look at her.

“This fish is fresh.” he frowned.

“Don’t eat it…” Hannah said instantly, teasing him about his obsession with food.

“Don’t eat…it’s fucking raw.” he rolled his eyes at her.

“Never had sushi?” she shot back.

“Don’t care for it much…” he mused before they both exchanged a glance, the seriousness of the fact that the fish, was indeed newly caught sinking in as Max turned to call back to the resort.

“Hey, yo, this fish is fresh!”

Ari who had been walking along the shore, heard Max’s call, along with Rachel’s which informed everyone she had found a newspaper from this week .He stopped and glanced back into the resort before he opened the door into one of the bedroom huts. Taking a glance round he threw open the wooden window screens, turning his face away as the sand and dust from outside blew into his face. It was then a familiar smell hit his nose and he glanced down to his left and saw that there were cigarette butts in an ashtray. One was still smoking slightly.

And then, someone jumped up from behind a pile of furniture in the corner of the room and shot out of the door. Ari turned and sprinted after him, yelling for him to stop and calling to the team. They all joined him, sprinting around the corner where Ari stopped at the sight of a group of what they could only assume were locals.

“Hello. My name...” Ari began, before he whipped off his sunglasses, figuring they might trust him more if they could see him eye to eye “My name's Guy Thomas. I'm the new owner of this hotel.”

The locals didn’t speak, and Hannah noticed that the woman at the front, adorned in bright yellow local dress was glancing at Max nervously.

“Max, lower that thing…” she said softly, as he had the spear gun raised.

Ari turned to face him and nodded, gesturing with his hands “Come on.”

“Sorry.” Max said gently, as he slowly lowered his weapon.

“Abu Hamid.” the man at the front of the group spoke to them.

“Hello.” Ari greeted him kindly.

“What the hell's going on?” Sammy spoke gently through his smile.

“I think we just met the local staff.” Ari said softly, looking round at everyone.

Part 2

#leave no one behind #ari levinson x ofc #ari levinson #red sea diving resort #red sea diving resort fan fic

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marisa-writes · 6 years

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vi. you make it real for me

July 2018

On an evening in late July, Liam wakes up to the sight of Georgia standing in front of the wrap-around windows of his fourteenth-floor hotel room.

Beyond the large glass window panes, New York City at nighttime is bright, twinkling and beckoning. But the thing that beckons him most is Georgia, her silhouette calling out to him in the night.

He’s been in a constant state of disbelief since she came from the airport, and even though he’s held her hand and kissed her temple and watched her laugh at dinner and made love to her, he still can’t quite believe this is his reality. That nearly eleven months after that conversation the night of his birthday, despite the distance, Georgia is still his, and she’s flown all this way to be with him.

read on tumblr || series page

title from “You Make It Real” by James Morrison // listen here

#1dff #1dffupdates #Liam Payne #Liam Payne fanfiction #One Direction fanfiction #1D fanfic #at long last...here is part vi!#as always I hope you enjoy and please drop me a line if you read!#fic: Checkpoints #series: Different Strokes #Liam x Gee #my fanfiction #my writing #CP preview #DS preview

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caps-lockdown · 5 years

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Trick or Steve (One Shot)

chHello boo!! I are here to request a Steve x Reader halloween one shot. Where the reading is out trick or treating and runs into a few VERY realistic looking Avengers. Who she then awkwardly learns later on, were actually the real Avengers. Not just guys in costumes. 🤣 can’t wait to read what you come up with for this in Octobeeeeeeer!! 😍😍😍 eeek! So excited!!

As requested by @katurrade! I’ll be posting 4 Halloween themed one shots this month in celebration of over 100 followers and SPOOPY SEASON!!! Hope you enjoy!

In Y/N Y/L/N format.

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader

Rating: PG 13 for violence, language, alcohol, party scene, adult themes (ish)

Words: 5,341

AU because no one died in Endgame, Steve didn’t go back. I can’t move on.

Summary: You’re taking your niece and nephews Trick or Treating proves to be an event in itself, but running into three of the Avengers was not part of your plan.

No beta and so I only own the mistakes and the reader!

Trick or Steve

Take the kids trick or treating your sister said. It will be fun she said.

And so here you were, taking yet another picture of yet another group of knock-off Avengers at precisely six thirty on the evening of Halloween, listening as your two nephews and niece squealed over the men dressed in painstakingly obvious mass produced costumes. They had been nice enough sure, one poorly body painted Hulk giving the kids some of the candy out of his bag when they complained the houses they had been hitting during the night were being stingy with their offerings. A very tan, we’re talking spent- his-whole-summer-on-a-cruise-ship –in-the-Bahamas tan Hawkeye helping the youngest of the three pose correctly. It was quite cute.

“My feet hurt!” The five year old aforementioned child whined and you were suddenly aware of two things.

One, you were in no rush to have children of your own.

Two, you were entirely too sober for this.

~~~Earlier~~~

“Andy will you stand still? I need to fix your left wing.” You huffed, hot glue gun locked and loaded as you stared down at the fidgeting five year old. The living room was silent other than the preening of your sister, too caught up in snapping a thousand pictures to help you with her own kids. Gee thanks for the help Sis.

Your peripheral vision caught your niece reaching to grasp at her newly straight long blonde hair, your voice making her jump. “Hana don’t touch your hair it’s still hot from the straight iron!”

“Yea Hana leave your hair alone!” Her twin brother mocked whilst opening his third piece of candy. You raised an eyebrow as you directed your playful scolding his direction.

“Liam you take one more piece of candy out of that dish and I’m not taking you!”

“Sorry Ant.” The chorus of small voices around you had a hint of a smile cracking at your lips as you tried to remain stern. After a few extremely short minutes of holding Andy’s cardboard wing at a forty five degree angle, it looked like you had finally managed to get them even in height.

“There! Everyone ready to go?” You sat back on your heels to look at the three, a big smile overcoming your features as they all got excited over their outfits.

“But Ant,” Andy exclaimed, pointing to your sock clad feet, “You’re not wearing any shoes!”

“Thanks Buddy, you’ve just saved my entire Halloween!” You snatched your nephew and flew him through the air of the living room, the small human giggling and squealing as you made whooshing noises, his arms out in front of him. Whatever kept him in good spirits and helped the glue dry faster. Placing Andy on the floor of the foyer you made a quick grab at your heeled boots that sat by the door, zipping them up to just above your knees before standing to look in the mirror.

The black tactical suit you had made yourself looked great, the matte fabric the perfect choice for your costume. You had taken a few liberties with the original suit design, trading the slightly loose pants for something a bit more feminine and curve hugging, eighty-sixing the knee coverings and opting for sleek heeled boots instead of chunky combat ones. You were sure your feet would hate you later, but Carpe Diem right? The black straps and buckles were still covering the top half of you, although you had chosen to turn them into more of a corset of sorts, your chest pushed up under the dark gray vest you had made. It wasn’t overly cool outside so you went sleeveless, allowing for more mobility. You readjusted your hair, smoothing away any fly aways of your current bobbed style. At least you didn’t have to wear a wig. Readjusting the straps that held your very fake guns to your thighs you wrapped your hands around the handles of the three appropriately painted jack o’lanterns, the plastic thunking together as you passed them to their owners, the kids pooling around you to get a final group picture. You headed out into the crisp air as your sister waved you on, saying she and her husband would see you all later at Maria Hill’s party.

That was an hour and three groups of Avenger wannabes ago.

Of course the kids all but tackled their respective counter parts, save for Andy. You felt bad that no one had dressed up as Falcon yet, but you were constantly assuring the slightly upset child that he would see him tonight. You hoped anyway.

It was when you finished sacking the last house on the block when you saw them.

“ANT LOOK IT’S HIM IT’S HIM!!!” Andy’s shrill voice shot off with the rest of his body as he sprinted as fast as his small legs could carry him towards the three men, one of them no doubt dressed as The Falcon. You groaned as the two twins followed suit, racing to catch up, and then outrun their youngest sibling to the group of guys. You silently prayed this would be the last time for the night, your phone only able to hold so many pictures.

As you reached the three kids, once again mooning over the “superheroes” you couldn’t help but notice that their outfits looked extremely authentic. And they were equally extremely good looking. Thor’s hair was perfect, Falcon’s gapped tooth smile made you smile back. Hell even Captain America had an ass on him that made you want to sing the national anthem. Out of tune and all. Your face flushed as you came up to them, the kids talking a mile a minute and their questions making your face burn.

“Well if it isn’t the Walking Lightning Rod, Bird Brain, and America on Ice. You guys look great, did you assemble the rest of the girl scout troop or is it just you three tonight? Sorry about the kiddos. Wish I could say they’re mine, but they aren’t. Thanks in advance for being nice to them, they kinda can outrun me in these heels.” Your greeting forced the three men to break their eye contact with their miniature versions to give you a quick once over. The man dressed as Falcon took one look at your costume and about died.

“YOU DRESSED UP AS BARNES?!” He exclaimed, voice laced with gulps of air and hard laughter as you adjusted the duct tape and silver painted left arm you had fabricated. You noticed the blue eyes of Captain America’s wander over your figure as Falcon bent at the waist, trying to catch his breath and failing miserably. “Sorry it’s just…” He breathed, standing back up to fully give you a once over, “You managed to make him look good. And that’s a big deal. Doesn’t she look amazing Steve?”

The man in the mask sputtered out jumbled words in agreement, and you felt your face grow hot even though your smile grew. He took a breath and composed himself “What’s…what’s your name Doll?”

“Y/N Y/L/N, and my eyes are up here Mr. American Dream.” You caught him staring at your chest through your mostly unzipped vest as he awkwardly cleared his throat, his face a few shades of pink that you were quickly finding adorable.

“So, ahem, why the Winter Soldier?” His blue eyes sparkled when he talked to you, and man you’d be lying through your teeth if you said they weren’t making you feel some things. Out of all the Captain Americas you had met this evening, this one was very quickly becoming your favorite. You admired the long hard lines of his body, that suit not leaving much to the imagination. Jesus you could pray with your knees upward with him anytime. You snapped your head up realizing what you were doing and forced your mind to focus.

“Well it was either him or Stark, and I don’t have the face for a goatee.”

“You would have made a hilarious Tony!” Sam was laughing again, and you were trying to hold your own inside. His joyous noises were infectious.

“But what’s with your arm?” The star spangled man stuttered and you smirked, showing the kids handy work in the form of “get well soon”s, hearts and happy faces.

“Ah well you see,” You leaned in closer to the man, motioning the other two closer to you, “The kids uh, the kids think he just hurt it really bad and that it’s in a cast. I don’t have the heart to tell them the truth. Especially Andy, he’s really sensitive.” You looked pointedly down to the five year old who was clinging to the last of the three as if his life depended on it.

The Falcon gave a smiling nod before crouching down to unwind the child in question from around his legs, chuckling as the kid attempted to hold on tighter. “So your name’s Andy huh? That’s a pretty cool name kid. I’m Sam. I like your costume.”

“My Ant made it for me! I wanted to be you because I think Falcon is the coolest!” Andy pumped his fist in the air with a shrieking holler that reminded you for the eighth time that night you were too sober for this shit. But you couldn’t help but smile as he continued to gush over his favorite super hero, your heart warming to see him get the interaction you’d been hoping for all night. “He can fly!!”

“Did you make all of your garments then?” Thor’s voice was deep, booming, and beautiful and for a second you almost regretted not dressing up as him, giving him a small nod. “They are exceptional Lady Y/N.” You scoffed, waving off the compliment although it was the first one you had gotten all night.

“Yea Ant is the best fairy godmother in town!” Hana squeaked, twirling around in circles to show off her red cape that hung from her shoulders. “She worked super hard for months so we could all be our favorites tonight! Even our mom and dad have costumes!”

“So I am your favorite hero then?” Thor inquired, taking a knee to look at the small blonde girl.

“Yep! You control lightning and we both have blonde hair, and you’re really nice to girls. My momma says it’s cause your momma raised you right, and that’s why you have a kind smile. I don’t know what that means but my momma is always right.” Hana smiled, showing the tall man her missing two front teeth, who looked like he just about melted into a puddle at the girl’s statement. He opened his arms and before you could object your niece ran into them, hugging the man fiercely.

“Wow little one you are incredibly strong!” He complimented her, breaking away as she fell into a fit of giggles. “What is your name?”

“Hana!” Came the squeak of your niece, beaming with pride.

“My name’s Liam and I think Captain America is the best!” Liam piped up, finally finding his voice and bringing a large smile to his counterpart, who reached his hand out to give him a high five from his waist. “You were frozen! You have super strength and you’re like really really old.” Sam snorted at that as Liam went to cover his backside. “Like a cool old though! Not like my dad old.”

“Nice save Li,” You rolled your eyes as the man in blue laughed heartily at how much Liam looked like he was going to spontaneously combust from embarrassment.

“So how old are all of you?” Sam questioned, finally giving in and hoisting Andy up to sit on his hip, you rubbing your temple in exasperation. These kids.

“I’m seven and the oldest!” Hana called, Liam shoving into her slightly.

“Only by three minutes.” She stuck her tongue out at her twin, Andy staring down at hand, hardened expression on his features as he thought up his answer. His face lit up as he swung his whole hand out, nearly falling out of Sam’s grip as his shifted his body weight in excitement.

“I’M THIS MANY!” He promptly smacked Sam in the face as he held up his small chubby digits into his field of vision.

“Oh I am so sorry, Andy my dude you gotta apologize for hitting the nice man.” You lightly scolded the child, his face falling as he avoided his gaze and stared at his bucket.

“Sorry mister Falcon sir.”

Sam grinned as he put the kid down, “It’s alright Andy, I accept your apology. And you can call me Sam. Now how about we take a photo huh?”

All the kids cheered as you pulled your phone out from your cleavage, watching Steve’s eyes widen at just where you hid your electronic device.

“Alright kids, pose like you’re about to save the city!” You snapped multiple shots, the kids breaking into different stances with their idols. Sam offered to take a picture of you next to Captain America, and after much convincing from two particular seven year olds you allowed him to oblige. You pulled out one of your guns and stood back to back with him, both of you laughing at the absurdity of it all. After he had finished capturing a few memories for you the group went to separate.

“Alright kids, we’re losing candy time and we still got hit up the rich people before we head to Miss Hill’s house for her Halloween Party! So tell the nice men goodbye and move your butts!” The kids nodded at your order, hugging the men and saying thank you.

“Miss Hill? Like Maria Hill?” Steve asked, you nodding.

“Yea she’s having a party, we worked together briefly and have stayed friends ever since. You know her?”

“We’ve..uh heard of her parties before.” The blonde smiled tightly, your bright smile making his pulse quicken.

“Cool beans well small world! If you’re in the neighborhood stop by yea? I’m sure she won’t mind! And I wouldn’t mind seeing you again blue eyes.” With a small flirty wave in Steve’s direction you were gone, moving to catch up with Hana and Andy already ahead in their trek. You came to a stop when you realized Liam wasn’t with you, turning your body to motion him with a “come on” motion. He held up a finger to you and you sighed, pointing to your nonexistent watch.

“Pssst! Mister America!” Steve crouched in front of Liam, who had called him over and was now digging through his pumpkin vigorously. You had turned your back, not wanting to intrude on their private moment, missing your cheeky nephew pull out one of your business cards from his plastic treat holder.

“What’s this?” Steve whispered, Liam’s eyes glinting with mischief as he smiled broadly in your direction. Thor was speaking into his comms link while Sam edged closer to the two to eavesdrop. Which wasn’t hard because Liam hadn’t quite mastered whispering yet.

“That’s my aunt’s number. You’re her favorite and she thinks you’re a total hottie. My mom says she needs to fall and love and get married so her womb doesn’t shrivel up and she dies alone with like eighty nine cats. So if you like her you should ask her out. She likes coffee and pink roses but hates bad breath. And A-holes who don’t use their blinker! Okay, bye!”

Sam saved his laughter for when Liam was long out of range, racing to grasp your hand as you walked away with the rest of the kids. Steve only smiled warmly at the slightly crumpled card.

“Dude I need that kid as my wing man.” Sam was shaking his head when Thor came back to them. “Nat have news?”

“Yes she believes they found the location of the Arsonist’s next target.”

With that the three men were back on the mission, their moment of carefree fun over. That was the whole reason they were in the neighborhood patrolling as it were. There had been six massive fires over the course of the last two months, all with the same cause behind them. They had gotten a letter earlier that day saying that the arsonist, Mr. Ash, yes that was what he had chosen to go by, would be striking this very evening. The team had split up to cover more ground as Nat and Pepper worked back at the tower to crack his pattern and thus tracking him down to his next target to apprehend him. They had all agreed to go to Agent Hill’s party in celebration after they caught the asshole, but now Steve was more determined than ever to make sure they made it. Even if it was just to see you again.

~~~Two Hours Later~~~

“Come on Ant, you got this!”

“Yea you can do it!”

The kids cheered you on from the front porch of Maria Hill’s home, the large basin of water and floating apples the only thing in front of you. You gave them a wink before putting your hands behind your back. Quickly finding your target you felt the cold splash of chilling water hit your senses as you dove after you prize, the kids clapping loudly as you emerged victorious. Biting into the tart granny smith you stood up wiping your eyes and smearing some of your mascara in the process.

“Pretty impressive stuff there Y/N.” Your vision adjusted to the figure of Maria, who was holding out an orange solo cup and a towel to wipe your face, which you happily took.

“Helps when you have your own cheerleading section.” You shrugged, taking a large gulp of the apple cider that had been mixed with fireball whisky. The alcohol burned your throat for a second as you weren’t expecting that much to be in it. Note to self, don’t have too many of these. She laughed and handed you your apple back, taking the slightly damp towel from you.

The five of you wandered into the spacious house where you could see everyone in costume, loud party music blaring through every room of the house, kids and adults alike playing games like Sorry and Pin the head on the Zombie. The rooms were all lit in different eerie colors, streamers and scary window clings decorated the house. There had to be at least 60 people here, and that wasn’t including those bobbing for apples or playing yard Jenga outside.

“Hey Ant Y/N look!” Liam pointed to the large T.V screen, you turning your body to face it and feeling your entire body go rigid. “It’s the Avengers from earlier! They were the real deal!”

Your eyes widened in shock as you instantly recognized three of the men from earlier, albeit their perfectly authentic suits were just a bit charred, they still looked incredible. And you looked like The Incredible Idiot. They were exiting a building that had been on fire, Thor holding a screaming man while Steve and Sam went to help put out the flames with the local fire department. You were pretty sure your face could give the warehouse a run for its money with how hot you were. You swallowed hard at the questioning look on Maria’s face, opting to just pull your phone from its hiding place and shoving it in her hand once you pulled up the photos.

“Holy shit Y/N, you didn’t tell me they were…” She tried to cover her escaping giggles with her hand as you began looking for a rock to climb under. She especially found the picture of you and the very real and very handsome Steve Rogers to be absolutely hilarious.

“How was I supposed to know Maria?! They were like the fourth group of Avengers and I was completely done with the whole thing by group two!” You whined, sitting down in a large overstuffed recliner with an ungraceful thump. This was single handedly the most embarrassing moment of your entire existence. And that was saying something. You had once forgotten to wear pants to school your sophomore year of high school and had to loan a pair of god awful gym shorts from your best guy friend at the time. They did not smell clean and didn’t match your bright orange fall sweater. It was also Winter, and the shorts were two sizes too big. You never thought anything would top that. “I’m just going to die here now.”

Needless to say between finding out they had met their actual heroes and all of the candy, the kids were absolute beasts to put to bed. Maria had been kind enough to let them crash on an air mattress in a spare room upstairs when your sister and brother in law texted saying they were running a bit behind. They had won first place in the costume contest at their party, so they were celebrating a little longer than intended. When you realized your plans had changed, you had opted to have a couple more drinks. It’s not like the absolutely attractive earth savers would actually show up.

“Heeey the party still going on?!” Sam’s deep voice came bellowing through the house while you were draining your third drink, nearly choking as the three Avengers from earlier, and an extra few including the one you had dressed as entered the living room. You quickly dodged your way into the kitchen, wondering silently if you could fit in the very tiny water heater closet and they wouldn’t even know you were there. You listened as the room gave them a round of applause, finally reaching your “fuck it” meter for the night and pouring yourself another drink. You were never a lightweight, but the effects of the booze would at least keep you from being a total freak when you came in contact with them.

“Y/N you’re still here, how fortuitous!” Thor clapped loudly causing you to jump and sputter into your cup. You steeled your nerves and turned around and felt your face pale for the second time that night. That was a habit you didn’t need to be forming.

“So I am.” You pretended to shrug in indifference, a small shy smile on your features. “You guys were pretty great out there tonight, thanks for catching that asshole and saving that family. Guess that’s why Stark keeps you around huh?”

“Well it’s isn’t because they’re pretty to look at, but everyone’s a critic. Tony Stark. Hi, great to meet you.” The man wearing a simple “This is my Halloween costume” tee shirt approached you, you smiling wider and shaking his extended hand. “I see you’ve met my coworkers. Wilson told me about the names you called them tonight, they were great. Mind if I steal them?”

“Oh umh, um, no not at all!”

“Great, because I was going to regardless.” He winked and moved to the side, allowing you to introduce yourself to Clint and Natasha, who shook your hands with happy chuckles.

“Nice arm.”

“Thanks, made it myself.” You winked at the woman who shook her head at you, Bucky coming up with to stand next to Steve, giving you a once over.

“See Barnes didn’t I tell you? She made you look good for once!” Sam slapped the quiet man on the back, earning a glare from his otherwise stoic face.

“Shut up Wilson.” Bucky responded, rubbing the back of his neck. “But yea, you actually look pretty great. I can see why Steve here was all bent out of shape thinkin he wasn’t going to see you again tonight.” Came his gruff reply, his blonde friend groaning and jabbing an elbow into his side. “Ouch. What where you’re throwing that thing Punk.”

You brought your vision to look at the handsome Captain, wondering if it were possible to drown in his blue eyes. You felt yourself smiling, your eyes crinkling as you took a step closer to him, watching him swallow hard. “Awwwh. Did you miss me Captain?”

“Are you kidding? He’s the whole reason why we had to work double time at tracking the arsonist down, just so he could see you.” Sam grinned, running to hide behind a very amused Tony as Steve contemplated murder for the sixth time that evening. “He wouldn’t shut up about you boo..”

“Mister Sam… Falcon…sir?” You were never so thankful for a child in your entire life. All of you turned to look at Andy who stood alone in the kitchen doorway, rubbing at his eyes sleepily. His wings were long since off of him, you knowing full well with his thrashing the cardboard and hot glue would not withstand the rage of a five year old with constant night terrors.

“Yea buddy it’s me. Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?”

“You have a nightmare again Andy?” His teary nod at you had you placing your cup on the counter, leaning down to motion him to you. He hurried into your arms, you effortlessly picking him up, taking your silver arm covering off to allow yourself more range of motion as you cradled your sobbing nephew.

“Shhh you’re okay my dude, I’ve got you.” You muttered, listening to him cry uncontrollably into your neck, the evidence of his emotions soaking into your skin. “Tell me what you dreamt.”

“It was AWFUL Ant!” The boy exclaimed, pushing off of you slightly to look at Sam, tears still stinging his eyes. “Yo…you guys..didn…didn’t make it…out and the the building..” He started crying again and you felt the whole room melt around you.

“Hey Andy it’s okay see, we’re okay though.” Sam whispered reassuringly, asking you without words to take the child, which you gave him over with a nod. “See look, no harm done.” He let the little boy place his chubby hands all over his face, brushing over the soot and ash that had stuck to the man’s skin.

“…but what about smoke infal..mathc..ion? Momma says you can…di..die from too much smoke infalmathcion.” The brunette boy hiccupped at Sam, and you didn’t miss Tony’s huge smile at the kid’s difficulty at pronouncing big words.

“We’re gonna be fine. Don’t you worry. Takes a lot more than nasty smoke to take out the Avengers, don’t you think?”

“Y..yea! You guys are the best in the whole galaxy!” Andy cheered, as if he hadn’t had a complete meltdown just moments prior. Sam smiled back at him, turning his head to mouth a simple “I’m gonna keep him.”

You were almost tempted to let him, until you remembered he wasn’t yours.

“Hey there’s my little love bug!” Your sister cooed from the hallway, stopping for no one as she reached for her son, eager to hold him.

“Uh honey…” Your brother in law motioned to the group of super heroes, her face reddening as she looked at Natasha and Clint, who looked back at their doppelgangers with wide eyes. Tony and Thor howled with laugher as the pair took an extra step apart from each other as they took in your sister and his costumes. “I never thought we would meet like this. Man no one is going to believe me at the office on Monday.”

“Of course they will, you’ll have proof!” Tony belted, motioning for Maria to come and take pictures of everyone. You all elected to stand on the front yard, your sister going to drag the sleepy kids out of their slumber so they could be a part of it. After many different poses and many different phones later, everyone seemed happy with their captured memories.

“Night night Ant Y/N, sleep tight. Don’t let the bad guys bite!” Liam joked, the two of you breaking into your secret handshake.

“And if they do, I’ll beat them til they’re black and blue with my shoe!” You called back, hugging Hana and waving to Andy who was already nearly passed out in his dad’s arms. He gave a half wave back, all of their figures fading into the distance as they swam through the sea of parked cars.

The rest of the party cleared out a bit later, you staying behind to help clean up the apocalypse level mess in Hill’s house.

“You’re really great with kids Y/N.” Steve held the trash bag open as you piled cans and cups into it, meeting his gaze with a grin.

“Only because they’re related to me.” You admonished, the large man chuckling as you continued about the living room, you both being the only ones in there while the others helped take down decorations in the other rooms and outside. “Listen about earlier, I’m sorry if I may have seemed a little forward. I had no idea it was actually you and I’m not normally that flirty.”

“Ah I see. Well if it helps I’m not offended.”

You shot your head up to look at him, arm mid swipe to push more cups into the trash bag. “You’re…not?”

“Nope. Especially knowing I’m a total hottie, and your favorite. According to Liam anyway.” Your voice died in your throat as the man lost in time actually had the nerve to wink at you. You placed the cups in the bag, coming up to your full height to stare at him. Your feet were burning from the whole night in heels but you’d be damned if you backed down now. You didn’t know if you wanted to kill your nephew or hug him until he complained about it.

“Oh really? Well then can I ask you out for a cup of coffee sometime?” You spoke lightly, question almost coming out in a whisper on account of your nerves.

“Sure, I’ve got no plans in the morning.”

“Eleven work? I’ll be dead with a hangover until at least ten.” He laughed at your honesty, reaching to pull out his phone so you could type your number in. You procured your phone from its warm resting spot, taking extra care to slow your movements. Steve actually looked away from you after staring for a beat or two, his ears the same shade of pink from earlier. Cute.

“As long as we can yell at a-holes who don’t use their blinkers, sure.” Hug Liam it is. “There’s a café on 23rd and maple by the tower…”

“Queenie’s?” You finished, smiling brightly at Steve who nodded back enthusiastically. “Then it’s a date Cap.”

“Yep,” He pulled you into a surprising yet warm hug, you nose breathing him in and taking note that he smelled exactly how you thought he’d smell. All masculine and deep and smooth and rough and your brain stopped trying to think of good words to use. He offered to walk you to your sister’s house, a pensive look washing over you as you looked at the clean living room.

“What about saying goodbye to the others?”

“What, like you’re never going to see them again? Not if I can help it” He mentioned nonchalant, another blush sweeping over your face as he bluntly admitted to seeing you more than once. You only nodded, accepting defeat as he put his arm around your shoulders to keep you warm on your walk home, not that you needed it with the adrenaline coursing through your veins.

A short fifteen minute stroll of content and happy chitchat about yourselves later you were at your sibling’s door, finding the spare key in a ceramic frog just along the edge of the fish pond that sat on the left side of their stairs.

“Well this is me, see you at eleven hundred?” He smiled at you, tucking a stray hair behind your ear before placing a chaste kiss on your cheek.

“Eleven-hundred. Pleasant screams Y/N.” You outwardly giggled at his pun as he pulled back, turning towards the street and walking away with a noticeable pep in his step.

Take the kids trick or treating your sister said. It will be fun she said.

She was right for once.

End

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